Char lay curled up in her bed, snoring softly. Ed looked at her gently. "Sorry..But we'll be back soon," he murmured before crossing over to the window and climbing down the sheets before dropping onto the floor. "Alright Al, let's go," he whispered before the two of them ran for it.
It was about an hour later when Char was suddenly woken by someone switching on the light then shaking her awake. "Go away...a few more minutes," she muttered, turning over.
"Char, Ed and Al are missing!" the worried voice cried. For a couple of seconds this processed through her tired brain, then suddenly she gasped, sitting bolt upright.
"Dont you know where they are?" she asked worriedly. Maria shook her head.
"We decided to look in and check on them, but when we looked, they were gone." Char scowled.
"Those idiots!" she whispered to herself, jumping out of her bed. She looked around before noticing the open window. She ran over to it and saw the sheets that formed a rope. "Guys, over here," she called, and the others ran over to her.
"They must have gone to the 5th Labratory!" Denny said suddenly. Maria hit the windowsill.
"I swear, if they aren't dead already, I'm going to kill them," she muttered, rushing out. Char followed her as they ran down the stairs and out into the street, running towards the 5th Labratory.
Char felt the presence before she saw it. It wasnt completely human, but just a soul, like Al. She looked up, glancing around before running towards one end of a building. Al was fighting another armour-bound soul, though Al seemed hesitant. As the other armour rushed at Al, Char saw it was going to hit his blood seal. She gasped. "Al!" she cried, running forward. Next second the armour was flying back and Char stood infront of Al, her fists raised.
Al stared at her. "Char...but how.." he mumbled. Char blinked and looked at her hands.
"What just happened?" she wondered, her mind whirling. Even as she did, the building suddenly exploded. Al turned to the building.
"Ed!" he cried. Char stared at him, then at the building.
"Ed's in there? No!" she cried. Maria, Denny and Armstrong joined them.
"What's wrong?" asked Maria.
"Ed's in that building!" Char cried. They gasped and stared at it. Suddenly Char felt another presence. This one was completely evil, oozing out a strange stickiness Char hated even sensing. She looked around and saw a boy walking out with Ed over his shoulder. "Ed!" she cried, running over. The boy dropped him on floor.
"You better get him to a hospital. His wounds arent serious, but he's losing a lot of blood," the boy said before seeming to vanish infront of them. Char wasnt sad to see him leave, but she wondered who he was. She gently lifted Ed up, pulling one arm around her neck and dragging him towards where the others were gathered.
"We need to get him to a hospital. He's losing a lot of blood," Char said, and the others nodded. Armstrong bent down and picked Ed up easily.
"Let us leave and head to the hospital to treat our injured friend then!" he declared as they walked away.
Char was sitting in the hospital beside Ed when he finally woke up. He stirred slowly and moaned. "Aww, what hit me?" he muttered, opening his eyes and sitting up. When he saw Char he smiled. "Oh, hey Char. You okay?" he asked, watching as she stood up.
Outside in the hallway, Maria was talking with Denny when a sharp sound echoed down the hallway. The two of them glanced at each other and looked inside the room, where Ed was holding his cheek while Char had a raised hand.
"You idiot! You could have died! You had me worried! You're supposed to be my guardian, so stop being so reckless!" Char shouted. Ed looked at her wide eyed, then smiled.
"Sorry. Next time I'll be more careful," he replied.
"Next time you're bringing me along." Ed glanced at her sharply.
"No way. The things we do are too dangerous."
"That's exactly why I'm going. Besides, you said I would be travelling around with you from now on. If that's true, then you're taking me with you when you do something so dangerous!"
"But.." Ed began, before drawing back from the glare Char directed at him. Finally he sighed. "Fine," he said regretfully. Char smiled and hugged him.
"Oh thankyou Big Brother!" she said in her squeaky voice. Ed laughed.
"Alright alright, now get off me," he said, trying to push her off. Suddenly a thought occured to him and he looked around. "Where's Al?" he asked. Char looked around as well.
"I'm not sure. He was sitting in your room a while ago, but I guess he left when I was dozing." Ed shrugged.
"Well, I need to go ring my mechanic again. My arm stopped working and now I cant move anything except the fingers." Char watched as he got out of bed slowly, walking down the hallway with Denny. She sighed.
"He's going to be the death of me if I'm not the death of him first," she muttered.
Ed stood at the phone hanging up after ringing Winry. He'd expected her to shout at him, but instead she just sounded resigned and slightly guilty. Wondering why, he began to walk back down the hallway before Denny said, "So, calling your girlfriend?" Ed gave a startled splutter and his wound opened up.
"Ooh, so she's your mechanic," said Denny as they were heading back, Ed in a wheelchair and Denny pushing.
"Yeah. We're just good friends," Ed replied.
"Dont have a girlfriend, huh?"
"Dont want one."
As they were heading back, Ed glanced down one hallway and saw Al sitting in the dark. "Hey Al, what're you doing there, sitting all alone? Why dont you come back to the room?" he called. Al looked up briefly before lowering his head again.
"Yeah..I'll be back in a minute," he replied. Ed watched him for a moment before shrugging and Denny continued to push him back to the room. When they came in, Ed flinched at Char's expression.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" she shouted.
"Hey dont blame me. Denny did it," Ed replied, pointing at him. Char turned her glare on Denny and he backed away nervously.
"I'll just be...yeah...eh heh, bye!" he called, racing off down the hallway. Char sighed and walked over to Ed, helping him back into bed.
"Anyway, is Winry going to be coming?" she asked. Ed nodded.
"She even promised not to charge me for the fee of coming out here!" he said brightly. Another thought occured to him. "Oh yeah, I saw Al. He seems really depressed, do you have any clue why?" Char shook her head.
"He's been like that since we got back. I think it might have something to do with that other armour-bound soul that he was fighting, but I'm not sure."
"Hmm, I'll see if I can get him to talk about it," he decided.
The next day, the door to the room opened and Ed and Char looked up. A girl about the same age as Ed stood there, a toolkit in her hand, which she dropped when she saw Ed. "You didnt tell me you were in the hospital!" Winry cried.
"Yeah, well, like I said, I got into a big fight and it did more damage than I expected..." he broke off in surprise when tears came to Winry's eyes.
"This is all my fault...It's because I didnt do a proper job last time," she murmured. Ed laughed hesitantly before glancing around at the various glares he was getting.
"I-It's not your fault Winry! You did a perfect job! I was just swinging it around too much! Anyway, if it hadnt broken when it did, I might have gotten way more hurt.." As he was babbling, Char saw Winry's expression change to one of surprise, then sneaky.
"You're right, it's not my fault! Now then, shall we get to work repairing it?" she asked brightly, and Char moved out of the way so that she had a chair to sit down on. Winry was just seating herself before realising something, and looked at Char. "Aaand you are..?" she asked.
"Oh right, we haven't met before. My name is Charleen, though you can call me Char. Ed is my guardian, and I'm travelling around with them because I dont have a home," Char introduced, smiling. Winry stared at her, then looked at Ed.
"You're her what?"
