Hiya everyone! Its me again with another chapter here! Yay! So, I hope you all enjoy it okay? I'm really torturing Roy in this one, MWAHAHAHAHAA!
Roy: If you weren't the author I would burn you.
Me: But I am the author so you can't do that! *sticks out tongue at angry Roy*
Roy: I'll torch your computer later.
Me: Whaaaaaaaaat? NOOO! *attacks Roy*
Ed: Well, PhantomMouse and Roy are kinda busy *flinches at crash in the background* So I guess I gotta do the disclaimer again... urg. PhantomMouse1115 does not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I don't even think she own's this plotline, the tiny voice in her head telling her what to do does.
Me: You weren't supposed to tell anyone that! Now I gotta kill you too! *lunges at Ed*
Ed: HELP! AHhh-
*silence*
Chapter Seven
"You ready Ed?"
A day later found everyone back in the living room, a newly repaired set of automail limbs lying on the hard coffee table as Ed sat on the couch. His automail ports were exposed, and Winry had had to thoroughly (and painfully) clean them of all rust before getting ready for the docking procedure.
"S-sure." Ed choked out, sounding a lot less confident than he wanted to be. Winry turned her blue eyes from him to Al, motioning for the armor to choose a limb.
"You've seen how me and Grandma do it, right Al?" Winry asked, trying to ignore the Colonel as he peered childishly over her shoulder.
Al nodded, slowly picking up the leg and positioning it at the port. Ed glanced down to his limbs, already growing slightly pale.
"Ready…. One, two, THREE!"
Immediately both Winry and Al turned the latches on the mechanics at exactly the same time. Ed threw his head back, letting out a strangled cough before clenching his teeth together and his eyes shut. Roy watched, his black eyes trying to remain impassive as he viewed the scene, but truly he was horrified. Did reattaching automail really hurt that much? And how much had it hurt during the original surgery to get the port and dock on?
"Colonel, we need help!" Al yelped suddenly, shacking Roy from his musings. Both Al and Winry were attempting to lay Ed down on the couch, they were having a difficult time however because of how Ed's body was shaking dangerously. Roy immediately began to lower the boy down, snatching an extra one of Winry's rags from the table and pressing it to Ed's head. It may not have been filled with ice or anything, but the warm cloth itself was much cooler than Ed's forehead right now.
"Does attaching automail really hurt this much?" Roy asked, watching as Ed's face twitched and contorted in pain.
Winry followed his gaze, her usually bright fiery blue eyes sad as she watched her childhood friend sweat out the pain and sickness, "Yes… it always does. My grandma said that everyone she's seen and helped screamed like babies. Ed's the only one who hasn't screamed at all."
Roy nodded, slowly taking in the information. He remembered seeing Ed as a simple eleven year old, limp and limbless as he cried out in his pain induced sleep. Surely, Ed had to have screamed once when he was young… right?
"He… never screamed… even during the initial operation?" Roy asked past a strange, lump in his throat.
"No."
That one word stabbed a tendril of respect and protectiveness deep into Roy's heart.
"Owwww…."
Roy, Winry, and Al instantly glanced over to Ed. The blond had brought his flesh hand up to rub at his throat, his automail hand now resting against his forehead and pushing the rag away. "Its really hot in here you guys, seriously." Ed said, his tone a mixture of an angry snap and a groan.
"You probably have a fever, you're still not completely recovered from that cold you caught out in the snow." Roy said quickly, standing up to go find some more blankets to heap on Ed. When he returned and did just that Ed had struggled against the blankets like they were smothering him.
"Gah! Gettem' off!" Ed gasped, and Al had helped pull the cloth from his face with a small grumble from Ed. "Even after you help you still try to kill me." Ed shot at Roy. Roy only cocked an eyebrow at the teen.
The group sat in silence for a few moments, Ed's raspy breathing the only thing sound as he experimented with his arm and leg from his position on the couch. Slowly, Al was the one who broke the silence with his childlike voice.
"So brother… you never did tell us why you were out in that snowstorm." Al said with worry, his red eyes flickering to the raging white outside the windows.
Ed blinked, his attention pulled from his automail to Winry and Roy's curious and concerned faces. He was sure if Al had had his body he would have had an even more concerned expression then them both combined.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Ed suddenly said, a huge smile splitting his face. "Yeah, I was in that storm because of a lead I got on the Stone! Someone just dropped a big pack of papers into my military mailbox, so I had to go search." Ed said, smiling at his brother, "As soon as this stupid snowstorm stops, we can search together Al!" he said, all the while keeping the most hopeful smile anyone had ever seen on his face. Al laughed and nodded, still worried because of Ed's recklessness, but happy they had gotten a lead again. Winry smiled as well, placing a thin hand on Ed's shoulder before smacking him upside the head. Ed groaned slightly, but still smiled.
And it was that smile that made Roy Mustang pale to the color of crisp paper.
No… No, no, no, NO! That lead, the lead Ed had gotten in his mailbox. It had been a prank! A prank that Roy had set up a few weeks ago to get revenge on Fullmetal for humiliating him again, but in a last moment's change of heart Roy had decided not to do it. Somehow Ed had gotten the papers - why Roy had not torched them earlier he would never know - and then he had gone out in the snow in search of a lead that didn't exist! It was Roy's fault, everything. He had almost killed Edward Elric.
Yep! Chapter seven done and I still hope I'm keeping everyone in character! I really get kinda annoyed at those fics were Ed or Roy are so OOC, its just degrading to their character. So, please review! I don't think I'm gonna threaten anything or anyone this time, because I'm the only one that gets hurt in the end.
Envy: got that right.
Me: How'd you get here? I thought I locked you up!
Envy: Those rusty chains you put on me? They were soooo flimsy...
Me: *gulp* ummm... Review everyone! PLEASE? *inches away from Envy*
Envy: MWAHAHAHAAAA!
