As soon as gothic forensic scientist, Abby Sciuto, had gotten the metal prosthetic delivered to her, she started eagerly working on it. Of course she wouldn't harm or break the prosthetic during testing but she did want to test the metal alloy used. She assumed it would be steel, or a similar metallic alloy but wanted to be sure. Before she could test the metal itself she had to test the particles on the piece.
What she found interested her even more. The arm was covered in sweat, blood, dirt and dust, gunpowder, and other small trace evidence. Abby could only assume the blood was from the strange boy, but would need a blood sample from him to confirm. What on earth had this boy been doing?
Abby was definitely looking forward to meeting the boy with golden hair and eyes with the metal prosthetic.
. . .
"Isn't this blackmail?" asked Edward annoyed. Sure they were helping him with his injury, but questions in exchange for his entire arm? He had just gotten his real arm back until he was thrust here with his automail one, then these military goons take it away again.
"More like collective bargaining," piped DiNozzo. The young boy was covered in scars and had a particularly nasty one on his stomach which looked deep. The other scars were smaller and scattered around the boy's torso. How was it possible for a kid his age to have that many battle scars? He was what? Thirteen or fourteen? Whatever the age he was too young for military work and DiNozzo was too curious to give up on the truth, he could assume Gibbs was thinking close to the same thing.
"Give me the damn arm back first, then I might answer some questions." The Fullmetal Alchemist was irritated with this whole situation. He shouldn't even be here in the first place but Truth had to choose him to do the grunt work of whatever the hell was going on. Wasn't Truth some all powerful being? If that was true than Truth should be doing whatever the hell this work was himself.
"Even so, haven't I already answered some questions? You know, which lead you to insulting my home town?"
"Yeah, from a nonexistent country," DiNozzo fired back.
"You want to know what I've told you? I've told you that I'm from Resembool in the country of Amestris, that I don't really have parents and stayed with Granny and Winry until I joined the military, willingly. Winry is my mechanic and Al is my brother. I lost my arm and leg as a casualty in war, nothing more than that," Edward said quickly, hoping to summarize enough so that further questioning wasn't needed.
"Arm and leg?" Gibb's caught in the rant.
Edward went pale, he had said he lost both his arm and leg hadn't he? He was used to saying the phrase including both appendages. The golden haired alchemist glared at the NCIS agent Gibbs, hatred lacing his golden eyes. Edward had indeed messed up but he had spoken quick enough that maybe the other agents and the medical examiner wouldn't catch the slip up but thanks to Gibbs said slip up was brought to light.
There was a pained look on Edwards face as he began to explain, "I didn't only lose my arm but also my leg. Both were taken by the war," Edward lifted his pant leg to reveal the metal prosthetic.
Gibbs didn't pay much attention to the reveal of the metal limb, but rather to the pause Edward had right before he said 'war.' It was like the boy had to think a moment about what he was going to say or like it was an old lie beginning to be retold again.
McGee and DiNozzo stood in awe at a metal prosthetic, again. What kind of childhood could this boy have had to leave him this scarred? The boy looked indifferent towards the limb itself, but more attention to how it actually was lost. It looked as if he was now used to the limb, even though it seemed recent.
Ducky, who still was stopping the bleeding at Edward's shoulder, took a peek at the metal. It seemed to be made identically to the arm, metal and structure wise but of course it was a different limb. What amazed the medical examiner was the intricacy and atomically correctness of the limb. It was a perfect recreation of a human limb, just made of metal and wires. That truly amazing part of the prosthetic was the never connections though. The never connections matched with the metal shouldn't be possible, such a thing was revolutionary in the medical field.
Ducky lifted the bloodied gauze from Edward's shoulder, "There you go lad. Just let wound close then you can reattach the arm. Well, if Jethro here allows it."
"I wouldn't need surgery or anything more?" Edward asked, eager to change the conversation but also surprised the wound didn't need more attention.
"No no. It's only a ruptured vein, it will heal on it's own. Just wait a day or two for it to close completely and it should be fine. Now if it started to bleed again when the arm is reattached then I'll have to perform surgery. That reminds me, there was a particularly interesting case in China-"
"Thanks Duck," said Gibbs, cutting off the story of the medical examiner.
"No problem Jethro."
Edward hopped off the autopsy table, momentarily losing balance as he landed he stumbled but was able to catch himself. This was the first time in a long time that he was without his arm.
DiNozzo's phone buzzed causing the room's attention to turn to the NCIS agent. After the short conversation DiNozzo announced, "Abby wants to meet the kid."
"I'M NOT A KID!"
"And?" Gibbs said expectantly.
"And she's got something," replied DiNozzo.
As DiNozzo and McGee lead Edward to the lab and out of the autopsy room, Ducky held Gibbs back a moment.
"Jethro, you should do a DNA testing. Just to see if such coloring is his natural coloring or not," said Ducky, doubting his original conclusion of hair dye and contacts.
"Was planning on it," replied Gibbs, who was indeed going to have Abby do a DNA test and analysis on the boy.
. . .
The music was almost deafening. The epicenter of the sound came from the lab doors ahead, the lab of one Abby Sciuto.
"What is that?"
"That's Abby."
Edward rolled his eyes as the two NCIS agents ushered him inside first. From the trip from the autopsy room to the lab Edward had put both his shirt and jacket on, feeling too naked and exposed. Not to mention cold, too freaking cold.
Upon entry the music quieted and Edward was ambushed by a dark looking female who he could only assume was the Abby that agent DiNozzo had mentioned. The gothic woman hugged the alchemist, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing him tight.
"Whaaa?" Edward was too shocked to do anything immediate.
This was going to be terrifying, and very interesting.
