UNBETAED (for now)
Extra-long-chappie-time!
I actually rewatched the episode for this...I'd forgotten how epic it was XD Turns out 'Millie' actually had a canon name, but whatever. I guess it's a different girl, then.
I had a lot of fun changing Mustang's dialogue to Diana's. They are actually SO different. Go watch the exchange between Bard and Mustang in the episode and compare it to this one. I didn't change a word of Bard's dialogue, for extra shits and giggles. Also, I got to be really, really mean to Falman. (I love him, I do. But action isn't his thing.) And Alex is Master of Snark. 3
Pen-Name-Kitsune-Chan: Awesome! One of the silliest things about writing this is that, since I'm rewriting somebody else's story, I'm using my own brand of humour in place of Hiromu Arakawa's - which is a lovely change from all angst, all the time. It's good to hear Valjean and Diana mesh - yes you may ship all you want - and yush my pretties, let the Diana love flowwww... The little girl was in the actual episode, but it was all yuk yuk sugary sweet. Ed's a sweetie. Will is...not so much. Haha. Thanks for reviewing!
Fairyboydammit: Really, I couldn't write anybody else in those roles (except of course the real Roy and Riza). I'm glad you like them, they'll be playing a big part. And that just about describes them, although Selim's insightfulness has a really big reason behind it. And I'm not *saying* there's anything between them...honest... And trust me, I'm excited too. I was originally going to leave this part out, but then I decided I need to work on writing action scenes anyway. Thanks for reviewing, you're super awesome.
Shade40: Thanks! The simple details are my favourites, I find they really help to paint a scene - especially when you're trying to recreate one medium in another. The 'Will punching bricks', actually, is a reference to the previous chapter where he punched the wall of the house - he doesn't go around doing it for shits and giggles. (Or maybe he does. I can see him doing that. Never mind.) I had exactly that in mind for Solaris and Hughes - it's not hugely different from his interaction with Roy, but because of her character and her gender, it takes on a slightly more flirty flavour. (She *is* Lust, after all.) (And this is why I ship RoyxMaes.) I think I mentioned Valjean and Havoc in tandem in an author's note, hence the confusion, but I'm glad you've got it straight now :) The dragon is absolutely a first series reference, although I might do more with it. I thought the train episode was first-anime-only, I didn't realize Hiromu Arakawa had drawn it at all. It's not in Brotherhood at all, though. But if this is new for somebody, that's awesome. Thanks for stopping by, your reviews are always epic.
Okay, I need to learn to shut up. (But I have so much to sayy...)
Lyrics by Skunk Anansie. (This song was on the Sucker Punch soundtrack. 'Nuff said.)
~8~
Look out honey cause I'm using technology
Ain't got time to make no apologies
Soul radiation in the dead of night
Love in the middle of a fire fight
-Search and Destroy
"Excuse me?"
Will looked up from the enthralled Millie, and groaned as he recognized the man who'd been so startled by them before. "Whaddaya want, gramps?"
"Are you... William Elric?"
"Well, yeah." He narrowed his eyes. "How'd you know my name?"
Falman sighed in relief. "I just heard from somebody that you were going to be on this train. That's all."
A second later, a gun crashed down on his head, and his eyes rolled backwards as he slumped to the ground. "That's enough from you," growled his assaulter, who then pointed the gun at Will.
"Wh-what?"
"Hands up."
"But -"
"I said up!"
Will slowly raised his hands into the air, surreptitiously looking down at Alex. He was slumped lifelessly on the seat, and his heart suddenly leapt into his throat. Why wasn't he moving?
Another gunman appeared from the same seat as the first, pointing his weapon up and down the carriage. "That goes for all of you. Sit still, shut up and don't make a fuss."
The first, who Will had already mentally dubbed 'Carrot-top' for his ginger-dusted hair, picked up Alex between his fingers and appraised him emotionlessly through his sunglasses. "What is this? You had it moving and talking before."
"Just..." Will swallowed, trying to stop the rising feeling of panic. "Just a toy."
"Just a toy, huh? You seem pretty nervous for just a toy."
"It's probably a bug," commented the other gunman, at which Carrot-Top snorted and dropped Alex on the ground, lifting his foot. He was a second away from crushing him.
Why isn't he MOVING? Why isn't he -? Why why why why
About half a second later, Will dropped down and drove his open palm upwards into the gunman's chin, sending him toppling backwards onto the seat, and then onto the floor.
"H-hey!" The second man swivelled around, aiming his gun at Will, but before he even had the chance to fire, an automail fist crashed into his face. Blood spurted from his nose as he staggered backwards, and one hand flew to his face to staunch the bleeding. He raised the gun again, but got no farther than his hip before Will had ducked and swept his feet out from underneath him. There was a 'thunk' as his head hit the floor.
Will smirked, taking a moment, when suddenly Millie cried, "Look out!"
He spun on his heel to see Carrot-Top getting to his feet again, one lens of his sunglasses broken and a cold blue eye glaring out furiously.
"Oh shit -" Just as the word left his mouth, instinct kicked in. Quite literally. He jumped into the air. and kicked Carrot-Top in the head, knocking them both to the ground. He smacked his chin into the floor with a nasty jolt, but when he opened his eyes again...he saw Alex.
Alex, sitting up and looking at him.
"ALEX!" he yelped, leaping forward rather ungracefully and snatching him up in an embrace. "You're - I - you - I - don't - what happened?" He held Alex slightly away from him - and was suddenly smacked by a tiny wooden fist.
"It was a ruse, you idiot! A clever ruse!"
"Ah - what?" Will could have sworn Alex was rolling his eyes. "They were going to crush you!"
"And they probably would have done worse if they thought I wasn't just a toy! I'm made of wood, I can be fixed! Trust me, I've transmuted myself back together before - you didn't have to go all gung-ho hero on me!" Suddenly, Alex chuckled. "Although, if I ever needed proof you cared -"
"Oh for fuck's sake, don't go mushy on me -"
"- you just took out two armed soldiers on your own."
Suddenly Will felt very weak at the knees. If he hadn't already been sitting down he might have collapsed. "...Well, shit. I guess I did." He broke into a grin, even if it shook at the corners. "It's the skirt. It's the source of my powers."
"You're so reckless, Brother."
"Reckless is right!" someone interrupted. They both looked up. A woman was holding Millie in her arms, tears welling at the corners of her eyes. "Look what you've done - now they'll kill us all!"
Murmurs began to spread through the carriage, and Will snarled as he looked around, "What, you would have preferred sitting here like a bunch of sheep?"
Millie's mother didn't respond, but the look in her eyes was answer enough.
"Cowards, the lot of you," muttered Will angrily.
"Don't worry, Mama!" Millie wrapped her arms around the woman's neck with a blissful expression. "Big Sister's gonna go beat up the nasty men."
Will bit back an irritated comment as Alex giggled. Apparently the little girl still hadn't wrapped her head around the idea that he was a guy.
"And why's that?" Despite her attempt at sounding reassuring, the older woman couldn't hide the fear in her eyes or the tenseness in her voice.
"Because she kicked a dragon's butt!" Millie chirped, and the entire traincar burst into tense, semi-relieved laughter.
As it subsided, Will held up his automail arm and made a fist. "You bet I did. And these guys were pussies - er, sorry - I can take on the rest of them no problem. You just sit tight and I'll take care of 'em." He leant down and pulled the guns from the two mens' limp grips. "Alright, somebody's gotta stand guard on these two bozos. Alex and I'll go and see what's going on -"
"Hold on, kid, just a second!"
Will looked down the aisle, where Falman was crawling out from where he'd been dumped, rubbing his head with a rueful expression. "You're not going anywhere alone."
0o0o0o0o0o
When the phone rang once again, Diana was filled with a sudden sense of misgiving. It was too soon. He shouldn't be calling again so soon - but she picked it up anyway. "Hello?"
The voice, however, wasn't Hughes's. "Is-is this Lieutenant-Colonel Solaris? It's General Hak -" The voice was quickly cut off and replaced by another.
"This is Bard of the Eastern Liberation Front, Blue Squad. We have taken control of this train."
The pit of her stomach dropped, but she smirked anyway. So it has come to this after all. "Mr. Bard. I've heard of you. Well then...What do you want from me?"
"Don't play dumb! We suddenly lost contact with one of our allies today - someone who was supposed to have delivered a statement to you."
"A statement? Hm, I'm sure I'd remember something like that. I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."
She could hear him gritting his teeth through the line, and then he sighed. "Okay, fine. Bring our leader in Prison No. 8 to Central Station. We'll exchange prisoners there."
"It's a date, Mr. Bard. However -" Her voice turned deadly serious. "If you hurt a single man, woman or child on that train -" The line went blank, and she hung up the phone.
Valjean was on his feet, rocking back and forth from his heels to his toes. He was itching to do something, Diana knew, instead of this damnable waiting. "What's the situation?"
"They've got the train. I don't know where Hughes is. But..." She swallowed, her mouth suddenly very dry. "They've already killed somebody."
"What are they demanding?"
Diana shook her head. "Ridiculous things. The ally who delivered the statement - they were allowed to go free as a sign of good will. The so-called leader that they want released - he escaped a week ago."
Valjean's eyes widened. "They're looking for excuses."
She nodded grimly. "That train is doomed." She paused, glanced down at the wood of her desk, and then traced the whorls in the smooth surface with her white gloved finger. "Unless..." She looked back up. "Hughes would have lain low at the first sign of trouble. He's already gathering intel and working up a plan of resistance. Falman...Falman will obey Hughes's orders, but he won't resist on his own steam, so he's safe for now. And then...there's the Elric brothers."
"Wild cards."
"Wild cards might be exactly what we need." Still, her eyes remained troubled as she said quietly, "Let's see what these boys can do."
0o0o0o0o0o
Falman eyed the two limp bodies nervously. "You did that? Alone? Well, this is embarrassing."
Will raised an eyebrow, barely keeping a smirk of pride off of his face. "How come? They clocked you."
The man rose wearily to his feet and lowered his voice. "The name's Falman... Warrant Officer."
"You're a soldier? Really? But they took you out so easily -"
"There were two of them! I'm only one man!"
"There's only one of me. And I'm twelve."
"Element of surprise is everything!" Falman coughed. "Anyway, the point is, you two are too young to be wrapped up in this. Just...sit tight and I'll take care of it."
"Like you took care of those two?" Alex pointed out, at which Falman couldn't help colouring slightly. "What is this, anyway?"
Will nodded along with Alex's question.
Falman took a deep breath and leant in to be doubly sure no one else would hear. "There's a reason I'm dressed like this. Up in the first car are General Hakuro and his family, coming back from vacation."
You could have heard a pin drop. And then Will hissed furiously, resembling a snake more than a boy, "Are you fucking serious? That's what this is about? Some puffed-up general getting his ass chased by some stupid terrorists who think dragging an entire fucking trainload of people -"
"-William-"
'-into some messed-up nightmare of a trip and -"
"-Brother-"
Will took a deep breath, and then exhaled irritatedly, blowing a few stray strands out of his face. "So there's other soldiers on the train?"
"A few. The General wanted to keep a low profile."
"Great, so it's up to a handful of soldiers -" -like you- "and us to take back the train against god-knows-how-many hijackers." He sighed again. "Alright, you and Alex stay here and guard these two bozos."
"Not on your life, Brother."
Will sighed, tempted to just shove Alex into Falman's hands, but his heart still hadn't slowed to a regular pace after nearly seeing him crushed under Carrot-Top's foot. "Fine. You stay here and guard these bozos, make sure no one else gets in and keep everybody calm." He walked over to the window.
"Where are you going?"
He flashed him a grin. "The high road." Pulling the window open, he stuck his head out and looked up and down before ducking back in and pushing first one, then the other leg through. "Hold on tight, Alex."
"No, obviously I'm going to let go. What do you think?"
"Hey, just making sure your brain didn't get smaller as well as the rest of you." Will caught Millie's eye, and flashed her a thumbs up before lowering his feet carefully down until he found a ledge. He grabbed the window with both hands, trying to gain a foothold, and then pulled himself back up with a growl. "This is useless."
"What's the matter?" asked Alex.
"These goddamn shoes." He pulled them off, wary of his precarious balance, and tossed them back into the car. "Can't do a damn thing with them on."
Alex sighed. "What is it with you and doing things barefoot?"
"It's just easier! Now shut up, I have to concentrate." Finding the foothold was, like he'd said, a lot easier in his bare feet, although the metal of the train's exterior was almost painfully hot. Once he'd done that, he could inch over to the ladder that led to the top of the train - also made of metal, also hot.
It was once he reached the top of the train, however, that the heat really became an issue.
"OWW! Oh jeez, oh jeez!" Will slid back onto the ladder. "Ah, ah, ah, oww..."
"Funny thing, Brother, metal gets hot in the sun."
"Shut up, brat." He'd officially used up all the goodwill from Alex's near-miss. "It hurts."
"It hurts?" asked Alex in an incredulous tone, to which Will considered tossing the annoyance at the back of his neck into the sunset. Not that the sun was setting, or even close to it. It was the thought that counted.
"You know I don't like pain!" Will sat down on a rung of the ladder, hooking his arm around the side to brace himself. With a sigh, he brought the hem of his black shirt to his mouth and ripped it with his teeth, tearing off a strip all the way around.
"What are you doing?"
"Problem-solving," he replied, wrapping the pieces of cloth around his flesh foot. It wasn't nearly as clunky as shoes, but it offered a bit of protection so he wouldn't get burned. "One of my problems, anyway."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that for someone with a painted on mouth, you're doing a hell of a lot of talking." He climbed back up onto the top of the train, and found it much more bearable. He began to make his way towards the smokestack, the wind whipping at his long hair and drowning out all other sound.
The train turned a corner, and his vision was suddenly obscured by a thick swath of blond. "Damn it!" he cursed, pulling it out of his face -
"BROTHER, LOOK OUT!"
He never saw the tree branch jutting out from the cliff until it was too late.
