Chapter 10-
Ed barely had time to shoot Mustang a reassuring smile before he, Lance, Pidge and their Lions lost sight of them by turning the corner. Lance was in the lead, being the only one who'd visited or was confident they could find the secondary training room, with Pidge walking next to him, interrogating him if their body language was anything to go by. Green and Blue were happy to leave their pilots to it and walk next to Ed. Pidge must've gotten the answers she wanted because she and Lance were now mucking around a bit; Lance ruffling Pidge's hair and Pidge was trying to push him off her.
When they got to the secondary training room, Pidge and Green immediately set out to explore it. Since Blue, Lance and Ed had already seen it, they let them be. Pidge immediately found the control room, which wasn't a deck like the primary training room but a side room and went through the system this room had. Green found the weapons stash, food and water alcove and locker room, all of which was the same as the primary training rooms. Lance and Blue hung back with Ed and they chattered about random things while waiting for Pidge and Green to get their inquisitive natures satisfied.
"It looks like the system is set up very similar to the main training rooms. You've messed with it a little bit though, haven't you?" Pidge asked once she was standing with them.
"Yeah, I needed more of a gun range than what the other room has so I fiddled with the system until I got something I could use." Lance admitted, and Pidge looked impressed, something that caused Lance to flush.
"Well, you did a really good job. I did fix a couple of bugs that had appeared but I'm sure those were from the fact that the Castle-ship sat for thousands of years with no one running system checks on it. I'm still finding bugs in other systems." Pidge told him, sounding and looking annoyed at the fact there were still glitches in the systems. She shook herself slightly and faced Ed. "So, what's the plan?" She asked, and Ed frowned as he tried to come up with a training plan.
"Okay. What I want to do first up is get a feel for your hand-to-hand skillset, so you guys are going to spar with me, one at a time. Then I want you guys to pair up against me. We'll see what happens after that." Ed said decisively. "It'll strictly be hand-to-hand so no bayards or Lions for you and I won't be using my alchemy." He told them and heard the Lions whine about not being allowed to fight.
"Are you sure?" Lance asked, not comfortable with the idea of them teaming up on him. Ed smirked.
"If you guys manage to take me down, I'd be extremely impressed." Ed told them, a touch cockily. Pidge and Lance looked at each other then back at Edward who could see his words had the effect he wanted. They'd accepted his challenge. "Who wants to go first?" Ed asked, and Pidge immediately put her hand up.
They moved further into the room and took up fighting stances before Ed remembered something and held his hand up to stop her from proceeding. He could feel the Lions questioning looks from where he was standing. "I don't have to ask the room to do anything if it's just us sparring, right?" He asked the young girl.
"No. You only need to ask it if you plan on using the gladiators or its other systems." She told him and he nodded before getting back into his fighting stance. She followed suit and they waited for a few seconds before Ed nodded and Pidge made the first move.
Ed could tell immediately that Pidge was one to think through her moves up until a certain point when she let her frustration at not having won yet get the best of her and caused her fighting to become sloppier. She wasn't afraid to use her size to her advantage and constantly aimed to take his legs out from under him. She almost succeeded the first time but Ed turned it into a flip and was back on his feet, aiming a fist at her gut, which she dodged beautifully.
They reached the point in the fight where Pidge's frustration overtook her logical thinking and Ed was quick to get through her almost-frantic moves before knocking her down and placing the tips of his automail fingers to her throat, like he would his blade tip. Her eyes widened, and he held her there for a few seconds before helping her up.
"Your turn, Lance." Ed called, deciding to keep his thoughts on the fight until he'd taken on both Paladins. Pidge went and grabbed two water pouches before sitting where Lance had been standing to watch them while Lance made his way over to Ed. "You ready?" Ed asked and Lance gave him a nod.
"I'm not fantastic at hand-to-hand. Shiro and Keith have been helping me though." Lance told him as he shifted his stance into one Shiro had showed him. Ed nodded.
"Well, come at me with everything you've got. The whole reason we're doing this is so I get the best idea of what the two of you are like so I know what I need to do to cover any weaknesses if we're ever in a situation where I need to." Ed told him, falling back into his own fighting stance. "Whenever you're ready." He nodded and Lance took a deep breath before releasing it slowly.
Lance didn't move for half a second but when he did, Ed wasn't expecting him to be so quick. He was immediately put on the defensive and Lance's moves were confident and sure. Ed blocked his moves as best he could, considering his fighting style wasn't something he'd ever come across. Shiro and Keith must know different fighting styles than what's in Amestris. Ed kept up his defensive stance until he spotted an opportunity when Lance used a move that went wide and Ed grabbed his arm to swing him further off balance before going on the offensive.
Ed was quick to figure out Lance's main problem with hand-to-hand. He had no confidence and was constantly second guessing himself when he was on the defensive. He paid too much attention to trying to figure out Ed's next move and not enough to trying to exploit any openings Ed gave him and Ed gave him plenty of opportunities to so. After Lance missed the fourth opening Ed left, Ed decided to end the fight so he could move them on to the two-on-one fight. When Lance threw a wild punch, Lance grabbed him by the arm, flipped him over his shoulder and twisted as Lance thudded to the ground so he ended with his knee on the Blue Paladin's chest and his automail hand poised at his throat. He held the position for a few seconds, so Lance realised he'd lost, before helping the Blue Paladin to his feet.
"Go get some water then you and Pidge can join me over here once more." Ed told him and Lance nodded, frowning to himself but doing as Ed said. Ed watched as Pidge offered Lance the second pouch she had grabbed earlier and he took it with a smile and ruffled his friend's hair in thanks. She shoved his hand off her, like she was annoyed, but Ed could see her happy smile. Blue and Green were still sitting in the same spot they'd been since Pidge had walked over for her spar with Ed, watching their pilots happily.
It didn't take Lance long to finish his water pouch and soon he and Pidge were throwing their rubbish away. As they headed to where Ed was still standing, both gave their Lion a scratch in between their ears which Ed knew they loved because he could feel them purring in his head. In no time, Pidge and Lance were in their fighting stances while facing Ed.
"The goal for this is for me to see how the two of you fight together when you don't have the rest of your team backing you up. If I know how the two of you cover each other, I know how to cover any of your weaknesses. Over the next few training sessions, I'm hoping you will figure out my weaknesses and cover them." He saw Lance and Pidge look at each other with confusion and snorted. "Yes, I have weaknesses in my fighting style. The reason my brother and I are damn near unbeatable is because we know each other's strengths and weaknesses better than we know our own. While we won't be quite as good as that considering our limited time, I'm hoping we will still be a force to be reckoned with." Ed told them, falling into his fighting stance once more. He gave them a nod and, after sharing a look, they both moved.
Pidge went low while Lance went high and Ed grinned as he danced out of their reach. They didn't let the failed attack discourage them but kept pushing him. They got a couple of blows in, reopening his split lip, but he paid them back. Pidge had a small cut just above her left eyebrow and Lance was sporting a slightly bloodied nose. Ed was constantly switching between defensive and offensive styles thanks to how well they worked together and Ed was delighted to find that Pidge wasn't getting frustrated as easily and Lance hadn't lost his confidence, despite the fact that this fight was lasting longer than the previous ones.
Pidge and Lance were still going strong, despite the bruises they were accumulating and repaying in kind when Ed managed to, completely by chance, gain the upper hand and win the fight. When Pidge attacked next, Ed grabbed her and turned her into a hostage, left hand gripping her upper arm and forcing her back against his chest while his automail was, once again, poised against her throat. Lance immediately stopped and held his hands up in surrender. After a few seconds, Ed released her and the session was ended.
"Okay. Let's get some water and sit down so I can talk with you guys about what I thought." Ed said, huffing a little as he caught his breath.
They grabbed some water pouches and Ed created two dishes from the floor so they could give Blue and Green some water when they expressed they were thirsty. Ed gave the two of them cursory look overs as they drank and found no other injuries than the superficial ones he could see. Once they'd all drained their water pouches and the Lions had drunk their fill, Ed sat up straighter so he could talk to the Paladins.
"Okay, so we'll start with you, Pidge." He said and Pidge nodded, pushing her glasses further up the bridge of her nose as she leant forward, interested in what he had to say. "You're a quick fighter. You're not afraid to use your size to your advantage and aim for the legs or lower half of your opponent, which most people don't expect in a fight. You're smart and you use that to your advantage as well however you started losing the moment you let your frustration get the better of you. As soon as you felt like you should have won against me and hadn't yet, you grew frustrated and that turned your fighting sloppy and almost desperate. You have got to keep a cool head while fighting someone. I won't say to not let your emotions get the best of you because that would be very hypocritical of me and emotions can be useful in a fight but you can't let those emotions dictate how you fight." He told her and Pidge looked annoyed at herself but nodded.
"Don't worry, Gremlin. I know you'll be kicking all of our arses in no time now that you know." Lance assured her, squeezing her shoulder. She shoved him and he fell sideways with a bark of laughter into Blue's side before sitting up straight to see what Ed had to say about him.
"Lance, you are a very capable fighter. I was nearly hard-pressed trying to get the upper hand in our spar. Granted, some of that was because you fight in a way that I have no training against but the way you blocked me tells me it was the same for you. Am I right?" He asked.
"Yeah, no one on the team fights like you and I haven't fought an alien species who fight like you either." Lance told him and Ed nodded.
"Well, it showed." Ed told him and saw Lance's face crumple minutely. "The fact that you held yourself against me for as long and as well as you did is definite proof that you are far better than you think." Ed told him, voice 100% honest. "That's actually part of the problem I noticed though. Once the tables were turned and I got the upper hand, you lost all confidence in your skillset. You focused so much on trying to figure out what I was going to do that you never focused on yourself and making sure you didn't leave any openings I could use. You also missed several openings I purposefully left for you to exploit. Using any one of those would have won you the match but you missed them." He took a breath before wrapping up his observations. "You have to have more confidence in yourself. Trust yourself even when you think you've lost because, like I said, you've got the skillset and you're very good at using it. Focus is good but hyper-focus, especially on the wrong thing, is not." He told him and Lance looked stunned.
"I think that's the first time someone's told me to stop focusing on something so much." He chuckled, a little humourlessly. Pidge nudged him and gave his arm a small squeeze. "I'll do my best." He told Ed and Ed could tell he meant it.
"Good. Because if you become as good at hand-to-hand as I think you will, you'd be near unstoppable." Ed told him. He never gave him a chance to say anything before moving on. "Having said that, you two were nearly a dream team during the last sparring session. You balanced each other out well enough. Pidge, you never let your frustration get the best of you and you two were so good at keeping me from gaining the upper hand for too long that it never affected your confidence, Lance. The only reason I won that spar was because of luck." That seemed to surprise Pidge and Lance.
"Seriously?" Lance asked and Ed nodded.
"Yup. I got the win because of luck. Sometimes that's all it comes down to in a fight." Ed told them before clapping his hands together. "So, I know what you two are like by yourselves and what you're like when you're teamed up against someone and you guys know what I fight like so let's move on. We'll use the gladiators for now but we'll alternate between using your bayards and my alchemy, no bayards or alchemy, Lance as a sniper while Pidge and I fight with and without her bayard or my alchemy, Lions and no Lions and solo or paired fighting while the others sit out. How does that sound?" He asked, genuinely wanting to know their thoughts. If they didn't think it was a good idea, they'd likely not get anywhere.
"Sounds like we better get started." Lance said as he stood up, dragging Pidge with him. Ed blinked at the enthusiasm and the sudden appearance of two distinctly different hands in front of him. Grabbing both, he felt himself being hauled to his feet by both his team mates, who each had big grins on their faces.
"What do you want to start with?" Pidge asked as they headed to the middle of the room again. The Lions followed hopefully.
"Well, since we're all here, why don't the five of us do a few levels together? No weapons or alchemy for this one." Ed said, side-eyeing the Lions with a smirk. The happiness that radiated off them could have been felt by anyone even if they weren't bonded with them. "If one of you can get the thing to do the thing like Shiro did, that'd be nice." Ed asked, making Pidge and Lance laugh before Lance got himself together.
"Training sequence: level 12" Lance called out and a musical tone sang out, slightly different to the one in the other training room. The gladiators, near a dozen, were brought up and their eyes lit up to indicate they were online and ready. "Begin training sequence: level 12." Lance called out and the gladiators moved towards them. Ed grinned as they rushed forward and the fight started in earnest. Blue and Green weren't afraid to use each other as springboards to take on gladiators and no one else held back.
Despite having no alchemy or weapons, they demolished the level quickly and Ed nodded for them to keep going when the voice asked. Pidge gave the go-ahead and more gladiators replaced the remains of the last lot. They took on another two levels before Edward decided to switch it up.
"Use your bayards. I'll use my blade." Ed said, swiping his hand across his automail arm and creating his blade. Lance and Pidge summoned their bayards and Lance called for the level to start. They destroyed the level in record time and soon had another four levels done before Ed called for a break after seeing Pidge and Lance slowing down a little.
After ten minutes of rest, they were back at it. They moved through a dozen different levels with various changes before long and by the time Allura came over the speakers with the warning of dinner fast approaching, they'd made it through nearly 27 levels in total. The warning said they had half a varga, something Ed frowned out and looked at the Paladins in hopes they'd clear it up.
"About half an hour." Pidge told him and Ed made an 'ah' of understanding.
"Okay, let's stop with the gladiators for now." Ed said and Lance called out for the system to stop. "I have an idea, as long as Green is agreeable." Ed told them and Green cocked her head questioningly. He spoke with her and she said she was more than happy with the idea and trotted away from the group. Pidge watched her with some confusion and they covered their eyes quickly as she glowed and transformed.
"Why is my Lion in mechanical form?" Pidge asked as they opened their eyes to find that Green was indeed back in her robot form.
"We're gonna climb her." Ed told them. "It's a race to the top." He grinned and matching grins spread across their faces. Blue flicked her tail in annoyance at being left out. "Well, do you think you can climb her in that form?" Ed asked and Blue sulked because, no, she couldn't.
"Sorry, Blue. But if one of us falls, you can laugh at them." Lance told her, trying to cheer her up and it kind of worked, if the slight chuckle was anything to go by.
"What do we win if we get to the top first?" Pidge asked and Ed thought for a moment.
"Bragging rights." Ed said and Pidge and Lance exchanged a look and nodded once. They headed for Green and chose where they were going to start their climb. Looking to make sure they were ready, Ed looked up to his goal. "Go!" He shouted and they didn't waste a second as they started their climb.
Lance and Pidge were on either side of him and they were all pretty much neck and neck before Lance's long arms started giving him the advantage and he soon had the lead. Ed felt Black warn him of their approach and he acknowledged it before getting back to the matter at hand. Risking a glance at each of them when he heard the door swish open, neither Paladin noticed so Ed never said anything. Lance finally pulled himself up onto Green's back and let out a whoop of victory before grinning down at his two team mates. He held a hand out for each of them, which they accepted and he pulled them up so they were with him, grinning like idiots and trying to catch their breath.
"Good job." A voice called from below, causing Lance and Pidge to jump and look down to find Shiro, Mustang and Black standing near Blue. Ed wiped his brow as Shiro called up for them to climb down now.
"Before we go," Ed said, stopping the two Paladins, "you guys need to remember to be aware of your surroundings. You should have heard the door open to let them in." He said and Lance grinned sheepishly while Pidge shuffled where she stood, a little.
"I did hear it. I just didn't think anything of it." Pidge admitted, grinning a little shamefully. Ed rolled his eyes but grinned back at both of them as Green lowered her head so they could get on her nose easier. From there, she lowered her head so they could jump onto her paw then the ground. Ed came out of a neat roll after he jumped from her paw while Pidge and Lance simply leapt. Green glowed and transformed as soon as the last of them were off her and the four of them made their way over to the group.
"So what's up?" Ed asked, raising a brow. Lance and Pidge stopped behind him, looking just as interested in the reason for their presence as Ed, while Green just joined her sisters.
"We came to see how you guys were going." Shiro told them, eyes flicking between their eyes and their small wounds.
"Really?" Ed asked and Mustang butted in to answer before Shiro could.
"Well you do have an uncanny ability to cause massive damage whenever you're left to your own devices for too long." Mustang drawled, standing at parade rest. Ed glared at him.
"Only when it's the military who has to pay for repairs." Ed snipped, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"We're doing good." Lance interjected before the daggers in each of their glares became real. "Ed's been switching up the training every few levels so that we don't get completely dependent on everyone being there to fight." Shiro looked impressed.
"So what happened to you guys?" He asked, pointing at Lance's nose and Pidge's forehead where she had a small cut.
"Oh, we fought Ed two on one. He got in a couple of good hits." Pidge told him as she touched her cut to check if it was still bleeding. Her hand came away clean but she knew Lance would still drag her down to the med bay to clean it out. She was already devising escape plans while everyone talked around her.
"They held their own against me well." Ed told Shiro, who looked rather proud of them. "If you ever need to send a pair out on a mission, these two would do well together." Lance's cocky 'you know it' grin was slightly ruined by the flush crawling up his neck at the praise.
"What did you mean when you said Ed switched up the training?" Shiro asked, his curiosity about that getting the better of him.
"Oh, he just changed certain things every few levels so we had to adapt." Pidge told him. "So we started the session with the five of us fighting together but with no weapons. A few levels later, we added weapons. After that, Ed and the Lions left then Green re-joined us. So Ed essentially had every possible combination of our team fight a few levels together." She said and Shiro glanced at Ed.
"It's possible the witch might get the drop on one or two of us so we needed to learn how to fight together if that happened." Ed shrugged a shoulder. For a reason the three of them couldn't figure, Mustang looked victorious while Shiro looked like he'd just had something proven to him.
"So, climbing Green?" Shiro asked and Ed ruffled said Lions ears.
"Warm down. We heard the announcement that dinner was soon and I figured it was a fun way to finish up this session. Thankfully, Green was agreeable." Ed told them. For the first time since they'd climbed down from Green, Ed gave them a once over. "What did you guys do? Neither of you look injured or like you were in much of a fight." Ed cocked his head slightly as he waited for a response.
"Well, we went through the gladiator levels, like you, but we focused more on working together as a complete team than anything else." Shiro said. "I did have it pointed out that we should consider training without one or two members of the team as well." He admitted and Ed gave Mustang an approving look.
"Paladins, alchemists, Hunk would like me to tell you that dinner is ten dobashes away. Please cease all training and make your way to the dining area." Allura requested over the Castle's system. Shiro sighed before heading for the door with Black.
"I'm gonna go wrangle Keith and Red. You guys head to the dining room." He said, waiting for Lance and Pidge's nods before disappearing through the doorway.
The rest of them did as they were told and made their way to the dining room. Both Blue and Green decided they were in the lead while Ed walked with Lance and Pidge and Mustang brought up the rear.
Mustang was mostly quiet during the walk, happy to watch Ed interact with the teenagers he was walking with. In the years Mustang had known his youngest subordinate, he'd never witnessed him around people his own age, Alphonse and Winry being the exception. Being around adults for his military career meant he was always trying to prove he wasn't a kid. He, as far as Mustang knew, never let himself act his age, especially not after the Nina Tucker tragedy. The only times he ever let himself act somewhat child-like were whenever Winry or Alphonse decided to tease him good-naturedly.
Here, however, it seemed Ed was far more lax about keeping his adult act up in front of everyone, even Mustang. Mustang had heard from Shiro about how Ed had acted when he first turned up and how his 'I'm not here to make friends' attitude had slowly turned around after Keith and Ed had spoken when Ed worked on the Lions and had practically done a 180 after Lance had patched up his hand after the incident with Yellow. But watching the younger alchemist now, it was almost like watching what his life could have been if he were just a normal teenager. Mustang felt a hot ball of guilt roil in his gut as he realised he had a major hand in preventing that.
Almost like he could sense Mustang's thoughts, Ed looked back at him, eyes concerned and questioning, but Mustang only shook his head and offered what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Ed didn't look overly convinced though, if the small frown he responded with was anything to go by, but he let himself get distracted by something Lance was telling him, Pidge fighting to get his attention at the same time. By the time they'd made it to the dining room, Mustang had managed to bury those thoughts in the same place he buried every other unpleasant thought he'd ever had.
"Oh good. You guys are just in time." Hunk called from the kitchen as they passed by. The four of them doubled back and headed into the kitchen to see whether Hunk needed any help. "Lance and Pidge, can you grab plates and stuff? Go set the table?" He nodded to where he had placed the cutlery they needed and Lance and Pidge did as they were asked with minimal muttering and a lot of friendly shoving and hip-checking. Hunk rolled his eyes at them before turning to the two remaining people in the kitchen. "Can you guys grab a dish or two each please? Just follow those two idiots to the dining room." Ed snorted as he grabbed two dishes containing the weirdest looking food he'd ever seen. Mustang grabbed a large bowl containing what he believed was salad but he'd never eaten a salad that looked as colourful as this one.
"WE HEARD THAT!" Came Lance's shout from the other room and Hunk gave a 'what can you do' shrug when Ed looked at him.
"Are you alright with the rest of it?" Ed asked, eyeing up the last of the dishes and Hunk nodded.
"Yup. Yellow had decided she's helping me with the rest of it." The Yellow Lion purred affirmatively and Hunk scratched her behind the ear affectionately. "I'll be there in a minute with the last of it." Hunk promised and Ed nodded. He and Mustang left the room to find Green and Blue in the hallway, watching through the open dining room door, amusement clearly etched on their faces.
"What's going on?" Ed asked as he approached them.
"They're having a race to see who can set the table quicker. Lance is winning but Pidge keeps messing up what he's done so he must go back and he's repaying her the favour. Now it's a full out war." Blue told him, amusement etched into her voice while Green laughed at her dramatics.
"While I am all for friendly competition, I'm hungry and I can't eat if there's a war in the dining room. Do you want to separate them or me?" Ed asked, shifting his grip on the dishes as he waited for the Lions to make their decisions.
"No. I think we've got this." Green told him, mischief in her voice that made Ed decide he needed to see what they meant as both Lions raced into the dining room.
Lance and Pidge let out very un-Paladin like shrieks when they saw Blue and Green streak towards them. Ed had to admit that if he saw larger-than-normal lions of any colour running at him, he probably would let out some kind of undignified noise as well. Ed watched as Blue and Green tackled their pilot to the ground and rested their front legs and head on them to keep them pinned.
"Alright. We've got them. It's safe to bring the food in now." Blue told him and Ed gestured for Mustang to head into the room just as Hunk and Yellow emerged from the kitchen, each carrying a dish of food.
"Is everything okay? I thought I heard someone scream." Hunk asked as he approached and, judging from her amusement, Ed could tell Yellow already knew but hadn't told her human.
"Oh yeah. Everything is all good." Ed said as he walked through the door to place his burden onto the table. Hunk still looked worried but that promptly changed when he rounded the corner and saw both of his friends still pinned to the ground by their Lions. He started laughing so hard that he barely managed to get the food he was carrying on the table before he dropped it. He calmed down only to start all over again when he caught sight of Lance's betrayed expression at the lack of help coming from his best friend.
"What happened here?" Black's amused voice sounded in Ed's head and he turned to see Black, Shiro, Red and Keith standing there in the doorway and watching the scene in front of them with entertained expressions. Blue and Green made no move to hop up, despite their Paladins attempts to push them off.
"Ask Blue or Green. We were only here for the takedown, not what led up to it." Ed told her while Keith and Shiro headed over to the table. Shiro was shaking head while Keith was smirking at Lance and both sat at the table rather than help, having worked out it was probably the two Paladins own fault for being in this situation to start with. Black must've have done as Ed suggested because she started chuckling as she walked past Ed to rub up against him before settling next to Shiro. Red stared Ed down until the blonde realised it was the hot-tempered Lion's way of asking him to sit next to his pilot. Ed raised his brow slightly but did as he was told. Allura and Coran walked in just as Blue and Green both released their Paladins. Neither commented on the scene; they just took their seats and waited for Lance and Pidge to pick themselves up off the ground and situate themselves at the table.
"Thank you for dinner, Hunk. This looks delicious." Allura said, dipping her head in Hunks direction.
"It was no problem, Allura. I'm not sure what it actually is but it kind of tastes like spaghetti carbonara and fish." He pointed to the two dishes Ed had brought in. "The other dishes are sides. There's something like a typical garden salad, that jelly stuff kinda tastes like roast potato and that one over there is some sort of buttery, asparagus tasting thing." Hunk explained, pointing to each of the dishes he was describing. Ed and Mustang's faces would've made everyone, except the Alteans, laugh if they had have seen them before they managed to school their faces into more neutral expressions.
"I noticed that both of the training rooms were in use. May I ask why?" Allura asked once everyone had piled their plates up with the food they wanted. The Lions had decided to try a bit of everything and were paying no attention to anything that was going on around them.
"We realised we couldn't train together as one unit because Zarkon and Haggar wouldn't wait for us to finish with one of them before moving onto the other. We needed two teams to strike both simultaneously in order to better our chances of winning this war." Shiro explained. Everyone else busied themselves with their dinners, happy to leave the talking up to the boss. "Since Edward was sent here to fight Haggar, we agreed he was to lead the team who are facing Haggar. He asked to have Lance and Pidge on his team so we separated into the chosen teams and trained so we could get used to being in those teams." Shiro finished speaking and took the chance Allura's silence gave him to eat.
"That is very clever. May I ask why you chose Lance and Pidge for your team, Edward?" Allura looked at the blonde, who in turn looked slightly offended on behalf of his team. Allura noticed. "Please don't get me wrong. They are excellent Paladins and would benefit any team they were on. I am merely curious about why you chose them over the others." She soothed any ruffled feathers Ed might have had.
"They were the best choices. Lance because of his sniper skills. Not to mention he's rather good in hand-to-hand if he's forced to fight that way. I asked Pidge because she's small. She can use that to her advantage and there is a chance Haggar will underestimate her because of her size."
"You're used to that, aren't you, Fullmetal?" Mustang couldn't help himself, smirking his usual smirk. Ed nearly fell for the bait but a loud snarl coming from at least two Lions had Mustang jump nearly a foot in his chair and caused Ed to cackle at him.
"That's what you get for interrupting, bastard." Ed laughed as Mustang scowled at the Lions he could see. Ed turned back Allura, who was looking only slightly stunned at the Lions behaviour. "The other reason I asked Pidge is because of her weapon. She can use it to electrocute people with whatever voltage she chooses. I figured if Lance or I fell under Haggar's control or spell, she could shock us out of it or, at the very least, shock Haggar so much the spell breaks." Ed told her, finishing up the last of the food on his plate once he'd done so.
"That is very clever thinking. Yes, the electrical current should be enough to disrupt her magic." Allura looked at Coran for his thoughts and the royal adviser fiddled with the end of his orange mustache as he leaned back in his chair.
"Yes. I do believe you have chosen the most effective Paladins to have on your team to help you face that witch. I don't know much about alchemy - only what I've observed when King Alfor or Honerva performed it - but I have noticed that Number 5's bayard has been most effective against other alien species who specialise in what you might classify as 'magic'." Coran told him, nodding enthusiastically as he spoke. "I believe you were most clever in creating a team, young Edward!" He boomed, grinning broadly.
"Uh, thanks." Ed managed to get out without sounding completely taken aback by the enthusiasm coming from the orange-haired alien. Coran beamed at him in response and Allura decided to move the conversation along.
"Well, I would be most pleased if you would tell me how your training went and what your plans are for the time we have left." Allura inquired and Shiro and Ed exchanged looks.
"You first." Ed said, pointing his fork at him before helping himself to more food. Mustang looked him with amusement, completely used to this kind of behaviour. Lance, Pidge, Keith and Hunk all dug into their food, grinning around mouthfuls, so Shiro was left to discuss his teams plans with Allura.
Allura listened politely to Shiro's plans for his team, not saying a word until he finished speaking before voicing her opinions and concerns. Soon they delved into a proper talk, devising an actual plan for them to follow and working through any kinks that came up. Mustang was impressed with how well and efficiently they worked together and glanced over at Ed with a pointed look that the blonde simply rolled his eyes at before focusing back on his food. Mustang was soon drawn into the conversation when Allura asked for his opinion and eventually Keith and Hunk were asked for their thoughts before the conversation finally wrapped up with everyone happy with the training plans.
"What about your team, Edward?" Allura asked finally, drawing Ed's attention from the conversation he'd been drawn into with his team members. Blue, Yellow and Green had been enthusiastically ignoring them in favour for trying to distract Black and Red from the conversation between their Paladins and the princess but they did look up when they heard Ed's name.
"Uh, kinda figured we'd go in the same direction we'd been going today. Maybe join up with the others for a training session or two in case the seven of us, plus the lions, have to fight together. Other than that, didn't really have a plan." Ed shrugged, seemingly unconcerned while Allura looked rather concerned.
"Fullmetal is much more of a 'go with the flow' kind of person. He doesn't do well with people trying to tell him what to do and if you try and make him follow a plan, he will ignore you and do things his way anyway so there really is no point in coming up with a training plan for his team." Mustang intervened before Allura could voice her well-meaning concerns with Ed's lack of a plan.
"He's speaking from experience." Ed told her, completely unoffended by Mustang's words. "I think it took nearly eight months of me completely ignoring any plans he wanted me to follow and getting the job done better." He said.
"I can vaguely recall a mission where a church burned down unnecessarily because you ignored my plan and got yourself thrown through the church window, scaring the parishioners in there so much they fled before your target followed you in. You then fought each other which resulted in the candles being knocked over and setting the church on fire. Had you not managed to knock the criminal out and Alphonse not managed to get inside, you both would've been killed." Mustang reminded him and Ed looked completely unashamed.
"If I'd followed your plan, he and I would have been slugging it out in the middle of town with hundreds of people nearby. By getting myself thrown into the church, I was able to scare anyone inside away so they weren't in immediate danger and I had the freedom needed to be able to kick his arse without risking innocent civilians. Setting the church on fire had the added benefit that only Al would risk coming back inside." Ed said in the same tone Mustang had just used. Lance did well at playing off his amused snort as a sneeze. Mustang couldn't come up with anything to say in his own defence and Ed snorted at his silence.
"I see." Allura said slowly before nodded sharply to herself. "Well, I trust you will be able to take full advantage of these training sessions and that you won't hesitate to ask myself or Shiro for any help, should you require it." She had learned the hard way from Shiro and the others that, sometimes, leaving people to work in their own way will produce more positive results than the way you think they do it.
"Of course, Miss Allura." Ed agreed easily.
"Oh, so you'll agree to ask help from her but not your boss?" Mustang asked disbelievingly.
"Well, you see, the difference here is that I actually have no problems with her orders or requests." Ed told him. "Also, annoying you is just so much fun." He told him, grinning widely. This time, Lance couldn't stop his laughter.
"Oh man, I really wanna introduce you to Iverson." Lance said, voice breathy as he tried to control his laughter. His comment made Pidge and Hunk burst into laughter while Keith fought to keep anything more than an amused smile off his face. Shiro looked more amused with their amusement than the comment.
"I think Iverson might have an aneurysm if he was ever in the same room as Ed." Pidge cackled gleefully enough that Mustang was concerned about this Iverson. Ed was looking torn between bemusement and smugness at what they were saying.
"Why exactly do you want Commander Iverson to have an aneurysm because of Edward?" Shiro asked and Lance, Pidge and Hunk all looked at him like they'd just had the same realisation.
"Gracias a Dios." Lance swore softly, his eyes opened slightly wider than normal. Ed perked up at the unknown language that sounded kinda like Cretan. "We've never actually told you stories from when we were in the Garrison, did we?" Lance asked, looking at Hunk and Pidge for answers but both shook their heads.
"What's the Garrison?" Ed asked, leaning forward interestedly. His question caused Lance to look even more aghast.
"We have deprived you people long enough of stories from our time in the Garrison." Lance informed them, hand over his heart, and Hunk rolled his eyes fondly, an action that Lance saw. "Leave me to my dramatics, Hunk." Lance pointed a finger at the bigger boy, causing him to raise his hands in surrender. Ed noticed that Keith also rolled his eyes fondly at the caramel-skinned boy but no one brought that up. Red nudged Keith's leg and the teasing words Ed could sense caused Keith to scowl at his Lion. Lance turned back to the group and leaned back in his chair comfortably, one arm resting on the back of the chair as he faced everyone as best as he could. "To answer your question, Ed, the Garrison is a school that Hunk, Pidge and I attended together. Keith was there as well but he was kicked out a few months before we found Blue and Shiro graduated from the Garrison as one of their top pilots. He disappeared about a year before Keith was kicked out and his reappearance was what ended up drawing us all together and leading us to Blue."
"What kind of school teaches people to be pilots of giant mechanical Lions?" Ed asked and Lance shook his head.
"No, there are no ships in existence on Earth that come even slightly close to the Lions." Lance told him. "The Galaxy Garrison is a military organisation that has a school people on Earth can apply to attend. It specialises in training it's most promising cadets to become astroexplorers, or space explorers. Hunk, Pidge and I were a team in the cargo program before being moved up to fighter program when Keith dropped out." Lance told him and something clicked for both Ed and Mustang.
"Hence the nickname you three went by in your race against Shiro and Keith?" Mustang asked and Lance nodded, happy they'd made the connection so quickly.
"So, who is Iverson?" Ed asked curiously. Pidge took the chance to answer.
"So, Iverson was our commanding officer. Kinda like Mustang is to you except think 'teacher'." Ed looked horrified at the thought of Mustang trying to teach anyone. Mustang looked offended at his horror. "He was also kind of a dick." Pidge told them and Ed could see more of a connection.
"Language!" Shiro reprimanded and everyone could see Pidge choose to ignore him.
"She isn't wrong." Keith grumbled from where he was sitting next to Ed and Shiro gave him a look that told him that was besides the point.
"She really isn't." Hunk said, causing Shiro to give him the same look.
"Calling him a 'dick' is us being nice." Lance pointed out and Shiro looked like he wanted to throw his hands in the air, in defeat. Mustang had a niggling feeling that he really shouldn't leave Edward alone with the three youngest Paladins. "But back to the stories we're supposed to regaling you with!" Lance exclaimed, clapping his hands together gleefully. "I guess we should probably start with our first day at the Garrison. So, Hunk and I have been best friends since we were about ten and we applied for and were accepted by the Garrison at the same time. So, we walked through the front doors, bags in our hands, eyes filled with innocence and wonder- "
"Oh my god." Hunk laughed under his breath as he listened to his best friend. His story telling certainly had the effect he knew Lance was aiming for. Everyone, even Keith, looked relaxed and amused; the final fight against the Galra and Haggar no longer weighing on everyone as they listened to Lance recall their first day at the Garrison with a lot of dramatic flair. As he moved on from the first time they walked into their room to the first time he'd noticed Keith (he'd been scowling so much that he'd practically had a cartoony storm cloud following him, according to Lance), Hunk was pleased to that even Allura's shoulders lowered a little as her tension bled away slowly the more Lance spoke -Hunk pitching in with a comment or embarrassing detail that had Lance flush every now and then - and that Coran's eyes no longer held so much worry and anxiety in them. He was happy to lean back, one arm around Yellow's neck, and listen to his best friend wash everyone's worry and fear slowly away.
A/N - Here's chapter 10 for you lovely people! Thank you to everyone who has left me a comment telling my what they thought to the last chapter and the story as a whole. I would absolutely love to hear what you thought to this chapter as well! Before anyone asks, however, there will not be a meeting between Iverson and Ed unfortunately. However, I could be persuaded to maybe write a one-shot of them meeting in a 'what-if' sort of story, if there's enough interest. Anywho, thank you once again to everyone who has stuck with this story for so long and please tell me what you think to the latest chapter? See you next week!