Whoo! Chapter ten! Wow! I'm so happy to have made it this far. Sorry about the weird sporadic updates, but I write all of my stuff out by hand before typing it up, and with that I'm about six chapters ahead from where we are now in the story. Hope you guys still like it!

Sorry if the timeline the boys are on seems weird, but there is a lot of information in the series they don't know about till later so I just sort of consolidated it. It just worked better for character development and stuff.

Welcome to Hell: Chapter Ten

Stairs

The next morning found Alphonse in the highest of high spirits. Apparently, the spell had worked its magic. He very nearly sprang up from his bed. Before his muscles had been sore, and the fatigue of nights without sleeping well had taken their toll on him, but all of that was gone now.

Ed was out cold, face planted on the open notebook. A small puddle of drool pooled on the bottom left corner, smearing the ink onto his face. He hadn't slept in days. Al smiled and let him be, his big brother deserved some rest.

Feeling independent with his newfound energy, Al set off for the kitchen on his own. Walking at an easy pace was natural now, and he made it to the top of the stairs without issue.

There weren't that many stairs, not really. Twelve little steeps, he counted, that was it. He could do this. Ed didn't think he was ready for stairs, but he wasn't letting Alphonse really push himself. This was his chance to show his brother that he wasn't made of glass.

One step at a time, he decided. Grabbing firmly onto the rail, Alphonse took a deep breath and focused on moving his right leg. Up, then down, down gently, to the first step. Shift his weight down on the foot a little. He wobbled a bit, knees shaking at the distribution of weight. Leaning heavily on the rail, he stabilized. This wasn't so bad. The left leg followed with just as much care until he stood on the first step. Right again, grip the rail, and then the left. He was actually doing it! It was a little exhausting, but he was making it down the stairs on his own. Five more steps. No problem. Right leg, grab the rail and-

"Whoah!" Thunk thunk thunk! His leg slipped from beneath him and slid down the carpet steps. Luckily he had a firm grip on the railing and didn't go sliding down with his leg. Instead he fell back onto the step he was standing on with a thud. His tailbone was a little sore, but he was okay.

"Please tell me no one saw that," he groaned out loud.

"Sorry to disappoint you." The voice came from behind him, and he squeaked.

"Oh. Buffy. You scared me."

"I sometimes have that effect on people." She smiled and adjusted her faded pink bathrobe. "You need some help?"

Al struggled to pull himself back up, but only resulted in sliding down another step. "Yeah, kinda." He smiled shyly.

"No problem." She climbed down the steps, hauled him up, continued down the stairs, and into the kitchen before setting him down on a stool.

"You don't have to do that much for me." He mumbled. "I can walk."

"But you need breakfast." The Slayer reasoned. "So you can get your strength back, 'cause I'm not helping you on the way back up." She poured herself a cup of coffee and made him a glass of milk.

"How are you, Al?"

"Much better now. Miss Willow's spell-"

"That's not what I mean." Her gaze pierced him from across the kitchen.

Al stared in confusion. "I don't know what you-"

"Are you covering for him?"

"Covering? I don't-"

"I know you love him, Al. He is your brother after all. But did he do this to you?"

"What? No!"

"Because he sure seems to be sorry about something."

"You don't understand-"

"What did he do to you?"

"Nothing!"

"Was it for his research? For alchemy?"

"How dare you even think-"

"I just want to help you-"

"You can help by leaving it alone!" his hands slammed against the countertop. "I know that none of this makes sense to you but you just have to trust me that the state I am in now is a good thing. It's so wonderful I can hardly believe it. My brother and I are on a journey to fix a mistake we made a long time ago. Ed doesn't think I have any blame in any of the things that have happened to us. He put all of it on himself, but we are equally at fault. That's why he apologizes all the time. At the Gate, I gave up everything so we could fix things, and now, I am slowly getting it back." His breathing was hard and his head spun from standing so suddenly.

They were both silent for a moment before Al spoke again. "I'm sorry I blew up like that. People always assume things about my brother and it makes me angry. He really is a good person. He would never hurt me, ever. Not even unintentionally."

"No, Al, I'm sorry." Buffy sighed. "I just had to be sure. That wasn't very nice of me. I'm glad that you are okay."

"Alphonse? Al!" It was Edward yelling from the bedroom.

"I'm down here, Ed!" Al rolled his eyes and called out.

"Wow. He's kind of overprotective."

"Tell me about it. And he's the one always busting up his- busting himself up."

They heard feet pounding down the stairs. Ed skidded into the kitchen. His hair had fallen out of its customary braid and was sticking out at odd angles. Al had to suppress a giggle. Part of Ed's notes were tattooed onto the side of his face. There was a practice array along with some indecipherable scribbles.

"I woke up and you were gone!" Wild golden eyes scanned his body for any sign of injury.

"You haven't slept well and I didn't want to wake you up."

"How did you get down here?"

Al blushed. "Well, um-"

"I found him down here just a minute ago." Buffy cut in. "He made it down here just fine."

"That's dangerous, Al. What if you had fallen?"

"I'm not going to break, brother."

"Yeah, I know." Ed sighed and ran a hand through tangled locks.

"Even then you babied me."

"Well you-"

"I'm never going to get better it I never try, Edward."

"Why are you always right?" Ed sighed. "Fine, big guy, we will step up your training." He poured himself a mug of coffee and downed it.

"It's beautiful, by the way." Al turned to Buffy.

"What?"

"Your house. I've only been in the guest room this whole time so I haven't really seen your house yet, but it's a nice place. It feels homey."

"Um thanks, I guess."

"It reminds me of Lieutenant Colonel- I mean, Brigadier General Hughes' home."

Buffy and Al both jump when the mug Ed had been holding in his right hand shattered. Little shards of ceramic scattered all over the countertop.

"Are you alright?" Buffy looked concerned.

"Yeah," Ed bit out, letting the rest of the mug join the other broken pieces. "I'm going out for a walk." He stormed out the back door, hopped the back fence, and was gone.

"Edward!" Al called, but it was too late. He was gone.

"What's wrong?"

"Mr. Hughes is- was- a very dear friend of ours. He died- was killed by- a homunculus. Envy. His death was very hard on everyone, especially Ed and the Colonel. I just forgot for a moment that- that he was gone. It's still fresh for everyone. Your home just reminds me of his in Central. His wife and daughter are still there. I-I miss them a lot. And him." He sniffed. He was doing an awful lot of crying lately.

Buffy reached out and put a hand on top of his. "I'm sorry for your loss. It never gets easier to lose people you care about. The pain it brings shocks me every time."

With those words she left him, and Al sat at the kitchen counter for a long time, staring at nothing, and wishing that the hole in his heart wasn't so damn painful.