Al: Hey, Brother, I get to be in the author's note this time!
Ed: Finally! Get me out of this place!
Al: I kinda like it here, Brother!
Kairi Angel: Yeah, Ed. If you leave we can always catch you again. 'Cept we won't give you cake.
Ed: Cake?
AdventureAddict: With chocolate frosting and sprinkles on the inside!
Kairi Angel: And those huge-ass frosting roses.
AdventureAddict: I'm hungry now…
Al: I can't have any of that…
Kairi Angel: -is really a witch that can control time and space and turns Al into a real boy-
Al: I'm a real boy, Brother!
AdventureAddict: Meep! Alphonse-meow-meow! –glomp-
As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.
On wit' da show!
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Chapter Eleven – A Little More About Thomas Korbin
Thomas sighed and slowly readjusted himself in the uncomfortable chair. He had no idea how long he and Ben had been sitting in the hospital waiting room, but it felt like forever. Beside him Ben kept pinching his arm, letting go and then pinching it again.
"Don't do that, Ben," Thomas scolded gently. "You don't want to end up making yourself bleed, do you?" Ben groaned and started squirming in his chair. He was obviously bored, even if he and Thomas were there for his benefit.
"Thomas Korbin?" The woman behind the counter said as she looked up at the two people who were actually in the waiting room. "Doctor Volckhausen says he can see you now."
"Finally," Thomas muttered under his breath before standing up and stretching. "Come on Ben," he said to the young boy next to him, who then sighed and stood up. The woman behind the counter smiled warmly at them and then led them down a hall with multiple doors on either side. At the end of the hall she opened a door to the left and motioned for Thomas and Ben to go in. The two boys walked into the room warily, surprised at the large office.
"I hear that you boys have a rather interesting problem," the doctor behind the desk said, smiling at them warmly. "Why don't you sit down and we'll talk about it?" Thomas gave Ben a small smile before he sat down in the chair.
"So," Doctor Volckhausen said slowly as he crisscrossed his fingers together. "You show up in my office today saying that you need to speak to me immediately but don't have an appointment."
"Yes sir," Thomas mumbled. "Today in town I saw someone who…erm…doesn't like me very much. I think we'll have to leave soon, but I needed to speak to you first. I heard that you were the best with children's disorders."
"Perhaps," Doctor Volckhausen laughed. "Just what type of disorder am I dealing with here?"
"It sounds really weird," Thomas sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "But… he can't feel pain." The doctor thoughtfully rested his elbows on the desk and looked at Ben, who squirmed under the unfamiliar man's gaze.
"If you think that is strange, then you will be very surprised by my story," the doctor laughed slightly. "Believe it or not, we actually once had a patient here with the same condition. She was a young girl, perhaps a year of two older than you," he said with a nod in Ben's direction. "And she was the daughter of some very wealthy parents. They gave me money to find a cure for her, so I worked on it for months. And just when it was ready, the little girl went and drowned on the family's vacation."
"A cure?" Thomas repeated disbelievingly. "You actually have a cure?"
"Yes," the doctor said proudly. "But you do realize it will cost you, right?"
"Of course," Thomas replied absently, his mind still reeling at the thought of an actual cure for Ben. "How much?" Doctor Volckhausen thoughtfully put his hand to his chin.
"Well, some of the ingredients are very expensive," he said slowly, "And we will have to remake the potion since the other one is probably too old… I'd estimate it at about… 18,750,000 sen." (1) Thomas suddenly snapped out of his thoughts at the huge price.
"Eighteen and three-quarters of a million?!" he said in surprise. "But I've only saved up six and one-quarter of a million!" (2)
"Well, isn't that your problem?" Doctor Volckhausen said coolly. "I've named my price, you're the one who has to worry about paying it."
"Bullshit!" Thomas roared, jumping up and banging his fist on the table. "You're a doctor! Aren't doctors supposed to do the same thing as alchemists? Work for the people?!"
"Since when do alchemists actually work for the people?" the doctor said, his voice just as calm as before. "It seems to me like they only want to help themselves."
"Then I guess we haven't been meeting the same alchemists," Thomas spat in reply. Doctor Vockhausen raised one eyebrow in question, and the brown-haired teen continued with a sigh. "Just today a state alchemist got us train tickets to this town, and I know another who may be a little vain about his muscles," Thomas paused for a quick shudder, "But he's still always trying to help the people he thinks are standing up for the right thing. And Roy Mustang would give his own life to protect the lives of the people he cared about!"
"Well, no matter your opinion on state alchemists," the doctor shrugged nonchalantly, "18,750,000 is my offer, and that is where it will stay. Take it, or leave it."
"But how do you expect me to get all that money?" Thomas yelled indignantly. "I can't just raise twelve and a half million sens in a few days!"
"I didn't say you had to get it in a few days," Doctor Volckhausen shrugged as he settled back into his chair. "Bring it to me whenever you like and I'll start on a batch of a cure for your brother. But-" he paused as he looked at the two boys and a smile settled across his features. "I can't guarantee how effective it will be on a child older than I had originally anticipated."
"Bastard," Thomas spat. "All you care about is money. You won't even make a small sacrifice for one little boy." The doctor looked up at Thomas calmly, without even a hint of shame for his feelings.
"You… you… Asshole!" Thomas yelled loudly, this time swinging his fist at Doctor Volckhausen's face. The doctor easily dodged the punch as two large men came in the room.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave the premises, Mr. Korbin," he said calmly as the two men hooked their arms under Thomas's. "After all, this is a state-of-the-art facility and we wouldn't want you to damage any of our expensive machines, now would we?" Thomas merely growled at the man while struggling against his captors.
"Go… to… hell!" Thomas managed to pant out as he aimed a few kicks at the large men's shins. The man holding Thomas's left side managed to also grab the back of Ben's shirt and start dragging the two out of the room. Ben struggled weakly against the man's grip, but knew it was useless anyway and soon gave up. Thomas however, kept attacking his captors until they had managed to drag him out to the street.
"Learn some manners, kid," one man growled before the two threw both Thomas and Ben on the sidewalk. Thomas winced when he heard a small crack come from his right leg as he hit the pavement. The two men didn't seem to notice and went back in the building, laughing at some unknown joke.
"Thomas?" a surprised female voice suddenly said from behind the two boys. Thomas gratefully turned without standing up and found himself looking into the concerned mahogany eyes of Riza Hawkeye.
"Riza!" he said, relieved by her sudden appearance. "You know, I was thinking that maybe I would go to Central Headquarters today. You wouldn't mind if we left now, would you?" Riza raised one eyebrow in suspicion.
T-H-I-S--I-S--A--D-I-V-I-D-I-N-G--L-I-N-E
Ed finally managed to walk into Military Headquarters, covered head to toe in sweat and not able to move anything except the fingers on his right arm. Al sighed slightly as he watched his brother once again try to move his arm, but still only succeeding in wiggling his fingers.
"You should have had Winry check it before we left," Al said with a sigh.
"I know, Al!" Ed hissed back as the two kept walking down the familiar hallways.
"You shouldn't have pushed yourself to hard when we were sparring."
"I know, Al!"
"You really should take better care of your automail, Brother."
"Shut up, Al!" Ed hissed through clenched teeth as he opened the door to Roy's office. He then walked up swiftly to the desk and put the bottle of wine in front of Roy with a loud cluck. Roy looked up with a slight smile.
"Why, thank you Fullmetal," he said merrily. Ed could feel his lips part in a slight snarl, but he quickly restrained himself.
"…'s nothing," Ed mumbled, looking down at his boots instead of at his superior.
"Why, did I even get a thank you in return?" Roy said, feigning surprise as he put a hand to his chest. "What could have possibly happened to change your mood so much since the last time I saw you? You didn't happen to meet a girl, did you?" Ed growled slightly, but once again managed to control himself.
"Well, I have your next assignment for you," Roy sighed as he rearranged the papers on his desk, knowing that his taunts wouldn't really produce the same fun as they usually did with the blonde teen.
"This small town to the east has recently had a string of murders," Roy continued with a slight sigh, "The victims seem to be completely random, ranging from four-year old girls to fifty-year old men."
"Bastard," Ed muttered under his breath, and making Roy smile slightly.
"Or Bitch," he corrected. "We don't know whether the killer is male or female yet. Ed shrugged as if to say that he didn't care whether he mixed up his pronouns with a serial killer.
"Anyway," Roy continued with a slight sigh, "The town's name is Impar, or more commonly known as 'The City of the Robins.'" Ed's head suddenly snapped up, and he was immediately listening to every word Roy said.
"Robins seem to love the city," Roy continued, seemingly oblivious to Ed's abrupt attention. "They're always flocking in the city, covering the streets, in fact. Some people say that the robins bring good luck, while others claim that the birds bring misfortune upon all. More people are leaning towards the misfortune side now with this recent string of murders."
"The City of what?" Ed repeated softly, his face a ghostly white.
"Robins," Roy repeated, now actually looking at Ed. "Is there a problem, Fullmetal?"
"No," Ed said weakly, determined not to let the Colonel see one of his truly weak spots. "Impar. City of Robins. Seemingly random murders," he listed off.
"If you want," Roy started, watching Ed closely with a half-worried, half-surprised look, "I could get you another assignment-"
"No!" Ed snapped at Roy, his golden eyes flashing angrily. Al had already taken a few steps backward, having predicted this as soon as he had heard the word 'robin.'
"I'm fine!" Ed snapped, making Roy look at him even more curiously. "Just give me the damn assignment, shut the hell up and leave me alone, bastard!" Ed snapped. Roy felt the corners of his mouth twitch slightly. This was more of the Edward Elric he knew. He couldn't deal with a depressed young man that wouldn't even admit his problems, but he could certainly deal with a foul-mouthed, pissed-off teenager.
"Well, aren't you just a little ray of sunshine," Roy said sarcastically with a slight smile. "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the-" he stopped suddenly as he felt the tip of Ed's automail blade pressed against his throat.
"Never. Call me that. Again," Ed huffed, staring at his superior with an intensity that Roy had never seen directed at himself. He looked at Ed curiously, not actually intimidated because he knew he could scorch the young alchemist, but curious about what had made Ed so angry. He had barely ever seen Ed like this, and the few times he had, it hadn't been a pleasant situation.
Something was wrong with Ed, seriously wrong, and Roy knew it.
The two were suddenly interrupted out of their staring competition when a sudden creak came from the door. Ed quickly jumped down from the desk, his eyes still burning while Roy looked at the intruder in surprise.
"Thomas?" he said in surprise. Both Elric brothers jumped slightly in surprise at the name and looked over to see a limping Thomas walking in with the support of Riza Hawkeye. Ben darted worriedly around the two, his large eyes repeatedly darting back to Thomas.
"Hello, Teacher," Thomas said with a weak smile as he winced slightly. "I was hoping for a small favor."
Both the Elric brothers' eyes had nearly popped out of their head as they looked back and forth from Roy to Thomas. Teacher?!?!
"Small favor?" Roy said with a slight shake to his head as he rolled his eyes. "You do realize that Kris is going to kill you, don't you?" Thomas winced slightly and nodded, making Roy sigh heavily.
Meanwhile, both Elrics stood seemingly ignored in the background, their eyes bigger than dinner plates.
"Well, I guess I could help a little," Roy sighed heavily. "But on one condition," he paused and looked over at the Elric brothers. "You have to take them along."
"What?!" both Ed and Thomas interrupted simultaneously, Ed quickly shaken out of his astonishment.
"I don't need a babysitter!"
"Teacher, I can ride a train perfectly fine by myself!"
Roy held up a hand to silence both of them, and first looked over at Ed.
"Unless I'm mistaken, judging by your movements, you have managed to break your automail again," he said sternly. Ed blushed slightly and shrugged his right shoulder in an attempt to make it move. "Thomas happens to have a girlfriend who is an automail mechanic that lives much closer than your mechanic. She does good work, and you will be able to move on to your assignment in Impar quickly," he explained, while holding the manila folder out to Ed. Ed took the folder with a slight scowl but didn't say anything.
"And you," he said, turning to Thomas. "You promised to follow any order I gave you once I was your teacher, didn't you?" he asked sternly.
"Yes," Thomas mumbled, still looking down at the ground.
"Then you will take Ed and Al to see Kris," Roy told the boy, who just nodded meekly. Roy sighed and looked up at Riza.
"And thank you lieutenant Hawkeye, for bringing my idiot apprentice back here in one piece," he said to her kindly. Riza nodded curtly to show she had heard him while Al tried to stifle a chuckle at the fact that Roy had used the name 'idiot apprentice' in a way very similar to the way Izumi did with her own two apprentices.
Ed's mind, however, was very heavy with the fact that once he got his automail fixed, he would be traveling to Impar, The City of the Robins.
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(1) About 150,000 USD if my calculations are right. Correct me if I'm wrong.
(2) About 50,000 USD, again if my calculations are correct. Which means that he's actually saved up a lot, but still quite a bit off.
AdventureAddict: Hey, I was wondering – how were you able to control time and space, Kairi? Aren't I the almighty author?
Kairi Angel: My name's Sabrina.
Ed: …That's it?
Kairi Angel: Yes.
Ed: That's stupid.
Kairi Angel: No, you.
Al: Don't call people stupid, Brother!
Frodo: I want to say something!
AdventureAddict: Well, go ahead.
Frodo: Something.
Ed: Well aren't you deep.