Title: Sugar Coated Lies
Rating: T
Summary: Going undercover in a town is hard; being undercover in a school is even harder. How does a teen that grew up to fast deal with a family environment and school without blowing his cover?
Author Note: Seems like you kind people liked the last chapter. I'm glad because I had a lot of fun writing it. I recently modified my sims by downloading an Edward Elric, Maes Hughs, Roy Mustang and Winry sims, I had just finished building a 12.6 billion dollar house and was actually playing when Winry started a fire in the kitchen. Well, the whole damn house burnt down and death came in and turned Ed and Al into head stones while Hughs and Mustang were down in the garage arguing over a Camero.
Seriously, it was slightly fucked up. It made me laugh so hard though because it just seems extremely typical of anything I build in the Sims. *sigh* oh well. Well, here is chapter 11 for you people, I hope you enjoy this one as well.
Chapter 11
"What happened out there?" Riza asks as Havoc steps out of the steam filled bathroom and through the crack Riza can see Edward reclining in the tub, his eyes closed. Sitting on the chair beside the tub the bright metal leg rests, raising the woman's concern for the younger soldier. With a sharp click the door closes, cutting the view of the Alchemist off from the woman and instead she focuses on her companion as he lights another cigarette.
"Well?" she prompts when the man doesn't respond. Havoc blows a lungful of smoke before motioning for the woman to follow him down the hall to their shared bedroom. Inside the two beds are made and ready for their owners and Havoc quickly seats himself by the window, propping it open just a hair to release the fumes of his addiction.
"The kids were looking for the Widower. They had to climb down into a ravine and one of the kids, a girl named Darci nearly fell to her death. Ed, without thinking lunged and managed to catch her but in the process rotated the docking pillar out of place and dent in the knee of his auto mail. Other than that, he's alright." Havoc explains a strange edge to his voice. Hawkeye cocks her head and watches her long time comrade, finding the man's usually blank and easy going expression sour and contemplative.
"He seems to think this Widower is an Alchemist." He suddenly says, the accusation making the blond haired woman's dark eyes narrow harshly. She doesn't have to step back and analyze the situation to understand Edward's and Havoc's unease with the situation with that fact now in the mix. The missing people could be used as ingredients for the stone and if this man is out in the woods, an apparent 'witch', what better a disguise than that?
"What would make him think that?" she asks slowly, her shock fading away to awe and confusion.
"Alchemists can sense when alchemy has been used on objects, that's how Scar knew Nina was a chimera when he touched her." Ed's solemn voice states from behind her and Hawkeye whirls, finding the teen propping himself up against the wall, his single leg firmly planted, toes curled slightly for balance. The stump of his missing leg is wrapped in gauze, the wiring falling against the woven bandage, making the bandage seem alive with sharp angles.
"Damn it Ed, sit down before you fall down." Havoc snarls, rapidly moving across the room and pushing a chair over to where the teen is balancing, his body trembling with cold seeing as his boxer shorts and grey t-shirt aren't enough to retain the heat. Without a word Hawkeye grabs one of Havoc's numerous sweatshirts and hands it to the teen, watching as he pulls the fabric on, the hem bunching around his narrow waist.
"Chief, I thought you would have figured it's too cold to be dressed like that." Havoc snarks, angry at the teen as he leaves quickly but returns a moment later with the flannel pajama bottoms Ed had been using. The teen huffs slightly and Hawkeye turns away, wanting to give the teen privacy in this act.
"Alright. Where were we?" Havoc asks, the creaking of his weight on the bed signaling the other Captain that the situation has been taken care of. She turns and finds Edward running his fingers through his wet hair, a sour expression crossing is features as he starts to explain.
"The earth around the river, inside the ravine was kneaded and reworked with Alchemy. Where the rocks should have been slippery and hazardous from years of algae and the water itself, but the boulders were textured and hummed with the remaining enery from the transmutation. I think he may have taken sand from the beach and half-formed it into the stone, creating a rough surface so he wouldn't slip while crossing. I could see a pattern cutting across the river, so I know the area's been used as a pathway…" Ed trails off, his human fingers flicking through several circles, drawing them out in the air as his eyes narrow. Hawkeye glances over at the other soldier and the man only shakes his head, watching as Ed rapidly works out the circle that the rouge alchemist may have used.
"Ed?" Hawkeye calls softly, having seen this action in the teen numerous times. In some ways Hawkeye thinks the teen is obsessive when it comes to finding out what arrays were used, how they work and how he can better them.
"Edward." She tries again, slightly sterner. The golden eyes, so filled with anxiousness and intelligence flick towards her and for a moment Hawkeye can see the madness chasing the sense in his eyes before they suddenly snap, the pools of molten gold quickly hardening into Edward's usual expression.
"I need to talk to my brother." He suddenly states and starts to pushing himself to his foot, the muscles in his human arm flexing as he manages to stand, his balance perfect as he prepares to hop himself out of the room. Havoc makes to help him when he sucks in a breath, his eyes widening and a hand subconsciously going to his back. Both Hawkeye and Ed turn, finding the usually jovial man's face white and pinched.
"Havoc!" Ed shouts, quickly changing his course and tries to make it to where the other male is standing, wincing as the color begins to return. Hawkeye quickly moves to the other Captains side, her dark eyes narrowed further as the smoking man shoots her a watery grin.
"Naw I'm alright. My injury is acting up is all. Y'know, all this cold and twisting and carry of abnormally heavy teens." He lists off, winking at the balancing Edward who lets the comment slide past him, his worry over the Captain he considers a friend relaxing only slightly.
"Really guys. I'm not going to keel over." He mutters with a laugh and with effort he pushes himself up to his full height, his usual charm kicking the air of pain away from him, replacing it with a sense of urgency.
"Come on Ed; let's see if we can get your brother on the phone." He suggests and offers Ed his help in the form of a forearm. Ed shies away from it, his too intelligent eyes flicking over the man, the frown tearing thin lines into the skin around his mouth.
"That's not all of it." He simply states and Hawkeye can see the other soldier stiffen, his expression becoming angry.
"Jeez Ed, don't worry about it alright. It's just the cold and stress getting to it is all, out of anyone you should know how the cold effects injuries." He stresses, his words dealing the teen a low blow in hopes of throwing the kid off. Edward's eyes narrow with anger flashing briefly through his eyes but he doesn't take the bait, his life has just been one big, painfully low blow, he's learned to deal.
"It's not just nothing Havoc." He growls sternly and for a moment the air in the room becomes thick with tension.
The Havoc laughs.
"Awww you care about me!" he gushes and quickly smothers the balancing teen to his chest, making excited cooing words of being loved and how much he loves Edward (as a friend of course) for caring about him. Hawkeye backs away and watches the scene, an amused expression twisting her lips. For the time being the woman is content to allow Havoc his secret, but suddenly finds herself fearing the day he won't be able to keep it hidden any longer.
"Well, maybe he's an Earth Alchemist. Hang on let me get a book." Al's voice responds and Ed wait patiently for his younger brother's return. It had been good to hear his sibling's voice, although cracked and softer than it usually was the other teen seems to be in good spirits. Ed frowns into the receiver as a thud, a curse and Winry's question filter through the static filled line.
"Al? You alright?" he asks through the line, the edged words drawing the attention of both adult soldiers. Ed's eyes slide over to where they're both preparing a simple meal of leftovers before rolling them and turning his attention back to the phone.
"Yes, sorry. I tripped." He admits and Ed can feel the spike of alarm wedge itself in his stomach.
"Is anything broken? Are there bruises forming? What'd you trip over?" he asks in rapid succession, his worry as an older brother and as the person who brought the body back from the gate kicking in.
"Easy Ed, I'm fine. I tripped over Den; he laid down right behind me while I was at the shelf. Relax brother." He chides, chuckling at his brother's worry. Ed tries to allow himself to laugh as well but can't find it in him, the worry over his brother and his new body making him nearly sick.
"I know Al, I just can't help but worry." He says into the phone, his expression growing still.
"And that will give you grey hairs….. well more than you already have that is." Al states and at the mention of the older teen's grey hairs, which he noticed not long after putting Alphonse right again, his anger flares.
"Hey, I'll have you know little brother; those hairs are a mark of maturity." He stresses but allows himself to smile as the musical laughter of his younger sibling filters through the static.
"So, tell me what you've got." Ed asks, taking up a pencil and pulls the pad of paper further up his leg, the wrapped stump resting on a pillow provided to him when Hawkeye noticed how tender the area was.
"Says here that for any type of Alchemy that uses stone or mortar usually uses five triangles in the 'Thinkers' form, with three circles for elements of Earth. You said that you think he merged sand with the stone right?" Al asks and flipping of pages can be heard, along with Al's curse.
"What'd you do?" Ed asks, this time not holding back the urgency in his voice, alarmed that his newly restored brother may have activated some array and…. No, he won't let him mind go there.
"Breath Ed. It's a paper cut." Al bites into the phone, his annoyance with his brother's anxiety plain to hear. Ed's about to snark back a comment when his brother continues with his findings.
"Says here there are only eight Alchemists in history who were successful with Stone Alchemy, I can tell you right now that five of the eight are all dead. We know one, Armstrong, which leaves the last two. Their names are McCarron, Hank and Thomas, Darrel. Both were listed as MIA after the Eastern Rebellion." Ed quickly writes down the names and taps the pad with his pencil, his mind racing to too many conclusions.
"Alright, thanks Al." he says and hesitates, not wanting to hang up on his brother. Alphonse seems to sense this.
"Didn't you say you wanted to talk to Winry? Hang on, I'll get her." He quickly says, effectively ending the conversation. The warmth he'd felt upon hearing his brother suddenly leaves him, his core growing cold and withdrawn as the light that is Alphonse leaves him, slamming the cold reality of his situation down around him.
Damn he misses his brother.
"You better not have broken my auto mail." Winry's voice snarls from over the line and Ed quickly straightens in his seat, his flesh hand going to the port of his missing leg. He gives a nervous laugh and picks at the bandage keeping the delicate wiring from brushing anything or becoming dirty.
"Well ahh. You see…." He trails off and at the shriek from the other end Ed's very grateful wrenches, like fire, can't harm you from over the phone.
"I twisted the pillar inside the port and dented up the knee cap." He quickly admits and holds the phone away from his ear in preparation for the enraged yells and curses. Hawkeye and Havoc, now seated at the table look over at him and he smiles meekly at them. The line is eerily silent as Ed eases the phone closer to his ear, but keeping himself ready to jerk it away in case this is a sneak attack.
"Winry?" he asks tentatively, afraid he's made the girl pass out in her rage. A breath is drawn in and Ed winces but instead of the shouts and insults her soft voice asks simply.
"How'd you do it and are you alright?" Ed blinks at the phone.
"Who are you, and what have you done with my mechanic?" Ed asks into the phone.
"Answer the question Ed." She orders and Ed quickly complies, not wanting to flare her rage.
"I tried to keep a girl from falling to her death. I'm alright, but the port it tender so I removed the leg but it's the dented up knee cap that's worrying me, it restricts my movement." He quickly informs the teen sighs.
"At least you didn't damage it by doing something totally stupid. Alright let me talk to Mustang, I'll tell him how to fix the knee." She orders and Ed pauses.
"Uh, Mustang's not here."
"Well, who is?"
"Havoc and Hawkeye."
"Let me talk to Hawkeye."
Ed holds out the phone wordlessly to the woman, who takes it and answers with her customary stoic response. With a gesture she takes the pad of paper and Ed's pencil, quickly writing down notes. Ed moves away from the woman and quickly tucks into his food, the warmth of the stuffing filling his empty stomach and warming his core.
"Alright, thank you Ms. Rockbell. I will, same to you. Yes, good-bye." Hawkeye finishes and hangs up the phone, tossing the pad back onto the chair along with the pencil before resuming her place at the supper table.
"What'd she say?" Ed asks and after chewing a piece of chicken Hawkeye responds.
"we have to heat the metal and bang out the dent, then check the wiring, she said you know how to do this and make repairs as needed to the casings. Also, she suggested letting the port stop swelling before docking the leg and attaching the nerves." Hawkeye rattles off, the orders making Ed curse and lose his appetite, his stomach suddenly clenching. The thought of being helpless with only one working leg makes him sick, the inability to fight back crossing him mind. Hawkeye noticed and quickly pats his hand.
"Don't worry Edward, we'll be here at all times. We'll even take shifts if need be, oh and the Colonel will be here on Wednesday." She informs and Ed's twisting gut quickly plummets to his foot, leaving a bad taste in his mouth.
Great, just great.
Author Note: Ahhhhh Mustang's coming. Run away! No, kidding. A little bit of Alphonse and Winry for you folks. An idea's been kicking around in my head lately, while I was building in the Sims. I dunno though, I'm having way to much fin writing this. So, hope you enjoyed it, not sure what will happen next, so I won't bother giving you a preview.
Please review folks! It keeps these updates coming!
Thanks for reading!