Crazy

Chapter fourteen-Plans and Dreams

Although he'd never tried it before, it was worth a shot. Edward was still cuffed to the hospital bed which made it impossible to do alchemy. Leaning back on his pillow, he brought his feet together and closed his eyes trying to think about the right erray in his mind. Since it was never done before, who knew if it would worked. Even if the circle wasn't perfect, eventually he could hear the alchemy spark to life. The side rails his wrists were bound to, warped and twisted till he was able to pull the cuffs away.

Grinning proudly at his accomplishment, he glanced down at his left arm where an IV line was. This was the part he was dreading as he reached for the line. It was difficult to be so careful as his metal fingers were kind of clumsy. After probably bruising himself even more, he managed to slide the needle out. Now that he was past the unpleasant part he hurried to get dressed. He released a hiss as he pulled his shirt on, noticing he was still sore. As he placed his foot in his one boot, the door burst open and Mustang stood there, slightly out of breath.

"I knew you couldn't be trusted," he said in a surprisingly calm tone.

oOoOo

It was a frustrating feeling. To have no control over what was going on and just when you thought you had it figured out, the rules changed or you woke up. If only he could will himself to wake up but it was never that easy. Everything was hazy and he wasn't sure where he was. He could hear his brother calling him but his voice sounded distant. There was static in his tone and he sounded scared.

"Al, where are you?" There was no way to determine which direction Alphonse's voice was coming from. This place was unsettling as he took several steps backwards before his back hit something solid and metal. Letting out a sigh of relief he turned around. "There you are Al, you scared me there for a sec..."

Edward froze as he stared up at the familiar suit of armor. It looked old and a rust had crept over most of the once silvery steel. The jaw piece was slanted, only hanging by one hinge and the eye holes that once held a crimson glow were now dark and empty. Ed felt his legs go weak. His amber eyes shrank back in fear and anger but mostly fear. "A...Al." His voice was hesitant and soft as though speaking too loudly would do more damage.

"Br..o..ther..." it came out in a crackling tone that caused Ed's heart to frantically pound against his ribcage as though it was trying to escape.

"D..don't worry," he swallowed hard, "I can fix this." He could feel tears invading the corners of his vision and he blinked them away. He didn't have time to get emotional as he brought his hands together. He was shaking so much despite his best efforts to focus. His fingertips brushed across the front of the armor. As the alchemy began to spark around him, the one knee of the armor shifted and bent forward. Right before his eyes, the metal vessel that held his brother's soul fell apart, falling towards him. As he tried to hold it up he realized there wasn't practically anything left as the helmet fell backwards making an unnerving clank as it hit the floor.

"A..Al...phonse?" It came out as a whisper but there was no answer. Tears found their way down his cheeks as he just stood there in shock. He couldn't breath, couldn't think straight. He went to move forward when his left leg buckled and he suddenly fell as though his automail wasn't there at all. Unable to stop himself, he brought his arms forward and his right arm shattered as it made contact with the ground. He couldn't move but at the same time he didn't want to. Didn't feel he deserved the right anymore. He'd failed his brother, he hadn't been able to keep his promise. As he laid on the ground he felt something nudging him, pulling him back to consciousness.

"Fullmetal...hey come on, wake up." He finally recognized Mustang's voice and squinted over at the other alchemist. He wiped at his watery eyes, tiredly. "You okay?" Roy had only glanced away from the road for a couple of seconds but could tell something was bothering him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What is it?"

"We're getting close. Are you up to driving?" Edward nodded silently back, locking any feelings away. He ran his hand over his face. The Colonel didn't ask anything else as he pulled over.

oOoOo

Edward moved forward, faster then Roy expected for someone as injured as he was. Instinctively, he brought his hand up but not before Ed clapped and grabbed at the ignition gloved hand poised to strike. Blue electricity snapped through the air and the glove cracked across the backside, destroying the erray.

"If you leave me cuffed to a bed long enough I'm bound to figure a couple of things out. Like how sucking the oxygen out of the air around your gloves makes you useless. Although he was shocked at how quickly Ed managed to disarm him, his expression remained the same. He yanked his hand away but continued to return Edward's glare. It was like staring at pure violent electricity. Far from the scene he'd witness earlier in the same room.

"Then I guess you don't want to hear my plan." Ed's expression faltered, not expecting that kind of response.

"What are you talking about?"

"I knew you couldn't just sit here and let us take care of this. And from the sound of things these people aren't going to negotiate with anyone except you. I've seen enough hostage situations go bad to know we have to go about this another way." Edward quirked an eyebrow as he straightened up and crossed his arms.

"Why are you helping me? I've just caused you all this trouble. And its not like you would put your own people in danger. So what's in it for you?" Mustang grinned as he brought his gaze down to inspect his now damaged glove.

"Maybe I'm just concerned for Al's safety. Did you ever think of that?"

"That's a load, what else." Ed wasn't going to buy that reasoning for a second as Roy looked back at him.

"Well, taking down Drachma spies wouldn't hurt my resume."

"Hmph, thought so." Ed glanced off to the side, thinking the situation over in his head again. "Then what's the plan?"