A/N: I bet you didn't think I was ever going to update…seriously, I'm sorry, everyone. I got a nasty case of writers block, and then I got really busy, and, before I knew it…anyhow, here it is, the long-awaited new chapter!
Special thanks to miladyRanger and KuroNekoShoujo for helping me sort through my ideas for this. Oh, and, miladyRanger, the suggestion you emailed me will be in the next chapter.
In case anyone still cares, the anime I referenced in Chapter 18 was Gundam Wing. The line "Pierce, meanwhile, looked like he'd just given someone a birthday invitation, only to have them rip it in half and throw the pieces in his face, all before threatening to kill him," is a pretty good description of what actually happens to one of the main characters in the last few minutes of the first episode.
Anyhow, I'm so sorry for not updating. Since I've started the new chapter already, you can expect it sometime in the next few weeks. Thanks for hanging in there!
A Recurring Nightmare with Popcorn
Chapter 20: Can't Change Rule Number One
"Look, all I know is what they taught me at command school. There are certain rules about a war and rule number one is young men die. And rule number two is doctors can't change rule number one." -Henry Blake, M*A*S*H
Dust and smoke swept across the road, filling Mustang's vision and shaking the ground beneath his feet. The bombing was getting closer…were they in danger from both the Koreans and Envy now?
The roar of shells exploding still filled the air, making it impossible to call out to those around him. Something was wrong about this whole situation.
And then, suddenly, instincts born in Ishbal and cultivated in the cutthroat politics of East City and Central re-awoke and he knew. The threat was still Envy. But he was using the Koreans.
After all, it wouldn't be difficult for a shape-shifter to impersonate a few officers and change some battle plans. But if that was the case, why hadn't they already been killed by the shelling? Envy spent enough time around camp to know the bug-out route, so he wasn't just missing them. Something else was going on. He needed more information.
He dragged the toe of his boot across the ground, drawing a simple air transmutation circle, and then knelt on the ground to activate it. A gust of wind dispersed the wall of smoke wrapping around them as Mustang quickly rose to his feet again.
"Blue sparks…" Father Mulcahey said quietly. Mustang really hoped that was as far as the priest's observational skills went.
A quick movement of his foot wiped away the transmutation circle while the others were distracted by looking around.
"Everyone okay?" Trapper asked.
There was a chorus of affirmative answers, but a few voices were missing. It took a few minutes for Roy to figure out which ones.
No! he thought desperately, even as he asked aloud, "Where are Ed and Pierce?"
Trapper and Falman realized the seriousness of the situation right away.
"Oh, no," Trapper breathed.
"I don't see Major Houlihan, either," Mulcahey put in, worried.
Roy rubbed his temples. He was still missing something…
Houlihan! He gasped silently. She's "stubborn and a know-it-all," as Ed put it. She has to be one of Envy's candidates…Envy must be trying to separate her from the rest of us. But why separate Pierce and Ed too…unless he wants someone for her to bring back…
The realization nearly stopped his heart. He turned to Father Mulcahey.
"Find Colonel Blake and tell him that we need to stop and look for Pierce, Houlihan and Ed," Mustang said. "Tell him that they could die if we don't find them now."
"Colonel…" Mulcahey started to ask.
"Please," Mustang said.
Mulcahey nodded. "Very well."
As the priest headed toward the front of the rather disorganized formation, Mustang turned to Falman and Trapper.
"Let's go," he said.
"I don't know about this," Trapper said anxiously. "There's shelling and none of us know our way around the forest…"
"That no longer matters," Mustang said. "It's a simple choice. Do you want to see the three of them alive again?"
"Of course!" Trapper said indignantly.
"Then help me find them," Mustang said. "We're outside of camp. Envy no longer has any reason to hold back."
Surprise and worry flitted across Trapper's face before it settled into a look of determination. "Let's go."
"Ed's heavy enough to leave deep footprints…and this ground is practically swampland…" Falman said, looking around.
"There!" Trapper said, pointing.
Sure enough, an uneven set of footprints led into the forest.
"Right," Mustang said, as he moved to follow them and track down his subordinate.
If Envy had hurt Ed…Mustang would make sure he hurt Envy even more.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"This is bad," Ed said suddenly.
Margaret glanced at him, confused.
"He hasn't attacked again," Ed explained. "So either he's so sure he'll win that he's gotten cocky or he's planning something."
"What would he be planning?" Margaret asked.
Ed was silent for a few moments. Then, a terrified expression appeared on his face.
"What?" Margaret asked.
"You're a candidate, too," Ed breathed.
A candidate? Margaret wondered. For what?
"Listen," Ed said. "Whatever you do, just don't—"
A soft clicking noise interrupted him, and she felt the sudden warmth of another presence beside her. A rough voice whispered into her ear.
"Don't listen to the midget," it suggested. "After all, he isn't the one with a gun to your head."
She could feel it now, a ring of cold steel, pressed against her head, just above her ear. She tried not to start shivering. She wasn't very successful.
"Let her go!" Pierce demanded, and she admired his effort to be brave, she really did. But she didn't think this…person…monster…she didn't know what to believe anymore, because just being close to it felt wrong in a way a person wouldn't…was about to let her go without a fight.
The rough-voiced thing laughed cruelly. "Not gonna happen, doc. How about you just worry about the midget and leave your girlfriend to me."
The sound that answered him was more a growl than anything else, and Margaret was surprised. She'd never heard Pierce this angry over someone who wasn't a patient. More surprisingly, it was her. She'd always thought that Pierce hated her.
"Shh," the voice admonished. "If you startle me, my finger might slip."
"Pierce, be quiet," Margaret said, her voice strained. "He's serious."
"That's a good girl," said the voice. "Just keep walking. I've got someone a little while away from here who I'd like you to meet."
She gulped, her throat horribly dry, and started walking.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"The prints just…stop here," Falman said quietly, pointing at the ground.
"Look around…maybe they had to carry him…wait, those are footprints, too," Mustang said. "Deep ones, from bare feet. Envy."
"Do you think we're too late?" Trapper asked.
"Ed can take care of himself, even badly hurt," Mustang said. "You'd be surprised. Don't count him out yet."
"Here, I found them again, and there are some other footprints that might be Margaret and Pierce," Falman said.
"Good," Mustang said. "We should hurry."
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Margaret took slow, even steps as the entered a clearing. A few yards ahead of her was some sort of drawing done in the mud, made up of overlapping geometric shapes and various odd symbols. What on earth…
She heard a sharp intake of breath from outside of her vision, too high to be Pierce's or her captor's. Ed, then.
"I bet this brings back memories, pipsqueak!" her captor—hadn't Ed called him Envy?—cackled.
"S-shut up!" Ed shouted back, his voice trembling. What was so disturbing about a drawing?
"But, enough reminiscing," Envy said dismissively. "So, Margaret, was it? Let's start walking again."
She moved forward, one leg in front of the other, until she stood less than a foot from the odd circle inscribed on the swampy ground.
"Now, kneel," he ordered.
She complied, the mud soaking through her khaki pants the moment her knees hit the ground. The sound of mud squelching under her weight was the only noise in the clearing.
"Good. Now put your hands on the ground, palms first, that's right."
She could hear a vicious smile in his voice.
"Now, all we need is someone for you to resurrect…I'd kill the pipsqueak, but I can't be sure we have a suitable replacement for him yet," her captor said. "So, it'll have to be the doctor."
Then, suddenly, the gun was no longer against her temple. She didn't waste a second—her fist connected with Envy's face only seconds after the bullet left his gun.
At the back of her mind, the thump that had followed the sound of the bullet registered, but she couldn't afford to think about that now. The punch wouldn't disable him for long…she had to get away, before she was used as a hostage again.
But as soon as she started running, something wrapped around her ankle, and she fell. Looking back, she saw that it was a hand…attached to an arm stretched much farther than an arm should be able to extend. That was…unnatural, and unexplainable, unless Pierce and Ed were telling the truth about Envy being a "monster."
The hand dragged her backwards, the rocks that littered the ground biting into her skin as she slid through the mud. And then, another head was wrapped around her chin, turning her around and pulling her face upward until her eyes were inches from Envy's.
They were the color of pools of blood, and if there had ever been any humanity in them, it was long buried. There was no mercy in those eyes.
She wanted to yell, to scream for help, but she was almost more afraid of not being answered than she was of Envy.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" she heard Ed shout.
Blood splashed onto her uniform as the boy sliced something through Envy's torso…good Heaven, how had he hidden a knife in his sleeve? As Envy's hands went slack, releasing her, Ed stepped between her and Envy.
"Stay away from her, unless you want me to beat the crap out of you," Ed stated, and, for once, Margaret appreciated his rudeness.
But she could see how unsteady he was on his feet. He'd lose if he fought Envy, and he knew it. She was about to tell him not to do it when she heard a voice she never expected to hear again.
"You want someone to activate this thing so bad?" Pierce shouted. "Fine!"
She looked over to see him kneeling on the ground before the circle, hands on the ground, palms first, just as Envy had told her to do.
And then, electricity crackled across the drawing, and lit the clearing in neon blue.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Pierce heard Envy, but the words didn't really register at first.
"Now, all we need is someone for you to resurrect…I'd kill the pipsqueak, but I can't be sure we have a suitable replacement for him yet," Envy said. "So, it'll have to be the doctor."
Pierce didn't even realize that Envy meant him until Ed knocked him over.
He watched, frozen, as Margaret punched Envy and as Ed went to help her. There wasn't anything he could do, after all. He was a doctor, not a soldier. He wasn't even much good in a fistfight. He hated the fact that there was nothing he could do.
Unless…maybe…Envy wanted that circle activated. That was why he was here. So maybe, just maybe, if Pierce tried to use it, he'd back off for a little while. It wasn't that he hadn't heard all of Ed's warnings. He'd heard them perfectly, and he'd connected the dots far enough to be almost certain that this was how Ed had lost his limbs. But there were things that Pierce was willing to sacrifice, and things that he wasn't.
Even if Margaret was an untrustworthy, ambitious, hypocrite with horrible taste in men, and even if he'd only known Ed for a few months and still barely understood the kid most of the time, they were people he cared about. Being stuck in a place you didn't want to be with a bunch of other people formed bonds—strange ones, but still. The people he'd met at the 4077th, including the Amestrians, were a little like an extended family. And he was not about to leave his family to some psycho, especially not when Margaret barely knew what was going on and Ed could barely stand.
He ran over to the circle, dropped to the ground, and called out something really stupid designed to tick Envy off, then spread his fingers wide and pressed his palms into the ground. He hoped he'd survive this, but, if he didn't…well, he could think of worse ways to go.
The circle glowed blue with power, and Pierce gritted his teeth as he felt it flow through him. The blue light slowly turned darker, almost purplish, but at the same time got brighter and brighter until it was all that he could see, the crackling of the energy in the cold Korean air filling his ears at the same time.
And then, suddenly, everything was silent.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Excellent!" Envy crowed as the circle lit up. "Finally, someone cooperates!"
Ed's expression twisted into a snarl as he turned toward the circle. He clapped his hands—Margaret wondered at the inappropriateness of the gesture, Pierce was doing what Envy wanted, for heaven's sake!—and pressed them to the ground. Suddenly, there was another surge of blue energy tangled in the blue light that shone from the lines drawn in the mud. And then, the light started turning purple, and then, it flashed outward, and Edward fell backward as if he'd been struck by a physical force rather than light.
"Come on…" Edward gasped out as he tried to get up. "Stop! That should have stopped the reaction…"
Margaret rushed to his side and helped him up, grateful that Envy seemed to be ignoring both of them in favor of the freaky lightshow that Pierce had caused.
"Ed!" Mustang's voice shouted. Margaret glanced behind her, and saw him, along with Trapper and another of the Amertrians-Fairman…no, Falman—running toward them.
"What's going on?" Mustang demanded. "Is that Pierce?"
Ed nodded morosely. "I tried to stop the reaction…"
"He's gone!" Trapper shouted.
Margaret followed his gaze, and, sure enough, Pierce was nowhere to be seen. The previously glowing circle was now dark, as well.
"D*** IT!" Ed swore, still leaning heavily on Margaret. "I warned him!"
"And the delicious thing is, I'm pretty sure the only reason he did it was to protect you and the lady," Envy sneered. "This one's on you, pipsqueak."
"Don't you even try to put the blame for this on Ed," Mustang snarled, raising a hand as if to snap.
"Well, while I'd love to stay for the show, I'd rather not burn to death repeatedly," Envy said, raising his hand in a mocking salute. "So, I'll be going."
And with that, he disappeared into the trees.
"Why would he leave?" Trapper demanded. "And where is Pierce?"
"He left because he knows he has what he wants," Mustang said. "Pierce is now one of his 'human sacrifices'."
"He's in the Gate, right now," Ed said, his voice soft. "I should have realized what he was doing before…"
"He's coming back, right?" Trapper asked, frantic.
Ed sighed. "I can't promise you that. But I can promise that if he doesn't make it back on his own, I'll do my best to get him out."
"Thank you," Trapper said. "How long does this normally take?"
"I don't know," Ed said.
Finally, Margaret found her voice. "What the h*** is going on?" she demanded.
"That's…a really, really long story," Ed said.
"And you're not gonna like it," Trapper added.
"Tell me anyway," Margaret insisted. "We've got time."
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Pierce was standing in an endless expanse of whiteness that stretched around him in all directions.
There was…something, standing in front of him. It was shaped like a person, but it was almost entirely featureless. The only thing that separated it from the rest of the whiteness around it was the subtle play of highlights and shadows that outlined its form.
"So…this is the Gate," Pierce said, slowly.
"Ah, so you've heard of this place," a high, childlike voice, layered with odd echoes, observed.
As Pierce watched, terrified, the featureless thing gained a broad grin.
"Greetings, alchemist," it said.
Pierce opened his mouth to protest.
"Ah, ah, ah," the thing chided. "Don't deny it. As soon as you activated that circle, you became an alchemist, whether you were one before or not."
"Are you the Truth?" Pierce asked.
"You could call me that, I suppose," it answered, still grinning. "I have many names. Some call me God. Some call me the universe. It doesn't really matter. I am All, and I am One. And I am also you."
Pierce drew back, every instinct he had screaming at him to run…but there was nowhere to run to.
"Do you want to see the Truth?" it asked.
"I've always preferred lies, actually," Pierce quipped as he tried to get his racing heart under control.
"Jokes will get you nowhere here," the figure said. "Now, are you ready?"
"Leave him alone!" someone shouted.
Something moved in the whiteness, something that wasn't white at all...and then, suddenly, it came to a stop in front of him.
Pierce gaped. There was a person—well, honestly it looked like a human skeleton with really long hair—standing between him and the Truth, stick-thin arms spread wide.
The figure's head turned and Pierce couldn't stop himself from gasping, because the boy protecting him looked just like Ed…apart from the skeletal thinness.
"Ed?" he asked, confused.
"I'm his little brother, Alphonse," the boy said, before turning back to Truth. "Leave him alone!" he repeated.
"Do what you wish," the Truth said, still grinning. "But take responsibility for the consequences. The soul bond your brother paid for wasn't permanent. If you help him to leave against my wishes, it will weaken. Do you understand?"
"I don't care!" Alphonse shouted.
"As I said, do what you wish," the Truth said, and suddenly, he was gone.
Alphonse scowled. "I think he's just trying to make me nervous. I believe in my big brother. It will hold."
"…How are you here?" Pierce asked.
"Ed will explain," Alphonse said. "Just hurry. There's a door behind you and you have to go through it, as quickly as possible."
Pierce looked doubtfully at the emaciated boy, his instincts as a doctor kicking in. It was not good for someone to be so thin.
"You need medical attention," he said. "Come with me."
"Don't worry, I'm fine," Alphonse insisted. "Just go!"
Pierce turned around, and saw a large stone door, carved with the image of a tree, hovering in the whiteness. It opened before him, and he could see the clearing he'd left on the other side of the doorway. Shadows hovered around its edges, writhing and stretching.
"Hurry!" Alphonse shouted. "Don't let the shadows touch you!"
"Thank you!" Pierce shouted back.
He took a deep breath, and jumped through the doorway.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Ed was getting really tired of people staring at him like he was insane.
"So, you're telling me that alchemy is actually real and it's the reason why Pierce disappeared, and also the reason why it was so hard to stop Envy," Margaret said. "Because he's an artificial human, created by alchemy."
"That's correct," Mustang said.
"That's enough explaining for now," Ed said. "We need to be ready for Pierce when he comes back."
"Ready?" Margaret asked.
"We'll probably need bandages," Ed said. "When you pass through the Gate…it takes things."
"Things?" Margaret asked.
"Limbs," Mustang explained. "Internal organs. Other body parts."
Margaret paled.
Something shone at the edge of Ed's vision. Startled, he turned toward it, only to see a circle of blackness surrounded by crackling purple energy.
"Pierce!" Ed shouted, just as the doctor came tumbling through the portal.
Ed stumbled over to Pierce, who had landed face-first in the mud, and started checking him over for injuries.
"What did it take?" he demanded, a hysterical edge on his voice.
To his surprise, Pierce actually answered. "It didn't take anything," he said, sounding rather surprised. "Someone stopped It. He said he was your brother."
"Alphonse?" Ed asked, drawing back in surprise. "You saw him? How did he look?"
"He looked like a skeleton with hair," Pierce said bluntly. "He said you'd be able to explain."
Ed was sure he'd be able to figure out an explanation of how Pierce made it out of the Gate unscathed if he tried, but right now, he was too danged relieved to care. To his own embarrassment, he felt tears welling up in his eyes.
"YOU PROMISED!" he shouted, wiping at his face.
Pierce stared at him in surprise.
"You promised you'd never touch a circle like that again, remember?" Ed continued. "D*** IT! NEVER do anything so STUPID again, got it? You scared the h*** out of me!"
"I'm with him," Trapper said, kneeling next to Pierce. "If I weren't so glad you're alive, I'd kill you myself."
"That was foolish," Mustang stated softly, coming up behind Edward. "I approve. But please refrain from frightening my subordinates like that."
Margaret, meanwhile, walked right up to Pierce and slapped him in the face, sending him sprawling backwards.
"If the 4077th had ended up short-handed because you decided to play hero, I would never have forgiven you, got it?" she barked.
Pierce got to his feet, rubbing his cheek gingerly. "Right. No more heroics. Got it. Sorry for scaring you, Ed."
Ed wiped his eyes with his sleeve again, the fabric feeling rough against skin already raw from crying, and then shook his head. "Don't worry about it."
"How did Alphonse…" Mustang started.
"When I tried to stop Pierce, my energy must have gotten tangled up in the reaction," Ed explained, thinking out loud. "And once I was connected to the reaction, so was Alphonse, since the two of us are connected. So that made him able to interfere. I'd guess that Alphonse simply stopped Truth from showing you anything, and since he never takes payment until after he shows you the Truth…you were safe."
"So, since Pierce didn't see what you saw…" Mustang started.
"He's not a potential sacrifice, no," Edward said. "I'm just worried that Al had to pay for protecting Pierce."
"That…Truth thing said something about a bond getting weaker…" Pierce said uncertainly. "But Alphonse said he believed in you, Ed, and that he thought it would hold."
Ed shook his head wearily. "I don't understand why he still believes in me, after everything I've put him through…"
Falman, who had been standing off to the side, suddenly spoke up. "The sooner we get back to the larger group, the sooner we'll be safe."
Mustang nodded. "Let's go."
Ed tried to keep walking, he really did, but his broken ribs were protesting his every breath, and they really, really didn't like it when he tried to move more than that. He gritted his teeth, but a soft hiss of pain still escaped.
He was too far gone to even register that Mustang had picked him up, or to hear his commanding officer muttering about the years of back pain he was guaranteeing himself.
A/N: All right, I realize that Pierce got out of the Gate mostly on technicalities and speculative fanon. But Arakawa left the mechanics of the Gate open to enough of an extent that I feel justified. Besides, I got to have Al in the story, even if it was for less than a page, and that makes me happy, dangit. If you feel the need to poke holes in my explanation, please do it in a review. Oh, and I realize crying is OOC for Ed, but he's tired, stressed, and if I injure him anymore he'll probably keel over. He's earned a moment of weakness or two. Please review if you have the time! Next chapter: Things wind down, temporarily, and explanations abound.