Twenty One: False Accusation

The bookshelf stood in front of him. In one hand, it seemed to be beckoning him to come closer and slide a book off, learn, ease the burden of the books it had to carry all the time.

In the other hand, though, it towered over him as though it was mocking him of his height.

Edward huffed. Truly, his feelings about bookshelves were mixed.

"Ed, I'm done with the coach's assignment," Stanley's voice carried over to him. "Should we go to the gym to give him the papers?"

Edward glanced at his own assignment. He only had to write his name on it and then he was done. "Sure," he shrugged. "We've got nothing else to do anyway, right?"

Stanley gave a weak laugh. "You don't have to put it that way, you know…"

Edward simply grinned back as they walked through the school corridors to the gym. They chatted with carefully controlled voice as not to disturb the other students who were studying intently in their classes. To reach the gym they would have to cross the school yard, where most of the sports usually took place. For that day, though, the classes were having indoors practice, so they would have to get inside the gym.

Edward's eyes strayed to the side of the building, where stacks of sandbags towered parallel to the wall. He blinked when he saw a movement behind the stacks of sandbags. He narrowed his eyes. "Hey, Stan," he called quietly, "You go ahead first, okay? There's something I want to check first."

"Huh? O – okay."

With practiced ease, Edward skulked away to behind the sandbags. His trained eyes caught sight of two figures immediately. Their names quickly popped in his mind; Liam and Noah. They hung around Matt a lot, almost as if they were his goons. They didn't realize that he was there, even though they looked around searchingly, yet couldn't find him. They shrugged and snickered, pushing the sandbags forward.

"The hell are you doing?!" Edward snapped at them immediately. They jumped in surprise, but the sandbags were already pushed. They began shifting and swaying before slowly falling.

Edward turned his head to check the trajectory of the sandbags. They fell forward, right to…

Right to Stanley. Who was standing there, dumbly frozen, staring at the looming sandbags as if awaiting his fate.

Edward moved before he even realized what he was doing. He spun on his heels and shot to Stanley as fast as he could, but not fast enough. His body slammed into Stanley's as he pushed the boy forward, managing to avoid the sandbags by a hair's breadth, and he rolled on the ground before pulling himself into a half kneel, half crouch. The sandbags fell to the ground with loud thumps. A tug on his left sleeve, and when he glanced at it he realized in disdain that his sleeve was ripped, and a long line of cut had bled through his skin.

A scream reached his ears, and he turned in panic. To his relief and horror, Stanley was screaming, one of his feet buried beneath the sandbags.

At least he's not entirely buried in it, a part of him supplied. Shut up and help him already, another part snapped.

Edward began pushing himself forward, mouth opening to call Stanley's name as his pained scream began to die down, when the coach suddenly barged to his line of vision and demanded loudly, "What's going on in here?!"

Before Edward could say anything, Liam pointed at him and yelled, "He did it!"

Noah then added, "Yeah, he pushed the sandbags over!"

"What – I did not!" Edward denied instantly, but the coach's eyes were already on him, scrutinizing him.

"Mr. Mason," he called, voice chilly, "I want you to go meet the principal. If he is unavailable, see the vice principal."

"But I didn't – "

"Now, Mr. Mason."

With a grit of his teeth, Edward complied angrily.

Edward sat on the hard chair, arms folded and stormy expression in face. In front of him, Ms. Willard sat on her own chair, no doubt much more comfortable than Edward's. By his left, both Liam and Noah sat together with their respective parents, and Stanley's father was also present there.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the nurse's office, Mr. Mason?" she asked Edward for the umpteenth time. "You are still bleeding."

Edward's eyes landed briefly on his arm before meeting Ms. Willard's gaze once more. "It's fine," he grumbled. "The wound's shallow anyway." Besides, after so many times getting wounded on missions, he had already built his pain tolerance level exponentially.

"Mr. Mason, I still think it would be best that you go and have the wound treated."

Edward shook his head. "I'd rather have this done with as soon as possible."

"Mr. Mason – "

A knock from the door stopped her from continuing. "Come in," she said instead, and soon Roy and Riza came inside. Behind her, came Stanley, walking with the help of a makeshift crutch and his mother's support. Riza's eyes quickly found his bleeding arm and before he knew it she was by his side, pulling at the arm and studying it intently.

"Just what was going on?" Roy demanded instantly. At that moment, he voice was so commanding, and it was clear to anyone who knew that this was Colonel Mustang at work, not the baker, Roy Mason.

Liam wasted no time tattling. "Edward pushed the sandbags near the gym over," he accused, complete with the offensive point of the finger at Edward's face. "They topple over, and Stanley's hurt, now."

"I did not push the sandbags," Edward growled, guttural, angry.

"Alright, stop," Ms. Willard held her hands up, forcing their attention to her. The woman had a way to force people to take her seriously, and her calm and collected façade clearly helped the case. "I want each of you to tell me what happened. One by one," she added when three of all boys present opened their mouths simultaneously.

Liam started recounting his version of the tale together with Noah. Their version, as Edward had suspected, was the same. They revised and strengthened each other's statement, painting how Edward was the obvious villain in the story, how he had pushed the sandbags without mercy and how they were unable to stop him in time. Edward's visage darkened with each word they spoke, and the only thing that prevented him from lashing at them was Riza's hold on him as she bandaged his wounded arm. Every time he tensed at the boys' words Riza would grip his fingers warningly, and he would grit his teeth and forced himself to calm down.

Edward then told his own version; that Liam and Noah pushed the sandbags and how he tried to stop them and ended up trying to save Stanley, but couldn't push him away in time. Riza was still holding his injured arm gingerly, and while he spoke Roy had his hand on his automail shoulder, as if reining his anger physically.

Stanley's version was short. He was too focused on the looming sandbags, too scared and too stunned to move. He remembered Edward pushing him away and him falling only to have his ankle sprained. Really, he was lucky that it was the only extent of his wounds.

"Alright," Ms. Willard sighed. "It's clear that one, if not some, if not all of you are telling a lie. So which one is it?"

"Of course it's Edward!" Noah scoffed instantly, glaring at Edward openly.

As a response to that Edward snarled wordlessly, giving his own glare that was easily many times as piercing as Noah's. The boy started and shrunk immediately, and his mother pulled him into a protective half embrace. "Good grief, control yourself!" she told him at once.

"Perhaps if your son can control himself enough to tell the truth, Ma'am," Roy bit back chilly.

"Are you saying that my son is a liar?!" she barked at once. "How do you know that your son isn't the one who lies?"

"Edward knows better," Roy said simply. And he was right. Not harming civilians had been one of the most important points that had been drilled into the heads of all military-afflicted personnel, Edward included. And even if it hadn't been, Edward wouldn't harm his friends, not unless provoked.

"I think Edward is telling the truth," Stanley spoke quietly. "I mean… he helped me. Why would he do that if he wanted to harm me? Not to mention he got hurt in the process."

Stanley's father stared at him as if he was mad. His mother protested immediately, "Darling, he hurt you."

"He didn't," Stanley shook his head. "He pushed me away. I'm sure of that, at least."

"Alright," Roy sighed. He turned to look at Edward, eyes searching. "Did you do it?"

Edward glowered at once. "I didn't hurt anyone. I thought we cleared that up forever ago."

Roy nodded in satisfaction and turned to Liam and Noah, eyes stormy. "Then you both must have lied. Why did you do that?"

"Now that's out of line," Liam's father snapped instantly. "We can't know for sure if your son is the liar here."

"I wouldn't lie to them," Edward chimed in. "I know better than that."

Liam scoffed. "What, scared of a little grounding?"

Edward's lips curled into a grim smile. "I can assure you that whatever kind of grounding your parents might give you, mine is way worse than that." After all, what could be scarier than court martial?

"That doesn't matter," Liam's mother shook her head. "My son is a good kid with a heart of gold. He wouldn't hurt a fly!"

"All parents say that about their children," Roy easily shook his head.

"I know he wouldn't do that." Liam's mother stubbornly reiterated.

For the first time, Riza made a sound. She sighed, loudly, and somehow the sound was so piercing, as loud as a thunder that came in the quiet before the storm. The people in the room was silent immediately, staring at her, as if wary of what she was about to do.

"I think it is very unlikely that a victim would protect his attacker like this," she spoke calmly, gesturing to Stanley with her hand. "And I don't think Edward had hurt anyone. I know how he reacts whenever someone gets hurt and he thinks it's his fault. This is not how he does that." Her piercing eyes stared straight at both Liam and Noah. "So it must have been you."

"We didn't do anything!" Noah objected immediately.

"Yeah, it was all Edward!" Liam added. "He must've lied. Who knows, maybe he's just jealous of all of us for having our own actual limbs, that freaky part-robot."

Both Riza and Roy fixed their gazes at him.

"Besides, it's probably his own fault, isn't it?" Liam continued. "He never wanted to talk about it even when Matt asked him. I bet he did something stupid that made him lose his leg. Probably killed someone in the process, too."

Edward's hands clenched hard. He could feel heat rising to his back while his flesh fingers felt as though they were drenched in ice water. Anger welled up within him, then terror, and then he wasn't sure what he was feeling any longer because it all swirled into one like a whirlwind, sweeping him into its vortex and shook him up and down without wanting to let go. He realized, then, that he was still as a statue, unable to move. He took a deep breath and tried to still his trembling fingers, eyes trained at Liam, feeling that he should say something even though he didn't know what he should say.

But he didn't need to. As soon as Liam stopped talking, Roy and Riza had gone still, as well. They stood in front of Edward like a tall, strong wall of a fortress, protecting him from any and all attack that came from forward. Their backs were facing Edward, so he didn't know what kind of face they had been wearing, but he was sure they looked terrifying, since Liam gulped aloud and Noah paled. Their respective parents looked like they wanted to say something, but didn't know what they should say. Stanley and his parents simply stared at them, slowly inching back, though they didn't seem as scared as Liam and Noah and their family.

"You must understand," Roy spoke with a deep rumble in his voice that reminded Edward of the sound before an earthquake, "that there are lines that you simply can't cross."

"But – " Liam gulped when he heard his voice, shrill and cracked. He decided to stop talking.

"Mr. Mason, I must tell you that I do not appreciate that you talk to my son that way," Liam's father said with a frown.

"And I must tell you that I don't appreciate your son talking about my son in such manner," Roy snapped back without missing a beat. "The accident that took Edward's leg is something that is very sensitive, not to mention have nothing to do with the case at hand."

"He presented a believable theory, didn't he?" Liam's mother asked back at once. "Jealously is an ugly thing, and it affects all of us. I think it's very likely that he did this out of jealously."

Edward opened his mouth to protest, but then he shut his mouth tight and looked up at Riza's back. She had tensed for a moment, and all of a sudden it was as though the room's temperature had dropped a few degrees.

"It is true that jealousy is ugly, and it affects everyone," Riza spoke chilly, and all of a sudden Edward knew exactly why no one in Mustang's Unit dared disobey her. "But to do something so petty is beneath Edward. He, of all people, knows the value of a human life and knows better than to try to do something this reckless."

"How does someone so young understand – "

"Does it matter how old he is?" Riza cut in mercilessly, and Liam's mother glowered at her. "He is the only one in this room to have lost a limb. The only one in this room to ever have to replace flesh and bones with oil and steel. He has seen death before." Her eyes narrowed and she told their story of how Edward lost his leg. "Do you want to know how he lost his leg? It was a car accident. He was with his grandparents. The three of them were driving together, and a truck slammed into their car. Edward was the only survivor. Tell me how that wouldn't change someone's perspective about a human life."

It was a lie, all lies. But the way Riza told it, it might as well have been the truth. Edward stared at her, surprised that she would go to such length to defend him. A knot at his stomach that he never realized existed since the sandbags fell lessened, slowly but surely.

The room was silent for a moment before Noah looked down at his feet and mumbled softly, "I'm sorry."

For the first time, Ms. Willard asked, "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry," Noah repeated, louder, as he ducked his head further down. "We pushed the sandbags. We never wanted anyone to get hurt. We just wanted to scare Edward, that's all. Stanley was just collateral damage. We thought that if we ended up scaring him too then it's fine. We never thought someone would actually get hurt."

"Noah…!" Liam nearly whined, clearly feeling betrayed. Noah simply glared at him and shook his head. The message was clear; just stop.

Liam seemed to be waging a silent war with himself for a few moment before he grunted. "Fine. We pushed the sandbags, alright? What's the big deal?"

"The big deal, Mr. Wilson, is that you and Mr. Harris hurt someone," Ms. Willard answered immediately, sharp and merciless. "Those sandbags were very heavy, and I'm sure you already know that. They could seriously injure someone. We are lucky that Mr. Lewis got away with only a sprained ankle. It would have been much worse."

Liam looked away uncomfortably.

"You must understand that your actions have consequences," Ms. Willard continued relentlessly. "We will discuss about this more in private," she glared at him. Her words were directed to him as much as they were to Noah and their parents. She then turned to Edward, Roy, Riza, Stanley, and Stanley's parents. "Thank you for coming here. Thank you for your help and cooperation of clearing this up."

"Our pleasure," Roy answered, still with a hint of chill that had colored his voice earlier. With a slight incline of his head, he walked out of the room, and Edward shot to his feet and followed him quickly as Riza strode behind him, like a silent guardian she was.

"Do you still have classes after this?" Roy asked Edward.

"No," Edward answered. "Normally I'd have history after lunch, and then I can go home. But the teacher's absent today so I can go earlier."

"Good," Roy turned to look forward once more. "Let's go home. We need to have that arm of yours looked at."

"Ah… okay." Only then did Edward remember that his arm was injured. He looked down at it. It wasn't bleeding anymore. He took a look at Roy's back, since he was walking in front of him, and turned his head to look at Riza, who was walking behind him and staring ahead with an occasional glances around as if checking for threats. A smile made its way to his face, suddenly finding it funny that his commanding officer and his most trusted subordinate had been defending him as though he were a true family member. The smile soon broke into a small chuckle, and both Roy and Riza stared at him, puzzled.

When the chuckles died, Edward met their eyes. "Thank you," he told them sincerely.

For the first time, their gazes softened, and smiles of their own adorned their faces. "Anytime, Ed," Roy answered with a grin.

A/N: Okay so. I noticed some reviews that pretty much chalk up to be requests, and... um. I'm really sorry, but I just need to remind you that I don't take requests anymore. I'm really glad that you enjoy this story, but to be completely honest there are a lot of requests that I haven't written yet and I don't want to end up neglecting them. Besides, I don't really like it when I end up writing really, really long stories because I tend to lose focus and get bored and the story end up being really crappy. I don't want that to happen with Almost. So... yeah. Sorry about that. But. If your request have nightmares, singing, or Rattlebag in action in it, worry not! I have some plans for them in the future chapters. You just gotta be more patient.

Now then. Guest Star asked to see Roy and Riza defending Ed. Harish asked to have Roy and Riza coming to school to deal with a problem Ed got himself tangled to. zerorose wants to see a situation where Ed is falsely accused and Roy and Riza are defending him. To be completely honest I don't feel 100% comfortable with the story but I've already revised it many times. It's not going to get any better, I suppose.

Well, please leave me some reviews to let me know what you think. Hope you have a great day!