Hey there! I was so happy to be able to update this story! I managed to plan a lot for this. Sorry about the wait. I have been so busy. I really want to thank everyone for reviewing. They really motivate me and make my day. I love reading them all!
Chapter 21
If you want to get out alive….
Roy had no idea what he was going to do with the boy. There were so many questions that were unanswered. Why did Ed blow up on him like that? Where things ever going to get better? Was there ever going to be an end to the pain and the distrust? What would happen when he had to get back to work? He continued to sip at his coffee at the table while Havoc continued to cook dinner for the team.
"Boss why so glum?" Havoc asked turning his attention away from the stove for the first time in half an hour.
Roy just groaned and looked down at his coffee. "I don't know what to do Havoc." Roy admitted. "I don't know what I am doing. I know that I need to go back to the office soon. What is going to happen if I leave?" Roy exhaled. "Last time I left him he was taken again. We still haven't caught the bastard yet. What if he takes him again…." From me? Was the unadded thought.
Havoc walked over to the Colonel and sat down at the table. "Boss, I know you are worried, but you can't keep on with the what-ifs. We don't know how Ed's recovery is going to go. You just have to take it one day at a time."
Maybe Havoc was right. Roy knew that he couldn't keep wondering what was going to happen. He just had a sinking feeling about leaving Ed again. Roy knew that Ed was most comfortable with him. The only other person that Ed really trusted around him was Hughes, but he knew Hughes couldn't stay there with him either.
Roy heard someone coming down the stairs. He hoped it would be Hughes with Ed so that they could settle everything once and for all. Knox was the one that came downstairs instead. "Well I am stepping out for a bit. I have to replenish some things."
"Hey Boss, you should go with him. Get out of the house for a bit and clear your head." Roy flinched. He wasn't ready to leave Ed just yet.
"No its ok, besides Ed might want to talk to me."
"Roy I think you need to get out of here. I'm not taking no for an answer." Knox grumbled as he walked over and grabbed Roy's arm to hoist him out of the chair.
Roy huffed. Maybe they were right. It couldn't hurt. It was just for a little bit.
Roy yanked his arm away from Knox. "Fine." The both of them made their way towards the front door to put their coats on.
"What do you need to do in town anyway?" Roy asked.
"I just need to go to the pharmacy. Then afterwards we can do whatever you need to do." Knox said as he zipped up his coat.
"Well I guess I can get Ed a couple shirts and pants and stuff. He doesn't have hardly anything." Roy had wondered how Ed could have lasted so long with the same clothing. I guess he could have just mended his clothes with alchemy.
The both of them decided to take advantage of the sun and to walk into town rather than drive. This would also give them more time out of the house.
All was quiet in the house. A little bit too quiet. Hughes opened the bedroom door and began to carry Ed down the hall. His ankle was still in no condition to have any pressure on it. Hughes was carrying Ed on his back so it was a little less demeaning for Ed.
When they reached the stairs Ed began to feel strange. His head felt like there was too much rushing into it.
That's it. Get down there…you have been a bad doggie…
No it was the voice again. Ed started to hyperventilate and grab harder onto Hughes.
"Ed what-?" His voice was cut off as Ed started to try to get away causing Hughes to lose his balance and they went tumbling down the stairs. Ed leapt away from Hughes.
"NO! GET AWAY!" Ed began to scream. Blood was running down the side of his head. He must've hit it on the way down. Ed then scrambled against the corner at the bottom of the stairs terrified of his invisible tormentors.
"What the hell happened?!" Havoc yelled as he ran towards the stairs. Ed was looking at him but Havoc had the feeling that he was looking past him. "Hughes!"
Hughes was still sprawled out midway up the stairs.
"I'm good Havoc. Just a little banged up."
Havoc let out a sigh. "What happened to chief?" Havoc knew better than to try to go any closer to the boy.
"He must be having an episode again. Where is Roy? He knows how to deal with these things." Hughes was surprised that Roy hadn't come running with all of the commotion.
"Well…Knox and I thought that it would be a good idea that Roy would get out of the house. He went with Knox on an errand."
"Shit." Hughes rarely cursed but he knew that they were in for a tough one. Ed had his automail on and even though they haven't seen him use his alchemy there was still a possibility.
Ed was still shivering and mumbling things to himself in the corner. He was in his own head and wasn't even aware that Hughes and Havoc were in the room.
Ed saw the stairs in front of him. His captor's hot breath was breathing down his neck. He didn't give Ed the time to walk down the stairs. He just pushed him and Ed went tumbling connecting with the concrete wall at the bottom. Ed let out a groan as he hit.
He was starting to hyperventilate as he saw his captor slowly descending the stairs. He was laughing at Ed who looked so tiny and small at the bottom of the stairs. He then grabbed a fistful of his hair and began to drag him across the room. Ed was thrown onto a chair in the middle of the room. There were tools and medical instruments on tables around him. Ed began to shake. He tried to punch his captor only for him to be punched across the face.
"No!" Ed screamed as he tried to get up and fight back. His captor laughed and grabbed a bat and hit Ed over the back. Ed barely managed to choke out a scream as all the air was knocked out of him. His vision was beginning to blur. Before Ed could recover he was thrown onto a chair. And rope was tied around his waist tightly.
"Now let's get rid of that arm." He laughed maniacally as he walked over to a table. Ed was frozen in fear. What was he going to do? He remembered vaguely how he took it off the last time. He grabbed a screwdriver and a mallet.
"No….No!...Please!" Ed pleaded as he slipped the screwdriver into his shoulder where his port connected to the limb. He smirked before he hit the screwdriver with the mallet. Shock waves were sent throughout his body and Ed tried his best to hold back his scream by biting his lip. He managed to bite through his lip. The screwdriver was interrupting the nerves slowly tearing them from the port.
He laughed even more at Ed's agony. "Let's try that again shall we?" He laughed again and before Ed could beg the mallet was hit again. Ed couldn't hold it back this time. He screamed as his body jerked against the ropes that were holding him down. He couldn't stop screaming as the screwdriver was hit over and over slowly dislodging the arm.
The process went on for ten minutes before the arm was finally disconnected and Ed was unconscious in the chair. The shock was too much. His arm was removed and thrown across the room.
"You are going to learn your place dog." His captor laughed again. "We shall play more after you wake up. I look forward to hearing your wonderful screams."
Ed continued to scream and Maes and Havoc had no idea what to do. Ed continued to plead over and over again as his invisible attacker continued to inflict harm.
"What the hell do we do?!" Havoc yelled as Ed began to thrash and flail at the bottom of the staircase. He was most likely going to hurt himself with all of his thrashing. His fists were then brought up and he started punching out and sometimes hitting himself. Maes got off the stairs and ran down to grab Ed's wrists to try to get him to stop hurting himself. Ed flinched away at the contact and punched out and hit Maes on the cheek.
Maes howled in pain as he was flung out. Ed tried to run away but his ankle gave out underneath him. Ed whimpered at the pain flaring through his ankle but was still terrified and stuck in his flashback. Ed then continued to scramble to try to get away from Havoc and from Maes.
Havoc finally pounced on him and not too gently slammed him on his back. He then struggled against Ed as he pinned his wrists above his head and pinned his legs down with his thighs. Ed's eyes were unfocused they were frantically looking for something past Havoc. He was still hyperventilating. Havoc could feel his erratic pulse in his wrist.
"Havoc what are you doing?" Maes grabbed the side of his face in agony. It looked as if he had a deep gash and his eye was blood red. The impact of Ed's fist busted a blood vessel in his eye.
"We need to stop him from hurting himself and other people." Ed was no match for Havoc and could not get him off of him.
"No!...NO! PLEASE!...I'M SORRY! PLEASE!" Ed was pleading and screaming and trying to fight Havoc off of him.
"Maes what do I do?! Ed stop that!" Havoc was at a loss. The Boss usually was the one to handle these situations.
"You need to try comforting him. He needs to come out of it on his own." Maes was grabbing a towel and ice for his face.
"PLEASE NO!...STOP!...I'LL BE GOOD….PLEASE!" Ed continued to scream over Havoc and Maes. His breathing was getting worse. His throat was drying and he was starting to choke.
"Ed please I don't know what to do." Havoc was starting to get choked up. The poor child below him was suffering and he had no idea how to help. He knew that Ed was probably harming his injuries even more.
"Havoc he is going to be fine. He just needs to get through it." Maes pulled up a chair next to the two and sat down while holding ice to his face.
"PLEASE!...ROY! HELP ME! NO…STOP IT!...PLEASE!" Ed was crying and still choking out his words.
"We shouldn't have sent Roy away." Havoc said as he continued to hold the troubled child down.
"No, he needs to manage without Roy. Roy cannot be here all the time. We need to figure this out on our own. We just need to trick him." Maes began to look around. "Maybe we can convince him the Roy is here."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Havoc asked. Maes had got up to get something and Havoc was puzzled.
Maes walked up the stairs into Mustang's room. He went to the closet and found Roy's uniform and took the jacket off of its hanger. Maybe if Ed had something there that smelled of Roy or reminded him of Roy he would be able to focus on that and get himself out of it. Roy was usually so particular about his uniform. It always had to be in pristine condition and he never allowed anyone to touch it. Hughes didn't think he could be mad at Ed though for holding it.
Maes closed the closet and went back down where he was greeted with the sound of Ed pleading against his fake assailant and Havoc trying to calm him down with nonsense talk.
"Where the hell did you go?" Havoc asked. His arms were starting to get tired from holding the kid back. He hated the sad and terrified look that Ed had in his eyes. That fire in his eyes that was so intimidating and strong was gone. That power and that strength that he held was gone. Ed was a terrified child now. He didn't need commanding officers or missions or the military. He needed a parent.
"Went to get something of Roy's. Maybe that would get him to calm down." Hughes knelt down next to the struggling pair and placed the coat over Ed. Ed at first didn't seem to notice it as he still continued to plead and scream.
"Maes this isn't-"
"Havoc just be patient. It isn't going to be instantaneous." Ed still continued to attempt to thrash and scream.
"NO!...STOP PLEASE!...PLE-" Ed stopped and froze. He inhaled a couple of times totally silent. Havoc and Maes were anxiously awaiting what Ed would do. Ed's flashback had already lasted about an hour. They were deperate to find anything to stop it. Ed blinked a couple times and then smiled. "Roy." He exhaled as his breathing began to correct itself and Ed drifted to sleep.
Havoc and Maes let out the breaths they were holding. Havoc felt Ed's pulse relaxing in his wrist and his breathing was beginning to even out. He then decided that it would be alright if he let go of the boy. When he let Ed go, Ed curled himself into a ball and hugged the Colonel's jacket close to him, breathing in Roy's scent.
"You know we are going to have to fight him to get that jacket back before Roy gets home." Havoc said as he stretched out his stiff muscles.
"Ah, let him keep it. If it calms him down, then who are we to take it from him? I really don't think that Roy would seem to mind either." Maes got up and picked Ed up and walked over to the couch that was in the next room. "We can keep him here to keep an eye on him for right now."
They placed Ed down on the couch and didn't need to use a blanket since Ed was using the jacket as one. Ed looked peaceful under the blue coat. He was so small compared to the jacket.
Maes and Havoc made their way back into the kitchen and Havoc turned the burners back on the stove. He had shut if off early when Ed first started to freak out.
"Is chief really going to stay in the military?" Havoc asked. He was unsure about Ed joining the military in the first place. When he first heard the news that Ed was joining the crew he was in shock and was intrigued by the kid's bravado. That kid had disappeared, probably never to come back. That kid died when his brother died.
"I have no idea. Roy said that he was postponing the answer to that question for as long as possible. He is terrified too about the outcome." Hughes sighed as he put more coffee to brew.
Havoc grunted and continued to cook. They then heard the door unlock as Roy and Knox made their way back into the house. Knox went on ahead to the kitchen as Roy took off his jacket and laid it on a chair before walking up to Ed.
The kid was snuggled up next to his military coat and sleeping. Roy smiled. Ed looked so peaceful. A look that he had never seen on Ed when he slept. Roy then noticed that there were tear stains on his face and blood stains on the side of his face. He had no idea what had happened and he was afraid to find out. Yet in the remnants of the chaos, the blood and tears, he still looked so peaceful. He brushed Ed's bangs out his face gently and whispered, "Oh Ed, what am I to do with you?"
Hey guys sorry about the long wait! At least it isn't a year wait lol. Um yeah so I definitely plan to keep updating this so please keep on the lookout!
Also for those that haven't read my bio I suffer from PTSD so it is kind of interesting to incorporate it into a story.
Once again please make my day and review! Thanks!