THE OUTSIDER


by Iland Girl

"For those without 'purpose'."

A Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction

I don't own anybody but my OC's!


Chapter 27

"Scratch The Surface"


"If you choose to not deal with an issue, then you give up your right of control over the issue, and it will select the path of least resistance."
― Susan Del Gatto


(Erin)

I woke up to the sun burning my eyelids. Rolling over I snuggled deeper into the blankets as a chill swept over me. With a sigh I curled up into a ball before stretching.

Wait a second...

My eyes opened, gazing down at the pure white sheets beneath me. Sitting up I looked around me.

"Hey so you're finally awake," I looked over to Edward. He grinned as he sat up in his bed. "Thought you were gunna sleep all day! Lazy."

Since when was there another bed in Ed's hospital room? I must've looked confused because Al spoke up.

"Oh we asked a nurse to bring that in a while ago," Alphonse explained as I looked down at the sheets. "You fell asleep against me, but I was worried you might be sore in the morning."

Hold on a second...

"There's no night staff though that makes rounds..." I muttered. I should know, since it was how I snuck in so easily. Looking over to the boys, I realized why they looked so sheepish suddenly.

"You picked me up!" I shouted accusingly at Edward. He looked surprised as I frowned. The door opened then; Winry stepped inside. "Winry I need to borrow a wrench!"

Both the boys slammed against the wall at that; Winry looked between myself and the boys who were cowering as I frowned at them.

"What for? What did they do now?" Winry asked. I ignored Ed's calls of treachery towards Winry as I got up from the bed before walking over to Edward. My frown still in place as I looked down to his bloodied gown. He'd opened a wound last night for sure.

Great, I'm really that heavy...

"I'm serious," I said sharply. Both boys paused for a second. "It's one thing for you boys to stick your neck out for me as it is. At the very least take care of yourselves afterwards."

There was a pause before I smiled.

"But... thank you for caring about me."

"You're our friend Erin." Al said. It was all he had to say before I smiled a little bit wider.

"I know, just like you boys are to me." I said, turnignt o greet Winry properly-

THUNK

I huddled in a corner, clutching my aching head.

"What was that for?!" I asked, turning around to shout at Winry. Murderous intent rrolled off her suddenly.

"For not coming back so I could show you our hotel," Winry said, frowning. "Seriously Erin, this is the city now. It's not as safe for you to wander around as in the country."

I couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"I know Winry, but trust me. People in the city? I can handle them." I said simply.

It was those monsters I had a hard time facing.

The girl sighed before shrugging.

"Anyway, I'm pretty much done Ed's arm and leg. We'll just have to wait for him to heal up before he can help Al." Winry added as she looked around at us all.

"Right, well I think I'm going to go to the Seventh Branch Library. A worker told me that has the most medical records of Alchemy available," I said before glancing at Edward. "Can I take that watch from you? It's my ticket in."

Ed blinked before grabbing the watch and looking at it.

"Was it you who brought it back?" Ed asked, making me smile.

"Colonel Mustang gave it to me. He and I had a little run-in earlier," I paused before realizing something. "Come to think of it, when did Roy come to Central? Wasn't he in East City?"

"He came right after..." Al trailed off. Ed clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.

"Right after Maes Hughes was murdered." Ed finished for his brother.

Maes Hughes...

The kind man who helped me out all that time ago...

I looked down, feeling odd inside. Something didn't feel right as Ed held out his hand with his watch. I couldn't make eye contact with him as I took it, softly excusing myself from the room.


My nose was stuck in a book from noon until dinner time.

Yet I don't think I could remember a single thing.

My mind kept wandering back to that moment when Edward told me about Maes' death. A funny feeling struck me; but it was sadness.

It was indecision.

I shut the book I had been 'reading' and stared at the blank cover.

I lost my mother when I was twelve, then my father over a year ago. I lost my uncle, my friends, I had lost almost everybody.

Yet all of this was surreal. Maybe it was because they were literally a world away; Auntie and Bray were so far away that I couldn't reach them if I wanted to. Maybe it was because of that that I could numb the feeling of loss. I didn't have to look at it everyday. I didn't have to feel it all the time.

I could forget.

For even just a second; I could make it all just a bad dream.

It had been working too; I had all my fears tucked away. All my friends were safe; sure I was worse for wear, but I was happy.

Now I was losing people on this end too. I was losing everyone around me now. It wasn't a bad dream; now no matter where I went I would be reminded that; this was reality, and there was nothing I could do about it.

I rested my head on the book, trembling at the mere thought of losing any of my friends. It was worse because I knew, at the end of the day, I was absolutely powerless to stop it.

It made me feel so sick.

When I checked out of the library, imagine my surprise to see a familiar blonde man standing outside waiting for me. I nearly dropped my books out of surprise.

"Edward?" I asked, suspicious. He looked up at me, but smiled as I approached. We were in a public place, if this was Envy-

"Hey, I figured you coming in late again might get you killed by Winry, but then I realized I need my watch to get in to this library..." Ed said as he scratched his head. My eyes widened.

"How long have you been out here?" I asked. He scratched his cheek, but I noticed the way it twitched- he was cold.

"An hour I think."

I nearly fainted when I heard that.

He waited for me... for that long...?

Edward...

You idiot!

"What?! Your wounds aren't healed! Not to mention it's cold out and you didn't bring your jacket!" I half shouted before pulling mine off and throwing it over his shoulders. He looked a little irritated as I did so.

"I'm pretty sure the guy is supposed to offer his coat to the girl." He countered, making me smile. He stilled shrugged it on. It was large on me but fit him really well. I still had on another coat I had adopted before coming to central. A long black vest that was warm and thick. It was as long as my dress shirt.

The air was cold and biting, but I ignored it and continued to walk.

"Maybe, but I'm pretty sure you're less used to the cold than I am." I said as we began to walk.

"How so?" Ed asked as he glanced at me. He'd grown to be the same height as me, which said a lot since I'd grown quite a bit too.

"In my home city, it wasn't uncommon to change from a blizzard to a warm sunny day within twenty four hours. When I left we were having the best weather ever. It stayed the same for a whole day." I mused, thinking of that fateful night.

"Tell me about it," Ed began suddenly, looking away. "Y'know, about your home. What's it like?"

I had given Ed a run down of the fundamentals of my side of the gate, but he seemed interested in my personal views.

"To be honest, I'm not the best person to ask," I said as we stopped over a bridge. I leaned against the railing. "You see when I was younger, before my scar, I was actually a really popular person."

Ed snorted at that; I gave him a look.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"You make it sound like it's so bad." He said with a laugh.

"But it was," I began, making him stop and look at me. "It obscured my beliefs." I said, looking down with shame. "I truly believed that I was superior to other people. It got to my head. I did things I'm not proud of, things I'll never get to take back."

Raising my automail arm, I stared at it intently.

"Then when I got my scar, I lost it all. My friends hated me, boys wouldn't look at me, teachers pitied me which made the bullying worse..." I clenched my iron fingers. "I lost all that pride, that greed, and I realized that I was just like everybody else. There' nothing special about me. I'm just Erin."

"But that thought process made me realize what my home was really like. It used to be my family, my friends, and then everyone I didn't like. Then I learned that things are never black and white. There's a grey that you sometimes have to squint at to see where is right and where is the wrong."

I looked up to Edward but then felt myself panic a bit.

"Oh but that didn't answer your question." I said in a sullen voice. Ed smiled then though, shaking his head.

"No, I didn't mind that answer at all." He said before looking at the water beneath us. It was quiet for a moment.

"What about you?" I asked, looking over to him. "What are your thoughts?"

He closed his eyes for a second; then the words flowed.

"I suppose my dad really made my hatred for adults start," He began, eyes narrowed at the water. "He walked out on us when I was just a runt. I barely remember anything about him, but I could never forget that face. From there I guess I became selfish. So selfish that I had believed I would be in that house with Al and Mom forever."

"I truly believed nothing could stop me," he said, gripping the railing so hard I heard his automail clang a bit. "And then Mom died, but I was still convinced I could do whatever I wanted. And I wanted to bring her back so badly. I wanted to go back to before. I wanted to Mom to forget Dad and become happy. I wanted to be happy. So badly that I ignored all the warnings. My actions costed Al his body and all for nothing."

"I realized not everything is possible, I get it, but I still want to try. I want to keep moving though, I don't have a right to stop now. Not until I get Al his body back. And I suppose it all made me sort of bitter to realize I wasn't the king, I was just the joker. But things have been happening lately that... I think... I think I'm starting to understand some of the unfinished lessons my mother taught me and Al."

I stared at him all through his explanation; shocked to have gotten that out of him. Looking out over the water, my eyes narrowed.

"I don't remember a lot of what happened with my Dad," I began slowly. "The doctors said it was because of a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that my brain locked away all of the details."

I closed my eyes as tears threatened to fall.

"I was kidnapped and held hostage. I don't know why or who did it. But I can remember the face of the man who did it. There were a lot of them, each not sure what to do with me-"

I covered my mouth, shaking a little. The feeling of an arm around me gave me strength though as I pushed on.

"They wanted my dad, that's all I knew. They planned to kill me, but then Dad traded his life for my own. They walked away with him, leaving me on the street."

I felt dull suddenly as I stared at the flowing water.

"When I woke up in the hospital, Bray told me that Dad's body was found." I whispered, my eyes narrowing. Then I turned to Edward and looked him straight in the eye.

"My father died to protect me. And I refuse to make that sacrifice in vain." I said strongly, eyes never wavering despite the tears threatening to fall. Ed looked at me with slight surprise; then a smile eased onto his expression.

"Of course not, you're worth more than some sad and lonely life Erin." He said. My eye widened as I remembered what Winry said.

"Why are we the only ones with the happy ending? What about you?"

A soft smile played at my lips.

Feeling brave, I grabbed Ed's hand and began to tug him along with me.

There was a comfortable silence between us as he walked me to the hotel. I stopped at the front doors and smiled at him once more.

"Thanks for walking me here. You sure you're okay by yourself?" I asked. Ed laughed before shaking his head.

"Between the two of us you're the one who has a bad tendency of getting kidnapped." He said, but then hesitated. I laughed at it though; Ed relaxed a bit.

"But between the two of us who lost the most limbs?" I challenged with a grin. Edward glowered.

"Point taken," He said before giving me a look. I couldn't recognize it because I'd never seen it on him before. It felt foreign, but something deep down said it was a good thing.

"Erin?" Ed asked, making me raise a brow.

"Edward?" I asked back, smiling when he looked all flustered. What's wrong with you boy?

"I-I just um... y'know I was- um..." He paused before looking at me dead in the eye. "I'm happy your arm isn't weighing you down!" He said. I blinked for a moment before smiling.

"At least I can say that, what's your excuse?" I challenged. Edward glared at me before turning red.

"I've grown dammit!"

"It's more likely I shrunk." I teased, but then I noticed Ed wince a bit and frowned. He leaned forward and I rushed to help him. He leaned against me a bit before looking at me. His face turned pink again.

"Don't tell me you've got a fever too." I deadpanned. Ed stammered a little bit before turning red.

"I'm fine!" He said, backing up a bit. I frowned again before I really thought about the situation.

"Edward," I began, getting his attention properly. "Tomorrow... tell me everything that's going on. And don't you dare leave anything out."

Ed gave me a look again before smirking too.

"Alright, but don't go moping when I tell you." He said. I laughed a little.

As if I'd run away now.

We said our goodbyes before I turned and headed up to the hotel room.


"Are you sure you want to hear this?" Alphonse asked.

We were all sitting around the hospital room; I had come extra early so that Winry wouldn't overhear everything. My hands were folded in my lap as I stared at Ed and Al, nodding.

"I'm sure. Can't be of much use to you if I don't, right?" I asked with a small smile. Ed nodded before looking down.

"Well, I guess we should cover everything... After we split up and you took Marcoh, the doctor ran into us again. They killed Doctor Marcoh, but the man gave us a lead on how to find his work. Through a series of oddities we managed to get ahold of them. While you were being held captive, Al and I were trying to decipher them. We found out all of the ingredients to the stone there..."

As Edward trailed off, I waited patiently for him to continue.

"The main ingredient is live human beings Erin." Al began. My eyes narrowed at that; my fingers gripping my coat tightly.

"I sort of figured that out when they had all those men there, but I guess I never wanted to be right about it." I said softly. Edward continued on.

"When I saw you in lab five, those creatures... they're called Homunculi-"

My eyes widened.

"Wait," I cut in. "Homunculi?"

Both boys looked at me.

"You've heard of them before?" Alphonse asked. I nodded.

"I've never seen one before or really looked into it, but one thing that's different on my side of the gate is the stories. We like to make up creatures and myths and give them flesh in fantasy novels. I've come across the term Homunculi a few times too." I began, trying to remember anything I could about them. "The word means 'tiny man' in latin. A language in my home. There wasn't much to information on it, though alchemists often referred to them as a artificial human being."

"Well guess your home is pretty much on the mark. They had super regenerative abilities, not to mention could morph their bodies, but I guess you saw that." Ed said, looking over to me. I nodded, remembering the one called Envy.

"Yeah, I remember that." I said while remembering Lust's claws. Edward continued after that.

"Anyway, they wanted me to create a stone with those humans. They threatened to kill you if I refused." He said. I looked down sadly.

"I'm sorry, I got in the way..." I whispered.

"Don't blame yourself!" Al said sharply. "It's not your fault! We were supposed to protect you." His fists clenched.

A small smile appeared on my face at the gesture.

"We decided to send you to the Rockbell's. I thought you would be safe there and you wouldn't have to deal with all of this. We went back to research in the library but that came up as a dry lead too. Then the Colonel told us to check out a town called Liore. A priest was using a fake stone to make miracles happen. He tried to make an army of people that believed they could be brought back to life. We revealed him to them though, so I doubt there's much going on anymore.

After that we ran into two homunculi that called themselves Silence and Callous. They were looking for you, so we ran half way across the country hoping to keep them off your trail."

So that was why they didn't come back... They were busy protecting me again.

A small burn ached in my gut; the warmth from being so kind to me becoming less foreign.

"We've been trying to figure out what they wanted, and we managed to find out that they originally wanted your father. They needed you for something, but our plan was working up until a few days ago. We ran into another homunculi named Desire. She's the one that got us stuck in here."

It was quiet for a little bit as I took all of this in. So there were all these homunculi that were after me? Why? I didn't understand what was going on anymore. A frown broke out across my lips as I sighed.

"Well, at least our plan worked. They never suspected going to Resembool." Alphonse added in a bit more of an upbeat tone. My fists clenched then.

"That's not quite true," I admitted while staring at my hands clutching desperately to my coat in my lap. "A... humonculus... appeared in Resembool a few days before you called for repairs."

"What?!" Al shouted, making me flinch.

"Why didn't you tell us anything?!" Edward shouted after.

"I didn't want you to worry!" I yelled back; they both looked takeen aback at that. "It's just... you've both been working so hard... I figured that if I kept it quiet it would be okay. It wasn't anything major really."

It went quiet for a while as the information was absorbed.

"What happened?" Al asked after a moment. I shifted a bit under their scrutiny.

"Well I, I tried fighting her-"

"WHAT?!" Ed shouted, wincing as he pulled a stitch in his gut. I frowned at this reaction.

"I didn't go alone. Major Armstrong was with me." I countered. Al looked between me and his brother before nodding.

"Okay, I'm listening." He said while Ed made a noise of disagreement.

"Well, I was practicing my alchemy when she appeared. She called herself Avidity, and when I asked her if she worked with Envy and Lust she got really angry and attacked me. Major Armstrong stepped in and saved me, but then she hit me and I blacked out. Winry told me on the way here that the Major fought her before she just up and ran randomly. What she said makes sense now though, since she said 'they' sent her." I said as I glared at my hands.

"So that settles it," Edward said before we made eye contact. A grin stretched across his face. "I guess we really can't leave you anywhere now. You're sticking with us one way or another!"

I smiled cheekily at that.

"Well duh!" I said in an obvious tone. Then I paused and thought again. "So where would we be going once you're healed?"

"Well, Winry said something about wanting to go to Rush Valley. And then we thought of finally taking you to meet our teacher." Ed said. his voice trailed off to a nervous sound as he finished. He and Al clasped hands, looking at each other nervously.

"Brother I don't want to die yet though!" Al cried, making my eyes widen.

"I know! But we really should go!" Ed cried back. I raised a brow at the two of them.

"This teacher... just what is she?" I asked, growing nervous as the image of a ten foot tall lumber jack growing in my head. Ed and Al gulped before looking at me with nnervous eyes and simultaneously saying their answer.

"A house-wife."


Author's Note!

EXAMS ARE DONE! EXAMS ARE DONE! HALLELUJAH!

Also...

HHUGE THANNK YOU TO LeFay Strent FOR THE COVER IMAGE! I LOVE YOU GIRLY!

So... I began to watch FMA...BROTHERHOOD...

Holy snap...

I can never look at FMA the same again. It's just so much... more! Unfortunately Netflix only has until episode... 48... I think. Y'know the episode just before the huge event? Anyway, I'm super excited right now and got this wicked idea that I have to put into the story. This story just got way more awesome. Looking over my new plot... OMFG! Squeeeeee!

OK, so I don't plan to watch the final episodes yet juuuuust because I want to finish writing down my original script before watching. Just so it's not influenced.

So this is another kind of filler chapter. I thought it was pretty good, but I always am suspicious about Edward. Then again in FMAB he seems more... lively? IDK, just has more spunk...

Anyway, next chapter wee meet some pretty cool characters! Ooooohhhh I'm counting down to chapter 30! It's a chapter I've been waiting for for a loooooooong time! Meep!

One thing I noticed is a lack of reviews. I'm not necessarily complaining or anything, nor will I stop writing. It's just that when you see four hundred people read your story and nobody reviews... :'( brings a tear to my eye...

Thanks so much to who does review! It's like that extra shot of caffeine after a late night cram session!

I do have a question!

What is one thing you want to see more of? OR! What sort of interaction/scene do you think Erin should have with any other character?

Review please! I love it when you do!

Cheers!

Iland Girl