Chapter 28
Scar glared at the Crimson Alchemist from his perch on the roof. "Feeling nostalgic, eh Kimblee? Last time, it was the other way around."
Kimblee stiffened, "Don't look down on me."
Ed ran at Kimblee, gripping his collar as he snarled at him, "Kimblee, you son of a bitch. The main group was supposed to be watching Winry."
"Why was she here?" Rory demanded, standing right behind Ed. It wasn't hard to be angry at Kimblee; he just had to think of the things Riza had told him about him. It was too easy to see this man as a monster. "We had Scar right where we wanted him and now he's taken her as his hostage."
"Kimblee," Miles called angrily as he and the rest of them approached. "Are you incapable of keeping tabs on a single child? Your squad was in charge of watching Miss Rockbell."
"…of my way," Kimblee mumbled, much to everyone's confusion. He then brought his hands, revealing his hands with the transmutation circles on them.
Rory reacted quickly and caught both of his wrists, "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Get out of my way," Kimblee hissed at the boys in front of him.
Scar flexed his hand and destroyed a pillar on the building. He grabbed Winry once more and ran off. Kimblee growled, "Get back here, Scar!"
"Mr. Kimblee, get back," A soldier called urgently. "That building is about to collapse. Retreat back to HQ! A huge snow storm is coming; anyone who doesn't want to die, head back to HQ!"
"That was realistic," Miles commented.
"I wasn't acting," Ed grumbled.
Rory shook his head, gazing at the floor solemnly, "Though I know Winry will be safe, I don't think I'll ever trust Scar, but I know he'll keep his word."
"It's disgusting," Ed mumbled angrily. "It makes me want to throw up."
"Come," Miles started walking. "We must get back to base."
They followed him quickly so as not to get stuck in the incoming snow storm. They were placed in a room separate from Kimblee. Miles walked out to answer the telephone while the boys stood there stoically.
"I don't like it," Ed spoke to Rory.
Rory frowned, shaking his head, "I don't like it either, but I trust Winry."
Ed grunted, gritting his teeth. "It's not that I don't trust her, it's just that…I don't trust Scar with her."
"Scar won't hurt her," Rory replied. "Besides, she's got everyone else with her. She's not safe, but then again, none of us are, but she has some protection on her."
Before Ed could reply, Miles came in the room with a frown. "We're in trouble, boys."
"What is it?" Al asked, a bit frightened.
Miles turned away, clenching his jaw, "Major General Armstrong has been summoned to Central," He answered. "A large group of Central soldiers have come to Briggs as well. I guarantee you that Kimblee told the Fuhrer something; probably during all those little phone conversations they had."
"Wait," Ed swallowed dryly. "If the General's gone…"
"Yes," Miles nodded solemnly. "The interim commander will likely be appointed directly by Bradley."
"They're gonna get caught," Rory said, gripping his hair in frustration.
"Hiding them will be much more difficult now," Miles responded. "We must be extremely cautious or they'll end up right in the enemies' hands."
"We have to warn them," Ed stated, putting a hand to his chin. "But how? They don't have radios. Maybe we can go find them."
"No," A Briggs soldier shook his head. "You underestimate blizzards. They'll sap your energy like nothing."
"I got it," Al said. "I'll do it. I can't get tired or frozen to death."
Ed and Rory blinked at him in surprise. "Well," Rory spoke, shaking his head slightly. "If you think you can, Alphonse."
"Be careful," Ed said, patting his brother's back as he walked out of the room. He sighed when his brother left the room and walked up to the window the taller boy was staring out of, "First and foremost, we need to take care of Kimblee."
"It'd be easy to cut off his hands," Rory commented. "But it's the philosopher's stone he has that will be a problem. We need to get that away from him first."
"That's going to be difficult," Ed mumbled.
Miles glanced at the window which was now clear of hazardous snow. "The storm has cleared. Get everyone."
"Yes, sir," One soldier said. "Are we using snipers?"
"Yes," Miles nodded. "We're bringing down Kimblee and the two guys from Central. Only them. I want this done in complete secrecy. Inform the guys were 'borrowing' from HQ."
"Major Miles," Ed went up to the Ishvalan man. "When you say 'bring down' you mean 'kill' don't you?"
"Of course I do."
"I don't think we should kill him right away," Ed said. "Why don't we restrain him and question him like we talked about before?"
"You think that…thing will tell us the truth?" Miles questioned incredulously. "Keeping him alive poses too much of a threat."
"His men are only obeying orders," Rory spoke, narrowing his eyes at the Briggs soldier. "You saw them. They're willing to come on our side."
"It's possible," Miles said before glaring at the boy. "But possible is not good enough. Remember the laws of Briggs; lower your guard and you're dead. It's very possible that your soft-heartedness will get you killed one day. As General Armstrong said, we have no place for careless fools up here. If Kimblee and his two men give us an opening, we're taking them down."
Miles walked out with his soldiers, leaving the frowning boys there. Rory rolled his eyes, crossing his arms, "We need Alphonse back. If he's not here, Kimblee will get suspicious."
"Got it," Ed nodded. It took awhile, but the boys were able to find the material to make Al's armor. They had another soldier get into the armor to act like Al which was going to be harder than they expected.
"Alright," Miles said when they were finally outside, rallying everyone. "Let's roll."
"Aye sir," 'Al' said.
Ed kicked him lightly, "Hey, that should've been 'okay'."
"Sorry," The soldier whispered uncomfortably inside the armor. "It's so hard to move in this thing."
Rory chuckled, patting his back, "Well, we thank you for enduring it."
"Hey, you," Miles went up to one of the soldiers. "What is Kimblee investigating?"
"See that big tower in the center of town?" He pointed to the tower far away from them. "He's gonna enter the mines and search the tunnels. He doesn't trust Briggs soldiers, so he's only taking his guys from Central."
Miles gritted his teeth angrily. "Stall him," He hissed to his men right beside him. "Have snipers secure their positions surrounding the tower."
Kimblee stopped ways away, turning to his men, "Search for the entrance tunnel. There should be plenty of footprints around it." His men nodded and walked away. The Crimson Alchemist smirked, "Now then. You're here too, aren't you, boys?"
Rory and Ed walked out from their hiding spot, going up to the older male. "What do you want?" Ed questioned promptly.
"I was right in assuming you'd be here," Kimblee stated.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ed inquired. "I'm here because you promised me a philosopher's stone if I helped you catch Scar."
Kimblee chuckled, "Don't play fool with me. You're stalling so the snipers can get into position, correct?"
Ed frowned, "What tipped you off?"
"There are several people with the intent to kill surrounding this area," Kimblee answered with a ghost of a smile. "I can feel it. It's no accident that I survived the Ishval war after all."
Everyone watched as Kimblee lifted his hands and slammed them into the ground, causing the snow to blind everyone. Rory jumped in front of Ed protectively, grabbing the fist that came at him.
Ed grumbled at the two chimeras before them, "Figures." He turned his gaze to the side when he saw Kimblee enter a building, "Kimblee, wait!" He was blinded once more by the snow.
Rory pulled out his sword, grunting when he felt claws rip into his back. "Stand down, boy," The blond chimera growled. "While you may not be able to see, we chimeras have our noses to our advantage."
Rory rolled his eyes, feeling his back stitch up, "Oh please." He swiped his sword at the chimera, just barely nicking his fingers, "I don't need sight to fight."
"Boys," They heard Miles shout frantically. "Where are you? Respond!"
"Major Miles," Ed shouted back. "They're chimeras. They've been trained to fight in low visibility. Stay out of the smoke-"
The dark haired chimera kicked him off the side of the building they were on. Rory sped over to the falling blond, catching him in his arms and using the wind to cushion their fall.
Ed gaped at him as he pulled away while Rory kept his gaze on the chimeras, "Are you alright, Edward?"
"Wha-what-" Ed stammered numbly, only to be cut off by the chimeras that jumped down in front of them.
Rory clenched his jaw, readying his sword and standing in front of Ed protectively. He glanced around him before blinking in surprise when he saw many boxes of dynamite. He nudged Ed, gesturing to the crate.
Ed's eyes gleamed wickedly as he opened it. He grabbed a few dynamite in his hands, smirking at the chimeras, "Hey, boys. You know what these are?"
"Those are soaked, idiot," The blond chimera chuckled.
The dark one shook his head, "They'll never light."
Ed's smirk got wider, "Pop quiz, imbeciles. What is dynamite made out of?"
"A-ammonium nitrate," The blond one replied dumbly.
"And what do they use ammonium nitrate for?" Ed asked sweetly as he and Rory plugged their noses.
The blond chimera rolled his eyes, "Obviously, ammo…nium." The chimeras stared at the boys in fright when they finally inhaled the smell. The boys smirked as they clapped their hands and slammed them into the wall that was next to Kimblee.
"Having a powerful nose can backfire," Rory said, helping Ed off of the chimeras.
Ed chuckled, "Those guys are done for." He held his automail arm at Kimblee. "I think it's time you spilled your guts, Kimblee."
Kimblee smirked, shoving his hand in his pocket, "I don't have time to play with you boys." He pulled out the philosopher's stone. "I think it's time I used this."
Ed grinned, charging at the man. Rory sped at him as well, kicking the stone out of his hands while Ed cut the transmutation circles on Kimblee's hands.
Kimblee only smirked once more, "How naïve. To think you could've killed me right here. Unfortunately, you're soft heart won't let you do so. You didn't even think to consider that I might have another stone."
The boys were taken aback when a red ball appeared between the Crimson Alchemist's teeth. Rory wrapped his arms around Ed as the explosion happened around them.
Ed groaned as he lifted himself off the floor. He blinked, trying to bring himself back to the present. "Rory," He breathed raggedly, looking around for the dark haired boy. "Where-"
He stared in horror at the sight before him. Rory lied there next to him, impaled in his stomach and shoulder by the beams of the collapsed tower.
The blue eyed boy fluttered his eyes open, smiling slightly at Ed, "Go, Edward. Everyone's waiting for you. Don't let them down."
"No," Ed shook his head, feeling his eyes sting harshly. "I'm not leaving you here. Everyone's waiting for you too."
"No they're not," Rory coughed roughly, blood spewing out of his mouth. He needed the beams out of him if he was going to regenerate. "Edward, get my sword and cut the beams."
Ed nodded frantically, taking Rory's fallen sword. He gazed at it doubtfully, "I don't think it'll cut through."
Rory chuckled shakily, "It will. Just swing."
Ed swung the sword and watched in awe as it sliced through the poles easily. Rory grunted, gripping the beam in his shoulder and pulling it out. He yelped in pain when it was gone, gripping his shoulder tightly. This was the worse pain he had been in, and it was steadily getting worse.
"We need to get the next one out," Ed said shakily, staring at the beam prodding out of his friend's stomach. He gripped it, and slowly began to pull it out.
Rory clenched his jaw, the veins in his neck bulging from his resistance to scream. He coughed once more, feeling a trickle of blood fall on his chin. He glanced up at Ed weakly, "Ed-ward." He swallowed, trying to get himself to regenerate. "You l-ove Win-ry, ri-right?"
Ed blushed fiercely, glaring at the boy, "You're in pain and saying stupid things."
Rory laughed before holding his stomach in pain. "The-re's nothing wr-wrong with loving her. She-she loves y-ou."
Ed's blush died down as he gazed at the taller boy sadly, "But you love her too, don't you?"
"I do," Rory responded, gazing at Ed longingly. He closed his eyes as he felt consciousness slip from him.
"Rory," Ed smacked his cheek frantically. "Stay with me, stay with me, buddy. Come on, you can't die on me. That would mean I owe you a favor."
Rory chuckled slightly, keeping his eyes half lidded. "You don't owe me anything. I didn't save you because I wanted you to owe me a favor. I saved you because you're my family." He gripped the other boy's shoulder, his eyes shining, "That's what love is, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Ed sniffed, nodding. He shook the taller boy when his head lolled to the side, "Hey, hey. Come on, Rory. Stay with me. T-tell me about Winry. Tell me about Winry as if I've never met her before."
Rory smiled lightly, closing his eyes. "Oh, Winry. She's the best thing to ever walk this earth. She's nice, funny, loyal, smart, kind…she gave me my arm so I could continue my mission to find my parents and fight Father and the homunculi. She's everything." The blue eyed boy inhaled softly, his wounds slowly starting to regenerate, "But there's someone else too that I...I love her but she loves you. I love that you both love each other. You'll take care of each other."
Ed scrubbed at his eyes, trying not to let the tears sting his eyes fall. He sobbed dryly when he noticed Rory quiet down. He gathered the boy in his arms, rocking him back and forth. "It's okay, Rory. She loves you too, I know it. She has room in her heart to love everyone because she's just that amazing."
They were like that for a few moments before Rory stirred, his mouth full of Ed's red jacket, "Edward, you can let me go now."
Ed blinked, slowly removing his arms. Rory stood unsteadily, helping Ed with him. He took a step forward before pitching forward. He was caught by the dark haired chimera that appeared with his friend.
Ed readied his blade causing the chimeras to shake their heads frantically. "Hey, hey, kid," The blond one said shakily. "He saved us. We're just returning the favor, okay?"
Rory chuckled weakly, closing his eyes once more, "We have to go fight Kimblee. Though, I do think I need to see a doctor. I've never lost that much blood before."
Ed patted his back, grabbing the other boy's sword as the blond chimera put the blue eyed alchemist on his back. As they walked off, Ed spoke to the half unconscious boy, "Rory, how are you healed already?"
"The gate," Rory replied softly. "It gave me powers to defeat Father and the homunculi. It saw that I was willing to do it; not to save myself but to keep the world safe. I gave my arm for information to find my parents. Alphonse and Winry know about this too."
"So," Ed drawled lightly. "You only saved me because you knew you wouldn't die?"
"Like I said," Rory rasped. "You're my family." He reached his arm out to him, "I love you guys. I would never let you or Alphonse get hurt."
Ed stared at him for a beat before smiling brightly, taking his forearm. "You know, I didn't like you at first, but now I can't think of life without you. You're too good for this world, Rory."
"You too, Edward," Rory smiled back before it faded from his lips. His gaze darkened, "Edward, I'm going to tell you something that I haven't told Winry or Alphonse for fear of how they'd react."
Ed gazed at him in all seriousness while Rory swallowed thickly, "I'm going to die after I defeat Father."
"What?" Ed jolted in shock. "How does that even make sense?"
"Truth said," Rory replied. "I was supposed to die when I did human transmutation because I was born premature and was dead when Hawkeye had me. I gave my arm for information on my parents. Truth took it and gave me the mission and powers to take down Father. It was all equivalent exchange. Then he said I had to die after that."
"That part isn't equivalent exchange," Ed protested. "You can't just die after everything. There has to be some way around that. I'm not going to let you die."
Rory grinned, burrowing his face into the blond chimera's mane. He knew that wasn't equivalent exchange, and he knew what he was going to do to make it so.
