Y'all get a new chapter before I leave on Vacation heyyy

They'd stayed at the shelter for a few hours, long enough for Johanna and even Edward to catch some much needed sleep. If they had any hope of surviving out here, they had to make it to Fort Briggs before dark. Their break afforded Johanna some extra energy, but all of that new energy was gone after only a short while of fighting the snow drifts. Not long after Johanna was back where she started, taking on a mountain with zero energy, except now she was burning up while doing it.

Edward could feel how warm she was just by his proximity to Johanna, as he tried his best to keep the wind off of her. Earlier in their walk, Edward wrapped the blanket around her, another way to keep the cold out. Johanna began to cough from behind him and Edward stopped, turning to her quietly. She'd been struggling with her coughing fits, now she needed someone to steady her while they racked her entire body. Johanna placed a weak hand on Edward's shoulder, her coughs hoarse and dry. Her eyes watered and if it were at all possible, she seemed much paler than before. As her fit subsided, Johanna's eyes began to flutter, and she tumbled forward, right into Edward's waiting arms.

"Johanna!" Edward yelled, barely audible over the howling wind. Alphonse crouched next to them, blocking most of the wind as Edward removed her hood. Johanna was out cold, her breaths coming in ragged and short. Edward could feel how warm she was through her coat. "She's burning up!" Edward yelled to his brother.

"Brother, give her to me!" Alphonse pleaded, holding out the blanket that she'd dropped in the snow. Edward shook his head, trying to pull her over his shoulders. Alphonse stopped him, snatching the girl up and cocooning her in the large blanket. "I have to take her! We have to move fast!" Alphonse told him.

"She'll freeze to death!"

"If we don't hurry she's going to die of fever anyways!" Alphonse told him, pleading. Edward knew he was right, if he tried to carry her to Fort Briggs, they would never make it. The oldest Elric Brother nodded, exchanging a worried glance with his brother, checking on Johanna one more time before starting their trek anew.

The pair turned, just about to run for it, when a dark shadow on the horizon caught the attention.

"Brother! What is that thing? A bear?" Alphonse gasped, pulling Johanna as close to him as he could.

"I see it, Al!" Edward growled, stepping forward. He clapped, touching his automail arm, which transformed into it's typical combat style. He lowered the blade in a warning to the shadow. "Get out of the way!" Edward demanded. Through the snow, he could see the shadow grinning at him, and in one motion the shadow lifted his hand, bringing it down to strike. Edward and Alphonse jumped backwards, gathering their footing as the figure stood in front of them. To both of their surprise, it was a giant man, dressed only in Amestrian Military winter clothes, who brandished his giant automail claw with a smirk.

What happened next happened faster than Edward could really track. The giant man pulled out a gun, firing it at Alphonse and Johanna with his one good arm. It produced from its barrel not a bullet, but a giant, metal net. Alphonse had no time to dodge, the net catching him completely off guard as it pinned him and Johanna to the cold, snowy ground. Johanna groaned, her head making contact with Alphonse's cold metal shoulder as they hit the ground. To Alphonse's shock, his armor was smeared with blood, the impact opening a cut in Johanna's hairline.

"Alphonse! Jo!" Edward yelled to them, but he had no time to approach his fallen friends. The giant man pounced on him, swinging at him viciously with his metal arm. Edward ducked, jumping backwards to block the man's left foot, which rounded on him fast.

"Hey WAIT!" Edward pleaded, throwing a jab or two of his own. "That's an Amestrian Military Uniform!"

"And you're a Drachman spy!" The man bellowed, smashing his metal appendage into Edward's. Searing pain shot up Edward's shoulder as he tried desperately to counter assault him.

"I'm not a spy!" Edward roared, but his cries fell on deaf ears. The golden haired boy raised his arm to fight, only to find that he couldn't, instead causing himself more pain. What the hell?! Why does it hurt to move!

The giant man launched another assault, this time grabbing up Edward's automail arm in his claw. He slammed Edward into a nearby snow drift, bringing him up to pummel him some more.

"Brother!" Alphonse yelled, done struggling with the net. It was futile.

"You bastard!" Edward yelled, his arm still caught in the man's clawed grip. The Man grinned at him, and before he knew what was happening, his arm began to twist painfully in the soldiers automail teeth. Edward cried out in pain, only to have the man toss him across the snow. He rolled several feet, clutching his injured automail arm to his chest. Edward made to stand, surprised when a foot shoved him back to the ground forcefully. And then there was another gun in his face.

"Buccaneer?! Who are they!?" A commanding voice rang out. There was a lull in the action and Edward took this time to take in his surroundings. Alphonse stood several feet away, clutching Johanna to his chest tightly, the net removed by several guards who were surrounding him. Edward himself had three guns pointed at him, and he growled lowly. He couldn't go anywhere without putting himself or Alphonse or Johanna in immediate danger.

"I'm sorry for the disturbance, General Armstrong!" The man, Buccaneer, called out. Edward hadn't noticed, but behind him Buccaneer had been having a conversation with someone. Someone who Edward realized stood a top a massive metal wall. As the snow cleared around him, the storm finally dying down, Edward realized that they stood a mere 40 feet from the most gigantic structure he had ever seen. Nestled about halfway up, were two commanding presences, one seemed to be an Ishvalan man, wearing the same coat that Buccaneer was, the other, a blond woman. Edward would dare to think she was pretty, if she wasn't so menacingly holding a saber.

General Armstrong! He thought, nudged again by the barrel of a gun. Edward was pulled to his feet, gawking up at the top of the wall in awe. Slowly, Edward was taken over to his brother, who was free from the net, and he spared a glance Alphonse's way, his eyes falling to Johanna. Her eyes were open now, barely, but she didn't seem coherent. Without thinking, he reached a hand over to her forehead, which was still so hot, and now bleeding.

"I'll ask again! who are you?" That commanding voice came again.

"Brother, is that General Armstrong? The Major's sister?" Alphonse whispered. Edward only nodded, taking a step forward.

"My name is Edward Elric, The Fullmetal Alchemist. Major Armstrong, from Central Command sent us here to meet with the General in charge!" Edward told her. "Now can you call of your guard dogs? Our friend needs a doctor and your Rottweiler here damaged my arm with his teeth!" the woman, General Armstrong, remained quiet before replying.

"Search them!" She commanded and Edward looked around nervously. There was no air of urgency, as the guards scoured through his, Alphonse's and Johanna's things, which had been left scattered in the shuffle.

"But I'm with the military!" He shouted, again looking at Johanna. She was unconscious again. Please believe me. He begged, Johanna needed them to believe him.

"So you say. But how do I verify that? Anyone can claim to be somebody famous!" General Armstrong called down to him, watching him suspiciously. Edward growled as he was frisked, followed by Alphonse before finally the soldier's moved to Johanna. She shivered as they unwrapped her blanket.

"No please, she has to stay warm!" Alphonse pleaded, shifting Johanna out of his reach.

"She's very hot." One of the guards said to the other, who touched her forehead, agreeing. Before Edward could speak, another guard, who had been going through Edward's suitcase, stood, running to the top of the platform.

"General! It's a letter! Look at the seal!" he told General Armstrong. The woman eyed Edward finally, before taking the envelope from his hand. To her surprise, it was the Armstrong Family seal.

"It's a letter of introduction from Major Alex Louis Armstrong. Just read that! Then you'll know you can trust us!" Edward pleaded with her as she glared at the letter in her hand. Without another word, General Armstrong tore the letter into pieces, and Edward's heart dropped. "What are you doing?! You aren't even going to read it?!"

"A letter of introduction means nothing to me. I don't put much stock into anyone else's opinions of a person." She told him, letting the torn pieces fly off into the wind. Edward watched them go, helplessly. "I prefer to judge the people I meet with my own eyes." She regarded him for a moment more, before returning her attentions to the girl in Alphonse's arms. "Grab the girl and bring them inside." General Armstrong told them fiercely. The guard nodded a "yessir" before gently taking Johanna from Alphonse's arms. Alphonse made to resist, but Edward stopped him, putting a calm hand on his brothers arm.

"Let them take her, she needs help now and we can't afford to stop them."

"But brother!" Alphonse interjected, watching as the guards walked off with Johanna. Edward watched her go helplessly. Johanna, who was once again awake, reached of for his hand, which he extended to her in an empty gesture. She looked terrified, but was too weak to fight as they carried her off to the inside of the fort.

To the boy's surprise, they weren't greeted warmly on the inside of the wall, either. Once inside, The three of them were shuffled to a small medical room, with a single doctor and a nurse, who looked up from their desks quizzically.

"What's this?" The doctor asked the guard who carried Johanna quietly, placing a hand on her head. The doctor frowned at Johanna, turning to her nurse. "Get the ice bath ready. I need to break her fever, now." She told the nurse, who nodded, running from her seat. "You? Are you responsible for this girl?" The doctor asked Edward, irritated. Edward nodded. "How could you let her get like this?"

"I-"

"I have to get her stable, and then I will deal with you." She promised Edward, who stood silently in the office while they rushed Johanna into a back room. Without another word, Alphonse and Edward took the only two seats against the opposite wall, where they sat in silence for what seemed like hours. From the backroom, they could hear Johanna coughing, and then her cries. It's too cold! No! Please! Edward! Alphonse! Each cry was like a knife twisting in Edward's chest. Edward's breathing hitched, and he groaned, putting his face in his hands as finally the yelling quieted.

The doctor returned a while later, drying her hands on a towel that she then slung lazily over her shoulder. Taking a deep breath, she gestured for Alphonse and Edward to follow her, quietly.

"Your friend is asleep, we've broken the fever, for now, but I fear that it is not the last of it we're going to see. The cut on her head was minimal, we glued it shut and bandaged it." The doctor paused, leading them to a green curtain. Quietly, she brushed it to the side, where the brothers saw Johanna lying on a bed. She was wrapped in several blankets, but still shaking, as if she were freezing. In her arm sat an IV which dripped slowly from two bags. Her hair was matted with dried sweat and blood, a bulky bandage hidden just under her bangs. "The IV is for fluids, just your basic saline, and an antibiotic for the Pneumonia."

"Pneumonia?!" Both Edward and Alphonse gasped. The doctor nodded.

"She caught it bad, Her fever was extremely high. We would usually bring it down gradually, but unfortunately we weren't given that option… Hence the ice bath." The doctor paused, looking Edward up and down. "Why did you bring her up here if she was sick?"

"I… I didn't know." Edward told her honestly. "She was fine yesterday, this morning, even." The doctor pondered this for a minute, watching the girl quietly. "Atypical then, what we call walking pneumonia." The doctor paused, putting a delicate hand on Johanna's head. Johanna sighed, tossing her face to the side as she coughed, but her eyes did not open. "Tell me, has she been overstressed? Overexertion can lead to a weakened immune system. Even a tiny cold can become something as serious as pneumonia." Edward bit back a chuckle.

"Stress doesn't even begin to cover it." The doctor's eye twitched.

"You young people don't understand! You have to take care of your bodies if you want them to work right!" She scolded the boys, drawing the curtain ever so slightly. "Now, lets see what you've done to yourself."

"Up here your automail has to be flexible and lightweight, as well as resistant to the cold." The Doctor informed Edward as she massaged his shoulder, where it met his automail. She was slowly bring back circulation to his shoulder, after informing him that it had nearly succumbed to frostbite. "Through trial and error, we've found a combination that works. A mix of duralumin, carbon fiber, nickel and copper." The doctor paused, grabbed Edward's wrist and rotating his arm. Edward closed his eyes, glad that the pain had finally subsided. "Several other metals as well, in small amounts, just to fill the gap. Buccaneer, the man you fought out front, just so happens to have an automail arm made of the stuff."

"No wonder my alchemy didn't work on it." Edward replied grumpily. The doctor smiled down at him smugly.

"If you're planning on staying in the North for a while, you should switch to a different kind of automail." She told him, bored. Edward sighed, looking up at Johanna across the room. Her breathing had eased a bit after the first breathing treatment, but it was still shaky at best. The doctor followed his eyes, frowning as she did. "She won't be going anywhere for at least a week, Fullmetal. Do you have a mechanic?"

"Yeah, but she's in Rush Valley." Edward told her, putting his coat back on.

"And she let you come up here without explaining this to you first?"

"Not exactly…" Edward trailed off sheepishly. "I didn't tell her I was coming up here." The doctor cleared her throat, handing him a warm cup of coffee.

"I recommend you send for her, assuming that you'd like to keep your arm."

"Fine." Edward glowered at her, taking a sip of her coffee. The doctor smirked at him.

"That'll be a hundred cens." She told him confidently. Edward's glower only deepened.

"Seriously? It's not even that good!" He whined, tossing her a silver coin.

"This is the north. Get used to it." She told him, happily pocketing her change. Edward growled, meaning to argue, but as he opened his mouth to speak, the door to the medical office burst open. In it, stood General Armstrong, and the man he fought outside. Major Buccaneer.

"You two, we need to have a chat." She told them. This was not a request.

Olivier Armstrong sat quietly at her desk, hands clasped under her chin. She glared at the back wall, her thoughts running at breakneck speeds. These children that showed up at her door, there was something about them, and when she want to speak with them, they gave her nothing by way of answers. While they cooperated, and answered the questions she'd asked them, they were still hiding something, lying to her, and she was firm believer that unless you give the entire truth, you are still lying.

"General?" A knock came from the other side of her door. Armstrong said nothing, her eyes flickering to the heavy metal door as it swung open. Buccaneer was watching her from the hallway, his eyes gleaming.

"What is it?" Armstrong snapped.

"Major Miles is taking the boys to their work orders, sir."

"And the girl?"

"Doctor Firn assures me she is stable, but in no condition to move or be moved." Buccaneer replied dryly. Armstrong's lip curled, she wasn't the one they were worried about. That girl was small, what kind of damage could she do.

"Has she been restrained?" Buccaneer sighed, scratching the back of his head. "That's a no, then?"

"Doctor Firn was adamant that we hold off on cuffing her to the bed." Buccaneer told her. "She said it could interfere with her treatment."

"Tch." Armstrong sneered. "Fine. she's not a worry anyways." She spoke cooly, crossing to the window of her office.

"Sir?"

"Until we know what it is they're hiding I want them watched. And when they're not working I want them incarcerated. Understand?" Armstrong told her subordinate. Buccaneer nodded, saluting as he did.

"Yes sir!" Armstrong smirked at the man before her, gesturing her hand to the side. Buccaneer eased his salute. Olivier Armstrong watched quietly, the cold abyss that was the Drachman side of the Northern Wall. She believed that they were who they said they were, even if her shameful brother was the one who vouched for them. However, she did not like being lied to, and lying to her was just the same as being a traitor in her eyes.