Spirit Animals

by TheFullmetalBitch

This is my retelling of FMA where every character has a Spirit Animal. Major canon divergence. Please give it a go and R&R! I do not own FMA or it's characters. *Art by Procastinagoat* This story will be updated every Sunday, Eastern Australia time

40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40 –

Miles looked at the destroyed mine shaft with an unreadable expression on his face. The men who had been with him while they'd taken shelter from the storm and the men who had been smart enough to seek their own shelter were either waiting for orders or trying to figure out what happened by gathering the evidence available. Amaya sat next to him, mimicking her human and looked down into the shaft. The snow cloud Kimblee had trapped Edward and Ayala inside of hadn't managed to dissipate before an explosion rocked the abandoned town and added to their visibility issues.

When they were finally able to see again, they were stunned to see the mine in shambles. The ageing mining machine in the centre of the shaft had collapsed in on itself and the shaft was filled with debris. Most importantly, there was no sign of Edward, Ayala, Kimblee or the two chimeras Ed had warned them about anywhere at the top of the shaft. It hadn't taken long for everyone to realise what must've happened. Either they managed to get out before the collapse or – and Miles believed this to be more likely – they had been caught up in the explosion and were somewhere under all the debris.

"Is there any way to safely get into that shaft to search for survivors?" Miles asked the nearest soldier but the man shook his head.

"There's evidence the shaft is still settling. The falling debris would endanger our men," he told Miles.

"How many soldiers have birds as their Animals?" Miles asked after a moment and the soldier baulked at him before answering.

"I believe four of them have birds capable of flight," the soldier said and Miles nodded.

"Get them here now." The soldier immediately saluted before hurrying off to do as he was ordered. His small Capuchin monkey was clinging tightly to his back as he rushed towards a fellow soldier and the sight would've been humourous at almost any other time.

A few short minutes later, four men with birds of various breeds stood lined in front of Miles – including Johnson and his grass parrot –, as did the soldier the major had sent to gather them. "This is everyone, Major Miles," the soldier said and Miles nodded.

"If your Animals are willing, I'd like for them to head into the shaft to see if they can find any sign of those who may possibly be trapped in the rubble," Miles said, knowing full well he couldn't technically order someone's Animal around. After all, only the human had signed a military contract, not the Animal. "Our main priority is to find out whether Kimblee was killed by that explosion or is trapped inside the debris. Locating Major Elric and Ayala comes after that," Miles informed them, feeling worry for the youngest Major, though he allowed himself to show exactly none of it.

Miles was completely unsurprised when the four birds launched themselves into the air before they flew deftly into the destroyed mine shaft. Their humans were waiting anxiously with Miles, though all four of them were doing their best to hide it, as their Animals carefully searched the shaft. It took quite a few minutes, maybe 15 if Miles' internal clock was accurate, before the first bird – a pigeon – returned to its human.

"He says he couldn't see anything," his human reported after a couple of seconds. Miles nodded to acknowledge his words but his eyes never left the gaping hole.

Twice more birds flew out of the shaft and landed on their humans and both times their humans passed along the message that their Animals hadn't seen any bodies or signs that anyone was trapped in there. Miles started frowning when the final bird hadn't followed the rest after a couple of minutes but he didn't say anything to the human it belonged to. Amaya didn't seem concerned at all about it and, once Miles examined her feelings a little closer, he realised she was actually keen for this bird to show itself.

The only soldier with no Animal took a half-step forward in anticipation and his Animal – a wedge-tailed eagle – soared out of the hole before landing on the specially reinforced jacket sleeve its human offered. Miles waited for the Animal to pass along its report with only a slight amount of impatience showing on his face. Finally, the soldier met Miles eyes and started relaying what his Animal had seen.

"Ciara made it all the way down to the bottom of the shaft and spotted a pool of blood," the soldier told them. "She had a closer look and saw two set of footprints that seemed to be heading towards the blood pool. There were signs of something heavy being moved in the dirt and she saw a piece of support beam that was covered with blood next to the scuffled dirt so she thinks someone may have been impaled on it," he told them and even Miles winced at the thought of that happening to someone. "She noted that the footsteps leading towards the exit matched the ones she saw near the blood pool but that they looked deeper than before," he added. "She searched the rest of the shaft but she didn't see anything else."

"It's possible that there were more people involved in this collapse than just Major Elric and Kimblee," Miles said. "If someone was injured badly, it makes sense that they may have been unconscious and needed to be carried out, hence why the footprints seemed deeper the second time. She saw no pawprints?" Miles asked but the soldier shook his head.

"She only saw the two sets of footprints," he repeated.

"It's probably safe to assume that Ayala was one of the injured parties and if she had to be carried out, Major Elric likely had to have been as well. I can't imagine any other situation where he couldn't or wouldn't heal a severely injured Ayala," Miles said. "Was there any sign of Kimblee?"

None of the soldiers said anything so Miles repeated the question, this time making sure his voice carried to the other soldiers surrounding the group. One of them – the soldier with an antelope as his Animal who'd helped Miles find a route for the fugitives to escape Kimblee's clutches – jogged over. "Sir!" The man greeted with a salute that Miles waved him out of. "Adrian and I found footsteps leading away from the explosion on the first level of the shaft. We believe them to be Kimblee's, Sir," he reported and Miles scowled.

"Which means he likely escaped unharmed," Miles said, letting a snarl of annoyance enter his voice. "Continue looking for evidence just in case he doubled back. Take two other soldiers with you and follow those footprints. If you find him, do not engage. Just report back to Fort Briggs," Miles ordered and the man saluted once more before heading off to find two soldiers to help him once Miles released him from the second salute. "Half of us will head back to Fort Briggs and report on the situation," Miles said, "and the other half will remain here as back-up in case something happens to those following Kimblee's trail." The moment he finished issuing the orders, the men got to work in organising who would be accompanying him back to the base and who would be staying behind.

It took a little longer for his men to organise themselves than Miles thought necessary but he didn't bother commenting on it. He knew that General Armstrong had been removed from Fort Briggs and that Kimblee had been waiting for an opportunity to paint a crest of blood in it. The madman hadn't been as quiet as he'd thought when he spoke with Edward as Amaya had been able to pick up on the entire conversation. The only reason he hadn't left Baschool the moment the area had been deemed safe after the explosion was because he didn't want to risk the chance of discovering the corpses of Edward and Ayala, only to find out later that if he'd just stayed behind the few hours to check, he'd have found Edward and Ayala trapped but alive and awaiting rescue.

---

The drive back to Fort Briggs was a little longer than the drive to Baschool had been only because of all the fresh snow and hidden ice on the road formed by the previous night's storm. The driver had gone as quickly as the circumstances allowed but Miles had started silently cursing the storm for everything halfway into the drive. Amaya had pressed against him in comfort but he knew she shared his annoyance. The massive wall of Briggs finally came into view and they breathed a sigh of relief when their eyes fell on it. The only person who didn't feel any relief was Miles and that was because he had no idea what lay beyond those doors for them now.

When they were permitted to pass, Miles was unsurprised to Lieutenant Falman and his Animal, Rachel, waiting for them near where the car would be parked. Miles dismissed the men with him before he approached Falman, who immediately offered him a salute that Miles waved him out of almost as quickly. "It's good to see you back, Sir," Falman said and Miles gave a dip of his head.

"It's good to be back," Miles said, looking around the floor he was on. For every familiar face he saw, he also noted three he didn't recognise. "I understand that General Armstrong has been asked to attend a meeting in Central."

"Yes, Sir," Falman confirmed. "We have not been informed as to when we can expect her to resume her command here." Falman paused for a moment before lowering his voice slightly. "Rachel has informed me that something has happened to Edward. I would appreciate it if you could tell me what."

Miles had to admit that he was a little surprised that Falman's enquiry about Edward hadn't been the first thing he said. Despite the show he put on because military protocol dictated what was considered an appropriate relationship between not only a commanding officer and his subordinates but between those of different ranks, Miles knew how much Falman cared for the Elric brothers and their Animals. "I'll explain in more detail in a quieter setting but for now all I'll risk telling you is that Al and Chester are with their allies. As for Edward and Ayala, we are unsure where they are. There was a fight between them and Kimblee and we haven't been able to find any of them," Miles told him and Falman nodded even as his lips pinched together slightly.

"Thank you, Sir. If we hear anything before we're able to have that talk, I'll be sure to inform you of it as soon as I can," Falman promised and Miles inclined his head. "There is something else you might not have been made aware of, Major," Falman said and Miles gestured for him to continue. "Fort Briggs suffered an attack only an hour ago from a small army of Drachmann soldiers. Our new commander ordered for their immediate destruction and Fort Briggs delivered. There wasn't a single casualty on our side whereas the Drachmann soldiers were decimated where they stood." Judging by the tone Falman used to deliver the report with, he knew just what that meant for the country.

"General Armstrong will be pleased to learn her men had held the fortress well, as is expected of Briggs soldiers," Miles said. "Is there anything else, Lieutenant?" Miles asked when a few seconds had passed with no talking. Falman shook his head quickly.

"With your leave, Sir?" Falman said and Miles dismissed him. Miles watched Falman leave, likely to find somewhere where he and Rachel could talk quietly with the Animals belonging to their former team members to give them the information he'd just been given before he headed for the elevator he and Amaya would take to reach the floor his private quarters were on. Until they received orders otherwise, Miles and Amaya would be working on the report they would hand to the new commander of Fort Briggs about what happened in Baschool.

---

Ayala resisted the urge to snarl the fourth time the curtain that was the only thing protecting Ed from prying eyes flickered as someone looked in on them. She knew, rationally, that the person was checking on Edward to make sure he was still breathing and to see if he had woken up properly yet but the intrusions – as slight as they might be – still irritated her. To make matters even worse, Ed's doctor had forbidden her from lying on the bed with Ed. When she'd made her displeasure known in the form of a pitiful whine she fully blamed her exhaustion on, Ayala had been met with an unimpressed look and orders to stay on the bed that sat next to Ed's or risk reopening his wound.

The two chimeras, Darius and Heinkel, who had brought them to this doctor – someone Ayala wasn't even sure still held his medical licence – were waiting in a different room, having had the minor wounds Ayala hadn't even noticed they'd gotten patched up by the nurse, who was the doctor's wife. Ayala had been surprised that once they'd received the medical attention and were asked by the nurse whether they would be staying here with Ed and Ayala, both chimeras had told her they would. The elderly woman hadn't seemed awfully happy about having two extra house guests and had made sure they knew that they would be charged an enormous amount, a price that almost doubled when the doctor realised they were also expecting more than the normal level of patient privacy.

Ayala sighed and looked up at Ed, who was covered in bandages and whose face was still pinched in pain despite the fact that he was in one of the deepest sleeps Ayala had ever felt him enter. The doctor had admittedly done a phenomenal job with Ed's most worrying injury. Though whatever Ayala had done – and she still wasn't sure what exactly she'd done – had healed the worst of the internal damage Ed had suffered, it didn't heal everything. The external damage to his skin had turned out to be not as healed as any of them had thought and Ed had started bleeding again as Heinkel carried him out of the mountain. Thankfully, the wound hadn't reopened completely so the bleeding was able to be stemmed by Darius finding the scarf Ed had in his pocket – once he'd placed Ayala on the ground – and helping Heinkel find a way to carry Ed while also keeping pressure on the makeshift bandage before he scooped her back up since she was still too tired to walk on her own.

Ayala wanted to know how the two chimeras even knew about this back-alley doctor but without Ed to act as a translator and since she didn't want to talk to the Animals belonging to the doctor and nurse, she had to wait. She made very sure that her emotions were kept in check throughout the whole ordeal in an effort to keep Ed calm, especially when he'd regained consciousness just before they'd entered the town. Ed had not been overly impressed with the fact that Heinkel was carrying him but once he'd moved a little and had Ayala yelping in sympathy pain, he elected to let Heinkel continue carrying him.

Unfortunately for both of them, Ed didn't lose consciousness before they were ushered into the room the doctor had set up as a makeshift surgery room. Thankfully, Ayala could smell disinfectant lingering on everything so she was happy the room had been thoroughly cleaned in the last couple of days. She just hoped no one else had been operated on or patched up in the room in the meantime because the last thing Ed would need was an infection because someone couldn't be bothered to bleach in between patients. Then she'd overheard the doctor telling Darius and Heinkel that he'd run out of anaesthetics and sedatives, that all he had were tablets that were designed for nothing more painful than a headache or sprained ankle. Ed had told him not to bother wasting what medical product he had on something it would make no difference for.

When the doctor had warned him the surgery would be extremely painful, Ed had informed him that he'd already gone through two consecutive automail surgeries without any sort of painkiller. Ayala had wished she could've been surprised when her human had turned the painkillers down but his silent apology for how much pain she would be in as a result of his decision had softened her annoyance a little. At least until the pain started and Ed's bitten and self-smothered screams pierced her ears. Much to her relief though, Ed didn't last long before he gave into the pain and passed out. All that meant for her though was that the sympathy pain had simply lessened, not disappeared, until she let the sympathy pain and remaining exhaustion from the day's events sent her following Ed into a deep sleep.

Now it was nearly 48 hours after Ed's surgery and Ayala had woken a mere hour ago. Aside from the four look-ins by the nurse, Ayala hadn't been disturbed during that time. She could feel quite a few of the Animals Ed was bonded to checking on her but, to her relief, they hadn't tried badgering her for answers about what they'd undoubtedly felt. She highly doubted Ed had managed to block the Animals before the pain and shock had hit him, just like she knew her message to all the Animals she knew Ed was bonded to just before she'd passed out in the shaft likely hadn't been enough to lessen their immediate worry. Even though she knew they were concerned for the both of them – and the warmth she'd felt knowing they were so concerned about her boy was indescribable – she just wasn't in the mind frame at that time to be interrogated by the likes of Chester and Nala.

Ayala sighed as she listened to the chimeras negotiate a price for Ed's treatment, their stay and the doctor and nurse's silence for the duration. The married couple weren't too happy about the last request but had made it clear that for the right price and the expectation that if the military threatened them that they'd give the four of them up with no hesitation, they'd be willing to keep their silence. Ed had still not woken up but she wasn't truly expecting him to do so for another few hours at least. She was planning to use that time to figure out what the hell she had done in that mine shaft when Ed was injured.

The golden wolf had never felt anything like that instinct before and Truth knew Ed had managed to get himself injured severely enough that she, Alphonse and Chester had been worried they hadn't gotten him medical help in time. But this time it was different. This time Ayala knew there would be no way Ed would be able to survive more than a few minutes of being moved with or without the piece of support beam still in him and even if by some miracle he did make it to the doctor, he would've needed a fully equipped hospital team and even then it would've been next to impossible for the doctors to fix all of the internal damage before Ed bled out.

Ayala had known all of that so when Ed had said he would use his own life force as a Philosopher's Stone, she'd panicked. A move like that would've taken him from this world years earlier than he was meant to and Ayala didn't want that. She wanted him to live as long as possible after the upcoming fight with the homunculi because he deserved to just be able to live his life without worrying about homunculi or trying to help Al get his body back – because Ayala was absolutely certain that those two events would happen in relatively quick succession – and she didn't want him to spend whatever years he had left worrying about when that transmutation would come back to claim what he'd paid.

She'd only had moments to decide on whether or not to trust the instinct that was almost overwhelming her as she watched Heinkel pull the support beam out of her human while Darius did his best to hold Ed still. Ayala had moved before Ed could bring his hands together, trusting her instinct, and placed her forehead against the gaping wound, ignoring the pain in her broken right front leg. She'd almost shuddered when she felt her forehead slip inside the wound more than she'd thought it would. The moment she'd touched Ed, she'd given into her instinct and allowed it to take her over.

Ayala had felt Ed's surprise when she'd moved and she would've likely found the situation funny if it had happened at any other time. As blood drenched her forehead and ran warmly down her muzzle, she let the energy she felt inside her flow freely with only the thought to heal her human in her mind. She'd had her eyes closed the entire time – something she hadn't known until she'd opened them so she'd only seen the silver glow that must've encased the two of them a moment before it dissipated. Ayala knew from Al's description what he'd seen when she and Ed had first met and she'd noticed a secondary feeling inside of her that reminded her of what she'd felt when they'd bonded.

The other feeling inside of her – the primary one – had felt similar to what Ayala always felt when Ed had to use her healing energy on her. The difference though was that she was the one wielding it by drawing it out of Ed – something she shouldn't have been able to do unless he was unconscious and she was near death – then siphoning it through herself before using it to heal Ed. She could feel her physical energy draining alongside the energy Ed held for her at a rapid pace but she didn't let herself stop until she knew Ed would be able to survive. After that, it was as simple as flicking off a switch in her mind to stop the flow of energy and she did, feeling all the exhaustion hit her at once.

Then of course, Ed had decided to push his limits further by healing her immediately after Ayala had dropped back to the ground. She could only imagine the amount of effort it took Ed to lean over on his injured stomach and keep the reassuring smile on his face as he moved her leg so it would heal properly before he released her healing energy in the way it was usually used. Broken bones were never fun to heal and this time was no exception. She writhed as her leg and ribs were mended, as well as the severe laceration to her hindquarters, the internal bleeding of her own and her head injury. Of course, Ed had then passed out almost immediately afterwards before she could try and figure out how she'd gotten the knowledge on how to heal him. To be honest though, Ayala wasn't even sure if she would've tried interrogating him even if he'd managed to stay awake long enough for her to do so.

Ayala's ears perked up and she hauled herself to her feet as the doctor entered the room with a scowl on his face. She gave a light growl, mainly to remind him she was there, and it worked in the fact that he gave her a glance but his scowl merely deepened. "You keep up that behaviour and you and the kid will be out of here quicker than you can blink," he told her bluntly. His Animal – a red and blue poison dart frog – croaked at her but her glare had it hiding back underneath its human's white coat. "I'm only checking that all my hard work hadn't been for nothing," he grumbled and Ayala made a note to tell Nala there was a doctor out there grumpier than Knox.

The doctor had been quick and efficient in his movements and Ayala didn't do anything to impede him but her eyes never left him even as Darius and Heinkel walked into the room. "How is he, Doc?" Darius rumbled and the doctor looked up.

"Still alive," he told them blandly. "I suspect he'll remain that way until he does something else as idiotic as being involved in a mine-shaft collapse."

"If he's alright, how come he hasn't woken up?" Heinkel asked and Ayala looked at him with some surprise as she'd been thinking the same thing.

"He did just suffer an immensely traumatic injury even if he did manage to heal himself with alchemy," the doctor told them, brow raised and Ayala felt her face show her shock. Evidently the two chimeras had decided to tell the doctor that Ed had gone with his plan instead of what actually had happened and she felt some weight she didn't even know she was holding onto lift from her shoulders. "His alchemic patch job didn't erase the shock his body had gone through and it's very possible that his body still thinks he's severely injured and is using this time to try and heal the injuries it still thinks he has. I imagine though that it won't be too much longer before his body figures it out," the doctor told them as he straightened from examining Ed.

"Alright. Thanks, Doctor," Darius said and the doctor scoffed.

"You can thank me by paying me the fee we agreed on," he told them.

"We agreed you'd get paid once Edward is able to leave," Heinkel reminded him and the doctor sighed before nodding.

"Fine. Give him a few more hours to wake up," the doctor said before leaving the room with a huff. Both Darius and Heinkel rolled their eyes and Ayala joined them in their act.

"We'll check on you in a couple of hours. Do you need anything, Ayala?" Heinkel asked and Ayala shook her head. Both chimeras nodded before moving the curtain aside and leaving the room and Ayala was once again left with only Ed's steady breathing to keep her company.

---

Two hours after the doctor checked in on Ed, Ayala had grown bored enough of the silence and felt like she was in a better headspace to answer questions so she decided to send another message out to the Animals Ed was bonded with, bringing them up to speed on what had happened. She didn't tell them how he got hurt or how she'd healed him – leaving it for Ed to do that if he wanted to – but she did assure them that while he was still unconscious, Ed was alright and was expected to make a full recovery. Animals who Ed wasn't as close to – like Michella and Anahlia – weren't overly interested in the details, merely wanting to know what had happened and Ed's prognosis so they could tell their humans and move on.

However, other Animals like Nala and Chester – to Ayala's complete lack of surprise – had not been content with how little Ayala had told them but they'd backed off when Ayala snarled and told them Ed would talk to them when he was awake so they could ask all the questions they wanted. Her annoyance had caused Ed to stir and she immediately remembered her decision to try and keep her emotions out of their bond so Ed could get all the rest he needed. The two main targets of her irritation had obviously felt it because they'd backed off with apologies and changed the subject slightly to how she was doing.

Eventually though, Ayala had run out things to tell them and they'd run out of things to ask regarding Ed and Ayala's injuries so Nala had taken the reins to tell them about how worried Mustang had been about Ed. Nala had freaked him out when she'd told him that she'd felt Ed's fear but couldn't tell him anything more because of Ed's accidental blocking of them all. The added passage of time with no answers had done neither Mustang nor Hughes any favours and Leo had joined in on the conversation at Nala's beckoning to tell them how anxious Hughes had been for news.

It had only been thanks to Mustang that Hughes hadn't sent out multiple search parties to try and find the blonde and even then, Hughes hadn't been convinced until Mustang pointed out that Ed would likely be considered a deserter and would be arrested on sight so the Fuhrer wouldn't lose one of their sacrifices to another dangerous stunt. It didn't help that they had no idea where Alphonse was but there had been news of him being seen heading east without his brother, something that had had Central buzzing with nervous tension. Nala had already warned Chester of the possibility of Central soldiers searching for them, likely with orders to arrest them and bring them back to Central City to face charges and Chester had thanked her for the warning.

Once Nala had finished keeping them entertained with Leo's help, Chester took over and described how they'd managed to decipher the code Scar's brother had written his notes in and what they'd revealed. Nala had been a little upset she hadn't been told immediately so Mustang could try and utilise that information as best he could but she'd softened when Chester had revealed that he and Al were currently on their way to Liore where they'd been hearing rumours about someone with golden hair like Edward's helping with the rebuilding efforts so they hadn't really been thinking about much else. It also helped when Chester pointed out that they weren't entirely sure what the second array would do and that it needed to be activated by alkahestry so Mustang couldn't really have done much with it anyway. Nala had conceded and apologised for her slight anger but Chester had waved her apology off immediately.

Chester hadn't told them everything and Ayala knew it but she decided to leave it, assuming it was because he wanted to tell Ed at the same time and she respected that as he'd respected her decision to leave most of everything up to Ed to tell them. So once Chester had told them everything he was going to, everyone had run out of updates for the others and they'd decided to leave each other alone until Ed had woken up. Ayala had been a little grateful for it, she wasn't going to lie, as she'd started getting a headache and the numerous voices wasn't helping it. She wasn't sure if they'd picked up on it or not but their goodbyes and hopes that Ed would wake up soon and they'd both heal soon had been quick and she'd been left to nurse her headache in silence and the relatively dark room. She didn't even notice when she'd slipped into sleep a short time later.

---

When Ayala next woke up, her headache was gone and she felt a little better than she'd done so before. She checked on her energy level in Ed and was a little surprised to see how low it was still. Though she knew she had an immense amount of energy in Ed, she'd used nearly 40% - the most that had ever been used in one healing session – of what was there and then it was drained even more by Ed healing her. It had been nearly three days of constant sleep for Edward and her energy levels had only risen by 8% when she'd been expecting it to have gotten back to normal levels by now.

It didn't take a genius for Ayala to figure out that the slow rise was likely because she'd used her energy to heal Ed but that didn't really help her concern. Obviously this meant that she couldn't use her energy to heal Ed of every serious injury he suffered. Instead, she'd only be able to use the energy in a similar situation as before; one where she was certain Ed wouldn't make it to a hospital before he died. She frowned a little but decided it was probably for the best since Ed was already reckless enough as it was. If she could've healed him of every broken bone or stab wound he suffered with minimal backlash to her, he probably would've gotten even more reckless and that would never be a good thing.

Ayala groaned as she got to her feet and left the room to relieve herself before finding the bowl of water and bowl of mince someone had left in her room. After eating and drinking her fill, Ayala settled back on her lumpy bed and got as comfortable as possible, planning on getting some more sleep before she heard a noise and her ears perked up immediately. She rose into a sitting position as she watched the bed intently and as she'd thought, she soon saw Ed shifting as though he was about to wake. She couldn't stop the excited noise she made as she placed her front feet on Ed's right side and nuzzled his cheek, causing him to stir once more.

"Aya?" Ed slurred as he struggled to open his eyes and she gave a small yip in answer. "The hell happened this time?" Ed asked, rubbing an eye tiredly before wincing as his movements pulled the dozens of stitches holding his side together and he let out a breathy, pained moan.

"Kimblee caused the shaft to explode under our feet," Ayala reminded him as she heard footsteps and the tell-tale sign of the curtain being moved before the footsteps headed away with more purpose. Ed's brows had furrowed in confusion before they pulled smooth as he remembered the events.

"How long have I been out?" Ed asked and Ayala winced slightly.

"Darius and Heinkel got us here a couple hours after the collapse and you passed out not long after that doctor started his surgery on you," Ayala told him. "It's been over two and a half days since then. If you hadn't woken up in the next seven hours, it would've been three days." Ed's eyes widened in surprise but – much to Ayala's happiness – he didn't immediately try and sit up as he normally would've done.

"Where are we? What's been happening?" Ed asked and Ayala calmed him by making soothing noised through their bond and rubbing her cheek against his.

"I don't know what this town is called but we're still in the north. The doctor and his nurse aren't the most reputable people but they've agreed to treat you and let the four of us stay here until you're fully recovered as well as hold their tongues on who they're treating. I'm afraid your bank account will feel the full weight of that soon enough," Ayala warned him. "As for what's going on, there isn't much to tell you. Nothing's happened around here to be cause for concern. The military haven't even visited the town as far as I know. I've let everyone know that you're alright and expected to heal with no repercussions but I haven't gone into specifics since I figured they'd prefer to hear it from you," Ayala told him and Ed nodded tiredly.

"'The four of us'?" Ed asked and Ayala nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "When we landed in the bottom of the shaft, Darius and Heinkel came down with us. They weren't impressed with how little regard Kimblee held for their lives but they were impressed with how you helped them out despite the fact they'd tried fighting us earlier. They helped you and me then when we both lost consciousness, they brought us here," Ayala explained.

Ed's brows furrowed once more as he tried to place the names. "The lion and gorilla chimeras?" he asked and Ayala nodded. "I'm a little surprised they cared enough to help us that much and that they're still here. Did they get hurt?" Ed asked, obviously expecting that to be the reason the two chimeras were here and his surprise grew when Ayala shook her head.

"They only suffered minor injuries. I think they feel a little indebted to you but I also think they're still here because they want to know what's going on. Pretty sure this whole experience has made them realise they were being lied to so they want some answers," Ayala told him. Ed looked a lot more comfortable knowing that the chimeras wanted something from him rather than being here more because of a sense of duty and that saddened Ayala slightly. The noise of the curtain being pushed aside caught both of their attentions and Ayala was quick to answer Ed's silent question. "That's the doctor and his nurse. I'm pretty sure she's also his wife and I'm pretty sure both of them aren't allowed to practise medicine anymore but I'm not going to ask because they did save your life and that's good enough for me," Ayala told him as the couple approached. She spotted the silhouette of one of the chimeras – Heinkel, she thought – but he was gone too quickly for her to be certain.

"Glad to see all my hard work and supplies weren't wasted on you," the doctor said in lieu of greeting as he impatiently waved Ayala away from the bed so he could do his examination on a conscious Ed. "How do you feel?" he asked though Ed was sure he heard a tone of uncaring in his voice.

"Exhausted. Sore all over. A little confused and curious as to how long I'm going to be stuck here," Ed answered and the doctor nodded.

"The exhaustion and aches are to be expected. Your little alchemical healing trick," Ed shot Ayala a confused look but her silent request to roll with it was heard and Ed paid attention to the doctor once more, "was clever but your body still suffered the effects of the injuries, including the psychological ones. I'm of the opinion that your body thought it was still that injured and kept you unconscious as it tried to repair itself. The aches and stiffness are caused by your injuries and the fact that you haven't really moved in the past 60 odd hours, of course. Your confusion has nothing to do with me so I won't bother with that. As for how long you'll be here," the doctor paused as he considered the question. "It's very unlikely you'll be able to go anywhere before winter has passed. In fact, it's very likely you'll be here well into spring." The doctor's lips curled in displeasure at the idea as Ed looked gobsmacked.

"I can't be here for that long!" He complained.

"As much as I'd like to have you and your fugitive friends out of my house, you will not be able to leave for at least a month and a half, not with the injuries you suffered," the doctor informed him as the nurse checked on Ed's bandages. She didn't look any more impressed than either man. "If you try and leave here before you're able to, you risk rupturing your still-healing organs and your stitches. Considering how much your friends have agreed to pay us, a hospital isn't likely somewhere you want to end up but you most definitely will if you don't let yourself heal completely here." The stern tone of the doctor's voice had the intended effect of making Ed actually listen to his words.

Ed's reluctant nod was all the doctor and nurse needed to know that he would abide by the agreement set up by the chimeras and that they would be getting every cent they'd be promised, which made them happy enough to continue their check. The doctor had finally left the room after asking Ed a few questions but the nurse remained behind. "I need to change your bandages so you'll have to sit up, feet over the side of the bed," she instructed, sounding sour about having to perform her duties.

Ed did as he was told, wincing as he lifted himself up and spun himself to sit as instructed. He ended up sitting ramrod straight in an effort to keep pressure off both sides of the wounds and he winced as the nurse tugged his bandages off with minimal regard. She left the room and returned with clean, warm water and sponged the dried blood off his abdomen and back before inspecting the wound a little closer. Obviously content with what she saw, she pulled out fresh bandages and wrapped the wounds back up and instructed him to stay sitting for the moment as she left the room with the dirty bandages and water.

"What do you think she's doing?" Ed asked, breath gasping slightly as he relaxed out of his posture a little since the bandages protected his wounds from the slightly more slouched position a little bit.

"I don't know but I'm sure she won't be long," Ayala said as she raked her eyes over Ed's form.

Aside from the bandage covered section of his midsection, he was sitting there with only his boxers covering any part of him so she got to see all the other wounds he'd sustained. Thankfully, every other wound he'd suffered were minor and left to heal on their own with only the nurse having cleaned them out before ignoring them. The only exception to that had been the cut on Ed's left arm that Heinkel had inflicted during their fight. That wound had extended from the outside of Ed's arm near his shoulder before stopping just on the inside of his elbow and it had required stitches. Ayala knew Heinkel didn't regret causing the wound since they had been enemies but he did feel a little guilty that it was deep enough to need stitches. It hadn't been covered in bandages since Ed's last bandage change, the nurse having decided to leave the wound uncovered to breathe to encourage its healing.

The nurse proved Ayala right as she walked back into the room a couple of minutes later with a tray in her hands. On it were a bowl of hot soup and a glass of water. She placed it unceremoniously on Ed's bed. "You won't be getting any solids for at least two weeks so you can expect broths and soups for that time," she told him. "Your stomach was one of the organs injured and we aren't willing to have you here longer than anticipated because you decided to eat a steak before your stomach has healed completely," she informed him in the same blunt manner the doctor had used. "Leave the dishes on the floor. Someone will likely remove them before you wake up next." With that, the nurse turned and left the room.

"They both seem so friendly. I have no idea what your problem is with them," Ed muttered sarcastically as he picked up his bowl of plain tomato soup. He noticed it looked far waterier that he was used to but figured it was so it would be easier on his stomach. It didn't taste awful so he decided he'd better try and eat as much as he could.

"Good to know your sass hasn't been affected any," Ayala said as she lay in her bed and watched him eat.

"I didn't see either of their Animals," Ed said conversationally, using their bond so he didn't have to stop eating to speak. He'd been feeling a little nauseous but he hoped it was more because he hadn't eaten for a while than anything else.

"His is a little blue and red poison dart frog that likes hiding inside his white coat. I don't know its name since I've not bothered talking to it," Ayala told him. "The woman has a cranky ginger cat that I've only seen once. It doesn't like anyone except for her and the doctor. I don't know its name either, before you ask," Ayala told him and Ed nodded.

"What about their names? They didn't introduce themselves," Ed said and Ayala shrugged.

"I don't know that either. I was more focused on you when we first arrived than introductions so I missed their names," Ayala admitted and Ed gave another nod.

"Fair enough," he said, swallowing the last of his soup. He took a few sips of his water before placing the half-full glass on the worn bedside table next to his bed. The tray and empty bowl went on the floor like instructed and Ayala nosed them to the foot of the bed. "How are you feeling? I didn't ask before," Ed said apologetically.

"Don't feel bad about that, Ed. I knew you would've asked me eventually and you had a lot of things to work through," Ayala said, giving him a warm smile and infusing their bond with more warmth. "I'm fine. A little tired still and sore but I think it's for the same reasons as you. I only woke up a few hours ago and I haven't left your side much in that time," she told him, completely unashamed about her clinginess.

"I'm glad you're alright," Ed said with a smile of his own as he settled back down in his bed, curling up on his right side to keep pressure off the wound on his back. "I'm also completely unsurprised at that," he told her with a grin that had her rolling her eyes.

"Go to sleep before you pass out again," she ordered, nuzzling her head under the hand Ed let drape over the side. She was very grateful someone had decided to wash her fur out before she woke back up since she didn't really want Ed worrying about that when he was supposed to be resting.

"You get some sleep too," Ed said, stifling a yawn as he scratched her ears. "Hopefully it won't be too long before we're out of here," he said a little wistfully and gave a half-grin when Ayala snorted. "Yeah, that's not likely, hey?"

"Not with our luck," she said and Ed snorted softly. No more words were exchange between the two of them as Ed slipped back into a deep sleep. Ayala only watched him for a couple of moments before she too let herself join him in the land of sleep and dreams.

---

It took another two days of sleeping and waking only for meals and to use the bathroom before Ed was able to stay awake for more than half an hour at a time. He'd made sure to copy Ayala's idea of sending a mass message to all the Animals he was bonded to telling them he was alive and recovering and that he would talk to them all individually when he was able to. Most of the Animals accepted his words with only minor worry and massive relief that he was alright. Chester and Nala had wanted to ignore him and start questioning him but Ed allowed his exhaustion to slip into their bond on purpose so they would back off for a while. It worked and Ed was able to go back to sleep with promises that he'd try and tell them everything soon.

However, before he could make good on his promise, he found himself watching Darius and Heinkel accompany the nurse into the room with his lunch the next day. As she always did, the nurse had him sitting up so she could check his bandages before she left him alone with the food. Ed still hadn't learned the names of those looking after him and at this point he figured it was too awkward for him to ask them now so he planned on leaving it for the foreseeable future. Once the nurse left, Ed scooted carefully up his bed so he could sit cross-legged and lean against the wall that acted as his headboard.

"I hear I owe you two for helping us out in the mine shaft and getting us here," Ed said as Heinkel and Darius pulled two untrustworthy looking chairs away from the wall to sit next to his bed. Ayala had jumped up to join him once he'd gotten himself settled. Todays lunch was a watery potato and leek soup but Ed offered no complaints.

"You did save us from being slowly crushed to death," Heinkel pointed out and Ed nodded.

"True but you would've cleared that debt when you pulled that piece of beam out of me so I could get healed," Ed said in response. He'd been told by Ayala after he'd woken up the second time that the chimeras had left her ability out of the tale and instead told them Ed had used alchemy like he'd intended. It was just one more thing Ed felt he owed the chimeras for. A lot of awkward questions had been avoided because of their white lie.

"We couldn't have left you and Ayala there without any guarantee someone would find you in time. You hadn't been healed completely and our debt wouldn't have been cleared if you'd died because we left you," Darius grumbled and Ed gave a small nod. That was something he could understand.

"Well, thanks for getting us here so the doc could finish fixing me up," Ed said, a little uncomfortable with thanking someone. Usually, as an alchemist, he just paid back the debt he owed without ever uttering a thank you. That part was usually left for Al to do since the younger Elric seemed to know when it was also required. "Did the doctor tell you how long he thinks I'll be stuck here?" Ed asked after a couple of moments of silence and Darius nodded.

"It'll be a couple of months, he reckons," the gorilla chimera rumbled and Ed nodded.

"Look, I really do appreciate you helping me and Ayala but I don't expect you guys to hang around here for two months just so you can be sure I don't cark it," Ed said. "My brother and his leopard are still in the north as far as I know and they're travelling with Zampano and Jerso. I can get in touch with him to get his location if you want to meet back up with them," Ed offered and both the chimeras exchanged surprised looks.

"Zampano and Jerso are alive? We thought that storm had gotten them," Heinkel said.

"Yeah, no, my brother and I managed to take them down when they attacked Scar," Ed told them. "They found out that Central had omitted a few details when they were told why they were looking for people and Animals to transmute to make a chimera unit and asked if they could accompany Scar, my brother and the rest of the group to help us out," Ed explained.

Both chimeras nodded but it was Heinkel who spoke up. "We'd figured something major was being hidden from us. After the uproar caused by the Tucker incident," Ed winced slightly at the memories those words unwittingly brought forward, "we were more than curious as to why the military were asking for soldiers and their Animals to volunteer for the experiment. We were told that we would be made into an elite unit, something similar to the State Alchemists only kept on the down-low. A unit who would be used for warfare because – as we were told – a human with a formidable Animal was an asset on the front lines but a human with animalistic abilities and instinct would be as effective as a State Alchemist. Of course," Heinkel sneered slightly, "we weren't told our Animals were who we'd be bonded with, that the transmutation couldn't be reversed or that our families and friends were all informed we'd been killed in the line of duty. We couldn't go back on our decision so it was either follow orders or be killed. Eventually we all grew used to our new reality even if we didn't like it," Heinkel told them as Darius nodded in agreement with his words.

"So what did Zampano and Jerso find out that had them ask to join your side against the military?" Darius asked. Ed shot Ayala a look and she nodded.

"The Fuhrer is a homunculous and they have a plan to sacrifice everyone in Amestris to gain immortality," Ed told them bluntly. "Most of the generals are in on the plan though they think Bradley's human and they think they'll be given some of that immortality for their help but we're certain they'll be sacrificed alongside everyone else when the time comes," Ed said as Darius and Heinkel gaped at him.

"What?" Darius asked dumbly and Ayala felt sympathy for the two chimeras.

"I think you should start from the beginning. If they're gonna be on our side, they need to know everything," Ayala said and Ed shot a concerned look to the curtain. Ayala understood his concerns – the room really wasn't that secure after all – but she gave him a nod that had him relaxing slightly. "I can't sense them within earshot and their Animals aren't listening in either," she assured him.

"Okay, well this really all started with the destruction of Xerxes over 400 years ago so we'll start there," Ed told them as he finished up his lunch. Both chimeras nodded a little slowly as though they were still trying to process what Ed had said and the blonde did not blame them there.

So Ed told them nearly everything Hohenheim had told him about Xerxes and how his father knew what had happened before he moved on to telling them about what he and Al had done in the basement of their childhood home. He skipped over the years in between that night and their mission to Liore and the only reason he didn't skip over Liore was because he figured the chimeras ought to know why there were riots there after they'd paid the town a visit since Liore ended up being one of the points the homunculi bled for their array. He then skipped to the fight with Scar and how it led them to being on a train to Resembool when they ran into Doctor Marcoh the first time, gaining the location of his notes on the Philosopher's Stone.

From there, Ed told Darius and Heinkel about their visit to Central to find the notes, the discovery of the fate of the First Branch Library before they found someone with a photographic memory who'd read the doctor's notes and could copy them word for word. Ed went on to tell them what they'd uncovered about the stone and how they'd concluded that the military was likely continuing their experiments. He moved on to how they'd disobeyed Armstrong's orders to stay in the hotel and what they'd discovered upon finding the Fifth Laboratory. Ed still refused to cop to being the one who triggered the building's collapse, fully putting the blame continually on Envy before he moved on to the talk he'd had with Hughes and Armstrong in his hospital room.

The next thing Ed spoke about was the second fight between him and Envy while Hughes and Leo stayed safe in the phone booth Ed had trapped them in. The chimeras gasped in shock and amazement when Ed told them about the array he and Al had reverse engineered from Marcoh's array that destroyed Philosopher's Stones completely and how that ended up permanently destroying Envy. Ed then filled them in on his trip to Rush Valley and subsequent meeting with Ling, their first trip to Fort Briggs and the real reason behind it before telling them about the plan to lure Scar out into the open to fight him in hopes of luring out a homunculous.

"Why would you want to lure one out on purpose?" Darius had asked, sounding completely flummoxed.

"We needed one to interrogate about what their plan was," Ed told them before shushing them and telling them about the fight with Gluttony and what the homunculous later told them in the cabin Mustang had ordered Hawkeye to take Gluttony to.

Ed then moved on to the walk back to Central with Gluttony leading the way and what happened between Mustang and Bradley. Both chimeras had called Mustang an idiot, something that had Ed grinning widely and Ayala rolling her eyes before telling her human to continue talking. Ed did so but with a noticeable increase of energy as he told them about the small run in with Scar and first meeting with Mei – excluding when she'd turned up earlier in the day to defend the Ishvalen. Ed's voice lost the mirth it held as he described the walk to Father's lair and their first meeting with the original homunculous.

"He could turn your alchemy off?" Heinkel asked and Ed shrugged.

"We don't know how he managed it but it was more like he'd made it so we couldn't access whatever powers our alchemy," Ed told them. "It stayed that way for at least forty minutes but I don't know for certain if it came back sooner and I just didn't notice because of everything that happened after that."

Before either chimera could ask, Ed started describing what happened once he and Al had realised they couldn't use their alchemy. Ayala had leaned comfortingly against Ed's knee as he then told them about Ling's fate and what the Xingese prince had agreed to. Both chimeras looked shocked that someone would agree to become a homunculous but Ed had sniped back that the same shock could be felt when someone was told that someone had agreed to be transmuted with an animal to become a chimera. He'd then waved off their sheepish apologies before he moved into telling them about the fight that followed Ling becoming Greed, his ordering Al to get Mei out of there and his capture and rescue from Greed. He finished bringing them up to speed with how his truce with Scar was formed, their almost two-week search for Mei, the tip they got to head North and how they ended up in Fort Briggs the second time.

"Once we'd destroyed the homunculous there, we ended up staying at Briggs on General Armstrong's orders. You guys, Kimblee and Raven turned up the next day and General Armstrong agreed to try and win Raven's trust to find out everything he knew," Ed told the two chimeras. "She ended up killing both Raven and his Animal before arranging to have us 'arrive' at Briggs the next morning so we could run into Kimblee and ask to join his search for Scar."

"Why would you even pretend to join that maniac?" Darius asked.

"We needed to find Mei and we figured Scar was up here to do the same thing. Our truce meant that Scar wouldn't attack us but it didn't give us any way to find him easily so we thought joining Kimblee was our best bet," Ed explained. "Kimblee told us Fuhrer Bradley had given him orders on what to do, should he run into us during his search. He was told to let us help him find Scar and Marcoh as well as draw a blood crest at Briggs once they'd bled the last point of the array so they could complete it. I refused to do that," Ed told them before sighing. "It's probably too late to try and stop him now, even if I was in any shape to find him."

"There are rumours that Drachma tried to attack Briggs a few hours after the explosion at Baschool," Darius told him and Ed nodded, completely unsurprised. "The Drachma troops were decimated but not a single Amestrian was killed, if the rumours are to be believed," Darius said, hoping to give Ed some good news. Ed gave him a small smile of thanks.

"So that's everything we've discovered," Ed said, leaning back against the wall a little more as he drank the last few mouthfuls of the water he had. "We have us, Mustang, his old team, Scar, the Xingese in Amestris, Hughes, both Armstrongs, Fort Briggs, General Grumman and Eastern Command on our side, as well as everyone's Animals, as far as I know. There are a few strong civilians we might be able to count on as well as my bastard of a father. All alchemists we think will be capable of using it will be given my array for the destruction of Philosopher's Stones for the fight and I know Hohenheim is setting up countermeasures for the array he thinks Father will use to steal the souls of everyone inside the array so as long as he does it right, we won't have to worry about that array. My brother, Scar and the rest of their group have deciphered the notes left by Scar's brother and they think they've found a way to stop Father from being able to block our alchemy. The array is powered by Xingese alkahestry so either Scar or Mei has to activate it for us but we won't be without our alchemy for long if Father bothers to try and block it," Ed told them.

"It doesn't sound like you have much of a plan right now," Heinkel said.

"Yeah, it seems like you've got the players and some ideas but nothing that would be considered a real plan," Darius agreed and Ed shrugged.

"We can't really make much of a plan until we know when this whole thing is going down. Now that they've bled the last point, I don't think it will be too long but we still need a definite date," Ed told them. "Mustang might have more of an idea of what we should be doing when the time comes but I don't know anything about what he's thought up, if he's thought up anything at all, but knowing the lazy bastard, he's probably waiting for Hawkeye to come up with something," Ed muttered.

"I don't think he'd be lazy about something like this," Ayala scolded and Ed gave a reluctant nod of agreement. He didn't doubt Mustang was trying his best with what information he had to come up with some form of plan.

"I know it's a lot to take in at once," Ed said, addressing the chimeras again, "and no one would blame or judge you for deciding to go to Xing or Creta or somewhere to stay out of the fighting," he told them sincerely. He only wished he could do the same thing but he and Al had both come to the realisation they couldn't hide in some foreign country for the rest of their lives and there was no guarantee that their disappearance would put a permanent stop to Father's plans. For all they knew, Father had a way of making people commit the ultimate taboo thus creating more sacrifices for him to use.

Both Darius and Heinkel exchanged a look before they nodded to one another and faced Ed and Ayala once more. "We'll help," Heinkel said. "All we've done since becoming this is follow a corrupt military's orders. We've probably unwittingly helped further their plans and we would've still been helping them if Kimblee hadn't tried killing us alongside you two. We have a lot to make up for and – even though they think we're dead – we still have family and friends here in Amestris. We can't leave it up to you to save them so we're in," he told Ed.

"Besides, you seem to be a danger magnet. You need us to help keep you alive until you can save the country," Darius told him.

"I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself!" Ed protested angrily as Ayala cackled. His protests were stopped by a groan of pain as he pulled on his stitches and both Darius and Heinkel raised their eyebrows in a 'see what I mean?' way. "Shut up," Ed muttered as Ayala fussed over him.

"Stop hurting yourself," Ayala scolded as she made sure he wasn't at risk of bleeding or close to ripping out his stitches.

Darius and Heinkel got their attention when they scraped their chairs lightly against the wooden floorboards and Ed took a moment to admire the fact that neither chair broke at all since both of them looked like they'd cave if anyone heavier than Sam or Mark sat on them. "We'll leave you to get some rest, kid. You look like you could use a lot more," Darius said and Ed glared at him.

"We'll keep a close eye on the town and let you know whatever we hear," Heinkel told him and Ed nodded. "We're also looking at getting cash-in-hand jobs while we're here. Maybe in construction or some factory work. We've agreed to pay something weekly to cover our food and board," Heinkel said, sounding a little annoyed and Ed frowned.

"You guys don't have to do that. You can just take what you need out of my bank account," Ed told them but they both shook their heads.

"No, you'll pay for your medical care and whatnot. Trust me, that fee alone will make your account cry," Heinkel told him. "Besides, getting a job will be a good way for us to earn some cash to not only pay the doc but to also save to use when we're able to leave here," he said.

"We'll also be able to find out information easier on a job site," Darius added before Ed could protest.

"But won't people ask questions?" Ed asked and they both shook their head.

"No one will ask much more than where we're from and whether we're just travelling through the town," Heinkel assured him. "No one will care too much since it's not unusual to be paid cash for hard labour and it's very common for construction workers to move with the work."

Ed didn't look awfully convinced it was a good idea but he nodded. "If you guys think it's a good idea," Ed said. "Does the doctor want me to pay a weekly fee as well?" Ed asked, switching the subject.

"He did but we told him you couldn't," Heinkel said and Ed frowned, once again opening his mouth to remind them he had a bank account with money in it.

"You've likely been declared missing or a deserter," Darius informed him and Ed remembered Ayala telling him what Nala had said about his and Al's status. "That means you can enter a bank to withdraw money once with any hope of being able to skip town without being accosted by the military since they'll need to get a team together to investigate the bank. Any other time after that, you can bet each bank will have at least two soldiers tasked with keeping an eye out for you," Darius told him.

"We pointed that out to Doc and told him that you'd be paying him at the end of your stay here. That way you'll get as much time to heal as possible and you won't bring the military to their door because they couldn't wait to get paid," Heinkel told him and Ed noted the small smirk on the lion chimera's face as he seemed to be recalling the memory.

Ed sunk slightly where he sat and gave Ayala a pat in lieu of a voiced apology for upsetting how she was laying. "Thanks, guys," Ed said, voice as grateful as he could manage through the all too familiar exhaustion that was rapidly creeping up on him. The two chimeras seemed to notice as they put their chairs back where they'd gotten them from.

"Get some sleep, kid. We'll talk more later," Darius said and Ed nodded as he stifled a yawn.

Darius and Heinkel left the room moments later while Ed placed to his food tray in its usual spot, this time accompanied by the empty water glass. While he was doing that, Ayala jumped off the bed with a little regret but there really was no room for her on it and she couldn't force herself to try and fit on there because she knew she'd only hurt Ed in the process. Ed got himself comfortable on the bed, curling up on his right side as he always did and faced Ayala.

"You're going to have to talk with Chester and Nala tomorrow. Maybe Leo and Soren, if you can manage it," Ayala told him and Ed chuckled lightly.

"Yeah, I know. I can feel them hovering in my mind," Ed told her. "I think I'm just gonna give them permission to look at my memories so they can see what happened for themselves. They can ask me whatever questions they want later that way," he said and Ayala thought it over.

"Probably a good idea. It won't take as long to get through everything that way and you're always the most tired after dinner," Ayala said finally and Ed didn't bother arguing. The amount of sleep he'd been getting the past near week had been more than he'd gotten in the last month and he knew he could expect to continue sleeping so much for the next week at least.

Decision made, Ed opened his mind to Chester, Nala, Soren and Leo. "I'm gonna get some more sleep but you guys are welcome to look at my memories of what happened and tell everyone else what happened. I'll answer your questions when I'm awake next," Ed told them.

"Are you alright, Ed?" they all asked at almost the exact same time, creating an almost echoing effect in his mind.

"Yeah, just tired. It's gonna take a while to get over this one though," Ed said, giving them all what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Everyone seemed to accept the answer and they all backed off with the exception of Chester.

"Your brother wants to talk to you," Chester told him and Ed felt a pang of guilt. The two of them had never been separated for long, not since the night they'd tried bringing their mother back, and they certainly hadn't been away from each other for this long while Ed was injured.

"I don't know if it's a good idea for us to talk over the phone," Ed said slowly. "I don't think the people looking after me will let me use theirs and I'm in no shape to be looking for a phone booth. Besides, we have no idea if the military are watching Teacher and Sig or tracking their communication," Ed told him and felt a flash of guilt from Chester.

"We're not heading to Izumi's," Chester admitted when Ed asked. "We decided to head to an Ishvalen slum in the mountains near where we cracked the code. I spoke to Koda to let her know we'd be paying her a visit but she told us they wouldn't be in Dublith for very long. She acted as a messenger for Izumi and she agreed to detour on her trip to visit us in the slums," Chester said before Ed could get riled up about Al still being in the snow.

"Why is she leaving Dublith?" Ed asked. Izumi and Sig had never discussed leaving Dublith. They were too well established in the town and their butchers shop was doing extremely well there.

"She isn't leaving there permanently," Chester said. "They met Hohenheim while shopping in a nearby town and he healed her, Ed. The price she paid for her failed transmutation was healed by your father," Chester told him and Ed was stunned. He had no idea how to feel about that. "She and Sig agreed with the Animals when they suggested they take a vacation to celebrate. According to Koda, the military has been keeping an annoyingly close eye on them and both Animals feel like they shouldn't be anywhere near Dublith at the moment. They're leaving the shop in Mason and Jason's hands for however long they're away for," Chester told him and Ed almost growled at the idea of the military harassing the Curtises.

"At least Mason and Jason will get some experience of what it's like to run the shop by themselves long term," Ed muttered. He knew Sig and Izumi had been discussing leaving the shop to Sig's nephew in their will. Mason and his chimpanzee both seemed to enjoy working in the shop so they were the best choice for who to pass it to. "Let me know when you guys catch up with Teacher. I'll try and talk to Koda and Suna while I'm stuck here to see what Teacher's plan is," Ed said, already worried about whether Koda was tracking him somehow and Izumi was on her way to lecture him for being stupid enough to fall for Kimblee's attack.

"Will do," Chester said. "Get some rest, Ed. I'll talk to you later today," Chester told him and Ed nodded.

"Okay," Ed agreed. "I'll chat to you later. Look after yourselves," Ed instructed and Chester snorted.

"I should be telling you that," he teased and Ed mentally poked his tongue out. "Mature." The leopard rolled his eyes.

"You can talk," Ed muttered before the two said another goodbye and Chester disconnected. Ed felt his eyes droop and only surrendered to sleep when he'd given the four Animals he'd just spoken to access to his memories, trusting them to not dig any further than he wanted them to before he finally fell asleep.

---

When Ed woke up next, it was dark outside and there was a tray with lukewarm soup sitting next to him. A glance over at Ayala showed she was on her bed but there was a barely noticeable smell of coppery blood in the air that told him she'd been given her dinner. He sat up in bed, startling Ayala slightly, and grabbed his dinner, ignoring the pressing he could feel in his mind from the four Animals he'd opened his memories to. Ed had no plans of ignoring them all night but he certainly didn't want to be interrogated until after he'd eaten his dinner before it got any colder.

Once he was done with it, Ed placed the bowl back on the tray and sipped at the water before he leaned back against the wall and allowed Ayala up on the bed. Once she was settled as close to him as she could get, Ed relaxed and allowed Nala, Chester, Soren and Leo to start talking with him. "So I imagine you have questions," he said, a little lamely but he wasn't sure anything he said would make what they saw in his memories any better.

"Just a few," Chester snarled and Ed barely stopped himself from flinching. "You got impaled and were mere moments away from death and you figured telling us not to worry about you would go down well, didn't you?"

Ed winced guiltily and found himself really glad the leopard wasn't in the room with him. "I'd hoped that you would be a little calmer since you've known I'm gonna make a full recovery for days once you saw my memories," Ed admitted and Chester growled.

"You. Were. Impaled!" Chester grounded out, adding special emphasis to the last word.

"Technically, I have been impaled before," Ed quipped and quickly kept speaking when he swore he felt Chester's growl, "but never this bad and I get your point. I'm sorry, Ches," Ed said, making sure he sounded as apologetic as he was. It seemed to calm the leopard down just enough for one of the other Animals to be able to get a question in of their own.

"Edward, are you alright?" Nala asked, the emotion in her voice almost overwhelming the blonde.

"I'm better," he told her honestly. "The doctor looking after me thinks I won't be leaving here until spring though," Ed told her.

"You were hurt that badly?" Chester asked, voice stricken and Ed gave a nod.

"Yeah, this time," Ed paused for a moment, "this time it was really close. If Ayala hadn't…" he trailed off, letting himself start getting lost in the likeliest outcome.

"Ed," Nala whispered, horrified by how close they'd come to losing him.

"But Ayala did help and you're getting the medical help you need. You'll be on your feet in no time, ready to continue kicking homunculous arse," Soren said firmly, forcing them to remember that Ed was on the road to recovery. "How did Ayala manage to help?" Soren asked, forcing a slight change in the subject and Ed shrugged.

"I'm not actually too sure to be honest. I had planned on using my life force as a make-shift Philosopher's Stone, sacrificing a few years of my life to heal myself but Ayala beat me to it," Ed told them. "We haven't actually discussed what happened with each other yet."

"Ayala? What did you do?" Chester asked, making sure Ed could still hear him as he addressed the wolf currently laying at Ed's feet.

"I'm still not positive how I did it but I somehow took control of my healing energy and used it on Ed," Ayala told them and it was almost humourous at how in sync their shocked gasps were in Ed's mind. "It was an instinct I'd never felt before but, as I'm sure you saw, it created the same silver glow that had appeared when Ed and I initiated our bond. I couldn't heal him completely and I think it was because that instinct was triggered by how close Ed was to death. It healed the worst of his injuries enough that Darius and Heinkel could get us to the doctor and help," Ayala explained.

"That's fascinating," Soren said, completely in awe. "I wonder if you were able to do so because of how strong your bond is. It certainly sounds like this injury was catastrophic enough to be the trigger event for this new ability," Soren mused.

"That's what I thought as well," Ayala told the owl. "There is a drawback though," she told them. "My energy isn't recovering as quickly as it should be if I had been the one healed with it," she revealed and Ed startled slightly before looking inwards and realising that Ayala was absolutely correct. Her energy was nowhere near the levels it should've been by now.

"I guess it's a good thing you've got so much energy, hey?" Ed said, trying to cover his worry as best as he could with some humour.

"Considering your first move after me healing you was to heal me? Yeah, it definitely is," Ayala gently berated him and he gave her a sheepish grin.

"Seriously, Ed?" Chester asked, sounding completely unsurprised at having heard what Ayala said.

"What? She had a broken leg! I couldn't have left her like that, especially considering how long I ended up being unconscious for," Ed grumbled as Ayala rolled her eyes affectionately.

"We're just teasing, Ed. I'm really happy you were able to heal my leg immediately. Broken limbs are never fun," Ayala said, reaching up from where she lay to manoeuvre his flesh hand so it lay on top of her head.

"Maes wants me to tell you that as soon as the homunculi are dealt with, you're never leaving his sight again," Leo said, speaking for the first time since Ed had contacted them. "Gracia isn't even trying to pretend she's not thinking the exact same thing."

"Yeah, I guess I probably should've figured you guys told your humans," Ed said, grimacing slightly at just how everyone, especially Al and the Hughes' took the news. Suddenly, he was extremely grateful he had no clue where they were being looked after.

"You're damned right we did," Chester told him. "Al was ready to track you down when you got hurt and I couldn't tell him much more than my suspicions and what little Ayala told us before she passed out. But when I told him what your memories had shown me, it took the combined efforts of me, Mei and Doctor Marcoh to stop him from trying to hunt you down himself."

"It was the same deal with Maes," Leo told them. "He was dead-set on ordering his entire department to start looking for any sign of you before Gracia and I convinced him to hold off. Then he went to work the next day and I felt him considering it again so I asked Nala to have Roy intervene, which he did just in time thankfully, by reminding him that you were now considered a deserter and that every soldier would be issued the order to arrest you on sight," Leo said. Ed raised his brow in surprise that Mustang would've bothered reminding Hughes of that.

"He doesn't want to see you arrested, Ed. We keep telling you that he truly does care for you. More than he should for a subordinate," Nala told him and Ed hadn't been able to stop himself from rolling his eyes at the familiar words. He felt like it was an old game between him and most of the other Animals where they'd try to convince him that Mustang cared for him as more than a career maker. There had been moments where Ed would admit that sometimes he started to believe the Animals – like when he'd set the alchemic trap for Philosopher's Stones around the Hughes' house or when Nala had told him about Mustang's warnings regarding Kimblee – but then Mustang would normally say or do something that confirmed his own beliefs of where he stood with the Flame Alchemist. "Ed, you should've seen his reaction when I told him you and Ayala were hurt and that I couldn't get through to either of you. He was seriously worried. I don't even know how he managed to get any of his work done because his thoughts were on whether or not he could do anything to find you and help you," Nala told him and Ed felt his skin prickle uncomfortably as it heated up at how genuine her words were.

"Even I can tell he cares for you as much as Maes does. Maes can just show it more than Mustang can," Leo said, joining in on the subject change. "I could hear it in his voice as he talked Maes out of looking for you. He would've absolutely tried to find you himself to make sure you were alright with his own eyes if he could've done so without tipping Bradley off."

Though he was enjoying the fact that Ed was finally realising what they'd been telling him for the past five or so years, Chester wanted a question answered. "Who are the two others with you? Darius and Heinkel?"

"Oh, they're the other two chimeras Kimblee brought with him. They'd tried to fight me and Ayala while Kimblee tried to track you guys down but we won when we created ammonia with some old dynamite," Ed told him, far happier with the change in subject than he would ever admit. "When Kimblee collapsed the mine shaft, they were caught up in it. They took offence to the fact that he hadn't bothered to stop the collapse from taking them," Ed said.

"So why are they helping you? No offence, Ed, but it's not like all of our enemies suddenly switch sides just because their boss didn't care if they lived or not," Chester said and Ed nodded.

"Yeah, but I did then save them from being crushed by debris when I woke up the second time after the shaft collapsed," Ed told him. "I needed them to help me remove the piece of support beam still inside me, as you saw," Ed said and felt the four of them nodding. "They told me and Ayala this afternoon that they hadn't counted their debt to me cleared just because they helped Ayala heal me a little, hence why they brought us here. I told them about everything we've uncovered, and I mean everything," Ed revealed. He felt the four expected reactions of shock and worry if he'd done the right thing. "They've both decided to stay with me and Ayala until the doctor releases me and to fight alongside us when it's time."

"Well, we'll be happy for their help," Soren said before anyone else could say anything. "We need all the allies we can get and another two chimeras who can take a beating and get back up will definitely be welcome."

"I'll let Roy know about them, just in case," Nala said, obviously agreeing with Soren's statement and Leo echoed her promise to tell his human.

"I'll tell Al. I'm sure Zampano and Jerso will be happy to hear about what happened to the rest of their unit," Chester said and Ed nodded in agreement.

"Darius and Heinkel were happy to find out the two of them had survived and escaped Baschool with you guys," Ed told him. "Hey, so how did Al and the others manage to decipher that code?" Ed asked when no one else seemed to be about to say anything.

"Actually, it was Mei who first figured out what we needed to do to try and that we needed to break the journal's bindings and sort through the papers to do so," Chester said before regaling Ed with the tale of how they managed to decode Scar's brother's notes and what they revealed. He made sure he didn't leave anything out since he knew Ed would appreciate the details and he made sure to include what role Yoki played in helping them find the second array.

"Well, I guess he wasn't completely useless," Ed chuckled when Chester had finished telling him everything before he sobered. "So we have something that will help us combat Father's alchemy without affecting our own," Ed said, relief in his voice. "So long as we survive long enough to be able to use it to get the advantage," he added gloomily.

"Pessimistic much?" Ayala said and Ed shrugged but didn't deny it.

"As long as your father manages to get his countermeasures for the array in order before the fight, we stand a very, very good chance of winning this, Ed. Don't forget that," Chester reminded him and Ed didn't bother stopping his snort.

"Forgive me if I don't put much faith in the man who abandoned me and Al for over a decade because he didn't realise 12 years had passed by," Ed almost snarled, causing Ayala to flatten her ears to her head as she whined in sympathy at him. Ed reached over to scratch her ears almost absentmindedly as he mentally scowled at his father, more annoyed that the living Philosopher's Stone wasn't there for him to yell out. Or punch in the face. Ed wasn't fussy either way.

"Your brother says you aren't allowed to hit your father when you see him next," Chester informed Ed. The blonde scowled at the leopard but his demeanour was softened by the feeling of solidarity coming from Chester. He knew Chester would likely try and keep Al from trying to stop Ed if they had the misfortune of seeing Hohenheim together before they had to fight the homunculous.

"What Al doesn't know won't hurt him," Ed muttered and Chester snorted softly. The talk of Hohenheim, however, had the almost unfortunate side effect of reminding Ed that Calix likely felt everything the other Animals had, though in a more dulled capacity. It also reminded Ed that Calix still hadn't passed along Hohenheim's theory on how Father could turn off alchemy and since he did promise the two, he knew he would have to talk to Calix, if only to get an answer about Father and to tell them about the homunculous at Fort Briggs.

"What's wrong, Ed?" Nala asked, having unsurprisingly picked up on the blonde's emotions and he sighed.

"Just realised I'll have to talk with Calix to bring him up to speed," Ed told them sullenly. He felt some amusement from everyone he was talking – something he wasn't impressed about – but he also felt their understanding and sympathy.

"We'll leave you alone to do so, Ed," Nala said, sounding reluctant to do so. "But I want you to contact me every day, you understand? I won't accept any reason except death and even then I will bring you back so I can lecture you," Nala threatened, sounding so stern that Ed almost laughed.

"I'll help her," Leo and Soren said at the same time and Ed could feel Chester nodding very enthusiastically in agreement.

"Al has also ordered me to inform you that he expects daily updates from you," Chester told him and Ed just knew that Chester would've said the same thing without Al's prodding.

"I will," Ed promised, "and if I somehow forget, I know Ayala will remind me," he said and Ayala made sure her willingness to do so was felt by everyone.

"Alright," Nala said, obviously feeling a little better about saying goodnight now that she had both Ed and Ayala's promise. "Good night, Ed. Heal quickly and keep safe."

"I will, Nala. Don't let Mustang boss you around too much," Ed said, giving the lioness a mental smile.

"Never have and I have no plans on starting now," Nala informed him with a chuckle that had Ed giving a real grin.

"Stay out of trouble," Leo told him. "Maes and Gracia both want me to tell you that Elysia wants you home as soon as possible," he added after a pause.

"That's rude. Using Elysia as a bribe," Ed faux scoffed before softening as he felt Lilith rub up against his mind with her worry and love. "I'll try and get back home before too long," Ed promised and the two grey foxes accepted it with a significant increase in happiness.

"Riza wants me to wish you a speedy recovery and that she hopes you're back on your feet soon. She also wants me to tell you that you're not allowed to do anything like this to yourself ever again or she'll be extremely disappointed," Soren dutifully passed along and Ed felt a slight flush crawl up his neck at the blatant display of worry Hawkeye was showing, even if it was through Soren.

"You can tell her to relax because I have absolutely no plans to go through anything like this again," Ed told him, completely honest. "Also, thank you for her well-wishes," Ed instructed though he made sure to be polite about it since Soren wasn't his Animal and his human was one of the few humans Ed truly respected above all others.

"We'll talk to you later, Ed," Chester said, sounding as reluctant as Nala was about disconnecting from the blonde. "Al says you have to listen to your doctor about everything, even if he tells you to drink milk," Chester told him and Ed's face screwed up in disgust.

"Not on your life will I drink that vile liquid," Ed spat like the very idea was sacrilege. His reaction caused the five Animals to laugh at him and he made sure all of them knew how displeased he was with that.

While they were still feeling the humour from Ed's muttered curses about milk, the four Animals said another goodbye, making sure Ed was reminded of his promise to keep in contact with them. Ed would've raised a fuss about their mother-henning but he found himself promising them all again to speak with them the next day and every day after that, touched by their insistence on hearing from him every day, before they finally disconnected from him, leaving him with just Ayala predominately in his mind. Ed sighed as he felt the others retreat and he swallowed the last of the water from his cup as Ayala jumped from the bed to settle on her own, as had become their new nightly routine.

"Are you going to talk to Calix tonight?" Ayala asked as she watched Ed get settled back on his mattress, fully preparing himself to go to sleep immediately.

"No," Ed said. "I'll talk to him after breakfast." Ayala likely would've tried coaxing him into getting it over and done with now but she could see how much the talk with the four Animals had taken out of him so she left it. "Remind me tomorrow to ask Rachel to have Falman send my gear at Fort Briggs back down to Central and to ask Leo to have Hughes pick it up," Ed requested, eyes already closed and Ayala nodded.

"I will," she promised. Ed muttered something that Ayala couldn't make out before he drifted off to sleep and Ayala grinned at her human in amusement before she allowed herself to do the same.

---

As Ayala had promised the previous night, she reminded Ed about contacting Rachel and Leo in regard to the stuff he'd left at Fort Briggs. The stingray had promised him that Falman would take his suitcase with him the next time he was sent to North City for any reason and Leo had sworn that Maes would head out to pick it up when Rachel told him so he could tell his human. Ed had thanked them and spent a few minutes talking primarily with Rachel, mainly assuring the stingray he really was okay and that he was expected to make a full recovery. He'd ended the conversation by giving the stingray his word that he'd make sure he spoke to her at least once a week, if not more. Leo had ended his connection with Ed with a reminder of his promise to the grey fox that had Ed rolling his eyes but nodded to acknowledge his promise once more.

"You should speak to Calix," Ayala said once Ed had finished his breakfast of chicken broth and orange juice.

Ed immediately screwed up his face in annoyance but let out a relenting sigh as he nodded. "Yeah, might as well get it over and done with," Ed said, sounding about as thrilled as Ayala was expecting. Ed reached for the bond he had with the Percheron stallion and sent a message. "There's some things I need to bring you up to speed on,"Ed told the horse, who immediately responded.

"Ed! Are you alright?" Calix asked, worry undiluted in his voice. Ed wasn't sure how he felt about that since he was still pissed off with Hohenheim and didn't want the man or his Animal to care enough about him to be so worried but on the other hand, he couldn't help but feel happy that Calix, at the very least, was that concerned for him.

"I'm fine. Just got in a fight with a lunatic armed with two stones and didn't come out of it as the victor," Ed told him. His words didn't seem to calm the horse down and he sighed before elaborating. "I got impaled through the side with a support beam but Ayala managed to save my life and two new allies got me and Ayala to a doctor who'll keep his mouth shut. I'm stuck here for a good month at least but I'm fine," Ed stressed the last word and Calix must've picked up on how little patience he had to deal with another Animal fussing over him.

"We're really glad you're alright, Ed. Your father was worried about you. He'd planned on heading back north once he'd finished placing the next lot of countermeasures to try and find you," Calix told him and Ed had to force himself to not snort in disbelief. He felt Calix's sadness at the fact that Ed didn't believe him but the horse didn't try and push the matter. "What happened to the person who attacked you?" Calix asked, moving the subject along so he could continue speaking with Ed.

"He escaped unharmed and continued with his plan to bled Fort Briggs. He sacrificed a troop of Drachmann soldiers to do so," Ed told him, sadness at being unable to stop the killing filling his voice. "He's probably hunting Scar down again now," he added, "but Al and Chester know what he looks and smells like so they'll keep an eye out for him so they can warn the group."

"So the homunculi have managed to bleed the necessary points," Calix said and Ed nodded.

"They've also completed the underground array," Ed told him. "It's why we were at Fort Briggs when Kimblee was there. The homunculous who had been digging the tunnels dug his way out of Fort Briggs. The homunculous was dealt with by General Armstrong and a few other soldiers. Since they couldn't kill it, they poured fuel over it and forced it outside the fortress, freezing it in place," Ed told Calix. "One of the Animals I'm bonded to alerted me while we were still in North City about what had happened and told me that General Armstrong wanted me to head for the fortress so I could deal with the homunculous," Ed said. "I destroyed it so there's one less homunculous for us to deal with now." Ed couldn't help but remember the feeling he got from the stone as he spoke and Calix noticed but was quick to realise that the blonde likely wouldn't appreciate him asking about it. "We also identified the last homunculous Gluttony told us about. Selim Bradley is a homunculous who can use the shadows," he revealed.

"Thank you for telling us," Calix said. "We'll keep our senses open so we aren't taken by surprise."

"Yeah, well, I did promise that I'd tell you about anything that you needed to know," Ed grumbled. "Besides, I remembered last night that you and Hohenheim still haven't given me your theory on how the fuck the original homunculous was able to use alchemy," Ed said, moving the subject along once more.

"Sorry, Edward. I didn't realise I hadn't done that yet," Calix said, sounding genuinely apologetic about it. "We think he's utilising Philosopher's Stones that are buried under the surface of the earth. We're not completely certain because Van would need to witness Homunculous using his alchemy firsthand to be sure. If we're right, this means that Homunculous has far more stones available to him than we originally thought," Calix told him and Ed swore.

"It's already draining enough to set up my array to cover a single house to destroy a stone. There's no way I can power it to cover the whole of Amestris," Ed said. "We're just going to have to leave the stones alone to deal with later," Ed said, not liking the idea one bit. They were weapons in the hands of the homunculous. Not to mention, Ed didn't like the idea of abandoning the souls trapped in them to be used for the homunculous' gain.

"Van doesn't want you to worry about that. He has a plan but he can't use it until closer to when the homunculi make their move. He doesn't want to tip them to the fact that there's an array out there that will destroy a stone," Calix told him. Once again, Ed had mixed feelings. He didn't want to leave it to Hohenheim to do since he didn't trust the man to keep his word and he wasn't happy about leaving the souls trapped for who knew how long but on the other hand, if there was one person who could pull off something like that without killing himself in the effort, it was someone like Hohenheim.

"Alright," Ed agreed, still not happy but accepting that it was the best way to go. "That's everything on my end that I needed to tell you about. What about you?"

"We've set up all the countermeasures so we're ready whenever the homunculous decide to initiate their plan," Calix told him. "We're actually heading to Liore right now so Van can investigate the tunnel for himself. We ran into a woman a few days ago who had committed human transmutation as well. She told us you were her students," Calix said.

"Yeah, she's heading to where Al is to tell him what happened and so he can tell her everything that's happened with us since we last saw her,"Ed told him, cutting off anything Calix was planning on telling him about that meeting.

"Oh, good. We'd hoped she wouldn't be returning to Dublith to stay there after that. Not with the military activity we saw around her. Van thinks that if they're keeping an eye on those who are considered sacrifices so closely now, it can't be too much longer before the homunculi are ready to activate that array," Calix told him and Ed nodded. He'd been thinking the same thing, if he was being honest.

"Alright, well if that's all you needed to tell me, I'm gonna cut the connection," Ed told the grey horse.

"It is," Calix confirmed. "We really glad you're alright. Both of us are. Stay safe, alright?" Calix said and Ed gave a silent nod.

"Yeah, you guys too. Can't afford to have you dead before you can help us fight the homunculi," Ed grumbled, resolutely ignoring the pleased feeling he could feel coming from the horse.

"We will. I'll let you know what we find in Liore," Calix promised and Ed gave a short, mental nod before disconnecting from the conversation without any further words said.

"That wasn't too bad," Ayala said after a couple of moments. "At least you were able to get some information from them."

"Yeah, true," Ed said as he shifted on his bed slightly.

Darius and Heinkel had gone out that morning to try and find work and Ed had given them every cent he still had on him so they could go to a bookstore at some time to buy him some books since he was stuck in bed and couldn't do it himself. Until they came back though – and Ed wasn't expecting them until after lunch at the earliest – he was stuck with just his thoughts and Ayala to distract him for the most part. He knew he could annoy the other Animals he was bonded to but he didn't really want to try and talk with them so soon after speaking with Calix and, to a certain degree, Hohenheim. He couldn't guarantee that his feelings from talking to them wouldn't bleed through into their conversation and he didn't want to have to explain what he was feeling to them.

"How much do you want to bet that Hughes has started his own investigation into finding out where you are?" Ayala asked, offering Ed something else to think about.

Ed grinned at the thought. "Yeah, that's an easy bet to win. That man does not like not knowing where everyone is," Ed said with a laugh. Suddenly, Ed felt a presence in his mind that he'd only felt a couple of times. "Anahlia?"

"Yes," the snake answered. "Can you receive memories as part of your bond with another Animal?" she asked and Ed nodded, still confused.

No sooner had he'd done so, his mind filled with images from Anahlia's memories and Ed felt horror crawl up his throat as he took the sight in. Anahlia had been – or still was, since Ed didn't know when she'd seen this – in a long, dark room with General Armstrong and another general Ed didn't know. The man had a hyena as his Animal but that was something Ed barely noticed. Anahlia was looking around the room and taking in the sight of hundreds, if not thousands, of white humanoids attached to machines, lined up in rows like they were in a factory. The creatures were white, not pale-skinned like Gracia or Hawkeye but white like hospital sheets, with red lines that reminded Ed of the markings on the homunculi that started on their collarbones and ran up in a straight line through their mouth, around their cheekbones and around the single eye they had in the centre of their forehead. The creatures hung upside down with their mouths gaping open and eyes closed and all of them looked extremely malnourished. Not one of them moved but Ed felt himself wanting to throw up at the fact that military had created these things for some horrible purpose.

"What the hell are they?" Ed asked, gasping slightly as he forced the memory share to stop. He knew it was too late and that he'd have that image forever scarred into his mind but he couldn't look at them a moment longer. He'd shared it with Ayala at the same time and her disgust was singing through their bond, making the situation both a little better and a little worse.

He thought he felt some sympathy from Anahlia but it was gone before he could be sure. "That's the immortal army Raven spoke of," Anahlia told him. "They will be filled with a Philosopher's Stone created by the people already slaughtered for the homunculi's plans and from the Amestrian people when they are sacrificed. Those souls and how they were created will make them indestructible."

"This is their endgame?" Ed asked, whispering as Ayala curled up into him, careful of his wounds but knowing he needed her there. Anahlia gave a nod through the bond and Ed heaved in a deep breath as he tried to calm himself. "Did the generals give any hint as to when this plan would happen?" Ed asked.

"No," Anahlia told him. "Olivier and I are of the opinion that they don't know. Possibly so they can't tell anyone when it'll happen, just in case someone like Mustang overhears them," Anahlia said, hissing slightly when she said Mustang's name.

"Okay," Ed said, still working on calming himself down. "I take it the generals and Bradley accepted General Armstrong into their circle with no issues," Ed said.

"She told them the truth," Anahlia revealed. "Olivier told them Raven had told her everything after she expressed interest in the 'monster who'd attacked Fort Briggs and left with not a scratch on him' and that she'd killed Raven and Bella so she could have his seat at the inner circle. Bradley interrogated her but ultimately decided to give her the empty seat while expressing his delight to have her on their side," Anahlia reported and Ed shook his head.

"Well, the plan worked so that's good," Ed said with a sigh. "Thanks for telling me about this," he said to the snake.

"We did promise to keep you informed of what we thought you needed to know," Anahlia told him. "I assume you're still expected to make a full recovery," she said and Ed nodded.

"I'll be out of action for about a month or so but, yes, I will be back on my feet with no lingering health problems," Ed told her. Anahlia gave a simple mental nod at his words before disconnecting in much the same manner as he'd done to Calix just minutes earlier. "Guess I'll be talking to everyone a little earlier than I'd planned," Ed said to Ayala, who nodded.

"I can't believe the military made those things," she said, still in shock over the images she'd seen and Ed nodded in agreement.

"Me neither but I'm glad Anahlia told us about them. At least we can expect them during the fight," Ed said.

"Yeah. I don't think I would've liked to have been taken by surprise by those running at me," she told him, a small amount of humour in her voice.

"Same," Ed agreed, matching her humour before he concentrated on his bonds with Animals who would be joining them in the fight, including the one with Calix. "I've just been shown something I think all of you need to see. Fair warning, it's a bit unsettling," he warned them before sharing the memory Anahlia had shared with him, bracing himself for the reactions he knew he would get as he did so.

---

It had been a couple of days since Ed had shared the images and news of the mannequins – as Ed had decided to call them since they weren't truly alive, human or homunculi and they didn't have any strings so they couldn't be called puppets or marionettes – with all of the Animals he decided needed to know about them. Chester and Al had been as appalled as Ed and Ayala were and they'd spent nearly two hours discussing this new information and what they could do about them if they were brought online for the fight. When Ed and Ayala had stepped away from the conversation so they could bring others up to speed in more detail, Chester and Al had gotten their group together and told them everything.

Marcoh, Mei and the chimeras had been disgusted with the news, Yoki had acted like they'd told him the mannequins would be programmed to hunt him down while Scar had taken the news with a nod and the slightest clenching on his jaw and fists, the only signs of his anger. To Al's surprise, Scar hadn't made a snide comment about the way the military was using alchemy to further pervert the world as his gods had built it. Chester had suggested they tell Koda and Suna, and through them, Izumi and Sig but Al reminded him that Ed had likely already done so and if he hadn't, they could tell them in person when they turned up.

The arrival of the Curtises happened only a couple of days later. Al, Chester and Mei were out in the small village, helping the Ishvalen refugees who'd settled there after the war with whatever they could around their homes. Yoki was unwillingly keeping the younger Ishvalen children occupied while Marcoh and the chimeras offered their assistance with anything medical or construction related. Scar has speaking with the elders of the village, explaining what was happening to Amestris at this time, the plan they'd formed so far and why he was planning on helping Amestris after his actions the past couple of years and what Amestris had done to Ishval.

The first sign Chester and Al got of their arrival was the change in the refugees. There was an almost nervous tension in the air but mostly they were picking up on a cautious curiosity. The next sign they got was when the wind shifted enough for Chester to pick up on their scents. Despite his warnings, Al was still taken by surprise when Koda came out of nowhere and wrapped the armour in a massive hug. Mei had let out a surprised yelp when Koda nearly trod on her in her haste to get to Alphonse. The scene brought out quite a few spectators, including Marcoh and the chimeras, who had been drawn by the noise.

"Hi, Koda," Al said happily as he twisted in the bear's arms to hug her back. One good thing about how tall he stood now was that he could give Koda these kinds of hugs, which he knew the bear delighted in. "How have you been?"

"She says she's been good and that she's been very happy in the last couple of days thanks to your father," Chester dutifully past along as he watched the two, a smile on his face.

"There you are," a familiar voice snapped and Al and Koda separated to see Izumi stomping towards them, a glare on her face. Chester could sense the fear and apprehension Al was feeling as the dreadlocked woman headed for them. Sig and Suna were following at a more sedate pace, though the size of Sig had some of the Ishvalens looking a little worried.

"Teacher!" Al said in greeting as Koda made her way to join her human. Al heard a clang and watched as Izumi's shoe fell to the ground in front of him after it hit his chest.

"What's this I hear about your idiot brother getting himself blown up?" Izumi demanded as Suna grabbed her shoe, gave Al a brush with his tail in hello and brought it back to her. She gave the golden retriever a pat in thanks, her glare never leaving Al.

"Alphonse?" Mei asked, getting the attention of everyone, her face looking at Izumi with awe and fear. "Who is this formidable woman?"

"Sorry, Mei," Al apologised before gesturing to Izumi. "This is mine and Edward's teacher. She taught us everything we know about alchemy, survival skills, weapon and hand-to-hand combat and numerous other things," Al said before looking up at Izumi. "Teacher, this is Mei and Xao-Mei Chang. She's a princess of Xing here searching for the Philosopher's Stone so she can save her clan."

"Pleasure to meet you, Princess Mei," Izumi said, giving the young girl a gentle, genuine smile before turning her gaze back onto Al, face hardening back into a glare. "You haven't answered my question yet, Alphonse," she reminded him sharply and Al flinched.

"He went up against an insane alchemist who had two stones. Ed didn't know about the second one and the alchemist got the better of him," Al told her. "He had a support beam go through his left side but he got help and he's expected to make a full recovery in about a month's time." Izumi didn't look surprised to hear it and Al wasn't expecting her to since he knew Ed had spoken to Koda but he wasn't expecting her to look as stricken as she did. Sig couldn't even see her face but he wrapped an arm around her in support. Izumi gave him an adoring smile before looking back at Alphonse.

"I want a fully detailed report," Izumi informed him and Al nodded immediately. "However, I have some news for you first," she said. "I met your father a few days ago."

"Koda told us," Al said with a nod to the bear. "She said he healed you?" Al asked and watched in shock as instead of berating him for interrupting her like he expected, Izumi and Sig shared a soft, delighted smile.

"He did," Izumi said, the smile not wavering even as she turned to face Al once more. "He used his stone to heal what Truth took from me. I'm no longer suffering the effects I had been."

"That's amazing, Teacher! I'm really happy that you're healthy again," Al said, wishing he could give her a smile to show just how delighted he truly was on her behalf.

"Thank you, Alphonse," Izumi said, her voice a lot gentler than it usually was when she spoke to either him or Ed.

"Tell her I'm glad she's healed as well," Chester demanded and Al did as he was asked.

"Thank you, Chester." Izumi gave him a smile that matched Sig's. "Your father mentioned he would be heading towards Liore soon so he could investigate the tunnel he believes has been dug underneath it," Izumi told Alphonse. "I believe he has plans to be there for a little while but he did ask me to let you know if we happened to see each other."

"Thanks for telling me, Teacher," Al said. He was already planning on finding ways to convince the group to either join him on the journey to Liore or let him and Chester go by themselves. Al knew Ed would not be impressed when they found out what they were doing and Al did feel bad about going behind his brother's back like this, especially when Ed was too injured to try and stop him, but he refused to let himself feel guilty about it. He had every right to meet his father and form his own opinion of the man and Ed couldn't keep him from doing so forever.

"You're welcome," Izumi said. Her expression turned threatening and furious a split second later. "Now tell me everything you two idiots have done since I last saw you so I know just how badly I need to kick your arses!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Al stammered before doing exactly what he'd been told to do. Another upside of his body was the fact he didn't need to breathe so he didn't have to pause as he told Izumi about everything that had happened in between her visit to Central after Al and Chester's first encounter with Greed and Ed and Ayala's fight with Archer and Drew and her turning up in the slum they were staying in right now. Mei took it upon herself to add small bits of what role she'd had when she could and Izumi had listened politely. It took several minutes but he finally got to the end of his report. "Ed spoke to Chester yesterday and they're both doing good for the moment. The chimeras with Ed and Ayala both found jobs and they've agreed to bring Ed newspapers and books when they can after their shifts," Al told her before going quiet as he waited for her to process everything he'd told her.

"Right," Izumi said after a couple of moments. "I'd like to ask you more questions about alkahestry later, Mei," she said and Mei nodded happily in agreement. "As for you," Izumi said, snapping her attention back to Al and Chester, "I have many questions about all of that then I will be teaching you both a lesson about confronting the most powerful homunculous by yourselves," she informed them, her eyes blazing angrily.

"Yes, Teacher," Al said meekly, accepting his fate as Mei invited the Curtises into the small shack the Ishvalens had been nice enough to let them use for the few days they planned on staying in the slums.

Chester brushed against their bond with encouragement and solidarity as they followed the group into the little shack and Al silently thanked his leopard. It was a little easier knowing he wouldn't be alone in the beat down he was about to receive from the irate woman walking in front of him. Al just hoped Ed didn't run into her until after he was fully healed because he knew that the same fate awaited his older brother and his wolf. Al knew Izumi would take his injuries into consideration but if she decided they weren't that bad, she wouldn't hold back on him and Al really didn't want his brother to break his record on how quickly he had to be hospitalised after being released from one. He felt Chester's amusement and shook his head at the leopard before he sat on the dirt floor and let Izumi start her interrogation.

A/N - It counts as Sunday here in Australia so I'm posting the latest chapter now before I go to bed! I would've liked to have been able to say something here about the revelation in the last chapter of why Ed and Ayala's bond is so unique but I received barely any reviews and I've since been able to answer most of them independently. It's kind of soul-shattering if I'm being honest. That probably sounds a little exaggerated or overdramatic but it's the truth. Even if I'm not the best author in the world, the fact that there are a decent amount of people following/favouriting this story means I should be getting more than 3 or 4 reviews with each update. The only thing that's keeping me from thinking it's just because barely anyone considers this story worth a review is the fact that I know several other authors - some of them whose writing is unbelievably good - whose massive mutli-chaptered stories started lacking the reviews. Their theories were that people just didn't think that a review every chapter update was necessary or that they thought the author wouldn't care about their review so they didn't bother and I am here to tell you that that is just not true. We get emails telling us about every review and I cannot express just how giddy it makes me to see an email sitting in my inbox from waiting for me to open it to see what someone has been nice enough to say about my story.

To the wonderful guests who have been reviewing this story and I am unable to respond privately, thank you so much! I really do appreciate the effort you guys put in to leaving me some kind of comment to read.

To one of my guests who asked - Al cannot transmute by clapping in this story so far. That ability was triggered when chimera blood was splashed onto his seal when Wrath confronted Greed in Dublith and I didn't have that happen in this story. I won't give anything specific away but keep reading this story because he will get that ability in a future chapter!

WS- I'm glad you love my version of Kimblee so much! That made me so happy to read! I'm also glad my changes to that scene with Ayala's secret ability revealed has now become one of your favourite scenes :D I am sorry Winry isn't in this story so much but I couldn't really justify her being brought to Fort Briggs from Rush Valley since Ed didn't need cold weather automail installed and the military didn't even know Ed and Al were at Fort Briggs to destroy Sloth, though I am very pleased you don't mind her not being there so much :D I hope you like this chapter!

To everyone else, I do hope you like this chapter and I really hope you like it enough to let me know what you think to it so far. See you all in a week