Roy stared at the grave in front of him. He was disgusted with the fact that that was almost the reality of this situation. That if things had gone only slightly differently than all this would be real.
The silence was ruptured by the cracking sound of a gun going off. Both Hughes and Hawkeye tackled Roy to the ground. Their heads all shot up to find a bullet wound in Edward's grave.
Terrified screams filled the air as panic spread across the people. Hawkeye jumped to her feet, pulling a gun from one of her many holsters. She followed the track of the bullet with her eyes. It lead strait up the hill.
No movement. Nothing. Then something shifted. Hawkeye fired her gun and started running up the hill. She was met with an empty space with pressed down grass.
Blood. Hawkeye saw little droplets of blood on the ground. Do she had hit him. She tried to find some trail or something. Somewhere where the blood could be leading, but there wasn't any trail to follow. Whoever it was was efficient, quick and efficient.
Hawkeye scanned the surrounding area before making her way back down the hill.
"Anything, Lieutenant?" Roy asked, a little breathless from surprise but already knowing the answer.
"The area was already cleared out, Sir."
"Damn it!" He seethed. "Hawkeye, we need to calm the situation down and get back to the office. This might have something to do with- scratch that, this most certainly has something to do with the attack on Central Headquarters. And, you know..."
"Sir, we can take care of this. Go to the office and take Lieutenant Colonel Hughes with you."
Hughes shook his head. "No, I need to check on my family."
"Sir, there was only one shot fired, but we will make sure that your family is just fine. And I'll make sure they know that you are fine."
"But I need-" Hawkeye interrupted him.
"If that bullet was intended for Colonel Mustang, than he isn't safe alone."
Maes glanced at his friend. "Just don't let them get hurt," He told Hawkeye as he started following a running Roy out of the cemetery.
Edward felt like his face might melt if he was any hotter. The sweat was covering his face. He would have wiped it away if he could lift his arms, but they both felt like a ton of led; one more so than the other. He couldn't remember why, though. Everything in his brain was just fuzzy and numb. It was because of something he did for someone, though. He couldn't remember why or who he did it for either.
The man moved. Edward couldn't think of who it was but he could tell it was a man.
"Hey, Ed, I've got a cold towel. I'm going to put it on your head." Edward didn't process the words until he felt something freezing pressed against his forehead. Edward's eye went from half-lidded to wide open in seconds. "Calm down, Ed. It's just a cool towel! You'll be okay."
Edward shivered and, again, tried to move one of his arms. This time, though, to remove the towel from his forehead. He actually succeeded in lifting it a little.
A hand grabbed his wrist, stopping him from completing his task.
"Le' me go," Edward slurred, trying to pull away with his weak arm.
"Don't try to take it off. You're fever is really high. You need to cool down." The man placed Edward's hand on his chest as the kid grew accustomed to the towel. His eye started to droop again.
"Wher' th' Colonel?"
Havoc was surprised by Edward's question. "The Colonel?" He smirked and jokingly told Edward, "He's at your funeral."
Edward didn't take out well. "I'm not dead. You have to tell him I'm not dead! I came back. He can't... I'm not... I'm not dead..." Edward started mumbling random, indecipherable words in a panic. He apparently hadn't heard the joking tone to Havoc's statement.
"Hey, Ed, it's okay. He knows. He just doesn't want anyone to get suspicious and find out about you." Havoc tried to reassure the kid, but he wouldn't take it.
"Tell'm I'm alive. M'not dead... M'not-" The door was thrown open. Havoc leapt to his feet, pulling out his gun, and squaring it up to the Colonel's chest.
"Colonel, it's you," He let out a relieved sigh. "But what are you doing here? The funeral isn't done already, right?" Maes Hughes followed the Colonel in.
"We were attacked at the funeral. Is Fullmetal okay?" At those words, Hughes spun and stared at his friend.
"Roy...?"
Havoc nodded to his commanding officer, pointing to the couch where Edward was laying, feverish. Hughes squeaked a little.
"He's not dead...?" Hughes ran to Edward's side. He knelt by Edward's shivering body. Tears pricked at his eyes. Edward wasn't dead. He didn't look well in the slightest, though. Hughes noticed the wet bandages and towel across Edward's head. He didn't think twice about the bandages covering over his eye, or lack there of. "Roy, how is this even possible? Did you fake his death, and if so; why?"
Roy looked ashamed. "Hughes, we didn't fake his death."
Hughes' face twisted in a way that made him look sick to his stomach. "Roy, what did you do?"
Roy made a face of disgust then shook his head. "I... Maes, I didn't do anything. We are just as confused as you are."
"And Alphonse didn't do anything?" Hughes was a little afraid of the answer.
"No, he didn't do anything either." Roy sighed. It was going to be hard to explain, especially when even, he himself didn't have all the answers.
"Hughes... I don't have the answers. I don't know."
Maes turned from his friend back to Edward. He placed his hand on Edward's flushed cheeks, feeling the heat radiate from the boy even before he made contact. Edward twitched at the contact, opening his eye slightly.
"Hey, Ed." Hughes smiled sadly at the boy. He was overjoyed to know that the teen was alive but upset about the boy's serious situation and failing health. "How are you feeling?"
Edward didn't say anything. He only looked at Hughes with a glazed eye.
"I'm really glad that you're okay."
This time Edward did mumble something, "Hu... Hughes...?"
"Yeah, that's me," Hughes smiled more happily. He stroked Edward's cheek with his thumb. It was an amazing feeling to have Edward alive, especially when Hughes had thought he was dead not even an hour before.
The door to the office was thrown open again. Alphonse stood there faced with a gun and a pair off ignition gloves.
"I swear by the end of the day I'm going to have a heart attack," Havoc muttered as he replaced his gun in its holster.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I was just worried after the gunshot." Alphonse turned to the Colonel and Hughes. "Then you guys disappeared. I assumed that you came here so I came here too."
"It's fine, Alphonse," The Colonel sighed. He moved across the room to where Edward was. Alphonse followed behind closely, while Havoc locked the door to avoid any more people barging in.
"Hey, Mister Hughes," Alphonse said somewhat awkwardly, thinking about what the Lieutenant Colonel had said before he knew that Edward was alive.
"Alphonse," Hughes said as he shot up, letting Edward's younger brother take a place by his older brother.
"Thanks," Alphonse shyly said. He bent down at his brother's side and brushed Edward's bangs out of his face.
"Y- you..." Alphonse deflated at the unwelcoming tone. Edward's wasn't trying to sound like that. He just didn't know who Alphonse was any more.
"Yeah, it's me Alphonse, remember?"
Edward looked like he was about to nod but then changed his mind. "Y- yeah... remember."
Hughes turned sharply to look at Alphonse. "He doesn't- he doesn't remember you?"
Alphonse shook his head. "No, he doesn't remember me," He answered quietly.
Hughes looked down. "I'm really sorry, Al."
"Don't be sorry. It's not your fault. It was Ed's choice."
Maes furrowed his brow. "'Ed's choice?' what does that mean?"
"Has the Colonel not explained it to you yet?"
"No, he said you didn't really know."
"We don't. Not really. We just know that Edward gave his memories in exchange to come back."
"But how could he make an exchange?" Hughes asked in confusion. He waited for Alphonse's reply.
"He made a deal with Truth, or in other words: he made a deal with death."
Thanks for the reviews! I love reading them!
-UNAU/IME
