It took some time to edit this chapter but I'm dropping this early because tomorrow, the 27th, I will be traveling all day and unable to post it. Hope everyone who celebrated had a happy holiday.
Unsurprisingly, Heinkel found himself out of commission for a bit. He was easily the most injured of the group, followed only by Kimblee and Edward and even then, the only major injury between the two Alchemists— who were currently helping out the people of Kanama in clearing the burnt and wrecked portions of the forest— was the giant bite from Pride on Kimblee's arm.
The sole doctor from Kanama, a Doctor Rosanne Renee, had patched them up the best she could— certainly kinder than Ezra, considering how her first greeting towards Kimblee wasn't to stab him— but there was only so much that she could do. Kimblee had admitted that he wasn't confident in healing others with the Philosopher's stone— the most he had ever done for himself was his ears— and Hohenheim had said that he had next to zero skill in alchemic healing— aside from, apparently, rearranging organs. Heinkel didn't want to know what that meant so he didn't bother to ask.
But he told the two that he was fine healing naturally. In truth, he was more worried about Edward and Kimblee pulling the stitches while they helped out with clearing the damage done in the forest.
Kimblee had told them that lumber was a commodity that was useful to sell into Central, but there were regulations— ones that didn't apply if trees were damaged.
So, despite the late hour, and joined with all the commotion, Kimblee and a number of citizens from Kanama had started to drag trees over to the clearing made by Pride and cutting them down to size. Edward had joined in to help, as had Darius, after a bit. A few citizens managed to drag Hohenheim into the task as well.
Heinkel had met the man from the food stand and his wife— Oliver and Kamilla Cuto, Kimblee had told them when he introduced the pair to them, along with the Doctor and a few other residents he knew. The couple had been more than happy to serve the various lumber groups their dinner, and Heinkel had helped the two out some— since he couldn't exactly help with lumber clearing with one arm in a sling.
He was also watching over Edward's, Hohenheim's, Darius', and Kimblee's things set down not too far from where he was sitting.
Edward's coats and jacket had been tossed casually on the ground, though his fathers and Darius had been a bit neater and folded their outer coats. Kimblee had grumbled about Edward's mess and ended up folding his discarded clothes and setting them to the side before stripping his own coat off and joining the others.
Darius was off helping a blonde-haired man who had introduced himself as Sami Vincent, but the other three were in the forest still. And despite the late hour, Sami was as cheery as could be.
It was shouting from where he and Darius were that made Heinkel look over. Darius, holding a saw over his shoulder, was arguing with two figures while Sami tried to deescalate the situation, though having a saw in his hand probably didn't help much either.
Heinkel squinted a bit, before his shoulders relaxed and he started to stand up, but a wince and a glare from Doctor Rosanne made him stand slower. She looked away and back to watching over a group of young men who were cutting up a few logs— the woman somehow always knowing when his stitches were pulling throughout the night.
"What in god's name are you three arguing about?" he asked as he walked over and the two newcomers whirled around.
Yeah, he'd recognize those two anywhere.
"Heinkel!" Zampano exclaimed, shoulders tense and ready for a fight. Heinkel glanced at Darius, who gave him a look of long-suffering that he definitely picked up from Kimblee before he looked back to the two other Chimeras. Sami looked confused but realized that Heinkel had it under control and left. A smart move.
"Before you ask if we're here to take you two out," Heinkel started, holding his good arm up in a sign of meaning no harm. "The three of us defected from Central."
Zampano and Jerso still looked skeptical but relaxed a bit at that.
"Wait," Jerso said suddenly, eyes widening just a bit. "Three?"
"Hello to you, too."
Both Chimeras whirled around again, startling so much that they tripped over their feet and fell back. Kimblee was standing behind them, leaves in his hair and a brow raised.
"Good to see that Scar didn't kill you two, though that means he did get away," he noted with a slight nod, glancing over to where Edward was coming out from the forest and over to where the rest of the two's group was standing with Fu and Hohenheim. "I see you've been traveling with them, too. Good."
The two gaped at Kimblee while he and Darius exchanged amused looks from either side of Kimblee.
"You're not—"
"You mean—"
Kimblee raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Quinn, Masina, I've been against Central since I got out of prison. Being left to rot for six years only to be brought out and told to go chase a serial killer really does change perspective."
"Then why order us to fight Scar?" Zampano asked. Kimblee hummed, leaning back on his heels a bit.
"I gambled on the Elric brothers jumping into the fight," he said after a moment, "And figured the two of them would have an easier time getting through to you. They want their bodies back, you want yours."
"Meanwhile, the three of us bonded over being gay," Darius added. "And Kimblee and Heinkel quite literally."
Heinkel ignored his stitches and nailed Darius in the shoulder with his fist— though it was in mock ire, and the gorilla knew that.
"So that's basically it?" He heard Jerso ask Kimblee, and the black-haired man hummed as Darius cursed Heinkel out. Heinkel just rolled his eyes, grimacing, but the stitches didn't pull too, too much.
(Rosanne didn't seem to notice at least.)
A shout, followed by a loud crash made both Darius and Kimblee look back to the forest. Then to each other.
"I left them alone for three minutes," Kimblee sighed before taking off. Darius ran after him as Heinkel chuckled, watching him leave before he turned back to Zampano and Jerso.
"Strange circumstances, isn't it?" he asked as he moved to sit back down.
"You're telling us," Jerso grumbled, standing up and brushing his pants off. He then helped Zamapno up, the other bespectacled man shaking his head.
"He seems lighter than before," the Boar Chimera noted. "Mister Kimblee, I mean."
Heinkel hummed a bit.
"He's a complicated man with a kinda fucked up past from what I can tell," He said after a moment. "Central and the Homunculi targeted him, groomed him, and created a weapon because they allowed him to be in control, to be the one in power. They targeted his inner madness. I think being in Prison eased him out of that haze. And the longer he was freed, so to speak, the more he became… well, that. And of course, being here helps. Kanama's pretty nice people wise."
Jerso snorted a bit. "And you all trust him?"
"He's the one who came to Darius and I first about turning on Central, threatened to blast us to bits if we were loyal, if only to cover his tracks," he told him, watching the two's eyes widen. "Luckily, Darius and I had always been pretty anti-Central since they turned us into Chimeras. While we're not into the whole getting our bodies back to normal thing, it was a bit shitty how they did it."
He paused as the two other Chimeras looked between each other before back to Heinkel.
"That's fair," Jerso said, chuckling. "We just got families to get back to. Rather be normal than not."
"Mm, yeah, I don't really have any family left," Heinkel agreed. "And it doesn't seem like Solf minds that I'm a Chimera. He's not the best physically so being able to—"
A loud explosion sounded in the forest followed by Jonas yelling something that sounded suspiciously like "FOR FUCKS SAKE JOSIAH" and then cackling from the said Alchemist. Heinkel saw Scar startle out of the corner of his eye and Marcoh tense up.
(Jonas was Oliver and Kamilla's son and he knew Kimblee since he was a baby. He was a good kid, despite the rough exterior, and he, like a number of others in Kanama, referred to Kimblee by his middle name. The two had a sibling-esque relationship, it seemed.)
"Oh right," Heinkel sighed, "We might have some minor alliance issues. Especially between Scar and Solf."
"Forget that shit," Zampano grunted, sitting down. "You just called to Kimblee as his first name, you two together or somethin'?"
"Darius did say something about that…" Jerso mused.
Heinkel rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, we are. Though it's kinda shitty timing, isn't it? We're in our last days, quite possibly. But hey, if we all survive then I'm sure as hell gonna try and figure out a way to make sure he's not in solitary the rest of his life. And try and figure a way around the anti-fraternity laws. Sure, under Bradley we could weasel past the marriage law but a new administration might not be so flexible."
"Yeah, I doubt the bigwigs up there would be happy about letting Kimblee walk around freely," the Amphibian Chimera noted. The three of them all hummed in agreement to that statement before Jonas dragged Kimblee back into the clearing, Darius trailing behind them.
"Hey, Lion King," Jonas said with a scowl, pushing Kimblee towards him. "Keep Josiah from causin' trouble."
"What did you do this time?" Heinkel asked. Kimblee looked offended at that.
"He asked if I could get rid of some trees and I did."
"I didn't mean for ya to blow 'em all to hell!" the teen cried and Darius hid a snort. "You almost killed me an' Brody!"
"And I'm sure that you're very offended at that," the black-haired man drawled, and Heinkel couldn't help but notice the smug air around him. "But really, I missed Brody by a mile and a fall would do you some good. You're growing soft, Jonas, what happened to the toddler who would kick my shins any time he could?"
Jonas cracked his knuckles, brow twitching. "Still right here, bastard, I'll knock that upper-class accent right from your teeth!"
Jonas and Edward would get along well, Heinkel thought briefly as he watched the two. For many reasons, aside from being the same age.
"Let's not fight," Darius interjected, sweating a bit and giving Heinkel a look. He raised a brow in return but sighed, reaching up and grabbing Kimblee by his ponytail. He yanked down, making the man let out a yelp of shock, before falling ungracefully into his lap. A strong arm wrapped around his chest was all that was needed to make the Alchemist stay put.
"That good enough?" he asked Jonas, the brown-eyed boy nodding.
"Thanks, Lion King!" he said as he turned to run after his group as they went to go grab their lunch break.
Well. Midnight meal break, really.
"You can at least learn my name!" Heinkel shouted back before sighing with a shake of the head. Kimblee squirmed a bit in his hold, scowling but finally settling down with a slight huff.
"So, Mister Kimblee…" Jerso ventured slowly, "You seem… friendly, with the people here…"
Kimblee hummed, nodding as he resigned to getting comfortable. "I was born in Araunya, but I would often come to Kanama to escape that hell. I know a number of people here."
"I would've thought you were from Central," Zampano mused and Heinkel snorted a bit. Kimblee shrugged.
"Most do, but I'm only half Amestrian with a Xingese mother I never met. People knew in the Military that I wasn't from Central— Kimblee wasn't a Central Born name, I didn't look anything like my Amestrian father, and I didn't go through the Academy but got in because I was an Alchemist," he said simply. "But I learned quickly how to hold myself like the rest of the Central upper class so it threw people off. Adjusted my accent too," he told him before Hohenheim walked over to them.
"We're going over the last of the battle plans now," he told them and the four of them nodded. Heinkel let go of Kimblee and he stood, stretching before holding his hand out. Heinkel grasped it, standing up slowly as Zampano and Jerso stood as well. They followed the blonde Immortal over to the others and instantly the tension and anger shot up. Scar had shifted into a battle-ready stance, Marcoh shifting back behind him. Edward scowled, but shifted slightly between Scar and Kimblee.
"No fighting, we're all on the same side now," he ordered.
"You get no fight from me, Fullmetal," Kimblee said, shrugging. "I'd rather not make Lukas and Rosanne any more pissed off."
That made Marcoh's shoulders drop just a bit. "You mean…?"
Heinkel nodded. "Yeah, he's with us, has been since prison," he said, placing a hand on Kimblee's shoulder. Scar bristled.
"Then why attack and hunt Marcoh and I down? No, I refuse to work with him, Fullmetal. I refuse to work with anyone else who was part of Ishval," he told the blonde. Edward grit his teeth, glaring at Kimblee as if telling him to do something!
"It's called acting and you won't be," Kimblee said, waving him off. "Actually, this is a good opportunity to talk about this. I'm staying in Kanama until the Promised Day passes."
"What!?" Edward cried, whirling around entirely. "Why!? I thought-!"
Kimblee held up three fingers, interrupting the boy. "First of all, recall how the Homunculi needed you, your brother, and your father for sacrifices on the Promised Day. And how Hohenheim stated that your Teacher also fit the requirements of opening the Gate to be a sacrifice as well," he told Edward. "Alchemy's numbers work well in primes— three, five, and seven. The Array that Amestris makes is a five-point one, meaning that they need a fifth person to open the Gate. Meaning they need an Alchemist, one whose body and mind can withstand the process. Of the Alchemists left, Marcoh, Mustang, and I would be the only ones to fit. Scar is also at risk too, perhaps, as is Armstrong. And Mustang already chose to go into Central, but I will not be the final sacrifice."
There was silence as the group took in his words, but overall, there seemed to be some agreement in what he was saying— no matter how grudging it was on Scar's end. Kimblee continued.
"On a lighter note, I'm also planning to stay here for two more reasons: to protect your brother and to keep tabs on Pride. The plan is to make sure Alphonse and Pride remain here until the Promised Day passes, right?"
At the nods, he continued.
"Well, there's no way that 'Father' will let that happen. Furthermore, nor will Pride," he told them.
Darius crossed his arms. "What can Pride do, though? He's stuck in there with no way out."
"You forget that Pride is over three hundred years old, easily," Kimblee sighed, "He's smart, he'll find a way. I know that if I was still with them, I would probably be on my way to bust him out. Wrath is in Central, or at least closer to it than we are. So that means something else going to be on its way over if not him— remember only two of the seven are dead. Lust and Gluttony. Pride is trapped, Wrath is occupied, Greed is heading for Central with Fu. So, that leaves Envy and Sloth unaccounted for. Last I knew, Sloth was in the north, but that was over six months ago when we were all still up north. For all we know he's back in Central."
There was silence as the group thought before Marcoh spoke up.
"Envy's out of the picture," he said, a bit hesitantly. Kimblee blinked.
"Oh?"
He nodded. "We dealt with him."
"Impressive," he said, humming. "That's quite a feat. The one time I tried to do it, he turned into my father and startled me."
"And when was that, Kimblee?" Scar spat. Kimblee snorted.
"Where do you think, Scar? I didn't come into the Military knowing the Homunculi, but I sure as hell came out knowing."
"Either way," Heinkel cut in, frowning. "That still means Sloth could come for us and none of us know anything about that one. Since I doubt Bradley would come all the way out here for Pride."
"Never underestimate the Homunculi, Heinkel," Kimblee warned, shaking his head. "But I sure as hell hope he stays where he is. I'd rather not fight him if I can help it."
"Scared?"
"Bradley is an entire military unit on his own, I can stall him but not defeat him— and that's only if he's feeling merciful. So yes, Scar, I might be. I'm allowed to be. He's not exactly like any other Homunculus and I spent six years wasting away."
Hohenheim cleared his throat before any more arguing broke out. "So Kimblee's planning on staying here, should we have others stay?"
"I can," Heinkel offered. "I'm no use to you guys injured."
"And I'll stay as well," Marcoh added. "I'm not a fighter, and I'm afraid I can't do much on the sidelines either. Besides, Kimblee brought up a good point. I could be used as a fifth sacrifice."
Zampano turned to Yoki. "You should stay here too, Yoki, help protect this place."
Yoki startled but agreed before Lan Fan spoke up.
"I see smoke coming from Central," she told them. "And there's an emergency alarm going off, I believe."
"Sounds about right," Heinkel sighed, tilting his head as he listened to the blaring noise that had started up not too long ago.
"Hohenheim, do you have a map of Central?" Kimblee asked and the man shook his head. He sighed but crossed his arms, closing his eyes.
"You should all head out, use the confusion from what I can assume is Mustang's work to get underground," he said slowly, "There are several underground entrances you can use but I'm trying to remember if there's a good one that leads directly to the center."
"Why do you know all of this, Kimblee?" Edward asked and the Alchemist opened one eye. "Kanama wasn't the only place I tried to escape to. Central is full of underground passages if we want more food than we get in our slums we go to the edge of the city and go underground. Of course, then there's the act of stealing without getting caught, but that's what the smaller drain systems are for, though I doubt most of you would fit. But, Edward, you're small enough, if you want to use those."
"WHO'RE YOU CALLIN' SO MICROSCOPIC THAT NO ONE WOULD EVEN NOTICE IF THEY STEPPED ON HIM?!"
"Anyways," Kimblee said, ignoring the seething blonde. "You need to get to the underground liar quickly, but do you have a fail-safe in case the array is activated?" he asked, glancing at Hohenheim.
"I do," the bespectacled man said. "But it would be better if it didn't activate at all."
"We can all at least agree on that," Jerso said. Kimblee tilted his head back, looking up at the sky.
"Scar, you wouldn't happen to know a way in, would you?"
"Why the hell are you asking me?" he growled and Heinkel growled back, startling Marcoh and the others who had been in that group a bit.
"Is that a yes or a no?" Kimblee drawled and Scar scowled.
"I do," he admitted. "I went there once with Mei. It lead to that so-called "Father's" area. It's guarded by countless, blood-thirsty Chimera, but with all of us we should be able to get in."
"Then we should head out," Darius said. "Let's roll!"
"Right!"
"Be safe," Heinkel added as the group separated, Edward going to talk to Alphonse, Darius, Jerso, and Zampano watching the sky with Lan Fan, and Marcoh and the other doing something else that he wasn't exactly trying to figure out. Kimblee staid where he was, seemingly lost in thought, so he decided to stay with him.
He bristled slightly as Scar approached the two of them suddenly, making Kimblee look up with a raised brow.
"I don't trust you, Kimblee," the man growled.
"I don't expect you to, Scar," Kimblee said back, tone neutral.
"If you let Pride free, I'll come back and kill you myself."
Kimblee let out a bark of laughter. "If Pride's been let free it's because I've already been killed."
Scar glowered a bit more before he turned, stalking off and Kimblee shook his head. "What an interesting conversation."
"I'm not sure if it could be called that," Heinkel said back before a call from Hohenheim grabbed both of their attentions and the blonde immortal jogged over to them.
Heinkel stayed near Kimblee as the man talked briefly with Hohenheim, something about Alchemy things that Heinkel hadn't the interest in, but it seemed Kimblee was more than happy to discuss the failsafe that the blonde immortal had.
When they finished, and Hohenheim walked off to talk with Scar about it, Kimblee called Edward over from where he was finishing up his talk with Alphonse.
"What is it, Kimblee?" The blonde teen asked as he jogged over. "Your birthday was a few months ago right? While we were all still on the run?" he asked and Heinkel blinked. He hadn't even known when the kid's birthday was, he wondered how Kimblee did.
It seemed that it was right though since Edward nodded. "Yeah, I'm sixteen now. Why?"
"I don't exactly have anything on me, but happy birthday late, Edward," he said, ruffling his hair. Edward looked startled, opening his mouth to say something only for Kimblee to continue.
"Stay alive and when this is all over, you and Alphonse come visit me in prison so I can teach at least one of you to tie a tie. You should at least look nice when you marry Winry."
Heinkel let out a roar of laughter when Edward flushed bright red and decided to throw a punch at Kimblee.
More Heinkel pov bc it's good civ. Also, I don't know the exact details of philosophers stone healing, but considering how they had to bring a doctor in to help heal Kimblee, I would assume that he himself does not have the anatomical knowledge to heal himself fully, nor does he have the skills to heal others even with the stone. He can heal himself to a point, but not much else just out of precaution.
Edward forced his body while using the stone (in this canon) to heal just to stop the bleeding, but the Trio took him to a doctor's anyway. In this canon too, Ezra had stated that Kimblee's own impalement healing was a shitty job. Medical Alchemy and Bio-Alchemy is, from what I recall, difficult to master, so only real doctors like Marcoh could do it well. Also Fuck the Gold Toothed Doctor, that man crusty and gross as fuck. I don't trust him.
Anyway, what I'm saying is that they'd have to wait for Marcoh to arrive to fully heal Heinkel.
Further Notes:
Sami Vincent is a carpenter and another OC. I'm going to have an OC list up on AO3 eventually, but with all OCs across my fics
In the Anime, it's still night time and there's no one around, but in the manga there are some citizens from Kanama just. around. Darius is helping one cut up a tree. So bam. Wood as a commodity. Also more Kanama! Kimblee and his friends from the slum. Im going to end up making another AU aren't I? (Jokes on you, I already have)
Anyways, another headcanon from me: Kimblee's half Xingese. That's it. His mother was from Xing, his father was Amestrian. It's like a combination pizza hut and taco bell. Except Kimblee looks much more like his mother than his father.
A bonus "Kimblee and Scar work together because they have to" AU
The part about the sacrifices has, in part with, how Kimblee is, according to Word of God ™ (aka Arakawa), the third smartest character in the entire series, and how it's very clear that Kimblee is very important to the downfall of pride. And there will be pain coming soon in regards to Pride and Kimblee.
Also Kimblee knowing underground tunnels and the sewer systems because you can't tell me that starving slum children wouldn't sneak into central using them to just get like a single crust of bread. my weird-ass au, my rules (i guess?)
Anyways, that's the end of the extra notes. Have a nice day!