Authors Note: Hello everyone, my name is Drak and I am so glad you chose to read this. I am posting this extra chapter this week because the first was very short. I will update this about once a week, most likely on Sunday's. Please let me know what you think!
PS: Sorry about the constant POV swapping.
The rain had begun pouring a little over an hour ago. Thanks to some gossiping old people I had learned that some 'hooligans' had destroyed half of the town chasing a local pickpocket. With little persuasion, I learned that the hooligans had followed a girl named Paninya, the pickpocket, to a local automail engineer.
So here I was, walking in the downpour, trying to find my assignment. Trudging forward, I sighed. My white hoodie clung to my body. My eyes fell to the ground before me as I walked, the ground barely visible in the rain soaked night.
I'm not sure how long I walked but eventually the ground slowly began to light up. Eyes drifting up, I saw a house. "Thank the truth!" Sprinting forward I knocked on the door. As soon as I knocked I heard yelling and stomping. My eyes widened as the door was yanked open and I saw a teen with golden hair and eyes.
Ed's POV
The teen whipped the door open expecting to see a doctor. His eyes landed on a girl slightly taller than him. A white hoodie hugged her petite frame. The color of her hair was obstructed by the hood that was over the girls head. Her eyes shined a rich purple as she regarded the younger teen. 'Well she is wearing white, and is female.' Grabbing her by the wrist, Ed yanked her inside.
"The hell?" He heard the protest but he paid no mind. Panic was still driving him as he pulled her through the hallway towards the bedroom where Mrs. Satella was.
"Winry, the doctor is here!" His nerves prevented him from opening the door.
A young blonde opened the ajar stating, "Thank goodness!" Winry replaced his hand around the 'doctors' and pulled her in, shutting the door behind them both.
Ed sighed leaning against the wall. He was just relieved Winry would have some help.
Leah's POV
'The fuck did I walk into?' My eyes widened as I took in the room. A woman was panting on the bed, legs propped was clearly in labor and very much so in pain.
"We got clean towels and clean water for the delivery. Having your help is huge…" The platinum blondes voice trailed off as she got a better look at me. Her bright blue eyes widening with recognition. "Leah?"
"Yes?" Now I was really confused. My eyes wandered over her long ponytail. Blue eyes, and her tall frame. She looked familiar but… I had a difficult time placing where I had seen her.
"Winry! What else do we need?" The door opened and a tan teen with cargo pants walked in carrying rubbing alcohol.
The name jogged my memory. I leaned my head back, my face paling under my wet hood. "Winry? You stayed with the Hughes'? You used the same bedroom as me while I was away."
The teen bobbed her head in affirmation. "Yes, you were staying with them and I remember seeing you at Elicia's birthday party. I just wish I could have had a chance to speak with you. You left with Mr. Hughes after speaking with Mrs. Hughes."
The memories flooded back making me wince. 'Of course of all people to run into…' A moan drew both our attentions. The woman giving birth clutched the blanket under her writhing form.
Burying my anxiety, I gripped the hem of my white sweatshirt, bringing it over my head. Throwing it in the corner, I turned back to the blonde teen. "We can catch up later, but I can help if you tell me what to do." Winry nodded.
A few hours later, the baby laid in the arms of the mother. My eyes wavered over them not sure if I should be allowed to watch something so intimate and personal.
Looking down, I saw that my glovers were sticky and covered in blood. Sighing, I walked over to the basin of clean water and began washing the fabric without removing them. It's a pain but it would be more of a pain if they saw.
"Leah," My attention was ripped away from the cleaning and thoughts. Looking up and to the side, I locked eyes with a smiling Winry. "Thank you for your help. Without you that would have been a lot more difficult."
I blinked a few times processing her words. A grin played across my lips, "No problem. I doubt the boy outside would have been much help." Standing up, I shook the water from my gloved hands.
"Excuse you?" Turning, I saw the owner of the voice standing in the doorway. The golden haired teen glared daggers at me.
Ed's POV
Ed glared at the girl. Her dark purple eyes narrowed at the sight of him. Her white hair was drying, the parts in the front curling slightly. The back of it, Ed noticed, was shorter than the front, just reaching the nape of her neck. The front strands framed her high cheekbones. Her full lips pulled into a scowl. Folding her arms over her chest, Ed noticed the three-fourth sleeves were tight on her arms. The black material covered her torso and reached up towards the middle of her neck. The baggy pants she wore contrasted the skin tight turtleneck, the pants were beige and had many pockets.
"You mistook me for a doctor. I don't know about you but I definitely do not look old enough to be one." Her gloved hands gripped her arms tightly.
Ed scoffed, "Well, what else was I supposed to think? What dumbass walks in the rain in the dead of night?"
Purple daggers met his gold. Ed could feel the tension rise.
The dog tags around her neck jangled as she forced her arms to her sides, fists clenched. 'Is she military?' Ed thought as he eyed the metal.
"Brother, why are you being so mean?" She must be a good person. Despite the misunderstanding she still helped." Alphonse walked in behind him, his armor clanking.
Ed watched the girl's eyes widen at the sight of his younger brother. His eyebrows shot up in question as the girl quickly walked up to Al with a smile. "You must be the Fullmetal Alchemist! I have been looking everywhere for you!"
Anger boiled quickly inside Ed. Gritting his teeth he snapped, "Why do people constantly make that mistake?" Throwing up his arms, his glare intensified at the strange girl.
"Mistake?" The girl glanced away from Alphonse to once again glare at Ed.
"Leah, the Fullmetal Alchemist is actually…" Winry's voice chimed in as she pointed at said alchemist. The girl's eyes, Leah, widened as she examined Ed. "Let's step out to give Mrs. Satella some privacy." Winry suggested. The poor woman had just given birth and now had a bunch of teens in her room causing a ruckus.
Nodding, Ed stepped out, closely followed by Leah, Al, and WInry. Paninya stayed behind to coo at the new addition to the family. The four teens walked towards the living room, Ed took a seat on the couch while Al stood next to him. Leah took a seat on the chair across from Ed, ith Winry beside her.
"Winry, how do you know this weirdo?" Ed asked, eyes narrowing at said weirdo.
"Well, I sort of met her when I stayed with the Hughes'. She had already been staying with them and I took her bedroom while I was staying. I saw her at Elicia's party, speaking to Mr. and Mrs. Hughes. She left shortly after with Mr. Hughes before I could say anything or introduce myself." Winry kept side glancing at Leah as she spoke.
Ed watched the emotionless expression on the white haired teens face. 'Why is she here then…'
"What are you doing here Leah?" Leah glanced at Winry who asked her the question.
Leah seemed to take a moment before speaking, as if pondering a response. "I have been ordered to guard the Fullmetal Alchemist."
Ed's body grew rigid at this news. "We don't need a babysitter!"
Leah glared at him, "It's not like I asked for this. I don't want to spend my days babysitting a little half pint."
"Half pint? You're not that much taller than me! Just wait, soon enough…" Ed continued to rant as Leah ignored him.
"You said you were ordered, right?" Who gave you the orders to guard us?" Al's echoic voice reached Leah.
Glancing away, Leah reached down towards the many pockets in her baggy khaki pants. She pulled out a folded up envelope.
Done with his rant, Ed grabbed the envelope and tore it open. His eyes scanned the document. After a moment, he grimaced and eyed Leah. "So, you are in the military after all. These orders are from Colonel Mustang." Of course that bastard had to be the one behind this. Colonel Bastard was known to enjoy picking on his young subordinate.
Leah's face portrayed no emotions as she responded. "I owed Mustang a favor. And no, I am not technically military." The girl leaned back in the chair, arms going behind her head.
Ed's eyebrows shot up in question. "Then why were you staying with Hughes?"
"He has a habit of picking up strays." The nonchalant response made Ed sweat drop. Yeah, it sounded about right.
"Well, you can pack up and leave. Me and Al don't need a babysitter." He spat the words out like venom. What was Mustang thinking? If she was in Hughes' care, then why send her here? Bodyguard or not, it made no sense that Mustang was the one calling the shots.
"Brother!"
"Ed!"
Winry and Al yelled at the blonde teen together.
"Once again, if I had a damn choice I would not be here." Leah grumbled, crossing her arms in front of her chest. The dog tags glinted in the lights of the living room.
Ed glared at the mysterious girl. Her purple eyes narrowed as she also took him in. Both were in another silent battle as the others sweatdropped around them.
"Listen, whether we like it or not we are both stuck together. For now! Don't ask me why he assigned me to you, because I don't know. All he said was that I might be useful and that Hughes asked him to do it." Ed's eyes narrowed further. He was missing an important detail but he couldn't figure out what.
Ed's eyes dropped back down towards the papers in his hands. He read them and reread them. She was right, all the papers said was her reason for being here, bodyguard of the Fullmetal Alchemist, and her name. Leah Steel. Mustang's signature dotted the bottom of the document.
"Brother…" He heard Alphonse cautiously speak. "Perhaps we just give her a chance. She obviously has no choice as much as we do."
Ed sighed and stuffed the papers into his pants pocket. Standing up, he walked towards the front door and outside, slamming the door behind him.
Leah's POV
I watched the teen leave, the door closing behind him. Sighing, I ran my hand through my bangs.
"Please don't hold this against Ed. He will come around." I turned towards Winry, her blue eyes soft.
Sighing again, I looked back at the door. "I will speak with my brother." Al turned towards the same door and left.
Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I turned and looked back at Winry. "Let me show you where you can sleep." The blonde smiled at me. Smiling back, I followed her down the hallway towards a door. Winry opened the door and I walked in behind her. IN the room were two beds, one on each side of the room. A dresser sat between the two beds, above it was a single window.
Winry pointed towards the left. "You can take that bed. Paninya showed me this room earlier today." I glanced from the bed back to Winry. The blonde then looked as if she was pondering something. "Leah, I saw you at Elicia's party but I never got to speak with you. You left with Mr. Hughes." The blonde smiled at me as she spoke, a slight blush creeped onto her fair skin. "Mrs. Hughes mentioned that you had been staying with them for awhile and you had been helping Mr. Hughes. What were you helping him with?"
I walked over to the bed Winry had pointed out a few moments ago. Sitting down on the cushioned material I looked back towards Winry. "I was a civilian consultant for a couple of criminal cases. I also helped Hughes speak with victims and see… a different side to some things." Guilt flared within my stomach as I spoke.
Winry regarded me and my words, her blue eyes widening. "That's amazing! How old are you to begin doing that kind of work?" The questions never seem to end.
"Seventeen." My eyes narrowed towards the blonde.
"Same age as me." Winry seemed to be in awe. "It must have been a lot of fun staying with the Hughes'. The look of surprise and awe was replaced with another soft smile.
Looking away from the bright smile, I stared at the covers under my gloved fingers. My thoughts and feelings were swimming wildly. Guilt continued to rack my gut as I avoided Winry's smile. Taking a deep breath, I steadied and distracted my thoughts. Turning back towards the beautiful woman with a smile plastered on my face. "Yeah, it is great staying with them and helping Hughes. I never thought I would be able to help the military the way I do, but it was fun!"
Winry seemed to have bought the fake smile and response. The conversation flowed, both of us talking about the Hughes family and adorable Elicia. After several moments the conversation paused and Winry once again looked like she was pondering something. Winry's eyes stared into mine, almost pleading. "Please forgive Ed." I blinked, a bit surprised at the request. "He is hard headed and stubborn, but he means well."
Sighing, I stared at the blonde. Glancing out the window I noticed that the moon was low in the sky. "It's been a long night. How about we get some rest?" Looking back at Winry, I yawned.
Agreeing with her own yawn, the blonde turned off the lights and pulled back her covers. Following suit, I placed my head on the pillow and turned to face the wall.
After an hour or so I heard the slow breathing of Winry, indicating that she had finally fallen asleep. Slowly, I got out of bed and exited the room. Walking down the hall, I listened for any signs of life. There were none, so I continued my path. I entered the living room and glanced around. My eyes rested on the suit of armor sitting on the couch, facing away from me.
'I guess Al took off the armor for bed.' I thought to myself. Padding over, I took a closer look at the work of art. I noticed the scratches and dents on the metal. I gently ran my gloved fingers over the cool metal, feeling the rough edges and spikes through the black cloth. "So cool…" I was about to remove one of the gloves when the armor moved. Surprised, I took a step back; one of my hands clutched my dog tags.
"Oh, hello there." Al's echoic voice seemed to whisper as the armor turned to look at me.
"Oh, hi Al. I thought you would be in bed." I tried to relax my posture, my hand let go of my dog tags as I put on another foux smile.
"Oh uh, I had a difficult time sleeping after all of the excitement." Al lightly chuckled, closing the book I failed to notice him reading earlier. "What about you? What are you doing awake?"
Blushing a bit, I stuttered, "I also had a hard time sleeping. Excitement and all...yeah." Glancing away guiltily I fiddled with the dog tags once more. My gloved fingers fumbled with them, running up and down the etched metal.
"Leah, I hope you won't hold my brother's temper against him." Surprised, I glanced back at the armor. "He may not admit it, but he just doesn't want others to get hurt helping us." Blinking at the armor, I was silent as I processed his words.
"Why would I get hurt?" I asked.
Al seemed to stutter himself now. Thinking of something to say, he scratched at his helmet with one finger. "Uh well, people tend to say that trouble follows me and brother wherever we go." I had no clue that a suit of armor could blush, until tonight.
Curious, I asked a question that had plagued me since seeing Alphonse Elric. "Why do you wear the armor?" Alphonse seemed to pause at my question. The boy looked down at his feet. Guilt washed over me. 'Is it a sensitive topic?' I wondered to myself. "Sorry, you don't have to tell me. I didn't realize it was a difficult subject." I stepped around the couch and sat next to Al.
Al remained silent but turned to regard me. What he said next shocked me. "I was right, you are very kind."
Feeling my cheeks heat, I stood smirking at him. "Of course, I did spend a lot of time with Hughes after all."
An echoic laugh met my ears, causing my smirk to widen. "You should go and get some rest Leah. We are leaving for Dublith tomorrow afternoon."
Nodding, I thought, 'At least the younger brother has seemed to accept me.' Heeding Al's warning, I walked back to the room me and Winry were sharing.
As I laid back down, I stared at the ceiling above. 'I guess I can speak with the kid tomorrow.' I pawed the dog tags as I listened to the soft snores coming from Winry for the remainder of the night.