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~ 4 ~

Cold Conflict

Resembool was a nice place, Jack decided. Sure, it was a bit too warm for his taste, and he still would much prefer to be home, but the little rural town certainly had its charms. The landscape was beautiful, the people seemed nice, there were sheep everywhere, and he had gotten to pet a dog just after arriving.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience.

However, in contrast, Edward seemed to be miserable. The boy sat in a pouty, irritable silence while Winry, his mechanic, carefully removed the excess metal that remained hanging from the port on Edward's right shoulder, which had apparently been left behind when Scar destroyed most of the metal arm. Several times, Ed glanced in Jack's direction, scowled, then looked away again, only to repeat the motion a few seconds later.

Jack pretended not to notice, taking satisfaction in the younger boy's growing aggravation.

Finally, Edward let out a dramatic groan as he wheeled around to face Jack entirely, his abruptness causing Winry to yelp and glare at him. "Do you have to sit here and watch this!?" Ed asked, clearly frustrated. "Isn't there anywhere else you can go!?"

Jack arched an eyebrow, then shrugged. "The dog's here," he pointed out as he patted Den, who had seemingly taken a liking to him and was now lounging on the floor by his side, on the head again.

"Brother, please be nice," Alphonse sighed before Edward could shout at Jack again. "We're the ones who brought him here in the first place, we can't just make him leave."

"Speaking of," Winry cut in, giving Edward a sharp look. "When are you planning on explaining to me why you brought him here at all?"

"Tch...it's none of your business, Winry," Ed scoffed, averting his eyes.

The girl stepped back and crossed her arms, eyes narrowed. "Oh, really? I'm sorry, I was under the impression that this is my house, and that I deserve to know why you're bringing random strangers into it!" She took a moment to glance at Jack. "No offense to you, of course."

"Oh no, I agree," Jack assured her. "I am a random stranger. And honestly, I'd kinda like to know exactly why I'm here too." He shrugged. "Apparently I have to answer some questions, but I don't know any more than that."

Idly, he wondered what exactly a couple of kids would want with information about his magic. Could it have something to do with whatever their role in the military was? Though, Ed had claimed earlier that he had managed to "get Colonel Mustang off his case," implying that he wasn't planning on involving any other officers in whatever it was he and his brother wanted.

Which was most likely for the best, Jack acknowledged, given the fact that magic seemed thoroughly foreign to this world. In all honesty, it was probably a good thing that the Elric brothers had been the first to see him, rather than someone who would've told the military about his existence. He shuddered at the thought of being locked up in some government lab, subjected to experiments of questionable morality.

He'd been gone long enough already without a delay of that magnitude. The others were no doubt worried sick.

All the more reason to get the snow globe fixed as soon as possible.

"If I were you, Ed, I'd get right to telling me why he's here!" Winry was saying, as Jack returned his attention to the conversation. "Otherwise, you'll have to answer to Granny. She had to go out on a house call earlier, but she'll be back soon! I don't think she'd appreciate having a stranger in the house without you giving a reason."

"Ugh, fine!" Edward groaned, dramatically throwing his head back to stare at the ceiling. "We're just gonna interrogate him a little, that's all. Once we get the answers we need, he'll just leave."

Winry arched an eyebrow skeptically. "Interrogate him? About what? Something about your bodies?"

"Shhhh!" the older Elric hissed, glaring at her. "He doesn't know about that yet!"

"I mean...I can kinda guess what she's referring to," Jack interjected dully. "For you, it's the metal arm, right? And for your brother…" He lifted a hand up to where Alphonse was standing beside him and, closing his fist, lightly rapped on the armored boy's leg, making a distinctly hollow clanking sound. "...did you really think I wouldn't notice the empty armor?"

There was a long silence.

"...WHAT!?" Ed suddenly screamed, jumping up and wheeling around to face Jack directly. "How the hell did you know something like that!? Who told you!? Tell me! NOW!"

Jack stared at him, one eyebrow raised. "Uh...no one told me. I just have functioning eyes and ears? The armor sounds hollow. He's got glowing red lights for eyes. And you expect me to believe that the younger brother of you, someone who's clearly a kid, is somehow seven feet tall? How dumb do you think I am, exactly?"

For once, Edward was rendered speechless.

"Um...now that he mentions it, Brother…" Al spoke up meekly. "...he kind of has a point? I'm...kind of surprised I don't get found out more often, honestly..."

"I...you...but...he...h-he can't...how...huh…" Edward stammered, a blank expression on his face as he stared at Jack, then at Al, then back at Jack.

Jack couldn't help but snort in amusement, casually leaning back and observing the flabbergasted alchemist with a smirk on his face. "Huh. I think I broke him," he commented nonchalantly.

"Um...Brother?" the younger Elric asked carefully. "Are you...okay?"

Edward stared blankly at his armored brother for a few long moments, his mouth opening and closing several times, as though he was struggling to come up with anything to say. Finally, he shook his head vehemently to clear it before proclaiming, "I'm leaving!" With that, he turned on his heel and stormed out the front door.

"Wha - hey!" Winry exclaimed indignantly. "I'm not done cleaning out your port!"

"Just do it later!" Ed called back to her, though he didn't turn around, instead slamming the door behind him and presumably walking further away once outside.

There was a long silence.

Jack was the first to break it, awkwardly clearing his throat as a sense of guilt began to rise up in him. "Um...I'm sorry. Really. I wasn't...entirely aware that all that was a secret…"

"No, no, it's okay…" Al assured him, his voice soft. "To be honest, I don't really mind people knowing about me too much...Brother, though, he can get pretty protective over me...he doesn't want to draw any unwanted attention to us and our bodies. It'll be okay, though...I think he just needs to cool down for a little while."

Jack nodded slowly, though the frown on his face didn't fade. "Got it. Um...listen. I know you guys don't know me very well, so you really don't have any reason to trust me, but...I promise that I won't tell anyone about this. I'm not here to hurt anyone, or anything like that. I just want to go home."

Al watched Jack for a long moment, his soulfire eyes boring into him. Finally, though, he nodded. "I believe you. I think...I think if you wanted to hurt us, you would have done it already. Your alche - sorry...magic is powerful, isn't it? But you haven't used it to try to run away from us or fight us or anything. I think that much means that we can trust you."

Jack's eyebrows raised considerably in surprise. In his experience, he was quite an easy person to make negative assumptions about. Earning someone's trust so easily was practically unheard of for someone of his kind.

"Oh, um...thank you," he replied awkwardly, running his fingers through his silvery hair. "That's...not the reaction I normally get, but I'll take it." Before Al could question him further about his statement, he quickly continued. "So...question. I know your brother obviously doesn't, but...do you believe me when I say my abilities are magic? You did just call them that, but...are you just humoring me or something?"

"Well…" Al laced his gloved fingers together and looked down as though in thought. "It does sound impossible. My brother and I practice alchemy, which sometimes looks like magic, but is ultimately rooted in science. But…it really doesn't seem like you're lying either. And honestly, I think I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if I wrote something off just for sounding impossible. After all, a suit of armor with nothing but a soul in it sounds impossible too, doesn't it?" The boy laughed half-heartedly.

Jack's expression softened a bit. "I...guess it does," he answered, unsure of what else to say. For all of his brother's aggressive tendencies, Alphonse seemed like a genuinely sweet kid, and Jack found himself sympathizing with him. He, of course, had no idea what it was like to have an empty metal shell for a body, but he couldn't imagine it was comfortable, not to mention how much it probably alienated the boy from other kids. To Jack, it sounded quite lonely.

And of course, he was no stranger to loneliness.

"Hey, Winry…?" Al said suddenly, turning to face the girl. "Do you think you could maybe go find Brother…? I'm worried about him, but...I think I need to stay here and actually tell Jack what's going on."

Winry's eyes widened. "You mean...you want to tell him what happened to you two? About your bodies…? Are you sure, Al? I mean…" She glanced over at Jack, brow furrowed in confusion. "Who even is he, anyway…?"

"Someone who we think might be able to help us," Alphonse replied softly. "I promise we'll explain it to you later, Winry. Once Brother's here."

The mechanic hesitated for a few more seconds, her uncertainty written plainly across her face. Then, finally, she exhaled heavily. "...alright. I'll go get him. But you'd better keep your promise and tell me everything when we get back!"

"I will, I swear it!"

Winry nodded. "Good. I'll see you later, then." Without another word, she strode out the door, leaving Jack, Al, and Den alone in relative silence.

"...you mean it, then?" Jack asked after a long moment. "You're finally gonna tell me what you want from me?"

"Yeah...I am." Al made a sound like he was taking a deep breath (which didn't make much sense given his lack of lungs, but Jack decided to let it slide). "My brother and I...our bodies are like this because we committed the ultimate alchemical sin. Human transmutation."

()()()()

It took Edward a bit longer than it likely should have to realize that he had walked all the way back to the site of his and Al's childhood home. Only once he caught a glimpse of the mangled, charred remains of the building did he finally stop walking, his swirling thoughts gradually molding themselves into coherent forms.

This hadn't been the first time that someone had found out about Al's "condition." The boy's helmet had been knocked off of the rest of him several times, ultimately forcing the two of them to explain to those that had witnessed it what they had done. In those situations, the brothers had had no choice in the matter. Al's hollowness had been plainly exposed, and there would have been no point in trying to continue hiding things. It was painful, but Ed knew that it had to be done.

This, however? This was insulting.

Jack hadn't seen anything. He should have had no way of knowing that Alphonse lacked a body. Sure, Edward acknowledged that it would seem strange that Al was so tall, or that he had "glowing red lights for eyes," as Jack put it, but everyone else the boys had ever met had just accepted those things without question! They had accepted that, no matter what, there had to be some sort of a body in that armor, because anything else simply wouldn't make sense.

But no...Jack couldn't do that. Jack just came right out and asked why the armor was hollow. And the absolute worst part about it was his nonchalance about the subject. How could he sit there with a casual smile on his face and calmly ask if they thought he wouldn't notice the empty armor!? As if that was a perfectly normal conclusion to come to!

Then again...it wasn't like Jack himself was all that "normal" to begin with. That much was blatantly obvious. With his weird, glowy eyes and his weird, dead-looking skin...even without witnessing him using his weird ice powers, it didn't take a genius to figure out that Jack was...well, weird. There was just too much unnatural about him to ignore.

...though, wasn't that essentially what Jack had said about Al?

Edward groaned and dragged his hand down his face, for once biting back the string of curses running through his mind. "I don't care what he says…" he mumbled to himself. "It's still stupid...no one's ever figured it out on their own before…"

Or...perhaps someone had, but was too polite to bring it up? Or they knew something was off, but didn't have the imagination to figure out exactly what it was? Then the only reason that Jack had been able to guess it no problem would have to be the fact that he himself was so strange. So naturally, he wouldn't be bothered by strange phenomena, or try to find some sort of "rational" explanation for Al's condition.

When Ed thought of it that way, it made perfect sense.

It didn't mean he had to like it, though.

"Damn it," he hissed, kicking the ground in frustration. He was beginning to wish that he and Al had never run into Jack, research be damned. The dumbass boy was proving to be much more trouble than any information he might have would be worth.

"No," he reminded himself quickly. "This is for Al. Just about anything is worth it for Al. Even having to put up with some smug, sarcastic, delusional, dumba - "

"Am I interrupting something?"

Edward let out a decidedly unmasculine yelp as Winry's voice sounded behind him. He wheeled around to face her, instinctively flinching in case of any flying wrenches coming his way. Instead, he saw the girl standing there, relatively calmly, with her hands planted firmly on her hips, thankfully free of any projectile-worthy tools.

"W-What are you doing here!?" Ed exclaimed as he straightened up in an attempt to save face.

Winry raised her eyebrows. "Exactly what do you think I'm doing here?" she asked impatiently. "I came to get you! And to ask why you suddenly ran off like that!"

Ed scowled and turned away. "None of your business, Winry!" he spat resentfully. "Just go home, I'll come back when I'm ready!"

"Not happening!" Winry marched over to him, glaring. "I'm not leaving until you do!"

"And why the hell not!?"

"Well for one, I need to finish cleaning out your port!" she snapped. "And I want an explanation for what's going on! You and Al never tell me anything...but I think I at least deserve to know what's happening in my own house!"

"Ugh, you're so pushy!" Edward complained. "You want an explanation!? Fine! Al and I saw that white-haired dumbass jump off of a building and land with no problem, so we went to go question him! Apparently he thinks he's 'magic' or whatever, but we're trying to get the actual truth out of him! Got it now, Winry!? The only reason he's here is because he might be able to help us get our bodies back, but he's being a difficult jackass, so he's pissing me off! That's why I left! Happy!?"

For her part, Winry appeared stunned. "I...wait, wait, wait!" she exclaimed. "Back up! What do you mean, 'magic?'"

"Well it's not actually magic, obviously," Edward retorted with a scowl. "It has to be some kind of...of advanced alchemy. The guy can form ice without even moving! I thought it might be a Philosopher's Stone, but there were no alchemy sparks...maybe he's using a different kind of conduit that doesn't show physical evidence of being used? Could be that stick he's carrying around...it is covered in ice...agh, but damn it, pretty much all of him is covered in ice! His clothes are all frosty, how is that even possible!? It should have melted by now from his body heat alone! He'd have to literally radiate coldness to avoid that, but that's not possible at all!"

Without realizing, Edward had begun pacing back and forth as he mumbled to himself, growing more and more agitated as he puzzled over every new mystery that arose.

It just didn't make any sense. Ed had spent his entire life studying the laws and constraints that dictated all of science. He was painfully aware of what was possible to achieve and what wasn't.

And virtually nothing about what Jack claimed to be fell into the former category. What had the boy told Al back on the train…? That he wasn't human? Well then what the hell was he!?

...he supposed he would have to get around to asking, sooner or later. Though could he really trust that Jack wouldn't just give him some nonsense "magic" answer again? And was he even telling the truth about not being human?

"ED!" Winry's shout suddenly startled him out of his thoughts. Had she been speaking before? By the way she was glaring at him, he figured she must have been."Are you listening to me!?"

"What!?" Ed snapped back. "I'm trying to think here!"

Winry scowled. "...so no, then." She shook her head, exasperated. "Listen, I don't know what's happening, or who Jack is, but you said you think he might be able to help you and Al get your bodies back, right?"

"Yeah. So?" Edward grumbled.

Winry's eyebrows lifted. "...so why are you out here instead of talking to him?"

"Because...I don't know!" the boy exclaimed, throwing his only hand up in the air. "The guy just pisses me off! Whenever I look at him, I get the urge to punch him right in his smug face. It's like Mustang but worse!"

"Uh...and why exactly is that the case?" Winry asked dully, arms crossed. "He seemed nice enough, and Den certainly got attached to him quickly. Where's the problem?"

"I told you, I don't know! There's just...there's something wrong with him, Winry! I don't know what it is, but I know there has to be something!"

To his chagrin, Winry only shot him a skeptical look. "Uh...huh," she said slowly. "Well, how about you try to figure out what that is after I finish with your port, okay?"

Ed scowled. "You're not taking me seriously!"

"How can I, when you don't even know why you feel that way!?" the girl retorted. "Have you ever considered the possibility that he's not willing to give you information because you're being openly hostile to him for no reason?"

"It's not for no reason!" Edward insisted. "He's been lying to me!"

"Well how do you know that!?"

"How do I...Winry! Magic isn't real! So if he's claiming that what he's doing is magic, then he's lying! Simple as that!"

Winry rolled her eyes impatiently. "Ed, you're so stubborn sometimes!" she groaned. "Couldn't he also be mistaken? Maybe he really is doing alchemy, or something like it, but he refers to it as magic instead. It doesn't have to be malicious, you know! Try to understand his perspective before you immediately assume the worst of him!"

Edward opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated. "Er...um...that's not…"

"Would it kill you to give him the benefit of the doubt?" his mechanic asked dully. "Not to mention the fact that you apparently basically kidnapped him! And if you ask me, he's handling that surprisingly gracefully, so I would say that you owe it to him to at least treat him a little better without jumping to conclusions. Am I wrong?"

"..." He looked down, refusing to meet her eyes. "...you're...not wrong...I guess."

"Uh huh. So what are you going to do now?"

Edward didn't speak.

"Ed."

The boy gave an exaggerated groan. "Fine. I'll...try to be nicer, or whatever."

"And?"

"...and...I guess I could…" His voice lowered to a reluctant grumble. "...apologize…"

Winry immediately perked up, smiling contentedly. "Good! Now that that's out of the way, I just have one more question."

"And what would that be?" Ed grumbled.

The girl's expression softened a bit. "Well...I wanted to know why you came out here specifically." She looked over at the smoldered rubble that had never been removed, even after all this time. "You usually only come here when you're thinking about...something related to what happened."

She didn't have to specify, of course. There was only one event that she could possibly be referring to.

For a long time, Edward stayed silent, staring out across the land on which his childhood home had once rested. Winry followed his lead, keeping quiet as well. He figured she was waiting for him to speak, but to her credit, she made no move to force this out of him, at least.

Finally, the young alchemist sighed.

"...he knows about Al, Winry," he mumbled. "No one's ever known about Al unless his helmet fell off in front of them. No one's ever said anything. No one's ever questioned it. And yet...this guy just comes out of nowhere and guesses it without even trying." His teeth clenched. "...it pisses me off."

Winry's eyebrows furrowed as she gazed at him. "But...that's not all, is it?" she asked quietly.

How she always knew these things was beyond him, but he didn't much feel like asking.

"Yeah," he grunted. "Sure, I'm pissed, but...I'm also worried, I guess. If a dumbass like him can figure out that Al's armor is hollow...couldn't anyone? And sure, maybe Jack specifically doesn't mean any harm, but...I hang around the military, Winry. Outside of Mustang's team, there's not many people that Al and I can trust. If someone figured out that Al doesn't have a body right now, they could figure out that we committed human transmutation. Then, I'd be locked up, Al would probably be sent to a lab somewhere...and we'd be screwed." He winced, staring down at the grass below his feet. "...that's what I'm worried about. And...I guess maybe I'm taking it out on Jack, when maybe he doesn't deserve it, but...I can't be too careful. I need to keep Al safe."

"I know you do, Ed," Winry acknowledged softly. "But...you don't need to worry about this all by yourself. You have Al, me, Granny, Colonel Mustang and his team, Mr. Hughes, Major Armstrong...we're all people you can trust, right? And I doubt a single one of us would sit back and do nothing if someone tried to lock you up, Ed. And I know you'd never stop fighting for Al if someone tried to take him away, right?"

"Of course not," Ed mumbled, averting his eyes. "But...anything can happen. And it's not like Mustang's the Fuhrer or anything. He's just a colonel, he's still got plenty of assholes above him in the ranks. Sure, I trust him - and never tell him I said that, okay? - but that it's not like that bastard can keep us safe from everything. Even someone as smarmy as him has to run out of strings to pull at some point."

Winry nodded slowly, eyes raised slightly towards the sky in thought. "I guess that's true…" she conceded slowly. "So then...I guess you'll just have to try and get your bodies back as soon as possible, right? And if you really think that whatever information Jack has can help you...then it's time for you to start being nicer to him."

"Yeah, yeah, sheesh, I get it," Edward scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Fine...I'll try being nicer to the dumba - "

Winry's eyebrows lifted.

"...to Jack," Ed grumbled. He sighed heavily, lifting his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose in irritation. "Ugh...I'll do it. But only for Al's sake, you hear?"

"If it gets you to stop trying to instigate screaming matches in my house, then that's fine by me!" Winry chuckled. "Now...let's get back to the house, okay? I still need to finish cleaning out your port before I can get working on your new arm."

"Fine, fine...let's go."