Chapter Title: Trust
Characters: Scar, Al, Ed, Winry, Pinako, Armstrong
Pairings: None! I can't write romance for the life of me!
Spoilers: None
Warnings: Mild blood
Disclaimer: I don't own it! Waaaaah!
A/N: Omigosh, I've just realized that the end of the story is drawing close. I'm slightly stunned, because it went by so fast, and the end kind of crept up on me. It was so much fun to write, and now it's nearly over. -sadness-
Al stared at Scar, not quite sure of what he'd heard, "What do you mean?"
Scar gritted his teeth, "My right arm works again. I'm dangerous again. You've been more than trusting of me while I was safe, while I couldn't hurt anyone if I tried. Will you be so careless around me now?"
"Scar-san…"
"Do you realize," Scar continued, voice stony and cold, "that the way you are standing now…do you realize how incredibly easy it would be for me to kill you?"
He had been expecting Alphonse to flinch, to move away quickly…but the younger Elric brother didn't. He stayed right where he was, unmoving and seemingly unafraid, "You wouldn't."
Al's voice wasn't hesitant, wasn't unsure in the slightest. Realization hit Scar like a rock to the head, leaving him slightly stunned, "You…trust me. After all I've done. You really trust me."
"Especially after all you've done. Scar-san…you saved Winry's life today. You put yourself into horrible danger to protect her and make sure she got away safely. And then tonight, you saved us all. In a million little ways while you've been here, you have proven yourself worthy of our trust."
"I…" Scar fell silent, unable to think of anything to say in response to this.
"Scar-san, would you still kill niisan?"
Scar thought of the boy, but found it nearly impossible to think of Edward Elric the Fullmetal Alchemist. His mind's image was of Ed, the tactless midget who exploded at being called short, cheated at cards, and hated milk…who had spent hours of his time engaged in difficult tactical maneuvers trying to get food down Scar's throat…a child who chased fireflies in the dark… "I don't…I'm not…sure…"
"There, you see? Let's go somewhere else and get all this blood off you now. Winry would kill both of us if we got bloodstains all over the couch," Al gave a kind of nodding head movement that Scar had learned to mean that he was smiling, and gave Scar a hand up. Together the two walked outside, away from the sounds of fighting that were still coming from the kitchen. By the time Al had finally managed to scrub all the crimson from Scar's white hair, the group of failed terrorists had been thoroughly beaten and restrained.
"Ah, there you two are," Ed strolled out of the kitchen as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened, "So, how's the hero of the hour doing?" he put a hand on Scar's left shoulder, grinning. Unfortunately, this happened to be the shoulder that was injured, and Scar winced at the contact. Ed took his hand away quickly, "Hey, what's the matter?"
"They shot me."
"WHAT?" Al cried, "Why didn't you tell me? It needs to be treated right away! How long ago did this happen?"
"When they first captured me."
"Scar-san, that was hours and hours ago! It's going to get infected, and you'll get lead poisoning if the bullet's still in you, and-"
"Al, calm down. I'll get Auntie, and it will be fine. Spazzing won't help anything," Ed turned to Scar, "Just sit down and take your coat off so she can look at it as soon as she gets in here," and with that, he went back into the kitchen, returning a few minutes later with Winry. He explained, "Pinako's making sure that guy doesn't die of blood loss in there while we're waiting for the military to show up."
"The military-" Scar stopped speaking to draw a sharp, pained breath as Winry touched the wound. It was easy to see why it hurt so much; the bullet had ripped a long, messy, and very bloody furrow directly below his shoulder.
"Yeah, the military's sending out some people to pick up that lot," Ed gestured back towards the kitchen, "Don't worry, they won't be here for hours, and we'll make sure they don't find you. But man, that looks really painful…"
Winry nodded, "It is pretty bad. I'll be right back; if this isn't cleaned and treated soon, it'll get badly infected. It might be beginning to be already," Winry gave a worried look at the wound before rushing upstairs for what she needed, and returning quickly with several washcloths, disinfectant, bandages, and a small basin of hot water. She set these things down on the floor and soaked one of the washcloths in the water, "Now, this is going to hurt…"
Scar nodded, biting back a cry as the tedious and painful process of cleaning out his wound began. It took nearly fifteen minutes, by which time his knuckles were white from gripping the fabric of the couch so hard. Then came the sharp sting of the disinfectant, and finally the bandage was wrapped tightly around his arm and it was finished.
Winry smiled at him, "You're a good patient. And…I'm sorry. You were injured because you were helping me."
"It was my choice," Scar mumbled distractedly. He was amazed at how relaxed they were around him. They'd been more wary of him when he'd first been brought here and couldn't have hurt a fly if he'd tried! Now here he was mobile and fully capable of killing them easily, yet they all trusted him not to with utmost surety.
"Well, I thank you for making that choice," Winry grinned.
"Anyway, Scar-san, maybe you should get some sleep before the military arrives, because you'll need to hide when they get here."
"But where?" Ed mused, "That guy's going to tell them that you were here; even if he doesn't know who you are, if he describes you then the military will know in a heartbeat. And even if we deny it, they'll want to search the place thoroughly. In fact, the only place in all of Rizembool they wouldn't search is…" he looked at Al.
"Me?" Al pointed to himself questioningly, "But…Scar-san, I thought you didn't like being inside me…"
"I don't…" Scar admitted; in truth, he was still slightly frightened of being trapped inside Alphonse, although he would never, ever admit it. But it was either that or get caught by the military, so he raised his head, eyes determined, "But I can handle it."
Ed nodded, "Okay, so that's settled. Now we just need to get rid of any evidence that you were ever here. You just go to sleep, though, because it looks like you need it."
Scar shook his head, "I don't need to sleep now."
"Yes, you do," Ed frowned and poked Scar in the forehead, "Now go to sleep or we'll drug you."
Scar glared, but sulkily lay down and closed his eyes anyway. He was asleep within minutes; obviously he'd been more tired than he'd let on. Ed gave a satisfied nod and the three of them began to work on making sure that it looked as though Scar had never been there.
After about half an hour, Al looked up, "Niisan…are we going to be able to go back to being enemies after this?"
"I'm not sure, Al. He's kind of grown on me, to tell the truth," Ed shrugged, rubbing the back of his head, "I guess you just can't spend a week and a half taking care of someone and still be mortal enemies with them afterwards."
"No," Al agreed, "He's not just an emotionless killer anymore, he's a person."
Ed nodded, and they fell silent again. Once you've seen a person at their most vulnerable, you can never really see them the same way again. And everyone in that house had…
Al stood on the train platform, looking down at Scar. He was beginning to feel horribly guilty about what he'd done, because of the look in Scar's eyes. The normally strong and determined crimson orbs were full of fear, and the worst part was that it was directed at him. He wondered if there was another way he could have done it, a way that wouldn't have left the Ishbalan like this, terrified and confused. He'd never seen Scar look so small and helpless, had never thought that he would…and it made him feel slightly ill to know that it was his fault.
Winry watched Scar worriedly, wondering how Pinako could be so calm. His fever was still rising, despite their best efforts to keep it down.
"Nii…san…" a whispered murmur came from behind dry, cracked lips. Then a louder cry, "Niisan! No…no! NIISAN!" Scar jerked and twitched, caught in the grip of a nightmare. It was terrible to listen to, horrible to watch…but Winry couldn't look away…
Ed snapped several pictures of the sleeping Scar before letting Al move him back inside. The Ishbalan's expression was the most peaceful that Ed had ever seen; the ever angry eyes were closed gently, and there was no frown on the slightly opened mouth. The icy façade had completely melted away. Ed thought wryly that Winry would probably say that he looked 'sweet'. Funny; only a week ago he would have laughed at the person who had thought that Scar could ever look like anything resembling 'sweet'.
Armstrong had been lucky when he had spotted Scar's silhouette flailing in the murky water. He managed somehow to grab onto the collar of the man's trenchcoat and swim back to the surface, but he'd been slightly surprised when Scar had latched onto his arm with a strength that Armstrong didn't think he'd have after nearly drowning. The major had been worried that Scar would struggle against his grip, but fortunately he was cooperating nicely. It was then, looking down at the Ishbalan and seeing how utterly terrified he was and how tightly he was holding on, that Armstrong realized that he must not know how to swim. He must have thought that he was going to die…
Several hours later, Ed, who was outside keeping a lookout for the military, called inside, "Hey, they're coming!"
Scar had been awake for about ten minutes already, and cast a slightly nervous look at Al, who was opening up the front of his armor. Gritting his teeth, he climbed in; it was just as dark and cold and uncomfortable as it had been last time. But at least he had consciously made the choice to be in there, as opposed to just waking up to find that he was inside a living suit of armor.
Within five minutes the military group had arrived, and were doing their job of taking the failed terrorists into custody. One of them saluted Ed, "Major Elric, we have orders to escort you and Major Armstrong back to Central immediately, sir!"
"What, now?" Ed grimaced, and tried not to look at where Scar was hidden.
"Yes, sir! As soon as you can pack your bags, sir!"
A/N: -gasp- Ohnoes! The suspense! Just how long is Scar-san going to wind up being stuck inside Al? Will he still be trying to kill Ed after all this is over? What will become of the failure terrorists (something really bad, I hope)?
Envy: Will Sailor Moon ever unmask the mysterious Tuxedo Mask? -snicker-
Hehe, good one, Envy! -high fives Envy-
Scar: -sigh-
Scar-san, guess what? We're going waterskiing on Tuesday!
Scar: O.o; -squeaks- What? But I can't swim!
Envy: Life jackets, Scar, life jackets.
Yeah, don't worry, Scar-san. It'll be fun!
Scar: I'm going to die…
Aw, you'll be fine. Anywho, time to answer reviews!
Anasazi Darkmoon: Oh, but they're going to pay even more for hurting him...-maniacal laughter- Hehehe...have fun with those swimming lessons, Scar-san! Maybe you should wear water wings...XD (Scar: -glare- That's not funny.)
crazyanimefreak15: It is a good game, and very replayable, too. Good luck saving for the system!
MoonGlitter2: Thanks much!
Cyon Wavaer: Oh, I don't think they're quite dead enough...-joins in the whacking-
LadyRiona: Thanks for your compliments, as always. :) (Scar: Wow, I feel really loved. Everyone's getting all indignant on my behalf.)
ImperialJedi: Whoo, a convert! Yay! And the scumbags got the stuffing beat out of them...hehehe...