Warmth
By Henrika

Henrika-And now we haveboatloads of angst!Tonsof it! Lots andlots! Did I mention some angst? And some cute interaction between Ed and Roy, though Ed doesn't know it.I remind you that this will have Roy/Riza in the end.

Anyways,Thanks to my reviewers and those people reading this story(who for some reason aren't reviewing. Henrika blinks ather stats and then at her reviews. Squints when she sees they don'tequal. Is torn between desire for reviews and actually wanting quality reviews.)Just hope you're enjoying it. Thanks to: Angel-of-Music1331,Terry McElrath,Kame-san, IceWitch101, crazyanimefreak15, Kawaii-Syaoran, unexpectation, randomwriter88, NinjaAlchemist, ChibiNeko, WildfireDreams, Tenka-chan,Kyliah, Pheonix Saphira, fullmetal4eva, Kurai Eymru, DaisyAnimeluvr, X-Baka-Inu-X, and Kayla.

Enjoy and Review!

Chapter 3

Edward turns in my arms, whimpering as he nuzzles into my chest. It doesn't feel right to see Full Metal so needy, so desperate. His braid finally works itself free of its holder and his hair falls around his shoulders, framing the look of discontent on his face. He buries himself in my shirt, unconscious still. I can't tell if he's aware of what he's doing, his hands clenching in the light blue fabric.

I rearrange the blankets around him; they'd slipped when he's shifted. I glance at the bench across from me. Riza is reading a book, though she's been on the same page for about the last hour. Alphonse is staring out the window, though one eyehole is carefully trained on Edward and I. A pained moan draws my attention and I draw Ed as close as I can, trying to ignore the weight of the auto-mail. The cold steel is leeching away the little amount of heat the boy has left and there is nothing I can do about it. OF course, the auto-mail was what allowed us to find him.

It had been a flash of silver in a sea of red snow. Dead chimera lay in a ring around him, several of them with a fair amount of gashes; they'd attacked repeatedly until they'd been killed.

Edward's entire lower half was encased in the heavy snow, the avalanche compacting it into ice. Chimera were still attacking when we reached him and it became clear that he wouldn't be able to hold them off for much longer. The creatures weren't even giving him enough time to use alchemy to free himself.

I snapped my fingers, snapped them as hard as I could. Oxygen in the mountains is thin, but the resulting explosion was admirable even by my standards. The alchemical nightmares were incinerated instantly, though I made sure to shift the flames away form where Edward was trapped.

"Brother!" Ed looked up, but the movement was sluggish, far too slow to be healthy. Hypothermia was getting the better of him. He opened his mouth, tried to say something, but failed, the words dying in his throat. He weakly clapped his hands and un-transmuted his blade. And then he slumped forward into the snow, sleep and the cold finally overtaking him.

Alphonse bodily pushed his way threw the thick snow that my flames had turned to slush. He scooped his brother free of snow as it came loose, begging him to wake up.

I already knew that he wouldn't, at least not until we got him to a warm place. I checked my watch for the time, and then weighed my options. Ed needed heat and needed it fast. But the villagers were few and far between and I doubt that they could do much more than offer a fire. On the other hand, the train to Central would come in ten minutes, that is if it was running on schedule. The doctors in Central could treat him and hopefully prevent any damage or further illness. I chose Central. "Alphonse, listen carefully. We're going to the hospital in Central and we need to catch the train. We are going to go straight through the woods; going through the village would take too long. Do you understand?"

Alphonse nodded and began shouldering his way through the thick drifts. I turned to Hawkeye for a moment, but she was tying a strip of makeshift bandage around her leg. She knotted it, wincing, then turned to me, nodding in understanding as she pushed a fresh clip into her handgun. I rubbed my fingers together on my still-gloved hand and began snapping.

The armor plowed his way through the snow, somehow keeping Ed above the chilly powder. I checked my watch, almost panicking when I saw that we only had two minutes left, but sighing slightly when I saw the train station ahead of us and the train slowly pulling in. I gave thanks that the trains were running on time for once. Al immediately stepped onto a car once the train had stopped. Hawkeye stopped to talk to someone on the platform, probably to inform the village that we had taken care of their chimera problem. I went to the engine and summoned the engineer. He stepped down on the platform next to me. "Yes sir?"

"I'm Colonel Mustang. I have a very sick child in my care and all due haste would be appreciated."

"Hmm."

"He's got hypothermia. If we don't get him warm soon, he could die."

"Geez. Well, I've never much like you military people, but I've got a soft spot for kids. We'll blow through all our stops; go as fast as we can."

"Thank you. Your help is greatly appreciated."

"Yeah, yeah." The older man stepped back into the engine. "Hurry up and get on."

I did so, finding Riza already on board. Alphonse was still trying to wake his brother, who was laid on the train car floor. "We need to get these wet clothes off him." Riza gently drew Al away, knowing as well as I did that Full Metal wasn't able to wake up. Al produced his brother's suitcase from inside his chest, leaving me to winder how he had moved at all without the thing rattling inside of him. Riza went to find blankets while Al and I stripped Ed of everything but his boxers, which were, amazingly, dry. I toweled Full Metal off while Alphonse pulled a dry black tank top and what looked to be a pair of soft, black sleeping pants from the battered brown suitcase.

Dressing the limp body took more effort, but in the end we managed it. And then the younger brother asked me the questions I hadn't thought to answer yet, "What do we do now? He'll be all right, won't he? Won't he?" The cool calm that had stole over him during the search had abruptly fled, leaving only a scared little boy.

And is struck me again how young these boys were, even as I noticed the blood streaked over Alphonse's armor and absentmindedly picked the crimson snow out from where it had crusted in Edward's braid. "He'll be alright. We need to try to keep him as warm as possible though." I thought back to my military training, remembering how we had learned to survive in all types of weather: from desert heat, to perpetual rain, to freezing cold. I grab the few train blankets we have in this car, spreading one out on the train bench. I pull my off my uniform jacket, which has dried from the heat of my flames and Alphonse seems to catch on to what I'm trying to do. He gently lifts his brother onto the seat as I sit down, and I wrap the jacket around him, letting the blonde lean back against my chest.

The blankets come next and I make sure to cover his auto-mail as best I can, the cold metal threatening his strength. Alphonse retreats to the bench across from us, helpless. I can see his desperation, the sheer anguish that he's not able to help in this way. Because he too, is just cold metal. And far too young to not be able to cry.

Henrika- Ah, it just makes you want to hug everyone doesn't it?