Unlikely Bond

Chapter Two

"I can't believe I have to spend the whole day with you."

Rated M for strong and offensive language

Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist….and I bet there are a lot of people who are glad about that.

The first day had gone pretty well. Armstrong and Havoc, having been ordered by Mustang to keep the two young State Alchemists from killing each other, spent most of their time making sure Edward and Akume stayed within sight of each other, or making sure they didn't kill the other. More than once Edward found himself clenching his automail limb, aching to send Akume through the nearest wall. Likewise, Akume had to have her own left arm pinned behind her back by Armstrong on more than one occasion, and that was simply the first day! There was still another one to go before they left for Central.

The night before the second day, Mustang paced behind his desk as Armstrong and Havoc listed what had happened.

"Overall, sir, the best news is that there wasn't any bloodshed," Havoc said, trying to sound positive.

It didn't help Roy. The Colonel ran a hand through his hair and looked out the window. He was not going to change his mind on this. The Fuhrer was adamant about the State Alchemists traveling in pairs and it was one decision Roy agreed with completely. He wanted Akume to be safe and he had a soft spot for Edward. He wanted them both to be safe, even if it meant they ended up hating him.

"Were they even the least bit civil?"

"You should have heard their good-nights sir. Akume said 'I hope you don't die in your sleep, Elric, because I want to be the one to kill you' and dear Edward replied that he hoped she found a comfortable room in hell. Truly beautiful!"

Roy looked at Armstrong and shook his head. He closed his eyes, tilting his head back, thinking. After a long moment, he looked back at the other two men.

"Tomorrow, I will be ordering Full Metal and Akume to spend the day together off HQ grounds. I want you two to follow them, but don't interfere in whatever it is they do, do you understand?"

Havoc raised an eyebrow, "You mean you're going to let them kill each other? Is that really a good idea, sir?"

"They need to find some sort of grounds. Akume follows orders well and Edward has a good head most of the time. Just keep an eye on them. Dismissed."

Armstrong and Havoc saluted, then another matter popped into Roy's mind. "Major," he called as the two reached the door. Armstrong turned around.

"Yes sir?"

"Be sure to keep a low profile."

/------------------------/

"I can't believe I have to spend the whole day with you," Edward groused, stalking next to Akume.

Akume glaring straight ahead, "How do you think I feel? I have to deal with a whiney pipsqueak all day."

Edward turned and yelled in her ear, "WHY DO YOU KEEP MAKING SHORT JOKES; WE'RE THE SAME SIZE?"

Akume brushed her ear, as if shooing away a fly, "Because I like making you mad."

Ed glared, "Well stop it, or I'll start my own."

"Go ahead. See if I care; unlike you, I don't care about how tall I am, dwarf."

"WHO YOU CALLING SO SHORT HE MIGHT AS WELL NOT EXIST?"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP!"

"STOP THE SHORT JOKES!"

"GET SOME TOUGHER SKIN, MORON!"

"IDIOT!"

"WHO YOU CALLING SO DUMB SHE CAN'T ADD ONE AND ONE!"

"SLUT!"

While Edward ran from the grounds, chased by Akume, both still hurling insults at each other, Armstrong and Havoc snuck after them, keeping out of sight. Havoc sighed, "This is going to be fun…how in the world are we going to be able to keep an eye on them without being seen by them. They keep whirling around at each other we're bound to be seen."

Armstrong, in civilians clothing, ducked behind a bush, then to a tree, moving once more to hide behind a car, then behind another bush. "Just follow my lead, Lieutenant Havoc; this method of spying has been passed down the Armstrong family line for generations."

"Oh brother," Havoc said, lighting up a cigarette.

/------------------------/

A few hours later, Ed and Akume were walking side-by-side downtown. They had run out of steam to yell at each other, not to mention that they'd run out of curses and the ability to yell. They both had their hands stuffed into their pockets, looking around at anything and everything except each other. They both knew that Mustang would send someone, or someones, to keep an eye on them. Too bad, thought Edward, could have had some good fun otherwise.

He was suddenly brought out from his thoughts by a smart knock on his head.

"Hello, Elric! Did you hear me?"

Edward stepped back, rubbing his head, glaring at Akume and the hand she had raised and fisted to knock on his skull again, "What was that for?"

"I asked you three times if you were hungry. You didn't answer so…"

"So you hit me?"

Akume went red in indignation, "I didn't hit you!"

Ed rubbed his head, "Sure felt like it."

Akume rolled her eyes, "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Are. You. Hungry?" Akume repeated in a condescending tone, drawing each word out so it was its own sentence.

Ed dropped his hand and looked around, "Yeah…"

"Good, then let's go find something." Akume started off across the street, and then added over her shoulder, "You're paying for your own by the way."

Edward stuck his tongue out at her back, stalking after her, muttering, "I wouldn't dream of relying on your charity."

Akume stopped and turned, her face in Edward's. "And what makes you think I'd even want to show you charity?"

From his vantage point, Havoc was growing a little nervous. The two teens had decided to start their new argument in the middle of the road. There were no cars coming yet, but it was only a matter of time before something bad happened. Havoc had images of two flattened alchemists and shuddered. Mustang would not like that one bit. He looked around for Armstrong, hoping the other man wouldn't take too much longer with getting lunch.

"Why don't you just shut your mouth?" Edward asked heatedly and raised his right arm, fist clenched.

"Why don't you just disappear?" Akume shot back, left fist raised.

Ed laughed, "You think that scares me, girlie?"

There was a screeching of wheels and a honk of a horn. Havoc and Armstrong turned their heads, eyes widening as a black car came tearing down the road. Havoc tore his eyes from the vehicle to the two alchemists, both of whom were oblivious to the danger. Havoc tried to open his mouth to yell, or move his legs to run, but nothing was moving. His cigarette fell from frozen lips.

The horn sounded again, louder. Akume and Edward looked away from each other, their eyes falling onto the car. Akume froze, eyes widening. Her legs told her to run, but nothing would move. The was frozen, rooted to the spot, unable to even close her eyes and block out the image of the approaching car.

Edward froze as well, but only for a moment. He tore his gaze from the car, slamming into Akume, knocking her and himself out of harms way to the other side of the street. Akume's head hit the stone curb, and she yelped. Edward's left arm scratched painfully along the ground, his jacket tearing, leaving a long, bloody scrape on his arm. The car sped by, leaving the two teens on the other side of the road.

Akume groaned and raised her arm to feel her head. She didn't know if she was bleeding or not, and it really didn't matter. Her head hurt like a thousand ton weight had been dropped on it, and there was some sort of weight on top of her. She opened her eyes to see a pair of golden irises looking down at her. Before she could stop herself, Akume felt herself blush.

"You okay?" Ed asked, still lying on her, his face twisted in pain and his cheeks reddening as he looked at Akume.

The young woman nodded, "Yeah…I'm good. You?"

"Arm hurts, but other than that I'm fine."

There was a long moment where they just stared at each other before Akume turned even redder and shoved Edward off her roughly, pulling herself up, snarling at him, "Get off me, you pervert!"

Ed flew backward, just able to catch himself before his head smacked the ground. He growled back at the girl as he stood up, fists clenched, "Hey! I just saved your neck!"

"What do you want, a medal?" Akume snarled, pushing herself to her feet. She stood there for a few moments, satisfied that all was well. She turned her head to look at Ed to smirk. Bad idea.

Stars burst in front of her eyes and she cried out, her legs giving out beneath her. She fell, expecting her head to his the hard ground again, only to find herself stop halfway to the ground. Akume felt Edward's arms around her, helping her back up. Her head next to his chest, she took a deep breath of relief, only to inhale his scent. That caused her to pause and curse her uncle once more violently within her head.

"I'll ask you this again, are you okay?"

Akume swallowed, "No…head hurts."

Edward helped her to sit on the curb and looked at her head, "No wonder…nice little gash you have there. If you stay put, I can run to the pharmacy."

The girl scoffed, closing her eyes, folding her arms over her knees to then put her head on her arms, "And where would I go? I can't even turn my head. 'Sides…it's to bright anyway."

She felt something fall over her head and she looked up at the dark red before her eyes. Her ears perked, hearing Ed's retreating footfalls. The girl looked at the red cloth and regarded it, trying to decide between throwing it off or smiling. In the end, she did neither. It kept the light out…

A few minutes later, Akume found herself being shaken awake. She lifted her head, blinking, turning her head slowly. Ed smiled, "Hey…I got the stuff. Sorry for waking you…but I hear that sleeping after bashing your head like that isn't a good idea."

Akume frowned, "I don't have a concussion, it would have been fine."

Ed frowned and knelt behind her, parting her hair to look at the gash. "Well, in that case, I was being selfish. I didn't want to get hit again."

Akume closed her eyes and groused, "Nothing can stop me from giving you what you deserve."

Edward sought revenge silently, putting on a lot of antiseptic and being rougher than was necessary with putting gauze on her head. Akume grunted in pain, her fists clenching. Once Edward was done, he patted her shoulder and took back his jacket, pulling it on.

"There you go."

Akume touched her head and looked up, "Shouldn't I have stitches or something? You said it was a gash."

"It wasn't that bad. More like a scrape…all the blood made it look like a gash."

Akume stood up, carefully, her arms out to steady herself. Once she was sure of her balance, she took a few experimental steps and smirked to herself. Now, to get out of the bright sun.

She pulled up her hood, shading her eyes and walked off. She felt someone grab her shoulder and turn her around and she glared at Ed, "What?"

"Where are you going now?"

"I told you I was hungry; I'm going for food. Or have you forgotten that was why we were crossing the street in the first place?"

Ed let her go and narrowed his eyes, "No, I didn't. I just thought you should…" He paused, and then finished lamely, "Rest."

"Food will help more than rest. Let's go, Elric." She stalked off, but Ed could have sworn he heard her add, "Thanks."

/------------------------/

The rest of the day was uneventful. Akume and Ed barely spoke, but it was obvious that there were things they wanted to say. Havoc got bored very quickly because Akume and Ed failed to have anymore major fights. Havoc enjoyed watching them to tell the truth, not that he'd ever tell Roy. The little spats Akume and Ed had just didn't compensate for their violent name-callings.

Armstrong, however, kept going on and on about how wonderful and inspiring the bond between partners was and about how the methods of certain things he did had been passed down the Armstrong family line for generations. Quite frankly, Havoc doubted that anyone would pass down how to slurp Cup-O-Noodle, but that was just his opinion.

Havoc and Armstrong ceased their tailings once Ed and Akume were inside HQ, heading for their rooms. They had to go report to the Colonel, and havoc really hoped Roy didn't flip out too much about the car, or how Havoc had decided not to tell Roy about it until now.

Havoc was wrong, of course. Roy thanked Armstrong through clenched teeth and dismissed the bigger man before ordering Havoc to stay behind. Once Armstrong had gone, Roy not only chewed Havoc out, he almost beat the other to a bloody pulp. All Havoc could think on his way home was that he was amazed he was still alive.

/------------------------/

Akume and Edward were quiet as they walked to their rooms. Akume kept touching her head, wincing, dropping her arm, and then raising it to touch her head again. Ed spent most of his attention of his scrape, which he'd taken care of, but had ended up having to ask Akume to wrap it. It had been a very awkward day to say the least.

At their doors, Akume pushed hers open, then paused, "Good night Elric."

Edward grimaced. Most people called him Ed or Full Metal or various terms for 'short', but Akume was the only one who called him by his surname and it was starting to grate on his nerves. He glared at her, asking loudly, "Will you stop calling me that!"

Akume smirked, "Why?"

"Because it's annoying."

Akume blinking, "And this matters to me why?"

Edward felt his vein throb and growled, "Could you just call me Edward, Ed, or Full Metal like everyone else?"

Akume's eyes narrowed and she took a step toward him. Her index finger poked his chest as she spoke, "Get one thing straight, Elric, under no circumstances will I ever call you any of those names. Do you understand me?"

Ed brushed her finger away, "And why the hell not?"

Akume took a step back and eyed him, and then fixed him with a look in her eyes that Edward couldn't find a word for. He wasn't sure what emotion was mirrored there, but for some reason, it made her a little less easy to talk sternly to.

"Let me put it this way, Elric. The day I call you 'Edward', you'll know we're friends. You got that? Now good-night."

She had her hand on the door handle when Ed spoke, his head cocked, trying to figure out what her eyes were saying, "And what about the other two? What's wrong with them?"

"Nothing is wrong with them-"

"Then why not use one of them?"

She sighed and all Ed could see was the back of her head, the white gauze, a little red with old blood, poking at him like a single eye through her black hair. "The day I use those, Elric…" and her voice dropped and Edward strained to hear, "You'll know we're more than friends."

She entered her room and closed her door, leaving Ed standing alone in the hallway, feeling confused and overwhelmed at the same time. He wasn't sure if he'd heard her right, not only because of what she'd said, but because there hadn't been a single profane word. She never spoke to him without inserting something…let alone as friendly as that.

'You'll know we're more than friends'. That's what he'd heard her say. Ed rubbed his neck, looking at her door, wondering if maybe this was all a dream, wondering if he'd misheard her, and wondering why in the world his heart was beating so fast in his chest.