Unlikely Bond

Chapter Five

"...it sounds so clichéd."

Rated M for violence, and strong and offensive language

Some time later Akume and Edward were getting a room in Xenotime, the later of the two doing most of the work. Since Ed had been in Xenotime before, Akume left it up to him to find a good lodging. Edward had resigned himself to the fact that Akume wouldn't be making good on her word anytime soon, so he filled the silence, telling her about how he and Al had met themselves. Akume had heard the story a few times before, related to her by Al. Somehow Ed sounded more heroic when Ed told it, whereas Al wasn't afraid to leave out the bit that the 'other Ed' was a year younger, but a head or so taller than the real Ed. Akume asked about this, but Ed ignored her.

"You know," Akume said as they approached a farm, "when Alphonse told me this story, he said that Russell kicked your ass the first time around."

Edward knocked on the farmhouse door, "Al tends to exaggerate things."

"And you don't?"

Ed ignored her, knocking again. Akume rolled her eyes, hooking loose strands of hair behind her ears. Stuffing her hands in her pockets, she turned around, looking at the darkening sky. Ed went to knock again, only for the door to open, resulting in his metal hand knocking someone's chest.

"I'm not a door, Edward."

Ed pulled his hand back, "It was a door a second ago."

Akume turned around, looking up at the figure framed in the doorway. He was tall and thin with almost bleach-blonde hair. His hair was shorter than Ed's, and had blue eyes. The young man looked over at Akume and she smiled, bowing slightly. She had never met Russell, and she figured she had better make a good impression.

"Who's that?"

Edward looked at Akume and frowned. The girl met his eyes and he gave her a look she couldn't read. She raised an eyebrow, but he had his attention back on Russell, "Akume Hunter; she's my partner."

"Partner as in…." Russell asked and Ed tensed his shoulders.

"We're working together," Akume said, stepping forward and offering her hand to be shaken. "I'm Mustang's niece."

"Ah," Russell said, shaking the proffered hand, her left. "Are you a flame alchemist like him?"

"Almost," Akume said, taking her hand back and folding her arms, "I'm the Electric Alchemist. I can do some things with fire, but not as much as Uncle Roy. It's nice to meet you, Russell. I have heard a lot about you."

Russell smiled, "Good things, I hope. You have a very firm handshake…automail?"

She nodded, "Yeah…my entire left arm."

Ed coughed, glaring heatedly at Russell and giving Akume a warning glare, "Before we keep with this wonderful conversation that I have been to elegantly left out of, we need to ask a favor, Russell."

Russell leaned against the doorframe, "Go ahead, what do you need?"

"A place to stay. We're here about the strange animal reports."

Russell seemed to consider this, "Well, we have a spare room…but just one. But, yeah, we can put you up. Belshew will be gone for about a week or so, but he won't mind. If you want, I can lend a hand. I have some notes; I've been doing some independent detective work."

"We'd appreciate that. What Uncle Maes gave us didn't really help," Akume said, nodding to the other boy.

"I'm more than willing to share, miss."

Edward turned just in time to see Akume blush. He felt himself go red, but it wasn't a good red. His grabbed her hand and pushed by Russell, hauling the girl into the house, practically snarling, "Thank you very much, but let's move this inside."

Had Akume's left hand been real, she would have cried out in pain. Ed's automail hand was holding hers so tightly it would have broken real fingers. Russell dodged to the side, letting the two State Alchemists by, noting the irritated, jealous, and angry light in Ed's eyes. Edward had identified Akume as nothing more than his partner, which made her fair game.

Russell closed the door, turning around. Akume had her back to him, looking around the room. She poked around for a few minutes, Edward and Russell exchanging cool looks and pointless words. She glanced at the two boys and grinned, "Erm…Russell…you wouldn't happen to have any dinner leftover, would you?"

"Actually, my little brother Fletcher is in the kitchen making dinner. Stew and fresh bread. He's quite a good cook, my brother."

"Sounds wonderful," Akume said, looking at Ed, "Don't you think so?"

Edward nodded and Russell offered his arm to Akume, "It tastes wonderful. Allow me to escort you to the table, miss. By the way, you can call me Russ."

Akume took his arm, "All right then, thank you Russ. You can call me May."

Ed felt a vein start to throb on the side of his head. He wasn't completely sure why, but he was NOT happy about this. Maybe coming here was a bad idea, but it was free. Unless of course 'Russ' charged Ed, just to make him even more ticked.

"Fletcher! We have visitors!" Russell called as the trio entered the kitchen. Fletcher looked up from the pot. When he saw Ed he smiled broadly.

"Hello Edward! You got here sooner than we thought."

Ed blinked, "You were expecting us?"

Fletcher nodded, "Yeah. Al called us and said you'd be here for awhile on a mission."

Ed glared at Russell, who shrugged. Akume, meanwhile, let go of Russell's arm and stepped over to Fletcher, sniffing the stew. "Mmmm…smells good."

Fletcher grinned, "Thanks! You're Akume, Ed's partner, yes?"

She nodded, "Yep. And you're Fletcher, Al's friend, yes?"

Fletcher nodded and he and Akume launched into a conversation. The girl offered her help with dinner and talked to the younger as she set the table and gathered other essentials. Russell and Edward stood watching the two for awhile before Fletcher turned around and said irritably, "It'll be another 20 minutes or so, so stop staring."

Akume looked up and nodded, "Yeah, it's rude to stare."

Russell and Edward left the kitchen then, leaving Fletcher and Akume snickering after them. Edward wasn't sure what they were talking about, but he bet it had to do with him and Russell since he heard his name and the other's blondes a few times before they were out of earshot.

Russell plopped down in a chair, Ed doing the same. The two boys looked at each other for a moment before Russell smirked. "You got taller."

Ed frowned, wondering if he was being called short again, "So did you."

Russell chuckled and leaned back. He closed his eyes and Edward fidgeted. After a short silence, the older boy spoke, "So…you knew we were coming?"

Russell nodded, "Yep. Alphonse called and said you'd be coming to investigate the animal sightings. He said that Akume would be with you…but he didn't say how pretty she was."

Edward growled, his eyes flashing, "So why did you give us all that trouble when we got here?"

Russell shrugged, "I dunno…maybe because I haven't seen you in ages and I wanted to get on your nerves." Then he leaned forward, looking Ed squarely in the eyes, "So…is she available?"

Edward suppressed the sudden urge to punch Russell into the next century, "She who?"

"Don't play stupid, you know who I'm talking about."

"So why are you asking me; why not her?"

"Because you two are partners, so I assumed you'd know if she has a boyfriend. So, does she?"

Edward smirked, "Yep."

Russell frowned, "Oh? Who?"

"Me," Ed said, leaning back, looking up at the ceiling.

Russell's eyebrows rose, "Really?"

"Yes. I'm a boy and I'm her friend, thus I am her boyfriend."

"That wasn't what I meant and you know it."

Edward looked at the other boy, frowning deeply. His golden eyes flashed dangerously, "Leave her alone, Russell."

The younger male sat back, head cocked, looking arrogantly at Edward, sensing the challenge. Ed had identified Akume as his partner, but from the growl in his voice and glare in his eyes, the other alchemist could see that Edward felt more. The question was, did Akume, and if not…it might be fun to fight with the Full Metal over a girl.

"Is that a threat, Edward?"

Ed leaned forward more, saying very slowly, "Leave her alone."

"Why? Do you like her?"

"That's none of your business."

Russell smirked and was about to say something when Fletcher called from the kitchen that dinner was ready. Russell stood and walked to the door. Ed stood up to follow him, but stopped when the taller boy turned around and smirked, "May the best man win, Edward."

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

Dinner had been eaten quickly, conversation pleasant. There was tension as well, as Russell and Edward kept glaring or making snide comments toward the other, the latter more than the former. Fletcher appeared worried, but Akume seemed oblivious to it all. The girl spoke to Russell the most seeing as Russ kept bring up topics of conversation and Ed glared and stabbed at his stew.

After dinner, Akume offered to clean up since Fletcher did all the work and Russell said he'd help. Akume made Ed leave the room, saying something about there being too many hands. Edward was a little more than ticked, first at Russell for being so obvious and shameless, and second to Akume who hadn't said anything regarding he subject she'd promised to tell him.

At 10:30 Akume announced she was going to bed. Edward said nothing and Fletcher guided her to the guest room while Russell set Ed up for the night on the couch. The shorter blond told the taller he didn't need the help, but Russell ignored him. The taller blonde seemed to be enjoying making Ed mad.

When Russell finally left, Edward threw himself onto the couch, arms folded and in a right old temper. He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. Lips pursed, he sat up again and stood, taking off his coat and gloves, laying them overtop a nearby chair. He removed his boots, setting them nearby. After a moment, he took off his watch as well, and removed the tie in his hair. He lay down again, wriggling under the covers, much more comfortable. He adjusted his bangs and closed his eyes, ready to fall asleep.

An hour later, he wasn't asleep. He could only lay there with his eyes closed, unable to fall asleep. When he heard footsteps in the hallway, he rolled over and pretended that he was really asleep. There was silence for a moment and he sighed. Must have been Russell, he thought. However, that thought was banished when he felt someone's breath on his ear, whispering, "You asleep?"

Edward shot up, his head almost colliding with Akume's. The girl jumped back, startled. Edward turned and glared at her, snapping in a hushed tone, "Don't do that!"

"What else was I supposed to do?"

Edward glared, "What do you want?"

Akume looked at the clock, "I have another half hour; I figured I'd keep my promise."

Ed blinked, "Oh." He adjusted on the couch, scooting over and offering her a seat, but Akume sat on the floor, leaning against the couch instead. Ed frowned but said nothing. The girl looked at him for a moment then said quietly, "You really want to know?"

"Yeah."

Akume sighed and closed her eyes, "It's gonna be stupid…it sounds so clichéd."

"Will you just tell me?"

Akume opened her eyes, "I like you Edward. I like you, and I've liked you since we first met, when Uncle Roy told you, you would make a great State Alchemist. I've never liked anyone like you before, and I doubt I ever will. I didn't want you to know how I felt, so I was mean to you. I was…also afraid I'd be like her."

"Her who?" Ed asked, still wrapping his mind around the 'I've liked you since we first met'.

Akume sighed, "My mother." Edward looked confused and Akume held up her left arm, "You know how I got this?"

"Yeah; a train crashed and it was crushed. It had to be amputated."

Akume laughed softly, "That's what Uncle Roy and I tell everyone." Her eyes flashed and she looked at Ed hard, "We're more alike than you think, Ed. When I was growing up, my mom and dad didn't get on well. They were always fighting, and I was always in the way. I wasn't beaten, but they forgot me a lot. They loved my older brother to death though. I often wished either he or I would just die. My dad tried to fix things between him and mom so many times, but mom wouldn't let him. I don't know why.

"I was afraid of liking you because I didn't want to be like her. She was always hurting dad in some for more another. She's the reason he and my brother died, and the reason I have this."

Akume laid her head on the couch and Ed scooted closer, leaning down. "You know…you don't have to tell me. That's enough…"

Akume sat up and smiled, "Ha, yeah right. I don't mind, really. Besides, I want to know how you got yours, the truth, not the story you and Uncle Roy tell me."

"Blackmail?"

"More like a guilt trip."

"Ah." He paused, "So…how did it happen?"

"Mom got mad at Dad and they got into a fight. In the end, Dad left the house, saying he was going to town. He took Robert with him, my brother. A few hours later, there was a knock on the door saying there had been an accident. A train had derailed and Dad and Robert had been hit. They died instantly, they said. I cried for a week.

"I wrote Uncle Roy without telling Mom. She was in a weird mood. She kept saying they'd be back soon. Ten days after the accident, Mom told me to put on my best dress. I don't like dresses, but did as I was told. Then she did up my hair and led me down to the cellar. She was all dolled up and looked very pretty. She even had perfume on, which was odd. She had me sit on a chair and told me to get ready to welcome Daddy and Robert back."

Akume closed her eyes and run the back of her hand over them. Her voice wasn't breaking, but it was clear she wanted to cry. "She tried to bring them back and failed horribly. I watched as she was taken. I tried to reach out for her, only to find the black arms taking her taking my arm. I screamed so loud. The next thing I knew, someone was grabbing me, pulling me up the stairs. The light vanished then, and I was able to see these two twisted things on the floor and Mom gone.

"Uncle Roy was the one who saved me. He destroyed the…masses I guess you could call them." She looked up, "That's why I was mean to you, Ed. My mother was horrible to my father. She loved him, but never showed it, and never showed me her love to me. And when she lost him, she tried to bring him and my brother back. She wasn't a good woman…"

Ed blinked and nodded, patting her head, "You're right…that does sound clichéd and stupid."

Akume batted at his hand, "I told you, dolt."

Ed leaned down, putting his face close to hers, "Well, clichéd or not, I doubt you're like her. I'm sorry about what happened…you should go to bed."

Akume back away and stood. She started to leave, and then stopped, "I'm sorry Edward."

"Yeah, I figured that."

She turned, "You ready to go hunting tomorrow?"

He nodded, "You bet…" He held up his right arm and smiled sadly, "You know…were more alike than you think."

"Oh really?"

Ed nodded, "Yeah…Good night Akume."

"Good night Edward."

/Sighs/ Okay….that was TOTALLY clichéd, but I need this to move a bit faster. /growls/ Stupid writers block…