A few minutes later, Edward, Alphonse, and Hazel were in a hotel room, where they would be staying for the night. It was a small room, with one separate bedroom that had two beds, but it was all that they could afford at the moment.
"There are only two beds..." Al stated when he saw the room.
"Normally, this wouldn't be a problem," Ed said. "But now that we have three in our party..." The brothers looked at Hazel.
"What?" She said, "One of you will just have to sleep on the couch in the front room."
"You mean you will have sleep on the couch in the front room." Edward said, pointing his finger at her.
"Me? No, no, I can't do that because I am a lady." Hazel reminded him with a smirk on her face.
"Lady? Lady? There is no way in hell that you are a lady. I mean, look at all those injuries on your face." Ed pointed out.
"It not MY fault I got beat up!" Hazel defended.
"And that temper too, is very unladylike." Ed said. Hazel glared at him for a moment then got an idea.
"How could you Edward?" she said softly, hanging her head. "How could you?" her shoulders started shaking and small sobs could be heard.
"What?" Ed asked, raising a brow, but looking slightly worried.
"A young girl who's had a life far harder than your own, who's been abused since the day she was born. I thought I would finally have a better life now, because I've been saved. But..." She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. "If the one who's saved me won't even give me the simple luxury of having a bed to sleep in... I might've just been better off staying at home." She closed her eyes, letting the tears stream down her face, letting out loud sobs. She looked so pathetic, Edward couldn't help but have sympathy for her.
"Hazel, I'm sorry." Edward said. "You can have a bed if you want."
"Really?" She asked, the tears suddenly gone.
"Y-yeah..." Ed admitted with reluctance, looking away. No sooner had the words come out of his mouth than he was tackled by the girl.
"Oh thank you, thank you!" She exclaimed happily, hugging the boy's head so that his face was pressed against her chest.
"O-okay, that enough! You're suffocating me!" He shouted, trying to push away. Hazel let go and the boy stumbled backwards, blushing.
"Sorry Ed." She said with an apologetic smile on her face.
"Yeah yeah." He answered, turning away so she wouldn't see his beet red face.
"But who's going to sleep in the other bed?" Al piped up. The two looked at him, they had almost forgotten that he was there.
"Well you will, of course!" Hazel answered.
"M-me?" Al stuttered, pointing to himself.
"Well, yeah! I can't share a room with Edward. He's a teenage boy! He might do unspeakable things to me in the middle of the night!" She answered.
"Like hell I would! That'd be disgusting!" Edward shouted.
"Are you insulting me?" Hazel asked, preparing her water show again.
"No, it's just... That's gross. And well anyway, Al's a boy too, y'know. How can you trust him and not me?" Ed asked.
"Because Al doesn't have a body. He can't do unspeakable things to me in the middle of the night." Hazel answered.
"O-oh my..." Al said quietly so that the other two wouldn't hear him. He was blushing ferociously on the inside.
"Whatever Hazel, just clean yourself up. I told you, we're going out tonight." Ed commanded.
"Oh yeah, that's right, you did say that. Where are we going anyway?" Hazel asked.
"Hell if I know, Mustang just invited us." Ed answered.
"How are we going to get there if we don't know where it is?" Hazel asked.
"Oh, the colonel said Havoc was going to pick us up in front of the hotel." Al spoke up.
"What? No he didn't" Ed said.
"If you hadn't stomped out so quickly, you would've heard him brother." Al told him. Ed sighed. This wasn't the first time he had stomped out on Mustang before he could hear something actually useful.
"What time?" Hazel called from the bathroom. She was currently peeling off some gauze that covered her head wound and was wiping it with a washcloth. It seemed almost healed, although there was a nasty scar. She fixed that by combing her hair over it with her fingers.
"The colonel said around six, but I'm not sure if the lieutenant will be here by then..." Al answered, remembering the last time Havoc was supposed to take the brothers somewhere, but didn't arrive to pick them up until over an hour after he said he would.
"Hm. Oh well. What can we do but wait?" Hazel responded. "Ed, you can clean things with alchemy, right?"
"Yeah, so?" Ed answered.
"Come here then please." Hazel said. The boy obeyed. When he got there, he found the bathroom door closed and Hazel's clothes laid out on the ground.
"Could you clean my clothes for me pretty please? They're all dirty from yesterday." She called out from behind the door.
"Okay, sure." He brought his hands together and then rested them on Hazel's clothing. The alchemic light shone and in an instant, the clothes looked as good as new.
"There you go!" He said.
"Thanks." Came Hazel's reply. He noticed a hand reach out from behind the door to drag the clothes into the bathroom. He got up and left then, but if he had stayed he might have heard Hazel's soft sobs coming from behind the bathroom door.
A WHILE LATER!
A car pulled up in front of the hotel around 6:45 and honked its horn. The sudden loud noise made the three teenagers jump.
Ed, Al, and Hazel had been sitting outside somewhat impatiently for nearly an hour. After a while, Edward had started to doze off, Hazel had gone off to find a twig to clean out the dirt under her fingernails with, and Al had caught a kitten and was currently petting it softly. So none of them were expecting the honk when it sounded.
"Hey, you kids need a ride?" Havoc called, leaning out the window.
"Sure, why not?" Edward answered and the three squeezed themselves in the car. It was a tight fit seeing as Hawkeye, Fury, and Hughes were already in the back seat. Roy was sitting comfortably stretched out in the passenger's seat, happy that he had called shotgun before anyone else. Havoc seemed to be enjoying the privilege of getting a front seat as well, even if he was the driver. Edward ended up having to sit on his brother's lap(1) during the ride, while Hazel was squished between the armor and Fury. Not that Hazel really minded being squished up against Fury; it was just that the man smelled of a petting zoo.
After what seemed like forever for the five squeezed in the back, but no time to Roy and Jean, they were at their destination. Mustang walked over to the back door on his side and opened it, causing Hughes to tumble out onto the street and Hawkeye to lose her balance and fall onto the spot Hughes had just been sitting in. This movement caused Fury to suddenly lean in that direction which made Hazel, who had been leaning closer to him than Al, lose her balance and fall into his lap. Ed and Al were the only ones not affected. Roy burst out laughing at the domino effect he had created and earned a glare from Hawkeye, Fury, and Hazel. Maes merely stood up and started laughing with his friend.
"Heh heh, nice job buddy." Hughes said, patting Mustang's back.
"Thanks." Roy laughed. The rest of them crawled out of the vehicle. Once out, Hawkeye shot five rounds from her gun around Roy, just missing the man's head each time. Immediately, his and his friend's cheery disposition faded. Fury made a beeline for Havoc and Hazel watched the bespectacled man with a dreamy smile on her face.
"What's with you?" Ed asked, noticing her fangirl-ish expression. He looked ahead and saw Mustang walking directly behind Fury, thus blocking the younger man from his view. "Oh god, don't tell me you have the hots for him!" The teenager exclaimed.
"Shh! He'll hear you!" Hazel shushed, thinking Ed was talking about Fury.
"Oh please." Edward sighed, rolling his eyes. Alphonse laughed at Edward's obviously jealous behavior. "And just what do you find so funny Al?" Ed exclaimed.
"Nothing brother." Al giggled. Edward glared at him suspiciously before turning his attention back to the dreamy-eyed Hazel.
"If she really is all googly eyed for that bastard of a colonel, I swear I'll..." He muttered before degrading to incoherent mumbles.
The bar that they had arrived at was just a small little place itself. It was by far bigger than the one in Hazel's town, but compared to other places in central, it was downright tiny.
"Yes, this is one of the best places in Central to pick up chicks." Havoc announced as they approached the bar.
"Yeah, too bad they never stay with you for very long." Roy piped up. Havoc glared at him.
"They'd stay if you didn't always flirt with them." He growled.
"What's wrong Lieutenant? You look at me as though it's my fault I'm so attractive and suave." Roy said with his customary smirk. Havoc growled again and Hawkeye rolled her eyes.
"Calm down Havoc..." Fury said, patting the other man's shoulder. Havoc sighed and relaxed at the younger man's touch as the two walked in together.
"You know Roy, you might try using those good looks to help get you a wife." Hughes said cheerily. Mustang gave him a look. "What?" Maes asked. Roy shook his head and pushed his friend inside. Hawkeye waited for Hazel, Ed, and Al to catch up.
"I just want to warn you," she started when the three got to her, "that those boys aren't exactly role models when their drunk." She cast a nervous glance at the door.
"You call the colonel a role model?" Edward pointed out darkly. Hawkeye sighed.
"What I mean is that you kids should watch out. Especially you Hazel." She said, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You're old enough that if the colonel or lieutenant Havoc are drunk enough, they'll mistake you for a grown woman. Just... be ready."
"No problem! I know how to fend off drunks. I can't tell you how many times I've had to do that in the past." And with that she grabbed Ed's arm and dragged him inside.
"Alphonse, will you help me limit the men's alcohol intake?" Hawkeye asked the suit of armor as she watched the two go inside.
"Um, sure lieutenant." Al agreed. Hawkeye gave a small smile as a "thank you" and they went inside.
Hur, I updated :B! But as a warning, the next chapter will be Mary Sue-ish at one point...
(1) I mean that in a nonsexual way you elricest fangirls! hates that pairing