Heavy, heavy shit here. This isn't any easier to write than it is to watch - worse still, since this is set along the original anime timeline at this point, they're still just 11/12 here so... I apologize for doing this to the kids, I really do!
The Tuckers' house was dark when the three arrived, well after sundown. Lissa struggled with the things she was feeling—sulfur and heaviness, but still warm and familiar, like cinnamon or some kind of spice… Yet there was a new feeling too, something she'd never sensed before… It felt like…like rotten fruit, somehow.
She gritted her teeth. Sensing things wasn't very alchemist-like of her. She'd learned early on not to voice weird things like that, so she kept her mouth shut as Ed and Al led the way into the estate.
"Huh," Alphonse mused, standing in the empty foyer. "I wonder where they are?"
Lissa swallowed hard. "I dunno. Maybe Mr. Tucker got caught up getting ready for his assessment, I know he's been really worried about it."
Ed looked over at her curiously. "Assessment?"
"Yeah. Don't you remember, dummy? You have to do them too now, every year. It's the military's way of keeping tabs on state alchemists that are off doing their own research. Remember the other day, when Second Lieutenant Havoc came by? He mentioned Mr. Tucker's assessment was coming up. I don't think he felt ready for it."
"Psh. I know about assessments," Edward grumbled at her. "I just forgot his was happening now, that's all."
"Maybe we should go check his laboratory," Al suggested.
Lissa felt a strike of nausea, and the sulfur she was feeling kicked up a notch. "Are you sure?" she whispered.
Edward turned and gave her an odd look. "You okay, Liss? You look kinda…green."
"I'm fine," she told him immediately, even though it wasn't true at all. "I just…have a weird feeling, that's all." Lissa shook her head. "Let's go find Mr. Tucker." Better to ignore what she was feeling than to admit it—she wasn't sure how the boys would feel at all.
The three made their way through the house, calling for Mr. Tucker, Nina, and Alexander every so often, but nobody answered. Finally, though, they found themselves at the top of the stairs leading down to Mr. Tucker's lab, and Lissa's legs just…completely locked up. She froze up so hard that Al bumped into her when he went to follow Ed down the stairs.
"Uh, Lissa?" He touched her shoulder lightly. "What's going on?"
But she wasn't listening. "Ed… Wait, don't go down there," she whispered, tugging free of Al with a sudden jerk of movement and racing down after Edward.
Lissa reached the bottom just as Ed pushed the doors open, revealing a darkened lab, with Mr. Tucker's failed chimeras unnaturally silent, the very air still around them. The rotten-fruit feeling made Lissa's head spin, and she gripped onto the back of Ed's cloak to keep from tipping right over onto the floor.
"There you are," Ed murmured. "So you are home after all."
Mr. Tucker was crouched before them, half-hiding a sort of silhouetted shape… Like a dog, only…not…
What is that?
"Yes," Mr. Tucker answered softly.
Lissa thought she might pass out with the senses running through her head—stronger than anything she'd ever sensed before like this, like a full orchestra crashing inside her own mind. It was too much. How was she supposed to function with this sense in her head?!
The same way you use alchemy. Analysis, deconstruction, and reconstruction. Change it. Make it something else.
With the same pulling sensation that accompanied using alchemy, Lissa felt the sensation inside her head change, shift, and compress. It dulled to a buzzing around her ears, like tiny insects flitting around her—but it was easier, more manageable this way. It made her feel less like she'd pass out, at least, which was all she needed for the moment.
"I did it," Mr. Tucker whispered, turning to look at them. "I finally did it. A chimera that understands human speech. Here, take a look." He beckoned them closer, but only Ed and Al moved forward. Lissa stayed where she was. "Listen to me," Mr. Tucker addressed the chimera. "That person over there, that's Edward."
The chimera lifted its head and peered at Edward with its eerie white eyes, long brown…hair or fur hanging into its face. "That person…Ed…ward…"
Lissa felt her throat go dry. Its voice was…unnatural, like a warped version of a normal human's.
Mr. Tucker patted the chimera's head and grinned. "Yes, that's very good. Well done!" he praised it, like one would do to a pet.
"That's amazing!" Edward breathed, sinking down to his knees beside them. "It can actually talk!"
"Now I don't have to worry about losing my certification," Mr. Tucker laughed, a bit strained.
Lissa finally took a step forward, and another, watching the chimera closely. It was mostly white, four-legged, with those impossibly white eyes…and that stripe of loose, lank brown hair hanging from its head down its spine, all the way over its tail. This one didn't look like the other chimeras she'd seen, the ones Mr. Tucker called failed… It looked…more substantial somehow, which made it even creepier. She felt guilty for thinking that, for calling the poor thing creepy… But there was something unsettling here.
"That person…Ed…ward," the chimera repeated slowly. "That person…Ed…ward…" It tilted its head and looked at him. "Ed…ward… Little Big Brother?"
No… No!
Edward froze where he knelt, his whole body going rigid. "Mr. Tucker… When exactly did you first get your state certification?" he asked softly.
Mr. Tucker rose from his spot on the floor and crossed the room, pushing his glasses up as he went, and turned away from them at the far side of the room. "Let me see… Yes, it would be two years ago."
"And when did your wife leave you?" Ed's voice came out a sort of weak rasp.
"Mh… That was two years ago too," Tucker admitted.
Edward slowly turned around, unable to look away from the floor, his shoulders beginning to tremble. "I just have one more question for you," he began hoarsely. "Where are Nina and Alexander?!"
Lissa heard Al gasp behind her as Ed put it together. She'd known…from the moment the chimera had called Ed Little Big Brother, she'd known, but…she didn't want to believe it. Nina…sweet little Nina and Alexander… Could Mr. Tucker really have done that to them? To his own daughter? It made her sick down to her soul to imagine…what that must have felt like…
Sulfur…for death and suffering. Heaviness like rain. Sadness, sorrow. And rotten fruit…for something gone horribly wrong.
Tucker sighed roughly. "I hate perceptive brats like you."
In an instant, Edward had swung up and grabbed Tucker, slamming him into the wall and pinning him there by his neck. Lissa staggered away as he blew past her, and caught Al's arm to steady herself.
"Brother!" Al yelped, stunned.
"Oh yeah, I figured it out!" Ed snarled, and pressed Mr. Tucker harder into the wall. "You did it again! Two years ago, it was your wife! And this time you used your own daughter and her dog to transmute a talking chimera! You can only do so much with animals, after all! It's much easier when you start with a human! Isn't that right?!"
Mr. Tucker lifted his head and grinned. "I don't see what you're so upset about. This is how we progress. Human experimentation is a necessary step, you see. I would think a scientist should understand."
"Shut up!" Ed roared. "Do you really think you can get away with this? Messing around with someone's life like that?! Your own daughter?!"
Eyes wide, Mr. Tucker stared down at Edward with such intensity it made Lissa's stomach turn. "Someone's life, you say?" He laughed, outright laughed. "You'd know all about that, wouldn't you? Look at you… Fullmetal Alchemist… Look at your leg, your arm, your brother! Aren't those things also the result of messing around with somebody's life?"
Lissa recalled that night—when she'd first met Edward, seen him bandaged and missing half his limbs, seen the pain in his eyes… The way Alphonse trembled so hard he couldn't push his brother's wheelchair… No. It wasn't the same. Not in the slightest.
"SHUT UP!"
She jolted in shock as Edward reared back his right arm, his automail arm, and slammed his fist so hard into Mr. Tucker's face that he knocked his glasses off. "Ed, no!" she cried.
But Mr. Tucker didn't let up. He just laughed. "We are the same!" he insisted, peeling his face off the wall. "We're the same, Edward. You're just like me!"
"We're not!" Edward yelled, trembling all over.
"Oh, but yes we are!" Mr. Tucker continued. "The opportunity was right in front of us, and we took it! We had to, even though we knew it was against the rules."
Edward took a step back from him—only to lose control again and drive his fist back into Mr. Tucker's face, shouting, "No! Not me!" He surrendered to his anguish and began to beat Mr. Tucker over and over, choking out words between attacks. "Alchemists don't—do that! I'm not… I'm not!"
Al found his ability to move before Lissa did, lunging forward and catching Ed's arm before he could do any further damage. "Brother! If you keep this up, he'll die."
Beside Lissa, the chimera moved, padded forward, and nudged at Edward's arm. He turned to her in shock, staring down at Nina's chimera in horror and sorrow. "Edward…no," the chimera begged. "Daddy, do you…hurt… Daddy…"
Edward released Mr. Tucker and stepped back as Lissa moved forward, digging her fingers into his jacket and pulling him into her. He was shivering head to toe, unable to tear his eyes from Nina as she stared at her father's battered form, still slumped against the wall. Lissa swallowed hard and looked up at Al. "Can you…take her into the hall, Alphonse?" she whispered. "She doesn't need to see this."
Al nodded and put his hand on Nina's head, guiding her out of the room and into the hall, not going far. But it was far enough.
She was still a little girl, inside there… Lissa knew it. Nina was still there. And that poor little girl didn't deserve to see her father like this.
"Ed…" Lissa tugged at his sleeve until he turned away from Mr. Tucker. Somehow he'd injured himself when he'd attacked—there was blood trickling down his face from a cut just underneath his eye. She didn't know how he'd gotten it. "You're bleeding… Here…" Lissa pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and carefully swept it across his cheek, wiping away the blood. He stood immobile through it, still shivering, his automail hand clenched on the hem of her coat as though he were afraid she'd move away.
There was more blood on the other side of his face—but when she wiped it away, there wasn't a wound. Lissa watched her own hands start to tremble at the thought.
"Liss…"
"I made it just in time," Mr. Tucker rasped from behind them. "I get to remain a state alchemist. I passed, I really did it."
Lissa turned to see him holding his state alchemist's pocket watch in both hands, staring down at it through swollen eyes like it was the key to his salvation. Revulsion flooded her. He didn't even care about Nina and Alexander, he just cared about his damned lifestyle! About money. How could he not think about his daughter?! His own family?!
She didn't try and restrain Edward when he stalked over and kicked Tucker's pocket watch right out of his hands. It clattered to the ground across the room, and Tucker shoved to his knees, crawling after it.
"Like hell you're staying a state alchemist!" Ed snarled. "Like hell!"
From outside in the hall, Nina's voice, warped and twisted, reached them. "Can we…play now?" she asked sadly.
Edward let out a scream of anguish and clutched at his head, sinking to his knees and just folding in on himself. Lissa dropped next to him and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face in against his jacket and closing her eyes. She didn't know what to do. Alchemy couldn't separate Nina and Alexander again. It couldn't bring Nina's mom back… It couldn't turn Mr. Tucker into a good father… She felt so useless, helpless against all of this.
"W-we need to call someone," she whispered finally, rising to her feet unsteadily. "We can't do this on our own."
He didn't stand. "We can't do anything."
Lissa couldn't leave him down there with Mr. Tucker. She wasn't sure what he might do. So she wrapped both hands around his arm and pulled, tugged at him until he finally stood up and met her gaze. She'd never seen his golden eyes so dull. "Ed…come with me," she begged him. "Please. I don't want to do this by myself."
Something different came over Edward's face. He softened just a bit, enough to nod his agreement. "Okay," he whispered. "Okay, Liss." With one last disdainful look at Mr. Tucker, slumped on the floor clutching his broken pocket watch, the two left the laboratory behind.
It didn't take long—once Edward called Colonel Mustang, it was mere minutes before the estate was flooded with MPs and soldiers, taking control of the situation. Mustang asked Lissa, Ed, and Al to wait upstairs, but being in that house was unbearable—so they stepped outside, into a sudden downpour of rain, and sat on the big stone steps leading up to the house. Lissa sat with her head hanging, watching rain drip off the ends of her hair and onto the steps. Was this how it was always going to be? This…awful, this heartbreaking? Was this life as a state alchemist?
She looked through her wet hair at Edward, sitting next to her with his head in his hands. Maybe this was why the institution made kids wait until they were older to take their exams. They were only twelve. Lissa had never felt more like a child than she did then, sitting with another twelve-year-old and an eleven-year-old, in the rain, without any power to make things right again.
Lissa heard Mustang coming out of the house and didn't bother to lift her head, just listening with nausea roiling in her stomach as he spoke.
"A state alchemist must be willing to act, able to take another's life when ordered to without question. In some ways, Mr. Tucker's actions and our own may not be so far apart when it comes to interfering with other people's lives. We choose our own path, knowing full-well what we're doing." He paused on his way down the stairs, stopping a few steps above the three. "That's just the way it is. Right, Fullmetal?"
She glanced sideways at Ed again, but he didn't so much as lift his head to acknowledge that Mustang had spoken.
The Colonel sighed at him and continued walking down the stairs, Lieutenant Hawkeye right behind him. "You will more than likely come across cases like this again in the future, and you may have to get your own hands dirty as well. Are you going to shut down like this every time?"
"We may be called dogs of the military," Edward began softly, wrapping his arms around himself tighter, "and we may even be cursed as devils… But it doesn't matter. Al and I are still going to get our bodies back. We know the truth. We know we're not devils." His voice began to tremble. "We know we're not gods. We're human." He shoved to his feet, head bowed, and clutched at the sides of his own cloak in anguish. "We're—we're just children. We can't even do anything to save one innocent little girl! So what good are we then?!"
Without another word, Mustang and Hawkeye walked away.
"Brother…" Al looked up at him finally, the first time he'd moved since they'd sat down there. "You'll get sick if you stay out here. Both of you will."
Ed pulled his gloves across his face, like he was trying to wipe away the rain, but it was useless to try. He was soaked through. "I guess," he mumbled. "But… I don't know where to stay tonight. I have no idea where to go."
Lissa stood up beside him and pushed her wet hair from her face. "There's some military dorms near—the institution," she told him softly. "We can stay there."
"Oh. Right." Ed looked at her, squinting against the rain, seeming just…lost. "I forgot. Sorry."
She didn't know what to say—there wasn't anything to say to make this better. So Lissa just took Ed's hand in hers, slipped her fingers between his, and pulled him down the stairs. All she could think of was getting warm and sleeping, forgetting just for a few hours that this was real… Because while the boys might have made a choice here… She hadn't. She'd never been given a choice at all.
Is this really what my life's going to be? Until I pay back the debt… It'll be nine years of debt I owe the state… I'll never make it up to them… They'll never let me go…
—
"I don't want you to do this. Not because of me." Lissa crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't care what they do to me—you can't do this, Edward." She was so, so blindingly angry—she'd wiped off the transmutation circles on her wrists because she was terrified she'd destroy the hallway. But that morning… They'd awoken to discover that Nina and Mr. Tucker had been murdered. And that same morning, in the same damned breath, Colonel Mustang had handed down orders for Ed to go through Tucker's amassed material, to take over the research and piece out what was useful to the military. He'd tried, he really had, but eventually he'd fallen into the same deep pit of rage as Lissa.
Then…he'd thought to quit, only to realize if he resigned as a state alchemist she'd be tossed back into the institution.
"But Lissa, I can't do that to you," Ed argued back. They'd been going back and forth the whole way to Mustang's office, letting Al stay out of it and remain in the dorms—Ed wanted to just beg off the assignment, but Lissa knew Mustang wouldn't let him. He'd have to resign to get away from it. "They'll send you back there, won't they?"
She shrugged faintly. "Just for a little. Then I'll go beg Alex to take me on, and he'll get all emotional and refuse to let anybody put me somewhere else."
Ed shook his head fiercely. "Then—but Al and I might never see you again."
Lissa looked at him in surprise. She hadn't expected that to be a factor in this, not at all. "He wouldn't do that," she murmured. "And you can't… You can't just do this because of me. Please. I'd never forgive myself for making you do that."
"But…Liss…"
"It'll be okay," she insisted. "If they don't fast-track me before then, when I turn sixteen I'll take my exam—and I'll come help you and Al. If you don't have your bodies back by then, of course."
Edward groaned and took both her hands and held on tightly, staring her right in the eyes. "Are you sure?" he reiterated. "You're completely sure you won't hate me for doing this? I don't want to ruin your life."
"I won't hate you, I promise."
He sighed deeply. "Okay. Then I guess I'd better do this."
Lissa squeezed his hands comfortingly. "I'll wait downstairs. They won't reassign me for a bit, so I can at least see you and Alphonse off."
She left him there, trying to keep a brave face about it. But it was hard—this had been her perfect way out, working with Edward and Alphonse to help them get their bodies back. Without that… She didn't know what to do. And now that she'd seen the darker side of being a state alchemist, she almost wanted to ask them to just stick her somewhere until she came of age rather than stay in this program, rather than stay tangled up with the military… Yet… If she did that, she really might never see Ed and Al again. And she just couldn't handle that.
Lissa sank down on a bench in the waiting room just off the front hall, resting her head in her hands and considering her options. She didn't have anywhere else to go—she was a ward of the state, and even if somebody technically took over guardianship, they'd have to pay for the housing, food, and clothing she'd used over the past five years. That was impossible all at once.
A soldier she didn't recognize walked in, looking around with this air that he was searching for somebody. Lissa waved a hand and beckoned him over. "Are you looking for someone?" she asked him. "I know this building really well, I can probably direct you if you want."
"I'm actually looking for Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist," the soldier told her. "I have a message for him."
A message? "I'm actually his—friend." Not apprentice anymore. "I can deliver it for you, I'm meeting back up with him as soon as he's finished upstairs. He's in a meeting with Colonel Mustang right now, actually."
The soldier bobbed his head. "Got it. Will you let him know he's got a visitor waiting outside?"
Lissa flashed a smile, albeit a forced one. She didn't feel properly chipper just yet. "Sure, no problem. Thanks for letting me know, sir." As the soldier wandered away, his job completed, Lissa sat back against the wall and wondered who might be visiting Edward. It could be another alchemist, or maybe it was somebody from Resembool? She'd only met the older woman, Pinako Rockbell, but the boys had talked about their friend Winry who was Lissa's own age too. They were the only two people Ed and Al had ever mentioned, though… So she wasn't sure who else might have come.
Edward came back down a few minutes later, his face grim, and joined her on the bench. "Well, I did it," he sighed. "I resigned." He gave her an anxious look. "And you're really sure you'll be okay, Liss?"
"I am," she told him firmly. "Nothing is worth what Mustang asked you."
"If you're sure."
Lissa snapped her fingers as she remembered. "Oh, yeah, somebody came in earlier and said you have a visitor. He didn't say who, just that they were waiting outside."
Ed raised an eyebrow. "A visitor? Huh. Wonder who?" he stood up and rolled his shoulders, his automail creaking just a bit, and offered her a forced sort of smile. "Let's go find out, I guess. I don't have anything better to do now anyway."
They headed out front and down the steps, but there was nobody around. "Weird," Lissa murmured, spinning on the spot. "Who would come visit you anyway?"
"I'm not sure, but…" He gasped suddenly and crouched down for a moment, snagging something off the concrete and holding it up for Lissa to see. "Check this out. It's a screw… And it looks like…" Ed held out his automail hand and placed the screw alongside it. The unique indent on the head matched perfectly, and the size too.
"Winry," he murmured. "But where the hell did she go, then?"
Lissa frowned at the screw thoughtfully. "Would she have just wandered off?"
He shook his head. "No. Er…not unless something distracted her, I guess. But she's a gearhead, so if she saw something cool she might've gone somewhere."
That still didn't explain what would've made the girl leave, Lissa knew. She scowled and looked around with a new gaze, searching for any kind of clue—it would be really weird for this girl to come to visit Ed, and then vanish before she ever saw him. Something wasn't right. There was a buzzing around her ears, as Lissa walked off the last step and into the roadway, something tugging at her mind… So she released her hold on the energy and let her senses fill with whatever was nagging at her.
Rotten…meat?
Lissa pulled a face. This wasn't right at all. Central felt like gasoline and mechanics and the heavy, heavy hand of the military, tinged with coppery blood. But rotten meat was new.
She looked curiously at a puddle of water sitting in the road, the feeling rising in her mind. "Hey, Ed, look at this," she called, waving him over. "All the rain from last night burned off earlier this morning, it was dry when we got here. So what's this water then?"
Ed's eyes widened. "Hey!" he called up to one of the door guards. "Was there a car stopped here?"
The soldier stepped away from the door to join them. "Yeah, 'course," he told them, baffled. "There's always refrigerated trucks stopping here, whose dealers serve the military cafeteria. They make deliveries pretty much every day."
Edward grabbed Lissa's arm and pulled her further away from the building, his gaze suddenly turning very intense. "Liss, do you remember hearing about the serial killer here that's nobody has been able to find yet? The one who's been targeting young women. No one could figure out how he was hiding the bodies or getting around." He pointed to the puddle on the road, and Lissa went cold all over. "A refrigerated truck would let him do that."
"Oh, no," she breathed. "Ed, are you saying—that guy took your friend Winry?!"
He nodded, though he looked absolutely terrified. "I think so. I gotta go after them, there's a water trail from that truck, I can follow it right to where he's hiding. Go get Al and meet me there, okay?"
Lissa grabbed the lapels of his jacket. "You're going alone? Edward, no, we should get somebody from the investigations department or something."
"There isn't time!" he insisted. "If this creep took Winry, he—he might kill her before anybody gets there. We have to do this ourselves, Liss. Please. Just get Alphonse and meet me there, follow the water!"
She gritted her teeth. "You're right. Okay, I'll do it. Just—be careful, please. We'll be there as soon as we can."
Edward nodded and took off running down the street, so Lissa did the same, racing towards the dorms on the other side of the grounds. She careened past alchemists and MPs alike, not caring who saw her or called out to her—she couldn't let Ed stay there alone for long!
Lissa stumbled through the doors of the dorms building, and rammed right into something hard and metal, which let out a hollow clang. "Al!" she gasped, grabbing onto him to keep from falling. "You have to come with me, Ed and Winry are in danger!" Not your best moment, Caito. Really not. You didn't need to say it like that.
"What?!" Al looked down at her in shock. "Ed and Winry? When did Winry get here? What's going on?"
She shook her head. "I'll explain on the way. I think we found that serial killer, Al! And he's got Winry!"
That was enough to spur him into action. Lissa took off running back towards the front of Central HQ, Al at her heels, and found that same puddle of water she and Ed had found. While they tracked the rest of it, following it through the streets of Central, Lissa explained the rest of it—the refrigerator truck, Ed finding Winry's screw, and the girl vanishing without anyone seeing her go anywhere.
"This is really bad, isn't it, Lissa?" Alphonse asked her quietly, as their trail led them into a worse part of town, a sort of factory and warehouse district.
She nodded. "It is." Lissa looked up at him, thinking. "Do you have chalk with you?"
"I have some, yeah. Do you have your transmutation circles drawn?" he asked her, apparently in the same mindset. They might have to fight here.
Lissa cursed under her breath. "No." She skidded to a halt and yanked out her pen, hurrying to ink the familiar circles on her wrists—then she yanked up her shirt and drew another one on her stomach. "They never expect that one," she confided in him. "Okay, let's go."
The two turned down the next street and found an open door to one brick building, with cold air wafting out—and the sound of metal on metal echoing from deep within. "Rotten meat," Lissa breathed, her stomach clenching. "This is it, Al."
Rotten meat…and amber…salt like the ocean…is that fear? What's amber?
She closed her eyes for a moment and focused inward, trying to delve into that secret part of herself. What was here? It feels like gasoline, like…oil and metal… Like the Rockbells'… And parchment and amber, that's familiar too… But why? Is salt from crying or fear? I don't understand… What does it mean?
Lissa looked up to see Al stepping inside, and hurried to follow him in, her heart pounding so hard in her chest it knocked around in her ears too.
Rows and rows of meat. Pig carcasses, by the looks of it. So it was a butcher's warehouse, then? No wonder it was so cold. She focused on the air currents brushing against her exposed hands, her right hand lifting and reaching forward, feeling for the disturbances. "There," she breathed, pointing to their left. "I think it's-"
Someone screamed—there was a thud, like bodies hitting the floor, coupled with a metallic clang. Alphonse moved first, running faster than Lissa could go without using her alchemy, but she was too terrified to use it yet. She just chased after him as fast as her legs would take her.
They rounded a row of carcasses to see Edward, crumpled on the floor, his automail at a horrible angle with his blade transmuted out, swinging his arm wide to stab the man lying on the floor in front of him.
Al lunged and caught Ed's arm just before the blow landed. "Don't!"
Ed flinched, let out a terrified breathy sound—and spun round, lashing out with his blade and catching Al right across the abdomen.
Pressing a hand to the spot, Al murmured, "It'll take a lot more than that to kill me, brother."
Lissa sank to her knees beside Edward, ignoring the mess soaking into her trousers, and took him by the shoulders. He was crying, bleeding from all kinds of cuts all over his arms, and his breath was hitching like he might panic. "It's okay," she whispered. "You're safe now, it's okay…"
The man behind him shifted and raised his head, giving a wild, insane smile. "Safe, are you?"
Edward flinched away, crying out as he pressed into Lissa's shoulder, terrified. She bared her teeth at the man, suddenly furious. Lissa took hold of the air currents around her hand, gathered them with a flurry of blue sparks—and sent a gust of super-compressed air right into the man's abdomen. He went flying, end over end, before finally ramming into one of the carcasses and dropping to the ground.
"Don't you touch him," Lissa snarled, and pulled Ed into her even tighter.
She heard the click of boots on the ground, got a heady burst of leather and gunmetal—and suddenly MPs flooded the building, taking control of the situation immediately. A couple stood over the serial killer, who just grinned and raised his hands in surrender in the face of several guns aimed at him.
Lissa held Edward out from her, just enough to look him in the eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.
He looked between her and Alphonse, tears still streaming down his cheeks. Stupid question, again. "Al, Liss, I…"
Al knelt down beside them. "Brother… Are you hurt?"
Edward bowed his head, pressing both hands onto the concrete as he cried. "I—I thought he was gonna kill me," he whispered. "I honestly thought I was gonna die." His breath hitched in a terrified sob. "I was so scared…so scared…"
"That's not going to happen," Lissa told him quietly, bringing her arm around him again even as Al rested a hand on his shoulder. "I won't let it. We won't let him touch you ever again."
He ducked his face against her shoulder and let out a quiet, rough sob. Lissa swallowed hard against the sudden wave of tears, realizing too late she was trembling too—if she and Al hadn't come running… If she hadn't listened when Edward said there wasn't enough time… So, so many things could've gone wrong and if they had, she might not be-
Lissa grabbed onto Ed so tightly she must've knocked the breath out of his lungs. "Never again," she swore.
