Holy. Shit. You all - I just realized S&S is OVER A YEAR OLD NOW. The anniversary was on October 23rd and I missed it! I missed my own fic's anniversary! I cannot BELIEVE it's been a year since I started this journey, I really can't. I still remember the point where I thought I'd never post anything again. And now I'm here, halfway through and thirty-four (!) chapters deep into this - and I recently started on my own original story as well, with the intent to try and get it published one day. I am in awe every day of the reception this little fic has gotten, seriously, and you all, the readers, have been a MASSIVE inspiration for me the entire way. You're the reason I feel like I could even try to get something published. Pardon my emotional tirade, but really, just...wow. Thank you all, from the very bottom of my heart and soul. So without further ado, welcome...to Briggs.
The air turned bitingly cold long before the train pulled into North City, prompting Ed to wake up freezing, complaining about the temperature until Lissa shoved the clothes she'd altered into his arms. They both changed in the restroom and were safely bundled in their new clothes by the time they reached the city—Lissa had switched to thick dark grey trousers and black fur-lined boots, with a purple sweater and a warm grey coat, topped with earmuffs and a red scarf she'd transmuted with a little leftover material from Ed's own cloak. She liked the little touch. Her new gloves were black with pink accents, full-fingered for safety, but she'd doubled them up over her usual pink ones in case she needed a little more control. Not that they should have to fight here, given they were just going to a military base… But she wouldn't risk being helpless.
As soon as they stepped off the train, Ed took off running, sprinting away from Al and Lissa with the biggest grin on his face. Lissa just laughed and followed at a normal pace, her cheeks stinging a bit with the chill—but she was just enjoying seeing Edward so happy and carefree for a moment, after everything they'd been through.
She and Al passed through the exit just after Ed, and caught up with him at the edge of the station's stairs. "Look! There's snow!" Ed cried, grinning out into the icy white landscape.
Lissa giggled and tipped her head back, letting snowflakes catch in her curls. Snow. It was so bitterly cold—but she just didn't care, looking out at how beautiful it was, white and fluffy, covering everything in the square.
Not wasting a moment, Ed hurried down the stairs, Al just behind him, and Lissa followed a bit more cautiously, her boots crunching in the layer of ice sitting atop the stone. "Careful, it's-"
Ed yelped as his foot slid out from under him and he went skidding down the stairs, landing in a heap at the bottom, groaning in pain.
"Slippery," Lissa finished.
"Brother!" Al followed him down carefully, worrying as always.
Lissa giggled when she reached the bottom, watching Ed shoving to his feet and rubbing at his tailbone gingerly. "You know, I did suggest you get a pair of snow boots," she pointed out, lifting one foot in demonstration. "But no, you wanted to keep your usual combat boots. Dummy."
He whined and sat up on his knees, giving her a pathetic look. "I didn't think it'd be this bad!"
"Here, let's get you on your feet," Lissa laughed. She offered him a hand and pulled him upright, letting Al grab the suitcase while she held onto Edward's arm so he wouldn't slip yet again, even though the roadway had a good layer of snow on it. "C'mon, Ed. Let's find somewhere to sit down for a second, okay?"
Though Ed wrinkled his nose about it, he agreed anyway, and the three settled on a nearby bench. Ed whined about his tailbone the whole time, even once he'd sat down—and Lissa didn't exactly blame him, though it was funny he'd managed to fall that quickly.
"I can't believe you fell as soon as we got here," she giggled, squeezing his hand and resting her head on his shoulder. "You really are a dummy."
"Yeah, Ed," Al laughed, from Ed's other side. "You are so uncoordinated."
Ed glared up at them. "Oh, shut up!" he complained. "It was just a little slip! Jeez…"
Al stared out at the cityscape thoughtfully. "All this snow is amazing, huh?" he asked, kindly changing the subject.
"Yeah," Ed agreed, smiling. "You don't get much snow like this back home, that's for sure." He looked up at his brother in a sudden burst of excitement. "Oh, yeah—hey, Al! Do you remember that one really heavy snow we had back when we were little?"
Al peered down at him. "Maybe…" But then he giggled and nodded eagerly. Oh, yeah! I remember! We had a snowball fight!"
Ed grinned and bobbed his head. "And we made a snowman!"
Lissa felt a pang of sorrow in her chest, and bit the inside of her cheek to hide it. There was no reason to dampen their spirits now.
"Yeah! Back then I never imagined we would come this far north," Al mused. "It seemed impossible."
Ed smiled up at the snow falling from the sky. "Yeah. But here we are now." He nudged Lissa with his shoulder. "What about you, Liss? Rayerk wasn't too far south from Resembool, did you ever get snow as a kid?"
She shook her head a bit hesitantly. "Not…not that I remember."
His expression fell. "Shit. I forgot you…might not…remember. Sorry." Ed reached down and took her hand, threading his fingers between hers and squeezing softly.
"So that sorta makes it your first time seeing snow, right, Lissa?" Al wondered.
She nodded. "Yup. As far as I know."
"Well…" Al turned to look at her, something…mischievous lurking in his tone. "Then that means there's something very important we need to do."
Lissa raised an eyebrow. "And…that would be…?"
WHAM!
She shrieked and toppled off the bench sideways as the snowball hit her dead-on, coming from nowhere thanks to a little alchemy. Lissa lay there in a snowdrift, stunned, slush trickling down her neck while the boys laughed above her. A snowball. Al had thrown a snowball into her face. She'd never expected that, certainly.
Lissa let her arm fall to the side and curled her fingers into the snow. "If that's how it's gonna be," she muttered.
She shot upright and flung a snowball of her own directly into Ed's face, catching him right in his open mouth. Al dissolved into peals of laughter as his brother spluttered and spat snow, while Lissa pushed to her feet with another snowball primed, just in case. "You're right, Al," she told him, smirking. "That was important."
Ed snickered and wiped his glove across his face. "C'mere!" He lunged up and Lissa shrieked, laughing as he tackled her into the snow, tumbling end over end in a sort of playful tussle, flinging snow and snowballs and both laughing like total idiots. Lissa just grinned when he got the best of her, pinning her into a snowdrift and sprinkling a little snow into her hair. Ed's cheeks and the tip of his nose were bright red, snowflakes caught in his hair and melting just a bit, sparkling like crystals as he beamed down at her, breath puffing white clouds as he panted.
He leaned down and kissed her cheek, just innocently—then another, at the corner of her mouth. When he leaned back, the softness she saw in his golden eyes stole all the breath from her lungs. Lissa knew, in that very moment, she could stay with Edward Elric forever and never be unhappy. Never.
"We'll have a big snowball fight one day," Ed promised wryly as he stood up, and pulled her to her feet beside him. "Just like we did when we were kids. Okay?"
Lissa smiled at him and nodded. "I'll hold you to that."
Ed slung his arm around her shoulders, the gesture familiar and sweet. "So, now what do we do?" he wondered aloud. "We still have a little bit of time before our train to Briggs takes off."
"Why don't you grab something to eat?" Al suggested.
"Eh, I dunno… I'm not really all that hungry," Ed muttered, scrunching his nose up just a bit.
Lissa nudged him with her hip. "Who knows when we'll get to eat again, though?" she pointed out. "We have to walk all the way up to Briggs."
He nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, fair point. I guess we could look." Ed released her and took off running down the snowy street, eager like a little kid.
"Careful!" Al chided, chasing after him. "You're gonna fall again!"
"Shut up!"
Lissa giggled and followed them both, feeling warm all over despite the cold climate. She loved those boys, she really did.
—
They took a train later that day as far north as they could go, and from there paid a local with a horse and cart to take them up as close to Briggs as he dared—Ed grumbled about how much it cost, but their guide explained that hardly anybody went up that far, so this was the best they'd get. Lissa tried not to cringe at the exorbitant price. They certainly weren't in Central anymore.
Lissa sat with her knees curled to her chest, her back pressed into Ed's, trying to conserve body heat the further up they went. It was just…so damned cold. And she'd thought North City was freezing! "I think my nose is going to fall off," she muttered irritably.
"Same with my ears," Ed agreed, sniffling. "I don't suppose you have the materials to transmute me some earmuffs, Liss?"
She shook her head. "Nope. Just use your hood, dummy."
"But I don't wanna w—ACHOO!"
Al looked over at him curiously. "Are you catching a cold?" he asked. "That's the fifth time you've sneezed coming up here."
Ed wiped his nose and glowered at nothing in particular. "Oh, I'm cold all right," he grumbled. "That's Briggs for you."
"You know, Lissa did try to make you dress warmer," Al pointed out.
Ed rolled his eyes. "I did dress warm!"
The cart rolled to a stop, and their guide looked back at them over his shoulder. "All right, this is where I let you go," he announced. They'd stopped outside a single gate in a long strip of wooden fencing, hung with a bell overhead and no other signage or any markings to distinguish it as military land. Lissa wondered how they would've ever found it on their own. Reluctantly, feeling a bit like they were being dropped off to their deaths, Lissa hopped off the cart behind the boys and stood there ankle-deep in the snow. "If you follow this mountain road," their guide continued, pointing through the gate and up the mountain, "it'll lead you straight to Fort Briggs."
"'Kay, thanks," Ed sighed, lifting a hand. He already sounded exhausted and they hadn't even started yet.
"And you, in the armor," their guide called, just as they were about to head off.
Baffled, Al turned to him and pointed at himself.
"Yes, you," the man confirmed. "Is that automail?"
Al tipped his head to one side. "Um…no."
"Oh, okay." Their guide shrugged. "Then you should be all right." With that, he waved and headed off down the road.
"What was that all about?" Ed muttered, frowning.
Al shrugged. "Beats me."
"That's military land, beyond the fence!" the man called back, just before he got too far. "So stay on the road if you want to live!"
Lissa wrinkled her nose. "We should've asked, don't you think?" she pointed out, tapping Ed's automail arm meaningfully. "If there's some issue with automail up here…"
But he just waved her off. "Eh, I'll be fine. It's too late now, besides." He turned and jerked his chin towards the mountain path ahead of them. "You ready?"
"Not really." Lissa wound her arm around his and set off. "But let's go."
They set off at a decent pace, given the snowy conditions, all in fairly good spirits—but the further they got up the mountain, the worse the weather got. Lissa forced Ed to put his hood up, and though he protested it fiercely, he was soon gripping the base of it just to keep it from flying off his head, shivering just as hard as she was in the icy wind and snow that had suddenly filled the air. The storm soon progressed into a full whiteout, racing from manageable all the way to completely unbearable in what felt like under a minute.
"I don't suppose you can do anything about this, can you, Liss?" Ed asked, raising his voice to speak over the wind.
She grimaced. "If I took my gloves off and risked frostbite, sure!"
He let out a yell of frustration. "Dammit! I know they say the weather here changes quickly, but this seems a little extreme, if you ask me!"
Al looked over at them worriedly. "What do we do now, brother? We can't even see the road!"
"Relax, we'll be fine," Ed dismissed quickly. "Teacher said she was tossed out here for a whole month during her training. She survived!"
"No way! She couldn't have lived in this for an entire month!" Al denied quite vehemently.
Ed hunched his shoulders further. "Sure she could! She even killed a bear!"
"Even if she did, that's not fair, comparing us to Ms. Izumi!" Lissa pointed out with a roll of her eyes. "She's a little more badass than we are, Ed."
"And you think she killed a bear?" Al repeated in disbelief. "The bears around here are more than fifteen feet tall, y'know. There's no way she could've killed one of them!"
Secretly, Lissa had to agree—Izumi was still just a regular human, even though she was an exceptionally talented alchemist… There was no way she could've stayed here for a month and killed a bear too, no damn way. At least… She didn't think it was possible. Though the idea of the story being true was more than a little terrifying. How did I survive her disliking me?
Something thudded into the snow behind them, hard. Lissa spun, stretching her fingers out automatically, trying to feel out whatever the hell this…enormous shape in front of them was.
"BEAR!" the boys screamed immediately.
Lissa didn't think so—even with her alchemical senses dulled, her sense of the Dragon's Pulse was still going strong…and this didn't feel like an animal. Though…there was something a bit bear-like about them, despite them being decidedly human.
There was a flash of blue light behind her, and Lissa heard the familiar sound of Ed transmuting his automail. So he was ready to fight, at least. In return, she brought her arms up and stared up at the looming shape, aware she'd have a rough time fighting in these conditions but unwilling to give up all the same.
The air ripped with a distortion, and Lissa shrieked and jerked back as their assailant—a giant man, she thought—slammed something down into the snow, which she just narrowly avoided.
"That's no bear!" Ed yelled, taking her arm and yanking her backwards.
The man flung his arm around and fired something at Al. Lissa thrust her hand forward, trying to disrupt its path—but the air she compressed went through it, and Al was knocked into the snow by a weighted net. Of course her alchemy didn't work right on that! The air just went through the damned gaps!
"Alphonse!" Ed cried, turning to his brother anxiously.
Lissa swallowed hard as she focused her senses on this man, waiting for him to attack. She hadn't been planning on a fucking fight, dammit! Especially not against some giant man with—with… Was that some kind of specialized automail on his right arm? The hell?
Ed stepped up beside her and squinted through the snow. "Hey, wait! Hold on a second. Is that a military uniform you're wearing?" he asked loudly. Lissa followed his gaze, jolting in surprise when she recognized the Amestrian military uniform beneath the man's thick coat. Why the hell was a soldier attacking them?!
The man regarded them. "Well, it looks like some pretty mediocre stuff, but you have automail too, huh?" he observed.
"Huh?" Ed's eyes narrowed. "Mediocre? Just cuz mine's not tacky like yours?"
Lissa winced. Dummy…
"Fool!" the man shot back. "Obviously you don't know a good weapon when you see one!" He brandished his automail, something like a giant clamp mixed with a chainsaw, and snapped, "This right here is combat automail model M1913-A—the Crocodile. Now!" He pointed the jaw-like automail at the two and demanded, "Surrender peacefully, you miserable Drachman spies, or I'll show you exactly what this baby can do!"
"Drachman spies?!" Lissa repeated, gaping at him. He thought they were spies?!
"What're you talking about?! We're not-" But Ed's retort was cut off as the soldier attacked, large enough to go for both Ed and Lissa at once. She ducked underneath his automail and rolled back, using a boost of air to lift to her feet in a fighting stance, just as Ed landed a few feet away, evading with one of his signature handsprings.
He glared across at the soldier, furious now. "Don't you hear what I'm saying, moron?!" Ed's face contorted as he went to snarl something else—but then he winced and grabbed his right shoulder, looking down at his automail anxiously. "What the hell?" Lissa heard him hiss. "It shouldn't be hurting. Something's wrong with my automail!"
From her perspective, she could see his arm was locking up, inexplicable since she'd just helped him service the damned thing the night before. Lissa cursed and rushed forward, a blast of air sending her directly into the soldier's path as he went for Ed. She brought both arms up, palms out, and gathered the wind around her to block his advance—the air sparkled with little tornados of starlight, her own alchemy caught up in the storm, and the force of it all sent their attacker flying backwards.
"You little-" He cut himself off with a growl and lunged, ducking under her next attack—she had almost no control—and knocking her aside with a sweep of his automail.
Lissa landed in the snow, her vision going white for a moment until she shoved back to her knees and blinked her eyes clear. Just a few feet away, the soldier was holding Ed aloft by his right arm, pinning the metal within his own automail, between the jagged bits like teeth running along the center. As she watched, the teeth began to move, like a proper chainsaw, grating over Ed's own automail and sending sparks flying everywhere. Ed tried to transmute the soldier's automail—but the transmutation failed, leaving him at this crazy guy's mercy.
"Let him go!" she snarled, rising to her feet, angry now. How dare this soldier treat them this way!
"Lissa!" Al rose up from behind her, apparently free of the net. "Help me with this!"
She turned to see him holding his own helmet aloft, primed to throw it—and understood in a heartbeat. "Got it!" she called back, summoning the air around them. With all her focus and control, Lissa was able to still a corridor of air for Al—which he immediately took advantage of, throwing his helmet straight into Ed's outstretched hand.
"Thanks, Alphonse!" Ed shouted back. He rammed the helmet into the soldier's automail, and immediately the little ribbon at the top was sucked into the rotating blades, twisting up inside the mechanism and forcing the whole thing to open.
Ed dropped into the snow, free, hurrying to spring back over to where Al and Lissa waited, looking well and truly pissed now as he crouched beside them.
"You okay?" Al asked him worriedly.
Ed grimaced. "This is bad… I hope I die here, or else Winry's gonna kill me!"
"You're lucky he didn't get your whole arm," Lissa muttered, resting her palm on his shoulder. "How's your shoulder?"
"Not great either," he admitted softly.
"That wasn't too bad, kid," the soldier called across to them, holding his tangled automail out to the side. "Especially with that ordinary automail you have. But it's all over now."
Lissa opened her senses, which had been focused solely on that soldier until then—and cringed when she realized they were surrounded by brand-new energies, just moments before a myriad of white-suited soldiers seemed to materialize out of the storm around them. They all bore military-issue handguns and tinted goggles, to protect from snow-blindness… And they were pointing their guns right at the three alchemists.
"The Briggs Mountain Guard," Al whispered, holding his hands up in surrender.
Ed eyed the gun closest to him. "This is getting old. I don't want another gun stuck in my face."
Lissa brought her hands in close to her abdomen, mindful that raising them could be a sort of…threat. She didn't want to take any risks. "We're fucked," she breathed, through chattering teeth as the cold began to set in now that she wasn't moving. "We are so fucked, aren't we?"
"Probably," Ed agreed weakly.
The soldier approached them, knowing they were subdued, as the storm began to die down around them.
"Brother!" Al whispered in surprise.
Lissa followed the angle of his body—and felt her jaw drop in absolute astonishment. When…when did that get there?
Ed seemed just as confused. "A wall?"
"How did we miss that?" Lissa mumbled. For somehow, in the storm and the chaos of the fight…they'd come upon the biggest wall she had ever see, standing between the sides of two mountains. It was massive, cut from dark grey concrete or stone, or some composite, looming out of the snowy ground like a massive gate. How the hell hadn't they spotted it?
"Buccaneer!" a low, feminine voice rang down, echoing off the side of the wall. "Who are they?"
The automail-bearing soldier—Buccaneer, apparently—turned to the wall and snapped to attention. "I'm sorry!" he shouted back. "I didn't see you there, General Armstrong. I apologize for the disturbance."
Lissa tilted her head back and sucked in a sharp breath. High above them, standing impassive on a railed section of the wall, was a woman in soldiers' garb, her long, sleek blonde hair twisting in the unending wind. So this is Alex's sister… She… She doesn't look anything like him, she got the same sort of genes as Catherine, I guess. Damn.
"Armstrong?" Al murmured, catching on.
Ed too was staring up at her. "That's who Major Armstrong wanted us to meet when we made it here? Olivier Mira Armstrong… Major Armstrong's older sister!"
"But…they look different," Al mumbled, baffled.
"She's not huge," Ed agreed, just as confused as his brother.
Lissa eyed the boys. "You really need to meet Cat," she sighed, shaking her head.
"I'll ask again—who are you?" General Armstrong demanded, a touch impatient now, clearly finished waiting for her answers.
Ed stared up at her fiercely, his shoulders squared. "I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist. My name's Edward Elric. Major Armstrong from Central Command sent us here to meet with the General in charge of this post." He jerked his head towards the soldiers still pointing guns at them. "Can you call off your guard dogs?"
General Armstrong gazed down without any remorse. "Search them," she ordered.
"But I'm with the military!" Ed complained.
She scoffed. "Sure. But how do I verify that? Anyone can claim to be somebody famous."
Lissa cringed at that. She'd offer to give a display of her own unique alchemy, but considering the conditions up here, even with the storm having ebbed… And besides, she didn't fancy pissing Alex's sister off before they even officially met. So she stood with her arms outstretched as a soldier, possibly a female by the look of her clothes, patted her down and checked her pockets.
"Hey, he's hollow!" the soldier examining Al yelped.
Ed rolled his eyes. "Oh, you noticed," he sneered.
One of the patrolmen rifled through the suitcase, muttered something, and then went racing up to where the General stood. "General!" he called, offering her a small white envelope.
Lissa perked up. Alex's letter!
"That's a letter of introduction from Major Alex Louis Armstrong," Ed explained loudly. "Just read that. Then you'll know you can trust us."
The General turned the letter over in her hands, checking the seal on the back, which was still undisturbed from being safely stored in the suitcase, thankfully. "It's from Alex, all right," she confirmed. But then, in a quick, decisive motion, she ripped the letter to shreds right there in front of them, without so much as a second glance.
"Aren't you even going to read it?!" Ed yelped.
Lissa watched in horror as the General continued ripping the letter up smoothly. "A letter of introduction means nothing to me. I don't put much stock in anyone else's opinion of a person. I prefer to judge the people I meet with my own eyes." She finished tearing it to shreds and tossed the scraps over her shoulder, letting the wind catch them and carry them away, off and up the mountain.
So Alex really hadn't been kidding when he said it was difficult to earn her respect… She didn't even care about his opinions. Lissa's mouth felt much too dry. This…was not going to be easy.
The white haze from the snow cleared even further, and Lissa heard herself gasp as the very top of the wall finally became visible, stretching so high she wondered how a person could even breathe all the way up there.
"Th-th-that's amazing!" Ed breathed. "It's huge! What exactly is this place?"
The General regarded him a bit sharply. "Enter, Fullmetal Alchemist," she acquiesced, finally.
But Ed was still overwhelmed. "This is incredible," he nearly laughed. "That wall is really, really, really tall!" So that was it… He was going crazy about the height. Lissa could've laughed at him for it—he had such an issue with the height thing.
"Quit gaping like an idiot and start walking!" the General snapped, glowering down at them. "Before I tear your little body apart limb from limb!"
Lissa bit back a growl as she sidestepped in front of Ed. Just you try it, I know how you Armstrongs fight!
A muscle twitched on the General's face. "Be warned: I won't coddle you because you're children." It was a threat—and an acknowledgement of Lissa's actions, too. The lines had been drawn, she supposed. "This is the mountain fortress, Briggs. Here, only the strong survive." With that, the General turned and strode back into the fortress.
Lissa clenched her fists as one of the patrolmen pointed a gun their way. "Cut it out," she muttered. "We're going, we're going."
At the urging of the guards, they headed in through a big metal door at the base of the fortress, Buccaneer leading the way, with Al's helmet still dangling from his automail. Lissa didn't appreciate that any more than she appreciated the way they were surrounded by soldiers, being treated like a threat, like spies instead of fellow members of the Amestrian military. It was one of the first times, if not the first time, she'd ever wanted to be treated like she was part of the military.
"How's your arm?" Lissa asked Ed softly, leaning in closer to him.
He grimaced a bit. "It's…stiff. Not great. And my shoulder…" Ed rubbed gingerly at his port—and then hissed and winced, flinching with a sudden burst of pain. "Dammit… That doesn't feel right…"
Lissa frowned at him. "Here, let me…" She stripped off her full-fingered gloves with her teeth, clenching them there for a moment as she took hold of the air around Ed's shoulder, trying to sense what the hell was going on. "Oh, shit, Ed. That's…cold, that's way too cold. The metal on your port is freezing. I could warm it up, but…" She yanked her gloves from her mouth and stuffed them into her pocket before darting ahead and falling into step beside the big soldier from before. "Hey, uh—it's Buccaneer, right? Captain Buccaneer?" She could see his rank on his uniform, after all. A little propriety might help.
He eyed her suspiciously. "What do you want?"
She pointed back at Ed, whose face was still screwed up in pain. "Ed needs to see a doctor, something's wrong around his ports. You'd know who to take us to, right?"
Buccaneer looked decidedly unhappy about it, but he took another look at Edward and relented. "Fine. The three of you can follow me. I need to get my automail switched out anyway." He jerked his chin at their guards. "I've got 'em."
Lissa dropped back beside Ed as Buccaneer turned down a different hallway, this one as oppressively barren as the last, though it did take them to a stairwell, so that was a change in scenery. Thus far, Fort Briggs was turning out to be…sort of…bland, at least on the interior. It was as though the entire place was built for function, and nothing else, which gave it a rather cold and distant sort of feeling. She didn't like it much.
Buccaneer led them into the medical room, and left them there in the hands of a female doctor with short, spiked blonde hair tied out of her face with a bandanna. "So, what seems to be the problem?" she asked, eyeing them.
"His ports are acting up," Lissa explained quickly, seeing that Ed was too busy grimacing in pain to do it himself.
The doctor's eyes widened. "You have automail?" She pointed at a stool near the center of the room. "Sit. Get out of those wet clothes, I'll be right back."
Ed reluctantly sat down and shucked his boots off, struggling a bit with his coat. It was warmer here, so Lissa felt comfortable enough to keep her gloves off for the moment—which allowed her enough freedom of movement to help Ed, since it was clear his shoulder was paining him. "Here," she murmured, taking his cloak and easing it off his arms. "I got it."
He sighed and let her, wincing as she took his jacket off too, before he got to work on his trousers—that she was not going to do, not like this. By the time Ed had gotten himself down to his underclothes, the doctor returned with a pail of steaming water and a couple washcloths.
"Here, miss, you can help me." The doctor beckoned her over. "I'm just getting the metal warmed up, that's all."
Lissa bobbed her head, and quickly grabbed up a cloth, which she dunked into the hot water. The moment she put it on Ed's shoulder, she could see his posture relaxing, the heat doing its job much better than she could've done. Honestly, she felt more comfortable cooling air than heating it, since hot air could do so much more damage much quicker.
"So, who are you kids, anyway?" the doctor asked curiously, as she worked on Ed's leg.
"I'm Lissa Caito, and this is Edward and Alphonse Elric," Lissa explained, smoothing her fingers across Ed's shoulders. "Edward and I are state alchemists, actually—he's the Fullmetal Alchemist, and I'm the Starlight Alchemist."
The doctor gave her a surprised look. "You kids are state alchemists? How old are you?"
"Fifteen." Lissa pulled out her pocket watch to prove it, and pulled Ed's from his trousers to show as well, before settling it and his trousers on the floor beside him. "That doesn't make us any less military, though." She didn't like being judged for her age any more than Ed did, considering how often they'd faced altered treatment because of it.
"No, no, I got that. It's just impressive, that's all," the doctor explained passively.
Oops.
Ed looked up at her curiously. "So what happened to me, anyway? Why'd my skin start to ache like that?"
"Oh, you were suffering from exposure," she explained, shrugging.
His eyes widened. "E-exposure?"
"Yes, that's right," the doctor confirmed, rising to look down at him. "You got lucky. You were close to getting frostbite." She folded her arms over her chest a bit sternly. "You need to be careful walking around in a snowstorm. The flesh that's touching your automail will freeze—and you need to oil it, or it will stiffen."
Lissa swatted the back of his head. "It was that bad and you didn't say anything?" she muttered.
He caught her hand with his left and tugged her straight into his side, not missing a beat. "So does that Buccaneer guy have a different kind of automail or something?" Ed asked, twining his fingers between hers and holding on firmly.
It was a good question, but the doctor didn't have time to reply—for Buccaneer himself came into the room then, holding his automail aloft with poor Al's helmet still dangling from its jaws. "It's no use, doc," the Captain sighed. "I can't get this thing unstuck."
"Hey, my head!" Al yelped, rising to his feet.
The doctor pointed past the blue curtains at the back of the room. "Yep, go on through. You might have some luck with it off."
Buccaneer grunted his agreement and stepped through, with barely a glance at the alchemists.
"Anyone you see here with automail will have something a bit different," she continued, going back to Ed's question. "Up here, your automail has to be flexible and lightweight. It also needs to be resistant to the cold. After some trial and error, we found an alloy that works—a combination of duralumin, carbon fiber, nickel, copper, and so on."
Ed groaned and screwed up his face unhappily. "Ugh, and here I assumed it was just iron," he muttered. "It's no wonder I couldn't do anything with it."
"Hey, doc, be careful," Buccaneer warned, pulling the curtain aside and stepping back into the room with a new set of automail attached, this one more or less a functional arm—so he'd put on some kind of combat variant just to go fight them? Lissa wondered at that. She knew from seeing Ed go through it that reattaching automail hurt pretty badly. And Captain Buccaneer just…did it habitually. Damn. "Are you planning on telling him all our secrets?" he pressed, rising to his full height.
The doctor raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I? He's a state alchemist. Him and the girl both. They have a right to know, don't they?"
Buccaneer's eyes narrowed. "You're kidding."
"They've got the pocket watches," the doctor added, shrugging.
Lissa glanced at Ed, and pulled her watch out at the same time as he did, offering them as proof again. It didn't seem to reassure Buccaneer, though, if the judgmental look he gave them was anything to go by—though Lissa had the feeling it was more to do with his own frustration that they were technically a higher rank than him, equivalent to a Major. She bit her lip to keep back a smirk at that thought, being able to order somebody like Captain Buccaneer around.
Not that she'd dare. But it was a nice thought.
Since Ed was feeling better by then, he was able to get his clothes back on, a process Lissa watched closely to ensure he actually put all the layers back. She knew he could get absentminded and miss one. "I'll keep an eye on the temperature of your ports for now," Lissa told him, tugging his cloak into place and smoothing the fabric down. "But tell me if it gets bad, please."
"If you're going to be in the north for long, you should switch to a different kind of automail," the doctor suggested, crossing back from where she'd gone to pour what looked like a cup of coffee. Lissa wrinkled her nose. She hated the stuff. "Do you have a mechanic?"
Ed nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, but she's in Rush Valley."
"And she let you come up north without explaining all of this to you first?" the doctor wondered, frowning.
"Not exactly." Ed wrinkled his nose. "I didn't tell her I was planning on coming up here," he explained.
The doctor passed him the cup of coffee she'd fetched. "I'd recommend you send for her," she counseled. "Assuming that you'd like to stay alive."
Lissa shifted away from the cup and told him, "Call her, Ed. You need to."
He grumbled and turned away from her. "Fine," he muttered, and took a reluctant sip—she knew he wasn't exactly fond of it either, but he was attempting to be polite. Lissa had no such hang-ups—this was her milk, so to speak.
"That'll be a hundred cens," the doctor told him brightly, holding out her hand.
Ed spat the drink out and tossed her the coin, glaring down into the cup's depths. "Seriously?! It wasn't even a good cup of coffee," he complained.
The doctor smirked at him. "This is the north. Get used to it."
"I'm really starting to hate the north," Lissa muttered aside to Al, turning her nose up at the whole stupid situation.
Buccaneer eyed them with his arms folded. "So you come up here with mediocre automail, completely ignorant about the north, and you try to bypass the command center," he drawled, the whole thing an accusation.
Lissa bristled at his tone. "That's not it at all," she argued.
"Yeah, come on," Ed protested. "We hike up here, a couple state alchemists with an official letter of introduction, and this is how we're treated?! What's wrong with you people?! Do you have no sense of propriety? Your General threatened to tear my arms off!"
The door slid open. "Hello, little red runt," General Armstrong greeted lowly.
Ed wilted. "L-little…red…"
Lissa tensed, still feeling a bit protective after the General's threats earlier—she wasn't looking to go committing treason, but it was like she'd thought before… She didn't think there was a limit of what she'd do for her boys. And if it came down to it, she'd fight Major General Olivier Armstrong to protect Ed. Even if she'd lose that fight.
"If you have a problem," the General continued, ignoring his distress, "then now's the time to speak up."
Across the room, Al let out a horrified sort of shriek—and Lissa turned to see the base's automail mechanic grinning and holding up his helmet. Only…the ribbon was shredded, cut down to just a couple inches and frayed horribly at the end. "M-my hair!" Alphonse wailed, distraught. He took the helmet back and fitted it in place, peering into a nearby mirror to check the result. "It looks awful," he moaned, slumping in front of the mirror.
Lissa patted his back comfortingly. "It's okay, Al. I'll try to fix it later, I promise."
"If you're finished moping, I believe we have things to discuss," General Armstrong interrupted firmly.
Considering that didn't leave much room for argument, the three followed her out of the medical room and into a sort of inner office, maybe the female doctor's from before. Buccaneer and the doctor followed, wanting information, perhaps. The General brought a new guard with her as well, a man with greyish white hair and tinted goggles, as though he were prepared to go out into the snow at any moment.
While the General sat, crossing her ankle over her knee and taking on a position that was both relaxed and strong, somehow, Ed, Lissa, and Al decided to remain standing instead. Lissa thought it felt like it gave them…a little more control, in the face of all this.
"Well now," the General began, eyeing them. "From what I hear, you three are close to my brother, Alex." She absently peered at a photo on the desk for a moment. "Is he doing all right?"
Ed blinked at her, visibly surprised. "Uh, yeah!"
Al nodded eagerly. "The big, strong guy we know and love! Alex is doing great!"
"And you?" the General pressed Lissa. "It's my understanding you're very close with him. At least, that's what I've heard."
Lissa swallowed hard. "He's…like family to me," she admitted.
Something dark came over the General's face, and Lissa realized that might not be a good thing—but she pushed it away moments later. "No matter," she dismissed. "Never mind him. Tell me why you would bypass the command center to meet with me. I want to know it all." Her sharp-eyed gaze flicked up to Al. "Including why your armor's empty."
The boys exchanged looks, while Lissa scuffed the toe of her snow boot on the floor. Damn. Olivier Armstrong was…not one for subtleties, apparently.
"Actually…that's something we don't like to talk about," Ed told her reluctantly.
The doctor shrugged at him. "There's no reason to worry. Folks around here have plenty they want to hide. Everybody up north has something that they don't like to talk about."
Ed looked unhappy still. "But…if this information reaches certain ears, I could be court-martialed," he admitted.
"Or worse," Lissa muttered, touching his shoulder.
"Even I have secrets like that," the General told them bluntly.
Al leaned in towards the two, lowering his voice carefully. "Brother, Lissa… I really think we have to tell her," he whispered.
"But Winry's a hostage," Ed pointed out softly.
"And Alex, her own brother," Lissa added. She was petrified to admit that much to the General—that Lissa had caused her brother to be put in such danger. Honestly, she thought the Major General might just slice her head right off with the sword at her hip.
Ed gripped her hand tightly. "I don't know… Maybe if we can do it without mentioning the Führer or the homunculi…"
"What are you whispering about?!" the General demanded sharply. "Start talking! Now!"
"We'll just give her the basics," Lissa breathed. "Everything before the homunculi, without the Philosopher's Stone."
Al sighed. "I don't like it…but fine. Let's just tell her we're trying to get our bodies back."
"It's a bit of a long story," Ed began, visibly reluctant.
The General scoffed. "I'm not going anywhere."
So, with no other options, they told the story—from Ed and Al's mother passing, their attempt at human transmutation, the beginning of Lissa's own involvement…all the way to a sort of feigned story about coming across Mei Chang and her little panda, which the boys called a cat as Ed drew it for the General, and how they hoped alkahestry might give them some leads into getting their bodies back. Lissa thought, privately, that General Armstrong didn't believe all of it… Or at least, she sensed there was more to the story. But she seemed content with that wealth of information for the moment, which was a small mercy.
"I see," the General murmured at the end, staring down at the drawing. "So that's why you're looking for this girl with the strange cat." She set the paper down and nodded. "I understand."
An eager look grew on Ed's face. "So does that mean you're going to help u-"
But the General cut him off sharply. "I'm not done! What I understand is this." Her gaze turned fierce. "You three are a bunch of reckless wretches who cause trouble with every last thing you do! I don't want people like you in my fort. Not to mention your poor judgment of character." She scoffed. "Honestly, how could the people at Central let these three run around loose? Get out of here right now!"
Lissa clenched her teeth. Was she really just throwing them out on their asses?! Had they come all this way for—nothing?
"At least…" The General inclined her head. "That's what I'd like to say. But I'm interested in alkahestry." So they weren't being thrown out… But Lissa was still uncomfortable. "You three. You're acquainted with this girl from Xing? You've met her before?"
Al nodded hesitantly. "Yeah… We have."
"She has a skill our country doesn't, right?" General Armstrong pressed.
Lissa furrowed her brow. "Is there a particular reason you're interested in alkahestry, General?" she edged, even knowing it might land her a knife in the neck.
Thankfully, though, the General didn't lash out. "You can never know too much," she explained instead. "Especially here in the north, where we're right next to Drachma. If we use it right, alkahestry could make an excellent weapon."
Lissa and Ed exchanged sharp looks. A weapon?! Dammit, so this was her interest here!
"Wait a second!" Al yelped. "Alkahestry is specialized for medical purposes. You can't j-"
"Be quiet!" The General folded her arms over her chest. "You're nothing but lap dogs living safely within your city walls. But we are the ones who protect you! We few who are brave enough to defend the country's border." Her mouth thinned to a severe line. "My job is far more perilous than yours. I will make use of any knowledge that I can get my hands on." She slammed the sheath of her sword into the floor as she stood up, keeping it in front of her, a clear threat. "Leave the task of finding this alkahestry girl to me. You three will stay here inside the fort."
Trapped. Yet again. Lissa was beginning to get really sick of being trapped in various places all across Amestris.
"And, Major Miles…" The General paused just before exiting the room, addressing the white-haired man who had come in with her.
"Yes, sir?"
"Put them to work." She turned and gazed at them over her shoulder, daring them to argue. "A man who does not work has no right to eat."
"You have a point," the boys admitted.
Lissa watched General Armstrong's back as she left, anger burning in her chest. Poor judgment of character. She was talking about me, and how close I am with Alex. So she's like all the others, thinking he's weak for what happened in Ishval. Her own brother.
"Come on, then," Major Miles ordered, giving them a single wave to follow him as he headed out the door.
"Liss." Ed's palm pressed into her lower back, a gesture of comfort at this point, as he gave her a pointed sort of look. "I know. But…we just have to deal with it for now, right? I don't see any other options here."
She nodded reluctantly. "No, you're right, I just…" Lissa scowled at the floor. "I don't like anyone talking about Alex that way."
Ed smiled a bit crookedly and kissed her cheek. "C'mon. You can steam about it on the way."
"How are you so chipper, huh? General Armstrong doesn't like you much either," she muttered, wrinkling her nose.
"Well, she's gonna try to find the little Xingese girl. I'll take what I can get, at this point."
Lissa sighed at that but didn't argue. He was right. Major General Armstrong had more resources at her disposal than they did—she was much more likely to find Mei Chang within a reasonable amount of time, if the girl really did come up north. And once they did find her…they could figure out the situation from there.
