Alphonse and Sierra sat side by side on the train seat still gasping for breath. Ed kneeled in front of them gently tending to Al's arm wrapping it tightly in a make shift sling he made out his coat. Sierra stared out the window watching houses and stations before it all became a blur before her glassy unfocused eyes. She turned to look at Alphonse whose face was upturned to the roof of the cab, his eyes shut tightly and mouth open breathing loudly. Her eyes slowly moved down to Edward whose face was one of deep concern. His eyes were squinted slightly and his mouth drawn down in a tight thin line, so unlike the Edward she had gotten accustomed too in the past couple of weeks.
"That should do for now. Once we arrive in Frankfurt we'll go to the nearest doctor a.s.a.p." Ed said sitting down in the seat across from them. Al cracked open an eye to look at his brother and shook his head.
"We won't make it that far." Al stated groggily.
"How the hell do you figure?" Ed asked in his usual tone.
"They'll be waiting for us." Sierra answered softly. Ed looked at her and sighed sitting slouching in his seat.
"Damn I didn't think about that." He said.
"Brother what should we do?" Alphonse asked wincing as he readjusted his arm carefully and sat up straighter.
"The only thing we can do. Get off this train as soon as we can and take off on foot. Our best bet would be to stay hidden during the day and travel by night." Ed said staring out the window in deep concentration. He stood up and sighed.
"You guys feel rested enough?" Ed asked knowing fully well they weren't but they nodded and offered weak smiles anyways. Ed smiled back and they walked through the cab as the train began to slow.
"It would probably be in our best interest to go up." Al said pointing to the roof. Sierra looked at him eyes wide.
"Up, as in on top of the train?" She asked in disbelief. Al nodded.
"Mhmm." He replied. Sierra shook her head.
"Are you insane? It's dangerous up there." She stated.
"Yeah well it's dangerous in here too. Besides Al and I have done stuff like this before." Ed answered opening the back door to the cab and stepping out side already climbing the ladder going up.
"I, I'm scared." She said visibly shaking.
"Don't worry sister. I won't let anything bad happen to you and neither will Ed." Al said kind of pushing her towards the ladder.
"Yeah but…" She began.
"Come on Sierra." Ed said from the top of the train offering his hand down to her. Sierra held her breath for a moment before ascending upwards. The train was slowing down as they began to enter a town.
"Ummm brother…" Al said nervously. Ed turned to look behind him and gasped. Not only were there soldiers but the fuhrers personal police as well.
"Hurry up Sierra you have to move." Ed said.
"Alright!" She yelled annoyed. Ed grabbed her by the wrist once she was close enough and pulled her up. Alphonse struggled one handedly gratefully accepting Edwards help. Sierra held onto Ed's hand tightly as they made their way across the train.
"Here, now get down on your stomach as low as you can. When the train stops completely we'll slide to the ground before they can run to the other side. We can probably evade them if we can make it to that wooded area." Ed instructed as they all flattened themselves against the train top. The train came to a screeching halt nearly causing them to fly off.
"Now!" Ed said loud enough for only them to hear. The three slid down crashing to the ground less than gracefully.
"Come on." Al said the first up and running towards the forest. Sierra and Ed were close behind as the train was rushed. Sierra slowed to turn her head backwards but felt Ed push her slightly.
"No don't look back Sierra just run!" He shouted at her.
'Please let us make it. Please don't let them see us.' Sierra thought to herself.
"Over there! In the field heading towards the woods!" Someone shouted from behind them.
"Oh shit!" Ed yelled running even faster grabbing Sierra's hand and pulled her along. Popping noises sounded from behind them as bullets began to whiz past them. Sierra screamed covering her ear with her free hand. Bullets pierced the trees on the outskirts of the forest as they entered it sending wood chips flying.
"We made it!" Al shouted happily.
"Doesn't mean we should stop running though." Ed said breathlessly.
"Yeah I know." He said holding onto his injured arm tightly.
"There should be a town close by. We should get your arm fixed before we get too famous for our own good." Sierra said. Al stopped dead in his tracks and stared back at them.
"The briefcase! I forgot it on the train!" He said frantically. Ed smiled a little slowing down himself to catch his breath.
"Don't worry about it Alphonse." Ed said taking the folder out from underneath his jacket. Al sighed relief and began to jog slowly. Luckily there was a small village on the other side of the forest that didn't seem affected much by the military, yet. The doctor answered the door reluctantly at first but then saw the extent of damage to Alphonse's arm and welcomed them in.
"The arm is going to have to be set first before we cast it. How did this happen again?" She asked kindly.
"I fell on it earlier after the horse I was riding bucked me off." He lied to her seemingly with ease.
"Must have been a big horse." She said.
"Yes ma'am." Al said politely nodding and smiling a bit. She looked at the three of them curiously before exiting the room. Ed sat next to Al and sighed ruffling his younger brother's hair.
"I'm sorry Alphonse." He said regretfully.
"You have nothing to be sorry about Edward. I'm the one who should be apologizing, to both of you." Sierra said her head down. Both gazes turned to her.
"What do you have to be sorry about sister?" Al asked. Sierra sat quietly for a moment before sobs racked her body.
"You guys are in all this trouble because of me. I'm so sorry, so so sorry." She cried. Ed and Al simply smiled sympathetic smiles.
"Hey, hey come on now. It's not so bad." Ed said going over to her. He placed his hand under her chin to lift her tear stained face to meet his gaze.
"As long as we're all together Sierra, that's all that matters." Alphonse said.
"Yeah but the only reason why your doing this is because you think I'm your sister and if it turns out that I'm really not then it will have just been a waste of you guy's time." She said.
"Sierra look, I'm going to be honest with you, this whole thing with you is weird alright? As far as we can tell you don't even exist as far as paperwork goes. Now as far as a birth certificate goes it's possible you could have just been born at home but so weren't your brothers and your mother got them at least documented in the system but not you." Ed said.
"It seems as if you were being hidden and I think we have a pretty good idea of who but the question is why." Al said.
"They kept asking me about Hohenheim but I have no clue where let alone who he is." Sierra said.
"Well you already know that Hoehenheim Elric was our father but what we didn't mention is that he passed away a couple of years ago." Ed said sadly.
"What do they want with him anyways?" Sierra asked.
"Our dad did a lot of research and experimentation for the military. We think you have something to do with those experiments Sierra." Ed said taking out the folder and opening it.
"Your name came up alongside a project name. A name Ed and I both know." Al said.
"Who's name is that?" Sierra asked becoming nervous.
"Envy." They said in unison. Sierra trembled at the way they both said it. She could hear the hate and disdain in their voices as if it were a taboo to speak the name. The very name alone is what shook her to her very soul. At the same awful time it sounded familiar, too familiar and she felt as if she should be remembering something very important.
"Alright I'm back." The doctor said cheerfully. "Now you two out so I can work on the patient."