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I do not own FMA, nor do I wish to.
This story took a turn as i was writing it. It goes dark.
This chapter has a PG13 rating, language, violence.
italics are inside thoughts.
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She'd got a telegram telling her to meet Mustang at the Rush Valley train station by tuesday and so she'd cut her vacation with Winry and Al short and headed out. She needed to talk to him about something and if it was just the two of them on the case then there would be ample time to broach the subject she'd been avoiding.
Mustang met her on the morning train and seemed jumpy about something. When she questioned him he shushed her and said, "no in public."
It annoyed her but it was only a few more minutes until they could get away from the station.
BOOM! She'd been leading the way around a corner and went flying backward as the blast shook nearby buildings. Her body landing and rolling a significant distance across the ground before her head stopped with a cracking noise against a rock.
Ed came to with a ringing in her ears and headache accentuated by the pounding of her heart. She pieced together the last few minutes pretty quickly. Explosion. No problem, she'd lived through plenty of those.
She had a checklist.
1. Am I currently safe? Hmm, there was yelling in her direction but despite the head injury it felt like someone had her head elevated on a somewhat soft surface, probably a coat, and was applying pressure to the wound. Plus the yelling wasn't getting closer.
2. Am i alone? Obviously not, her head was elevated and pressure was on her head wound.
3. Am i damaged? This would take a bit longer; toes wiggled, fingers twitched, breathing was steady, automail leg seemed to be responding, small sections of pain all over with most of it focussed on the new human arm. She rationalised that it was new so it was weaker and probably felt more pain than the other one. Hopefully.
Now for the tricky situational questions.
Is it better to move away from the scene or stay and gather information? Usually 'move' was the answer but this time she was motivated by injuries and backed up by the pressure on her head she stayed "unconscious".
"... belongs to us."
Damn, usually she had better timing with the whole regaining-consciousness-and-tuning-into-conversations thing.
"Not going to happen."
Ok that was Mustang, and his proximity meant that he was the one whose hand was applying pressure. His voice hinted at nonchalance with a hint of worry, which if you considered the situation was mostly good because if her injuries were extensive or life threatening then she was pretty sure he wouldn't even be talking, just blowing things up. The usual 'you hurt my subordinate' response.
"But you have to see it makes sense." A second unknown voice, from the opposite side but similarly far away. "After everything we've done for her she owes us."
"Nope." Mustang again. But more worryingly, who was 'she'. Ed hadn't revealed her secret to anyone yet but the situation seemed to be pointing at her as the subject of conversation.
"Colonel, you know how it is," a third unknown; were they really trying to reason with him? They must not have the upper hand, but then why stay here? "females need to be taken care of and we have a sworn duty to keep them safe. She'll be in our care where she can be happy cooking and cleaning like she's supposed to. It's what she needs."
The hand on her head shifted and she could feel Mustang changing position… to get closer?
"There's no way she'd be ok with that, if you've been following her and 'guarding' her like you say, then you have to know she'd be unhappy in that situation." Ed's blood drained from her face, the way Mustang had said 'she' was a statement, he wasn't playing along, he knew.
"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'VE TOLD HER NOT TO LIKE IT! This is YOUR fault!" he calmed himself, "This is the military's fault. Just give her to us and we can retrain her like the others."
Well, that's why they were staying. The colonel required more information about this apparent gang of kidnappers.
"You know what, give me a moment to think it over. She might need that kind of lifestyle to calm down."
"You have one minute or we kill everyone here."
Ed felt the familiar hot rage start to flow through her, how dare he! but also, did Mustang just surround them in flames? She opened her eyes and was startled out of her rage by finding the Colonel's face only a few inches above her own. He was inspecting her head closely so she could only see his chin but he seemed to know she'd opened her eyes.
"Yes i know you're awake and yes i've known you were a woman for a while. We're just outside of Rush Valley investigating women being kidnapped. I may have used you as bait and i'm sorry but I'll have to explain that later. There's 7 of them surrounding us at about an even distance of 15 feet and every single one of them has some sort of explosive. If i light them up we're not going to find the other women and we'll have to do this all over again with another faction. Intel says there's 4 factions. I'd rather only put you out there once so if you could help me out before killing me that would be great. You've got a pretty good gash on the side of your head but nothing that won't eventually heal, your new arm is sliced up pretty bad but the cuts are shallow and not really bleeding. Other than that, you seem ok, i couldn't hear any breathing issues so i think your lungs are fine too. I'm going to wrap your head up and they're going to take you out of here, probably better if you stay 'unconscious' though."
It was a lot to take in with a head injury, but really, she still had alchemy and a strong automail leg so she really was the best option for bait. She'd beat him up later for not telling her in advance though, about everything.
Her mumbled agreement was one word, "Bastard"
"You have no idea how glad i am you said that."
She closed her eyes and felt the flames died down.
"What guarantee do i have that you'll do what you say and not touch her unless she asks?"
Ed barely managed to suppress the shudder of revulsion.
"We won't until she's healed but you know that women don't know what they want until men show them. But i'll guarantee you it'll be slow and courteous to her needs."
Ed's skin crawled but still managed no physical reaction.
"I guess that makes sense. Ok, I agree to your terms. Could you put at least half the explosives down while i wrap her head injury?"
The group agreed and Mustang began his version of first aid.
"You have full military permission to decapitate anyone that touches you."
She was going to anyway but this made her feel better and not so abandoned.
They'd noticed he'd stopped placing her head wrap in place, "You're done. Step back and we'll come get her."
Mustang did as told and Ed heard the two thuds when he was knocked out and hit the floor. She felt her stomach do the same. If he didn't have some way to track her then she was on her own. Better pay attention to the trip.
Fortunately it wasn't long before they'd arrived. Of course, after days long train trips, 'not long' in Fullmetal terms meant over 2 hours in the back of a car. She'd been playing out scenarios in her head about what to do if backup didn't arrive. All of them were successful, of course, she thought of them, and the kidnappers seemed to be a bit dense as none of them seemed to question her being unconscious for almost 3 hours. She guessed they were there as they slowed through a small abandoned town. Abandoned because there were no other vehicles or humans making any noises, small because there were only a few buildings where the sound of the car got reflected back at them. They didn't stop there but a few minutes later in an area that smelled like a farm.
She felt herself being carried into a house and placed on a bed, first floor, no stairs. At least this kidnapper kept his hands to appropriate places. Suddenly she thought of a plan that was better than every scenario she'd imagined on the way up. Brain damage was a variable she could play with.
She stretched lazily and opened her eyes, then with much exaggeration, "OH! My head! What happened?"
Suddenly she was surrounded, some men had guns, some had knives, all were threatening. She recoiled and looked as helpless as possible, "Scary!" and half hid behind a pillow keeping one eye out. She saw a few of them hesitate and elaborated, "Weapons are scary!"
Ok, whatever they were expecting, this was not it. The Fullmetal they'd seen before was not afraid of guns or knives and would definitely not react like this.
She pouted more, "I don't remember much of anything. Did i get hit in the head? Is that why you've all got weapons? Are you here to protect me?!" Ed filled her eyes with hope and innocence.
Finally one spoke up, "What do you remember?"
She took her time, "Um, i was driving into town with the carriage and i fell off the seat, papa didn't want me to take it but i said i would be ok. Did i hit my head? I can't remember anything! I have to go home and make him dinner or he'll be sad!" ok, maybe a bit over the top, but they bought it. It's what they wanted after all. Meek obedient women.
"Yes that's what happened and we found you and took you to our house to get you cleaned up."
"Oh thank you!" she wasn't going to point out the flaws in that. "How kind of you. My name is Sarah by the way. How can i repay you? May i make you dinner? Wash your clothes? I don't know much but i can help out around the house." She moved to get out of bed and stopped, wincing as her head throbbed but masking it with a distaste for her disguise. She didn't want to be confined to sick ward in case they smartened up, "Oh my! What am i wearing?" She looked up, "are there any women living here i could borrow a dress from?"
A few of them scrambled out of the room and arrived back quickly with clothes. "Oh thank you! Is there somewhere i can change? I think i need a glass of water and then i can start paying you back, is that ok?"
Absolutely it was. They abandoned the room to let her change, though she was pretty sure they were trying to watch through holes in the wall.
Usually this is where she'd just smash the place to bits but her head still really hurt and she'd have to move slowly to get around. Disguise was the best thing she could think of to do a recon of the house and property and gather as much intel as possible.
Newly changed she opened the door and acted shy, "does this look alright?"
The men nodded and pointed her to the kitchen so she could start her chores. Looking forward there was a large pile of dirty dishes. Ugh. "Oh my! Don't you men have anyone to take care of you? I feel like Snow White taking care of the dwarves." oops, shouldn't have gone with the fairy tale that has prince charming show up and take her away.
Too late now though. She went to the sink to start washing as if no other thoughts plagued her. Where the hell was Mustang? She didn't even think she knew how to wash dishes anyway. She heard one of them get nominated and arrive beside her, "um, miss Sarah. Are you sure you're ok? You have a head injury that's still wrapped up."
"Oh i'm fine! I just wish i remembered more about my life, but my papa always said that if i was ever confused to just do house work until it became clear. So that's what i'm going to do. Plus, you strapping young men look like you need a hand around here." She starting singing to herself and they left her to it, two on guard at a time. Idiots. As she completed her version of washing dishes she decided to put some of the big ones away, as she did that she made sure to make a big show of checking every cupboard for their home, and subsequently every window for signs of life. Nothing.
She turned to her guards, "May i use the washroom?"
They pointed her in the right direction and as soon as the door was closed she went right out the window. Plastering a giant happy smile on her face she headed off toward one of the barns picking up a stray bucket on the way. Maybe the women would be there.
They weren't, and it didn't look like there was a door underground either. Ok, three more barns to go.
No one stopped her on the way to the second or third but on the way to the last one she heard footsteps thundering toward her. She turned to meet them with her biggest smile, "I can't find the cow. Is she in there?" She held the bucket up and pointed at the last barn.
One of her captors stopped in his tracks, unsure of how to proceed. It was a dazzling smile.
"Uh, the cow is out in the field. But we don't need milk. There's some already in the fridge."
"Oh" She looked disappointed. "Should i make a pie then?"
"Sure that sounds lovely." He took the bucket and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to guide her back to the house. She was proud of not flinching at the touch.
Once again in the kitchen she realised she had no idea how to bake a pie and as soon as her guard had turned to explain things to his co-kidnappers she disappeared in search of the basement.
It only took them a few minutes this time to catch her but she held up a basket and explained that she thought the apples would be in the root cellar. No one tied up down there either. So there was only the attic and 4th barn to check, this was actually going quite smoothly.
They were keeping a closer eye on her now though. Hmm. She looked out the window to the front of the property. No one was there but she tried anyway, "oh! Guests! Should i bake two pies?!"
Her guards jumped up and ran out the door to investigate and immediately she went for the stairs, once upstairs it was easy to spot the second set of stairs to the attic and didn't hesitate. There was a door at the top and she could hear soft crying through it. Well, that turned the reconoscence mission into a rescue mission and there was nothing more to be gained with this disguise, better open the door and see what was happening.
It was not what she was expecting and the entire situation turned very dark very quickly. There were two girls in the corner, maybe 12 or 13 years old, huddled together under a blanket, but more horrifying was the soiled mattress in the centre of the room. Where a large man was lying on top of a third girl about the same age. She was the one crying.
Ed's wild rage was something that not many had ever seen. Viciously explosive. In moments the man was decapitated and ejected through the attic roof to land in town a few miles away. The kidnappers she'd confused in the kitchen were up the stairs and ejected in a similar manner right afterward. Immediate threat removed but her rage was still in control.
She left the girls to comfort each other, mostly because she needed her hands free for what she was about to do, and a little because she was sure she'd make it worse by touching them.
She made it downstairs and outside fairly quickly and removed all chance of escape by any other kidnappers. *slap* *clap* her hands practically indented the earth with the force she put into her alchemy. The earth shook and shortly afterward a massive wall was created around the entire property. This would have to be a containment measure because there were probably still more girls in that last barn.
Her alchemy brought multiple kidnappers running to her. She waited until it seemed all of them had arrived and buried them alive to their necks. When they screamed she packed the dirt more tightly around them. Letting them breathe, barely.
She wanted to kill them, they deserved it. But the throbbing in her brain was reminding her of her humanity and she eventually decided to let someone else figure it out. Walking over to the section of wall that blocked the driveway, she sat. It was quickly becoming clear that she shouldn't be standing, or thinking, or moving. She might have gone overboard with the wall, but at least Mustang could find her now.
A woman woke her up a few hours later. It looked like the girls had found and freed the rest of the captives. It took a moment to figure out why the woman had woken her but soon she could hear the hammering on the wall behind her and Mustang shouting orders from the other side. She opened a door for them and several military vehicles passed through.
The rest of the afternoon passed pretty quickly. They put the door under guard as the area was checked over for any surviving kidnappers. There were a few. More women were found, 14 in total, 5 girls. Everyone left Ed alone, they'd seen the heads on the ground on the way through town, recognised 'he' was a 'she' and correctly decided this wasn't the time to comment. Mustang was the only one that had come over after getting through the wall, she assumed finding the decapitated men had caused him to think terrible things had happened to her. She couldn't register his words but could guess his question and shook her head pointing at the little girls. He seemed to understand and went back out to work. It looked like they were clearing a building, taking evidence, then burning it down so any more kidnappers couldn't move from one hiding place to one that had already been searched.
She woke up again in the back of a car and recognised Mustang's coat over her before falling back to sleep. This was an issue for the higher ups. She was just the hired gun.
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Oh damn. There's totally a sequel to this if i ever feel like going down that rabbit hole. Court proceedings, human weapon, realising your power. Eesh. Nevermind explaining the Bait situation, if they caught everyone, if the people she did catch are all evil. i left out a lot of explanation in this, i have explanations i think, mostly. but i got bored of writing it and felt that if i didn't post it now, it wasn't going to happen.
Quick personal life checks to know if you're out of line
1. Are you comfortable with your actions being on the news?
2. Would you ask the same question or make the same comment to a male stranger that you would to a female stranger?
3 Would you ask the same question or make the same comment to a female stranger that you would to a male stranger?
4. Legal or not, are you able to explain yourself to the cops without looking like a complete dickhead?
If you answered 'no' to any of these questions. Don't do that thing!
Note: i said, 'any', not 'all'.