Not in chronological order, but the boys' ages will be listed at the top of every chapter.

Edward 13, Alphonse 12

Edward falls into icy water, Al calls for help.

Out in the Cold

East City

Officer Dorms

Two am

"I called the Colonel, Brother. He'll be here soon." Alphonse said in a nervous tone as he fretted around his brother. Leaning close but refusing to touch. He knew the metal had to be cold, and Ed was already cold enough.

They had been out picking up food for dinner, when the place next door was robbed. Edward hadn't thought twice about chasing after the men, who lead them all the way to the warehouse district, where the boys lost them. One of the men had pushed Edward off of the catwalk. Luckily, he landed in a large tank of ice and water. Unluckily, Edward's arm and leg drag him down quickly.

Alphonse had reached in and managed to grab his brother, after Ed had pulled himself close enough to the edge of the tank. Al had been afraid to get any closer and risk damaging the mark on his armor that tied him to the world. Without bothering to think beyond getting Ed to safety, Al had immediately clutched his brother to his chest and run as fast as he could back to the dorms.

When he laid Ed down, he was shivering violently, and his lips were nearly blue. He had red marks on his arm and face where his bare skin had touched Al's armor. Al had immediately called Mustang, unsure of what to do. Mustang had ordered him not to touch Ed directly again, and to wrap Ed's automail in towels as hot as he could manage. Mustang had then promised to arrive right away, and had hung up.

Now Al rushed to the bathroom, and twisted the tap until the water came out in a heavy steam. He took two of Ed's big towels to dunk in the water before rushing back to his brother and wrapping his arm and leg up tight.

Before he could do anything else, a sharp knock at his door interrupted Al's panic. He rushed over to let the Colonel inside. Mustang swept passed the scared child to examine the injured one. He covered Edward in the blankets from the bed, before turning to Al. "You did the right thing calling me Alphonse, thank you. I'm grateful for your quick thinking."

"Is my brother going to be alright?" Al asked as he wrung his hands and shifted from one giant foot to the other.

"Once we get him warm, I believe so. Tell me, did he inhale any of the water?" Roy asked as he watched the elder brother's face. The boy was still out.

"I- I'm not sure. I'm sorry." Al said, sounding near tears.

"Okay. Alphonse, I need you to call Lt. Hawkeye for me, do you think you're up to that?" Roy asked and waited for the child to nod. "Tell her exactly what happened, and then wait by the door for her, because she will be here quickly."

Once the younger brother was occupied, Roy took a moment to look over the elder. It was bad, nearly as bad as he feared from Alphonse's shaky description over the phone. The boy was clearly hypothermic, and possibly in shock. He needed to get the child to the hospital, but he also needed to try to get him warmer in the meantime, especially around his ports which would leech the warmth from his body. There was a very good reason why he turned away all missions north for the child.

He started with striping the boy out of his wet clothing, then gently redressing him in a warm flannel pajama he'd dug out of the drawer, which were a bit small on the boy but would work. He then reheated the towels, pushing up the sleeve and pantleg to wrap directly around the ports. After that, he wrapped the boy in the blanket from the spare bed, his own now wet from his clothes, and dug in the closet in search of any others.

Alphonse poked his head back into the bedroom now, "Ms. Hawkeye said she would be right here. Is Brother okay? Is there anything I can do?"

"I need you to listen for Hawkeye…and warm up some broth if you have any." Roy said as he gave up the search for more blankets and placed his overcoat on top of the boy. "Or hot chocolate would work too."

"Brother has some chocolate I think." Alphonse said as he closed the door.

Roy gently shook Ed's shoulder to try to wake the small boy, noting that at least his lips were no longer blue, and his breathing, while shallow, was no longer labored. "Edward, kid. I need you to wake up for me so I can get something warm in you."

"Mu-Mustang? Why are you here?" Edward asked in confusion, his gaze distant and voice weak.

"You half drowned; your brother called me. Don't worry I'm going to take care of you." Roy said gently.

Alphonse returned a moment later with a steaming mug and Hawkeye trailing behind. She carried an armload of blankets from her linen closet and a concerned frown. Alphonse worried his hands again as he watched the two adults situate his brother on Mustang's lap, Mustang propped against the headboard, and wrapped in multiple blankets before Hawkeye slowly helped Edward drink the chocolate in small sips.

"You did everything you could Alphonse, I'm very proud of you for keeping a level head." Roy said as he pulled the cold child tighter to him and felt the boy begin to warm.

"Havoc will be around with the car to take us to the hospital in about ten minutes sir." Hawkeye said, giving Alphonse a compassionate smile. "Edward will be fine Alphonse. You got him help as quickly as possible, and have done everything we've asked."

Edward finished his drink and laid his head back against Roy's shoulder, exhausted and cold. He was thankful to Mustang and Hawkeye for comforting his brother when he was too weak to do so. He recalled Al apologizing for not climbing into the water to rescue him, but he was honestly grateful his brother had the presence of mind to remember his bloodseal.

Eventually, Havoc joined them in the bedroom, having let himself in. He took in the situation with a whistle. "Well, one thing you can can say about the kid. He never does these things small does he?"

Both Hawkeye and Mustang leveled him with a glare powerful enough to drive him from the room without another word. Hawkeye then turned to Alphonse, "The Colonel and Edward are headed to the hospital now; I need you to wait with me until Breda gets here to deliver us in a few minutes. I'm sorry Alphonse but the car isn't big enough to fit us all."

Al nodded sadly, guessing that his armor was likely still very cold and they didn't want him to accidentally brush against anyone, especially his brother. He watched them disappear through the door, before letting out one weak sob. Hawkeye, ignoring the cold radiating off the boy, wrapped him in a hug. "It's going to be alright Al. You'll see."

"Is there anyway to safely warm me up? I mean without messing with the you know." Al asked, not wanting to hurt anyone else.

Hawkeye hummed thoughtfully, before pulling him into the bathroom. "Your armor is relatively sealed, correct? I know you've been caught in the rain before, so a bit of steam shouldn't hurt anything."

She turned the shower on just hot and let it fill the room with steam, waiting a few minutes before touching the boy's arm gently. He was still a bit cold but not as terrible as it had been. Breda was waiting out in the hallway, Hawkeye had called for him that they would be a few minutes. She shut off the shower and told Al to go ahead and stay in here while she packed a bag for Ed, her official reason for making Breda wait. No one aside from herself and Mustang knew what Al was and they wanted to keep it that way as long as possible.

Once the bag with a spare set of soft workout clothes and a couple of books were packed she returned for Al. He was now his normal temperature, and a lot calmer than he had been. Together they left to join his brother at the hospital.