Chapter Five
Ed was trying desperately to hide the fact that she was a girl as an engineer put hot cloths on her ports. She was sitting in just a tank top and boxers and it was difficult to keep her identity a secret from someone who obviously knew plenty about human anatomy.
Luckily, Ed's breasts weren't very large, so she didn't have to worry too much. But she didn't know if she was fooling the woman in the lab coat. She was babbling away about something that Ed wasn't particularly listening to, but she caught the word 'exposure'.
"Exposure?" Ed asked.
"Yes, that's right," the doctor said. "You got lucky; you were close to getting frostbite. 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'll stiffen."
"So does that Buccaneer guy have a different kind of automail or something?" Ed asked.
Buccaneer then walked into the room. "It's no use, doc, I can't get this thing unstuck," he said, flashing his automail that still had Alphonse's head planted in it.
"Hey! My head!" Al cried.
"Up here your automail has to be flexible and lightweight," the doctor explained. "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."
"Ah, and here I assumed it was just iron," Ed said. "It's no wonder I couldn't do anything with it."
"Hey, doc, be careful," Buccaneer said. "Are you planning on telling him all of our secrets?"
"Why wouldn't I?" the doctor asked. "He's a State Alchemist. He has a right to know, doesn't he?"
"You're kidding me," Buccaneer said shocked.
"He has the pocket watch," the doctor said as Ed held up her watch.
"If you're going to be in the north for long, you should switch to a different kind of automail," the doctor suggested. "Do you have a mechanic?"
"Yeah, but she's in Rush Valley," Ed said.
"And she let you come up north without explaining all of this to you first?" the doctor asked.
"Not exactly," Ed answered. "I didn't tell her I was planning on coming up here."
"I recommend that you send for her," the doctor said. "Assuming you'd like to stay alive."
Armstrong sat back in her chair as she stared onto the two boys. They didn't leave the room and they weren't alone. Buccaneer and the other doctors were there, along with the soldier that had been accompanying General Armstrong before.
"Tell me why you would bypass the Command Center to meet me," Armstrong ordered. "I want to know it all. Including why your armor is empty and Fullmetal is actually a girl."
"W-What?!" Ed exclaimed suddenly.
"HUH?!" Buccaneer shouted out as well. The others, however, did not react to this.
"Oh, please, you think I can't see through your pathetic rouse?" Armstrong asked. "It's obvious that you're a girl."
"I noticed when I was putting the warm cloth on your automail," the female doctor spoke.
"I kind of figured," the male doctor added.
"A GIRL?!" Buccaneer continued to exclaim.
"I..." Ed gripped at the clothing on her chest, making sure that nothing could be seen. She didn't think so. The doctors made sense, but Armstrong...
"I was born at night but it wasn't last night, Fullmetal," Armstrong said. "Now start from the beginning."
"Actually..." Ed trailed off. "That's something we don't like to talk about."
"There's no reason to worry," the female doctor said. "Folks around here have plenty they want to hide. Everybody up north has something he or she doesn't like to talk about."
"But...if this information reaches certain ears, I could be court marshalled," Ed said.
"Even I have secrets like that," Armstrong said.
"Listen, brother, I really think we have to tell her," Alphonse said close to Ed's ear.
"But Winry's a hostage," Ed said. Winry was still being held as a bargaining chip by the Furher on the condition that Ed keep quiet. She didn't want to jeopardize that. "I don't know, maybe if we can do it without mentioning the Furher and the homunculi."
"What are you whispering about?!" Armstrong shouted.
"Fine, let's just tell her we're trying to get our bodies back," Alphonse said. Ed nodded.
The two went into detail about how they were on a journey to get their bodies back. Even when Armstrong pushed onto why Ed was disguising herself as a male, she explained her reasons of wanting to be in the military and wanting the respect of a man instead of the pity of a female. Ed wasn't sure if Armstrong could relate, but she was such a strong woman. Ed knew a lot of those.
"You may stay here in the fort," Armstrong said. "General Miles," she called to the soldier who had been beside her. "Put them to work."
"Huh?"
"One who does not work does not deserve to eat," Armstrong said.
"You have a point," the Elrics said simultaneously as Armstrong walked out of the room with Buccaneer behind her.
"A lot of people are discovering your secret lately, Ed," Alphonse said. "First Ling and the homunculi and almost Mustang, now the soldiers at Briggs know."
"I think Mustang is still suspicious," Ed said. "I'm gonna have to tell him sooner or later."
"It'll be weird to call you sister again if you ever decide to fully come out," Al commented.
"Maybe after I'm out of the military," Ed responded.
"Maybe."
So I'm jumping around with a lot of these chapters to include as much of the original manga as possible. I'm really just fighting to get out of the manga.
