Arrest-
Edward frowned.
That wasn't exactly the most reassuring answer Mustang could have given him. All he'd asked was if Roy would turn him in to the police. And the bastard did not even have the gall to give any reply; he merely remained silent, deep in thought.
Of course, his actions pissed off the blonde, who was now making his way home, Ed had left him without a second thought on the matter. That is, until he started to actually think about it.
Had he not laid his deepest secret bare for Roy to gaze upon and scrutinize at his wish?
Had he not shown an infinite amount of trust in thinking that Roy would not backstab him by bringing the police into his personal issues?
He thought he did.
Hence the reason he had asked in the first place. All he had wanted was some reassurance, but he did not even get that.
No, when he left, Roy had not tried to stop him.
Ed bit his lip, pausing at his front door, and wondering if perhaps, he had read Mustang wrong to begin with. Maybe he was disgusted with Edward now that he knew the truth.
His hand grasped the brass doorknob and a greater reality hit him like a breath of pungent air. What if Roy was going to leave him now? He sure showed no problem when Ed left.
Swallowing at the sudden resentment and despair that thought had caused, he entered his home and swore not to dwell on the matter anymore.
They were a thing of the past, which was a clear fact.
"Al?" He called loudly at the silence. It was not even midnight yet, so his brother should have still been awake. Granted, the younger Elric was ill when Ed left. But still… "Hey, Alphonse? Where are you?"
Becoming somewhat panicked at the lack of answer, he leapt up the stairs, three at a time, and burst into the room he'd left Al in.
An empty bed greeted him, sheets pulled back and a still damp rag lying on the floor. He wasn't there.
"Al! Answer me!"
Edward headed for the downstairs again, hoping that maybe he missed something on his first go around. At a brief flash of a shadow in the corner, he stopped completely, shoes screeching on the wooden floor and nearly leaving trails of burned rubber.
Beside a shelf with books crammed on it sat Alphonse, blanket curled around his shoulders and a thin book lying over his legs.
"Why the hell couldn't you answer me?" Ed angrily demanded as he tromped over yonder.
Al's gaze stayed glued to the book. He seemed to take no notice of his flustered brother's presence.
Edward growled lightly, he was sick of people ignoring him tonight. What had he done to deserve this cold shoulder treatment?
None too gently, Ed grabbed Al's shoulder, forced him to turn around and glared into his eyes.
"Do you think it's fun to scare the shit out of me?"
Alphonse blinked a few times then his eyes snapped open wider.
"Brother?" He cautiously questioned.
Edward snorted, "Who did you think was calling you all this time?"
Al stared at his brother a moment longer. "Sorry Brother. I didn't hear anybody calling."
Sighing at the complete look of innocence being given to him, Ed plopped down next to him and waved a hand at the apology. Sometimes he wished Al weren't like him in that area. They could become totally absorbed into any literature, act the part of a breathing and hardly blinking zombie and not even bother to hear anything other than the words they were reading.
"So what were you looking at?"
Alphonse relaxed a bit. He was positive that he had seen his brother's eyes glowing a moment ago. Naturally, they were a brilliantly highlighted shade and appeared to hold their own radiance without sunlight. But what he had just seen… It was as if Ed's pupils disappeared entirely, only to be replaced by a burning molten gold. He glanced back at the deceptive eyes again. They looked normal enough. Al shook his head and decided that it must have been a trick of the light, because really, such a thing would have been impossible.
"I was just browsing at my high school yearbook."
"Really," Ed asked dubiously, "then why haven't you turned from this page yet if you were just… browsing?"
When a bright blush lit up Al's face at being found out, Edward grinned and reached to snatch the book away.
"Stop it Brother! It's no big deal!"
"Then why're you hugging that thing to yourself like a lost love?" He chuckled at first, though the amusement died away at the lack of denial reaching his ears.
Alphonse was inspecting every molecule of dust currently on their floor, avoiding Ed's gaze entirely.
"Al?"
"It's nothing Brother, just-" He began tracing his finger on the cracks below him. "-You remember that girl I… liked back in school?"
Edward nodded, "You mean the one that you absolutely fell for and refused to introduce me to? Sure I do."
"Well, I never told you, but I asked her out to one of the school's dances. And she said 'yes'."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but she never showed up."
"Oh, I'm sorry Al." Ed put a hand on his brother's shoulder comfortingly. He could understand completely. When he had to leave Roy, he gazed at the one picture he'd taken of his lover and hid it under his pillow. So, he could relate.
"And I was so mad at her because I thought she did it as a joke. You know, like girls do in front of their friends to make them laugh?"
Ed nodded.
Tears gathered in Al's eyes, "I went back to school after that weekend and found out that she had been attacked the night of the party on her way to our house."
He pulled Alphonse into his shoulder and let him cry there. Strong hands clutched at the fabric of Ed's shirt, the book fell to the ground.
"Was it my fault that she died, Brother? I mean, if I hadn't asked her in the first place, then she never would have been near the murderer at all."
"No Al, it's not your fault and it isn't hers either."
"Then who am I supposed to blame? I really loved her, Ed. Whenever she smiled, it lit up the entire room; she was pretty and so nice to me. And in return I went and killed her."
Edward pulled Alphonse back from him, "You listen to me." He hissed dangerously. "I don't want to hear you angst over how it was your fault, alright?" Al nodded mutely after a moment. "If you want someone to blame then blame the one who killed her."
Possibly from being told it was alright to blame someone other than himself, Al buried his nose into Ed's coat and sobbed for all he was worth.
Edward merely held him. It was really the only thing he could do given the situation. "What was her name?" He asked lightly out of curiosity.
Al sniffled, "Winry."
Ed's sight drifted to the forgotten book adorning their floor, "That sounds like a pretty-" He sucked in a mouthful of air and nearly choked himself in the process.
When the arm muscles surrounding him contracted spontaneously Alphonse asked, "Brother?"
Instead of replying Edward ripped away from Al and dashed to their bathroom. He ignored the shouts from his little brother of wondering what was wrong and proceeded to dump his breakfast into the toilet.
Oh god…
He spit a last bit of bile, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stared at his reflection in the mirror.
He looked as if he had seen a ghost.
But in reality he had.
Ed covered his mouth again as his stomach lurched violently.
Holy fucking shit…
Alphonse poked his head into the open doorway. He winced sympathetically at the lurching noises breaking through Edward's throat.
"Are you okay Brother? You didn't get sick did you?"
Closing his eyes tightly, Ed braced his left hand onto the sink top. "I'm fine," He whispered.
That face of a frightened girl, younger than him, more innocent than him, better than him, burned into the back of his eyes haunted him every night and day. The first life he had taken and the first time Pride had emerged from darkness, she had come back to see him once again. Her blue eyes shone in the yearbook carelessly lying on the floor, face pulled into a bright smile.
What the hell have I done?
Edward lay on top of his blankets, musing over what he had just learned. After assuring Al again, he pleaded with the boy to just go to sleep and that yes he was fine.
But he wasn't.
You know Chibi; you dwell far too much on the past.
He ignored the voice.
I mean look at you! You're trying to revive a relationship from back then that's dead, you're whining over some spilt blood from a girl and, you know, it's really becoming quite old.
'I wonder who I have to thank for that?' Ed silently questioned.
You blame this on me? It was your idea to leave Mustang, and you were the one who killed that blonde, not I.
'You made me do it! You left me with no choice, you bastard!' He screamed at the smugly innocent tone he was receiving.
Ah ah ah, Edo. There is always a choice.
'Not with you there isn't…'
As Pride laughed and replied with a So true Chibi, so true, Edward went back to ignoring him.
What had he done to deserve this?
"Brother, there are some men at the door! They say they have to talk to you!"
Al's bellowing voice echoed in his head, sending his already present headache into a beautiful migraine. He felt at present like telling his informative secretary down there to shove off and let himself fall back asleep. Back into a time when there was no blood, no guilt, only him, Al and Roy.
"Edward!"
Ed snarled at threw off the covers, "I'm coming already!"
The sudden loudness emerging from his own head and the act of him sitting up far too quickly caused the left side of his face to throb, and little black dots spotted his vision momentarily.
He needed a cigarette.
Luckily for him, he had not bothered to change out of his clothes and thus was ready to greet the visitors disturbing him before eight AM.
Edward stomped down the stairs defiantly, lit a stick from his coat pocket and came to where Al and three other men were standing.
"What's this all about?"
The first, a corpulent man with a balding head, was the one to ignore him.
"Are you Edward Elric?"
"Yes," He said exasperatingly, "Now what the hell do you want this early in the morning?"
Both of the other men looked to their superior, as if for confirmation and at his command of, "Arrest him." they complied.
"What are you doing?!" Alphonse yelled while they latched handcuffs onto a bewildered blonde.
"You, Edward Elric, are under arrest for the murder of the former Captain Mustang, of this town's police division. You shall be taken to a holding cell where you will await trial. Anything you say-"
Al cut the droning man off, stopping his speech, "He couldn't have done that!"
The Sergeant was unfazed by the interruption, "-will and can be held against you in court. So I suggest you come with us peacefully and quietly."
The two began ushering Ed out of his own home, shoving him into the back of a police car.
Alphonse ran out of their house, "Brother, this is crazy! You can't let them do this!"
Despite his uncertainty about the issue Edward smiled shakily, "It'll be okay, Al." Then the door slammed closed.
Both of the lackeys entered with him and started up the engine. The Sergeant however, remained outside and was speaking to another man that Ed hadn't noticed until then.
And as the car drove away, he gasped at the smirking face of one 'Park Bendley' as he turned his head to watch them leave.
The cigarette fell from Ed's lips.
Finally, Edward understood. He remembered why the guy who had hired him had seemed so familiar, like he had seen him before. Because the man was Captain Haruko, a man who was at the same rank as Mustang used to be.
When Pride's words of, Finally we get to see some real action! met his ears, Ed found that he couldn't disagree.
The sparks were going to fly, and for once he didn't even dream of blaming it on his alternate half.
AN: Finally, some of that long buried plot (covered with dust and grime) emerges! So, thank you to reviewers, and hopefully you'll comment again for this chapter.