Chapter 4: Alphonse
When the ship arrived, Edward looked anxiously at it, sick of worry, confusion and resentment for the bastards who had caught him. Roy, ever the observant one, noticed this and placed a comforting hand on his shoulders as many children were guided to the shores. Usually Havoc and the others were constantly yapping, joking and fooling around with Edward or with each other, but today was different, because today Edward wasn't his usual, cheerful self.
Yes, today was very different.
"Do you think… he will recognise me?" Edward asked Roy hesitantly. It had been so many years since they had seen each other after all. "Do you think I can recognise him? What if he hates me?" Roy shook his head, never taking his hand away from Edward's shoulder. He gave it a light, encouraging squeeze.
"I don't believe he would ever hate you," he said firmly. He really did believe it; who could ever hate someone like Edward? He was bright, cheerful, a bit of a temper; but he gave off a warm feeling, something that made everyone forgive the things he would say or do that were out of line. He was stubborn, but had a good heart and usually did the right things and he was very protective of his friends—that were certainly some good qualities any human being should have.
Roy's eyes focused on a young blond, slightly taller than Edward. His face was a little fuller, but they both shared the same determined look, though his was perhaps a bit more hesitant, and his hair was a little longer. "As for recognising him," Roy started, whispering in Edward's ear, who gave an involuntary shiver. "I don't think you'd have any trouble with that." He nodded towards the same blond and saw Edward's eyes widen in disbelief.
"A-Alphonse!" he said and despite the situation, he smiled at seeing his younger brother again. They were led in front of the guards and Edward and were placed in a line so each of them could face Roy, who gave his regular speech, as he did always, informing them about the prison, the rules and anything else that they should know. After he was done, he turned to Edward and softly told him that they would go up ahead and that they would give him and Alphonse a little privacy.
"You have five minutes, Ed, then you come up with us," he said softly, so the others couldn't hear him. Edward whispered a small 'thanks, bastard' back, before Roy turned towards the others. "If everyone will follow me in a straight and orderly line, I will take you to your designated blocks. From their, each head guard of the blocks will explain more. If Alphonse Elric would please stay here for a moment, we will come and get you shortly." Said boy raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything as the others were being taken away.
Once they were gone, the two brothers stared at each other for a while; Edward knew by the look in Alphonse's eyes that he recognised him, luckily, and also that he didn't hate him as he thought he would. He was instead smiling, tears forming in his eyes as he ran up to his older brother and jumped on top of him, hugging Edward with all his might as they fell backwards on the ground.
They both laughed, though giggled might have been a more accurate term; they laughed as though they were children again, childish and full of joy. They both ruffled each other's hair and sometimes one of them would grab the other in a headlock.
"I'm so glad to see you, nii-san," Alphonse said eventually, both panting from their meeting.
"I'm glad to see you too, Al," Edward said truthfully, before he pounded his younger brother on the head. "How could you get caught! Don't you know what a hell-hole this is! What about mom, huh? She's all alone now! I promised I would get back eventually, didn't I? Damn it, Al, why couldn't you just stay low?"
Alphonse smacked him back.
"I let myself get caught," he answered, smiling mischievously at his brother. "I'm going to get you out of here, nii-san, even if it's the last thing I do." Edward stared at him for a long time, before he finally broke out laughing.
"You really think it's going to be that easy?" he asked. "I've been trying ever since I got caught here!"
"Winry's helping us," Alphonse explained, ignoring his brother's laughter. "As well as aunt Pinako, though I had to beg her for help. We've been working on this for three years now; getting all the information we could find about Central, making up a plan, getting the things we need… we all want you back, nii-san, that's why we are doing this," he concluded.
"What about mom?" Edward asked him, his laughter had died out and was now left with nothing but worry. "What if it doesn't work? She'll have no one." Alphonse looked at the ground, his eyes going from serious to sad in an instant, clenching his fists.
"Nii-san… I wanted to tell you as soon as it happened. I wrote a letter to you, hoping that it would get to you, but about six months later it got sent back." Edward's heart started pounding in his throat.
"W-what are you saying, Al?" he asked him, nearly yelling it.
"Mom got sick, a year after you got taken by them," he said. "She…died a year after that. I've been living with Winry ever since." Edward clutched his fists, feeling tears stinging in his eyes.
"No way! Mom couldn't have died," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. Alphonse pulled his brother into a hug and held him, smiling sadly when he felt Edward clutching his shirt. "H-how… those bastards," he gritted his teeth, and he felt hatred more than ever now, for Central. Because they had taken him away from his mother—he couldn't even say goodbye to her when she had been dying. They wouldn't even let him know that she had died, even though the only reason he was still living was so he could get back to them, to his family.
"We're gonna get out of here, nii-san," Alphonse said softly. "And then we'll live together like we used to, we'll go visit mom's grave so you can let her know you're alright." Edward could only nod against Alphonse' shoulder, determination shooting back into his eyes as he heard him saying it.
Yes, they would get out of there, no matter what.
A couple of days later, Edward seemed to be doing alright. He had requested for Alphonse to share his cell and Bradley had agreed to this, much to Edward's relief. He really wanted to catch up with his brother, get to know him again, learn everything that has been going on in the outside world.
Alphonse told him endless stories, about him and Winry dating each other and getting married as soon as they were going to be eighteen (Edward hadn't responded to that too well; 'Wha! You and that man-woman? I can't believe this…'), about her being a mechanic, about her parents who had died as well and many more things about Resembool. Edward loved to hear them and it made him feel as though he was there himself, it made him feel connected with the outside world and it made him feel even more determined about everything.
Well, that was when they were on camera.
During the day, the would try to find places where there were no guards or security cameras or nosy fellow-prisoners. During those times, Alphonse would explain their escape plan, what they were going to do and how they were going to do it. Edward listened intently and gained some hope; he thought it really might work.
Fletcher had taken a liking in Alphonse and they would often hang out together whenever their brothers didn't have time for them. Russell would often spend his time with Envy, who had recovered from Greed, and Edward would usually go to Roy. Alphonse had warned him about the guard; he was the enemy after all, but Edward had insisted that he was a good guy and that he wouldn't betray them. Alphonse had accepted their friendship, but he had pressed on about the fact that they should be discrete and not talk about their plan with anyone—Edward had reluctantly agreed to it, though he wanted to leave a letter to the guard on the night they would escape.
Alphonse had reluctantly agreed to this.
But he had also discovered another problem with his brother; Edward refused to let Fletcher, Russell and Envy behind in Central. It would cause Alphonse and Edward a lot of problems if three extra people would come along, but eventually he gave in and decided it was for the best, even if their success rate would drop immensely. He would just have to try harder to make everything go according to plan.
The worst thing of it all was that he did not have any contact with Winry in that place, so if something would go wrong, they wouldn't know it. Of course they had agreed the exact time and place, and everything else, but that didn't mean anything if someone would get caught, or if the alarms would go off. It had to be perfect in order to escape and that was what Alphonse most feared, especially now that he could see how attached Edward had gotten to a lot of people here.
Especially Roy.
Roy was the biggest threat, the blond figured. Edward seemed to have some sort of bond with him and he seemed at his happiest whenever the black-haired man was around, despite the fact that Alphonse was now with him. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous at this, but quickly scolded himself for being so inconsiderate; after all, he had Winry as well and was happier when he was with her.
"No kidding?" Envy asked in disbelief when they had told them that they were going to escape. "Are ya fucking crazy or something?" he continued. "You think just 'cause you got outside help, everything's gonna work?"
"It will work," Alphonse said. "We've been busy with this for the past three years and now we're going to do it. You can either not try and stay here, or try and get out. It's your choice." Envy seemed to think about it for a moment, before he grinned.
"Well, even if it won't work, I guess there'll be a little adventure. It's so damn boring here! Okay, I'm in, Goldilocks." Russell wasn't convinced.
"What happens if we get caught?" he asked, looking at his little brother. He didn't fear for himself, but if they would hurt Fletcher because he had made a wrong decision… he would never forgive himself. Edward answered this time.
"They won't do anything bad, you just get horrible grub for a while," he said, shrugging. "Well, that goes for Fletcher though, since he's younger. We probably get a beating, but they won't hurt Fletch." Russell eyed him dubiously.
"You sure?" Edward nodded again. "Okay… then I'm in too, if it's okay with you Fletch," he turned to his little brother, who also nodded.
"Yeah, I want to get out of here," he said. Alphonse smiled and ruffled his hair.
"Great! Then here's what we're going to do. Remember this well, because there's no time to repeat it and we're going to do it tonight," he looked up to see if there were no guards in the neighbourhood, before he started explaining them everything.
Edward made a last stroll through Central, clutching a letter against his chest. He had ripped a page from a book, which was blank on one side, and managed to get his hands on a pen. On the back he had scribbled a small 'To Roy'.
He sighed as he looked around; he knew he wasn't going to miss the place, just the people. He knew that someday he would have to say goodbye to them, whether it was because they would get fired, or they would leave on their own, or he would die; it didn't matter. It would eventually happen, eventually he would have to say goodbye to everyone… even to Roy.
That was probably the hardest for him, saying goodbye to that particular guard. He didn't know why though; Roy was an insufferable bastard at times, calling him short all the time. He was annoying and arrogant and seemed to know everything that was going on. And still Edward couldn't help but think that he would be the one who he was going to miss the most; the one he would have wanted to take with him more than anyone else.
"Che, bastard," he muttered, with more affection than he intended, as he looked at the letter. This would explain everything, he would say goodbye in this letter, tell him that he was the best friend he could ever have. And then that was it for their relationship; then it would be over.
He snuck into his office, grinned at the sight of Roy sleeping with his head on his desk and placed the letter underneath a stack of paperwork. Alphonse had said to put the letter somewhere Roy wouldn't find it immediately.
"Heh, he won't see this letter in the next four months," he muttered softly, grinning slightly as he made sure the letter wasn't visible. After that, he took a good look at Roy, really not wanting to say goodbye to him. As if his hand was moving on its own, he fumbled with the strands of Roy's black hair smiling lightly when Roy mumbled something in his sleep.
"Riza…no…more… paperwork!" he yelled out the final word, sitting up straight with a start. He blinked when he saw Edward laughing and when he noticed he had been sleeping on the job again. He also noticed their close proximity and the fact that Edward's hand was in his hair didn't escape him either. "What were you doing here, Edward?" he asked, smirking lightly. He mentally wondered what the hell he was doing, but paid no attention to it as he continued, "If you wanted to ravish me in my sleep, you could've just asked. I wouldn't have stopped you." He looked amused as Edward was blushing furiously, spluttering incoherent sentences as started taking back his hand. Roy's hand stopped him however and held it in its place as he stood up, towering over the boy. "Was there something you needed, Ed?" he asked.
"I—I," he stuttered. "N-no, I was just…" Roy raised an eyebrow at the uncharacteristic behaviour—he would have normally been enraged already by the way he was shamelessly flirting with him.
"You were just…?" Roy repeated.
"I was just… going to wish you goodnight," Edward said, looking up at the taller man and grinning. Roy leaned down a little.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I can see right through those fake grins of yours, Edward?" he asked him. Edward blinked at him, pushing the other away.
"I…maybe I'll tell you sometime, okay?" he said, turning around. "I'm tired, I'll go to bed." He didn't wait for Roy to reply and instead immediately walked out the door, closing it behind him.
Roy couldn't help but feel he had somehow lost him.
Thanks for all your wonderful reviews! I hope I didn't disappoint you with this chapter ; D.