"Elysia, stop!" Edward yelled as he reached for Elysia's arm when he was finally able to catch up to her. She turned towards him with tears in her eyes. What is wrong with me? How could I do this to her? He asked himself when he saw her tears. It broke his heart to see her like that and he hated himself for causing her such pain. He pulled her into a hug and apologized.
"Elysia please believe me. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry" he said over and over in her hair. He felt her relax a bit then felt her arms wrap around his torso then suddenly she pushed away.
"No!" She shouted with fury looking angrier then he thought possible. She really wanted to kick him but at the moment couldn't remember which leg was automail. Not wanting to hurt herself any further she restrained herself from resorting to violence. But she desperately wanted to hurt him as much as he had just hurt her. "Just leave me alone," she said as she turned and tried to walk away but Edward held her tightly.
"Elysia, please, don't go," Edward begged. "Let me explain!"
"Explain what Edward?!" Elysia shouted. "That you were going to help her hang a picture! I don't care. I should be glad you didn't answer my letters."
"What letters?" Edward asked reaching out for her as she tried to pull away again.
"It doesn't matter. Don't worry about it," Elysia said coldly trying to get away from Edward's grasp.
"Are you the Fullmetal Alchemist?" Edward heard someone ask from behind him.
Letting Elysia go, Edward turned around irritated that someone would interrupt him at a time like this to ask for an autograph; which happened quite often when he was out and about in Central. He was about to tell the person to back off then froze. In front of him was a young man, not much older than Elysia with a wild, scared look in his brown eyes. But it was the gun he held pointed at Edward that caused him to freeze. Before Edward could say anything the young man shot him, then fired again. Edward had no time to react and caught one shot in the chest and the other in his abdomen. He fell back against the rough brick wall behind him, not seeing anything. His only thoughts were of Elysia and that she wouldn't be next before he blacked out.
Elysia, hearing the gunshots, fell to her knees with a wild thought that Edward wasn't that crazy to actually fire a gun at her. Risking a quick look behind her she watched with horror as Edward fell against a wall and slid to the ground, leaving a wet, dark trail of blood on the wall as a young man with a smoking gun stood before him.
"Edward!" Elysia cried out in anguish hoping beyond hope that what she had just seen was not real. Ignoring the man with the gun Elysia ran to Edward and dropped down next to him.
"Edward," Elysia said again, panic stricken. His eyes were closed but she could see he was still breathing, though barely. "Edward!" She shouted again shaking his shoulders. "Look at me! Open your eyes Edward!" She cried out shaking him some more. Elysia couldn't believe what she was seeing. Sure she had wanted to hurt him like he had just hurt a few minutes earlier. But nothing like this. Edward could die, she thought. No, I can't loose him! I won't loose him! I'm not going to let anyone take him away from me! Anger and fear rose up within her and it clouded her judgment. The next thing she knew she had grabbed Edward's military issue handgun from the holster. She swung it around to point it at the man who had just shot him.
"Why?!" Elysia shouted with hatred. "Why?! Why him?!" She shouted again shaking the gun.
"He deserved it!" The man shouted back. It was clear his main objective was Edward because he made no move to point his gun towards Elysia. He had meant to kill the Fullmetal Alchemist and he was close to achieving his goal. But this girl in front of him put a damper on his attempts. He didn't want to involve anyone else.
"This is what he gets for destroying my life!" The man yelled trying to defend his actions.
"Oh it hasn't been destroyed yet," Elysia said coldly removing the safety from the gun.
Edward, fighting his way out of the darkness, had finally been able to force his eyes open. He had heard Elysia yelling his name and had tried to say something to her. Anything to let her know he wasn't gone yet. He was in too much pain to be shocked seeing Elysia holding his gun and pointing it at the man who had shot him. He couldn't see her face clearly. Her arms, holding the gun high, were in the way but he could see her eyes, her father's eyes. Those same cold, calculating eyes that had no trouble killing anyone who dared to threatened someone Maes cared for. Edward had to blink to clear the vision of Maes Hughes that had appeared in Elysia's place holding his gun.
"Move!" The young man shouted. "I came to kill him and not you! If you don't get out of my way I'll kill you too!"
"If that was the case you would have already done so," Elysia taunted raising the gun higher and holding it steady. She suddenly felt calm and she was no longer shaking. She would kill this man. She didn't care. He tried to kill Edward and she was prepared to kill him in return. If he took another step or tried to shoot again, Elysia was ready to shoot back.
But the young man didn't move. A worried look crossed his face. This was not how he had planned it. It was just supposed to be him and the Fullmetal Alchemist. Nobody was to get in his way. He didn't know if he had the courage to kill anyone else. His anger and revenge had been directed solely at Edward and his courage was only enough for that. Looking into Elysia's deadly serious eyes depleted his courage even more.
"What are you waiting for?!" Elysia shouted tearing the young man from his thoughts. "Go on!" Elysia taunted. "Try to finish what you started!" Yes, Elysia wanted him to make his move, just so she could have the satisfaction of making him pay for what he did to Edward.
The young man looked at her and fell for her taunts. His finger twitched against the trigger and just as Elysia pulled the trigger to fire there was a flash of bluish light and a stone wall grew out of the ground blocking the man from Elysia and Edward. Elysia's shot fired off the wall sending a shower of debris into her face. Elysia covered her eyes with her arm to protect them from the sharp objects. As she uncovered her eyes she looked down at Edward and saw that he had rolled over onto his right side, his left hand flat on the ground.
"That should hold him," Edward said weakly as screams came from the other side of the wall.
Elysia looked at the wall then back at Edward. He was losing a lot of blood and looked as if he was ready to pass out again. Elysia started to get up her head clearing of the murderous intentions she had been feeling. Now all she knew was that she needed to get help for Edward.
"I'll go get help," she said but was pulled back down by Edward.
"Stay with me, please," he pleaded looking pale. It hurt for him to speak and he felt he could no longer keep his eyes open. The strain of rolling onto his side had cost him a lot of blood. But he had to in order to reach his right hand, which had been too heavy for him to lift so he could use alchemy to create the wall.
"Edward," she said looking at him. He looked so vulnerable and in such pain. "We need to get you to a hospital."
"Someone will come," Edward explained through the unbearable agony. "They would have heard the shots. Just don't leave me alone, in case I die…" he said as he leaned back and closed his eyes.
"Don't say that," Elysia said sternly tears streaming from her eyes. "You'll be alright," she assured him as she removed her sweater. She folded it up and used it to staunch Edward's bleeding wounds. Edward wanted to say more but the pain was too much and he didn't have the strength as he felt himself being pulled back into the blackness.
Hearing footsteps and voices of people down the street Elysia looked up to see several officers headed towards her and Edward. Colonel Havoc was the first to come into clear view and soon he was on his knees besides Edward.
"Ah shit Ed!" He exclaimed looking over the Fullmetal Alchemist's bleeding body. "What did you do now?" He asked worriedly as he lifted Elysia's sweater to inspect his wounds. Replacing the blood soaked sweater he removed his own jacket and placed it over Edward, then looked behind him at the other officers coming up behind him.
Edward opened his eyes briefly. He wasn't completely in the darkness yet, but he was hearing things as if he were far away from everyone around him. He looked up at Havoc. He desperately wanted to give a reprimand for not being addressed as General but didn't have the energy. Breathing was torture for him. He just wanted the pain to stop but he was afraid if he sunk into the darkness he'd never return. Gripping Elysia's hand everything around him faded then went black.
Elysia feeling Edward clench her hand then let it go looked down at him. "Edward," she said grabbing hold of his hand. She looked up at Havoc.
"Don't worry, we'll get him taken car of," he assured her. Elysia could see the worry plainly written on Havoc's face. His assurance did nothing to calm her when she looked at him. If he looked that worried it meant he had seen this before and she wondered if she should prepare herself for the worse.
"Lieutenant Bradford, go back and call for an ambulance! Tell them General Elric has sustained two gunshot wounds. One through the chest and the other through the abdomen! Major Reid! Inform the Fuhrer what has happened and request the assistance of his Chief of Security to oversee the General's protection at the hospital. Then I want you to go to the Hughes residence and escort Mrs. Hughes to the hospital so she can be with her daughter. Lieutenant Cross! See to this trash. It seems he's gotten his hand stuck in this wall."