Chapter 6: "Young Folks" – Peter Bjorn and John
Ed stayed with Song that first night until Hawkeye relieved him at nine in the morning convincing him that he needed sleep too. The next two days went like that Edward watched her at night and one of Mustang's subordinates in the day. It was killing Ed to watch Song in so much pain, but then he remembered how she had saved his life before and waited in hospitals for him. He owed it to her to do the same thing, no matter how long it took.
It had been three days, and Ed was reading a large tome to occupy his thoughts while sitting in the chair that was in the hospital room. He checked the clock before returning to his book; it was two in the morning. Fuery was supposed to relieve him at seven as usual, so he had another five hours, but this had made him nocturnal. He stayed awake at night and barely slept during the day. It was then he heard a soft voice, "Ed?" he looked up from his seat and Song was finally awake. "Ed, how are you, kid?" she asked.
"I'm fine, but more importantly how do you feel?" he asked, completely rejecting his reading to talk with her.
"Like death twice baked over. God, my back is killing me," she said, "But it's manageable," she added once she saw the concern on his face. "How long was I out?"
"Three days," he said, "Mustang found you in the Warehouse District barely alive. What happened in there, if I may ask?" Ed asked. He saw her eyes darken a bit.
"I thought I was going to die when they brought me there, but instead they used me as a sex object. I was forced to service them at all hours. If I fought back they beat me to a pulp. I used most of my chakra healing myself from the first assault, which I should've saved to try and escape but the pain was unbearable," Song began to cry and Ed moved the chair closer to her and let her hold on to him, "The things they did to me was disgusting, I wanted to die everyday and every hour. It was hell on earth, Ed. I was an animal to them, having no other purpose than to pleasure them. How could they do that to me!" she exclaimed to Edward. Song began to scoot to the end of the bed and made room for him. Ed got in bed and began to hold on to her trying to calm her down.
"It's going to be okay, Song, you just need to rest now," he told.
"Will you stay here until I fall asleep?" she asked. This kind of vulnerability from this girl scared Ed, and he agreed to her request. He felt her sobs on his chest, her tears wetting his tank top. He began to rub her back soothingly, which seemed to calm her down. After a while in silence, her breathing was slowing down and she fell back to sleep. Ed continued to hold onto her, as if he might lose her again if he let go.
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The doctors found them like that when Fuery came to take over with Hughes. Song was curled tightly into Edward's chest, and Ed was holding on to her. "That's adorable," said Hughes, "Fuery, I'll let you go back, because I need to talk with Song and it appears she's now in the land of the living." Hughes walked into the hospital room, "Rough night, Ed?" Hughes asked a groggy Ed.
"You could say that. She woke up a bit hysterical and this seemed to comfort her a little," said Ed as her got out of the bed.
"Morning, Lieutenant Colonel," Song said as she woke up, shaking off her slumber.
"How're you feeling, Song?" he asked with a warmth in his voice.
"Like death warmed over, which I guess is better than last night," she said.
"If you're feeling up to it, I need to ask about what happened during you capture."
"That's fine, Hughes," she said trying to muster confidence into her shaky voice.
"Great, Ed, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Matters like this, are very personal, and private. I'm sorry, Ed," said Hughes. After Ed left the room, Hughes turned his attention to Song, who seemed to become very nervous all of the sudden. "Song, I know this is uncomfortable to talk about, but I need to know so that they can be prosecuted to the fullest extent. I just need to know what happened."
"After the party, they took me to that warehouse and strung me up. One, the leader I think, stripped me down and raped me. He told me that I was supposed to be available to all his men and if I was not willing I could be killed. After the first beating, I used most of my chak…energy to heal myself after that I couldn't muster enough strength to stand up let alone fight at all. This continued until you found me," she said as quickly as she could.
"Did all the men we found rape you?"
"Yes."
"Did they all beat you?"
"Not all just five of them."
"If I showed you their photos, could you identify those who did this to you?"
"I think so," she said softly.
"Do you need anything else, Song?" he asked as he saw her starting to fade out on him. She looked like she was drawing into her mind, as if not wanting to deal with this problem. Who wanted to recount events like this? Not anyone that Hughes was aware of. So instead of waiting for an answer, he touched her shoulder. She did not flinch away, but rather accepted the touch. "I will get this resolved, you just focus on getting better, Song," he said as he got up to leave, "I'm going to send Ed back in, okay." It was not a question but a statement of what Hughes planned on doing.
Ed came back into the room, sat down where his book still was, and began to read intently. "Ed, we need to talk," Song said with a firmness that was completely unexpected, "We're stuck here so I'd like to know a little a bit about you. We're going to be working together, and it's helpful to get to know one another." She noticed the shocked look on his face, Song was well aware that her moods turned on a dime. Not many are able to follow her train of thought. "Any family?"
"I have a little brother, Alphonse, he just turned sixteen. My mother died when I was younger and my father died during the Promised Day. Al's back home right now, he's still in the process of returning to normal…"
"Normal? What do you mean by that?"
"No one's told you about me and Al?" most people in the military knew of Al when he was in the suit of armor.
"No, I was in the West during the Promised Day events, and have never been positioned in Central so you're completely new to me. I all know is that you destroyed the man trying to destroy Amestris."
Ed began at the beginning. He told her about his mother, the failed human transmutation, and his life with Al in the military. He told her his whole history it felt like. After his story, Song agreed to share her full story. She started with her family, her days in the Academy, becoming a genin then a chunnin, going into training for medical ninjutsu, the brutal massacre, and her life in Amestris. She was twelve when she arrived, and instantly begun to try to find a way back to her home. She joined the military in order to have access to more information, which she agreed was similar to his reasons. They continued to talk about their lives for hours until the sun set. Ed had to admit he had never been this open with another person in the military. He had no idea what was causing this level of openness with this strange girl. There was a sense of trust that began brewing between the two military persons. They had both seen each completely vulnerable, ill, and in pain. They had similar life experiences. The two were not that different, both strong-willed, independent, and very capable in their areas of expertise.
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Roy came at night to relieve Ed after Hughes told him that he had taken both shifts with Song. He found them in debate about the benefits of different types of holds on their opponents. Song was arguing for holds using the whole arm from behind, but Ed said holds with both hands proved more effective. "Am I interrupting?" asked Mustang.
"You're fine," she said. She turned to Ed, "Well, you should go get some sleep." Ed obeyed without question leaving Mustang and Song alone in the room.
"You seem to have him well controlled."
"We've come to an understanding, Colonel. What can do you for?" she asked. He had to admit she looked a lot better, and even the doctors were saying that she was healing faster than expected and she could get out in two days.
"I just have a question for you. The doctors say you can leave in two days, but don't what you to live alone. This is a precaution for all post-traumatic patients. Hawkeye has offered to take you in, and it works out just fine seeing as you have yet to find a place to live and refuse dorms. Is this arrangement alright with you?"
"Works for me, Colonel Mustang," she said calmly.
"Why don't you get some rest, I'll be outside if you need me," he said as he left to drift off into sleep. Song began to drift off into sleep.
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The next day was full of identification of who did what to Song. It was a blast getting to say who did what to her for four hours straight, but luckily Hughes was patient with her. Her recollections were quite sharp, because she said she knew basic techniques on surviving torture as to remember events more clearly. However, some details were a bit fuzzy, and those details were essential. That was what was taking a small eternity; drawing out her blurry memories into hard facts. When they were finally done, a nurse said there was a visitor for Song. In came Marcus Burkhardt.
"It's good to see you, Miss Uchiha. How are you doing?" he asked with all sincerity.
"I've been better, Marcus. I should be out by tomorrow."
"Well that's good. I just want to apologize for what happened that night. It was my fault that you were there."
"No, that was our job, and you were under threat of attack. The threat to my life was not known at the time, and so no fault on anyone's part. It was just a bunch of psychos wanting my life, because I did my job a couple of weeks back. There is no reason for you to feel the need to apologize. You knew nothing about that attack," she said, feeling terrible for making him feel guilty in anyway.
"Is Ed doing alright? My sister asked about him."
"He's fine, thanks for asking. Ed just worries too much, but he'll be fine once he decides to calm down" she said to him, glad to see that he was relieved.
"If there's anything you ever need in the future, feel free to call upon me. I do owe you."
"Don't mind if I take you up on that offer eventually, because you never know what life will throw at you, right?"
"Correct, I just felt the need to check up on you after what happened that night. You know I have seen a lot of guards in my life, but you and Edward seem to actually respect each other as partners. You two could become an unstoppable force eventually, at least that's my opinion on the matter" he said. They continued to talk for a bit, before a nurse kicked him out so that Song could get some more rest. "I'll check up with you later, Miss Uchiha," he said as he left the room.
Maybe Marcus had a point, she thought to herself. What if Ed and her could become something more than just another guard team that Mustang would dispatch? The possibilities with the two of them were endless if they applied them properly, with his mind and her strength maybe the impossible could become possible.
