Chapter 10: They Talk in Flowers


"Ed, get up!" The prettier daisy leaned against the wall, her stem wilted. Not enough water, Steinkuhl thought, but at least that wouldn't be a problem much longer. Once he'd plucked her, she wouldn't need water any more. She trembled, as if caught in a breeze, her wide eyes staring at him.

The golden daisy lay sprawled on the floor, breath rasping heavily. The blood had caked on his petals and Steinkuhl reminded himself he'd need to clean that carefully. He'd never seen such a rich shade of yellow in petals before. If there was a way to preserve the daisy's eyes, he would – they were like miniature suns, blazing away when they were opened. That was probably why the lighter-colored daisy stuck so close to him – the warmth of those eyes. He glanced toward the pale daisy, wanting to see her expression.

Dew spangled her face and he thought, callously, that she was self-watering. As if she felt his gaze, she pushed against the wall, straightening her stem. Her leaves rustled and the daisy took a step nearer to him. "You stay away from us."

Daisies shouldn't talk, he thought, frowning, not in such angry tones. They should always sound breathless and shivery.

"I mean it!" She took a couple of steps nearer. Determination showed in her curled leaves, in the way she shook back her petals. She stepped over the golden daisy, planting herself in front of him. Protecting him. Maybe I shouldn't have taken them both at the same time.

The golden daisy groaned, pressing against the floor with his leaves. "You heard her." Achingly slow, he pushed up to his knees, not moving any farther.

"Ed, can you stand up?" The pale daisy didn't even glance down though he knelt at her side.

"Maybe." A weary but fierce grin split his face. "But I know I can do this." His leaves came together with a peculiar sound, like the clear tone of a bell being struck, and lightning seemed to flash as his leaves dropped to the flooring again, making it ripple like a mole digging through loose soil.

Steinkuhl cried out as the floor swallowed his lower limbs, casing them in lightning blue and concrete. He screamed louder when he realized he couldn't move his feet. Windmilling his arms, he fought to stay upright, to not fall down before the flowers. The lighter-colored daisy stared at him, mouth dropping open, head swiveling to gape at the golden daisy next to her.

"Scream all you want." He looked ready to collapse but managed to drag himself upright. "C'mon, Winry. Let's get out of here."

The pale daisy wrapped a leaf around the golden one, ignoring the protests he made. The two of them edged sideways, out of Steinkuhl's scrabbling reach. The golden daisy showed all his teeth, like the smile of an angry dog. "You," he pointed with his free hand, "stay there." The pair took a wobbling step, the weight of the male nearly pulling the female down.

"C'mon, Ed," she gritted her teeth, "you can do this."

He grunted in response. "…still woozy. Musta hit me hard." They shuffled their way toward the staircase leading out of the basement, the male balking at the first step. "Not gon' make it, Winry."

"I'm not leaving you here." She glanced over her shoulder and Steinkuhl hid a flinch at the sheer fury in her eyes. "Not with him."

"…not goin' anywhere." His body sagged, only his leaf smacking into the doorframe keeping him upright. "Lemm' down an' you call som'body."

Her body vibrated with her hesitation. "This isn't a good idea, Ed." Her low voice barely carried across the room.

"S'okay." The golden daisy unwound his leaves from her. "'m okay." He braced himself on the wall. "s'gonna all be okay." His face split in what Steinkuhl thought might be a reassuring smile. "Go 'wan. Get some help."

She stared at him for a long time, searching his face. "You're sure."

"Yeah." He straightened his stem, presenting the pale daisy with a confidant demeanor, and shooed her toward the stairs.

No, Steinkuhl thought, but the pale daisy already had a foot on the first riser. She still frowned at the other daisy, but he waved her on. As she turned her face toward him, Steinkuhl felt a trembling in his gut, a loosening of his bowels. She was going upstairs. "No!" He clawed at the flooring – how could a flower make the ground move? "No, you can't go up there!"


The restaurant was just closing as they arrived, Lena and Tony puffing and blowing behind him while Alphonse shouted at the man locking the door. "Hey! Wait!"

He froze, obviously startled by the sight of the three of them and Alphonse was reminded again of how he must look to someone who didn't know him. Even people who did know him could never read his face or tell how he actually felt. Winry and Edward had made a game of it, sort of, when they were younger, and he'd never quite had the heart to tell them how very often they were wrong. "No, it's okay! I just need to ask you a couple of questions."

Though he didn't remove his hand from the doorlatch, the man at least seemed a little less frightened. "What can I do for you," he glanced beyond Alphonse to Lena, half a block away, Tony just a few paces ahead of her.

"My brother and our friend were here earlier this evening, I think." At the man's impatient frown, Alphonse waved his hands in the air. "No, listen – my brother's short, really short. He's about this tall – long hair, probably in a braid." Damn it, why had Ed picked tonight to not wear that jacket? "Blond hair – they both are blonds – she's," Alphonse sorted through adjectives that would apply to Winry, surprised by the one he blurted out, "beautiful."

The man raised his eyebrows. "There were a lot of couples in here tonight and a lot of beautiful women."

"They're kids," Tony said, picking his way closer. "A pair of teenagers. Not much older than her." He waved his hand at Lena.

That caused a reaction. "Yes," the man said, bobbing his head in a series of shallow nods. "There was a pair of kids here tonight. Ordered a pretty big meal. We figured they would do a dine and dash but the bo - " he stopped, giving Alphonse a lingering, up and down look, "young man paid and left a hefty tip, too. Jon was pretty happy he got their table after that."

"Hefty tip?" Alphonse scrubbed the chin guard of his helmet, thinking that didn't sound like his brother. Unless, "Do you remember the name on the bill?"

"With a tip that big? Everyone's hoping Roy Mustang comes back to eat here."

His leather gauntlet smacking into the face plate made Alphonse's helmet ring. "Oh, Brother."

"He's…not Roy Mustang?" The man looked suddenly nervous, his expression turning quickly into one of rage. "He stiffed us?"

Realizing what he'd done, Alphonse caught hold of the man's shoulders. "No, no, he didn't stiff you. The bill will be paid, trust me." Even if I have to take it out of Ed's hide. "Did he say where he and Winry were going?"

Mollified, probably by the fact that Alphonse loomed over him more than anything else, the man shook his head. "Jon said," he grinned, glancing sideways at Tony then back up at Alphonse, "that girl better be ready to put ou – gllk!"

Alphonse's gauntlets closed over the man's shoulders. "Alphonse!" Lena grabbed his wrist, giving it a tug, not able to move him at all.

"Hey, Alphonse, c'mon, it's guy talk," Tony said, thumping his knuckles on Alphonse's armor, making it boom.

Alphonse still leaned very close. "Look," he said to the man, "remind Jon that some of us have friends. And sisters. And we don't like hearing guys talk about them that way. Got it?" The man bobbed his head rapidly, his eyes wide, and Alphonse released him. "Good."

With a nervous laugh, the man rubbed his hands over his upper arms. "I'm sorry, mister. I didn't know. I mean…it's just guy talk, right?"

Alphonse sighed. "Look, just…think next time, all right?" He glanced down, surprised that Lena still had her hands wrapped around his greeve. Inside, Alphonse tried to relax even though no one would be able to tell but him. Closing his gauntlet over her hand – delicately, remembering Winry teaching him how to pick up things again, how to touch, how to hold, by handing him eggs – Alphonse gave Lena's fingers a squeeze. "Thank you," he told her, and accepted the gleam in her eyes as a reminder that other people were involved, too. "And thanks for your help, too." He nodded at the guy who mumbled something, turning a little too quickly to lock the front door of the restaurant.

"Well, at least we know they made it here." Tony shoved his hands in his trouser pockets. Craning his head back, he eyed Alphonse. "So, your brother and Winry had a nice dinner. What would they do next?"

"Ed would want to sleep it off." The words popped out unexpected though Alphonse knew they were true. Winry would want to do some thing, Edward would want to go back to the room and sleep. He considered. Would Winry convince Ed to do anything? And if so, what? "They would've been back at our room by now."

"So where would they go?" Lena looked between Alphonse and Tony.

Alphonse wished he could sigh. He wished he could yell to the sky to bring him back his brother and Winry. He wanted to scream and cry and rage against their loss. Instead, he stood, frozen, unable to decide even what he should do next. "Where are you, Ed? Where did you take Winry?"


Winry started at the man's shout, automatically reaching for Edward's shoulder, curling her fingers into a fist instead. "I don't like leaving you with him, Ed." His head turned to her, slow as spring, offering her what he had to think was a reassuring grin. From this angle, she could see the blood matted in his hair and his smile didn't do anything for his left eye, with its blown pupil.

"S'gonna be okay." His head wobbled like a newborn kitten's.

The guy screamed something unintelligible, making Winry look his way. His fingers, bloodied by digging at the concrete prison Ed had made, scrabbled over his legs, trying to find a way to free them. As if he felt her gaze, he raised his head, snarling at her. Spittle roped through his mouth and his eyes glazed over with something that made Winry want to run. "Ed, you can't stay here with him."

"Can't…climb." He could barely stand.

"Then I'll carry you." Winry wasn't sure where that came from but she was pretty sure she could do it. Maybe. She knew if he didn't have his automail, she'd be able to haul him around like he weighed nothing, but without a wrench, she wouldn't be able to disengage the port hook up to Ed's nerves properly.

Ed snorted, the sound clearer than anything else he'd made since he'd woken up in this creepy basement.

"You aren't that heavy without your automail." Before she stopped to think any more about it, Winry hopped off the steps, kneeling next to Ed and pushing the left leg of his trousers up. His arm was trickier – she needed actual tools to disconnect it – but Ed's leg came off easily.

Ed blinked at her, her words obviously rattling around in his scattered brain. "Winry."

"Shut up, Ed." She felt around under his trousers for the latch holding the automail to his stump. "And don't move," she snapped when he twitched.

"Tickles." Making a sound somewhere between a giggle and a grunt, Ed jerked his leg in her hands. "Winry!"

"Hold still!" She heard the faint, hydraulic hiss, grinning as his leg fell into her hand. Tugging it free from Ed's pants leg, Winry laid it aside, less worried about it than getting Ed out of this creepy place. Behind her, that man screeched, sounding even more like a wild animal. "Okay, now, you have to pay attention, Ed. Don't fall asleep, all right? You're going to have to hold on to me. Hold on tight." Winry settled on one knee, keeping the other one bent. Reaching back, she caught hold of Ed's wrists and pulled.

He came almost easily, not even arguing. Winry craned to look over her shoulder. "Stay awake, Ed!"

"'m awake," he grumbled in her ear, his breath tickling her neck. "S'not right, you carryin' me." Ed wrapped his arms around her as she hitched his leg and stump up, making ready to stand.

"Hnnn! - next time," she grunted through her teeth, "you can," getting both feet under her, "carry me." Her thighs trembled at the extra weight then steadied. "Come on. You're not getting any lighter." Left foot on the first step. Winry refreshed her grip on Ed's leg and his stump. That ramp they'd come down had been steep and long. Stairs were easier. She could keep her balance on stairs. Right foot on the second step. "You're not drooling on me, are you Ed?"

He felt like a dead weight on her back though his arms still crossed over her chest. "'kay," he mumbled against her shoulder.

"Ed? You can't sleep, remember?" Fourth step. How many more were there? "Why don't you count the steps for me?" Winry flipped the hair out of her eyes, climbing another riser. Behind them, that guy had gone quiet and that, more than anything, worried her. If he wasn't screaming, she didn't know where he was. "Edward Elric."

"'m up!"

"Stay that way." She made her voice into a whip. "I need you awake, Ed. It's important. If you slip…ungh." Winry clenched her teeth, climbing another couple of risers. "If you slip, you could make us both fall." Fingers moved over her breastbone. So not the time to think about that. "Ed!"

"Don't yell." He sounded horrible, miserable, kind of whiny.

"I'm sorry. I just need you to stay awake, okay?"

Ed sighed. "Tryin'. Hard."

They both fell silent, Winry concentrating on each step. Ed's weight didn't feel balanced against her but there wasn't much she could do about it. She knew she wouldn't be able to help him hop up the stairs, not that he'd be coherent enough to attempt it. Gritting her teeth, Winry tottered up another few steps. Her legs trembled. She forced herself to go on. "Ed?"

"Nng?"

"Just makin' sure you're still awake."

A soft chuckle brushed against her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. "I'm still holdin' on." His chin dug into her shoulder. "Din't tell you. You look nice tonight." Ed inhaled. "Smell good, too."

"We're not gonna die here, Ed." Just a few more steps and they'd be on the next floor. "Don't talk like we are."

"Nn! Not. Jus'…wanted t'tell you." Ed tightened his arms around her, almost as if he was giving her a hug. "Forgot…earlier."

"Mm." Winry forced her right foot up. Please let there be a phone. Her left foot followed and they were on the next floor. "Oh, no."

The length of another basement lay in front of her.


A.N.: This story, and various others of mine, under both my pen names (S J Smith & Evil Little Dog) have been nominated for the Best of Fanfiction awards at Dot Moon. I'd love it if you'd go take a look at all the categories and vote! You don't even have to vote for me (but it'd be nice if you did). http: / www(dot)dotmoon(dot) net /awards/

Thanks!

- SJS