So, some of you may noticed that I changed the location from New York City to Quantico. This is because I wanted the Elrics to stay with Reid (and me, being a hopeless Canadian, had no idea how far apart New York and Virginia were until I looked it up). So yes, that is why. Truthfully, it's doesn't matter to me. I know no more about New York City than I do Quantico. Seriously, no clue whatsoever.
Also, I'd just like to say, I'm pretty proud of the flashback in this chapter. I think I did a good job (I HOPE I did a good job), so I hope you like it too. (And sorry it gets kind of suck-ish after the flashback, I finished it and I was like: "... Oh shit, what do I do now?")
So, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy. :)
Chapter Two
"And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know. I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do." ~J.K. Rowling
"Teenagers always look much younger when they're sleeping..." JJ. whispered, watching the Elrics, mainly Alphonse. There was a murmur of agreement from the other agents as Prentiss walked in with a pizza, closely followed by Reid, who had two cans of orange pop. Behind the glass Alphonse started awake.
"Brother!" Alphonse's cry was quickly shushed by Edward, whose eyes were wide with concern. The agents fell silent and watched the brothers with interest. Alphonse hugged Edward tightly, looking terrified.
"It's okay, Al." Edward whispered, rubbing circles on the younger blond's back with his left hand, He didn't have to ask what the nightmare had been about. He had had enough of them in the years after the... incident. In fact, he still got them every once in a while. Edward's automail fist clenched and a pang went through his chest. What good was he if he couldn't protect his brother from something as small as the nightmares?
Oh god, the nightmares...
"S-Sorry, Brother..." Alphonse muttered, sniffing slightly. Edward sighed quietly, mentally punching himself in the face. With his metal arm. Alphonse didn't deserve this. He'd lost his body, wasn't that enough?
No. It was never enough for Truth. Nothing was ever enough.
"Don't apologize." Edward's voice was sharp, but it quickly softened. "I remember the nightmares." Alphonse froze, blinking away tears.
Oh god, the nightmares.
-Flashback-
It was only about two weeks after they had tried human transmutation. Ed was still recovering, having lost an arm and a leg. Alphonse sat in the corner of the hospital-like room in the Rockbell home well after midnight, watching his brother's chest rise and fall.
Rise. Fall. Breathe in. Breathe out.
It had become a habit of his, just watching his brother's breathing. It passed the time.
And if Edward was breathing, he wasn't dead. That was all that mattered. Alphonse had already lost his body, if he lost Edward... He refused to think about that. Edward was too strong to die.
Breathe in. Breath Out. Rise. Fall. Breath in. Breath out. Rise. Fall. Breathe- Wait! Edward's breathing hitched. He began thrashing under the thin white sheets on the bed. A few ragged sobs ripped through the silence of the night.
"Alphonse! NO! AL!" Edward's eyes snapped open and Alphonse saw unshed tears glittering in them. He got up, clattering slightly -unused to the huge, lumbering armour- and walked over to Edward.
"Brother?" He whispered. Edward's eyes trained on him and another sob ripped from his throat as he grabbed one of Alphonse's giant hands in his lone, frail one and pulled himself into a sitting position, tears falling freely from his eyes. Alphonse just watched him, speechless. He had never seen his brother so weak. Even on the night of the transmutation, he had been strong. Even after losing his leg and his brother, he gave up his arm to retrieve Alphonse's soul. It hurt Alphonse to seen his brother so broken. He owed Edward everything. "A-Al... I'm so s-sorry..." Edward whispered, his body shaking with sobs.
"B-Brother..." Alphonse stammered, shocked. He would never tell Edward this, but he looked so small at that moment. He had already been kind of short for his age, and now without two of his limbs... Well, it didn't help.
"I'm s-sorry, I was so s-stupid... I shouldn't have ignored the l-laws... And n-now..." Edward choked on his sobs and trailed off. Alphonse lightly ran one of his massive palms over the top of Edward's head, scared he would accidentally hurt the short blonde with his large metallic body.
"Ed... What's wrong?" Alphonse asked as Edward began to calm down, his sobs slowly fading to silent tears.
"I saw that t-thing we made... I saw everything from t-that n-night..." He whispered. Alphonse wanted more than anything to comfort his brother. To be able to feel like he could before. He cursed his armoured body. But at the same time... He relished it. He couldn't sleep, so he couldn't experience these kind of nightmares. In more than one way, this body kept him safe.
"Ed..." But Alphonse did not know what else to say. There was nothing else to say.
So he stood there. He just stood there until Edward slowly eased back so he was laying down again. Until he slowly drifted into an uneasy sleep. And only then did he go back to the corner of the room and slowly sit down. Then he continued watching, keeping his silent vigil. Keeping his brother safe. It was the least he could do.
Rise. Fall. Breathe in. Breathe out.
They both silently agreed to never speak of the nightmares again.
-End Flashback-
Both Elrics jumped when Prentiss and Reid walked in and placed the food on the table. Alphonse slowly pried himself off of Edward and rubbed his eyes, half because he was tired, and half to rid his eyes of the unshed tears.
"Are you two okay?" Reid asked, glancing between the brothers slowly. "You look... sad." Edward's eyes hardened and he crossed his arms with a huff.
"What are you talking about?" He grumbled. Alphonse chuckled, despite himself, earning a half-hearted glare from Edward.
"Okay... Anyway, here's some pizza. If you need anything, just knock on the door. Our supervisor will be in about half an hour from now." Prentiss said. Edward's brow furrowed.
"You mean, we haven't talked to this 'supervisor' yet? Feels like we've talked to everyone in the damn building..." He grumbled. Prentiss and Reid both repressed snickers at his impatience.
"Don't worry, you'll be able to leave soon." Reid said, smiling kindly at the brothers. Alphonse smiled brightly back, and even Edward cracked a tiny smile. Once the profilers were gone Edward carefully opened the pizza box.
"... What is this?" Alphonse wondered quietly. Edward shrugged and picked up a slice, looking at it.
"Looks like bread, tomato sauce and cheese." He took a bite. "Yep. It's actually pretty good..." Edward practically inhaled the rest of the pizza slice. Alphonse laughed and also tried the pizza. Edward's eyes grew slightly sad.
"Not exactly the kind of thing I was hoping you could have when you first got back to normal..." He whispered. Alphonse smiled ruefully.
"Don't worry about it, Ed. I'm just happy to be 'back to normal'." He replied. Edward shrugged.
"Fair enough." He smiled. Alphonse smiled back.
"... Seriously... These kids are strange. It's like they speak in code. What do they mean by 'back to normal'?" Garcia wondered. The others shrugged. Hotch frowned and continued to watch the Elrics.
"Garcia, search for families where a father is gone, a mother died of illness and their children disappeared before being placed into foster care." He said suddenly.
"Uh... Why, sir?" Garcia asked, typing feverishly on her computer.
"I have a feeling these kids aren't who they say they are." Hotch replied. Garcia nodded.
"There are seventeen matches." She said. Hotch nodded, thoughtful.
"Narrow it down to cases in the past four years." He commanded. Garcia typed something into her laptop quickly.
"Eight cases." She stated. Hotch's frown deepened.
"Cases in Quantico?" He asked. Garcia paused.
"One." Everyone looked at the Technical Analyst. "Jeremy and Daniel Jones, their mother died of cancer in 2005, and their father was in the army. He went to Iraq in 1999 and was never seen again. Jeremy and Daniel disappeared after calling in their mother's death." Two pictures appeared on the computer. Two boys with brown hair and green eyes. They had similar facial structure and body types to the Elrics, but they certainly didn't look overly alike.
"They don't really look alike..." Prentiss commented. Garcia nodded.
"Not really." She agreed. "Sorry Hotch, I guess I've got nothing for you." Hotch stared intently at the pictures of the Jones Brothers, and then the Elric brothers.
"Could They be the same people? They could have dyed their hair and gotten coloured contacts. Can you see if the facial structures match?" Hotch asked. Garcia frowned.
"Sir, these pictures of the Jones' are almost six years old, it will be almost impossible to-" She began. Hotch held up a hand as he put an ear piece in his right ear.
"I know you can make it happen, Garcia. Let me know when you do. JJ., come with me." And with that, Hotch was in the room with the Elrics. JJ. paused, looking slightly surprised before following Hotch. Edward and Alphonse immediately fell silent, watching the profilers.
"So, you're the guy in charge here?" Edward asked, warily looking at Hotch. Hotch nodded, sitting down. JJ. quickly followed suit. Alphonse's attention was on JJ. She seemed nicer and safer then Hotch. Maternal. The look in her eyes reminded him of Trisha.
"That's correct. My name is Aaron Hotchner. This is Jennifer Jareau." Hotch said, gesturing shortly to JJ., who smiled at the brothers. Edward glanced at her and quickly turned to scowl at the wall. Alphonse smiled ever-so-slightly. She reminded Edward of their mother too, Alphonse could tell.
"Nice to meet you. Sorry about my brother, it's been a long day." Alphonse greeted, smiling sweetly at the adults.
"Not a problem." JJ. replied, smiling kindly back at the younger Elric. Edward turned his head back ever-so-slightly and his lips twitched, a small smile cracking his irritation. Hotch noticed his, took a mental note, and carefully filed it away for later use. Garcia's voice came through his ear piece.
"No go on the facial structures, they are similar, but no dice. Sorry Hotch." Hotch sighed mentally. There went their only lead on the brothers.
"So, you two are completely sure this 'Scar' man killed Lindsay Gardner?" Hotch asked, getting back to business. Edward turned around fully and straightened up, looking a little paler than before.
"Positive. We know Scar's signature well." He said quietly, sadness flashing through his eyes. Alphonse's gaze dropped to the table, a small, miserable frown marring his gentle face.
"What do you mean?" Hotch's eyebrows rose slightly.
"He killed a friend of ours." Alphonse murmured. Hotch and JJ. exchanged a glance.
"Who was your friend?" JJ. asked softly. She expected Alphonse to answer, but Edward surprised her.
"Nina Tucker." Edward's gaze pierced JJ. with such intensity that she flinched slightly. "She was only four." Both Hotch and JJ. winced at the news. After all, they were parents. They had young children.
"Four?" JJ.'s voice wobbled slightly. Edward sighed sorrowfully, nodding, and exchanged a quick glance with Alphonse.
'The blond woman, Jennifer, has children... No, one child.' Edward thought, looking at JJ. 'So does the older man, Hotchner or something. People without kids don't react as strongly as people who do.' The door opened, surprising them all, and Garcia poked her head in. Alphonse and Edward stared at the eccentric woman.
"Hotch?" She asked, frowning. Hotch raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, Garcia? What is it?" He asked.
"Uh... the police have found three more people dead..." Garcia said. Hotch's usual scowl deepened. Edward growled lowly.
"Why the hell are you wasting time talking to us when Scar's off killing people? You have no reason to keep us here. Way don't you go find him!" He half-yelled, standing and slamming his left hand onto the table. Hotch stood and JJ. quickly followed suit. Hotch's stern gaze met Edward's furious one.
"Sit down." Was all Hotch said before leading JJ. out. Edward let out a loud growl of frustration and sat down again, his muscles coiled like a lion about to pounce. He resisted the urge to chuck his chair at the two-way mirror.
"Brother, please calm down..." Alphonse pleaded, gripping Edward's upper arm tightly. Edward took one glance at his younger brother's face and relaxed slightly.
"This is so frustrating! If they don't find Scar then I'll break out of here and find him myself!" Edward growled. Alphonse sighed.
"Ed, don't be ridiculous. Let the police here handle it." He said soothingly. Edward shook his head.
"You know as well as I do that they have no idea what they're up against." Edward's voice lowered. "I think they don't even use alchemy here."
"But, Brother-" Edward cut Alphonse off.
"We're the only ones who can stop Scar. We have to fight fire with fire, or rather, alchemy with alchemy." Edward's voice was impossibly calm, impossibly mature.
"Brother, we aren't strong enough to take on Scar! Last time we fought him we only got away alive because we got dumped here." Alphonse argued, his voice rising slightly.
"Don't argue with me, Al, I've made up my mind. I'll kill Scar and then we can-"
"What do you mean, you will kill Scar? You're not seriously thinking about doing this alone... Are you insane?" Alphonse murmured angrily. It was a cold day in hell when Alphonse was angry and Edward was the calm one.
"Al, you're in no condition to..." At that moment the door opened and Hotch walked in. Both Elrics stood, watching the man apprehensively.
"Come with me."
...
"Where the hell am I? And where the hell is Fullmetal?" Scar hissed to himself, looking around. He stood in a rather filthy alleyway beside the body of a man who looked like he had not showered in a year. Scar looked at the body and sighed.
He hadn't wanted to kill the man, or the first two women, but they were getting in his way and asking questions. It was necessary, or that's what he told himself. Scar would never admit it, but the odd futuristic world scared him. That's why he stuck to the alleys. They looked the same as the ones in Amestris, nearly one hundred years in the past.
"Oh my god!" A woman's voice shrieked. Another woman (maybe not even a woman, practically a girl) had rounded the corner of the alley. Scar looked at her. Why did the women -or at least the ones he had seen- in this world where such revealing clothing? He sighed and walked over to the girl, who was frozen in fear.
'How unnecessary...' Scar mused, putting his hand on the girl's forehead.
A scream echoed through the alley.
Blood splattered the wall.
Scar dropped the lifeless body and tugged his tattered jacket closer around himself. Footsteps echoed from the opposite end of the alley.
It was time to move on.
...
"You'll be staying with Reid until we catch Scar." Edward opened his mouth, probably to complain. "No arguments. Behave." And with that Hotch walked out of his office, leaving the Elrics with Reid.
"So... Uh... Let's go, then." Reid said, uncomfortably. Alphonse nodded and smiled encouragingly. Edward sighed.
"Sure. Why the hell not." He relented. Alphonse snickered. Reid took this as a good sign and lead the Elrics out of the building and over to his car. The brothers sat in the back and began talking quietly. Reid started the car turned on a rock radio station at a quiet volume. He had a feeling that at least Edward liked rock music.
To say the drive to Reid's house was awkward would be a colossal understatement. Well, it was awkward for Reid, at the very least.
"Here we are." Reid said as he parked beside a small apartment building. He quickly led the brothers to the third floor. He stopped in front of room 33 and unlocked the door, ushering the brothers inside, shutting and locking the door behind them. "It's late, you should get some sleep..." Reid looked at Edward and Alphonse's clothes. "Uh... We can go shopping tomorrow, I think I have something that might fit you both." Reid murmured, disappearing down the hallway. The Elric brothers trailed behind him, looking around the neat apartment curiously.
"It's so... Organized." Alphonse whispered to Edward as they looked around. Everything in the apartment seemed to have a place. A very specific place.
"Here you go." Reid said, closing a closet door with some clothes tucked under his arm. "Follow me." Reid led them to the end of the hallway and into a bedroom on the left. The room was simple, cream coloured walls, beige carpet, a queen sized bed with light blue sheets, a dresser, a tiny closet, a small attached bathroom a night stand and a desk with a chair. Reid set the clothes on the bed. "Sorry if they're a little big." Alphonse smiled.
"Thank you, Doctor Reid." He said kindly. Reid smiled back.
"You can call me Spencer. Anyway, there's a shower and towels in the bathroom. If you need anything, I'll be in the living room until about midnight and my room is right across the hall. Goodnight." Reid gave a small wave and walked out.
An hour later, just after nine o'clock both Edward and Alphonse were clean and tucked into bed, fast asleep. Reid paused at the door as he passed with a stack of books and squinted into the dark room before smiling and shutting the door.
The Elric brothers slept deeply and peacefully that night. Their were no nightmares. There was only rest.
... Until they were woken up at six in the morning by an explosion.
Fin.
Like I said at the beginning, I hope you liked it. I know it probably isn't as good as the first chapter, but I still think it's at least okay.
Let me know what you thought of our first little look at Scar. I was trying to make him the villain, but without making him pure evil... I don't think it turned out too well... ^^;
Thank you to everyone who reviewed, you're all so nice and I love you guys (in a not creepy way, I swear)! Also, thank you to everyone who Story Alerted/Favourited (there were so many of you, I was shocked)!
Also, thank you to those who sent in OCs. I could still use a sociopath/psychopath to team up with Scar, if you please. *And there is now a OC form on my profile*
Until next chapter,
Hazeljv.