Edward Elric opened his eyes
He expected to see his sweet mother smiling down at him. He expected the sight of his messy room to greet him. Cloths strewn across the floor. Books and papers everywhere. Posters lining the dark blue walls. His black bedsheets wrapped around him in impossible ways.
Instead he saw stark white walls. Spotless floors. Crisp white sheets. And in the doorway stood a stern woman with short brown hair. The woman's blue eyes were gazing out the window. Definitely not his mother.
Cautiously pushing himself up he asked, "Who are you?"
The woman's gaze snapped onto Ed. "I'm Lieutenant Maria Ross. I'm with the state army helping with the vampire attacks investigations."
Ed blinked. "Oh. Um, where am I?"
Ross looked uncomfortable. "Hospital." The responce was almost chilish. As if she really didn't want to say anything else about it.
"Why?" Ed asked, half afraid of the answer.
Ross sighed. "You fainted," she looked away, "after you saw the crime scene."
Ed opened his mouth to deny the comment about him fainting. Edward Elric does not faint. Before he could snap at the woman, he remembered the night's earlier events. He froze as police sirens wailed in his head. Blood covered everything he saw. The vision of human remains seared across his vision.
"Oh God." Ed whimpered.
Tears threatened to spill down his tan cheeks. Ross looked sympathetic, but she didn't make a move to comfort the teen. She knew nothing she did would comfort him. She just hoped he wouldn't ask about him yet.
Out of all the thoughts bouncing around his head one shown brightly as the sun. "Where's my brother?"
Ross flinched as though she'd been hit. Damn. "He's here," she said, "but-"
"Let me see him." Edward demanded.
"Mr. Elric, please. Let me explain something fir-"
Ed wouldn't have it. "NOW!"
Ross shook her head but gestured for him to follow. "He's this way.
Ed hopped out of bed. He followed Ross out of the room and to the right. They went down the hall until it ended then they turned left. They moved down that hall till they reached a set of four elevators. Taking the closest one Ross and Ed moved up three floors. Then they went down three more halls till they reached a hallway of rooms, each emitting an eerie beeping sound. Ross led him to the third room on the right. Pushing open the door she allowed Ed to see what lay inside.
There lay Alphonse Elric. He looked extremely pale. Blood was being pumped into his arm intravenously, along with several medications. He was hooked up to a machine that was pumping air into his lungs and another that was monitoring his heart rate. One that seemed to be very slow at the moment.
"What's going on?" Ed choked out. "What's wrong with my brother?"
"Aside from blood loss, it seems your brother was also stabbed several times. It's another mark of the Homunculi. We can't figure out what type of knives they use. All we know is that they're the same ones used in each," she paused before continuing softly, "murder."
Ed winced. "Why is he hooked up like that?" The boy spoke so softly Ross could barely hear him.
"If he's not, he would die," a different voice interjected. Ed looked towards it and saw a pretty blond haired woman in a white uniform. "Hello Edward. I'm Clara Psiren. I'm a nurse here at Central Medical."
Ed completely disregarded the last part of what Clara said. "What do you mean he'd die?"
"The injuries your brother suffered are enough to kill him. Without these machines he'd die." Clara explained. "Which is why it pains me to say this-"
Ross cut her off. "Is now really the time for this? He's already had enough pain tonight." The brown haired woman glared at the other.
"No time like the present." Clara snapped. "As I was saying, your family's insurance doesn't cover the costs."
"What are you saying?" Ed looked scared.
Clara sighed. "Unless you can find some way to pay for it, we'll have to take your brother off life support. And like I said, without the life-support he'll die." After a moments hesitation she added. "I'm very sorry."
That finally broke Ed. Tears flowed freely down Ed's cheeks. Sobs wrenched themselves from Ed's throat. His body shuddered as he finally lost all control. Ross and Clara looked at Ed sadly, both unable to help him. Ross bent down and tried to whisper reassuring words but Ed wouldn't have it. She looked up at Clara, helpless.
"What should we do?"
Clara shrugged. "Take him back to his room." The blond sighed. "It's so sad."
Ross nodded and made a move to pick up Ed. Suddenly a tall blond man came into view. "Ross!" he shouted.
"Yes Brosh?" she called back.
"Major Armstrong wishes to speak with us. He says it's important."
Ross winced at the name. She looked at Ed then at Clara. "Can you handle him till I get back?"
Clara nodded and Ross walked away with Brosh. Clara bent down and rubbed Ed's back in soothing circles. "Shhhh. Calm down. Shhhhhhhhhhhh."
A shadow approached. "Is there a problem, Miss?" a silky voice asked.
Looking up Clara saw a handsome man. He looked about thirty with jet black hair and charcoal eyes. He stood taller than Clara and was very well dressed in black. The man was rather pale, but it was a sexy type of pale.
"Um, sort of. This boy's just been through a tragic experience and I'd really like to get him back to his room." Clara explained.
"What's his room?"
"Huh?"
"I'll take him." The man looked at Ed. "He looks reasonably light. It wouldn't be a problem." The man flashed a smile that made her knees feel weak.
"2-18. That's on the second floor."
"Thank you. I'll take him from here." The man bent down, picked up the distraught boy bridal style and walked in the direction of the elevators. "Have a nice day Miss."
After the man and Edward disappeared around a corner Clara shook herself. What just happened? Funny. I can't seem to remember what I was doing. "Maybe if I continue my routine I'll remember." She looked around trying to regain her bearings. "Ah, yes. The Elric boy, Alphonse." With that she walked into the room to check the boy's readings.
Meanwhile...
Edward realized he was moving but not by his own means. He wiped his cheeks free of tears. Moving his head away from the solid object it had been resting on, he looked around through foggy eyes. The object just so happened to be a chest. Thankfully a man's chest, but a chest all the same.
Looking up he saw a pair cool gray eyes, hidden slightly behind obsidian hair. They were set in a confidant face that looked as if it had seen more than its fair share of horror. The smile that lingered around thin lips was more of a smirk than anything else. Ed couldn't help the blush that spread across his cheeks at being in this man's arms. He squirmed slightly.
That movement must have grabbed the man's attention for he looked down. A warm smile erased the smirk, even if only for a moment, as charcoal eyes met gold. "Feeling better Edward?" The man's voice was smooth. Elegant even. There was the hint of an accent that Ed couldn't place.
A little startled Ed reacted coldly towards the kind question. "What do you think?"
A light chuckle caused Ed to glare. "Well I believe I have something to tell you that will make things better for you." the man sounded a bit cocky
"Oh. Really? You think there is anything you have to say that will make the fact that my brother is going to die any better!" Ed snapped. "I don't think so! And put me down, damnit!"
The man chuckled again. "When we get to your room." He was completely ignoring Ed's outburst and embarrassment at his current position.
Ed growled. The teen attempted to break free the man's arms but he had a good grip on the boy. Realizing they were a short distance from his room he calmed down. For the moment.
When they entered his room Ed practically jumped out of the man's arms. Thinking he was home free Ed was a little shocked to be steered towards his bed the pushed on it. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
The man smirked. "We're going to talk like civilized people Edward."
"How do you know my name?"
He shook his head. "I'll tell you later." He held up a gloved hand when Ed tried to interrupt him. On the back of his glove was a circle, sewn in red thread that the blond could not identify. "First, let me introduce myself. My name is Roy Mustang and I have a proposition for you."
Ed scowled. "And why should I listen to you?"
"It has to do with you're brother."
Ed blinked. "Alright," he said slowly. "I'm listening."
Roy gave Edward an indulgent smile. "I am a very rich man. I'm willing to pay for your brother to stay on life support." Ed lighted up like a Christmas tree. "If you give me something."
"I'll do it!" Ed was so happy. His brother was saved. He wasn't going to die.
Roy cocked his head to the left. "Don't you want to know what I want?"
"It doesn't matter!" Ed practically shouted leaning forward. "I'll give you whatever you want if you just save my brother!" Edward knew that what he was saying was very stupid. For all he knew, this guy wanted him to kill innocent people or rob banks or something, but in reality it didn't matter. Alphonse needed to be saved.
"Alright. I'll take the beginning of your payment now." The dark smile that crossed Roy's face was all the warning Ed got before Roy was on top of him.
Before Edward could even begin to fight back he felt a warm lips on his throat. Suddenly there was a sharp pain. Everything began to grow darker till he was lost to unconsciousness.
After several quiet moments, Roy licked the blood from the wound on Ed's neck as he pulled away. "This is the beginning Edward Elric. Everything starts now."