They were moving him to my house. A homunculi was going to stay at my house and I was going to take care of him. Jean said he'd help to, but should I really bring him into this? I knew the kind of danger I was putting myself into. I knew that if I got caught, housing a Homunculi, trying to help him get back to better health, was a big crime and there was no telling how the Fuher would look at it. Most likely treason and that would mean life in prison for me or just death. And to put on top of that, I could be putting myself in a big trap and bring a quick death to myself. There were so many things that could possibly be the outcome of what I was doing and all of them ended in my death in some way or another.
Jean didn't have to worry about the same thing. It wasn't fair to him.
After I had him help me move Greed to my place, I would tell him to leave and not worry about me. I could handle myself. He didn't have anything he needed to worry about.
Before we left the hospital, Jean had grabbed a wheelchair and grabbed Greed, throwing him into it. The Homunculus' purple eyes glared at him hatefully but then hunched over and something pink escaped his lips. I looked over at Rage, who was standing next to me, watching Jean move Greed into the seat. I shifted, putting all my weight on my right foot. The pain in my left leg was excruciating, but that was the least of my worries right now. I was lucky I got down here fast enough and stopped Rage's screaming. If someone else was to find her first…yea, that wasn't something I needed to think about right now.
"Rage?" Her purple eyes glanced over at me, wide and terrified, before shooting violently back at Greed. He was mumbling something now, slouched over in the chair, but his eyes were still dark and staring hatefully at Jean. "He isn't going to hurt me is he? For helping him, right?"
Her head shot to mine again, her head slowly shaking. Her hair was matted to her face, showing how thin and tiny she really was. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. Just a small grunt and that caused her to snap it close real quick. She took a deep breath, her stare never leaving mine. "Just…….needs help…..won't…….hurt……..Red……..I promise."
I nodded my head and smiled at her, resting a hand on her shoulder. "He'll be okay Rage. I promise to do my best to make him better, but I can't go with you right now to my place. Jean will go with you and leave you at the house. I haven't been discharged from the hospital yet. I can't leave. Do you understand?" I stared at her hard, hoping she understood what I was saying. Her head jerked up and down, in what I was thinking she was hoping to be a nod.
"Will…………Red………..be…………..there soon?" I nodded my head and shifted feet again, wincing at the pain. "Red………..not…………okay?" Her eyes shifted down to my leg, which was still encased in the plaster. I nodded my head, not really wanting her to worry about me right now. It was only a matter of time before the nurses who are supposed to be patrolling my hall to notice I was missing. They wouldn't be shocked to see Jean gone. He was told to leave, but refused to because he didn't want me to be alone.
"Don't worry about me Rage. Just go with your Greed. I'll be there as fast as I can." She looked back up at me and then back at my leg. Her purple eyes were curious and I just shook my head and pointed towards Jean. "Go." She nodded and her lips twitched again. She was still trying to smile. I smiled at her and nodded my head, giving her a soft push on the shoulder. She quickly ran over, grabbing the handles of the wheelchair that Greed was in.
Jean looked up when he noticed her coming over and moved away from the wheelchair. His blue eyes flickered to mine and he quickly jogged over, coming under the awning of the hospital, safe from the down pour of the rain. "What are you doing Lacey?"
I took a deep breath, gritting my teeth together and shrugged my shoulders. "Helping a friend." Jean sighed, and ran a hand threw his wet hair, looking down at the ground. "I understand if you don't want to help Jean. It'd be the smart thing to do. I wish you'd say you didn't want to, that way I know for a fact you won't get tangled up in everything."
Jean's head shot up, his eyes a blue fire. He shook his head and held up his hands. "Hold up now, I never said I wasn't going to help. I just wanted to know if you knew why you could possibly be risking everything. I just wanted to make sure you're in your right mind and not doped up on pain meds." He smiled easily and brushed a red curl out of my face and I couldn't help but smile back.
"I know what I'm doing and I know I need to do it. Just, take them to my place and leave them there. I'm going to try and break out of this place as fast as I can. But don't stay there with them or they're going to know something is up." Jean nodded and stood tall, giving me a salute as if I was the Colonel.
"Yes ma'am. I'll make sure everything is taken care of. Now get back inside Lacey. We don't need you falling and breaking something else." He smiled and turned around, jogging away quickly to Rage and Greed. He stopped a few feet away from Rage and she turned to him. The rain was still coming down hard and causing her hair to stick to the side of her head and cling to her back. Her lips twitched at him and she stepped away from Greed.
Jean nodded his head and took the handles of the wheel chair and quickly wheeled to the parking lot and stopped at one of the cars. I sighed and turned away, knowing I had stayed down here a bit too long. I walked up the steps to the hospital and just as I walked in the door, I saw a nurse walk by. She stared at me for a moment shocked and confused, before her lips pulled together in a scowl.
"Ms. Longheart what do you think you're doing all the way down here? Are you trying to kill yourself?" She didn't sound at all concerned with my health. She marched down the hall and grabbed something and I heard the soft squeal of tires on the tile, before she emerged from the hallway. "Lets get back to your room. Come on, sit down." I waddled my way over and sat down in the chair slowly, loving the feeling of being off my feet and without bothering to give the nurse an explanation, I just let her wheel me away, back to my bedroom. She left me alone in my room and returned to her post at the nurse's station.
Alone in the room where the nightmares seemed the worse.
And this time, I didn't have Jean to help me chase them away.
* * *
The sun rose bright the next morning and I woke with a groan, the dull ache in my leg from too much movement last night still there. I ignored it and sat up, rubbing at my eyes to get rid of that sleepy feeling. The room wasn't empty like I thought it was going to be when I woke up. But occupied by a short blond and a large piece of armor. They stood in the doorway and a smile stretched it's way across my face.
"ED! AL! What are you guys doing here? I thought you were out of Central?" Ed sauntered in, holding a bouquet of flowers tightly in his gloved hand. He handed them to me and smiled widely, his honey eyes flickering mischievously. He was still a kid at heart. I took them from him and brought them to my nose, enjoying the fresh smell of flowers. "Thank you boys!"
"No problem Lacey. I was on my way out of Central and Al wanted to come and see you before I did." Ed explained and crossed his arms over his chest. I smiled and looked over at Al, who still stood in the doorway. I waved an arm, beckoning him in.
"I'm really sorry with what happened to you Lacey. I hope you feel better soon." My smile widened involuntarily at the sound of Al's baby voice. It was so sweet and innocent and it just didn't fit that large metal armor that he now was. He shifted into the room slowly and stood behind his older brother.
"Thank you boys! I really appreciate you coming to see me. It means a lot. It really does." I laid the bouquet of flowers on my legs and stared at the two boys. "So, where's the Colonel got you headed now? Nothing too dangerous I hope."
"I'm the only one going, Al's got to stay here. I can't say too much about it. Sorry Lacey." I nodded my head, understanding. Ed had always been the one to be super secretive when it came to his missions. All I knew was that he was after something. Something he wouldn't tell me about, no matter how bad I asked him. Not even Al would break and let me in on it. "I'm sorry to make it such a short visit, Lacey. But I have to run."
"Okay. Thank you for visiting me Ed! It was nice to see you again and thank you for the flowers!" I smiled at the short blond boy, who nodded at his brother and walked away, slowly out the door. My eyes left the door and I looked over at Al, he was still standing tall and awkward in the corner of my room.
"So how much longer are you going to be in here Lacey?" I looked over at the sound of Al's Metal armor clanging together as he sat down in a chair.
"I'm hoping to leave today. I need to go home and do something and I need to leave." I said lowly to myself. Al looked over at me and his head cocked to the left, confused. "I'm just waiting for Jean to get back and bail me out." I hope he is okay. I knew he didn't like the idea of helping a pair of Homunculi, but I don't think he would do anything stupid and something that could possibly threaten his life. I told him not to stay at the house with the homunculi too. It would look weird and kind of suspicious. He hadn't left my side in the hospital since I've been here and now he just disappears randomly in the night? Where the hell could he be?
"What do you need done at home? I'll go do it for you Lacey. You need your rest." Al stood up from the chair and I instantly shook my head, waving my hands in the air.
"NO!" There was that confused look again and I smiled nervously. I didn't need to get Al involved with this at all. He hated Homunculi and he had every right to hate these specific two. They were the ones who had kidnapped him and held him hostage. I didn't need him knowing about this. "No Al. It's fine. Thank you though. I have Jean coming to pick me up soon, hopefully." We fell in an awkward silence and I knew that he was suspicious of something. He knew something was going on and I had an another motive of why I wanted to leave the hospital. That was bad.
"So Al, why are you not aloud to go with Ed?"
"I'm not technically a state alchemist Lacey. Mustang said this was something Ed had to do alone." He explained and he sighed, falling back into his chair. My heart hurt for him. Al wanted nothing more than to be with his brother every step of the way and I could see why. They were in this together. They always had been, but for some reason when they made it to Central and Ed took the state exam, he wouldn't let Al take it and have the chance to be a state alchemist too. He was left out of the loop, maybe a little more than he should. What Ed was doing was for the both of them and Al had every right to be apart of it. Whatever it was!
"Oh. I'm sorry. That's not fair to you, Al." I smiled sadly at the kid who had been through so much, but yet, as long as I known him he was one of the happiest people I knew.
"Don't be sorry Lacey. It's perfectly fine. Brother goes on missions all the time that I'm not aloud to go on. He's in the Military and they can't just let any information out to anyone." He said with an air of understanding that usually didn't come with at the age of 14. It wasn't fair to him and I hated that he had to act older than he really was. He shouldn't have to worry about Military stuff. He is just a kid!
"Well where are you staying since Ed's gone?"
"Hughes usually lets me stay with him and his family. I help baby sit his daughter sometimes." There was something about the way he said it that made my heart wrench. It didn't sound like it was something he wanted to do. It didn't sound like it was something he was completely thrilled about. So of course, I had to do something. I wanted to do something to cheer him up. I didn't want Al to have to be sad anymore. He's already been through too much.
"How about you stay with me?" Al's head turned directly to look on me and I swear, if he wasn't the suit of armor he is now, his real face would of broken out into a wide smile and that was enough for me to forget what was waiting at my house for me when would go home. I smiled at the young kid as he nodded his head furiously.
"Only if it is alright with you Lacey! I know your hurt right now and probably don't need to worry about a kid staying with you. I don't want to be a bother."
"Stop Al, it is seriously not a problem. It'd be nice to have some company at the house while I'm stuck there." I assured him quickly with a smile, not at all realizing what I'd just did. Not at all remembering who was staying at my house at this very minute. And not at all realizing the danger I was possibly putting a bunch of people in.
* * *
Jean came by an hour later and picked me up, apologizing a million times for taking so long. He stopped by his house and ended up falling asleep. I told him it was alright and laughed at how disgruntled he was. He eyed Al oddly and I nodded my head, letting him know it was okay. His eyes were screaming at me that this was a bad idea, but I ignored him. I trusted Al and I'm sure once I'd explain to him about everything, he'd be fine with it. And plus, I couldn't just tell him he couldn't stay. It'd be rude.
"It'll be fine." I whispered, lowly enough as he helped me into the car. Al was already climbing into the other side.
"I hope you're right about this, Lace." Was his reply before closing the door and pulling out a cig and lighting it before sitting in the driver's seat and slowly pulling out of his parking space. I sat in the back in silence, staring at the window as we drove threw Central. I was trying to find the perfect way to tell Al about the two Homunculi that were hiding out in my house. I didn't know what to tell him or what to say.
Would he be mad?
Would he turn me in?
Would he turn Jean in for helping me?
So finally, I just came out with it.
"Al, I'm going to be completely honest with you. There are two homunculi staying at my house right now and I promised to help them. I understand if that makes you want to have nothing to do with me, but I need to help her. It's hard to explain, but just trust me on this. She's not bad and I would understand if you don't want to stay, because I know you probably don't like her…or him." The words flew from my mouth before I had any chance to stop them. And once they were out, I wanted nothing more than to just grab them all back and stuff them back down my throat.
"Lacey…are you serious?" Al swiveled around and stared at me, his hollow eyes wide and staring at me. I stared at him hard, before nodding slowly. "Well, you have to turn them in! You have them at the perfect place and they wouldn't expect it! You should call Colonel-"
"NO!" I shouted out quickly, cutting Al off and then more softly, "I can't Al. I promised them. You just need to understand and trust me. I can't do this to her. I'm…I'm her…I'm her friend and friends don't do that to each other. I promised to help her and I'm going to follow through that promise." He was silent for a moment as he stared and I stayed just as quiet as I waited to hear what he would have to say.
"She's not evil Al." It surprised me to hear Jean speak, but he did quietly and then Al's turned to stare at him. I looked up in the rear view mirror and stared and watched Jean's face. He looked different. He was out of his military blues and it reminded me of when we were teens and used to hang out. "I drove her to the house last night after she came to the hospital. The whole ride to the house all she could talk about was, if Red was going to be alright." Jean glanced up in the mirror and his blue eyes connected with mine for the briefest moment, before going back to the road and then he whispered something too low for me to hear.
Whatever Jean said to him, changed Al's mind real quick. He glanced back at me and said something that surprised me. "Red? I swear I've heard that before."