Chapter Twenty Six- Awaken.

Another day had passed when Riza was permitted to leave the hospital. Alphonse had woken up some point during the night and begged for the staff to let him leave as well. All he wanted to do was get Ed back as soon as possible. Despite how much he wanted to leave, the doctors were firm on their decision that he needed to stay one more night for observation. Mustang and Havoc were suppose to come around lunch time to pick up Lt. Hawkeye. May and Winry were going to stay with Al for the rest of the day in order to keep him company and hopefully make him feel better. Of course it was going to take a lot to get him to think about anything else other then going after Edward.

"They just don't understand. Nothing kept him from coming after me, I can't waste all this time."

"Al, we know. All of us are worried but you need to stay here till they say so." Winry felt somewhat odd trying to convince Al of all people to be patient. Usually it was Ed they were trying to subdue. Alphonse reluctantly nodded even though he was really frustrated.

He hated the idea of Edward being stuck without his help. Quietly he slouched against the pillow.

oOoOo

He jumped back before turning on his heel and kicking high in the air. Then twisting backwards, he hand sprung and landed on his feet. Moving quickly, he jumped into the air bringing his elbow down then spinning around to kick behind him again.

"So still bored?" Ed straightened up, breathing hard and glanced over at the only company he had in this dismal place. At least there was someone to talk to, otherwise he'd probably go crazy. "You should really save your energy. Otherwise you might wear yourself out a lot sooner then you think." The suggestion reminded Ed of what Al looked like when he finally was able to get his body back. It caused him to shiver slightly at the thought. He had worked really hard to stay in shape as much as possible. Stubbornly, he shook his head.

"I'm not staying long. He's gonna come get me." With that resolve, he continued his sparring match by himself.

"You certainly don't like sitting around for very long do yah." As much as Ed's constant activity disturbed the silence, the Keeper didn't bother him. He'd learn eventually.

oOoOo

"What, your serious?" Havoc stared in shock, his gaze moving from Mustang to Hawkeye. Roy crossed his arms, nodding and Riza smiled knowingly. "This is the happiest day of my life! You two are dating, do you know what this means?" He fell to his knees and hugged the General around the waist. "It means you're off the market and now I don't have any competition in town. Sir, I love you!"

"Get off of me, Havoc. I don't want some guy huggin on me like this." Roy tried to pry Jean's arms off. "And shouldn't the best day of your life be, oh I don't know, when you were able to walk again. Yah know I went through a lot to help you with that." Havoc ignored his statement and hurried over to Alphonse and hugged him as well.

"Al, I'll be able to go on a date and not have to worry if she's falling for the General. Isn't that great?" Al shook his head, pasting a crooked smile on his face.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Hey, are you even listening to me?" Mustang was becoming annoyed quickly. "Anyway, this really isn't anyone's business but I figured if I told you, people would at least get the real story as oppose to whatever stupid gossip they come up with." Somehow Riza knew that wasn't going to be the case regardless of what he said. Havoc released Al and walked back over to the two of them.

"Now, Lt. Hawkeye I expect you'll keep him on a tight lease, right?" She just dropped her head and let out a tired sigh.

"You're really making a big deal out of nothing." May leaned over to Alphonse.

"So does General Mustang usually have a lot of women pursuing him?" She kept her voice down as though they couldn't hear her that way.

"Um, yeah he kind of does." Al scratched the back of his head and let out a weak laugh. There was a knock on the door and a nurse came in with Al's lunch. She noticed he looked much better even with all the commotion in the room.

"Mr. Elric, you seem to be feeling better. I'll let the doctor know and see if he'd be willing to let you go home early."

"Really! That'd be great." The Flame alchemist interrupted the conversation.

"If one of us was willing to keep an eye on him, would that help?" The nurse turned to him, smiling sweetly.

"I don't see why not." Havoc's shoulders sagged at the attention Mustang was still getting.

"Great they're still gonna flirt with him, anyway," He whined to Riza.

"What do you want me to do about it? It's not like we're married or anything. Why don't you try being assertive more often?"

"Like him? I don't even know how he does it half the time." Roy overheard their conversation and ran a hand over his face before smiling at the nurse.

"Would you excuse me for a second," He requested.

"Yeah, sure." She smiled pleasantly back. He yanked Havoc over and put him in between the nurse and himself.

"This guy would love to go on a date with you. I unfortunately have a great girlfriend over there who gets very violent when she's jealous. So you two should really get to know each other more." With that he lightly shoved Havoc towards her and stepped back over to Riza. "There, now he can stop whining all the time."

"Good idea sir," Riza agreed. "Now what is so 'unfortunate' about having a girlfriend?" His dark gaze met hers and he swore someone turned the heat on in the room.

"Did I say unfortunate? Well it kind of is for her, though, not me. I'm very lucky to have a girlfriend." She kept her gaze unwavering and her expression resolved. "Did it get hot in here or something?" He pulled at his collar. Finally she smiled lightly and shook her head.

"You're too easy to mess with." She leaned down to the bed to grab her coat. Mustang let out a slow breath then helped her get it on. Before they left, they moved over to Al's side of the room.

"So Alphonse, you'll call us when they say you can leave, right?" The younger Elric nodded insistently.

"You still have it, don't you?" Mustang rummaged through his pockets for a second before retrieving the red stone.

"Are you planning on using it? I wouldn't blame you if you did." Roy's tone was quiet, keeping any eavesdroppers from hearing.

"I don't want to, Brother was able to use himself as a philosopher stone and I think I might be able to do it too. Of course he never really got into how he was able to do it." Mustang nodded back and placed the stone back in his pocket. He knew that if it came down to it, Al would find something else to sacrifice before using something like this. And he was sure Edward wouldn't be pleased with his younger brother if he did use it.

"Oh you smoke? I really don't like dating guys who smoke. They always smell like cigarettes." Leaving Havoc feeling rejected, the nurse left the room. He stared at the door in shock, still holding the cigarette he was going to light once they went outside. There was a hard slap to his back and Mustang leaned over to him.

"Well it seems that nasty little habit of yours won't just kill you but also your love life. Can't blame me for this one." He pulled the cigarette out of his hand and chucked it in the garbage again. Havoc came out of his stupor and glared at the General.

"Yah know these things aren't cheap, you're costing me a small fortune every time you throw one away."

"Consider it my way of keeping you alive longer. Now let's go." Feeling utterly defeated, Havoc sluggishly followed him out of the room. Riza waved to the three youths before exiting as well. Now all they had to do was wait for Al to be released and hopefully he would be able to get Edward. Winry clung to the notion with all she had. If anyone could bring Ed back to her, it was Alphonse.