A/N: Awww, I feel so loved! So the guy is creepy huh? Well I was actually going for him being GRODY but I can be happy with creepy. I am so sad though. Only one more chapter after this! I really enjoyed putting this story up! Oh well, guess I better get that Fuery story I've got going full speed ahead. I do already have 5(6?) chapters on it. Aaanyways, here's chapter 8! As always please show the love and leave reviews!
Turning the Tide
Roy Mustang and Jean Havoc were consumed by utter quiet as they waited still at the hospital using it as their base of operation since it was easy access to every region of the city. They hated the quiet that pervaded the hospital. It felt ominous. They were waiting for Feury to come rushing back with word on the wire and Falman with information that would point them exactly where to go. He glanced over to the row of chairs against the wall for families waiting for any word. He had the nurse and attending doctor that had dealt with Ed sitting quietly on opposite ends so they couldn't talk and were always in his line of sight. He doubted there was anything more to them than incompetence but he wasn't risking it. His gaze now flicked to Havoc. He was pacing restlessly but he'd at least cooled off, his anger at the bad luck of the night down to a simmer, but the worry gnawed at him, tormenting, driving him to pace. He certainly understood the feeling though he didn't participate in the pacing his heart certainly did.
They both startled sharply as the doors exploded open a gurney racing inside attended by two paramedics and…Hawkeye? Their stomachs twisted with dread as they saw the blood soaking her hands, the lower half of her shirt, and the knees of her jeans as she ran alongside. They jumped up rushing forwards confused at what could have happened. Surely she hadn't gone and found Ed already without them? Part of Roy hoped not as he thought of all the blood. They skidded up to the group instantly matching pace their own blood freezing in their veins, hearts catching in their throats.
"Hughes! Hughes! Open your eyes for me" Roy called his voice shaking slightly seeing his friend deathly pale, covered in horrible bruises that spread from his face all down his torso, eye going black, lip split, the deep ugly stab wound in his stomach that still poured blood like water from a faucet forcing the medics to put an iv in both arms.
Jean flashed Hawkeye a fearful gaze but she was solely focused on Hughes her fingers intertwined with his helping to keep him grounded. His eyes darted under their lids for a moment before cracking open and struggling to half mast, glazed and barely able to focus. His gaze lolled sluggishly for a moment before landing on Mustang.
"R'y" he rasped erupting in a fit of wheezing coughs struggling for a single good breath as his throat continued to swell with bruising. He clenched his eyes shut squirming away from the pain he couldn't escape.
"Easy Hughes just relax and breathe, come one relax" he focused on the sound of Roy's voice floating over him sounding so distant. Why was he so far away?
"Hey I thought I told you to stay awake Hughes" Hawkeye berated softly.
His breathing was frighteningly fast and shallow even with the air mask fitted on his face. He cracked his eyes open again not wanting to disappoint her when pain shot through his stomach like lancing fire again. He moaned pitifully back arching as he clenched his hands vaguely realizing both were now caught in another's. He shifted his gaze clumsily to find his left hand seeing it held firmly in the grip of a large strong hand then followed the arm up finding Jean. Had he always been there?
"H'v'c?" his vision was getting dark at the edges again. So tired. So heavy. He just wanted to sleep. To get away from the pain.
"I'm here Hughes you just hang on you're at the hospital now and it won't hurt much longer" So far away. So tired. He let himself slip away into sleep despite their efforts as the gurney surged into the staff only zone leaving the trio behind in stunned silence.
Minutes passed.
"What the hell happened!" Roy exploded abruptly. Hawkeye gulped and Havoc flinched.
"the prisoners in the holding cell were trying to kill him when I got there. He managed to land two of them in the hospital and one is dead from my bullet. The rest were badly beaten but in no danger" she bit her lip.
It had been close. Too close. She'd arrived just in time to see the man pinning Maes to the wall choking him to death, his body slack, eyes rolled back, and plunge the knife deep into his gut twisting and wrenching it cruelly. She'd yelled to drop him, he ignored, and she put a bullet in his brain without hesitation.
"How did he get a stab wound?: he hissed grinding his teeth together in rage. Could nothing go well for them tonight?
"According to the officers on duty one of the men had been brought in after killing a man in a mugging with no identification and refused to identify himself. They had no way of knowing that he had chalk on him and knew basic alchemy which he used to make a knife out of the wall" she explained her stomach twisting sickly. The Colonel gave a roar snapping his fingers and the contents of a nearby trash can caught fire sending several people running to smother the flames.
"I've got something!"
I've got something!" Falman and Feury called excitedly as they came running. They screeched to a halt by the group eyes going wide seeing Hawkeye covered in blood.
"What happened?" Feury gasped.
"What have you got" Roy interrupted anxiously.
"The man we're after is James Patterson, I'm sure of it, he's been a suspect before for but there wasn't any conclusive evidence against him" Falman detailed.
"And I know where he went with Edward" Feury piped in.
"Feury, Falman, Havoc you're with me, Hawkeye you stay with Hughes and don't leave his side under any circumstance" Mustang took off running for the nearest parked car with his men. Hawkeye walked calmly towards the doors Hughes had been taken through her eyes cold and steely as she drew her gun holding it relaxed but ready and intimidating by her side.
"I'm going through there. Who's stopping me?"
0o0o0o0o0o0
The car ride was silent except for the sound of metal clacking against metal as they checked their guns, Falman checking Roy's since he was driving, with mechanical habit, comfortable in the routine. Gone was the speeding heart rates, panicked adrenaline rushes, and anxious pacing. They had a name, they had a location. They knew their mission. It was all they needed for the calm controlled soldier persona to reassert it's dominance. The location was a two story cheap hotel in the slums of the city and the man was James Patterson. They were trying to decide if him making it out of this alive would really be all that lucky or not.
They pulled up to a horribly dilapidated hotel, paint peeling, the roof sagging and what looked like mold spreading across the walls. This felt like the right place. The manager said the room they wanted was on the second floor and that there'd been sounds of a fight earlier. Not that anyone cared. As long as money was involved nobody here cared what was happening or who was in the next room. They found the room they wanted quickly unable to hear anything. Good or bad they weren't sure. They stormed the room forcefully kicking down the door without warning assessing the situation in a split second.
The room was small and square the only other door being to an even smaller bathroom, window at the far wall, the bed at the center of the wall to their left and a nightstand next to it. On the bed, sprawled haphazardly was Edward. His wrist tied, far too tightly, to the bed post with a thin wire, blood streaking his forearm, both fresh and dried, the same with his ankle, blood staining the sheets beneath him, and auto mail arm removed lying abandon next to the bed with a crowbar. He was naked from the waist up but still had his pants on, unbuttoned with the fly open, his chest and stomach covered with severe bruising that suspiciously matched the general size and shape of the crowbar. On top of him, straddling his hips, was a man with black hair cropped short, muddy brown eyes and a frame that was stout with muscle, fully clothed, hips rocking slightly, both hands buried in Ed's hair, the braid redone, clearly just having started. His eyes flashed wide with shock at the group piling into the room unexpectedly and snatched up a knife that had lain hidden beside the little alchemist slashing it swiftly at his victim. If he couldn't have him no one would.
Falman exploded into action first ramming the man, deflecting the knife just enough that it slashed across Ed's jaw line rather than his neck, as they crashed to the floor in a tangle of punching and kicking. He felt the knife nick his thigh then slide across his ribs. He growled and lunged wrenching the wrist with the knife to the point it nearly snapped, snatching the weapon out of his hand then made his first mistake.
He turned his back to James intent on throwing the blade out of the fray. Patterson didn't let the opportunity pass crashing into Vato both colliding hard with the wall in the struggle. Falman hooked a foot around Patterson's and yanked fiercely but the man kept his vice like grip and they both went falling through the shattered glass of the second story window, ricocheted off the fire escape and struck the pavement below. Mustang tore down the stairs after Falman while Havoc rushed to Elric's side and Feury stood weapon at the ready unsure who to follow, Havoc or Mustang, and so stayed keeping guard against further threats.
"Ed, Ed, c'mon Ed open your eyes" he moaned weakly and shifted away from the touch keeping his eyes closed.
"Aw man he's drugged up bad" Havoc swore under his breath as he peeled each eyelid back noting the pupils were dilated like saucers.
"Let's get this wire off him" Kain suggested locating the same wire cutters Patterson had used and started working at the wrist. The moment he was completely untied Havoc pulled Ed to rest against his chest arms wrapped around him protectively as he grunted in pain at the movement. He suspected the kid was actually awake but with the drugs working was closer to sleep then wakefulness.
"Ed, c'mon kiddo I need you to open your eyes for me now…"
0o0o0o0o0
Cigarettes. He could smell that ever lingering scent of cigarettes and a hint of something else. Something familiar. Cologne. It was a cologne that someone he knew, he couldn't call the name forth, wore when on a date. Warm. He was pressed against something warm and wanted more of it. Someone was calling him. Telling him to open his eyes but he was just so tired. He wanted to sleep but he couldn't for some reason and he couldn't wake up either. He found himself stuck halfway between the two. He felt himself being propped more upright sending pain lancing across his ribs and back and cried out. The person was calling him again persistently and he found he could no longer resist. Everything blurred and streaked the light intense like hot knives piercing his eyes making him blink fiercely for a moment before his head lolled back to find the person that kept calling him.
"Havoc?" What was going on? He couldn't figure out where he was or what had happened. His memory was vague disjointed flashes.
"Hey kid, glad to see you awake, how are you feeling?" he already knew, awful, but he wanted to keep him talking and alert. Plus, though he hoped against it, he needed to know if there was serious damage that Ed would feel but they couldn't see.
"Hurts to…breathe…back…"his eyes drooped heavily as he warred with the drugs in his system, his breathing indeed sounding labored. Jean propped him a bit straighter again to make it easier to breathe.
"Aw gee his lower back, it's gone totally black" he hissed angrily getting a good look for the first time. Ed drifted again.
Someone grabbed his wrist pressing a towel to it and he whimpered trying to pull away only to be held firm and apologies to float over him. He tried to focus but it was so much work. He was so tired. From somewhere nearby there was an ear piercing scream of agony. He whimpered again flinching closer to Havoc his foggy mind unable to track what was happening around him.
0o0o0o0o0
Falman realized his error as he felt the glass shattering at his back and the feeling of falling surround him. Hitting the fire escape was like being hit by a train driving every iota of oxygen from his lungs, fire shooting through his leg as it snapped loudly and knocked Patterson away from him so they hit the pavement apart. Nobody moved for the first few minutes. Vato focused on breathing out instead of in having had his diaphragm stunned like this so many times before in sparring and was able to gradually suck in coughing breaths wincing slightly.
Once the world quit spinning he took stock of himself. His head throbbed but he suspected he dodged a concussion this time, right leg definitely broken and smarting rudely so that he had to grit his teeth against a groan. A couple of cracked ribs by the feel of it, maybe broken, he couldn't quite tell, and there was something else. A sensation warm and tingling, sharp and agonizing like little electrical currents jolting through his side. He blinked a few times to clear his slightly wavering vision then lifted himself onto his elbows to see the knife, the source of all his problems right now, sticking menacingly out of his side. Then he spotted movement. More specifically he spied the other man staggering to his feet. Damn that Patterson!
The man stood holding his head for a moment his face smeared with some blood but not a lot, clearly unsteady on his feet, as he looked around blinking some then landed a hard menacing gaze on Falman. He smiled like a snake on the prowl as he began towards Vato limping heavily. Falman looked around anxiously but he was alone in the alley then slapped his hand against his hip where the gun holster reside. Empty. A shadow fell over him and he looked up to find James standing over him grinning like a Cheshire his own gun pointed between his eyes.
"Looking for this soldier boy?" Falman gasped and tried to scramble backwards but his limbs were shaky as a Chihuahua on any day and he only managed a few inches. Patterson's laugh was shatter by the shot of a gun, the bullet tearing through his shoulder mercilessly, the gun clattering benignly to the ground, followed by a single snap and fire erupting all around his hands. He threw himself backwards screaming in agony then rolled onto his stomach burying his hands beneath him, smothering the fire, then rolling onto his back again gasping and sobbing as he stared at his charred hands. Another snap made him flinch but instead of fire he found his feet encased in concrete.
"Rookie move Falman" Roy berated half heartedly kneeling next to his man checking his injuries succinctly.
"Sorry Sir, was just trying to get the knife out of play. You know I'm no good with knives" Vato explained looking properly chastised.
"You got lucky, this knife wound isn't too bad but better not pull it out till the medics are here. Gonna have to make you spar with Full Metal once you're healed up"
"No Sir please! Don't make me cry!" Falman whined pitifully careful to lay still while the Colonel looked him over. He hated sparring with Elric with a passion. Elric always won and sent him home limping. Mustang only chuckled.
"How is Elric?" Vato inquired after a moment of silence.
"He's with Feury and Havoc" Roy replied emotionlessly as he ran his fingers along Vato's ribs looking for breaks.
"You should go check on them. I'll keep and I promise to be good and lay still here like a lazy slug till the medics get here" Falman laid back staring up at the night sky going totally boneless as if to prove his point. Mustang scowled looking at Patterson who was simpering pitifully showing no sign of even attempting escape then back to his Lieutenant.
"Alright but I'm sending Feury out to keep an eye on things" Falman just gave him a tired salute. Things moved quickly after that as two ambulances arrived whiskent them away. Feury going with Falman and Havoc riding with Edward while Roy followed in his own car with a thoroughly rendered harmless James Patterson.
Roy sighed with relief as all his men were finally accounted for and safe.