Chapter 3:
Making the Impossible, Possible Again.
The cold night air whipped against Ed's face as he and the strange woman weaved their way through the streets of Paris. They were running at a full sprint before entering the industrial district of town, when she began to slow a bit, obviously not afraid of being followed this far. He wanted to ask where they were going but the look on her face told him that just waiting to see was the best idea. They turned down a deserted street lined with tall brick buldings, which looked as if they hadn't been in use for a while. It was a dead end, and he followed her until she stopped at the very last building and leaned against the door for a moment to catch her breath. She caught Ed's eye before pushing the door open and entering. It lead into one giant room, litered with scrap metal, and a staircase that led to a balcony. She started for the stairs without looking back at Ed, but he had finaly found his voice and decided that he had had enough silence.
"Wait a second!" She turned back to stare at him as he took a moment to figure out what question to ask first. "...Are you ok?" She raised a hand to the red mark on her cheek, a wry smile creeping onto her face.
"Oh yeah, I've had much worse then this before." Silence ensued as Ed looked for a place to rest his eyes, looking at her made him nervous for some reason.
"So...Where are we?" She motioned for him to follow and she started up the stairs again.
"This is what I like to call, home base. Actaully, it's what I call home. That hell hole we just left is a sorry excuse for any kind of dwelling." They made it to the balcony at the top of the stairs and she headed towards a door at the end of the hallway. What was beyond the door was not at all what Ed was suspecting. While the rest of the building looked like an abandoned wherhouse, this had somehow been converted into a cozy little apartment, complete with wall to wall carpeting, a giant bed, an upright piano and tons of bookshelves filled with rather large tomes.
Ed took in the site before him with wide eyes.
"I'm guessing you're no stranger to the industrial district." She graced him with a flawless smile and a small laugh which caused him to swallow hard. She took off her coat and threw it onto the bed.
"And I'm guessing you're no stranger to this." She clapped her hands together and them placed them on her coat. A blue light flooded the moderately sized room, and when it died down, she was holing a mink stole. Ed's jaw hit floor and he pointed at her in complete shock and at a loss for words. "Oh relax Fullmetal, it's faux, I promise." She teased and all he could do was shake his head in disbelief. "Oh, you mean the Alchemy? Pretty cool party trick huh?"
"Alright, enough with the theatrics. You obviously wanted to talk to me or else you wouldn't have called me out last night." The coy smile dropped from her face and she set the fur back on the bed.
"You're right, I'm sorry." She motioned to a couple of armchairs in the corner of the room. "Come in and sit for a while." He noded and started to follow her before she stopped dead in her tracks. "Your leg." Ed furrowed his browe and she turned to face him once more, sadness disrupting her perfect features. "It's not just youre arm... They took your leg as well." She locked her gaze with his for a moment before a look of distressed realization crossed her face. "You've seen some terrible things, havent you?" Ed couldnt bring himself to move, not when those eyes were locked onto his. Thankfully for him, she made the first movement, turning to start for the chairs once more. She colapsed into one of the seats and rested her head in her hand. He stared at her momentarily before following suite, never taking his eyes off her.
"What's your name?" He finally asked. She lifted her head to regard him.
"Jayne Montgomery." She extended him her graceful hand, and as he grasped it with his right gloved palm, he couldnt help but wonder if her skin was as soft as it looked. "And you would be..?" He mentally slaped himself and rejoined reality.
"You don't already know?" She just blinked in confusion.
"How would I know your name?" Ed released her hand and shrugged.
"Well you seem to know so much about me already, I didnt think something as simple as my name would stump you." He glanced sideways at her and smiled, and she adverted her eyes, a slight tint creeping up in her cheeks.
"The only name I know for you is Fullmetal. I can call you that if you like but it seems a little sadistic considering your condition." He let out a short laugh.
"Yeah, I guess it's a little messed up, isnt it?" She nodded in agreement.
"So why don't you tell me your actual name and make this all slightly less awkward?" He smiled.
"It's Edward." Shelooked at him for a moment, which made him fidget.
"It suites you." She stood up and started for one of the many bookcases that filled the room. "No last name?"
"No, ive got one, I'm just not in the habit of giving it out these days." She glanced back at him skepticaly. "Well not to total strangers anyway." She nodded as she retrieved a book and returned to her chair.
"I don't think we're total starngers." He tried to meet her gaze but she avoided it as she handed him the book. "But maybe this peace offering will help change your mind."
He looked down at the very old, very lage book. It was simply entitled "Alchemy". Ed sighed as he took it from her hands.
"Me understanding alchemy was never the problem." she cocked her head and slighty smiled.
"I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that point. This isn't going to make much sense to you but, I've been in here," She pointed a finger at his forehead. "Sorry for tresspassing by the way, but thats another story for another time," She shook her head as if to regain her cool, Ed couldnt help but smile at her "Ive seen your understanding of alchemy, and - well it's not exactly wrong, but it's all very disconjointed." He raised an eyebrow at her so she continued. "I'm not going to pretend like I know how it worked in your world, but I'm living proof that it does work in this world."
"You know about my world?" She averted her eyes and blushed slightly again.
"Not really..." He tried in vain to catch her gaze again, but she just shrugged rested her eyes on the book in his hands. "Let's just say that I know you and your cute younger brother are a long way from home." She still avoided his eyes, so instead he just nodded and returned to the book. He watched her eyes follow the movements of his right hand as he opened it and turned the first few pages. He caught her off gaurd as he abruptly looked up and smiled warmly at her.
"Do you want to see it?" He reached up and started to remove his coat and she blushed in ernest while quickly shaking her head.
"NO! I mean-" She sighed in defeat. "I'm sorry, apparently I have no manners. I stare and I swim around in your head like I own the place." She stood up, clearly agitated with herself, and busied herself with fishing more books off the shelves. Ed couldnt help but laugh.
"It's ok, honostly." She slowly turned back to face him and return his charming crooked smile with her flawless one, causing his stomach to do a somersault.
"Why did you have me follow you here?" He asked, wanting to change the subject before he started to blush again. She walked over to a small desk near the door and sat the pile of books down.
"You seemed like you needed help finding your purpose in this new world." He stood up and made his way to her side. "And I know that if you were given back your power, it would strickly be used for the good of man kind." He watched her sort through the books.
"Yours is being used for the opposite?" She smiled sarcasticly as she opened one of the bigger books and began thumbing through the index.
"I'm not really in the position to choose what my gifts are to be used for." Ed took a moment to let this sink in before answering.
"Everyone is in charge of their own fate." She froze, her hands hovering over the book, and she lifted her eyes to meet his. The amount of sadness in her eyes made his heart ache, and he had to resist the urge to reach out and touch her face. She looked down at his hand, witch was itching to move, and let our a small dejected laugh.
"You of all people should know that life isn't as easy as you wish it could be." He followed her gaze to his hand, which he balled into a fist, hearing the quiet sound metal hinges.
"How do you know so much about me?" She took a moment to regain her composure, which had begun to rapidly detriorate, before placing a sly smile on her face and answering.
"Just one of my speical gifts thats being used for evil." she tapped her temple with her forefinger, but Ed just furrowed his browe and continued staring at her. He didnt buy her act for a minute, and she caught on. She quickly found the page she was looking for and sat it down in front of him, breaking his train of thought. "But now is not really the time to be sharing my life's story with a man who wont even tell me his last name." He opened his mouth to disagree but she silenced him with a smile. "Don't worry about it, just focus on this for now." She gestured to the mound of books. "Start with this." He would have liked to pursue the topic more but as he started to read what she had set in front of him, the more interested in it he became.
"Ive never seen anything like this before. I've read some of this worlds books on alchemy, but most of them dismissed it as folly. It's different from what I've studied in the past but I can deffinitly see the similarities." She watched his movements as he made his way back to the chair in the corner, never taking his eyes off the page. She smiled at her strange company before busying herself with the rest of the books, marking pages and organizing them. An hour or so passed by in silence and she commended his dedication, she leaned her elbows onto the desk and watched his golden eyes fly accross the pages, eagerly drinking in the new information. When he finally decided to tear himself away from his literature, his heart nearly stopped. She had fallen asleep accroos one of the many books on the desk. Her head was resting sideways on her crossed arms, her bewitching features glowing in the faint light in the small room. Ed slowly stood up and crossed the room, careful not to make any noise, and crouched down beside her. He took a moment to drink in her sleeping form and wondered how someone so beautiful could be so sad at the same time, he also wondered how anyone could want to cause her harm. A few strands of her raven hair was strewn accross her browe. Suddenly his arm had a mind of it's own and it started inching toward her face. His gloved finger tips were inches from her when a clock on the wall started to ring rather loudly. She opened her lovely eyes in time to see Ed with his back against the opposite wall, his face burning red. She gave him a look mixed with groginess and confusion.
"What are you doing over there?" She yawned and streched her arms gracefully above her head. Ed refused to let his eyes linger this time as he fumbled around for an excuse.
"Oh...Ya know-just...Stretching." He mimicked her yawn and stretch as she raised and eyeybrow at him before laughing at his overdramatic stretches. He stoped his fake conditioning and smiled at her, just the sound of her laughter calmed him down. She stood up and looked at the offending clock.
"9:30 already? You know how to make the hours just fly by don't you blondie." She teased, but he was to busy having a small heart attack to be flustered.
"9:30? Are you serious? Al's gotta be worried out of his mind by now!" He dashed back to his chair to grab the discarded book. "Do you mind if I borrow this?" She nodded hastily.
"No not at all! Actually, take these as well." She held out two other books for him to take as he made his way to the door. Before he could make it all the way out he grabbed the door frame and stoped to look back at her. He took a moment for deciding what to say.
"Are you going to be here tomorrow?" She blinked a few times in confusion.
"Y-you'd come see me again?" He gave her a charming smile and it was her hearts turn to skip a beat or two.
"Of course! You may have just given me back a huge part of my life," He gestured to the alchemy books under his arm "But you've manuvered your way out of the rest of my questions. I can't let you get away just like that." She dropped her gaze to the floor.
"I don't think I'll be able to get away tomorrow, not after what I pulled tonight." She touched her slightly bruised cheek, and Ed realized he never got out of her what had happened before he followed her here, to her 'home base'. Before he could open his mouth she was smiling at him again. "How about Monday night. 10pm? I figure you could sneak out without your brother knowing."
"Sure, It's a date!" Ed immediately wished he could shove those words right back in his mouth, and it was evident from his expression. She started laughing again and started waving him away before he could think of some sort of retraction.
"Just go already! Before your brother has a heart attack." He nodded but before turning to leave, he caught her eye once more.
"Elric... My last name is Elric." At this he turned on his heel and sprinted into the darkness. As he made his way down the street he was very aware that he was leaving her alone for the night, but he couldnt let himself think about that, becuase if he did, he ran the risk of turning around and racing back down the street towards her. At that thought, his mind was flooded with a million possiblites, he shook his head to get rid of the not-so-offensive thoughts.
"Get it together Ed, Al's waiting for you." He quickened his pace. "And enough with the thrid person narration!"
He made it back to the bakery in record time. All the lights were off in front, which was a relief to him to know that Claire had gone home (no rolling pins to the head tonight!). Instead of chancing the sound of the bell fastned onto the front door, he made his way to the alley behind, slowly unlocked the back entrance, and slipped in soundlessly. He peeked down stairs and saw a light still on in the office, which meant Al was still working. He sighed, glad that he hadnt been worried, and started up the stairs to stash the books Jayne had given him in his room. The creaky stairs must have alerted Al, becuase before he made it to his small room, Ed heard the sound of a door opening before he called out to him.
"Brother? Is that you?" Ed dashed to his room and hastily threw the books on his bed before running back to the stairs, nearly knocking Al over in the process.
"Sorry Al! You freaked me out a little, I thought you were asleep." Ed laughed through his white lie.
"I was still working, I didnt realize what time it was until I heard you moving around up here. Have you been wandering the streets this whole time?" Ed looked into his brothers trusting face, aware that he had no choice but to lie to him, and made a mental promise to tell him everything when the time was right. Which, sadly, wasnt now.
"Yeah, this new job got me thinking about a lot of things." Al noded in agreement.
"Me too." Ed looked at the bags forming under his brothers eyes and could only imagine how hagard he must look himself.
"Let's call it a night Al, we can rest and regroup tomorrow. Ok?" Al responded with a yawn and started for his bedroom.
"Good idea. Night brother." Ed watched him leave before shaking his head and turning on his heel. He had a sinking feeling that their lives were about to get extremely complicated once again.
The next morning Ed woke with a start, his face was flushed and his auto mail was caught in the sheets. He couldnt recall what he had been dreaming, and he never got a chance to try. Moments later, his door was thrust open, he jumped at the sound, but the sight was far more firghtening. Claire stood in his doorway, roling pin in hand and an evil smile placed on her face. Ed used his free hand to gather his blankets up around his neck.
"Whats wrong with you woman? I'm not decent!" She ignored his crys and slowly made her way over to his bed, hitting the rolling pin against the palm of her hand as she walked. She leaned down to him, her face inches from his.
"And just where exactly did you end up last night, mon amour?" He tried to distance himself from her crazy stare but his arm was still caught.
"I fail to see how thats any of your business." She sighed and sat down nonchalantly beside him. His eyes watched in horror as she began tapping his arm with the rolling pin.
"I guess you're right Edward. Je n'ai aucun moyen de faire de vous me parler de votre soirée." Her gentle taps started getting a little harder.
"Hey! What do you think your doing! Do you know how hard it is to repair this stuff?" She ignored him and kept abusing his auto mail, lucky for him, Al walked in at that moment, buttoning his shirt.
"What are you yelling about Ed?" She was off the bed and on Al before either could blink.
"Bonjour mon précieux!" She kissed his cheek and encircled her arm in his. Ed rolled his eyes and started to untanlgle himself from the sheets.
"Good morning Claire." He finally caught sight of his brothers perdicament and smiled. "What happened to you?" Ed glared at his younger brother.
"Shut up Al. And get her the hell out of here, will ya?" Claire put on a taken aback face.
"Such hostility!" Ed just glared at her as she led Al out the door. "Come with me mon amour. Je vais vous faire un petit déjeuner." She took one more look back at Ed, who stuck his tounge out at her, before she retreated downstairs.
Ed tried his best to free his arm from the bedding, without doing too much damage to the cloth, and let his mind wander over the events of last night. It was all so surreal that if not for the three books stacked in the corner he would have dismissed it as a dream. Besides the fact that alchemy was once again a possibility for him and Al, Jayne herself seemed like a hallucination of his wanting imagination. She was like a beautiful nightmare that he had the premonition to miss if he chose to, but the cold hard truth was, he didnt want to. He freed his arm and tried his best to shake the feeling of dread while he got dressed and made his way downstairs. He snuck past Claire, who had her back turned as she bent over the stove, and quickly made his way to the office. He found Al bent over a large piece of paper with a ruler in one hand and a pencil in the other.
"I see you've been hard at work." Al looked up as his brother walked over to examine his work.
"Just some preliminary sketches." Ed nodded and grabbed a stack of smaller sketches before settling into one of the arm chairs.
"Are we really gonna do this? Getting involved in another war?" Al sighed as he sat down as well.
"Actually I was gonna ask you the same question." He lifted up Ed's opened notebook, which was covered in notes and equations.
"Ok, so the question isnt can we do it, it's do we want to, am I right?"
"You know how I feel about getting involved in the affairs of this world, brother." Ed dropped his gaze to the floor. "Another war would be horrible for these people but-"
"We're never going back Al." He interrupted forfully "We are the people you're talking about. A war would be horrible for us too." He looked up to meet his brothers stunned and confused gaze. "I think we've been fooling ourselves for the past four years. Secretly hoping against hope that we would somehow find our way back, but it's time to stop living in a fantasy and join reality Al. We're here to stay."
Al leaned back in his chair, shoulders slumped.
"You're right brother, I know you are, but it doesnt make it any less difficult." The sight of his brothers face tugged at Ed's heart.
"Hey, It's not all bad. We've left an entire lifetime of people and memories behind, but that doesnt mean we havent started to make new memories or add new people to our lifes." Al nodded in agreement but his brother knew it would take more then a single blunt speech to make him understand. Ed sighed, thinking of what to stay next, when the door was nudged open, emitting the smell of delicious hot food.
"Le petit déjeuner est prêt mon amours!" Claire stood in the doorway holding two heaping plates of eggs, bread, and assorted breakfast meats. "You two have been skipping meals left and right! Some day you're gonna be working away down here and then BAM! Vous tombez sur la famine forme morte." Ed glared as she set the plates down on the cluttered desk.
"Anyone ever tell you how exhausting your mood swings are?" She smiled as she grabbed his head and placed it against her chest.
"At-on jamais dit comment vous vous êtes mignon?" Ed squirmed as his brother laughed.
"Haven't you touched me enough today? Get off!" She just smiled and held on tighter.
"You've got a soft spot for blondes, dont ya lass?" Claire froze, the smile slid off her face and a slight tint creeped onto her cheeks. Ed took this opportunity to break free and flatten his mussed hair.
"You want her? You can have her, but I'm warning you O'Malley, this ones crazy." The raven haird man smiled and entered the room, walking until he was right behind the French woman.
"She knows I like her kind of crazy." She spun around to face him, hands on her hips and a sneer on her face.
"Prenez un pas de plus et vous êtes morts pervers." His smile just widened.
"You know I dont speak French!"
"Uh... I'd take a step back if I were you." Al took it upon himself to intervene before she made it rain green blood. The irishman took a step back, never dropping his smile.
"Thanks for the breakfast, you can hold the bi-polar disorder next time though." She kicked Ed's chair before taking the remaining seat for herself. They all stared at her for a moment, willing her to move, but she just crossed her legs and arms and leaned back in her seat.
"I'm not leaving until I see you two eat something. I was serious about the starvation thing." Ed was about to open his mouth with a rebuttal, but Al thought it wise to just move on.
"Ok Claire, we'll eat as soon as we're done with our meeting." She nodded but remained seated. Ed rested his head in his right hand and sighed in defeat.
"Stubborn woman." He murmured under his breath as O'Malley shrugged and surveyed the contents of the desk.
"I'll take this mess as a sign that you've accepted the offer?" Al nodded.
"I havent really had a chance to colaborate with Ed on a timeline, but we're deffinitly up to the task." He handed him a folder. "This is the start of our notes and research, and I've come up with a few sketches. You can take these back to the client." O'Malley turned his elated glance to Ed.
"Knew you wouldnt let me down. I'll be back in a day or so with more details, just keep on with what you've started so far." He winked at him, making the blonde roll his eyes, before tucking the folder inside his jacket and turning to face Claire.
"Come on gorgeous, let's leave these two alone. They've got a LOT of work ahead of them. Trust me." He held out his hand to her, she stared for a moment before adverting her eyes and taking it.
"Fine, avoir votre manière. But first," But instead of following the man to the door, she stalked over to the brothers and handed them each a fork from her apron pocket. "Mangez." Ed, clearly fed up with her, snached the fork out of her hand and started shoveling egg into his mouth.
"There! You happy? Now leave before I forget you're a lady and stomp your crazy ass!" She just smiled at him, ernestly this time, before patting him lightly on the head.
"Je t'aime aussi Edward." She waved a hand above her head as she left saying, "Eh bien, tant que vous êtes bien, je suppose que votre secret est ok." She grabbed O'Malley's arm. "Come on, you pig. Je suis de bonne humeur, so I'll make you some coffee." And like that they were gone, leaving Ed speechless once again.
Al turned a confused look to his brother.
"What did she mean by "your secrecy"?" He narrowed his eyes "Are you hiding something brother?" Ed quickly shook his head, his mouth still full of egg.
"I'm sure she just meant our new job. She's obviously realized the severity of it, and shes worried about us, as usual." Ed laughed, how many lies does that make so far? 3 or 4? He didnt like how this whole situation was turning out at all. But then he remember the alchemy books upstairs and Jayne's slumbering face, and all thoughts of telling the truth vanished. "Ok, now that we're finally alone lets make some real progress." Al responded with an entusiastic smile before they both set their breakfast aside, and went to work.
Accross Town
Above The Dixie Club
An elegantly dressed woman with dark hair and striking eyes is staring out an open window, a long cigarette placed between her slender fingers. Although her features are flawless, her beauty is muddled by sinister thoughts and plans you can cleary see written in the sublte creases in her brow.
"That damn child." She sighed as the door is suddenly thrust open. A man in a decorated military uniform enters the room with force, followed by two lower ranking officers. "Good morning Gener-" He puts up his hand to silence her, and she obeys him, despite the fact that he's obviously younger then her. His raven hair and cold dark eyes are enough to let anyone know not to cross him.
"I take it she hasnt returned yet?" The woman shook her head.
"No, but she will, don't you worry." He placed his hands behind his back and walked towards her.
"You're dauhgter is starting to become more trouble then she's worth to me, Margaret. Her incredible power may be an indespensible asset to our country, theres no denying that, but I'm starting to doubt the possibility of her being tamed before our-"
"You don't even need to finish that thought, General." She interrupted him with a pleading tone. "I'm not saying she isnt a bit of a wild spirit, but most of the great beauties are! Plus, you have to remember she's young, I'm sure she'll grow out of it." He regarded her desperation with disgust before turning to leave, apparently satisfied with her explanation, for now anyways. He was almost out the door when she remembered something. "General, I forgot to ask, how much longer are we to be in France? Jayne's just desperate to get back home, for reasons I'm sure you can guess." She smiled as she lied.
"We're still working on a deal with the French, be prepared to be here a while longer." She nodded, and he looked at the open window she was standing by. "Let me know when she gets back, and tell her I want to see her when she does. Tie her to the bedpost if you have to, but I wont be kept waiting for her again."
"Of course sir, thank you sir." The door was slammed shut before the woman had finished her sentance. She returned her gaze to the window, her eyes never leaving it, until she finally saw the figure of a young woman slowing making her way down the street, a mink stole placed around her shoulders. She walked away from the window, an evil smile placed on her lips. "My little lamb has made her way back to the slaughter house." She grabbed a beautifully printed scarf from a nearby vanity, and as she sat down on a large four poster bed, she began snapping it between her hands, testing it's strength.
And heres the greatly anticipated (No?) Chapter 3! Hope you all liked it :)
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GAIP =]