Chapter 6-
"What do we do?" Fuery panicked. "That crazy psychopath has Alphonse!" The rest of the team felt the same panic and turmoil inside; everyone loved Al. He was like everyone's favourite little brother.
Hawkeye had ordered for everyone to go home after the incident with Envy. She knew that they could never follow Envy through the crowd, and that the person with the best chance of finding Al was Ed- who's anger had been about to snap, after being in the sun all day. Hawkeye decided for everyone to just go home and then meet back at the office at night, which was exactly what they had done, except for Winry.
Hawkeye hadn't actually told her they were meeting tonight, so Winry had stayed in her and Al's apartment tonight. Without Winry, the officers could talk freely about methods to rescue Al. It was kind of mean, but it had to be done. She just hoped Ed would come back as well- it wouldn't be surprising if he didn't. They had constantly put him in circumstances where he was either uncomfortable or annoyed. No-one said it aloud, but everyone was thinking it. What if Ed didn't return? How where they going to get Al back if he didn't?
"I'm also worried about Breda," Falman said unexpectedly. "The real Breda. What did Envy do to him…?" Fuery fell silent, along with Havoc, Hawkeye and Mustang. They hadn't thought of that before. A clock from the west wall chimed one o'clock into the silence.
"At least we know it was planned," Havoc said finally. The others looked at him and he hastily clarified, "I mean the bomb. Envy wanted to lure Ed to Dain Square so he could fight him, but in the end he just decided to kidnap Al instead in order to get what he wanted… but I'll bet Envy put that bomb there."
"I'm guessing that all of the homunculus are putting this plan in motion, not just Envy," Mustang said. "It's a bit too intricate for his style…"
A new voice spoke from behind Mustang. "I've seen him." Hawkeye and Mustang turned around, while Havoc, Fuery and Falman looked up to the doorway of the inner office. Everyone but Mustang gasped; the Colonel had seen this sight before. Blood ran from the side of Ed's mouth, down his neck and shirtfront, making his clothes wet. There was no mistaking that it was human blood. Ed had his mouth closed at the moment, but everyone could tell his fangs where there. To top it all off, all of Edward's wounds had healed. They'd just vanished.
"Seen who?" Mustang asked, since he was apparently the only one capable of talking.
"The person with green hair. The one you were referring to," Ed casually wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"When did you see him, Ed?" Hawkeye was the first to recover.
"He follows me when I go find someone to eat," Ed said, causing everyone to grimace at his choice of words. "I only see him sometimes, but I know he follows every night. I just can't find him most of the time."
"Why the hell would Envy follow you?" Mustang queried, hiding his confusion.
"Because he takes the people after I'm done with them," Ed shifted on the doorframe he was leaning against.
"Do you kill people?" Fuery blurted, unable to contain his horrification any longer. He was disturbed at Ed's appearance, and the implications behind it.
Ed looked at Fuery coolly. "Only if they annoy me." Fuery shrunk back into the chair he was sitting on.
Hawkeye gave Ed a look, asking him to continue. "When I leave a person, they are unconscious but alive. When Envy leaves them, they are dead," Ed put it simply.
"So Envy's the murderer!" Havoc realised aloud. Everyone suddenly looked a little happier- they'd finally made progress on the case!
"That's beside the point!" Fuery suddenly spoke forcefully, unlike his usual happy-go-lucky tone. The other officers looked at him, shocked. Fuery stood up and asked miserably, "What about Al and Breda? They're in trouble! And he's the reason for it! Not only that, but he's attacking people!" Fuery was yelling by now, glaring at Ed. He couldn't help but think of the worst case scenario, and that ended with two of his best friends being tortured and killed by the insane sin. Fuery was tense, focusing his anger on the only one he could blame; Edward.
"What do you want me to do about it, huh?" Ed asked him, meeting Fuery's emotional rage with an icy tone and cold, soulless eyes. Fuery hesitated, his anger quickly running out.
"You think I wanted to be like this? Feeding off people to live, causing a burden on everyone? Do you think I wanted this?" Ed narrowed his eyes, and for the first time, Mustang's team could see a spark of the old Ed in his eyes. The Edward who'd do anything to protect the people of Amestris, who was always strong so he wouldn't be a burden on anyone else.
Silence fell on the room once again. Fuery now seemed closer to tears than rage, and everyone had stood up during the tension. Fuery was the youngest of their team- he'd never been to war or anything like that. It made sense for him to break down when two of his best friends could already be dead. Ed had an unreadable expression on his face. After a moment, Mustang grabbed Ed by the arm, causing him to hiss slightly, and dragged the teen to his inner office, shutting the door.
"Calm down, Fullmetal," Mustang ordered, concerned. Fullmetal's eyes had gone a bloody red, a crimson that covered all over his pupils and the whites of his eyes. Mustang didn't want Fullmetal to snap and kill someone- the Colonel knew, deep in his heart, that Fullmetal hadn't taken anyone's life.
The teen scowled at him, but the ruby colour of his eyes receded a little. Mustang promptly decided to try and figure out what had happened to him in the months after Al got his body back.
"Fullmetal… Edward, what happened to you? That made you become like this?" Mustang inquired softly.
The boy scowled even deeper. "Don't ask me that when you already know!"
"No, I don't know. Tell me, Edward," Mustang gazed into his crimson eyes until Ed sighed and looked away.
"That transmutation that kid talked about… Alphonse or whatever his name was… it had a price. You're an alchemist, you should know!" Ed glared at an innocent wall.
"A price? I mean, of course every transmutation has a price, but I thought you two figured that out! With the strand of alchemy that you brothers recovered…" Mustang replied, furrowing his brow. Ed just kept on glaring at the wall.
Mustang sighed. "What price did you pay? You haven't lost any more limbs… in fact, you received your arm and leg back after that transmutation. You don't cough up blood because of lost organs and you're still as intelligent as ever, so you still have your mind. So what the heck did you give?"
Edward shifted his glare to Mustang. "Oh, come on. Like you haven't already guessed! What's the one thing you can take from a human that will result in them forming into a vampire? The one thing you can take that will force them to consume the life essence of other people in order to live? The one thing you can take, that will cause that human to lose his memory of his past life? That one thing that I gave up for some kid that I don't even know!"
Mustang's eyes widened. No way… that couldn't possibly be what Ed gave up for Al, could it?
"Edward…" Mustang swallowed, horrified. "You do know Al. He's your little brother, remember?"
Ed suddenly gave a bitter, humourless laugh. "If I remembered, do you think I'd be here right now? I'm not giving up anything else for a stranger! You people can find your friends on your own." Edward moved to leave.
Mustang caught his arm again, preventing the teen from going. "We can help you! We'll help you get your memory back, your brother back and… and we'll help you get it back too. Just let us help!"
Mustang ducked under Edward's sudden kick. "Just fuck off!" Ed snarled, "I don't need your help and I certainly don't want it! I'm fine as I am!"
"No, you're not," Mustang yelled. "You even said so yourself- ugh!" Mustang stumbled back a step, releasing Edward after he landed a kick to Mustang's stomach. A sudden, strong wind blew, and the teenager vanished.
"Sir!" Hawkeye burst through the door after hearing sounds of a fight. She put a hand on Mustang's shoulder, with him still doubled over. Ed kicking him was like being hit in the stomach with a truck. Hawkeye looked around, but Ed was gone.
"Hawkeye… I know what's… wrong with him. I know… what he gave up… in order for Alphonse… to get his body back," Mustang wheezed. He looked at his lieutenant, straightening slightly so they were at eye level.
"He gave up his soul..."