Chapter 9-
A moment of silence passed between the officers, each with their head bowed, in honour of their fallen friend. Afterwards, Hawkeye looked up.
"We can't stay here…" she spoke quietly but authoritatively. She had learned long ago to trust her instincts, and they were telling her to leave this place immediately.
"We can't leave him here," Havoc retaliated. They both looked at Mustang.
The Colonel thought briefly and answered, "We'll get him and go immediately after."
Havoc and Mustang moved to the entry of the cage. The Colonel couldn't just snap his fingers to burn the lock open- that would cause an explosion, which someone nearby would easily hear. He decided to melt it open, and created a tiny flame which he held up to the lock on the bars. He increased the temperature to around 300 degrees Celsius and waited for the lock to melt away.
Meanwhile, Hawkeye had moved to face all the doorways, so that she had her back facing the backs of the others. She scanned the room repeatedly- they had absolutely no cover, and if anyone were to walk in the group of three would be spotted instantly. She had a bad feeling about this.
Havoc watched as Mustang melted the lock. The Colonel threw the door open, intending to go in first, when suddenly something clicked in Hawkeye's mind. She spun and shouted a warning just as there came a quick flash of something white. Mustang instinctively ducked, and Havoc pushed him out of the way, so that they both landed on opposite sides of the inside of the cage. Mustang groaned painfully.
"Sir?" the other two nearly shouted.
"I've been hit," Mustang scowled at his own carelessness. He'd thought his own instincts were better than that. Havoc understood- the cage had been 'booby-trapped', so to speak. As the door had opened, a shock of electricity seared anything in range. Mustang had been hit on the right leg and arm, but if Havoc and Hawkeye hadn't been there, he probably would have died.
Hawkeye came over to inspect his wounds, eventually helping him to his feet. Mustang staggered a bit, and she put his uninjured left arm over her shoulders so she supported his weight. She could hear him grit his teeth in pain. Havoc had retrieved Breda, and looked exactly like what Mustang and Hawkeye felt- as if he was holding back his grief for his lost friend. This was neither the time nor the place for such things. Havoc silently went on ahead, leaving through the door that they had used to come in, and Hawkeye helped Mustang along at a slower pace.
"Aw, he left," a disappointed voice abruptly spoke. "I wanted to eat him!" Hawkeye didn't even pause- she swung around and shot three times, twice in the head and once where the heart should be. Her opponent looked like a fat, bald man, with shifty little eyes and a hungry smile on a mouth too wide to be considered human. He drooled as his head was thrown back by the force of the bullets, ruby sparks of lightning appearing around his head as he began to heal the supposedly fatal wound using the philosopher's stones. Hawkeye didn't wait for him to heal properly- she sprinted for the exit, eliciting a painful groan from her injured superior.
Hawkeye dragged him along, through all the steel-lined hallways, until she reached the door that lead to the tunnel. Had Gluttony followed her? She was unsure. Further along the tunnel, Hawkeye could see Havoc's outline, carrying their lost comrade out of the enemy's grasp. She had a silencer of her gun- he wouldn't have heard the three gunshots. Mustang and Hawkeye caught up with him just as they reached the fork in the tunnel. Edward was there, leaning against an earthy wall, with Al laid out unconscious on the ground beside him.
"What were you doing?" he asked them as they turned the corner. He fell silent as they came into view and he noticed Breda's body. Suddenly, Hawkeye's eyes narrowed.
"You knew!" she glared at Edward. "When we asked you if Al and Breda were down here, and you said yes- you knew he was dead!" Her accusation was met with nothing but silence. He had known, but… he thought it was better for them to find out on their own. Ed didn't want to get involved.
"You…" Havoc started, but trailed off. He couldn't believe it- not after that glimpse he'd had earlier of the old Edward. The three officers felt betrayed somehow. Edward straightened up, no longer leaning against the wall, and attacked.
He leaped up to gain an overhead advantage and flew right over Hawkeye's head, kicking someone behind her in the face. Hawkeye let out a breath- she had momentarily thought that he was attacking her- and spun around in time to see Gluttony's mouth mere inches from her head, before falling backwards from Ed's abrupt attack. Gluttony actually looked mad.
"You interrupted meal! I'll eat you!" Gluttony frowned, heading this time for Edward.
Unfortunately for him, his bulk couldn't stand against Ed's speed, and Ed was already gone. He jumped over Gluttony's head and landed on the sin's back. Gluttony stupidly attempted to shake the teen off, but Edward opened his mouth, and his fangs were… green? Hawkeye double checked, and decided that they were definitely a dark, menacing green. Ed bit Gluttony on the neck, and immediately let him go afterwards. Hawkeye could see lines of the same ominous, deadly green quickly spreading in Gluttony's veins. Gluttony went limp, staggering forward before falling over. He landed motionless in front of Edward, his skin stained with the sickly emerald colour. Silence filled the room.
"Fullmetal, what did you do?" Mustang asked after a moment. Edward glanced at the Colonel, who was leaning heavily on his lieutenant, agonizing burns covering his most of his right side.
"Put him to sleep," Edward answered shortly.
"… For how long?" Havoc wondered.
Ed glanced away from them. "Until someone figures out how to wake him." He turned and picked up Al before leaving. It was clear he wasn't about to elaborate.
The officers all looked down at Gluttony. They'd never seen anything like it- asleep wasn't the right word at all. He definitely looked dead. Did Edward mean that the sin would be in this half-dead state until he received some sort of antidote? Whatever Edward had done, Gluttony would be disabled for a while at least. If Edward had killed the homunculus, then it would be clear that there were intruders along the right tunnel as well as the left one. However, Gluttony couldn't be left to tell the other homunculi where the officers had been. So Ed sent him to 'sleep'- it made logical sense. Hesitantly, they followed the teen- Hawkeye helping Mustang, and Havoc carrying Breda.
No one spoke until they reached the end of the tunnel. Edward located a lever somewhere and opened the weird sliding door they'd come through earlier, using the lever to bypass the timer on the door. Finally, the odd group of five were left standing in the basement of the military Headquarters.
"We urgently need to report these events. Havoc, take him to level 5," Mustang was referring to Breda, as everyone knew. "Hawkeye-"
"We're going to the infirmary, sir. Then you can make the report, over the phone," Hawkeye said firmly.
Mustang frowned, but didn't object. "Alphonse needs to come to the infirmary too. Fullmetal, you…" He turned to talk to the teen, but after putting Al down, Ed had gone.
Half an hour later, Mustang had finished both his report and being bandaged up. Falman, Fuery, Hawkeye and Winry had congregated in Mustang's infirmary room, and a moment later Havoc joined them. They had asked for Al to share the room with Mustang- it was easier to see them both that way. Falman, Fuery and Winry were all stunned; they had been surprised when they'd discovered the others had vanished, but the three couldn't believe everything that had happened since then. And of course, the news about Breda… everyone was avoiding the subject, but they all knew. The atmosphere was extremely tense.
Havoc was just finishing what he was saying. "It was really weird- Ed went straight from being all cold and everything, to being exactly like his old, passionate self. He even blew up because Envy called him short, same as always! And then, once he left the room, he went cold and distant again. It's like being in that place, combined with Al being in danger, reverted him right back to the way he was… before." Havoc meant before he lost his soul, but no-one said it.
Winry spoke up, "But this is fantastic! I mean, we've finally made progress getting through to him. I can't stand him being the way he is…"
Fuery looked over to her. "Don't worry, Winry. We'll help him, and soon enough he'll be normal again." He looked slightly guilty- the last time he saw Edward he'd accused him of attacking people and being the reason why Al and Breda were missing. Fuery hadn't had the chance to apologize, and it was weighing on his conscious, especially now that Edward was the reason why Al had been rescued and Breda had been recovered.
"Remember that we have new problems now," Hawkeye replied. "On top of helping Edward, we need to know how those creatures are being created and why the homunculi are making an army of them. Who are they even attacking? We need to know why they are stealing people's nutrients and what they're going to do with them. We also have to figure out what's wrong with Alphonse and how to wake him up. And there are other things, too." She sighed. "It's an endless list."
Fuery excused himself from the conversation and went to get himself a drink. He walked along the hallways of the infirmary, turned a corner, and bumped into the very reason of his dilemma. Edward glanced at the young officer with golden eyes.
"E-Edward?" Fuery asked, startled.
"What?" the teen glared, obviously preparing for a confrontation. It was no wonder why Edward expected Fuery to confront him- he had just eaten, and was once again soaked with blood that was not his own.
Fuery hesitated, eying the teen's appearance, then continued anyway. "I'm, uh, sorry about the other day… when I said you were the reason that Al and Breda were missing. I don't know anything specific about what's happened to you and I can't make that kind of accusation. I was out of line, so… I'm sorry." He bit his lip, wondering what the young vampire would say.
Edward was significantly startled but this turn of events. No-one had ever apologized to him like that before- at least, not in his memory.
"Oh… well, you're forgiven," Ed said dismissively. He could care less about holding a grudge over a matter so unimportant. Fuery was stunned- he had no idea Ed would be that forgiving.
"Where are the other humans?" Edward asked Fuery. "They're not in their usual spot, and all of that disinfectant is preventing me from finding them the usual way."
"I'll show you," Fuery answered, forgetting all about his drink. The two made their way down the hallway to the infirmary room.