Chapter 21: The Chase
At some point something had gone terribly wrong, and now it was really confirmed to him as he stared straight into a pair of large bronze eyes, almost like a reflection of his own.
"Please," Alphonse Elric repeated frantically while blocking the locked bathroom door; like he was afraid that his troubled doppelganger would try to escape. "Don't tell Nii-san that I'm following you."
Alfons wondered how it all had come to this point. It was a weird situation which he would have never dreamed he would get into. Edward's little brother was asking him to keep secrets from Edward. It was almost funny. Even if he and Al hadn't had a very good start, everything had suddenly started to turn around now.
Alfons sighed deep and crossed his arms where he rested against the worn, yellow wall. The initial traces of shock and fear that had struck him from the news about the military being on the train had started to fade, and his rational senses were returning slightly. "He'll find out about it sooner or later anyway," he reasoned. "More importantly, where did you see the soldier?"
They weren't only tagged by Edward's little brother, but the military as well. And it wasn't getting much better that they in fact were stuck on this train with no chances of escape... If they tried to get off on the next station they would probably be caught immediately. He was afraid his paranoia had finally become real. Maybe he hadn't simply imagined those strange looks from all the people he didn't know.
"He was standing in another wagon. He didn't see me," Al said. "I don't remember his name, but I recognized him because of his glasses."
Alfons mused. He couldn't remember someone from the Brigadier's unit with glasses. The only soldiers he could picture were Havoc, Breda and the others from Colonel Mustang's squad since he had seem them the most. He had never been good with faces.
"I highly doubt that he is alone on the train," Al continued, getting him back to the present.
Scowling, Alfons tried to think reasonably. What should they do? Maybe the Brigadier General's entire unit was actually hanging around and keeping watch. If they got caught, everything would be over. They would never even manage to destroy any of the Gates and set things right again.
First of all, he had to go and inform Edward about the situation. Hopefully he would know what to do.
"I have to warn Edward," Alfons said. "Keep yourself out of sight of the military."
Al nodded slowly. "I know. But wait, one second." He swiftly clapped his gloved hands and pressed them at Alfons' chest.
Alfons' eyes widened. What was he doing? Alchemy? "No! Wait!" He couldn't be around alchemy! He shut his eyes tight, expecting the entire world to crumble all around him and the Gate to swallow him. But nothing seemed to happen as a strong light filled the bathroom and slowly he opened his eyes again, realizing that nothing bad had happened.
Al gave him a strange look, like he was some sort of freak. "Sorry, I forgot... You're not used to alchemy, are you?"
"It's not that," Alfons said defensively. "I just..." Not that he could really explain it.
"It's not anything dangerous," Al reassured, completely ignorant to the Gate-issue his doppelganger was in the middle of. "I simply put a portion of my soul into your jacket. I'll be able to see and hear everything you do for a short period of time."
Alfons figured being around alchemy was only dangerous if he himself tried to perform it, or physically touched an alchemy circle. That was good to know. He mused down at his younger parallel. "So, you're using me to spy around?" It made him feel both agitated and somehow animated. "Or is it to make sure I won't tell Edward about you?"
Al growled at him. "No. I just don't want to be left out anymore. I'm his brother." Clearly that was the only reason Al needed. "It won't last for long, so go and warn Edward already," he supplied sharply.
Alfons nodded and gave in, but not without a small smirk forming in his features – in spite of the whole situation. "Fine. But remember what I said, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Al replied quickly. "I'll stay hidden." He moved to the side and let Alfons out of the small bathroom.
Alfons kept his eyes sharp as he headed back to the right wagon. He wondered if he could actually recognize the soldier if he saw him. There had been so many of them stalking around the warehouse at the time they were building Azure that he wasn't sure if he could even remember a single one of their faces. He hadn't actually exchanged any words with any of them at that time. But then he reached the right wagon and simply forgot everything that had just gone through his mind. He saw him, and even if he only could see the back of the man's head, he definitely recognized him. He had been wrong. He had in fact exchanged a word with that guy before.
Obviously Al saw him too. "That's him..." his voice whispered.
"Yeah," Alfons muttered, even forgetting to think about how weird it was for a voice to come out of his own jacket when there wasn't someone there.
"Is this seat free?" a voice asked.
Edward lifted his head up slowly from his arm in his dozed state, not being on guard at that moment. But just as the man sat down and stared at him across the seats without waiting for any reply from him, Edward immediately became aware of the situation and who the man was. He suddenly found himself very much awake and sat carefully up in a more straight position.
"Hello Edward Elric," the man said, smiling.
Edward's eyes simply narrowed at him. "How many of you are there?"
The man laughed shortly. "All you need to know is that I'm certainly not alone. And as soon as we reach Lior, I'm afraid you'll have to come with us quietly. You will do that, right Edward?"
Edward snorted, but didn't offer any real vocal reply. He knew this man. He had only met him once, but he remembered him well because he had held his blade against his throat in an alley at Central. Thomas Peterson. Sergeant of Brigadier General Kiehle's unit. He had been following him and Alfons while they had been working with Azure as a part of a surveillance team. He didn't look much older than Mustang. His hair was light blond and his eyes were grey as stone behind a pair of thin square glasses.
Edward looked cautiously around to see if he could spot any more familiar faces, or even better: a possible escape route. But he saw neither. Not even Alfons was around. He wondered where he had gone. Lior was the next stop, but they wouldn't get there yet for another couple of hours. Edward figured he couldn't run far anyway, so he made himself more comfortable in his seat, crossing a leg over another and folding his arms. "Why haven't you arrested me already?" he asked curiously.
"Ah, we wouldn't want to make too much ruckus like that on the train. Too many people, you know," the Sergeant reasoned.
"I see," Edward said.
"But we will if we have to, of course," Peterson added, as a warning that Edward shouldn't try anything stupid. "For now I'm just making sure that you will stay where you are until we arrive at the next station."
"Of course," Edward said. Like hell.
In addition to the situation being a total pain in the ass—considering that he had actually been captured like this—something else about this man had been bothering Edward even from the start, but he hadn't had time to think much about it because of everything else on his mind. For some reason Thomas Peterson smelled fishy. He figured he might be able to get the man to talk a little more now.
"So tell me, how did you end up in that bastard's unit anyway?" he asked directly.
Sergeant Peterson seemed a little taken aback by the question. Maybe he hadn't supposed a soon-to-be prisoner with no escaping routes would act this cocky. "Now, why would you ask that?"
Edward shrugged. "Just thought I had seen you somewhere before," he said honestly. "There was something that crossed my mind after our little meeting in that alley, remember?"
The Sergeant snorted and nodded. "Yes, how could I forget?"
"So you must have been in the military for some time then, despite your rank?" Edward fished.
"Actually, I signed up only a month ago," Peterson replied, almost a little challengingly. Like he was curious of where Edward was heading with these questions.
"Really," Edward said. Things were getting hotter. "In the middle of the whole escapade with Thule Society and all... I guess that makes you pretty lucky that you got the job. The Amestris State Military wouldn't just trust anyone."
"Yes, that may be true," the Sergeant said.
"Oh, so you know what Thule is now?" Edward asked rhetorically. "I remember that you kind of questioned the name of the terrorist organization that had recently attacked both Central and Lior after your employment."
"Who are you? Are you from Thule Society?" He had been holding the man down firmly to the ground with his blade only an inch away from his throat.
"Ow ow, you got me there… No, I'm not from Thule Society or whatever you called it."
The expression in the Sergeant's face had definitely changed. "Yes, how silly of me." His grey eyes were piercing him sharply through his glasses and his mouth formed into a bitter line. The more Edward looked at him, the more he was becoming sure that he was right regarding his suspicions.
"I thought it was a little odd," he added. "I would've assumed that any real Amestrian soldier would've known about Thule Society, unless he played entirely stupid."
Thomas Peterson spoke again. "I feel that you're implicating some very serious accusations against me."
Edward leaned forward in his seat, lowering his voice down to a dangerous tone. "You're damn right. I think you're the spy from Thule Society Mustang figured was hanging around the Azure-project, and even if it is the last thing I do, I will prove it and have you pay."
The man snorted shortly, before a sly smile appeared in his features. "Why don't you try? I would be more worried about myself if I were you."
Edward's eyes widened. He's as good as admitting it. That meant... Edward leant back, swallowing. Thule Society had people on the inside of the military. This guy, and maybe others as well? Did Thule have even more control of things than it had first appeared?
"For instance," the man continued, leaning forward and lowered his voice as well. "I know how to provide you a certain death sentence, and I also know some people who wouldn't mind having you dead."
Edward stared unfalteringly back at him with a hard look, seemingly entirely calm. But he was actually starting to feel quite uncomfortable now. Still, his actual worry was nothing compared to the anger that had started bubbling inside his chest. He knew he had seen this man before—at some place that didn't fit in. Probably at Thule Society's headquarters in Munich. There had been many of them there, dressed in the black Thule uniform.
And now he had just found out that this man was likely one of the people responsible for the attacks at Central. He had known where Azure was and had probably directed the second attack around that area. It had almost gotten Alfons killed, and Mustang's unit as well.
Edward could hardly believe that the military had let this man in, or in general let Thule Society infiltrate them. How had they done it? Either way, Mustang would probably love to hear this news, Edward thought wryly. He figured that Thomas Peterson probably wasn't this man's real name, and that he had stolen the identity of someone else. The real Thomas Peterson was probably dead, his body exterminated and gotten rid of.
Edward started to wonder if the Brigadier General was acting for Thule's behalf as well, but he guessed that didn't make much sense. The Brigadier General and Mustang had known each other for years. It was rather possible that this Peterson guy had learned how to gain Kiehle's trust, and through him have certain power among the higher-ups in the military by making Kiehle believe that it was all his ideas. Since Kiehle had an influence on Fuhrer Hakuro, that meant that Thule Society indirectly had an influence as well. And this was only the beginning.
"You bastard," Edward sneered. "If you think you're really going to get away with this, then I've clearly overestimated Thule."
Thomas Peterson smirked and nonchalantly adjusted his glasses. "It's gone quite smoothly so far, despite the little incident when they found out our location thanks to your little brother. That wasn't planned, but it doesn't matter anymore." He smirked. "At least she'll be pleased as soon as she gets you out of the way for a good reward. As for Heiderich, he'll be taken care of as well of course. Kiehle has big plans for him."
As soon as Alfons' name was mentioned, Edward could only see red and was about to leap for the man's throat. But then something else happened that stopped him dead.
Alfons had suddenly appeared behind the man with discreet movements, before he swiftly swung the handle of the gun hard into the back of Thomas Peterson's head. He hit him with a loud thump!
The panic and chaos started the same second Peterson's body sank to the floor. People on the train suddenly saw something that they obviously associated with a crazy guy with a gun, and immediately started to rise from their seats in panic and loudly pushing each other to get away from Alfons.
"Oh my god!"
"The train is getting hijacked!"
Thomas Peterson was now lying unconscious on the floor by Edward's feet, and at least that had been Alfons' intention. He met Edward's eyes, which were entirely stunned for a couple of seconds by the change of events.
Then Edward rose abruptly and in the heat of the moment he discovered a couple of guys coming towards them, also armed with guns, and they were forcing their way in between the panicking and blaring civilians.
"He has a gun! He's going to kill someone!"
"State military, let us through!"
Alfons saw them too, and judging from the way they were behaving he recognised them as more military people disguised as civilians. Feeling suddenly in panic as well, he stepped in front of Edward and pointed the gun warningly towards them without any real intention to shoot. He couldn't risk hitting any innocent people. They were trapped!
"Hold it right there!" one of the soldiers warned.
Edward took a deep breath, and abruptly turned for the window at his side. He shoved it up wide and reached for Alfons' arm.
"Come on!"
Alfons got pulled backwards right towards the window, and his breath stuck in his throat. The train was driving fast, and Edward intended to jump?
There wasn't any time for questions. There wasn't any time for anything. Edward had already climbed up, and tugged hard at him to get him to follow.
Damn it, Alfons thought and climbed up next to Edward. The ground flew by faster than his eyes could even make out. But at least it was grass.
"Now," Edward said. And they jumped.
Edward never let go of his arm. Not before they hit the ground hard and rolled uncontrollably like they had been hit by a wall of a tornado. Alfons got the wind totally knocked out of him, and as he finally lied still on his back he gasped to regain his breath. His eyes were shut tight, and when he finally dared open them again he stared straight up at a clear blue sky. Such a worriless sky.
He tried moving his legs and arms, and was relieved to feel that all of his limbs seemed to be intact. Edward groaned out beside him, and he turned his head at him. Alfons wondered if he was okay.
The older blond lay on his stomach and gradually pushed himself up on his palms. "That's the craziest thing you've ever done," he commented, followed by another groan.
"Says someone who decided that jumping out of a train in full speed was a good idea," Alfons replied dryly. He slowly pushed himself up on his elbows, and stared after the train where it continued fast towards Lior. It was already far, far away. "But at least we got away from the military." He turned his head around again as he noticed that he didn't have the gun anymore, and felt a slight twist in his stomach. He spotted it laying a couple of feet behind him, and he stretched to retain it.
Edward chuckled stiffly. "Not just that. I know who Thule Society's spy is. At least one of them."
"You mean..." Alfons was taken aback by this. "That Sergeant is one of...?"
Edward nodded as he rose to his feet. "Yeah. He admitted it more or less. He's probably influencing our dear commanding officer to a great extent."
Alfons gulped, hiding the gun away into a safe place inside his jacket. It seemed like Thule Society was working with the military, and the military didn't even know! "We should contact Mustang," Alfons said. "So at least he knows."
"I can do it," a voice said. A voice of someone who wasn't physically there with them. Alfons jumped. In all the panic and chaos, he had almost totally forgotten about Al.
Edward frowned intently at him. "What's going on?" he asked slowly. "Why did I hear Al's voice right now?"
"Al is on the train," Alfons said with a sigh.
"I'm sorry, Nii-san!" Al shot in, before Edward managed to start his outburst. "I followed you because I thought I might be able to help. And I transmuted a portion of my soul into Heiderich-san's jacket."
"YOU WHAT?" Edward exploded, looking dreadfully from Alfons' face to his clothing.
"You can be mad at me later!" Al said fast. "Right now, you should hurry up and get away. The military is working on stopping the train right now, and there will be cars travelling from Lior and East City to pick them up. And you might run into them on the way."
Edward gritted his teeth hard. "Fine. Listen, Al. Get a phone and call Mustang. Tell him what you know about Sergeant Thomas Peterson, that he is a spy from Thule Society. And do not get seen by the military, do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand. There's no phone in my reach on the train, but I'll find one somehow."
Edward nodded. "Good, and after that. Go home to Rizembool."
"Nii-san..."
"Alphonse," Edward said seriously. "I mean it."
"Okay, Nii-san."Al's voice was getting weaker. "The time's out," he said. "Be caref-" Alphonse's voice disappeared, like it just had faded out into nothing.
Alfons touched his own jacket. The little brother was gone. He sighed, feeling like he owed Edward some sort of explanation. "I ran into him when I went to the bathroom," he said. "He was quite determined in his decision on following us."
Edward rubbed his forehead. "I'm not surprised, but..." His eyes hardened. Alfons could visibly see that he was holding back how upset he actually was.
"I guess we should hurry," Edward then said. "East City is closer to us than Lior is, so we should head there and hide for a while."
They quickly started moving. Alfons' stomach was twisting in worry. "What if we run into the military cars from East City?"
"We'll just have to stay away from the main road," Edward reasoned. "It'll be fine."
Somehow Alfons wasn't entirely convinced. But he knew Edward was probably feeling extremely worried about Al as well now, knowing that he was alone on a train full of military people in disguise. Alfons hoped he would be alright. And he figured, maybe Edward had agreed that Al was to make the call to Mustang in order for Al to feel like he had participated in the little mission they had. He didn't want Al to feel completely left out, after all. Maybe he had given Al the job to make him go home afterwards, or perhaps he figured that Mustang would order Al to go home, at least do what he could to protect him.
Alfons smiled. Edward was always a step ahead of everyone.
The military had slightly gained control of the train, but the two convicts had escaped through the window and were already far beyond their reach.
Alphonse peaked into the wagon through the glass window on the door and observed how the military interrogated some of the passengers, and some of them helped the fallen Sergeant back onto his feet. He had regained his consciousness shortly after his brother and Alfons escaped. Al was relieved that they were alright and hadn't broken any legs in the fall.
The train would probably stop any minute. He had seen a couple of soldiers heading forward to speak with the crew of the train. When they stopped he would have his chance. Even if the train was located in the middle of nowhere right now, he had to find a phone somewhere. He just had to get off the train without getting seen.
As the train finally stopped, Al backed and hid into the bathroom again after keeping an eye on the Sergeant. He decided to wait for a couple of minutes until the military had left the wagon. Afterwards, he could hurriedly make it outside, transmute breaks on the train wheels and crawl underneath it while the train stood still, and also be sure it couldn't move and run over him while he crawled under it. When he was on the other side, he'd make a run for it. The military wouldn't see him as long as the train stood in the way.
Al thought it was a quite good plan. At least it was better than nothing.
But it didn't go as easily as he had thought.
When Al decided it was safe to come out of hiding, he found out to his surprise that someone had been waiting for him and was blocking the way.
Al stood as frozen in the gap of the door, just a second too long before he quickly tried to shut it again. But it didn't work. The man had his thick boot already placed on the door frame, preventing the door from closing properly.
Thomas Peterson stared at him with a cunning smile, and pulled the door open wide. "Alphonse Elric, isn't it? Back from the dead."
Alphonse stood stiff, trapped in the small bathroom. The Sergeant blocked the entire door opening. It wouldn't be possible for him to slip through. His mind raced. Had he been too careless? The Sergeant must have noticed him while he was spying on the situation!
"W-Who are you?" Al asked dumbfounded. It was the only thing he could come up with that might save him from very big trouble. Pretending to know as little as possible...
"You don't remember me?" The Sergeant asked disappointed. "I guess I can't actually blame you. We never got to introduce one another properly. I'm Sergeant Thomas Peterson. Brigadier General Kiehle is my commanding officer, and I was in Lior at the time you disappeared."
"Oh, I see," Al said, seeming thoughtful. "What do you want with me?"
"Alphonse," Peterson said with a small chuckle, like he was talking to a small child. "You know that your status is still missing, don't you? I'm afraid you have to come with me."
Al didn't like that much. "Actually, I was on my way to Lior to renounce my state alchemist licence," he lied. "Since I was last located there."
Thomas Peterson unfortunately didn't buy it. "Really? I think it would be more appropriate to renounce yourself personally to your commanding officer in Central. Don't you agree, Major?"
"I was going to call him," Al said, thinking fast. "I would like to borrow a phone, please."
"Why don't you just come with me, and we'll sort things out," the Sergeant said smoothly.
Al wanted to resist, but didn't have any other options than to let the older man drag him out of the bathroom and escort him firmly out of the train.
Military cars from East City had already just appeared and parked outside the train. Out of one of the cars, no other than Brigadier General Kiehle showed up, looked fairly pissed off.
"Where are they now?" he asked as he stepped up to the group of six soldiers dressed in civilian clothes and saluting.
"They escaped out the window of the train in full speed, sir," one of the soldiers explained.
"Where will they be heading?" the commanding officer groaned displeased.
"Probably towards East City. It's the closest city from where they jumped."
"I see." The Brigadier General lifted his gaze, and finally his eyes fell upon the small boy in a red coat, efficiently being held by the Sergeant.
"Sergeant Peterson, what is this?" Kiehle asked, but his voice sounded slightly more cheerful. "This is an unexpected surprise."
"I found Major Alphonse Elric on the train, sir," Peterson reported.
Kiehle stepped to Alphonse, smirking down at him. "I'm happy to see that you're alive, Major. And it surprises me that the older brother would leave his little brother behind like that."
"He didn't," Al said, as truth was. "He didn't know I that I was on the train."
Brigadier General Kiehle laughed out loud. "Oh, that's just wonderful."
Al glared at him. "Sir, please stop pursuing my brother. He hasn't done anything wrong."
"I'm afraid that's not possible," Kiehle said. "He is a deserter. And regarding yourself, you will be under my watch until we get back to Central." Before Al could protest, the Brigadier reached his open palm to him, and Al was left staring questioningly at him instead.
"I'll be confiscating your alchemy gloves for now as well," he said.
"What for? You can't do that, sir," Al protested in horror, discreetly hiding his hands behind his back.
"Yes I can, Major," the man replied slickly. "I have reasons to believe that your loyalty is stronger towards your brother than it is to the state."
Al kept glaring at him, but didn't reply. Of course it is, the voice in his mind said.
"Consider this as a favour. Without alchemy, you won't be temped to oppose the military and face punishment for it, just because of your foolish older brother," Kiehle said.
To Al's annoyance he hadn't any other choice than obey, or else he would be in real trouble too. He silently removed his gloves and unwillingly handed them over to the Brigadier General.
"Good boy. And another thing as well," the Brigadier said. "It might be easier to bring your brother into custody if you are with us."
Anger stirred inside Al's chest. They ought to use him as bait to capture his brother! His heart immediately sank. No matter how angry he was with the Brigadier General, it couldn't compare to the anger he felt towards himself. Edward had told him to stay in Rizembool, after all. And now he was once again in trouble, and it would make everything more complicated for his brother.
Al lowered his head as he was escorted towards one of the cars. What a mess he had created.
They reached East City after almost an hour with partly running and partly walking fast. Even if it was a smaller city, it looked a lot like Central. Alfons felt exhausted already, and even Edward seemed considerably tired as they kept moving down a street with not too many people around.
"This is so fucked up," Edward muttered. "I swear, if he gets hurt..."
"He'll be fine, Edward," Alfons reassured. At least he tried to sound reassuring.
"He's on the same train as one of the people who kidnapped him and locked him into that hell," Edward said spitefully. He stopped.
"You're not thinking about going back, are you?" Alfons asked horrified.
Edward lowered his head. "How can I not? He's my responsibility." He turned towards the way they had come, but Alfons gripped his arm hard. "Edward. If we go back, we'll get arrested. That Peterson guy can't touch Al with all those military people around. At best, Al will be brought to Mustang. That's what you want, right? Mustang will take care of him and send him home. And that is, if they find him at all."
Edward didn't look at him.
"Believe me," Alfons said with a small smile. "Al's fine." It wasn't the first time he had tried to convince Edward about that. But at least now, he felt that he knew Al better than before. "He came into my bedroom last night," he added.
Edward gazed at him in askance. "Al did?"
"Yeah, we talked some. He said he was sorry. And I kind of understood him better. He has been feeling afraid that I would replace him." Alfons beamed softly.
"Yeah..." Edward said in a low voice. "I guess I never thought about it that way. I'm sorry. I should've told him everything earlier."
"It's okay now," Alfons said. "All that's left to do now is get rid of those Gates, right?"
Edward nodded. "I hope so." He turned towards East City again, but stopped and his brows furrowed. "Alfons, there's something I haven't..."
Alfons stopped too, looking puzzled. "What, Edward?"
Edward shook his head. "Never mind."
Alfons shrugged and started walking again. "Where are we supposed to go? We can't just roam around the streets in the middle of the day..."
"I know," Edward said, a little annoyed. "My only idea is the sewers."
Alfons stopped, practically sweat-dropping. "You're not serious."
Edward stopped beside him and looked him in the eye. "I'm serious."
Alfons shuddered. "But it's... cold and dark and it probably smells like..." Before he could finish his sentence, an old woman passed by from their opposite direction and stared intently at them. Then she gasped out like she had seen a ghost.
"Runaways! Culprits!" she suddenly started screaming. "They're here! The boys from the news!"
"Old hag," Edward muttered and dragged a stunned Alfons away with him.
Before Alfons knew what was going on they were running as fast as their legs could keep up, and he had no idea what they were actually running from.
"Edward," he gasped, as he looked behind himself. Behind them a small crowd of people had gathered around the screaming old woman.
"Shut up and run," Edward breathed.
Alfons finally got his mind back to work. This town knew their faces and that they were convicts from the military. The newspapers were probably full with their pictures and descriptions. Not to mention, a reward to capture them. How naïve of them to think that the military wouldn't warn most cities' newspapers in the country. Even if the military's way of ruling the country wasn't well liked by most citizens, they probably trusted the military's judgement sense. If someone was called suspicious, traitorous or dangerous, they'd take the necessary measurements to help catching them.
It didn't take much time before they had a whole bunch pursuers chasing after them, which was civilian people – not the military. By doing this the military was obviously making civilians do the dirty work for them, Alfons thought dryly.
If it hadn't been for Edward's grip around his arm, forcing him to run and keep up, Alfons knew he would've fallen behind long ago. At least Edward had a metal leg that didn't grow tired.
But still, at this rate, they would get caught. Alfons let his thoughts spin freely in the next split second, without really caring about actual consequences.
"Split up," he gasped.
If they split up, Edward would at least get away. That was the most important thing, wasn't it? He was wanted for deserting, which would end in a possibly fatal punishment.
Edward's brows wrinkled at the proposal. "Are you mad? You won't be able to shake them off." His breath came out somewhat ragged, but despite that he seemed fine – like his legs moved on autopilot. But he didn't really seem to think that it was a bad idea either.
They had just come to a street which was splitting in several directions, and Edward slowed down. "I'll keep them busy for a minute, while you disappear," he told him fast. "Find somewhere you can hide."
"What?" Alfons gawked. "You'll get caught!"
Edward shook his head. "I can handle a couple of town's people." He thought silently, it almost felt like the old days. "Just trust me. I'll find you later somehow."
Alfons looked into a pair of resolute golden eyes, and he knew he should never have done that, because he would of course agree—even if the plan was full of holes and everything could go wrong. And how exactly was Edward supposed to find him?
Edward stopped and pushed him further towards one of the streets. "Go!"
Alfons nodded, and kept running. When he turned and looked over his shoulder, the town's people who were pursuing them had almost reached Edward. Alfons really didn't like this. This was the second time Edward stayed behind for him, and all because he wasn't able to keep up.
His teeth gritted as he stopped in a narrow alley to catch his breath. He decided, obviously he couldn't just run to hell and leave Edward behind. He was supposed to stay close to him, but he could still do it without getting seen. Thanks to Edward he had already lost the pursuers. He would make sure that Edward managed by himself, and when he had gotten away from the bothersome crowd, Alfons would find him easier. And if Edward didn't manage by himself, Alfons wouldn't hesitate to sprint out from hiding and help him. He already felt pathetic for hiding, but he wanted to believe what Edward said as well.
Edward was strong. He could do anything.
Alfons rounded a corner and continued down another street. He would head back from a different direction. He didn't have a strong sense of directions though, although he could reasonably find out which way it would be best to choose in order to get back to the street he had last seen Edward. As he rounded another corner, he abruptly froze. After a couple of seconds of simply being too stunned to even move, Alfons backed around the corner again and out of sight.
Military cars. There were at least three of them. The military was already here. The worst of it was, even if he could only spot three cars, there were more soldiers nearby than he could even count. They were being organized into groups, and took different directions to start searching. For him and Edward.
Alfons' eyes widened as he pulled back further into the alley. He couldn't go this way without getting seen. But where could he go? He wasn't at all familiar with this town. He was lucky he hadn't been found yet. He wondered if Edward was alright. What if they had surrounded him already...?
Just then a couple of soldiers spotted his shadow as they were passing by the alley. Before they could spot him properly Alfons started running.
But still, they decided it was rather suspicious to hear someone run away from them. "Hey, you! Stop there!"
Alfons didn't of course, and soon he could hear the sound of someone following him. His lungs had rested for a bit, but as soon as his breath started to work again in fast speed they started to complain and ache. He wouldn't be able to keep his pursuers at that distance behind him for long unless he found somewhere to hide. He was tired of running. Maybe it would be better to just surrender?
Alfons slowed down and clutched his racing heart. Everything seemed so hopeless when Edward wasn't with him to drag him back to his senses. If Edward was already taken, Alfons had no capability to save him unless he was close to him. His hand moved to the gun inside his jacket and he clutched the barrel. He should just throw it away and surrender. Then they hopefully wouldn't think of him as a dangerous lunatic. What the hell had he been thinking, drawing a gun on the train like that with people watching? He was probably being labelled as a murderous and insane convict with no stabile understanding of common human norms. One year ago Alfons had been living in Romania at the University he loved and had studied his reason for living, and he would never have been able to pull out a gun at someone. Let alone pull the trigger.
But lately he had done both.
The sounds of guns behind him clicked, and a cold voice spoke. "Alfons Heiderich, you're under arrest for disobeying the Amestris State Military."
Alfons turned half-heartedly around, seeing two soldiers in blue uniform pointing at him. What was he supposed to say to that? I'm sorry?
"Please come with us without resisting," the soldier continued firmly.
Alfons was about to surrender and give in to them, but just a half second before he managed to reply there was a sudden alchemic reaction around him, and his heart leaped up in his throat. There was the beautiful sound of alchemy, and the two soldiers froze in astonishment.
Blue sparkles danced around him, and he closed his eyes, trusting that whatever happened it would be to his benefit, and that it meant that Edward hadn't let himself get caught yet.
There was a rumbling sound right in front of him, and a shadow of a huge wall fell over him. He slowly opened his eyes, staring straight into the new wall that had miraculously grown up from the ground, separating him from the two military soldiers. He could still hear them shouting on the other side. And then they started shooting straight at the wall to make a hole.
That awakened Alfons, and he backed away, staring around for somewhere to run.
"Heiderich-san!" a voice called from above and he quickly shot his head up towards a smaller and darker-haired version of himself dressed in a red coat.
Alphonse Elric was sitting on his knees on the roof of the building in front of Alfons and leaned over the edge, drawing a circle on the wall below him with chalk. Alfons stared up at him, awed and at the same time feeling even a stronger uneasiness building in his chest. What was Al doing here? Edward would definitely not like this.
Al quickly finished the circle on the wall of the building and as he touched the wall, a small ladder appeared, growing straight out of the concrete.
"Hurry!" he called out, and Alfons didn't let himself be told twice. He ran for the ladder and hurriedly climbed all the way up to the top.
Al stretched out a supporting hand at him, and Alfons accepted it gratefully. He felt exhausted by all the running and fleeing. When he was safely on top of the roof he let himself fall on his palms and knees, and Al undid the transmutation, making the wall normal again. Alfons noticed another bigger circle beside him where he was sitting. It was the array Al had used to transmute the large wall to block the way of the soldiers. The soldiers below had given up trying to shoot their way through the wall, and had run to find another way. It seemed like they had lost them for now.
Alfons let out a long sigh of relief and looked up at his parallel standing in front of him, offering a feeble smile. "Thank you..." he managed. It had been a close call.
"I couldn't let you get caught, right?" Al answered with a half-hearted shrug.
"How did you get here?" Alfons asked. "I thought Edward told you to go back."
Alphonse looked away. "They captured me at the train, but I escaped after we reached East City. They wanted to use me to catch Nii-san."
Alfons frowned. "Let me guess... another one of the Brigadier General's remarkable ideas."
Al nodded. "Right. Which direction did Nii-san go?" he asked, suddenly sounding worried. "I hoped I would find him with you."
"We got separated," Alfons said, ashamed of himself. "It's all my fault..." He had a very bad feeling. Edward was strong and amazing and all that, but he couldn't stand up against a whole equipped army.
Al stared at him with his large dark-gold eyes, and Alfons rose to his feet. His feet ached, but as long as it was for Edward, he would run to the end of the world if he had to.
"It's not your fault," Al said, and Alfons looked surprised at him for not blaming him. "It's not your fault that all this is happening."
Alfons smiled meekly. "I guess Thule is to be blamed. They've done nothing but trouble."
Al was silent for a moment and didn't make any signs to move on. He couldn't help thinking about the person he had found supportive within his imprisonment whenever Thule Society was mentioned, despite that Schiller had been of the enemy. Sometimes Al still found himself mourning over his death. "How did Thule Society infiltrate the military so easily?" he wondered.
"I don't know, but there's no doubt that they're cunning in their ways," Alfons replied solemnly.
Al was troubled. In the end Schiller had told him a lot, but he hadn't mentioned anything about spies in the military. Maybe he hadn't known?
Alfons noticed the look in Al's features. "What is it?"
"There's just something that has been bothering me…" Al said hesitantly. He didn't know if he was ready to share some of his inner thoughts with this person, but Alfons wasn't much of a stranger anymore and on top of that he stood very close to Edward.
"It's okay not wanting to elaborate," Alfons said. "Perhaps we should just go find Edward."
Al considered it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. Alfons and Schiller were from the same world. Even if Alfons probably wouldn't understand, Al wanted to tell someone, needed it even, before his mind was to burst. "I want to tell you," he said, to Alfons' surprise.
"Okay?"
Al looked down at his feet. "It's just… Lately… like after you saved me, I've been thinking a lot about Schiller-san, because I kind of knew him well after being held in that prison." His voice was low. "And I thought it was odd of him to kill himself. The way I knew him, I think he would've wanted to correct some of the things he had done before he died."
Alfons thoughts darkened, meeting Al's eyes with a solemn stare. "Schiller didn't kill himself," he said slowly.
"What do you mean?" Al looked questioningly at him. Edward had told him that Schiller had shot himself. In front him.
"I killed him," Alfons said. If this person had really meant something to Al, he deserved to know the truth. At least, Alfons had initially created Schiller's motivation to kill himself. He had shot him, and the pain must have been hard to deal with. Alfons knew how that was.
Al stared at him with large shocked eyes. "Y-You-"
That was impossible. Why would Edward lie about that? To protect Alfons? Was Alfons really capable of doing such thing? Had Al been totally wrong about him?
"I don't want to excuse what I did," Alfons said earnestly. "But we were close to finding you, and Schiller tried to stop us. He almost killed your brother. If it hadn't been for his metal arm, the bullet Schiller shot towards us would've hit him."
"You're lying!" Al suddenly yelled. He stood up fast and leaped away from Alfons. "Schiller wasn't like that. He wouldn't-"
"Schiller was practically obsessed with you," Alfons shot back. "That's why he wanted to keep you alive and bring you to the other world. You were the only thing he cared about."
Al stared at Alfons in anger. This person spoke like he understood everything. He didn't know a single thing! Al lunged forward with his fist ready towards his doppelganger. He hit him in the stomach and out of the combination of surprise, pain and lack of air Alfons sank to his knees and cradled his own stomach.
"You don't know anything!" Al shot out. "So don't act like you do!"
"I've-" Alfons gasped. It hurt but he tried his best to obtain his senses back. "I've spoken to him. Schiller… Maybe you've forgotten this, but Edward and I were captive too before we found you."
Al was silent at this. Why did he speak so calmly after being hit like that? Normally someone would've tried to hit back when being attacked. Al was confused.
"He told me…" Alfons continued. "He told me without words. Whenever your name was mentioned his features changed. That how I realized that he had a connection with you. That's why we followed after him down those stairs, and we found you chained to the wall and drugged. How do you defend acts like that?"
"He did it because he had to," Al replied. Maybe what bothered him the most was that Alfons had a point. "But he intended to get me out of there in the end, because he wanted to bring me to Munich."
This time it was Alfons who remained silent. His thoughts spun around the moment when he had fired the bullet into Schiller's shoulder, and he clutched his blooded wound while sinking to the floor.
"You told me you wanted to bring me to Munich," he had said. "We could've left together."
If he had really meant that, why hadn't he just brought them to where Al was immediately instead of attacking them? Alfons didn't understand. But he trusted Edward's sense of judgment more than he trusted Al's in that case.
Al's head quickly jerked in alarm to the side towards the edge of the roof, his attention drawn by something completely different. "Someone's here."
Suddenly things happened very fast. Alfons' heart leaped up in his throat as he suddenly got attacked again, but this time it wasn't Al. Just in the last second he managed to cross his arms in front of him to block it. In the crook of his eye he saw Alphonse whip around and flipped his leg into a spin and hit a soldier directly in the stomach.
Their discussion was quickly forgotten.
The military had gotten there far faster than he had thought. Alfons ducked and punched back, finally realizing two things. It seemed everything he had learned from Edward about self-defence was rehearsed into a simple animalistic instinct (it was easier to attack someone he considered an enemy, after all), and the military was attacking them without using guns. That was probably good.
Alphonse had already gotten rid of one of them, and dodged the hands of the next. Alfons didn't have time to help him or analyze the whole situation. But he managed to count four of them, and it seemed to him like the soldiers were mainly concentrating on catching them rather than fighting. While he still tried to bring the first attacker down, another soldier gripped him from behind, an elbow closed around his throat. Alfons struggled fiercely. He wasn't doing well against two guys.
Alphonse noticed Alfons' struggle in his side-glance. As the soldier lunged for him again, Al gripped his arm between his body and elbow, used the leverage and his other arm and twisted it sharply. But just enough to hurt. The soldier cried out in pain. While still keeping the hold, Alphonse used his weight to push him back, making the guy trip over the already fallen and dazed guy on the ground. As soon as they both were down, Alphonse didn't lose a second. In the heat of the moment he didn't even think properly. He clapped swiftly and touched the roof. The alchemic energy flowed through his body and became one with the material. The roof suddenly became soft underneath the soldiers feet, before two knolls with the size of cannons shot up and knocked both of the remaining soldiers over.
It was first after then Alphonse stopped and looked at his ungloved hands in wonder.
Alfons was slightly wobbly, but unhurt and quickly got back up to his own feet. The soldiers weren't entirely unconscious, but he decided it was better to just make a run for it. His eyes fell on Alphonse, who looked rather horrified at his pale hands.
"Run," Alfons said and leaped towards him as the soldiers started to recover, and Alphonse looked at him with large eyes and nodded fast.
They ran. They were running fast along the house roofs, jumping from one roof to another. Even though Alfons couldn't hear the steps of their pursuers behind them yet, it felt like they were almost breathing him in the neck.
Still, he couldn't help being impressed. Al had taken them all down, four grown up military soldiers, and bought them enough time to get a distance.
"That wasn't bad," he offered between two short breaths. He figured he hadn't been wrong in convincing Edward before that Al was capable of taking care of himself.
"I didn't injure them badly," Al replied softly. "They'll probably recover soon."
Alfons had mixed feelings about that. He didn't want himself and Al to be caught, but it was probably good Al hadn't done them any serious harm. He wouldn't have gotten away with it easily.
Suddenly he stopped abruptly, and Alfons slowed down too. Al looked down the edge of the roof where he was standing. They had arrived at a larger gap. "I'm sorry," Al said in a silent voice. "I overreacted. You did it to protect my brother..."
Alfons smiled weakly, still breathing sharply and leaned to rest his palms on his knees. "Or else I wouldn't have been able to pull that trigger."
"Schiller didn't die from that," Al said. "He shot himself, didn't he?"
"In the end, yes," Alfons confirmed.
Al was relieved that his brother hadn't lied to him about that, and Schiller's word replayed inside his mind.
"Or maybe I stayed to punish myself. Because I knew I would end up like either one of them: Either mad by what I've seen, or killed by a bullet."
"Schiller died because he chose to," he said quietly. "He wanted to act differently from what his fate had already decided."
Alfons stared at him in wonder. Somehow his words really made him feel forgiven. It helped...
Al stared resolutely back at him. "Nii-san needs us, so we should hurry up and go find him."
Alfons nodded, smiling. Al reminded him suddenly more of Edward than ever before, and he was feeling oddly glad that he had gained a chance to know Al. "You're right."
Al focused on the edge in front of them again. "It's too far to jump."
Indeed. They had run out of close buildings to jump on, and they were at least four storeys up above the safe ground.
Alfons heard shouting from behind them, and it seemed like their followers had started to recover and follow. "Make a ladder again," Alfons said fast.
Al's eyes widened, but with just a short breath as a reply he hurriedly clapped his hands and touched the wall of the building. Another ladder built itself out of the wall.
Alfons motioned for Al to hurry down first, and quickly followed the younger boy down. Halfway downwards the soldiers appeared above them, and Al clapped again. He touched the wall and the upper part of the ladder disappeared back into the wall. The soldiers wouldn't be able to get down from the roof the same way they had. As soon as they were safely on ground level, Alphonse undid the rest of the transmutation. He kept standing there afterwards, gazing at his hands in awe.
Alfons wondered what he was thinking. Something about his alchemy? But then he forgot about it, as he spotted the soldiers on the roof talk into a plug in their ear. More soldiers would soon appear.
"Al!" he said, a little sharply.
Al jumped and turned at him. "I've never done a transmutation without a circle before," he said.
Alfons stared densely at him. He hadn't even noticed it, since Edward could do it without a circle he had figured that Al could do it too.
"It must be because... I was inside the Gate. I saw it." Al was in some kind of daze.
Alfons grabbed his arm and started running, just as soldiers appeared behind them. He heard them shout that they were discovered, and he heard the running steps. Did it never end?
Alphonse hung a little in his grip while his legs went on some kind of autopilot, but Alfons didn't pay it any mind. He had longer legs than Al, so he could run in longer steps. But not for very long. He was already tired an hour ago. Would they never give up? It seemed like they were working to capture them no matter what.
"Where are we heading?" Al whimpered.
Alfons noticed that he gripped rather hard around the smaller boy's arm. He loosed the grip at little, but letting go of him didn't even cross his mind. If he let Al get captured, it was the same thing as betraying Edward.
"I don't know, just away," he replied, trying to sound more composed than he felt. Something suddenly flew right passed him, very close to his ear, and he gasped out.
It wasn't a bullet, but it had been shot at him.
"In here!" he yelled, quickly steering into an alley.
Alphonse swallowed sharply and turned his head to look over his shoulder as he let himself be pulled further on. As he turned back, another four soldiers followed them into the alley. Al had bad memories of running into unfamiliar dark alleys.
Alfons suddenly stopped, and Al got into an abrupt halt beside him. "This is bad," Alfons whispered. He had led them straight to a dead end.
"It's over," a cold voice said behind him, and he turned his head half back towards the pursuers closing in.
One of them held a different-looking weapon. It had probably shot out the strange thing he had seen flash past his ear some seconds ago. The soldier pointed at them. "Sleep," he said.
Just as he fired, Alfons moved and pressed Al behind himself with his arm in the same split second something struck his shoulder. But it didn't actually hurt. Quickly he pulled out what had struck him. It was a small type of arrow. Probably sedative. He gritted his teeth while clutching his arm as it was instantly paralyzed, and the feeling started spreading all over his body and to his brain in a few seconds. He became dizzy and everything started to spin in front of his eyes. He opened his mouth, but not a sound came out. Then his face suddenly met the ground, and he could hear Al's voice drowning in the distance before darkness swallowed him entirely.
"Heiderich-san!" Al kneeled down and shook his shoulder. "Heiderich-san!" But Alfons didn't reply. It looked like he was sleeping. There wasn't a single furrow on his brow, and his eyes were closed.
Al's eyes fixed on the approaching soldiers.
"Don't try anything, Major," one of them said. "You better come with us. We'll take you to Colonel Mustang."
"What did you do to him?" Alphonse asked, clutching Alfons' arm. This wasn't the first time this person had protected him. Al felt an odd combination of being grateful and tired of always being the one being protected.
"Sedative arrows," the soldier replied. "The Brigadier General decided that it was necessary to catch him."
Al lowered his gaze to Alfons' sleeping face again, and then he slowly rose. "Don't hurt him," he said softly.
The soldiers nodded. "We're not ordered to hurt either of you, Major, as long as you come with us without a fight." He gave the others a sign, and one of them went slowly for Al, and led him firmly away while two of the others cooperated to carry Alfons' lax body.
Al turned to see how they treated him, his eyes growing with worry. They wouldn't get away now. What about his brother? Where was Edward now? Had he gotten away?
They walked all the way to an open place at the market of East City. Al didn't even see any point resisting. He needed to see the Colonel, and even if he escaped, they would still have Alfons. He couldn't just leave him alone with them.
When they arrived, Al's eyes became suddenly aware of the whole situation. There were a lot of military cars parked everywhere, and Brigadier General's entire unit was gathered around a dark and abandoned store. They were pointing their guns at it, like they knew exactly that the one they were after was hiding inside. Civilians were also hanging around the area, curious of what was happening. Though, they were kept at distance by some more soldiers.
Al gasped silently. Edward... If he really was in that shop, he would get caught at this rate. And it was his fault. When his brother discovered that they had him, he would come out and the soldiers would take advantage of it.
He heard someone moan softly behind him, and he turned his head to see how Alfons was doing. He looked tired and worn, but he was at least awake and stood on his own feet between the two soldiers.
His legs worked somehow, but he was mainly being held up by the two soldiers at either side of him. His sight was slightly blurry and he felt sick, but Alfons was slowly gaining awareness of the situation again.
"Heiderich," a voice greeted, and he froze with a frightened tug inside his chest. It was no other than his current commanding officer. "Nice meeting you again. These circumstances are very regrettable though," he said notoriously.
Alfons said nothing.
"I've been looking all over Amestris for you." Kiehle smiled cunningly. "Enough hiding now, don't you agree? Edward will soon be joining you."
At the other side of him, Al started struggling as soon as he heard his brother's name. "He's lying! Nii-san isn't even in there; he would never let himself get caught like this."
Brigadier General Kiehle stared slightly annoyed down at Al, not seeming to buy his bluffing. "I'll make sure to report your little escape to the Fuhrer as well as your commanding officer, Major Elric. I hadn't expected that from you. I thought you were more mature than that, but perhaps not." He looked at the soldier holding Al. "Bring him forward."
The soldier was about to obey, but Alfons' gaze sharpened at Kiehle. "Wait, sir," he shot out. He couldn't help it. He had to say something! "I'm sorry for this, but we have something to do of higher importance. It concerns the whole country's safety." Even the whole world.
For a moment the Brigadier General frowned at him. "It sounds like a very interesting story, Heiderich. But for now, you're in no position to talk. Secure him."
Alfons' arms were twisted behind his back and secured with handcuffs. "Wait," he protested. "It's about a huge alchemic phenomenon called the Gate, and if we don't stop it it'll have bad consequences for the balance of the world!"
He heard Al gasp beside him and felt his intent stare fix on him, but he didn't take any notice of that now. His azure eyes were directed hardly at his commanding officer. "Believe me, what I am talking about is more important than executing the only person than can do something about it," he said in a low voice.
"Silence," Kiehle barked. "Bring the boy forward, and then we'll see if the brother is where we think he is."
The soldier started dragging Al forward, towards the surrounded old shop. Al struggled. "Let go of me!"
Alfons frowned. They were really using this dirty trick. It was a pure hostage situation.
"Your little brother is with us," the Brigadier General called out towards the shop. "Save yourself the guilt of leaving him and come with us quietly."
Al had given up on resisting. He stood still, completely straight; except that his head tilted shamefully down towards the ground.
The military got their answer. The soldier hadn't even managed to take Al further than ten meters from the shop before the front door shut up, and like a projectile, something flashed forward faster than anyone could react.
It wasn't until Edward was ten centimetres close to the soldier, in half sitting and half fighting-position, with his arm transmuted to a blade, people, both soldiers and civilians, began gasping and widening their eyes. The sharp steel was kept steadily against the soldier's throat.
Alfons held his breath. Even Al had gone paler of how close his older brother suddenly was.
"Don't lay a hand on my brother," Edward snarled, "or you'll regret it." His golden eyes were narrow and as sharp as his blade. The soldier actually stepped back and let Al go, just out of shock. But that was it. Edward had nowhere he could go, and Alfons knew that he knew it.
Edward slowly straightened himself up and turned to Al. "Are you hurt?"
Al stared at him with his large orbs, pained by shame and guilt. But he shook his head.
Edward nodded. "Good." He transmuted his blade back to his normal metal arm. Soldiers surrounding them were pointing their guns at him. He scowled. "Obviously, the Colonel is late again, that bastard..."
"This is quite touching, but have you decided to surrender yet, Elric?" The Brigadier General asked with his arms crossed.
Edward didn't reply. He looked at Al again and lowered his voice. "Don't worry me like that ever again. This is important, Al. Promise me, do not use soul transmutation again. Period."
Al's eyes widened at him. "What?"
But without saying anything more, Edward lifted his arms behind his head. "I surrender, alright. But if you touch my brother again, I'll kick your sorry asses."
Two soldiers stepped swiftly forward on sign from the Brigadier General, and secured Edward's arms behind his back.
Al backed a few steps away as he watched his brother with large, upset eyes. Strong waves of guilt were washing over his gut over and over. It was his fault that they had ended up in this mess, after all. If he had just stayed at home like his brother had told him to in the first place, this wouldn't have happened.
He felt the grip of another soldier on his shoulder, and he let himself be led securely away from his brother.
Edward noticed it and snarled at his commanding officer. "You heard what I said."
"Don't worry," the Brigadier General said. "I'll have enough with taking care of both you and Heiderich."
Alfons smiled weakly as Edward's eyes fixated on him and their eyes met. Edward started struggling again. "You bastards," he gnarled. "Alfons has nothing to do with this."
"I'm starting to get tired of you and your mouth," the Brigadier said.
The second after one of the soldiers holding Edward struck him hard across the face.
Alfons jumped at the sudden action and jerked forward in the grip he himself was in. "Stop!" he shouted. But they didn't listen to him. Edward was struck again, in his face and stomach. He gasped a little to regain his breath. Then he received a kick at his back, and another punch at his face. For each hit he had barely any time to recover, let alone defend himself.
Alfons' breath shortened. They were beating him in public like this for no reason! He glared spitefully at the Brigadier General, feeling his stomach filling with rage and fear. "Sir, please tell them to stop!" he suddenly yelled, begging.
Carl R. Kiehle turned to him. Smiling. "Alright, Alfons."
Alfons' eyes narrowed confused, but to his relief the soldiers finally stopped beating Edward.
Edward's head hung down to his own chest, blood dripping to the ground, and his body only prevented from collapsing because it was held up by the two soldiers. Alfons stared at him with fright in his eyes. He didn't understand why they were doing this.
Edward's head lifted slowly and met his eyes again. "Alfons..." he mouthed. His lip was bleeding. Still, Alfons only wished he could kiss him.
"Take them to the cars," the Brigadier General said. "But I don't yet trust them to behave themselves, so we'll take the necessary precautions." He turned to Alfons, still smiling. "Don't worry, you'll wake up in a comfortable place."
Alfons' eyes widened as the soldiers holding Edward blindfolded him and then sedated him while he was unable to see what was happening. Feeling the needle, Edward started struggling fiercely again, but the drug knocked him out after mere seconds.
"Nii-san!" Al bellowed out.
All of a sudden, another black military car appeared. Almost before the wheels had stopped moving Colonel Roy Mustang stepped quickly out, followed by his First Lieutenant Hawkeye, eyeing the large scene that had and took place. His eye fell on the two soldiers that were carrying a restrained and limp Edward into one of the cars.
Alfons took a deep breath and let it slowly out. He was glad the Colonel was finally here. Even if it was a little late.
"Roy!" Al shrieked from somewhere behind Alfons, and Mustang turned towards his voice. Alfons saw how his eye narrowed, but not directly surprised to see him. The Colonel offered Alfons a short look before he went quickly passed him, heading directly to the smaller one. Hawkeye lingered behind, by Alfons' side. Or, not directly by his side, but at least she stayed at a place where he could see her, and he was grateful for that. He didn't feel completely alone that way. Instead, she turned her head slightly towards him, offering him look which was unmistakably struck with worry.
He smiled weakly back.
"Colonel Mustang, what a surprise," the Brigadier General said. "I thought you were ordered back to Central."
"It was changed as I heard that my subordinate had been captured, sir," Mustang said firmly. He turned to the soldier holding Alphonse and commanded: "Release him immediately."
The soldier let go of Al, and Al stared shaken at his commanding officer, stepping slowly towards him. "Mustang." He didn't really know where to begin. "I'm... I'm sor-"
Roy stepped forward and pulled him into an embrace, and Al hiccupped in surprise. This reminded him strangely of the first time he had met the Colonel after having his human body back. Roy's arms held him tightly, fatherly. And Al couldn't do anything else than close his eyes and rest his forehead to his chest. Mostly, he was surprised that the Colonel did this in front of everyone. In front of the Brigadier General... But to his other surprise, even the Brigadier General stayed silent from the sight.
"I was so worried," Roy said in a low voice. "I am relieved that you are safe, Alphonse."
What a mess, Mustang thought. He had been too late. Edward could perhaps have been spared of that rough treatment. Although, he didn't have much to say in this case in spite of being Edward's former commanding officer. Unfortunately, he wasn't anymore.
"Where are they taking my brother?" Al asked.
"Back to Central," Mustang answered, not really being informative of the details. "You'll come with me now."
As he shoved the boy towards Hawkeye, he searched the older boy's eyes. Alfons looked exhausted, worn and pale. But unhurt, and he repaid his look.
Hawkeye offered Al a hand on his shoulder and gently led him towards the car. Before he climbed in, Al turned in Alfons' direction, but his older doppelganger was already being led away by the Brigadier General's soldiers.
Mustang didn't turn around again after seeing the look in Alfons' eyes he had gotten as a reply. There was almost too much hope in those blue eyes, virtually more than even he managed to swallow.
Save Edward, they had said.