There was a part of Edward that felt Lin deserved a good beating. But he meant for it to happen by his hands not Russell's... or Greed's... or anyone else.
He rushed down as fast as he could, slicing away at any lingering homunculi, ignoring their cries of pain, wondering if they really felt any or if it was an instinctive reaction of the souls they carried within them and were released. Perhaps they weren't cries of pain but instead it was a cry of relief by the ones that were released from their unnatural prison. He pushed the thought aside. Now was not the time to ponder such things.
He saw Lin struggle to get up. He picked up a metal pole that was about three feet long and swung it in the general direction of Greed. Edward didn't know if Lin meant to throw the pole or hit Greed with it. Whatever his intentions neither succeeded - as Greed easily dodged it - and the only thing that did work was provide another opportunity for Greed to grab hold of Lin as he swayed unsteadily and nearly fell. Greed held him up and punched Lin in the face. As he fell sideways from the force of the punch, Greed kicked him in the stomach and Lin collapsed.
Edward was near the bottom now. He clapped his hands together and put his left on the ground.
As Greed reached and grabbed hold of Lin he flinched and looked down; shocked by the compacted earth spike that managed to pierce his shield. With one hand still holding tight to Lin he swiped at the spike with the other, shattering it into dust.
It was the most Edward could hope for. He hoped the spike that grew out of the ground was charged enough to break down Greed's shield. He knew it was a tricky transmutation; it was always difficult to combine two transmutations into one. It didn't do any real damage to Greed but it did provide him with enough time to reach the homunculus and clap his hands together again. He pulled his right arm back and swung, hitting Greed in the face as hard as he could, his blade sliding in easily.
Greed staggered sideways, pieces of his shield chipping and sliding away, bleeding profusely around the blade that pierced his cheek, the point coming out the other side. He dropped Lin and took a swipe at Edward as he quickly drew his blade out, flicking the blood off of it.
"No wonder this fool hates you so much," he growled irritably, the shield beginning to regenerate striking at Edward who dodged easily, deflecting the blow with his blade. "You really are annoying."
"So I've been told," Edward replied cheekily. Then to Lin who was trying to crawl away, "Can you walk?"
Lin nodded as he picked himself up. He didn't look like he knew what was really going on anymore. Edward could see he wasn't going to be able to get out on his own fast enough. He set is automail back and clapped his hands again, ducking to avoid another one of Greed's swings and at the same time trying to lure the homunculus just a few more feet away from Lin. He hit his hands a little too hard against the ground but ignored the shocking pain that ran up his left arm. The ground beneath Greed crumbled and gave way. The homunculus roared angrily as he began to fall, his arms wildly reaching for the edge that began to crumble away too.
Edward didn't wait to see what happened next. He grabbed Lin by the waist but his body reacted instantly to the added support and gave in to it. Edward was pulled down by the sudden dead weight. He steadied himself with his legs, bent and lifted Lin over his shoulder.
"Ah, fuck!" Lin yelled closing his eyes tight as his cracked ribs came into contact with Edward's automail.
"Sorry," Edward grunted under the Emperor's weight. He hurried out of the ruins trying not to jostle Lin too much though unsuccessfully. The Emperor took it like a man and desperately tried not to let any miserable peeps of pain escape but there were times he had no control.
Al was having a difficult time keeping the homunculi from escaping. They were fast and it seemed they regenerated even faster, though he knew that was just his imagination but it was still frustrating how quickly they recovered.
The one good thing he noticed... the homunculi ignored him.
It took him by surprise. He saw the ones run for Edward - as he made his way back to the collapsed building - with a reckless abandon, overwhelming anything that was in their way. But when they headed towards Al they split and went around him.
It was confusing at first... and disgusting, feeling their artificial flesh as they brushed past. He didn't figure it out until it happened three or four times as he rushed here and there to keep them from reaching the rooftops. He also noticed they didn't turn on each other and avoided one another if possible as they leaped about trying to get free of the confined area.
He reached into his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the stone he had.
It was the stone that had once belonged to Kimbley, The Crimson Alchemist. He dropped it while fighting with Edward and was recovered by one of the chimeras, Darius. The stone was then given to Dr. Marcoh to help the four chimeras. It was also used to help Jean Havoc recover the use of his legs. It was then given to Al by Marcoh to help him recover more quickly once he had his body back.
He took the stone but refused to use it or allow Marcoh to use it on him. He only held onto it to make sure it never fell into the wrong hands, though why he still had it he didn't know. He didn't want anything to do with the stone. Even though it had helped his friends it was still the symbol of all of his, Edward's... the whole countries' misery. Now, by some ironic twist of fate it was a life saver once again.
Each homunculus would have one at its core. To them, with his own stone, Al appeared as one of them. But whatever protection it was offering him didn't extend to the men on the rooftops, nor did it make up for the fact that Edward was taking too long to come back.
He ran to the collapsed building hoping the troops could hold out for a bit without him as he went to check on Edward. If they were to break down the homunculi's bodies he didn't want to do so until Mustang, Lin and Havoc were on their way and far enough that they wouldn't get caught up in the transmutation.
Just as he arrived Edward emerged from the ruins carrying a badly beaten Lin over his shoulder.
"What happened?!" Al exclaimed coming around to look at Lin.
"Greed," Edward said through clenched teeth as Lin's weight became more of a burden. "Keep the homunculi off of us so we can get Lin out of here?"
"Yeah," Al said clapping his hands together. Homunculi were already swarming towards them, though Al knew by now their goal was Edward and Lin. A wall grew out directly in front of them. It rose several feet in the air and extended several more feet towards the nearest building. Then it split, sweeping away any homunculi in their path. Al ran ahead as Edward followed, struggling under the dead weight of Lin's body.
"Where's Mustang and Jean?"
"I didn't see them," Edward answered.
"Gone," Lin said his voice weak and barely audible. "I told Jean to keep… going when…" He sounded like he was about to pass out.
"What?" Al asked as he came to the brownstone building directly in front of them and formed a set of stairs alongside it.
"He's says their gone," Edward said trying to ease Lin gently over his shoulder. Already, several soldiers from the roof were heading down to assist, having seen the three men rushing along Al's path.
"Are you sure?" Al asked Lin grabbing hold of him by his underarms. He didn't answer. He'd passed out finally from being moved off of Edward's shoulders.
"They're far enough away," Edward reassured. "Hurry and get him out of here," he then instructed the soldier that was the first to reach them. Another soldier grabbed hold of Lin's legs and together they carried the Emperor's limp form back to the rooftops.
"That body is mine!" A familiar voice screeched angrily from behind Edward.
Edward turned to face the threat and grunted as he felt something push through his stomach hard. There was a sickening sound of tearing flesh. It took a second for his nerves to register the sharp, burning, intolerable pain that blossomed from the middle of his abdomen and spread quickly over his body. He opened his mouth to say something but he couldn't. He felt something bubble up from this esophagus, quickly filling his throat, choking him.
Greed's black form began to swim before him, and then fade in and out, like window blinds being drawn and reopened. He looked down to see Greed's arm sticking out of his stomach, his shirt already soaked with blood around the ragged wound.
There was an evil laugh that echoed in his ears as the black shield dropped and he soon found a pair of blue, horrified eyes looking down at him as he felt his legs give out. The laugh was cut off quickly and Russell wrapped an arm around him to keep him from falling to the ground. He knew it was Russell and not Greed that was staring at him now with eyes wide with fear and torment. He was fading fast; he could feel his life force slipping away. This was not the way he wanted to go. He had hoped to live to be an old man, to watch his children grow and start families of their own. But for some reason that he couldn't quite understand, he felt strangely calm and accepting as he laid there knowing he was dying. He held onto Russell's arm, forcing himself to focus and not break eye contact so he could choke out his last words.
"Richard will always be my son."