Draped in Wires
by. Poisoned Scarlett
Theme 069: Death
Mei knew that Al always had a fear of death. He did not have a fear of his own death, per say, but, more specifically, he had a horrible phobia of his brothers death. His brother Edward had always been reckless, one to barrel head-first into battle and one to give it his all in fights. If he were to die, Al had once told her Ed told him, then he would go down fighting, not cowering.
They had gone through so many trials when they were small; they were jaded beyond their years. And Alphonse, despite it all, had always been a soft soul and he had never let these things bring him down. But there were days, they were instances, that the fear was suffocating and overwhelmed him. There were days like today, as Mei sat in the living room with Al and Winry, that this fear that he once thought he had left behind and buried beneath everything would resurface and remind him once more than it would never go away. It would never leave. It would always be there, in the back of everything, no matter how bright the day appeared or how good the years had been. It would always be there.
"Th-they said they just came up to him and at-attacked him!" Winry blew into a handkerchief, holding her son tightly in her arms. "B-brigadier Mustang said he wouldn't have known if he hadn't heard that shot!"
"I never thought the rebel groups would be as rash as to attack him like this," Al murmured, staring down at the carpet. His hands, laced together, tightened and he struggled to compose himself. "I thought Heymans and his team had taken care of any remaining rebel groups in the city."
"I thought so, too!" Winry sniffled. She sighed, rubbing her achy head. "But it doesn't seem like it. I guess these must have escaped from their radar. He did tell me that there hadn't been any rebel activity for awhile."
"Of course not!" Al shouted, voice tight with anger. "They were bidding their time! They were going to kill Ed to prove a point! Everyone knows of his involvement during the Promised Day! They don't know the full details but they do know that he and I were the primary instigators!"
"Alphonse," Mei softly called and she laid a hand on his knee to calm him down.
Al spared her look and pressed his lips together, looking back down at his shoes. Winry sniffled, exhaling a shaky breath again. She hugged her son tightly to her bosom. It had shaken her, how easily Ed could be taken away from her. She had never let any thought of him dying enter her mind since the Promised Day fiasco and she had been hit with a cruel reality check only a few hours ago: no matter what, no matter the circumstances, death was always an issue. It was something that would continue to be a factor in their lives even if Ed did mostly office work nowadays.
This had been a warning of sorts.
Winry buried her nose in Nicolas' soft baby hair while Al sank back in the couch, rubbing his eyes out, and Mei patted his knee again and offered to brew some tea for their nerves while they awaited the call from the hospital that would allow them to visit Edward.
This would be the end of her grace period, Winry knew, this was the start of their new lives that was every bit as dangerous as their old ones.