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Games without Frontiers

Chapter 41: A Little More Mad in the Methedrone

Rating: T

Soundtrack: Vision Thing – Sisters of Mercy

Maes stood there holding what remained of a phone receiver in one hand. His other hand was poised to strike with a throwing knife he'd released from the holder tucked in his sleeve and rested between his fingers.

Where once was a phone box at the corner of the building, right in front of the alleyway entrance, there now stood a twisted mess of metal and glass and stone fashioned into a wall that closed off that end of the alley to anyone—or anything coming their way. Because, despite what Edward told him about created humans, the creatures pursuing the four of them were currently doing everything they could to make sure they ceased existing.

"Right, then." He dropped the phone and swiveled, looking for Edward—who'd made the wall that blocked the alley—and found the alchemist already in Havoc's arms. The Second Lieutenant rushed down the alleyway, as fast as his pounding boots would take him. Maes spun again just as he heard an enormous impact against the newly fashioned barrier.

"Hughes!" Havoc yelled. "Get the hell out of there!"

"Alphonse–,"

"Al's here!"

There was another crash and, this time, a large crack appeared in the stone. Maes didn't need any more urging.

Squealing tires stopped them at the other end of the alleyway, as a grey sedan squealed into view. Dennison leaned out of his window and yelled at them to hurry.

Maes actually felt the tumbling of the barrier behind him and felt a piece of the stone strike him in the back of his leg as he ran. He stumbled and fell to the ground, his hands scraping against the debris. The knife in his hand skittered out of reach. Just as he saw the shadow of one of the creatures fall over him, and he turned to face the eyes, and mouth and tattooed tongue of the one who was set to devour him, he heard a gunshot—closed his eyes—

And felt a heavy gauntlet grasp his shoulder as Al dragged him out of reach, tossed him over one steel shoulder and bounced him toward the car, his body jarring with each enormous amour-clad step.

Even with a quarter of his torso missing, Al's strength made carrying Maes seem like carrying a sack of grain. Maes had no complaints for the indignity; if it kept him from the jaws of that... thing, then he didn't mind bouncing his ass along like a sack of grain.

Somehow, beyond all the laws of physics, they all piled into the back of the car, even Alphonse, who stuffed himself into the floor between the two back seats. Dennison peeled out just as a projectile pierced the door.

"Train station!" Maes barked. "Now!"

"Ed needs medical attention!" Havoc argued his voice hoarse.

Maes looked at the young alchemist. Edward's black jacket and shirt were in tatters; how his red long coat escaped damage was beyond him. There was a shallow gash in Edward's side, shallow but long and bloody. It crossed a scar from one of his previous injuries. Too many marks on such a young man.

Maes immediately stripped off his uniform jacket and the buttoned shirt underneath. Ripping and tearing the white cloth, he remembered another time he'd had to do this—in worse circumstances. That time, the person had also been young, slight, and blond, and had been lying in the arms of one who valued her life over his own. That time, though, it had not been the long, sharp fingers of some pale monster who'd given Riza that wound in her side. It had been the honest result of a bullet, grazing as she leapt in front of Roy to block a stray Ishballan's bullet.

Just as Edward had leapt in front of Jean to block the thing's (homunculus, dammit, Maes told himself) attack.

Maes wrapped the makeshift bandage around Edward's middle. "Keep pressure on it, Havoc. Dennison, to hell with the train station. Keep driving until you see the banners at Central." Before the sergeant could speak, he finished, "Stop only for fuel, or this boy will die."

"Lieutenant Colonel!" Havoc yelled back. Maes saw the man's hands were shaking. "He can't hold out that long!"

"If we stop, those—homunculi—will find us!"

"He's... right." It was Edward's voice, thin and murky as a mud puddle. "They'll... find us. I... can... hold out. Just... drive, damn it."

"Stupid little bastard," Havoc muttered, pulling Edward closer. "You die here and I'll fucking find a way to bring you back just so I can kill you my damned self!"

Edward's chuckle was weak. "Who're you calling... little?"

"Brother..." Al called from his cramped spot. Maes looked down at the damage done to the other Elric's armor. That other thing had actually bit into the metal and, as they all watched, it dissolved, leaving half of Al's torso gone. It was eerie to look into the hollow shell, and still hear Alphonse's voice still strong and strident. "Stop talking, Brother and conserve your strength."

Silent, finally lost in their separate thoughts, the group rode straight through the night, and into the sunrise of the next morning.

It was as the blur of green trees sped by them, tinged by the gold and pink and yellow of sunrise, that Maes noticed the dark color spreading slowly on this own thigh. His mind scrambled back and he remembered. It had been the third homunculus who'd put the hole there, with Havoc's own revolver. The wound was clean and only went through meat and muscles, missing bone and artery by mere chance. He tore what was left of his shirt and tied it tightly, relieved that the blood flowed so slow, though he was starting to feel a numbness traveling through his leg. He would make it to Central.

A few more inches, though, and he would have been a dead man.

That didn't chill him as much as the memory of his assailant taking the form of his beloved daughter as it took aim and shot. Her tiny hand holding that great big gun... it was too much. When it had seen Elysia? When, where and why were the key questions. How had it known?

They hit a rut in the road and Maes saw stars, the pain finally seeping through his adrenaline rush.

"Dennison, how much longer?" he asked, gasping around it.

"Going this way, sir, about one more hour. It's the quickest way. I'm sorry, sir."

"And fuel?"

"I always keep a full tank and a can in the boot. We'll make it without stopping."

"Smart man." Maes managed a smile for the man.

"That's why you pay me the big money, sir."

One hour seemed an eternity when one was bleeding from a gunshot wound to the leg. Nevertheless, just as the pain became a buzzing in his brain, and morning reached its zenith, Maes saw the pennant marking Central Headquarters. It was still quite a ways off, but they would make it.

He looked over at Edward. The boy was sleeping, pale but still breathing, his head in Havoc's lap. Havoc stared out of the window, his hand idly threading through Edward's hair. He'd even managed to shove a cigarette between his lips and get it lit, and now the smoke trailed out of the window. Maes shook his head. "Jean."

Jean turned slowly in his direction.

"He'll be fine. If he weren't, he would have left us already."

"I know." Jean nodded and turned back to the window. "I must be insane," he said softly. "Every time, I lose another year off my life. It's why I don't like to escort these two anywhere anymore. And when I do... I drink myself silly to dull whatever may come." He gave a short, humorless laugh. "That's how all this happened, you know? I was half-drunk, and he... was a little too clever-handed for me."

Maes sighed. "You can't help how you feel, Jean," he answered. "No sense in fighting it. Trust me. I know what I'm talking about."

Havoc turned back to him and gave him a keen look. "Is that why you've done what you have... for them?"

Maes looked away. "They're both good people, but they are too stubborn. The pair of them. I had to do something drastic, at the right time."

Jean was silent for a moment. "Which one?"

Maes looked over at him. "Gracia is my heart. Elysia is my world," Maes whispered. "The other... I have no choice in that matter. So I do what I can to make things better."

"And that's why this intricate dance between them goes on? You think they would be better together?"

"Don't you?"

Jean thought about it for a moment, and then his blue eyes brightened as he looked up. "This isn't for him, is it?"

Maes arched an eyebrow. "I suppose it is. But... if you're asking straight, then no."

"But..."

"Gracia and Elysia are my world. Got it?"

Jean nodded. "And he is hers."

Maes nodded. "So now she's in every part of his world, where she belongs. She can do what she needs to do on-duty and off."

Jean tilted his head. "You think she'll stay in the service after the baby?"

"Riza?" Maes laughed softly. "You'd have to pry the uniform from her cold, dead fingers. She'll find a way to stay at Roy's back, no matter what."

"But how's she going to raise a baby and keep them both safe?"

Maes blinked. "That should be obvious."

Edward muttered in his sleep, taking Jean's attention for a moment. When he was finished, he looked back up and shook his head. "I don't follow."

"That's what they have friends for." Maes watched the pennant grow closer as they finally made the main road leading to Headquarters. "Or, perhaps I should say, family." He leaned up and called to Dennison. "Drive around by the hospital entrance."

"Of course, sir."

"Let's keep all this between us, Havoc, right?" Maes said.

Jean nodded. "Of course. I've been supported the plan since the beginning remember? Now that I know why, I'm with you even more."

Maes nodded, and then looked down. "That goes for you too, Alphonse."

"My lips are sealed, Lieutenant Colonel."

Maes chuckled. "Of course they are."

"Mine... too..." came Edward's exceedingly reedy voice. "And... you are fucking insane, Havoc. 'S why I–,"

"Shut up, Fullmetal," Jean stopped him in midstream, just as they pulled up to entrance of the hospital.

]o[

Now it was Maes' turn to be confined to quarters, though not for any violation of law. The doctor told him it would be best if he rested at his home, comfortable in his bed. Gracia would barely let him get up to piss. Her barely-contained anger made him cringe every time she came into the room. It wasn't as if he planned to be attacked by–

"What the hell is this about homunculi, Maes?" Roy asked from his chair beside the big four-poster bed.

Maes started. He was so busy ducking his wife's dirty looks he hadn't even noticed his friend seat himself. "You know, you should work on the way you greet the infirm, Roy," he complained, "It's a good thing I'm not weak of heart or anything. I might have had a seizure, for goodness' sake!" Which is what his friend looked like he was about to have and that was why he employed his usual banter.

Once he saw Roy minutely relax, he continued with his answer to the question. "That's what Edward called them. And I've done some research these past few days." Sheska had brought him all the books she could gather on the subject, and those she couldn't remove from the library, she scribbled verbatim into a metric ton of little notebooks that were now scattered all over his bed. "With what Fullmetal has been able to tell me, I gather that they are, ah, created humans."

He reached for the most recent of the notebooks. "Edward's words, and confirmed by these entries. He said that they took great joy in telling him that they were created—how, he wasn't able to find out before we were attacked."

Roy sat back slowly, as if trying to retreat from the words. It was then that Maes noticed Riza standing behind him, ignoring the chair beside Maes' bed in favor of standing by the window. He noticed her stormy look and gave Roy a look of question.

"I suggested that she stay back at Eastern."

Maes rolled his eyes. "Why did you go and do a fool thing like that?" he hissed, hoping Riza wasn't really paying too much attention to them.

"You said it would be dangerous..."

"So? She's not made of porcelain—she only looks it. It's not as if she has to stand toe to toe with one of these creatures. Even were she pregnant with triplets, she could kick your ass around the block."

He heard something that suspiciously sounded like a snicker from Riza's direction.

Roy tugged at his collar, muttering something about, "she already did," before continuing. "What else did they tell Edward?"

Hughes shook his head. "Nothing that he cared to share with me. And I doubt he'll share with you, either, but there's more, much more. He did slip up and mention a laboratory... somewhere here." He pointed to a mark on the scrap of map he had in his lap. "Said they told him that he could find what he was looking for there."

"Obviously a trap."

"Obviously, but that's not going to stop Edward."

"If it has anything to do with getting Alphonse back into his body, he's willing to do anything," Riza muttered. "He needs protection."

"I agree. Do you think Havoc will do?"

"In most circumstances, I would say no," Roy interjected. "But, these two... their relationship is odd, to say the least." He snorted. "Edward would stay alive just to prove Havoc wrong about him going somewhere and getting himself killed. And that's what we need."

"Speaking of watching someone's back," Hughes said, nodding in Riza's direction. "I think it's time you get a bit of protection yourself, Riza."

Riza blinked. "What for?"

He looked at Roy, wondering if the man had a chance to talk to Riza about the information Maes had shared with him. Roy gave a quick shake of his head. Maes sighed explosively, knowing that there was some kind of connection here between this new development, and the other. "While Hakuro was in Eastern, annoying everyone and getting in the way, I was poking around here. Rather, I was having Sheska poke around."

Riza moved from the window then and sat in the chair. "Go on."

"She found something very interesting." He leaned back and crossed his arms behind his head. "Have you ever heard of Order 3217?"

Riza blinked. "I heard Hakuro talking to Archer about it right before he left. What is it?"

"It's an Order by the Fuhrer's own hand. It's why Hakuro sent Archer to my Department." Maes frowned, thinking of the long discussion he was going to have with that bootlicker.

"Seems that there's some kind of research going on." He noticed that Riza had stiffened and saw an interesting look in her eyes. "Research involving alchemists and heredity." He looked over at Roy. "Apparently, someone found the research you presented in your re-assessment very, very interesting. Hakuro got suspicious."

Riza nodded. "And Doctor Winters asked... quite a few questions on the subject."

He knew then that Riza's quick mind had picked up something. "Tell me what you know."