Once they returned home, Jean found Riza on the phone with someone who made her stand up straighter and curve her lips ever so slightly into a smile. "Hawkeye," He greeted quietly, catching her eye, "Is it Mustang?" Her chin dipped in a minute nod and she continued to listen. He figured her should let her have her moment, so he turned to walk away.
As he stepped out the door, Riza called out to him, "Havoc!" He whipped back around, just a bit irritated, "Roy wants to talk to you, too."
Elizabeth guiltily dropped Bradly's hand as they approached the house. Jean had rushed angrily ahead of them to get home, and she'd forgotten to release it.
Her lip quivered as she regretfully realized she'd just used the one man she knew for certain had feeling for her. "Bradly..." she trailed off, looking at her feet with a heavy heart.
The boy sighed, knowing it would come to this. He lifted Elizabeth's chin with two fingers to find her on the verge of guilty tears. He smiled sadly and consoled her, "It's okay, Ellie," He chuckled, and shrugged like nothing was wrong, "I don't think I could ever love you like Jean does. He's known you and been with you through the hard times you've faced. I haven't and," Bradly scoffed humorlessly, "and I've had this picture perfect moment set in my mind, that I now know could never happen. I'm not going to lie to you to make you feel better: It's not me, it's you."
Elizabeth jerked her face away from Bradly, looking to the side to avoid his forgiving gaze. "I'm sorry." She whispered sadly.
He took his palm to hold her cheek this time and continued, "Elizabeth. I haven't changed at all. I'm still the same boy you left here. But you..." His other hand came up to meet the other side of her face, "you've transformed from the carefree, cute, and oblivious girl I loved into a beautiful, strong, and emotionally mature woman that I have no clue how to begin to try and love." His hands dropped to her shoulders and he gave the living one a comforting squeeze, "But Jean does, and he'll come around eventually. Wait for him, and you two will be great together."
A stray tear fell and Elizabeth sniffled as she broke away from Bradly to wipe it away. "But how do I wait for him?" She asked desperately, "We fight, we say horrible things, we're never on the same page, and... and..." She hiccuped from her abnormal breathing, "He has a girlfriend." She cried, biting her lip again.
Bradly hugged his childhood friend in her time of need and shushed her as she tried to calm her rapid breathing. His hand petted her, smoothing her hair gently as he whispered to her, "Wait for him like I waited for you. Just don't give him up for anyone like I'm giving you up for him."
"She's what?" Edward snarled over the phone. Jean cringed from the tone Edward conveyed over the line. Shouldn't he be happy that she was with Bradly instead of him?
"Edward." Jean cajoled, "I thought you'd be happy that she wasn't around me. Besides, that kid isn't much older than her, and he really cares about her, right?" Though it hurt him to admit, Jean really did think that Bradly would be better for Elizabeth than he.
The boy on the other side of the phone line, however, didn't hold the same opinion. He groaned in frustration, trying to get his point across. "Have you met that creep? Sure," His voice drawled, sounding sarcastic, "he likes her, so much that he followed her around. Like a freaking stalker!" Jean scowled at the word he'd already used against the younger man. "He followed her around at school every damn day, and even though he was two grades ahead of us, he still managed to get into her class because of his family." Edward barked a mean laugh, "I'd much rather my sister be with you," He explained, "at least then I know I could put the fear of alchemy in you. Bradly always liked to hide behind people." From the sound of his voice, Jean knew Ed's lip was curled into a hateful sneer.
"Whoa, wait," Havoc back tracked, "You wouldn't have minded me and Elizabeth being together?" He inquired lightly, not wanting Edward's temper directed at him.
Unlike anything he had ever expected, Edward's entire mood shifted with a chuckle, "Of course not." He replied light-heartedly. "Sure, I was mad at first, but I was more angry that Elizabeth didn't tell me anything about what was going on between you two." He paused, probably thinking back to something, "And to be honest, the more I think about it, the more I like you two together. She's been sort of distant to us lately, and having someone else to protect her is never a bad thing." Off handedly, he muttered, "I hope the distance thing isn't a side effect of the reversal transmutation...Nah," He dismissed the idea, returning to his conversation to Jean, "So are you two official yet or what?"
The single question stopped Jean's breathing. He'd been scared to death for nothing? He'd ignored the girl- no, the woman- he loved for nothing? He'd gotten a new girlfriend to forget Elizabeth, for nothing? "No," He lied smoothly, "She's still really pissed off at me, and I've got to win her over from that punk." His voice, even though he was omitting his own girlfriend, conveyed inflection of someone telling the truth. He fully intended to win her back over. And find a way to break up with Solaris gently. Then it dawned on him... The reversal transmutation. "And what are you talking about, the reversal transmutation? What kind of side effects might she be having?"
Edward's side of the line remained silent momentarily before he relented, "Muscle weakness, becoming tired easily, nausea, dizziness, fainting spells, mood swings, lack of appetite, and symptoms of malnutrition, vitamin deficiencies, dehydration, brittle bone disease, and anemia. Also sudden black-outs and sometimes unexplained death." He took a deep breath before adding, "But the brittle bone disease symptoms and unexplained death only happened in cases of participants over the age of thirty."
Jean's mind drew a blank with the sudden increase of knowledge, yet questions yearning for more information popped into his head and out of his mouth, "How long has this been going on? When will it be done? Everything that was diagnosed at the hospital was from this reversal? Is it affecting you, too?" He asked rapidly, firing one question right after another, not pausing for an answer until he ran out of questions to ask.
"Ehh," Edward groaned out before he began to explain, "I don't know why, but nothing is affecting me. I started it a while back, about two days before the big fight with Scar." Jean noted that and hoped most of her angry outbursts were because of the mood swings. "It'll actually be completed in a few hours. She'll feel much more refreshed, stronger, and more emotionally stable. And yes, everything diagnosed was actually a side effect of this."
"Well damn." Jean breathed in relief.
Elizabeth entered the house alone, as Bradly had returned to his own home. As soon as she entered, however, it felt like something was crushing her. She froze mid-stride, struggling to breathe correctly. Black dots invaded her vision as just as Riza entered the room. The girl tried to choke out a cry, but every little sense she had was under immense pressure that couldn't be seen. Her knees thudded loudly on the ground before the pressure overtook her eyes completely and she blacked out.
The girl awoke with a gasp, like she'd been underwater for quite some time. Her breathing was ragged and rough, but she slowly regained her oxygen supply. "Riza?" She croaked, sending the woman with one word to fetch a glass of water. Elizabeth gulped down the icy liquid and swung her legs off of the bed to face her guard and friend, "Thank you."
Elizabeth felt as if she'd been liberated. Her mind was without a trace of the fog she'd felt earlier and she felt stronger and healthier than ever before. She noted the increase of her senses as her head snapped unconsciously to the light footsteps Havoc created. His worried voice resonated in her mind as he spoke, "How are you feeling?"
Grinning like a school girl, Elizabeth stood and spun once for show, "Wonderful! I knew coming back home would get me out of that funk!" she exclaimed happily, still unaware of the side affects she had been suffering from. "I feel much stronger, wanna spar, Jean?" She asked playfully.
He just chuckled at her giddiness, "No thanks, I don't feel like having my ass handed to me by a girl half my height." Elizabeth scowled at him and stood chest-to-chest with the man. Or rather, head-to-chest. With a huff, she walked back to her bed and sat down.
Riza took the silence as initiative to begin a new conversation. "We're headed out for central today." She commented, leaving it at that. Jean nodded in agreement, already knowing this.
Elizabeth just cocked her head to the side and asked, "Why?" The two military officers glanced at each other.
"Well," Riza began, "Colonel Mustang has an assignment for us involving a certain chopper, and it's top-secret." She paused before adding, "And you're coming along as well, Bethany."
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, "Bethany?" She reiterated incredulously, posing an obvious, unasked question. Jean chuckled and stepped forward to supply an answer, but Riza cut in.
"Yes, and I'm Elizabeth, and this here," She gestured to Jean, "Is Jacqueline."
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and looked incredulously at her superior officer, 'Elizabeth'. "Why is your code name my name?" Jean turned to face the woman being questioned, slightly interested as well.
Hawkeye just laughed, gaining the attention of even Pinako's dog, Den, "Bethany, my code name had been Elizabeth ever since I met Mustang. That was probably before anyone in the military thought they'd ever see someone from your generation enrolling so soon."
"Damn it!" Elizabeth swore, ignoring Winry's presence. "Why am I left behind?" she cried angrily. She'd returned with the two military officers, but they dropped her off with Winry and took off. Alphonse was already gone as well, he left with some Xingese man.
"Liz..." Winry strained her name, "You've got to stop pacing! You're driving me nuts!" She plopped down on the bed in the Elric's room with a heavy sigh. She'd been worried sick about her friend, and had to tell her, "Besides, you've only just gotten better." She reasoned, pleading, "Please don't strain yourself."
Elizabeth gingerly sat next to her, "Fine," She relented, "But if everyone isn't back by nightfall, I'm going out there to help, okay?" She insisted seriously. Winry remained solemnly silent. For reassurance, Elizabeth grabbed her childhood friend's hand and gave it a light, warm squeeze and asked again, more softly this time, "Alright?"
Nodding slowly, Winry agreed with a soft voice, "I guess." In the back of her mind, the only consolation to her worry was the promise Alphonse had given her as he left, that he'd return soon with everyone.
In case you haven't noticed (Which I'd be very surprised if you hadn't) Havoc now has the go-ahead from big brother! Except he's with mysterious-girlfriend-Solaris. And I think he's still under the impression that Elizabeth is with Bradly:) And the plot! The Mustang unit just got called out to deal with Barry the Chopper and they're encountering Homunculi as Winry and Elizabeth speak! (I hope I gave enough allusions to that)
Enjoy! I'll be updating ASAP, at least one by sunday night:)