Hey, y'all! I hope y'all are doing well! Sorry, I took so long to post this chapter. The day after I posted chapter 6 was my birthday and now I'm 19! This is a bit of a shorter chapter and it had Ed reflecting on his decision a little. I'm a firm believer that Ed is the type of person who would do anything to protect the people he loves. Also, I was wondering if anyone of my readers would like to beta read this and tell me what they think. I think it would be very helpful. Just message me if you'd like! Thanks for reading and all of the support! Enjoy!
A deep sigh escaped from his lips. Havoc looked around the room. It had never been this quiet on the usual days. Well, this wasn't a usual day. It was 6 AM, nobody had gotten a wink of sleep, and they had just found out that the military had been compromised. That would keep most people deep in their own thoughts.
Havoc took a quick sip of his cooling coffee, wrinkling his nose at the taste. HQ coffee always tasted bad, that's why he liked stopping by that little coffee shop not too far down the street. His fingers tapped on the desk, trying to figure out something to do. Mustang had gone to talk to the fuhrer again.
Anxiety, cold and hot at the same time, flooded him. What was going to happen if they didn't give Ed to the Drachman? Would Central really go up in flames and the spies would reveal themselves? To Havoc that was a possibility. He had heard stories before. Stories where the government's from far away countries were invaded from their next-door neighbor, never having the chance to fight back.
'Not much that can be done if the Drachman's are dead set on capturing Ed at any cost.'
He shrugged the thought to the side and stood up, stretching out the ache in his back. Hawkeye looked up at him, her brown eyes following him.
"Lieutenant, I'm going to check on Ed. Want to make sure he's ok."
"Ok. Make sure to be back by the time the colonel gets back here."
He nodded and left the room. His thoughts traveled to Mustang and what his expression was when he first came back before visiting the fuhrer
. He hadn't missed Mustang's expression when he had returned. It was one that he never usually held. Havoc couldn't tell what it was in those obsidian eyes. Regret? Pain? Well, he was never going to ask the colonel, the man probably wouldn't have told him anyway.
He wondered if something had happened between the two when Mustang went to go see him. He wouldn't have been surprised if it did. The kid was a raging fire. The fire in his golden eyes only increased when angered.
Havoc shivered, remembering the time he had made the kid that angry. It took him weeks to look the kid in the eyes after that.
The walk to the cells went by fast. He didn't realize how much time one could pass just in thinking.
Havoc pulled the wooden door open, noticing that there was no one on guard duty. Odd, considering how many people were called in off duty to figure this whole situation out about the spies.
It's surprisingly quiet. He would've expected to hear Ed's complaining as soon as he heard the door opening. He had expected the 'What can I do for you to let out?' or the 'I trusted you.' Havoc hears none of that. All that meets his ears is the sound of silence.
Havoc's breath catches in his throat when he comes to the cell Ed was in.
The keyword was.
Ed's gone. Horror floods him. The kid could be halfway to meeting the Drachman bastards now.
Havoc doesn't even feel himself jerking open the door and running down the hallway, in a mad panic to find the colonel.
Roy knows he should've been back to his office ages ago. The meeting with Bradley had gone fine. The man was a little stressed, who wouldn't be after finding out that the military you were ruling over had spies?
Roy hadn't been entirely focused during his short conversation with Bradley. He couldn't get his conversation with Ed out of his head. He had never seen the fire in those eyes so intense. It was something, he decided, that he never wanted to see again. It scared him. Scared him knowing that Ed was that desperate.
Guilt bubbled in his chest. Hadn't he caused the kid to be that desperate? Fullmetal was the type to give himself up without a second thought. It was something he admired about the kid. It was one of Ed's many charming but annoying qualities. It had never failed to blow him away when the kid had put others before himself. He was so proud of the kid, and how had he shown that off?
By drugging him and telling him that it was his fault that his little brother was trapped in a cold, unfeeling shell.
God, what he had done?
Roy buried his face in his face. A groan pulled at his throat. He really was a bastard, wasn't he? How fitting.
He would apologize. He told himself. He would go to the kid and just this once, admit that he had screwed up. He was an idiot. The kid was only fourteen. He had seen so much he shouldn't have had to see in his short life.
Maybe he could have heard the kid out.
Maybe he could've listened.
Maybe he should've stopped a minute to think about what the kid was going through. That feeling of guilt caught in his throat again. He hadn't realized that he'd feel this much guilt and regret doing this. Why was he feeling so sorry for himself? He damn well didn't have the time for this.
A growl bubbled, low and sharp in the back of his throat. He had Drachman bastards to catch and a child to keep safe. He definitely did not have time for this.
"Colonel!" A voice screamed out. He whipped around, fingers poised to snap, an old defensive maneuver ingrained in his head.
Havoc ran towards him, pale and eyes wide with fear. What had made the man so scared?
"T...The kid一" Pant. "He...He's gone!"
Roy jumped to his feet, staring at Havoc in horror.
"What do you mean he's gone?" He demanded. Havoc bent over trying to breathe properly.
"I was going to check on him. The cell is empty!"
Roy leaps to feet, heart pounding. How had the kid even escaped? Someone must've let him go!
"Come on!" He yells over his shoulder.
He takes down the hallway and back to the office, running past Alphonse and Winry.
"Colonel!" Alphonse yells, "What's wrong?"
Roy didn't have time to talk to the younger boy. So he said it as fast as he could.
"Ed escaped!"
He didn't hear the gasp that escaped Al, he only heard the boy running to catch up with.
Roy skidded into his office, breathing heavily. Riza looked up at him, her face a mask of surprise. The others ran in behind him. He noticed Riza's eyes widening as she took them all in.
"What's wrong?" Her hand was on her holster and her face had gone back to her usual mask.
"Ed escaped! We need to go after him!"
"You can't do that." The door shut behind them and he spins around.
Winry is standing in front of the door, arms crossed, her face a firey mask of determination. His eyes widen in realization. She had let him escape. But why? He had heard of enough about Winry from Al. She was normally a very skeptical person.
"And why not?" He asked smoothly.
A flash of rage-filled her sky blue eyes.
"Winry," Al breathed. "What did you do?"
"I came back to the cell after you left. I heard everything, Colonel Mustang," She stepped towards him, eyes narrowing.
"You turned his greatest regret against him. Do you have any idea the regret he feels for what happened that day? Do you want to know why he was so insistent on going to meet that Drachman?"
Roy had no idea that Ed had that much regret. He remembers seeing the emptiness in the boy's eyes when he barged into the Rockbell's home. The boy convinced that he could undo his mistakes, agreeing to become a dog of the military. Had it really only been such a short few years ago?
"I一" Winry cuts him off with a snarl.
"Do you know how painful automail surgery is? It takes months before someone with automail surgery on the leg can walk. Ed was up and walking with an automail leg within six weeks," Tears welled up in Winry's eyes, but she continued on
"It was hard for him. He was in so much pain for so many days. I didn't think he was ready to walk on the leg the first time. I never told him that, though. Granny did. He just shrugged her off, telling her that he had spent enough time recovering," Winry wiped the tears off of her face. Al placed a hand on her shoulder.
"We tried to start him off slow on walking. He wouldn't listen. He wouldn't let anyone touch him as he tried to walk. He fell the first few times. Wouldn't let anyone help him up. Told me that he had to do this himself. Then he walked. He didn't fall again. He was walking by himself without struggling within a week. He turned to me at the end of that week and said 'Did you really underestimate how badly I want to be a state alchemist?'"
Roy was speechless. He had never thought about how desperate Ed was to become a state alchemist. He knew the kid was very passionate about the things he cared about. He never knew that it went this deep.
"He's so much stronger than all of you realize," She gestured throughout the room.
"Miss Rockbell, he's only 14." Roy tried to argue.
"He was 11 when he had to learn to walk again and he was able to within six weeks. Age doesn't matter here, Colonel Mustang. He's perfectly capable of handling himself in these situations where he's underestimated."
Roy didn't know what to say to that. He knew Winry was right. He had underestimated the kid. He'd been doing that the day the kid passed his exam. He couldn't just do nothing. The Drachman's could kill him. He needed to find Ed and take the Drachman's down.
"I understand that. I will have to apologize to him once he takes the Drachman's down, but I'm going after him. They could kill him. I'm not taking any chances. He's too important to this country."
Winry took a deep breath and stepped away from the door.
"I let him go twenty minutes ago. You might be able to make it if you leave now." she wipes the tears off her face and hugs Al.
"Go. I'll stay here." Al says.
He nods. He and his team ran out of the room.
He had to get there on time. He had to apologize to the kid. He begged whatever higher power there to make sure he got there in time.
He didn't think he could live with the guilt if something happened to the kid.
Ed growled in annoyance as the hood of his coat fell again. Sighing, he pushed the hood down and stuffed his hands in his pockets. He hadn't expected there to be so many soldiers outside of HQ. Well, maybe he should've expected it, it wasn't every day that the whole military was compromised with Drachman spies.
He staunched the nervousness making its way up his throat. It wasn't the best time for the feeling. He was getting closer. He was almost at the intersection and the alley where he would meet the Drachman bastard.
Ed looked around. The street was empty, save for the cars. That was certainly interesting. Most of the streets in Central were buzzing with people trying to get to work on time at this hour. He looked down at his pocket watch. It was only five minutes until he needed to meet the Drachman.
He stopped under a still glowing light post. The sun was slowly making its way up on the horizon. If Ed didn't have anywhere else to be, he would've been watching it like he usually did. It was comforting to him as he looked around.
It was barely a minute later when Ed heard footsteps. He spun around and saw the man. The man's ice-blue eyes lit up with glee when he saw Ed looking at him. It was unsettling, to say the least.
"There you are. I was concerned you would not show up on time!" The Drachman greeted him as if he was an old friend.
Ed's golden eyes took Petrovich in. He didn't look any different than he had the last time he'd seen him. He fought the urge to draw his blade as Petrovich stood a few feet from him. The man's ice-blue eyes bore into him and it took everything Ed to not snarl.
"Heard that you wanted to see me. Something about being interested in my alchemy,"
"Ah, yes. My superiors have heard how brilliant you are. They were...most impressed when I crossed back into the country with severe wounds. They have been waiting for the perfect time to get you, and now is perfect time."
"Why is now the perfect time? What do they want with me?" He demanded.
What was so important about him? Sure, he could do transmutations without a circle, but he was just a kid. A kid that never listened to orders and who's firey temper got him in trouble a lot. What made the Drachman's think he would help them?
"That, my friend, Is something is for my superiors to know and for you to possibly find out. I don't ask questions,"
Petrovich dug something out of his pocket and Ed bristled, clenching his automail fist.
"What makes you think I'm going to help you at all?" He snarled, clapping, and drawing his blade.
"Because my friend, you don't have a choice."
Ed's face clenched in confusion. Had no choice? He scoffed.
"No choice? You must've not heard much about me. Terrorists have approached me with better ultimatum's than you Drachman bastards."
Petrovich's face turned into annoyance but fell when he looked past Ed. Ed wanted to turn around, to see what was so interesting, but he didn't trust this bastard. Any wrong movement could leave him open for an attack.
"I see we will have to do this the hard way then." Petrovich sighed. Petrovich nodded to something past Ed. He spun around.
And very narrowly missed the butt of a rifle to the face. Ed snarled and lept back.
He looked around. Drachman's were all around him now. The time they had spent speaking had given Petrovich time to have reinforcement's called for him.
Ed pushed back the growl that welled deep in his throat. How was he going to get out of this mess?
Then he realized something. It was something he wouldn't think more detail until much later. He wanted to be caught, wanted to show these Drachman bastards that he couldn't be broken and could stop whatever they threw at him. For now, all he knew was that Amestris was in danger.
He knew that he'd be tortured, he'd already decided that nothing they did would be more painful than automail surgery. If it was to protect Amestris, his little brother, and the love of his life, then he'd do it.
He'd do anything to keep his people safe.
He'd do anything to keep his country safe.
Ed never thought that he'd be willing to do anything to protect his country. Two years ago, he'd never do something like this. He'd let Mustang or someone else get him out of his mess. Not anymore, he was no longer the naive kid that he was when he first joined. It was time to be the soldier that he had signed up to be.
So Ed took a deep breath, retracted his blade, and held out his hands. He nearly chuckled at the look of surprise on the Drachman's faces.
"I surrender."
Petrovich's alarmed face stared at him with wide eyes. Then the expression passed. He motioned to two of his men. They stepped forward, one behind Ed, pulling his arms behind his back, and the other standing in front of him.
The soldier punches Ed in the stomach.
The air is suddenly sucked from Ed. He crumples to the ground, suddenly feeling bile in his mouth. He heaves, hot acid burning his throat. He inhales sharply, trying to regain the oxygen his body is craving. His vision grays out and his chest heaves.
Someone grips his braid and he hisses as they pull him onto feet that won't hold him.
"This is great Fullmetal alchemist? He's tiny." The Drachman laughs viciously.
Ed grits his teeth and spits in the man's face. "'M not little."
That earns him a sharp punch to the face. Lights erupted in his vision and blood bubbled in his mouth. He spits onto the pavement, a blood grin coming to his face.
"That all you got?" He growls, eyes staring daggers into the Drachman.
The Drachman's eyes light up in anger. The next thing Ed knows is that he's only the ground, receiving sharp kicks to the stomach. Blood pools on the ground in front of him from a cut on his forehead and from his nose.
Pain explodes from his abdomen from a well placed kicked. He grits his teeth against it. He certainly hadn't expected them to beat him up before hauling him off to where they were going to be taking him.
Lead weighs down Ed's limbs and he knew he was close to losing consciousness. One last kick to the abdomen makes the blood sitting in his throat explode out in front of him. He chokes on a breath, gagging.
His vision darkens and he's faintly aware of being dragged up by his hair. Half - lidded eyes glared at Petrovich. The man studied his face before his head snaps back and blood is pouring from his nose and mouth. He's dropped back onto the pavement and he can't move.
He rolled onto his side, fighting the unconsciousness that pulled at the edges of his vision. His whole body ached from the beating. Voices were speaking above him. His fading hearing couldn't catch what they were saying.
He took a sharp breath as pain from his ribs flooded him. He felt hands pulling his arms behind his back, shackling them to lock them in the place. His eyes slid closed to their own accord and he was hefted over someone's shoulder.
"Fullmetal!" A voice screamed.
His eyes barely opened as he searched for whoever called him.
Blue entered his vision from the pavement across the street.
Mustang?
"Bastard, let him go!" The voice, Mustang, yelled.
His screams at the Drachman bastards went unanswered.
A loud explosion makes him flinch and the man carrying him is running. The world tilted on its axis, making his body scream in pain. His eyes slid shut and his senses began to fade. Voices echoed around him, yelling things his pained mind couldn't understand.
Agony shoots through his face and he doesn't even feel himself pass out into the warm embrace of unconsciousness.