A/N: So, not an incredibly long note here, I suppose. I really am trying hard to get back into writing, but it is exceptionally difficult these days. I suppose it's more or less a sign of my depression that even when I can manage to write it is very little and is hard to focus. So, this is why nothing has been updated lately. Sorry. T.T
Okay, so this chapter is probably going to be intriguing, seeing as there's a lot that generally happens and I have to figure out where to put Ed. I do know that it might be him instead of Gideon and Morgan in the basement, maybe? I'll figure it out. Of course, there are a few things that need to be done before that happens.
Last chapter: Ed tries distancing himself from Reid at the BAU so that he won't be seen as an overly clingy big brother type, but not without making sure he's always okay. The pieces start coming together as the evidence piles up.
DarkRain4Eternity: I'm trying to update on all my fics since we've moved, and I have been having problems with depression and epilepsy.
Chapter Five: Meeting People and Shopping?!
Ed looked at Reid, both knowing and yet wondering how he had gotten himself into this situation. Sighing, he looked at the man across from him and knew that Reid was right. He had borrowed clothes while doing the wash, which was an experience that he never wanted to repeat. Ever. He also could see that the clothes he kept having to wash were getting pretty worn out, having to wash them every day would as he had to do daily until he got some new clothes. He glanced at Reid's friend and couldn't help but notice how well he seemed to dress. He wasn't particularly looking forward to going and spending most of his day shopping. It only reminded him of Winry in places like Rush Valley, dragging Ed behind her the whole way. He wasn't really looking forward to bothering with it, having had so few possessions in the first place back when he was traveling. He'd been introduced to the other Italian and was reminded of that inner Alphonse as Reid had told him he was basically on his own here. He had an odd sort of feeling that there was more to Reid's family than met the eye but didn't express his inner thoughts.
"I have to be getting to work. I expect Ed to have other things to wear, if nothing else, Tony. This might take a good part of your day, Ed, so just come back here when you're done. Tony, I know that this is asking a lot from you, but please don't go overboard."
"You're no fun sometimes, you know that?" Tony whined and looked at his friend. He put a hand over in mock pain as if he had been offended at the remark. Spencer just rolled his eyes at the dramatics, looking at Ed as if he was sending him a silent apology. Once again, he looked back at Spencer and thought of Alphonse, who always seemed to be doing the same thing.
Spencer just waved it off and once again told Tony not to go too enthusiastic with the shopping, as he was all too inclined to do. Tony just proceeded to give him one of his most customized 'I'll behave, I promise' grins. As his friend looked between Ed and Tony, he inwardly cringed, knowing very well that it was going to be the opposite. He wouldn't have been all that surprised if Tony was crossing his fingers behind his back. Leaving the two troublemakers (that he was sure Ed truly was somehow) behind, he went off to work. He just hoped that there wouldn't be too many clothes to fit in a closet when they got back. Figuring there was little he could do about it, he could only hope for the best. He also found himself thinking that they could only find something else on this unsub without Ed's help. Somehow, he seemed almost calm whenever the blond was around. He wasn't going to deny that he had noticed Ed's protective instincts, but he guessed that it had to do with his younger brother somehow. Ed inwardly sighed, remembering how almost every time he didn't want to do something, he would give him those puppy eyes, he would give in just about every time. They could both read each other very well and when Spencer gave him his own version of puppy eyes…well, he couldn't say no to him. He just hoped that it wasn't it didn't turn out to be an all-day long outing. Tony looked at him, raising a questioning eyebrow. Ed obviously wouldn't like shopping and wouldn't let his guard down around Tony yet. However, he seemed to be a close friend of Reid's, so he would try to be polite at the very least.
Ed watched as his friend and conceivably surrogate younger brother left him with Tony. Tony was looking him up and down, wondering what would satisfy Ed and his general choice of clothing. He seemed to like the casual sort, but maybe also liked some other types as well. He figured that as Reid had told him, he only had worn a few varied choices. Tony figured he had limited clothing and inwardly smirked. He'd just have to try some more clothes, much to the chagrin of Ed and quite possibly his best friend. Tony himself knew what it meant to have little choice in what he could wear. He had just recovered from his own ordeal (barely staying as long as both Spence and the doctors had wanted) and wasn't able to go back to his old apartment to retrieve some clothes. Maybe he was just being paranoid as he stayed in a hotel under someone else's name, but there were quite possibly some more people who would be coming after him. He figured that since Spence had said that Ed had a military record he could possibly bring him as backup. Spence had been wearing him down as far as having a partner and possibly joining up with Navy Guy wouldn't be an entirely bad idea. He could see there was something there, but that was a lingering feeling that Ed saw him as more than a friend. He had been entirely too easy to convince, especially when he had given him the puppy eyes. Well, it wasn't his business at any rate. He had managed to buy a new laptop and cell phone, along with getting a gun, as he had a license. As he figured that Ed wouldn't want to be dragged all over town, he figured that shopping online was a lot better for the guy.
Ed had resigned himself to having to go to all of these stores when he saw Tony get a laptop out and sit at a desk. Curious as ever, Ed sat in another chair when Tony pulled one over and gestured for him to sit beside him. He obliged, sitting down next to him and looking at the screen.
"I figured that you wouldn't want to be shopping all over the place today, so we're going to be looking at different styles and seeing what you like." Tony said, pulling up one site that seemed to have a little bit of everything. Ed inwardly sighed, thanking him for his insight. It did make him wonder if it had been a habit or something ingrained into him, but that was for another time.
Now sitting next to Tony, he looked at some different styles of clothes and decided to stick to some varying casual for when he was going to work for the most part. Ed seemed to like a little red, choosing very little red for only some casual clothes. He told Tony that he wanted a Flamel symbol, which both Alphonse and himself inherited from Teacher. Tony gave him a questioning look, and so he chose to draw one and tell him what it meant for his brother and himself. He told Tony that he wanted it on casual clothes for at home. Unfortunately, he had to draw a picture, which Tony had to look for online. He told Ed he could also get it as a tattoo, like his cousin, which puzzled him a bit. He knew where Teacher's was, but he had always worn his on his jacket; therefore had no idea how it got there. After asking Tony about it, he paled at the mention of needles. Tony chuckled, telling him about his aversion to needles, which made Ed laugh a bit at the similarities. Ed thought that maybe he could get along with Tony, which made him sigh, knowing that Reid had undoubtedly done this whole shopping scheme on purpose. He really was like his younger brother. Of course, he figured that once he'd found Alphonse that he figured that he should introduce him to Reid. They'd probably get along quite well, and Alphonse got along with just about anyone.
As Tony bemoaned his abilities with computers as well as both Garcia and Abby, he had a fairly good idea of what he should do, considering the circumstances. He just hoped that Ed was ready for the two of them. Smiling, he called the two of them and asked if they could spare a moment or two. Having nothing to do at the moment, Abby was bored, which could have her end up drinking several Caf-Pows being drunk. After Garcia had said that they were basically at an impasse for the moment with their unsub, so she had some time to spare for the moment. Warning Ed about both their personalities, he then opened a video chat with Abby seeing Ed's appearance for the first time.
"Hello, ladies. This, as Garcia has already had the pleasure of meeting, is Ed. Abbs, how many Caf-Pows is that one?" asked Tony, knowing she had least had a few and it was still early.
Abby looked at Tony and pouted and showed him the one she was drinking at the moment.
"This is only my third one, for your information," Abby answered, glancing over at Ed. She noted his golden-like hair, but it was his eyes that stood out. She knew from Garcia that he was in the military, but also incredibly intelligent, having more or less cornered the BAU in an interrogation. It was quite impressive, in her opinion. "So, you're the one that has been living with Spence?"
Ed nodded, looking questioningly at her. He had never before today heard anyone call his new friend "Spence" before. Some, he had noticed called him Reid at the office, probably as some form of office etiquette. So, it would seem that all of them would call him that, although he had noticed that Garcia seemed to call him Reid at work. All the while that Ed had thinking privately about the reasons for these interesting puzzles, he had been only half listening to them talking about various things, including Ed. He noticed that Abby and Tony were using some sort of language using various signs. It both intrigued and frustrated him that they were doing this, but as he looked at Garcia, she seemed to be feeling the same thing as he was.
He muttered a few not so incredibly not incredibly words of both frustration that he knew Alphonse would most certainly scold him for.
"Verdammt! Schaffst du es nicht, in einer Sprache zu sprechen, die wir alle verstehen können?!"
Both Tony and Abby looked at him in mid-conversation, wide-eyed. Abby hadn't understood it, but she knew a curse word in any language when she heard it. She looked at Tony, knowing that his father had made him study a multitude of languages, despite him quite rarely ever showing off. Tony nodded at Ed's statement, understanding that it wasn't nice. It was merely a sheer habit that they signed whenever they saw each other.
"Es tut mir leid. Es ist einfach eine Gewohnheit, wenn ich meinen Cousin sehe. Laut meiner besten Freundin haben Sie das in Ihrem Verhör getan. Ich denke aber, dass dein jüngerer Bruder die Schimpfwörter nicht mögen würde."
Ed looked at Tony, wondering how he came to that quite truthful statement. Surely, Spencer hadn't told anyone about his brother, and he highly doubted that Garcia would tell. He could tell that it was intuition and not some wild guess. He thought he had been careful to keep his younger brother a secret, so how did this stranger find out?
"Wie sind Sie auf meinen Bruder aufmerksam geworden? Ich weiß, dass er nichts sagen würde."
At this point, Garcia had pulled up a translator program and texted Abby what was being said between the two. The bit about his younger brother surprised Abby, but Garcia had a suspicion about what had been said about his brother. She multitasked listening to the German being spoken and texted the translation to Abby. Tony's cousin had her own around this point, but they felt like eavesdroppers in a conversation that was just meant for them. Ed's eyes narrowed as he looked between the other two, and was pretty sure they were listening in and somehow translating what was being said.
" Sie hören zu, was wir sagen. Nennen Sie es Paranoia vom Militär, aber das könnte sie beide eines Tages in Schwierigkeiten bringen." Ed told Tony, who had just saying what he himself had been thinking in the last few minutes.
Tony looked at the screen, quite a bit agitated. Abby knew that look and grimaced. He was irritated at the both of them, she knew that much she was sure of.
"Sorry Tony." they said in unison, looking ashamed.
"Well, you can consider it a taste of your own medicine, although a small part of that was my fault as well."
Ed turned to Tony and pulled him aside. Making sure that the girls couldn't hear, he whispered a question that had been bothering him so much. It was Abby at first, but the invasion of privacy was getting on his nerves.
"Kann ich ihnen wirklich vertrauen? Jemandem ohne seine Erlaubnis zuzuhören, ist etwas, das nie gut ausgeht. Vertrau mir."
Ed sighed, looking back at the screen. Tony looked at him and wasn't sure what to say, to say the least. His own cousin had listened to a private conversation, and so she was right in her opinion of him being irritated with the both of them. Sign language was one thing, but he knew Garcia knew very little. It seemed that the little rapport they had built was quickly disappearing.
"Can I really trust them? Listening to someone without their permission is something that never ends well. Trust me. Trust my best friend, because I know that he has probably been nothing but a kind person towards you. Maybe we can even trust each other, at least a little bit."
It was true, Ed knew that. While he may have pretty much just left him here with Tony, he knew that like his brother, he only had his best interests in mind. Ed sighed at the situation but nodded. Both of them appeared back on screen, looking fairly ashamed of what they had done. It was true what Tony had said, and so far he hadn't led him down so far. Giving the girls a hollow smile for a moment, he nodded to Tony. He didn't even want to be shopping for clothes, and all of them knew it, so he let Tony take the lead from here on out for the most part.
Tony was a different person, almost like…Hughes. This guy was refined and could be very nice, but both of them had a habit of creating masks for others to see. Tony hid his abilities and probably some accomplishments, allowing almost everyone to see a different personality altogether. They both seemed to have that trait, except for Ed's own intelligence. While Tony seemed to let others do only what he wanted them to, Ed very rarely was one to do it. Sure, he could act out, but that was typically out of anger at what his life had dealt him in general. So, as Garcia and Tony's cousin were concerned, he let Tony take over, mostly because he wasn't sure how he should act towards them at the moment. Tony seemed neutral, probably because he was thinking along the same lines as Ed was at that moment.
Tony looked at Ed briefly, understanding how he probably was feeling at the moment. He then looked at the girls on the screen, giving them both a frustrated look, and then moved on with what he had intentionally called them about in the first place.
"Ed here wants a tattoo, and I figured that seeing as you have so many, you could help him find the place you often seem to like. Garcia, I want you to try and find a place that can customize shirts. Ed wants a specific depiction that he has drawn for me. Ed, if you could show them what you wanted, please?"
Ed casually slid his picture of the Flamel symbol, letting Tony all but press it to the screen for them to see. It felt a little bit relieved to let someone else take charge of something that was something that he felt was personal. He watched as Tony took the image that had been very personal, in regards to Teacher. While both of the girls were searching as fast as possible to get any results, Tony gave him a small smile, knowing that they were looking faster than what was normal for them, mostly out of guilt; he himself felt a tad bit guilty for starting the problem in the first place. If he hadn't been signing with her in the first place. He saw that both of the girls seemed to be what he figured was faster than normal, the guilt they were expressing was obvious and seemed very genuine. He had himself felt the same way when Teacher had found out about the transmutation, and she could obviously sympathize with their situation. It was too bad that they had a beating that felt worse, visibly evident in the way they had clearly disobeyed what she had taught them. When she eventually stopped and proceeded to hug them, they knew that it hurt her to do so. It didn't matter how pure their intentions were at the time, and how they reacted to what they had done. It was basically the same thing in all fairness to both of the girls, and they felt genuinely guilty, just as he and his brother had been. Sighing, he felt more than saw Tony look at him. He scooted back, so the girls could see him, before apologizing to Tony.
"Es tut mir leid. Ich hätte es besser wissen müssen, als so zu handeln. Bitte verzeih mir." he told him, with an ashamed look on his face.
"What do you mean, apologizing for something you didn't do?" Tony asked, feeling all sorts of confused. "You have nothing to be sorry for."
Ed looked at him sadly, before shaking his head. He could almost still feel what he did back then, and he looked at the screen feeling just as guilty and a bit sore during that time. He felt sort of ashamed at what he had caused, and the repercussions of his actions. Sure, Alphonse had participated in the whole event, but it was his own fault as he had been the one to suggest it. He knew that feeling of guilt, the fact that his brother had been stuck in that armor still gave him nightmares. He always felt like he was clearly responsible for it, and that would undoubtedly never go away. With that thought in mind, he felt determined to stop this whole outcome.
"Please know that I am aware of how guilty you guys feel, but this isn't the solution. I think we should start over. You both have your jobs Tony has told you about, but there's no rush." he stated as plainly as he could. Garcia and Abby felt how genuine he was being, and they seemed to pause what they were doing as they listened. He saw them slow down and felt a sense of relief for some reason. He could see Tony smiling, obviously happy about what had been said. Maybe he could use Ed as backup when he went back to his apartment. Of course, he would make sure that Ed had whatever he wanted before asking him. Shaking his head in slight amusement, he realized how his best friend always seemed to be right about these sort of things.
A/N: I'm sorry that I didn't get around to Reid and what they had discovered while all of this was happening. That doesn't mean that this is the end of Tony's favor at all, but I will try to keep it as the same chapter this next time. I think the key word here is try.
"Verdammt! Schaffst du es nicht, in einer Sprache zu sprechen, die wir alle verstehen können?!"
-"Damn it! Can't you speak in a language that we can all understand?!
"Es tut mirleid. Es ist einfach eine Gewohnheit, wenn ich meinen Cousin sehe. Laut meiner besten Freundin haben Sie das in Ihrem Verhör getan. Ich denke aber, dass dein jüngerer Bruder die Schimpfwörter nicht mögen würde."
-I'm sorry. It's just a habit when I see my cousin. According to my best friend, that's what you did in your interrogation. But I think your younger brother wouldn't like the swear words.
Wie sind Sie auf meinen Bruder aufmerksam geworden? Ich weiß, dass er nichts sagen würde.
-"How did you find out about my brother? I know he wouldn't say anything."
Sie hören zu, was wir sagen. Nennen Sie es Paranoia vom Militär, aber das könnte sie beide eines Tages in Schwierigkeiten bringen
-They listen to what we say. Call it paranoia from the military, but that could get them both in trouble one day.
"Kann ich ihnen wirklich vertrauen? Jemandem ohne seine Erlaubnis zuzuhören, ist etwas, das nie gut ausgeht. Vertrau mir."
-"Can I really trust them? Listening to someone without their permission is something that never ends well. Trust me.
Es tut mir leid. Ich hätte es besser wissen müssen, als so zu handeln. Bitte verzeih mir
-I am sorry. I should have known better than to act like that. Please forgive me.