Chapter 5: Unexpected Allies

Ed stretched his arms out above his head, smiling up at the sun as it peaked through a speckle of grey clouds. Al's metal boots hit the ground beside him in a steady rhythm as the pair made their way through Central.

Ed was relieved to have Al with him once again, and after Hohenheim's apology, things were starting to feel like they had before.

That is, they would feel normal if Ed's stomach could give him a break. Every so often it would twinge with a sharp pain that nearly left Ed breathless, and it made him pause for a moment to recuperate. Al only grew more and more concerned as they continued on, and by the fourth stop, he was almost certain Ed should go back home.

"I'm being serious brother, I think something's wrong; you should go back home to rest, or better, go to the doctor and get it checked out!" Al huffed, placing a gentle hand on Ed's back as he was bent over the sidewalk, taking slow breaths as he waited out the waves of pain mixed with nausea.

"I'm fine Al, I think I just ate too much last night," Ed argued.

If Al could have rolled his eyes he would have.

"I highly doubt that's the case, you ate less than you have before. Why don't we just stop on the way, it shouldn't take long and Mustang will surely understand-"

"Let's just get to Central. It'll be fine Al," Ed nearly snapped, his voice growing tight. Going to the doctor was expensive and while the military would cover it without question, should Hohenheim find out about it… Ed wasn't willing to risk it.

"Besides, if Mustang finds out I had to go to the doctor he'd make me stay home again," Ed huffed. "And I'm damn tired of being on bed rest."

"Maybe you should be on bed rest," Al grumbled; if Ed heard it, he didn't reply.

Standing straight, Ed nodded briskly to Al before the pair headed off again. His stomach churned with every step, but Ed grit his teeth and continued on, determined to push past whatever was making his stomach uneasy.

The pair arrived at headquarters, after a walk that took them almost twice the time it usually would. Al had a gloved hand on Ed's back as they made their way up the stairs, and while Ed would usually shrug it off, he was grateful for the support.

Al couldn't help but notice the way Ed leaned into his touch, and his concern only continued to rise. Something was seriously wrong; either Ed was feeling much worse than he was letting on, or something else was going on and Al didn't know about it.

By the time the two of them made it up to where Roy's office was stationed, Ed's legs were trembling and he'd had to stop twice to grip at his stomach tightly, worried he was about to get sick in the middle of Central command. Al talked him through it each time, always offering to help sit him down or go get help, each time Ed refusing profusely.

"I'll be ok Al," Ed muttered as Al asked him for what seemed like the hundredth time if he needed to go sit down.

"I'm just going to get the file from Mustang, and then we'll be sitting in a car to the drain sites," Ed explained, though mostly to reassure himself. He wasn't sure what was going on, and it was frightening him (though he'd never let Al know that).

Hohenheim's punch hadn't felt great, and it definitely bruised badly, but surely that alone wasn't enough to make him feel this awful.

Al merely sighed, knowing he wasn't going to be able to do or say much to convince Ed that going to a doctor and skipping out on this assignment was the best idea for the time.

"Fine, but promise me that after we take care of the drains, you'll go home and you won't set a foot out of bed the rest of the night," Al snapped sternly, determined to do something to help his foolishly self-sacrificial brother.

"Ugh fine," Ed rolled his eyes, opening the doors that lead to the common space in front of Mustang's office. The team was currently bustling about, and a few of them stopped to look up as Ed made his way into the room.

"Heya Boss! Glad to see you up and moving around, heard you got sick the other day," Havoc approached the boys, glad to see Ed back in business. However, Havoc noted the still dark circles under Ed's eyes, and his pale complexion that did little to hide the large bruise taking up half his face. A quick glance at Al who shook his head told Havoc all he needed to know.

"Mustang just overreacted as usual, I'm fine," Ed growled.

"Ah of course, I wouldn't doubt it for a second! Nothing can keep you down long, though that bruise looks pretty nasty! What'd you do to get that?" Havoc questioned anxiously; he doubted Mustang would overreact about something like that, especially given Ed's currently sub-par condition.

"Nothing, just got it when I fell in Mustang's office yesterday," Ed explained, trying to keep his tone light and sincere.

Havoc seemed to accept that answer, and gave him a curt nod.

"Ah yeah, I heard you had a bit of a rough time. I'm glad that's all that came out of it and you aren't more seriously injured!" Havoc exclaimed cheerfully, trying to lighten the alchemist's mood a little and hide any skepticism he might have about the injury.

Ed sighed at that, slightly relieved. If he had been more awake and feeling better, he may have caught the hesitance in Havoc's voice - or the way his lips were starting to curl into a slight frown - but his stomach was pulling half his focus and he merely nodded to the taller officer.

"Well I'm glad to see you back and in action; do you want me to let Mustang know you're here? The Second Lieutenant is out on a job right now," Havoc mentioned.

"That's ok, I know he's expecting us anyways," Ed huffed. "If I make him wait any longer, he'll be even more of a dick than usual."

Havoc snorted at the harsh words coming from the young alchemist's mouth; he wouldn't have dared say anything like that about his superior officer, but he couldn't deny the truth to the words.

"Will do, but if you need anything Boss, just let me know!" Havoc smiled, clapping Ed on the back in a supportive gesture. Ed winced at the sudden movement and harsh notion against the back of his stomach, smiling a pained smile through gritted teeth.

Havoc was quick to pull his hand back, realizing that something was wrong.

"Are you ok Boss? Did I hit you too hard? Shit, I'm sorry," He rambled, quickly looking Edward over to see if he was sporting any injuries.

Ed waved him off, and shook his head.

"Nah I'm fine, sorry, just spooked me is all," he chuckled nervously. "I'm going to go talk with Mustang before he comes out here hunting for us, you coming Al?" Ed asked, already making his way towards the heavy wooden doors separating Mustang from the rest of the world.

Al nodded to him, before he felt a quick tug on his hand. Havoc peered up at him, his expression serious.

"Take care of him yeah? I don't think everything's what it seems with him right now," Havoc muttered.

Al sighed softly, "I've been trying but you know how he is. Doesn't ever want to stop and take care of himself."

Havoc nodded, seeming to be lost in thought for a moment.

"I'm just glad he has you looking out for him. Don't hesitate to call any of us if you need some help wrangling him in though," Havoc grinned, patting Al on the shoulder.

Al gave him his thanks before jogging to catch up with Ed, who was already halfway through Mustang's doors. For someone who wasn't feeling so hot, he sure made his way over there fast.

Al caught the door just as Ed had let it slide shut behind him, and he stood patiently behind his brother as Ed approached Mustang.

"Fullmetal, I'm glad to see you feeling better. Were you able to get enough rest yesterday?" Roy asked skeptically, Ed still looking semi run-down.

"Sure was! I'm ready to get on that drain thing so if you give me the file, Al and I'll be on our way," Ed grinned, determined to make the most of the day despite his stomach still bothering him. Hohenheim had apologized, it was sunny, and he'd gotten food, appeasing his automail.

Roy cocked an eyebrow at him, the sudden change in behavior throwing him for a slight loop.

"You're in a good mood today," Mustang smirked. "What, did you grow a few inches overnight?"

"Hey! Who are you calling so small an ant would step on him?" Ed yelled, his face heating ever so slightly. He jerked his head up to glare Mustang in the eyes, his bangs drifting from his face to reveal the slap-mark in its full glory.

Mustang's eyes widened and he stood immediately.

"What on Earth happened to your face Fullmetal!?" Roy questioned, worry pooling in his stomach. It wasn't unusual for the older brother to sport injuries from his day-to-day work, but for someone who had been on bedrest the injury was certainly unexpected, and it left an odd feeling in Roy's gut.

Ed flinched at the loudness of the Colonel's voice but stood his ground.

"Nothing, it just bruised from when I fell yesterday," Ed stated as calmly as possible.

Roy pursed his lips together, eyeing the alchemist carefully.

"You may have fallen but you didn't fall hard enough to get that kind of a bruise," Roy stated plainly. "What happened to your face?"

"I said it's nothing, I'm here for the file anyways so we don't need to bother with it," Ed rambled quickly, his foot tapping on the ground nervously. He was not in the mood to answer these kinds of questions, and he didn't know how he was going to explain this one away. So much for making the most of the day.

"What happened to your face."

Ed bit his lip and sighed. "It's nothing ok? I…I slept really rough and fell out of bed," He muttered. It was an embarrassing lie, but hopefully, it was one good enough to divert Mustang's piercing gaze.

"You…fell out of bed?" Mustang questioned incredulously.

"Yes! Ok? I fell out of bed, are you happy now?" Ed snapped, his stomach was starting to act up again and unless he wanted to give Mustang more things to be worried about, he needed to get out of there as soon as possible.

"That just seems very unlike you Fullmetal," Roy noted, the unease in his own stomach ceasing to go away despite the unwavering look Edward had on his face. Was he telling the truth?

"Why do you think I didn't want to tell you? Now are you going to give us the file or not?" Ed huffed.

Roy simply shook his head, letting his body relax and a small, tight smile grace his face.

"Very well Fullmetal, I'm glad to see you feeling better," Roy stated, relieved that he seemed more stable today, despite the curious bruise on his cheek.

Ed may have still seemed a little out-of-sorts, but he was acting much more like himself than he had been.

Ed too felt relieved when he saw Mustang smile; his front had worked. While he may have been in a better mood, there was still a lot stressing him out, though Mustang and Al didn't need to know that.

No one needed to know that.

"I'm glad to see you here too Al, we missed you the other day," Mustang smiled up at him.

"Yeah well maybe if Ed told me anything, I'd have been able to come with him. I didn't even know he was leaving!" Al huffed. Mustang's smile fell for a moment at that, hadn't Ed told him Al was just busy?

Ed quickly glanced between the two of them, his insides churning in panic. Mustang was going to ask more questions, Mustang and Al were going to get suspicious.

However, Mustang merely forced a smile back again, setting that complicated set of questions aside to pick through later.

"Well, you know how Fullmetal is – I don't think I've ever seen him sit still," Roy smirked. Ed felt his chest loosen as he let out a deep breath of relief. Mustang hadn't noticed…or at least that's what Ed perceived.

"Yeah, yeah, now come on! Stop talking about me as if I'm not here. I'm itching to get back into alchemy work; sitting around all day was boring," Ed huffed, eager to get back to work to give his mind something to concentrate on instead of the past few month's events, and the fluctuation of Hohenheim's moods.

"Boring or not it was clearly needed," Roy mumbled as he fished around for the file. Handing the papers over to Ed, who grabbed them eagerly, Roy moved on to start on some of his other paperwork, his stress level much lower after seeing that Ed was seemingly doing better, and that Al was with him.

Things were back to…mostly normal, at least in his eyes.

"I have a car prepped to take you two to the work sites," Roy explained, "Are you sure you're feeling up to this? I wouldn't get mad if you decided you'd rather take another day to rest."

Ed rolled his eyes for what seemed like the tenth time in the past few minutes.

"I'm fine, I got plenty of rest and I'm raring to go!" Ed grinned, clenching his fists as his stomach churned angrily. He needed to get out, he needed to wait it out, but he couldn't do that in front of Mustang and his judgmental stares.

Mustang was hesitant for a moment, unsure of Edward's condition. He still seemed exhausted, and that bruise on his face surely couldn't feel great. However, he doubted Ed would take kindly to him asking a bunch more questions, and he had work to get done. These drains getting fixed up would free up a lot of his list.

"Very well, you can see yourself out."

Ed nodded and turned briskly, taking long strides to reach the door as quick as possible. Riding in a car sounded so nice at the moment, being able to sit and rest his eyes for a little.

"Oh, and Fullmetal?" Roy called after them as Ed was halfway through the door.

"Please do be careful, I don't want to have to do more paperwork because of you risking your safety and doing something stupid."

Ed rolled his eyes and walked out the door, leaving Al to usher a few quick apologies in his haste to follow the fast-moving blond.

Ed waltzed through the halls of Central quickly, the soft leather seats of the car calling his name. He heard Al shout quick apologies and soft greetings to people they walked by, but Ed wasn't focusing on that at all, too busy navigating the large building in a haste.

Once they made it outside Ed all but collapsed into the thick leather seats, hands quickly gripping his stomach as he rode out another wave of sharp pain. Al squished in next to him, the car just barely big enough to fit him, though he couldn't move too much.

The driver started the car just as Ed leaned his head against the window, letting his eyes shut slowly. Al watched as Ed curled up into the seat, and couldn't help but sigh. Ed's exhaustion only more proof to him not feeling 100%, and Al was determined to get him to rest more once they were done.

Ed could feel Al's eyes on him, but he was too tired to care. He'd only been up for a short period of time, but he hadn't slept well due to the aches in his stomach, and felt like he'd just pulled an all-nighter.

Listening to the hum of the car's engine, he felt himself drift off slowly.

He didn't drift for long before Al was shaking him gently, and Ed couldn't help but feel robbed.

"Brother, wake up, we're here," Al muttered sympathetically. Ed cracked his eyes open wearily, groaning at the lack of engine noise from the stopped car.

"Already?"

"It was only a fifteen-minute drive…" Al trailed off. "Say, why didn't you tell me you slept so roughly? You didn't have to lie to me about what happened…"

Ed paused for a moment, just now realizing that what he had told Al and what he told Mustang were very different.

"Cause…it's embarrassing," Ed huffed.

Al sighed, understanding his brother's hesitation. Though it was still peculiar for him to lie about it; it was really unlike Ed, and it concerned Al that Edward was starting to keep things from him and not be completely honest like he'd always been.

Al took a moment to his brother in. He still had bags under his eyes, and was clutching his stomach seemingly involuntarily.

"Are you sure you're ok brother? If you aren't feeling well you shouldn't try and perform complicated alchemy like this, you know Mustang would be livid if he found out."

Ed rolled his eyes and shuffled out of the car, waiting for Al to meet him around the other side.

"I'm fine Al, just tired, and my stomach's acting a little off. I'll take a nap when we get home and that'll take care of everything," Ed shrugged, hoping that would be the case.

Al was hoping that too.

"If you say so, just make sure to take it slow, and if you need to be done early, we'll call it a day. Mustang would understand," Al mentioned.

Ed shook his head and walked towards where the construction crew had gathered around the drain. They were busy clearing debris from where they'd taken out a portion of the drain system, with the hopes of rebuilding it in a different way to channel the water in a more effective manner.

Looking around at all the mess, Ed realized why Mustang was eager to have an alchemist step in and fix it. It would take months to get this project finished, and this was only one out of five drains.

"What are you boys doing here?"

Ed turned and peered up at the construction worker who was giving them a weird gaze.

"We're here to help fix the drains," Ed stated, flashing his pocket watch. "I'm Edward Elric, State Alchemist."

The worker's dark eyes widened and he quickly sized the two of them up. Ed stood up straight, trying to seem more official than he felt. The stranger's eyes fell on the bruise on Ed's face, and Ed felt his insides tense up at the attention.

Please don't ask about it, please don't ask about it, please don't-

"Sure thing, thanks for stopping by to help, we definitely could use a couple of skilled alchemists to make the job go by faster."

Edward sighed in relief, and nodded to the tall burly man. "Just point us in the right direction," he grinned.

The worker, who's brass-colored nameplate read 'Roger', lead the two alchemists over to the entrance of the drain system. Ed stuck his hands in his pockets and kept his head down, trying to avoid any needless confrontations from the many wandering eyes that watched the two of them. Alchemists helping out the construction crew wasn't something that happened every day.

"So the main problem is the piping, which we've fixed up for the most part. We replaced all the pipelines and patched up some of the weaker spots, so water should flow into this here tunnel really nicely," Roger explained.

Ed could feel himself growing weary from having to stand and listen to the drawn-out explanation. His stomach was sparing him for the time being, but he was ready to take a nap.

"All we need you to do is reseal the parts of the foundations that hold up the tunnel and have been damaged, and fix up the holes in the ceiling where water was coming through."

Ed nodded, blinking to clear the fog that was trying to cloud his head and convince him to sleep. He had zoned out during the middle part of the explanation, but he figured he could figure it out. It was just basic alchemic work, at least to him.

"Yeah yeah, we can do that. Just make sure to get all your men out of the way while we fix the foundations in case something else happens," Ed explained.

Roger nodded to him and began barking out instructions to his fellow workers, effectively moving everyone out of the tunnel and towards the further edges of the construction site.

Once everyone was backed away, Ed turned to head into the main part of the drain, so he could get a better look at the foundations and fix it from a more direct source.

"Brother, are you sure you're up to this?" Al asked worriedly, trailing behind him. Ed, focused on taking in his surroundings merely shot him a thumbs up and continued walking alongside the walls, a hand reached out to get a feel of the material.

Al sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get much more of an answer than that.

Edward, on the other hand, was feeling confident, eager to be putting his alchemy to use again after being in Resembool for so long, and then being on bedrest the day prior. It felt nice to be useful.

Besides, his stomach wasn't bothering him anymore, and he felt nausea-free for the first time all day. His automail wasn't even bothering him. Perhaps it had merely been a temporary ailment; his body must have over-reacted to the nasty hit he'd taken the day before.

Shaking his head, Ed refocused his energy on examining the area. He didn't want to think about yesterday, or the past few months events. At least not for a little while.

"Ok Al, I think I'm going to start the transmutation here, which will secure the foundation. We'll have to do a couple more in some of the other main openings here, but that should help with this section," Ed described.

"That sounds like a solid plan Ed," Al nodded to him. "What about the stuff deeper in the sewers? Won't you have to fix all of those too?"

"Nah, from what I can tell the middle foundations are alright, but after those heavy rains we got, the big surges of water damaged the endpoints. Central only has five major drain endings where it dumps out into the river, and they weren't enough to handle all the water."

Al nodded as Ed explained the logistics of everything, and described what he was going to do for the support system.

Standing in front of the stone wall Edward closed his eyes, trying to envision the transmutation he'd need to complete in order to successfully fix the problem. After a few seconds of quick thought, he clapped his hands together and placed them on the wall.

Bright light flooded the tunnel as electricity hummed, and within moments the foundation was secure and built up, strong enough to take torrents of rainwater and sewage. The only remnants of Ed's creation being the scratchy lines from the transmutation, noticeable only to those who know what to look for.

Ed smirked to himself, proud of his work, before flashing a thumbs up at Al who sent one back. Al was just relieved that it went smoothly, all things considered.

Ed continued to go about, fixing up the last of the three main pillars.

Checking once more to make sure they would stay, Ed turned to head out. His head ached a little bit, and he felt semi-winded, but his stomach had ceased its barrage against him, and he was beyond thankful.

"Damn kid, you did a bang-up job in there," Roger grinned at the boys as they stepped back into the light. "That would have taken us months to get done, you've really done us a favor!"

"It's no problem at all, I'm glad to be able to help," Ed flashed a smile back, his mood returning after being productive and feeling better. Sure he was still tired, maybe a little more so after the work, but adrenaline was quickly overtaking any exhaustion.

"Well I know the crew is very grateful to you," Roger added, his eyes still wandering to the bruise on Ed's face, making him uncomfortable.

"Thanks, sorry to cut this short but we're going to head out to the other sites and do the same thing there," Ed explained, wanting to get the process moving quickly so he could go home and take a nap.

"I'll make sure the driver knows where we're headed next!" Al stated cheerfully, wishing a goodbye to the workers before waltzing over to where their ride was waiting.

Ed moved to follow him but a soft hand on his shoulder had him turn around with a slight flinch.

"Ah sorry bud, didn't mean to startle you," Roger smiled, though it had traces of concern and sympathy. Ed gulped as he looked up at the man, who nodded to him.

"That shiner from your old man?"

Ed froze.

How did he know?

What's he going to do?

Oh my god Hohenheim is going to find out people know-

"Shit, easy there Elric, I didn't mean to make you nervous," Roger muttered softly, kneeling ever-so-slightly to meet Ed's wide eyes. "I shouldn't have said it that directly I'm sorry."

Roger was speaking, but Ed could barely hear what he was saying through the fog of panic that clouded his mind.

"Hey, hey, take some deep breaths kid. Just follow me ok? You're going to be ok, that was my fault."

Ed hadn't realized how fast he was breathing until Roger said something, and the tightness in his chest was now present to him. Watching Roger's own chest rise and fall, Ed was able to get his back to a normal rate, only left feeling more tired than he already was.

"I didn't mean to upset you," Roger started, looking him up and down. "I just know what it's like to be on the other side of that."

Ed jerked his head upwards, surprised. Roger seemed so strong and resilient, had he really gone through the same thing he was currently suffering?

"If it gets worse, or anything happens, feel free to give me a call anytime," Roger smiled softly, placing a slip of paper into Ed's hand. "You don't have to go through this alone, ok kid?"

Ed nodded, staring down at the slip like it was the stone he'd spent the past few years searching for.

Realizing he had yet to say anything, Ed glanced up at the man once more.

"Thanks," he muttered.

Roger nodded to him, before patting him on the back gently.

"You're a tough kid, just be careful alright?"

"I'll do my best!" Ed said sincerely, before waving as he walked back to the car where Al was waiting.

"What was that about?" Al asked as soon as Ed returned and shuffled into the car.

"Oh nothing, he just wanted to say thanks again," Ed lied easily. Al laughed at that.

"All of them seemed really nice, I'm glad we were able to help them out!"

Ed nodded to him and peered out the window as the car jolted to a start. He felt just a little less alone, a little more understood.

"Me too Al…me too."

A/N: Thank you all so so so much for being patient with me! School started and I've been absolutely swamped with work and homework and haven't had adequate time to write. I appreciate your patience so very much!

This chapter is a little slow, but the next chapter has some really really intense things coming and I'm so excited about it. :) Hopefully I'll be able to get it out in the next week, week and a half-ish!