Chapter 14 - Counterweight to my Stupidity

He couldn't see shit with a bag over his head but he supposed he was grateful that he hadn't just been shot in cold blood. He had faith that the young Lieutenant had made it out. Back in the hangar, he had fired non-lethal shots and as soon as he was certain he'd bought enough time, Ben had surrendered. He would wait for the backup to show up.

Now, he was being led stumbling along a dark corridor with his hands tied behind his back and a bag over his head. Could be worse, right?

The bag was yanked suddenly away and Ben found himself looking at a grim faced Barnes.

Crap

The older man stood in front of him flanked by armed guards. "A rat running around I see," he said, bored.

"You'll all go to jail for this," spat Ben. The man nearest him hit him hard in the face. When Ben looked up again, Barnes had gotten right close and grinned at his prisoner.

"You forget who runs the law in this city," he said gripping his chin. "Is that why you went over my head to that upstart Colonel over at Eastern Command? I should have known from the start that it was you." Ben was prepared as the second punch landed. He felt hot blood flow from his nose.

"You won't get away with this," he ground out stubbornly.

Barnes grinned at him smugly. "I already have. Even with your annoying interference. Seems like even the Colonel couldn't take you seriously considering who he sent."

Ben had nothing to add to that. It was true that he'd been deeply disappointed by the Colonel's decision to send the youngest most inexperienced State Alchemist at his disposal. Then again, maybe there was a bit of weight to this child's claim of genius. In the last week, Ben had seen the kid do incredibly skilled alchemy without ever drawing a circle. He'd studied alchemy for years and couldn't grasp the amount of mental focus it would take to do all the calculations entirely in his head.

"Find somewhere to tie him up, I've got more important things to deal with right now. And somebody get the damn power back on," barked Barnes as he walked away without sparing Ben a second glance.

The guards dragged him further into a large cavern and, after looking and poking around a bit, found him a suitable prison. It was an old, large mining car, the sort the miners used to cart ore around on tracks. This one sat heavily on rusted rails that disappeared into a pool of water. Ben supposed that at one point, the tracks had led to deeper tunnels that were now flooded. He was forced to sit on the ground on the side of the car while his hands were cuffed to the front and back and then he was left alone.

For close to an hour, Ben sat silently in the dark and watched as men came and went carrying lanterns and boxes. His head hurt, his nose was likely broken and his ankle burned where the bullet had grazed him. He couldn't do anything but wait and watch.

Somewhere in the dark, a low hum started which progressively got louder until the cavern was suddenly flooded with electric light. It was painfully blinding after so much time spent in the dark and Ben had to close his eyes tight.

He kept them closed even as he heard a commotion near the entrance to the cavern. He heard voices echoing over the loud roar of the water but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Ben decided that it was better to pretend to be asleep or unconscious while he sneaked peaks through squinted eyes at what the workers were doing. He heard them bring a prisoner over, securing him to the other side of the car and Ben really hoped it wasn't the Lieutenant because if it was it meant they were royally screwed. Finally, the guards left again and Ben opened his eyes. When he was sure no one was watching them too carefully, he turned his head slightly to peer over the edge of the mining car.

All he saw was the very top of a very blond head and he knew who his prison mate was. Yes, skilled, genius State Alchemist indeed, he thought wryly.

Ed had no words for the betrayal he felt in that moment. Sean had been a friend to him even if he had only known the man for a few days.

The teen was brought a little ways into the cavern and forced to sit on the ground on the other side of the old mining car. He was forcefully held there until someone came with metal handcuffs and then his hands were cuffed far apart, one hand to the front of the car and the other to the back. The car was fairly big and the position stretched his shoulders painfully. It was also heavy and the wheels rusted so there was no way in hell he would be able to move it.

The men had sat Ed on the side facing away from the rest of the cavern and, with little wiggle room, Ed couldn't turn to see what was going on behind him. It pissed him off more than he would admit. With a sideways glance, he examined the metal handcuffs. Standard issue police cuffs. Ed knew from experience that these were no match for the strength of his automail. But that was the problem. He didn't have the strength of his automail. Functionality, sure, but full strength?

At least not yet. Ed hoped that if he could just bide his time, his arm would start to feel normal again just like his leg had. He gave it an experimental tug but the arm did not respond the way it was supposed to. It was incredibly frustrating.

"Got yourself caught did you?"

Ed jumped as the gravelly voice spoke very close to him. He thought the man was dead, or at least out cold. The teen tried to turn to see Hartley but he was not tall enough to see over the side of the car. "You're one to talk," he retorted. He was not in a good mood right now.

They didn't say anything else to each other for a long while. Ed's arms were stretched painfully apart and above his head and it didn't take long before he lost feeling to his flesh arm too. He stared murderously at the old scaffolding, having nothing else to look at, and wondered how his situation could possible get worse.

Havoc breathed a sigh of relief once he cleared the entrance to the mine. It was not the same entrance he and Ed had used but he was outside and he couldn't complain. He immediately took cover in the surrounding brush and, concealing himself just like he'd done dozens of times in training and in the field, he waited.

A few minutes later, a group of men came out. The leader gave instructions in a foreign language and they spread out searching for Havoc. He watched them search incompetently and uncoordinated and wasn't sure if their lack of military precision was a boon or not. On the one hand, it would make it easier to outmaneuver them but on the other hand, it made them unpredictable.

Like working with Ed, he thought grimly. Ed was unpredictable. The fact that he had no idea where the young alchemist was at this very moment was proof of that. He really hoped Fullmetal was ok.

Havoc waited until the men gave him up for gone and watched them retreat back inside the mine. He waited another twenty minutes for good measure and then decided to move. Havoc knew, by orienting himself on the position of the glow from the distant city lights, that he was on the north side of the mountain. The terrain was uneven and thickly wooded, dotted with large boulders. It was hard going but he was swift and efficient. He needed to act fast.

Havoc had learned from Mustang not to show all of his cards at what he'd told Ben Hartley, he was not going back to the city for backup. He had enough faith in Mustang's chain of communication to know that by now, the Colonel had received the message he'd discreetly given to the mechanic back at the garage and was also on the move. Right now, Havoc's mission was a rescue. Maybe even two rescues since he had no idea what Edward's status was.

He made his way up first to get a better vantage point and to survey the area. It took a while and a bit of rock climbing but Havoc made it to the top with only one major scrape on his forearm to show for it. He didn't like what he saw. On the east side of the mountain, a service road heading down to the railroad line was alive with activity. This was a much larger operation than he'd thought. Trucks were rumbling slowly down to a train waiting on the rails. All told, Havoc estimated a team of about five dozen men, probably all armed.

He knew there was no way he could possibly take them all on alone and decided to leave that to the reinforcement when it arrived.

Havoc made his way back down the mountain trying to be stealthy, careful and quick. He managed the first two well enough but it took longer than he would have liked before he was standing on the muddy uneven ground of the service road he and Ed had taken a few hours earlier. By now the moon had set and Havoc had a harder time navigating his way through the dark. Eventually he arrived at the west entrance where they had left the horses. The animals were nowhere in sight but Havoc didn't have time to worry about their wellbeing. He heard voices and ducked down quietly in the bushes, creeping his way closer.

He counted three men, two standing guard while the other worked near the entrance of the mine. In the light of their lanterns, Havoc saw with growing dread that they were working with explosives. He assumed they planned on caving in the entrance or maybe even the whole mine. This was not good.

Havoc weighed his options. He had a gun and he was a reasonably good marksman but there were more of them. His big advantage was surprise since they didn't know he was there. The two guards were positioned far apart from each other on either side of the mine's entrance and both patrolled lazily by walking a short distance into the forest and then back again. It was obvious to Havoc that they didn't actually expect anyone to show up. It was also obvious that they were not trained to properly keep guard. If he was careful and stealthy, he could take them on one at a time. He decided to take the one on the right first because he was physically smaller than Havoc and would be an easier target.

Moving quietly, he made his way back into the bush to get some distance and then circled around to the right. He waited in the low brush for the man to come closer and with a quick and precise move, he looped his belt around the man's throat, covered his mouth and waited until he stopped moving.

Havoc loathed killing but he was a soldier and this was what he'd been trained to do. The lieutenant took the man's gun, which was a better model than the standard issue police revolver. With two quick and accurate shots, he took down the other two and advanced into the mine.

The kid refused to talk to him, which was just fine; he was not in the mood for idle chit chat. He was not entirely convinced that Fullmetal hadn't been involved somehow. Bored, Ben watched as workers, all armed, came and went carrying crates and supplies. It looked like they were packing up to leave. On a nearby table, a couple of people fiddled with a weird looking machine. They worked gingerly at it, referencing a thick and battered old notebook. Ben did not miss the way the workers gave the table a wide berth, eyeing the thing and the men working on it nervously. The prisoners were completely ignored. Eventually, their work apparently done, the men packed up their books and tools and left. Ben found himself staring at the thing on the table with growing trepidation.

"What the hell is that thing," he wondered out loud.

Havoc retraced his steps through the narrow tunnels, feeling his way along and trying to avoid the pools of frigid water he knew were there. He was mostly successful and hoped he didn't end up with trench foot once this was over. When he reached the fork where he'd lost Ed, he went right.

Havoc was quiet and moved quickly but he met no one. The place was completely deserted. He made his way through more tunnels and rooms that looked like they could have been laboratories at some point. Eventually, he found some people. They were prisoners. He saw right away that neither Hartley nor Ed was among them. Havoc quickly scanned his surrounding, waiting, listening and watching for guards but there was no one. The people looked at him with fear from behind bars. When Havoc was sure no one was watching, he approached the cell cautiously. He singled out a middle-aged man who was sitting nearest to the bar and used his best authoritative soldier voice.

"You, state your name," he ordered.

The man stared him blankly. After a moment, a wave of hushed whispers went through the group, roughly two dozen men and women. Then someone spoke up from the back. He was an elderly man with white hair, whiskers and quivering wrinkled hands. He carefully made his way to the front but stopped short of touching the bars. "Please," he said, heavily accented. He held his hands up in a peace offering. "we no hurt you," he said struggling with his Amestrian. Then he pointed to the bars. "touch, no, death," he added.

Havoc examined the bars. He looked down to the floor of the cell and followed the bars up to the ceiling. A wire was woven through the bars and connected to a metal box. The man repeated his mangled warning and mimicked someone grabbing the bars and shaking badly. Havoc understood.

Electrified bars? Someone went to a lot of trouble to keep these prisoners here. Then again, looking at the simple padlock and outdated construction of the actual holding cell, it would be incredibly easy to break out without the electrocution factor.

"Get down," he ordered backing up and emphasizing his order with his arms. With three well aimed and accurate shots, the box shorted in a shower of sparks and smoke. The buzz of the electrified bars died suddenly as overhead, the lights flickered and dimmed. The deafening crack of the gunshots was sure to have alerted anyone to his presence and Havoc knew he didn't have much time. With practiced ease, he pulled the tools he kept on him always, tucked away in a secret pocket and picked the lock in less than thirty seconds. Yet another skill he'd learned in training as a special operative. Just as the lock clicked open, the guards arrived and they were suddenly in close combat.

Havoc had to admit that this wasn't his strong point but he held up pretty well. It didn't take long for the prisoners, particularly the able bodied men and women, to join the fight and the guards were quickly out-numbered in a chaotic free-for-all. Now that they were free, Havoc did not feel guilty leaving the prisoners to fend for themselves as he slipped away. He still had a pint-sized alchemist to find.

"What the hell is that thing?" Hartley asked from the other side of the car. The officer was tied in much the same way as Ed but, his arms being longer, he was not forced into an uncomfortable position.

Oh yeah, thought Ed miserably, that thing. That's how his situation could get worse. Ed knew without looking that Hartley was referring to the device. He supposed the silver lining was that since the man was also a prisoner and didn't seem to know what was going on it meant that he was not the bad guy. It didn't mean Ed had to like the man, it meant that he was just a regular asshole rather than an evil one.

Ed didn't answer him. He examined the rotting wooden platforms and wondered where Havoc was. Maybe still wandering around the mine, lost? Maybe he went back to the city for help. He wished Al was here. Al was the counterweight to his stupidity. Whenever Ed got himself into trouble, Al was there to pull him out of it. He hated when people assumed Al was the Fullmetal Alchemist but Ed couldn't deny that everything that is "Fullmetal" is comprised of not one but two Elrics. He needed his other half right now.

He tugged at the handcuffs with his automail but other than a soft clinking of metal on metal, nothing happened. Ed let out a frustrated huff that blew his bangs up out of his face. He was running out of time.

"It's a bomb," he said sullenly.

There was a moment of silence as Ben registered that the teen had answered his earlier question. Then he registered what the teen had said and looked sharply over his shoulder at the blond head before turning back to the strange device with new apprehension.

"Care to explain?" he demanded.

Ed frowned at the tone. "They're planning to blow this place into dust," he answered coldly without adding with us in it.

"And you know this how?" asked the older man urgently with a touch of suspicion.

Ed did not appreciate the accusation, implied or not. "You think I had something to do with this?" he spat hotly.

"Well it sure looks that way," retorted the other alchemist, "you being all chummy with the crooks and all."

Ed tried to twist around to give the man his best death glare but could only manage to see the back of his head from the corner of his eye. He whipped back around and glared at the nearest rock instead. "You reckon I tried to murder myself too?" he snarled sarcastically, yanking on the cuff in frustration. It still didn't budge.

Their argument was interrupted by the sound of three distinct gunshots that echoed loudly through the cavern despite the roar of the falls. Overhead, the electric lights flickered and dimmed briefly before returning to their usual brightness. After a few tense moments, Hartley said something that was lost in a sudden din of gunfire from down the tunnel. The sound of people fighting and chaos erupting reached them and Ed tried, again, to turn to see what was happening. He felt more helpless than ever and it was seriously pissing him off. When he turned back around, he found himself suddenly facing Havoc.

The man gave him a sloppy, two fingered salute and crooked grin.

"Yo."

A/N:

1. I think this is the first time Havoc actually gets to do cool stuff. I tried to highlight the difference in skill and training between Havoc and Ed.

2. I really tried to get through this fic without killing anyone, anonymous henchman or not but that was just unrealistic.

3. I originally had Havoc shoot the locks off the cage but after a bit of research found that it's more likely to result in people, including the shooter getting hit by ricochet than a damaged lock. Picking the lock is more effective. And I actually tried to research whether you can blow up a fuse box/control panel by shooting at it and found that it's mostly a movie trope as well but whatever.

4. This chapter switches between three different POVs so I hope that wasn't too confusing.

5. Merry Christmas!