Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“But now the room is spinning while I’m trying just to fill in all the gaps.”

No. 1 safety net | swooning | “how many fingers am I holding up?”

Edward hates mine inspections. They just end up getting boring after the first two. He glares at Mustang, who was busy checking the limestone in the mineshaft. This was his fifth mine inspection this week and it’s only tuesday. It’s cold too, which sucks for his automail port. He’s brought out of his thoughts by Mustang turning around.

“What’s wrong Fullmetal? Tired already?” He huffs and turns the direction of the entrance.

“Of you maybe. Are we done here?” Ed shoots a glance at Mustang. He’s got an odd expression on his face. “Or do we have to stare at more rocks?” 

“Well, we could do a surprise audit…” He turns to glare at Mustang once more, the bastard has that smug look on his face. “I’m joking, yes we are done here. All we need now is to finish the paperwork.” 

Mustang walks past him towards the entrance as Ed scowls. “Not funny, Bastard.” He catches up quickly. “Why are we doing so many inspections anyways?”

Mustang sighs and glances at him. “The Fuhrer wanted them done. I can’t disobey a direct order. So… mine inspections it is.” Ed frowns.

“Why is the Fuhrer worried about the mines?” He tilts his head slightly and looks to Mustang. 

“Who knows. We just need to get them done for now.” Mustangs shrugs as he glances at Ed with that odd expression again. “We’re done for today though.”

“Thank Truth. I’m hungry and I saw a Xing food place in town.” He stretches before looking forward again. It was a decent walk to get to the surface again. They were pretty deep in, further than Ed normally gets to go. They walk for a couple minutes in silence occasionally glancing at each other before the conversation starts again.

“Have you gotten any more leads on the stone?” Ed speaks up as he kicks a rock. 

“There was one in the south, but it will take some time to get the papers filled out. I think you’ll like the town.” His eyes flick to the rock then forward again. Ed kicks it again.

“How long? I want to get Al from Resembool before I go.” Mustang seems to mull it over.

“A week maybe? And thats the earliest, You’ll have plenty of time.” He hums in acknowledgement. Kicking the rock one last time he glances up to see the entrance, surrounded by workers. He pauses as Mustang continues, a quiet noise catching his attention. A small creak. He glances around, noting a pillar in the wall holding up the ceiling. Glancing at Mustang he walks to the pillar, inspecting it for signs of possible imminent breakage, its just great he finds exactly what he’s looking for. 

“What’s the hold up Fullmetal?” Mustang has paused 6 feet ahead.

He turns to Mustang as he points his thumb at the pillar, eyebrows creasing as he goes to talk. Only, he doesn’t get to speak as a much louder sound drowns him out. A squeaking creak before a loud snap as the pillar breaks under the pressure of the rock above. Within a second Mustang was tackling him away from the pillar. The rocks above giving way and dropping down on them, he doesn’t get to think more on how to get out of the situation as a rock smacks him in the forehead, making everything go black.

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Blinking groggily, Ed groans. Everything hurt and his head was pounding. What happened? He tries to keep his eyes open as he looks around, everything blurry. The only things of note was it was dark, and he could feel something heavy on his chest. He could also hear something, but he couldn't quite understand it through the ringing in his ears. Then the thing on his chest moves, the fuck-

“Ed—     —dward—    —alm ow—.” he freezes as he makes out his name. He sluggishly brings his hand up and end up with it on a stout fabric, soft but sturdy. Like the colonels coat… but why would that be on him? 

“Ed? Fullmetal? Can yo—     — just say something… Please?” its clearly Mustang now, but what is he doing here? Scratch that. Where is here?

“Wha… happen..?” He licks his lips, mouth dry. 

“Thank god.” The weight is back on his chest, he can tell now it’s a person. He winces as a flame sputters to life above him, weight gone again. The space around him is blurry and so is the face above him. The ringing has dulled to a quiet tinkling in his ears.

“Ed, what do you remember?” He frown up at him, squinting as he tries to think back. Weren’t they doing an inspection? Or… were they just getting there?

“You… take forever? Uhm…” He licks his lips again. “You were…  looking at some… uh… limestone?” Mustang seems to frown at that.

“Anything after that?” he shakes his head and winces. Stupid headache. Mustang hold up his hand with three blurry fingers up.

 “How many.” 

“Wha…?”

“Fingers Fullmetal. How many fingers am I holding up?” Ed glares at him.

“Three? You… do know… it doesn’t work… like tha..?” Mustang seems to frown at him. 

“Is it blurry?” He nods carefully. 

“You’ll be ok. They are trying to dig us out now. You have a concussion. I think the rest of you is fine though. Does this hurt?” he pokes Ed’s foot, it does.

“Kinda?” 

“Look into the flames?” He complies but looks away quickly, the light hurting.

“Why?” Mustang doesn’t say anything just nods in approval. “Wait why?

“Go to sleep. I’ll wake you when we get out.” he frowns.

“Fuck off. I dont… need a nap.” Ed glares again. “Not… a fucking kid.” The light goes out.

“I know. You’re doing great.” Mustang pats his chest, asshole… he begrudgingly complies closing his eyes.

“Bastard…” its all he can grumble before he does actually end up falling asleep. 

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He wakes to bright lights shining in his face as someone picks him up. The ringing is gone, finally. He tries to struggle against the hold, covering his eyes with his automail arm. There’s talking and someone pats the side of his face gently.

“Hey, it’s ok, we’ve got you. You’re safe kiddo.” Ed tenses.

“M’ NOT A KID!” he scowls and opens his eyes to glare at the person who called him a child.

“Ed, they didn’t mean it, it’s ok.” he turns his glare to the person holding him.

“Mustang?” Ed frowns and remembers what had happens.

“Shit… are you ok?” Mustang seems surprised by his question.

“I’m fine fullmetal. Just some deep bruising.” He frowns but doesn’t push. Glancing around instead as Mustang started walking with him in his arms.

“If you say so…” The stone turns to open air as they are lead to an ambulance where Mustang sets him down and sits next to him. 

“Riza is waiting at the hospital. We’ll meet her there. She already called Alphonse.” Edward hates mine inspections.

Chapter Text

“I’ll call out your name, but you wont call back.”
Thermometer| Delirium | “they don’t care about you.”

Mustang must be mad at him. He almost never sends Edward on warehouse inspections. Alone nonetheless! Unless he’s mad of course. Ed sighs and marks another point on the paper he was given. The warehouse wasn’t being used for anything, and over time had fallen into disrepair. It would have to be demolished. He taps his pen against the pillar as he thinks about what to write on the report. Unstable maybe? Peering up at the dilapidated roof, he marks unsafe and unstable. Honestly it looked like it could collapse at any moment.

Now at this point, you would assume Ed has learned not to jinx things. You’d be wrong, because he just did. It starts to sag more, and with a loud squeaking creak it collapses, taking some pillars with it. He’s able to get out of the way of most of them, but that’s the thing with jinxes. It will go wrong. Murphy’s law and all. Truth knows he tried though. A stray pillar catches his arm, pain lighting up along his bicep and down.

The dust settles the silence suddenly feeling eerie after the noise of the building practically imploding. Taking stock of the situation, he was lucky in a couple ways. Firstly, it was his automail that was crushed. Winry’s gonna be pissed. But, no other injuries until Winry gets a hold of him. Secondly, he was in a small pocket in the wreckage.

However, to get the shit beat out of him by Winry, he was gonna need to get out of the rubble. Without Alchemy. This is gonna take a minute…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He ended up waiting two hours until Mustang had gotten concerned and came looking. It took another hour just to get him out.

“Are you sure you don’t want to get checked out at the hospital?” This is the third time Mustang has asked on the way to the dorms.

“I said I’m fine! It was just my automail. I’ll call Winry to fix it later… “ He huffs and looks out the window, watching the buildings pass. “Bastard…”

“You know the military would cover it right?” Mustang tries again, Ed shoots him a glare. “Alright. I won’t make you this time.” The car goes silent after that, the low hum of the engine as they traverse East City. It stays that way the rest of the drive, Ed starting out the window.

Once they make it to the dorms he figures he can be a bit nicer to the bastard.

“Thanks for the ride Mustang.” Mustang nods in acknowledgement and says something about staying safe as Ed walks into the dorm building. New paper for that warehouse in hand to work on before tomorrow. Luckily, Al was in central researching a way to get their bodies back. So he can’t make him go to the doctor. He was fine, it was his automail! He settles at his desk, grumbling under his breath and checks his watch. 19:30. He could get some research in before bed if he hurries on the form.

He pick up his pen and frowns, a headache already forming. He’s gotta be allergic to paperwork or something. Whatever. He probably just needs water.

It takes until 20:04 for him to give into the now migraine. The light from the candle he normally likes to study by, now grating on his eyeballs, like vinegar eyedrops. He stands, frowning as it takes more energy just to move. Must be really tired. He puts out the candle and decides to forgo getting undressed. Instead he opts to stumble to the bed and flop down, wincing as it aggravates an ache he hadn’t noticed everywhere. Surely sleep would fix this? The last thought before he falls asleep is how much his head hurt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When he wake he keeps his eyes closed for what feels like hours, head pounding. It had to be minutes because the grating noise of his alarm going of send a jolt of white hot pain through his skull. Fumbling to shut it off with a grimace, he rolls out of bed, momentarily wondering why he was still in his clothes and not pajamas. He figures past him had a reason and just changes quickly, trying to keep the light level low in hopes of beating the migraine. It doesn’t work.

Throwing on his coat he pauses, the wall just moved… what. He squints at the wall in confusion before figuring it was a trick of the light. He grabs the paper on the way out, looking it over. It’s nearly illegible. Nearly…. It’ll do. He presses forward, trying to keep the sun from his eyes, ignoring the looks he gets from passerby's. The sun had no right to burn this bright, this early in the morning.

He makes it to the office, waving irritably at the team and walking straight into Mustang’s office. Opening the doors he pauses. In the corner sat Truth, wide grin stretching far to wide to be natural.

“Fullmetal. I presume you have the form?” Ed snaps his attention back to Mustang.

“What?”

“The form? From yesterday?” He has an odd look on his face.

“Oh. That. Here, I guess.” he tosses the paper on Mustang’s desk then pulling his cloak closer around him to keep the cold of the office at bay. He watches Mustang start to read it over, his eyebrows already gaining that ‘what the fuck’ crease, before looking back to the corner Truth had been sitting in. He freezes, Truth was gone. Replaced instead by Nina, her innocent eyes staring at him.

He distantly hears someone speaking but he doesn’t listen. The mix of horror and pain from his head- scratch that, whole body, keeping his focus as he watches as Nina’s small form twists in a sickeningly familiar way. He can feel bile rising so he lunges for Mustang’s trash can, tears forming in his eyes as he retches. The hands on his back feel too small to be Mustang’s but he refuses to open his eyes, the pain lessened by the lack of light.

“Ed? Edward?” the voice sounds like Riza, but it has a gentle undertone he’s only heard a couple times from her.

“I fucking knew something seemed wrong.” That was Mustang. “ This is my fault. I should have made him go to the hospital.” Now that was new. Since when did he care?

“Shut up sir. All we can do now is help him. Ed can you hear me?” he shivers, the previous cold now icy. He nods anyways.

“What did you see? There’s nothing in that corner.” Her voice is gently but firm as she continues to rub his back soothingly.

“N-Nina…” His voice is hoarse. She doesn’t stop her motions but talks quietly with Mustang, her other hand going to his forehead.

“Sh-she… she didn’t deserve that…” The tears are no longer from vomiting and instead something he is familiar with. Grief.

“I know Ed… I know… Sir he has a high grade fever. Call a medic.” She goes back to soothing him. It takes ten minutes for the medic to show, at that point he’s checked out. He hears the heavy footstep and blinks at the door.

“Al?” Riza shakes her head patiently.

“The medic.” Everything after that is a blur. In the end he’s in a hospital bed and the Doctor is telling Mustang about what sounded like ‘toxic automail shock syndrome’ which would be bad. Winry warned him about something like that at some point. Where’s Winry anyways? The slowly goes quiet and just as slowly, Ed slips into the sweet embrace of sleep.

Chapter Text

“Like crying out in empty rooms, with no one there except the moon.”
Journal | Solitary confinement | “make it stop.”

The library was quiet this time of day, only the sounds of pages flipping and occasionally some shifting when he moved so his butt didn’t go numb. It was peaceful. But… There was no food. Ed stretches and turns to Al, who is still nose deep in a book.

“I’m hungry, wanna come with me to grab food?” Al finally turns his helm towards him, the red glow in his eyeholes seemingly squinting at him.

“You? Grabbing food in the middle of studying? What did you do with brother.” Al teases lightheartedly. He laughs a bit.

“I guess I’m just getting nowhere. And I’m hungry.” He stands up. “So… You coming?”

“Sorry brother, I found something interesting! So I’ll stay and read some more, you go ahead.” Al holds up a book that looks tiny in his hands. Ed smiles at Al, the most important thing in the world. His baby brother.

“Alright, I’ll be back soon ok?” Al nod and waves at him as he turns to walk away.

“Be safe!” he smiles and waves goodbye, walking out the door. The walk to the vendor he wanted food from isn’t too long, just 5 minutes. It gives him time to think on the book he was reading. It had mentioned using specific rocks to preform alchemy, but not using the rocks as ingredients. He just couldn’t wrap his head around how using a quartz crystal would help him preform alchemy. Amestrian alchemy used the energy from earth’s tectonic plates to power alchemy, so maybe the crystals had stored some of that power? But how?

His thoughts are interrupted as he spots the small cafe. He quickens his pace and enter through the doors, the small bell above the door jingling. Al loves this cafe for the cats, he loves it for the muffins. It only takes a couple strides to get to the counter and greet the cashier.

“Good afternoon! What can we get for you today sir?” He smiles politely.

“Two blueberry muffins please.” Ed already has the money in hand, honestly two muffins could be considered too much. The muffins being nearly the size of his hand that is. He pays and leaves, munching happily on his muffins. He gets through the first one, but truth must hate him, he doesn’t get to finish the second.

One second he’s about to take a bite of muffin, the next he’s being tackled, the muffin goes flying, he only gets to mourn it for a second watching it go before he struggles against the grip restraining him. He tries at least, and he fights valiantly before the attacker puts an odd smelling clothe to his face. He tries holding his breath but they hit his automail port making him gasp and inhale. After that it’s all down hill as his vision grows spotty and it all fades fast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Waking up is a slow thing. He blinks but sees nothing. It takes a moment to register the fabric on his face, covering his eyes. It’s damp and cold, making his ports ache like hell. Speaking of his ports, they feel oddly light, and when he tries to move his right hand, he finds it missing. Shit. His automail leg is gone too. Surely there’s a way out of this? Maybe he could draw a circle- nope, his hand is tied with what feels like rope to the metal chair he’s on. Maybe-

His planning is interrupted by someone jerking his head forward. He can tell someone was right next to his face.

“The Fullmetal alchemist, lotta good that did you. Huh?” The voice is raspy, like what he would assume Havoc’s would sound like if he kept up the cigarettes. He scowls.

“What do you want.” Straight to the point, he’s a busy man you know.

“What do you know of Roy Mustang?” his stomach drops like Ed trying to swim. They were likely anti-military extremists. Mustang had warned him about them, about the things they would do.

“Nothing I’d tell you.” He practically spits the words. The hand in his hair clenches and throws his head back against the chair. Immediate headache. Thanks asshole.

“You’ll wish you didn’t say that. Where does he live.” He lifts his head and spits in the general direction of the voice. The reaction is instant and his head snaps to the side as he’s slapped.

“What are his work hours.” He turns his head away from the voice. Lips pressed tightly together in defiance. The captor growls in irritation.

“Bring me the syringe.” The what. He tries not to freeze. The way the man chuckles makes him think he failed. He can’t suppress the flinch as he feels a needle peirce his arm.

“Not so tough now huh?” He scowls again. “Good luck.” and then some footsteps, and silence. It stays quiet even minutes later even as he starts to feel… off. Like he’s in pain, but… not? A weird tingle spreading from his arm. A few minutes later it starts to burn. It starts slow and slowly like his heartbeat, it pulsed with pain.

He tries not to react as his vision slowly gains color. Color that shouldn’t be there with the blindfold. A litany of colors that are there but hard to focus on, extenuating his headache. The pain from his veins and the colors in his eyes almost distract him enough not to hear it. But he notices. A small voice. It sounds like Alphonse when he was younger. It whispers unintelligibly. Slowly getting louder till he could parse out the words.

“Brother… why did you do it?” The sentence strikes his heartcords.

“Al…?” he’s hesitant to call out, but does anyways.

“You did this to me big brother.” He freezes, “You are the reason I don’t have a body.”

“Wh-what? A-Al?” He hears footsteps again.

“Gonna talk now?” It’s the captor again.

“What did you give me!” He can’t think of anything that would cause pain like this. “And why is he here? He’s not even in the military!”

“There is no-one else here. Just me. And you.” He finds himself scowling again. If he isn’t careful it’ll get stuck. At least that’s what mom used to say.

“So. Are you gonna talk?” He turns his face away from the voice again. Defiance rearing its head. He flinches as they grab his chair and tip it over. Luckily it’s the right side hitting the floor. He’s not so lucky when he feels a boot connect with his diaphragm, pulling a gasp from him as the pain is amplified by a hundred.

“I’m not gonna talk!” He’s a bit breathless as he speaks. “You should just-” He’s cut off by his own grunt of pain as they grab him by his neck and lift him up.

“Address?” He lets out a choked noise that only vaguely sounds like no. They set him down with a sigh. As he sucks in air the colors in his vision swirl harshly. There’s a metallic sound after a minute, a quiet clanking. It reminds him of when Winry sorts her tools before working on his automail.

“This is the point of no return. Give me the address, or even his hours!”

“N- no.” He hears the footsteps come closer, and something sharp press to his leg.

“Last chance kid.”

“Not a kid.” he glares under the blindfold. The pain in his leg surprises him, making him flinch and yelp. The rope having been cut as well as his leg. The cut starts to bleed, and somehow, it burns like there was Alcohol being poured on it. He sucks in a breath and scrunches his face.

“Come on. We can stop if you just tell me.”

“Fuck. off.” the words escape gritted teeth. They grab his leg, stretching it out as he fights the grip, tying it to what feels like a pole. The knife is back on his leg again.

“You can give it up any time. Try not to squirm.” He clamps his mouth shut as they cut. And cut. He’s gasping for breath after just five minutes. He could feel the man stick his fingers in a cut, and the pain from the touch and whatever was coursing through his veins make him cry out. The sound of blood squelching making him want to gag.

This continues for hours. He thinks. He’s sure he fainted a couple times, only to wake with bandages on his legs. They kept leaving him alone after poking him with whatever was amplifying his pain and by then, Al’s voice took over the torture, reminding him of his sins, sometimes accompanied by Hughes. But this… was new. The captor had stopped. The silence stretched, only interrupted by his heavy breathing. It was a miracle he hadn’t bled out.

“Put the knife down.” The new voice was a relief after so long. It must have been days. But they found him. The colonel was here. He hears the captor stand, and before he could even blink under the tear soaked blindfold, there was heat. So much heat.

And the screaming. It was not dissimilar to what he was just doing but it was agonizing to his headache. A whimper leaves him. He had given up on suppressing his sounds of pain long ago. The flames die alongside the screams, and soon he hears the familiar footsteps of his CO heading for him.

“Edward? Can you hear me?” Mustang’s tone is gentle in a way he’s never heard. There’s a hand that rests on his shoulder and he winces.

“M-Mustang?” His voice is painfully hoarse, and he can feel the flinch from Mustang at hearing it.

“M-Make it stop… Please… it hurts so bad…” he ends up coughing. He can feel his arm being carefully freed, as well as his leg.

“It’ll be ok Fullmetal. It’s gonna be ok.” He flinches as he’s lifted. Cradled in someone’s arms and the blindfold is taken off. He presses his eyes closed as the dim light sends stabbing pains through his skull. The only thing he saw was Mustang’s determined face before the pain of being moved sends him unconscious.

Chapter Text

“I see the danger, it’s written in your eyes.”
Cattle Prod | Shock | “You in there?”

It was missions like these that made him think maybe the Fuhrer hated him. He was stuck in a farming town with Mustang. They were trying to find a rogue alchemist that was causing problems for the farmers, something about their plants being stolen. He didn’t read the report too closely. That’s what Mustang is for. They wouldn’t even let Al come!

“Fullmetal are you coming?” He glares at Mustang just to glare. He’s probably earned it anyways.

“Yeah yeah. I was putting away my suitcase.” The budget only allowed for one room unfortunately, so they were sharing. At least there were two beds. He glances back once he get to the door, making sure everything was in place. Mustang sighs, seemingly already done with his shit.

“We need to talk to the farmers. Do you have a note pad?” Ed nods flashing said notepad. They were definitely gonna need to take notes.

“Where to first?”

“There have been three farms that have been robbed. Farmer Sontena, farmer Barak, and farmer Joe have all seen the perp. I’ll talk to Joe and Sontena, take your time with Barak. I’ve been told he’s a bit… quirky. Be careful.” Ed doesn’t like that. Most ‘quirky’ people have ended up trying to kill him.

“You too. I’m sure we’ll find them.” He follows Mustang to the hotel doors.

“This is where we split, make sure to be back by sundown.” He nods. “Barak should be down this road, go till you see a barn. Good luck.”

“You too. See you later.” It takes around five minutes to get to the barn Mustang mentioned. He peeks into the front knocking on the giant doorway. He jumps back in surprises as the man he was looking for appears right in front of him, coming around the corner quickly.

“Sorry! Sorry! Come in! You are the one they sent to catch that pesky alchemist right?” The man speaks quickly, a wide grin on his face.

“Uh, yeah. You must be Barak?” He man, now identified as Barak, nods enthusiastically. He follows him inside, hesitating slightly.

“Yes! Yes, that is me.”

“So, can you tell me anything about the missing crops?” He tries to get to the point, but Barak waves his hand at him.

“Is it just you?” He pauses, the way he said it sounds… off. Well… Mustang did say he had his quirks.

“Uh, yeah… Don't worry, I’ve got-” he jumps as Barak drops to the ground and throws the carpet he was standing on to the side, revealing an alchemy circle. He jumps back, but it’s too late, stone walls surround them. Really, it’s not that big of an issue. He could just make a door, but he figures if the perp caught himself, even better.

“Uh… what’cha doin.” He figures stalling would help. Barak grins at him again. It looks off.

“Making sure no one finds out. I’ll be through if they find out!” Ed hold his hands up placatingly.

“Who’s they?”

“The townsfolk! They’d be pissed! They would be so mad I used the plants to make this!” Ed turns to look where he pointed and freezes. There in the corner was a huge Egg made of purely wheat.

“What.” Is he asleep? Maybe he should pinch himself to check.

“I figured it out and they would be so mad!” Barak sounds closer now, Ed tries to turn but it’s too late. Barak had grabbed a cattle prod and stuck him with it right on his automail port. It’s always the fucking port. He can’t stop the choked off gasp of pain that leaves him. Yep, he’s awake.

“Hey! What was that for!” He puts his flesh hand over top of where he was shocked, the port felt like pins and needles.

“Get in the Egg.” Barak presses his hand against a circle on a nearby pillar and the egg splits open to reveal that it was hollow.

“Why are you doing this?” He tries to bring his automail arm up but it just twitches, the circuits apparently damaged by the shock. Shiiiit.

“Well I have to! Balarama demands it. Why else would my fields be so barren!” Ed frowns. This guy was crazy.

“Ed are you in… here? What is that.” Mustang miraculously appears. A door being made in the stone having gone unnoticed by both of them. Barak stares at Mustang for a second before whipping his head towards Ed again.

“You said you were alone!” Ed shrugs, hand still over his port. Mustang looks him over.

“Are you ok Fullmetal?” Barak baulks at them, seemingly offended.

“Fine. Be careful he has-” he is interrupted by Barak stepping forward quick and zapping his flesh forearm, incidentally revealing the cattle prod to Mustang anyway. He manages to quiet his yelp of pain and surprise. Unfortunately for Barak, Mustang didn’t take too well to that.

With the snap of a finger, Mustang singed Ed’s eyebrows and burnt Barak. Barak doesn’t even get to scream. Ed stares in abject horror at the now crispy head in front of him. It only takes a second for the body to crumple, and Ed to stumble away from it. Hand now over his mouth and nose as Mustang ushers him away from the body, somehow now right next to him, talking in a quiet tone.

“I should have know he was off. Are you ok? You were holding your arm.” Mustang had gone from Colonel Mustang, The Flame Alchemist, to mother hen in seconds, hiding his view of the body and looking over his burn from the prod. Frowning worriedly at it.

“I- … My arm needs a repair.” Ed sounds distant even to himself.

“What happened to it?” Mustang is already pulling his coat off the arm, letting it hang.

“He got my port. With the cattle prod I mean, I guess it broke it…” Ed felt a bit light-headed. He couldn’t tell if it was from the pain of being shocked or…

“Ed. Focus on me.” He complies a bit hazily. His hand was shaking he distantly realizes.

“Good job. Name five things you can see.”

“Y-You. Uh… grass… the barn. My automail… Rocks…” He looks back to Mustang, head marginally clearer. “I’ll be ok…”

Chapter Text

“You better pray I don’t get up this time around.”
Debris | Pinned down | “It’s broken”

Now, Ed hates mine inspections normally. But this time around, he didn’t mind it. It was a calm task compared to what he had been doing the past two weeks and he welcomed it. He had been stuck on jail break cases, helping Hughes find where the convicts may have ran, and for the less violent criminals, going to hunt them down. So a mine inspection? He could relax. Finally. Mustang had decided to send Havoc with him so that he didn’t ‘cause trouble.’ So now he and Havoc were deep in a mine, staring at a rock.

“So… what are we looking for Chief?” Ed pauses, turning to Jean and cocking an eyebrow

“We're making sure it's actually limestone. If they are lying then it's an issue, otherwise we mark the box off and go on our way.” That was what he was told at least. Mustang wasn't too specific.

“And how do we check that?” Havoc rubbed the back of his neck, seemingly confused. Ed sighs and starts to dig in his pocket for chalk. He likes to draw the transmutation circles to explain things.

“For an Alchemist all we have to do is focus on what the stone is made of.” He starts with the inner circle. “Mostly calcium carbonate. Using this knowledge, we can also use vinegar to check the stone.” Then the triangles. “If it bubbles then it is limestone, otherwise, it's not. Sometimes it can be limestone but not react with vinegar.” And the outer circle.

“No shit? That's pretty cool. You alchemists are crazy.” Ed shrugs and puts a hand on the circle he just finished, drawing carbon from the surrounding area along with hydrogen and oxygen from the air, making vinegar. He's so focused he barely notices the figure that peeks around the corner. But Havoc does, squinting at the turn in the mineshaft suspiciously.

“That's weird. This is vinegar. Maybe the stone …?” Ed pauses his outward contemplation as he notices Havoc’s expression. “What?”

“I think I forgot my forms in the bunker room thing where we took a break. I'll be back, stay here ok?” Havoc's easy-going smile seems slightly strained in a way you wouldn't have been able to tell if you didn't know him.

“Alright… if you say so. I'm not sure if this is limestone so I'm gonna check it more thoroughly. Don't get lost.” Havoc waves him off.

“See you in a minute, Chief.” He watches him go before focusing entirely on the stone. Surely it was limestone? It could just have too low of a concentration of calcium carbonate? He frowns, creating a circle with his hands, and pressing them to the stone.

“Ah hah! It's dolostone. It did react, it was just unnoticeable to the naked eye!” He smiles victoriously at the revelation. The victory is short-lived unfortunately as the earth shakes from a loud BOOM. He whips his head in the direction it came from, blood going cold as he realizes that Havoc had gone that way.

He’s moving before he even realizes it, heart pounding just as loudly in his ears as his feet hitting the ground. He follows the twists and turns till he sees Havoc, who had a pistol trained on a strange man. The man had what was probably a detonator in hand, holding it up like it would save him from Havoc’s wrath. The path that was originally behind the man now blocked by rubble.

“Put it down. You are under arrest.” Havoc’s voice is firm, something Ed hasn’t heard all that much since he mostly makes jokes and gushes over whatever girl he was dating that week. The stranger smiles, and presses the button before trying to run. Ed frowns in confusion as nothing happens. Havoc doesn’t seem to notice or care, pulling the trigger.

Ed’s confusion turns to horror as the man is shot, square in the temple. He watches as the body falls towards him, the momentum they had now landing them on the floor next to him. He stares at the body but he doesn’t get to focus on that long as the explosion finally goes off. Delayed, likely so they could get away first. He tries to run to Havoc but gets knocked down, not dissimilar to the body of the man that set off the dynamite. The impact knocks the breath from his lungs in a surprised gasp as he hits the ground, rock crumbling from the ceiling and falling around him.

“ED!” He can see Havoc rushing towards him, unfortunately meeting the same fate just as he reaches Ed, a rock catching him in the shoulder, sending him crashing to the ground just before the ceiling caves in. The only thing Ed can do to try and keep them safe is to make a rock umbrella over them to shield what he can. He can feel his legs get buried in the debris, he tries to muffle his shout of pain but the sound of rocks hammering down on the rock above him do it for him. Once the dust settles, he can see Havoc laying in front of him still, a grimace on his face.

“H- *Cough* Havoc?” the aforementioned man looks over to him quickly, face paling as he sees Ed’s legs. “You alright?” Havoc seems to try to collect himself and smiles gently.

“I’ll be fine, I'm more worried about you, are you ok?” Ed nods, looking havoc over, he was babying the shoulder the rock had hit probably fractured if not broken. Ed sighed heavily, his legs hurt.

“My legs are pinned, I would just take off the automail but there’s no point.” His voice is a bit shaky as the adrenaline wears off. He doesn’t notice Havoc heart-broken face, as it gets schooled fast. He looks up at havoc as he gets up and moves to Ed.

“Can we get them out?” Ed frowns, trying to think of the logistics of it, he would need to make the stone around them move, but with the earth around pressing it, he would be straining to do it.

“Maybe? It’ll be hard to. But I… I can try.” It took a minute but he was able to stabilize the rock around his legs adjusting the molecular structure to better support more weight. “When I say go, pull me.” Havoc nods. He takes a breath, trying to focus despite the pain. He claps, and puts his hand to the floor, carefully moving the rocks around his leg, they had disconnected the automail, which would bite him later he’s sure. “Go”

“You’re doing great, just keep breathing.” Havoc pulls him out quickly but as gently as he could. He made a strangled noise of pain as his leg was moved. He could feel the shards of his bone moving against each other sparking more pain. Havoc was in front of him quickly, hiding the sight of his leg. “Shh… you did so good Kiddo. I'm proud of you. You handled that so well, just focus on me. Help’s coming for sure ok?”

It was like all of the blood rushing back into his leg had sparked the pain anew, like liquid fire. He accepted Havoc’s embrace, hiding his face in his chest as he tried to breath through his broken sobs of pain.

Havoc wasn’t wrong. It only took a hour till they were found and taken to the hospital. Havoc’s shoulder was broken, and Ed’s leg was shattered. Havoc stayed with him the whole way. Damn Murphy’s law.

“How you holding up Chief?” Havoc had a sling, and was leaning on his door frame, unlit cigarette in his mouth already.

“I'm alright. Just bored now. Mustang has me on medical leave so I can’t even help with the case! What about you?” Havoc smiles at him, and walks over, revealing that he had two cups of ice cream hiding in his sling.

“Just fine.”

Chapter Text

“Do or die, you’ll never make me, because the world will never take my heart.”
Recording | Made to watch | “It should have been me.”

Roy was at the end of his rope. His kid- His subordinate. His subordinate has been missing for a week now. There were virtually no clues as to where he was. Alphonse was traveling to try and find him. And now. He had pictures on his desk and he was going to eviscerate someone. The pictures were of his- His subordinate beat to shit.

He couldn’t even tell if Ed was awake in any of them. There was blood all over, his automail was destroyed, and he’s fairly sure that his arm was broken from the way it was twisted. He couldn’t let Alphonse see these. The poor kid has seen enough. He harshly shoves them into the file they started to try and find Ed. The pictures came with a note. It said arrive alone, with an address.

“Lieutenant!” Riza would be his backup. He would have her wait five minutes before coming in.

“Yes colonel?” Riza has a somewhat hopeful look on her face.

“I found him. You are my back up, but they said come alone.” she could hear the rage in her voice he’s sure. “So I will go in, and if I’m not back in seven minutes. Come for us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ed doesn’t know how long he was in this room for. He could barely move without pain. His arm was fucked to say the least and he’s sure his leg got it too. They kept messing with the wires, knowing they were essentially his nerves. The pain actually made him pass out a couple of times. It was hell. He couldn’t even transmute because his arms weren’t responding anymore. They only fed him once. He was very hungry. Maybe once this blew over he could get some Cretan food. Mm hot wings.

His train of hungry thoughts were interrupted as the door swings open, slamming against the wall. He curls up defensively feebly blocking the metal object tossed at him. It doesn’t work. He doesn’t get the chance to bemoan this fact as the next second he's being hauled up into the air by his broken arm, the strangled gasp that leaves him is nothing new at this point.

“Will you tell us now?” Ed glares staying silent and glaring.

“Fine.” They don’t put him down instead, they drag him through the door, smacking his head on the door frame intentionally. The migraine he had been trying to nurse was back in full force. He lets out a low groan, trying to curl in defensively but the pain of moving makes him give up. The questions they had asked him were about the military. So more extremists. And they were extreme. They had cut, stabbed and broken what they could.

He’s dragged another couple of minutes before he’s tossed to the ground at someone’s feet. This was new. At this point, he didn’t like new and his head hit the ground. Which was bad because his vision blurred like. Instantly. For sure a concussion. He was gonna die here wasn’t he? He was made to sit up and before he could do anything, there was what felt like a belt around his neck as the two people giggled.

“Bad puppy. Can’t even follow an order.” They back off for a second, seemingly admiring their work before one of them grabbed something else. He flinches as they get closer, trying to struggle as they wrestle something around his face. He feels something tighten to his face and he whimpers. It was a fucking muzzle. Holy shit, the puppy comment made sense now. Does that mean… he forces himself to put a hand to the belt around his neck and freezes, going slack in shock. It was a collar. A collar. The fuck.

“No more biting. You can’t be too safe.” one of them turns the the other, both of them ignoring him. It was… a bad feeling in his chest. Not just pain but… something else. They were literally treating him like a dog. It was good that they were ignoring him, but… the fuck.

“Wasn’t that guy coming soon? We should get ready.” the other shrugged and turned to Edward. He takes it back, he would like to be left alone thanks. It was bad enough he couldn’t see the specifics of what the fuck was in their hand. But it seems like a rope and he doesn’t like that. He tries to move away, but he’s grabbed by the neck, and slammed against the wall. A pained cough tears out of him at the impact. It turns out it was a leash. Holy shit…

“Follow me” the person holding him to the wall complies carrying him by his throat to another room again. He gets tossed to the floor, a quiet whimper leaving him as he lays there. They tie the leash around a pole he hadn’t noticed and leave. They leave him there for a while actually. It gives him a chance to get his headache slightly better.

“He’s in here.” he tenses as he hears their voice again. He tries to get back away from the door, but it doesn’t work. The leash had him tied. He slumps as the door open, blurry figures walking in. There’s talking and he can hear footsteps coming towards him and he flinches back. It doesn’t stop them from grabbing him by the neck and hoisting him up again. Smacking his face.

He’s dropped unceremoniously to the ground and kicked in the ribs pulling a strained gasp from him as he tries to catch his breath. The talking continues, one voice rising and he’s kicked in the bare automail nerves this time. He lets out a strangled scream as his entire port and the surrounding area seem to light up with a liquid hot pain, leaving him gasping and curling up eyes closed. The muzzle preventing him from hiding his face completely.

It takes him by surprise when the room gets violently hotter, there’s a bright light behind his eyelids before it stops suddenly and the room is filled with the scent of burnt flesh. It’s quiet for a moment before there are footsteps walking right to him. He flinches and cowers more, a quiet sob ripping through his destroyed throat. The voice he hears is not expected.

“Edward? Can you hear me?” Mustang… was he… was he safe? Mustang was safe right? Ed sobs louder, slumping in relief and exhaustion. He can hear more footstep out side the door.

“Lieutenant. In here. I found him… fuck…” he can hear Riza pause, before she enters the room. “It should have been me.” and the colonel’s guilt it the last thing he hears before his world goes black from exhaustion.

Chapter Text

“I paced around for hours on empty. I jumped at the slightest of sounds.”
Alleyway | Radio Silence | “Can you hear me?”

Stupid missions. He and Mustang were on a man hunt. There was rogue alchemist again. Whoop de do. Who would have guessed. Ed sighs. This was the third time this month. He should have just told Mustang he was sick. But he could deal. They had decided to split up and cover more ground. They were to check in at the hotel every hour. It had already been forty or so minutes so he was set for the minute.

He peeks around the corner, he could have sworn he saw someone go this way. They could have been a civilian, but who would be out with a dangerous alchemist on the loose? There was no one. This was getting ridiculous. He doesn’t even remember what the alchemist did. He’d ask Mustang next check in.

“So they sent the puppy huh?” he freezes at the words. The voice came from behind him, so he whips around, hands already forming a circle. But he’s too late to transmute anything but his arm as he jumps out of range of the spear swinging at him.

“Hey! You’re under arrest!” They smirk at him and run. So clearly, he gives chase. They turn left, and right then right then left again. Or was it right? It doesn’t matter, surely it’ll be a quick arrest. Now if only this guy would stop running! He takes so many turns it’s getting dizzying! They run a while longer till his lungs are burning. They take a turn and before he can process anything the alchemist disappeared again, he feels an impact on the back of his skull exasperating the headache already there. Owww…

He swipes with his arm, now a blade, at the rouge. They dodge, and swipe at him. He scowls ducking, but he’s too slow, the flat end of the spear connects with his head with a solid THWAP. He stumbles back and decides this needs to end fast. Dropping to the ground he claps his hands together making a circle, and forms a cage around the man.

“Give up. I have you.” Ed chooses to ignore the sudden dizzy spell he’s caught in. instead getting a good look at the Rogue. He was a larger man, glaring at him and had pretty much nothing on him. Good. Ed was exhausted now. He tries to stand, but stumbles and hits his knees… Fuck. What was the signal again? They had decided on a signal he’s sure… where did the alchemist go? He looks at the cage he made in befuddlement, he was gone. And Ed… didn’t feel so good. Maybe he should have let Mustang know… Just… Maybe… He can feel the world tilt as he falls to the side, consciousness fading.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roy isn’t panicking. You’re panicking. He’s not the one panicking over his Ki- his subordinate not showing on time. Riza wouldn’t panic. So he’s totally not panicking. He should call Riza. She’d know what to do. Holy shit his kid’s missing. Roy briskly walks inside the hotel and straight to the phone booths. Ed was never late. He was missing. Fuck. He should have known something seemed off. Ed had been paler than usual, quiet, unfocused, oh god what if he was hurt because he was too slow! He dialed faster.

The phone ringing felt slow. He needed Riza here now. Not once the phone line would connect.

“Lieutenant Hawkeye speaking.”

“Ed’s gone missing. He didn’t show up to checkpoint.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ed came to flat on the ground and pounding migraine. What happened? He looks around blurrily. An… alleyway? Why was he in an alleyway? He sat up and everything ached. What the fuck was he doing before he passed out? He could hear distant shouting but couldn’t make out the words. He watches distantly as he sees the Colonel walk by, yelling something. Weird. Wasn’t he supposed to be… shit.

“M-Mustang?” his voice hurt to use but it did the trick. The colonel’s head snapped towards him eyes wide. His mouth opens but the ringing in his ears makes it hard to understand him. He tilts his head as Mustang rushes to him, speaking louder as if noticing his predicament. It takes a second the ringing dies down enough for him to understand it.

“Can you hear me Fullmetal?”

“Not really… head hurts… ears are ringing…” Ed shrugs and lists his ailments as if Mustang could fix it. All he does is give him a worried look. Wait! He can tell Mustang he’s sick now! He really should have this evening. But now it’s dark and now is better than never. When did it get dark?

“Uhm… Mustang? I forgot to mention earlier… I have the flu.” Ed swallows but it does nothing for his parched throat. “ Found out early this mornin…” Ed tries for a guilty smile but it ends up as a grimace.

“Are you injured?” Ed has to think on that for a second before nodding then regretting the motion as it kicks up his migraine. Which he now remembers is fever and concussion squared. Or whatever. Math is hard with concussions. He misses the crestfallen look on Mustangs face as he squeezes his eyes shut to try and control the migraine.

“Where?” Mustang is patting his back gently, trying to subtly take his temperature and failing to be subtle. Ed lets him anyways. Too tired to fight.

“Concussion. Found him, but… ow… “ he doesn’t expand on that, considering it’s probably obvious.

“C’mon kid, hospital time.”

“M’not a kid…”

Chapter Text

“I’ve got soul, but I’m not a soldier.”
Overcrowded ER | Outnumbered | “It’s all for nothing”

Ed was screwed. There was a riot in the lower east. And guess who got caught in it? ED! He had called Mustang to let him know what was going on but all he said was to follow instructions and ‘get out of there by any means’. So he’s stuck in Yanes Balt until Mustang can get in and get him out of it. It was probably about Ishval again.

The riots had picked up around the anniversary of the end of the war. They had told the state alchemists to stay out of it for now, fearing backlash for when they used the alchemists in the war. That didn’t save them from backlash however. There were state alchemists being mobbed all over the city. There was always a mob at the train station. He was currently set up in a hotel, and was told to hide his watch.

He freezes at a knock on his door. Carefully, he gets up and peeks through the peep hole. It’s an officer. He sighs and slumps in relief. Opening the door, the officer salutes him and steps in at his approval.

“Major Elric sir!”

“Just Ed is fine. What’s going on?” It was starting to worry him. No one had tried to contact him since they stuck him in the hotel room. No door knocking, they had stocked him up pretty good on food too.

“We need your assistance in patching a hole in the command center. We have a group of soldiers to protect you.” Ed frowned in contemplation. “You are the only one who can perform alchemy fast enough for it to be a quick job.” It was true. He doesn’t need to draw a circle. Ed sighs and nods.

“Ok I’ll do it. Where in command?” he better get the area first so he knows where he’s headed.

“Just stay in the middle of the group. We’ll keep you safe.” Ed squints at him suspiciously but figures it’ll be fine. He follows the officer down to the lobby and through the back door. It goes well up until he’s at the command.

He got the hole patched. It was super quick. What wasn’t as quick was when the mob noticed his entourage of officers trying to escape with him and had turned their focus to them instead of the building. Not good.

“Run. Just get back to your room.” that’s all the officer said before shoving him in the direction they came from. He tries to comply really. It just wouldn’t have worked anyways. The masses normally win out anyways. It turns out, that hole was from a pickaxe. It made a new hole, directly in his side. Nice aim but ouch. The pain draws a gasp of surprise and makes him stumble, grasping at his brand new wound.

He startles as he feels hands pull him off balance and into someone’s chest. He can hear a snap and everything suddenly gets very hot. He thinks he’s in shock. Everything sounds so far away. The yelling from the crowd, the panicking officers, the screaming burn victims…

Wait. He blinks hard and looks harder at the crowd. Some of them were panicking and pointing at the charred corpse, some were covered in burns from proximity to the fire, and now everyone was panicking. Before his mind could catch up with it he was being carefully picked up and oh so carefully cradled into a blue-clad chest. He looks up a bit blurrily, it’s Mustang.

“Mustang…?” he winces as he’s jostled as Mustang runs with him. “When… did you get here?”

“Hush Fullmetal. It’ll be ok.” He sounds panicked. Ed realizes distantly that there’s a good reason. His hands have gotten sticky with his warm blood. He was starting to feel cold. Maybe Mustang could use his alchemy again? He tries to say something but Mustang hushes him, bursting through a pair of doors to a bustling room.

“I NEED A ROOM NOW!” Mustang used his ‘Colonel’ voice. Oh… something was wrong. His stomach hurt… why was there so many people in here? Where was he? Was that guy bleeding? Oh… someone should help him. Distantly he can hear Mustang arguing with someone.

“M-mustang? “ he tugs on his sleeve, his arm leagues heavier than it should be all things considered. Mustang looks at him anger simmering into concern as he actually looks at Ed. Apparently he doesn’t look so hot because the person he was just arguing with takes a look at him and finally notices the pickaxe in his abdomen. Her face pales and ushers Mustang forward.

The motion jars him slightly, reminding him of the pickaxe too. Fuck. That’s probably not good. And it hurts it hurts so much. Why is it only hurting now? His vision gets spotty as Mustang lays him on a table, just a fucking table. What. Is he gonna die?

“Shh. It’s ok. You’ll be ok.” He thinks distantly that he screamed as the nurse pulls the pickaxe out. His vision isn’t suppose to be full of holes right? He was gonna die huh. He was gonna die cold, on a random table, somewhere he didn’t know. Mustang was petting his hair soothingly, like mom used to do when he or Al had nightmares.

He was gonna die huh? At least Mustang seemed calmer, now talking lowly to him but his words were fuzzy, and he couldn’t understand them. He could feel himself slipping. He didn’t wanna die. How would he get Al’s body back? Then all his work would be for nothing!

“Don't wanna die…” Mustang hushes him again.

“You wont die here. It’s ok Ed. They’ll fix it.” and he fades from consciousness.

Chapter Text

“Learning everything ain’t what it seems, that’s the thing about these days.”
Polaroid | Mistaken Identity | “You’re a liar.”

Mustang was having a nice day. Keyword: was. He has been staring at the pictures in front of him for the last 30 minutes. Candid shots of him, his team. And most importantly, his boys. Not just Ed this time. Al too. The man in front of him was smug. Ballsy really. Especially considering Roy could smoke him right here right now. It was a clear threat.

“And what do you expect from these photos, sir…?” Roy needs to get more information. This needs to be curbed immediately.

“Sentena.” The man continues to grin at him, he had no weapons. Just said that they need five thousand cens or his team was going to suffer. He wouldn't normally be worried, all of his team was here and accounted for… except Ed and Al. Ed could maybe hold his own, and so could Al of course but Ed was more so his concern. Al would be safe where he was.

Al was in Resembool again with that Winry girl, and Ed was up north doing a mine inspection because he cost him four hundred cens last week. The fact was that the pictures of the two were in multiple cities, so they were likely being followed. So one call from whoever this guy works for and they could be in some serious shit. And he can't let that happen. These boys have been through enough.

“And how do I know you have the manpower to do anything you said you could?” Surely he’s bluffing? He can’t take too big of a risk with Ed possibly being in danger.

“These where all taken around the same time.” Shit…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ed definitely pissed off Mustang this time. He sent him to the north! It’s cold here! He was south enough it wasn’t freezing his port but it was in fact cold. And he had to do an inspection! He sighs, to make matters worse, he wasn’t alone. There were two people definitely following him. They don’t look military, and he can’t tell if that makes him feel better or not.

He needs to lose them fast either way and get a hold of Mustang. He’s not sure their intentions and he didn’t want to find out. He pretends to check the stone in front of him. They were in the mine with him. He could probably lose them in the maze but what about after? The hotel was compromised, train station is not trust worthy, maybe he could just get another hotel? He needs to get out of dodge for sure.

But first. He’s been done with this inspection for at least an hour now. It’s not what they said it was. This was actually andesite. So that’s a problem for the military. He hums and pretends to write something on his already complete form. There was an exit down the left corridor and he could absolutely block it off after he goes around the corner. That or just confront them… he’ll go with the first option.

He meanders over to the corner slowly, pretending to look at the stone. Once he gets around the corner he claps his hands and lifts the stone, blocking the tunnel. Once that’s done he books it. It takes a solid minute to get to the surface. He meets a worker and points his clipboard at them.

“You’re a liar. Also this exit is blocked now.” He doesn’t even stop moving. Continuing on till he gets to the town, running to his hotel he grabs his already packed suitcase and runs for the train station. He was in Cate Movil so he needs to pay for… five? Five stops to East city. He pays the clerk, and hops on the train. He would need to call Mustang in a different city between stops.

For now, he needed to be less obviously him. He sits in a seat, hiding his suitcase as he undoes his braid and puts his hair in a bun. The next step is his cloak, taking it off and shoving it in his suitcase, instead changing it out for a simple military jacket. Wait-! The train has a phone! He stands quickly rushing to the train’s phone area with his suitcase, peeking in and locking the door once he notices there’s no one in there. He dials quickly, giving the operator the code. And he waits.

“Colonel Mustang speaking.” he internal gives a sigh of relief.

“Mustang I’m being followed. Also that mine gave fraudulent reports but more importantly there’s two people following me.” he hears the pause from Mustang, then a snap and the sound of flames. “Mustang?”

“It’s nothing, just get back here. Do not engage unless they engage. Do anything to get away they are not military.” he finally takes a moment to really listen to him. He sounds worried.

“Why are they following me? What’s going on?”

“They want money. Just don’t let them get a hold of you. I’ll get the mine situation handled.” That doesn’t fill Ed with confidence. “Just be careful.”

And then the bastard hangs up. Asshole. He turns and freezes as he spots both of the men that were following him were on the train. Shit. He glances at the window and makes a decision. A couple seconds later he’s on the next train and heading for East city again. This time without stalkers.

Later Mustang gives him a run down on what happened and let’s him keep the polaroids of him and Al.

Chapter Text

“Can’t you see you’re lost without me?
Broken Phone | Stranded | “You said you’d never leave.”

Mustang finally let him go on a mission! They were hunting an escaped convict. They gave him a comm too! They put him up in a old outpost to watch for the convict. They suspect he was working in a group since apparently he was in a gang before his arrest. So it’s likely he was working with a group.

“Fullmetal are you in position?” The comm crackles to life in his ear.

“Yes sir.”

“Remember, we’re flushing them out and you let us know how many there are. Then we will come to you. Just stay put, and check in every thirty minutes. Till then try to keep the radio chatter to a minimum.” Mustang reminds him and goes silent, everyone on the radio was quiet actually. Hawkeye had given him a gun too. He wont use it but it was nice of her.

He sets up next to the window of the outpost, they had him in his regular military outfit, so the red doesn’t give him away. It was going to be boring for a while for sure. They were only just sending chatter about pushing what seemed like two people at least his way, and also to where Havoc and Falman were placed to subdue them.

It was kinda peaceful. Just sitting here, waiting. He felt like a snake, waiting for it’s prey. He isn’t sure he likes the idea of a person being prey but its peaceful being the hunter. It’s a feeling he’s familiar with. He gets to sit and watch. No traps, just him and his orders. He watches the street like he was told. He watches as shadows start to appear.

“They’re coming by.” He watches as they start to pass, and then more of them. He counts like nine. Damn. “There’s nine.”

“Damn, we got our work cut out.” Havoc has a smile in his voice. He doesn’t doubt they could handle them. He almost turns his attention away until he hears something he wasn’t thinking he would hear.

“Guys, I think they aren’t headed your way.” He freezes in place as he hears the door getting kicked in. What. Why. No? He stands quickly lowering his voice. “They’re in the outpost.” The sentence sparks some panicked chatter that he ignores in favor of rushing to the door of the room he’s in. He can hear the group clearing rooms, it was like they were gonna sit here for a while. He needs to hide, right? He can’t fight 9 people at once!

“Fullmetal status!” Mustang’s voice silences the others. He can hear someone coming to his door. Fuck- uh- before he can think of what to do, the doorknob wiggles, locked for the moment. It doesn't take long until there’s a kick to the door.

“I'm fucked, they're sweeping the building- *crack*” The door splinters open and he steps back more, now face to face with a burly gang member. They seem surprised but it doesn't stop them from stepping forward with purpose, putting their fists up and shouting to the hall.

“Found someone!” Apparently it was loud enough for his comm to pick up because there's a litany of cursing following it. He mentally joins in the swearing as more people show behind the man, looking pissed. So he squares up, glaring at them. He can't hide his military affiliation as it's literally on him. But he can throw down till he's physically unable.

He dodges the first punch but he’s quickly ganged up on, pain blooms in the side of his head as someone gets behind him. His ear rings as the comm gets hit directly into his ear, it turns to static as it breaks the delicate components inside. He can barely hear from that ear now as he gets hit again. And Again. And again… and again… he can’t even get his hands together to transmute. It takes a minute but they finally stop hitting him when he stops trying to protect himself. Dropping him on the floor, body aching. His ears are ringing so loud he can’t hear what the group is saying.

He could get out… maybe? His head hurt. How could he get out of here without them noticing? They weren’t paying attention to him for now, hardly even glancing at him in annoyance. His vision was getting blurry… the gun! He doesn’t reach for it immediately, he’d be stopped as soon as he fired. He needed to wait for them to leave him alone. So he waits, pretending to be too dazed to move. It’s not hard. He is pretty out of it anyways. He’s not sure he can even aim.

It doesn’t take long, the knot of dread in his stomach growing as he realizes that he hasn’t heard Team Mustang in a minute. Not just from the comm now shoved into his ear canal, but at all. If he was a bit more mentally present he would realize his ears are still ringing too loud, but he’s not. Instead, he palms the gun, the object unfamiliar in his hands. He raises it to the door where they’re filing out, distantly making sure the safety is off.

BANG

The sound cuts through the ringing in his ears. He feels horrible as he sees one drop, then another and another, they were all in a line. Fuck. There’s so much blood. He sees a blurry blue coat come up the stairs through the door, Mustang maybe? He doesn’t get a chance to wonder as he sees one of the gang members rush for him knocking the gun out of his hand, and then kicking him in the face. All he feels as his consciousness is forcefully taken from him is sweltering heat above him.

Bonus:

Ed wakes slowly, a weight on his stomach. Everything aches… what happened? He looks down, the weight on his stomach was a disheveled head full of black hair. Oh… he got the shit kicked out of him. He must have made noise cause a voice startles him.

“BROTHER!” and he’s quickly embraced by a cold suit of armor. It’s the warmest he’s felt since this all started.

Chapter Text

"All the lights going dark and my hope's destroyed."
Animal Trap | Captivity | “No one will find you.”

Ed was having a nice day. He was stuck on paperwork but Mustang let him go for a walk! It was nice to get away from the hotel. The forest looked beautiful as always. The flowers in the grass, the leaves swaying int the wind, the little streams flowing quietly. It was serene.

A small smile slips onto his faces as he sits and looks around some more. He ends up sitting there for at least thirty minutes. He had said he’d be back in forty minutes so he stands up and dusts himself off. The stroll back is nice. He gazes up at the sky as he walks. Earth is really a-

FUCK. there’s a metallic snapping noise and pain cuts through his leg, forcing a strangled scream from him. The forest goes silent around him as he pants, trying to catch his breath, the sudden quiet goes unnoticed by him as he looks down at his leg. Fuck it was his flesh leg too. Fuuuuck. He takes a shaky breath, the site of a beartrap clamped around his now bloody leg nearly makes him sick. The cut surprisingly clean, already bleeding over the metal. Oh ho boy.

He takes a steadier breath, then pauses. It should not be that quiet unless something big was around. Were there actual bears around!? He looks up, barely noticing his body shaking as the pain of the trap pulses, and he freezes. There was like three people staring at him. It was uncanny. They were just staring at him. It made him uneasy. Like he was prey.

He tries to hold steady as two of them approach. Trying to avoid making himself a target. The vibe is just off. Way off. Their eyes were hollow, almost dead looking. They stride right up to him and start to examine him. Humming and hawing at each other.

“Yes yes. Military dog?” One points out his watch. The other grabs his face and tilts it side to side before he smacks them away. Rude.

“Puppy.”

“Don’t touch me.” they stare at him and in unison turn to each other, stare for a second and nod. Then they turn to the one still in the bushes and nods at them. What. Why? The one in the bushes stares at him for a second, before quickly lifting a blowgun and shooting him with a dart. He flinches as the dart hits him.

“HEY!” He rips the dart out from his shoulder trying not to react to the needle now in his grasp. “What was that… for…?” he tries to demand an answer, but he starts to feel dizzy, subtly, he drops his alchemy notes, disguised as a travel log obviously. Hopefully Mustang could find him… he’d find him… right…? And then he collapses, unconscious.

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Roy was concerned. Ed said he’d be back by now. Normally. When this happened, Roy ended up dragging him out of a fight or he had been nabbed again. He dearly hopes it’s the first one. The second one is always worse. It’s always horrible. Roy always feels like he’s failed Ed. He sighs standing from his desk, and heads out to find Ed.

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Ed was starting to get tired of waking in unfamiliar places with unfamiliar things on his face. He blinks hard, his leg hurt… fuck. That’s right. He glances down only to freeze as he sees what’s on his face. It was a fucking muzzle. He could feel his breathing pick up. Why is it always a muzzle, these fucking people are insane. Every fucking time! He flinches as he feels hands in his hair.

“Shuuuush Pupppy.” His eyes flick up in panic at the person sitting above his head. “No one will find you here.” These fucking people. They had undone his braid and had put his hair into pointy space buns. They pull him up slightly, and set his watch over his neck, letting it rest on his chest. It confuses him momentarily until he realizes they were using it like a dog tag. Then the dread is back. “Good puppy.”

He scowls at them. They smile at him. And set him down. It was strange… he couldn't move his body well, like his limbs were fighting him. They pat his head then leave. Glancing around as best he can, it looks like he got an entire room. It was decorated with fake guns and toys with military motifs. Do these people think the military is just his life or something? Like it's what defines him? Assholes…

He glances at the door. Then notices the wall around it, it was a one-way mirror. The fuck.

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Roy was absolutely sure his subordinate has been kidnapped again. His kid… His travel log was left in the center of a bloody and unset bear trap. He doesn’t like where this is going. He glances down at the bear trap again and his eyes track the blood trail. Someone was getting cremated.

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Ed was starting to ache from not moving. The lower amount of blood in his body meant he was very susceptible to the cold. And the cold did not mean good things for his automail. He could see from the one-way mirror that his leg was bandaged. So that was good, he felt light-headed. This wasn’t how he wanted his walk to go… he flinches as he starts hearing screams in the other room. He’s able to get his head to lull to that side. He can’t see anything. And the muzzle clanks against the floor as he does. Why were they screaming? Are they ok?

He doesn’t get to wonder further as the door flies open and a livid Mustang strolls through.

“Fullmetal?” he can’t get his voice to co-operate so he just makes a low noise in his throat. It sounds pitiful… Mustang sighs worriedly and crouches next to him, straightening his head and ,surprisingly gentle, takes the muzzle off of him. “ I’ve got you kiddo. You’re safe.”

Chapter Text

“I haven’t slept in days, but who’s counting?”
Red | Insomnia | “I’m up! I’m up!”

Ed wasn’t sure the last time he slept. He was too busy! And when he tried, he just couldn’t stop thinking! Like he found a new alchemy theory! Or those late nights doing paperwork. Or when Al was lonely or, or, or… it always ended up being something. But… when did he sleep last? Whatever doesn’t matter. Mustang needed him to finish this form. And a couple other ones… but no matter! It shouldn’t take too long.

All it needed was some signatures, some spots filled in, and of course for Mustang to get it tomorrow. Easy enough! Just some info here… what- he whips his head to the side, there was nothing there. He could have sworn there was something… Whatever. Forms. Information and stuff. This one was asking for what happened with the alchemist they interviewed about a mine that seemed off.

He perks up, having been slouching without realizing. Shit. He should finish this fast. Then he could go to bed. Wait- no, he had a different report after this. That’s fine, he can do it. He sighs and stands, grabbing his briefcase and hauling it over to his desk. He pulls some files out, he doesn’t know when he got put on so much paperwork. It is what it is. He drops into his chair and starts filling out the paperwork again.

It takes him a while, he’s not sure how long but it’s one in the morning when he’s done and heading for his bed. He gets ready for bed, brushing his teeth and putting on pajamas. Then he gets to flop on his bed, cozying up under the covers and closing his eyes and- nothing. Just…. Laying there, still awake. He turns, maybe he just wasn’t comfortable enough? He closes his eyes tight for a while. It doesn’t work. Literally, just… still awake. He turns again. Nada.

He just… couldn’t sleep. It almost hurt. He was trying. This was sleep time. Ed wanted to sleep. It was like his body wouldn’t let him. Maybe looking at the sky would help? He throws the covers off his body and stands, striding to the window. Looking out the window he freezes. The sun was coming up. Fuck he had to be at command like- now.

He rushes to his closet, throwing on his clothes in a panic before whirling around and rushing for the sink. Brushing his teeth quickly then rushing for his briefcase, ensuring the paperwork was inside. And rushing out the door.

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Roy resists jumping as Ed opens the door. It’s not that it scared him per say but Ed never just opens the door. He kicks it open, or he yells or something! But he just opens it politely. Politely! Late, sure. Which was also weird, Ed was scarily on time. All the time. Roy looks closer at him, his eyes were red.

He glances subtly at Riza to see if she noticed. She nods at Ed pointedly, but still subtle. She did. What was wrong with Ed? He squints at Ed. Roy wasn’t sure what it was but it was concerning. Ed was just standing there, eyes closed.

“Ed?” He jumps when he calls his name, despite it being the softest Roy could muster in the office.

“Wha- hi yes. I'm up. What?” Ed snaps to a front that looks like he’s attentive, but it’s obvious he’s not. He fumbles at his brief case, pulling out some papers and pushing them Roy’s direction. Roy frowns and accepts them, if a bit hesitantly. The writing was a bit messy, and it looked a bit smudged. He looks back up at Ed.

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Mustang was looking at Ed funny. What did he do this time. He glances back at Riza. She was stone-faced as usual. Fuck. That was no help. What did he do…? He can’t think of anything. Maybe something he did a while ago and Mustang only just found out? No…. Maybe? He stares back at Mustang unsure of what he could possibly be in trouble for. And slowly, he starts nodding off. Unaware of it, but surely nodding off.

He starts awake again, and flinches as he sees mustang right in front of him. He stares at him. Mustang stares back. And oh so gently, he guides him to the sofa in his office.

“Lay down.” he hesitantly complies. Mustang nods and goes back to his desk and focuses on something else. Not even glancing at him. Slowly, he starts to relax. What was his play? Surely nothing bad? Weird… he doesn’t get to ponder more as he dozes off peacefully.

Chapter Text

“It comes and goes like the strength in your bones.”
Cold Compress | Infection | “ I don’t feel so good.”

Ed knew what was wrong. The ache in his port made it obvious. He knew why it was happening, his missing automail making it a bit obvious to anyone with any knowledge on automail diseases. He had his arm removed via explosives when he was chasing a convict for Mustang. All the hospital did was remove the automail and didn’t give him any prosthetic probably more worried about burns. Most don’t know this but when you remove automail, you have to do it a certain way. It’s directly tied into the body. Ed frowns and flips the page.

Yes. Ed knew what was wrong. And it won’t stop him from doing stuff. He still had his other arm, he just can’t preform alchemy the way he normally does. He can still draw circles. So he’s spending his medical leave study as normal. He’s sure it’s only temporary. He’s tried talking to the doctor about it. They brushed him off. Mustang had picked him up and they have been too busy to worry about it.

He closes the book, adjusting it so he can pick it up easier. Winry and Al were coming to East city soon. ETA was tomorrow, nine AM. He puts the book on the shelf careful to not knock stuff over. Winry was gonna be pissed. But it was like all his energy was being sapped. He sluggishly goes through his bedtime routine. He didn’t feel well. The fact of the matter is, he was getting sick. He flops on the bed, half-heartedly curling up under the blanket. He just hopes Winry doesn’t get too pissed that he didn’t tell the doctor about Traumatic Removal syndrome.

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“Brother?” he wakes to the door opening. What time was it? He sits up and fumbles for his watch, flipping it open. It’s ten am. Shit, he was suppose to grab Al and Winry from the station! “Broootheerrr?”

“In here Al” his voice is wrecked. Shit…? He could probably play it off as his voice warming up from sleep.

“Ed? Mustang said your arm got damaged.” Ed snorts, damaged? It was fucking gone. Honestly he felt bad that she would need to remake the entire thing. Winry peeks her head in. Her eyes immediately go to his empty port and whatever she was about to say dies on her tongue as her eyes flick to his face. It must be a bad sight because the anger in her eyes fades to worry and concern just as fast. “Ed? Are you ok? Where’s your arm?”

“The doctor took off the rest of it, but it got… blown up?” Ed shrugs and scoots to the side of the bed as Winry strides towards him. He sits still as she examines the port with a furrowed brow.

“Ed this is not good. It’s infected, have you been wearing a prosthetic?” Ed shakes his head, trying to look at the port as well as Al enters the room too. Winry sticks her hand on his forehead, making him flinch in surprise. She tuts. “You have a fever too. Lay back down, Al can you grab the icepack?” Ed frowns but quickly caves as Winry glares at him.

“I’m going to call Mustang, what doctor was it that didn’t give you a prosthetic?” She mad he can tell, and Al comes back with the icepack.

“Doctor Sibanta… I promise I tried to tell him about TRS but-” Winry shushes by shoving the icepack onto his face.

“This is malpractice Ed. I’m going to fix this. Or… well. I’ll make Mustang fix it.” She whirls around and stalks out of the room, but pauses at the door. “I’ll get started on a new arm as soon as possible.” and she leaves.

“Are you ok brother? You’re really pale.” Ed smiles at him.

“I’ll be alright Al. Winry’s got it handled.” Al sits down next to him.

“What happened anyways? Last time we talked you were ok, but now…” Ed sighs and adjusts the icepack on his head,

“Just work stuff. There was someone that needed arresting. They blew it off. Mustang made me go to a doctor and the doctor just completely removed the rest of it, incorrectly actually. It’ll be fine.” Ed yawns, the exhaustion back full force.

“Sleep brother. You look tired.” Ed frowns but agrees. Dozing off slowly.