Soldier Blues

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Roy looked over at Edward, who lay curled up on the train seat. They were three days out from Central with clear orders not to come back until Envy sent for them. It was hard to swallow for Edward, and while Envy hadn’t come right out to say what the problem was, he’d said enough to get Ed to obey for a while. Roy leaned back in his seat and folded his arms over his chest, trying and failing to figure out just what Envy had said to get Edward to listen. No matter what Roy had tried or said, Ed would look at him with a bright, intelligent gaze and then completely blow him off. In the end, so long as Edward didn’t ditch Roy, it would all be a big success and Roy would get some leverage he could use when he was in a bind. Roy didn’t know all the details about his little mission. All he knew was that he had to keep Ed safe for as long as it took Envy to call for them. He didn’t know whom to look for or what to look for, just keep Ed in his possession at all times.

Ed shifted slightly on his seat, letting out a sigh in his sleep. Roy couldn’t help the little quirk of the lips as he turned is gaze to studying the boy. Ed had chosen to wear an outlandish red coat over a black ensemble, a symbol emblazoned on the back that looked like one of the symbols of Hermes. It certainly made the kid a target, but it also made him easy to spot in crowds. Then again, so did those eyes and braided hair. Not many boys wore their hair that way, nor did anyone have gold eyes. Roy sighed and wondered if the people he was supposed to protect Ed from knew what he looked like.

The train rocked on her tracks and settled; the steady clicking and clacking of the wheels was only dimly heard above the din of conversation. The Lieutenant Colonel folded his arms over his chest and leaned back in his seat, intending to get some sleep before their appointed stop. He would be taking Edward into the wilds, to an old cabin abandoned to nature. It was safe there, and only two people besides Roy knew its exact location.

The train lurched again.

Then Roy heard the screaming and his eyes shot open. A second later the train lurched heavily to the left, running only on her left wheels. By some miracle she righted herself and kept running.

Then came the explosion.

Roy grabbed hold of a bleary-eyed Edward and pulled him close as their car was torn from the one behind them, bodies flying as the last few cars were blown up by cannon fire. Roy stared wide-eyed at the smoking, gaping hole where people and train cars had once been, seeing the injured but too shocked to move to help. Edward, on the other hand, was up and moving, helping those who could walk further into the train. Roy finally got his wits about him and followed suit, binding wounds as best he could given his limited resources. The front of the train lurched this time and the concussion knocked Roy to his stomach. Ed grabbed onto a seat to keep himself from flying off and with an angry snarl hauled himself upright.

“Ed!” Roy yelled, “Where the hell are you going?!”

“I’ve had enough of this!” Edward yelled back. Before Roy could protest, Edward was gone, leaving Roy with numerous injured and a few dead.

Around them explosions still rocked the train, and Roy was hard pressed to attend to all the injured. Few others who had only suffered minor wounds recovered enough to help and Roy was able to move to the front of the car and locate the hook that kept the car connected to the train. Mouth set in a grim expression, he turned to look at the people who had the unfortunate luck of being involved in this.

“Hey!” Roy called. “Think if I disconnected the car, you could take care of them?” He wasn’t talking to anyone in particular, just hoping, maybe, someone would step up and be a decent human being today. As people stared at him blankly, Roy cursed.

“I… I can take care of them,” a hesitant female voice called. “I’m a nurse.”

Roy looked at the girl. She was tall with long dark hair and pink bangs. She had the brown skin of one who worked in the sun, but an air of gentleness no one in this time of war ever seemed to have. She blushed bright red and averted her eyes. Roy realized he was staring.

“Thanks. They shouldn’t bother you anymore, but if they do, just surrender.” Roy said over his shoulder. He didn’t hear her reply if there was one, already moving to the next car to check for survivors, and herding them to the remains of the last car. He didn’t see Edward, but the flow of injured continued until the girl called that her car was full. Just as well for no more survivors made their presence known to Roy. The black-haired man turned then and disconnected the last car, watching it draw away from the rest of the train. Swallowing, Roy turned to look for Edward.


The front of the train was lurching worse than the back, thick black smoke billowing from beneath the engine, signaling something decidedly bad had happened. Edward pulled himself along, stepping over broken bodies and making his way to the engine. If he could stop the train, then no one else would be hurt. Around him, he could feel the rumble of protesting metal and bombs, sand sometimes kicked into the broken windows by a shell or other piece of artillery. The blonde simply grit his teeth and kept moving, though he could feel his skin burn from the sheer closeness of the explosions.

He didn’t know exactly what was going on, but Ed was not stupid. He’d known for a long time he was different from most people. He was more resistant to injury and illness and there were things he could do that no one else could. He figured the rebels were just trying to get their sharpshooter back. But that didn’t absolve them of the crime they had just committed. Killing all these innocent people; it was unforgivable!

“Edward! Where the hell are you?!”

Ed half turned to see a bloody Roy coming toward him, and for a moment, Ed’s heart dropped into his stomach. But he wasn’t injured to Edward’s immense relief. He stood his ground until Roy reached him, and just as Roy found a firm hold on the boy’s wrist, the entire train rocked. Then the concussion wave hit and both were weightless as the train was lifted off the tracks. Then gravity took over and the pair were ejected from the car they were in, crashing through glass to hit sand. Only by some miracle, the rolling train missed crushing them by a hair’s breadth and kicked up a great cloud of sand and smoke. Roy was up and dragging Edward behind him, running as fast as he could toward some perceived cover, sliding down the incline of a hill. The pair bounced hard as they landed, and Roy pulled Ed with him into the first cave he saw, heading as far to the ear as he could. Roy kept a tight hold to Edward, his grip signaling that he was very, very angry.

Ed knew enough not to say anything, for he could hear the rumble of tanks above them, and a great cloud of sand was kicked up by the front of the cave, inadvertently hiding them. There was silence until the purr of the tank vanished gradually and the only noise was of an open palm against a cheek.

Ed held his hand to his smarting cheek and glared at Roy. “What the hell was that for?!”

“I’m supposed to protect you!” Roy roared. “How in the name of God am I supposed to protect you if you run off to play hero?”

“I wasn’t playing!”

“Sure as hell you were! What if they had been waiting for you? What if they had boarded the train, knowing you would run to them?” Roy’s lips curled into a sneer. “And then, once they caught you, what would you do? Surrender?”

“Never!” Edward snarled. “I will never surrender!”

“Not even if there was a gun pointed to your head?”

“Not even.”

Then, Roy got cruel. “What about Alphonse? Or that pretty girl, Winry? If there were guns to their heads, would you surrender?”

Edward glared at Roy for a long time before he looked away. “That’s low,” he said. “Really low.”

Roy sighed. “That’s the way of things Ed. They find out about your family in Resembool, no matter how hard you tried to keep it from them when you were enlisted, they will use them.”

Edward watched Roy for a long, long time. Finally, he sighed. “Fine. We’ll do it your way.”

Roy made an irritated noise and began to move toward the front of the cave to dig them out, trying to ignore the way Edward’s gold eyes had looked filled with resignation. Roy heaved a silent sigh. If this mission didn’t kill him, Edward would for sure.