Chimera

Bait

"Alright, everyone clear? One shot and we just follow it back and take him."

"Sir, are you certain? We could have someone else take your place."

"No, I’ll be fine. He’ll shoot for the chest, it’s the largest, most stable target. You know that, Lieutenant. This will be easy, over in minutes."

"Yes, sir."

******************************

"Brother? Why are we back so early?" Al walked behind his brother, watching his braid swing. The ends were fraying and he would have to drag him in to get them trimmed again. Of course, first he had to find someone willing to risk it. The last one had been vehement they not return after Ed destroyed a chair and three pairs of scissors.

Ed turned to stare at him. "Didn’t you see it? There was snow, SNOW, on the ground. What the fuck kind of place has snow in June? It was damn cold and we were finished. It makes sense to come home. Why? Did you want to stay?" He turned and continued on the way forward, stomping towards their dorm.

"Weelll, not really, but we didn’t even check the library. We could have gone back and tried again, they can’t always have six guards per wall." Al continued following. "Maybe we should just ask the Colonel to let us in. He might…"

"Not. In fact, he certainly won’t, he just wants to have all the cards, that bastard. Think we should go see him?" Trust Ed to change the topic in the middle of a rant. Not that Al wasn’t grateful to avoid said rant, but still.

"When you’re clean, yes. You need to write that report too, so it won’t be late like last time." Al started a list of things to do: make Ed have a bath, wash his clothes, dress him in something different, feed him, go shopping for more food, monitor that he actually did write his report, not just scribbled random pictures on the papers. It occurred to him that nothing on the list was about him and added one more thing; visit the office and have Breda teach him to play shogi.

"It wasn’t that late, only a few hours," Al stopped walking, "Days, and I’m fairly clean." The metal suit clapped him on the back and a small dust cloud rose. The blond rolled his eyes, "Fine, I’ll have a bath as soon as we get home." A few more steps to the corner and Al saw Roy and Riza ahead of them.

"Look, there’s the Colonel and Lieutenant Hawkeye." He waved catching Roy’s eye. He turned towards them, waving them back with one hand. Ed’s eyebrows rose, then he scowled. As he stepped forward, a shot rang out and Roy fell.

The world stopped for Ed. He saw Hawkeye race forward, away from Roy and noticed Havoc running towards the direction of the shot. They were leaving him, right there. His head whirled and he found himself bolting forward, yelling for Roy before he could think to do anything else. No, he couldn’t die, no no no nononononono. Falman appeared in front of him, waving him off and he could see Fuery kneeling beside the still body. ‘They’ll take care of him, gotta find who did this.’ "Al, stay here." He took off after Jean and Riza, listening for gunshots.

He found them easily enough, hiding behind a wall while shots were fired rapidly at them. Havoc tried to grab him as he passed but grasped at thin air. The blond alchemist skidded around the corner, his hands already together. A shield grew from his metal arm and he raced forward through the flood of bullets. Leading with his transformed arm, he tucked behind it and flew through a window, shattering it. The gunman screamed and scrambled for cover, Ed right on top of him. He kicked heavily with his metal foot while he changed his arm back and proceeded to beat the man into the ground.

Hawkeye’s head poked around the corner, wary of the screams. Havoc tackled the boy, carrying them both to the far wall. "Boss, Boss, it’s me, calm down, we got him." The flailing stopped and he let the younger blond up. They watched Hawkeye check the assassin, Havoc’s hand firm on Ed’s shoulder. When she nodded and stood, Ed clapped and pressed his hands to the ground. A small vault with one door and no windows rose around their captive.

"The door will only open from out here, it’ll hold him until backup gets here." His voice shook and the blond woman moved forward to catch him if he fell. His head came up quickly, "I have to get back, have to check on Roy."

He turned and raced back the way he’d come, leaving Havoc scratching his head. "So, uh, someone told him the plan, right? He’s pretty upset." The First Lieutenant just shrugged and went to check on their prisoner again.

*************************************

By the time he got back, Roy was sitting up, rubbing his shoulder and whining about how it wasn’t supposed to hurt that badly. The blond threw himself into his lap and ran his hands over him to make sure he was safe. "I thought you were shot, why aren’t you bleeding? Not that I want you to be bleeding, but I saw you, I know I did."

Roy pressed a hand to his face, "Shh, I’m alright. Not hurt, just a few bruises. See?" He pulled his shirt aside to show the armor underneath. Ed peeled the edge back to inspect the already forming bruise.

"You were wearing armor. You knew he was going to shoot you." An auto-mail fist pounded on the good shoulder. "What were you thinking! He could have taken a head shot, he could have missed the armor, you could have died!" He threw his arms around his lover’s shoulders, squeezing him tightly.

Roy hugged him back for a moment before gently disengaging himself and standing. Falman and Fuery had carefully turned their backs and were chatting with Al. Ed clung for a moment then let himself be pushed off. He stood and grabbed Roy’s jacket from the ground then wrapped it around his arm and held it close, following Roy as he started walking slowly back to headquarters.

The afternoon was spent sitting in the office, watching to make sure nothing else happened. Ed stripped him every few hours to put ice on the bruise and babied him in general. Which was nice, if a little stifling. He wasn’t allowed to leave the office, even to get coffee, and when he insisted on going for a walk, the boy was right on his heels.
Hawkeye watched the performance and laughed behind her sleeve whenever he tried to beg for help with his eyes. A note arrived with his papers. ‘You insisted, now deal with it. Sir.’ He burned it quickly to keep Ed from finding it and killing them both.

The evening was a little freer, if only because Ed insisted on cooking for him. The swearing and yelling from the kitchen made him flinch and he cringed when Ed finally produced a tray. "Looks good, Ed. Thank you. Aren’t you going to eat?" The pasta looked a little overdone, as in soggy mush, and the chicken was burnt into nice little blackened bits. He swallowed and prodded the carrots, only to watch them smoosh under the light pressure.

"Nope, I already ate at the cafeteria." He perched on the arm of Roy’s chair and looked at him expectantly. Roy tried to smile and picked up a forkful. His hand shook but Ed looked so pleased he was going to eat it, he had to. A few seconds of fast chewing and a hard swallow and it was gone. His stomach immediately rebelled but he forced it into submission and took another bite. That one wasn’t as bad, he figured his taste buds had gone into hiding, and he managed a few more bites before stopping.

"That was nice, Edward, thank you. But, my head hurts now, so I’ll finish later, ok?" He’d find time to have an accident with it later, preferably one that it went straight into the garbage. Ed grinned at him and took the plate back to the kitchen.

When he came back, he climbed into Roy’s lap and sat quietly for a minute. "Roy?" The older man looked up from petting the soft hair. "Don’t ever do that again." Both hands fisted in his shirt and shook. "Never, ever, put yourself in front of a bullet again. Don’t do anything stupid like that. What if you died? What would I do? You’re the only one who loves me and" He choked, tears streaming down his face, and his head dropped to Roy’s shoulder.

The dark-haired alchemist rocked gently, holding his blond close. "Ed, you know I have to, just like you do. It’s our lives. Until we reach our goals, our bodies belong to the military. My life and soul belong to you; no one will be allowed to take them." His lips brushed the curve of an ear. "Have faith, I won’t leave you.”

**********************

Empty streets shone under the light of the almost full moon, the paving stones glittering beneath Ed’s heavy boots. Al’s voice still echoed, screaming for him, and Ed followed as quickly as his feet would move, flying down vacant streets.

Shots rang out to his left and he instinctively dropped and rolled. Roy appeared from an alley, stumbling as his eyes met Ed’s. A pale hand reached out and Ed moved to help him, but Al’s voice started to fade. The blond hesitated, torn between the two.

A final shot and Roy’s body jerked, the small cry drowned out by the retort. When the harsh sound faded, silence reined, broken only by Ed’s pants. Until his screams started, two names intertwined, inseparable.

**********************

Bullets sang, accompanied by the drum of explosions. The wall provided support; he was losing blood from his shoulder and it would need to be sealed, soon. The ground trembled, the last beats of the dying heart of a nation.

He ducked into a building, checking briefly for occupants. Nothing. His shirt peeled back show the shallow furrow in his shoulder. It was bleeding sluggishly, enough to slow him down and that meant death here. His belt served as a bit and a quick snap cauterized the wound, his teeth scoring the leather deeply. Flames danced in front of his eyes and stars shone brightly behind his lids. A soft grunt pulled his attention from the waves of pain to see a child.

A small girl dragged a blood covered gun too big for her to carry, a tiny teddy bear clenched in her teeth. She tugged determinedly until she noticed him. A startled gasp and she was pushed against the wall, the barrel of the gun steadying at his chest. He stayed still and spoke softly. “Put down your weapon.” The only phrase he knew, and he wasn’t even sure he was saying it correctly. Her entire body trembled and her finger moved to the trigger, tears sliding down her face, the tracks glistening in the flashes from outside. “Put down your weapon.”

His hands reached out helplessly. Shaking fingers started to squeeze and her scream deafened him to the snap of his fingers. His fingers snapped again and again; the screams wouldn’t stop.

***********************

Roy bolted upright, his arm in front of him, fingers snapping uselessly. He grabbed it and stilled the fingers against his chest; it’d been years since he’d woken like that. Dark hair shook to clear his mind of the still echoing screams before he realized they were beside him.

“Ed? Wake up!” The blond was shaken vigorously and eyes snapped wide. Black eyes stared into a golden mirror; eyes as haunted as his own stared back.

“My fault, it’s all my fault.” Tears ran down the tanned cheeks and Roy held him tightly, willing the pain away. The tears faded but the same phrase repeated itself.

“Ed, stop, please. It’s not your fault, it was an accident. Nothing is your fault.” He rocked gently, cradling his lover.

“Couldn’t choose, my fault, have to choose.”

A shiver ran down Roy’s back. “Have to choose what, Ed? What are you between?”

“You. You or Al, can’t have both, can’t save both.” Roy’s hand moved from the comforting circles on Ed’s back to grip his jaw and pull his eyes up to meet his.

“Edward, there is no choice. You never have to choose. Ever. You will get Al’s body back and I will be waiting for you. I love you, I’ll be waiting for you to come back to me. There is no choice.” He kept repeating his reassurances until the broken gasps turned to regular breathing again. Once he was sure sleep had claimed his blond, he ran his hand through the soft hair. “I’ll never let you go.” He stayed up, watching the young man sleep and staring out the window into the dark shadows.

***********************

Several loud thumps Riza Hawkeye’s first clue her superior was not working. The second was the locked door. She sighed and dug out the spare key. The door opened quietly and she stilled. Ed was on the desk, his clothes scattered around the room. Roy was pressed against him, his shirt open and his pants hanging loosely at his hips, held up by the mismatched legs clamped around him.

Neither noticed her, their mouths pressed together, their hips moving steadily. She could see their tongues dancing against one another. Her own mouth opened to announce her presence but the words died in her throat. Gold eyes had fluttered open to meet hers, freezing her breath in her lungs. Under the passion, the fire, the NEED, shone love. The look of one who loves unconditionally and is undoubtedly loved back. A soft smile tugged at her lips as she turned silently away and relocked the door.

“Ed? What’s wrong?” Dark eyes opened and looked down with concern.

“Nothing. Nothing at all.” Smooth legs tightened and the dark head was pulled back down.

When Ed came rushing out in his usual temper, he was waved over to stand in front of the blond woman’s desk. “Not again, Edward.”

For the first time, the boy bowed to her. “Thank you, First Lieutenant.”




A/N: Because I can, I'm posting a second chapter. It's not a happy one in general, but an interesting vision of the differences between them. Roy's nightmare is much more poetic, almost beautiful, because he would think that way, while Ed's is blunt and plain, with few scenes of beauty, like his own vision of the world. It also shows Ed's loyalties are, if not changing, growing. He's in the middle, living between the past and futur, but he can't see the present. The last bit is just a little about how Riza is taking it; she truly wants the best for them both and is helping, even though she said she wouldn't. I didn't use to like her, but she grows on you. *L*