Nightmare

Review Replies: To everyone, sorry I have been so bad about updating this. It's been a crazy couple of months, but the story is now finished, so updates will come fairly quickly from this point on. Affie, thanks for reading and I hope things have slowed down a bit for you as they have finally for me. radcat, yeah, Anton's got issues, but he does need to let some of his anger go. Thanks for reading. Nightfox, thanks.

Nightmare

Chapter 18

Roy was in the process of showing Ed why people used their tongue when they kissed. Given what the teen had been through, Roy was (pleasantly) surprised when that conversation came up. Ed had argued that kissing with just lips was “incredible enough”—and that did wonders for Roy’s ego because he knew that he was the one to show him, the only one to show him.

Roy had just smiled when Ed had asked him what the point was in “trying to jam your tongue down another person’s throat.” With that statement in mind and Ed’s rather shocked expression, Roy hadn’t dared to expect a yes from Ed when he’d asked if the teen wanted to find out.

Ed really wasn’t very good at maneuvering his tongue around Roy’s. The kiss was not at all as perfect as story books might lead you to believe. It was really a fantasy to think that when two lovers—that word might have been preemptive in Roy’s case, but was close enough and was certainly what the romance novels used—kissed for the first time, it worked as though they were one person. Instead, tongues tried to match and move against one another in what should have been an almost erotic oral dance. Instead, they were practically battling and wounding one another in the process.

He pulled back after their teeth smacked against one another’s.

“Okay,” Ed said, rubbing his front teeth. “I definitely don’t get it.”

“It takes practice,” Roy said, massaging his gums through his upper lip.

Ed looked at him doubtfully. Roy was about to propose a second experiment as the entire building began to shake.

********

“Oh, shit, shit shit!” Jean said as he was unceremoniously thrown from the bed he’d been sharing with the older woman these last few weeks. He’d managed, as he bounced off, to have enough sense to grab a pillow to take down with him. However, as he’d been roused from the beginning of a nice, deep sleep, he didn’t have enough to break the fall directly onto his butt. Apparently, some other instinct told him he should cover his modesty as he went down.

Olivier, of course, manage not only to look dignified as she bounced around, but to crawl to one of the bedposts for support. Though she was kneeling, she was in a stance very similar to her usual intimidating one, reserved for appearing before heads of the military. The blond woman wrapped an arm around the bedpost and looked down at Havoc on the floor. Her raised, thin eyebrow truly made him picture her in uniform with her sword—even though she didn’t have a shred of even a sheet on her.

The ground continued to shake, items falling from the shelves, furniture falling.

Still clutching the pillow to his most sensitive area, Jean climbed back onto the bed. “An earthquake?” he asked.

“No,” Olivier said, though both were nearly shouting because of the noise. “It has a pattern. Like someone trying to bust through a locked door.”

Jean paused and listened. To his horror, he realized she was right. But what was big enough to make an entire city—or at least an entire house—shake like this? And what were they trying to “bust through” for?

********

The rumblings seemed to die down as Hohenheim released the woman he’d been comforting not a few moments before. He’d just pulled her back from a falling shelf and still had her in his arms.

“I believe you’ve now saved everyone in my family,” she said with a relieved expression.

Breda had remained in the room while Hohenheim explained to the mother that he could offer some help to her oldest son, who was now missing his right hand.

“I’m happy to do it,” he replied with a similar look of relief.

They walked into the hospital room where the two boys were being treated, both looking terrified, obviously suspecting the earthquakes were caused by what had injured them the evening before. “I promise you, I’ll be in touch again to get your information to the automail mechanics I was talking about. But at the moment, I really must go to see how bad the damage is in the rest of the city.”

“When he says he knows a good automail mechanic,” Breda said as he offered a grin to the boys in the beds, “he means it. He’s the Fullmetal Alchemist’s father.”

“Really?” both boys asked, the younger, despite all of the horrors he’d seen, more capable of an excited expression as he asked. The other was still pained physically and weighed with guilt.

Hohenheim nodded and managed a smile at the family of three not all that different from the one he left behind. “We really should go.” He offered a nod to them all before slipping out of the room.

“Thank you, Mr. Elric, Mr. Breda,” the mother called. Hohenheim had given her no last name, so it was obvious she was assuming he shared Ed’s.

When Breda caught up to meet Hohenheim’s stride, the alchemist frowned at him. “Why did you tell them that? I don’t even know if Ed would want to claim me?”

“Well, I don’t know about Ed’s feelings about you,” Breda said, “but I know that he wouldn’t begrudge those boys the little bit of hope they had when they realized who you were.”

Hohenheim sighed. “Ed really does that for people, even if it’s just his name.”

“Yes, he does, and that’s why I’m working with you to make sure he never has to go through the trauma of testifying in court.”

********

Wrath wasn’t entirely sure why he was doing this because, fast as he was, there was still a chance Gluttony could catch him. He just couldn’t shake the kindness that Winry had shown him in giving him the automail, and if he were completely honest, the girl had always been good to him even when he still possessed her friend’s arm and leg. Up until this point, he’d never really given her much in return. Not even a genuine “thank you.” He supposed this was his way of doing so, even if she never knew it, even if she wasn’t currently in the city above that he was preventing Gluttony from shaking into oblivion.

He knew that the Elric brothers were above, despite the fact that she wasn’t, and Winry cared for them as much if not more than he hated them.

So, here he was, being chased through the ruins of Xerxes with an enormous, mindless homunculi on his tail. He’d have to remember to kill Anton for ever creating this thing.

“Lust dead. Brother… kill.”

“Your vocabulary sucks,” Wrath taunted before jumping off the roof of a building and using what was left of his abilities to mesh with the small house below and then out to the cavern’s walls.

********

“The little brat was right,” Anton mumbled to himself as he straightened his suit.

The lieutenant, who had followed him home out of concern, he supposed, that he would do something drastic to himself, looked up at him. At his age, asking to reassign all of his estate and rewrite his will would seem to imply that he was going to do something very stupid. Now that he was talking to himself, he was certain the young woman was very concerned for his mental well-being.

His hand went to the necklace he wore and he took a deep breath. “Listen, I’m going to go to visit our prisoners at Mustang’s place. I haven’t personally spoken to the elder Elric.” At least, on paper, he was the elder Elric. It was rather obvious that Alphonse was now a bit older in physical appearance.

“Captain?” the young woman started, but he kept her from finishing her thought.

“I have left notice with the board of generals that states those who were loyal to the fuhrer, as well as those who simply worked to uphold the law. Lieutenant Pierson, you were of that latter group and the most senior officer. Should the board do what I expect it to with the information that I have provided, you may soon find yourself in a position of some authority over the JAG office.” Anton began gathering alchemy supplies.

“Under you, of course, sir,” she said.

“Pardon?” Anton asked, not looking up from the satchel he carried at his side.

“A position of some authority, but serving under you,” she emphasized.

“Of course,” Anton dismissed, though it was obvious that Lt. Pierson didn’t believe him.

Anton left his apartment, waiting for the lieutenant to follow behind him. “Sir, please don’t do anything hasty.

Anton just smiled and turned on the woman. “Ask your fiancé to forgive me for this,” he said as he pulled the young woman close and pressed his lips to hers.

Leaving her in shock, Anton ran from his apartment building.

********

Al was busy cleaning up the house, as numerous things had been knocked from the walls. Some were repairable, others came out of the whole quake unscathed, but there were quite a few items in Roy’s home that could not be fixed or replaced.

It was a shame, really, because it seemed that most of the things that were lost were family items. Al could see the older man putting on a brave face as he found items belonging to his father or mother broken beyond repair.

The three that could were cleaning up the rooms while Ed was tied securely to the bed in case of an aftershock. He’d had to hold onto the bars at the side of his bed with his right hand in order to keep from being slammed against them on the left side. He wasn’t thrilled about the fact he was now physically bound to the bed, but realistically, he couldn’t leave it on his own, anyway.

Al was busy replacing items to shelves as he saw Roy gather up a clock that had been sitting on the mantle over the living room fireplace. The young man frowned as he watched the elder. The somewhat frantic look as Roy tried to find the remaining parts said far more about the clock’s meaning than the dismissive, “Well, I guess this is worthless now.”

It was blatantly obvious that the clock meant a great deal to Roy, but he wouldn’t admit it. He watched as Roy put it in a bin and then seemed to give up on the antique item. Al did his best to sneak behind the older man’s back and grab it back. He’d ask Riza and Ed if either of them knew the significance of the item, but it was obvious, more so than others that it was important.

Once Al was satisfied he had all the parts that could be found—and there were a number that could not, he tucked them away to work on later. It wasn’t completely unsalvageable, and for how cold he behaved to Roy at times in the past, he felt that it was probably due for him to do something for Roy.

There was a knock at the front door, and Al was surprised when it was followed by a somewhat less put-together Anton de Havilland.

“I need to speak with Major Elric,” he said as he saw Al.

“I’ll call our father and our lawyer.”

“I don’t think you understand that this isn’t a choice. You can ask the brigadier general just what policy is, but you’ll find that in cases of treason, we do not need to follow all of the rules and decorum that generally go with a court case, even with witnesses.”

Al looked back at Roy, who was just entering the hall from the kitchen.

“Then, one of us will go in with you,” he said.

“No,” Anton said, “I’m afraid I’m going alone. And General, Lieutenant,” he nodded to the woman who had exited the kitchen behind Roy, “I don’t have to tell you that there is nothing you can do to stop me.”

********

Ed was growing very frustrated being tied to the bed. He knew it wasn’t truly different than before, but somehow knowing he couldn’t move even if he wanted to felt more confining than knowing he could wiggle his way out, casts included. He squirmed again beneath the sheets holding him in place when he heard the door to the room open and was faced with a man with pale skin and hair nearly as white as his complexion.

“Hello, Edward,” the man said. “We’ve never been formally introduced.” It didn’t matter. Ed was already well aware of the fact that the man now in his room was Anton de Havilland.

“I know who you are. You’d be surprised how well you can learn to recognize people by their voices when that is all you have.”

Anton nodded, moving to the door and locking it securely.

“Come here to finish what your master didn’t?” Ed spat at the lawyer.

“No,” Anton said, sitting down in one of the chairs. “I do not condone what was done to you over that month. However, I am here to see the boy who, save for a few very lucky turns of fate, could very well have shared my own story. Really, you have no idea the reasons you should be grateful for Roy Mustang. He saved you long before that night at the fuhrer’s mansion.”

“If you know he saved me, then why did you keep pursuing this?” Ed asked, voice rising. “Why put them all through this?”

“To save myself,” the blond man admitted coolly. “And out of spite. I am not above admitting that I really and truly hate you, Edward Elric. I hate Roy Mustang and I hate those I had to serve. I hate easily, you see. Love, lust, all of that gets you into trouble.” He crossed his legs by resting his right ankle on his left knee. “I’m sure you understand the kind of trouble I mean.” He lightly pulled on his pantleg, revealing an automail leg.

He must have noticed Ed’s eyes widening in shock because a broad smirk spread across his face, bordering on becoming a sneer. “Yes, Ed. We both know the kinds of prices the Gate asks of us.”

“So, what, because I didn’t become a slave to the military, you’re going to make me pay?”

“That was the plan originally,” Anton answered.

“And what is it now?”

“To stall.” Ed looked at the man curiously. “I’ve seen enough movies to know it’s bad form for the villain—and I have no issues classifying myself as such after all I’ve done—to lay out his past and evil plans for the hero. Though, in this case, the hero is not so far separated from the villain.

“I’m nothing like you!” After this outburst, Ed heard the doorknob trying to turn, but just clicking against the lock. The three outside were now obviously trying to get in as they banged on the door and called into Ed’s room. “You worked at Lab 5. You—”

“Put souls into suits of armor. Strangely similar to what you did to your brother. Except of course, my subjects were willing. Your brother really didn’t get a say in the matter.”

“You’re responsible for Barry the Chopper, for the brothers...”

“I’m well aware of the fact that you encountered my handiwork. I was intended to be the scapegoat for your little escapade that so shamed the military. Thankfully, Maes Hughes provided a better distraction as he started investigating the wrong people. Otherwise, I would already be dead.” The banging on the door was louder and it sounded as though they’d gotten something heavy from the other room to break it open.

“You said you were stalling. What for?” Ed asked.

“For a guest,” Anton answered. “After all, there is an array preventing alchemy from being performed in this house, and I need to get you out of here without it in a way that won’t alert the guards.”

Suddenly, a face and body appeared from the walls of the house. “You left a message for me?” the familiar boy asked. Wrath turned and looked at Ed. “Hello, Fullmetal. Bet you never expected to see me again.” His grin was somewhere between mischievous and downright evil.

“Can you do it?” Anton asked.

“You’re working with him?” Ed asked the lawyer.

“From one homunculi to the next it seems,” the man said.

“Yeah, I can do it. You sure you want me to?”

“No other choice, is there?”

Wrath shrugged and grabbed hold of Ed’s automail wrist with his own automail hand and Anton’s hand with his flesh one.

The teen screamed as he was pulled through his bed, then the floor.

********

By the time they got into the room, Ed and Anton were gone, and Roy and Al looked furious and distraught.

“We’ll find them,” Riza promised the two men. “We’ll tell the guards what happened. They’ll look for Ed or they’ll try to find the Captain.”