Iserlohnn - continued

THE PLAN

The Colonel paced as he mentally outlined their next course of action. He over heard Edward asking his brother to bring back information on Warding. He had some books on that in his personal library. He had books on just about everything Obaba taught him but, unlike Edward, he wasn’t much of a bookworm. For him Alchemy had been a combat tool for so long he had almost forgotten it had other uses. Now he was forced to remember all the lessons Obaba beat into his head when he was her student.

Could he even sketch a simple Ward? Had he really forgotten THAT much?

He sighed heavily. He was drawing a blank and hated himself for spending the last dozen years focusing all his energy on honing his combat skills. He was one of the most formidable and respected fighters in the Furher’s service. But Colonel Roy Mustang couldn’t sketch out a simple Scrying Array if you paid him…

“Roy, maybe we could move Tenshi, Al and the Princess to the Palace,” suggested Hughes. “The Furher’s security detail is the best in Amestris plus I doubt that freak would think to look for them there.”

“True,” the Colonel agreed.

“What about Edo?” Tenshi asked. “That man was after him too.”

“A bunch of guys with guns is not going to stop what is after us. WE have to fight him. By we I mean those of us that can do this-” Edward punctuated the final thought by transmuting his Auto-mail arm into a sword. “I don’t know if that thing is using Alchemy or not but what I do know is that it’ll probably take all of us working together to bring him down.”

The Colonel nodded in agreement. “For someone who claims he’s not a dog of the military you sure do think like a soldier Ed,” the Colonel remarked.

“Too much time wasted with you,” Edward shot back.

The Princess stepped in saying, “Moving someplace the White-Haired Man won’t expect to find us is a good idea, but not the Palace. We don’t want to put anyone’s life in danger.”

“Could use one of Intel’s Safe Houses,” Hughes said. “They’re kept unoccupied until needed. And if I do all the paperwork myself it’ll minimize the risk of the wrong eyes seeing our plan.”

The Colonel looked at the Princess. “Well?”

“I like that idea much better,” she said smiling at Hughes.

“Okay, I’ll look into it,” Hughes replied then as he cast a furtive glance at Edward asked, “When can he be moved?”

“Since he promised to be a good boy he’ll be out of here in a couple of days,” Mustang replied with a smirk.

“Who did he promise? You?”

“No, his brother and he always keeps any promise he makes Al.”

“Well, it could take a couple of days to make the arrangements so this plan might work,” Hughes said pleased to finally find something of use to do for his friends.

“You do what you have to do. I am going to get a few things I am sure will come in handy…”

The Colonel and Hughes left together. The Princess wasn’t sure what the Colonel was planning but she could tell by the glint in his eye it was going to be something worthy of a son of Iserlohnn. Now she was left in the room alone with Edward and Tenshi. She didn’t say anything as Edward returned his Auto-mail arm to normal and slumped back into his pillows. He was looking thoroughly annoyed and she knew it was because he was unable to do anything to help. Tenshi kept casting shy looks in her direction. He wasn’t sure what to make of her now that he knew she was also one of the Divine Virtues.

The sound of footsteps made all three of them turn towards the door. It was Doctor Seris Ferguson and all three of them greeted her as she entered. She greeted them in return before going over to Edward’s bedside.

“Want an update?” Edward queried.

“Yes, and you can tell me while I give you your meds and check you over,” she stated.

While she checked his vitals, changed his dressings and injected the medication into his IV line, Edward gave her the Reader’s Digest condensed version of what had happened to them in the past twenty-four hours. Seris sighed heavily. Things in Iserlohnn had been bad. It seemed things in Central were going to be even worse. The thought that the hospital wasn’t safe worried her. She had been a part of the Iserlohnn team and now she wanted in on whatever her former teammates were doing.

“I can’t believe you want in on this freak show,” Edward commented.

“As I recall I was in on this so-called freak show in Iserlohnn,” she reminded him. “And you are here because of that.”

Edward smiled at her. “I know, thanks.”

“So you can tell the Colonel he can count on my support,” she told him.

Edward nodded his eyelids starting to droop as the sedatives began kicking in. “Okay, I’ll tell him when he gets back.”

The Doctor tucked Edward in and turned off his overhead light. He was asleep by the time she was at Tenshi’s bedside. The little Alchemist eyed her warily. “You aren’t going to make me sleep too, are you?” he asked.

She smiled at him. “No, you’ve had more than enough sleep already and, besides, you’ve been a little angel.”

Tenshi blushed pink and made no further comment while the Doctor examined him. The anti-venom had done its work and he was completely free of the toxin. However, she had been told he was to be kept where he was for security reasons so even though he was well enough to leave Tenshi had to remain in his hospital bed. He didn’t mind being stuck there. Ed was there and his other friends would be soon so it wasn’t too bad. He snuggled back under the warm blanket and let himself doze.

While the boys slept the Princess and the Doctor chatted for a few moments before the Doctor departed to finish her rounds. Seris promised to return after her hospital duties were completed and Katarin was pretty sure the Colonel and the others would also be back by then. Adding Series Ferguson to the team meant their Alchemist strength increased by one. Even though she wasn’t State Certified, Seris proved she had some skill when she used her talents to save the lives of Edward and Tenshi. Undoing the Crimson Alchemist’s transmutation was not a simple feat but she had succeeded. Having her as a part of their team could prove useful…

The next couple of days passed uneventfully. Tenshi, who had completely recovered, was working with Hughes in the Intelligence office. He came back to the hospital at night, since it was decided he was safer there than in the barracks. Meanwhile, Edward, who still didn’t think he was that badly hurt, did as he promised and was cooperative and followed the doctor’s orders. He was too fidgety to stay in bed the whole time but he kept his activity to a low enough level to not endanger the healing process. The Colonel brought Edward books on Warding, Scrying and other investigational Alchemy from his personal library. Edward and Alphonse devoured the texts. They both had a feeling this old knowledge would come in handy.

On the third day of his hospital stay, Edward was feeling well enough to take his IV pole for a drag while he walked around the hall outside his room. Alphonse walked with him and the hospital staff that had grown accustomed to Al’s armored presence mostly ignored the brothers.

Edward was annoyed. He was told if he followed the doctor’s orders he would be a free man after three days of confinement. Day three was almost over and he was still stuck in the hospital attached to an IV and clad in nothing but his boxers. The appreciative glances Edward got as he stalked the halls weren’t lost on either Elric brother and only put Edward in an even fouler mood.

“If they don’t let me out TODAY I swear I’m going to kill something!” Edward growled as he paused by the window at the end of the long hall and gazed absently at the dimly lit street below. “It’s been three days! That was the deal!”

“Ed, you’re still hurt. You need to-”

“I need to get out of here!” Edward interrupted sharply. “Hughes got us the safe house. I can always rest up there.”

“But you won’t and you know it!” Alphonse stated.

Edward sighed heavily. He leaned against the window casement folding his arms defiantly across his chest. His wound still hurt but it wasn’t incapacitating in his opinion. He could do his job. And the first thing he wanted to do was make sure their safe house was that: safe. The only way to do that would be to Ward it against entry by anyone who wasn’t a part of their group. He had read over the section on Protection Arrays and Edward was fairly certain he could construct one. How strong it would be would depend upon the energy focused into it by all those who participated in its creation. Edward knew to make this Array work in their favor he would have to get the cooperation of a few people he knew were more than a little tweaked at him right now.

A familiar hand on his shoulder pulled Edward from his reverie. He turned to see it was Hughes and he startled Edward by shoving a photo of his daughter Alicia dressed in what looked like a bridal outfit in Edward’s face.

“Isn’t she adorable?” Hughes gushed. “Alicia just had her first Holy Communion!”

Edward groaned. “Lovely.”

“Maes, leave him alone!” Mustang commanded and the overly proud father backed off in favor of his friend.

“He SO needs to get a life!” Edward muttered.

Mustang smirked. “In his opinion he has one.”

Edward chuckled then his expression resumed its usual serious demeanor as he asked, “Can we talk?”

Mustang nodded saying, “Let’s take a walk.”

Edward motioned to Alphonse to stay with Lt. Colonel Hughes while he and Mustang headed down the hospital corridor together.

“Two things,” Edward began the moment they were out of earshot. “I need to construct a protective Ward for the safe house and I need to get my ass out of here to do it. Any ideas?”

“The Ward is transferable. You can construct it here and move it wherever you need it to be,” Mustang told him then added with a smug smile, “Guess you missed that paragraph.”

“Yeah, well, if you know so much Hot Shot, why are you leaving this all up to me?” Edward challenged gold eyes flashing.

“It’s called delegating.”

“More like you haven’t done this in so fucking long you forgot how!” Edward shot back.

Mustang glared at him. “I’m a little out of practice,” the Colonel grudgingly admitted. “But I will still help you create the Ward. The more energy channeled into the circle the stronger the protective field will be.”

“That much I did gather from the reading. So, I’m going to need a little help.”

“Not as much as you might think…”

The two of them stopped by the entrance to Edward’s room. Edward looked up at Mustang puzzled by his incomplete thought.

“What do you mean not as much as I think?”

“All that red water you got exposed to in the Fifth Laboratory? Do you really think it didn’t affect you?”

“But Lieutenant Ross pulled me out of that circle before-”

“Her actions stopped it before you absorbed so much it overloaded you system and killed you but you still absorbed enough of that stuff for it to make a difference. It DID change you. How much remains to be seen...”

As he stood there helpless, his body being consumed by blue fire and electrified with the power of the Stone, Edward heard Lust whisper in a horrified tone, “Even in this unrefined state, this much exposure to the Stone could turn the boy into a god…”

But Lieutenant Ross had braved the Alchemical explosion and got Edward out of that Array before the forces at work around him overwhelmed his body. She had saved him, or so he had thought at the time.

The Red Water, the synthetic Philosopher’s Stone, was secretly being forged in the bowels of the infamous Fifth Laboratory. Convicts from the prison next to the lab were used in the twisted experiments being done there. Edward and Alphonse had uncovered the secrets of the Fifth Laboratory, their actions almost getting them killed in the process. There were arrests, the place was shut down and Edward’s status in the State military jumped several notches. However, Lust and the other homunculi working with her escaped and with her went the secret as to who was really in charge of that Lab.

“Well, I don’t FEEL any different,” Edward told him. “I guess I won’t know if my abilities were altered in any way until I do a circle that draws on my personal energy to fuel it.”

“I guess we’ll soon see if Lust was right. If indeed you were turned into an Alchemy god,” Mustang said.

“You’d love that wouldn’t you?” remarked Edward as he walked into his room.

Mustang followed closing the door behind him and allowing it to click locked. Edward heard the click of the lock and turned to face the Colonel. Mustang casually glanced over at Edward’s bed and then down at Edward and then back at the bed. He had a cocky smirk on his face and what his eyes were suggesting wasn’t lost on Edward.

“Hughes and Al are right out there and Tenshi could return at any moment,” Edward reminded him. “If you want any alone time with me you are going to have to get me out of here.”

“Not possible.”

“Then you’re sleeping alone tonight,” Edward told him as he dragged his IV with him as he returned to his bed.
Edward climbed back into his hospital bed and turned in time to find himself face to face with the Colonel. Edward tried to push him away but his efforts were in vain. Mustang easily got him flat on his back and began nibbling on the nerve rich area of skin where flesh and Auto-mail were joined. The Colonel’s skilled hand found its way inside Edward’s boxers and the young Alchemist moaned as Mustang began stroking his frenulum. His actions made all the blood depart from Edward’s brain and flow straight to his groin.

“No…stop…” Edward moaned before his capacity for speech left him.

“You’re afraid we’ll get caught?” the Colonel asked.

Edward closed his eyes. “Yes.”

“I’ll make this quick…”

Mustang was careful not to put pressure on Edward’s wounded gut as he repositioned him on the bed. He hadn’t come prepared to pleasure himself by making love to the boy. However, he was more than willing to give pleasure to Edward and enjoy turning the usually whip smart Fullmetal Alchemist into a gibbering pile of goo.
Mustang’s lips were like a feather as they worked their way down to Edward’s rock hard member. He took the boy inside his mouth, deep throating him with practiced ease. The sensations going through Edward’s body made cognitive thought impossible. He could do little more than lie on his bed like a pile of jelly and moan.

When the bliss of release came allowing his blood flow to return to normal, Edward began to slowly recover the ability to speak. He was exhausted both from the activity as well as the side effects of the medication he was on and he closed his eyes breathing heavily. He barely noticed his boxers being put back on and the covers getting tucked around him as he lay there basking in the afterglow.

“Feeling better?” Mustang asked him.

Edward cast a weary eyed gaze at him. “Bastard.”

“Glad to see you enjoyed it.”

He leaned over and kissed Edward on the forehead like he was a child saying, “Get some sleep, Ed. I’ll be back to see you tomorrow.”

“If you get me out of here I’ll do what you did to me to you.”

Mustang chuckled. “No, you won’t. But I’ll talk to the doctor and see what your status is.”

Edward sighed. “Thanks and, how do you know I wouldn’t-”

“Because I know you Ed,” he said simply. “We’ve been together long enough for me to know what your limitations are.”

“And you don’t mind operating within those narrow parameters?”

“I’m still here aren’t I?”

Edward made no further comment on that subject. Instead he asked, “Would you bring from my office what we’ll need to create the Ward? If I’m destined to be stuck here I might as well do something useful.”

“All right,” he agreed. “Now get some rest.”

When Mustang opened the door he found two very surprised people waiting there before him.

“Why was that door locked?” Hughes asked.

“Private conversation,” Mustang responded curtly. “Now keep it down, you two. Ed’s sleeping.”

Mustang left and Hughes and Alphonse looked at each other puzzled and then quietly entered Edward’s room. They both saw Edward tucked under his covers fast asleep. Hughes cast a curious look at the Colonel’s retreating back. He didn’t think the Colonel had a paternal bone in his body but seeing Edward nestled in his bed like that made Hughes wonder if he had misjudged his friend.

Alphonse was equally perplexed. The Colonel and his brother could barely share the same time zone without finding something to fight about. These past few days the two of them have actually managed to be in the same space without things degenerating into a mine-is-bigger-than-yours type testosterone fueled argument. Oh, they did sling the occasional barb at each other but that was the worst it got. If the two of them actually managed to pass the peace pipe after four years of borderline warfare then Alphonse would be very happy. The constant bickering was beginning to get old.

Both Hughes and Alphonse were pulled from their private thoughts when Tenshi bounced into the room. He was going to greet the two of them but when he noticed how quiet it was he instead just looked up at them wide-eyed.

“Ed’s sleeping,” Hughes told him and Tenshi nodded.

“Poor Edo-kun,” Tenshi said softly going up to Edward’s bedside. “He was hoping they’d let him out today.”

“He’s lucky he’s alive,” Hughes said in a low voice. “I saw his X-rays and the surgeon’s reports. That blade missed his spine by less than an inch. And I don’t want to even tell you how close it came to piercing his heart.”

“This happened because of me,” Tenshi said sadly. “Edo was trying to save me.”

“Tenshi, it wasn’t your fault!” Alphonse stated. “It was like the doctor said, we were in over our heads. We had no idea how powerful the White-Haired Man was.”

Tenshi slipped his small hand around Edward’s. The cold steel of his fingers touching Edward’s warm flesh roused him from his slumber. Edward opened his eyes and smiled when he saw Tenshi standing there beside him.

“Sorry I woke you,” Tenshi said quietly.

“It’s okay,” Edward said squeezing the small metal hand. “Long day?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Go to bed. We’ll talk in the morning.”

Tenshi smiled shyly at him. Edward’s gold eyes were clouded with fatigue but Tenshi could still tell his Sempai was happy to see him. He looked down at the strong human hand holding his metal one and sighed. He only knew Edward’s hand was there because of the pressure he was exerting to clasp Tenshi’s small metal fingers. As wonderful as Auto-mail was, it didn’t allow the wearer to experience all the sensations of touch. He couldn’t feel the warmth in the hand that held his or the suppleness of the skin. It was these sensations Tenshi missed most. Hot, cold, soft, scratchy, none of these was translated through the cybernetics. The only thing the metal registered was pressure, which allowed him to know how hard or gently he needed to grasp an object. And although he knew there was love in the hand that held his all he could feel was the pressure against his metal joints.

The little Alchemist withdrew his hand quickly and ducked behind the curtain that separated his bed area from Edward’s. Edward could hear the sound of fabric rustling so he knew Tenshi was changing out of his uniform. Hughes dared to peek around the curtain, which elicited a squeal of embarrassment from Tenshi who quickly grabbed the curtain and pulled it so it surrounded the whole bed. Hughes chuckled finding the reaction amusing and Alphonse looked less than pleased with the Lieutenant Colonel.

“That wasn’t very nice,” Alphonse chided Hughes.

“Why is he so shy? He has nothing to be ashamed of,” Hughes commented lightly.

“Leave him alone,” Edward ordered.

Hughes was momentarily taken aback. Edward rarely got peeved at him. Obviously he had crossed a line. “Sorry,” he said.

Quietly Edward explained, “Tenshi doesn’t like people seeing how much of him isn’t flesh and blood.”

“So he doesn’t like people knowing he has Auto-mail,” Hughes surmised.

“It’s not that he has it its how MUCH of it he has,” Edward corrected.

Hughes nodded in understanding. Then he asked Edward, “Does it bother you to have people see your Auto-mail?”

Edward looked at Hughes like he just grew another head. “Fuck no. I’ve gone through combats where I came out practically naked. I’m called the Fullmetal Alchemist for a reason you know.”

“So you’re okay with it?”

“Beats the alternative,” Edward stated flatly.

“I really don’t think we should talk about this any more,” Alphonse suggested.

Edward looked at his brother and was about to comment but instead came out with a loud yawn. The combination of the medication he was getting and Mustang’s tension relieving ministrations were catching up with him quickly. His eyelids were drooping heavily and he said, “I’m going back to sleep.”

Tenshi peered from around the curtain at Edward and then over at Hughes and Alphonse. “I’m going to sleep too,” he told them and then disappeared behind the drape.

“Guess that leave us to amuse ourselves,” Hughes commented.

Alphonse shrugged and made no reply. Hughes found a deck of cards and the two of them began a quiet game of rummy. With the White-Haired Man still on the loose Tenshi and Edward were both being kept under guard, preferably by guards who were Alchemists. Hughes had great skill at close quarters combat so he was pulling some guard duty because the small hospital room was the exact type of environment he worked in best. He was going to be relieved by Armstrong at midnight so he only had an hour so before it would be time for him to make his way home. He had a warm bed and his even warmer wife Gracia waiting for him. Hopefully, the time would pass uneventfully…
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MORE TO COME - my connection is going to be better because I am getting CAD 5 and cable modem!