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It was the first time Alphonse had gone on his own to the playground beside the hospital since the Promised Day, and it had taken weeks of wheedling Edward to let him go out alone, and even then, Edward said he would be watching from somewhere on the top floor.
Across the street, halfway back from the playground, he spotted a flash of orange at the mouth of an alley.
A cat!
He scampered over to it, slowing down as he got near so as not to scare it, but it turned and darted into the alley and under a dumpster.
“Oh!” He followed it, careful not to make any sudden movements. He crouched to look it in the eye, reaching out to it. “Come here, kitty,” he crooned, “Come with me, I’ll feed you, I’ll love you.”
And then the cat yowled and darted away. Before Alphonse could get up to chase after it, an arm wrapped around him, pinning his arms. Before he could scream, a hand clamped over his mouth.
Two more figures emerged from the shadows. The man holding him threw him to the ground and planted a foot on his back, while the one bound his hands and the other stuffed a wad of cloth into his mouth and wrapped a strip of fabric around his face so he couldn’t spit it out.
He threw his head up as one of his attackers leaned down, and the man reeled back, clutching his nose.
He had barely a second to relish it before a glass bottle crashed down on his head.
--
When he awoke, he was in a cage pushed up against a concrete wall. There was a cluster of men across the room, their voices raised.
A chill ran down his spine at the sight of their uniforms. Drachman soldiers.
And in the center, trapped against the wall, was Edward.
Alphonse yelped, trying to call out to him through the gag.
“AL!” Edward cried, and made to dart to his side.
One of the Drachmans, a curly-haired man with a blue sash, grabbed the back of his shirt and leaned down to whisper something into his ear. Then he let go, and Edward scampered over and dropped to his knees.
“Al!” he all but sobbed, “Al! A-are you okay? Did they hurt you? I’ll get you out here soon, I promise…”
Alphonse nodded, then shook his head.
Tears welled up in Edward’s eyes. “You’ve been gone for hours, Al. There was blood in that alley, I thought you were dead!”
Then he turned to the man with the blue sash. “Can I hold him?”
He hesitated for a moment, a flash of what must have been pity crossing his face, then he turned to one of the others, a man with a green sash. A commander.
The commander nodded, and the man with the blue sash unlocked the cage. Alphonse wriggled out, and Edward scooped him up, cradling him like he was a baby. Alphonse chewed at the cloth between his teeth. Edward moved it aside and pulled out the bundle in his mouth.
“What do they want?” he whispered.
“Hey!” the man in blue snapped, hurrying over to pry Alphonse from Edward’s arms.
The others swarmed around Edward and dragged him, cursing and writhing, out of the room.
“Brother!” Alphonse cried.
Shushing him, the man shoved the cloth back into his mouth and tied the strap around his head again. He settled Alphonse back in the cage, locked it up, and followed the others out, switching off the light as he left.
All alone in the darkness, Alphonse curled into a ball and dissolved into tears.