Chapter Text
The first thing he noticed was the blinding light. He had to close his eyes to escape the burning feeling. You would think that after staring into a white plane of nothingness for 5 years, nothing could phase you, but it did. It absolutely did.
The second thing he noticed was the scents. They were flooding his senses and stressing him out. There were so many of them, and they were all distressed, though Alphonse didn't know how exactly he knew that. The scents were driving him insane; he tried to cover his nose, but he couldn't move.
There was a voice. He couldn't make out where the voice was coming from or who it was, but it sounded scared. Then, there were hands. Hands that dragged Al into a hug before draping something over his body. Soft fabric covers his body, protecting him. The hands are warm as they stroke his arm. It lights his skin on fire. The voice kept talking. Al couldn't understand any of it. Everything was too much.
The smell of honey-filled his senses, finally giving Al something to ground himself with. It calmed him immensely; it smelled like home. Before he could bask in the calmness, his mind started to cloud.
He faded into nothingness.
~~~~~~~~
The moment he feels the solid ground, He's on his feet and looking for Al. He barely finds the skeletal body that is his little brother, his pale body blending in with the rubble. The only thing that sticks out is his matted golden hair. He looked dead. The only way Ed knew he was alive was the sickeningly sweet scent of distress he was emitting.
"Alphonse!" He moved faster than he ever has, ignoring all his injuries. The smell became more pungent the closer he got, but it didn't bother him at all, and his sprint never broke.
He felt the skin on his knees break and bleed as he stumbled to his brother's side. Al didn't acknowledge his arrival, he made no movement whatsoever. Ed dropped to his knees before grabbing his brother and pulling him into his lap. Oh god, Al was so frail. He weighed almost nothing. His scent glands were swollen and irritated, his skin rough and dry. His muscles gave small twitches, trying to make any sort of movement.
"Hey, Al, are you with me?" Edward gently tossed his red coat over his brother's naked body. Whether it was for decency or for scenting, he didn't know. Al only responded with a hoarse and broken whine. The noise broke his heart.
"I know baby, I know. Just hang in there, okay?" He tried his best to settle Al by letting out a calming smell. He felt anything but calm at the moment but would do anything to help his brother.
The effect was instantaneous. Al's body relaxed, his muscles no longer twitching and-
Ed could no longer see the rising and falling of his chest. Al wasn't breathing.
Ed quickly put his hand up to his brother's neck, trying to find a pulse. He let out a startled sob when he couldn't find one.
"Fuck!" Ed gently laid Al on the ground and immediately began CPR. He began compressions all the while crying. Tears welled up in his eyes, . He could feel his brother's ribs crack under his hand, the sickening crack almost made him throw up. After 15 compressions, he checked for a pulse again. Nothing. He quickly pinched Al's nose shut and gave 2 rescue breaths before repeating the process.
Tears dripped from his cheeks and onto Al's neck. He had just gotten his brother back; he was not going to lose him so soon. His vision was blurry, and his arms burned, but he kept going until he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was tugging at him, trying to pull him away. Trying to take him away from Alphonse. A rumble built in his throat, warning whoever was trying to pull him away from Alphonse.
"Edward!" It was Riza. After all this, it's Riza who tries to stop him?
"Edward, you need to stop; he's not -"
"SHUT UP!" Edward screamed, his voice cracking. He felt Riza remove her hand in shock; he didn't care. His brother would be fine; he couldn't give up. He stopped his compressions to give Al two breaths before locking his arms in place and continued.
"Edward…"
"Stop."
"Ed, please he's -"
"I said stop!"
"-he's dead! Edward, stop. He's dead."
Ed felt his blood boil. His brother was not dead; how could she say that? He was going to be fine, they always pulled through!
"...Ed…" He could hear Riza begin to cry. It didn't matter. He was crying too; he was crying so that Al could cry again. But he had been doing CPR for almost 5 minutes at this point, and nothing had happened. No, he needed to stop thinking about that.
Ed stopped his compressions once again to give Al breaths, but as he was leaning down, his brother took in a big breath of air. Ed quickly removed himself from Al before checking his pulse once more. It was very faint, but it was there. Al was alive.
Without even wasting a second, he picked Al up as gently and as quickly as he could before frantically looking around for an ambulance. Instead, he found that almost everyone had gathered around to watch him cry over his brother. The thought of them just watching Al infuriated him.
"What the fuck are you all doing? Get him a fucking ambulance!" He heard shuffling and yelling in the background, but he wasn't paying attention. Ed had Al cradled in his arms and began to squeeze him closer to his chest. He could still see the subtle rise and fall of Al's frail chest as he took each breath. That helped settle him at least a little.
There was yelling in the distance, and Ed snapped his head up, preparing for a threat, ready to protect his brother at all costs. When he whipped around, he found an officer he didn't recognize waving him over and yelling. He saw red and blue flashing lights and, without a second thought, began sprinting over.
Ed tightened his grip on Al as he neared the ambulance. The EMTs were already waiting with a stretcher and IV near the van. When he got close enough to the van for the medics to see Al, they all gasped.
"Help him! Please! I'll do anything; just keep him alive!" Ed sobbed, clutching him closer. They had to almost pry Al out of his hands before he let go. Ed watched them put Al on a stretcher before loading him into the ambulance. He moved to climb on with Al before he was pulled back.
"You need to calm down. You need medical attention as well!"
"Fuck that! I need to be with my brother! Let go of me!"
"If you're going to be this stressed out, then we can't have you in the ambulance with him. He's probably scared to death because of the scent you're giving off."
Shit. Ed had completely forgotten about that. After focusing on himself for a bit, he could see what the medic was talking about. He reeked of distress. He hadn't meant to get so worked up, but it's hard not to when your baby brother dies in your arms.
He watched as they hooked Alphonse up to every machine they had, before closing the doors and speeding off, sirens blaring.
He whined as Al disappeared from his view, away from him. A doctor placed her hand on his shoulder, "The faster we get you to the hospital, the sooner you can see your brother."
Ed couldn't argue with that. With a sigh, he allowed himself to be put on a stretcher and wheeled into the ambulance. He'd been in this situation many times. He was prepared when they put the mask over his face that slowly put him to sleep. He was out within seconds.