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The smell of rust and the dampness on the walls was the only break from the metallic tang of blood in the warehouse. Mustang could barely see the walls from the dim, amber lights that his eyes long got used to. But he could see his wounded, broken subordinate clearly. He was leaning against a filthy support beam, his eyes were closed but Mustang could see the tremors on his face from the pain of his automail arm got ripped of.
"Fullmetal. You there?" Mustang whispered from a near support beam he was bound to. He was trying to loosen the wooden handcuffs for probably days now. "Answer me, damn it!"
"I'm alive, bastard. 'M just tryin' to ignore the thoughts about how your perfect plan made us lyin' 'ere" his eyes were still shut, and with the slurring of the words, Mustang could tell he was exhausted from the days long torture he was facing.
"Stay awake."
" 'm aw'ke"
As Mustang was about the start a benter about nothing like he did for the god knows how many days to keep Edward awake, he heard their captors sounds from the outside. He couldn't pick up the exact sentences but it was about 'something something "military is being right on their tails", something something about "transporting", something something about "choosing who to" '
Mustang was battered with bruises and injuries sure, he was shaken sure, but he was lucid enough to understand some parts about what they mean. "Fullmetal! Wake up! We need to move. How is your leg?" He was trying to shake off his bonds. He still needed to make them a little looser before he could be free. All he needed was time. Just a little more time.
Edward slowly opened his golden eyes that turned flaxen with fatigue and possibly a mild concussion. "Surely cracked but probably not broken." His voice was clearly irritated but at least he returned to land of living with the fear of getting even further away from the help that might be on the road. "I can walk with help. You?"
Before Mustang can answer, the door opened and one of the captors walked in, a gun in hand. He wore the same irritating, humiliating smile on his face they seen for days. "good evening gentelmen. I really wished I could play with both of you for longer."
These men were simpler people than they think they were. That would made Edward even more irritated if he could think anything other than clenching his teeth so as not to cry from pain. Because they were just Amesterians with enough lack of a brain to work for Drachma.
The poor looking man pointed the barrel of the gun to Edward. "But, you're going somewhere else with us, puppy." he was waving the gun in a newfound hurried way. The delight on his face was twitching with the stress behind his eyes.
He turned from the depressing looking boy to Mustang. "And you are dead-weight to us now you old dog. So I am basically just going to take out the trash." The barrel was turned against Mustang's head.
The surprise on the Colonel's face was readable for a second before it turned into a disgusting acceptance. The look was enough to froze the blond boy's blood in his vessels.
What was about that pretended peace on his face?
"Edward. Look away." His words were simple yet heavy.
What was with the final look on his eyes? How could he?
"N-no..." Ed was not thinking irrationally. He was simply not thinking at all.
"Edward. Don't make me beg you." Mustang's voice was sharp, commanding but not sure. Not that blunt voice of a leader giving the final desicions.
It was trembling slightly.
And he was beggin already.
Mustang's eyes were stinging with tears full of fear. His hands were clammy with sweat. The air was thick but not enough. Not enough.
He didn't breath enough for a lifetime.
He wanted to close his eyes. Shut them until the pain that will be his last memory comes and gets him. Or maybe he won't have time to feel the pain of his brain painting the walls behind. He didn't know. He didn't die before.
He was about to do that now.
He had so many things to think and worry before he died but as the barrel of the gun touched his tample, Mustang's mind got blank. He could feel the coolness from the metal against his head, hear his heart pumping fast and deep. To make him think, to make him run. But his mind was blank and all he could do was turning his eyes towards Edward to check if he really closed his eyes. Maybe say sorry with his look.
"I said no. It's just irrational." Ed took a deep breath before talking to make himself more creditable. "If you kill one of us and want to leave this place in one piece, you need a bargain." Edward took his eyes from the Colonel. "I am simply not a good bargain." He shrugged, he was playing a relax character way too good for a boy injured and ready to cry from stress in a solitary place. It was just his voice trembling giving his stress away but it was not defeated like Mustang's.
"Fullmetal-"
"The bastard you are holding a gun to his head, is a Colonel. He has the information you need. And I am a child playing soldier." His golden eyes were flickering towards Mustang time to time as a reflex but he couldn't read what he was seeing that fast. "And I don't know about the questions you are asking. He does. At least you get the answers, right?" But as much as Ed can read from his periheral vision, Mustang's peace was long gone. Traded with the terror of a man who has more anxiety than a rabbit chased by a dog.
" What are yo- shut up. That's an order."
Edward was not even hearing Mustang completely. "The military will want their Colonel back. So you can even get ransom." Edward was smiling. As the man with the gun getting away from Mustang, Edward was smiling.
"Are you believing a twelve year old child?! He is delirious from the- I don't even know!" Edward being twelve left a sour taste on Mustang's tongue but he had no time to think about this.
Edward turned to Mustang with a new wave of anger. Were they really gonna argue about who this man is going to kill?
"I am thirteen and a half, bastard!"
This sentence was even worse as how much clearer it made how young Edward was.
The man was still walking towards Edward. A click of the safety coming off between his steps. The sound of a finality.
"No way." Mustang felt his stomache churning. His head was lighter from not even being able to grasp what was going on. He could still feel the coldness of the gun against his hairline. But now it was on Edward's head?
"Why were you honest with me? About him being more useful for us."
Edward looked at the man holding his own death with his index finger, knowing his last words was about to be lies. He knew he couldn't tell him he lied. That Mustang will probably turn them into ashes while they drive away. He has to come up with something about why he was telling the 'truth'
But nothing came to his tongue like how he made up senarios just moments ago. All he could manage was a choked sound of a child crying.
Braving up was harder with a barrel against his head.
"Alright kiddo. Goodnight. I hope you wake up in a place better than military headquarters."
It was a strange thing to hear from their captor and torturer considering he tortured Edward too to get information, Mustang thought. Ironic. Moronic. But they were morons who left him with handcuffs that he succesfully made loose enough now.
Mustang pushed the captor as he finally stood up.
There was a loud bang.
And a flashing white light of the pain Ed felt. Then a deep darkness swallowing the whole place at once.
Edward was lying face down.
The smell of gunpowder was still in the air, sharper than ever. And Edward was lying face down, blood creeping under him.
Mustang was not able to look away before the man tackled him. His torn up uniform made contact with the ground but Mustang felt no pain even with his bruised and broken ribs. No pain from his burning muscles as he was wrestling with the man now.
All he could hear was his ears ringing. All he could feel was the coldness seeping inside his shredded shirt from the ground. And all he could see was the view of Edward lying down in a pool of blood. Even while his eyes were locked to the captors eyes. Looking inside his soul.
He might be fighting for five minutes or five days before the door of the warehouse was blown up. Soldiers running inside.
There was a one sharp gunshot from the doorway that made Mustang flinch. Within just miliseconds, the captor was on him, deathweight. His brain blown out by none-other than Hawkeye.
Mustang could now hear more than the ringing. The sets of footsteps coming to his side. He flinched again and throw the deadman from his chest. He could see Hawkeye coming to his side and a blond man running towards where Edward was lying.
He was seeing red, he tried to snap his finger towards the blond man so he could stop. But he didn't have his gloves on and nothing happened. Why wasn't Hawkeye doing anything?
As he stood up before the blond man could get any more near to Fullmetal, he heard Hawkeye's voice calling him with a nerveous "Colonel!"
But no time.
He arrived to the kids side. "Colonel-? You need to move. I need to-" Havoc was carrying a white bag. Mustang's chest was heaving. His eyes had landed on a familiar face yet his glare was still hostile.
He felt like throwing up. So Havoc just turned his head to look at Edward as gently as he can. The blood, the paper white skin. Mustang could feel his eyes getting wet before he realized the wheezing noise coming from Edward.
That was the moment he realized there was not head blown this side of the warehouse like Hawkeye's shot spilled the mans head empty.
The blood pooling behind Edward was coming from his abdomen. Not head.
"OH GOD! OH SHI-" he jumped away to make rrom for Havoc. "OH MY- OH F- IS HE?"
"Alive." Havoc gave the simplest, shortest answer. "Lieutenant, Can you please take the Colonel out and load him into the ambulance?"
"Wait no- I need to-"
Havoc answered without turning his head again. "Colonel, we need to load him into another ambulance. Please."
Mustang was full of adrenaline and a head full of cotton but he knew he had to go. So he took a deep breath to calm down, failed, and got on his footing. He was hearing Havoc talking to the medics, Hawkeye shouting for the medics outside about him himself being in shock.
He turned his head to look for Edward again, they were putting him on strecher. There was no body bag. So Edward was alive.
He could feel how hurt and tired he was for the first time after Edward started to bargain away his own life.
The shoulder sling Mustang's arm was on was as uncomfortable as the wheelchair he was sitting. Playing with the iv on his hand was not enough to calm his nerves as he waited infront of the operation room. The nurses insisted he stayed at his room but he had no patience to stay away from the doctors who was about to deliver news about his subordinate.
The waiting room was infuriatingly silent other than the ticking of the clock on the wall. It has been an hour of no news and the clock had marked the 3600 seconds individually.
The others were after the other captor. Only Hawkeye was with him tonmake sure he is not ripping his IV off. Though she was away with a nurse for some paperwork about Edward so Mustang was alone now.
The other side of the wall was a bunch of doctors, opening up Fullmetals gut in search of a bullet.
Being shot in the abdomen was not an instant death sentance like being shot in the head but it was still pretty gravely. So many of his men died to similar wounds in Ishival. Would Edward ve already-
No way. They would have give him the bad news by now.
But the operation rooms light was still shining red and that meant the danger was not gone.
As he was about to spiral in his mind, he heard the rhythmic sounds of a pair of combat boots. This rhythm would be none other than his lieutenant.
"Colonel, I brought some papers you need to sign as his legal guardian." She had a mercyfull expression on her face that he rarely saw. Her bright brown eyes were soft on his face. The softest thing he had felt for days by now.
"Yeah sure."
He took the papers on his lap, she put the pen on his palm.
Name: Edward
Surname: Elric
Height: 4'11
Age:.....
His pen got stuck on the paper after the word "age" as he realized he was about write twelve.
He felt his stomache churning again as he wrote "thirteen and a half"
By the time he came at the end of the paper and signed it; he felt bile in his mouth, burning the way it climbed.
He gave the papers to the blonde woman by his side and excused himself, standing up with shaky legs to walk towards the nearest trashcan.
As he was dry heaving, holding the sides of the trash, Hawkeye decided it was enough alone time with the trashcan for Mustang so she came after him.
"You did everything you can, Colonel."
Mustang was looking at the mess he made in the trash. "I know."
"They are doing their best too"
"I know" his mouth moved otomatically.
"You should rest too"
"I can't. I have to make sure-"
"You need to recover." Her voice was commanding. Soft but final.
"I need to call Alphonse. He must be worried sick."
"I already did. He is on his way."
Mustang tore his gaze from the vomit to look at his lieutenant. His eyes was still wet from the puking. Her eyes was tired.
Operation took 8 hours and four cups of coffee since even Hawkeye couldn't make him return to his hospital room. The doctor came out had an exhausted look on his face. But it was no face of a doctor giving the worst news. Both Mustang and Hawkeye was in a worried stand in seconds.
"We had to resuscidate him for two times but we succesfully got the bullet out."
Two times was a lot of times to die. More than enough for an adult. Simply irresponsible for a child thirteen and a half.
"He was lucky to retain all his organs. We believe the arrests were caused by the hemorrhagic shock and the dehydration. We had to gave him three units of blood but he is stable now."
Stable...
"He had a lot of fight left in him, I must confess. We will watch him for the next 24 hours in the ICU. But we are waiting a full recovery."
The doctor continued to count the injuries but the rest of it was a blur of Mustang.
Edward died two times in the table. The thought was enought to make mustang want to run towards the trashcan again.
However the words "full recovery" was like a music to his ears. He felt all his muscles giving away, lefting him as a ragdoll. Ready to fall but he was stood in a swaying stand anyway.
Full recovery.
After thinking he was dead not even a day ago, it felt like a miracle.
Edward was feeling like he was floating in the air. He could hear someone talking above him, there was an annoying beeping nearby. And he could feel blinding lights burning his pupils even behind his eyelids.
He tried to open his eyes but there was no luck in that so he squinted them.
He felt a warm something putting preasure on his forehead. "Rest, Fullmetal."
The sound was emberrassingly soothing yet he couldn't understand why it was soothing or emberrassing.
The second time he wake up, he was just a piece of pain floating in the sea of agony. His eyes opened without his permission but he could understand that he was in a hospital just by the sharp smell of antiseptics.
This must be his personal hell.
"Brother!" The echoing voice of a child in an empty suit of armor tore his thoughts away. "Hey, Al-"
He was waiting a warm metalic hug from his little brother but it was a slap against his head welcoming him. The giant hand hit him in the were it was not hurting so at least he could tell that Alphonse was not hating him.
"I heard everthing! We were looking out for you everywhere in the country why would you- You gambled your life!"
Edward knew that if he had a body, Alphonse would be crying now. "I'm sorry Al... I was just trying to buy some time." He would be fighting with someone else for this but not his brother. He was already feeling the guilt eating him by the trembling voice of his little brother. Rightfully so. He was almost leaving his brother in this world with nobody.
"You stupid-" but Alphonse didn't finish his sentence. He just wrapped his arms around his elder brother and said nothing else.
Edward didn't know how long they hugged before he started to whisper his apologies.
Alphonse broke the hug as Edward start coughing.
"Right. Have some water" he shoved a glass of water in Edward's hands in a hurry.
Edward drank the whole glass in a one big gulp. The coolness calmed the ache in his throat. His mouth was a desert. As he put down the best water he ever had to the bedside table, he wondered "How long was I out?"
"Three days. I arrived yesterday. We were all so worried."
Oh. That would explain the dryness in his throat.
"Yeah. Sorry about that. I- actually have no idea why it all happened. I'm sorry I've made you worried."
Alphonse looked at him a little longer than normal. He clearly had things to say but he was holding them.
"You know you can just- I mean... Just say what you want."
"You are a stupid, stupid brother."
"Yeah I guess I earned that." Edward lowered his gaze at the sheets. Sterile shade of white of sheets...
"No. Ugh... Just... Don't do this again. There are people waiting for your return each mission. Not just me, there is Winry, Granny, the whole team, Colonel himself if he is not with you-"
"Don't start with him. He is not in that group. He is just an idiotic egomaniac who needed an easy step for a promotion. There is nothing sentimental."
For a suit of armor, Alphonse was always really expressive with just his silence.
"You know that bastard is not that emotional Alphons-"
"I'm gonna make the doctors aware that you woke up. You should talk with Colonel. He seemed upset about what you did." Alphonse was done with this bickering
Edward coughed as the surprise made the air stuck in his throat. "I saved his butt and he is upset? He can kiss my ass then. That ungreatful piece of-"
"Brother! He is worried about you. Just listen to me for once and talk with him. I'll be right back and tell him you woke up on my way."
Edward gave a unimpressed look to his brother as he walked to the door. "Talk with him." Was the last thing he said before walking away from the door.
The knocking on the door came a lot earlier than Edward innitially thought after Alphonse left the room. "You know you can come." His voice was hoarser than expected.
The door didn't open for a moment. It was like if the other sider was not sure if he should break the peaceful solitary in the room.
But Mustang finally opened the door silently. He was clearly trying to maintain his soldier mask on but his gaze had genuine sadness. This was not good.
"You're awake" his voice was controlled, almost cold. But Ed could read the relieve in the tone even with the high of painkillers
"You look like shit." Edward tried to joke his way out. But it was true, Mustang looked like a mess with his unshaved face and purple eyes.
Ed knew he was no better, if not worse so he waited for an insult in return like always. Or at least a 'you are worse'
But all the Colonel doing was looking at him with the same sad eyes.
"Swear you won't do it again." Was all the Colonel said. Even colder than before.
"Do what? Save your ass?" Edward tried to protect his place in this coming fight. "I'm sorry you didn't do that yourself so someone had to!"
"You didn't save my life. You bagrained away your own life for mine!"
"I'm sorry you wanted to die?! How was I supposed to know you wanted to die in a crappy warehouse. I thought you wanted to step on me so you got your oh so precious promotion!"
"What are you even talking about?!"
"Oh what? We both know that all you worried about is losing your ticket for a better rank." Ed just throw the venom out in a casual, even irritated expression.
"Is that so? Then why am I filling your sorry ass reports about property damage all day every day instead of just firing you, Fullmetal? Why am I even trying to make you stay in this goddamn military?" Mustang was done with playing soft now. "Why am I getting scolded every other week by higher ups in your regards when I just can get you kicked out?"
"Is this a threat? Are you threating me with my position? Very kind of you towards your saviour."
Mustang's face got tighter with the word saviour. "You are not my saviour, you are clearly child with a death fantasy! I thought getting Al's and yours body was your goal but I guess it was playing martyr at the first oppurtinity."
"Don't get Al involved with this."
"But you were okay with leaving him when you begged a man to kill you. To kill you!"
"I never said-"
"You begged a man to kill you."
"Because you were okay with him killing YOU! Your selfish ass was about to make me watch you die!" Edward's eyes was getting wet but none of them was in a condition to realized that.
"YOU MADE ME WATCH YOU DIE!"
"No, I didn't! What are you-"
"YOU DID! YOU DIED! TWO FUCKING TIMES YOU DIED EDWARD ELRIC!"
There was a silence after that with the ringing of the both mens ears.
"You made me watch you die, because of me." Mustang was not shouting his lungs off now. "You died at the table. Two times."
Edward was looking at the mans face with blank eyes. "It's not- Even if I died, It was not for you." Edward tried to bite again but the fire was not there anymore. "You are not that, bastard. Why would I kill myself for you?"
Mustang looked at him with the same sad eyes he walked in the room. "You died for what then, Fullmetal? Just to die?"
Ed stopped trying to break what was already broken. He just looked down for a second before answering honestly for the first time "Because you were okay with him killing you..."
"I was okay with you surviving."
"Why?"
There was no honest answer Mustang can give and Ed knew that.
"The same reason you tried to make me bury you."
"You don't get to do that." Edward's voice cracked in the middle.
"Do what?" The tiredness on Mustang's face finally reached his voice now
"To get yourself killed with peace. Especially not for me. I didn't ask you to do that."
"Edward, I am your commanding officer and the adult in your life. It's my job to protect you. Not the other way around." He finally took a deep breath and sat down the foot of the bed. "Let me do my one job."
"I couldn't just watch you die." Edward's voice was trembling down with his lips now. "He was about to- and I can't. Not after mom and Al. I can't just lose another person I-" care was a word Edward was not able to use infront of Mustang because if he did, than the whole illusion would be broken. "I can't live with another person dying because of me." There were tears rolling down his cheeks.
"I'm sorry I dragged you a life where you had to watch that."
Mustang wiped the tears of off Edward's face.
"It's just the damn medications. Nothing else."
"Sure."
There was a silence again but it was not full of tension like the one moments ago. It was just a man and a child trying to maintain what little dignity they had.
"If you talk about this crying to anyone, I swear I would put a bullet in your head myself." Edward hiccuped after a deep sob.
"What crying?"
The silence in the room was broken only by the sound of Edward's sobs for minutes as Mustang pat his back gently.
"Mustang?"
"Yes, Fullmetal?"
"Thank you."
Mustang smiled a little with that. "Don't thank me too early, you still has to sign paperworks about your death."
"Bastard"