We'll Go Together
Disclaimer: I do not own anything! All characters belong to the creators of Fullmetal Alchemist.
PLEASE READ Alrighty, so here's a little bit of info. This story takes place two years after the series ended. Instead of Ed ending up on the other side of the gate like he did in the series, he stays in Armestris with Al, but he still loses his right arm and left leg in the process. So in this case, THE MOVIE DID NOT HAPPEN! Yuppers…There is some Al torture and tons of angst, character death, although of course, I won't say who at this point, oh, and I'm still debating endings right now, some happy, some not, so I'm just warning you. Hehe, enjoy!
Chapter 1: Gone
A solitary vehicle coursed along the dark street towards its destination at the late hour. A young man with a long blond ponytail sighed as the rain began to fall harder against the windshield and the wind's cries grew louder. "It's really bad tonight, Riza." he said, turning to the blond woman driving the vehicle. "You know you really don't have to…"
"Nonsense. You're on the way, and besides, I enjoy the company." Edward shrugged and continued to look out the window. He caught a glimpse of himself in the side mirror and grinned. He was most certainly taller now. Not much taller, he reminded himself with a sigh, but taller nonetheless. He was eighteen now, an age he would have never dreamed of reaching during the chaos of his earlier years. As he stared at his own reflection, memories of the past began to flood his mind…
Riza suddenly slammed on the brakes, and Ed was immediately pulled from his thoughts. Riza seemed relatively collected, while Ed grew frantic.
"What the hell was that for?!?!" Edward yelled.
"Look…" She pointed to something in the middle of the road. A small gray kitten looked up at the vehicle in absolute terror. Ed's eyes grew wide. "Crap." He immediately turned to look at the figure lying in the back seat. Sure enough, his younger brother was sleeping soundly, completely unperturbed by the incident. Edward gave a huge sigh of relief, and once the kitten ran from the road, motioned for Riza to continue driving. Riza chuckled and raised an eyebrow at Edward.
Ed shrugged." What??? Al's in love with cats. He's angry enough that I won't let him have one. If he would have seen that one, haha, I would have never heard the end of it…"
Riza and the Elrics continued down the dark road until they reached Ed's new home. Though the rain had finally ceased, Ed still sighed. "It's freezing. Sheesh." The monstrous wind blew in full force, and a loud crash of thunder could be heard from a distance. Ed glanced at the brunette, breathing quietly in the back seat. "I tell you, that kid can sleep through anything." Ed smiled for a bit, then sighed heavily. "You know, for a long while, our goal just seemed so unreachable. I still can't believe it…we actually got Al's body back…"
"But what about yours?" Riza immediately cut in. Ed looked at her, then looked at Al again and smiled. "I don't care. I've gotten used to this automail, and besides, it's just an arm and a leg, nothing compared to what he had to go through…I'm just glad he's okay and back to normal." He grew quiet and when he spoke again his voice barely audible. "I'm so scared of losing him Riza. Just so scared…" He sighed and retreated to glancing out the window. "I refused to let Al be a part of the military, but he didn't listen. He wouldn't let me be in this alone. I don't want him involved with the military; it's nothing but trouble…"
He sighed, and opened the car door. "Well, thank you Lieutenant." Ed climbed out of the car and gently closed the door behind him. He turned to commence towards the two-storied home, when Riza honked the horn. He turned to the car and saw her pointing to the back seat with a "Aren't you forgetting something?" kinda look. Ed chuckled and slapped his forehead. He opened one of the doors to the back seat and tried to figure how he would manage to get his younger sibling out without waking him. His brother wasn't wearing a jacket, so Ed took off his own, the classic red one, and carefully put it on the sleeping sixteen-year-old. After many unsuccessful attempts to remove Al from the vehicle, he finally grew impatient. He shook Al a few times, and when that didn't work, he gently tugged on his brother's long brown ponytail. The younger boy finally looked up at him; large innocent brown eyes meeting with Ed's sharp golden ones.
"Ow…."Al was clearly half awake.
"Okay Alphonse, just get on my back and I'll get you inside, okay?" Al nodded and yawned, and wrapped his arms around Ed's neck. Ed lifted him, tried to grow accustomed to the weight, and groaned. "You are way too big for a stupid piggy-back ride…" Miraculously, Edward somehow managed to make it to the front door. He opened it quickly and stepped inside, signaling Riza that it was okay for her to leave. She smiled, waved back, and slowly drove off to her own home.
Once inside, Ed locked the front door, and carried Alphonse upstairs to his bedroom. Al was already asleep again, so he carefully placed him on his bed and pulled the covers over him. "Screw the pj's, the kid's tired…" he muttered. Al was still wearing Ed's red coat, but Ed didn't mind. He backed away, towards the bedroom door and leaned against the doorway. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he watched the covers rise and fall to his brother's breaths. His brother was breathing…something he hadn't seen in what felt like forever. It truly was an amazing sight.
A rather loud ring of the phone interrupted Ed, and he sighed. He took one last look at Al, turned to leave and shut the door behind him. He took the ringing phone off the receiver and answered it. It was none other than Roy Mustang.
"Look Fullmetal, something came up and we need you down here."
"It's late Mustang. GOODNIGHT."
"I've sent a car to go pick you up. What time is it right now?"
"1:30."
"Riza should be there any minute."
"Riza too?!? What is your problem?!"
"Just get yourself over here, or you can consider yourself fired." Mustang hung up, and Ed was left listening to silence on the other end. "Damn." Just as he placed the phone back on the receiver, Riza's car pulled up into the driveway. He left his home, locked the door behind him, and headed off back to that damn Colonel Sarcasm.
The rain returned as another car pulled up to the Elric home an hour later. Three men got out of the large black vehicle, all of them dressed in black, red eyes glaring from their masks. One of them motioned for the other two to follow and headed to the back of the home. They scanned the back of the home, until their eyes came to rest on a window near the back door. One man carried a crowbar and immediately smashed the glass window to pieces. In total silence, they managed to enter the home without harm. One man stayed on the first level to keep watch, while the other two retreated upstairs.
They quietly opened the nearest door and watched as a young boy slept in silence. The tall man opened the black bag he was carrying and pulled out a picture. The picture was faded, and it showed what appeared to be Edward standing alongside a large suit of armor. The tall man pointed out to the other one the red coat the boy was wearing in the picture, and to the one the sleeping boy was wearing now.
"This is our kid. This is the one he wants," he whispered. The man with the bag pulled out a cloth that had been wet by a few drops of chloroform, and preceded to the boy on the bed. The other man suddenly grabbed Al's wrists and held them far apart, and the man with the cloth straddled Al's hips. Alphonse immediately woke up, his eyes wide from shock. The man on top of him stared into the teen's large brown eyes and smirked.
"Hello Fullmetal."
Al's eyes were full of fear and confusion, but before he could say a word the man roughly covered his nose and mouth with the drugged cloth. He began to struggle, but with two men holding him, it was to no avail. He screamed for his brother, but the cloth muffled his cries. He could tell there were what seemed to be initials on the back of the cloth, but he could not make it out. He was terrified; he was lost. 'Brother? What if they…no they couldn't, Ed couldn't be…but then why'd they call me Fullmetal? They must think…' Al grew angry and suddenly managed to knock the man on top of him into the wall. He bit one of the hands holding on to his wrists, and the man cried out and immediately released him. Al jumped off the bed, but immediately began to notice the awful effects of the drug. He grew extremely dizzy, and he could barely keep his eyes open. He was internally fighting to stay conscious. The young boy stumbled out of the room, but as he approached the stairs he met another man. Al clapped his hands together, his gloves creating a shock that knocked the man down the stairs. But before he could run, the other two were on him again, pinning him to the hallway wall. The cloth was returned and after a few more seconds of screaming and struggling, Al's eyes shut and he collapsed into the arms of his kidnappers.
"Okay, we got him. We gotta go get Darian and show him the kid. Let's go," he said as he dropped the cloth to the floor. The man slung the silent boy over his shoulder and the two men proceeded down the stairs and helped the third up. Exiting the home with total stealth, they placed Alphonse in the backseat of the vehicle, and with one man in the back of the car watching him, drove off into the night.
"So let me get this straight. Apparently a group of Ishbalins has been going around the city asking about me. Why is that so wrong, again?"
"Because one of the witnesses was threatened, Fullmetal. These men are dangerous, and we don't know who they are, or what they want with you. Many Ishbalins reside in this city…it would be difficult to narrow it down to this specific group. And the witness couldn't see any faces, so we have no clue who we're dealing with," Roy said with a sigh.
Ed looked at the ground. "Okay, so I just have to be careful."
"Unfortunately, we can't afford to risk anything happening to you. The Fuhrer has informed me that he would rather have you in the military custody. He suggested you pack your things and you and your brother report here tomorrow morning to hear of your temporary new home."
"Well now, that's different…since when does the Fuhrer care what happens to me?"
"Since I've explained how valuable you really are to the military."
"The Fuhrer's out of his mind. I'm staying where I'm at. We just moved into this home, and I won't make Al suffer by moving again. Al's already accustomed to it." Edward got up, and moved to the door.
"I really think you should listen Fullmetal," Roy said quietly.
"Sorry, no can do. I swear the Fuhrer's been out to get me since I first started. I'll be fine. Goodnight Mustang," he said, crossing his hands behind his head. "I'll see you later." He walked out and met with his only ride home, Riza Hawkeye.
"Ready to go?"
Ed just nodded, and they left for the car. Next thing he knew, he was back at his home waving goodnight to Riza. As she drove off, he turned the key and opened his front door. He quickly stepped inside, locked the door behind him, and then froze. He could see the shattered glass window in the next room over, and quickly ran over to check it out. There was glass everywhere, and not a single trace of what could have possibly happened. His eyes raced over the scene, but his heart stopped when he remembered Al.
"Please, no…" Ed sprinted upstairs as fast as he could and threw Al's bedroom door open. Empty. There were clearly signs of a struggle; the room was in total disarray. There were crumpled bedcovers all over the bed, a slight indentation in the wall alongside Al's bed, and various objects that had been knocked to the floor. Ed fell to his knees in shock, and his eyes began to water.
"Al…" Silence. Ed slowly got up and examined the room, but found nothing that could help him solve the mystery. He turned to the dark hallway, and made his way back to the stairs. Something caught his eye near the first step, and he bent down to take the object from the ground. Oddly enough, it was a piece of wet cloth; initials embedded in its material. DN.
"What the hell is that supposed to stand for…Dammit!! Al! Where are you?!," he proceeded to yell throughout the house. He searched every area of his home for a possible clue as to who had taken his younger brother away from him. He couldn't find a thing find a thing. Nothing besides the cloth with the initials. "Maybe he's close…I gotta find him." Ed swiftly ran from the home, and onto the middle of the clouded street.
"But where do I start looking? Someone kidnapped him…but they didn't leave anything behind…why?? No ransom note, or anything...," he gasped. "What if whoever took him isn't expecting me to get him back..." He suddenly screamed out of frustration. "What if it was an enemy, a predator, a murd…," he didn't want to finish the sentence.
Edward collapsed on the pavement out of fear and exhaustion. The rain had been present for a few hours, and it was coming down harder by the minute. Though his muscles ached, and his head was spinning, he forced himself to stand. He stood and ran as fast as he could, tears of desperation flowing from his eyes.
"I once offered my heart, limbs, and soul for you brother…there's no way I'm going to lose you now. I promise you Al, I promise I'll get to you, wherever you are, just please, hold on…" Making sure his automail was entirely out of sight, he ran, making a mental note to return to his home in the morning for any possible news from the kidnappers. If Ed knew anything, it was that he did not want to involve the military in this. This was his struggle, his brother, his mission. The military would only dig him in a deeper hole. Pushing aside dreadful images of the worst that could happen to his brother, the blond ran into the first signs of sunrise, and the start of a new day.