Chapter 1: Prologue: A Late Afternoon Meeting
Chapter Text
Dark eyes scanned the sheets of paper in front of him, a report containing information on the potential new transfer to the Eastern Headquarters. “Well, what are your thoughts?” The male asked calmly, addressing the blonde-haired woman who was currently staring daggers at the male as he leaned back in the chair he was sitting on.
“With all due respect, sir, I think you already have trouble controlling one child alchemist and now you want to add a second one?” She replied, her tone as sharp as a knife blade. Adjusting her stance just slightly from where she was standing to the right of the desk the dark-haired male was sitting at. The room itself they were in was rather empty, being that it was a conference room the pair were currently borrowing while temporarily staying in Central.
“I don’t think it would be that bad, and just think, maybe Fullmetal might actually get his reports in on time if he has a strong-willed female following him around everywhere.” The male replied, his tone becoming just slightly lighter to suggest he was attempting to use humor.
“If that philosophy were true sir, your reports would be on time by now.” The woman replied sardonically. Most subordinates wouldn’t dare take that tone with their commanding officers, but she knew that no matter what she said, the male wouldn’t reprimand her. She carried herself with seriousness and often, she herself was more serious than her own superior. “Besides, your concern shouldn’t be reports… you should be concerned about how much damage two state alchemists could do. If not fighting with each other than fighting with anyone who opposes them. Also, this pairing is risky at best. Neither Fullmetal nor Green Scale have been paired with each other and you don’t know how well they will even handle being around each other.” She continued as she glanced toward the papers in the male’s hand and then scanned the ones on the desk.
“Well, you certainly didn’t hold back did you.” The male replied as he let out a sigh bringing a gloved hand up the pinch the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes. Brows furrowing, he wasn’t afraid to show his displeasure to the woman’s answer, but it wasn’t because of the tone.
“You know I speak honestly sir. Otherwise, you would have more to say than that.” She replied as her gaze shifted back to the male that currently looked like a pouting child.
“I think this will be the best thing that I can do. While it is less than ideal to have two children traveling together and it will probably spell more trouble for me… it’s undeniable that they both have piqued the interest of the top brass. If I can have both doing well under me, then it will also put me in a more favorable position.” The male replied.
“Or it will end in you getting seriously reprimanded should the two cause any major damage or be otherwise uncontrollable… which you already know will be the case.” She replied simply as she turned her gaze toward the door. “I know you will still apply for the transfer and knowing how persuasive you can be, I have no doubts that it will go through.”
“Come on, have a little more faith in me. I don’t have any doubts that this will be a wonderful arrangement. A headache for sure, but it will keep us all on our toes.” The male replied as he stood up. “And you never know, maybe this famed South City Devil will be just what we all need.”
“I suppose that remains to be seen sir.” The blonde replied as she fell into step just behind the dark-haired male.
“Yes… I suppose it does.” He replied as he started heading for the door. “Well, there is no point putting off the request, and I do believe I have the perfect lead I can put them on to see if they are compatible.”
“That brings to light another potential problem, sir. How do you know if those boys will tolerate a tag along on their goal to restoring their bodies? For all we know this Green Scale Alchemist may not be trustworthy to keep their secret if she were to ever learn it.” The blonde replied as her serious expression turned to one of concern.
“I think… given the reports I’ve read… that she will be perfectly trustworthy.” He replied as he stopped, handing one of the sheets of paper back over his shoulder to the blonde.
The blonde let out a tiny scoff as she took the sheet and scanned over it before her eyes widened in surprise. “You don’t think…” She murmured before her gaze flicked back up to the male.
“Yes, I do. I think she has just as much at stake as those boys do… even more reason to pair them together… three minds are better than two, especially given what those boys are looking for.” He replied as he looked back at the blonde. “Who knows, she may have a fresh perspective to this, and may have information that we don’t know.”
“I still think this is a gamble at best sir. But perhaps… if she has been though what those boy’s have… then it may be good for them to have someone they can talk to who would understand them.” She replied as she let out a soft sigh.
“You see… I’m not completely inept.” The dark-hared male commented with a soft chuckle. “Now… lets go put through this transfer while we are here before we have to leave for Eastern Headquarters.” He commented before heading toward the door once more. “The sooner I can get the inevitable shouting match over with the better.”
“You don’t think Fullmetal will get along with her sir?” The blonde asked as she fell into step behind him.
“I have no doubt the two will get along, however I also know that because I am ordering it, Fullmetal will argue it.” He replied with a sigh. “So, I expect a fight about it, I can only hope that Green Scale will be more levelheaded.”
“If she is anything like Fullmetal I fear we will need earplugs sir.” The blonde replied as she let her shoulders slump just slightly. “Should I warn the others of her arrival and the expected noise to come with it?”
“That would probably be a wise idea, let them prepare for the extra noise that will be accompanying this transfer.” The male replied as he made his way out into the hallway, shutting the door once the blonde was out of the room. Smirking just slightly, he turned sharply and began to walk down the hallway. “After taking care of this, we should be able to catch the early train tomorrow.”
“Very good sir.” The blonde replied as she squared her shoulders and followed just a step behind the male.
Chapter 2: The New Transfer
Summary:
Its time to meet the new Alchemist.
Notes:
Hello, Hello!
This chapter took me longer than I thought it would to write. Partly because it fought me (beginning chapters always do until I get into a groove) and partly because I was mostly writing on my downtime at work and I did not have a lot of downtime.
At the moment I don't think a regular posting schedule is going to be a thing, so I plan to post the chapters when I get them done. I try to screen them for any obvious typos and grammatical issues before posting them, but some may slip though so I apologize in advance for that.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
“Isaac McDougal? The Freezing Alchemist?” Dark eyes darted from the pages in front of him to the older gentleman sitting at a desk at the back of the room. It wasn’t every day that the head of the military himself delivered a briefing, so the younger male knew this must be an extremely important affair.
“Yes, he was at one point a proud State Alchemist. However, after the Ishbalan war, he turned his back on the military and started working for a few anti-establishment groups. We have reports that he is here in central. Since you were already here requesting a transfer, I’ve gone ahead and approved it.” The Führer replied as he set down the papers that the younger male had filed not even an hour earlier.
“Really?” The younger male asked as his eyes widened in surprise.
“Of course, Colonel Mustang, seeing as you already have one of our rising young stars under your command, I can see why you would like to acquire the second one. I’ve already gone ahead and requested her head here to help you with the McDougal case. I assume you plan to bring in Fullmetal as well? It will be quite delightful to see how they get along. Wouldn’t you agree?” The older male replied with a chuckle.
“Of course, sir!” The Colonel replied. “I will make sure to present Green Scale and Fullmetal as perfect examples of what this country’s military is capable of.” He quickly added. Though he was also hoping that central would be left standing if the two were to not get along, or worse if they got along too well and got themselves into trouble.
“Oh-ho I’m sure you will, though, I’ve heard from Colonel Blackwell that Green Scale is quite the spitfire. You might just have your hands full managing her.” The Führer commented with a soft laugh. “She apparently has already made quite the name for herself in the South. Fullmetal may be the Hero of the People, but Green Scale appears to have become the Devil of the South.”
“I’m sure I will have plenty to keep them both busy… How is Colonel Blackwell? I haven’t had much time to check in with him lately.” The dark-haired male asked as he managed a small smile.
“He’s doing well and was quite upset to learn that you were swooping in to steal away his pride and joy.” The Führer replied as he smiled warmly.
“I’ll make sure to make that up to him later.” The Colonel replied with a soft chuckle. “Is there anything else you need from me?”
The older male shook his head. “That is all, I expect you to make us proud Colonel Mustang.”
The younger male nodded. “Absolutely sir.” He replied before saluting and making his way from the office. He wasn’t expecting the transfer to be approved so quickly. Glancing toward the blonde that was waiting for him in the hallway he gestured for her to follow as he started walking. Of course, she fell into step right behind him, patiently waiting to be told what had happened and what they would be doing. “It would seem as if the Führer himself was intrigued by my request for Green Scale to be placed under my command. He just approved it and already requested for her to meet us here… it would seem, that there is a dangerous criminal roaming Central and the two youngest State Alchemists are expected to be shown off as examples of exemplary military training.”
The blonde frowned slightly. “Are you planning to send them under those pretenses?” She asked as she glanced up toward the male.
Shaking his head, the male glanced back at her. “No. I don’t think Fullmetal is ready to take on a kill on sight order, and I don’t know enough about Green Scale to know if she would handle that kind of order any better than Fullmetal. I plan to have them apprehend him, if possible, but defend themselves if necessary.”
“I think that’s a wise decision, sir.” The blonde replied, falling silent as soon as she finished speaking.
“Now to get ahold of Fullmetal before he takes off somewhere.” The dark-haired male commented as he headed toward one of the emptied conference rooms. “And let’s hope he will actually listen to me.”
The call went about as well as he expected. He didn’t even get a chance to tell Fullmetal about the full aspects of the case or the fact that he would be getting a partner before the teen had all but cursed him out and slammed the receiver down. Taking in a deep breath the Colonel let out a sigh. “Well… he’s going to learn about this the hard way then… lets just hope he doesn’t get himself seriously injured.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Golden eyes scanned the street, between the light of the full moon and the street lamps it was easy enough to see. Very few people were out and about, though the blonde figured it was probably because there was some sort of criminal roaming the streets. Not that Central had much of a night life to begin with, but usually there were still some people milling around at this hour.
“Brother… are we still going to Liore?” A small voice asked echoing slightly throughout the suit of armor that was currently towering over the small blonde in front of him.
“Sure we are, we just need to quickly get this criminal off the streets and then we can go… as long as that bastard Colonel doesn’t try to keep us here.” The blonde replied as he let out an annoyed huff and crossed his arms. “I suppose we should start looking… can’t imagine where a creep would go this time of night… but an alley is probably our best bet don’t you think?”
“I suppose so…” The small voice answered back, watching as the blonde took off in front of him. “B-Brother! Wait up!” He yelped as he took off after the other.
In truth, the idea of following along the alleyways wasn’t that bad. Soon enough the blonde heard yelling, zeroing in on where the sound was coming from, he grinned a bit. “Guess this won’t take us long at all.” He commented as he pressed his hands together, contemplating on what sort of weapon would be the biggest deterrent to whatever raging criminal that had everyone so worked up. He barely remembered Mustang saying something about the man being an alchemist, but he didn’t remember if the Colonel had any other information… okay… so maybe he should have listened more… but the arrogant attitude of the Flame Alchemist always really irritated the blonde, especially when his height got brought into it.
Settling on a spear the blonde knelt and placed his hands to the ground, watching as blue alchemic light sprung out from beneath his fingertips. He didn’t have time for anything too flashy or perfect judging from the quickly approaching shouts. As the ground beneath his feed began to sink, the materials being drawn up into an ornate spear, he let his gaze focus on the alleyway before him. There was a junction just down the way, which would likely be where the criminal would come from. Before the transmutation had even fully finished the blonde had grabbed the spear and launched it, timing the sound of the footsteps so that as a tall dark-haired male in a cloak rounded the corner of the junction the spear imbedded by his feat. Of course, the blonde wasn’t all that surprised to see the figure jump back and away, eyeing the spear before turning his gaze to the pair in the alleyway.
“That’s Alchemy.” The figure commented. His tone didn’t sound all that impressed, more annoyed than anything. He didn’t like the fact that it appeared like a child was the one opposing him. “Best to leave now before you get hurt.”
The blonde let out a scoff. “Can’t do that, the faster I apprehend you, the faster I get to leave.” He replied with a smirk. Clapping his hands together once more, he placed his hand on the wall of next to him, transmuting a dagger in the blink of an eye.
“No transmutation circle?” The older male commented as he watched the display in awe and annoyance. “Guess I have no choice…” He muttered to himself as he charged toward the two. He couldn’t afford to let anyone stand in his way, even a child.
The blonde was less than impressed by the charging male, adults were usually slow in comparison to the smaller 15-year-old. Ducking out of the way, the blonde easily rushed past the male on one side, as the suit of armor moved to the other side. It was a common tactic they used to overwhelm an opponent, flanking from two sides since most went for the suit of armor since they assumed it would make moving difficult.
However the older male seemed to be expecting the flank, in a matter of seconds he had raised his hand up and pressed it to the armors side. With a blinding flash of blue alchemical energy, the older male barreled past the two, stopping only when he was sure he was out of reach. He was expecting the armor to fall over and cease movement. Much to his surprise, he needed to duck out of the way of a fist that was aimed right toward his nose, which put him directly in the path of the smaller blonde who was already halfway through the arc of a slash that was bound to do damage. Blocking with what appeared to be a gauntlet on his arm, the older male immediately activated the circle carved into the gauntlet and pressed a hand to the smaller blonde’s wrist. There was a flash of light and a small burst of steam, but otherwise the blonde was still standing, still moving, and now looked even more annoyed than before.
“I don’t understand! Any water there should have boiled!” The older male commented as he stared in disbelief at the small blonde who was rubbing the wrist he had just grabbed.
“Well, if it’s any consolation you did ruin my coat.” The blonde replied as he glared daggers at the male. It wasn’t the first time that it happened, but it didn’t fail to get a rise of the small blonde every time something managed to shred the very thing he used to hide his unnatural metal limb. Well… there was no use hiding it now… the cat was out of the bag, so he might as well free up his movements. In a startlingly quick motion, the small blonde had shed the bright red coat he was wearing tossing it to the side and out of the way of the impending fight with the intention to come back to it later. That was the one nice thing about fabric, you could transmute it back to normal if you had most of the pieces.
“A prosthetic arm and no transmutation circle?” The older male seemed to freeze in place as something dawned on him. “You’re the Fullmetal Alchemist! Edward Elric!”
The blonde seemed to puff up a bit at that. Which immediately deflated the second the older male turned to the suit of armor to question why it wasn’t him. In a split second the young alchemist was taking a wild swing at the other, to angry about the obvious attack on his height and skill to really care if his punches were going to land.
“Brother…” The small childlike voice rang out from inside the armor, trying to calm down the blonde before he seriously injured anyone. “… brother we need to apprehend him.”
“Oh right.” Was the only reply from the blonde as he sobered up almost immediately from his anger spell. Clapping his hands together Ed seemed to focus on the older male who was still reeling from the shouting that the young alchemist was doing just a moment before, and upon placing his hands on the wall next to him, watched as blue alchemical light sprung out along with what appeared to be and intricate series of pipe like tubes that boxed the other in and didn’t allow him to move. “There we go. Al do me a favor and go find a few of those guys running around, let them know we caught the guy.”
“On it brother.” The suit of armor replied before taking off in a sprint to go and find some of the soldiers that were bound to be in the area.
~~~~~~~~~~~
It didn’t take long for the news of the capture of McDougal to reach the ears of the Flame Alchemist… and it took an even shorter amount of time to hear about his near immediate escape. Letting out a heavy sigh, Mustang couldn’t do much else but wait for Fullmetal to show up to give him a proper briefing of what had happened. It was irritating how rash the young alchemist could be especially given how smart he was, the exams for being a state alchemist were enough to make most adults fail miserably, to pass it at the age of twelve was no joking matter. So much potential was there, but none of it was directed to the right places.
It turned out that he didn’t have to wait long before the door to the conference room was violently kicked open and in stomped the short-tempered blonde. The action was so common that neither the Colonel nor his Lieutenant flinched at the sound or the brooding teen as he walked in and flopped down onto the couch present in room.
“I know you are used to my office Fullmetal, but please refrain from denting the doors here at central.” Mustang chided unenthusiastically as he let out a soft huff. “I take it your plan didn’t go the way you wanted it to.” He continued, purposefully ribbing the blonde, knowing he was going to goad the other into loosing his temper. Not that it was particularly hard, but it was always fun.
Sure enough, Fullmetal seemed to bristle. “How the hell was I supposed to know he would use alchemy to make a steam cloud for cover! I didn’t even know there was a puddle in the alleyway!” Ed shot back as he glared at the Flame Alchemist.
“If you had listened to the report I was trying to give you when I first was telling you about this case then you wouldn’t have had this problem.” Mustang calmly replied. “Would you like to listen to it now?”
“Yeah fine… whatever.” Ed replied as he crossed his arms and tucked into the couch a bit, pouting like he had just been scolded by a parent.
Mustang let out a deep sigh before going on to explain what the Führer had told him about the Freezing Alchemist. “Because he is known to be part of or worked for dangerous groups, it’s imperative we get him off the streets by any means necessary which includes deadly force.”
The blonde bristled once more. “I’m not killing anyone.” He spat, looking over toward Mustang, who had since gotten up from the desk in the room to glare out the window.
“And I’m not asking you to. All I’m asking is you help apprehend him. How you choose to do that is up to you and how much force you use is up to you. My only request is that you use a bit more force than this last attempt since it clearly wasn’t enough.” Mustang replied as he turned to face the still glaring teen. “Oh, before I forget, there is another part of that briefing you missed since you decided to hang up on me. I’ve assigned you a partner, another state alchemist from the south, the Führer already approved the transfer, so be prepared.”
That seemed to get quite the rise out of the blonde. Jumping to his feet he whirled toward Mustang. “The hell do you mean I’m getting a partner!” He yelled.
“I thought we weren’t going to be paired up with anyone because of what our primary goal is!” The voice from the suit of armor clamored as his head swiveled between the teen and the Colonel. “You can’t do this to us Colonel, not when we have gotten so far!”
Mustang raised a hand to silence the both of them. “I’ve considered what your goal is and taken it into account. I’m not making this decision to impede that goal; I’m making a decision that should help you move things along faster.” He replied as he looked between the two teens. “Now, your partner should be here within the day if not here already, I don’t want you to argue this with me Fullmetal, are we clear? If this doesn’t work out after a little bit, then I’ll be happy to reassign your partner, but not till after you work with them for a while.”
Fullmetal looked no less angry than before, fists clenched tightly by his sides. “Who is it anyway?” He hissed through clenched teeth as he glared toward Mustang.
Mustang had opened his mouth to answer when the door to the conference room burst open and in flew a small female who nearly fell over themselves trying to suddenly stop on the other side of the door. “So sorry I’m late!” She commented softly, sounding quite winded from what must have been a run. “Central’s streets make no sense to me, and the command is even worse! Had to ask for directions three times and still didn’t know if I was in the right place.” She huffed as she finally stood up to her full height, which was apparently taller than the blonde teen but still drastically shorter than the Flame Alchemist.
After taking a moment to recover from the shock of the sudden intrusion, Mustang smirked slightly. “Green Scale I presume?” He asked as he studied the girl. She didn’t look much older than Fullmetal, but she was certainly taller. That was sure going to get on Fullmetal’s nerves, this was already turning into an interesting pairing.
The girl’s eyes immediately flicked to Mustang when he asked about who she was. “I am… but you can call my Lily. I’m not one for flashy titles… even if they are technically part of the job. Besides, Green Scale is so cumbersome to say.” She replied with a short bob of her head before making her way farther into the room. “It’s nice to meet you sir.” She continued before her gaze flicked to the teen and suit of armor by the couches. “You must be Fullmetal.” Lily commented as she addressed the teen. “Though I bet that companion in the suit of armor gets a lot of people confused.” She teased gently as she held out her hand to the other.
Ed’s eyes widened as he took in the girl that had just approached him. He had a lot to process, firstly that this girl was his age. He had honestly thought he was going to get stuck with an adult who would try to boss him around. “I.. uh… yeah.” He stammered as he glanced toward the hand that had been outstretched to him. There was the second thing he needed to process… the unmistakable glint of a metal hand, not even hidden from sight. Taking the hand, he offered the girl a firm enough handshake before he glanced toward the suit of armor. “You’re probably the first not to even question who was who.” He replied as his gaze darted back to the girl. Her appearance was the next thing he really needed to process.
Lily wasn’t what one would call dainty… she was built like she was ready for combat, almost like their teacher if Ed had to pick a person to compare her to. She didn’t look like what one would expect for a typical girl… though, she probably wasn’t since she was a state alchemist like he was. Her hair was short, kept to just below shoulder length, with half of it tired back in a high ponytail and the rest loose around her neck and shoulders with the exceptions of side swept bangs and two strips of hair that framed her face. It was a dark brown color, wavy, and a little curly in places… but it looked like there was bright purple running through it like highlights. Her eyes were a bluish grey color, like a storm cloud, with tinges of green along the edges of the iris.
Then there was her outfit… which was far from anything you would normally see in the military. Dark black combat boots, dark grey cargo pants which made the silver chain from what must have been her watch stand out at her hip, and what looked to be a black tank top which did little to cover the scaring near her shoulder that suggested that at least one of her arms was completely made of automail, and he could see that at least part of her other arm was also automail since both her hands were clearly not normal. On her left side was what appeared to be some sort of sword, but he couldn’t tell what type of blade it was since it was still sheathed. Over all of this was the brightest green coat he had ever seen, which was probably only rivaled by his red one. Here Ed was, thinking that he was the only one who had this sort of flashy taste in clothing.
Lily’s gaze traveled to the suit of armor. “I suppose I should fully introduce myself since I’ll be working with both of you. I’m the Green Scale Alchemist, Lily Blake.” She then proceeded to hold her hand out to the suit of armor, seemingly not even a little bit intimidated by it.
“Ah! I’m Alphonse Elric, and that’s my older brother Edward.” Al replied as he let out a sheepish laugh before shaking her hand. For the first time Lily seemed a bit surprised as her gaze flicked between the armor and the teen, one eyebrow raised just slightly to show that she was curious about why the suit of armor would be younger given how big one would need to be to wear it properly. Though, she seemed to know better than to question it, instead seeming to grin at the pair.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you Edward, and you too Alphonse. I hope we will get along with each other.” She commented as she looked back toward the Flame Alchemist. “I assume our first mission together is capturing the criminal that’s currently running around on the streets?”
Mustang nodded slightly. “Yes, but go catch a few hours of rest first. While I appreciate you coming up here in a hurry, it’s already quite late.” He commented as he glanced between the three teens he was now in charge of. Though technically speaking, Alphonse wasn’t his responsibility, however he treated the boy no different than he did Fullmetal.
Lily nodded slightly. “Understood, thank you sir.” She replied as she whirled around, missing the surprised look from Mustang (probably from being addressed as ‘sir’ for the first time by a teen without some sarcastic barb being thrown right behind it) and the startled look from Ed (most likely for the same reason). As she turned the dragon crest that spread across the back of her jacket came into view. Well… at least it was assumed it was a dragon, since some of it was covered up by the hood of the jacket, leaving only a winding tail and the tips of two wings that spread out across the shoulders visible for those to see.
Lily made her way to the door, not quite waiting for Ed or Al to catch up to her. She had just assumed they would meet her in the morning at the commend, so she wasn’t expecting to discuss places to stay with them. She had just been about to reach for the handle of the door when it was flung open. Letting out a startled yip, Lily jumped back at lightening fast speed only just barely managing to dodge the door and keep her footing. Though the reaction left her teetering on the edge of falling backward onto her butt.
“Roy!” Came a chipper voice from the doorway as a man with glasses was about to rush into the office. Though his eyes widened when he saw the very startled teen in front of him. “Oh, I am so sorry, did I spook you?” He asked as he seemed to deflate just a little.
Lily seemed to stabilize herself before she answered. “It wasn’t really you that spooked me… the door almost hitting me in the face is what did it.” She replied as she grinned up at the male. “No harm done though, it’s far from the first time I’ve had to dodge a door.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you! I’m Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes, you must be the new charge I hear Roy was taking on…making you the Fullmetal Alchemist, right?” Hughes commented as he looked toward the other teen in the room. “So, you mean it isn’t the big suit of armor?”
Al shook his head, making the metal of the armor clang. “Oh no! I’m his younger brother, Alphonse.” Al replied as he noticed Lily trying to hide a smirk. Ed was of course bristling, no doubt ready to launch into a tirade about his height.
“Hughes, what are you doing here?” Mustang asked, apparently now quite tired of everyone throwing doors open around here. Did no one in Central know how to knock?
“Well actually I was looking for you two… erm well three I guess.” Hughes replied as he looked at the teens. “I was wondering if you had a place to stay for the night, and if not I was going to offer to let you stay with me. I just know my darling wife and daughter would love to have you!”
Lily looked a bit bewildered at the offer. “I… I couldn’t possibly trouble you with that, it’s fine really. I can find a hotel or stay at the barracks or something, please don’t put yourself out on my account.”
Ed seemed to echo that sentiment, similarly stating that he and Al wouldn’t want to impose. Which only made Hughes frown. “Nonsense!” He replied as if that settled the whole argument. “You three are coming with me!” He replied as he reached out and grabbed Lily by the back of her coat and then walked over to do the same to Ed, practically dragging Lily who looked even more shocked, before proceeding to forcefully drag along the two alchemists. Leaving Al to trail behind them, grabbing what he could only assume was Lily’s bag which had been tossed down near the door, probably as she was running in the conference room.
Notes:
As always, constructive feedback is always appreciated. I hope you all enjoyed the newest chapter and I look forward to the next one!
Chapter 3: Sleep Over
Summary:
Ah yes, will we see best friends or bitter rivals?
Notes:
Hello, Hello
I am so sorry this took so long to update, I had 2 unexpected deaths in my immediate family within 2 months of each other and it's been a rollercoaster trying to get everything back so some semblance of normal.
I am doing well enough though, and I still am very much into writing this story, but chapters may take me a bit to get published since I'm terrible with time management and there are still so many things I have to do now because of everything that is going on in my life.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
As soon as Lily realized that she wasn’t going to get anywhere by trying to fight Hughes, she relented, agreeing to not argue if he would let go of her jacket and let her walk on her own. Which he seemed more than happy to do, and the second his grip loosened on her jacket Lily had skittered backwards toward Al much to the dismay of both Hughes and Ed who started complaining about being abandoned.
Lily let out a soft huff, but a grin was already starting to spread across her face. Eyeing her bag in Al’s hands along with a trunk like suitcase he had picked up along the way she let out a soft chuckle. The group soon made its way out of the Central Command center and was heading toward one of the residential areas. The whole way there Hughes was non stop chattering about how wonderful his wife and daughter were… which Lily had honestly tuned out after the first few praises. Every so often she would send some form of acknowledgement by means of a head bob or a soft ‘mhm’, mostly so she at least sounded like she was paying attention.
Her mind was apparently buried so deep in her own thoughts that she didn’t even notice that they had finally reached their destination… at least not till Lily had almost tripped over Ed. “Sorry!” She yipped as she jumped back a bit, cowering just slightly from the scowl that Ed had sent in her direction.
“It’s fine.” He replied as he let out a sigh. “You looked like you were deep in thought.” The blonde wasn’t much for small talk, but the serious look that had been on Lily’s face didn’t look like the normal ‘I’m ignoring you but trying to be polite about it’ kind of look he saw on most people’s faces when they were subjected to long bouts of mindless prattle. Instead, she looked like she was trying to solve a puzzle, concentrated and serious. She had even stopped placating Hughes after a short while, which the older male had obviously taken note of but after seeing the look on Lily’s face hadn’t bothered to interrupt her.
“Oh… yeah. I was thinking about this case we are on… and the transfer… it’s all a bit new for me.” She replied as she crossed her arms over her chest, which Ed took to mean there was more to what was on her mind… but she didn’t want to share.
“Well, I’m sure it won’t take us long to figure it all out.” He replied shortly as the door to Hughes’ home swung open, and instantly they were face to face with a little girl who immediately lit up upon seeing Hughes.
“Daddy!” She cheered as she rushed to the older male, clinging immediately to his legs, and was only pried off once she realized he was trying to crouch down to her level to hug her.
“How’s my darling little girl?!” Hughes excitedly asked as he wrapped the girl up in a hug before he noticed her gaze had traveled to the three strange figures standing awkwardly behind him. “Ah, Elicia. These are the Elric brothers, Alphonse and Edward, and Edwards' new partner Lily Blake. Edward and Lily are both State Alchemists, how cool is that?” Hughes asked as he concluded his introductions and stood up to face the beautiful woman standing just inside the doorway. “The kids needed a place to stay for the night, I figured you wouldn’t mind having a little company over.”
“Of course not, I was just about to put Elicia to bed, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind staying up a little longer to play with you, and I’m sure that our guests are hungry.” The woman replied as she smiled warmly toward the three teenagers.
Meanwhile the small child had approached the three teens, putting her tiny hands to her hips as she looked at each in turn. Lily was the first to move, crouching down to the little girl’s level and offering her a warm smile. “Hi there, I’m Lily.”
The little girl seemed to analyze her for a moment or two before her hand shot out and she pointed at Lily. “Big sister.” She stated before her hand swung around and pointed toward Al. “Big Brother.” Finally, she pointed toward Ed. “Little brother.”
Lily barely contained a laugh as she covered her mouth. The statements were made so surely that there was no room for arguing in the little girl’s mind. Not that it stopped the blonde who for two seconds was in a state of shock before he absolutely lost his mind like someone had just personally insulted his mother. Growling as he pointed toward himself, he tried to harshly correct the tiny tot and when that seemed to go nowhere, he took it on himself to throw a toddler worthy temper tantrum about it.
It was at that point Lily finally lost her composure and started cackling as she scooped up the tiny toddler and rested her on her hip. As Lily glanced toward the Lieutenant Colonel, she noticed the warm smile he had at the exchange. Meanwhile Ed was still absolutely losing his mind… till he heard the mention of food. Instantly he sobered up and stopped yelling, which made Lily start snickering as she made her way inside with Elicia still on her hip. “Thank you both for letting us stay. I hope we aren’t putting you out.” Lily stated as she looked toward the Hughes’s.
The woman, who must have been the Lieutenant Colonel’s wife, shook her head. “Nonsense, we all enjoy having company come over.” She replied warmly as she started to make her way to the kitchen. “I’m sure you three are hungry, I have leftovers I can reheat; in the meantime, why don’t you three get settled in. We have a spare room that you can use.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Lily replied as she handed the toddler off to her practically glowing dad. “I can take a couch. Since there is only one of me and two of you, probably best if you both take a bed.” At that Lily’s gaze drifted over to the Elric’s. She was searching for something, and there it was. Her brows furrowed slightly as her eyes locked on Ed. She had noticed it before, faint expressions of stress and a sideways glance, obviously it was not meant to be seen… but there, nonetheless. It was what Lily had been puzzling over on the way. Just what were these two hiding.
The moment Ed caught Lily staring at him, he couldn’t help the creeping warmth to his face. It was embarrassing to have someone stare at you so openly, and it was hard not to feel small under her gaze. He could tell she was analyzing him, and it made him uncomfortable. He was usually the one looking so critically, now to have to undergo the same treatment… he suddenly felt like he needed to reevaluate how he went about judging people. “What?! Do I have something on my face?!” He snapped as his discomfort only grew.
“No.” Lily responded simply as she turned away and looked at Hughes, as if expecting him to start showing where they would be staying. Ed took a moment to calm himself, what exactly was his new partner looking for? Was she that suspicious of new people? Did he say something offensive? He didn’t really care if he did, but he didn’t like that she was already being closed off with him. They were expected to work together, that wasn’t going to happen unless they were able to talk. Granted… it wasn’t like he was being very open either. He knew she probably had questions for him, but they hadn’t exactly had time to talk to each other, nor did he trust her himself. So… in the end Ed could justify her suspicion… he just really didn’t like the imposing teacher worthy glare she had.
Hughes could see the tension between the two, not that it surprised him. With a chuckle he nodded toward the hallway. “Well, if that arrangement works for the three of you, why don’t we get all of you settled.” As he made his way toward the hallway, he started pointing out different rooms, showing them where the bathroom and the spare bedroom were, before grabbing a pillow and blanket from a small linen closet in the hallway. “Here you go Lily.”
Lily didn’t think twice about grabbing the pillow and blanket from Hughes. “Thank you.” She murmured before turning around and taking a few steps back toward the living room. “Oh... Al, can I have my bag?” She asked as she turned back to them.
“Of course!” Al quickly replied as he hurried over to her and held out the knapsack to her. “I’m glad I saw it before we got too far.”
Lily let out a soft chuckle. “Yeah, I’m glad too. Not that I’m lost without my stuff, but when it’s the only thing you have… well you get the idea.” She replied with a lopsided grin before heading off to the living room.
Ed frowned at the comment, he was all too aware of what it felt like to only have a bag or a trunk and nothing else. He didn’t get a chance to think about it more before Hughes was ushering him and Al into the spare room. “Well, here you go boys, go ahead and get comfortable. I’m going to go check in on my darling Gracia, and Lily.”
Ed nodded slightly. “Alright, sounds good.” The blonde replied as he glanced toward Al, before watching Hughes walk out of the room. As soon as the older male had left, he turned toward the suit of armor. “What do you think?”
Al jumped slightly at the sudden question thrown at him. “About what?” He asked softly. “About the Lieutenant Colonel or about Lily?”
Ed let out a huff as he crossed his arms. “Lily.” He replied shortly.
“O-Oh… I think she’s okay… or at least she seems okay. I don’t know yet.” Al replied. “I want to ask her about her automail, but… I don’t want to upset her.” He murmured softly.
“She seems pretty closed off, so I don’t know if she would even tell us anything. And did you see the way she was staring at me earlier? Made me think of teacher whenever she thought we had gotten into trouble or done something wrong.” Ed visibly shuddered at the thought.
“Well, she did just meet us brother… and it’s not like we’ve had time to chat… also… you can’t blame her for being closed off because it’s not like you’re going to start spilling all our secrets to her right off the bat. You shouldn’t expect her to.” Al softly chided.
Ed let out a soft sigh. “I know… but still, I wasn’t expecting someone who looks our age when the Colonel said I was getting a partner. I thought I was the only kid that they allowed into the military…”
Al let out a soft chuckle. “Are you jealous brother?”
“I am not! I’m not jealous of her!” Ed retorted as he crossed his arms with a pout.
“Sure. Sure.” Al replied with another chuckle. “Come on, let's go see if we can help Mrs. Gracia.”
By the time both boys had made it out to the kitchen they found Lily already in there. She had taken off her coat, though she had put a loose-fitting sweater on. She seemed to have already made herself useful by retrieving and stirring things for Gracia, and overall looked a lot more at ease than she had before.
The second the brunette noticed the two boys in the doorway to the kitchen she grinned. “Mrs. Gracia said you two can set the table.” Lily commented as she pointed to the stack of dishes that were waiting at the edge of the counter. “I already offered to let us do the dishes… I hope you don’t mind.” She continued as she nodded toward Ed.
Ed let out a soft snort as he grabbed the stack of dishes. “Read my mind. I was planning on offering anyway.” He replied, leaving the silverware to Al.
Lily nodded before turning her attention back to the pot she had been babysitting, giving it a few quick stirs before stepping away at the behest of Gracia who asked her to set out the glasses. Moving away from the stove the brunette gently picked up the glasses that had been set out and made her way to the dining room to set them down at the table.
Ed had already finished setting out plates and Al was just finishing up the silverware when they noticed Lily enter the room. Ed frowned a little bit, glancing toward Al who looked about as startled as a suit of armor could, before he rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. “So… we are supposed to be working together now.” He started, looking to Al for some form of support.
Lily let out a soft chuckle. “Yeah, I suppose we are… I’m assuming you want to ask me about my limbs. That’s usually one of the first things people want to ask me about.” She replied as she looked up at the two brothers.
Ed looked somewhat shocked, stumbling over his words, as he tried to explain that he wasn’t meaning to be insensitive. Finally, after a few seconds of floundering, he nodded mutely. Lily nodded at that. “I don’t mind the question, it’s not like I’m embarrassed by them. I would go to greater lengths to hide them if that were the case… but I lost my full left arm and part of my right arm as well as most of both of my legs in an accident when I was small.” She replied as she set down the last of the glasses she had in her hands. “Took a few years to get me up on my feet. Also, the good graces of having a friend that was interested in automail. Pretty lucky is what most would say… reckless is what others would… mostly my friend. He still thinks I’m crazy for agreeing to join the military, especially as young as I was.”
Ed tilted his head as he frowned. “How old were you?” He asked as he crossed his arms.
Lily let out a soft huff. “Thirteen. But I decided to join because I wanted to make a difference… well… actually because I wanted to prove I could.” She replied. “That was four years ago… and so far I like to think I’m actually doing good on my idea of making a difference.”
Ed let out a soft snort. “You became a state alchemist a whole year before I did… but I was twelve.” He commented before he grinned. “So, the ‘South City Devil’ is making a difference huh?”
Lily’s face flushed at the nickname that had been circulating for her over the past few years. “Oh come on, you blow something up ONE TIME and suddenly you’re being called a devil.” She spat as she crossed her arms to pout.
“Wait, you blew something up?!” Ed couldn’t help the slack jawed look that showed on his face as he stared at her.
Lily heaved a sigh as she nodded. “Yeah… totally blew up a tiny storage building to prove a point that my alchemy was better.” She replied as she rubbed the back of her neck. “I won the argument… however I also got my ass chewed out for it. No one was hurt though; the building was being demolished anyway so the whole nearby area had been cleared out and I managed to contain the explosion to just the building. Apparently ‘willful destruction of property by a member of the military’ is frowned upon though.”
The blonde let out a laugh as he shook his head. Even Al started to giggle upon hearing the story. “You’re as bad as brother!” He chided as he continued to giggle.
Ed let out a squawk of a sound as he smacked his hand lightly against the chest plate of Al’s armor. “Hey, I’m not that bad! I haven’t blown up any buildings!” He playfully spat back as he glanced at Lily.
“I’m not living this down, am I?” She whined playfully as she frowned and stuck her lip out into an exaggerated pout. Though the laughter in her eyes made it clear that she was playing around with the boys. “In any case, I swear I’m not as bad as all those rumors like to paint me.” She commented as she nodded a bit. “Anything else you wanna know?”
Ed frowned a bit as he glanced toward Al. “Well… I’d like to know why you were staring at me before.” He replied as he crossed his arms.
Lily let out an ever so soft hum. “Ah… that.” She murmured. “Well, it’s not every day you get called away from your normal work and routine to find out you are being paired up with someone who is about the same age as you… I was curious, and you learn a lot about a person by what they do when they think no one is watching.” She replied with a shrug. “I didn’t mean to upset you by staring, I just wanted to get a feel for you before we head out tomorrow. We don’t know each other, for all I know you could stab me in the back in a critical moment.”
Ed’s eyes widened at her honest answer. “Well… I certainly don’t plan to stab you in the back, and I sure as hell hope you don't plan to stab me in the back either.” He replied with a frown. Though he didn’t look happy about her reply, Ed didn’t think Lily was out of line either, they were strangers after all.
Lily nodded. “I certainly don’t plan on it. But if we run across a spider you’re on your own.” At that she grinned and let out a small laugh.
Ed was a bit taken aback at first until her words registered. As soon as they did he let out his own bark of laughter. “Fair enough, though I doubt we will run into many of those.”
~~~~~~~~~
Dinner, even though they were reheated leftovers, was absolutely amazing. Though much to the dismay of the Hughes’, Alphonse had not removed his armor to eat despite Gracia’s insistence. Thankfully though a well timed interruption by Elicia seemed to settle the debate before things got too far out of hand. Which prompted Gracia and Maes to leave the teenagers alone to put the little girl to bed. Lily, for what it was worth, seemed to be the only one other than Al who didn’t finish her plate. Though after a bit of prodding from Ed, she admitted to not having eaten much because it was far too late at night and she didn’t want nightmares by having eaten a heavy amount of food right before going to bed.
After the plates had been cleared from the table and moved into the kitchen, Ed and Lily started working on cleaning the dishes. Which, for what it was worth, gave them a good idea already of how well they could work together despite not having ever met before. As it turned out, they were a pretty good match, Ed immediately took to scrubbing the dishes while Lily rinsed, inspected, and dried them. If she found something that needed to be rescrubbed she simply handed it back to Ed, otherwise, the two didn’t say much which Ed was thankful for. It had been a long day and now that the initial adrenaline had worn off, Ed was starting to feel extremely tired.
With how quick and efficient the two were, the dishes didn’t take long, leaving the Elric’s heading toward the spare room while Lily promptly collapsed on the couch, and truth be told it didn’t take her very long to fall asleep. Though sleep didn’t stay with her long, waking with a start no more than a couple of hours later, the brunette eventually drug herself up off the couch enough to go and get a book from her bag. As it was there was just enough ambient light from the moonlight outside to be able to read comfortably, at least for a little while, so that was what she decided to do.
When she fell asleep again she didn’t know… but she awoke early the next morning to the soft thunk-ing of armor and soft voices coming from the kitchen. Dragging herself up off the couch she slowly trudged her way into the kitchen, not even attempting to hide the tired and irritated look she had. It was far, far too early for such pleasantries and she hadn’t had any coffee yet… a fact that was quickly rectified by a chuckling Maes Hughes as he set a mug down on the counter along with a bottle of milk and what must have been a bowl of sugar. “You look like you slept well.” He commented with a warm smile. “Sorry if we woke you.”
Lily simply grunted in response as she went about fixing her coffee, which looked to be mostly just cream and sugar and very little coffee, before she sat down at the small kitchen table and proceeded to let her forehead gently fall against the flat surface, producing a soft thump of a sound. “Thank you for the coffee.” Was her muffled reply before she seemed to drag herself back into a sitting position. Finally glancing toward the other two people in the room she let out a soft huff of a laugh. “I’m not much of a morning person, sorry…” She commented as Al and Hughes both started to chuckle.
“Neither is brother… we have a good hour or so before he’ll be getting up I think.” Al replied softly. “Can… I ask you a question?”
Lily raised an eyebrow, having picked up her coffee mug. “Shoot.” She replied as she took a sip of her coffee, which was just a bit too hot still for her to drink comfortably.
“Were you making up the story you told brother last night? About your nickname? That you blew up a building?” He asked quietly.
Lily let out a soft snort as Hughes’s eyes widened. “That was not a lie. Though to be fair they keep saying it was an explosion but it was really more of a imposion if we want to get technical.”
“Ah, and this is where all of you alchemy freaks start making no sense.” Hughes commented with a grin as he glanced at Lily. “I’m pretty sure I heard about that incident, internal affairs and all.”
The brunette let out an indignant huff. “Well… technically it wasn’t just alchemy, I calculated the best way to bring down a building with the least amount of effort and mess…” She replied simply.
“Touché.” Hughes replied with a laugh before his attention was dragged to the doorway as another unfriendly looking gaze met him. “Ah! So you’re up now too.” The male greeted the blonde who currently looked more awake than Lily, but looked just as annoyed at having to be awake so early.
“Hard to sleep with so much noise going on.” Ed replied as he walked over to the table that Lily was at and flopped into the chair across from her. He regarded the brunette with a nod as he let out a loud and obnoxious yawn. “Jeez, did you get hit by a train?” He commented after taking a few seconds to look the other up and down.
“Hardy har har.” Lily replied sardonically as she took a sip from her coffee, hiding a grin behind the cup. “Get enough beauty sleep princess?”
Ed visibly bristled for a few moments before cracking and starting to laugh. Al let out some semblance of a sigh as he watched the two alchemists. He had been worried about Lily and Ed getting along, but if they were already able to poke fun at each other and take it in stride then there was little to worry about… at least in that regard. The Elrics still didn’t know how Lily would take finding out about their bodies, so that was the only thing remaining that could spoil the otherwise good start to a friendship.
Notes:
Next chapter starts the real action of seeing how Ed and Lily get along with each other.
After this mini arc everything will probably follow more along the path of the manga vs the anime, however I will be taking my own path, so things will not end up being exactly the same, especially when I start introducing some of my own concepts into the world and how it works.
Alchemeister on Chapter 1 Tue 21 Sep 2021 06:30AM UTC
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Alyss_Heart on Chapter 1 Tue 21 Sep 2021 09:38PM UTC
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Alchemeister on Chapter 2 Wed 10 Nov 2021 01:08AM UTC
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