[Fullmetal Alchemist] Ed ficlet for ranalore

[thuviaptarth]

It's not possible to forget that Edward is small, but Hawkeye has already gotten used to thinking of him as small in a particular way: small like a pit bull, or a bullet, or a gram of ammonium nitrate. That is not the kind of small he looks crumpled unconscious in front of a crying child and a woman's corpse, or dumped in the back of an automobile in a tumble of black and red.

Mustang straightens up, his back still rigid with anger. "Take him back to Tucker's house."

Hughes would cluck his tongue and chide, but Hughes is still poking at the corpse.

"Lieutenant Havoc," Hawkeye says, and climbs into the back and pulls Edward onto her lap. Havoc coughs and "Ahh--"s and fidgets and finally hauls himself behind the wheel to the accompaniment of Mustang very loudly saying not a damn thing. He's gunned the engine twice before the Lieutenant Colonel gets in. Mustang slams the door closed so hard the frame shakes.

It sounds strangely peaceful, the motor's regular growl and the drumming of rain on the windows. Hughes, who has been pestering other new parents for tips, says the wife of a lieutenant in East City claims that when nothing else works, her baby will calm down during a drive. Hawkeye smooths Edward's damp hair and shifts him a little. He is very light except for the automail arm and leg, and very warm except for them, too. He snuggles into her, still unconscious, and curls a cold dense arm around her back. It feels like leaning against a steel bar. It is leaning against a steel bar.

His living fingers tighten on her sleeve. "Mother," he whispers. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry--"

"Shh." She presses her cheek against his head. "You're a good boy, Edward. Go back to sleep."

"He's not a child," Mustang snaps. She doesn't have to look to know that he's still glaring out the window or that he hasn't once looked at Edward since the boy fell down.

They've known each other a long time. He doesn't have to look to know what kind of answer her silence is.

Comments

[minnow1212.livejournal.com]

I think the commas work better. Of course, I am overfond of punctuation in general. *g*

And hee! You pimp. I've seen two episodes now--I caught one on a few weeks ago where Edward and Al had been in some sort of confrontation/accident in a lab (told through flashback) where they'd seen homonculi. It had left Al sort of blown up and without legs, and Ed was in the hospital. And everyone who visited was saying, "Al? Why are you looking so depressed?" Like the fact that he wasn't propped in the corner of a hospital room unable to move wasn't enough to depress anyone. Only it turned out to be something about memory at the end, and Al's belief that Ed had created/miscreated his. And then he ran away once he had legs again. All very cliffhangery!

[untrue-accounts.livejournal.com]

That is one of my favorite episodes. Oh, the pain!

It is my pimpish duty to inform you that there are two DVDs out, containing about 8 or 9 episodes, and that Adult Swim is going to start rerunning the series from the beginning on Tuesday.