It was becoming increasingly difficult to hide all of his bruises from Winry and Riza. With the constant beatings from Mustang, almost his entire body was covered in purple, black, yellow and blue patches. He even sported more and more burns. He tried to avoid Mustang, but the man always sought him out, and it was impossible to run away once he was cornered. He was beginning to limp, thanks to the several cracked ribs, but he had to fight himself to hide it, he couldn't let them see. He couldn't let them know. At night, he would wait till Winry was asleep, then quietly slip out and sleep on the couch. The nightmares were coming every night now, again, and he didn't want to wake her with them. But he suspected that they were beginning to notice something was wrong. They frowned at him when they thought he wasn't looking, and he could hear some of their whispers. At least Winry and Riza have hit it off, he thought. He kept himself shut up in his room whenever he could, and when he couldn't he would go outside and try to keep himself hidden once he was out of sight, because he knew Mustang would follow him. He was doing exactly that right now. Hiding behind a trash can in an alleyway a few blocks away from the apartment, waiting for Roy to appear and, hopefully, pass by him without noticing. He sat in complete silence, breathing quietly through his nose. His heart was pounding, and he wouldn't be surprised if Mustang heard it when he finally caught up. It occurred to Edward he could have gone into the forest and climbed up a tree, but Mustang would probably just burn the tree down.
But still, it might have been a good hiding place. He was tempted to jump out of his spot now and go there, but for all he knew Mustang was already walking down the street, and if he moved now he could well be spotted.
He froze as footsteps became apparent, and took in slow, silent breaths until they reached the trash can he was hiding behind. He held his breath as the footsteps paused, and he didn't release it until they continued past him. Without moving an inch, he could see it was Mustang in his military uniform through his peripheral vision. When Mustang was out of sight, he counted in his head to thirty and peered his head out. The street was empty. He sighed in relief and crept out of the alley, jogging down the block and wincing as the movement caused severe pain in his legs and back. He jogged to the outskirts of town, walked up the hill and into the forest. He found his little hut that he'd made a little over two months ago, and noticed that a lot of the leaves had fallen off of the branches he'd used. He swept them up and scatted them inside the hut, and climbed a nearby tree to find some more branches. When he'd dropped enough he climbed down and gathered them all, then placed them over the wooden frame, making a curtain. He smiled at it and made to crawl inside, when, from behind a tree, he thought he saw a flash of blue.
He froze, slowly standing back up. He pretended to inspect the wall of the hut one last time, and muttered, "Not enough. Need more branches." And he climbed the tree again, going as high up as possible, occasionally dropping a few branches to make his endeavor look legit. When he had reached as high as he could physically go without falling, he looked down.
Mustang was at the base of the tree, smirking up at him.
He stifled a cry and tightened his grip on the tree. There was no point feigning dropping branches anymore. Mustang knew Ed had seen him. He didn't move, he was terrified of going back down and facing Mustang, but he was also mildly curious as to how Mustang planned to get him down without killing him. Mustang might think he'd have to come down eventually, but Ed had a feeling his patience could outlast Mustang's. He had no problem going to the toilet from the top of a tree, as long as it meant he could avoid being beaten up, and his months in Drachma had made him quite resistant to hunger. He could go the next few days without food before it worried him too much, and the same went for sleep. Although, if it got to that point, he could use his cloak to tie himself to the branch. He didn't think Mustang could go that long without food or sleep or water. Ed was fine as far as water was concerned. Judging by the weather he was looking up at now, it was going to rain sometime within the next few hours. If he opened his mouth and cupped his hands, he could easily catch some of the rainwater. He'd be cold and drenched, but it wasn't like he was unused to that particular dilemma. But it pissed him off to know that when the rain came, Roy would benefit from the hut Ed had made.
"You might as well come down, Edward." Mustang called up to him. "You can't stay up there forever."
"Yeah that's what you think you bastard!" Edward yelled back. He gripped the tree even tighter, certain that Mustang would try to burn the tree for Ed's insolence. He was, however, proven wrong. Mustang simply laughed and began to climb the tree. Edward reacted immediately. He quickly snapped off all the branches above him and began to piff them down at Mustang's head. Only a few of them hit, but every time they did Edward heard Mustang yell and tell him he was going to regret it. Edward didn't doubt it. He looked over to his right, to see if the tree next to his was close enough to jump to, but it was several meters away. He'd never make it. But he was in luck. The tree to his left was so close it was practically adjoined to this one. He would have to time his jump, though. If he did it right now, Mustang was close enough to the ground that he could just jump down and wait. Ed was a faster climber than Mustang was, though. He waited till Mustang had climbed three quarters of the tree, only four or five meters below Ed, and then, his heart pounding, his common sense screaming at him not to do it, he mustered together all of his adrenaline and jumped.
He grabbed onto the branch nearest him, and landed his feet on the one below. The branch under his feet snapped and he lost his grip on the one above, and for a few terrifying seconds he was tumbling down the tree, smacking every body part possible on what felt like every single branch, but then, for a moment, he was falling horizontally, and by pure luck he landed gut first on a branch sticking out almost completely horizontally. All the breath was knocked out of him and he felt a rib break, but all he could think about was that he'd stopped falling. A look right and upwards and he saw Mustang glaring daggers down at him, before beginning to climb slowly down the tree. Apparently, after Edward's fall, he was not willing to jump trees.
With a huge amount of effort, Ed slid down to the next branch and began climbing down as quick as he could. Roy was not willing to climb quite as fast as Edward, because he was not accustomed to climbing trees as much as Edward was. So Edward was at the base of the tree and running away as fast as he could before Mustang was even halfway down his tree.
That was brilliant! Edward thought to himself as he ran. Now I just have to get back to the apartment and Mustang can't do jack to me!
It began to rain just as Ed made it to the apartment. Slightly wet, he dashed in, locked and bolted the door shut, and collapsed against it, breathing heavily, clutching his side, where his rid was broken. He was covered in cuts and scratches from falling from the tree, and he had a brand new set of bruises to add to his already overflowing collection. He could feel a light flow of blood seeping from a deep cut on his cheek, where it had scraped across a broken branch stump.
Suddenly Winry came running, and when she caught sight of Ed, she froze.
"Edward!" She yelled, shaking off her initial shock and rushing to him. "What happened to you?"
"Fell out of...a tree." He huffed.
"Oh my God! What the Hell were you doing in a tree?" She demanded, not unreasonably. Thankfully, Edward was spared having to answer by Riza rushing to them.
"What happened?" She asked, her voice a mixture of concern and sternness, that she expected an answer.
"He fell out of a tree!" Winry squeaked.
Riza repeated Winry's earlier question, wanting to know what he had been doing in a tree. But at that moment, a sudden flare of pain went through him, and he groaned and put his other hand to his rib. "I think it's broken." He said through his teeth.
"We need to get you to a hospital, Edward." Riza said calmly.
"No! I don't need to go to the hospital. I just need, I think I'll just go to bed. I'll sleep it off." He said stubbornly.
"Edward, you need to see a doctor!" Winry insisted.
"No I don't!" He said, his voice raised.
"Winry." Riza said. "I don't think we can make Edward Elric go to the hospital if he's dead set on not going. As part of my military training, I was required to know first aid and had to take a certain amount of medical training. I can tend to his wounds." She smiled reassuringly at both of them. "You can help me, Winry, by helping me get him to the couch and then running a nice hot bath for him." Winry nodded and they both put Ed's arms around their shoulders and hoisted him up. They took him to the couch and gently sat him down. Riza quickly grabbed her first aid kit from under the counter and Winry dashed off to run Ed a bath. "Shirt off." Riza commanded. Ed hesitated. If he did, she would see his burns and bruises. "I said shirt off, Ed, don't worry, I won't bite." She was frowning, and Ed was worried she knew. Oh well, he thought bitterly, it was becoming more evident anyway. He reluctantly lifted his shirt and tossed it to the floor. Her eyes widened at all his various wounds, but she didn't seem very surprised. She grabbed a cloth and dabbed a corner in a bowl of antiseptic, then began to dab it at his newer wounds, cleaning them. They sat in silence, the sound of pouring water in the background, but as she cleaned the last of his wounds, an old one Mustang made with a knife, she asked casually, "So who is it that's been hurting you?"
"No one!" Ed said defensively. "I told you I fell out of a tree!"
"Edward." Riza said, sounding sad, "I don't believe that a tree did all this."
"Whaddya mean?" He challenged.
"I mean trees don't burn you, Edward. And don't give me that look, I'm not useless when it comes to wounds. These burns look to me like they're several days old." She said, indicating the first burn he received the night of the party, and two others on his hip that came over the next day. "And this one happened yesterday, didn't it?" She asked gentler, waving her hand over the burn on the middle of his abdomen, that had, indeed, happened yesterday. He began to tremble. If Riza could tell that much, would she be able to put two and two together and realize that Mustang was the one doing it?
"You don't have to be afraid, Edward." She said soothingly. "You can tell me. I promise, I won't let anyone hurt you again."
"I can't." Edward whispered.
"Why not, Ed?" She asked gently. Mother-like.
"Because he- he'll hurt-" He couldn't finish. He wasn't sure if Mustang wouldn't do it, just for telling that 'someone' threatened they would.
"I won't let anyone hurt you, Ed, I promise."
"It's not that." He whispered.
"Then what is it, Ed?"
"I can't say."
"Please, Ed."
"I can't."
"Edward-"
"I CAN'T!" He roared, just as Mustang banged on the door, asking to be let in. Ed winced and Riza muttered "one moment" before rushing to get the door. She and Mustang, who was completely drenched, walked back in, and when Mustang caught sight of Ed, he frowned.
"What is this?" He asked.
"Someone's been hurting Ed." Riza said, kneeling back down in front of him and threading a length of string through a needle. She began to stitch up Ed's worst cut, and he winced ever-so-slightly as she began, but otherwise made no more movement. He couldn't, he was too terrified. "But he won't tell me who it is. Ed, come on, I can help if you'll just-"
"I already said I can't tell you." He snapped. "I'm sorry." He added, lowering the tone of his voice. "I'm sorry I always seem to cause you inconvenience, Colonel."
"Colonel?" She laughed. "Since when am I 'Colonel'? You've been calling me Riza for months, why the change?"
"Sorry." He muttered, hanging his head so his bangs hid his face.
"Don't worry about it, Ed." She said gently. "Now you're sure you can't tell me at least why they're hurting you."
Edward thought it through for a moment, and decided the truth was his best answer. "To be honest," he said "I actually don't know the reason. I just know that I can't tell anyone." His eyes flickered to Mustang for a moment, and he could see that the man's steel-like gaze was fixed intently on him. A sudden sinking feeling engulfed him, and he knew then that it was a mistake to even have admitted the small amount that he had. He shivered, and looked back to Riza, who pulled him close and wrapped him in a hug. It felt nice, like, just for the moment, he was safe. That, while he was in Riza's arms, nothing could hurt him. But the feeling was short lived when he realized that Mustang would punish him severely for allowing it. But it couldn't be that bad, surely. He was already going to be hospital-worthy by the time Mustang was finished with him for that stunt with the trees. How much worse could it be? He regretted knowing the answer to his own question.
Reluctantly, he pulled back from the hug and smiled faintly at her. "Thanks for the patch up." He said. "I think I might go to bed now." And he stood up, swayed slightly, and trudged to the hallway.
"Wait, Ed! Winry should be about finished with that bath, she might be offended if you don't take it." Riza called to him.
"Right, I forgot. Thanks." Ed said, and bypassed his room, heading for the bathroom, where Winry was indeed finished with the bath. She smiled up at him and silently left him, closing the door quietly behind her. He stripped off his clothes, dropping them in a corner, and, without testing the water, slid into the tub. The water was near boiling, but he sank in anyway, sighing in relief as the hot water soothed his tense muscles. He lay down and rested his head on the edge of the bath, closing his eyes. He sat in silence, listening in to the other room to try and distinguish who was saying what. He made out Mustang's voice, and strained to hear what the bastard was saying.
"If he needs to leave the apartment, I can go with him as protection." He said. Edward stiffened, but kept his eyes closed so he could hear what else was being said.
"That's a good idea!" Piped up Winry. Dammit Winry, no it isn't, he thought.
"That sounds fair enough to me. Thanks Roy, I appreciate it." She Riza said, but what followed both shocked Ed and made him glow inside. "Over the past few months, I've really come to think of him as a son, and I hate seeing him hurt. It'll be nice to know someone's looking after him."
The glow inside dimmed a little, and Ed desperately wanted to tell Riza that she was placing her trust in the wrong person, but he couldn't, because that would mean Roy would tell the military what he and Al did, and then he and Alphonse would be court-martialled. He didn't care as much about what happened to him as he cared what could happen to his brother. If Al was subjected to the firing squad...Ed wouldn't be able to live with himself. He just couldn't imagine a world where Alphonse Elric wasn't alive. It just wasn't something that could ever seem real. He couldn't tell anyone, not Winry, not Alphonse, not even Riza, who he had come to think of recently as a second mother. And while he wasn't brave enough to admit it, he did not have any objections to his new-found feelings towards her.
Deciding he had done enough eavesdropping, he relaxed himself, and stopped straining his ears to hear things other people were saying. It wasn't like it was doing him any good, was it? He focused on the brilliant warmth of the bath, how it soothed his soreness and eased off some of the aching. He didn't think it was helping the burns much, but it was doing a heap of good for the rest of him, so, for now, he was content to stay here until the water ran cold.
Ed lay in bed, Winry beside him, thinking about a dream he'd once had. He'd been with Winry, he couldn't remember where, and they'd been discussing names of children they planned to have. He remembered Urey Hohenheim Elric, Trisha Sara Elric, Clarissa Mai Elric, and, finally, Maes Roy Elric. Pfft, no child of his would be named Roy after what he was putting Ed through now. No way. But, remembering the dream now did spark a question in Edward's mind. "Hey, Winry, you awake?" He whispered.
"Uh huh." Winry groaned, sleepily.
"I was wondering, do you ever think about...you know, kids?" He asked, slightly nervous.
"Sometimes...why?" She replied.
"I was just remembering a dream I had, back when Envy still had me...and in it, we were talking about baby names. And I was just wondering...if we have kids...what would you wanna call them?"
"Hmm," she said thoughtfully, propping herself up on one elbow, "Well, for a girl...I think Trisha would be nice."
"And I was thinking Sara." He laughed. "Trisha Sara."
"Trisha Sara," she repeated dreamily, "I like that. But what about a boy?"
"Urey." He said. "Or Maes. I think..."
"I think a good name would be-"
She was cut off as the sound of an explosion ripped at their eardrums, and an earthly rumble resonated beneath them.
LOL CLIFFHANGER!
Sorry it's taken so completely long to update, but I've had a bit of writers block. Also sorry it's so short, but I figured you guys are probably sick of waiting by this point. I've been writing this chapter for, what, over a week almost? Ridiculous. 'Bout time I published it, aye?
Hope you liked it, and, again, sorry for the wait. I'll try to update the next one a bit quicker. ;)
~Kala~