We managed to nab a car, while taking out a few soldiers in the process, and basically broke the speedometer as we drove off into the nearest town. Even the Briggs cars are prepared for driving through the thick snow. Admitting Edward to a public hospital was going to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves so we found a home doctor and knocked on his door. After demanding he attend to Edward immediately and having to pay an absurd amount for the rush, the condition Edward was in, and to keep him and his wife quiet about us, Edward was taken care of.
Now he was resting and I paced back and forth in the living room as Heinkel sat on the couch waiting. The doctor and wife weren't very welcoming to us but I didn't care. What mattered to me at the moment was how incompetent I was. I had one damn job and once again I couldn't do it. All the things I could've done in the moment that could've changed fate. Now Edward was in urgent care and I have a huge bill to pay as I wait for Darius to finish getting ready so we could head off to the bank and withdraw money from my account.
I approached Heinkel, "Does Darius talk this long to get ready?"
"Darius?" Heinkel asked me, confused. "He left a while ago."
"What?! I'd said I could go to the bank with him so we could withdraw money from my account!"
"It would look suspicious so I sent Darius while you were getting ready with Fullmetal's pocket watch and some paperwork."
"Is it more suspicious that a sleep deprived teen is withdrawing money from my account or for a man who literally looks like a gorilla to draw money from Edward's account?!"
The door opened on cue and Darius came in. Grunting, he threw the folded money at the doctor couple at the dinner table and the doctor grinned as he began to count the money to make sure the amount was right. "Here, this should cover the medical expenses," Darius grumbled.
"All right, I accept the payment," He hummed.
"Oh, my, what a rip-off artist," Darius huffed.
"What are you talking about?" The female doctor smirked as she poured tea for herself and her husband. "When you factor in the hush money, it's reasonable."
"Well, I guess it does help that you're not asking any questions about us," Darius sighed.
"Well, I have a few questions for you," I stomped towards Darius. "I told you to wait for me so we could withdraw money from my account? Why did you go without me? You understand how risky it is--"
"I don't see why you're working up so much about this," Darius sighed. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"Darius!" Heinkel ran from the other room.
Darius and I headed over to where Heinkel was and saw some police getting out of several cars in front of the us. "That's what I was worried about," I growled. "They're onto us, and if you had just listened to me--"
A fist pounded on the door, not giving any time for us to think or even for me to finish my sentence. Darius ran off somewhere. "Now where are you--" I snapped.
The male doctor went up to the door and opened it. "Ah, soldier, are you not feeling well?" He asked.
"We're looking for someone," the officer stepped into the house and I backed up so I wasn't in view and by the room Edward was in. If I could just get in, I might be able to warn Edward so we could get out of here. "You just have one patient? Have you admitted anyone else?" The police continued.
"There's one more inside--" The doctor continued but multiple heavy footsteps interrupted him. Panicking, I opened the wrong door and ended up in the hallway of the apartment room. Before I went back inside, a police officer stopped me. "Halt!" He yelled, causing me to screech as I didn't see him there. "Apologies for the scare, but miss, are you with the clinic?" He asked.
Footsteps echoed behind me and I knew it was reinforcements, so I gulped. "I-I'm just waiting on a friend in there," I quickly lied.
"In that case, have you seen a stranger enter or leave the clinic recently?" He continued. "He's described as...wearing a red coat, having blond, braided hair, and being short."
Before I could respond, there was the sound of wood snapping and a heavy fist whacked the back of the officer's head and he collapsed. Behind him was Edward with a kabob stick in half as he was probably holding it in his mouth and snapped it from hearing someone call him short, which explained the sound of snapping wood. In place of his red coat was a jacket that looked as if it belonged to the doctor couple. In his arms were also a brown bag overflowing with groceries. "Ed?!" I screeched.
"Eve?" He asked. "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here?" I demanded. "What are YOU doing here? I thought you were resting, as you should be! You shouldn't be walking around in the condition you are in! What were you thinking?"
Another officer burst through the door, gun in the air and he saw the unconscious officer and turned his attention at him. "Harris!" He yelled, grabbing him by the collar and shaking him. "Snap to! Who got you? Hey Harris--"
Edward quickly knocked him out with the same move he used on Harris and stepped through the open door. "Cohen! Harris!" Another officer called from where Edward should be resting. "What happened? Answer me!"
Edward punched a hole through the wall and twisted his arm, as if he was grabbing onto someone. I could hear coughing from the inside, and I knew that Edward and gripping the officer in a choke hold. After a few minutes of coughing, the noise stopped and Edward retracted his arm from the hole. "You took them all by yourself," Darius snorted from inside. "Don't overexert yourself. You still haven't recovered, have you?"
"Don't you treat me like I'm an invalid," Edward stepped over so he was underneath the door frame. "I'm revving at full-throttle now!"
Heinkel stepped so we was by the doorway as well. Darius picked up the unconscious officer from the room he was in and stepped out as we made our way to the front and dumped the unconscious soldier outside there. "Thanks for everything, Doc," Darius thanked.
"Never mind the thanks," the male doctor shooed us away while his wife looked absolutely pissed at the wreckage we caused. "Just hurry up and go."
"We can't afford any more trouble," his wife cracked.
Edward picked up the note as he shoved a small loaf of bread into his mouth and sucked it up. "You better keep that look for now," I stated. "Wearing anything else will draw attention towards us."
"Freeze!" More officers came in with guns pointed at us. "Drop your weapons!"
"Fresh troops, huh?" Heinkel grunted.
"Place your hands over your heads!" They ordered. "Do it now! You two, it's too dangerous there! Get away from them!"
I think by the kids they were referring to Edward and us. Suddenly, we were held in a choke-hold just tight enough to look convincing and we had guns pointed to our heads. "Don't you move!" Heinkel warned.
"You want us to blow these kids' heads off?" Darius added.
The officers dropped their guns long enough for Darius and Heinkel to make the run for it, Edward dropping his groceries in the process. As we stepped out of the apartment building, it attracted the attention of more officers who were standing outside by a car. Heinkel dropped me to pull out two handguns and fired them at the roof above them, causing piles of snow to drop on them. "I'll get us some wheels!" Darius yelled while he carried Edward.
"Okay!" Heinkel nodded as we ran close behind him.
Darius found an empty car and looking around quickly to see if anyone was around, pulled the back seat door open and threw Edward inside as he climbed into the driver's seat while Heinkel climbed into the passenger seat and I joined Edward in the back. Darius started the car quickly and we drove off in the snow-piled roads. I looked behind us to see a few police cars on our tails. "We got company!" I yelled.
"They're from the northern forces!" Darius stepped on the pedal harder but it didn't make us go any faster. "We'll never outrun them on the snow roads!"
"TRUCK!!!" I screamed as Darius swerved to the side and just barely avoided the truck from T-boning us.
"That was close," Heinkel sighed.
"Hey, how's it look behind us?" Darius asked.
I glanced behind me again to see the police cars still on our tails, as if they weren't affected by that swerving truck from earlier. "They're still onto us!" I reported.
"Damn it!" Darius cursed.
Edward looked out through his window. "Turn right there!" He grabbed Darius and pointed to the alleyway coming up. "Cut through there!"
"What?" Darius questioned.
"Just do it!" Edward yelled.
"I don't know what you're up to--" Darius muttered as he made a sharp turn into the alleyway.
"Once we're in there, turn us around, quickly!" Edward interrupted.
Just as Darius stepped on the brakes, Edward performed a transmutation on the car, disguising it as a ridiculously bright-colored car with a ridiculous pattern, even tinting the windows purple, so when the officers turned down the alleyway, they didn't notice that we were the car they were chasing after as they continued on ahead. "We managed to give them the slip," Edward sighed.
"Edward, I really do enjoy your style at times, but please next time when we're in a chase like that try doing something a little less...extravagant," a veined pulsed on my head at how even at times like this Edward doesn't act all that serious.
"What are you saying Eve?" Edward yanked my ear playfully as Darius started the car up again and we pressed on forward to get out of this town as fast as we could. "I think it looks cool as hell."
"Can we please change it back now?" I begged.
"You don't like my sense of style?" Edward demanded.
"YOU DON'T HAVE ANY!!!" Darius and Heinkel yelled from the front.
We drove off in awkward silence before we pulled up at the outskirts of town. "Once again, we got no place to go," Heinkel said.
"Yeah," Darius nodded.
"Where to go now?" I asked.
"Why not ask the one in charge?" Darius commented. "Hey Fullmetal, are you listening? What do we do now? "
"Right now, I need some information, no matter what it is," Edward answered. "I have to get together with Al and the others."
"So, where are that?" Darius asked.
"Where should we go to meet up with them?" Heinkel added.
Edward sat on the side of the car and began to contemplate. "Hey Edward, remember that place we staked out with Colonel the last time?" I recommend. "Al might go back there, it was the last safe place we stayed at...."
"Good idea Eve," Edward sighed as he got up. "Guys, I think I know a place where we can go..."
*~*~*~*~*~
After parking our car a few miles from the safe home and disguising it with some branches, we hiked for a little bit and came to the home-well, at least, what's left of it from the last time we were here as Gluttony basically consumed half of it. "Where are we?" Darius asked.
"A hideout that we've used before," Edward explained.
"This is where your brother us, right?" Heinkel confirmed.
"Yeah," Edward nodded, "I know him like the back of my hand. Al is definitely here."
We stepped into one of the barely standing rooms as Darius lit a lantern, revealing nothing but crates. "Hey, there's no one here, is there?" Darius growled as he whacked Edward's head with his fist. "You can't bank on this older brother."
"Actually, it was my suggestion," I admitted. "So I should be the one getting hit, not Ed."
"We busted our tails fleeing from the north and this is what we got?" Heinkel commented, examining the place that was barely suitable as a shelter.
He sniffed and suddenly he got down on one knee and pointed his gun out the hole of the house. Edward and I got down and hid behind a crate while Darius turned off the lantern. I could hear footsteps approaching us and a shadow loomed outside the hole before the intruder collapsed, revealing Ling-or Greed. "Ling-I mean, Greed?" Edward kneeled down by the collapsed teen.
A loud growling filled the hallow home. "Hungry..." Ling drooled.
"It's Ling, all right," Edward chuckled.
After taking the bag of food Darius had and opened it, revealing canned food, Edward opened one of them and hearing a can opening was enough to revive Ling as he snatched the open can from Edward's hands and began to wolf down its contents, no matter if they were still good or not. Once he had licked that can clean, he opened another, and another, and another.
Soon he was surrounded by a mountain of cans and he sighed as he stretched in satisfaction, "I feel like myself again. Thanks, that was good."
"Same overeating dumbass as ever," Edward laughed.
"Our emergency rations are gone," Darius grunted as he turned the bag upside-down to reveal nothing.
"Are those guys your pals?" Ling asked.
"Mr. Gorilla..." Edward started.
"It's Darius!" Darius snapped.
"I'm Henkel," Henkel added.
"Same Eve as before," I waved.
"We're former military, but as circumstances would have it, we're working with these kids here," Heinkel informed.
"Who is this guy?" Darius pointed to Ling.
"Let's see..." Edward started. "I'm not sure how to explain it to you."
"I'm a Homunculus," Ling simply stated.
Darius and Heinkel both exchanged a shocked and perplexed look. "Hey, now, don't spill it so easily!" Edward hissed.
"Seriously?" Darius asked.
"It would take too long to lay it all out," Edward sighed. "And what are you doing here anyway?"
"Greed went his separate way from the Homunculus gang," Ling explained. "I took advantage of his agitation and gained back control of my body. I was looking for someplace near Central where I could hide, and ended up here." Ling began to wince a bit, as if now he's still fighting for control of his body.
"What's wrong?" Edward asked with concern, seeing Ling's pained look.
"This is bad," Ling grunted, sweat forming on his brow as he placed his fingers on his temple as if he was having a migraine. "Greed is coming back," Ling winced some more.
"Hey!" Edward encouraged as he made a fist and whacked Ling's head with it. "Hey, hey, wait, wait, wait! Hold on! Don't let him overcome you! Keep your wits about you!"
"Listen to me!" Ling shouted, grabbing Edward's fist. "Ed...that 'Father' guy that lives beneath Central will open the doorway on 'That Day' which is to come. It my layman's opinion, if you two brothers jump into it then, you might be able to get your original bodies back."
"No, wait," Edward gasped. "That might be true, but...in order to open the doorway, a toll is required. This 'Day' which is to come...is there a set day on which he's going to open the doorway."
"Well, I--" Ling breathed before clutching his head, fighting for control of his body.
"Ling?" Edward yelled, not finished yet. "Hey!"
"Damn it," Ling spoke but in a much deeper tone. "Don't come back yet. The message...did you give Lan Fan the message?"
"Message?" Edward asked, pondering for a quick second before remembering what Ling meant. "Al gave it to her. Lan Fan is all right. We don't where she is right now though."
"Okay," Ling sighed in gratitude. "Thank goodness." He winced again.
"Ling?" Edward said.
"Sorry," Ling mumbled, giving up the fight. "That's all for me."
Ling slumped over for a minute before sitting back up, a different aura around him. "Damn, lousy Xingese prince," Greed spoke, now in control of Ling's body. "He talks far too much."
"Is that you, Greed?" Edward asked.
"Yeah, that's right," He nodded. Heinkel pulled a gun threateningly at Greed, probably shocked at the sudden transition. "Give it up, you can't kill me with that," Greed shrugged, getting up, preparing to leave. "Sorry to bother you."
"Hey!" Edward stopped Greed. "You're gonna let us escape?"
Greed put his hands in his coat pockets. "He told you earlier, right? That I have washed my hands of the Homunculi? My memories got all jumbled up and I attacked Bradley. If I go back, there's no telling what they'd do to me. So I've gone and flown the coop, and will live however I want to. By myself."
"If that's the case, why not join us?" Edward offered, causing Greed to stop and everyone to stare at him in disbelief. "If you got nowhere else to go, why not come with us? We're going to need all the help we can get, after all."
Greed stared at Edward, perplexed before bursting out in laughter, "Pal up? Pal up with you guys? That's rich. Up yours. Everything in the world is mine! Then again, if you all wanted to work for me, I wouldn't mind palling around with you. Bye now."
Greed left the hideout and Edward ran after him. "Hey, wait up!" I yelled, running after him along with Darius and Heinkel.
After a short burst, Edward caught up with Greed. "Hey, Ling!" He yelled.
Greed, who was standing along with his clenched fist raised up to the moon turned to us in annoyance, "What? You're such a pest. Remember, I'm Greed."
"I don't care who you are anymore," Edward panted. "It's too much of a hassle, so I'll call you Greeling."
"Hey, who are you calling Gree--" Greeling started.
"I'll work for you, Greeling," Edward offered, causing Greeling to stop and stare at Edward in disbelief. "I said, I would be one of your men. Which means that the Chimera fellows that are with me now work for you too."
Darius and Heinkel pounced on Edward and began to step all over his back. "Hey, kid!" Darius shouted. "You can't go deciding that for us!"
"Don't get carried away, you little bean sprout!" Heinkel scolded. "Pipsqueak! Pee-wee!"
Greeling stared at the three in confusion. "Wherever Ed goes, I follow," I laughed dryly. "So I guess I'm with you now."
"Now that I think about it, the moment I decided to become dog of the military, I lost all pride and everything else with it," Edward grunted as Darius and Heinkel decided that they've beaten him enough. "So wagging my tail is no big deal to me anymore. Besides, I can't very well let any information slip away or pass up this chance just because I'm caught up in my emotions, right? Not this one chance in a million."
Greeling laughed, "What a hoot! To work with me is to become an outcast. Make sure you won't regret it later."
"Give me a break," Edward giggled. "When it comes to having regrets, I've got the inside track!"
"What does that mean?" Darius and Heinkel sweatdropped.
"That settles it then," Greeling grinned, approaching the two Chimeras. "So that means you're my men as well."
"Whatever, suit yourself," Heinkel grunted.
"I don't care who I follow as long as I get fed," Darius stated.
"What kind of Chimeras are you?" Greeling asked.
"I'm part gorilla." Darius replied.
"I'm part lion," Heinkel replied.
"Hey that's cool," Greeling grinned.
"Okay, now what?" I asked Edward. "Obviously there's too many of us for the hideout and it looks like it will fall apart at any given moment. There are now too many for us to sleep in the car. Where else can we go?"
"Hmm..." Edward thought. "The only other place I can think that Al might be is home. Granny won't appreciate all the people here though...how about we crash at your place?"
"My place?" I asked. "It might work...."
*~*~*~*~*~
We've been staying and hiding out at my place for quite a while now. Granny Pinako have been kind enough to provide us with food, so we've been alright. When we're not eating or sleeping, we're trying to scheme up something for the upcoming "Day".
There was a knock on the door and I went to answer it, assuming it was Granny Pinako. "Granny Pin--" I started.
"Eve!" A voice smiled.
I screamed at the unfamiliar voice and fell down onto the ground. "Oh my god, Eve, are you--" The voice asked with concern as I looked up to see Winry.
"Oh..." I panted. "It's just you, Winry."
I staggered back up, still shaken up by the scare. "Are you okay?" She asked.
"I-I'm fine," I said. "I'll get Ed. He definitely needs to see you."
As we walked around my house, Winry glanced at me. "God, Eve, have you been sleeping lately?" She asked. "You look awful."
"Don't I always look awful?" I laughed.
"You look even worse-your eye bags are much more darker than usual," She noticed.
"I guess sleeping on the floor does that to you."
"Sleeping on the floor?! Isn't this your house?"
"Let's see...Greeling has the guest bed....Darius took the couch....I took the mattresses off my bed and Grace's bed and made a makeshift bed for Heinkel...and Edward has my parents' bed."
"Greeling? Weren't Darius and Heinkel with Kimblee though? What's going on?"
"It's a long story, okay? Ed and I will explain later."
"Anyways, again, why are you sleeping on the floor again?"
"Edward has the bed big enough for two, but I'm not sleeping in it."
"Well, why not?"
"Because I'm not six so it's not appropriate, that's why."
I knocked on my parents' bedroom door. "Ed?" I rapped. "It's me. Winry's here!"
As soon as I opened the door, Edward jumped from the bed. "Winry?" He cried. "Why are you here? And where's Al?"
"Al is at the train station together with Major Miles," Winry explained. "They're leaving before long. If you hurry, you might make it in time."
I went over to my parent's bedside to adjust a picture frame of my parents, Grace and I before it fell over as Edward stood up immediately and taking a few steps forward before stopping himself. "What's wrong?" I asked, tilting to my head to the side in confusion. "Don't you what to see him?"
"We're wanted men in Central," Edward remembered. "It wouldn't be any good if someone saw us."
"Yeah, but..." Winry started, loss at words.
There was a long silence between the three of us before the bedroom door opened and Granny Pinako stepped in. "Winry?" She gasped, before smiling warmly. "Welcome home."
"I'm back," Winry smiled. "Sorry to have worried you."
We went down the stairs and saw that it wasn't just Darius, Heinkel, and Greeling. Winry brought some other men that I assumed were from the North. "I see we have some other characters to be introduced," Granny Pinako chuckled.
"We're terribly sorry for all the commotion," The man with the yellow bandana apologized. "We are soldiers from Briggs."
"We've been assigned to escort Miss Winry," The man with the green hat added.
Winry turned to face Greeling. "Ling, it's you, right?" She asked.
"Are you one of this guy's friends?" Greeling grinned, causing Winry to blink in confusion, failing to realize that Greed was referring to Ling. "I'm Greed. Pleased to meet you."
Greeling began to explain the situation to Winry was Granny Pinako set the table with dinner for all of us. "And so I have these guys working for me now," He finished as he tore into a chicken leg.
"Yeah, but why are you all here at Eve's house?" She asked.
"We've been hiding out for a while and their automail needs maintenance," Greeling explained. "I want them both in tip-top condition."
"Winry, you perform the maintenance," Granny Pinako stated. "You built their automail, so I don't feel comfortable tinkering with it."
"Okay," She nodded as we proceeded to eat the delicious dinner in peace.
*~*~*~*~*~
Later at Winry's workshop, Edward and I waited as Winry tweaked our automail to adjust it to our needs while we waited for our Northern automail to be removed and switched out. While she was fixing our arms, she began to explain what has happened to her for the past few months, including the drama back at Liore. "That's wonderful," I sighed in relief. "Liore is getting back on its feet. That's been bothering me for a while, from all the damage I caused."
"But, how come Al is with Major Miles?" Edward interrupted.
"The folks from Briggs are going to be doing something at some training ground in the east." Winry explained. "Al thought he might be able to help out there, so he volunteered."
"I see," Edward nodded.
"Ed, your father went to Central a little before we left," Winry informed. "I hear he's in some slum named Kanama, so go see him and get the full story from him." Silence was the response, as Edward made it obvious several times that his father is quite a sore subject for him. "The Promised Day is almost here, right?" Winry changed the subject.
"I heard about it from Greed," Edward replied. "The day is a chance for us to get back to normal, bit it also could mean a huge tragedy for the country. Listen..."
"What?" Winry asked.
"Take Granny and Den, and run away to same foreign country," Edward ordered.
I was shocked to hear that from Edward, and Winry was as well, but she reacted more aggressively by pelting him with her wrench. "What do you mean, run away?" She yelled. "What good is having only those close to you get away? Can't you do anything to stop the country from getting messed up?"
"I'm gonna stop it!" He shouted. "I'm going to stop it, but there is one chance in a million!"
"Don't give me one in a million, or even a billion!" Winry countered.
"Defend me on this Eve!" Edward pleaded.
"I'm sorry, I'm with Winry on this one," I shrugged. "She's already been so involved with what's going on lately, so what's the purpose of making her leave just because a scary group of immortals are going to wreck havoc on this country? She's done so much, therefore has every right to decide if she wants to say."
"Thank you Eve!" Winry nodded. "Besides, those guys are about to do something awful, right? So slam the door shut on it, and protect the country! And then, Ed, both you and Al along with Eve come home with your original bodies! I'll do anything to make that happen!"
"You make it sound so simple," Edward glared.
"What is this?" Winry demanded. "It's not like you to get so discouraged. Hey, Ed!" Edward grabbed his coat and began to walk out.
"That girl doesn't know when to shut up," He mumbled as he left the workshop.
"Ed!" Winry cried as he slammed the door shut. She was about to go after him but I stopped her.
"Stop," I advised her. "Let him cool off. I'll deal with him later."
*~*~*~*~*~
"What the hell is wrong with you?" I demanded while we were outside the house. It was the middle of the night but I was going to give Edward a piece of my mind. "Winry has helped us so much already, and you ordering her to just sit back and watch just because you're doubting yourself? She has a point. You aren't this doubtful. Like, ever."
"Nothing good will come out of her waiting for this to happen," Edward stated while looking away. "If she's going to sit back and watch, I want her to do it where she is someplace safe."
"I still don't see the issue, so let her stay," I glared.
"If she's safe, I'll let her do whatever the hell she wants," Edward countered.
"Hey, look at me," I yelled. "I SAID LOOK AT ME!!!" I grabbed Edward's chin and forced him to look at me. "Are you telling her to do that because she can't fend for herself? I don't see you telling me to leave and Winry and I was in the same situation with you. Because she can't fight back, she should leave and be someplace safe? Winry is stronger than you think. She can hold her ground. Yes, the country will suffer a whole lot on that day, but Winry won't let that stand in her way? You want to know why? She has HOPE. She hopes that you and Al will get your bodies back so you two can return home. THAT is what is stopping her to leave. SHE wants to be here on the day you two return back home with your bodies. And she will take any kind of pain if that she means she gets to see that day."
Edward looked thoughtfully at me for a bit before hugging me. "Thanks, Eve," He muttered, kissing my forehead, causing my cheeks to tint red.
There was a whistle and we turned to see Greeling clapping at us. "A bodyguard and the person she is protecting in a relationship?" He grinned. "How scandalous."
"Don't," I warned, pointing at him threateningly.
Winry stepped out along with Granny Pinako. "You're leaving at this hour?" She asked.
"We planned to leave today, even if we hadn't run into you," Edward replied.
"Thanks for servicing our automail and everything you've done for us," I smiled.
"If you happen to see Hohenheim, give him the message from Trisha," Granny Pinako called. Trisha was Edward's and Alphonse's deceased mother.
"Okay, okay," Edward waved her off before turning around and smiling confidently. "We're going to put a stop to this on the Promised Day and then come back home. So back us some apple pie until then."
She stared at him in shock before grinning at me, "Looks like you talked some sense back into him."
"Just doing my job as a bodyguard," I stated, giving her a thumbs up before Edward, Darius, Heinkel, Greeling, and I walked into the woods and into the darkness.