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Spirit Animals Drabbles

Chapter 4: How Al broke his arm after Promised Day

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

 

 

"Brother, what are you doing?" Alphonse asked, sighing exasperatedly as he watched his brother walk into a nearby café.

"I already told you, Al. We're doing a stakeout," Ed said as he perused the menu, contemplating his choices.

"Stakeouts usually require the people doing them to be hidden or inconspicuous," Al hissed as he and Chester joined his brother and Ayala. "They generally don't work if you're in plain sight!"

Ed rolled his eyes. "There's no reason for us to not get lunch. Besides, we're plenty inconspicuous now that you're not a suit of armour and I'm not wearing my red jacket," Ed told him. "Ayala can lay down in between the table and those plants lining the street in front of the café and Chester can chill on the other side of us. They won't be noticeable by someone walking by on the other side of the street so we'll be fine," Ed said confidently. "Now, what do you want? Ayala, Chester, and I are starving and we're getting food whether you like it or not," Ed told him matter-of-factly.

Al sighed in defeat. "A sandwich would be nice," he told his brother. "I'll go find us a seat," he said, turning around to do just that. If he made the offer just so he wouldn't have to see the smug look on Ed's, Ayala's, and Chester's faces, that was for him and his Animal to know alone.

Al found a small metal table with two chairs opposite one another that sat right next to the flowering plants that sat in a large, rectangle, terracotta planter box. He pulled the table and chairs away from the planter box so there would be enough room for Ayala to lay down between the table and plants, just as Ed suggested. Once he'd gotten the table and chairs organised, Al took a seat and let out a small sigh of happiness as he felt the sunlight start soaking into his skin and the slight breeze that blew through the street they were on ruffled his hair and kissed his exposed skin. He'd been in his body for six months, out of the hospital for two, and cleared to be on missions with his brother by his doctor and the military two weeks ago. They'd on been on three local missions, none of which were anything too dangerous and today's mission would make their fourth.

This one wasn't anything they thought would become dangerous since Ed absolutely refused to take any on that would wind up ending with a fight unless he was the only person in the whole military who could do it. Mustang and the team had been stunned – even Hawkeye's usual mask had cracked enough to show her shock – when Ed had announced that until he explained that he didn't want to put Al in a situation where he couldn't defend himself until Izumi had declared she was happy with his fighting level. The man they were watching was an alchemist who was suspected of ripping people off by promising to fix any issue of theirs alchemically, charging a reasonable amount of money up front, before he disappeared and left the job unfinished and the victim with no way to contact them or get their money back.

Jasper Davis had apparently been pulling this con for the last four months but the military hadn't been able to spare anyone to hunt him down until now. It was unfortunate but with more serious crimes and the continued rebuilding efforts keeping the military busy, crimes like this were starting to fall through the cracks more often than not. Or they had been until Ed said he'd take them on now that Alphonse was out of hospital and cleared to join him. They kept him in Central and they kept him busy but Al was starting to consider asking his brother to take on a mission of his usual caliber since Ed's whining of how boring these missions were had started grating on Al's nerves.

"You know he wouldn't go on a mission like that without your teacher saying you're back at the level you should be," Chester pointed out, heading to join Al now that he'd given Ed his order.

"He could go with just Ayala," Al countered and grimaced in the face of Chester's raised brow. "Yeah, okay, you're right. I probably wouldn't let them go on those kinds of missions without me and you there to back them up," he conceded, not meeting Chester's eyes so he wouldn't have to see the gloating in them.

The sound of something metal hitting the table caused Al to jolt and snap his attention to the source of the noise, only to relax when he saw it had just been Ed placing their table marker down so the waitress would know where they were before he handed over a coffee he'd gotten for Al. "You alright?" Ed asked, his brow creased slightly in concern at his brother's jumpiness. Ayala gave Al a worried look as she walked around him before she lay down, her head on her front paws and close to where Ed's chair was so if he wanted to, he could reach down and scratch her ears.

"Lost in my thoughts," Al assured his brother, giving him a warm smile. "What'd you order me?" he asked curiously as his brother shrugged his shoulder at him before he sat down.

"Ham and salad sandwich," Ed told him. "Your leopard is getting a chicken burger, all the chicken, minimal salad as per his request. Ayala wanted the pancakes and I'm getting the steak and bacon burger with all the fixings and a large serve of chips, before you ask," Ed said, eyeing his brother knowingly and causing Al to flush. It had been a habit of Al's while he was in the armour to ask what everyone was getting so he could mark it and the restaurant down in his journal so he'd know whether he should visit it again when he had his body back.

Deciding to change the subject from him, Al said, "so you never explained why we're in this part of Central for this case."

Ed frowned once more, this time in confusion since he thought he had until he came up blank on any memory that involved him giving Al the information he'd received that led them here. "Oh, sorry about that," he apologised. "One of Davis' victims spotted him heading into one of these houses on this street while they were having lunch here three days ago. On a hunch, that person came back the next day and spotted him going into the same house again. Thankfully, it seemed this person had a few braincells still in working order because they decided the next move would be telling the military about this. They couldn't give us a house number since they didn't want to get too close to the house in case Davis spotted them and spooked but they described the house as a small, one-story building with pale blue window frames and a white door," Ed told him. "That tip forced Investigations to dig this case up and I got handed it," he added, taking a sip of his coffee.

Al scanned the houses opposite them and found the house the civilian had described. "So having lunch here wasn't just a coincidence?" Al asked, raising a brow.

"Never said it was," Ed told him with a smirk. "'sides, we were hungry and it's just good luck that numb-nuts chose to live within a stone's throw of this café," Ed said, glaring at the house they suspected Davis was inside of.

Al rolled his eyes in tandem with the two Animals. "Why don't you give me a rundown of Davis again, Brother?" Al asked, wanting his brother to stop glaring at the house so that anyone passing by wouldn't think the glare was aimed at them or that his brother was slightly insane.

Ed gave a put-on sigh before he leaned back in his chair, one arm over the back so he was casually angled towards the window with the pale blue window frames and white door they were watching. "Davis is in his late twenties, somewhere between average and boring in both height and description. He has black hair and apparently has a tattoo on his bicep of something. His Animal is a…" Ed paused to think, screwing up his face slightly as he tried to recall the information.

"His Animal is a boar," Ayala supplied, sighing slightly and Ed scratched her ears in thanks.

"A boar, that's right. Good thing I've got you, hey?" Ed said, grinning down at Ayala, who rolled her eyes but had a pleased smile on her face. "Big arse boar, as well, or at least that's what the file said. Probably not quite Aya's size but close enough," Ed told Al. "Er, let's see," Ed said, trying to dredge up what he'd retained from the file he'd been given on Davis. "His alchemy isn't exactly known because no one in Investigations could find anyone in the whole of fucking Central who's actually seen the arrays this idiot has used but they've said he's transmuted earth, wood, and stone so we should assume he'd at least proficient in those three areas," Ed warned him and Al gave a nod. "I think that's about it," Ed told his brother, shrugging a shoulder nonchalantly.

"As always, your rundowns are a thing of beauty and filled with such specific details. I have no idea why Brigadier-General Mustang complains about your debriefings," Al said sarcastically.

"I know right?!" Ed exclaimed, acting as though he hadn't noticed the sarcasm. "I'm glad someone else realises just how bastard-like that bastard is," Ed said with a happy grin that had Al shaking his head in amusement.

"Is there anything specific about his alchemy that you were told?" Al asked just as one of the waitresses appeared with their order and some cutlery.

Both boys nodded in thanks to her and waited until she left with their table number before Al raised a questioning brow and Ed gave another one of his put-on sighs as they gave their Animals their lunch. "Yeah, there were a couple of things," Ed told him, "which I would've told you about before lunch was even over so don't you give me that look," Ed added, pointing accusingly at Al, who immediately wiped the 'I'm disappointed in you because that's information I should have' expression off his face and replaced it with one of complete innocence that had Ed rolling his eyes as he took a bite of his burger. Al started on his sandwich as Ed finished his mouthful and said, "so what I've been told about his alchemy so far is…"

Both Ayala's and Chester's ears perked up and they lifted their heads, looking in the direction of the house the two brothers were surveilling just as Ed finished the last of his coffee. "Well at least this criminal knows to wait until I've finished my lunch before they decide to show up," Ed said as he placed the empty mug in the bowl that had held his fries before he placed both on top of the four plates stacked neatly to the side for the waitress to grab once she noticed them.

"You should thank him for that when we arrest him," Al snarked as they surreptitiously watched the white door of the house Davis apparently lived in, or at least spent some time every day in.

"I will," Ed snarked back just as the door opened. With the distance between them, Ed couldn't positively identify the person walking out as Davis, even though his boar was walking beside him. It wouldn't have been the first time in the military's history that someone had been arrested because they had the misfortune of being the same gender, have the same hair colour, and the same or a very similar looking Animal as the wanted criminal. With that in mind, Ed nodded to Ayala to take a look. "Is it Davis?" he asked as his wolf peered over the flowering plants, gold eyes searching the area until they landed on the presumed criminal.

"It's him," the wolf confirmed after a moment of waiting for Davis to look in their general direction.

Ed didn't hesitate as he casually stood up, gesturing inconspicuously for Al to do the same, which he did. They headed for the counter together with the Animals keeping an eye on Davis, who was meandering down the street in the opposite direction of the café with his boar walking alongside him, seemingly unaware they were both being watched. Once Ed had paid for their lunches, they headed out of the café and turned right, walking in the same direction as Davis and his Animal but keeping their distance while sticking on the other side of the road. To keep up the charade of them being out for lunch and just happening to head in the same direction as Davis so the criminal wouldn't be tipped off, Ed started up a conversation revolving around some new alchemy books the boys had read. Since they'd already spoken about these books at length, there wasn't anything new for them to say so they weren't as distracted by each other as they might've been otherwise.

They continued following Davis and his Animal for a few minutes, turning down the block when he did, going down the same streets he did. When Ed thought his Animal had been growing suspicious, he forced Al and their Animals to stop for a car they would've easily beaten just so the boar's misgivings would ease up. It had meant they were stuck with catching glimpses of the pair or relying on Ayala and Chester to pick up their scent for a couple of minutes until they were back in their sights once more. Ed was quick to notice that they weren't heading for any of the busier areas of Central and that made him curious as to what exactly Davis was up to. This area was mainly housing with a couple of small corner or specialty stores here and there and maybe some general practitioners' offices for local citizens to attend when their medical issues weren't serious enough for a hospital visit.


Despite how careful they were for the twenty minutes they'd been following Davis and his Animal, their luck did eventually run out in a semi-deserted residential street. All four of them were startled when they turned the same corner Davis and his Animal had only to find the pair standing in the middle of the footpath, about of the third of the way down and obviously waiting for them. Just as they continued forward, Ed issuing the order to Al through Chester to act casual and keep going, Davis spoke. "Fullmetal Alchemist. Why are you following us?"

"For fuck's sake," Ed immediately swore as they were forced to come to a stop several metres away from the pair. He'd wanted a couple of days to shadow this idiot before he called in a few soldiers to help him handle the arrest so that Al wouldn't be caught up in a possible fight but now it looked like hoping Davis was an intelligent idiot who would just surrender nice and peacefully was the only other option aside from a fight that Ed could see this confrontation leading towards.

"You really shouldn't be this surprised by this turn of events," Ayala commented dryly as she came to a stop in front of Ed, assuming a protective stance while Chester mimicked her and stood in front of Al. "You were the one who made the mistake of hoping this wouldn't end in a fight. You know what the universe likes doing when you do things like that," she told him.

"Yeah, yeah. Proving me wrong. I know," Ed muttered before he sighed. "Are you Jasper Davis?" Ed asked, gesturing to the man in front of them.

"And if I am?" the man asked snidely. His boar snorted beside him, drool escaping from around its mouth as its beady eyes flickered between all of them.

"Well that answer tells me you are," Ed sighed. "Why can't criminals just answer questions honestly without doing that sort of shit?" he asked rhetorically, flapping a hand in Davis' direction. "It would save so much of my time and that's always a good thing in my books," he said.

"Brother, I don't think that's what you should really be concentrating on right now," Al hissed, eyes on Davis, who seemed to be contemplating something.

Ed sighed in annoyance. "Yeah, you're probably right but it's still a pain in the arse," Ed grumbled before he turned back to Davis. "Right, you're under arrest for like so many things but mainly fraud and being a dick," Ed told him.

Al slapped a hand to his face as he groaned. "That is not how you arrest someone, Brother. You've been doing this for nearly six years. You know that it doesn't count as an arrest if you don't do it properly," Al chided him.

Ed groaned in response. "Fine!" he exclaimed, throwing both hands up in exasperation. "Jasper Davis, you're under arrest for the –" Ed was cut off when Ayala grabbed him by his left jacket sleeve and yanked, causing him to duck and stumble to the left just as Chester did the same to Al, sending the youngest Elric brother to the right so the head-sized boulder Davis had launched at them would miss. "Well, that's fucking rude of you to do," Ed told Davis, glaring at the raven-haired criminal. "You should've just let me arrest you without a fight. Now I gotta beat the shit out of you," Ed grumbled, transmuting his blade into existence while Al clapped, transmuting a cement staff out of the sidewalk for him to use.

Davis didn't do much more than snarl before his Animal was launching itself at the brothers and their Animals, a fearsome squeal erupting from its mouth as it lowered its tusks, ready to use them against Ayala or Chester. The wolf and leopard didn't wait for Ed or Al to give them an order as they rushed to intercept the boar, claws and teeth bared as they clashed, leaving their humans to fight the criminal without their assistance. The sound of the boar squealing, both with frustration and anger mixed with Ayala's and Chester's growls and snarls filled the quiet street, drawing the attention of anyone still at home at this time of day.

Just like the boar, Ed hadn't hesitated when the fight broke out. Rushing in with his blade at the ready, Ed struck first, slashing out at Davis, who managed to jump back in time for the tip of Ed's blade to just miss his shirt. Ed snarled in displeasure but was forced to let it go as Davis drew a large knife of his own out from a sheath he'd kept tucked at the small of his back and covered with his shirt. The sound of the two blades clashing soon joined the snarls and squeals from the Animals as the fight continued on, sympathy pain flaring every now and then as someone's opponent got in a good enough hit to bruise or cut their enemy.

Al was standing to the side, waiting for his opportunity and he soon got it when Ed was forced to move awkwardly to avoid both Davis' blade and the brawling Animals. Slipping into the fight, Al brought his staff swinging viciously down on Davis' wrist, causing the man to yelp in pain and reflexively drop his weapon which Ed quickly kicked out of the way before he came back in, ready to join the fight again. Unfortunately for Al, Davis wasn't ready to give in and obviously had some kind of training as he quickly grasped the staff Al was just starting to withdraw and yanked it out of Al's grip, the blonde's strength not enough as it might've been before Promised Day or even the night in the basement to stop Davis from stealing his weapon.

Al stumbled forward with the tug, having not let go of the staff immediately when Davis grabbed it and the only thing that stopped Al's face from meeting the pavement was Ed's quick reflexes. The older Elric had barely steadied his brother before he was throwing himself back into the fight, not wanting to give Davis any opportunity to attack Al while his little brother was weaponless. As Al was searching for the dropped knife, hoping to use it instead of having to move away from the fight to transmute another weapon and possibly be too far away to help if Ed or one of the Animals needed additional support immediately. Giving the knife up as a lost cause and readying himself to dart into the street to transmute another weapon while hoping he could do so and return to the fight quickly enough to prevent someone from being hurt, Al saw Ed get kicked in the side out of the corner of his eye.

As his brother reflexively curled with the hit and tried to get himself out of striking range so he could get the second needed to push away the pain, Davis swung the staff, trying to take advantage of Ed's lack of defense to get another blow in. Moving out of instinct and ignoring Chester's cry of, "Al, don't!" Al got in between Ed and Davis and raised his arm so it would take the brunt of the impact. The moment the hit landed and Al felt the explosion of pain as his radius snapped was the moment when Al remembered he wasn't a near indestructible suit of armour any longer and he almost went down, a choked cry escaping from his lips as he cradled his now-broken arm close to his chest, eyes blurring with tears. He almost missed Ed calling his name, a panic and a level of anger in his voice that Al hadn't heard since Promised Day over the sound of Chester's pained yowl as his left front leg burst with sympathy pain, bringing the leopard to a dangerous halt and forcing Ayala to cover him when their opponent tried to take advantage of Chester's pain.

Al's watery vision didn't affect his sight enough for him to miss his brother launch at Davis once more, a barely-contained viciousness in his moves and eyes as he sought to bring Davis down as quickly as possible so he could check on Al. Ed's level of care for what kind of condition Davis would be in when he was finally arrested was now down to a zero in the face of his brother being injured and even the sound of military soldiers arriving, having been summoned by the neighbours calling them when the fight first broke out, wasn't enough to bring Ed's control back to the level it normally was. Davis fought back as hard as he could but in the face of a pissed off and protective Edward, there was nothing he could do to save himself from the broken ribs, severe bruising to his chest, or the elbow to his temple that eventually knocked him out.

The final blow that rendered Davis unconscious was enough for Chester and Ayala to finally get the better of Davis' Animal and pin it down long enough for Ayala to get Ed's attention so he could alchemise some bonds around the boar. One transmutation later found the boar's legs encased with cement cuffs and a thick band of cement just under its armpits and in front of its hind legs, ensuring it couldn't escape even it broke free of the bands around its legs. The boar and Davis dealt with, Ed's next task was Al. rushing to his brother's side and leaving the official arresting of Davis to whichever military police officer got to him first.

"You are an idiot!" Ed seethed as he reached his brother and took in the obvious break. "Keep holding your arm like that. I'll be back in a second," Ed told him as Chester and Ayala reached them, having been keeping guard of the boar – though Chester had been coiled, ready to get to Al's side the whole time – until the soldiers' Animals could replace them. "Make sure he doesn't do anything else stupid," Ed ordered the Animals as he beelined for the closest homeowner who was sticky-beaking.

The elderly woman Ed approached watched him with a guarded expression. Her meerkat watched with just as much wariness as its human. "Can I help you, alchemist?" the woman croaked, taking in the small cuts and newly forming bruises on the parts of Ed she could see, namely his face and neck.

"Yeah," Ed said. "You got an old magazine or newspaper or something like them that you don't want anymore?" Ed asked her, trying to remember to be somewhat polite even if he was pissed with Davis and, to a somehow lesser and bigger degree, Alphonse.

The woman raised a curious brow before she turned and hobbled into her house, wooden cane thumping on her floorboards and fading as she put distance between herself and Ed. The meerkat raced inside with its human, not bothering to look back at Ed. The blonde waited as patiently as he could manage and soon enough, the old woman was back, a thick magazine in her wrinkled hand. "Will this do?" she asked, holding out the magazine. Her meerkat was still with her but had stopped at the doorway, waiting for its human to come back.

Ed nodded even as he reached for it. "Yeah, that'll be perfect. Did you want something in exchange for it?" Ed asked her, accepting the magazine from her.

The woman hummed in thought. "I do have an old ceramic statue that's very dear to my heart. My grandkids knocked it over yesterday, you see," she explained. "I wouldn't say no to an alchemist mending it for me," she said, eyes fixed on Ed, who nodded.

"If it's all good with you, I'll swing back by this afternoon once my brother has his arm in a cast," Ed said and the woman gave him a nod of agreement.

"Of course, alchemist. Look after your brother first. I'll be home all day," she assured him before she headed back for her house.

Ed noted some unique features of her house – the large, metal dragonfly decoration that hung on her outside wall, the meerkat statue that sat in front of some pink roses – so he could find her house again before he headed back for Alphonse, who was sitting on the ground with Chester pressing against his right side. There was a military soldier crouched in front of Al, likely trying to find out if he was doing okay, but he sprung back and went to salute Ed when he saw the older Elric approach. "Don't you dare salute me. Fuck knows I hate it with a passion," Ed informed the soldier, causing his arm to stop halfway to the saluting position in surprise.

"My apologies, sir," the soldier said, lowering his hand immediately. "Are you both alright?" he asked as Ed knelt in front of Al.

"My brother needs to go to the hospital once I've got him ready to be able to handle a car ride with a broken arm," Ed told him before he gently grasped Al's hand. "You gotta give me your arm so I can do this. Trust me, it'll feel better once I've got it wrapped and supported," Ed said, speaking gently. He may have been celebrating and rejoicing in practically everything Al could do and experience once more now that he had his flesh body back alongside Al and Chester but he certainly wasn't enjoying the pained expression in his brother's face or tear-filled eyes.

Al whimpered as he tried to bite down a pained sob while he extended his arm out to Ed. The arm trembled with pain but Ed was quick to place the magazine around it then place the magazine-clad arm so it was resting on Al's leg. Once he'd done that, he quickly clapped and transmuted two strips off his tank top. "Ayala?" Ed called and his wolf was by his side in a second. "I need you to get under Al's arm and keep it steady while I get the magazine tied on there," he told her.

"I got it," Ayala assured him before she gave Al a comforting lick. Laying down, Ayala crawled forward and placed her front legs over Al's leg while Ed supported Al in holding his arm up high enough for Ayala to do so without bumping it.

Once Ayala was in position, Ed gently lowered Al's arm and placed it so it rested on Ayala's shoulder blades. Grabbing the first strip of material, Ed looked over his shoulder to find the soldier from before still standing there, looking somewhat awkward. His Animal, a capybara, was now by his side and leaning slightly into his leg. "Mind giving me a hand for a moment?" Ed asked him.

The soldier sprung into action immediately and knelt by Ed's side, making sure he was on Ed's right so he wouldn't be leaning over Ed for whatever it was the blonde would ask him to do. "How can I help?" he asked, hands flittering slightly as he fought to stop himself from reaching out.

"Just hold the two ends of the magazine together so I can tie it on there," Ed instructed. The soldier nodded and moved to do just that, only to come to a stop when Chester hissed at him warningly. "Do it nicely," was all Ed said, eyes flickering with a tiny hint of amusement.

"What will this do, sir?" the soldier asked as he cautiously reached for the magazine again and held the two ends of the magazine so they wrapped around Al's arm.

"It'll act as an inferior, temporary cast," Ed explained. "All I need it to do is support Al's arm so it doesn't get jostled as much as it would unsupported during the car trip to the hospital," Ed told him as he tied off the first strip close to Al's wrist and moved to tie off the other end. Al whimpered slightly as Ed accidentally nudged the arm in his efforts to shift around and his brother flashed him an apologetic look. Tying off the last tie, Ed nodded to the soldier to let go and he did, holding his hands up to show Chester – whose eyes hadn't left him for a moment, not even when Al had whimpered – he wasn't touching his human anymore. "Thanks for your help," Ed said, nodding to the soldier as he got to his feet then proceeded to help Al to his.

"Thanks, Brother," Al said, voice rough from trying and failing in holding back his tears and from the pain. He immediately drew his arm back into his chest and cradled it gently once more. "I'm sorry for not thinking before I acted," he added. "I forgot I don't have the armour anymore. I saw him going to hit you while you were still recovering from that kick and I just moved," Al told him.

Ed sighed but nodded at his brother's words. "Yeah, I figured it was something like that. Doesn't mean you still aren't an idiot and that I'm really hoping Doctor Overland is on shift so you can be on the receiving end of his attitude instead of me," Ed teased. He counted it as a win when Al let out a weak chuckle in response.

The soldier who had helped cleared his throat gently, effectively gaining the brothers' attention. "If you would like a lift to the hospital, sir, I would be willing to drive you," he told them, gesturing over to the car he must've driven to the scene.

As Ed's eyes followed the soldier's gesture, he took in the rest of the scene. Davis was still unconscious, not that Ed was surprised what with the amount of force he put behind that strike, but he was breathing and there were soldiers calling for an ambulance to attend the scene. The boar was squealing and snorting but couldn't get any leverage to try and escape so the soldiers weren't really paying an awful lot of attention to it. The neighbours who had witnessed the fight were slowly being interviewed by any soldier not with Davis, the boar, or the Elrics.

Ed gave the soldier a nod. "We'd appreciate it," he told him, not bothering to pretend otherwise like he might've if he'd been the one injured.

The soldier gave a nod before he headed for the car, his capybara at his heels. Ed pulled Al's right arm over his shoulders and helped his brother walk towards the car, their Animals in front of them and ensuring that no one would bother either of them. "I'm surprised you're not pretending like you're allergic to the hospital like you normally do when someone suggests you go to one," Al tried joking. His voice was a little stronger than it was before now that the initial shock and pain had worn off but his tone was still laced with pain and his arm throbbed horribly with every step they took.

"I told you," Ed said as the soldier opened the door for them, "I'm looking forward to you being on the receiving end of one of Doctor Overland's exasperated lectures about not beating my own record for getting back into the hospital after being released," Ed told him as Al cautiously got into the car and shifted over so Ed could follow. Both Chester and Ayala leapt gracefully into the car, Chester getting as close to Al as possible but before Ed climbed in the car, he turned to the soldier. "Are you sure you're fine to leave the scene with us?" he asked. The man had been nice so far so Ed didn't really want to see him get in trouble by his superior officer.

"Yes, sir," the soldier said with a nod. "My commanding officer has cleared me to leave the scene and assist you and your brother to the hospital, sir," he assured Ed. The blonde didn't bother asking when the soldier had gotten permission and just assumed his capybara had gotten the go-ahead from his CO's Animal.

Satisfied no one would be in trouble now, Ed hopped into the car and got settled next to Al, careful not to be close enough that he would hit Al if the car hit a bump or went around a corner too fast. The soldier and his Animal were quick to get into the front section of the car and once they were, Ed, Al, and the two Animals were being driven towards the hospital. Ed glanced over at Al, who gave his brother as big of a smile as he could manage, and Ed returned it, though it quickly fell off his face when Al winced in pain as he was jostled in the car too quickly for him to prevent his arm being affected.

"He'll be fine. It's not this is the first broken arm either of you have suffered," Ayala said, trying to comfort her human.

Ed flashed her a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Yeah, I know he'll be fine but he shouldn't have been hurt in the first place. I should've put a stop to us following Davis when his boar started getting suspicious about us," Ed said, keeping the conversation between them through their bond. "This is why I didn't want any missions that could end in a fight once Al was cleared to join me again," Ed sighed. "He's not out of the habits he developed when he was bound to the armour yet and I'd rather him get injured by Teacher – who won't actually be trying to kill him most of the time – than a criminal who won't care whether Al's killed so long as they can get away," Ed told her.

Ayala looked up at him sympathetically. "It's not your fault that Al is still in the habits he's developed for over five years. There's no way anyone could expect him to be out of those habits in six months, let alone the two weeks he’s been cleared for missions," she said, tone slighted pointed and causing Ed to wince a little. "Besides, no one expected Davis to try and fight you. Nothing in his criminal history suggested that he would resist arrest. He's probably guilty of something worse than fraud and the military just hasn't figured it out yet," she added.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Ed conceded. At Ayala's look, he rolled his eyes and amended his statement. "Fine, you are right," he grumbled. "Happy?"

"Immensely so," Ayala sassed, eyes shining brightly as Ed shook his head at her.

"Brother?" Al's voice got Ed's attention of his wolf and he glanced over to find Al's eyes filled with so much concern that it overtook most of the pain his brother was still in.

"Ayala's just giving me attitude. Nothing to fret over," Ed told him, ignoring the unimpressed look on Ayala's face. "You holding up okay?" he asked, allowing his concern to bleed into his voice despite the fact that there was a stranger driving them.

Al gave him a smile that was stronger than his last one had been. "I'm doing okay," Al told him. "I think I'm getting used to the pain. Plus, the magazine is helping make sure that my arm isn't being jostled too much so that's helping," Al told him.

"Good," Ed said, slumping a little in relief. "Keep that positive attitude in mind when Doctor Overland finds out you broke your arm two weeks into being cleared to join me for missions," Ed said, allowing his teasing tone to cover his guilty one.

Al rolled his eyes. "Should I be worried about how excited you are about seeing Doctor Overland's reaction to my injury?" he asked though there was a teasing tone of his own in his voice. Ed's resulting grin was enough of an answer for Al and the two Animals.


"Mr. Elric, when I okayed you to join your brother on missions around Central, I remember asking you to make sure you didn't start emulating your brother's desire to beat his own personal best in shortest amount of time between visits. Did you perhaps forget that request?" Doctor Overland hadn't been impressed when he witnessed the two brothers and their Animals walking through the front doors of the hospital only for Ed to tell the doctor – with a hint of something almost gleeful in his voice, as though Ed was happy it wasn't him needing medical attention for once – and his tone now that Al had had an x-ray and was now getting his arm set and ready for a cast certainly showed he was still unimpressed.

Al winced but not from anything the nurse was doing to his arm. "I'm sorry, Doctor Overland," Al apologised, looking shamefully at the ground.

Doctor Overland sighed, showing his disappointment in a second way before he moved off the topic and onto the topic of Al's injury. "In a way, you're lucky," the doctor said. "Your bones still aren't at the density and therefore strength someone of your age's should be so when Mr. Davis hit it, he was able to cleanly break it," the doctor explained. "What this means is that you shouldn't require surgery for it to mend correctly however I will need you to come back in a week or if you fall on the arm or in any other way potentially hurt your arm again. I would like to take another x-ray just to be certain that it is healing correctly," he told Al, who nodded.

"I'll come in," the younger Elric promised immediately.

"At least you're not going to be as troublesome as your brother," Overland said, glancing at Ed who had grumbled a protest. "Should everything be going smoothly with your healing, you should only need the cast on for six to eight weeks," Overland continued, turning his attention back to Al.

Both Chester and Al gave a sigh of relief at that and Overland gave them a rare smile. "What if it's not all healing right?" Ed asked, unable to not do so.

"Then we'll have to operate on the arm and insert a surgical plate," Overland said. "That'll push your recovery to three months and I would really rather not to have you to put under anesthetic so soon after Promised Day and everything you went through," Overland divulged. "We won't know how you'll react to that so if it can be, I'd rather wait to operate on you for as long as possible," he said.

Al nodded in understanding. "I'll be careful," he swore and Overland gave him an appreciative nod.

"At least one of you will be," Overland said and this time Ed didn't settle with just grumbling at the doctor.

"I didn't even get that badly injured this time! Why are you going after me? Go after him!" Ed gestured to Al, who looked amused with his brother's childish antics. "He's the one who tried to stop a cement staff with his bare arm!"

Overland nodded in acknowledgment of Ed's words. "Yes, but unlike you, I can be almost certain that Alphonse will not go looking for trouble the moment he's discharged," Overland said dryly.

"He's got you there," Ayala and Chester said at the exact same time while Al piped up with a, "he's not wrong, Brother," causing Ed to scowl at the lot of them.

"You're all terrible and I don't like any of you anymore," Ed informed them haughtily.

"That is a bold-faced lie and you know it," Ayala said confidently while Overland rolled his eyes at Ed's behaviour and chose not to comment on it. Both Chester's and Al's responses told Ed that they'd been privy to Ayala's response and were both amused and in agreement with it.

"You still suck," Ed said petulantly, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning back sulkily in his chair to complete the look. His scowl only deepened with his family's laughter and obvious amusement even though he felt himself relax inwardly at the sound of Al's laughter without the tinny notes that had accompanied it for over six years.

Notes:

Since it's my birthday, here's a kind of light-hearted one for you guys! Hope you all had a good week and I'll see you next time!