Bomb Dogs - Dog Days
Context: This is a small oneshot that I was compelled to write a few mornings ago. This follows an AU of mine for Fullmetal Alchemist, that I (lovingly) refer to as "Bomb Dogs" In the au, Kimblee was sent to the labs and transmuted into a Chimera, instead of being sent to prison. When he escapes, do to outside intervention, he moves east (they wouldn't check there, not with the war so fresh in mind). He's found by the Elric's, out near the dam. And ends up spending time recovering in their household, and is still there up until Roy came by, and he decided it was time to leave. Due to having met a human/animal chimera before, Edward has an inkling suspicion about what Shou Tucker is doing. But doesn't put two and two together right away. The following oneshot follows my (initial) thoughts of how that revelation goes. Constructive Criticism welcome, now let's traumatize a 14 & 15 year old.
Edward was awake, well into the night. Long after he would usually find himself asleep, wracking his head for the answer to a question he'd been asking all day.
How had Shou Tucker created a talking chimera? The answer felt like it was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't quite place it. He wracked his brain, looking over everything he knew about chimeras for an answer. Chimeras usually comprised of two living beings. Not just animals, he learned that meeting Solf all those years ago. But very few animals could talk, or in a human manor.
Again, the only chimera he'd every seen speak, was Solf. A human Chimera. Human chimeras could talk, form sentences, and...
Strings started falling into place in his head. The disepearance of Shou's wife, who was rapidly starting to doubt just. Moved away. The talking chimera. It's want to die. The descriptions he'd seen. Like a bolt of lightning, the last pin fell into place and it struck him.
Edward threw off the covers, stumbling slightly in his haste. Shouting for Alphonse as he ran out the door, yelling to go find Roy, now. And meet him at Tucker's house! He didn't care if he had drag him out of bed! He had barely half a mind to grab his coat on his way out. Throwing it on over his pajamas.
His heart was pounding as he ran out of the hotel. Barely hearing Al as he called out for him. He just ran, ran out of the front doors, ran down the street. Down the sidewalk.
The cool night air, the silence of the calm evening broken by the sounds of automail against the pavement. Metal scraping against stone as Ed ran, panicked, hurry, hoping and praying to Truth itself that he was wrong.
He took a turn on the sidewalk a little to quickly, knocking himself off balance and throwing himself onto the ground. His leg ached, his good foot felt raw. Small tears welled up in the corners of his eyes as he pushed himself up. Forcing himself to breath as he got back to his feet.
Then he kept moving, slower now. He was tired, he hadn't taken any time to rest but that didn't matter. The Tucker house was only a few blocks away now. He clutched his coat with one hand. Pulling the red fabric closer around him. The late night chill starting to set in. Nipping at his legs, at the place where automail met skin.
Still, he moved. moving ever onward. Despite the fear and panic that had been setting in.
It only took a few more minutes, no, half an hour? More? It was hard to keep track of time this late at night, but Edward finally found himself at the door of Shou Tuckers house. The whole home was quiet, not a peep from inside. Which, should have comforted him. Told him everything was alright.
But it didn't. A feeling in his gut told him that something was very, awfully, wrong. He reached for the doorbell, and stopped. Instead reaching for the handle, giving it a little jiggle, just to find it unlocked.
He swallowed, pushing the door open slowly, and stepping aside. The atmosphere of the house felt, heavy. Somber. Dark. He took a few steps inside, closing the door quietly behind him. His clutched his coat tighter. "Mr. Tucker?" Ed called out, in the quiet house.
"I need to talk to you about something, it's, important!" Edward walked down the halls, shouting for Shou as he went. Passing the stairs, before something hit him. A faint stench. One of burnt hair, and blood.
A lump started to form in his throat, and Edward grit his teeth. Panic and fear turning to rage as he stormed forward. Towards the source of the smell. Towards Shou's office, stumbling as he made his way through the dark house. A light cutting through the windows behind him, sounds of a car screeching to a halt as Edward stopped infront of Shou's office.
The smell was overwhelming now. Edward letting going of his coat to grab the door handle, hand trembling- not out of fear anymore, but anger. Turning the handle and throwing the door open. Ready to yell-
But the words caught in his throat, coming out as something strangled as he saw the sight before him.
An alchemy circle, caked in blood. A dog-like creature laying in it's center. Shou at one side. A twisted smile on his face as he looked from the thing- 'Was that Nina? No, please,' - to Edward. A million thoughts racing through his head and in one step, two steps, Edward crossed the room. Grabbing Shou by the collar as he slammed the older man into the wall.
"Why!?" A question, a demand. "Your wife, she didn't leave and now- You-" Edward's voice shook as he spoke, staring up at Shou. Watching as the man nodded his head back and forth. Edward's grip tightened on Shou's shirt. The other alchemist nodding for a moment, before speaking. "Why, are you angry? Every form of science uses human experimentation, the best advancements come from them."
His vision was starting to bleed red. "This a human life you're playing with! Your daughter's life! What kind of father does that!?" The anger bubbled up, boiling out. "A father who has resarch to complete." Shou spat back, that smile not once leaving his face. "You'd do it to, wouldn't you? You and your brother have already done worse. That's why-"
Metal met flesh as Edward slammed the fist of his automail into Shou's face. The man letting out a shout of pain. Glasses sent flying, deep cuts along the man's cheek and jaw from where the metal dug into his face. A small bit of blood trickling from the man's mouth- a tooth, maybe knocked loose? Tears welled up in Ed's eyes as he spoke, "You're sick, you're wrong."
He balled his fist up, bringing it back, ready for another swing- "Brother?" But. the sound of Alphonse's voice cut through his anger. Edward stopping, his fist raised high as he looked behind him.
Alphonse stood in the doorway, Roy next to him. The Flame Alchemist still in his pajamas- you might have thought Al had just dragged him out of bed, if it weren't for the look on his face. A face illuminated only by a lantern he held in his hand.
The expression changed rapidly- confusion, to understanding, to anger. As Mustang's eyes went from Ed, to the transmutation circle, the chimera, to Shou.
"Fullmetal. Put him down." "But he-" "Now." The words were spat out- and order. And Ed let go, allowing Shou to collapse to the ground as Roy crossed the room. "Find a first aid kit, and grab some towels." The orders were spat out to Edward, who stood their, almost dumbfounded. "You can't expect me to help him." He snapped, crossing his arms.
"They aren't for him." Roy snapped back, kneeling next to Shou. He gestured with the lantern in his hand, towards the Chimera. "Help her."
Ed followed his gaze, finally taking a good, long look at the chimera that layed in the middle of that transmutation circle. It's mishappen limbs, it's messy hair, and those glossy eyes that seemed to be watching him. It looked, dead. But before Ed could even thank to say anything about it, it took a breath.
A raspy, agony filled breath. Then Ed was moving, looking around the office for anything. He could hear metal clanging as Al moved behind him. Two brothers pulling out drawers, and looking through cabinets for some sort of first aid supplies.
Short words were shared, and Ed left the room at one point. Storming off towards the bathroom, trying to feel for it in the darkness of the night. He eventually found it. Or atleast, what he was pretty sure was the bathroom.
There was moonlight coming through the window, illuminating the small, cluttered bathroom as he opened the door. Edward trying to gather things quickly, checking cabinets, and pulling out towels. Draping them over his arm as he went. And dumping out a small trash can, filling it up with water from the sink before heading back to Shou's, office.
An odd quiet had filled the room by the time he had returned. Shou was unconscious on the floor when he opened the door. Mustang was sitting in the nearby chair, and Alphonse had bundled Nina up in his arms, trying to shush her gently. Apologies between every word he spoke. "I'm sorry," "We can't fix this yet." "I'm so sorry Nina."
If he could, there wasn't a doubt in Ed's mind that Al would have been sobbing. Ed wiped away some of the tears that were forming in his own eyes as he walked over, kneeling infront of his brother. "We're gonna get you cleaned up, okay? And get you to bed, alright Nina?" Ed spoke softly, but his words were only met with whimpers and raspy breaths.
He grit his teeth, taking one of the towels from his arms and dipping it into the water, using it to start gently wiping away some of the blood from Nina's fur.
The next hour passed in relative silence, outside of soothing words from Alphonse, and the occasional apology from Ed when the towel brushed against an open wound. At some point, Roy had gotten up and found the first aid kit- in some, tucked away spot behind jars of failed chimeras that the brother's hadn't checked.
Together, the three of them worked. In quiet collaboration, even the usual snappy remarks that seemed endless between Roy and Ed went unspoken. As Ed wiped away the blood from Nina's fur and hair, and Roy tried to carefully bandage the open wounds and burns left behind by the transmutation.
The quiet dragged on, until the water was red. And the bandages were running low. "...Ed...ward?" The small, raspy word cut through the silence like a knife. Glossy eyes looking up at Ed, eyes that looked so tired, so full of pain. "I'm right here," Edward reached out, stroking Nina's hair, "Me and Al are right here, everything's okay."
"Wh..r...daddy?" A flash of anger shot through Ed, ofcourse Nina was still worried about her dad. Ed didn't know if she remembered what happened when he got there. He hoped she didn't. He hoped she wouldn't remember any of this. "He's, over there. He tripped, so, he's going to sleep for a little while, okay?"
A soft hum came from the chimera, as she strained to turn her head. Pressing it against Al's armor. Soon enough, the sounds of her raspy breathing grew softer, fainter. Ed held his breath, waiting for the sound to disepear but, it didn't. Sleep, not death, taking Nina away for a moment.
---
"How did you know?" Hours after the incident, Roy was in uniform. Ed was dressed. And Al was sitting in the corner of Roy's office. Nina layed out on a blanket in front of him, a few toys and dolls they had grabbed from the house before leaving surrounding her.
They had gotten her to eat, and drink a little when she woke up. Which was good.
"How did I know what?" Ed leaned back in his seat, propping his feet up on Roy's desk. "About Nina, about what Shou was doing." Roy's hands were folded together, a serious look on his face.
"Oh, that." Ed scratched his head, trying to figure out how explain it. It wasn't like he could just say 'Well, I found a chimera almost drowning in a lake when I was nine'. He let out a huff. "Someone I knew growing up, talked about how if you could smash two animals together, why not a human and an animal?"
"And, when I heard about Tucker's wife, and the chimera, I started thinking about that and..." Ed trailed off, stiffling a yawn. "It just, clicked." Ed rubbed at his eyes, he hadn't gotten a single wink of sleep since what happened last night. But, neither had Roy.
The two, tired Alchemist's stared at eachother for a while, before Roy let out a sigh. "Alright." No snappy comeback, no remark.
The two of them were to tired for that, physically and mentally. Roy wrote something down on the paper infront of him. "We still have to investigate Tucker's house, find evidence, prove it in court. But for now, he's being held under house arrest."
Ed nodded, Roy hummed. "...Now please get her out of my office. There's someone coming in from central. I called for him when the sun was coming up, I wouldn't be surprised if-"
"Yo!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not pictured: Alphonse being responsible for Shou getting knocked unconcious. Bc it felt weird to suddenly shift to Al's perspective when we had been following Ed through most of this.
Also Not Pictured, bc i wasn't sure how to write it: Al and Ed pilled into the back of Roy's car, with Nina in their lap. The group driving to Eastern HQ and sitting Roy's office for several hours trying to make Nina comfortable and spending a prolonged period in awkward silence as both parties try to figure out if they should go and get some sleep or just start talking. Also Also
Also, also Not Pictured: Maes's immediate regret upon slamming the door open, because Nina got woken up and yelped and his heart was immediately turned into a fine powder. Anyway, that was it! As I said at the start, constructive crtisiscm is very much welcomed. I don't do alot of attempts at fics, and this was very much a spur of the moment things from a few nights ago.
Any comments about characterization or things I need to touch up on, very, very welcome.
If you'd like to ask anything about the au, go ahead! I do plan on writing a full blown fic for this one day, and posting that to ao3. But I still need to iron out the timeline, an ever growing list of kinks, and figuring out how I want to handle the story as whole. As well as improve on my understanding of the fullmetal alchemist characters.
Fun fact: The name for this au comes, ofcourse, from Kimblee's explosive alchemy. As well as one of the animals he was transmuted with. (And a surprise tool that will help us later(Earlier??))