Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Fateful Abyss ❯ Three ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa, Square Enix, Funimation, and others who are not me.

With a gasp and an abrupt reawakening to pain, Riza's eyes jerked open to discover a never-ending night. Memory returned in a rapid series of flashes. When had she fallen asleep? How much time had passed? So many questions leapt at her at once, but the one most demanding—

Her hand flew to Edward in the darkness, seeking his warmth, his breath, his life—

"I'm all right," he murmured softly, his muscles flexing beneath her cheek as her palm slid over his chest to curve thankfully around his neck. "How about you?" His voice vibrated gently against her skin.

"The same," she returned after a pause, her own voice husky and raw.

"Still down here, huh?" he said wryly, his inflection painfully weak. "Sorry… I didn't mean to cut out on you like that. When I began the transmutation… it felt as if my head was gonna explode. Tried… but I just… couldn't hold it together."

Smiling wistfully to herself, Riza let her fingers reply for her, stroking them gingerly across his cheek.

"I think we overslept a little," she said, her tone forcibly light.

"Yep," he agreed, arm shifting slightly beneath her. "Mustang's gonna give it to me good when we get back… for being so damned late."

"I'll speak to him first."

"Thanks," he said, and Riza could hear his grin. "Interceding with Winry and now Mustang… you're my hero."

A soft chuckle escaped her.

"Guess I have to return the favor now," he said, and light abruptly flared to life somewhere behind her. The light lingered only a moment, but in that moment she saw Edward's back arch in agony, a grunt of pain unleashed through gritted teeth — and then it was gone. Spots of color danced in the darkness before her eyes as Ed gasped and wheezed in the aftermath.

"What did you do?" she questioned him sharply. "Edward?"

"If we wait any longer… neither one of us will be able to move," was all he said in return.

Frowning, her mouth opened again to demand a reply, but was instantly forestalled by a sudden wash of cold spreading across her back. Riza didn't have to see it to know what it was, what he had done, and fear abruptly seized her heart. The cold swirled wetly around her as she painfully pushed herself up onto her elbow.

"I thought we rejected this plan," she snapped angrily. "Reverse it now, Edward!"

"Can't," he replied between heaving gulps of air. "Can't draw… in mud… under water."

"Then find another way!"

"No," he quietly refused. "This will… get you out."

"Do you really expect me to just leave you down here to drown?" she shot back heatedly. "Because I can assure you, I am not climbing out of here without you!"

"You… have to…"

"Like hell I do! You no longer outrank me, Fullmetal!" she reminded him bluntly in a tone harsh and merciless. "I will do as I damn well please!"

Her hand fumbled in the darkness over flesh and then metal, searching desperately for the release mechanism that she knew was—

"There!" she exclaimed in triumph as the automail wreckage dislodged from the port with a distinctive click. "Now for the other one," she thought aloud, then bit down on a scream as she pushed herself up further and tugged on his pant leg to expose the remaining automail. It took a while longer as she was less familiar with his leg, but soon it too popped free of its socket.

"It won't make… much of a difference," he sighed. "You can't remove the ports—"

"It will be enough!" she informed him stubbornly, taking off his remaining shoe as the chill of the water rose swiftly upward. "The water will still lighten your weight somewhat, enough for me to hold on to you as we make our way up the ladder together. Got that? Together!"

"You can't—"

"Just watch me!" Unseen in the darkness, Riza's eyes narrowed dangerously. "And you had better keep up, little man!"

To her immediate satisfaction, Riza felt his body flinch at what she knew was not the implied threat, but at the sharply punctuated insult. Though she had never had reason to punch that particular button before, a little galvanizing outrage was just what was needed at the moment.

"Who's so short he can be picked up and carried like a doll?!" Edward choked out loudly, pushing himself up with a labored wrench of indignation.

"I take it you can pull your own weight, then?" she returned curtly, reaching to slide the heavy, water-soaked coat off his shoulders and down his quivering arm.

"Of course I can!" he bit back, jerking his arm out of the sleeve.

"Good."

The influx of water seemed to accelerate considerably as it swirled around them, rising steadily upward. It didn't take long before the cold liquid seeped up her torso, numbing the outer layer of her skin as it went. When it cleared her shoulders, she shivered involuntarily with escalating fear and anxiety, as well as the biting chill. She tried her best to suppress it all and prepare for the impending endeavor, then reached for Edward.

"Put your arm across my shoulder," she ordered tersely through slightly chattering teeth. "For balance," she tacked on quickly before he could protest. "We each have only one functioning leg at the moment, so between the two of us we should be able to make it to the ladder."

The hesitation was slight, but then his hand was sliding over her shoulder. "You've been hanging around Mustang too long," he grumbled, his icy palm coming to a rest behind her neck.

"Undoubtedly," she agreed, slipping her arm through the water and around his back.

They scrambled awkwardly, agonizingly, to their feet with the lifting tide of the water, then hitched and hobbled their way in the dark, hopefully toward the ladder in what was rapidly becoming a race to keep their heads above the waterline. Riza's hand stretched out before her, searching blindly for the nearest rung, leaning heavily against Ed as he did against her, as they stumbled forward through the water until they found the wall. A moment later her arm bumped into it, somewhat bruisingly, yet she was instantly relieved.

"Got it!" she cried, grasping the metal bar tightly in her fist. And just in time, too.

The rising water left them no time to position themselves properly for the climb; Riza merely grabbed the next rung and pulled them both up with a cry of pain. Her foot found the bottom rung without much difficulty, and she used the moment's respite to bring Ed in close to her chest, his back pressed to the ladder.

He was breathing hard again, as was she, herself, yet his head fell onto her shoulder with a small groan as his hand clutched at the back of her uniform. "Can't," he whimpered pitifully. "Sorry… even the darkness is… spinning…"

"Can you at least hold on to me?" she asked, her tone crisp with as much authority as she could muster.

"Yeah," he replied after a pause, his arm tightening around her neck.

"You had better," she said, releasing her hold on him to seize the ladder with both hands.

Riza waited for the water before climbing up to the next rung, which didn't take very long at all. Edward had done a perfect job with his alchemy, as usual, even in spite of the pain it had caused him. There was only about a minute's interval, then she would grab a higher rung and hop upward on her good leg. It didn't hurt as bad as she'd thought it was going to, for the water had thankfully numbed her wounds to the point of being bearable; a good thing, since she doubted she could support Edward's weight otherwise. The water did help out in that regard, as well, automail ports notwithstanding, lightening the burden enough for her limited strength to pull them ever upward.

Edward's body was warm against hers, a warmth Riza was grateful for in the world of icy darkness that encompassed her, a warmth that urged her onward, upward, as his need shivered prominently in the hollow if her throat, breathing raggedly upon her skin. His life was in her hands, and though the idea troubled her, she did not shrink from it. She had experience in this. She would not fail him.

So she climbed.

The surface appeared to be getting closer, for the darkness had lessened somewhat as she was beginning to discern the dim halo of gold just below her chin. She was also able make out the shape of her hands as they grasped and pulled in their slow, almost rhythmic ascent. They were definitely getting closer.

And then the arm around her neck went lax.

She caught him before his head could slip beneath the water, but it was all she could do to hold him to her and still cling to the ladder with one hand.

"Edward!" she called to him sharply. "Damn it, Edward, wake up!"

The water was not going to wait for them.

"Wake up, Edward!" she tried again, louder, and was rewarded with a low moan. "Don't you dare let go of me!" she growled. "You hold on! Hold on to me!"

Edward didn't reply, but his arm tightened around her once more, though not as securely as before. It would have to be enough, however, for the water was now reaching for them with a greedy hunger.

Riza climbed out of its immediate range, then paused and continued the laggard rhythm that brought them closer and closer to freedom. She had to call Ed back to consciousness several more times as oblivion sweetly beckoned, yet soon she was close enough to the top to see that the outer part of the well was nearly gone. The explosion had all but demolished it.

Suppressing a shudder at the sight of it, Riza knew that it was only Ed's quick thinking and nimble actions that had saved them both from a truly gruesome death. Pressing her nose to the top of his head, she breathed him in with a sigh of gratitude, dampness, bloodstains and all, then continued, driven relentlessly on by the rising water.

When they finally reached the opening, she nearly wept in relief. "We made it, Edward," she cried softly into the night air. "We made it!"

Her eyes swept anxiously over the courtyard, taking swift note of several soldiers about a hundred yards or so down the street, their uniforms unmistakable under the distant lights. Well, someone was doing their job then.

She called out to them, though her voice was frustratingly hoarse and feeble in volume. They did, however, notice the water suddenly flowing in sheets across the pavement as it surged forth from the ruined well. In moments they were rushing toward her.

She ordered them gruffly to be extremely careful as they lifted Edward out of the water, only allowing herself to be rescued, as well, when he was gingerly laid upon the dry ground on the opposite side of the water flow. As she was safely lowered beside him, her concentration was broken by a familiar voice.

"Major Hawkeye?" Havoc called to her anxiously. "Fury, get the General!" he shot back loudly over his shoulder, and then he was kneeling beside her. "Are you okay?"

Riza merely nodded her head in reply, her eyes closing wearily as a terrible tension drained away from her body that she hadn't even realized was there. Havoc said something more, but she was far too tired to listen just then. Her mind drifted hazily for a while, until a warm hand suddenly grasped her own, squeezing it with a gentle, yet almost imperious, command. Her lashes fluttered open, unable to ignore the simple directive nor the man she knew lay behind it.

One dark eye burned into her with visible concern, the other being forever covered by a wide black patch, yet in its depths was an uncharacteristically open display of raw emotion. It was heartening to see such deep regard in that eye, yet Riza had long ago dismissed it for the fanciful dream that it was. Such emotion never passed beyond that filtering window and would certainly never pass beyond those thin, sensual lips. Edward was right, Roy Mustang was an idiot. A beautiful, lonely idiot.

"Are you all right?" he murmured in that honey-soft voice she knew so well, his fingers lightly caressing her cheek.

"I will be," she returned huskily, "but Edward…"

At her words, Roy's gaze flicked over to the prone alchemist, his brow furrowing with worry. Edward appeared to have lost consciousness again and looked unbelievably vulnerable without his automail. Roy released her hand then and moved to kneel beside Ed. She saw him hesitate a moment, then lift his hand to the crook of Ed's neck to check his pulse. What he found must have been reassuring for the stiff set of his shoulders abruptly relaxed, and his fingers rose to caress Ed's cheek as gently as they had hers.

"He's going to be all right," Roy said, as if proclaiming it so would make it true.

Riza, however, believed in that power of his. So she smiled faintly and allowed her eyes to close. Everything was going to be all right, now. ~ * ~ * ~ * ~