penny (badpenny) wrote in no_true_pair, @ 2008-06-08 14:35:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! 2008 twelve characters challenge, author: badpenny, fandom: fullmetal alchemist, pairing: kimberly/winry |
"Foolhardy" Fullmetal Alchemist, Zolf Kimberly & Winry Rockbell
Title: Foolhardy
Author: badpenny
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Pairings/Characters: Zolf Kimberly & Winry Rockbell
Rating: PG
Warnings: None, really. Kimberly's kind enough to transmute off-screen.
Prompt: 3 needs help that only 6 can provide
Notes: Spoilers for the anime ending. AU from the second Liore arc.
Central's in chaos after Mustang's coup. Kimberly smiles to himself, enjoying the way everyone's panicking. It's so much like Ishval, his palms itch, and it's tempting to...Kimberly curls his hands into fists and slides them in his pockets. Maybe later, after he's found the Rockbell girl and gotten her to Archer.
At least his time in Second was good for something. In civilian clothes, nobody realizes he's the Crimson Alchemist. Hell, nobody realizes he's a soldier, though he has to escape being pressed into a couple of bucket brigades by claiming to be looking for his missing daughter.
He has a picture of the Rockbell girl swiped from one of Archer's files. It's a few years old, taken from a case closed by Archer's predecessor, and Kimberly has to hold his thumb over the left edge of the photograph to hide the killer -- a skinny little freak in a dress -- being led away in shackles. The Rockbell girl looks nothing like him, and in normal circumstances, he'd get more questions, but too many people are looking for missing relatives, and it makes them more willing to help. And the Rockbell girl is a pretty little thing, memorable. Kimberly follows her trail to the Old District.
It's a shitty area, no place for civilized folks, but Kimberly's heard how the Rockbell girl handles her best customer. Fullmetal. Talented little boy, cocky, and entirely too easy to anger. There's no challenge in setting him off, but his brother...ah, his brother had been a wonderful challenge. His best work. Kimberly's fingernails dig into his palms. He's letting the chaos distract him. That won't do. He's still a soldier, still Archer's man, and Archer's men are disciplined.
Kimberly relaxes, feels his chest loosen. He's still a little weak from his injury, and his fatigue from the fast trip back to Central after quelling Mustang's little rebellion up north and realizing it was a just a distraction isn't helping his concentration. Maybe he'd go after Hakuro. Now there's a waste of a uniform. No way he'll be able to hold military rule with all the noise Parliament's making.
He stops an old woman scooping away fresh rubble and shows her the photograph. "Excuse me, ma'am. I'm looking for my daughter."
The woman peers at the photograph, then squints up at him. "Takes after her mother, does she?"
Kimberly flashes her what's supposed to be a rueful smile. It feels a little too jagged, but he's not inclined to modify it. "And the milkman."
The woman snorts. "Warehouses down that way." She jerks her head to the left. "Says she's taking care of her brother."
"My, my. I'll have to have another talk with my wife." Kimberly pockets the photograph. "Thank you." He straightens up and starts towards the warehouses.
The old woman doesn't resume her shoveling. Kimberly slows his pace and glances over his shoulder. The woman's hurrying away, her gait odd and rolling, like she's not used to moving so fast. Interesting. He turns and follows her.
She leads him to an old church. The windows are busted out, roof's crumbing in, and the door's half-blocked by fallen stone. She glances around before going inside, and Kimberly ducks behind a corner to escape her notice. Then he follows her, sliding his hands out of his pockets and flexing his fingers.
He can hear her from outside. "...strange man asking questions. I sent him to the warehouses, but you have to move."
"But Al's still not awake!"
"Then we'll have to carry him. You should have let me take him with Rose and Cain."
Kimberly steps inside. The holes in the roof let in enough light, so he can see just fine. The old woman straightens up, gasping, and the Rockbell girl turns around, standing in front of a boy laid out on one of the benches.
He ignores the old woman. The Rockbell girl's hefting a wrench, and there's a determined look in her eye that says she will use it if he comes closer. It's tempting to engage her, to see what she can do, but he's too close to snapping. He'll do something irreversible. Even if he manages to keep from killing her, what good would she be with one arm?
So he bows. "Winry Rockbell? I'm in need of your services."
She doesn't lower the wrench. "Who are you?"
"I'm a State Alchemist." He fishes out his silver pocket watch. It's one of Tucker's augmented ones, and he can feel the stone humming.
"I asked who you are."
Kimberly smiles. "Crimson."
He can tell by her blank expression that his title means nothing, but the old woman draws back. "You'd be wise to run, child," and then she was hurrying off towards the back of the church.
"What do you do?" The Rockbell girl's still holding the wrench steady, but her voice is thin and high.
"I follow orders." He puts the pocket watch away, letting his hand linger a little too long on it in his pocket. He could take her from here using it. Take the boy, too. She'd called him Al. Alphonse Elric? Interesting. That would explain the rumors about her wanting to sneak someone out of the city.
"Edward's not here. I don't know where he is." Her breath hitches. "When I got here --"
Normally, he'd be more patient, watch her deconstruct herself, but he's spent too much time looking for her. So he interrupts. "I said I'm in need of your services. Fullmetal's whereabouts don't concern me."
That startles her. She blinks at him, her blue eyes watery. "Me? What does the military want with me?"
"You're an automail mechanic." He steps forward. "Come now. I'll carry your friend."
She looks uncertain, but she doesn't do anything when Kimberly scoops up the boy. He's surprisingly light, especially considering Kimberly's condition, but his pulse is strong and steady. Kimberly can feel the rush of blood beneath his palms. He makes a point of being gentle because it will make the Rockbell girl more willing to cooperate, and sure enough, she shoulders her toolbox and falls in step behind him, still clenching the wrench tight in her hand.
He takes her back to the safe house. Archer's still alive when he ushers the Rockbell girl in, but he's not doing well. Kimberly can tell that much from the doctor's pinched expression. It's the same doctor who treated him at Liore, and thanks to the stone, the man's brilliant with flesh.
Unfortunately, he's not brilliant with metal. The Rockbell girl gasps, takes an involuntary step towards the bed before stopping herself. She glances back at Kimberly.
"Go on," he says, shifting to set the boy, Al, down. "It's why I brought you here."
She circles around to investigate Archer's automail. She's fascinated, tracing Archer's mechanical eye with her fingers. She examines the rest of his face, his arm, and his leg, her expression a mixture of awe, want, and frustration. Mostly want by the time she steps back and looks up at Kimberly. "He's amazing!"
Kimberly smiles.
"You're going to let me fix him?"
"Yes."
She squeals. Then she catches sight of Al and goes still. "Why aren't you having a military mechanic work on him?"
"None of the military mechanics have friends who have risen from the dead they want to sneak out of the city." And the ones willing to work on Archer are all dead, but she doesn't need to know that.
She goes still. So the rumors are true. She is trying to sneak him out. "Al never died."
"The last time I saw him, he had such an interesting body." His voice is a little too jagged, a little to husky, but Kimberly doesn't care. Transmuting him had felt so damn good. "He made a wonderful bomb."
"Scar made him into the Philosopher's Stone!" she shouts, balling her hands into fists. She closes her eyes and shakes her head, forcing a couple of tears loose. "He sacrificed himself for Al."
Scar? The Ishvalian ruined his best transmutation? And then didn't have the decency to live so he could take him apart? Kimberly's palms throb, and he wants to get his hands on the boy. Or on the doctor. Or, hell, on the Rockbell girl. Archer. Anyone, really, because stopping one of his transmutations isn't right. Once he tips things in motion, the reaction should be enjoyed. Savored.
"Fix him," Kimberly says, nodding roughly at Archer. He has to transmute something, so that means he has to leave, because everything in the room's too valuable to destroy.
"I won't do anything without --"
Kimberly doesn't listen to the rest of her protest. He's already at the door, heading out into the hall. Outside. There's nothing of value outside.