Chapter Text
CENTRAL HQ
Edward sat in Mustang's office fingering the mission files that were splayed out on his desk.
He couldn't believe that the Colonel was sending him on yet another mission after what a failure the last one turned out. It was almost like he wanted to keep him out of the office just to get him out of the way, that bastard.
Now he was trying to put him on this year-long mission in a different country. All he wanted to do was research alchemy, it was the sole purpose of his joining the military.
His interest in Xingese Alchemy was piqued but he had no clue what this country called England had in store for him. However, if it had Nicholas Flamel there, it had to be good.
Edward sighed and looked at the mission file, he didn't know how he was going to do this without Al, he was the one who keeps him on track.
"Ok, I'll do the mission but we have a problem, I don't speak English, I only speak Amestrian, how am I going to learn English so quickly? I may be a genius in Alchemy but I suck at languages" Edward said to Mustang.
"Don't worry, I don't expect you to learn English quickly, so I made preparations, you will be living in an apartment for the first 3 weeks in London where you will study English, then we have a house we bought for you in a small neighborhood where you won't attract any attention," Mustang said.
Edward stared at him astonished at how much he had already prepared. Truth he was a prick! The Bastard knew he couldn’t turn down this mission if he already had so much prepared for it.
"I'll make sure that Hawkeye looks after Al while you're gone on this mission since Al would attract too much attention being a suit of armor he would stand out in a crowd," Mustang said
Edward sighed "What am I going to do about my Automail? How am I going to hide it? It's kind of hard to hide considering it’s two of my limbs."
"Don't worry as long as you don't wear anything like shorts or t-shirts out in public you should be fine, London is a very loud place no one will notice the extra noise you make walking" Mustang said
Suddenly Hawkeye walked in, "Sir. We need confirmation on whether Edward is taking the mission or not"
"Edward is taking the mission, inform the President,”
Hawkeye walked out of the room content with her superior’s answer. Mustang looked at Edward and smirked.
Edward scowled.
"Now Fullmetal we must do something about your wardrobe, your red coat will stand out WAY too much, so I took the liberty of going out and buying you common clothes in London so you will blend in, if anyone asks your accent is German and you're from a city called Munich," Mustang said
Edward groaned, "Can I keep my watch on me still? Also what is my back story since you're so prepared"
"Yes, you may keep your watch on you, and your back story is you're from Germany, your parents passed away in a car crash when you were little along with your brother, and you were raised by your family friends the Rockbells until you were 15 when you started traveling on your own," Mustang said.
Edward smiled that was such a perfect story. It was so easy to remember, and made perfect sense for him it wasn’t too far off from his real-life anyway, and it would explain why a 19-year-old was traveling alone.
"So what does my new wardrobe look like?" Edward asked.
Mustang smiled, "You'll see we already packed up your suitcase with everything you’ll need, along with stationery to write Al. You will have to send me updates on your research as well, we have you set to catch a train to London tomorrow at 5:30 sharp, don't be late." Mustang said.
Edward saluted him and walked out of the office, in the hallway sitting down on the floor was Al.
"How did it go with Colonel Nii-san? You look discouraged" Al said
Edward sighed, "I have to go on a year-long mission to a country called England and research in a city called London, Mustang told me you couldn't come with me because you would attract too much attention,"
Al looked sad (if armor could look sad).
"Ed, I'll be fine, so don't worry ok? You just focus on your research in this country called England." Al said
They had just exited HQ and were walking down the cobblestone gray path, the sky was a deep gray and Edward's ports were killing him, it was going to rain soon, but they just kept walking towards the military dorms.
They entered the tall cream building when it started to pour out. The two walked up the pale brown stairs to their dorm door, number 145.
Edward put his key into the doorknob and turned the key, the smell of oil and paper filled the hallway.
As he entered, Edward saw his suitcase on the couch and his outfit for tomorrow, he could already tell he wasn’t going to like his new style in London, Ed sighed and threw off his red coat and black jacket, and he collapsed on his bed and just laid there messaging his ports.
"Edward just try to get some sleep, it's 9:00 and, you have a long day tomorrow," Al said.
Edward looked at Al and sighed. He got under his covers and just laid there for a while listening to the rain watching the window as the water dripped down it in a combination of small rivers as his ports ached.
He looked up and closed his eyes trying to get some shut-eye for his day tomorrow. He had a feeling it was going to be hard without Al.
NEXT MORNING
Edward was dressed in the outfit the Colonel had set out for him, a white dress shirt with black trousers and brown loafers, along with a brown trench coat.
Ed stood at the door staring out, "Ed it's ok, I'll try to visit you when I can Colonel gave me your address in London, you're in a place called Privet Drive number 5, so you know I know where to go so please stop worrying.” Al said gently holding Ed’s shoulders.
Edward sighed and walked out of their room and down the dark gloomy hallway, the snores of sleeping soldiers filled the air. Each step Ed took was one farther from his brother and friends.
They saw that Mustang had a car waiting for Ed outside of his dorm building, Hawkeye was the driver and she was all dressed in disguise but you could tell it was her.
First Al got into the car and sat quietly across from the other seat.
Then, Edward got in to see that Winry was in the car, Winry looked at Ed with a sad smile on her face.
She knew.
They must have told Winry that he was going on this mission, Edward sat next to her and the moment he did she leaned against him, her head on his shoulder, "I heard you're going on a year-long mission in a country called England, so I took the liberty of preparing a little case for tune-ups since I won't see you for a while, not like much has changed" She chuckled.
Edward smiled, "Don't worry I'll try to write to you when I can ok?"
Al was sitting across the two on the deep blue seats staring out the window watching the deep orange and pink sunrise over the city buildings and shops, very few people were out and about, only shop owners just waking up and soldiers heading to HQ.
"Al, how are you doing?" Edward asked him seeing he was staring off into the distance.
"I'm fine, I plan to research in the libraries here and spend some time back home with Winry."
Then the car came to a stop, they were outside the train station, they all exited the car and walked up the cream stairs to the large platform, they saw all of Mustang’s subordinates waiting there to see Ed off.
Ed smiled, when he heard, "THE TRAIN HEADED FOR LONDON, ENGLAND IS NOW BOARDING!"
Edward hugged Winry, and said goodbye to Al, as he boarded the train, Edward sat in a seat by the window and saluted everyone, and waved goodbye as the train started to move.
Edward sat there watching the scenery pass by, trees turned into fields, fields to rivers, rivers to lakes, and soon houses appeared small houses with farmhouses, and soon larger buildings and more people, soon Ed was in a city, it was already 5:45 at night, and Edward still had a long way to London it was a 2 day trip on the train.
Edward decided to get some shut-eye on the uncomfortable seat of the train, so he laid down with his luggage across from him and slept.
You must pay a toll for seeing what you have my young Alchemist, no one see's the truth without paying a heavy toll.
"What? What do you mean toll?" Edward asked
Please don't tell me you didn't know my young alchemist everyone must pay the toll
Suddenly Edwards’s leg started to decompose as he stood, and he let out a bloodcurdling scream the white figure known as truth laughed
Suddenly Ed was back in his house screaming out in pain and agony
"Al...... Al....... Alphonse!" Edward yelled seeing Al was no longer there
"No this wasn't how it was supposed to happen!" Ed cried clutching his leg
"Mom? Is that you?" Ed asked seeing the creature in the center of the circle
The creature was a mishmash of organs and blood everywhere it reached out to him and groaned as hit reached out then its arm snapped and blood poured out and the arm fell to the ground
Edward screamed and threw up on the ground.
Edward crawled over to the suit of armor his father kept in his lab and knocked it over. he took his finger and blood and drew a seal in the armor the drew the same seal on himself, on his arms and legs, and hear and said,
"My arms, my other leg, my heart take them all you can have them, but give my brother back, HE'S THE ONLY FAMILY I HAVE LEFT!" He screamed and clapped his hands
Edward shot up in a cold sweat from his nightmare. It was 9:30 in the morning and the scenery outside was large buildings with strange language written on signs passing by.
He sat up and lay against the window reading his English dictionary and started reading it to learn the language.
Suddenly the train came to a stop "WELCOME TO LONDON, ENGLAND! PLEASE EXIT FROM THE NEAREST DOOR." the station master called out.
Edward grabbed his things and headed out the metal door towards the exit of the station, He saw a station master and asked,
"Excuse me? Could you tell me how to get a taxi?"
"Um.. are you German? I can't tell what you're saying" The station master said
Edward realized he couldn't understand him and pulled out his dictionary and wrote down what he said
Excuse me? Can you tell me how to get a Taxi?
The director immediately understood and said, "Just wait out there and wave your hand one should stop for you, just tell him where you want to go."
Edward said "Thanks" and walked out towards the street.
He waved his hand and a car stopped next to him he took his luggage put it in the car and hopped in.
"Hello young man, where would you like to go?" The cab driver asked
"Um, do you speak German?" Edward asked
The driver laughed, "Yes boy I speak German now tell me why's a young German boy like yourself in London?"
Edward smiled "I’m here to do some research on a science that I specialize in"
"Well that's great for you, now where can I take a nice Young man like you?"
"I’m going to apartment number 3 on Stephans Street"
The driver started down the street they passed all kinds of stores with candy, and other things the red brick sidewalks passed by fast, crowded with people bustling in and out of buildings.
The driver stops in front of a building labeled "Stephens Apartments"
"Here we are young man, oh, and don't worry about the cost think of it as a friendly gesture to a fellow countryman. Take my card call me when you like, my name is Ambros," he said.
"Thanks," Edward said taking his card and exiting the car.
Edward entered the building and was assaulted with the smell of fresh-cut wood, He looked around and saw the building was very cozy, the lobby was a light blue color with family pictures hung up on the walls.
On the right was a check-in desk with a man in his 20s sitting there, on the wall behind the desk was a line of keys to all the vacant apartments.
The young man looked up to see Edward standing there, "Oh! You must be the new guy moving in! Let me get you your key!"
Edward stood there stunned at how quickly the guy had adapted to him, he handed Edward the key and put a clipboard out, and said, "sign here, and you’re good to go"
Edward signed the paper and headed up the stairs toward his apartment. The stairs creaked under his weight.
His place had a deep blue door and silver knob with wear and tear on it, Edward put the bronze key in the lock and opened the door.
The apartment had three rooms, one was the bathroom, which was colored blue with white tiles on the floor and the sink was a black granite and silver sink, with a single oval mirror that opens and revealed a cabinet. There was only a shower and toilet then a sidebar to put a towel on and a rug beside the shower for when you come out.
The other room was a small kitchen with a counter, a fridge, and a freezer with a stove, microwave, and oven, there were light brown cabinets while the kitchen was a light blue color, and one sink with some knifes next to it and under the sink were some pots and pans, and a bowl on the counter that had some red apples in it.
The last room was Ed's bedroom it was a red color with a black bed in the corner with a bedside table with a white lamp on it and a drawer in the table then a dresser at the end of the room with four shelves one for underwear, one for shirts, one for pants, and the last one is for anything you want, there's a small closet for jackets in the room too with a small desk and a bookshelf.
Edward collapsed on the bed and sighed "So this is my home for the next three weeks here in London while I try to learn English"
He decided that just laying here wasn’t going to do him any good so he got up and unpacked, he then sat at the black desk and pulled out all the books he had on English, he needed to learn the language and fast, so he started by translating simple words like Thank you, and Hello.
Soon after a few days he could write a full paragraph in English, and could have small conversations with the doorman downstairs, he finally met his neighbor it was a young girl around his age and she was very sweet, just like Al.
Edward hoped he could write and see them sooner than the year he was planned for, and hoped his mission only lasted a year, and that he wouldn't get involved in anything stupid.