Descent

Chapter One

They found Edward huddled in the corner of the barn, blindfolded and gagged, shivering and muttering to himself, arms wrapped around his knees, sobbing. He was bloody and bruised, and he looked like shit. It pained Hawkeye to see him like this, but she made herself keep her cool indifferent mask that was so like her. It wouldn't do for the other soldiers to see her without it. If they knew that she, the Hawk's Eye, was terrified, then the fear would creep into their own minds, and they would lose their on professionalism. And right now, it was important that everyone remain alert and on guard. Mustang's division was chasing the Homunculus Envy, but she knew there was always the chance he could give them the slip and double back to retrieve his lost prize. She told seven of the soldiers to surround the barn, to keep watch on all sides, and ordered four others to inspect the barn, to make sure there were no booby-traps. Edward flinched violently and let out a small squeak when they went in, and he hugged himself closer. Riza wanted to rush in and wrap her arms around the small boy. She wanted to comfort him, but she knew she had to follow the military protocol and check the safety of the area before she could.

Her subordinates gave her the all-clear, and she went inside, followed closely by 2nd Lieutenant Green. She walked as quickly as she could to Edward, and she noticed he clenched his fingers around his knees as she grew closer. She dropped to her knees beside him and he let out a yelp, jumping away from her. She touched his arm softly and he lashed out at her, striking her face and shuffling away from her. "Edward." She whispered, slightly shocked, and she reached out and pulled him into a tight hug, certain that he just needed to know that he was safe. But it had the opposite effect. He began to kick and thrash at her, screaming for her to let him go. She held onto him tightly, her motherly instincts kicking in and wanting nothing more to comfort him. He kept screaming and she realized he thought that she was going to hurt him. "Edward!" She said sharply, and he froze. "Stop that, Edward."She softened her voice now that she had his attention. "It's okay, Ed, it's just me. I won't hurt you."

"Hawkeye?" He whispered through the gag, sounding nothing less than disbelieving.

"Yes, Edward. It's me. I won't hurt you." She told him, and he relaxed at her words, moving into the embrace and becoming weightless. She held him tight for a few moments before turning him around so that she could take the gag and the blindfold off. He stiffened at the movement, but offered no resistance. She managed to gently and carefully untie the gag, and he sucked in a few deep breaths through his mouth at the release. But the blindfold was going to present a huge problem. It was tangled completely in his hair, and she wouldn't be able to remove it without taking chunks of his hair with it. She informed him and he didn't say anything, but she could tell it terrified him that he would have to remain unseeing until they could find a way to take it off. She noticed he was shivering with cold, and she shrugged off her heavy winter coat and wrapped it around him. He winced when it touched his skin, but allowed her to button it up. She decided they were done here. The sooner they got out, the better.

"Lieutenant Green." She said.

"Yes, sir!"

"Help me with him. We're leaving." She ordered.

"Yes, sir!"

Together they hauled Edward to his feet, despite him saying that he didn't need help; he obviously did. Hawkeye put one of Ed's arms around her shoulder, and her own arm around his waist, and the 2nd Lieutenant followed suit. Together, they helped Edward out of the barn into the cold night's air. The wind blew their hair around their faces, and Edward froze up at the cold, so that they had to practically drag him back to the cart. Cars didn't work in Drachma; it was too cold and the engines always cracked. The horse, a beautiful chestnut with three white stockings and a blaze on her face, whinnied as they carried Edward past her, and she nudged his side. He flinched but only a little. He stopped for a moment and reached one of his arms out, trying to find her face. She pushed her nuzzle into his palm and he stroked it, smiling. Apparently, Edward Elric had a thing for horses. Riza pulled him along and reluctantly he allowed her to, looking back longingly at the horse, or, at least, in her general direction. She whinnied at him and tossed her head, but remained otherwise calm. The wind began to pick up and Hawkeye could tell a storm was coming. She shouted over the wind for her soldiers to come back, and then she busied herself with getting Edward into the back of the cart. Once he was in, Lieutenant Green crawled in ungracefully after him and Hawkeye vaulted over the side to land softly beside Ed.

The driver clicked his tongue and slapped the rains over the horse's rump and they were off. After half an hour Hawkeye's storm made it's first appearance, and the horse began to pick up speed in her urgency to find shelter. Riza looked down at Edward, who was conversing with Miss Green. Or, rather, the Lieutenant was asking him questions and he was giving short answers. At one question, he froze up, and refused to give any more answers, or even to acknowledge that she was there. She looked back helplessly at Hawkeye, who shrugged and shuffled closer to him. She whispered his name to let him know she was there and then pulled him close. He rested his head on her shoulder and after a few moments, she felt his breathing even out and a soft hint of a snore escape his lips. She felt touched that he trusted her enough to fall asleep in her arms. She wondered how General Mustang had come along trying to find Envy. She hoped he'd caught the bastard. And she hoped he set fire to him. Riza Hawkeye wasn't usually one to encourage causing harm to others, but after everything the Homunculus had put her ex-subordinate through, she wanted him to feel pain. She didn't care how much he had done, she didn't care about the fact that he was renowned as 'hero of the people', she didn't care that he'd risked his life countless times to save the country, all she cared about was that he was a child. He was a child and he'd been tortured and that wasn't fair. The poor kid had never had what one would call a peaceful life, and now this had happened to him.

The wind became a blizzard, and the cart's driver was amazed how well the horse was doing not to panic. They could see the town on the horizon, but she feared that they weren't going to make it. The cart was beginning to rattle and Edward was twitching in his sleep, unconsciously grabbing at his leg stump, flinching when his skin made contact with the freezing cold automail. We're nearly there, she told herself, we're going to make it. But at that moment, a huge gust of wind, that had to be moving at several kilometers per-hour, hit the cart, tipping it sideways and breaking the shafts, setting the horse free. They all fell into the deep snow, and Edward flew out of Hawkeye's grip and landed too far away from her. She tried to crawl through the snow, but the wind was too strong, and it had suddenly changed direction, pushing her further away from him. The snow blew in her face and she couldn't see, and she could feel her body shutting down to protect her from the cold. The winter coats they'd all brought with them were supposed to prevent this exact temperature drop, but she had given hers to Ed, so the only thing protecting her now was her military uniform, which was less than useless in this weather. "Edward!" She tried to call, but her voice was lost in the rushing wind. The other soldiers didn't seem to notice that she and Ed were stuck, they had all crawled together and were huddling in a bunch behind the remains of the cart, which provided them with a break in the wind. She could see them, but they couldn't see her. She tried commando crawling toward him, but her elbow slipped on the snow and she fell on her face.

And then, out of nowhere, something had grabbed hold of the back of her clothes and was half-lifting her off the ground, even if it was only a few inches from the ever-piling snow. It pulled her to the direction of Edward, and it only took a few extended moments for it to reach him. It dropped her and when she looked up she realized it was the horse! She let out a bark of laughter. In all the commotion she hadn't given the horse a moments thought, but now, as she did, she would have figured it had run off. But no! Here it was -here she was-, laying down in front of Edward, becoming an immediate break in the harsh wind. She sat close to him, allowing her hot-blooded warmth to keep him warm. Riza followed suit and crawled next to him, wrapping him in her arms and shuffling closer to the mare, because she knew the horse could provide so much more heat than she. He shivered but snuggled into the horse's thick, shaggy fur, making himself cozy, all whilst still asleep. Riza snuggled closer to him, doing her best to keep him as warm as possible, but also being thankful that the movement also made her warmer as well.

The blizzard lasted throughout the night and through most of the following day, and, when it ended, Riza vowed that she would keep that horse forever. She owed it both her own life and Edward's.