The Empath Alchemist {Edward Elric X Reader}

1

(Y/n) heaved in and out heavily as she attempted to calm herself down. She stared up at the sky, focusing on the blank sheet of black up above rather than her rapidly beating heart. Her back ached, having just been forced to the ground by the impact of the coincidentally expected blast from the laboratory's explosion. She gulped, taking in the fact that if she hadn't sensed the imposing danger at the time, she and her friends would have still been inside when the lab blasted to hell.

As if coming back to her senses, (Y/n) shot up from the grass faster than she should have with wide eyes, scanning the far off debris for her partners. She hissed at the crick in her neck, which led to the release of a few heaving coughs provoked by the intake of lingering smoke. She heard the call of her name from afar, and snapped her head into the direction of the familiar voices as the coughing fit ceased. She spotted the giant hunk of metal helping up the smaller boy quite a few feet away, allowing her to release the tension in her shoulders and the breath she was unknowingly holding.

They were alright, that's all that mattered.

After taking only a moment to collect herself, the teen pushed herself onto her feet shakily and rushed over to the brothers who met her half way. Firm gloved hands grasped her shoulders once they reached each other, the owner's golden eyes scanning her face, arms, and legs for injuries. Just as he always did in these situations.

"You okay?" the blonde asked, brows furrowed and eyes not even meeting (Y/n)'s.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. What about you guys?" her eyes instinctively did the same to their bodies.

"Yeah, we're good, thanks," Edward Elric exhaled as he released her, looking over to Al's comforting thumbs up. (Y/n) noticed Edward's lips twitch uncomfortably as he shifted his right arm and frowned at the feeling. He murmured something about a wobbly screw, and shed his ash covered red coat to inspect it. The (h/c) haired girl took the cloth as if it were second nature while his fingers fiddled with said screw in his metal forearm. "That's better," he said to no one in particular, taking his coat back gently.

After the three ensured each other that they were alright, they all turned to stare at the remains of one of their last leads. "Damn labs keep falling apart before we can even get anywhere," the blonde grumbled, now angrily whipping his coat in the air to rid it of excess dirt.

"Yeah... but thanks to you, (Y/n), we made it out alive!" Alphonse nudged (Y/n)'s arm as if to shed positivity onto the frustrating situation. The girl's attempt to chuckle in appreciation turned into another short coughing fit, and the Elrics were quick to halt and look to her with concern. Ed moved to help her, though there was really nothing he could have done, when she waved him off and cleared her throat.

"That was gross," she wheezed.

"Be careful, would ya?" Ed reprimanded gently, brows narrow.

"I'm fine, Ed. It's just some smoke."

She didn't miss the little head shake he gave before proceeding to dust off his coat. "Anyhow, Al's right, you know. Don't know what we'd do without you and that ability of yours."

"Aw, guys I'm blushing," she grinned widely. "I hate to break it to you but the building did still blow up, so technically that's a loss."

"Well, yeah but we weren't burned alive because of you, so it's a win- lose situation," Alphonse chuckled almost nervously, his sentence holding more truth than he was willing to sit and ponder.

"We were so close!" Ed complained, mind now elsewhere. "If we had just a little more time, we would have been able to make it down to the basement. I bet you there was a hell of a lot more vital information down there."