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Chapter Text

Ed passes the time either passed out or in pain if he isn't causing hell.

He's lost track some time back how long he's been here. The lack of light, lack of consistent food schedule and constant torture was all so counter intuitive to keeping track of time.

He sighs, stomach growling furiously, he's shivering again, He needs to take his mind off the cold and the hunger pangs, time to count the ceiling tiles again.

49 tiles. There, all counted.

He can't count the dots with the room suddenly plunged into darkness, no doubt his captors are annoyed by him counting but he has the number memorized. 

3,479.

He needs to find a new hobby...

Oh goody, he can hear footsteps.

Game time.

He has no idea how much time passed, he's alone now.

He absently spits the blood out of his mouth, the room spins even with his eyes closed and wonders if its the head injuries or drugs.

Consciousness fades before he can decide.

Ed wakes up to the sensation of someone pulling his hair, again? He sure is popular today. Is it still today?

He can hear words, if that can generously be called hearing with all the ringing in his ears.

He opens his eyes and grimaces as blood drips into one of them. His hair is going to take a miracle to salvage with all the blood and grease matted to it. If he has to cut his hair there will be hell to rain.

"Gold hair, gold eyes. You're the Fullmetal Alchemist?" A dark skinned man wearing sunglasses with white hair pulled into a ponytail asks him. Why does no one ever believe that he's himself? Seriously? 

He blames Colonel Bastard, the man had to have spread rumors about him. There is no way everyone would all think the same thing. 

Well, the game begins again with a new player. How can he piss this one off? And can he trick him into giving him information?

Ed licks his lips, he instantly regrets it with the biting cold and absently coughs when he feels how dry his throat is. He opens his mouth to whisper, even a whisper strains his vocal chords but whatever. He has to get his entertainment from somewhere. The man obviously can't hear him so he leans in closer to Ed. Bingo. Ed smirks inwardly before he tilts his head back a little and takes a deep breath as if he's going to repeat himself. Instead he slams his forehead into the man's chin.

"Who the hell wants to know?!" Ed growls struggling again to get off the table he's been strapped to. This one being new, is stupid and will definitely fall for some tricks he used in the past. Ed freezes as his chin is captured in the man's hand. He growls furiously even as the man chuckles in amusement. 

"Cute." He thinks Ed's cute? He's about to show him that he can be fucking adorable.

The white haired man freezes when he sees that Ed rubbed his wrist raw from where it was shackled to the metal table. Too late!

"Stop that!" Ed grins, the man missed the blood, sucks for him. Before the man even knows it, he's slammed into the wall by a hand made of concrete. His head smacks into the wall, arms and mouth covered.

He's on a roll.

Another point for him. Fuck yeah! He's good at this.

Now he just needs to attempt escape number, damn, how many times has he tried to get out?

"Miles! What is taking so long?!" Foiled again. Well, the least he can do is take some people out of commission before he's chained up again. A blonde haired woman storms in, she pauses taking in the state room before frowning in displeasure. Something about her is vaguely familiar.

He immediately distrusts her on principal despite being a new face.

"You can't even rescue one soldier?" she asks rhetorically as she makes her way over to the man by the wall. With her attention elsewhere, Ed idly breaks free of his restraint before looking at his automail-less leg and arm.

"Oh yeah. Stupid drugs." Ed mutters cursing that he forgot he didn't have his automail. Well this attempt was doomed to failure from the start, no way was this lady going to be easy to beat and take hostage.

"Fullmetal," Ed ignores her, he's been called Fullmetal for so long here he learned to tune it out. "I am General Armstrong of Fort Briggs." Ed tunes back in as he manages to sit up and stay sitting up to really look at the woman. He can see what made him think she looked familiar.

The military. Fort Briggs? The command center of the north, why were they here?

"Release Major Miles." Ed looks at the man pinned to the wall and slowly moves his hand back to his bloody transmutation circle, the stone hand recedes. The room spins and he loses all strength in his arm he overbalances. An arm comes up around his chest before he can fall off the metal table.

"We have you now. You can rest easy, the Soldiers of Briggs are here." Is the last thing Ed hears before passing out. That's comforting, 'The perfect defense' is just as good as 'The perfect attack' to have his back.

Miles rubs his chest as he pushes himself up against the wall. Even downed the kid could pack a punch, alchemy is no joke.

"Violent kid." He smirks. "I think if it wasn't for the fact that they took his automail, he could have easily escaped." General Armstrong nods as she lies him down on the table, Miles doesn't like the dark tint to his lips. Kid's only wearing a tank top and shorts, flimsy and thin in this cold weather with their breaths literally fogging up the air when they talk? Yeah, he's definitely going to get sick if he wasn't already. 

"Smith, have the men looking for child sized automail." he calls out as he steps out of the room, he hears an affirmative and makes his way over to the kid while shedding his outer coat. He bundles the kid up and pulls him up into his arms, he weakly protests, hand slapping Miles in the face. General Armstrong's eyes glint in amusement as she stalks out of the room.

"We found his automail." Cyril calls out from somewhere. "What should we do? Attach them now or wait until we get out of here?" he wanders out of a room with the two metal limbs in his arms.

"We'll leave that to Kei to do when we get back to Fort Briggs." Miles replies carting around the unconscious form of Major Elric.

"Best to have a professional do it." He blinks the blood away from his eye. "We should move quickly." No telling when the abandoned building used to hold the kid captive will become occupied again.

He spots a streak of blood on the floor on his way out.

"And clean up a little, no need to let them know there were visitors." Let this place become a mouse trap now that Fullmetal is gone. Hopefully they can catch one or two mice.

They reach the fort in no time at all and just in time too. A blizzard hits not even ten minutes after they've arrived.

Dr. Young and Kei have their hand full with the kid, everyone else writes their reports on what transpired.

Miles visits General Armstrong, she's staring at the report she was writing on her desk.

"It's convenient, isn't it?" he asks her, she frowns severely at him. "The anonymous tip off about Drachmans possibly infiltrating the north only to find Major Elric." she sets her pen down and waits for him to speak.

"You think it was a trap?" if any of them had even gotten a scratch then yes, but they all walked away unscathed, well, aside from Miles who was attacked by the delirious and scared teenager.

"No. I think whoever took him has a mole." she nods slowly.

"We know nothing about our anonymous tipper, not even gender." she recalls the voice, neither male nor female and yet somehow both. And the fact that they referred to Major Elric as 'Pipsqueak'.

"Have someone investigate that but for now keep it low priority. We may get answers from Major Elric when he awakens." Miles nods and leaves her office.

"Let me know when the blizzard ends." he hears her call out through the shut door and continues on his way. Six weeks is a long time to go missing.

Six weeks is an even longer time to have spent being tortured for information. Major Elric seems pretty strong willed, would he have given up any information for even a little bit of a reprieve?

And could Miles fault him for that if he did, after all, he's only fourteen years old.

Chapter Text

Lyra Young has written several reports for Major Elric's injuries. Each one actually makes her sick, and she has a strong stomach.

He's just a kid.

She can see Kei fiddling with the broken automail Cyril had brought them and wonders what happened to the kid. She could read the abuse on his body like a map, can see what steps were taken to keep him subdued from breaking his wrist and fingers repeatedly to the cuts and stab ones for torture. His hair was a mess and she would have washed her hands of it and simply cut it to something similar to her hair length had Major Elric not awoken and tried to claw her face off and bite her to keep his hair.

She'd heard how the kid was protective of a number of odd things like his food journal, coat and hair. She hadn't anticipated the unholy screech he would let out for the attempt.

"This is my promise to my brother and like hell i'll let you ruin it!"

He passed out immediately after, but the noise and the fight that ensued has alerted more than its share of soldiers. Kei had let her clean herself up and treat her injuries as he worked with a handful of soldiers to unmat and detangle Major Elric's hair.

She looks at the family portrait on her desk, she eyes her reflection and winces as she caresses the three scratches on the right side of her face from the bridge of her nose to below her jawline. She looks at her left arm covered with two bite marks and vows not to underestimate him again. She'd heard what he'd done to Major Miles but she hadn't taken it to heart and her wounds were her own fault.

He's in survival mode, any perceived slight would receive the appropriate response, in this case, violence.

And this is how he's been responding for weeks? He's a danger to everyone around him, and not just because he's an alchemist of the state. He's more than likely going to be suffering form some type of ptsd from being a prisoner of war. Make no mistake, the kid is military being tortured for information, the only thing he could be is a prisoner of war.

Which means she'll have her work cut out for her.

She hears a groan coming from the bed in the infirmary. She rises up from her desk and carefully makes her way over to the bed, keeping a respectful difference she looks down at the teenager. Nearly all of him is covered in bandages, and she'd even splinted his fingers on top of putting a cast on his arm despite the danger it could present to her.

They really put him through the ringer. He was bruised from top to bottom, covered in scratches, stab wounds and broken bones. He has several stitches and she hopes she did a good enough job with some of the head injuries despite all the hair in the way. He would have gone ballistic if she shaved some of the hair to get to the injuries, she might still have to, but that's something she'll have to keep an eye on.

She eyes the pristine gold hair and makes note to help him maintain it until he could do it on his own again.

"Major Elric?" Lyra asks softly. "Are you awake?" he frowns, she doesn't like the rasp she can hear but there is little she can do for that right now. She has to hope the antibiotics she administered earlier take their course.

He doesn't attempt to open his eyes, she glances around and switches off the light but allows the light coming from Kei's office so he's not in complete darkness. He'd been in near total darkness when he'd been found, it'll take a little bit to get him used to more light. He cracks open one eye as she moves closer to him.

He's finally awake.

Ed groans, everything hurts but that isn't unusual for him. Now what is unusual, is the soft comfort beneath him. A bed, he hasn't seen, felt, one of those in however long it's been. The ringing is still in his ears but not so bad now, he hears a woman call him 'Major' which isn't a point in her favor. He doesn't immediately freak out or start plotting her demise. He can still inconvenience her though.

He cracks open one eye to see a woman with glasses wearing a lab coat standing over him.

"Who..." His voice dies out as he turns his head to look past her. They seemed to be in some type of infirmary, not one that he has ever seen before either. One point against her for how different it is from the infirmary in Eastern and Central Command. He spots a doorway with light spilling through it, he catches a glimpse of a man working at a table and on that table was his arm and leg!

Ed shoots up, the room immediately begins spinning out of control and his chest gets tight as he breaks out into a cold sweat. He knew better, he allows himself to be pushed back down by the woman doctor, he's still leery of trusting her though. Wouldn't be the first time they attempted to trick him into thinking he was rescued.

"I'm Doctor Lyra Young. You're in Fort Briggs." Dr. Young tells him slowly. "Do you know where that is?" he's not an idiot, he knows exactly where that is. The last place in Amestris that he wants to be in until he's exhausted all options.

"By the border of Drachma up north." Ed whimpers immediately biting his lips at the flare of pain coming from arm when he shifts it to see if there are any restraints.

He grumbles irritably when that fuzzy feeling comes over him, the pillow suddenly feels super comfortable.

It feels so nice to lay in a bed again, he's never leaving this bed. He will fight someone to the death if they even try to make him leave this trap.

He can hear something, it sounds far away.

If this turns out to not be a trap, and he's at Northern command, does that mean he's safe? 

It's something to think about.

For now...

He's so tired...

Questions later, sleep now.

"Questions later, sleep now." he mutters breathing evening out and just like that he's gone. Maybe she should have waited to adjust his morphine.

"How is he?" Major Miles asks stepping into the infirmary. What awful timing.

"He woke up briefly. I explained to him where he is but that's all." Major Miles nods watching Major Elric sleep for a moment before passing her a folder and leaving to inform General Armstrong.

"You've certainly been through a lot. Missing for 6 weeks and then you turn up near Drachma of all places. What on earth happened to you?" Lyra shakes her head before meandering over to her desk to peruse the recently acquired medical files that had been sent to Briggs from Eastern Command. She adds it to the file she made. She hears wheels and then Kei pops his head out of his area.

"Whoever made this kids automail is amazing." Kei praises before fiddling around with the fingers in wonder. He'd fixed some of the broken parts already but had spent time cataloging the craftmanship that went into the automail.

"This isn't northern automail, so the rumors were right that he'd been abducted outside of Drachma." She'd heard about the famous Fullmetal alchemist disappearing en route to Central Command from some place in the South. But what were the Drachmans doing there of all places? And why Major Elric?

A knock disturbs her from her thought, she catches Major Elric jerking in his sleep but he snoozes away when she raises her hand to halt any further noise. When he remains sound asleep she turns back to see Captain Buccaneer.

"You figure anything out about the kid?" He asks softly as he steps into the room. Kei looks up at him from the hand he was holding.

"His automail was made by someone with experience but not first hand. Seeing that each limb is ten pounds each. But other than that, design is flawless." he fangirls, she pushes him back, chair rolling off.

"He's stuck in survival mode, we need to be careful." she tells him, he eyes the bandage on her arm and the welts on her face.

"Kid's got spunk." he murmurs amused but nods at her warning and slips out of the room.

She gets used to everyone poking their head in to peek in on the kid. Not just worry but curiosity on their faces.

It doesn't even get passed the third day before bets are placed on when he'll wake up and who he'll attack.

When he does awaken again, his eyes are the thing that catch her immediate attention. They are gold.

Clouded with fear and anger in equal measure.

He senses a presence nearby.

Ed's eyes snap open and he quickly grabs the hand in front of his face and glares. His heart thunders in his chest as he prepares for words or violence.

"Easy, easy." the woman speaks slowly. "I'm Dr. Young, remember?" Ed's breathing slows as his grip slowly relaxes before his grip slackens and his arm falls limply to the bed. He vaguely remembers her introducing herself, he was in Fort Briggs.

His chest feels tight but he forces himself to breath deeply and evenly, counting each breath as he watches her. He can feel his eye twitching because of the pain but lets her speak. Telling her without words that he was watching her and she seemed to understand as she kept silent and moved slowly before she began telling him everything she was doing.

Checking his wounds, seeing if anything was infected, listening to his lungs.

A man and woman stand outside the doorway watching, they seem familiar, but in the vague way that Dr. Young seemed familiar. Meaning he'd probably met them already but was too out of it to really commit their names and faces to memory.

He can see them wearing military uniform, can see their ranks by stars and stripes on their uniform. A general and a major like him. He puts them out of mind for now, eyes straying back to the doctor.

He doesn't know how to feel about her. She's not Drachman, nor is she working for whoever those people were. But he can't be a hundred percent sure about being in Briggs, even with the two military personnel and their ranks. Wouldn't be the first time someone infiltrated the military with stolen uniform and stolen ranks.

He did appreciate her telling him what she was doing. It makes it easier to stay relaxed this way, he'd been hurt a lot by them. He doesn't remember getting caught, just waking up every now and then to different scenery. They must have drugged him the entire way to Drachma then they'd let him really have it.

As if he'd talk.

"Now, are you in any pain?" Ed blinks before looking at the IVs on his arm and wrist. Time for a test, depending on his request being honored will determine not just the rest of his stay here but his cooperation.

After all, this could all still be a trap.

"Stop the pain medicine. I don't want to be drugged anymore." he stares at her and waits for her response. She looks stunned.

"Are you sure? That will cause you a lot of pain." He's been in pain for a long time, what does it matter now? But he nods in response to her question.

"I'm tired of being drugged, no more drugs." he hates the way that his voice immediately cracks but swallows and clears his throat.

The general marches into the room, instantly drawing the attention of the doctor.

"Dr. Young," her tone brooks no argument "Do it. The Drachmans most likely drugged him a lot so the idea of being drugged anymore is bothering him." He was kidnapped by Drachmans? Stupid question, he's in Fort Briggs.

"Of course, I'm sorry." she tells him and starts to remove the IV, she goes on about nutrients and saline but it goes in one ear and out the other as he stares at the woman's face. She says nothing and stands perfectly still as he scans her face, he can almost recall seeing her, the feeling of safety before waking up.

"You were there." He murmurs, this wasn't a trap?

"Is this real?" he asks, voice is quieter than he wants it to be. He honestly expected this to be an elaborate trick, sure the others failed because no one had more than one brain cell, but they were just grunts.

The general nods as she takes a seat on the chair beside the bed, the man steps further into the room shutting the door behind him. He hates the instant dread that fills him at the door shutting but ignores the feeling to face the woman. Upon further inspection, he recalls a blurry image of his face with his mouth covered. Ah.

"You were there too, sorry about attacking you." the man smiles and waves it off as he comes to stand beside the woman. He feels a little bit crowded.

"It is alright. I understand why you did it, you didn't do that often, did you?" he asks curious, Ed wants to sit up, there are too many people here and he is lying on his back.

"What? Attack my kidnappers?" Ed smirks at him, don't show fear. "Why would I only attack you?" he retorts, don't show them you're scared.

"It's not the best idea to attack your torturers." Dr. Young points out. Really. He had no idea. What is the proper etiquette for the kidnappe? He shakes his head to ward off what he really wanted to say.

"It kept me sane." He murmurs, time was a blur and all there was to break up the monotony was pain. So he returned the favor. 

He coughs, the Dr. helps him recline and then drink water. More bearable, but still makes him twitchy.

"Did you tell them anything?" the general demands, he shakes his head and frowns when he sees the welts on the Dr.'s face, is she a field medic? Did he do that to her?

"This isn't the best time." Dr. Young glares at her, Ed decides to intervene. He really doesn't think he'll be able to handle them arguing so close to him right now.

"We need to know what our enemies know." The general retorts.

"No." Ed quickly cuts in before anyone else could respond.

"What?" Dr. Young asks, surprise painted across her face as she looks back at him.

"I didn't say anything...." Ed trails off, does cursing count? "Well, that's not true. I did swear at them a lot, but I didn't tell them any of our secrets." He closes his eyes, the pain is starting to return now that the morphine is gone. His eyes snap open when he hears movement, no one is any closer to him which bring him immense relief.

"They know nothing." he ends, the room is silent and he finds his eyes drooping.

"We need you to tell us the story," the general stands up. "But as long as we know you didn't tell them anything, that can wait." Ed nods, he'll need to piece together some parts but he'll gladly tell them what happened.

Ed cracks an eye open, when did he even close his eyes again?

"Mustang?" the general has already left the room.

"He's been informed that Briggs has rescued you. We are keeping him updated on your status." the man replies, one less thing to worry about a dozen left.

"Al?" hopefully his brother hasn't gone rogue to tear up the ground trying to find him. If he went to visit the gang in Dublith for information with Teacher there, Ed will need to plan their funerals accordingly.

"Colonel Mustang informed us that's the name of your brother. He would like us to inform you he is safe in Resembool." he explains. He can feel himself slipping.

"Good." Ed's eyes close against his will. "That's good." he slurs.

"You can go to sleep now, and when you are feeling up to it, Kei can reattach your automail for you, no guarantees though." Dr. Young tells him.
Ed nods, but can't find it in him to reply to tell them that he might not be able to sleep with the pain in his body.

He's probably about to pass out now.

"What's..." he coughs, throat dry. "The general's name?" he hears a vague reply before he's gone.

Major Miles quirks a brow as he turns to her.

"He suffered some pretty severe injuries. Blood loss, drugged and head injuries, his memory is going to suffer a little right now." she tells him. He nods and tells her to note that before leaving the room himself.

She sighs and adjusts the boy so he's lying completely horizontal.

"You definitely passed out."

Lyra keeps a silent vigil over Major Elric for the rest of the day, watching him struggle through bouts of pain and nausea. Through bouts of paranoia as his eyes scan the room, always finding the ceiling with confusion in his eyes. He mutters something about tiles, their ceiling has no tiles, not with Kei's inventions.

She watches him grit his teeth and clench the sheets beneath his hand, straining his splinted fingers. But he never once screams or cries. She had to hand it to the kid, he had nerves of steel. He had to in order to get two automail limbs, she wonders how young he was, what the recovery time is and who in Amestris would give a teenager, let alone a child, automail when usually they have to wait until after puberty and only receive light automail.

She sighs at the sweat gathering on his forehead, there is no doubt that his low grade fever is a full blown fever.

His muscles are tense, she can see him try to relax and watches as it loops over and over again. Pain overwhelming him, him tensing, tense muscles scream in exhaustion from being locked, relaxing again and again.

"Would you like some water?" He manages to pry his eyes open to see her holding a glass of water. He eyes her and the water warily but nods his head with a resigned look. She crushes the guilt she feels, there is no reason to feel guilty. She isn't doing anything, he has trust issues right now. She shoves her hand under his neck and lifts his head, he gasps in pain, she waits for him before offering him water. He takes small sips and turns his head slightly when he's finished, not enough water but she won't push. This is what the saline drip is for.

He's drenched in sweat, shaking from both pain and exertion.

"Your fever is rising, we'll monitor you a little more closely." she tells him as she bathes his face with a cool rag. He slowly falls asleep for the first time in a few days. No in and out of consciousness, no passing out, he's finally resting. It's been five days since he first arrive, a day and a half since he stopped pain medication and he's finally asleep under his own power. Exhaustion helps a little but this is good.

"The kid finally asleep?" Kei askes drinking coffee, he passes her one.

"Yes. But his fever's rising by the hour, stress from all that pain? And whatever infection he's fighting from that abandoned base, it doesn't look good." Kei frowns, before nudging her. 

"Careful there, you just might jinx him. This one's a fighter." he reminds her. She knows that, she idly rubs the raised skin on her face. 

"He's a tough one for sure." she murmurs in agreement and wonders if he'll be up for eating something soon without the risk of throwing up on her again.

Chapter Text

Roy nearly passed out with relief when he'd received a call that Fullmetal had been found. He did when the news that followed was that the Ice Queen herself has him in her base. Maes didn't laugh at him for that, he'd nearly passed out himself at the news.

The investigation he was heading now to determine just how he ended up North is big.

The Furher was incensed by it, barking orders left and right.

There were whispers of war, his stomach churns at the thought but no action has been taken yet.

It's a waiting game, everyone's tense.

Informing Alphonse turns out to merely be a formality, the younger Elric having heard from a contact of his. He wonders why his voice quaked when he mentioned a visit from his teacher. He didn't even know the kid had a teacher.

Roy stares out the window but its another beautiful days, he sighs again before running his fingers through his hair. 

"Colonel get back to work. We're all worried but Edward is in safe hands." Lt. Hawkeye states though the worry was visible in her eyes.

"You're right." Roy returns to his paperwork. An hour later he's back to staring out the window in worry.

It's been three days since he was rescued, he hasn't fully regained consciousness yet. He's thankful that he's been updated as frequently as he has, though most of the updates come from Maes who is more liked by the Ice Queen than Roy is. 

Another day, same thing. Roy drums his fingers against his desk as he stares out his window at another sunny day. Right now, he hates the sun so much. It looks so cheery and happy while he's busy worrying and being sad about what happened to his subordinate.

He wasn't able to protect or save Fullmetal!

He wasn't even able to find him.

"Sir," Lt. Hawkeye sighs as she enters his office. "He's fine. You know what the soldiers at Briggs are like." He does, they are the perfect defense, he'd trust no one else to look after a weak and vulnerable Fullmetal.

"They won't let anything else happen to him." she continues after a moment. 

"I know, but," Mustang sighed and turned to look at his first lieutenant. "He was tortured for weeks. He's not even fifteen and he's been tortured, and I was the one who brought him into the military." He did this. He brought a desperate child into the military and what did he expect. Especially after he saw what happened first hand in Ishval. 

"You can't blame yourself. Edward knew what he was getting into when he joined." she replies softly. Roy shakes his head, does she really know though? He manipulated a kid that had given up on living.

"He knew about the military, but I never told him about being captured and tortured. I didn't think it would ever happen since he's not in a war."
Lt. Hawkeye walks over to him and lays a hand on his shoulder. He draws strength from her, she leans into him too.

"He survived, and according to General Armstrong, he didn't tell our enemies anything." And doesn't that just make him so proud, even as his heart shrivels with pain.

"You should be proud of him for showing so much courage and strength. Don't pity him, sir." she warns him. "You know he doesn't like pity. Show him how proud you are of him instead." He sighs and nods. She gives him a brisk nod before exiting the office leaving him to his paperwork.

He'll have to reach out to General Armstrong and send her something to show his appreciation.

Roy jumps as the phone rings, he quickly scrambles for the phone, aware of several pairs of eyes peeking into his office. After the first call that he received regarding Fullmetal, everyone has eavesdropped on his conversations.

"Hello?" he cautiously responds, General Armstrong might be the one calling him and the thought of her sends chills down his spine.

"Colonel Mustang, it's Al." he relaxes, shoulders drooping as he waves his hand. His men disperse.

"Alphonse, I wasn't expecting you to call so soon. Did you want to know about how your brother is doing today?"

"Well, that is part of the reason I'm calling." Alphonse replies, he can hear him mutter something to someone beside him.

"It seems that he is on the mend, he's fully conscious, but they don't know how long it will take for him to fully recover." It could take years, even the doctor was sickened by Fullmetal's injuries and she's seen a lot as an army medic. "He has a fever, which they are trying to use antibiotics to kill and he is starting to eat and sleep normally." Roy pauses for a moment, Fullmetal never slept well in an infirmary. Damn kid was allergic to hospitals and needles.

"Well, mostly normal." he amends, he won't bother lying to Alphonse.

"That's good." Alphonse sighs in relief. 

"And your other reason?" Roy asks, curious as to what the younger Elric would need to call him for.

"Oh, right, well, Winry made Brother some new automail that is specialized for the north." He explains simple and to the point. "She wants him to be able to move freely up there without having to worry that his automail is going to hurt him." Right, he'd forgotten about the automail issue and hadn't even informed Alphonse about it when Maes told him. Their friend really took Fullmetal's automail seriously.

"I see. That was a very wise move on her part." Roy nods, even though Alphonse can't see him.

"Yes, but we don't know how to get it to him. Are we able to go up to Fort Briggs?" he asks, voice timid, his heart goes out for him. 

Roy grabs a document out of his desk that was part of the report on Fullmetal's capture. It wasn't finished since Fullmetal hasn't explained the situation in full detail, but because of everything that is happening, tensions with Drachma were reaching a whole new level of dangerous. Travel to the North has all but shut down as a result, troops being pulled from anywhere to send up North.

"I'm not sure you'll be able to." He replies as he flips through the file. "I'll give General Armstrong a call and we'll figure this out, Alphonse. Fullmetal will get that automail somehow." he vows, Fullmetal deserved to feel comfortable, even if that meant giving him automail when he was still prone to fighting the doctor and soldiers that were looking after him. It wasn't quite as often, but it happened enough that he wasn't given his automail back. Though he might not have been able to keep it for very long anyways considering it wasn't made for the north.

"I see." he sighs sadly. "I understand. Thank you for the help. Call me as soon as you have a plan?" he asks, Roy has let this kid down enough.

"Of course." he replies before hanging up. He rubs his eyes, he can feel a headache right between his eyes.

Now to call that Ice Queen. This will not be fun.

The talk happens.

He's not dead, yet.

It'll take him weeks to recover but he received tentative permission and lets Alphonse know.

"Mustang." Roy freezes and eye the phone in the hands like it's a bomb. No one moves as he rises to his feet. The Ice Queen called him, personally.

"G-General! What can I do for you?!" The room instantly fell silent as everyone looks at him, horror on each one of their faces as they expected the worst.

"Get the brat a therapist." She says before hanging up abruptly, Roy stares down at the phone in confusion.

"Huh? A therapist?" His eyes widened in horror after he processed what she said, what he just said. He deposits the phone back onto its cradle and buries his face in his hands. "Shit." he muffles the curse into his palms, he can hear ragged breathing and someone excuses themself.

"He's just a kid." Master sergeant Fuery utters softly. 

Roy spent the next few days gathering files of all the therapists the military had including a few that had retired. Only a handful denied his request on the principal of Fullmetal being a child.

"This isn't the proper use of these files, sir." Lt. Hawkeye says sternly as Roy studies each word of each file carefully.

He had been going over every single file of every therapist that the military employed to find the best one for the job. Someone that Fullmetal could not just talk to, but open up to and trust when the kid already had trust issues before all of this.

"I won't send someone that will make things worse for him." he growls as he tosses the file he was reading away. That therapist was not good for Fullmetal, he didn't respond well to people with a record like this one. "It's all I am able to do for him right now." Lt. Hawkeye sighs before gathering the tossed files and makes her way to his desk.

"Alright, then I suggest getting rid of all the therapists that are males. Edward would not want to open up to a male therapist since he will believe it will make him look weak, and he's less trusting of males in general." she adds and he nods dividing the files quickly.

"He'll still have a hard time opening up with a female therapist, but it will be better." She grabs a handful of files and flips through them, taking the files that were a female and handing them back.

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Roy smiles at her, she nods and takes the rest of the files with her. 

Roy starts reading through the files looking for the perfect therapist for his subordinate.

"The guilt is eating him alive. Colonel Mustang does know that this isn't his fault... Right?" he can hear Havoc hesitantly ask.

"He sent Edward alone. Just to get him out of his hair..." he'll always carry this guilt. "He's taking the blame because to him, it is his fault." he hears Lt. Hawkeye say.

It isn't the first time that Ed and Al have been separated by Ed taking a mission. Sometimes there was some leeway and Al could tag along. Other times they needed creative interpretation and Al would follow along at a distance, parallel to brother's mission and 'coincidentally' meet up.

But once in a blue moon, there were missions that required Al head back to Resembool to wait for brother and he couldn't risk brother getting court martialed so he would head out.

It just so happened, that this time, brother had needed him and he wasn't there for him.

By the time Al was informed that his brother was missing, two weeks had passed and Mr. Hughes had taken his network and started a search. Now Ed and Al had their own contacts, a network that spread across Amestris, but there was only one area, one person, he knew of that could get him information with a 100% accuracy.

That place was in Dublith, the place he and brother went to learn alchemy from their teacher. There they had found a little place with some strange people. Quid Pro Quo was their motto, their leader wanted to know everything, wanted everything and because of that, had more knowledge than anyone. Ed and Al traded what they could whenever they could send someone to the man, their proxy never being the same person because they were terrified of the man.

He had the feeling that this time, Al himself, would need to make the journey.

It's his brother, he didn't have as much to give but he would do what he could to make up the difference.

Though he just might be signing his and his brother's death certificates by going into the lion's den himself. It's a risk he's willing to take.

Al has to plan his brother's funeral, after he finds him, because Teacher is merciless.

But she's gone out to look for Brother too so he hasn't completely doomed him to instant death. She's sympathetic to his kidnapping, even if he's a dog of the state. Even if she instantly knew what they'd done.

Al can't find it in himself to be upset that she kicked them out. Brother had made it a point for them to avoid Dublith, to avoid teacher. He knew this would happen, Al had thought differently. She is well within her rights to disown them as her students.

He wishes that things were different.

But this is the consequences of their actions and he will accept them.

It's a long way home to Resembool.

A month passes with no word, Al returns to Resembool only twice in that time frame.

He searches Aerugo and Creta for his missing brother while trying his best to not advertise that he is the brother of the missing state alchemist but its hard. It seems that everyone has heard, some spitting and saying good riddance while others offer prayers. Some actually help him out but each lead is a dead end and everything he learns he passes to Mr. Hughes.

By the sixth week he's running on fumes and finds himself weaker, if that's at all possible. Sometimes he finds time passing faster than he anticipated. Other times he finds himself falter and coming to a stand still.

"Al! They found him!" Al looks up, Winry is hanging over the banister of the porch waving her hand with tears in her eyes. He rushes the last few steps and finds Granny on the phone. She's nodding her head, a hand pressed to her mouth as she nods.

"Al's here." Al takes the phone from her at her nod, he gently cradles the phone in his hands and raises it to his head.

"He's safe, we found your brother." Al sobs, he knew his brother was alive! "He's at Fort Briggs up north, they'll look after him until he's well enough to return." Al wants to go see him, but he knows that this place was one that was at the top of the list of places brother said they would need to go to as a last resort. The people there were stricter than any of the other military bases straddling the borders of amestris. One wrong move on their part and they could disappear into a military prison and also brother hated the cold because of the pain from his automail.

Al keeps silent about his wish to visit or hear his brother's voice.

"Thank you Colonel." he weeps, relief makes his knees weak when he hangs up the phone. Granny and Winry hug him close, he hugs back as tight as he can without hurting either of them.

He talks to Sig, letting him know where brother was and that is the last time he has contact with teacher or Sig. Neither attempt to contact him, and he doesn't know if they would go up north even if he knows that teacher did some training up there. There's no closure, Al didn't expect any when brother is still gone. Though he knows to expect teacher when brother arrives either to Resembool or back to Eastern command.

After they receive the news that brother is found and in Fort Briggs up North, Al watches Winry spend day and night crafting new automail. It's something she did before when she worried about brother being missing, but there is something different about this automail. And not just because the measurements are for brother.

Going on the fourth day and fourth consecutive all nighter, Al works up the courage to ask her about it.

"What are you working on Winry?" The hope that nearly burned out in them all was blazing brightly in her eyes as she raises her goggles to look at him.

"Ed was all alone. Being hurt... And there wasn't anything we could do." She trembles gripping her work gloves tightly, eyes watering but she doesn't cry. "And now he's safe in the north..." the not back home goes unsaid but he hears it all the same and rests his hand on her shoulder. Her voice shudders as she inhales shakily.

"But in the north it's too cold for him. He needs northern automail or he'll freeze with the automail he has right now, if they even let him have it back." She wipes away the tear that rolled down her cheek. She sniffles and puts her gloves back on with determination in her eyes, goggles lowered back over her eyes.

"He's hurt and alone up there, and he won't be able to get around unless I finish this." she doesn't need to refer to the measurements with how often she does brother's automail but that doesn't stop her from looking because Winry is not sloppy or careless. "It isn't much..." she has no idea how much strength they receive from her steadfast faith in them. How much her words and actions impact them when they return to Resembool in defeat.

She has no clue how strong she is.

"But I can least give him the comfort of being able to move under his own power." she amazes him. Now, the question is...

"But how are you going to get it to him?" Al asks her, even as he thinks about the phone number in the drawer where the phone is that holds Colonel Mustang's direct office number.

"When I finish, you will call Colonel Mustang and see what options he can give us." That he can do, and maybe get news on how brother is doing.

"I see. Thanks Winry for doing so much for Brother." she smiles at him over her shoulder but doesn't say anything else.

It's day ten of brother being safe and sound in the North when Winry finishes the automail. After a full day and a half of enforced rest by Granny and Al, Winry jumped right back into things until she finished.

"Done!" Winry says, the newly crafted automail is polished to perfection, she carefully makes sure both limbs are packaged correctly. Al claps his hands, glad that this took her mind off Ed's state of health. "Now go call Colonel Mustang." she orders as she stretches, back popping.

Al makes his way to the phone and grabs the number, after giving the codes Colonel Mustang made sure was also written on the piece of paper along with his number he was transferred over.

"Colonel Mustang, it's Al." he says after a moment of tentative silence from the other line.

"Alphonse, I wasn't expecting you to call. You want to know about Fullmetal?" Al nods, straight to the point.

"Well, that is part of the reason I'm calling." Al replies and leans down so Winry can hear as well when she asks if he's going to hear about how Ed is doing.

"It seems he is starting to recover, but they don't know how long it will take for him to fully be better. He has a fever, but it seems to finally be lowering and he is starting to eat and sleep normally." Colonel Mustang replies. "Well, mostly normal." Al is glad that Colonel Mustang isn't sugar coating things, he knows brother has some phobias regarding needles and hospitals after his automail surgery.

 "That's good." Al feels relieved, he can't wait for brother to come home.

"And your other reason?" Colonel Mustang asks. Oops, Al got distracted.

"Oh, right, well, Winry made Brother some new automail that is specialized for the north." he explains. "She wants him to be able to move freely up there without having to worry that his automail is going to hurt him." Did Colonel Mustang know that brother needs new automail?

"I see. That was a very wise move on her part." Did Colonel Mustang forget to tell him that?

"Yes, but we don't know how to get it to him. Are we able to go up to Briggs?" Al asks, he doesn't want to get his hopes up.

"I'm not sure you'll be able to." He replies, Al can hear him shuffle some papers around. "I'll give General Armstrong a call and we'll figure this out, Al. Fullmetal will get that automail somehow." Al sighs, well that isn't a no but its also not a yes.

"I see, I understand. Thank you for the help." he tells the man. "Call me as soon as you have a plan?" he asks and receives an affirmation and hangs up.

It takes another three days of the three of them waiting to hear back from Colonel Mustang.

Al knows the tensions are running high between the Amestrians and Drachmans due to Ed's kidnapping. The news about the torture he was put through, not just as a kid but as a state alchemist under the Amestrian military, people were outraged on behalf of the Hero of the People.

Support was pouring in from all over to not just Resembool but Eastern and Central command.

It was overwhelming. All these people that they've helped, that helped them.

If only brother could see this. See the changes they've made and the hearts they've touched. But he doesn't like to look back.

It's nearing noon when Colonel Mustang contacts him where he carefully explains the plan to them and that they would need an escort, Mr. Hughes volunteered to take them. Well Mr. Hughes and two soldiers from his division.

"So let me see if I understand this." Winry stares at him as he sits across from her after he explains the situation.

"We are on our way to North City to stay the night. And if Ed is strong enough, we'll meet him at the hospital for his automail attachment..." she swallows thickly. "But if he isn't, a covert meeting to keep us and the soldiers safe will happen where we transfer the automail to a soldier to take to Briggs." Her hands clench tightly around the material of her skirt.

"That sounds about right." He nods, he knows how much it's crushing her. Brother is so close yet so far.

"So we might not get to see Ed." Winry says sadly, Granny and Den just watch them in silence.

"If we can't, we could try to see if we could call him." Al points out. Surely they could speak with him if they can get a secure line.

"I hope so." Winry's hands tighten into fists on her lap. They both needed to hear Ed's voice, to know for sure he was alright. All the updates from Colonel Mustang were helpful, but only brother's voice could allieviate their anxiety.

"Well then, you two had best start packing." Al wishes Granny could come with them but the older woman gently shakes her head before he can ask. 

"The two of you, the military could understand, they can't justify me." He nods sadly.

Mr. Hughes meets them on the train, the usually jovial man looks tired and stressed.

That doesn't stop him from bringing out photos of his wife and daughter. Feeding Winry some food his wife made for them on their journey.

"And this is Elysia wearing her cute purple dress with a flower crown!" Winry smiles at the photos, Al jumps when a photo is handed to him but the photo is of brother sleeping on Colonel Mustang's couch. Al doesn't even question it, he knows how many photos are taken when it comes to Mr. Hughes. The man was a fanatic of his family, of which brother and himself were counted amongst. It makes him feel all warm and fuzzy whenever he's reminded.

Al lowers the photo, he wants to ask him questions about everything happening but given the pinched look on his face, the military is being very uptight about any information being leaked. He'll have to settle for whatever he can dig up without stepping on too many toes.

"These are 2nd Lt Maria Ross and Sergeant Denny Brosh." Mr. Hughes introduces his subordinates to Winry, explaining that they are their additional eyes and ears. 

Al and Winry sat on the train staring at the scenery, it was all just a blur. After the photos and the meal, they'd lapsed into silence.

Mr. Hughes let them sit in silence, but Al could tell he was keeping an eye on them.

"They will help Ed get better..." Winry starts, nails tracing the grooves of her case. "Won't they?" she continues hesitantly. 2nd Lt Ross hesitates to speak, Mr. Hughes reaches over and clasps Winry's hand.

"They will. Ed is greatly admired for what happened. Roy won't let him continue suffering and General Armstrong maybe tough but she cares about Ed." Winry nods, she sniffles and quickly wipes her eyes.
Mr. Hughes sighs, Al looks at the lack of luggage being carried by Mr. Hughes subordinates and the luggage Mr. Hughes has and speaks his mind.

"They're making you stay up North, aren't they?" he asks softly, Winry looks up abruptly at that. Now he knows the additional eyes and ears, aren't just ther to watch them. They have been given the duty of escorting and guarding them on their way back down the mountain and back to Resembool when Mr. Hughes stays behind. 

"Yeah." No one speaks for a moment before Al reaches out his hand, Mr. Hughes takes his hand.

"Look after my brother for me." Mr. Hughes smiles and shakes his hand.

"You can entrust your brother to me." he says, and Al knows he can trust Mr. Hughes to look after his brother, not just physically but emotionally as well.

"Mr. Hughes..." he looks up at Al with a clear warning in his eyes, Al knows he can't ask about what is happening.

"Brother doesn't blame the Colonel. I know that, it's just the way brother is. Can you tell the Colonel that?" Mr. Hughes smiles, a small twist of his lips that tells him he knows and understands.

"You two are sweet sometimes." he sighs tilting his head back so it rests on the headrest and closes his eyes. Al wonders why he looks so much like he wants to cry.

"Of course, Al. Though I'm not sure how much help it will be." He replies. "He'll never admit it, but he is really worried right now about him."
Al nods.

"I know. I could hear it in his voice, even though he was trying to hide it." He knows how much Colonel Mustang cares for his brother despite doing his best to hide it. And his brother is much the same, though a lot more volatile.

He knows brother's distrust of adult males stems from their father's abandonment, and yet, he knows brother tries to reciprocate the care and attention he receives from Colonel and Mr. Hughes. Tries in his own messed up way.

They are really messed up, huh.

Al is aware of the eyes on him at all times. It's unnerving even if he knows the eyes belong to friendly allies, he knows that people equate him to his brother and that is not attention that needs to be drawn right now. It's hard, really hard, but then again, when isn't it hard? The protection detail is to make sure brother isn't put in danger more than it is to protect himself and Winry.

When they arrive they part ways with Mr. Hughes and his team, they're immediately escorted to a hospital. That has to be good news right?

That meant they'd get to see Ed. They had to wait a few hours before he arrived but it would be worth it.

He's missed brother dearly, he just hopes he doesn't kill the mood when he tells him that Teacher is going to murder them.

"Mr. Elric, Ms. Rockbell if you would follow me please." Al and Winry jump to their feet to hurry after the middle aged doctor. He leads them down a series of corridors, sometimes doubling back before he finally leads them to a room with a military guard posted outside of it.

The man is plain clothes but he can see the outline of the gun holstered. He checks surreptitiously around the area and spots another, beyond that he checks where Lieutenant Hawkeye would post herself and spots a rifle.

"Hello. Ms. Rockbell, Mr. Elric." The man greets them before he knocks thrice on the door behind him followed by two short and long knocks and then twists the doorknob, opening the door behind him. Both of them freeze at the sight of Ed.

He's sleeping, hair in a loose halo around his shoulders. Al's heart hurts when he sees him.

The various cuts and bruises visible, the cast on his arm, fingers splinted and in a sling. He looks so tired, dark circles under his eyes but he's alive.

So very alive.

Chapter Text

Ed violently resists the urge to rip out the needles. Sure, he's down an arm to do so, but he could find a way.

He's fine, he's okay, this is medicine meant to fix damage. Think of Winry, think of Granny, don't think about automail surgery or being drugged. He just has to ride this out.

He's fine.

He's far from fine that it's not even a joke.

He stares at the ceiling, no tiles, then turns his head to the side ignoring the twinge from his neck and spots Dr. Young.

"What day is it?" he asks, how long has he been gone? Al must be so worried.

"It is Wednesday, May eighth, and you have been in our care for six days." Dr. Young replies as she moves closer but stops a foot away.

"How do you feel?" she asks as she raises her hand slowly, he watches her like a hawk as she sets her palm down on his forehead to gauge his temperature. He already knows he has a fever, she sighs and moves her hand to grab the rag by his bed side and wrings it out before setting it down on his forehead.

"I'm feeling peachy." he tells her, wondering why he's still having trouble distinguishing his allies from those people.

"You've been in and out of consciousness for a few days now because of your fever and refusal for pain medication." he can hear the disapproval and sympathy, it burns, he has every right to refuse and he doesn't need to be pitied. Ed bears his teeth at her, he won't be cowed into submission.

"Do you think you could stay awake long enough to eat something? It will help you recover your strength." Dr. Young asks, politely ignoring his challenge, he knows he's thrown up pretty much everything offered to him despite not really being aware and knows he really should eat something. He was fed so inconsistently and so very little, he's honestly surprised he hadn't lost more weight. Though he knows that's also one of the reasons he's been so lethargic upon waking.

"I can try." he murmurs, this is nothing. Al has it worse, he needs to suck it up and get better. Alphonse has had to wait long enough.

Dr. Young nods before making her way to the door that led outside of the infirmary. She looks up and down the hall with an irritated look.

"Kei's not here, and I can't leave you alone." she mutters something under her breath before she makes her way over to a small office and slips inside with the door wide open so he can watch her.

She makes a call on a walkie talkie. "Lieutenant Brody! Lieutenant Clarink! One of you report to the infirmary with food for Major Elric, something easy for him to eat like soup." she orders, there's an affirmation from a male voice before she puts the walkie talkie down and makes her way back over to Ed.

"Did you need me to eat the food first?" she asks him seriously, he shakes his head.

"Surprisingly, they didn't drug the food. Only the water." he tells her, she nods but the look in her eyes. Ed looks away, he stares at the wall for lack of anything to do.

He drums his fingers on his thigh, it hurts, and it's annoying but he bears the pain as he tries again to remember how he ended up here.

A knock startles him out of his thoughts, Dr. Young raises her hand slowly and waits for him to calm down before going to the door. Two men stand outside carrying food.

A tall blond haired man with friendly brown eyes stands beside a small brown haired brown eyed man wearing glasses. They seem friendly, he's on edge.

Dr. Young doesn't let them enter and instead turns to look at him over her shoulder.

"This is Lieutenant James Brody and Lieutenant Kris Clarink, they're part of the team that rescued you." she says, Ed doesn't say anything and instead continues to watch her. He can see some bruises on both their faces and wonders if the rescue mission was that dangerous. 

"Nice to meet you Major Elric, we're brought you some soup." the one on the right, Lt. Brody says holding up a tray with a bowl and cutlery.

"And one dinner for Dr. Young." the one on the left, Lt. Clarink says holding up a second plate with more food, she takes both trays and thanks the men before nudging the door shut with her foot. She sets one tray down on a bedside table while she grabs a table with wheels and sets the other tray down on that table. She stops a foot away from him, he watches her silently before nodding. She steps forward and helps him to sit up, he hisses in pain but he doesn't stop her, she fluffs some pillows behind his back before sliding the table over the bed so he can eat.

"Eat what you can, Major Elric." Ed grimaces, he hates formality.

"Can you just call me Ed or Edward?" He grabs his spoon, testing his grip a few times on it and was glad to see he could work his hand. Albeit awkwardly. "Don't like being called Major all the time." she watches him closely for a second as she sits down to eat with him.

"Sure thing, Edward." she says, tearing up bread and dipping it into her cup. Ed turns his own attention to his soup, his stomach churns. He breaths as deeply as he can, not his favorite kind of soup. Ed struggles to raise his hand up high enough to eat his soup. His side flares in pain, his fingers don't want to cooperate but he doesn't give up. He eats his soup and manages half before putting the spoon down. Is he nauseous because of eating, or nauseous because he hasn't eaten in a while.

"I'm full." he tells Dr. Young, she nods and slides Ed's food away from him before helping him recline. He swallows convulsively, eyelid twitching.

"Don't hold back if you're going to throw up." She says sternly but Ed shakes his head stubbornly. He refuses, he has not eaten in forever. Like hell he is going to throw up.

He passes the time listening to the ringing in his ears and riding wave of pain after wave. He hears Dr. Young clears her throat and cracks an eye open to peer at her. She already explained that he wouldn't be getting his automail back, he was far too combatant to not use it when he woke up in a panic.

"Would you at least consider taking some pills to help with the pain? They won't knock you out and you'll get some relief." she asks, she's not pushing but it irritates him. Ed really thinks about it for a moment, he's in a lot of pain, but he's tired. He's tired of the room spinning, the nausea, the time blindness and memory lapses. He's tired of the brain fog and attempts to manipulate him.

He gives her the silent treatment, she sighs in response.

"It will help bring your fever down as well. You really should think about taking some, but i'll drop it." the doctor gathers her dishes and his own without another word.

"Thanks." Ed murmurs. Somehow, he doesn't feel very grateful.

He's dozing off when something clatters to the ground, his hands free.

He swings without opening his eyes but hits air. He cracks open an eye to see Dr. Young on the floor with a cross look on her face and water on her glasses. He ignores the flare of pain coming from his side, he watches her, waiting for her reaction.

"I apologize Maj— Edward." she doesn't move until he lowers his arm. Every one of his senses are on high alert, he doesn't know how to stop feeling so tense when he knows he felt safe. It isn't like he would have let himself go with them if he didn't feel safe in the first place, and now, well, he doesn't trust them but he doesn't not trust them either. What a strange juxtaposition. 

"I'll be back, your fever is starting to climb again." Ed wheezes, chest tight hates the way his skin is crawling. He shifts, over and over again until the needles have been pulled out and shoves them off the bed.

Dr. Young pauses when she catches sight of the needles but says nothing and instead waits at least a foot away before she moves to place a bowl at his bedside table. She wrings out a cloth and holds it close to him.

"I'm going to wash your face and neck." She works gingerly around his stitches so she doesn't pull at them. "Looks like in another week or two we can remove your stitches." That's one injury taken care of, many more to go.

Ed grits his teeth against the pain when he moves the wrong way, he cracks an eye open to see Dr. Young looking worried. She wipes his cheek, he hopes the water near his eye isn't a tear but water from the rag.

"How about sleep medicine?" Ed shakes his head, she's ticking him off, he hears her sigh. "You certainly are a stubborn one, you've even stopped your antibiotics." Ed bears his teeth, a mockery of a grin as he kicks his foot a little trying to shake off the pain.

It hurt. All of it hurt so much. What did he do to deserve any of this? He was trying so hard to make up for his mistakes! Didn't that count for anything?

He can feel her stop, she hesitates and he hears her take a deep breath, a biting word in his mouth if she tries to persuade him into taking something else.

A sharp knock startles both of them. Another sharp knock before the door opens to reveal the woman general the major that he'd accidentally taken a crack at.

"Who?" he winces when his neck spasms, he chokes, a hand goes up to his back and instinct kicks in. He's driving his elbow into someone's nose, he hears the crack and scrambles on the bed trying to breathe but it's like his lungs refuse to work.

He's raised up, a hand sharply strikes his back and he hacks up a glob of phlegm.

"The mucus lining his lungs almost caused him to choke." a nasally voice says, Ed wheezes, leaning against the arm wrapped around his chest. He turns his head to the side to see a man in a lab coat with short spiked brown hair, black eyes, a goatee and a cigarette in his mouth. He yanks it out of his mouth and breaks it with his fingers on pure reflex.

"T's bad for you." he tells him, for a second an image of Havoc overlaps with with man before it vanishes. His vision gets fuzzy, sound fading as his limbs grow tingly.

"Wha's the general's name?" he is not going to forget this time, he swears.

"General Olivier Armstrong, rest Major Elric, I'll return." he hums, he can do that.

Olivier opens the door just to watch the Fullmetal alchemist choke and then break the nose of Dr. Young when she tried to help him out, Kei swiftly taking her place in seeing to the choking boy. A sharp clap on his back and he can breath again, Dr. Young fixes her nose, shoves some tissue up her nostrils and quickly makes her way over to check on Major Elric.

"The mucus lining his lungs almost caused him to choke." she says in a nasally voice, she instruct Kei to start a new round of antibiotics before picking up the clipboard at the end of his bed.

She doesn't even get to start on her report before Kei chokes as his cigarette is snatched out of his mouth and snapped between two splinted fingers.

"T's bad for you." he slurs, his eyes are glazed over, he seems barely cognizant of where he is. The kid's a mess, plain and simple.

He's knocked out at least four of her soldiers and injured twice that amount in his short time staying in her base. He's still in survival mode, something keeps setting him off. This needs further investigation, Lieutenant Hughes has a near spotless record, she could use that.

"He's too hyper vigilant but restraining him will make things worse." Miles mutters, she nods in agreement. They might have to restrain him though if he continues to prove a danger to them and his recovery.

"His fever hasn't dropped below 102 nor has it risen higher than 104 before dropping a little bit. He pulled off the iv containing antibiotics a few minutes ago, he's starting to get testy about the needles." she pauses to breath, the tissues in her nose need to be replaced.

"The stitches will take a week at the earliest to remove, if not then the week after. The various cuts and bruises around his body are healing, not helped by the fights and will only slow the recovery time." she shakes her head, Kei props the injured teenager up and puts away the supplies he used to start a new iv.

"The stab wounds to his shoulder, hand, stomach and thigh are being watched in case of infection but so far they are healing nicely." Kei exits the room trying not to draw attention, Olivier simply quirks a brow, Miles nods and breaks away to talk to the man.

"He repeatedly stresses his fingers and arm, and I get it, I do, he only has one useable limb." she looks frustrated. "But I had to rebreak some of his bones because they healed wrong and if he keeps this up, I might have to do it again." she sets down the clipboard to meet Olivier's eyes.

"He still rejects the idea of any pain or sleep medication." Olivier glances at Dr. Young from the corner of her eye. She understands the doctor's frustration but given the history she thought the doctor would be a little smarter. This is a point of contention between her and Major Elric, possibly a contributing factor to him continuing to feel unsafe if his wishes are not being respected.

"He spent weeks being drugged and tortured." Dr. Young stiffens. "I assume you'd understand his reluctance to be without control of his body or mind due to their constant abuse." Dr. Young bows her head at the reprimand.

"You're right sir, I apologize." Olivier turns to the unconscious boy that was the source of everything starting with Drachma. They need answers and soon, with the Lt Colonel calling everyday for updates she believes it only fair that he come up to Fort Briggs to investigate.

"It's not me you need to apologize to, Major Elric was entrusted to your care and you have made him feel unsafe after I promised protection." Dr. Young flinches but doesn't protest.

"Have Kei notify me when he wakes up, the sooner we get answers the sooner we can start planning." With tensions running high right now, it would take something little to push them into war. 

She's in her office when a call comes from Lt. Colonel Hughes asking for another report on Major Elric's status, and were it not for the fact that he was head of Investigations, she would have hung up on him. But she knows he's calling not just to hear how he is doing but to learn more of the situation, to see if Major Elric has told his side of the story. It's the only reason she puts up with the calls.

"No new updates, he's not settling in." she informs him curtly, the man hums thoughtfully but doesn't waste her time prattling on about his wife and daughter as she's heard he's often done.

"He has some phobias regarding needles and infirmaries after his automail surgery and tries to escape so keep an eye out for that." he responds, they lapse into a thoughtful silence before he clears his throat.

"I have the feeling that his mechanic may be crafting new automail for him, since your report listed his previous set as broken." Olivier knows that Kei is of the mind that it isn't worth it to give Major Elric his repaired automail due to it not being northern automail, while Dr. Young has expressed concern about his ability to fight even down two limbs.

"He's a risk enough as is, I will not be allowing anyone to enter my territory." she tells him sharply, he doesn't try to convince her to give Major Elric some leeway, doesn't nitpick at her decision but respects it. He's part of a rare good few soldiers.

A knock on her door draws her out of her reverie, she sets aside the reports of minor insurgents popping up near the Drachaman border.

"Enter." she watches Kei poke his head in and rises to her feet.

"Major Miles is also on his way." he tells her as they begin the walk to the infirmary.

His hair is pulled roughly, he jerks awake to find mooks number 3 and 4 grinning at him.

"Oh goody, it's you bozos." he groans and rolls his head, his neck pops but it does little to alleviate any soreness.

"You up for answering some questions Fullmetal?" Ed sighs and wonders what trick to play this time. So many to pick from, all the time in the world. He's broken out of his thoughts by pressure on his broken pinky. A lovely souvenir after he was caught scratching a transmutation circle in his blood a couple hours ago?

"Can we just go out for some drinks?" he offers instead after smelling the alcohol from bozo 3's breath, the man backhands him for his question.

"We ask the questions here, not you." Ed waits for the two of them to make a mistake again, sure it takes a few punches to his stomach and another backhand to the face but he gets his chance to slip free. He crawls out of the room, it takes some maneuvering but he manages to doorknob and begins his long trek to freedom.

A boot smashes down on his unprotected back, he's kicked harshly multiple times before one last kick send him rolling into a wall. He stares at the black boot walking up to him and wonders why it looks like the boots of an Amestrian soldier before he passes out.

Ed jolts awake, he's coughing violently trying to catch his breath, arms lift him up but he's too weak to even lift a finger against them. A hand starts rubbing circles on his back, ringing in his ears as a voice coaxing him into slowing his breathing. Ed isn't even aware of how much he's shaking until he reaches up to grab the arm across his chest. He doesn't try to throw them off or fight, he just holds onto the arm to ground himself.

His stomach churns, he gets violently dizzy and begins to gag. The arm jerks around his chest before something is shoved into his face just as he empties the contents of his stomach. The hand on his back starts rubbing circles again and the ringing in his ears tapers off.

"That's it, slow deep breaths Edward." she continues counting his breaths and just when he thinks he's alright, his stomach burbles unpleasantly.

"If you need to throw up then throw up, don't hold it in." she advises, he nods and finds the trashbin back in his lap as he throws up a second time. He heaves, chest tightening, ribs throbbing and chokes back a sob.

He's so tired right now. 

"I'll be back, just rest your eyes." Dr. Young makes sure that he's sitting up and not in danger of falling before swiftly exiting the room with the trashbin held arms length away from her.

He hears a sharp knock, followed by another knock before the door abruptly opens to reveal that Major, the man he thought was Havoc and the woman general. General Armstrong?

"Major Elric, where is Dr. Young?" Ed tilts his head back to the back.

"Cleaning up." he mutters exhausted. "Something wrong?" he asks as he eyes the general's entourage trying to recall if either man gave him their names. Nothing comes to mind, his memories of the past however long it has been are more than a little fuzzy.

"I have received word that your mechanic is working on crafting new automail for you, more than likely started on it when word got out that you were up here. She's a smart one." That's really sweet of Winry, but if she did that, he might have to see her to get them attached and that meant seeing Al as well. He really wanted to see them, but not like this. He isn't ready to face them in such a weak and scared state.

He didn't get to act scared, Ed has a reputation to keep up, he can't afford to be looked down on by anyone in the military. If he saw his brother and Winry, he would break. He was already weak once in front of them, he can't be weak again. Winry's strong, stronger than he is, but he knows if he breaks then she'll break, and Al will break. A cascade bringing the three of them down and he can't do that.

"When your commanding officer wisens up to that, I expect him to call, the fool." she mutters the last part, Ed finds himself smirking. She really doesn't like him does she? Wonder what he did that angers her so, and just who she was speaking with in regards to updates on his health. Possibly Hughes.

"Fullmetal! Are you listening to me?" General Armstrong growls, he jumps, snapping out of his thoughts. She's certainly a tough one, but then again, any woman in the military needs to be tough especially those with a higher rank.

"Uh...ye-" She glares and he learns very quickly not to lie to her. "No sir." she sighs and with a jerk of her head, everyone leaves the room. Somehow he finds that a little comforting even if it's not much.

"You've been having nightmares." she states, he flinches at the nonsequitur. She moves from standing to sitting a few feet away from him.

"You have not cried," he shakes his head, he picks at the sheets and thinks that being vulnerable with someone new is always harder but being without Al makes it harder. Ed has always been the more untrusting of the two of them, it was mostly though Al's effort that he trusts Mustang and his team as much as he does.

"I can't. Not right now..." he looks down at his knees, and not just because his brother can't cry. Ed isn't ready.

"You fought back despite the drugs running through your veins. You didn't tell them anything, you are anything but weak." Ed stares at her in stunned silence, very few people acknowledge him as strong. He smiles at her, the first genuine smile.

"I've discussed Dr. Young's conduct with you, she will no longer try to offer you drugs of any kind unless it is those you approve of or are medically necessary such as the antibiotics." she says gesturing at his arm but he looks up to avoid having to acknowledge the needle. Feeling it disgusts him enough.

"Is there anything you can tell me about your abductors?" Ed doesn't mind the questioning, he knows that with him being an alchemist abducted and found in another country would raise tensions. Him moreso than any other alchemist unless it was someone from the Ishvalan war. Hughes made sure to drill that into his head.

"Can't tell you about anyone in charge, I only remember mooks one through ten. Two of them being women who liked to stab." he gestures at his thigh. She nods thoughtfully.

"They weren't very bright, I almost escaped multiple times." he confesses bitterly. Always captured last minute by those bozos, hang on, he stares down at General Armstrong's boots. Something about seems familiar, and not just because he's been around soldiers for awhile.

"Major Elric?" Ed shakes his head, he raises his hand and rubs his forehead. 

"Call me Ed, or Edward, don't..." Why does seeing those boots and hearing her call him that make him shake? "Don't call me that." his voice cracks, he's dizzy.

"Oh so close Major Elric, but no dice. Better luck next time." a voice says mockingly.

He stares at the boots in front of his face, watches it pull back before he blacks out on impact.

"Elric, breathe." a snap catches his attention, he leans back and stares at the ceiling.

"No tiles." he murmurs. He touches the bed and wiggles his fingers. "Not there, not there but here." he sighs softly.

"I'll leave you to rest, we can discuss this another time." General Armstrong says as she rises to her feet before sharply knocking on the door. She whispers something to Dr. Young before taking her leave.

"Did I miss something?" She asks him, he shakes his head.

"No..." But he might have.

"I'm going to take your temperature." she tells him, he opens his eyes and watches her, his temperature is slightly higher. She frowns but doesn't tell him anything about medication.

"I'm going to put some ice packs on you and if your fever doesn't get any lower we might need to start you on a stronger antibiotic." he coughs, turning his head away from her for a moment before turning back to her to nod. He can't catch his breath, his chest feels heavy. "I really don't like the sound of that cough." she remarks as she gestures for the bearded man to look after him.

"Who're you?" Ed asks him, the man fiddles with a cigarette that he puts away when he catches Ed staring.

"Kei Neil, mostly everyone calls me Kei and I'm the engineer here at Fort Briggs." The ringing is back, he blinks a few times noticing the greying around the edges.

"This sucks." he complains before his vision turns black and his head hits the pillow.

Kei frowns when Major Elric starts blinking slowly at him, eyes glazed over with a hint of confusion.

"This sucks." he complains before his head tilts back and then he passes out. Kei rises to his feet and loudly makes his way over to him, he doesn't react. Kei scuffs his shoe, not even a twitch. He warily reaches forward but doesn't end up knocked on his ass. He checks his temperature and hisses when he sees it one degree higher. He rushes off to their medicine fridge and grabs some more saline, he rushes back and quickly sets it up. He starts a new iv line to help cool him down. Dr. Young arrives with some ice packs, she nods in approval when she sees the cold saline.

"It's going to be a long night." Kei waves her to a cot.

"I'll take the first watch, you've been looking after the kid for a few days nearly nonstop." she nods gratefully and slips into the closest cot. 

Kei watches the kid have several nightmares throughout the night. He only wakes twice, once swinging at Kei who merely uses a pillow as a shield which confuses the kid into literally going back to sleep. 

He doesn't wake Dr. Young for her shift, the poor woman was beyond exhausted. He's a more than capable replacement medic when it comes down to it. He mainly preferred being an engineer, working on automail to help soldiers and get away from having to be an actual doctor like his parents wanted. Turns out he still ends up a medic all these years later.

"Easy kid, easy." Kei rubs the kids back as he coughs and coughs. He only tried hitting Kei twice before giving up and focusing on trying to breathe. His face rapidly pales and Kei dives for the trashbin and shoves it onto the boy's lap where he gags for a little bit before nothing but bile comes up. He winces, the kid sounds miserable.

"You're okay." he tells him rubbing his back, waiting to make sure he won't throw up again and decides to have the cooks makes something very palatable and digestible for him. They should be up soon to start warming the kitchens.

"What 'ma sick with?" he asks hoarsely, Kei winces.

"A couple of things actually. Your..." he hesitates for a moment. "Living conditions were pretty awful." scratch that, it's a miracle he held out as long as he did. His lungs were going to be scarred for life. He glares weakly at him before rolling his eyes.

"Got to sleep gremlin." he snickers but complies which is something.

"You didn't wake me." Dr. Young states, he yawns and stretches, popping his back as he climbs to his feet from the stool he'd been hunched over.

"Nope! Be back, going to bother the cooks." he waves at her cheerily, he knows how much it annoys her that he's a morning person while she is not. 

After bothering the cooks, he runs into Brody, Clarink and Cyril. He quickly cajoles them into playing a game in the infirmary, he hopes that maybe he can show the kid he doesn't need to be so afraid. That and all three of them had been either knocked out or punched by the kid the first three days. It might do them all some good to see each other.

"Oh yeah, don't call him by his rank or Fullmetal. Call him Ed or Edward." he tells them as he knocks once, then twice, then to have fun knocks three times before twisting the door open and poking his head in. Ed and Dr. Young stare at him with equally deadpan expressions.

"What?" he asks innocently, neither one buy his innocence.

"I brought food and entertainment!" he announces stepping into the room, he notes the way Ed's eyes narrow on everyone's boots before feigning ignorance as he looks away from them. He makes note to report that to Major Miles.

"Lt. James Brody, Lt. Kris Clarink, you've met before. But someone you haven't met, is second Lieutenant Hamish Cyril." He wonders if Ed will comment on Cyril's hair like everyone else when they first meet the man. Ed tilts his head in acknowledgement but otherwise stays silent. Dr. Young sets down her clipboard and grabs the table with wheels and sets it over Ed's bed. Kei passes her the food, everyone else settles down away from Ed, to eat their own meals.

"Remember, just eat what you can Edward." he nods. They surreptitiously watch Ed struggle to raise his hand and eat his meal but he never once gives up and manages half before putting the spoon down.

"I'm full." Dr. Young nods removing the table from the bed and lets it sit to the side, Kei watches him swallow a couple times and frowns. He really isn't keeping anything down right now, is he. 

"Where's this entertainment you promised." Ed asks once everyone's finished eating. He fidgets trying to fix his hear before giving up. Kei catches Dr. Young's eyes and nods when she quirks a brow at him.

"Poker!" he pulls out a deck of cards.

Ed stares blankly at Brody, Brody grins at Clarink, Clarink looks terrified. Poor fool.

"Winner take all?" Ed asks looking at his cards, he's very noticeably twitch as Dr. Young braids his hair after cleaning it but that's the only reason he's so twitchy. Three rounds have proven that very thoroughly.

Brody nods laying down his cards, Clarink reluctantly does as well. Ed smirks at them, Kei is really starting to think his spontaneous nickname is entirely to accurate. Damn Gremlin.

"I won." he tells them, looking at his cards, a royal flush, Brody growls but pays up even as Ed laughs. It's the first time he's seen him smile let alone laugh, though it turns out to be a mistake as he clutches his ribs with a grimace and coughs for a few minutes.

"Geeze. Breathe Gremlin, Dr. Young will kill us if you don't take it easy." Ed hugs his torso as Dr. Young takes a step back from him now that his braid is done.

"You must have a really high tolerance for pain." Ed grunts but doesn't say anything, too busy trying to get his breathing under control. 

"Well, there isn't anything to do but let you rest." Dr. Young sighs and mutters under her breath about stubborn brats. He pouts, honestly pouts.

Fever definitely fried his brain...

Or the power of poker.

The kid collects his winnings and stuffs it under his pillow like some reverse toothfairy. It boggles him for a moment, he can see literally everyone stopping to stare.

"What? I don't have anywhere else to put it." he says offended, Kei just walks off.

Six days pass and it looks like he's on the mend from the infection in his lungs but still has bronchitis with a high chance of pneumonia developing. His fever dropped to a 100 only spiking to 102 in the early morning. He's not completely delirious which makes it easier to take care of him.

He hasn't tried to hit him or Dr. Young in over two days, but still gets stiff when he spots a soldier before relaxing, he doesn't seem entirely too aware of that. Major Miles has spoken with the general about this already and the information was passed over to Lt. Colonel Hughes from the investigation division.

He's on his way to the infirmary with some soup for Ed now that he's been able to keep some food down when he catches General Armstrong marching down the hall ahead of him. He hurries forward and knocks for her. Knocking three times in rapid succession before following it up with two short knocks and then opens the door. Ed shoots him a blank look, tensing as his eyes shoot down to the general's shoes before he scans her face and then relaxes. He closes the door behind them.

"While I commend you mechanic for her speedy craftsmanship, we can't have civilians at Fort Briggs. It's far too dangerous at the moment to have unarmed civilians wandering around our fort with the possibility of war on the horizon." Ed doesn't try to persuade her, he's pretty respectful for a brat with a reputation for not listening to his commanding officer. The punk of the East, or so he's heard, the more common is the Hero of the People.

"There are two options now that you've begun to recover and have stopped fighting every time you wake up." his face flushes a little, he shouldn't be ashamed of his reactions. He's seen soldiers lose their marbles completely after what this kid went through. That being said, how long has it been? almost 12 days and this kid's mechanic has crafted two automail limbs, and not just that, northern automail? How good was his mechanic? And can he find some way to meet them?

"Option one, you can go to the nearest city and go to a hospital to meet her there to get them attached with a battalion escort of course." his mechanic was a woman? How long has she been working and where is she from? Could she be from the fabled Rush city?

"Option two, is one I would prefer, however I recognize that you have need to see your remaining family and will not be able to do such if the automail is brought to Fort Briggs for Kei to attach. I won't promise you the first option, it all comes down to Dr. Young's clearance as she has the best picture of your current health and how the journey will affect you. Do you understand?" Ed nods, he smiles gratefully at her.

"I do, thank you for this opportunity sir." he's completely sincere about his gratitude too. Kei wonders if he can wheedle his way into the battalion escort. Probably not, given that General Armstrong would never do something like this with the tensions this high. She's getting something out of this.

He wonders what angle she's trying to play.

"Rest up and pray that Dr. Young will give you the green light." she swiftly exits the room and Kei sets Ed's less than hot soup down on the table and slides it over his lap. Hopefully he gets to see his family, of which apparently one is a mechanic? He will definitely be getting answers.

Chapter Text

"My mechanic made me northern automail. But since she can't come up here I was wondering if I could go down there?" Dr. Young looks at Ed and then glances down at her notes.

"Give it two days, we'll see if the fever finally breaks.  You'll be to vulnerable to any diseases at the hospital, though I'll go ahead and give them a courtesy call to see if there's been any recent outbreaks just be to double sure you won't be at risk on the off chance you can go." she scratches something down before raising her head to look at him. He suppresses a wince at the faint bruising on her face.

"Some of your wounds are still at risk of getting infected, if your fever is gone by then I'll let you go. If not then Kei will handle your automail." Ed nods in agreement before deciding with nothing better to do, he should rest while he can. 

Ed gets used to all manner of soldiers coming into the infirmary, he can almost recognize them by their knocking pattern if it wasn't the standard one two knock.

A tall man with long braided black hair enters the infirmary with a grin when he spots Ed watching him.

"Still alive and kicking, I see." he sounds like he's almost teasing Ed.

"You can't get rid of me that easily." he smirks, and people have certainly tried.

"You certainly are a stubborn one." Dr. Young remarks from her desk, Ed gets that a lot. So many people call him stubborn, though the only ones that do so with that tone of voice are Granny and Mustang.

"That's what Colonel says all the time. I think it annoys him." he comments as he watches Kei practically pop out of his room.

"In some cases, it probably did annoy him, in this case, your stubbornness probably gave him much needed relief." he says with a wink, Ed wonders how they slipped into such camaraderie when he barely even knew the guy. Then he spots the cigarette hanging out of his mouth, it's quickly pocketed and he recalls how he confused the man with Havoc and thinks to himself, that's why. 

"Who're you?" Ed asks after studying the other man, he also has automail but his is different. He doesn't recall him either, so maybe this isn't one of the faces he forgot?

"Captain Buccaneer, Major Elric, Elric?" he corrects, Ed wonders what type of expression he made to have him backtrack so quickly. Also he noticed Kei pinch him.

"Going to take some getting used to?" he asks, the man laughs.

"We're soldiers, calling people by rank is what we do. I guess they're more lax in the east." he wouldn't say that, plenty of people called him by his rank or by Fullmetal with a rare few calling him simply by his last name. Mustang's team called him by his name or chief, only Mustang called him Fullmetal.

"What seems to be the problem with your arm?" Ed blinks before turning back to face the other two.

"Something feels off with my arm." Kei frowns as he grabs the arm and starts walking him to the next room.

"What type of automail is that?" he coughs a little, his throat starting to feel dry.

"It's combat automail." Buccaneer grins holding up his arm, Ed can see Winry falling in love with that.

"Winry would love that and beat its secrets out of you." the poleaxed looks on both their faces has him laughing, he breaks out into a coughing fit and has to be lifted into a better position after it ends.

"Who?" Kei asks once he's finished drinking the water Dr. Young provides.

"My automail mechanic, she is a giant automail freak." Ed explains. Kei has stars in his eyes. If he wasn't so used to seeing Winry like that, he shakes his head.

"So she is the one who made your arm and leg." Kei said impressed. "They are well done." he compliments.

"Thanks." He'll tell her she impressed the engineer in Fort Briggs, then maybe tell Al to run for the hills with her. They'd definitely try to poach her. And with everything he's glimpsed at in Kei's room, he'd have a high chance of winning her over.

Like hell he'd let the military poach his mechanic. 

Maes worked tirelessly, day and night for weeks on end trying to find Ed. Some nights he didn't come home until early in the morning.

Some nights he didn't even sleep as he tried to find answers and only Gracia dragging him to bed, or dropping Elysia on him could get him to sleep. It was eating away at him, not being able to find answers.

Not being able to discern whether Edward Elric had been killed when there wasn't a single sign of a ransom or Edward's escape artistry being used. There were no clues aside from signs of a fight, a group no more than ten but nothing to say who and when.

Ed's inconsistent reporting was used against them. There's no telling the actual date he vanished. And Ed missing his train, while rare did happen if he was waylaid by someone in need of help.

The pressure was getting to Roy, doing all he could to search up leads for him to look into. 

Maes has already sent an undercover search team into Aerugo, even contemplated checking Creta but Al was on his own search. Supplementing their Intel with his own and he's a little jealous of the Elric brother's information network. They were fast, they were efficient and entirely invisible to the everyday population. They were smart using the homeless population, the bars and escorts. Though how either brother came up with this network is a mystery to him.

He has to admire them though, who would look twice at those people deemed below their notice.

When word reaches him about Fort Briggs and Edward's rescue he goes home to his wife and cries. He isn't ashamed by the tears, nor is he ashamed about leaning on his wife.

"He's not okay, no one is." he confesses quietly into the night, Gracia simply tightens her hold on him and hums as she runs her fingers through his hair.

"But he has us. He has everyone on your team, on Roy's team and his family." he nods, she's right of course.

"I'm eighty percent sure that I'll be sent up North by General Armstrong." she pauses, cups his head and presses a kiss to his head.

"Then you look after that boy and make him feel safe and loved when you are." How did he get so lucky?

"Elric's commanding officer let me know his mechanic has completed northern automail, you are to escort her and his brother, make sure they are protected and report to Fort Briggs when you arrive." Maes has hoped he was wrong about that, but with no new information from the building Ed had been found in, no one caught returning and Ed not talking about anything. Well, Maes was already someone that Ed trusted and could be use that to get information.

"I understand General." he tells her before hanging up. He stares down at his desk, at the photo of his wife and daughter, of Ed and Al with his daughter and sighs.

"HOWEVER WILL I COPE WITHOUT MY BELOVED WIFE AND DAUGHTER!!!" he wails, pounding his fist into his desk.

"How are you coping, Roy?" Maes can hear Roy hiss under his breath, he hasn't been very receptive to Maes' needling but puts up with it to hear how Ed is doing. Maes wonders if all the calls he was being allowed to make to General Armstrong are her concessions to get information in return. 

"I'm fine." he worries about him, about how he's taking things. "Tell me how Fullmetal's doing." he demands before Maes can ask anything more.

"He's getting better, General Armstrong really doesn't like you, you know." he tells him, telling him that he knows Roy called her in regards to Ed's new automail. He splutters something incoherent, he laughs at him for getting so flustered.

"I'm going to be going up North." he tells him, he wonders if General Armstrong told Roy or is Maes telling him the first time that he'll be hearing about this.

"What." he sighs, a soft thunk lets him know his head is on his desk.

"You already know about the tension running high, do you really think she'd allow civilians into her domain with such a close connection to Ed go unescorted?" he can hear some rustling and knows Roy is shaking his head.

"There's a chance he might not even get to see his brother or mechanic." Roy exhales sharply, the general really did not like him. She literally gave him the bare minimum.

"Do we have an estimate on his recovery?" Maes looks over his notes.

Time line:

Disappearance? 2nd wk of mar

Duration missing: 2wks in mar? month of april 

Rescued: may 3rd

First three days spent in and out of consciousness in fort briggs

(occasionally fights the doctor and soldiers while delirious, completely unaware of anything. memory problem?)

day 4- requested pain medication be stopped (spent 6wks being drugged and tortured)

day 6- still fights the soldiers and doesn't know anyone's name aside from Dr. Young

starting to eat some food but can't seem to hold anything down

tense around soldiers for some reason? not usual distrust of Ed, no testing boundaries

no hospital escape attempts made yet

day 10-  Ed's mechanic finishes Ed's automail, Roy informs General

informed i will be reporting in to Fort Briggs on top of escort mission

He flips to the next page, the list of injuries is extensive.

"From the list of his injuries, it's going to be a long road to recovery." he knows Roy is looking at the very same list, it was the first thing Maes had sent over when he had confirmation of everything. "But at least his fever is starting to go down and the infection in his lungs seems to be gone." He sighs as he looks at a few things he underlined.

"He's still pretty malnourished but at least he's somewhat able to keep food down now." he offers up, a silver lining.

"I see, thanks." Roy mumbles something that he can't make out.

"We're just taking things one day at a time, buck up, you know Ed will be alright." it'll take some time but he'll be alright. 

"I'll keep you updated from Briggs." he tells Roy, the other man doesn't reply and hangs up. "Wish me luck." he mutters before hanging up the phone. He cradles his head in his hands. 

"What am I going to do with you Roy?" the man didn't know how to let go of guilt. He was drowning in it. 

Hopefully when he sees Ed again, he can wrangle the kid into beating some verbal sense into Roy. Nothing like asking Ed to get under Roy's skin, but something similar enough that he gets out of the rut he's stuck in.

He stretches his arm out, fingertip tracing the family photo he'd wrangled the Elric brothers into, along with Roy and Riza.

Things were going to change...

Ed likes Cyril, the man reminds him of a mixture of Havoc, and Breda. His short spiky hair also reminds him of Ralph for some reason, the same part to the side of his face but he isn't a prick like Ralph. Damn guy should really grow up and stop picking fights when Ed returns to Resembool.

He also has a pretty bad poker face.

Fort Briggs is different. He apparently had some freebies from being sick a few days but now that he's coherent. They literally charge for everything, if it wasn't for daily poker tournaments that were also being used to introduce him to the soldiers and other workers stationed here, well, he wonders what they'd do. Through him in jail?

Nah. Not unless he ended up in massive debt maybe.

Dr. Young always stops a foot away from him after getting his attention and then stays there until he fully acknowledges her. He wonders if it has to the with the bruises on her face that are now a sickly yellow green.

Has he apologized for that yet?

"It seems that your condition is improving, the last of the infection clearing out and you aren't coughing as often." he nods at her assesment. He feels more clear headed despite everything hurting, and the dizziness combined with the ringing in his ears. But that was to be expected.

"I'm clearing you to leave tonight, we want to mask the time you're leaving. Your armed escorts should be finished prepping and will be here shortly." Ed blinks in surprise. He thought the tensions might be high, but armed escorts?

"Things are pretty bad, you'll be returning here immediately after you've received your automail." Ed's heart sinks. He didn't actually think he'd return to the East or to Central, but he'd kind of hoped.

"What's wrong? Don't like Fort Briggs?" she asks, though her lips twitch and he realizes that she's joking with him. She's really trying to lighten the mood huh.

"Well," Ed drawls. "I've only seen the infirmary." he pointedly looks around, he doesn't see any tiles, then makes a show of waving at the blank wall by his bedside.

"With tensions high with Drachma, it is safer for you to return to Briggs rather than risk anything happening on the way to either Central or Eastern command. Especially since you are missing half of your limbs and you aren't completely healed." Ed nods, he can understand that. He wishes things were different but if this is how things are now. She must see something in his expression because she takes a seat close to him while still being out of arms reach. He really did a number on her huh. Damn, he's gotta do the big apology, those are so annoying. It means he messed up bad.

"We could send you to another HQ in another part of the country to keep you far away from Drachma, but they don't have the same defenses that we do which is why you are completely safe here. We're not going to let you get captured and tortured again." That's reassuring, even if something in him still feels as if this is a trap. That voice gets quieter and quieter.

These guys were such great loyal comrades.

So maybe the poker tournaments were also to get him used to be in such close quarters with a handful of soldiers that honestly would have had him panicking a week ago.

The pain medicine he took also has him feeling more than a little twitchty, but given the journey they have to make down the mountain, he knows when to fold. Ed bites his lip and curls into his coat when the car swerves suddenly, he made the right call even as his senses try to stay alert while dealing with the fuzziness clinging to his thoughts.

"Sorry Sir." Ed keeps silent, he's so close to seeing Al and Winry. He coughs a little and wishes the cough would finally go away, it's been annoying him for weeks. say anything trying to fight through the pain medicine clouding his mind. An arm tenatively pulls him closer, Buccaneer hugs him to his side to keep him from sliding around. Ed doesn't really notice at first, to busy with the pain and drugs clouding everything but the dull ache everyone.

When he does notice, he hugs himself and tries to minimize how much contact they have despite there being little to no wiggle room thanks the captain's bear hug keeping him safe when the car swerves again.

"Clarink, try to go more steady." Buccaneer orders gruffly, Clarink catches his eyes in the mirror and nods apologetically.

They arrive to the hospital, barely.

Ed's barely even conscious at this point, and has already stabbed someone for sneaking up on him but the item used to stab was his only splinted fingers which hurt a lot. But the soldiers got the idea and didn't sneak up on him again. The scarf Dr. Young let him borrow to hide his hair is removed and he's wheeled to a room, everyone else disperses and he's taught the knock to expect when his brother and Winry arrive, its the same one that Kei uses.

One of the doctors looks him over, Cyril watches the man like a hawk.

"Well nothing looks out of place, just to be sure I'm going to put your arm in a restrictive sling. When you get back to Fort Briggs, Dr. Young can remove it." Ed nods breathing harshly in pain.

"I assume you are not going to want pain medication?" Ed shakes his head, the doctor raises his hand, Cyril quickly cuts in.

"He's a little jumbled up right now, but he doesn't want any pain medication." Ed knew he liked this guy.

"Go ahead and rest kid, we don't have a time restriction."

Between one blink and the next he's out.

Ed has gotten used to sensing when people are close to him and swinging first, no questions. He's curbed it a little but that doesn't mean he's stopped being aware.

But the hand on his shoulder, near his automail port, it can only be one person.

"Mmm, Al?" he groggily opens his eyes, the soul fire red eyes are the first thing he sees, it makes him smile.

Al can't smile, but the way his posture softens tells him everything.

"Ed." he turns his head and spots Winry carrying a case, she smiles, eyes watering.

"How are you brother? Are you in any pain?" Al asks worried, Ed shakes his head not wanting to worry them. He knows that he looks pretty bad, he caught a glimpse in the rear view mirror.

"Don't worry." Ed mumbles, he's still so tired. "It's nothing I can't handle and each day gets better." the two tag team him with looks and he pouts. 

"Unfair to tag team me." but they don't shift. "The trip down the mountain was rough but the doctor gave me the green light to come." They seem placated by his words and crowd closer to hug him. Both gentle, he appreciates it and basks in their warmth for a moment.

"I'm going to get the automail ready to attach it, then we can talk, okay?" Winry says as she pulls away, he sighs, now for the worst part of their visit, though the talk that follows will be just as hard.

"Okay. I'll have to do them one at a time. And check to make sure they work and then you can leave." Ed gets to see the new automail he'd crafted, it looks great as always. She must have worked on it tirelessly. Ed glances over at Al and tilts his head in her direction, he shrugs helplessly cupping his hands together and holding them to his chest. Ed nods before glancing back at Winry to see that she'd caught their exchange, she doesn't say anything though and instead holds up his arm. Both Al and Winry change sides so that she can be ready to insert his automail.

"They hurt you pretty badly didn't they?" he worries, Ed didn't want to worry Al and yet here he is worrying him.

"Wimps like those bozos can't hurt me Al, you're wounding my pride here." Ed complains, Al ruefully shakes his head and Ed makes to complain some more when he jolts after having his automail inserted, nerves lighting up but this pain is something he knows will fade after a few minutes.

"This is why a lot of people call you a demon." Al mutters when Winry shoots him a thankful look for his distraction. She moves to his leg, Ed quickly turns to face him and trying and failing to reach out to him. He wonders just when he became so clingy. Al gently rests his hand on Ed's shoulder after catching the failed movement.

"So, what have you been up to all this time?" He wants to do damage control, he and Al don't use their information network so extensively and doing so might use up a lot of favors but it's fine. He just has to generate more good will. 

"I did some research, trained a little, and learned about medical alchemy." he says, Ed can feel himself sweating as he catches Winry moving from the corner of his eyes. "Almost got murdered by teacher." Ed frowns when Al switches to archaic latin. He quickly tests out his limb for her, wiggling each individual finger, rotating and twisting his fingers, wrist, arm then shoulder.

"Aww, is my baby brother going to be a doctor when he grows up?" he teases, he doesn't even have the chance to panic about teacher when his leg is inserted, he grits his teeth falling back into his pillow with a grunt.

He cracks an eye open when Al starts fanning his face, he wonders how he didn't notice Cyril in the room. His vision is pretty blurry and the ringing in his ear is back.

"Maybe one day." Al mutters softly, petting his hair and he frowns. Al gently gathers his hair and starts braiding it, he's really scared if he's braiding Ed's hair without being asked.

"You said Teacher's gonna murder us?" Al nods sadly, deflating and he withholds a whimper.

"We had a good run, yeah?" he tells him, smiling despite the terror coursing through his veins. He's going to be standing on his own two feet when he faces teacher, hopefully their murder isn't long and drawn out but swift and without a shred of mercy because she will not hesitate.

Winry lets him rest for another minute, letting Al fill the silence with some stories of his travels.

"I didn't use up any favors brother, everyone just wanted you back home." Ed knows he's an untrusting bastard, cruel to the point of kindness because he couldn't afford to be blatantly kind like his brother without being stepped on. But he wonders when he became so jaded that he stopped believing in people.

Be thou for the people. One is all and All is one.

"You know I brought your travel log?" Winry comments casually, Ed looks at her in surprise. He'd actually forgotten about that, maybe he left something in there about what went down before he got captured.

"Can I have it? I think that might help..." Ed trails off looking thoughtfully at the ceiling. There's tiles, he starts to count the rows before he's even aware of it.

"Something bothering you, brother?" Al asks him breaking the trance he was in by slipping the travel log into Ed's sling. Ed shakes his head, focuses on Al and avoids looking up at the ceiling again. He's pretty sure he wrote down what happened the day before he vanished. He didn't remember being taken but he did have a few flashes of scenery. So he could possibly be able to track where he was, or rather the mode of transportation.

Ed blinks, having gotten lost in thought again and catches Al hovering with his hands fluttering nervously. He reaches out with his automail hand and catches Al's hands, he offers him a reassuring smile.

"One more adjustment and then you can get up." Ed nods, waiting for her to finish fiddling with his leg.

"I'm gonna need help. I can't exactly walk right now..." He says patting his thigh, Winry freezes expression frighteningly blank. He hates coming home injured, he doesn't like seeing Winry look so upset.

"Al can help." She murmurs reaching out and touching his thigh gently with trembling fingers. Ed feels guilt squeeze his heart, he can see Al shrink and knows that they are hurting so much more than he is.

"It's just a scratch! I just don't want to pull the stitches. It'll be a bother to get them redone." Ed laughs waving his hand but neither Al nor Winry believe him. Neither really do when it comes to him needing stitches or shots. Him getting his yearly vaccinations are definetly something to witness and has become a city wide spectacle whenever it comes around. He can see their points. Ed is a terrible liar and severely phobic.

"Okay." she climbs to her feet and takes a step back "Walk around a bit." Ed scoots to the edge of the bed and leans into Al before limping around the bed. He stretches his leg out above him, the movement pulls at alot of sore and aching muscles, before tapping the floor with his toes. He bends his knee despite the discomfort he feels from his other leg and swings it back and forth. He nods at Winry. 

"It's fine. Thanks Win." Winry hugs him, Al shifts from bearing his weight to encompassing him in a full hug. He rattles a little, a soft choked off sob echoing from within. He finds his eyes burning. Not yet, not yet, not in front of them.

Ed sighs brushing his hand across Al's chest plate and hugs Winry once.

"You should get going..." Winry sniffles as she takes a step back. "You have a fever." she continues with teary eyes and a smile on her face that is both happy and sad. Ed smiles back at her, he's not sure what type of smile he gives her but she leans back in for another hug.

"Thanks for coming all the way, Win." He raises his automail arm and curls his hand into a fist. "And thanks for making these for me. You're amazing." she squeezes as tight as she dares but ultimately steps back not wanting to risk hurting him.

"Keep her safe when you get back to Resembool, Al. We don't know what's going to happen from here on, teacher not withstanding."

"I will, Brother." Al nods, he takes a step back and he finds himself missing his brother fiercely. He ignores the way his eyes sting.

"See you soon." he tells him, Cyril knocks on the door and Brody pokes his head in. They whisper before he nods and then Ed watches as the soldier usher Al and Winry out of the room. He blinks back tears and forces himself to smile and wave when they look back.

"You've got some great family." Cyril comments softly once they're gone. Ed looks at him and smiles to himself.

"Yeah," He wobbles, sticking his arm out when his other leg nearly gives out on him. An arm grabs hold of his automail limb and helps him over to the bed. He blinks a couple times and suddenly Buccaneer is poking his head into the room. Did he black out?

"Ready to get back to Briggs?" Buccaneer asks, Ed nods to exhausted to even attempt to speak.

"All good here," Cyril says from his spot beside Ed. "Let us know when the preparations are complete." Buccaneer nods and departs.

"Thanks for escorting me here." Clarink grins at him once he slips completely into the room. Ed's eyes are drawn to the boots, his eyes scanning Clarink's face and his shoulders droop, when did Clarink become safe?

"Well, we couldn't just let you go on this journey down the mountain alone." he comments as he starts wrapping a scarf around Ed's hair. Something about this seems familiar, and not just because this was down before he was even let out of Fort Briggs.

Ed grimaces at the thought of that journey. It hurt coming down, he doesn't want to even think about the journey going back up.

But then, all that pain was worth it. He got to see his brother and Winry again, and now he's finally back on his own two feet. It was frustrating missing two limbs for so long. It was scary being so vulnerable like that.

He just hopes that they don't try to take his arm and leg if ends up fighting someone when he wakes up from a nightmare. He doesn't think he'd be able to handle it. Not after going so long without his limbs and being brutally tortured for days on end.

"Get some rest Edward, we'll be back at the base before you know it." Ed lies back on his pillows and sees the ceiling. There's tiles.

"Thirteen tiles across, eighteen going down." everything's starting to get blurrier. "Two hundred thirty four tiles..." he tries to count the dots but his vision fades in and out, and then everything goes black.

Chapter Text

Hamish shares a look with Clarink when Edward starts counting the tiles. He should report that to Major Miles, Dr. Young brought it up that he would look at the ceiling a lot when he was trying to figure out where he was. A coping mechanism, or so Kei guesses.

His eyes close after he has the number of tiles figured out, he swallows dryly. Poor kid.

"Lets get you in your coat and then we'll be on our way." Clarink says helping Edward slip into his coat and buttoning it up for him while he continued to rest. Hamish carries the limp boy out into the hall before setting him in a wheelchair. He carefully wraps Dr. Young's scarf around Edward's hair as they had done earlier. He winces at the pale bruises on the kid's neck, he could see the heartbreak on the young girl's face when she first laid her eyes on Edward. He's thankful that the bruises aren't as dark as they had been when he first arrived at Fort Briggs, and as faded as they are, easily missable unless you were looking for them. Though he's sure that Edward's family saw the hand prints wrapped around his neck. 

When they received the signal, Hamish pushed the wheelchair down the hall and around many corridors before he picked the unconscious boy up and loaded him into the car. Captain Buccaneer slung his arm over Edward's shoulder giving him the all clear, Hamish joined him in the back. He made sure to buckle him in and was secure between them and tapped the backseat of Brody who nods to Clarink and begins the drive.

"He looks terrible." Captain Buccaneer remarks, Edward has sweat beading on his forehead, breathing just a touch labored. He rests his palm on his head but he isn't burning up enough to note him as feverish. Captain Buccaneer pulls Edward closer to him so he wouldn't bump into anything when they began the perilous journey up.

"He's not feverish really, but the pain meds must have worn off by now." he hears a sympathetic hiss.

He hears a choked off whimper, gold eyes crack open and scan the floor, his gaze sharpens when he spots Hamish's boots.

"Easy Edward, we're heading back to Fort Briggs, just hang tight." he tells him, Edward looks up at him, eyes glazing over with pain.

He opens his mouth, the car jerks to one side, he groans before his head drops and he can tell he's passed out.

"Shi-" Captain Buccaneer was cut off as Clarink swerves again, pushing down on the gas. 

"Blizzard." He says though it didn't need to be explained. Hamish sometimes hates the weather up here.

The other car beside them keeps pace, Lt. Colonel Hughes and Major Miles are in that car with Sergeant Roach driving them. He wonders if all the rumors are true about Lt. Colonel Hughes.

He wonders if Edward would be more open to someone he knows and trust compared to them. He still stiffens whenever anyone comes too close to him, eyes guarded and always watching. His smiles, if showing all his teeth in each smile could be seen as one, were a challenge.

Hamish also worries how seeing Edward would affect Lt. Colonel Hughes. Edward's just a kid, and he's so badly hurt and traumatized, he's still a little spitfire but Hamish can't help but be reminded of a frightened animal whenever he looks at him. Putting up a strong front and making himself seem like a threat, lashing out whenever he was scared.

He glances down when Edward moans, his eyes fluttering, Hamish shushes him.

"Almost there kid, hang on." He blearily raises his head, blinks a few times before he's out like a light again. Captain Buccaneer taps Clarink's seat.

They make it in time to the Fort, just barely.

Getting out of the car is easy, picking up Edward to carry him without hurting and setting him off is a lot harder. Clarink settles for having Edward's broken arm tucked into his chest, leaving his automail free and the slap he gets for that is hard. He winces in sympathy but Edward only has to look upwards with a confused frown before  shutting his eyes again.

Hamish watches Clarink carry Edward and wonders why he looks so scared. They brought him back safe and sound, everyone accounted for and no encounters. He'd say they got away scott free. He slows down a little when he spots Major Miles and Lt. Colonel Hughes.

"Welcome to Fort Briggs Lt. Colonel Hughes." Both men salute one another, Lt. Colonel Hughes picks up his suitcase and turns.
"Thank you. Captain Buccaneer, Major Miles, it's been a while." he says, expression tight as Captain Buccaneer joined the two men when they started walking.

"I wish we were meeting under better circumstances."Major Miles nods solemnly. Lt. Colonel Hughes spots them and rushes towards him, he shifts out of the way. Clarink stops when Hamish reaches out to grab his shoulder, he stops and looks back at him with a curious look on his face. The curiosity fades away to sadness when he catches sight of Lt. Colonel Hughes.

"Oh Ed, look at you." he whispers, voice heartbroken. He reaches out, Clarink makes some sort of noise but Lt. Colonel Hughes didn't notice, and he doesn't know how Edward's been acting when someone grabs hold of him when he's unaware. He already slapped Clarink for picking him up. The Lt. Colonel rests his hand on Edward's cheek, thumb rubbing his cheek and Edward surprisingly doesn't immediately slap him, instead, he actually bites. Lt. Colonel Hughes doesn't panic, instead he chuckles fondly.

"Didn't your brother tell you not to bite people?" he asks, voice watery, gold eyes peer at him as his hand is released.

"I don't know where people have been so I'm not supposed to bite, but you're an exception." he grumbles and bats his hand away, he looks around.

"We're in Fort Briggs." Clarink tells him, Edward frowns as he looks back at Lt. Colonel Hughes.

"Called it." he says simply and goes back to sleep. Lt. Colonel Hughes sighs, he rubs a finger under his glasses.

"So he knew they'd call me up here, huh." he smiles down at Edward, a proud look on his face.

"Lt. Colonel Hughes, we should report to General Armstrong." he clearly doesn't want to part from Edward but he forces himself to. 

"I was expecting more pictures." Brody whispers, Hamish nods in agreement. They walk with Clarink to the infirmary, Hamish breaks off with Liam to let everyone know they made it back safe and to have the cooks prepare them some food. 

Rumors spread quickly through Fort Briggs, its how he hears that Clarink literally offered Edward up like some sacrifice. He doesn't know whether to be amused or horrified. He settles for amused when all she did was bark at him that he was going to hurt Edward's back.

"You think the kid'll recover?" Warrant officer Smith asks, Hamish stares into the murky depths of his coffee.

"He didn't react quite so badly to Lt. Colonel Hughes..." if you discount the biting thing that apparently is the norm, it would be as if nothing had happened to Edward based on both their reactions. But only three minutes before, Clarink had startled him and was immediately slapped.

"It'll certainly be a long road to recovery." he murmurs as he takes a sip.

"He'll be real pissed when he wakes up though." he glances over his shoulder to see Clarink, cheek still red.

"She decided to keep the sling on, says he's feverish but it doesn't seem like its from sickness. Just overheating from pain." he reports, he didn't even realize he was tense until he said that. Hopefully there ends up being no nightmares for the kid tonight, he could use the rest.

Maes has never actually been up North before. There have been plenty of exchanges of soldiers through out each command center, training exercises and investigation team ups. But he's personally never come to Fort Briggs himself.

It's a sight to behold. Roy's competition, that is.

But also, gives him a sense of security in Edward's protection.

Major Miles knocks sharply on a door, he quickly straightens up.

"Enter." they step into the room, he salutes General Armstrong. 

"General Armstrong, Lt Colonel Hughes reporting for the investigation." she salutes and releases him. Her shrewd gazes pins him in place. She slides forward a file that sits in front of her, he has a similar file in his suitcase.

"This is all we have at the moment. This is what Fullmetal has told us thus far." General Armstrong passes him three different files.

One on Ed's condition and all injuries sustained in captivity, the other about the Drachman base and the last report on what Ed spoke about before his trip to get his automail. There were notes written by the soldiers on certain behaviors they picked up when interacting with Ed. He swallows as he reads about the tick he'd developed when glancing at soldier's boots.

"There is more, his commanding officer has informed me of a military therapist he will be sending to Fort Briggs." she passes him one page, all the current information they could get on the military therapist. "Warrant Officer Rain Allen, she will need to be escorted to the base, she can wait until the blizzard passes." she informs them curtly, Major Miles inclines his head.

Maes skims through the description of the woman. Rain Allen. Age: thirty two, hair: brown, eyes: green, rank: warrant officer. The bare minimum for a report but he's worked with less. He presses a finger to his forehead as he tries to recall if he knows her or is at least peripherally aware of her.

"Major Miles will show you to the bunks and to an office that you can use for your investigations. Dismissed." they salute her and he picks his suitcase back up while clutching the files to his chest.

"Mustang!" She barks, he flinches a little at the harsh tone behind him. "Fullmetal has returned. There is a blizzard so this therapist of yours will have to wait until it blows over. I will not risk my men for a therapist so the runt could talk about his feelings. Is that understood?" She hangs up just as the door closes behind them.

"There is one thing that we have not made anyone aware of." Major Miles raises his glasses as he walks slightly ahead of Maes.

"Major Elric does not seem to like being called by his rank." Maes laughs, Ed has never been one for formality, he tries to explain that but Major Miles stops and doesn't look at him. "It seems that is all he was called by, or Fullmetal." he turns his head a little to look at Maes.

"It frightens him and makes him paranoid." his heart drops to the bottom of his stomach. 

"Oh." he replies in a small voice. What did they do?

"Okay." he looks up and blinks back the tears that spring into his eyes. Hasn't this kid been through enough? "Okay." he chokes, this kid has gone through hell once before and walked out of it for the sake of his brother. He'll pull through, even if he's afraid and weak right now, Maes knows that he won't let it keep him down. Not when he has a little brother waiting for him. And Maes will do all he can to make sure that happens.

He will find who did this, he will bring them in and get Ed his justice.

"I've got some work to do." he mutters.

There's a sound of pen scratching paper, for a moment he can believe that he's fallen asleep in Mustang's office. The pain he's in dissuades him from that thought almost as soon as he thinks it. He shifts his arm to try to find a comfortable position which is a rarity with pretty much all of him being one giant bruise. His arm refuses to move, it feels stuck, he scowls and remembers the sling he was put in. He stills when the world begins to feel like it's rocking, the sensation doesn't really go away when he opens his eyes and turns his head. Dr. Young is sitting not too far away from him writing on a clipboard.

"You didn't remove the sling." He mutters, she quirks a brow at him.

"And that's because it makes it easier on your arm, fingers and ribs." she caps her pen and slips it into the pocket at her chest as she sets the clipboard aside and makes her way over to his bed. She stops a foot away and waits. He closes his eyes and relaxes.

"Sorry." he tells her, everyone is more than a little hesitant to approach him and he knows it's his fault.

"You don't have to apologize, you were tortured and I know of soldiers twice your age who would react the same, sometimes worse." she remarks as she steps a little closer when he opens his eyes and nods. She extends her hand and sticks a thermometer in his mouth, he patiently keeps it in his mouth. Ed doesn't like the idea of the sling, he can see her point though. How many times has he used his broken arm and fingers to fight in the first few days alone? Too many, way too many to keep his arm free and not risk anymore damage. But it reminds him too much of when he was first shackled because of him going stir crazy from all his attempts to escape. All the harebrained high risk plans that culminated in them putting him on some quasi suicide watch because of how often he used his restraints or attempts at interrogation to coat his fingers in blood to transmute. Despite breaking his fingers and wrist, he continued repeatedly using his broken limb. It's at least a little more bearable with his automail arm still attached.

Dr. Young sets a cool rag on his forehead and another two on either side of his neck as she removes the thermometer. She frowns.

"Well, this time I can say that the fever is from the pain your in and not a sickness at least." Ed is thankful for that, it had been difficult being so run down and sick. Dr. Young hesitates and he tenses, is she going to tell him to take drugs again?

"I don't think you were ready for that journey, but I can see that it did you some good to get out of here and see your family." she says, he relaxes a little, still wary she might bring it up again after he voluntarily agreed to take something just to get down the mountain.

"Well, at least nothing too bad happen. There were no fights or anything." Ed points out weakly. Knowing his luck, there would have been at least one shoot out.

 "That's one blessing." Dr. Young crosses her arms.

The door to the infirmary is suddenly thrown open, causing Ed to jump a bit in surprise. The knocking must not have been heard by either of them given that Dr. Young also jumps, hand extending to hide him. His eyes immediately move to the threat, but he calms down when he sees it was just the General....

Though, maybe he shouldn't calm down with her. She's a threat, but maybe not to him completely.

"Good to see you awake, Elric." General Armstrong greets him as she strides into the room. Did Hughes report to her already? Or did he imagine Hughes being here.

"Yeah..." he answers cautiously trying to figure out what she was here for. More information? Did he have it in him to talk more about everything right now? It doesn't matter, he needs to regardless.

"What's his condition?" Ed only resents it a little bit that she asks that as if he's not here but he's used to that from Mustang so he ignores it and turns to Dr. Young.

"He has a bit of a fever starting to develop but it's not from any illness, just overheating from pain. It isn't as bad as when he first arrived and should be fine with continued monitoring." she picks up her clipboard as she says this.

"Some of his wounds were agitated from the journey, and he's now using a restrictive sling now that he has his automail which should lessen most of the stress to his broken bones and ribs." she looks up from her notes with a small frown.

"His bruises are all fading but I still expect there to be muscles aches, and seeing that he's been bed bound for a few weeks here after his rescue, where he was kept immobilized for quite some time, I would like for him to start walking around some." General Armstrong looks at him, he doesn't know what she sees but she nods.

"Of course, we will have you with one or two escorts at all times, is that understood?" Ed nods, he thinks it might be for his safety as well as the safety of the soldiers.

"Good. Don't cause any problems, I want you healed and back on your feet quickly." with that she whirls around and strides back out the door, it slams shut behind her.

"I think she likes you." Dr. Young says, he can't tell if she's teasing him or not. Ed gives her a blank look. Like him? Where the hell would she get such a ridiculous idea from?! He'd hate to see how she'd treat him if she disliked him. He tells Dr. Young that and she cackles, head thrown back, hands on her stomach cackles. He looks away from her to preserve his sanity.

It only takes a few minute before Kei pokes his head out of his room and makes his way over to Ed, where he proceeds to get progressively closer while Ed watches him. He leans over Ed, he glares at the man on principle. Kei grins, Ed knows that grin, his eyes narrow and yep. There it is, he's leaning over to look at Ed's arm.

"Your automail is very well down." Kei compliments as he grabs hold of Ed's hand and examines the fingers. He doesn't take it personally that Kei grabbed his only useable arm, instead he watches the man closely, he can see the gears turning in his head and that attitude is the reason he doesn't fight like he wants to.

"And I heard from Clarink that your mechanic is your age. It's amazing." He turns Ed's arm this way and that way, then he rubs his face on Ed's arm and he shivers. "She is very good at her job." he sighs, he sounds just like Winry when she goes on about some new model that was recently created or some books Ed sent her on the latest Automail creations.

"Can I have my arm back? Or are you going to continue to fawn over it like a teenage girl in love?" he asks as he clenches his hand into a fist. Kei smiles at him, Ed feels irritation welling up in him and knows that he's hit his limit of social interaction with gear heads for today. He catches Dr. Young watches them from the corner of his eye with a critical look on her face and wonders if this is some type of stress test to see if he'll run for the hills first chance he gets.

"Kei, let him rest. You can admire his automail some other time." Kei sighs dramatically but drops his arm and waves before heading back to his room.

"Stupid Gear heads." he mutters under his breath glad to have his hand back. Dr. Young lets him rant under his breath before serving him some water and passing it to him. He can see her eyes on his neck and tries not to show how much it makes him uncomfortable.

"How long did they choke you?" she asks him, he swallows thickly, the water feels very cold going down.

"They wanted me to talk so they only used enough force to stop me from breathing, sometimes I passed out." Ed shrugs, they usually gave him a break when that happened. "They damaged my vocal cords once and had to wait until they healed enough for me to talk." Ed frowns, they never really gave him a lot of time to heal so his throat was sore and his voice was practically nonexistent on some days because of that.

"It isn't as bad as it looks." Ed says dismissively with a careless wave of his hand, Dr. Young looks sad at that. He thought it wouldn't be so bad if he waved it away but she seems to recognize what he's down. Ed tilts his head as he spots a shadow beyond the door leading to the infirmary. The shadow vanishes, his eyes focus on that spot before he looks away. Someone spying on him?

He doesn't realize he's fallen asleep until he finds himself back there. Back in that small room with too little light and too many people intent on hurting him for something he won't give.

"Now, why don't you tell about this state alchemist program the Amestrian military has going on." Ed looks up at the ceiling and starts counting the tiles, he's sure pretty soon he'll be able to do it with his eyes closed. Fingers in his hair pull tightly bringin his attention back to mook #6, he thinks he's so tough with his hair in dread locks. Teacher is far scarier than this bozo.

"I'm talking to you, you little punk!" Ah, here comes the posturing, Ed stares at the blond haired man with a look of boredom. He quirks a brow and sighs as if the man was some toddler that didn't understand the concept of 'no', he seemed to understand what Ed was insinuating.

"And?" he replies, the 'How is that my problem' goes unsaid but given the ugly sneer on his face he will try to make it Ed's problem. The man leans in close, Ed smirks, every time like clockwork. He slams his head into the man's chin, the cut above his eyebrow splits open again. 

Ed cackles, the guy lost two teeth! He regrets laughing for a second as a coughing fit steals his breath, his breath is stolen from him for a completely different reason when a fist is buried into his stomach. His head is lifted and then slammed violently down onto the table.

He might have blacked out there for a second.

"Oh goodie, mook #8 is here for happy fun time." he drawls, his skin crawls as the woman grins sadistically as she twirls her knife around. Something stabs into his elbow, he flinches away and finds mook #1 with a syringe. Ed almost wants to cry.

Everything becomes all distant and floaty. Nothing feels real even the pain dulls to a quiet roar. Someone's talking in his ear but the ringing is back but his vision is fading in and out. Did they ask about the Furher?

All color drains away, he feels incredibly heavy and light at the same time. A hand grabs his chin roughly and suddenly he's throwing up, he can hear shrieking. It makes his head hurt. His broken arm is roughly grabbed and he's dragged to the edge of the table. He's gagging, nothing comes up, the motion burns and makes it hard to breathe. A sharp yank of his scalp has him looking up, eyes struggling to take in anything, a familiar pair of eyes, lips moving. His head falls, to heavy to keep up, those boots look familiar don't they.

"Fool!" his hand is free, can he escape?

The world spins violently, a whirlwind of color and a roaring noise in his ears. His ribs protest when he finds himself on someone's shoulder. He strikes the shoulder blade, his hits are as effective as a weak kitten mewling to seem like a threat. He's jostled on purpose.

Everything fades away, he can almost hear something being shouted.

Ed is aware of two things when he snaps awake.

One, someone is screaming. Loud, shrill and in unmistakable fear, it reminds him of himself when he thought he lost Alphonse.

And two, the ceiling has no tile. 

The next thing he becomes aware of is someone else screaming, pain radiating from his entire body and then a face appears above him. He reacts blindly, fist punching out before he recognizes the face, his mouth clicks shut. Scream trapped behind his teeth as he watches his fist miss with a simple tilt of the head. His chest is tight, lungs refusing to cooperate with him as he breaths faster and faster, heart threatening to beat out of his chest.

"You're alright now, i'm going to sit you up." gentle hands lift him into a sitting position, moving to sit behind him and a flat palm rests against his chest pressing his back to their chest.

"We're just going to breathe, it's just me and you. And we're just going to breathe, in..." a large inhale behind him and he can't quite manage but follows them when they exhale, short as that is. "Out. Good, again." he latches on the hand across his chest and struggles to breathe in the same beat. A finger taps his chest. 

Eyes scrunched shut, ringing his ears, heart threatening to beat out of his chest, Ed listens and breathes. The hardest thing he's had to do since automail surgery and rehabilitation. 

"Think about Al, think about Winry." the voice instructs him smoothly, breathing in slowly and deeply before exhaling slowly and deeply. "Think about my sweet baby girl Elysia and my darling wife Gracia." he can feel the corner of his lip lift slightly, he chokes on a laugh, thoroughly exhausted by his freak out.

He finds himself leaning back once the panic fades from his system. A hand rests on his forehead, guiding it to a blue clad shoulder, he can barely make out Hughes' concerned face through the haze. Fingers drum against his chest grounding him more and more. He blinks, something slides down his cheeks, he doesn't have the strength to wipe his face. A soft cloth dabs his cheeks.

"You're doing great, just keep breathing." he murmurs soothingly, Ed huffs, irritated by the soft look in Hughes' eyes. "Relax." he presses a cold wet cloth over Ed's eyes and forehead, he feels hot. He clicks his tongue when lips press against his head but he's to tired to make a fuss, Hughes chuckles and moves a little bit so that he's hugging Ed now.

"He's exhausted." he hears Hughes tell someone, probably Dr. Young. The fingers on his chest start drumming again, he relaxes. Ed sighs and tightens his hold on the arm against his chest but doesn't protest.

"Dr. Young is going to look you over real quick." fingers touch his neck and he flinches, "Shh, I've got you." Hughes whispers and he tries to relax.

Dr. Young delicately prods some of his injuries, she lightly presses against one of his ribs and his vision whites out with a gasp of pain.

"Shh, shh." he chokes, he can't breathe. "I know, I know." the voice murmurs sympathetically, there is more whispering but he doesn't pay it any mind and instead focuses on the fingers tapping his sternum. It reminds him of Granny, the same beat over and over again that she used whenever he collapsed from overexertion and struggled to breathe through the pain.

"Want me to stay here until you can fall asleep again?" Ed doesn't move, he just focuses on trying to breathe through the pain.

He flinches when something touches his lips, its a straw.

"It's just water." Ed clenches his teeth. The straw is taken away, he can hear someone drink water behind him before the straw is put to his lips again. He relaxes, fingers drumming against his chest and sips the water slowly.

"You feel up to eating something kiddo?" Ed makes a face at the name, Hughes is getting awfully familiar with him.

"His temperature is a little higher." Ed tunes out Dr. Young, he doesn't want to hear if she'll try to make him take something again.

"We'll be serving stew." Ed perks up, he likes stew and its a hundred times better than soup.

"Ed likes stew." Hughes chuckles, Ed blinks at the light when the rag on his eyes is removed. "Whattaya say?" Ed sighs.

"Please." he makes sure to say it as bland as possible just to see his face, he doesn't disappoint. An exaggerated look on his face as he mock lectures Ed on manners. Ed shuts his eyes and listens to Hughes chatter.

Lyra isn't surprised when Edward has another nightmare. She is more wary though, the automail makes him more dangerous because he wouldn't be as easy to subdue if necessary since there weren't human limitations to that arm. She grabs Kei from his room since he had better luck with getting Edward to calm down.

"Wait, maybe we should get Lt. Colonel Hughes." Lyra looks at him like he's crazy. Are they really going to bother their superior over a nightmare.

"No, look. Clarink mentioned that Ed didn't react badly to him, like he kinda recognized him even asleep." Lyra frowns, Edward tosses and turns, whimpering in his sleep. He jerks like he's been struck and she nods.

"Okay but hurry." she turns away from him and starts to get things ready. She calls out repeatedly to Edward to try and wake him up, only trying once to get closer but he strikes out with his arm cracks the wall. She shivers at the thought of getting hit by that arm.

Then he starts screaming. Hair raising, shrill and too much like a child in pain that her eyes involuntarily water as she tries calling out to him to wake up.

The door slams open behind her, she jumps but before she can even turn to look, Lt. Colonel Hughes is rushing past her with a look on his face that has her freezing. She looks back just in time to see Edward's eyes open and staring at the ceiling as he continues screaming.

"Ed! Ed! It's a nightmare!" Lt. Colonel Hughes shows no fear as he passes the imaginary line Lyra always sees when she approaches Edward. He's leaning over Ed, hands on his shoulders without an ounce of hesitation or fear. Edward reacts and she dives forward, Kei jumps, hands on Lt. Colonel's waist as he makes to pull him away but he digs his heels and simply tilts his to the right, his shoulder to the left and the fist misses him completely. Edward's mouth snaps shut, the sound echoing as the screams abruptly end. She's aware of the thundering footsteps echoing down the hall but she doesn't move, her hand holds a sedative that she hasn't had to use since Edward first arrived.

He begins to hyperventilate, Lt. Colonel Hughes remains remarkably calm.

"You're alright now, i'm going to sit you up." his hands move away from Edward's shoulders as he gently sits him up, he climbs onto the bed behind him and wraps his arm around Edward's heaving chest, one palm flat against him as he presses Edward's back to his chest. She turns away when she sees he has things under control. She sees a few soldiers in the hall, panicked looks on their faces as they were no doubt prepared to wrestle Edward into submission.

"Lt. Colonel Hughes has things handled, please return to your bunks." she tells them, she can hear Lt. Colonel Hughes behind her talking in a low hushed voice.

"We're just going to breathe," he sounds so much like her father when he talks like that. "It's just me and you. And we're just going to breathe, in..." a large inhale, Edward tries to follow his lead but it's a weak imitation. 

"Out. Good, again." the men slowly disperse and she nods to Kei who leaves to inform Major Miles. She turns back to see Edward holding onto Lt. Colonel Hughes' hand, struggling to slow his breathing. Lyra sets down the syringe and sets a few things into a bucket that she won't be using. She sets everything else on the table that she slowly wheels over to the two.

"Think about Al, think about Winry." Lt. Colonel Hughes continues soothingly, fingers tapping a steady beat on Edward's chest as his breathing starts to slow. "Think about my sweet baby girl Elysia and my darling wife Gracia." he grins, she nearly laughs and spots the small smile Edward has, he chokes on a laugh, coughing a couple times as the fight drains out of him. Lt. Colonel Hughes doesn't miss a beat, hand coming up to guide Edward's head onto his shoulder, dazed gold eyes peer up at him. Oh. He's crying.

Lyra has only seen him shed a single tear, one. Almost nineteen days and he's only shed a single tear.

But with Lt. Colonel Hughes, the tears are plenty. Edward doesn't even seem aware of it, he closes his eyes and Lt. Colonel Hughes meets her eyes. A dark look on his face a jerk of his chin and she looks away as he hooks his foot onto the table to drag it closer to him as he slips a handkerchief from his pajama pocket and gently dabs Edward's cheek. The tender action seems to ease the pain Edward's suffering.

"You're doing great, just keep breathing." she hears him say as she grabs her clipboard as she checks the time to start taking notes. She watches from the corner of her eyes as he presses a cold wet cloth over his eyes and forehead so no one can see him crying. His breathing is slow, but it hitches with the tears he sheds. She smirks when she sees the stealthy kiss planted on Edward's head as he's hugged from behind, Edward clicks his tongue at the action, and annoyed frown on his face. Lt. Colonel Hughes' fingers continue their steady beat on Edward's chest, is it grounding?

She continues charting, taking special note to assess his ribs. They were delicate and all his fighting and movements have made it so they are taking the longest to heal. She's afraid that one wrong move will have a rib puncturing a lung.

"Is he..." she asks softly, Lt. Colonel Hughes looks down at Edward with a frown.

"He's exhausted." she can see that, she sets aside her clipboard and makes her way over to them where she quickly lays out everything being careful to not move the water bowl with how close to the edge it is. Lt. Colonel Hughes nods at her and the fingers that had still start drumming away again.

"Dr. Young is going to look you over real quick." Edward sighs, hand tightening its hold against Lt. Colonel Hughes' arm. She decides to start by taking his pulse, she wants to make sure his heart isn't racing anymore and is what she always does first to get Edward used to her touch. She's done it so much now that he usually ignores it, even if he still tenses at her proximity. He flinches when she touches his neck with two fingers.

"Shh, I've got you." Lt. Colonel Hughes whispers softly. She waits for Edward to relax and quickly checks him over before she reaches over and prods his ribs until she gets to the broken ribs. He violently jolts back, gasping in pain, choking back a hoarse cry of pain as his hand clenches down on Lt. Colonel Hughes' hand. She steps back, making a mental note to check Lt. Colonel Hughes' arm after all this. Lt. Colonel Hughes doesn't flinch though, he strokes Edward's hair.

"Shh, shh." Edward struggles to breathe but he unconsciously follows Lt. Colonel Hughes breathing when he drums his fingers against his chest. "I know, I know." he whispers trying to comfort him, the fight drains from him as he slumps backwards. His grip slackening.

"Want me to stay here until you can fall asleep again?" Lt. Colonel Hughes looks prepared to camp out here as Edward's pillow all night if he has to. Edward doesn't respond, but given how he leans completely on Lt. Colonel Hughes, she can guess that he wants him to stay. Lt. Colonel Hughes makes himself comfortable, Edward between his legs, hand holding onto Lt. Colonel Hughes as he breathes slowly. His breaths are short, breathing too deeply must hurt after she prodded his ribs like that.

She looks up when Lt. Colonel Hughes catches her attention. She brings him some water while he rewets the cloth on Edward's head, he looks calm.

"He's fever is lowering." he tells her as he accepts the water, he pats Edward's chest. "Drink some water buddy." Edward hums but the instant Lt. Colonel Hughes places the straw to his lips he clenches his teeth and jerks his chin away.

"Oh, he said they used to drug his water." Lt. Colonel Hughes doesn't miss a beat and drinks a good two mouth fulls of water before putting the straw back to Edward's lips, fingers tap tap tapping on Edward's chest. Edward sips the water slowly.  

He's dozing off again, not completely asleep given how he sometimes flinches as if startled but all Lt. Colonel Hughes has to do is shush him and pat his chest or drum his fingers against his sternum and he goes right back to dozing. She decides to check in on Kei, he'd returned not too long after reporting to Major Miles that Edward had another nightmare and was handled by Lt. Colonel Hughes with ease.

"How do you do it?" she asks, she winces, she hadn't meant to ask that out loud. Lt. Colonel Hughes doesn't look amused, he looks plain tired and sad.

"It's not the first time I've helped him through nightmares, usually it's his brother." he offers her a half smile and shrug.

"Seeing how he's not here I took over," he rests his hand on Edward's head for a moment before he grabs the cloth and rewets it. "It took awhile to build this trust though." There's rage in his eyes as he stares into the distance.

"Before his exam to become a state alchemist, he stayed with Shou Tucker..." Lyra's hand comes up to her mouth in shock. Even here in the North, they'd heard about what that man did, to his own daughter no less. "Edward had been studying in his house, staying with his daughter and her dog..." he glances down to make sure that Edward isn't awake and the rage gives way to grief.

"He had nightmares after what happened to the little girl he'd come to see as a sister." He sighs and leans his head back to gaze up at the ceiling. "That wasn't the only thing, there was also that serial killer that kidnapped him and his childhood friend." she shakes her head. This kid, he just can't catch a break can he.

Edward mumbles something but with a firm pat to his head, he's drifting off again, unaware of the heavy topics being discussed over his head. Lt. Colonel Hughes eyes her with a sharp look.

"I won't discuss this with anyone that doesn't already know about that." she tells him, he looks away from her and doesn't seem so dangerous anymore. He dotes on Edward like he's his son.

"The cooks should be waking up soon." she tells him when Kei crawls out of his room stretching with a wink at her. She rolls her eyes at him but flicks a coin to him, he catches it and slips out of the room to get them coffee.

"Hm, he might not be up for eating anything, especially with how bad his nightmare was." he mutters something under his breath before patting Edward's chest a few times.

"You feel up to eating something kiddo?" Ed makes a face, a cross between irritated and exasperated. He grumbles under his breath swatting absently at Lt. Colonel Hughes who chuckles and catches Edward's hand and sets it down. He turns so the his cheek is resting on Edward's head and looks at her.

"He feels a little warmer now." he says worriedly, she rises to her feet and gives Lt. Colonel Hughes a thermometer, Edward doesn't react to the thermometer.

"His temperature is a little higher." she tells him, she knows it's the stress and the pain wreaking havoc on his body, and his refusal to take any pain medication to manage the pain would make it hard to kill his fever.

"Is there anything you can do for that?" he asks, she hesitates, she sighs.

"No. With his refusal for any type of pain management we're stuck trying to keep him from further injuring himself when panicked and there isn't much reason to start him on a new round of antibiotics when he just finished his last course." She pauses as she sees that Edward has turned his head away from them to face the wall.

"His fear of needles also makes it a little difficult to try and cool him down with cool saline." she sees Lt. Colonel Hughes pat Edward's chest with a solemn expression.

"I see, then I'll just have to sleep in the infirmary instead of the bunks." he says it so matter of factly as if he wasn't sacrificing his sleep schedule. "Now can you tell me what type of food you'll be serving? Ed tends to dislike most soups, he developed quite the distaste for them." she winces, she wishes he would have let her know that. The only thing he's been eating is soup since he could start eating again, and he threw it up more often then not in the beginning.

"We'll be serving stew." Edward perks up, turning to face them with an excitable air about him.

"Ed likes stew." Lt. Colonel Hughes chuckles as he removes the cloth from Edward's eyes. "Whattaya say?" Edward sighs tiredly as his shoulder is jostled lightly.

"Please." he intones somewhat boredly with a blank look on his face. Lt. Colonel Hughes peers down at him with a scandalized look.

"This is not how I raised you young man." he mock lectures, Edward closes his eyes, his lips tilt up a little. He looks at peace.

"If Elysia could see you now, she'd be very upset with you." he talks about his wife and daughter, about their new neighbors they just had move in next door and how he already has plans to smuggle them down the mountain that involves several frankly ridiculous and complex parts. 

She heads over to her office while the two get lost in Lt. Colonel Hughes ridiculous planning to radio Kei about getting some stew for Edward.

"Please hurry, he keeps dozing off and I would like him to eat something before he goes to sleep." Kei agrees and she makes her way back to the infirmary to see Edward laughing softly.

"Only if you get the pictures developed so Al can see otherwise he won't believe anything we say." Lt. Colonel Hughes acquiesces easily.

Watching Edward eat his stew is a startling change. He's smiling and humming, he seems so much more younger and carefree this way. It's a little upsetting how innocent he looks, after such a tragedy. He's a kid and knows as much suffering as an old war veteran.

"It's strange isn't it?" Kei comments as he sits beside her to eat, Lt. Colonel Hughes had left to get changed thus leaving them alone with Edward who happily ignored them for his stew.

"Just what is a kid like him doing in the military in the first place?" she asks, Kei shrugs. Another mystery to add to Edward Elric.

"Mmm, this stew is soooo good." Edward says. "It reminds me of home." he smiles sadly down at his bowl, he looks distant.

BANG!

The door slams open, Lt. Colonel Hughes has his hand raised up high in the air as he waves cheerfully. Edward coughs violently, choking on his stew, Lt. Colonel Hughes rushes over frantically apologizing. Lyra and Kei glare at him on principal of ruining the peace.

"Sorry about that." he mutters patting Edward's back as Edward coughs, reaching for water with one hand. Once the coughing has died down he shoots Lt. Colonel Hughes a weak glare.

"Sorry, I was pretty excited. I just spoke with Roy, and Al and Winry made it home safely." Edward upon hearing his brother's safe return smiles, but at the mention of his commanding officer he frowns mulishly down at his stew. "I need you to talk to him." Edward sighs.

"Why?" he whines, Lt. Colonel Hughes is not impressed, he crosses his arms over his chest.

"Edward Elric, don't try to act like you hate him with me." he scolds gently, Edward winces, before awkwardly turning to look at the wall.

"Fine, but still," he turns back with a curious look on his face. "Why?" Lt. Colonel Hughes sighs.

"He's worried about you, he's also feeling guilty and I think hearing you instead of about you will help him." he replies, Edward's face goes through a wide range of emotions before it lands on cantankerous.

"I see." he says neutrally, Lt. Colonel turns away from him to ask her for the phone and misses the smirk that crawls onto Edward's face. 

She directs him to her office, Edward idly stirs his stew as he waits for Lt. Colonel Hughes to grab him.

Her office isn't closed off or anything, but they do have a curtain over that area. So everyone can still hear everything that happens behind the curtain. In Edward's case, they leave the curtain open but face away to give him some semblance of privacy since he still gets dizzy and is at risk of falling if he's not careful.

"FULLMETAL?!" they hear loud over the phone, Lyra glances just in time to see the full body flinch Edward does before he adopts a lazy stance.

"First of all, ow.' he complains as if he hadn't just flinched at his title. "You trying to blow out my hearing?" he questions mocking his command officer, Lt. Colonel Hughes looks exasperated.

"Second of all, who else would be calling you?" he heckles, "Unless you're expecting a call?" he sounds surprised, hand on his chest and everything as if he was sitting right across from his commanding officer.

"Awww, you do care." he coos mockingly. She can't hear what Colonel Mustang says but given how Edward's acting, she can tell he's exasperated by the blatant insubordination.

"Dying of an incurable disease." he deadpans, he scratches something on her desk, she sighs when she realizes she left his chart on the desk.

"I'm not alright." he says abruptly, and that's a first. Edward has tried so hard to seem as if he were fine, trying his best to be seen as tough and untouchable. He kept trying to present a front that he was strong even when he was scared out of his mind, and to hear him being honest with someone he was just heckling for the hell of it.

It's jarring.

"But I'm getting better everyday. You shouldn't worry, this pain, it's nothing compared to that time." What time? His automail surgery perhaps?

"I don't blame you either." he sounds amused, as if the guilt carried by his commanding officer is something to laugh at. "It's like you don't trust me or my skills, you're hurting my feelings with this guilt trip of yours." he carries on as if he wasn't held against his will for six weeks unable to escape on his own. It's silent for another minute before Edward sits up.

"Think nothing of it bastard." such blatant disrespect to a commanding officer, and yet he's so polite to General Armstrong. "Now I have some delicious stew to eat and no one is getting in my way of devouring it." he hangs up and scoots off his seat before ducking the hand Lt. Colonel Hughes extends.

"Can I go eat now?" he asks, Lt. Colonel Hughes throws his hands in the air.

"Sometimes I wonder how the two of you haven't killed each other yet." he walks beside him until he gets back to bed and then departs with a wave of his hand. Kei snickers into his palm.

"Are you trying to reassure your boss you're okay or annoy him into an early grave?" Kei asks him genuinely curious.

"Why can't it be both?" Ed takes a bite of his stew before smirking at them. Lyra laughs as she makes her way to her desk.

"Well, hopefully, hearing your voice will get him to stop annoying General Armstrong. I swear, sometimes I think she is going to leave Briggs, hunt down Colonel Mustang, and run him through with her sword." Edward pauses to look up at her. Too much?

"You guys are all comrades, right?" he asks dryly at her nod he hums thoughtfully. "What he do to annoy her, I thought Hughes was their point of contact." How'd he know that?

"Of course, but we are different. Whereas the East is known as the perfect offense, we in the North are known as the perfect defense. That causes friction between us since we do things differently." Lyra explains, Edward looks thoughtful at the explaination. "And General Armstrong dislikes Colonel Mustang for many reason, but more recently because Lt. Colonel Hughes was asking for updates daily for him as well as for investigations. And with Lt. Colonel Hughes being here, she doesn't have to do anymore phone calls." There has been more activity in Fort Briggs this month than the past few years all together.

"That's true, and bet you didn't know that there are rumors that if the Briggs and the East formed an alliance, we would be the perfect military unit?" Kei drops that piece of trivia and Edward looks a little surprised by that.

"But I thought there was friction between you guys?" he says with a look of confusion shining in his gold eyes as he puts his plate aside.

"There is because of how we do things differently, but that is why it works. Briggs is defense, the East is offense. We keep to our roles and trust the other to have our backs. If we all did everything the same, there would be holes that could be easily found and broken through." Kei explains as he collects their plates.

"Interesting." Ed replies, he looks like he has a new appreciation for Fort Briggs.

After his enlightening conversation with Kei and Dr. Young, Ed was allowed to walk around the infirmary for a little bit before he was sent back to his bed to rest. He rests his hand against the sling hating the restriction when he feels a lump.

Oh yeah.

Ed pulled out his travel log with a sigh and looks at the last three entries to refresh his memory.

He frowns and rereads them twice over. So he'd noticed someone following him but never the actual people.

The mission had been completed and he had decided to stick around to figure out who was following him but no one came out and they disappeared before he could catch up to them. So he had decided to catch a train to Central to ask for help from Hughes even though he was supposed to report to Eastern command. Ed shut his eyes and tried to remember what little he could from the small flashes of lucidity he had.


There had been a fight, someone had caught him by surprise. He remembers being really upset about that, the fight was over before it even began. Someone had drugged the water he'd been drinking, probably the vendor was either paid money to drug him or in on the kidnapping. He'd fought but after while the drugs kicked in and he lost the fight. No more than two people had been on him at all times but he'd fought less than five people before succumbing to the drugs and getting beaten into submission.

One of them had shoved a cloth over his mouth and nose and then he didn't really remember much after that. Probably kept him under so he wouldn't fight.

He needs to concentrate and think, what could he hear and smell. Just because he couldn't focus doesn't mean he didn't remember what happened. There were memories there out of reach.

'What a cute daughter.'

What did that mean? Ed wonders, he remembers hearing cooing and soft laughter. An unfamiliar arm around his shoulders, and swaying. A train? No, there wasn't any sounds of the rails of the whistling of the train.

Was that... Horses?

A hand clamps down on his shoulder, he jumps trying to recall where he is. His heart pounds violently in his chest as he looks up.

"No tiles. Not there." he looks down to see Dr. Young staring at him in concern. He sees her reddened hand and doesn't recall slapping her hand.

"Sorry." he kind of wants to cry. Why does he keep hurting her.

"Easy." she says as if Ed hadn't just struck her for no reason. Ed presses his hand to his chest, trying to ignore the way his body trembles from fear.

"Can I have some water?" He asks, voice hoarse. He weakly flinches at the hand on his forehead but doesn't move when he realizes how cool it feels against his skin. He closes his eyes and leans into the hand, relaxing a little when nothing happens.

"Why don't you get some rest?" Ed nods opening his eyes to see a glass of water in front of him. He accepts it and ignores the voice in his head shrieking about drugs. He drinks half of it before laying down with a sigh. A cool rag was wiping away the sweat on his face and neck.

"I'll take this." Ed's hand latches onto his travel log, he grins sharply at Dr. Young daring her to take what is his.

"It's my log..." She lets go and he shuts his eyes to sleep, glad that she didn't fight him on it.

Flashes of horses,  a swaying ground, a dress and an arm wrapped around his shoulders.

A flash of the sky, the sun rising but from the wrong side.

A man leaning over him, a mocking sneer.

Chains and restraints that bit into his flesh when he wouldn't cooperate.

Flashes of needles being held up in front of his face, the screaming, him kicking and punching and biting all to get away and failing. 

He twitched in his sleep, head twisting from side to  side.

"Just tell us..." The voice is familiar.

"Tell us what we want to know. Tell us and you won't have to suffer anymore." The voice tries to coerce him. To reason with him as if he is a petulant and unruly child. Restraints bite into his arms and ribs as he hangs from a chain.

Ed kicks violently at the bed.

Ed kicks at the bastard that was talking to him like he was an idiot child.

"Perhaps he needs a bit of incentive." Another voice snarls behind the first one. The two men walk away to whisper something, his heart is pounding in his chest as he tries to look at the first man. The familiarity making him nervous.

The man walked forward smirking at him. Ed glares back at him on principle before his eyes widen in shock and horror. First at the knife the man was holding, then at the man's face.

"L-Lieutenant. Rockfell." Ed mutters, he's shocked.

What was he doing?

What was he doing here?

What was he doing here holding a knife to Ed's cheek?

Lt. Rockfell smirks the knife trails down Ed's cheek. He flinches when it nicks him.

This can't be real.

This has to be a dream right?

He's still drugged.

Rockfell, a soldier from the east, talked to him not too long before leaving. 

He couldn't be here. He couldn't be a traitor...

Could he?

Ed winces at the cold metal knife on his cheek that slowly began to cut his cheek.

"Why?" Ed asks, desperate for answers. For a sign that maybe he was here undercover.

He was searching for a signal. But there isn't a signal for betrayal. Rockfell backhands him.

"We ask the questions. You answer. Not the other way around, Fullmetal." He sneers Ed's title, as if any sense of friendship was nonexistent.

He shakes his head. This has to be a dream.

A nightmare.

"Wake up!" A harsh voice shouts before Ed's eyes snap open. He finds himself staring at Major Miles, the man looms over Ed, his hands pinning Ed's shoulders down, one knee pinning Ed's thigh down. 

He can't breathe.

Ed finds Dr. Young, Kei, and General Armstrong in the room crowding nearby and shakes. He looks up to the ceiling and doesn't see any tiles, it doesn't help this time. His skin crawls.

"Edward, are you okay?" Dr. Young asks worriedly, making her way forward, she pauses a foot away and he doesn't want her anywhere near him.

He doesn't want any of them anywhere near him.

"It....he...." Ed murmurs incoherently, trying to come to terms with what he just remembered.

"What? Edward, what's wrong?" she asks, brows furrowed as she puts her hand into her pocket, Ed looks away from her and sees Major Miles still pinning him down.

"T-traitor!" Ed shoved Miles's hands off of him, his chest is tight as he sits up. He hugs himself, trying to control the shaking and ease the pain in his heart and body. He refuses to close his eyes, he watches them and thinks that he's shown too much fear.

"What?" General Armstrong strides forward, he flinches. "Who is a traitor? You better not be referring to any of my men." she demands, Dr. Young stops her with an outstretched hand. How can he say who is and isn't a traitor? Anyone here could...

Anyone here could do the same to him.

"I don't..." Can he trust them? He thought he could but what if he's wrong? "Lt. Mark Rockfell at Eastern Command. He was there..." His hand comes up tracing over the wound on his cheek. 

General Armstrong's eyes narrow at the action. She seems to understand what it implies. Not only is Rockfell a traitor, but he helped in torturing Ed. She spins around marching out of the infirmary.

Ed finds himself shaking as he grins sharply at the rest of the soldiers left behind. He can't be weak, he can't let them beat him into submission. It's hit first and if he can't, then hit back harder than them and run.

Chapter Text

Ed's still reeling.

Someone he thought of as a, as a what, friend? Betrayed him.

Ed doesn't do the whole trust thing. After that bastard, he decided people just can't be trusted. Not when Mom loved him so much her heart was breaking every day. So when he does end up trusting someone, when he lets down those walls he painstakingly built up.

It burned.

Made him want to stop trusting in general, but no. Because there were people who did everything to earn ihs trust and kept earning it not giving him any reason to doubt them. Even when he pushed and pushed and pushed, they didn't push back.

A blanket is draped around his shoulders, he ignores it though. Too many thoughts swirl around his head. He ignores Dr. Young, he can't deal with her right now.

"He's in shock." he hears, he hates that word. He knows a lot about shock, how to treat the symptoms and what to do in case someone is in shock.

The first time they broke his finger he went into shock.

"Talk and maybe we won't have to break anymore bones." A sneer aimed his way.

Ed learns real quick to smile through his fear and stop reacting to any taunt.

He has to if he wants to survive.

A hand in his hair, fingers pulling, a sharp pain radiating from his scalp.

Major Miles is standing next to him, his hand is holding Ed's bangs. There's something wet and clear on his cheek. Is that spit?

"Did you pull my hair again?" he asks him, what is with people constantly pulling his hair. He points at the man's face when he doesn't react aside from releasing Ed's hair.

"You know you have spit on your face?" Ed frowns at him when he takes a step back to wipe his cheek, he smirks at him as if he finds Ed amusing. He can vaguely recall their first meeting where he called Ed cute so Ed showed him how cute he could be. 

"I would love to see what you did to anger your kidnappers." Ed chuckles evilly. Why be traumatized when you can traumatize back. It was better than showing he was scared. He catches Dr. Young and Kei shaking.

"This kid is a demon." Kei whispers as if Ed can't hear him. "Doesn't matter the situation it seems." It's been awhile since he's heard one of his comrades refer to him as such. He's been slacking, he has a reputation to uphold. Major Miles takes a seat beside Ed's bed and Ed wonders if he should tell him about the hair pulling.

"What is with you and pulling my hair?" he glares at the man, he smirks at Ed, still amused.

"It gets your attention." Major Miles replies, he stares Ed down for a moment. "You remember our first meeting?" Ed shrugs, it can't really be called remembering if all he has is an impression and a single interaction. He doesn't even remember attacking the man. Ed sighs and looks up, there's no tile, he's not there but here. He looks back down, he can see Dr. Young's expression and wonders why she looks so profoundly disturbed. All he did was look up at the ceiling, come to think of it, he's been doing that a lot lately.

He's not going to look at that too closely.

"We need to talk." Major Miles' voice drags Ed out of his thoughts, the feelings of betrayal come back to the forefront at the grim look on his face. Ed almost hates him for making him relive this, but if there is a traitor in the military they need to know. Ed looks away from him to frown at the wall instead, no need to let them see his pain. Let them think he's just angry.

"What's there to talk about? The fact that someone I thought was a friend betrayed me and helped in my kidnapping?" his voice sounds bitter to his ears. "Or the fact that I was tortured by Drachmans and a soldier who I thought I could trust?" Sometimes when Ed gets overwhelmed by his emotions he lashes out. He tries to tone it down when he's alone because Al would be upset with him if he caused property damage, he never cared when Colonel lectured him over it.

Right now, the feelings of rage and hurt mix and burn him, he curls his automail hand into a fist and before anyone could move towards him, he slams it into the wall. Cracks appear along the wall, but that was it. His automail didn't have the same strength as his steel automail.

"You're lucky that your arm is metal." Dr. Young scolds him, but he can see the sadness on her face. Ed shrugs at her, he knows his limitations even with this new automail. He lowers his arm though and stares down at his lap. He wonders where Hughes is.

"You were betrayed and that burns, Fullmetal," Ed flinches, Major Miles clears his throat. "Elric, but you need to tell us what happened. We need the story for the report and if you tell us, we can go after him and take care of him. But without your statement, we can't do anything and he could do what he did to you to someone else." Major Miles explains after correcting himself. He doesn't want to talk about it, not really but he has to. He just has to suck it up. He doesn't get to behave like a child, he's an adult in the eyes of the military. He has never felt this betrayed before. Never before has he given anyone the chance after that bastard left their lives.

How could a soldier, a close comrade and friend to him, do this? As if Ed had mattered so little. As if his trust wasn't something that was hard earned.

"It started on the mission Colonel sent me on." Ed starts quietly. "During the mission I could feel someone watching me, but I was never able to find the person or persons. I finished the mission and was planning to head to Central to ask for Lt. Colonel Hughes' help in locating the person watching me." he hadn't wanted to lead them home to Al and Winry and had left a coded message with the staff of the inn he'd been staying at to deliver to Al so he knew.

"I never made it." Ed wonders if he's a little too predictable in how he buys food and drinks from small time vendors. "I was drugged before the fight even began, it was entirely my fault." he reflects bitterly. He has a reputation, he shouldn't have just blindedly trusted his food to not be tampered with.

"I was attacked. I think there were 4 men, but I'm not sure." He shudders as he remembers realizing he was going to lose and to a bunch of mooks despite having already beaten a handful of them. He can recall the anger he felt as arms came up behind him and smothered him with a cloth dipped in a drug to knock him out. "They managed to knock me out with some type of drug, it smelled sweet. I can't remember much of what happened until waking up in that room." They hadn't taken his automail in the beginning, not until he broke free the first time in a matter of minutes.

"But I remember..." the sound of trotting. "Horses..." the smell associated with carriages. "And laughing the few times I managed to wake up before I was drugged again." The feeling of something flowy around his ankles, a comment about a daughter and the sensation of a scarf in his hair. Ed refuses to look away from the people around him. Can he trust them?

Or will they also spit on his trust.

"I see." Major Miles doesn't try to make light of his situation. "You're doing good. Can you tell us what happened when you woke up in that room?" that's a loaded question. Had Ed subconsciously been forgetting Mark? Did he not want to remember being betrayed that badly that he thought mooks 1 to 10 with their very limited thought capability could hold him for weeks.

"It was a different room from the one I was in last," it was a lot brighter and spacious. "They had me hanging from some chain attached to the ceiling." As if him being unable to reach the floor would have stopped him from trying to escape.

"It got messy after awhile." So much blood. So much destruction from both him and the mooks fighting each other. "The other room was more a punishment room." leaving him alone in the dark for hours on end, not that he could tell when they drugged him up to the gills. Ed catches the horrified looks on Dr. Young and Kei's face, he shrugs at them. What can he say? He's a frustrating person.

"They got tired of me escaping and tied me to a chair for a little while." Ed can remember the chair was splintered when he bashed mook #9 with it. "They took away my automail after some time." he can remember the yelling in regards to him having automail still and how Mark took it away from him.

He can remember how mook #5 was replaced when he wouldn't stop touching Ed's face with a strange look in his eyes. It was the only time he was grateful for mook #2 and #8. They'd taken the man away and he never saw him again, instead a replacement had been sent.

"Mook #2 and #8 got rid of handsy #5." he tells them blandly, unbothered by the fact. Is he going into shock? Ed's idly aware of Hughes entering the room and kind of wants him to be closer but also wants him to go away at the same time.

"It's okay, take your time." Major Miles speaks gently, Ed gives him the most filthiest glare he can manage when everything feels like its slipping between his fingers. Major Miles raises his hands in surrender, Ed stares past him.

"I spit on them, bit them, kicked them, head butt them and cursed them." the games he invented to stay sane and not be seen as a scared child.

"Whenever I could, I got my hand free and transmuted the walls and floor to attack them." the beatings became a lot more rough and frequent. "Breaking bones didn't stop me, neither did self harm, I had to be very creative in my attempts to escape." Ed stares up at the ceiling.

"No tiles." he mumbles, blinking a few times as his vision wavers and overlaps with another scene. "Fun times." he says dully. The tiles are burned into his mind.

He has nothing to do, the only thing he can see is the ceiling. Should he count the tiles?

He can make a game of it!

The room spins, he starts to count.

Someone pounds on the door shouting for him to shut up.

"I didn't answer any of their questions but sometimes I pretended too just so they would come closer." isn't that how he ended up attack Major Miles. Another game to pass the time. He catches movement from the corner of his eye but ignores it. Just play pretend, don't let them see him planning his next move.

"Damn brat!" Ed bites down harder and ignores the hand yanking his hair.

"They hit me." He has no problem admitting that, he's been hit a lot. "So I hit back twice as hard." Is that Hughes? He has that look on his face again. The one he had when Ed couldn't save Nina and had nightmares.

"Course that was also why the kept drugging me. So I couldn't think but it didn't change anything." Not that it did much, just stole his balance.

"I could still think, just not as fast. Eventually they learned to keep me drugged at all times because I had moments of lucidity and used alchemy." he hopes Rockfell lost his marbles over his incompetent mooks. "But I think I overdosed a few times." the floaty feeling on top of everything losing color. The way that he felt like he was losing his damn mind.

"Someone's waking up again, kid can't stay down." someone comments.

"My turn next." someone says gleefully as something metallic hits the floor hard. Something pokes his chin, slowly raising his head.

He blearily takes in his surroundings. Ah. It's number 3, oh, and 4 and 6 are still here. Really feeling the love. He doesn't look away from the metal rod being raised up over #3's head and calculates the trajectory. His ribs.

Again.

Pain explodes, he hears something crack.

"Answer me! We could put you in time out if you prefer?" he ignores the backhand and opts for humming as he kicks his foot to wake it up. He hates the numb tingly feeling.

He's dragged painfully by his hair to the dark room.

He doesn't make a sound when he hits the ground and sort of just lays there until the door is shut.

"It's dark." he mumbles to himself.

"It's dark." he mumbles. His ribs ache, he can't really catch his breath. Then again, getting repeatedly hit in the ribs and chest can't be doing him any favors.

"Tell us about the Flame Alchemist!" Mook #1 shouts, Ed tenses at his boss' title. This is the first time they bring him up.

Well aside from the taunts that he's not coming.

Ed didn't expect to be saved, he's only had himself to rely on, but that's not right.

Is it.

He knows that everyone in Mustang's team and Hughes would come for him...

Rockfell betraying him really messed him up, huh.

They break his index finger. Ed bites his lips to stop from screaming, blood drips down into his eye. Ed mutters under his breath.

"What was that?" Mook #1 leans in closer to him grabbing Ed's chin to force the teen's head up. "Say it again."

"He's just like you." Ed replies with an evil smirk. "A stupid bastard!" He ripped his chin free and slammed his forehead into the other man's nose.

"Damn brat." The man snarls as he snatches a knife from mook #2 and stabs it into Ed's leg in the same spot again.

They dump him into the dark room again.

"Why do they keep putting me in the dark." he moans to himself.

Maes listens to Ed talk, horror fills his chest. Why were they making Ed relieve this now?

"It's okay, take your time." Major Miles speaks gently, Ed gives him the most filthiest glare he's seen him give and he's given Roy plenty of filthy looks. Major Miles raises his hands in surrender, Ed stares past him. No. He stares through him. Maes remembers exactly how Ed was after Barry, the way he was not entirely present and simply going along with everything as if he wasn't disassociating.

"I spit on them, bit them, kicked them, head butt them and cursed them." Ed has always been a fighter, captivity hadn't changed that but it hurts Maes to hear him talking like this. Like it's a form of entertainment for him.

"Whenever I could, I got my hand free and transmuted the walls and floor to attack them." Ed curls and uncurls his hand, wiggling his fingers. "Breaking bones didn't stop me, neither did self harm, I had to be very creative in my attempts to escape." Ed stares up at the ceiling. Maes starts moving closer, he wants to protect Ed, couldn't they have waited for Maes to ask him?

Why now, why did they start now? After the horrible nightmare Ed just had.

"No tiles." he mumbles, he blinks slowly at the ceiling with confusion in his eyes. "Fun times." he says dully, he slowly looks down at his lap. His eyes look off.

"I didn't answer any of their questions but sometimes I pretended too just so they would come closer." Maes is within grabbing distance, he needs to find a way to get Ed to stop disassociating. 

"They hit me." he says blankly, Maes' heartbreaks. "So I hit back twice as hard." Ed smiles, if that could be called a smile, plenty of teeth being shown. A challenge to some but to Maes a cry for help.

"Course that was also why the kept drugging me. So I couldn't think but it didn't change anything." he comments blandly, like he was just talking about the weather.

"I could still think, just not as fast. Eventually they learned to keep me drugged at all times because I had moments of lucidity and used alchemy." When he finds them, there will be hell to pay.

"But I think I overdosed a few times." Ed blinks a couple times as he begins to sway, sweat beading on his brows as he breathes shallowly.

"It's dark." Ed mumbles, he flinches a little, hand coming up to his ribs. Ed doesn't even seem to be entirely present during the conversation but now he's completely checked out. "Why do they keep putting me in the dark?" he asks confused, his hand moves off to the side and Maes knows he's about to start transmuting. Dr. Young gasps as she steps forward to catch Major Miles' attention.

"Major Miles, he's reliving it. You need to bring him back before he freaks out and believes he is back there. He could attack if he loses himself too far. Be gentle in bringing him back. Anything too forceful will cause him to panic." The fools. Ed's already getting ready to hit them.

He dives forward and shoves the two aside as a large stone hand comes out of the wall. Ed's on his feet, he snaps his sling and goes to clap his hands when Hughes gets back to his feet and snatches his broken arm, his other hand coming up to cup Ed's cheek, his thumb lightly presses against the dark circles under his eyes.

"Hey, hey." he whispers softly as Ed slowly looks up at him. Maes crouches down a little so they're more on eye level. "You're alright." he promises, Ed blinks a couple of times until he meets Maes' eyes. 

"You're at Fort Briggs," Ed's eyes look up to the ceiling and he gently drags Ed's face down. "No, stay here, look at me. You're right here." he tells him as he softly holds Ed's broken fingers. It takes him repeating that a few more times before Ed becomes aware again. He looks thoroughly exhausted. Thankfully he hasn't had another panic attack, small mercies.

"That's it, you're doing great kiddo." he shifts so that Ed can't see Dr. Young or Major Miles and focuses on keeping Ed's attention.

"Hughes?" he looks like he wants to cry, Maes almost wants to cry too.

"You're fine, a little bit tired right now huh?" he jokes as he carefully tugs Ed forward, his legs give out but Maes was anticipating that and simply lowers them to the floor. He snatches the blanket from the bed and drapes it over Ed's shoulders.

"Can you tell me five things you see?" Ed blinks slowly, gaze moving towards the ceiling. Maes shifts his grip and pats Ed's cheek to keep his attention.

"You." he mumbles, voice weak and tired.

"That's good, four more things." Ed huffs tiredly, rolling his eyes but he does look around.

"Kei." the other man is staring at them in stunned silence, Maes will ignore him for now.

"Good, good." he says encouragingly, Ed seems to mull around for a moment before he whispers 'bed' and 'alchemy' under his breath.

"One more thing, come on kiddo. You know how this works." he pouts, eyes at half mast as he leans against Maes' chest trembling violently. Maes hugs him tight as he dares and rubs his back.

"Doctor." Ed tucks his head under Maes chin, his hand coming up to grip at the lapels of Maes' military jacket. He rubs his back, he makes sure that Major Miles faces his full displeasure with a look before he lifts Ed into his arms and takes him to a new bed. The other one can be fixed some other time.

"You should rest Edward." Ed shakes his head, hiding from the world.

"He wanted to know about the state alchemists." Maes' blood freezes in his veins. They took a child, they tortured a goddamn child for military secrets?!

"You were very brave." to not tell them anything and fight them at every turn even when he felt so betrayed. Maes wants to murder someone.

"He asked about Colonel." Ed mumbles, and of course Ed wouldn't have talked even with how much the two seem to not get along sometimes they wouldn't hesitate to defend one another. Did they need specific information about state alchemists that they had to take Ed or is this something to do with Roy? It doesn't really matter, Roy will take this to heart and shoulder even more guilt for no reason.

"I bet you told them, didn't you?" he teases, even as his heart aches at all the pain that Ed has suffered. Given how Ed cussed and fought, he more than likely talked about the most inconsequential things to rile them up.

"Weaknesses. Credentials..." Ed sighs, he can feel him starting to nod off. "Requirements 'n grants allocated to each. Stole my pocket watch." Ed snorts something uncomplimentary under his breath. Maes pinches his nose in retaliation, Ed squawks indignantly before he's off to slumber land. Ed was very protective of his pocketwatch, though he never used it for the time, often asking others who would complain about the pocket watch he had. Only for Ed to point out it didn't work, many people wanted to fix it, wondering how it broke but Ed always waved them off. He knows that Ed sees the pocket watch as the symbol of everything he has agreed to but refuses to use it for menial things to devalue it. He doesn't think the watch even opens.

He'll have to either acquistion a new one to be made, or find and recover the stolen one after reporting it of course. The watch could get people into a lot of places they weren't allowed to go. 

"Di—" Major Miles abruptly stops. He wonders what look he's giving to halt the other man so completely.

"You are going to walk away. Now." he whispers, the other man says nothing and simply turns on his heel. Maes begins to mentally compile his notes, he glances over at the piles of paperwork he'd dropped at the entrance to the infirmary when he saw Ed recounting what he remembered. Here he had been hoping to do it in a more relaxed state to give Ed some time to process things. This is his investigation, he was made the lead.

And Major Miles trampled all over it.

He made the right decision to move out of the office to the infirmary. 

Ed whimpers, he shushes him absently rubbing his back as he goes back to mentally compiling his notes and reporting to Roy about the scum that worked under Major General Hakuro.

The mysterious informant that told them where Ed was, posing as a simple concerned citizen.

"Lt. Colonel?" he glances at Dr. Young reproachfully. She should know how stressed and tired Ed is and she still let the Major question him?

"I apologize..." she looks down shamefully, he sighs and shakes his head. He should have known better, they wouldn't coddle Ed here, especially here. Ed can't have it both ways, be seen as an adult and be seen as a child. He hates that Ed is a state alchemist.

Hates that a twelve year old boy had to step up to fix mistakes made because he was just a scared and lonely child missing his parents even if he vehemently proclaims his hatred of his father. You can't hate something without having loved it in the first place.

Life isn't fair, he's always known that. But sometimes he wishes it would give people a break.

Ed jerks awake, panting as he shoves Maes, Maes only has to shush him and pat his back a few times to get him to calm down. He slumps into Maes like a limp doll.

"Ugh." he mutters incomprehensibly under his breath, Maes decides Ed needs apple juice.

"Want apple juice?" Ed clicks his tongue, annoyed to hear him, sometimes Ed was like that. So grumpy when he woke up that hearing someone even talk just irritated him to no end. But that was sleep and hunger talking. He really is just a kid.

He catches Kei leaving from the corners of his eyes but ignores it as he lets Ed go, give him his space before he could grow conscious of their proximity and get embarrassed. It takes a few minutes for Ed to fully become cognizant of his surroundings, Maes has him fix the wall. Ed keeps his complaints to a minimum.

He catches Ed opening his mouth before closing it and turning away several times. Maes lets him gather his thoughts.

He grabs his paperwork and starts assembling it into proper order before hunkering down to start writing what he learned.

Kei knocks on the door, three sharp knocks followed by two short and two long knocks. Ed stares at the door blankly before rolling his eyes. Maes resolves to keep an eye on Ed and all the relationships he's formed. Ed takes betrayal hard.

Keeps his soft squishy side and hoards it jealously, but when he gives you his trust its like the universe has opened up. Even as cantankerous as Ed is, he's also a sweet kid with a heart of gold and too much weight being carried on his back. This might be a set back, might make him a little more closed off and reserved when he's already plenty closed off and reserved. Antisocial in nature and spiteful to a tee.

"Stew and apple juice for Ed, I also have Clarink and Brody dropping by with food for the rest of us." he comments cheerfully, Ed shoots him an unimpressed glare as stares at the new sling Maes had him put on. He picks at it for lack of things to do, his travel log lays innocently on the bed, the only Maes had been able to recover and had sent to Al in hopes that he could decipher it and tell him anything. All Al could tell him is that Ed was being followed and was headed up to see him. It had made it all the more heartbreaking for him to discover. He'd failed Ed before he even had the chance, he won't fail him again.

Even if that means he seems unreasonable, obstinate in his need to keep Ed safe even from his own comrades, Ed is fragile for all that he pretends he's not.

Ed stares at his soup unethusiatically. He can see Dr. Young worrying, he shoves it aside and knows Ed won't waste food. He's always been that way. He eats a lot, almost like he's also eating for his brother who can't eat. He sleeps double the amount too.

Is it possible, with Ed anchoring Al's soul using his own blood, that he's also anchoring Al's soul with his own body? Something to ask Ed about.

He brightens up after his first spoon of stew.

"You might need to take some vitamins." Maes comments, Ed bristles like a cat, Maes raises a brow at him and he subsides after a moment.

"It better not be those kiddy ones." he mutters, Maes can promise that, he doubts the military has gummy supplements anyways. Dr. Young looks relieved, but Maes isn't doing it for her. He simply glanced at Ed's chart and saw that he still hasn't gained back any weight he lost, that he only just started keeping his food down and knows that Ed can't keep going on like this.

His system is already run down, he needs to do all he can to help him get healthy on top of his recovery.

"Don't tell bastard." Maes looks up from his papers and holds a hand to his chest.

"Your secrets safe with me. Roy won't hear a peep out of me." he tells him, Ed eyes him suspiciously.

"Besides, Roy still eats the gummy vitamins." he adds, Ed snickers into his spoon, Maes takes the bottle from Dr. Young's hands when she approaches them and reads the bottle, he decides that Ed can safely take it and passes it back to her. She looks disgruntled but doesn't comment and instead places the pills on Ed's tray. Ed sighs, rolls his eyes and ignores the pills until he can't anymore at which point he swallows them and downs the last of his stew.

Such a spectacle. This precious wonderful child.

"You want to ask more questions." Ed comments as he sips his apple juice, Maes doesn't look up from the paper he's scribbling on.

"Of course, you know me. Knowledge is power." he replies blithely, Ed doesn't say anything more and they lapse into a comfortable silence. Ed was at peace, Maes was loathe to ruin that peace but he would. Just not right now.

"Can I see your pictures." Maes hands over a fistful without hesitation, even when he wants to prattle on and on about his wife and daughter he doesn't. Ed looking is enough.

Ed seeing is enough for him to, the smaller shaking dying down as he perused the photos, the sense of something in his eyes when he stared at Elysia.

Maes writes down everything he can about Lt. Mark Rockfell, about his career. A failed alchemist who enrolled into the military, Roy had suspected ulterior motives to the Lt's sudden interest in Ed, but he'd suspected ulterior motives for everyone taking an interest in the twelve year old. More often than not he'd been proven right, though Ed never really trusted many aside from everyone on Roy's team and a handful of others that were more or less part of Roy's team even if they were on different squads now.

Maes doesn't move when Ed moves to lean against his back. He just continues to write and wait, Ed will start talking when he wants to and if he's done talking for today then that's fine too. He has more than enough information to start with.

Weaknesses, credentials, requirements, grants allocated, Ed's stolen watch. Good thing they'd frozen Ed's accounts when he'd been declared missing though, given their murky timeline they had to audit him, Al provided all the information and the only thing that stood out was a withdrawal of of ten thousand cens. The money hadn't been traced, it had lead to a dead end.

It was a false lead that had taken them further south.

Requirements, did Rockfell want to try and become a state alchemist still?

Credentials, what did he need to know about their credentials? To make forgeries maybe?

Weaknesses, for individual alchemists? The country? What weaknesses. Roy's in particular?

Did they choose Ed because he's a child? Did they come across him alone and decide then to take him? No. Ed coming and going on missions is common knowledge, including which direction he's traveling even if he never lets anyone know where exactly he's going.

"Do you think you were followed from headquarters?" he feels Ed shake his head, he nods and goes back to his notes, he feels Ed tense and looks up to see Kei standing before him with a paper. He accepts it and watches him until he's a respectable distance away, Ed relaxes behind him. He reads the paper, its notes about what Ed was saying before Maes arrived.

Vendor? He glances over his shoulder. It's true that Ed does like to buy food from street vendors to support the small businesses. He also had quite the sweet tooth, it was the worst kept secret of the East. Still, for someone to use that against him.

Someone dared get handsy with Edward! His underage son!

Ed tenses behind him, Maes takes a deep slow breath and focuses on breathing in and out. Keeping a calm and steady pace, Ed relaxes behind him. 

Right.

He'll plan murder later, Ed is fine now, apparently he has mook #2 and #8 to thank for his innocence.

"I'm tired..." Maes leans back into Ed a little and tilts his head back so that it rests on the top of Ed's.

"Rest, I have your back." Ed doesn't say anything but he can hear him breathing slowly, as deep as he can with his ribs broken. He resolves to wash Ed's hair later, he always did like when Gracia brushed his hair.

He can't spoil him much but he can at least to this.

Olivier stared down at her desk, the news of a traitor burned. The fact that the traitor was someone from the east, the perfect offense to her defense made her sneer. She contacted her family estate and set up information trade, Lt. Colonel Hughes would no doubt do the same but Mustang needed to know he had a rat in his area. It needed to be exterminated.

She didn't mind holding onto the runt until then.

What could been about a half hour passed before Miles comes knocking on her door.

He explained everything, including Lt. Colonel Hughes fury. 

"He is lead on the investigation, he seems to know more about Fullmetal and how his mind works. Perhaps he thought he could speak with him without triggering a flashback." she tells him after he explains the flashback induced attack and how well Lt. Colonel Hughes handled it.

"The state alchemists." she sneers as she thinks of her useless oaf of a brother. Too weak for his own good for all that he prided himself and his strength. "I knew that program was nothing but trouble." she scoffs, how many made it to the rank of major off that alone? How many unworthy had been chosen because of a few petty tricks with no real strength to show for it.

How many scum like Shou Tucker passed, the military getting their greedy hands into things before disposing of the now useless state alchemist.

"I will inform the Furher of what Fullmetal has said, have guards posted outside the infirmary and give Lt. Colonel Hughes some space." she knows that Lt. Colonel Hughes was lax for someone high up in the military, but for him to pull rank on Miles of all people. This man is not one to be taken lightly.

She thinks he may see himself as a father figure of sorts to Fullmetal.

He's a dangerous sort, very protective. And with him being the lead in investigations, poached from the East and handpicked by the Furher himself, yes. This man is nothing but trouble. At least to those he did not like, he was an asset to those who saw his potential.

Olivier makes her way to the infirmary. She has to see the Lt. Colonel herself and speak with the runt about his commanding officer sending a therapist. Even before all this traitor nonsense, she could see that he was barely holding it together. Children don't belong in the military.

They don't deserve to be tortured either.

She knocks once before entering the infirmary. Lt. Colonel Hughes is sitting on Fullmetal's bed, the runt asleep leaning against his back. She quirks a brow at him, he salutes her from his seated position with a slightly questioning look on his face, she releases him from his salute and grabs a stool to sit across from him. He shoves some pages onto the wheeled table he was using as a desk.

"What can I do for you General?" he asks cautiously, eyes unreadable as he stares at her. She thinks about the mess Miles made and sighs to herself that the only good investigator was also a father with a family complex. Well, the good soldiers were always a bit eccentric.

"The runt's commanding officer has sent the military therapist to Fort Briggs, she will be arriving in a few days once the weather settles. He has not been informed yet." Lt. Colonel Hughes hums thoughtfully, no doubt recalling the information that she'd given him when he first arrived.

"A preliminary evaluation?" he asks her warily, she nods. They were only keeping her for trial basis to see if she was a good fit for Fullmetal and if she wasn't, well they were going to have to keep her and have her stay away from him now that she has military secrets regarding him. And no doubt she would learn about the traitor as well.

"And if she fails?" he asks a hard glint in his eyes.

"Then she will cease all contact but she will not be allowed to leave the base. Not when it has been made apparent that Fulllmetal was targeted on purpose." he nods glancing behind himself for a moment. He knocks his head against Fullmetal's when he jerks awake.

"You alright there kiddo?" he asks softly, Fullmetal groans, hand coming up to cradle his ribs.

"I'm fine." he mutters, but it doesn't sound like he means it. She clears her throat, Fullmetal jumps to attention, eyes meeting hers. There's anger and fear in his gold eyes before he seems to recognize her.

"Sir..." he watches her wary in a way that screams he's at his wits end with the interrogations. She catches Lt. Colonel Hughes' attention, he gives her a thumbs up and shifts a little so he and Fullmetal are shoulder to shoulder.

"Roy found a military therapist willing to come up to Fort Briggs to speak with you and offer therapy. General Armstrong graciously accepted and she should be arriving in a few days." Fullmetal stares at them stunned.

"Therapist?" he asks as if seeking clarification. Olivier stares impassively at him, she will not budge on this issue when Fullmetal has proven to be a weapon of mass destruction with no discrimination between friend and foe. She will not have her men besieged from within. That being said, after all that he's endured, she can understand just why he is this way and cannot fault him.

He shrinks.

There's no other word for it. He shrinks, something like shame crosses his face.

Oh.

He doesn't want to be seen as weak. A child, tortured and held against his will, betrayed and now that he's away from it all, everyone can see him for what he truly is. A scared child. After spending so long making a reputation for himself, making himself someone not to be taken lightly or messed with. He fought hard to be recognized and not looked down on for his age. Similar to the battles she faced for being a woman in the military with the rank of general.

"No one will look down on you. You are not weak." Fullmetal shakes his head as he brings his knees to his chest.

"It isn't that! It's..." frustration crosses his face. "It's not that I'm afraid of being seen as weak. Or that I think I'm weak..." He bites his lip, Lt. Colonel Hughes doesn't move to coddle him like she thought he would. He simply presses his shoulder a little more firmly into Fullmetal which gives him courage to continue speaking. He looks down, bangs hiding his face.

"It's that. I know I'll change if I talk about it. More than I've changed now." Olivier looks at him before she shuts her eyes in understanding. This child. For all the facades he put up, he really is still a child. To not understand, even Olivier could not be strong after something like this. She knew her limits.

But children didn't understand, how could they? They had to be taught, and this child grew up in the military where any weakness was pounced on and stomped on to gain a foot hold up the ladder. He couldn't afford to be weak, had fought tooth and nail only to have it all ripped away from him. She glances at the paternal investigator and nods to herself.

He can still learn.

"You're only strong now because you truly haven't acknowledged what has happened to you." he nods, Olivier climbs to her feet abruptly startling him, Lt. Colonel Hughes shoots her a warning look. No fear when it comes to his son, and this boy is his son despite there being no actual paperwork involved. "You have others to lean on while you are recovering and your defense are down. We are the Northern Wall of Briggs. We are impenetrable and only the strongest survive." She looks at him fiercely, trying to impress upon him this knowledge and give him something tangible to hold onto. 

"You are a member of the military, from Eastern command." He nods trying to figure her out. "But you live by the motto of Briggs. That is worthy of being a member of my fortress." She informs him curtly, he stares at her blankly for a moment before laughter spills past his lips as he buries his face in his hand. She can understand, acceptance is hard. People are people everywhere and will find any reason to look down on someone else, do everything they can to tear them down and crush them beneath their heels. 

To be his defense when he has none of his own is what Fort Briggs stands for. Her impenetrable wall has stood untouched for years and it will not fall anytime soon if she has her say.

She sees Lt. Colonel Hughes smiles at her in appreciation, she pays it no mind as she watches Fullmetal.

"Okay." he says simply, he looks worn out. She hopes to rebuild his trust in his comrades but half the battle is already won.

"I have something to tell you later." he says lowly as he looks away from her, Lt. Colonel Hughes looks a little surprised but doesn't question him. Whatever it is he's going to tell her, it must be very important to him. Something that she doubts he would have ever told her if he wasn't still reeling from being betrayed.

Whatever it is, she will handle it when the time comes. It might make or break the kid even further.

Chapter Text

Roy doesn't know what Fullmetal will be struggling with.

He knows that he will be on edge around the soldiers of Fort Briggs for the very simple reason of him not trusting anyone right away. He wonders if it will make it harder for a therapist to help him out.

He peruses the files again with that in mind.

Fullmetal hates being seen as weak. It's an eat or be eaten type of atmosphere here, so maybe he isn't too far off for not wanting to be seen as weak.

The therapist has to be someone that has seen combat, that can understand the combative nature Fullmetal wears for all to see.

He discards a file.

Fullmetal is loud, abrasive, reckless, and prone to throwing temper tantrums that while Roy loves to rile him up, knows better than to poke at certain things.

They need to understand that there is more to Fullmetal than he will be willing to present, and may not ever open because he guarded his soft squishy side.

Fullmetal is just a kid in an adults world and it shows with all the fronts he puts up to seem tall and indestructible.

Will they see past the arrogant, smart mouth boy's attempts to drive them away?

Roy drums his fingers against his desk as he stares at the final three files remaining. He's unsure who to choose, they all meet his criteria, anyone one of them would be a good choice for him. But will they be a good fit is the question?

He glances out the window, the sun has set, they should be a third of the way to the North by now. He hopes everything goes okay. He sighs as he checks the time, still three hours to go for the work day to end. He has to come to a decision tonight. 

Ed is just a kid. Hasn't he suffered enough?

He stares down at all three files once more, he rests his chin on his steepled fingers.

There is no right or wrong choice here, but the best choice would help Fullmetal during this time and he would do his damn best to make sure he was seen, heard, and understood. Roy knows that Fullmetal has needed therapy for years, the result of his human transmutation, the soul binding he did for his brother's soul and the year he forced himself to go through for automail despite it needing three years and at a younger age than most recommend for automail. Then everything that has happened since joined the military like Barry the Chopper and Nina Tucker.

He needed therapy badly but Roy could never push for it, not with how closed off the kid was. Not when the most severe trauma was human transmutation, a taboo that would have the kid locked away and his brother taken away to some secret lab.

"Sir?" he looks up from the files to see Riza, Lt. Hawkeye frowns at him in disapproval.

"I can't decide who would be the best choice for him." he tells her softly, her eyes soften as she makes her way to his desk. She glances through the files and starts listing out the criteria he made, he nods to each one. Both stare down at the innocuous files that really shouldn't have such a huge impact on the mental health of one child but ultimately will.

"Interview them personally." she suggests after another minute of the two of them staring at the files.

Knock.

Knock.

"Come in."

Roy's door opens to reveal Lt. Hawkeye leading Rain Allen into the room.

"Warrant officer Allen," Mustang says, a bit surprised at how fast Lt. Hawkeye retrieved her, especially with how late it is.

"Colonel Mustang." Warrant officer Allen greets him warmly, giving him a salute. "Lt. Hawkeye told me you have need of me at this hour?"

Knock.

Knock.

"Come in."

Roy's door opens to reveal Lt. Hawkeye leading Aria Thompson into the room. She looks at the Captain's back with a look of disgust and he inwardly sighs.

"Captain Thompson," Roy greets the woman who smiles nervously with a pink tint to her cheeks.

"Colonel Mustang." she greets him shyly with a salute. "You called for me personally?" 

Knock.

Knock.

"Come in."

Roy's door opens to reveal Second Lt. Havoc leads in the final selection, Lian Archer into the room. He catches Roy's eyes and gives him an exaggerated wink before pulling out a cigarette. Roy decides to treat that team out to dinner later, they need it after finding out that two of Fullmetal's would-be therapist only agreed to this possible job to date him. As if he'd just push thoughts of Fullmetal's well being to the side. The nerve some people have, this is a child in distress.

"Lt. Archer," Roy greets the woman, she doesn't immediately blush like the last candidate but that isn't a point in her favor. Lt. Hawkeye didn't escort her in and 2nd Lt. Havoc did, a big sign that she is not going to be well received by the team.

"Colonel Mustang, I was told about the possibility of going up North to speak with Major Elric?" she says it like a question, saluting after a beat. Roy can read her like a book.

She wanted to climb the ladder. And she was willing to use his hurt subordinate to do so.

His lip curls, he makes sure to present a delightful charming look as he lures her in like a fly to a spider's web.

Like hell he would let anyone use his team and treat them so disrespectfully.

The next morning Roy has discarded the two files and kept a single file on his desk. His team gather around his desk to stare at it.

"Thoughts?" he asks, 2nd Lt. Havoc mutters 'And prayers.' under his breath, he offers him single look but he doesn't budge.

"I like her better than the other two, chief..." Master Sergeant Fuery's eyes water, he shakes his head. "Chief needs someone that is going to look at him for being him, not connected to you." Roy nods, Warrant officer Falman clears his throat.

"I think that a more formal interview wouldn't be a bad thing." Right. The informal interviews he had done yesterday had been a quick in and out, let's introduce yourself type of thing.

"Of course." he says, 2nd Lt. Breda shares a look with 2nd Lt. Havoc.

"I'd feel more comfortable if you let us listen in." he doesn't show his surprise, lately his men have been eavesdropping on his conversations, any news on Fullmetal had them on the edge of their seats. If it would make them feel safer to listen in then he won't stop them.

They all cared greatly for Fullmetal.

He was their youngest. He needed the most looking after even when he tried to pretend he didn't.

His trust had been hard to earn, harder to keep but to each of them it was a well fought battle that they carried many scars for. Such as 2nd Lt. Havoc and the bite of March 15th, or Master Sergeant Fuery and the Tuesday that will go down in the history of Eastern command that will never be spoken about out loud but will be etched into the dorms for years.

And let's not forget...

Yearly vaccinations, a spectator sport with the grand prize being is being treated to breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next week while Fullmetal puffs up like some sort of strange and feral creature masquerading as a child for being taken against his will to make sure he stays healthy as he traipses about the country.

"Very well, Warrant officer Falman, if you would escort your fellow warrant officer to our office, take the scenic route while you're at it." he nods and swiftly exits the room.

"Everyone else, into position." he tells them, a radio is fitted under his desk and soon everyone slips into character. Lt. Hawkeye slips out with Black Hayate and the men goof off.

A knock on his door and he's carelessly flipping through the files on his desk, he waits about two minutes.

"Enter." he calls out as he flips another page. Each page burned into his memory, each injury, every action Fullmetal has taken, every action he had taken unconsciously with speculation. 

"Warrant officer Allen as requested." he nods to Warrant officer Falman and gestures for the woman to sit after she salutes him.

"Did you wish to speak more about what therapy would entail?" she asks politely, he watches her body language even as he pretends to be engrossed in the reports as if he hasn't read them dozens of times, pages once pristine now slightly wrinkled from how often he clenched his hands while holding them.

"Yes." he tells her, gives her a slow once over to see if she reacts. She maintains a professional disposition and politely ignores his gaze.

"Well, each patient is different so I can't tell you exactly how things would go for Major Elric but know this, I won't push him to talk about anything he isn't ready to speak to me about." she says strongly, hands clenched on her lap as she stares him dead in the eye with grim determination.

"You can't push someone after what he's been through, you especially can't push a child." she quirks a brow at him as if to say she knows what he's doing.

She's gutsy.

"My would be patient would be Major Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist?" she frowns, clearly worried.

"I heard he was rescued not too long ago." she mutters before looking up to meet his eyes.

"A child has no place in the military." he hates when people tell him that to his face, worse, when they tell that to Fullmetal. Damn kid never tells him when he's being picked on and it takes everyone on his team, including a few that left to join other squads to keep an eye and ear out for any trouble. Some times he can handle it on his own, other times it requires...

A delicate touch.

Or ten.

"That doesn't mean I will allow him to suffer. Children were not made for suffering." He's unsure what to think about her. She greatly disapproves of Fullmetal in the military which is never a good sign for the kid or his team.

And yet she is not willing to let him suffer

"I can tell that you care for him greatly," she folds her hands on her lap. "A child has no place in the military but on your team he is safest."

"And what if the only reason I would think to send him a therapist is to get answers, our investigation is heading towards a dead end and Fullmetal has not spoken about his captivity." she raises a brow at him as if to say 'Really?' and he wonders if Hughes would kill him if he were to send the therapist for that reason.

"Then I would get answers at his pace, if he doesn't answer in a timely manner then that's your fault for expecting more. I won't rush him." she glares at him, a fierce expression for her having to look up to meet his eyes.

A military therapist with some military training in gun control and hand-to-hand combat. Not on a high level, but enough to keep herself safe while at Briggs. Enough to keep Ed safe if the impossible happens and Briggs is breached. Maybe Ed would open up to someone who had children of her own in the military.

He idly taps the underside of his desk, willing to hear out what his team has to say. He hears a knock on his door instead.

"Enter." he watches his team stand in the doorway to stare at the military therapist, they don't say a word, not a single word.

But he can see that they've accepted her.

"Is this a test?" she asks, no one says a word to her before closing the door. She stares blankly at the door before turning back to him and raising a single brow.

"Can't be too careful." he shrugs nonchalant, she rubs her forehead.

"Alright, I will need his file and the file about what happened to him." she says instead of whatever it is she wanted to say. She gestures for the files but he simply knocks on the underside of his desk.

"I already have most of it prepared for, Lt. Hawkeye can give it to you." Roy says glancing at the copies he had on his desk. "You can take them with you on your way to Briggs, but I need you to be careful not to let anything happen to them. We can't let these files fall into the wrong hands." he won't let her have the originals, well his originals. He'll have Warrant officer Falman tail her until she makes it to the North to make sure that she doesn't end up absconding with the information. 

"I understand. When do I depart?" she asks, he goes over the details with her down to the time her train departs and hears a soft tap from the radio that lets him know his team has set about making sure everything goes smoothly.

Roy knows exactly how long it will take to get to the North from Central.

He knows that once Alphonse Elric and Winry Rockbell arrive to the North with their escorts, time matters very little. He doesn't know if there is a blizzard. Doesn't know if another skirmish has captivated the North. He doesn't know if they will get to meet Fullmetal or simply pass his automail, which Roy had to pay since Fullmetal's accounts had been frozen, tens of thousands of cens stolen and untraced with a false lead regarding it to boot.

He doesn't know how long it will take Maes to get to Fort Briggs, how long it will take him to settle in before he can contact Roy again.

He doesn't know a lot of things.

He hates it.

Roy's fingers drum nervously against his desk, Warrant Officer Rain Allen is two days behind Al and Fullmetal's mechanic. Warrant Officer Falman has been sending coded messages back whenever their train docks at a station.

No news from Hughes.

Nothing from General Armstrong now that Hughes is on his way North and can't give Roy daily updates.

"Roy!" Roy jerks away from the phone at the cheerful voice.

"I see you've made it to the North." he comments blandly, right on schedule.

"Yep! And Al and Winry are going to the hospital! They get to see Ed right away! I'm jealous!" he whines, but Roy hears him for what he's saying. They arrived safe, no tag alongs and Fullmetal was well enough to be escorted from Briggs to meet two civilians. Though there might be an escort around somewhere.

"I have to go now, Major Miles and I have to catch up with each other!" he hangs up. Roy sighs wearily, he hopes everything goes well. He knows that trouble finds Fullmetal even when he's laid out on a hospital bed.

Only time will tell, he doubts Hughes will get to catch him up on anything on his first night in Fort Briggs as he settles in and makes a place for himself. Hopefully he gets to see Fullmetal.

He hopes it soothes Fullmetal to see Hughes. He knows how much it comforts the kid to see Hughes, despite how vehemently he protest spending time with the family obsessed man. Their relationship with the Elric brothers differed from each other but were the same in some key points.

Maes was the one they turned to when the world was too big, too loud and bright. When it was trying to stomp out the blazing inferno that was Edward Elric. It was where Roy pushed them too when they needed someone on their side more than needed someone looking out for them. The military is no place for a child, but they carved out their place. Made it so people thought twice before messing with them but every now and then Roy had to step in, his team had to get creative in retaliation and make it so that neither boys noticed.

Roy was the person they knew was on their side, the one who scolded them and gave them space when needed. And space they needed. These orphans grew up alone without any adults, made everything they had to learn even hard because there needed to be adults in their lives to teach them life lessons but instead they only had one another. And for all that Ed tried to parent his brother, their failed human transmutation being his biggest regret and the heaviest weight on his shoulder, he could not exemplify all that parents could do for their children. And he tried his damn best to give his brother a childhood, even stuck in that suit of armor. Tried to pass milestones with them but missed his own. 

It was why took responsibility of them so hard. They had no one to stand in their corner. To speak out for them and not like anyone could with Fullmetal joining the military and making himself heard. But the times he couldn't Roy and his team stepped in. Their trust was well earned especially with both brothers sometimes being antisocial and Fullmetal being inclined to distrust everyone while his brother was more reserved in his judgement he was about the same which made it all the worth while to have their trust. To be part of a rare few that had the honor of seeing both boys as they are and not as they present.

His team took special pride in their accomplishment. Trust is something they value, none more so than the Elric brothers.

Meaning, that when Fullmetal gets injured, Roy pays close attention. He carries the blame for that even though he knows Fullmetal will not. He has never been one to pass the blame, instead choosing to place the blame square on his own shoulders. Blaming himself, his lack of training, awareness even if things were out of his control lack misinformation or a teammate not being able to help him out.

And Maes reams him out for the injuries. Such as the time Fullmetal lost two baby teeth, one of which he has in a drawer and the other is kept by Hughes for sentimental value. He still has no idea how he found out, he'd paid Fullmetal for his silence, the equivalent exchange of two baby teeth, Hughes is certainly a formidable investigator.

Roy growls at the stacks of paperwork that seemingly multiplied when he had blinked. Where the hell is it all coming from! Fullmetal is out of the field!!

"This never ends." He sighs before getting back to work on the nearest stack. It keeps his mind off the phone call he's waiting for. He hopes Hughes calls soon.

He hopes Fullmetal finds comfort in Hughes, being around so many unknown soldiers who he doesn't trust is bound to make him more than a little cranky. That and his escape attempts from the infirmary would be pretty high now that he has his automail again. Hopefully Hughes can curb that impulse.

The phone rings not too long after his call with Hughes. He wasn't expecting another update so soon.

It's Al.

"Colonel, brother got his automail. Winry and I were able to see him." he sounds relived, Roy's glad.

"That's good." he murmurs softly, he can't imagine how it would be to see Fullmetal looking all small and hurt on a hospital bed. It hurts to even think that.

"Colonel?" Al calls out to him in a small voice, he waits to hear what he has to say.

"You know my brother doesn't blame you for anything that happened to him, right?" This kid. His brother was missing for six weeks, injuries cover every inch of his body and he still tries to comfort Roy. "He's hurting a lot and he looks terrible." Al says as if he hadn't just broke Roy's heart.

"But he's smiling and laughing, he's going to be alright with some time." he continues trying to absolve Roy of guilt. But Roy can't.

He knows that neither brother holds anyone responsible for their pain and suffering, but Roy has to take accountability. He knows that neither brother likes to rely on people, Fullmetal more than his brother, but one day they will look back and see that Roy has always had their back. One day they'll see even if they like to pretend they don't have people that try to guide and teach them in the place of their parents. 

"I'm glad you were able to see your brother Alphonse." he says sincerely even as he pinches his nose, the burning in his eyes ignored as he tries to hold it together.

"Thank you for talking to General Armstrong to give us the chance to see him." Roy wants to cry. These two brothers, for all the hardships they've endured, how can they still be so kindhearted? Fullmetal, for all his spite and vitriol fueled words, has a heart of gold. Alphonse, for all that people think he's naive, his very perceptive and kind because he can be kind and chooses to be kind.

It's fifteen minutes until the day's end. When the phone rings.

Everyone freezes and look to him for answers.

He cautiously picks up the phone.

"Hey buddy!" Hughes' overly cheerful voice greets him, Roy's brow twitches with annoyance.

"Hughes." he intones, barely concealed disdain dripping from his voice.

"So I talked to Al, and do you know what he told me?" Hughes asks, he can already see where this is going.

"That you're too cheerful?" Roy replies annoyed by the constant checking in. He isn't going to do anything stupid.

"Well, with that attitude, you'll never be able to see the good in what is going on." he says brightly, he wants to know how there is any good in this situation.

"What good could they possibly be to find?" Roy snaps, as he grabs a pen, Lt. Hawkeye shuts his door.

"He's getting better." Roy falls silent as he twirls the pen in his hand. Getting better? From all the broken bones, bruises, stab wounds and the damn infection that scarred his lungs!

"And he doesn't blame you, for anything." Mustang stops twirling his pen and grips it tightly in his hand. He knows that he hasn't talked with Fullmetal yet, he sounds entirely to sure all the same. And he has yet to even ream Roy out for the injuries Fullmetal has. It's been days and he has yet to even breathe a word of anger in regards to that.

"Do you hear me Roy?" Roy feels relief and at the same time the guilt in his heart doubles. What reason does Roy have to hold onto this guilt? Accountability, of course.

He hates that word, accountability.

But when it comes to the Elric brothers, it falls on him to be accountable for them. For their actions good or bad. For their injuries, for their words, and Roy knows that both brothers like to pretend that not having parents means the accountability falls on them, Edward more than Alphonse, but it falls to him. To look after them. To praise them or scold them. To reward them or punish. Give them a gentle nudge when the fire starts to die out. Curb the violent glee Fullmetal has when it comes to fighting

"How can you be sure?" He asks wanting Hughes to help him understand where he is getting his optimism from. To prod him into yelling at Roy for allowing this to happen to Ed.

"Because Ed may act tough and be very rough around the edges but he is a very sweet and kind boy. He doesn't needlessly blame people and he is very forgiving." Roy sets his pen down he ignores the dampness in his eyes.

"That's exactly the point. He may forgive me, but I can forgive myself." Hughes sighs sadly at the other end. He mutters something uncomplimentary under his breath. Does Maes forgive him for this?

He doesn't have a guilt complex.

"Roy, if Ed and Al can forgive you. Can't you find it in your heart to forgive yourself?" Roy hangs up on him. He cannot forgive himself because then that will be absolving him of any guilt he carries for dragging a desperate child (seeking to make amends to his only remaining family) into the military for his own gain. He is responsible for two children innocent to the ways of the world. He has to guide them, teach them, protect and defend them.

He hadn't wanted to, he had simply decided once the kid was in the military that he would maintain a professional relationship with them.

Then Shou fucking Tucker happened.

He tried to remain distant, impartial. Give the kid a boost when he was low on hope.

Then Maes called him, told him about the nightmares. About the weak and frightened children living under his roof and he caved.

He brought both boys out of the safe countryside, he would need to be the one that has to be the one who will stand up for them, be in their corner. Substitute in as some type of guardian despite Fullmetal vehemently protesting the need for one when he could look after himself and his brother just fine. Fullmetal can't be his brother's guardian, not when both of them are underage. Hell, Fullmetal isn't even emancipated as a state alchemist but everyone is just...

Ignoring that.

So yes, responsibility for the two Elrics falls under his jurisdiction. 

He has to raise one quasi feral demon child masquerading as a feral teenage boy and one sentient suit of armor (a goddamn child) that is actually the brother of the feral demon creature which almost has him wondering what type of feral creature Alphonse could be when he is ready to throw down no holds barred, should his older brother come to harm. 

The phone rings again, just as they are about to leave for the night. He sighs and he answers it, Hughes better not be calling about his guilt complex again.

"Mustang!" General Armstrong barks startling him into almost dropping the phone.

"Uh. Yes sir!" It's silent for a moment, she sighs.

"Fullmetal has returned. There is a blizzard so this therapist of yours will have to wait until it blows over. I will not risk my men for a therapist so the runt could talk about his feelings. Is that understood?" she demands.

"Yes sir." She abruptly hangs up after his response leaving him to stare at the phone in shock.

"Alright, I guess." he wouldn't have compromised the security of Fort Briggs in the first place.

Roy glares at his never ending pile of paperwork. He swears that Lt. Hawkeye is just finding more and more paperwork for him to do to keep him distracted. There shouldn't be this much with Fullmetal out of the field!

Or she was punishing him for something....

It had to be that one.

A new day has begun, they start the day with the phone ringing as they enter the office.

He almost wants to let it continue ringing but he sees the dread and anticipation on the faces of his men and decides to put them out of their misery.

"Roy!" he sighs heavily.

"Hughes." he intones dully as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Now I know you don't believe me, but hear me out." he says, Roy wonders if he should just hang up now. This counts as harassment, right?

It's entirely too quite for a moment as he wait for Hughes to continue, everyone starts to settle in for the day to begin.

"I heard you worried about me." A familiar mocking voice greets his ears. He wonders how hearing Fullmetal's voice simultaneously fills him with relief and boiling hot anger at the same time. Still, he's shocked by unexpectedly hearing his voice in his ears, Roy almost drops his phone, but manages to keep hold of it at the last second.

"FULLMETAL?!" His shout grabs the attention of his team, who poke their heads into the room, eager to hear from they tiny boss. There isn't a single sound for a moment he thought he might have imagined the voice.

"First of all, ow." he complains, amused by Roy's worry. "You trying to blow out my hearing?" he questions mocking his command officer, like nothing has changed and they are sitting right across from each other and having one of their usual spats.

"Second of all, who else would be calling you?" he heckles, increasingly amused by their circumstances and not at all behaving like an injured traumatized child. "Unless you're expecting a call?" he sounds surprised, he can picture him, hand on his chest and everything, as if he's sitting right across from Roy. He bites back a growl of annoyance, this child and he's trying to drag Roy down to his level.

An infant is sassing him.

"How are you?" Roy doesn't even get to finish asking after him, he can feel his blood pressure rising in a way that only Fullmetal can achieve.

"Awww, you do care." he coos mocking Roy. Roy doesn't know whether to feel offended that the kid thought he didn't care or exasperated by the kid that needs a step stool to reach supplies, and is making fun of him for trying to ask after him.

"I'm being serious!" he yells, why can't this kid make anything easy? Roy almost wants to cry, how can he act like this, like nothing has changed. When he's away from his brother, hurt more than he's ever been hurt, and trapped somewhere cold because of him!

"Dying of an incurable disease." he deadpans, Roy's head drops onto his desk with a dull thud, he can see his men sharing looks before deciding to close the door and leave him and Fullmetal to talk in peace.

"Only you can get so thoroughly on my last nerve in minutes." he can hear him snicker, short as it is. "Really, how are you?" he asks softly, the only time he talks like this with Edward is when the kid acts like some sort of spooked feral creature that masquerades as a human being most of the time. Its painful, seeing what fear does to children. He knows a great fear lives within the two Elrics and every once in awhile he catches glimpses of it in the haunted silence they share. The thousand yard stare coming from such a young face. The utter stillness the two lapse into where the lights are on but nobody's home.

It's painful, to be so aware of the limitations of a child despite how hard Ed tries to surpass them. He's just a kid trying so hard to seem like an adult. Not even his demon nature can hide that, most of the time they just deal with it by saying his throwing a temper tantrum and call it a day. But this isn't something that can be chuckled at and pushed aside.

This is like the time Roy had yelled at a sick child who immediately burst into tears and apologized for getting sick and feeling so tired and if that hadn't made him feel like the world's biggest asshole.

"I'm not alright." he says abruptly, and that's a first. Fullmetal keeps his soft squishy vulnerable side hidden from everyone, sometimes even his brother. It takes a lot to get him to even admit to feeling tired or having a single injury. It lets him know right away how bad things are that he just outright admits to not being one hundred percent feral demon child masquerading as a normal human child. That he's not as untouchable as he makes himself seem.

It's incredibly painful to be slapped so harshly with the truth.

"But I'm getting better everyday. You shouldn't worry, this pain, it's nothing compared to that time." Of course, when doesn't he compare his pain to the most traumatizing day of his life? It's his main motivator to pull through any pain. To diminish his suffering as if he matters so little in the grand scheme of things. He'll need to talk with Maes about this again. Ed can't keep putting his brother first, especially at a time like this.

"I know, kid." he tells him, because what else is there to say to that?

"I don't blame you either." he sounds amused, like Roy's something fascinating to poke. "It's like you don't trust me or my skills, you're hurting my feelings with this guilt trip of yours." he continues like the liar he is. Roy counted each day Fullmetal was gone. Forty two days.

He was gone for six long weeks with no friend, no ally, not even a friendly face. Roy wants to cry, this kid is trying to absolve him of his guilt in the most ass backwards roundabout way to date.

The Elric brothers are good kids. One is brash, loud, a disrespectful punk with an attitude but a heart of gold buried underneath it all. The other is a kind soul who chooses to spread kindness and somehow not as cynical or as bitter as his sibling but with a similar heart of gold and empathy for those around him. They may be antisocial sometimes, have trust issues, with one more likely to bite people and the other reserve judgement until you earn their trust. Though one still bites. 

What is he going to do with this kid?

"I get it, thank you Edward." he says as he rests his cheek on his desk.

"Think nothing of it bastard. Now I have some delicious stew to eat and no one is getting in my way of devouring it!" he hangs up abruptly on Roy as if he hadn't just taken time out of his day to harass Roy into not feeling guilty. This punk is unbelievable sometimes.

Roy really does cry.

This kid has to be in the worst pain imaginable, has to be terrified out of his mind, and homesick on top of everything, but here he is. Like the goddamn miracle he is.

After he pulls himself together, he steps out of his office and sees his team scribbling away at their work.

"Fulllmetal isn't okay, but he's getting better." he tells them, that he believes at least. Fullmetal has never been one to laze about even at the detriment of his own health.

"Any new updates will more than likely come from Lt. Colonel Hughes." he tells them, he won't hide his conversations then. They'll be able to listen in, and if Ed is able to speak with them then he knows they'll appreciate it. But for now, they will focus on support from afar and do as investigations asks of them. They do still have to track down what happened to Fullmetal.

They will have justice served.

And it will be delivered swiftly.

Chapter Text

Roy arrives early the next morning to find a very loud bouquet waiting for him. The clashing colors somehow weaved together beautifully. The message was crystal clear. Black dahlias, red daisies, lavender, orange lilies, was that monkhood hidden in there. A betrayal, jealousy, hatred, foe is near.

He reads the card, a secret admirer. 

"Sir?" he glances back at Riza, she stares at the closed blinds, the spotless room, the door he unlocked with him being the only one to carry a key to his office. He scans the room himself, he touches the wall, he can see that someone transmuted themselves a doorway before sealing.

He snaps, the bouquet and card vanishes into nothing.

"Bring Black Hayate to work later." he tells Riza, she nods her head and sets about opening the curtains as Roy checks his desk for anything missing or being tampered with. Jean arrives next and catches what they're doing, he tugs his ear once then taps his right eye twice, Jean nods and starts to look for anything out of place. Kain arrives at the same time as Heymans. He gestures for Jean to fill them in as he checks everything, down to the secret compartment he alchemizes shut at the end of each day.

The files regarding Edward are untouched.

Kain and Jean signal the all clear for bugs, like usual. Aside from the first day when Ed had been found and there had been no less than five bugs around his office.

He sighs, his men gather around his desk.

"Watch each other's backs, be careful on any phones and as always, don't talk about anything related to Fullmetal outside this office with anyone even other members of our unit." they nod, expressions grim as they break up and head to their desks.

Roy can see the tension his men are carrying on their shoulders, a rough start to the day. Usually the bug sweep is something they do whenever the Elrics are coming, or being discussed. After Fullmetal was rescued they began daily sweeps, it wasn't ever something that made them close ranks like this. Roy has never had to remind them of the rules regarding the Elrics, he never had to tell his men to watch their backs.

He can see that it makes them a little twitchy. Hopefully Hughes calls soon to inform about anything he's learned and if he is aware of Roy's secret admirer. If he isn't then he's going to have to have him dig for the rat in their midst while they start to layer the traps.

The phone rings suddenly, everyone tenses.

"Colonel Mustang speaking." he hears someone cough lightly and instantly signals Master Sergeant Fuery who jumps to his feet and fiddles with something.

"Hello?" he hears a slight crackle, Master Sergeant Fuery nods his head as he slips headphones over his ears.

"I heard the pied piper was in town not too long ago Roy." its Vanessa, he signals 2nd Lt. Havoc.

"That's right, were you thinking of heading out into the town yourself?" he questions, he starts to write down where he wants 2nd Lt. Havoc to go as he and Vanessa talk about hypothetical dates.

"Before I go, I just wanted to let you know something interesting I saw the other day." she chirps brightly, he halts 2nd Lt. Havoc before he can leave.

"Oh? What interesting things did you see?" he hums when Master Sergeant Fuery twitches and abandons his post with a glint in his eyes that has him gesturing for Lt. Hawkeye.

"I saw a spider catch a rat in its web, the poor thing looked as if it had been frozen." she says, the static vanishes from the call and he smirks.

"Heard you have a secret admirer in the north. Why not come out with me tonight and forget about her?" he scribbles that down and they exchange some more words before he hangs up, he waits for everyone to return before they start writing on a single notepad that will be burned by the time lunch starts.

'Secret admirer from the North is General Armstrong. She says there is a traitor in our midst, everything I said earlier still stands. Roy writes, his men stare down at the paper with anger.

Someone was listening in on communications, I didn't catch them but they left evidence. Master Sergeant Fuery hastily scribbles underneath.

I cased the perimeter, there were a handful of soldiers around but none that stand out.  Lt. Hawkeye writes, then scribbles Black Hayate  and leaves the office to get the office pet/Elric brother's guard dog.

Still want me to disguise as you to meet Vanessa? 2nd Lt. Havoc asks, he nods his head, he has a few other people to visit that could give him more information in case Hughes tries to take other channels now that they know there is a leak.

Jean Havoc meets Vanessa at a well lit restaurant disguised as Roy while Roy meets Gracia Hughes and Elycia Hughes at a small hole in the wall restaurant.

Gracia chatters on about her husband, and her daughter, passing on her well wishes for Fullmetal. He escorts her to the train station where she hugs him and slips a note into his coat pocket.

He doesn't head home but instead heads towards the bar owned by his foster mother where Riza meets him, dressed in a suit with a hat concealing her long hair and eyes.

I watched a rat scurrying about and tossed a rock at it, but it fell and missed its mark. I'm sitting on some gold while ice fishing, want to join me?

Riza shoots him a look, he nods his head as he folds the note and slips it into his pocket to discard it later. 

So they know there is a rat, one single rat here in the east that somehow caught Ed in the south. Rock. Fell. Mark.

Rockfell Mark.

Lieutenant Mark Rockfell.

"We're going fishing. Can I count on you?" Lt. Hawkeye straightens up and grabs a glass and downs it in one go before she rises to her feet gracefully and exits the bar.

His men are assembled in an undisclosed location. One that they change each time they have a need for secret rendezvous.

It changes every few months, the Elrics only informed when they signal the need for private conversations. So here they are, at three in the morning, sitting in a darkened abandoned warehouse room with a single candle light lit.

"Report." Jean briefly gives him the run down from Vanessa. It was from Hughes who hadn't gone into much detail, just that he was planning on op, his subordinates were not in on it and it involved the Briggs soldiers. The traitor has shaken up the soldiers up North, no mention of Fullmetal at all, so no full report yet.

Roy drops the note Gracia gave him on the small crate they are using as a table.

"We have a rat to catch." Roy declares to his team who are prepared to go scorched earth if necessary.

"Who?" Jean asks, agitatedly opening and closing his lighter with a flick and twist of his fingers.

"A traitor right here at Eastern Command." Roy growls hands clenching into fists. He and his men had done their best to keep away any unsavory soldiers away from the two Elric brothers, most everyone had ulterior motives when it came to them. But the rare few that managed to slip through were usually dealt with by Fullmetal who would rather throw down than extend a hand in friendship. And yet, this one managed to slip past even Fullmetal's barriers. Past Alphonse's barriers, who despite seeming more open sometimes, looked after his brother and was protective of him enough to pretend to trust someone to lure them into complacency only to nail them to a wall when they fail to pass his inspection. It's a slap in the face to them all, their hard work to earn the trust of those two boys put in jeopardy.

So now they have a lead to getting Fullmetal justice. Now he had someone to direct his anger and guilt at. This man was the one who betrayed Ed and gotten him captured and he would pay for it.

"This man aided in the kidnapping and torture of Fullmetal." he folds the paper a little so rockfell lines up neatly. Once everyone has read the note he burns it, Jean's eyes narrow dangerously.

"Rockfell?!" He snarls snapping the lighter shut. Heymans briefly rests his hand on Jean's shoulder, another betrayal to his team.

"First Lt. Mark Rockfell." Roy nods, at Heymans when he whispers the name.

Kain's eyes widen in horror. He can see it all over his face, someone dared to betray the puppy of Eastern command?

Sure they always kept an eye on the people the Elrics interacted with. Always wary of ulterior motives.

Rockfell was always so kind and helpful to not just Ed but Al as well. The three would get lost in discussions about alchemy whenever they had the time, he knows that Rockfell failed the state alchemist exam and instead enlisted when he did. Come to think of it, didn't he join the same year Fullmetal had?

"Here's how we're going to run this op." everyone leans in close, he makes sure to meet everyone's eyes.

"Jean, your friends with him, continue to be friendly and frequent the same bars he does. Sit on him." Jean nods sharply, eyes glimmering with rage.

"Heymans, you take the same route he does to work. I want you on surveillance when he goes to and from work." Heymans nods with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Kain, you will work surveillance from afar. Bug him, meet up with Heymans and find out everywhere he frequents and bug those places as well." he nods as he starts to count on his fingers.

"Riza and I will start rumors, apply pressure." he states coldly, Riza catches his eyes and nods.

He extinguishes the small flame, they pack up and slip out of the warehouse.

They go their separate ways, it will only be a few hours before they meet up again and act as if nothing is wrong. When Vato returns, they'll brief him and slip him into their operation, but for now, he has to inform Maes they were going fishing.

Jean can't believe this, but he will. He won't let chief get hurt anymore than he already has, even if that means condemning a friend. 

Jean downs the drink in his hand as he subtly keeps an eye on Rockfell as he flirts with the bartender, Kristine. He growls under his breath, mentally trying to get himself to focus.

How can he just stand there flirting with the knowledge that he betrayed someone who didn't trust easily? How could he stand knowing he betrayed a friend even if it was all pretend. And now he had to smile, joke and laugh with the guy as if he hadn't just sold out a kid and let him get tortured for weeks on end. What kind of monster does that?

Swallowing his dark feelings for the man, Jean makes his way over to the bar counter.

"Hey, sweetie," He cuts in smoothly, interrupting the conversation. "Could I have refill?" he adds a wink at the end of his request.

"Sure thing, Jean." Kristine smiles at him amusement dancing in her blue eyes. As she left to get his drink, Jean turns to Rockfell and salutes him with two fingers.

"Yo, how you been Mark?" he asks, Rockfell smiles back at him as if nothing is wrong. Jean smiles wider, damn, this guy pisses him off.

"Fine, how have you been?" he asks politely, he catches the way he tries to find something to do to get away from Jean but he sidles up to him and leans in close.

"A lot better now that Chief's been rescued, you heard about that right?" he grins brightly at him. Ed trusted Rockfell, spoke highly of him and was almost as excited to see him as he was Levi and Tommy from Colonel Johnson's team. How could he just spit on that trust? How could he look Ed in the eyes and not want to do everything in his power to make it so he doesn't get hurt or bullied or try to run himself into the ground.

"It's a miracle that he's been saved. I didn't think he'd be found up North of all places." Jean nods, it still surprises everyone to find that out because what the hell. Why take him all the way up North? 

"Chief always did speak highly of you." he mutters as he accepts his drink, he catches the way Rockfell's expression falters.

"Did he?" he asks with a fond smile, was this guy ever a friend? Jean nods, Chief has never been one for empty praise or platitudes. He meant every word he said, every insult too. Though, sometimes, the insults were his way to show affection, like the most backwards way to ever show that he likes you. Bastard. Chainsmoker. Mr. I know everything. Family obsessed freak. Stalker for the cause.

"Well, I do like the kid. He may be loud and brash, but he is a brave one." Rockfell replies, he shakes his head after a moment and stares into the depths of his glass. "I thought he was on a mission in the West for Colonel Mustang." Jean mentally frowns. Everyone knows Ed went South, why was he saying West? Is he really that stupid to give such blatantly wrong information?

"No, it was the South. Still doesn't explain how he ended up north." Jean sighs and knocks back his second drink. "Can I have two more!" Kristine serves two more glasses and Jean passes one to Rockfell.

"To the kid for making it out alive." Jean grins but he could see the hesitation that flits across Rockfell's face.

"To a speedy recovery!" he cheers as if he hadn't just faltered in Jean's face They knocked back their drinks, Jean never felt more disgusted with himself than right now. Cozying up to someone like this man.

They chat some more, mostly about things that Ed had done. The spectacle that comes from Ed's yearly vaccinations, it pains him greatly to find out that Ed was drugged against his will multiple times when the kid is terrified of needles. What kind of sicko uses a kid's phobia against them?

Chief hated hospitals, hate infirmaries, hated drugs, needles and doctors. Now he's stuck in an infirmary with a doctor and drugs, because he knows that they will be trying to give Chief drugs even when he fights it. People think they know what's best for him because he's a kid and adults know better, he hopes Lt. Colonel Hughes reams them out if they try.

He hopes he makes them cry like he had that time Chief landed himself in the hospital and had to get stitches and was drugged against his will. Lt. Colonel Hughes had made so many people cry and one person even lost their job. 

Chief is small. So very small and breakable for all that he tried to make himself seem indestructible.

And Jean is going to have to commit homicide.

Heymans discreetly follows Rockfell after he leaves the bar, Jean subtly waves at him as he calls out to Rockfell about catching up again. He tailed him all the way to his home and yet he didn't head into his home but past. He continued walking for awhile longer until a woman walked out of the darkness between two buildings. His eyes narrow as he takes a photo of the two from afar. He can't continue to tail them for much longer, no telling how many allies Rockfell has but he can give Kain the heads up that he can continue bugging the house.

He slips into the back of the house and knocks signaling Kain who opens the door and peeks out at him with a questioning look.

"He skipped his house, finish up here so we can head out." Kain nods his head and disappears back into the house before emerging with his equipment.

"All listening devices in place. Tomorrow I can start on a couple other places." he says as they get to the car and pack everything away.

"Wait for me to get the all clear so you can bug his desk and Major General Hakuro's office." Kain nods, a glint of steel in his eyes. 

Together the two of them arrive early, earlier than most and begin to sweep through Eastern command.

Each place that they know for sure is a place Rockfell haunts, they will bug more places once Heymans begins to follow the other man around but for now they work fast and they work to make it seem like nothing has been shifted. Major General Hakuro is put on the top of their list as a possible leak, possibly even an unintended leak but that has yet to be proven.

Until they have all the cards, everyone but the people on their specific team is deemed untrustworthy. A select few that were formerly part of Roy's team are scouted out but not informed of the op.

Heymans resolves to keep an eye on them, double check that none of them are going to betray them, betray the Elric brothers.

It's a handful of people, more than five but less than ten. It's going to be a long day.

It's not even eight thirty.

They start their day with their daily bug sweep, Roy bleakly checks the sealed secret drawer. The despair is crashing down on them all again. Bug checking hadn't ever felt so much like...

A death sentence, and yet here they are, meticulously going through everything like they do everyday but this time a weight hangs over them all.

Fullmetal doesn't trust easily, he's stubborn and spiteful and will not hesitate to declare someone his enemy. Loudly and for all to hear. Colonel Bastard.

But he also helps everyone with their paperwork if he sees them struggling, takes the time to talk with everyone and catch up on the things he's missed while traveling. He plays with Black Hayate and gets into stupid stupid fights with his brother about their ability to look after any animal let alone cats but goes with him to find a place for whatever little critter captured his brother's heart. Fights loudly with everyone when they get on him for not drinking milk. But then caves to his brother and declares he won't drink any putrid cow juice for the next six months. Fights even louder when anyone pokes fun at his height, tiny tiny kid that hasn't grown an inch since he first met him.

Listless gold eyes staring up at him, dangling from the grip Roy had on his shirt, two leather gauntlet hands applying the lightest pressure imaginable to his hand and shoulder with broken whispered apologies.

He's the type of kid who gives up his own bed to his brother, a giant metal suit of armor that doesn't need to eat or sleep, and tucks him in like the good big brother that he is.

So to find that someone spit on the trust of this brilliant little spitfire of a child is unbearably painful.

They take it personally.

Because Ed doesn't blame others for his pain, he internalizes it and blames himself for being weak. For not expecting it when he should have. They worked hard to get him to realize he could lean on them a little. They worked hard to earn the sliver of trust he presented them and now it was all going to be an uphill struggle to get him not to clam up on them.

Everyone meets at his desk.

Thumbs up all around, no bugs, office is clean.

"New day men, prepare yourselves and we'll reconvene before lunch." he rubs his thumb and index finger, they nod and he knows come midnight they will return to the ware house.

"You think taking care of your brother makes you an adult? That being a state alchemist makes you an adult?" Roy tries to get this child to see sense. To see reason. How do you show someone that you are on their side? Maes told him to be patient, Ed would only see him as opposition because he instigated and provoked him into joining the miitary.

"You may have done things that make you seem like an adult, but you are still a child Fullmetal." He really is a child, not even emancipated and hadn't that been horrifying to discover when Fullmetal had needed to get some vaccinations and he was told to present himself in capacity as Fullmetal's guardian since he was his direct commanding officer.

"Your language, your attitude, your reckless actions speak for themselves, a child, that is what you are." he points out, Fullmetal crosses his arms over his chest, bandaids stuck to his face, bandages encircling his head and ring finger and pinky splinted together because he'd broken two fingers. Roy sighs but decides to send him off to recuperate with Hughes for the time being.

"You don't have to be alone Edward. You don't always have to be so strong. You can lean on others." Roy says as he fills out the last of the forms to have Ed taken off the active roster until he's recovered enough to go back to the field for investigations. He freezes when Ed cuts in.

"You're wrong." his tone acerbic. "I don't need people who could die any day, soldiers put their lives at risk everyday. I'm not willing to put my trust in people that won't be here one day." Ed says coldly. Ah.

So this is the issues Maes warned him about.

Fine.

This is fine.

He'll be what Ed wants him to be.

He can do this much at least.

"How are things going with Rockfell?" Roy asks Jean as the last of them arrive, Jean aggressively chews on a cigarette.

"He makes me sick." Jean snarls, fury in his eyes. "He acts like he had nothing to do with Chief's kidnapping or torture. Can I shoot him when this is over?" Roy tactfully ignores the question, mostly because he called dibs and if he reminds Jean then he reminds them all and they really don't need a brawl happening in the dead of night at a location that is supposed to be abandoned.

"He suspects nothing?" he asks instead, Riza catches his eyes and he avoids looking in her direction, her stare boring holes into the side of his skull. He called dibs!

"Yeah." Jean growls. "We talked about things Chief did, and he doesn't show an ounce of regret, seemed to want to try to find ways to get away from me but other soldiers joined us in reminiscing." he mutters something foul under his breath as he talks the abused tobacco stick out of his mouth and stuffs it into his pocket.

"He found me at lunch time, wanted to know how Chief is doing up North." he snorts something uncomplimentary under his breath, Roy might have to give Jean a day off before he blows up. He knows he'll maintain his professional attitude for this op, won't break cover but the stress for this one might be a little to much.

"He did?" Heymans frowns, they cast worried looks at each other.

"He's fishing now, isn't he?" he continues after a moment. Roy nods, he and Riza have already started to quietly spread rumors. But for Rockfell to search out Jean directly after? Not good.

"So far we spread the rumor that he doesn't remember anything, too sick and too drugged up." Riza tells them, Kain fiddles with something in his hands as clears his throat.

"He might be trying to find information about Chief starting to remember anything. Because if Chief does start to remember, then it puts him at risk of being caught." Jean nods mutely, before sighing heavily.

"More happy fun times for me?" he asks rhetorically, two days. Two days on this op and everyone is exhausted.

But they will play the long game and they will enact justice.

"Vato returns in two days right?" Kain asks as he stuffs something into his pocket.

"Yeah, I already let him know when and where to meet us, this is the new address." Roy says as he sets down a scrap of paper with their new meeting location the burns it once its memorized.

"We'll meet back up again in two days time and rehash everything with Vato, including any new information. Unless its urgent, keep it to the usual office interaction. Also Jean, i'm stealing your next date." Jean groans at him but doesn't complain much.

"Make sure to complain very loudly to Rockfell about that." he groans louder before turning to bury his face in Heymans' shoulder.

"Murder is wrong." he mutters, Heymans pats his back.

"Murder is wrong." he tells him, Roy will have to do something very nice for Jean after all this.

Jean has found himself a leech.

A bloody blood sucker.

"Kid is a real spitfire." Rockfell says as he sits with Jean at the lunch table, Jean smiles politely at him.

"Chief can definitely be a real spitfire." he agrees amicably.

"Think they can handle him up in the North?" he asks, Jean clenches his toes against the burning hatred that wells up in his chest.

"Heck, we can barely handle him some days, you really think they can take him on?" he snorts, Rockfell leans in close and smirks.

"I doubt it. They don't have the experience of wrangling the kid for vaccination day." he says, Jean breaks out into a cold sweat when he remembers Rockfell won last year. He gave Ed pudding and brought him to the doctor without any major destruction. 

Had he...

Did he tell people how to catch him?

Ed never learned the 'don't accept candy from strangers', he'd been a kid when he lost his parents and depended on the good will of some neighbors to keep himself and his brother fed before he learned to cook. He regularly bought food from street vendors without even checking to see if it had been tampered with and had suffered food poisoning more than once.

He feels sick.

He wants to cry.

Chief!!

"Then again, if what they say about the ice queen herself, is true, she'll whip him into shape for us before shipping him back." Rockfell winks, Jean snickers into his glass of water and has to fight the urge to lose his lunch. He doubts he can even finish anything now that he's had this thought stuck into his head. He knows it'll keep echoing, over and over again.

"Sorry to cut things short Mark, but if I don't get back now, I won't be able to leave in time for my date later." he winks saucily at the other man, he laughs, head thrown back as he claps Jean's back.

"Here's to hoping your C.O. doesn't steal your date." he chortles, it's well known that Jean's boss keeps stealing his dates, not that anyone ever realizes that some of the dates stolen are just ways that they pass information with the extensive network his boss has at his fingertips.

He nods and skips out of the cafeteria, he whistles a jaunty little tune to himself as everything in him screams to run.

He forces himself to walk, to nod cordially at a few passing soldiers, to maintain this facade.

He makes it to the office, its empty. He methodically does a bug sweep, slips into Colonel's office and tucks himself under the desk where he proceeds to lose his shit.

There's a roar in his ears.

The world shakes apart as he comes undone.

Tears soak into the fabric of his uniform and Jean hugs himself tightly, teeth clenched tightly to keep his screams at bay.

"Jean?" a worried voice calls out to him cautiously, Jean doesn't raise his head. He can't.

He huddles deeper into the desk and hugs his knees tighter. There's a concerned murmur before he can hear something drag across the floor, something presses against his shoulder and doesn't move. He can hear pen gliding across paper, soft music playing in the distance, sheets of paper rustling.

He wants to cry. He wants to scream and sob and rage at the world for being so cruel to a child who has lost everything but fought and fought to carve a place in the world for him and his brother.

He sniffles and sits up a little, he scrubs his face and taps his boss' knee. The pen doesn't stop writing, but suddenly there's an opening for him to crawl out of.

He climbs to his feet, leans over and steals his boss' pen, snags a scrap of paper and wrote two words. Rockfell vaccinations. And then leaves the office to head back to his desk. He hears Colonel snap his fingers, hissing angrily under his breath, he knows that he's positively seething right now. Good.

Rockfell is going to pay.

Breda cautiously pats his back when he sits down at his desk but he pays him no mind and instead gets lost in the drawl of military jargon.

His head hurts.

He wants to go to sleep.

He wants to hug Ed close and tell him that no one will ever betray him like Rockfell has.

He needs to pretend to get even closer to Rockfell. Make him think that they are now the best of friends after bonding over trash talking Briggs soldiers.

How is he going to be able to look Ed in the eyes after everything?

Kain doesn't know what happened between the time that lunch started and ended, but Jean is having a melt down under Colonel's desk. He knows of only one time this has happened to him during an undercover op. His heart wilts as he hears a tiny wheeze, how did Jean train himself to be so utterly silent when breaking down?

He meets Riza's eyes, she gently shakes her head and he nods as he continues to sweep the office for bugs as Colonel tries to coax Jean out of hiding, Heymans muttering something to Roy has the two making their way out of his office.

"I'll see if I can get him to talk when he's ready, for now, everyone just keep going about your day." he orders, the concern in his eyes reassures him even with the hard tone in his voice. He knows that sometimes Colonel sounds angry but the anger isn't directed at them, it took Ed a good year to realize that. But he can understand just why it took Ed so long, not having any reliable male figures in his life had left him and his brother bereft of many things. One of which, is that anger is never just anger. It can be sorrow, it can be grief, it can be worry and shame. Most of all, anger can be born of love.

And when Roy is angry, he gets defensive, when he's defensive there is no safer place to be.

Kain meets up with Heymans at a few different places to set up more listening devices, recorders and an informant or two to watch over a place. Heymans takes pictures and starts to write down coordinates on the back of them.

"I'll be back, you pack up and head home after this, you hear me?" he nods and screws the last screw in at the payphone and packs up his belongings before making his way home. He tugs his cap down and slouches down as he stumbles around a little. He's not as good as Jean or Roy at adopting a different persona for undercover work, but he can mimic a drunk in a pinch and has gotten himself out of a few messes like this. Though he never expected Chief to be the one to show him how to stumble and limp better than anyone else on the team.

Jean doesn't show up to their meeting two days later. Roy doesn't call attention to it, so neither will they. But he has to wonder. Is the pressure too much?

Vato is a reassuring presence to have in their midst, they save the warm welcome for tomorrow, tonight, they have a war council.

"I'll start." Heymans lays down a few photographs. "Rockfell has been meeting with various people. Here are photos." Two different women with long or short black hair and grey eyes. And four different men, various ages, builds and appearances. No one looks Amestrian.

Mooks one to ten tortured Ed. Two women, eight different men.

That's what Lt. Colonel Hughes reported. Could some of them be the mooks Ed talked about?

Kain decides to ponder that later and gets to his reporting.

"I've been listening to the recordings from his house but he doesn't talk about anything." Kain reports, he holds out the transcripts from the house then moves to the other places he bugged. Most not having any significant information.

"I've listened to the recordings in the office and he only talks about Chief and their history." Kain swallows back the sour taste in his mouth. How dare this, this man try to act as if he hasn't done anything when he did the one thing that Ed would never forgive. "He's gaining sympathy from his comrades, he's endearing himself to them." Riza says coldly, eyes narrowing in fury as she says aloud what none of them want to say because hearing it enrages them.

Heymans clenches his hands around the photos, he quickly drops them before he can ruin them. He knows he's taking this hard, after seeing what happened to Jean the other day after buddying up to Rockfell. Whatever had happend, Roy has yet to tell them and Jean is pretending his breakdown never happened.

"He keeps trying to endear himself to me as well." Heymans growls as he scrubs a hand through his hair. "If I didn't know the truth about him, it might have worked." he comments bitterly, Kain pats his bicep in understanding. He nods back and starts gathering up the photos again to slip into his pocket.

"I can't wait to take him out." Kain comments under his breath, he knows boss called dibs, but he won't fight him on it. As long as someone on their team does the deed, he can go home satisfied.

"Vato, start background checks on everyone not part of our team." Vato nods as he holds out his hands for Heymans to pass him the photos he had just put in his pocket.

Roy smirks, eyes glittering with rage.

"I need you to act like its working, Jean is going to need a little help after what happened." he doesn't tell them, but the look on his face, Kain knows there won't even be ashes left. It's a comforting thought.

"I'll fill Jean in on what the next part will be, for now, everyone continue with surveillance and spreading rumors. Maes has sent us back up, Lt.s Levi Walker and Thomas Green are going to spearhead the unrest we're about to cause." Kain winces.

Isn't it a little bit like overkill sending those two in?

"And I know what you're thinking, the two of them may seem like overkill," Kain can remember the two getting into brawls with one another over the silliest things. Can remember the food fight they started that literally had everyone getting in trouble while Ed laughed hysterically in a corner with the pilfered sweets he'd caught.

He also remembers the incandescent rage on their faces as they set out to help out in the search for Ed.

He can remember the two bursting into Colonel's office to ask if the rumors were true about Ed being rescued, how loudly Thomas cried and how quickly he fell apart while his brother simply dragged him out, tears dripping down his cheeks with a relieved smile.

"But better to have them on our side aimed at the enemy than us." he finishes, he's rubbing his thumb and index finger together like he's picturing burning someone. Kain catches Riza's eyes and nods at her when she coughs lightly into her fist.

"Dismissed." he says, they break up for the night and head home.

Kain frowns as he spots a bug under Jean's desk. Jean hasn't arrived yet. He quickly signals the number one, the search is renewed with more fervor as they try to find out who and when their office was bugged. He pulls apart each phone, one more bug in Colonel's office and one in the vent by Lt. Hawkeye's desk.

He holds up the number three, everyone quietly exits the room and exchange lot numbers for situations like this. He finds that he drew the number seven and inwardly sighs as he realizes he's going to have to blow up a radio.

Lt. Hawkeye frowns as she stares down at her lot number, three, and clears her throat before leaving to call Colonel's office number and pretend to be one of his dates. She leaves Black Hayate to him, the dog sniffing around the office while 2nd Lt. Breda follows him to track where the unknown perps were in the office.

Warrant officer Falman has yet to arrive so they can't officially welcome him back but Kain draws his lot for him and pouts when he sees the other man has the number one. Lucky.

He just has to do a perimeter search.

Day seven of their op. Jean is coming apart, frayed at the seams as he chain smokes the way he used to before Chief started to get on him for smoking so much.

"We need Rockfell to panic, something that will either have him acting more directly or at least a little more carelessly." Jean nods his head but he doesn't look happy.

"I don't like him, at all." he growls under his breath. "But this is for Ed, so i'll grit my teeth and bear it." he continues as he shoves a new cigarette into his mouth while stuffing the spent one into his pocket while his ash tray sits on a handkerchief to keep any ash from spilling out.

"We're ready for phase three, Thomas, Levi, Jean." he nods to the three men who salute briefly. "Lead him on, give him hints." Jean swipes at his eyes angrily.

"Tell him that Fullmetal is starting to remember things, being tortured." Kain feels sorry for him. Jean used to be as close to Rockfell as Ed, the two were from the same town, though there was an age difference between the two of them of about four years, Jean being the older of the two. He knows he's hurting right now, more than any of them could possibly imagine but can't show it. Can't even whisper a complaint.

"Don't give him any clue that Fullmetal has called him out." Thomas gnashes his teeth as he strangles his brother's arm, Levi meanwhile bears the torture in silence.

"We want to spook him." he says blandly, then he smiles coldly, the look on his face, it's that same look that had sent a private running in terror when Ed had been bullied. Sometimes Kain can't even tell the two men are brothers, but watching how patiently Levi treats Thomas when most people would write off the childish Lt., he can see it. It's the way that Al acts around his brother, patiently watching over them while knowing they are being an idiot and willing to let them stew in the consequences of their actions. Maybe its why the four of them got along so well. Both having older brothers that acted irrationally immature at times. And the older brothers, overprotective and damn near feral with rage sometimes.

"We want him to believe Edward is starting to remember." Riza says softly, her eyes narrow in fury.

"Let him slip up, tighten the noose around his neck." Roy smirks as he snuffs out the candlelight. "It'll be checkmate before we know it." he mutters into the darkness.

Kain is the last to leave, once more searching for bugs and cleaning up. He hesitates to head back home straight away.

"I'm looking after him." he stifles a yelp when he finds Heymans standing unobtrusively at the entrance of the alley. He's staring off into the distance, Kain wonders if Thomas and Levi are keeping and eye on Jean too.

"Head on home Kain." he nods, there isn't much he can do. Jean won't let himself break until this is all over, maybe he can do something then.

For now.

He can only watch him fall apart quietly from afar and hopes that Jean can lean on them at the end.

Chapter Text

Al had nothing to do but wait for his brother to recover. He couldn't go around to Eastern Command without brother since he wasn't actually part of the military. He could travel but he wouldn't be able to access some places or information without the certification of a state alchemist. He couldn't do much from here in Resembool.

Sure he could continue to look into things through his and his brother's various contacts to find out more about what happened to brother and what Drachma is planning.

But.

No one has reached out to him in days with any updates on Brother. What if they try to contact him and he isn't available?

Then again, what if he was able to find useful information while he traveled?

He wishes that he had an idea of which would be the correct choice here. It seems more likely that he just might need to head out.

"Al?" Winry calls out to him softly, Al looks away from the transmutation circle he'd finished drawing to get Winry the exact measurements of metal that she needed. "Do what you need to do." she tells him when he meets her eyes. She's so strong.

"You'll be able to do more with less attention on you than everyone in the military." she says and he knows that it was the reason he'd given when he first set out to find brother, it holds true now as well.

He knows that he and brother don't have a home anymore, they'd burned it down.

But there will always be a little bit of a home in the Rockbell family home for them. A safe place, a shelter for when the world is too wide, too vast and there is nothing but despair crushing them.

He's done enough and too little to continue sitting in one place for too long. He and brother had promised, so long ago now. To restore their bodies.

To do so, they have given up much.

They gave up the comfort a home. They set ablaze their past to keep going forward.

And now, Alphonse must set out alone to continue forward in the place of his brother who cannot.

"Thank you." he tells her as he rises to his feet. She smiles sadly.

"I know you and Ed. Sitting still just isn't you." she steps closer and holds out her arms, he steps forward and gently embraces her.

"We'll both be home before you know it." he promises, a part of them will always belong in Resembool.

Granny clears her throat, she's smirking as if she's glad that Winry gave him the final push to head out.

"I believe that you have a guest Alphonse." Al shares a look with Winry before they head out to the dayroom.

"Teacher!" he yelps, Teacher glances at him from over her shoulder.

"Finally got your feet under you?" she smirks and suddenly he has a bad feeling.

Brother, watch over me in these trying times.

Jean rests his forehead on his clasped hands, knee bouncing rapidly as he listens to everyone calmly talking about their day. Listens to them speculate about Ed and feels a vice in his heart.

If he hadn't found out that Rockfell was a traitor...

He was so skilled at subterfuge. Digging in deeper and deeper into Jean's life in a way that he hadn't before. Trying to pry anything and everything he could out of Jean in the guise of friendship. One friend missing another, reminiscing on the past and the good days.

He feels so sick. It's not the first time he's gone undercover like this, the difference is, this time he's still himself not playing the part of someone else. At the end of the day, he can't separate the feelings and knowledge because this is personal. Rockfell was that stupid little kid that used to tag along with Jean when he went fishing at the creek. He was the one who protested the loudest when he enlisted, even giving Jean's mom a run for her money with all the shouting he did.

"Smoke break." Jean mumbles as he climbs to his feet with his lighter in hand. No one mentions anything to him, he doesn't even look at anyone as he heads out. If Rockfell finds him on his smoke break again...

He exhales, smoke lazily trailing off. He stares up at the bright blue sky and wonders what the weather is like in the North. 

He should give Tommy and Levi a heads up that there's talk about heading to a restaurant tonight where he will 'break' the news that Chief is starting to remember some things. He hears footsteps and slouches down a little but keeps his gaze skyward.

If Rockfell followed him again he swears.

"This is some good paper airplane weather." he looks down to spot Levi standing about a foot away from him with his back to the wall. 

"Didn't you quit smoking?" he asks reflexively when he spots the lit cigarette in his hand. Levi raises the cigarette to his mouth, hand trembling slightly.

"You know how it goes, on the wagon, off the wagon." he grins, there's a darkness in his eyes as he gestures a little lazily but Jean can see someone walking away. "Tomorrow I go right back to quitting." he passes his pack of cigarettes to Jean with a fond little pat. He nods and stuffs them into his pocket.

"Social smoking included?" he asks as he inhales.

"I can be convinced." he murmurs, cigarette clamped between his lips as he stares up at the sky. He has that look in his eyes that he's seen on Roy, Riza, Maes, the look that he sees on Ed's face sometimes. The face of someone who has stared into the abyss and found something staring back.

"I have some good news to deliver, a bunch of the guys were going to head on to that restaurant Chief invited us to awhile back to celebrate." The staff there were part of the Elric brothers' information network and he plans to use that to his advantage. "You and Tommy should come." he says dropping his cigarette to the ground and crushing it beneath his heel before picking up the trash and stuffing it into a tissue to toss into the trash later. Levi inclines his head and stares off into the distance with a distracted look on his face.

Jean leaves him be. He catches a flicker of movement from his peripheral and catches someone watching but is unable to see just who it is. Could be Tommy, he hates that his brother smokes and if they had to get him to smoke to pass Jean information, he'd want to do his best to keep him from falling completely off the wagon. It could be Rockfell, the man has taken to following Jean on his smoke break the past two days. He doesn't smoke, hates the smell, and now has conveniently started smoking, worry for Chief being the excuse since he didn't want to develop an alcohol problem.

It could be an accomplice of his, though they have yet to even find any signs that another soldier was siding with him on this. Not that that means anything.

Jean waves over Tommy, Levi and Rockfell. The Gray twins are already ordering and fighting over which one of them is helping to pay the bill. Warrant Officer Lance declined his invite, Major General Hakuro is being left to Boss to see if he's turned traitor. 

Jean has gone out to eat or to the bar every night for the past seven days, different groups of people. Each one being thoroughly checked and prodded not just by him but by 2nd Lt. Heymans as well, though he sometimes takes a few people before Jean can. He always makes sure that Rockfell is in at least one group so the other man doesn't know that he's checking everyone in close association to him.

So far they have categorized a majority of the soldiers as sympathetic and loyal to Chief and the military.

As always, they have the faction that dislike Boss and Chief on principal of being a prodigy, a child state alchemist with a rank higher than most, a subordinate to Boss, and the general dislike because of Chief's abrasive personality. Surprisingly none of those soldiers would actually betray Chief like, they just bully him, bring him down and belittle him while trying to make themselves seem like the better person. 

Another faction, smaller but still present, those that resent a child in the military but not enough that they would actually do anything about it.

Finally Rockfell, in his own category. The dissenters. Those that are in the military but heavily protest certain things, such as some soldiers that were part of the Ishvalan war.

Jean catches sight of the couple that have been visiting every establishment Jean has taken to inviting Rockfell to.

"Mark!" he greets the other man enthusiastically as he gestures for him to sit beside him. He shoots Jean a look of bemusement as Levi wraps his arm around his brother's neck to force him to submit.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" he asks as he accepts the drink Jean hands him. The man smiles at him when Jean leans in close, everyone seems to catch on and lean close to him in turn.

"Chief's getting better." everyone knows this, he sees some nods and spots the curiosity in Rockfell's eyes. "He's starting to remember things!" There! The panic in his eyes, just for a moment before it's smothered by concern. Tommy throws himself across the table. For a moment he's afraid he'll break cover but no, he lunges across the table to hug Jean and cry tears of joy as he blubbers about Ed's recovery. Jean pats his back, he shares a sympathetic look with Levi.

Low contact with Fort Briggs, Ed is safe but falling apart.

"He only remembers flashes here and there. He even remembered a face!" Rockfell's smile becomes strained, his eyes dart a glance behind Jean. Jean lifts his cup and catches a reflection of the couple standing and leaving out the back door in a hurry. Tommy seems to catch on as he excuses himself to the bathroom while hiding his face in his hands. Jean swallows the wine, its bitter. Rockfell's body expression seems closed off and his eyes are not meeting Jean's anymore. He grins, waffling over what to say before settling for 'That's great' in a weak voice. Heck, Jean wouldn't even have noticed if he weren't so focused on the other man.

"The faces of the Drachmans?" he doesn't look worried, but the way his hand tightens on the glass is very telling. "Pretty soon we'll be able to pay back the Drachmans for what they did, right?" he leans into Jean, he immediatley feels his stomach churn as he grins.

"Damn right! They won't know what hit them!" he knows that this isn't what Rockfell is trying to get out of him but he'll play oblivious, make him really dig if he wants the answers.

They enjoy dinner, Rockfell fails multiple times with many different angles but Jean skillfully deflects each one. He'll have to do better.

"I have to get going, I've got paperwork to catch up on." he says, excuses flying as he climbs to his feet. "You understand. We should talk more tomorrow at lunch." He laughs and calmly walks away. But Jean could read the urge to flee in his stance. His smile slowly falls as he looks down at the full cup. The Gray twins settle down on either side of him with grim expressions on their faces. The two had already been scoped out when they arrived earlier, both seemed to catch on that something was going on and now, well, the two were always perceptive.

"Squirm Rockfell. There won't be anything left when we're through with you." he murmurs into his wine, the twins share a look before patting his shoulders and dropping money on the table as well as their contact information. He leaves them be as he sits at the now vacant table alone.

He's aware that the mysterious couple will be tailed, they'll debrief tonight.

He doesn't want to go.

Someone is following him...

Jean steps into his second favorite bar, orders an angel shot and a date. Madame kindly sends her best gal, Madeline smiles at him and he scribbles his number for her on a napkin. She smiles coyly, tucking the napkin into her coat with a wink.

They chat for what seems like hours but has only been at least thirty minutes and his tail is still watching.

"Why don't you come over to my place tonight?" he offers her, she hems and haws before tucking her arm into his and they walk out arm in arm.

Still, the tail is there.

He almost wants to scream but he's just so tired of it all that all he can do is grin and bear it. Talking with Madeline about utter nonsense and pretending that any of it actually matters.

He's lying on his bed staring at the ceiling with a cigarette between his lips.

Madeline is long gone, they played a few games before he noticed the tail finally stopped watching his apartment and he sent her off to inform Roy. Hopefully no one else is dealing with this nonsense.

Tommy instantly catches on that Jean isn't coming. He shares a look with his brother and wonders if Rockfell has something to do with it.

Everyone with eyes could see how much the other man was dogging Jean's heels. How many times did the man invade Jean's space, insert himself where he didn't belong and drag eyes to him. Making himself a target for sympathy.

"Rockfell panicked like we hoped he would..." Tommy says when he's sure that everyone is done realizing Jean won't arrive. "He is fishing for more information on our little Spitfire and who he has remembered." Tommy steals one of his brother's lollipops, Levi has two in his mouth and is flicking his lighter open, close, open, close, and decides that he might have to sit on him if he even looks at another cigarette for longer than a few seconds.

"He wants to know if he's been made." 2nd Lt. Breda mutters, eyes stormy. Levi nods at him, Colonel Mustang's eyes narrow with fury.

"Jean spilled that Ed was just having flashes of the Drachmans who kidnapped him." Levi sighs as he rolls his shoulders.

"Immediately after, the couple that have been following Jean left and I tailed them to a payphone. I don't understand Drachman, can't even begin to repeat what they even said, but their body language said enough." Tommy reports, he can remember them so clearly.

The harried expressions on their faces. The choppy movement from the woman, flash of a dagger tucked into the side of her coat and the man's aggressive gestures as they took turns on the phone. The mutinous expression on their faces when they slipped out of the booth and slunk off into the shadows.

"They aren't happy, trouble in paradise." he tells the group. He wonders how Ed is doing right now. Last he knows, Lt. Colonel Hughes told them that contact will be short, sporadic and no information will be given on Ed unless absolutely necessary. And that Ed is not in a good place, mentally speaking.

"We haven't gotten any information about that couple following Jean but they aren't here legally." 2nd Lt Breda says holding up a picture of the couple. They were in their late thirties early forties with graying brownish red hair and grey eyes. The woman had short black hair and grey eyes. Wait.

"I have searched the records for anyone fitting their description in the last twenty years and have no identification or immigration papers on either one." Warrant officer Falman says grimly, Colonel Mustang's lips turn down in a scowl. He waits to cut in, he shares a look with Levi who nods.

"For now just stick to surveillance on them. Fuery your report." Master sergeant Fuery pulls out three sheets of paper that he sets down on their temporary table for everyone to look over.

"He's been making calls at late hours of the night or early morning. He mostly talks about the weather up north and if a blizzard is coming in." Levi shoves another lollipop into his mouth, maybe he should cut in before he gets anymore agitated.

"He's mentioned someone sitting on gold once or twice but he never actually says much. Sorry I couldn't be much help sir." Colonel Mustang shakes his head and smirks.

"This is perfect, we have something to give to Hughes." Tommy clears his throat.

"Hate to break it to you, but this couple, they are different from the ones that followed Jean that last day." everyone freezes.

"The woman is in her twenties with long dark brown or black hair, grey eyes and a beauty mark under her lip." Levi digs into his pocket and pulls out a single photo that they'd managed to get of the two following Jean after yesterday when Jean mentioned that they looked different. He never interacted with them, didn't want to make it obvious that he was aware of the tail so Tommy had taken a picture to commemorate the day yesterday.

"This man, definitely in his thirties is more solidly built with red hair and green eyes, he's pretty aggressive too." Tommy looks over the photo that has him in the the foreground with Jean and Rockfell, the couple barely in the photo but enough to make out a few key features.

"Keep an eye out. There's ten of them, two women and eight men." Tommy sees their expressions.

"Levi and I already have a stalker." he mentions, everyone starts looking at each other.

"I haven't noticed anyone." Levi scratches his chin.

"I think it's just the two of us and Jean since we've been hanging around Rockfell. We didn't get any signs that anyone else is getting tailed and more than likely it will be Lt. Hawkeye or Colonel Mustang. The rest of you do a good job keeping your head down but that doesn't mean it won't happen." The 'so be careful' is implied.

"I see, thank you for informing us. We'll keep a closer circle and eyes peeled." Levi inclines his head and he decides that they are finished.

"We'll get going now." he ushers his brother out, he leaves the photo with a pointed look at Warrant officer Falman who slips it into his own pocket.

"Nightmares are getting pretty bad again." Tommy complains when they are tailed just as they reach the block their apartment is located. They usually stay at the dorms but after hearing about Ed getting abducted they gave up their rooms and had to find an apartment.

"We can't keep taking midnight strolls when they get too much. What would people think about two soldiers randomly out and about." Levi plays along, he hopes that their tail didn't live in one of the apartments nearby. It would suck to have been made when they've been so careful.

Madeline is waiting for Roy when he arrives home. She presses a napkin with her lipstick kiss on it and winks before darting off.

Mouse, meet up later? - Vanessa J.

He'll have to keep a closer eye on this. He hadn't even noticed dammit!

Why did someone else have to point it out to him?

These are his men, he should have noticed someone tailing Jean. He just needs to do better.

Roy mutters darkly under his breath as he stares at the next stack of paperwork.

He had just finished! Where on earth was all this paper coming from?!

Some forest must have been eradicated to give him this much paper. Great, now he's starting to think like Fullmetal.

The phone rings as he gestures for 2nd Lt. Havoc and Lt. Hawkeye to set the papers on his desk.

"Hello, Colonel Mustang speaking." Roy sighs at the voice and readies himself for pestering before straightening when he hears a sigh on the other end. This instantly catches their attention and he holds up his hand. Master Sergeant Fuery scrambles over and sets up his radio, the line is clear but they can never be too sure, especially after last night's revelation.

"Roy!" Vanessa chirps his name and he has his pen in hand.

"We haven't gone out in awhile! Come pick me up tonight!" He quickly scribbles urgent meeting, 'V'.

"Of course, shall I pick you up after I get out?" he asks writing down the time.

"No, I'll meet you at your apartment! I'll even make a good home cooked meal." she chatters on about a few ingredients and he finds himself mechanically writing it down.

"What kind of codes do you use to write your notes?" Fullmetal asks curiously as his head hangs off the couch, his log held above him.

"Why do you want to know pipsqueak?" he teases, Fullmetal doesn't blow up as expected, instead sticks his middle finger out to him.

"Al and I met an alchemist that coded his notes as a grocery list." he sounds flabbergasted. And yeah, Roy is too.

He's seen a lot of people code their notes differently, but a grocery list?

"I was thinking of maybe using that sometimes when I need to call in." he mumbles, Roy sets aside him pen and thinks about the benefits.

He knows how little the kid reports in over the phone because of how often he'd told him that his line while being a secure military line does not mean it isn't being listened in on. That he can't afford to mention anything he wouldn't want anyone to over hear.

"Alright." he whistles sharply, the door abruptly opens and Fullmetal stares at him, upside down still.

"Didn't you say we shouldn't talk about this stuff here?" he complains as he sits up.

"Yes, which is why we're going to have a team dinner." 

"I'll see you tonight." he tells her as he stares down at his list.

He quickly decodes it and sees the two share looks before 2nd  Lt. Havoc buries his face in his hands.

Sick, broken ribs, punctured lung, sedated, pain medication. Full report pending.

Ed's really sick, one of his ribs is broken now and punctured a lung. He had to be sedated and even given pain medication which he hates even more than usual right now. This isn't even the full report, it'll be given to him in person.

He was in that much danger that the doctor overrode his desire to avoid any drugs. 

Kid, don't lose it. Lean on Maes.

Roy buries his face in his hands. Bad news comes in threes.

Roy looks over the full report Vanessa handed him and feels sick to his stomach.

Surgery.

All this time and Ed has so far managed to avoid getting hurt enough to need surgery. And now, on top of having scarred lungs from whatever infection he picked up during his stay with the Drachmans, he has to deal with this too?! He'll be lucky to run without getting winded! The cold will aggravate his lungs. Not to mention he'll get sicker easily.

Night terrors and flashbacks. Ed has injured many soldiers in his brief stay, the doctor being the one harmed the most and Roy knows that everyone won't hold it against his kid, but that doesn't mean they'll treat him right. They could grow to resent him. Could choose to purposely hurt him when they need to subdue him.

He might be getting a little cynical, but he's seen the way some soldiers act when its time for Ed to get vaccinated. They know he's terrified, has a legitimate reason to be afraid. But they mock him. Deride him. Belittle him making him feel even more ashamed.

"The rock is beginning to notice the cold weather and questions if there will be a blizzard. There's a notice about someone sitting on gold up there. Hope you catch your fish soon, you might need a lance to catch one."

Another rat.

His patience grows thin.

Another one traced to Hakuro, and the other man is still doing his best to stay out of Roy's way.

It's almost like the other man is afraid.

He can run all he likes, Roy isn't letting anyone that harmed his kid get out of this unscathed.

Chapter Text

Maes is getting ready to turn in for the night when Ed gets up. He frowns and wonders if Ed is going to try and pull a fast one to escape the infirmary, he decides to watch and wait.

Ed walks around for a bit. Eyes scanning every inch of the room, opening every drawer or cabinet door he came across. It's so strange to see him in not wearing his standard get up. At least Dr. Young had given Ed a new set of pajamas that were long sleeve despite his fever. Maes packed his warmest pajamas and still feels cold, how did Ed fair with tank tops and shorts...

Though, again, he did have a pretty high fever for a good while.

"Edward." Ed turns to look at him from where he's poking his head into Kei's room, he pouts and leaves the mechanic be.

"Done with your stalling?" Ed sighs and makes his way over to Maes' bed, he steals Maes pillow and returns to his bed. Maes huffs, amused but doesn't complain and gets ready to turn in for the night.

He hopes Gracia made it safely to Roy and passed on his message, same with Vanessa. He'll have to find a way to keep all the official channels clear while running this investigation. He wonders if he'll be able to have Major Armstrong, 2nd Lt. Ross, and Sergeant Brosh investigate in the East without drawing too much attention. Then again, everyone knows they are Maes roster.

Maes catches Ed sitting up in bed and wants to scream at Miles and Dr. Young. Now Ed is avoiding sleep, sure, Maes had been able to get him to nap a little after his trauma induced flashback, but actually going to sleep is different. He rises from his bed and makes his way over to Ed, the pillow he'd stolen is clutched tightly to his chest.

"Scoot over." he tells him when Ed looks up, his brows furrow before he rolls his eyes and shifts a little. Maes climbs onto the bed behind him and opens the drawer at his bedside to pull out the brush he'd found earlier. He removes Ed's ponytail holder and undoes his braid before he starts brushing his hair out. Maes is surprised no one had cut his hair, either while he was kidnapped or here at Fort Briggs. 

"That's cheating." Ed mumbles, voice drowsy, Maes says nothing as he continues to brush through the gold locks marveling at how long it was. He knows Ed takes pride in his hair, takes good care of it even when he complains about it sometimes. But the bright grin on his face when he mentions how it shows his dedication to his brother, to his promise to get him back to his original body. It would be a shame if something happened and he knows that right now, Ed is hurting terribly. But combing his hear soothes him.

"No pulling my hair." he mutters softly, Maes smiles at him, Ed always hated his hair getting pulled.

"Promise." he tells him, Ed looks back at him with a frown.

"Why do they always pull my hair? Gotta be better ways to get my attention." Maes doesn't react the way that he wants to react when he sees the glazed look in Ed's eyes, and how he's staring through Maes. Instead he gently starts to braid Ed's hair, Ed shudders, eyes falling close a little as he stares at Maes.

"Do you think Elysia would want to grow her hair as long as yours?" he teases gently, Ed seems to come back to awareness with minimal fuss. He grumbles under his breath and kicks Maes out of his bed to go to sleep.

"Night Ed." Ed sighs loudly at him in response and he decides to wait a few more minutes in case he wanted to say goodnight. Sometimes Ed hates him. Hates Roy in a way that isn't the way that he usually hates Roy. Colonel Bastard and his stupid egotistical need for— 

He doesn't take it personally. Ed is a hurt child with abandonment issues and it shows up as issues with authority sometimes. He knows better than to take it personally. Ed always finds a way to apologize when he knows he's being unreasonable but can't help but lash out.

He can see Dr. Young watching them but chooses to ignore the woman, he's not going to do the same thing he did when Ed was twelve and told doctors he didn't want to be drugged to get stitches only to end up drugged anyway. He has not reason to go after this doctor's license.

Yet.

Ed sits up, spots Maes and sighs even louder despite how much pain that must put on his ribs. Precious child.

"Night Hughes." he keeps Maes' pillow as he rolls onto his side. Maes snickers but climbs to his feet and pats Ed's back before making his way back to the bed he'd claimed.

"Sweet dreams Ed." he only hears soft breathing which lets him know Ed is already out. He hopes there won't be any nightmares but knows better than to think it will be a peaceful night. He just hopes he will be able to help Ed through his nightmares. When it comes to the types of nightmares he has, sometimes he's okay with dealing with them on his own, his preferred method. Other times he allows Maes to help. But there are nightmares where only his brother can help him. Nightmares regarding the human transmutation, losing his brother and mother all over again. That is the only time Maes cannot help him, has to hear from his brother, see him alive with his own eyes.

How frightening must it have been to have been separated from Alphonse all these weeks. He knows how overprotective the two can be when it comes to one another.

Sometimes Maes wonders if he's more scarred from Ishval then he realizes. How quick he is to calm and center himself against the tide of panic that wants to claw its way out of his chest. Other times he can't help but be grateful, this skill has helped him on a number of occasions.

Most often with talking Roy out of doing something stupid with his guilt complex and wrangling one Edward Elric.

Maes sits with his back against the wall, Ed curls into his side with his knees to his chest and his hand tangled in his hair. Maes carefully untangles and gently sets the hand down onto the bed. He doesn't say anything about the shaking, instead shifting the blanket over Ed's shoulders.

"Not there, not there." he hears Ed muttering under his breath as his hand clenches tightly around the blanket.

"That's right, you're right here." he tells him softly as he tugs Ed impossibly closer when he shudders. "Right here with me." he tells him, like he's a twelve year old boy who just saw the little girl he started to see as a younger sister turned into a horrific mutilated being. He's still small like a twelve year old.

He can see Dr. Young hovering from the corner of his eyes but Ed is fine, not in anymore pain than earlier, fever more or less controlled, not stuck in a flashback or suffering from a panic attack. It's safe to ignore her, for now.

He doesn't like that she's prepared a sedative for Ed, keeps it in her pocket, no wonder Ed is always on edge around her. Not that Ed wouldn't be on edge anyway, being stuck in an infirmary with a doctor, and drugs.

"Didn't tell them anything." Ed mumbles, Maes' heart feels like its breaking.

"I know, I believe you." he tells him as he gently hugs him, Ed sniffles and rubs his face looking heartbreakingly young when he looks up at Maes with glimmering gold eyes.

"I miss Al." Maes wonders if there is some way he can have the two brothers communicate with one another from two different sides of the country. There really isn't a feasible way, not one that wouldn't have such a high risk when coming from a secure military line.

"He misses you too." he tells him. Ed and Al had a brief reunion, they didn't get to say all that they wanted to say to one another, short on time as they were. Neither brother has been separated from the other for longer than a few hours at most, from what he recalls.

This forceful separation must really bother them.

Then again, this is also why Ed might feel the need to talk with General Armstrong about the taboo. Because the longer he stays here, its more likely that he'll have nightmares about it with his brother missing from his side. And he won't be able to answer the questions asked, not completely. Ed doesn't trust anyone here by any stretch of the imagination, but if he's going to continue on here until he's healed enough to leave, well, then he will need to at least inform the general if no one else.

"I've got you kid." he tells him, he doesn't mind being a safe space for him. He's a poor substitute, but all that Ed has in the way of friendly and familiar faces.

"Can't breathe." Ed pants, Maes rests his palm on Ed's burning forehead and frowns thoughtfully. Dr. Young is asleep again, Kei, he can hear moving about in his office space. He doesn't need to bother the medics just yet, he can handle this.

"Let's sit you up a little bit." he tells him, lifting him up and leaning Ed against him, his breathing improves a touch, but not by much. He rests his palm on Ed's chest, feeling the hummingbird pace and starts drumming his fingers to the beat Al taught him a while back to ground Ed. "Just breathe slowly." Maes can tell he's close to panicking, about what he doesn't know but he can do damage control. He can keep Ed calm, make him feel as safe as he can despite the place they are in. Ed knows Maes won't let anyone do something to him that he doesn't want done, and that if it comes down to him being sedated, Maes would make sure that Ed is aware enough to know it's coming.

He breathes and keeps calm, his heart steady even when an achingly small hand pitifully latches onto his wrist.

Maes jerks awake when he hears something metallic drop to the ground. He muzzily reaches for his glasses and shoves them onto his faces as he looks around, Ed sits up at his side and looks around too. He's visibly disoriented as he looks up to the ceiling. 'No tiles.' he mutters under his breath

"Kei." he can hear the warning in Dr. Young's voice. Kei sticks his head out of his office with a guilty smile, he glances towards them apologetically.

"Sorry." Maes ignores them and checks on Ed, dark circles under his eyes still, glossy sheen in his eyes, sweat beading on his forehead. He looks terrible.

"Don't you look like sunshine this morning!" He chirps brightly, the filthy look he gives Maes is on par with the look he gives Roy whenever the man informs him it's vaccination time. He doesn't even get to laugh before Ed transmutes the wall to push him off the bed. Maes lays sprawled on the floor for a moment as he looks back at Ed, the kid snickers as he fixes the wall. Ed looks better with a smile on his face.

"Rude." he tells him as he climbs to his feet, ambling back to the bed he claimed and waiting to see if Ed is alright with him leaving. He could put off work for another hour if necessary. Ed just waves him off and he decides to sit with him for lunch later, for now he has to pay a few tolls. And find some place for Ed to put his money because reverse tooth fairy is not something he thought Ed would do but the piles of cash under his pillow can't be comfortable to sleep on.

Which reminds him, there has been no mention of his teeth, he'll have to interrogate Dr. Young later about that. He knows Ed still has one last baby tooth that stubbornly refused to come out. If someone knocked out that baby tooth, there will be hell to pay.

His last baby tooth apparently went missing just before Ed was abducted. Ed doesn't remember if he lost it in a fight or it came out naturally. He hates that. He just hopes he lost the baby tooth before he was ambushed.

Maes manages to get in contact with first Lt.'s Thomas Green and Levi Walkers, two men that were former investigation soldiers transferred to Colonel Johnson's team in the East. Though the two originally worked with Roy and Maes in Ishval, had become very close friends with Ed and were trusted by both Maes and Roy once they passed a few tests to make sure they weren't getting close to Ed for nefarious reasons. The two will keep him updated on information that Roy manages to collect, he has a few contacts drop off information for Roy at his foster mother's bar so that he knows to expect two investigators and pull them into his secret get togethers to trade information.

He knows the two were close with the Elric brothers and trusts them to keep their heads straight and not risk anything until they've closed the case.

He's limited on what he can do up here in the North where communications is heavily monitored, unexpectedly cuts out due to the weather and all around isolated. But he's going to do all that he can to make sure that Ed is kept safe so that everyone else will have some peace of mind.

Maes arrives back to the infirmary, walkie talkie strapped to his belt in case Ed needed him for anything, to find it empty. Push knife slips into his hand as he clutches his files tightly in hand and stalks about trying to figure out what has happened and where his kid vanished off to. Unless Ed finally made good on his escape attempts, then there is no reason for it to be empty.

Ed's blanket and Maes' pillow are missing.

He finds nothing, no signs of a struggle, no signs that Ed left in a rush, or that he was pulling one of his escape attempts. He learned to leave a sign that he voluntarily left so everyone would stop panicking that he was kidnapped while injured.

He tucks his knife away and grabs his walkie talkie.

"Edward, where are you?" he asks, there's a crackle before he responds.

"They needed an alchemist, we're heading back now." he mumbles something under his breath that the walkie talkie doesn't catch. Maes knows that there are no alchemists here up North, either a preference from General Armstrong or that had never really been the need to have one here with the Drachman border being secured and Aerugo and Creta still causing conflicts.

"There was a problem with the pipes." the walkie talkie crackles with Ed's voice and he sighs. Ed and Al were truly special. Be thou for the people, is something that they embodied to their core. "Bobby only asked for help because there's no running water anywhere." Maes absently goes through the Briggs soldiers roster he memorized and nods. He'd scoped everyone out the first night, it certainly has payed off to know everyone surrounding Ed when he's still shaken after Rockfell's betrayal.

"I'll bring us lunch then!" he tells him brightly, waiting to see if Ed has a response but when nothing else comes forth, he tucks away his files and slips out of the infirmary to find them something to eat. Hopefully he can get something good for Ed to eat when he usually ends up calling anything subpar a substance based food that he would not even feed his enemies. He wonders if the refined palate Ed has is due to his traveling so young and expanding his horizon or he's always been a picky eater.

Then again, Ed was scouring Amestris for new foods for his brother to look forward to while on his search.

He arrives back to the infirmary with food for Ed and himself. He can see Kei, Captain Buccaneer and Lt.s Brody and Clarink. 

Ed doesn't look uncomfortable, he's cleaning them out for money though. Will people never learn?

Edward Elric is a card shark.

"Ed!" he calls out as he lightly kicks the open door wider as he strolls in with food. Everyone jumps while Ed hums at him, Maes catches him cheating while everyone faces Maes and wants to laugh. Leave it to Ed to never miss an opportunity.

"Finish up your game and let's eat." he says, Ed wins amidst many cries of despair. Maes sets the trays down and unobtrusively makes his way to Ed's side to lurk in case anyone is upset by their losses. Captain Buccaneer seems to understand what he's doing as he rises to his feet and makes his way to the door. Kei complains good naturedly but makes his way to his office to work. Lt. Clarink and Brody excuse themselves to go eat lunch and he doesn't see Dr. Young anywhere.

"You should find a better place for all that money." Maes comments as Ed shoves everything under his pillow, Ed quirks a brow at him pointedly setting his pillow and Maes' pillow down on the money pile.

"We have some nice porridge for you, let me know if you can't eat it all." he tells him, Ed nods and extends his hand for Maes' glass of water, he takes a sip and passes it over. He knows Ed would drink the water regardless of it being drugged or not because the human body cannot survive for long without water but he takes a sip anyways knowing it makes him feel comfortable. The small grateful smile has nothing to do with his decision, Ed shouldn't be grateful for common decency.

'Thanks.' Ed mutters, Maes grins when he hears Ed mutter in, this one might be Xerxian. He wonders how many languages Ed used to frustrate his captors. Then frowns, Rockfell knew that Ed could speak other languages, the only languages that weren't well studied in Amestris were Ishvalan, Aerugian and  Xerxian. Little by little, he finds himself learning new languages.

Ed's smile is well worth the headaches of learning a new alphabet and it helps him as an investigator. 

Maes climbs to his feet and gathers the dishes, Ed peeks behind him before grabbing Maes pillow and a warm blanket that he quickly transmutes into a warm coat. So that's what that meant earlier, resourceful little punk.

"Walking around a little?" he asks him, Ed boredly follows after him, hand tucked into his pocket and he decides that he should take a break now and again so that Ed could walk around and not feel the urge to escape. He knows it'll happen any day now, better do everything he can to mitigate the disaster that will follow. Ed doesn't look around, he's not curious about his surroundings. Some soldiers salute him but he ignores them and shifts to Maes' side, Maes just nods at them and keeps his pace slow so Ed won't have to push himself with his injuries.

"You don't have an office here?" Ed cuts in as they walk back to the infirmary, Maes glances down at him. He's so small, he doesn't even reach Maes' chest, he's even smaller without his platform boots and something in him breaks at how cruel life can be.

"I decided I didn't like it." he tells him honestly, even if its not the whole truth, Ed seems to catch on as he rolls his eyes.

"Not every office can be decked out with photos of your family, especially the 16 by 20 photos you have." he mutters something under his breath and Maes knows he's talking about the largest photo he had commissioned that had his darling Elysia after her birthday.

"But Ed!!!" he wheedles poking fun at the kid who is already planning his murder. "This is a hostile work environment!" Ed scoffs and speeds up to get away from him. He catches up to him when he darts around the corner, Ed is frozen staring ahead into the hall with glazed eyes. Maes scans the halls but sees nothing that could warrant any danger, instead he moves so that he's not standing behind Ed and crouches down a little so that he's slightly below Ed's line of sight.

"Edward, I need you to remember where you are right now." His hand twitches, he blinks rapidly as he exhales shakily.

"Wherever you think you are, you are not there, you're with me." he doesn't reach out to touch him just yet, he wants to see if talking to him will help him first. Right now, for all that Ed seems to be fine with physical contact, he knows that being subjected to torture for six weeks straight is bound to mess with his head a little.

"Hughes?" he calls out in a small confused voice, he doesn't dare show the fear he's feeling and swallows past the lump in his throat.

"Yeah, i'm right here  kiddo." he waits for a moment to see if Ed will turn to face him but finds a hand clamping down on his collar and sees Ed staring up at the ceiling.

"Tiles." he whimpers, Maes closes his eyes against the stinging sensation even as he holds the small hand on his collar and knows Ed cannot feel his calm reassuring touch.

"Don't look up, I need you to look at me, can you do that?" he asks, the hand starts shaking a little and he needs something else to distract Ed. "If you can't then I can show you pictures of my darling Elysia." he smiles even when he wants to rage at the world for giving a child so much trauma.

Ed blinks a couple of times before he looks down to see Maes, his brows furrow as he tugs Maes' collar. He can't ground him with automail, but he's not aware enough for Maes to reach out to do so without getting choked.

"I need to run." he murmurs softly under his breath, Maes catches sight of someone approaching down the hall, Ed tenses but doesn't look away from him.

"You can run, but aren't you tired?" he says instead, gently keeping his hold of Ed's wrist to keep him from running off. Ed nods a little, he jerks back a step when someone steps around the corner behind Maes, he has no idea who it is but snaps sharply to bring Ed's attention back to him. His mouth drops open and a very small 'Colonel?' slips out.

"I won't let anyone hurt you, stay with me kid." Ed blinks at him a few times, frowning even as his eyes flick back over to the person standing behind Maes.

"Won't let them pull my hair?" he asks softly, he tugs on Maes' collar as if he's trying to shake the truth out of him. Or like a child tugging on their parent's clothing because they are frightened.

"I won't, I'll make sure no one touches your hair." he vows, he remembers the side note that Major Miles left on getting Ed's attention. He also remembers Ed hates when people touch his hair before this, and how the people that tortured him, pulled his hair and knows that if anyone even looks at Ed's hair with grabby hands, he will cut them off so Ed won't be afraid of reaching hands.

"K." he sighs before he drops, Maes' heart just about beats out of his chest as he quickly maneuvers to catch him and pulls Ed into his arms before he climbs to his feet. He glances behind him to see Major Miles and then in front of him to see Dr. Young with Lt. Clarink. He doesn't say a word to any of them and makes his way to the infirmary. Rage burns in his chest but he keeps calm.

He hopes that he won't need to correct anyone on what they heard. He's in a foul mood and if he needs to teach a couple of soldiers the proper way to handle a traumatized child, no one will end the day happy. He just hopes that Ed won't start disassociating again.

Hopefully the therapist arrives tonight, he knows the snowstorm is just about blown over.

He tucks Ed into bed and steals another pillow so he's lying down at an incline instead of flat on his back.

He was really hoping to ask some more questions today, it can wait. He has to look into the vendor that drugged Ed, find a way to get Al his notes of what happened so he can do some investigating of his own and then figure out if Rockfell is working alone. It doesn't seem all that likely, the man isn't very charismatic, and he's not that good of a soldier, only getting promoted to Lt. by happy accident.

There had to be someone pulling the strings. Or at the very least someone making an easy scapegoat. Hakuro.

He wasn't going to let Ed be used as a pawn to start a war, he wasn't going to let Ed being hurt harm Roy anymore than it already has.

He will get to the bottom of things and Justice will be served.

Rain waits for the signal that all is well and that she will be escorted to Fort Briggs from Northern command. It's been a tense waiting game.

She huffs as she remembers Colonel Mustang's game. If she hadn't witnessed the man and his team retaliate to keep Major Elric safe more than once, she wouldn't have even given the man a chance to explain why he requested her files. She knows that the military is pretty treacherous place to be with everyone trying to climb the ladder, but seeing some good in those that tried to shield Major Elric gave her some hope that he would be alright despite being a child in the military.

Hopefully she can help him.

She really did mean that she would help him at his own pace and not push for more than he would be willing to give. She knows many would be upset by that, think that she is coddling the kid but she knows better than anyone not to push prisoners of war. She hadn't wanted to see children in pain, it was why she had stayed in the military.

And yet.

Here she is.

She glances down at the file on her lap and clenches her hands around it tightly.

A child had been tortured for military secrets that he had no right to know. Should never have had the right to know.

"Warrant Officer Allen?" Rain looked towards the voice and spots a Lieutenant approaching her. She grips her bag which held Ed's file more tightly in her hand. She was not going to let these files out of her sight. They needed to be kept safe.

Something like these could not fall into the wrong hands.

"I'm Lt. James Avery, your escort to Fort Briggs." Lt. Avery explains, Rain nods as she climbs to her feet and follows him. She's aware of Lt. Avery's gaze on her as she approaches his car but he doesn't speak until they are safely ensconced in the vehicle. 

"So you are a therapist here for Major Elric?" He looks skeptical, Rain simply nods at him. She doesn't need to prove her qualifications.

"I have read the files and was given a few details by Colonel Mustang, but nothing more. How is he?" she will needs to interview a couple more people to get a broader picture of Major Elric before meeting with him. She'll also have to deal with Lt. Colonel Hughes, the man who reamed out several staff members to a major hospital and had one member resigning with credentials being called into question before being stripped. She would need to be very careful with him.

"Physically, Dr. Young says he is getting better. He has a fever that has been given her some issues, but she seems to be getting it lowered finally." he sighs and scrubs a hand over his face before placing it back on the steering wheel as they drive to Fort Briggs.

"Though, that is probably Major Elric's fault for refusing any type of drugs." Lt. Avery explains tiredly. There is a faint bruise on his cheek bone, he looks exhausted and just a touch defeated.

"A normal reaction from someone who has been drugged and tortured." she tells him, the Lt. nods his head but purses his lips as if biting back some choice words. "They lose trust, though Major Elric already had some phobias." she comments, the other man sighs tiredly.

"Yeah, they just got a whole lot worse." he doesn't seem to be complaining, he looks upset. That's a good sign, no resentment.

"And mentally?" she prods gently as she short hands some notes.

"I haven't seen him much since the only time he left the infirmary was to go to North City to meet his mechanic and brother to get his automail reattached." Lt. Avery replies. "But I've been informed by some of my friends that he seems fine, that he has some flashbacks and nightmares." he grimaces and she underlines nightmares.

"We had to restrain him a lot when he first arrived." he lightly grazes the bruise on his face. "He seemed to really have it out for Dr. Young." he sighs, finger tapping the steering wheel.

"I get it, I do, but the amount of times he's fought back against his comrades." he looks worriedly at her from the corner of his eyes.

"We should discuss this more at the base, this isn't something to be talked about out in the open." he mutters, she can only nod at him in confusion.

"So he hasn't left the infirmary at all since that one trip?" Lt. Avery shakes his head. He frowns heavily and she knows that she should remain quiet until they've reached the base. Whatever it is that he can't tell her is something big enough that it's impacting Major Elric's recovery.

Rain glances thoughtfully out the window. Since she hasn't met Major Elric yet. She doesn't know much about his personality, about him, aside from the spectacle that crops up when he needs vaccinations, that time he'd lost two baby teeth, and how his comrades do their best to shield him from any bullying. She pushed to remain as uninvolved with him as she could, and for the most part had been able to ignore him just fine.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea for her to remain so aloof.

She sighs to herself. She can't show how much she disapproves of him being in the military, it might alienate him. She can't regret taking on this case but she wishes that maybe someone had kept a closer eye on the child in the military. What was Colonel Mustang thinking in sending out a child out on his own?

She knows that she's not privy to his mission records, that she only has the few psych evals done on him since he first joined the military and the list of injuries he suffered as well as some very basic background information on him and knows that she doesn't know enough. Not enough to see him right away which is why she needs to interview a few people before meeting Major Elric himself.

She goes back to her earlier train of thought regarding Major Elric being confined to the infirmary, maybe it would be a good idea for him to get up and walk around Fort Briggs. Meet the soldiers, learn about where he is staying. It might make him more comfortable and feel safer if he knew exactly where he was. She was sure being confined to an infirmary wasn't helping him get over the fact that he was captured and tortured in small enclosed spaces. On top of his severe phobias. She glances back down at the bag on her lap which carries the files she received.

Automail surgery, the development of his fear of drugs, needles, doctors, hospitals and how the only successful doctor to treat him is Pinako Rockbell and her granddaughter Winry Rockbell, automail mechanics. The struggle to give him medical attention that doesn't result in Major Elric either being restrained or sedated. The spectacle for vaccinations that takes place across the city. And now this.

She has her work cut out for her.

She arrives at Fort Briggs and is immediately escorted to see General Armstrong, on her way she overhears whispers.

Another flashback, Lt. Colonel Hughes, hair pulling?

Lt. Avery knocks on the general's door but they aren't immediately given permission to enter. It takes a few minutes and when permission to enter arrives, Lt. Colonel Hughes and another exit the office with grim looks, though only Lt. Colonel Hughes is furious enough to storm off after giving her a quick nod. Lt. Avery shoots a questioning look at the other man who rubs the back of his head and sighs.

"Later, Warrant officer Allen please step into the room." he gestures for her to enter, Lt. Avery salutes him and heads off in the same direction as Lt. Colonel Hughes.

"General Armstrong, Warrant officer Allen reporting for duty." she says with a salute, General Armstrong sits at her desk with his mouth hidden behind her steepled fingers. Her eyes narrow as she scans Rain.

"At ease, have a seat." she says with a glance at a chair fallen to the floor. She rights it and primly sits down, bag on her lap. Major Miles at her back and she wonders what orders will be given to her. Will General Armstrong try to force her to get answers from Major Elric?

"We have many things to discuss, but first." she gestures to some files at the center of the desk. "These are the most recent reports on Elric's behaviors, health, incident reports, his recollections and observations from all that interact with him for longer than a few minutes." Rain doesn't reach out for the reports just yet.

"Lt. Avery said there were somethings that I would need to be told here." General Armstrong's eyes glimmer with rage.

"There are certain things," she says it like a bad word. "That have not been made..." she pauses as if searching for the word but given how she glances down at the files she doesn't wish to say.

"Shall we say public? About Major Elric." she blinks slowly at Rain as if she can read her like a book. Rain finds that she can't glean anything from the other woman, she truly is the Ice Queen.

"What sort of things?" she asks flatly and wonders if she will need to take notes during this meeting.

"Major Elric has developed an aversion to being called by his rank or title." That doesn't seem like anything too new, she heard how he is always trying to get people to just call him by his last name or Ed.

"It seems as if his captors used his title and rank against him, we have been accommodating." she says flippantly.

"I see." she takes out her notepad and scribbles that down.

"His phobias have become more severe, its become a detriment to his health and the health of my soldiers when he panics." she continues after a moment. She's watching Rain with an intense look in her eyes.

"I'm not surprised by that, I am surprised that he isn't starting to feel comfortable in your presence though." General Armstrong's blank stare somehow becomes even blanker.

"There is a reason for that, one that we have kept closely guarded with a small handful of people being made aware." she finds her notebook ripped out of her hands.

"Now I'm sure that punk did his best to weed out anyone that wouldn't be of use to the runt." she growls, lower her hands to her desk as she climbs to her feet.

"But here at Briggs we do things differently." she continues as she walks around her desk, she catches sight of a sword hanging from the woman's belt and swallows past the lump in her throat. The general wouldn't draw her sword, right?

Swish!

She hardly dares to breathe.

The tip of the sword rests on her jugular. She looks at the general and major with terror coursing through her veins, is this what Major Elric feels around the soldiers? Is this why he is not settling?

"There is a rat in the military." How can she escape this unscath—

What.

"He lead the runt astray, stashed him here up North and tried to pry out military secrets from him and failed." Is that.

Is that a glimmer of pride in the woman's eyes?

"So forgive me for wanting to be sure that you aren't a traitor too." Rain boldly turns to face the other woman and rises to her feet.

"I would never harm a child, nor would I stand by and allow one to be hurt." she tells her, because how else can she prove that she won't turn traitor if they think she isn't one already.

"You're on probation, and your meeting with Elric will be a preliminary evaluation to see if you are a good fit for Elric." She can understand that, sometimes it doesn't work out between therapist and patient, it has to do with how the patient handles things and the first meeting is most always to assess the patient and how comfortable they are with the therapist. Though this is more than that, Major Elric has suffered a great blow, it will be hard to try and establish some type of connection to him.

She also has the feeling, that her stay will pretty much become permanent should this fall through because of the sensitive information she has now become aware of.

"Per Lt. Colonel Hughes, you are not to meet him until tomorrow afternoon for which he will be in the room as you are introduced so that he can monitor Elric." she can agree to that, she doesn't want to overwhelm the kid so soon after he just found out he's been betrayed.

"I see." she tells her instead, she catches Major Miles reading through her notes and wonders now, how dangerous it is. The risks far outweigh the need for documentation.

"You can burn the notebook." she tells him, he stares back at her in surprise. 

"I won't risk it, becoming a leak." he smirks at her and tucks the notebook into his pocket.

She spends the next hour reading the words on each page given to her. Building a preliminary profile.

She spends the hour after that chatting with different soldiers, gleaning information from their conversations.

Violent nightmares, needing to be restrained, fighting even while unconscious, drugged out of his mind or delirious.

No tiles, no tiles, not there but here?

The hair pulling.

The suspicious behavior around soldiers before he even remembered the traitor.

Lt. colonel Hughes.

The attacks on Dr. Young, his apology.

There was a lot to unpack.

She's walking down the hall when she hears screaming. Shrill, panicked, and full of terror.

She's running.

Someone runs past her at full speed, she can hear shouting, something shattering, hysterical crying. The sound of a struggle, grunting, more shouting.

She bursts into the room to see Major Elric screaming and trying to buck off the hands attempting to pin him down. The room is a mess, shattered glass on the floor, a bed overturned, Dr. Young is pinned to the wall. Three soldiers are struggling to hold Major Elric down, Lt. Colonel Hughes is shouting at them and Major Elric is hysterical.

"Don't touch me!! Stop touching me!!!" He screams terrified and so much like a frightened child, broken arm swinging wildly through the air. 

"Get off of him!" Lt. Colonel Hughes shoves someone but Major Elric chooses that time to transmute again and the floor ripples beneath their feet sending everyone flying away from him. Major Elric jumps to his feet and runs, she widens her stance and holds her arms out to catch him but Lt. Colonel Hughes was one step ahead of everyone else and manages to catch Major Elric. He spins him around and holds him to his chest, he presses his hand to Major Elric's chest and carts him off to a corner.

"I know, I know." he whispers apologetically as Major Elric struggles.

"LET GO!!!!" he shrieks, clawing wildly at Lt. Colonel Hughes who doesn't show any sign that he's being harmed.

"It's okay, you're alright, you're alright, I promise." he mutters over and over again as he kneels down so Major Elric can touch the floor. Major Elric instantly calms when his feet touch the ground.

"Not there?" he hiccups, Rain looks away from him for the moment to see everyone else picking themselves up off the floor. 

"Not there, you're with me, right here." Rain looks at the destruction and can see why General Armstrong agreed to the therapy on top of Colonel Mustang.

Major Elric can't continue having episodes like this.

"I'm tired." he weeps, she looks back to see Major Elric bury his face in Lt. Colonel Hughes shoulder as the man carries him like a child. Her heart tugs violently in her chest.

"I know you are." Lt. Colonel Hughes wastes no time in getting Major Elric settled, he does glare at Dr. Young once before whispering something to Major Elric who doesn't move from where he is hiding but puts his hand on the wall and the room begins to shift, slowly, back to the way it used to be. Dr. Young slides to the floor.

One of the men wander over to her and help her to her feet. She pulls her glasses off her face and tucks them into her pocket as she grabs a broom. The other men help straighten up the infirmary and clean things up. She decides she can speak with Dr. Young tomorrow morning.

Everyone looks exhausted.

Major Elric hides his face from everyone and does his best to stifle his tears but everyone can see his shoulders jerking. Lt. Colonel Hughes rubs his back and whispers to him until he's soothed to sleep.

Yes, Major Elric is in dire need of some help and Lt. Colonel Hughes is doing his best, but that isn't enough.

Rain's talk with Dr. Young is...

Informative.

And deeply disappointing. The woman keeps trying to sedate Major Elric, and even if she finally dropped asking him to take drugs, that sticks with him. He's vulnerable and he knows if given the chance, he will be drugged if he lets his guard down.

When she officially enters the infirmary to meet Major Edward Elric, the Fullmetal alchemist is choking...

Lt. Colonel Hughes is gently patting his back until he's able to wheeze out a small 'thanks' and breathe on his own.

Rain blinks once then twice. Well, this certainly wasn't what she was expecting when she walked in here.

"Uh, hello." Rain says in greeting, Lt. Colonel Hughes offers her a simple nod as he keeps rubbing Major Elric's back. Dr. Young also offers her a nod and the other soldier in the room, she believes this one is Kei, shoots her a questioning look.

"I'm Warrant officer Rain Allen, pleasure to meet you." she says, Major Elric chooses this time to look up at her and immediately pales.

Ed's throat is sore. He's pretty sure his lungs want to kill him and his ribs creak with every inhale.

"I'm Warrant officer Rain Allen, pleasure to meet you." Ed looks up at that and freezes as he takes in her appearance. She has long brown hair, though he can't tell how long, dark green eyes that look at him kindly, slightly tan skin and a gentle smile in place. He sort of wants to cry.

Why.

Hasn't he suffered enough?

Is he hallucinating?

Dr. Young says something to the woman, she's real. She's not a hallucination.

She's really here but not and it's wrong.

So similar yet different. The shape of the eyes, the dimple by her cheek as she smiles, the same colors but different shading.

Its all wrong.

He so violently homesick for a place that hasn't existed in years.

"Major Elric, are you okay?" he flinches, Hughes shifts so that he can't see her anymore and leans down with a concerned look on his face. He opens his mouth and Ed latches onto Hughes' sleeve before he can even say a word.

"Edward?" Dr. Young turns around and whatever expression he's making has her worried.

"It—" he cuts himself off as the— she, looks at him.                                          "Mom?"

"She—" his heart feels like its being squeezed.                                                            "Mom help!"

"That—" he can't breathe. He doesn't know what to do...                                                       A figure wheezes, dark, oozing blood. Limp.                                                                                                                                                                    Dead again.

He looks at her and all he sees is the end of everything.                                                               Alphonse is gone. His baby brother is                                                                                                                                                      gone!!!!!

The beginning of everything too.                                                                                                       One year to recover from surgery.

All that makes him who he is today.                                                                                                         Fullmetal Alchemist."

Sin.                                                                                                                                                         "We can bring her back." he                                                                                                                                                           whispers.                                                                                                                                                            

"Brother, I'm cold." Al whispers as he huddles into himself. Ed can't bring himself to look at him.

"And hungry, I miss mom." Al says, heartbroken and Ed looks at him, a thought enters his mind.

It takes root and he can't ponder anything else.

"We can bring her back."

"Hey, come on." a voice breaks through the haze, his throat convulses as he struggles to catch his breath.

How much time did he lose?

Who's in the room this time?

"You're right here, right here with me." the voice says warmly, patient and kind. He looks up but finds the ceiling a blur, something warm slides down the sides of his face.

"Hey, eyes on me." he coughs, chest tight with pain, a finger taps his nose and he looks down.

"Hughes?" his voice sounds like he gargled rocks. Had he been screaming?

"That's right kiddo, I need you to keep breathing." his lungs stutter, he focuses on inhaling to the count of five and exhaling to the count of five.  "Good, you're doing good." how humiliating. 

He's sobbing like some frightened child.

"Hey, hey. You're okay." Hughes mumbles as if Ed is a little kid. He misses Al.

"I want my brother." he chokes, there's silence and then he's softly tugged into a warm embrace. He leans into the warmth and pretends for a moment that its a parent comforting him, not a comrade, not his boss' friend.

"I know you do, I'm sorry I can't bring him to you." he seems so sincere, it makes him even sadder because he knows that Hughes really would bring Al if he could.

Arms wrap around him more securely and he hates it as much as he loves it. Why did his dad have to leave? Why did Ed have to grow up so fast? Why did Ed have to be so stupid as to drag his brother into the worst mistake of their lives, he just kept making mistake after mistake.

He tries to calm himself down but the second he looks up, he sees her and immediately bursts into uncontrollable tears. 

He's ashamed, hiding himself in Hughes' shirt, hand buried in the military blue jacket.

"Please leave, you're upsetting him." Hughes' voice sounds positively frosty. He hunches down, it hurts but he doesn't care. He just wants to go away.

"It's okay to cry." Hughes whispers, lying because Ed can't afford to be weak. "I won't let anyone get close enough to try anything." he promises, oh, he's using that tone of voice that Colonel uses when he's feeling that way that Ed can never decipher.

"Bastard, you're a bastard. You're not The Bastard."

"I can hear the capitals. What does that mean exactly." Ed laughs but doesn't explain. 

He doesn't understand the guy, doesn't want to get along with him.

But he knows that he can count on him not to disappoint him.

That's more than Ed will ever voluntarily allow him .

The way that meant Ed was confined to one place and saddled with bodyguards while he's trapped doing paperwork until he gets over the snit he's in. It's the tone he uses when he sends Ed straight to Hughes' home for a break when it comes to those days when Ed and Al just can't put up tough face. Nina. Mom.

Ed doesn't even realize he fell asleep until he opens his eyes to see Hughes juggling his plate to eat something while not disturbing Ed.

Who is asleep on him.

Like a baby.

He's too wrung out to be embarrassed. His face feels hot, and he's a little dizzy.

Everything hurts.

"Want to eat some?" Ed frowns when he sees what Hughes is eating and huffs.

"More for me." he teases gently even as his hand rubs Ed's back. Ed wonders if he knows why Ed lost it at seeing the— her.

He should tell him but then that means acknowledging it.

"Tired?" Ed knows that Hughes won't think any less of him for being a weak little crybaby, has seen him be a weak little crybaby more than a few times now. He tightens his grip on Hughes' jacket and shifts so his cheek is pressed against Hughes chest. He listens to his heartbeat, steady, rhythmic and patient.

"Go back to sleep kiddo, food will still be here later." That's good.

Ed's not used to starving.

Finds that he hates it a lot actually.

Ed finds himself awake again, he's still tired and everything hurts more than it had earlier. Breathing just might kill him but that's fine, not its not but he can't die without getting Al his body back.

"Um...." Hughes glances down at him, brow raised in askance.

"Well...." He glances around a bit in embarrassed by being so clingy but he can't seem to make himself let go of Hughes' military jacket, not that the man complains or anything. "She just..." he needs to tell him this.

"Um...." Hughes is too kind, too patient with him. "Looks like mom." he whispers as he looks down to avoid having to see whatever expression Hughes makes at the confession. A hand rubs his back and another hand cups the back of his head.

"I see." he says. "Thank you for telling me, I know it can't have been easy for you." he continues after a moment and Ed wants to cry again. He's so tired and Hughes is treating Ed like a kid, like he matters to someone.

Like he hadn't committed the ultimate taboo and killed his mom a second time while robbing his baby brother of his corporal body.

"Your mother must have been very beautiful." he says it softly, and Ed's heart tugs violently in his chest as he remembers her smile. The one thing he wanted to see again so badly.

"She was." his grip tightens on Hughes' jacket.

"You don't have to see her if you don't want to." Ed knows that. Hughes has always been the one to make Ed and Al, mainly Ed, slow down. He never pushed him and always tried to give Al the chance to be a kid where Ed failed to.

"But you still want me to talk to someone." he whispers, talking is taking too much effort.

"Of course, there's no shame in talking to someone. In fact I did see a therapist for a good while after Ishval." he admits without a shred of shame.

"I also dragged Roy to one, which is why you have such a radiant sunshine for a commander." Ed snorts, sunshine, right. But, he can see that Colonel is different from other soldiers. He has the look in his eyes sometimes, the look that Ed saw on his face the first few days after the worst day of his life.

The empty lifeless look, as if the lights are on but nobody's home. And if talking to a therapist can get Bastard to be a semi-functional human being who would rather poke fun at Ed then do paperwork and fantasize about mini skirt Monday, well, it can't all be too bad.

Hughes laughs at the skeptical look on his face.

"Everyone knows all the good soldiers are a little bit eccentric." Ed nods, yeah, that he knew. Family obsessed stalker for the cause.

"I can see you insulting me." Ed pointedly meets his gaze.

"Stalker for the cause." Hughes dramatically clutches his chest with one hand while the other gently crushes Ed. Is he trying to make him submit?

He's still so tired.

"I'd really appreciate it if you eat a little before going back to sleep." Ed sighs but lets Hughes maneuver him into a sitting position.

Something shifts in him and it feels wrong. Almost like when he first was learning how to use his automail and Winry had to constantly fiddle with it when something was knocked loose after he fell for the thousandth time. But this time, its his body.

"Ed?" Ed looks away from the floor to see Hughes' concerned face and shakes his head.

It has to be his imagination, right?

"Take it easy, i'll be right back." Ed doesn't want him to go. But he can't keep Hughes here, the man is lead investigator and Ed is slowing that down. He needs to be better.

"Okay." he whispers, why can't he bring himself to raise his voice? Why is he letting Hughes treat him like a kid?

Ed has no right to be a child. He threw away those rights when he joined the military.

But then.

Didn't he always treat Ed like a kid.

Didn't Bastard's team treat him like a kid.

Didn't Tommy and Levi always treat him like their kid brother trying and failing to get him to lighten up with all the games they played.

'The state alchemist program. What is its purpose?' A hand roughly pulls his hair, he spits the blood pooling in his mouth at the woman before him. Nails dug into his neck and he begins choking for air.

The room starts to darken, grey eyes glint with malicious glee as his neck is released and he coughs.

He tries to drag air back into his lungs but only chokes.

His heart thunders in his chest.

He can't show fear.

Smile. Show them they haven't beaten you.

"Weak." he tells the woman. "My teacher could hit harder." which is true, not that she would torture him.

She'd just beat his ass and murder him. Which is deserved.

There's an ugly look on her face.

The world explodes into bright colors and then fades into darkness.

There's a thumb resting just under his eye, palm cupping Ed's cheek and he reflexively turns to bite.

"Hey, didn't we talk about the biting thing?" Ed cracks an eye open, Hughes is smirking at him and he bites harder on principle alone.

"Told you, you're the exception." he mumbles around the hand in his mouth, Hughes laughs and wiggles his fingers until Ed spits his hand out.

"One of these days you'll prove Roy right about the whole feral thing." Ed scoffs, yeah right. He's never given anyone rabies.

"Alright, you've made your point." he slides the table with wheels over to Ed as he sets down a bowl of vegetable broth. Ed doesn't complain, honestly, he's just glad that he gets fed pretty consistently even if he couldn't really keep anything down the first couple of days.

"I also happened to find you some apple juice!" Ed smiles tiredly at the man for how happy he seems about apple juice. He had apple juice not too long ago,  why's he so happy about that.

He brings out the photos but Ed doesn't complain.

He's so utterly exhausted.

He was starting to be awake more just yesterday, why is he so...

"Don't fall asleep with a spoon in your mouth." Hughes chides as the spoon is removed but Ed only swipes halfheartedly at him.

Even that exhausts him.

Ed's shaking, each breath he takes is a struggle, taking a herculean effort.

He feels so heavy, it hurts just to breathe. And he's so hot.

He can hear someone talking to him, a cool rag wiping his face, fingers running through his hair. Fingers tapping at his cheek in an effort to get him to pay attention. The ringing in his ears is back, he can't tell what is being said but he knows by the frantic hand patting his cheek that he's worrying Hughes.

Why did it hurt to breathe? His chest feels heavy and his ribs hurt. Something is wrong. More than it was earlier.

"His fever's too high! Kei bring more water!" Ed's fingers twitches as he groans in pain. Why is she yelling in his ears?

"Edward? Are you awake?" Ed can't open his eyes, it takes far too much effort to even crack one eye open. Everything hurts. Why?

What happened? He can see Hughes watching Ed over Dr. Young's shoulder.

Rockfell stares down at Ed with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Well?" he asks impatiently.

"Definitely swollen, you'll be lucky to even get a whisper within the next week." hands gently prod his throat, his mouth is forced open as someone peers down his throat.

"And I don't see why you called me, I'm not a doctor, I only fill in as a field medic in a pinch." Warrant officer George Lance gripes.

His heart hurts.

He never got along with the other man, his betrayal doesn't hurt as much.

But its now two people that he knows personally that have betrayed him.

That have come here to this place.

That have taken him from his brother and he can't forgive them.

"Also you need to feed him more, he's wasting away." Ed blearily watches the two argue as they leave the room.

"As long as he can still answer yes or no questions, what does it matter?" Rockfell demands, Lance pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Interrogating him on a few alchemy techniques isn't worth the effort if you make it so that he can't talk later." 

"The punk isn't even answering my questions in the first place. Who cares about recovery time?" Lance shoots him a pitying look.

"Do what you want then." he slips back into the room, a needle slides under his skin.

"Just bear with it kid." he murmurs as everything begins to feel distant.

"Hey, come on kiddo. With me." he blinks, when did he start staring at the ceiling? He looks down, Hughes is kneeling by the bed, a hand on Ed's forehead.

"Edward, I need you to stay with me." Dr. Young? She sounds so far away. He blinks a couple of times when his blurry vision starts to get blurrier.

He just needs to rest his eyes.

Just for a minute. Then he'd stay awake like she asked.

"Buddy, no. Come on." Hughes pleads, now he feels bad.

"Wrrnt ficer Lnce." his tongue feels heavy, he hopes that Hughes understood him.

Ed's just so tired, he'd stay awake longer next time.

But...

         he...

                 needs...

                             a...

                                  little...

                                              ...

                                                   n...

                                                          ap...

'You won't take him too! Give him back! He's my brother!' Ed dips his fingers into his own blood and starts pulling on the knowledge on how to bind souls.

'Take my leg, take my arm. Take my heart! Anything!" he cries out desperation in his voice.

He's bargaining with a being far too powerful but who cares. For Alphonse.

"You can have it!' Ed cries as he sits up now that the array is complete.

'Just give him back!' he grits his teeth, no one is taking his brother away from him.

'He's my little brother! He's all I have left!' he screams as he claps his hands, the world whites out.

Lyra watches Ed lose consciousness and growls when she sees blood trickle down the side of his mouth. There's a crackle sound as he wheezes and she cuts open his shirt to see his ribs, more black purple than they'd been a few days back. Had he...

Did someone accidentally apply too much pressure when pinning him down earlier? Had his fighting led to this?

"Dammit! Everyone out! Kei prep our surgery room!" Lt. Colonel Hughes steps back, eyes smoldering and she knows. She knows. "He's punctured a lung, I want him to stay under for that." he says nothing, simply crosses his arms over his chest and steps back.

"I'm sorry." she tells him as she lifts Edward into her arms and books it to the surgery room that rarely sees use these days.

His nightmare earlier this afternoon had been pretty violent, with Lt. Colonel Hughes out of the room, it had been up to Clarink, Brody, Kei and herself to try and wake him up. Failing that, she'd sedate him as she used to before Lt. Colonel Hughes. But Edward had taken one look at the needle and Lyra had found herself pinned to the wall struggling to breathe.

And now, he'd done what she had been trying her best to avoid. Punctured a lung with his lungs already compromised from the infections.

Drugs for surgery aside, she hasn't given him anything new. Has stuck to antibiotics, blood and saline, and oxygen via cannula since the smallest mask is still too big for him. He's still a child.

Lt. Colonel Hughes watches her closely, eyes smoldering as he scribbles something down.

He only left Edward's side once, to inform General Armstrong of another traitor and possibly to inform some of his informants, she's unclear on that. He wasn't gone that long.

Lyra sits as close as she dares with Edward being unconscious and rubs at her eyes. They feel heavy.

Exhaustion weighs on her body but she can't leave Edward's side just yet. She needs to catch him when he wakes up and impress upon him the importance of everything happening from here on out.

If his fever climbs any higher, she's afraid that she'll lose him. He's going to want to fight the iv, he going to want to fight the oxygen, and he's going to want to fight the restraints added to his bed that will be used if he fights anymore. She can offer him a reprieve from drugs for the moment though. 

If she can get the chance though, she'll take it to give him something. A little bit would go a long way in ridding his body of pain and stress which would help lower the fever immensely. But she's aware that she's on thin ice as is.

He can be mad at her all he likes. Hell, Lt. Colonel Hughes and General Armstrong themselves could team up and have her summarily dismissed from the military with her doctor's license revoked, but she's going to save this stubborn brat from himself no matter the consquences.

She's going to give him two days.

On her honor as a soldier of Briggs, Edward Elric will survive.

He didn't escape torture just to die here.

He has another nightmare.

"ALPHONSE!!" he screams hysterically, Lt. Colonel Hughes can't calm him down. He already admitted that he wouldn't when he started tossing and turning, whispering his brother's name. But seeing it is, it's upsetting. Lt. Colonel Hughes has been able to calm him down faster and without fail multiple times.

"I will sedate him." she informs him curtly, his lips thin.

"Let me tell him." she wants to scoff, Edward isn't even aware enough of his surroundings. Still he presses his palm to Edward's cheek. 

"Sorry kiddo, but we're going to have to sedate you. I'll be right here though." he promises, he doesn't step away from Edward, instead making sure that Edward can't see her and she injects the sedative into his thigh, holding it until he stops fighting her.

He whimpers, jerking his leg away from her, she quickly fastens the restraints over his thighs and ankles.

"I know kiddo, I know but I'm not leaving." Edward whispers something, he looks terrified.

He looks so different from the first night when he clawed her face and growled at her, snapping his teeth as he fought like a beast.

Fear really does make beasts of people. How far had he been pushed to get this far?

How much power does Lt. Colonel Hughes have to have him acting like a frightened child instead of a feral beast?

Lyra checks his temperature, she flinches as he blindly swings at her, Lt. Colonel Hughes effortlessly catches the hand and wraps the fingers in his own. 

"I'm here." he mutters softly, no fear on his face despite knowing that that hand can shatter a wall. He remains docile after that, pain etched on his face even if he isn't awake.

She sets up everything she will need but doesn't move to start Edward on any drugs just yet. There is still a day, she doesn't have hope though.

He has another two nightmares, one Lt. Colonel Hughes is able to calm him down for, while the other...

"What is he saying?" Kei asks as Edward flails wildly, yelling at the top of his lungs in a different language. More than one language. Lt. Colonel Hughes calmly cuts in, his words are stilted and a little awkward but he's clearly meeting Edward in the middle.

"He's gone!" he whimpers suddenly understable, legs kicking wildly but the restraints hold.

"Not forever, you'll be able to see him soon." Edward sobs, Lt. Colonel Hughes wastes no time in sitting him up and holding him close. Kei has left the room the get them all something to eat while shooing away the worried soldiers outside, aside from the two that are supposed to remain posted outside the infirmary for the next few weeks.

She looks at her watch and decides against waiting the next thirty minutes.

She set up an new iv, she swipes an alcohol swab around his inner elbow and pushed a needle into his skin. He whimpers but doesn't react,  too far gone, the look Lt. Colonel Hughes gives her.

If looks could kill.

But he doesn't stop her, instead shifting more on the bed so that Edward won't see her.

She knows that she was never in good standing with the other soldier, but being so thoroughly dismissed like this, it cuts.

Lyra sets down a new bowl with cool water and a fresh rag, it's taken from her before she can even blink. She doesn't complain.

She knows that Edward is going to be livid, he hasn't really been lucid at all the past two days.

Somehow, throughout this, Kei missed her putting Ed back on pain medication. Lt. Colonel Hughes only stepped out to go to the restroom, something he'd been very reluctant about given that she is the only one in the room but when nature calls.

"What have you done?!" Kei asks, horrified as he makes way over to the bed. "We were told no drugs!" Lyra is so utterly spent, each limb weighs about ten pounds each and she's hunching over from how tired she is.

"I know and I don't care right now." she glares at him and rubs her burning eyes. "His fever was reaching dangerous heights that would have killed him if I didn't give him medicine. It was the only way to lower it." To get him to sleep without all the stress, all the pain, to give his body a break after the hell its been put through. Kei sighs, palm on his forehead as he rubs it irritation on his face.

"Well, is his fever getting better?" Lyra checks his temperature again, she smiles when she sees that its a degree lower than earlier.

"Yes, its slow going after the hell he's been through but I expect it to drop a little more by the end of the day." That's so far away. It was noon a day and a half ago when all this happened. Time has been crawling at a snail's pace.

But she can't afford to not be vigilant. Any nightmare, night terror, flashback is going to set Edward right back. This constant fever is not good for his body.

The constant stress and pain. He's going to be lucky if he'll be able to live a lifestyle anywhere close to what it used to be. She can see him getting sick a lot in the near future.

She's afraid he'll kill himself by accident with all his fighting. Edward Elric has been entrusted to her care, she will not fail this stubborn brat. Even if he seems to have it out for her right now.

"You're exhausted, get some rest." Kei tells her as he grabs a stool to sit by Edward and tags the rag off of his forehead. "You won't do him any good with how spent you are." he tells her, Edward twitches violently, she shoves her hand into her pocket as Kei flinches.

"Easy there Ed, you're doing good." he murmurs softly as he gently bathes his face. Edward slowly relaxes, hand coming up to his side as if he's still in some pain. Lyra adjusts his intake and slips away to rest. Lt. Colonel Hughes will be glad to see her away from Edward's side at least.

Ed finds himself staring at the ceiling.

He kind of hates that.

At least there is no tile.

Mooks one to ten are gone, not coming back.

Where's Hughes?

He feels off.

The room spins when he tilts his head to the side.

It's hard to breathe a little, a lot, but when hasn't it been hard to breathe. He's kinda starting to miss being able to breathe normally.

Al's gonna fuss.

His eyes find the ceiling again.

No tiles?

He can't seem to focus on a single thought.

Slipping through his fingers like sand.

It's almost like everything is a dream, like he's still chained to that table. Waiting for someone to come in the room. To start asking questions, throwing punches, pulling his hair, shouting at him for counting.

But...

He's not, not there? He's on a soft comfy bed, a thick blanket covering him.

He remembers Hughes. You're with me, right here.

"Ed?" Ed turns his head slightly and spots Kei smiling worriedly at him. Why was he worried? There isn't anything wrong with him, is there?

Ed's fingers twitch and he looks down at his hand wondering when the sling had been removed.

Wait...

Something doesn't look right. He can't put his finger on it.

His other arm came up to scratch at his elbow when he sees it. His eyes widened in horror and his skin began to crawl.

He feels sick, disgusted.

Angry!

Helpless. Why? Why? WHY? AGAIN!

His automail fingers claw at the needle in his arm, breathing coming in rapidly, his chest hurts.

"Ed, Ed, Ed," Kei calls his name urgently. "I need you to calm down." Kei leans over Ed, taking his hand off his elbow.

"Ed, look at me!" he calls out. Panicked gold eyes obey, he wordlessly demands an explanation as he locks eyes with Kei. 

"I am sorry, Ed, but the IVs are saving your life." he looks frustrated and sad. "You will die without this. Do you hear me? You will die." Kei says quickly, trying to stress the importance on him.

"I know you're scared and feel betrayed, but this is what is going to save you." Ed's eyes widen. Drugs are going to save him? After all the hell he just went through because of them?

"Your fever was too high, reaching dangerous levels that would have killed you." Kei gently explains. Ed's automail hand tightens over Kei's hand, the threat is there. But these hands, they are like Winry's hands. They give to those who have lost, he has not right to...

He lets go of him and grips the blanket. He wants to cry so much right now.

But that didn't lessen the anger he was feeling. He didn't want any drugs in his body! The drugs...

The drugs...

It's like being with them...

Kei is pulled away and Dr. Young was suddenly there, leaning over Ed. She takes Ed's face in her hands. The audacity of this woman, if he weren't so upset about all the times he fought her for no reason he would bite her.

"You're alright, Ed. No one is going to hurt you. You're alright. I'll take the IV out in a few hours, then you can be as mad as you want, but if you want to live to see your brother and friend again, I need you to calm down." Ed scrunches his eyes shut as his hand curls around the covers tightly.

Al...

Winry...

He'd do it for them.

But he doesn't have to like it!

Survival is all that matters, despite the cost or the blood that may intentionally or unintentionally stain his hands.

His hand squeezes the blanket, its a poor substitutefor grounding.

He can't look at them, either of them. But can he afford to keep his eyes off them for too long? Will they take advantage again?

He's shaking but he doesn't care. He knows they know he's weak. He can't pretend at not being scared in front of them, they've seen him weak too many times to count. 

He wants someone to protect him.

He can admit that he's terrified out of his mind right now. He's tired of being strong all the time.

He's weak. Always has been.

Alphonse, I need you.

Maes sighs as he removes his glasses before he rubbed his eyes.

He makes his way back to the infirmary to see Dr. Young with her arms clasped in front of her as she sits at her desk fast asleep. Kei is sitting beside Ed changing the bandage on Ed's arm as it was bleeding slightly.

And Ed's awake. Fully cognizant for once, the past two and half days were wrought with anger and grief in equal measure.

Watching Ed meet Warrant Officer Allen had been hard. He's still just a kid dealing with an ocean of grief, the tide pulling him deeper and deeper whenever he stopped struggling. It hurt to see him sobbing uncontrollably, calling out to his long dead mother. To his brother who can't be here now. Clinging to Hughes like a frightened kid.

Keening as he lost himself to his deep deep grief filled past and unable to ground himself. 

Hiding from the world in a way that he hadn't since Barry.

Since Nina.

And now.

Ed's shaking, gritting his teeth and refusing to even look at Kei. Maes' heart falls, he makes his way over to the bed sighing inaudibly as he taps Kei's shoulder, the other man jumps before nodding at him and holding out the bandage to him. Maes resumes winding the bandage around Ed's arm. With that done, he sits on the edge of the bed and holds Ed's hand. Ed tenses turning to face him with a look on his face, teeth bared in a mockery of a smile that screams a challenge to the world. But his eyes. His eyes have always given him away. So expressive in their unusual color. And right now, his eyes are full of anger, disgust, full of pain and fear. The myriad of emotions steal his breath away.

It takes almost a minute for Ed to recognize him, shoulders slumping as his expression shatters. He squeezes Maes' hand despite the splints on his delicate fingers. He shifts so that both of his hands are covering Ed's small hand, easily dwarfed by his own. His kid is so scared.

"It's alright Ed. Everything's going to be alright." he promises softly, Ed doesn't respond but he does lean slightly so that his hip bumps into Maes. That's about as far as he can move with the restraints on his lower body. He looks at his limp hair and sighs, he needs to wash it for him soon.

"You're alright, Ed. You're safe." He promises, Ed sniffles wetly. He brushes a tear from Ed's cheek.

"Hughes..." Ed peers up at him, a look of helplessness on his face. He hates that Ed is in no position to say no here. Not if he wants to get better.

"Hmm?" he sees Ed lean back into his pillows, automail clenching tightly around his blanket.

"I'm tired." He sounds so very tired, but not in the lack of sleep way.

"Then go to sleep." he suggests, sleep would pass the time even if its the last thing he wants right now. Maes knows that Dr. Young and Kei are already getting curious about Ed's nightmares regarding his brother. The nightmare that Maes can't calm him down for.

Ed shakes his head. He idly kicks his leg but it barely raises off the mattress and he whimpers, shifting so that he's leaning more against Maes despite the pain the position will bring him. Maes shifts so that Ed can lean against him in a comfortable position and presses Ed's head to his chest.

"Not that." He grimaces, hand coming up to latch on Maes' jacket. "The injuries...." he shudders, shame colors his face. Maes wants to tell Ed that it isn't his fault that he's so afraid and lashing out but he can't. Ed doesn't blame others for his mistakes. Even when it is the fault of someone else.

"The nightmares..." He knows that he can only help so much, Al would be better at calming him and soothing the hurt he feels. He feels like such a poor substitute.

"The broken trust..." he whimpers, his jacket starts to develop a wet spot as Ed's shoulders shake. He's going to make sure that Lance and Rockfell scream for hurting Ed this badly.

"I'm tired of it all. I just want to go home." he sobs, Maes has known for a long time, that children can cause their parents grief. But this type of grief, its unbearable. No parent ever wants to see their child this helpless or afraid. 

"I'm sorry, Ed." he apologizes bleakly, what else can he say? "You deserve a break, a nice long break of just relaxing in the fields of Resembool, but..." he can't. Not with the injuries he has. With story he still has to tell and the rats in Eastern command. He wouldn't be safe.

"I know." Ed whispers, sniffing. "I know. I can't leave. I'm just tired." Maes presses a kiss to Ed's head and rubs his back. 

"Then you look after that boy and make him feel safe and loved when you are."

This is a lot harder than what he promised Gracia. Ed needs more than just Maes looking after him.

Ed begins dozing off, Maes makes sure to keep him steady and keeps his mind off his arm when Kei comes around to prod at it and switch out the medication. Thankfully he doesn't need anymore blood, the sight of the blood bag had made him nauseous.

Ed's grip suddenly tightens as his shoulder rise up to his ears.

"Ed?" Maes calls out quietly, feeling concerned at the way Ed's holding onto him.

"Tell me about Elysia and Ms. Gracia." Ed pleads looking up at him, tears swims in his gold eyes. He blinks resolutely keeping them back but Maes can see the way he's struggling to keep his mind off the needle in his arm. Trying his hardest to stay present as his eyes stray towards the ceiling. 

Just a few hours, that's what she said. He rubs Ed's knuckles with his thumb as he slips his hand into his pocket to grab his photos.

"My little Elysia is getting so big! Look at her in this cute bunny costume! Isn't she just adorable?" Ed's not looking at the photos, instead focused on Maes ramblings. A tear leaks past his clenched eyes and he finds himself glancing at the clock.

"Aww, just looking at her looking so precious brightens my day!" Maes rambles on and on about his family, sometimes bringing out pictures of Ed and Al.

"Who can forget my cute boys! Gracia has so many photos of you two!" he sees the lost look in Ed's eyes and finds that he hates Ed's father. No father should ever leave their children behind. Ed doesn't even understand that Maes and Roy want Ed and Al to grow up into fine young men. Neither of them grew up with their fathers present, and seeing Ed and Al, well, they'd both agreed to step up for them and lead by example. To show the two Elric brothers that there will be people that want to look after them.

Only.

Ed's father walked out on his family, he didn't die unexpectedly like Roy and Maes' fathers. And it shows,  not just in the trust issues, but abandonment issues and in the way that he held everyone at arms length. Made him sneer at the concept of fathers and made him so damn prickly when he perceived someone trying to parent him after having to raise himself and his brother for years all by himself. Sometimes he didn't see that they were doing that and would still have his guard up, confusion on his face. Maes had an easier time at it than Roy for some reason.

It maybe had to do with both Elric brothers being there when Elysia was born and Nina.

Chapter Text

Lyra watches Lt. Colonel Hughes distract Edward with pictures, he doesn't look at many, eyes squeezed shut as his hand tightens around Lt. Colonel Hughes' sleeve. Occasionally he'll peek at one, but for the most part, he's silent, breathing hitching with pain and silent sobs.

She's glad he's distracted. It makes it easier to check on him, even as he tense and buries his face in Lt. Colonel Hughes neck. The man glares at her each time, voice kind and pleasant despite the look on his face. It makes her shudder in fear.

She has no doubt in her mind if she wasn't more experienced as a doctor, he would have had her dismissed from the infirmary and had Kei take over. But Kei is a field medic when needed and automail mechanic first. He never wanted to be a doctor, let alone see kids. 

There are a lot of people here that came to Briggs to get away from things. Secrets made up the base, General Armstrong guarded them as much as she guarded the wall.

She checks Edward's temperature again, he flinches from her touch but doesn't open her eyes. Lt. Colonel Hughes shushes him, rubbing his back, scratching his scalp, holding his hand and rubbing his thumb across Edward's knuckles. He talks, voice just a touch hoarse and the photos are endless. She catches a few photos that have Edward standing with a full suit of armor. She can see the devastation in his eyes, the helplessness as if what he's doing is not enough. It's more than enough, she knows Edward would have fought her, would have escaped the infirmary as he had the first three days when he first arrived. Fighting her at every turn, taking his chance and running despite not getting very far despite being down one arm and leg.

When Edward passes out, exhaustion lining every inch of his face, he doesn't stop his ramblings. He does pocket his photos.

He tells stories of his youth, his friendship with Colonel Mustang, his courtship of his wife.

Lyra wishes Edward's fever would lower before he wakes, she doesn't want him freaking out again. It's hard enough after the first time, she knows Kei's shaken with how Edward could have easily broken his fingers. But Edward hadn't, despite all this pain, fear and suffering, he's still a kind boy. He knew the importance of Kei's hands, they are like Winry's hands. he muttered before letting go. She wonders about this kid's strength and mental fortitude. 

"Get some rest, i'll look after the kid." Kei says clapping her shoulder. She sighs but climbs into the nearest cot to get some shut eye. Hopefully by the time she wakes up again his fever will have died out if not lowered to a more manageable level.

She wouldn't be surprised if the kid ends up honorably discharged after all this.

His fever is slowly getting lower, but not fast enough. She has Lt. Colonel Hughes hold some ice pack on Edward's neck and under his armpits before she has to leave with Major Miles. The man escorts her to General Armstrong's office.

Either Kei told while he was out, Lt. Colonel Hughes when he went to the restroom or someone walked in and saw. Either way, she's lost control of the situation. She had wanted to be the one to inform General Armstrong, the blow out for this will be big.

They enter her office, the General appears to be in a foul mood. She doesn't even wait for Lyra to sit down before reaming her out.

"Drugs?" she whispers coldly. "After Major Elric specifically requested to be kept off them barring special circumstances." she continues, voice deadly,

"Yes sir." she doesn't bother to make excuses. "I know and tried to respect his wishes." As much as she could when she discussed dosing him with Lt. Colonel Hughes who shut her down swiftly and without mercy saying he wouldn't go above Edward's head.

"But as his doctor, it's my job to make sure he survives here. I determined the best course of action after fixing his broken rib and punctured lung, the risk was too great to let him heal naturally on his own." the constant fever is not good for anyone let alone a child who might as well be immunocompromised after the sickness he just got over.

"Its been days of fevers slowly rising with no sign of his temperature dropping and with it his lucidity. He already fought with three soldiers and injured them after a nightmare." she hesitates but can't lie to General Armstrong about Lt. Colonel Hughes' position. "Lt. Colonel Hughes has been a huge help, but he admitted for a certain nightmare he is of no help. I've seen it twice now, that he could do nothing to stop Major Elric from fighting and harming not just himself but others. Sedation was our only option." General Armstrong's eyes narrow as she climbs to her feet, towering over Lyra despite there being a desk between them.

"I will not allow him to die, sir. Not if it's within my power." she can't show weakness. "I don't regret it, he was at risk of having a seizure with how high his temperature was and that coupled with the broken ribs and punctured lungs is a death sentence." she states her case meeting the General's eyes.

General Armstrong frowns darkly at her.

"I understand." she signs, kneading her forehead. "I will not punish you for saving Fullmetal's life. But if he wishes to punish you, I will stand by him." she looks at Lyra with understanding.

"You almost made a liar out of me, and until he comes to a decision, consider yourself on probation." Lyra feels some tension leaving her shoulders.

"Is that understood?" General Armstrong asks, Major Miles stands unobtrusively between them but she knows the man sides with her.

 "Sir, yes sir!" Lyra looks down at her feet, she's summarily dismissed. She makes her way back to the infirmary, stopping by the cafeteria to inform the workers to send over food for five to the infirmary, something small and light for Edward and then heads back.

She enters the infirmary to see Kei sitting by Edward's side, Lt. Colonel Hughes is not in the room and Lt. Clarink is also inside the infirmary not guarding from outside like Lt. Brody.

"Ed woke up while you were gone." Kei says by way of greeting when he spots her. Lyra sighs, Edward seems to have an acute fear of being alone, no doubt due to the isolation he faced when not being tortured. He hasn't really shown this fear, is it new? OR because Lt. Colonel Hughes, the one person he trusts, is not here? Questions to ponder another time.

"His temperature has gone down a little more." he informs her, she smiles in satisfaction. Just a few more hours. A few more hours and then they can get him off everything but the antibiotics and saline. She knows he won't want the nutrients when he can eat himself. Maybe he won't take the supplements that Lt. Colonel Hughes talked him into.

"I've informed the guards on rotation to have at least one stationed inside the infirmary to keep him company if someone steps out. Lt. Colonel Hughes is trying his best to remain here at all times but..." He's lead investigator and has other things to do than to keep babysitting a teenage prisoner of war.

"So how much trouble did you get in?" Kei asks, eyeing her up and down.

"General Armstrong chose not to punish me since I saved his life, but if Major Elric wishes it, he can punish me." Lyra replies with a sigh as she sits down at her desk. Kei grins, poking her arm. 

"You got off easy. If he does choose to punish, it can't be worse than what General Armstrong could come up with." She can see that he also believes Edward won't punish her too badly. He's a kid.

Nothing he can come up with will be worse than any of General Armstrong's punishments.

Kris finds a vacant seat and sits down, James follows after him and he sees the glances everyone aims their way. The two of them end up on Fullmetal duty quite a lot. He's most familiar with their faces.

"The bruises are still pretty bad." Avery comments, Kris sighs as he rubs his cheek, carefully avoiding his splinted nose.

"Yeah, kid can definitely pack a punch." Its terrifying. So scared, so violent. It's honestly more than a little disheartening to see that this kid could take down four people trying to pin him down while he's terrified out of his mind and almost win against them. Ten people kept him in one place, no, wait. It technically took twelve people to keep this kid down.

"Is it true?" Avery asks, and James nods his head. 

"He punctured a lung not too long after we had to pin him down from his last nightmare. And Lt. Colonel Hughes can't wake him from one kind of nightmare." He knows that everyone had hope when Fullmetal had simply bitten the Lt. Colonel instead of violently attacking him as he had everyone else. The hope only grew when he was able to calm Fullmetal down from his nightmares with minimal fussing.

It was a huge relief to them all.

Now.

There's a heavy cloud hanging over them all again.

Gloom.

Hasn't this kid suffered enough?

Betrayed by some of his own comrades and tortured. He can see how Fullmetal holds them all at arms length, not really trusting them for all that he seems to be friendly with some of them. Poker tournaments, cleaning them out of their money.

Is there anything they can do to help him feel more at ease?

How do you help someone so traumatized he can't differentiate between friend and foe?

How do you fix something so fundamentally integral to human nature that without it, humans wouldn't be human? From the beginning, there has always been trust.

From parent to child. Sibling to siblings. Friend to lover. Comrade to comrade.

Ed wonders how long a few hours actually is.

Dr. Young keeps saying a few hours but it's been a day and a half now. Hughes is helpfully honest about the time and stops Ed from ripping out the ivs for the third time. He takes the time to calm Ed down from his, tenth, thirteenth, fifteenth, panic attack.

He tries his best to ignore her when she comes to take his temperature and check his other injuries. His stitches finally come off. He spends the whole time hiding his face in Hughes' shoulder.

He isn't sure how to feel about what she did when she gave him that medication. He understands she did it to save his life, but it still hurts that she did it. How many times will people betray his trust and do what they want regardless of his requests. Why do adults think they know better than him when it comes to his own body? Granny and Winry never treat him like this. They respect what he says.

But Dr. Young.

From the start...

And then she drugged him while he was asleep, like them. No consent.

Hughes didn't even give consent but he also admitted that when it comes to life saving surgery there doesn't need to be consent.

Ed hasn't had surgery since he had to get automail. It makes his skin crawl.

He feels like throwing up.

He wants to cry. It isn't fair. He misses Al so much right now. He could deal with Ed being unreasonable, hear him out and sometimes even talk him into being reasonable.

But Al is far away right now.

How is this any different than what the Drachmans did to him?

Sure they aren't coming close every so often to beat him, but what about when he's terrified out of his mind and only just waking up to find several grown men trying to pin him to the ground. Trying to make him submit, he doesn't want to fight them. But his mind.

His mind has always been a volatile place.

Even more so after two trips into Truth's domain.

Being betrayed, feeling those feelings again after The Bastard and his promise to never leave himself open to this type of pain again.

He was pretty much ready to stop trusting anyone and everyone.

But then Hughes who has seen him be a stupid weak scared kid after Nina, after that psycho Barry. Ed's barriers dropped against his better judgement. Hughes hasn't let him down. Hughes took on an entire hospital for him, had someone fired because Ed hadn't wanted to be drugged and was.

He knows deep deep down that what Dr. Young did is different from the Drachmans, Lance and Rockfell. She did it to save his life, they did to subdue  him and make it easy to kidnap him, stop him from fighting and make him more susceptible to answering their questions.

How is he supposed to feel right now?

His feelings are all mixed up and on top of that, he still feels the sting of betrayal from Mark, from Lance.

He doesn't know what to think but he'd rather not lash out and hurt Dr. Young's feelings. He's done that enough lately.

What should he do? What can he do?

"You don't look like your comfortable with the idea of seeing Dr. Young right now." Hughes comments, Ed lightly shrugs his shoulder. He closes his eyes when water splashes over him.

"Sorry." he apologizes and wipes the water from Ed's face. "Dr. Young informed Warrant officer Allen about what she did. I told General Armstrong." Oooh. He's mad mad. But should he be?

"I understand why she did it..." Ed whispers, Hughes looks at him closely, Ed bites his lip and shakes his head. He doesn't push. He likes that sometimes.

"You still want me to see her?" he asks, Hughes is silent as he rinses Ed's hair. He'll see her if Hughes asks him to, because Hughes has never pushed him to do something he doesn't want to.

"I want you to see someone, you don't have to see her specifically." he answers, almost avoiding the question and Ed hums thoughtfully. She doesn't look Exactly the same as mom. Just similar. 

"Can I think about it?" Hughes smiles at him.

"Of course." he turns Ed's head, lightly scratching his scalp. "Feel up to eating something kiddo?" Hughes carefully conditions his hair, its relaxing.

"No." he tells him, Hughes has only ever pushed Ed to slow down. "Stew?" he asks because Ed doesn't like starving. Hates it.

Doesn't want to voluntarily miss any meals and knows that he's going to start carrying even more snacks after this. Hopefully Al doesn't fight him on this, though he might try to limit his sweet intake. Ed doesn't have a sweet tooth.

"I can see about that. Let's finish your hair up first." he mutters something softly under his breath as he encounters a tangle and gently tries to tease it out. He's been very careful not to pull Ed's hair.

He wants to cry.

Hughes is special.

Like Winry and Granny special.

Ed doesn't like that. But he also doesn't not like that.

He's a very confusing individual.

The next time Ed wakes up, he's confused to feel so clear headed. He doesn't feel so cold, the fever constantly making him chilly is gone. 

"Hey kiddo." Hughes sounds happy. He presses his palm to Ed's forehead, then ruffles Ed's hair.

"Your fever broke a little over an hour ago. The only thing you still have to keep is the saline for one more day and the antibiotics for two more days." Ed wonders if he will be okay with pills for antibiotics because the military doesn't carry the liquid form he gets from his doctor. 

"I know buddy." Hughes murmurs, Ed sighs.

"I need to tell General Armstrong now." Ed has had four nightmares regarding that night. He knows that it scares Hughes, that it scares the briggs soldiers.

"Okay, did you want me to bring her to you?" Ed doesn't want Hughes to leave.

He doesn't want to be here alone with Dr. Young. He didn't want to be in the infirmary....

If Hughes leaves him here, he will run and he can't, not right now. He has to finish the antibiotics or he'll end up back in the same boat.

"Let's get you something to eat and then see about General Armstrong?" Ed nods, he won't say no to food.

Even if they are both stalling right now.

Ed pushes himself into a sitting position, his vision whites out for a moment. A hand rests on his cheek, thumb lightly pressed under his eye, air blown on his face and the ringing in his ears fade away.

"There you are." Hughes smiles relieved, Kei is frozen with one foot in the door, General Armstrong behind him and wonders what happened.

"Does your side hurt?" he wheezes, words locked behind his clenched teeth and opts for a short nod.

"Alright, let's get you propped up." he busies himself with adjusting Ed's pillows while Ed tries to catch his breath. Dr. Young checks him over but Hughes keeps his hand on the back of Ed's neck, squeezing lightly when Ed flinches away from the woman.

General Armstrong and Major Miles sit across from him. Guards are posted outside, Dr. Young and Kei are in Kei's office, he knows they are listening, and Hughes is sitting beside Ed.

He never really explained it to anyone after... 

Not military at least.

Tucker was the last officer he trusted with this knowledge.

Hughes pats his shoulder, he knows that Hughes is not infallible, has made mistakes in people that he trusts. In the people that Ed trusts, but he has always done his best to make sure to minimize any fall out and distributes retribution as fast as Colonel does. 

He knows that Hughes will do everything he can to make sure Ed won't lose Al to a lab. He's sure that General Armstrong won't toss him into prison, not after risking a possible leak by bringing a therapist into her fort.

"Lt. Colonel Hughes informed me that there is something you would like to inform me about." She makes it sound like a threat. Ed wonders what to say, how to start things. Ed looks down when Hughes pats his hand very very gently, reminding Ed that he's here with him.

"I do." Ed looks away from her. "It's a long story." He tells her and forces himself to look her in the eyes. This is his shame, that doesn't mean he gets to be a coward about it. She deserves his full attention. 

"I see." She wears a severe frown, almost on level with Teacher which has him sitting ramrod straight to avoid her displeasure on instinct alone

"Human transmutation, your brother's physical body and then your arm and leg. Truth." Ed sees her finger tapping her sword and wonders what she's thinking. Her expression is frosty, nothing for him to glean what it is that she is thinking. Hughes has his shoulder pressed along Ed's arm, he's nervous. He can't read her either.

He has no leverage on her and he can't do anything to make whatever she decides be in their favor.

Should he have not told? Maybe waited until he was strong enough to handle it.

"Not seeing your brother makes you a risk." her eyes narrow, Ed finds Hughes' hand wrapping around his shoulders. He grabs hold of his arm and looks away from the woman. He knows he's a liability right now. 

"We can't have a civilian wandering my base, armored he may be, he is still a civilian child." Ed wonders where she is going with this. Al won't be allowed in, that he knew from the beginning even before he was taken here against his will. Fort Briggs in North city is the last place he wanted to be, weather aside, they are far more strict than anywhere else and he and Al missteping would end with him not alone arrested but possibly disappeared for his knowledge or killed while Al is sent off to a lab to be experimented on.

"Is there anything that can help?" Ed looks up at her at that. No one, just the Hughes family, Bastard and his team, when they could, ever accommodated Ed and Al and their separation anxiety.

Ed glances up at Hughes, he smiles warmly, his eyes though, they are cold.

"No." Ed tells her, nothing but seeing Al which he can't. The brief visit they had was far too brief, not enough time to say all that they wanted to say. Not enough time for Al to fuss and reassure himself that Ed will be okay. And Ed could only offer a brief hand on his armor. 

They haven't been separated from each other longer than a week and now. Ed has not seen his brother in months.

He misses his brother.

"Lt. Colonel Hughes?" she quirks a brow at him, he grimly shakes his head.

"No. There isn't anything we can do." he knows that she's only asking him because Ed might not be willing to ask anything of her. But Hughes knows that there really isn't a thing they can do. Not when Ed has only been truthful out of force rather than because he wants to. Ed wouldn't want to risk anything. And there is a risk.

There are now four people in the know that he wouldn't have voluntarily told. Two more if they are listening in like he thinks they are.

"I see." she sighs before rising to her feet.

"General!" The door slams open, Ed jumps and whimpers in pain, Lt. Clarink steps in with a look of surprise on his face.

"There is an attack!" Ed finds Hughes' hold tightening, the general looks outraged.

"An attack? On my fort?!" General Armstrong's voice sounds outraged, Maes glances down at Ed. His head slowly raises as he looks at the general with bleary confusion. The pain is back to clouding him, hopefully this isn't something that will need to have Ed worrying. He needs rest.

"Who dares?" she asks, Lt. Clarink looks a little confused.

"A single woman and a suit of armor?" she asks bewildered before striding out of the room with a call to Major Miles over her shoulder.

Ed tugs on his collar. A look of dawning horror on his face, Maes wonders why Al is on his way to Fort Briggs. Did he hear about the traitor and want to protect his brother?

"She say a single woman and suit of armor?" he doesn't look relieved like Maes thought he would to hear about his brother. Even if neither anticipated Alphonse invading Fort Briggs. He's trembling like a leaf in a storm, nothing like he's seen before and he's seen Ed be afraid a few times now.

"Teacher has come for my soul." he whimpers tugging frantically on Maes' collar as he leverages himself into a sitting position, one foot wiggling to the floor before Maes yanks him back. Gently of course.

"Whoa there, you are on strict bed rest." he chides gently as he climbs to his feet. "I'll go see about this Teacher of yours, and wrangle your brother while i'm out it." Maes pauses. That's a first. He's never had to wrangle the younger Elric, mainly leaving that to Ed who took over as primary disciplinarian since he disliked anyone scolding his brother.

"Tell Al, you need to tell Al." he looks up at Maes as he shakes Maes wrist as if to get his point across.

"Tell him that you told the General?" he nods, he looks towards where Dr. Young is poking her head out of Kei's office and Maes hates that he's going to leave Ed here on his own. Ed turns ghost white at the sight of the doctor.

"He needs to know that I told. He can't—" These two precious wonderful boys.

"I'll let him know, just rest up here. We'll be back soon." he promises patting Ed's shoulder before he runs out of the room.

A housewife. Fort Briggs was under siege by a housewife. Ed and Al's teacher for what... 

He's almost afraid to ask. But then again, Ed is really good at cooking, sewing and household chores that he wouldn't otherwise know with his mother passing so young.

"I know my stupid pupil is here, would you be so kind as to allow me to visit him?" Well, she's polite.

And Al's quaking in mortal terror. Just like Ed.

Is this a good thing, or a bad thing.

"Ed told General Armstrong, Major Miles, Kei the automail mechanic and Dr. Young." Maes tells the younger Elric as they make their way to the infirmary. The ropes on him and his teacher are a formality until Ed confirms their identities, but he knows that both could easily escape in seconds. It's laughable really. Ed will be more offended on his brother's behalf than anything else.

"Why did you tie up Al?" he asks bewildered as he slips one foot out of bed, he freezes as Maes and his teacher shoot him pointed looks and the foot goes right back under the blanket. Al pretends he saw none of this and makes his way over to his brother, crouching down so they are more level with one another even if he still towers over his brother. Ed rests his automail on his brother, they do that silent talking thing. He wonders sometimes if they are twins with how effectively they can communicate like this.

"So teacher came to murder us and leave nothing behind?" Ed asks seriously, Maes thought he was joking when he first mentioned being reaped but after a few minutes in the woman's presence, he can see that happening.

"Please don't make Alphonse watch." Ed tugs on the ropes binding his brother and Al flexes and the ropes snap. Maes turns to the teacher who is already dusting her hands off, the rope on the floor, he looks down at the rope in his hand and lets the rope go. 

She marches forward, General Armstrong says nothing as she watches the other woman, Al takes a step back and Ed meets his teacher's eyes.

Teacher slaps Ed straight across the face, his cheek stings. He can see Hughes start forward, anger on his face but Al simply rests his hand on his shoulder and he stops. Ed holds out his hand as well, Hughes purses his lips.

"Don't, she has every right." Ed knows she's going easy on him because of how much he's hurt already.

"You already know what I'm going to say next." Ed nods and bows his head. "You're expelled. I already let Alphonse know when he first sought me out." Ed nods, hand gripping the blanket on his lap. This is why Ed wanted to avoid Dublith, he didn't want Al to be crushed. Teacher would never have accepted them after what they did.

"I understand." He just wanted to see mom's smile.

It cost him the woman he had come to see as a—

It doesn't matter. Ed made the mistake. The consequences are his to make.

"That's not why I'm here." Ed flinches at the harsh tone. He sees movement out of the corner of his eyes and braces for another slap, only, there is no pain.

A warm palm cups his cheeks, thumb lightly caressing his cheekbone.

"Briggs is fairly isolated and difficult to keep communications with." Ed turns to see Teacher scanning his face with a look of concern on her face.

"So I will be the point of contact for you and whoever else you need while Alphonse will use that information network of yours to follow up on any leads you can give us." Ed has made it a point to never be weak in front of teacher, in front of any adult.

He's failed miserably since joining the military.

"Teacher." his voice breaks and he folds when she brings him into a tight embrace.

He's exhausted.

Al fidgets nervously by his bed and Ed recalls the therapist currently in the base.

"Al." he fights sleep for a minute longer, Al has the right to know this before he gets the shock of his life.

"Yes brother?" he shifts his attention to Ed while still keeping his attention on Dr. Young knowing that Ed is feeling ill at ease with her around.

"There's a woman here, Warrant officer Rain Allen." Al nods, Ed sighs when a grey haze enters the edge of his vision. "She looks just like mom." he murmurs, Al presses his hand over Ed's eyes.

"Rest brother, and thank you for telling me." he sounds grateful, but underneath that, Ed can hear his fear.

Did I kill mom a second time?

Chapter Text

Al watches his brother sleep. He looks better and worse from when he saw him last.

More paranoid.

Hunted in a way that he's never seen him. The doctor unnerves him, it's the first thing he observed when he stepped into the infirmary. For all that Ed tried to act as if nothing bothered him, he could see how aware he was of the doctor's position the entire time until Al stood beside him. Relaxing in a way that he only ever relaxes when it's the two of them, Al won't lie, he relaxed too.

Even now in his sleep, his automail hand is covering his broken arm. His elbow specifically, needles in his arm that Al knows he hates and yet he's not removing them. Brother hates drugs, doesn't take the medication Granny prescribed him for when the pain from his automail gets really bad and yet, here he is, stuck in bed with two iv drips. Al stares, one is antibiotics and the other, saline? He doesn't question the cannula in his nose, it can only mean oxygen and the implications of that alone make something in him shrivel. How badly hurt is he? How badly hurt did he get during his stay in Briggs without Al?

Al watches him sleep and knows that Ed feels safest with him guarding him. Safe because Al won't let anyone drug him without his consent, something that Granny drilled into their heads when brother began to develop his aversion to needles and drugs.

He wants to ask Mr. Hughes about what has happened since he last saw his brother, but he won't. Brother's hair is clean but the bedhead he usually has from good sleep is not here, which means lots of bad sleep. The dark circles under his eyes definitely point to that as well. He's very pale, more pale than when he saw him last, and the look in his eyes. The scared look when his eyes would flicker over towards the doctor, it makes something in him want to scream and wilt. Brother doesn't like to show weakness, doesn't ever let anyone see how much he's scared, sometimes he tries not to let Al see if he can help it.

Al really wants to ask but he can't, not just because he's afraid he won't be told, but because Mr. Hughes and Teacher left to talk and they were using their very polite i'm going to tear someone to shreds voice. He does not envy the people that will face their wrath.

He reaches forward when brother frowns and rests his palm on brother's forehead, he relaxes and goes back to sleep without a fuss. He sighs, sometimes its hit and miss in catching a nightmare before he starts screaming. Most of the time brother simply wakes up, scared and disoriented. 

He has a feeling that has not been the case here, after finding out about being betrayed, being trapped in an infirmary with a doctor so close by. Finding out that someone betrayed brother, betrayed him, it stings. Ed has always had trust issues, some of it may have rubbed off on Al as a result but its not to the same extent as brother, hearing from Madame Christmas on his way up North had been enough to have Teacher smack some sense into him when he wanted to go to Eastern command. Al usually doesn't let his temper get the best of him but this time it nearly had, he shudders to think what would have happened if Teacher had not been there when he found out.

Still, he owes her, he and brother try not to ask Madame Christmas for any favors, not just because she works with Colonel but because brother usually ends up working some leads for her that he wouldn't normally pursue as a result. Equivalent exchange, information for information of equal value. Never anymore than that unless it was something the two of them discovered required more in which case it would be Colonel who would repay them to balance the scales because Madame Christmas did not do equivalent exchange.

Al watches the doctor keep her distance, an imaginary boundary between her and brother, he wonders darkly if she drugged his brother against his will too. That was a good reason as any to end up on brother's don't trust list. To end up on Al's own list of people to not trust and to keep his eyes on.

At least Ed has Mr. Hughes here, he is very good at helping brother when he has nightmares, like after Nina and Alexander were gone. He must be a reassuring presence to brother. He knows that Mr. Hughes thinks of himself as some poor substitute for helping his brother because Al has always been able to calm him down whenever brother dreams about that and he can't but Mr. Hughes helps brother in his own way. Ed is reassured and feels safe even when he wakes up from it. He just wishes that everyone can see how much they do for him and Ed instead of seeing only their failings.

He looks up when the mechanic, Kei, comes to check on the fluids brother has and offers him a reassuring smile. Al doesn't return the gesture, and not just because he physically can't but because this man knows what he and brother did. He was told after Ed and Al promised that they would only tell if they absolutely had to. Neither wanted a repeat of Tucker. The words he'd uttered to brother, something that only multiplied his guilt and the weight he carried on his shoulder. He can see it in his eyes sometimes when he looks at Al. The words that so cruelly were carved into him, shaping him and bending him even more to the point of breaking again.

"Your brother will recover, he's a strong one." he tells Al as if Al doesn't know it. As if Al hasn't witnessed first hand how far he'd push himself and the utterly reckless way he'd go about it. His indomitable will and the mental fortitude it took to complete his surgeries and rehabilitation regardless of the pain and consequences. Regardless of the phobias he developed as a result and how much it affected their lives after. Brother would do anything and everything to correct their mistake even if it left him scarred, bleeding and with permanent harm.

"I need to let you know now, for your safety as well as my brother's." Al knows that Ed is waiting outside despite stomping out of the room in a huff.

"Brother developed several phobias." Colonel raises a single brow, a mocking edge to it and Al will not allow it. After everything his brother went through.

"This is serious." he tells them man, he adopts a more serious look at that. Al wonders if it was his tone or the fact that he was standing at his full height, shoulders no longer hunched so that he appeared smaller, fists clenched as he stared the man in the eyes.

"He's afraid of hospitals and needles." Al looks away, no one actually understands all that it takes to even get automail, not unless they have it themselves.

"Drugs, the smell of antiseptics." Al can't continue, but he must. Brother will get hurt, it's inevitable.

"He will fight you, he will hurt you, he will do everything in his power to avoid it." he needs Colonel to understand, Brother is scared but not defiant about his health.

"Fullmetal is allowing you tell me this?" He asks, neutral expression on his face.

"Why do you think he left me here, alone, with you?" Al responds, Colonel's eyes light up in shock. Ed hasn't allowed Al to be left alone with any soldier in the few short weeks that they've been here. Not after what happened with Nina and Alexander.

"You need to know this, know that brother isn't being difficult." he's just scared. Terrified out of his mind for good reasons.

It will be pounced on, this weakness. But brother was pushed down some stairs last week and sprained his wrist, refused to see a doctor or take medicine and with his left arm being his only useable limb to write, well, something has to be done. Al has to be the one to do it. Brother is being bullied and is keeping quiet about it. He understands, he really does but he's frustrated. Brother is twelve years old and some people are threatened by that? By a child? He can fight, sure, he's a prodigy in alchemy, okay, but brother didn't join the military for power. Why can't they keep him out of their politics? Why take it out on him? Especially when some of the people picking on him are after Colonel! 

Al doesn't trust this man, not now, maybe not ever but he wants to try. They'll need someone on their side. Even brother knows this and he's trying.

"Thank you for trusting me with this." Al can see the sincerity in the man's eyes and burns.

"I'm not." he is honest, he doesn't know the man. He used brother to fight terrorists on a train after telling him he could just arrive at Central and take the test to become a state alchemist when in fact he needed special permission from a general. He can't trust him, not when it comes to the military man that dragged his brother back to Al through such an underhanded tactic. Manhandling a weak and vulnerable child, after everything they just went through. It left a bad taste in his mouth.

"But brother will get hurt, despite all our training and skill, there will always be someone bigger, better, stronger." Al stares at the man and wills him to understand. For all their skills, they are still children and Al knows this means that they can be beat.

Shou Tucker had been a man that presented himself as non-confrontational, mild mannered and studious.

He left a mark on brother that will never fade. Became the face of new nightmares. Al cannot allow it to happen again.

"I hold you to a different standard." he tells him, they have no choice with him, this man knows their secrets and he can make their lives difficult. He hopes that one day they will be able to trust him.

And Mr. Hughes.

But Al can already see that he and brother are warming up to the man a little bit.

Ed twitches in his sleep, a gasp escapes his lips and Al mentally frowns before resting his palm on brother's cheek this time. He whimpers as he turns to follow Al's palm.

"I'm here." he whispers softly, brother settles after a moment, expression troubled even as he slips back into a restless sleep. He's aware of the eyes on him but opts to ignore them when nothing happens. Al doesn't want to talk with anyone right now.

He needs time to think.

To reassure himself that Ed is recovering even if it doesn't seem like it. Al will need to leave soon, no matter how much he might want to stay he can't, not if he wants to help brother. Not if he wants the friend that they trusted to face justice.

Al turns his head to watch the doctor as she approaches his brother. She stops again, an imaginary boundary, hand clenched in her pocket as she watches both him and his brother.

"Whatever is in your pocket," Al speaks startling her. "Drop it." he orders sternly as he presses his palm to his brother's chest to keep him from startling. She bends down and deposits a syringe, he stares her down even with the rage that has been licking away at his heart for the past few days, he keeps his hands steady. He doesn't have Teacher here to smack some sense into him so he needs to keep his tenuous hold on his rage in check.

"I'm going to check his vitals, see how he's healing up and then look at his hand." she tells him with a steady voice. Al acknowledges her words but doesn't shift from his position, she will need to work around him. The doctor presses her fingers to Ed's neck, then takes his temperature, brother idly swings at her but Al catches his hand and gently forces his hand to wave so he doesn't wake up in a panic at being restrained. Brother continues to sleep but he saw the way the doctor flinched and froze. He sees the faded bruises on her face, the bandages on her arm and stares down at his brother.

"Brother is sorry he hurt you." he says looking at her when she raises brother's shirt and undoes some of the bandages around his torso to examine some stitches and bruising. Al knows how much it bothers his brother that he's afraid to the point he developed several phobias, hates that he'll fight doctors and hates even more when he has to apologize for his natural response to a threat that doesn't exist. The one doctor that never refused to see Ed was very understanding and went out of his way to be available whenever Ed needed to see a doctor.

"I know, he already apologized." she mutters as she adjusts the bandages, flinching back when brother swings again, this time with his broken fingers which Al makes sure to be extra gentle with.

She examines his fingers, his wrist, arm and then elbow with a heavy sigh. Al watches her very closely when she nears the needles in his brother's arm but she doesn't do anything so he relaxes a touch. That doesn't mean he's letting his guard down around her, brother is trusting him to watch over him while he sleeps.

"I apologized to your brother before, for using drugs when he didn't want me to." she says as she looks at him when she's finished. "But I feel I should apologize to you as well." Al raises his hand.

"Save it." he tells her, he doesn't care for her apologies. He never has, not when his brother is the one that is talked over, the one that is hurt by the actions and has to deal with the consequences. "I don't care for apologies, its simply permission for you to do it again." he tells her, he turns to glance at the sedative on the floor. She looks down and nods.

Al wonders if he's being too harsh. Taking out his anger on the wrong person. But then he looks at brother's pale face, the dark circles under his eyes and the trouble expression on his face that doesn't go away, as if he's still plagued by fear and doubt even asleep.

"When brother escapes, look up." Al tells her. The silence after that is deafening, Al wonders if he betrayed his own brother just now.

He comforts himself by brushing Ed's hair from his face and watching him sleep, he'll need to leave soon. He doesn't want to leave, he wants to stay.

He's of better use with his feet on the ground, he is leaving his brother in the very capable hands of Mr. Hughes.

Maes stares at the woman across from him, Izumi Curtis, Ed and Al really respect and look up to her. But they also ran away from her, and to be disowned hurt them.

He can understand where she is coming from, but he can't forgive her for hurting either boy. Not with how wrecked they are right now. How lost and scared they must feel, so alone and bereft of even the barest warmth of a loved one to embrace them. Maes is a poor substitute. This woman could have helped.

But she is also right.

They could use her help out on the ground, Maes can hold the fort with Ed.

"So I heard you're the reason that the dog of the state found out about the rat in your midst." she says, arms crossed over her chest as she scans him head to toe with an unimpressed look on her face. Maes keeps his cool, he will be civil with her even when she's clearly trying to get under his skin. Ed and Al care about her greatly, they respect her so Maes will respect her too.

"Yes, we're currently fishing." the woman smiles coldly at him.

"It's not hard to see that you want him dead." Maes exhales slowly but doesn't lie to her as he nods his head.

"We'll see who gets to him first." Maes can agree to that even if it'll upset Roy, he knows that either one of them getting Rockfell is preferable to Jean, Alphonse or himself getting to Rockfell first.

"What you're proposing, being our eyes and ears on the ground." Maes is aware of General Armstrong and Major Miles watching their every move but he can safely ignore them for now. This is between him and Mrs. Curtis.

"Yes, I have proven highly capable of making it to Fort Briggs," she smirks at that, the frosty air behind him don't make him shudder. "And Alphonse is one half of the leader to the extensive network those two created." she sounds proud, some of his rage cools. He really can understand where she is coming from, he just wishes that it could wait until both were in a better head space.

"Together the two of us can help you out here, where communications cut out, the location is isolated, and the weak cannot make their way in." she does make a point, Maes is limited in his ability to communicate with Roy and the risk of reaching out each time increases. He knows that it took days for them to receive each message and the chance of someone discovering the contact between them was high since everyone knew that Maes was here at Fort Briggs conducting the investigation. 

"You certainly know a lot." he says instead, she reminds him a lot of Ed, the attitude, the stance, the devil may care grin that she dons.

"I came to Fort Briggs years ago for training and easily beat them." he hears a noise and glances behind him to see Major Miles adjusting his glasses with a stiff expression. General Armstrong's eyes are wide, Maes is impressed. He'd heard about it years ago, someone getting away from the Briggs soldiers and stealing their food to add insult to injury.

"Then I suppose we should work out timing since a schedule will be too predictable." he starts and wonders if Al needs to be here for the planning or Mrs. Curtis will inform him later. She doesn't look like she wants Al to be here, and then he remembers that Al will need to leave after this conversation.

Al can be informed then. The two of them can workshop the details after Maes and Mrs. Curtis plot a few things and add some contingencies. They can give Ed and Al the time they need to reassure one another.

Sometimes he hates the fact that they are in the military.

"There are about three informants that Ed and Al have stationed here in the North, none anywhere near the military base but if there is ever anything urgent," Mrs. Curtis looks at General Armstrong and Major Miles.

"Have the men unwind at Edward's bar." her lips twitch as the name leaves her lips, Maes smiles himself. Of course Ed would have an informant at a bar he shares a name with. "The owner has a good drink there that should be tried, it has gold flakes in it." Maes wonders if he needs to have a talk with the brothers about alcohol, they are getting to that age where kids drink beer for the first time. Just a few years off but still close enough that some teenagers will drink under the age.

The boys are good boys, he doesn't need to talk to them about that, maybe he needs to talk about other things with them.

"I checked these leads before coming up here but after Ed told me some more, well, I need you and Al to take a closer look." Maes scribbles on a notepad the hotel Ed was staying at, the name of the food vendor and the two locations where Ed had become aware of his stalkers, the note that never made it to Resembool for Alphonse and the missing baby tooth because dammit! He better not have lost it in the fight!

"Someone knocked out his baby tooth?" she growls, Maes thinks that maybe they can get along. This is the right attitude to a baby tooth being knocked out instead of being pulled out or falling out naturally.

"Very well, every three days?" she asks General Armstrong who stares between them for a moment before shaking her head.

"Every two, then three, then four and mix up the order." General Armstrong strides forward to stare at the woman. "There needs to be a specific gesture to show the soldiers that you are you." the unholy smirk on her face is an eerie copy of Ed's, unless its the other way around...

How much did she influence him?

"I'll steal their food." she says unrepentant, yeah. That checks out.

Ed slowly returns to the land of the living. It's nice, he hasn't done that in awhile, too many nightmares recently, even with Hughes doing his best to mitigate them..

"Time to eat." Ed turns his head, Alphonse! A hand on his chest stops him from bolting upright. "No." Al says amused, Ed scowls as Al maneuvers him into a sitting position before sliding the lap table over his lap. Al laughs at him for sulking, his hand rests over Ed's elbow before he can attempt to remove the iv in his hand, something he hadn't noticed he was trying to do. He settles for holding onto Al's wrist to keep one hand preoccupied while he uses the other to eat stew.

"Therapy sessions are private." Al tells him, Ed wonders if Al is telling him what he thinks he's telling him.

"I know, Hughes told me." he sips his stew and wonders if he can take vitamins, he glances in the direction of Dr. Young, the woman is watching him. He slowly looks away from her to spoon more stew into his mouth. Al shifts the slightest bit which enough to hide the woman from his sight even if not his sense which is so attuned to the woman that he's aware of her moving before the curtains to her office close.

"I wouldn't mind it." he says, Ed freezes. 

Tell someone else?

When he didn't want to even tell in the first place and now six more people know?

"Take my leg, take my arm. Take my heart! Anything!" he cries out desperation in his voice.

He's bargaining with a being far too powerful but who cares. For Alphonse.

"You can have it!' Ed cries as he sits up now that the array is complete.

"Just give him back!" he grits his teeth, no one is taking his brother away from him.

"He's my little brother! He's all I have left!" he screams as he claps his hands, the world whites out.

"What about your brother?"  A knife rests under his chin forcing him to raise his head, fury simmers in his belly.

"Since you aren't talking, why don't I question him?" Mark smiles at him, the same smile that used to mean fond exasperation, is now a cruel twist of a dagger in his heart.

"You stay away from my brother." Ed hisses, something in his throat burns inexplicably but he ignores the pain to pin the man in place with a death stare. He freezes.

"You stupid brat." he sounds scared, Ed snarls at him, he flees the room leaving Ed alone tied to a chair.

Rough palms cup his cheeks, thumbs brushing his cheeks as his head turns slowly until he's staring into concerned red soul fire eyes.

"You're here, with me now, Ed." he blinks and wonders why his ears are ringing and wonders if he has post concussion symptoms again.

"Don't let him find you." he whispers instead of responding to Al's question. He's afraid of what the man will do, he came so very close to figuring out what Ed and Al did. If he were more knowledgeable, if Ed and Al had explained more to him, helping a budding novice alchemist to follow their creed be thou for the people only to find out he was learning for selfish reasons. He lied to their faces with the guise of friendship.

The tight feeling in his chest returns.

He lied to them to get their knowledge of alchemy.

He used them.

He laughed at Ed's pain.

Mocking him.

He tricked Ed with a smile on his face and a cup of pudding to get him to the doctor. Ed was stupid and naive enough to believe it wouldn't happen again.

He wheezes, there's a buzz of activity around him.

The vendor, dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, smiles as he hands Ed a fruit shake, sprinkling powdered sugar in front of his eyes. 

Free water.

Exhaustion dragging him down out of nowhere.

Being surrounded, the vendor among the men.

"Breathe." His chest is tight, he's being reclined to stare at the ceiling. No tiles, not there. Someone is talking and he's trying to struggle to even catch his breath. "I've got you." This voice he recognizes, he trusts this voice implicitly, even when he wants to fight the palm resting on his chest that feels like it may restrain him.

"I've got you, breathe, brother." he hates that Al can coach him down from a panic attack, hates that he's weak. Hates that Al had to learn grounding techniques because Ed used to just hide and hyperventilate himself into unconsciousness. Fingers drum against his chest, he subconsciously slows his breathing down, everything hurts.

He's dizzy and tired.

He doesn't want to see her even though she needs to make sure he didn't hurt himself.

"Close your eyes." He glances at the comforting soul fire red and shuts his eyes, something presses against his neck but he doesn't jump when fingers continue drumming away. Something cold rests on his chest as he breathes.

His shirt is raised slightly, fingers prod his ribs and even though he's in pain it isn't the same as when he couldn't inhale no matter how much he struggled.

"He didn't injure himself further." his attention fades out as he focuses on the hand resting on his back, the fingers drumming against his chest and the whispered words from his brother letting him know he is not alone.

He needs to remember, he keeps getting blindsided.

He needs to know what happened even if all he recalls is pain and suffering. He hadn't even remember him threatening his brother until just now.

He opens his eyes to see that there are no tiles on the ceiling. He tilts his head, the room spins a little, Al raises his head slightly from where he's kneeling beside the bed.

"Not yet." Al says, he's holding Ed's fingers in his, he glances down to see that he'd tried again to remove the needles in his arm. His arm is messed up, he's surprised he didn't need surgery on it.

"Think you can eat?" he shakes his head but shifts so that he can sit up. With the pillows behind him fluffed, he spots Hughes sitting on his bed with some papers in front of him as he scribbles away. He looks up, smiling at Ed before going back to his paperwork, he doesn't even ask where Teacher is when she arrives bearing the beef broth noodle soup she used to make for him and Al when they were sick. 

She looks upset.

Like when she found out that he and Al don't belong to anyone anymore.

"Eat what you can." she tells him as she slides the lap table over his lap with the bowl. He doesn't complain, he doesn't like starving at all. Maybe he should ask for snacks?

"Vitamins?" he mumbles, Al twitches a little before shooting Hughes a contemplating look.

"Okay," he rises to his feet and Ed stops paying attention to him to focus on Teacher who is in his immediate line of sight. She says nothing as she watches him eat, taking his plate when he can't eat anymore and reaches out to start brushing his hair, she braids his hair, many little braids followed by larger ones and he lets her without complaint. He takes the vitamins without complaint even as something in his chest clenches, it doesn't matter. Ed has lost enough to Rockfell, he refuses to lose anymore.

It's always a struggle with him, trying to reclaim something, the use of his limbs, his balance, emotional stability. And yet here he is, again, trying to reclaim the use of his limbs, balance, emotional stability and trust.

"Can I ask you some questions?" Ed nods even as dread curls up in his chest, Hughes sits beside Teacher who is next to Al. Like this, Ed can't see anyone he doesn't want to see.

"Did he threaten Alphonse?" he nods mutely, the fury simmers in his chest as he recalls the knife resting under his chin.

"Does he know?" is the next question and that makes him pause. Rockfell had a lot of questions about alchemy, he was already a mediocre to average alchemist with Ed and Al's help, his skill improving from being a complete novice but he isn't knowledgeable enough to understand just quite what they did even if he has a few clues. He tried to specialize in water, something he was average at, at best when he tried for the stare alchemist exam. He doesn't have the skills to work with anything else. Water was versatile and malleable, easy to maneuver with very little compared to earth and metals.

"No..." he also can't rule out that he'd figure it out, not when Ed knows he had nightmares in that dark dark room.

"You can't rule it out, can you?" he asks softly, he shakes his head. He wants to cry.

"I had nightmares..." he mumbles ashamed at his own weakness. If Rockfell figures out what they did, if he knows how to Look properly then he'd know for sure.

"We taught him," Al whispers, voice soft with a bitter edge. "He has initiative and tenacity but he doesn't have diligence or patience to learn more than we were teaching him." Ed shakes his head a little.

"He wanted to know more." He wanted to learn things that Ed and Al had refused to teach him, always managing to side track him or purposefully misunderstand him. Even when he got mean, he'd apologize, wave it off as him being frustrated from pressure at the office. Bullying, something that Ed could sympathize with.

"Oh." Al's voice sounds small, crushed even. He lifts his hand to Ed, shoulders hunching down and he wants more than anything to take that pain away from him.

"He interrogated you for knowledge in alchemy?" Hughes asks, pen creaking under the force of his grip. Teacher rests her hand on his shoulder, shooting Hughes a look that has him relaxing his grip on his pen.

"Did you enter an apprenticeship with him?" She asks seriously, Ed's heart is in his throat as he stares into her eyes.

"No." He catches Al's eyes and almost does cry. They had already disrespected Teacher once.

"Did you enter any type of mentorship with this man?" He bows his head, he and Al had thought about it. But ever since they claimed Teacher's mark as their own to signal their mastery under her tutelage, to disrespect her by taking on someone as their student after what they'd done.

"We couldn't, wouldn't..." Al sounds like he's on the verge of tears too. If it could have been, they would have and that hurts the most.

"We made the decision a long time ago that we wouldn't..." Ed tells her truthfully, the two of them had not made the decision lightly. They could talk about alchemy, can talk theories, can explain a concept, do a demonstration but not enter any type of relationship that would tie them to someone in a more permanent manner.

"He wouldn't take no for an answer." Al says in a small voice. They hadn't known, how could they have? Weren't Ed and Al just as tenacious? Ed and Al had been persistent about getting Teacher to teach them, surely that's how everyone is when it comes to asking for an apprenticeship?

"Regardless of passing, regardless of your credentials as a state alchemist, the two of you are still children." Hughes explains gently, Teacher squeezes his shoulder gently as she nods.

"Even if you had agreed to take him on, neither of you are of age to accept someone under your tutelage and he knows that. He said he'd keep quiet didn't he?" Ed meets Al's eyes and they can both recall the amount of times they'd been asked, the secrecy vow he'd promised. Neither had considered their age, not only because of the age they were when they were accepted as Teacher's apprentices and finished their mastery as her students and later on utilized those skills on something taboo. Neither of them had even recalled that to be a master at a young age is nearly unheard of, yet the two of them had. Their age would still matter if they would take on an apprentice, they needed to be eighteen, present their student to their master and receive a mark of their teacher to symbolize that they could take on students of their own.

Were they stupid to not see it? Unable to even understand what he was trying to do by making them accept him when it would not have been allowed?

To see that he was like some of the others that were trying to use them?

Ed looks helplessly at his brother, recalling the mean jokes Rockfell played on them or the things he said that hurt but he brushed off as the two of them being sensitive.

"None of this is your fault." Hughes pats Al's shoulder and Ed's knee. "You are kids, he's the adult and he was trying to manipulate you." But it doesn't make sense. Ed knows he's terrible at dealing with his own emotions, and sometimes he's oblivious when it comes to other people but he knows how to manipulate people. He knows what makes them tick, he's learned so much from poking at Colonel and setting him off.

"Sometimes, when it comes to those we love." Teacher's eyes are sad. "We don't want to see something then we won't see it, even if it's something bad or dangerous." Ed vividly remembers during the second month with Teacher and how she became very sick and had to rest in bed, Sig had blamed himself. He said he didn't know alchemy but he knew that she was going to do something and now she's sick. He never explained to them what he meant but given what they know now, Sig had known Teacher would try human transmutation but loved her so much that he was willing to ignore the signs even when he isn't an alchemist and pieced it together.

Something rolls down his cheek and Ed realizes he's crying.

"I thought he was my friend." he sobs, Teacher holds him close and he hates that some part of him still wants to be friends with him. That he's afraid of being betrayed when he knows that not everyone else is like him.

"Is Havoc okay?" he sniffs as he tries to stop the tears. He shouldn't be crying. He needs to stop.

He hides his face in Teacher's shirt when the tears won't halt no matter how hard he tries.

"He's dealing." Hughes explains softly, Havoc was good friends with him, both coming from the same hometown. Ed hopes that Havoc will lean on everyone else, he shouldn't be alone. It's scary to see him fall apart so quietly, like Ed does when he doesn't want to burden his brother.

"He's got his friends to lean on, just like you and Al have the two of us." Ed looks up from Teacher's shirt to see Hughes holding Al close and he crushes the feelings in his chest. Hughes is not their friend. He's his boss' friend. A comrade to them.

He can't think of him in any other light. He Can't do this right now. 

Hughes is important to them and he hates it as much as he loves it but can't deal with all the emotions involved in that now. Emotions are too much.

"I know you said that you tried to escape using alchemy," Hughes says softly, a look on his face like he's trying to be careful. "You used your own blood to make circles, right?" He feels the blood drain from his face.

His circles, his personal circles. Not Teachers, or Al's but his in every way. The ones that symbolized his mastery under Teacher's tutelage.

A hand is on the back of his neck, knuckles rubbing firmly along his spine as he wheezes.

How many did he give him? He was so focused on escaping, ignoring his taunts and questions. Concrete, iron, titanium, nickel, carbon, combinations.

The ringing in his ears is louder, buzzing of voices blending together.

What did he teach him? WHAT DID HE TEACH HIM?!

Something rests on his cheek, thumb brushing just under his eye. His back is leaning against something moving, vibrations against his back, he's aware of Teacher sitting beside him on the bed, her hand on his cheek as her mouth moves. The light hurts his eyes, the room is spinning despite the fact that he's not even moving.

There's movement behind Teacher, there's yelling somewhere. He flinches when he sees the blood dripping down Teacher's lips and loses moments of time as she bends over to puke blood.

A hand covers his eyes, a soothing voice in his ears, warmth running down the sides of his face, fingers drumming against his chest. He grabs hold of the hand, he feels itchy. He feels like throwing up, he can't focus, he needs to focus.

He's burning up from the inside out, his other hand finds something to grab hold of, a sharp pain radiates from his fingers as he grabs tightly to whatever is under his palm but he ignores it.

He needs to not be here.

He whines, the sound disrupts the buzzing, something blocks his ears.

Like this he can't see or hear, instead of panicking more, the loss of the senses helps.

All he has to do is breathe.

The easiest thing he can do right now is also the hardest.

Maes feels sick when he realizes that Rockfell might know what Ed and Al did. That's nothing compared to finding out the man was trying to manipulate the two into something legally binding despite being underage. He catches Mrs. Curtis' eyes who nods grimly as the two gently ask the two boys questions. The picture being painted is not good.

He can see just how much this is hurting them, they're still just lonely little kids. They made excuses for him because he was their friend, made them believe in him and put their trust in him. It's tearing them apart, the emotions of betrayal and friendship.

And then Maes connects the dots, he doesn't want to ask the question on the tip of his tongue but does so anyway. Knowledge is power, the answer in this case to the question will have many repercussions for them all and he needs to be on top of this to mitigate them to protect the brothers.

He really should have anticipated the panic attack. The way Ed's face immediately loses all color as he hyperventilates, hands pressed to his face as he gasps for breath.

Mrs. Curtis applies pressure to the nape of Ed's neck, knuckles rubbing into his spine as she tries to get him to breathe but it doesn't help. 

"My circles!" he keens, Maes quickly shoves the pillows aside to sit behind Ed and pull him upright, Ed doesn't notice anything. He doesn't notice the commotion as the two soldiers outside barge into the room with panic on their faces, Dr. Young moving to them, the voices calling his name.

"WHAT DID I TEACH HIM?!" he sobs terrified as he strikes out when Maes tries to pull his hands away from his face, he grunts at the elbow to the nose he takes but stoically bears the pain as Alphonse and Mrs. Curtis both help him and keep an eye on Dr. Young who is suddenly there. Edward does not need to be sedated right this moment when he's losing it.

He's crying, shouting unintelligibly, sometimes not even words, just the sounds of a frightened child. His heart aches at the pain and terror in his voice. 

"Edward, breathe." Mrs. Curtis presses her palm to Ed's cheek, he wheezes, looking at her when the woman pales, blood drips down her chin and Alphonse is reaching for the woman with flailing limbs when she throws up a river of blood. Maes nearly loses his lunch, Ed shrieks terrified as he throws himself forward, small hands reaching for the woman as she collapses. Alphonse catches her and Maes quickly covers Ed's eyes as Dr. Young is taking the woman from Alphonse's arms.

His breathing sounds strained, chest rising and falling far too quickly as Maes starts trying to ground him.

"Breathe Edward, breathe." he murmurs soothingly as he reclines the boy against his chest. A hand clamps down tightly on his wrist, he winces and hopes the bruise won't darken. "You're here with me, you're safe." he mutters trying his best to get him to stop panicking. He grimaces as Ed's other hand clamps down on his knee, squeezing and hopes that Ed's fingers will hold up under the strain. 

Alphonse is back, he jolts in surprise when Edward whines, choking on tears when Alphonse reaches over, hands covering his brother's ears. Maes blinks at Alphonse who doesn't say anything but Maes remembers how Ed had covered his ears and curled into a small ball after the first nightmare, Elysia crying while Gracia tried to get her to go back to sleep.

"Teacher's okay," he nods and turns his attention back to Ed when he finally starts to calm down. "I think it's too much input." Al continues after a moment when he overhears the woman berate the doctor.

The tight grip on his arm and knee loosen, sweat coats his hand and he feverishly prays that its the panic attack that has Ed sweating and not another fever rising. 

"That's it, breathe slowly." he inhales, Ed follows his movements, chest rising slowly if a bit shallow, he coughs a couple times. More weight leans into Maes before he realizes Ed's passed out, Al slowly pulls his hands back folding them on his lap, thumbs twiddling as he watches his brother. Maes sniffs, his nose stings as he glances at the red decorating Ed's hair. His nose doesn't feel broken.

"Will you let me look him over?" Maes withholds a sigh as he looks at Dr. Young standing unobtrusively beside Al who is watching the woman with his full attention trusting Maes to watch his brother.

"Drop the sedative." he tells her tiredly, she raises her hands to show they are empty. He listens to her when she mentions the strain to his ribs, the need for anti-inflammatory medication, steroids to help Ed from the inflammation to his strained ribs. He hates that there is more medication that needs to be taken.

Ed is terrified.

Can't he catch a break? Maes almost wants to cry, he takes a deep breath and lets it out. He can't, not yet.

He settles for wiping Ed's face clean as he gives the go ahead for the new medication. He soundly rejects any pain medication before she can suggest it, he will not go over Ed's head about this. He knows he's in a lot of pain, knows that it would relieve the pain but Ed has been drugged for weeks on end against his will. Has a severe phobia for needles, drugs and a bad reaction to most pain medication, he can't take away the one thing that Ed can control for himself.

"I'll watch him." he tells her before she can even mention keeping a closer eye on him. What a shit show this has turned into, its barely seven at night, three hours since Ed told General Armstrong about human transmutation, since Al and Mrs. Curtis stormed Fort Briggs, since she slapped Ed and expelled him as her student. He hasn't had dinner yet, he still has to compile his report, send word to Roy, nail Rockfell to the wall, send word to the Furher that the Fullmetal Alchemist has had knowledge of his personal alchemy stolen from him and to get permission to seal all of Ed's records so no one can look into his state alchemy reports, tests, research, grant, projects, theories and published papers.

Maes' did get broken, its splinted and he's able to clean his face up, thankfully most of the blood is on him with very little in Ed's hair. It's easily cleaned with a wet rag, he's going to wash Ed's hair again later.

"Brother is going to want to write all of this down." Al points out sometime later after everything has calmed down. He's looking at Mrs. Curtis who is resting on Maes' cot. "It helps him clear his mind sometimes." he says as he looks down at Ed's splinted fingers, the bones already delicate from being repeatedly broken and strained from fighting multiple times with them, they can't hold a pen now. Dr. Young is worried about the state of his hand but her even touching his fingers had him nearly kicking her in the chest were it not for Al catching his foot. Maes hates that he'll need to tell Ed to let her look at his hand.

Ed's strapped to the bed from the waist down, arms crossed over his stomach by Maes' arm holding them in a loose hug to keep him from lashing out in his sleep. Sleep that is restless after all that they've discussed today.

Maes absently shushes Ed when he shifts slightly, frown on his face as his hand twitches. Al's shoulders slump, Maes reaches out to rest his hand on Al's head like he's seen Ed do multiple times and rubs his head.

"Your brother will be alright, we just need to give him some time." he says softly, Al nods, hands clenched on his lap.

"I want brother to see the therapist, to tell her the things he can't or won't tell me." Maes does too, but seeing how badly even looking at the woman had affected Ed, he's against pushing him to see her. Even if Ed implied he would if Maes asks him to. He'd fallen apart, one look, and he'd fallen apart, wailing, calling for his mom and brother, apologizing, frightened into hiding his face in Maes shirt to get away from the grief dragging him down.

"I'll see..." he knows it would help, knows that Ed is struggling with so much more than just what has happened recently. The death of his only parental figure, abandonment by another, being forced into the role of caretaker at such a young age would have affected his mental and emotional growth, survivors guilt, grief, anxiety and panic attacks as well as dissociation. The list goes on and on, this is all before Ed even joined the military, his problems only growing.

And now this mess, Rockfell and the Drachmans will have a lot to answer for, many people that will be eager for said answers.

"I won't push him." he tells Al who nods in easy acceptance, all he cares is that Maes is willing to try. Possibly a supervised visit that includes Al may help Ed. Al would need a therapist of his own but he's picking and choosing his battles, this one he knows he will not win until Ed is in therapy himself.

What is he going to do with these boys?

So overprotective of one another that they let their own health and importance fall to the wayside.

Ed peers up at him, Maes stares back and waits.

"Rockfell can speak Aerugian." Maes nods, in the military it was required that you speak one additional language and have it documented in case of deployment or need for translation services. "He also speaks Drachman." Maes figured that when he realized that Rockfell was in charge.

"He speaks royal Drachman." Maes freezes at those words. Ed stares at the ceiling no longer present, he absently covers Ed's eyes as he breathes in slowly to the count of seven before exhaling to the count of five.

There were three distinct dialects, royal Drachman spoken by the royal family, the power of the military there. Southern Drachman where Ed was recovered from and a third dialect that seemed to be common which is what most people learned since it was the more easily accessible to learn even if most people don't study the language in Amestris.

The threat of war looming over them. Two of Hakuro's men being labeled as traitors by Ed. The fact that Rockfell didn't disclose the fact that he knows not only Drachman, but Royal Drachman. The questions being asked, state alchemist requirements, grants, weaknesses, Roy, Ed's stolen pocket watch and the funds not recovered that had been illegally drawn. All of this is painting a very bad picture to him.

"Teacher and I will be leaving tomorrow." Al whispers breaking the tension filled silence. Maes shuts his eyes against the burning sensation as he swallows thickly.

"I promise I'll keep looking after him." he says, Al meets his eyes, soul fire red eyes tremble.

"I know you will." he trusts Maes even when his faith has been shaken. He vows to do everything in his power to make sure neither brother will ever have reason to doubt him. To lose faith in him or trust, even when he's such a poor substitute.

"Brother is afraid but I know having you here with him has been an immense relief to him." This kid is too sweet. Maes is a poor substitute and he knows it but with Al entrusting his brother into his care he will do everything and anything in his power to keep them safe.

"You aren't a poor substitute, you're exactly who you need to be to help Ed." Al says, this time Maes can't fight the tears that roll down his cheeks.

Chapter Text

Olivier listens to Kei's report in silence, Miles watches her with a raised brow and at her nod exits the room.

"I see." she sighs when he finishes his report. "Send in Dr. Young next." he nods, saluting her before leaving.

There is a lot to unpack here right now. They need to plan, alchemy knowledge through ill begotten gains is dangerous in inexperienced hands. And given Fullmetal did not actually have a specialty like most state alchemist but was known for his versatility, it's a lot more dangerous. She knows alchemy, it has been passed down for generations in her family, being improved by each heir. Alex being the latest one.

Most novices don't know that a master alchemist has their very own personal circle, should this traitor use Fullmetal's circles to perform alchemy, he will nail himself to the wall.

They need to know what Fullmetal and his brother have taught Rockfell, what Fullmetal may have taught him by complete accident in his desperation to escape. She recalls the transmutation circle he'd drawn in his blood to capture Miles, how he smudged it making it illegible when he slipped as he nearly passed out and wonders if he was able to make anymore circles illegible.

She knows that Lt. Colonel Hughes will ask, she doesn't doubt him anymore. He'd proven that despite the paternal care he has for Fullmetal he is going to do what needs to be done and not coddle him. Maybe they would have had answers faster if Miles and Dr. Young had not overstepped. All that's water under the bridge now, she needs to get his report after Dr. Young reports to her.

In the mean time.

She drafts a letter to her oaf of a brother to bring him from Central to the family estate to do some investigations of his own in the guise of a family reunion. It's about time they had a ball, surely their sister would not mind the occasion to search for a new suitor. She'll have her heart a little broken that she will not get to meet the famous Fullmetal Alchemist when Olivier arrives but she can make up for that by personally inviting him to the next military ball at the end of the year and have her sister take her place. From what she heard at last years ball, the young state alchemist could dance and charmed all the ladies with the biggest scowl on his face and disappeared exactly at ten pm like a type of Cinderella.

Personal invites will need to be sent out to prominent people, the punk, Lt. Hawkeye, 2nd Lt. Havoc, the rest of their team, Lt. Colonel Hughes' family, some others such as Hakuro who has two traitors traced back to him. So much to do, so little time.

A knock draws her attention to the door from the list of invitees she's scrawling for her dearest father to begin preparations.

The art of subterfuge has been passed down for generations in the Armstrong family, she leads the network they've grown for generations with grace and poise.

"Enter." she commands, Dr. Young stares at her with a grim look in her eyes, back straight and chin tilted up in stubborn determination. She wonders if Fullmetal would have a problem with any medic or is it just specific to Dr. Young for the actions repeatedly taken against him that make him feel unsafe.

"Report." she orders as she continues to plot, names and ranks, addresses that she can recall off the top of her head.

"There seems to be a reoccurring theme of Edward injuring himself and others when he suffers from panic attacks." she begins, Olivier heard about Lt. Colonel Hughes' broken nose. "The only exception being his brother, who I doubt would even feel any pain in his current..." she hesitates to continue, Olivier nods to show she understands.

"He's strained his ribs further, I don't want him moving at all for at least a few days if he can help it." she straightens. "He's on steroids, anti inflammatory medication on top of the saline and antibiotics." Olivier can feel Dr. Young's frustration, for all that Fullmetal tries to act as an adult he is still just a child. All these injuries being repeatedly strained or reinjured at his age will do more harm than good, the health risks that will carry on for years as a result of a few months is...

"I know..." Dr. Young looks down at her lap, hands clenched tightly as she shakes. "I know he hates drugs, hates the feeling and the effects but he's in pain. He's hurting himself." she grits her teeth, eyes glimmering as she glares at the ground.

"That is not our decision to make, not with the memories of his abuse constantly on his mind." she doesn't scold the other woman, she understands her frustrations and sorrows. "He may never trust a doctor or medicines ever again." she warns her.

"If I ever meet any of those people." she mutters a foul Drachman oath under her breath. Olivier is glad that none of her soldiers speak Drachman where Fullmetal can hear, if they had than this would have made his stay that much harder. Especially when he didn't even know what was real or not in the beginning, trying to escape, constantly fighting Dr. Young and the men stationed to protect him. 

"Then you will stand alongside the many raring to be the first to draw blood." Olivier says drawing her sword, Dr. Young doesn't back down from her challenge and meets her gaze dead on.

"First blood to the victor." she says evenly.

She dismisses the doctor after they talk more about Fullmetal's health, complications that may crop up during his stay, down the road, how it will affect him in later years and even the state of his hand which she believes may end up needing surgery in the near future.

She knows the Furher himself seems to favor the Fullmetal alchemist, likely because of his age and will seek to rectify any problems from his capture but makes note to have her father seek out skilled doctors, skilled medical alchemists and to have the information forwarded to the punk. 

It would be a waste to lose a perfectly good soldier like this, he's a fighter.

She looks at Lt. Colonel Hughes, the man looks utterly exhausted but the gleam in his eyes speaks more than his countenance.

"I'm sure you've heard by now," he slides a report across her desk. "But I have a few things to discuss with the Furher personally." he purses his lips, expression grim as she looks at the list at the bottom.

"Sealing a state alchemist record is..." she pauses as she recalls it happening once before, Dr. Marcoh. "His life is in danger even more than we thought?" she asks, eyes scanning the detailed report.

Fullmetal Alchemist personal alchemy stolen 

Seal all records including: state alchemy reports, tests, research, grant, projects, theories and published papers

Grant amount stolen: ten thousand cenz

Pocket watch stolen

She rests her chin on the back of her hand as she raises her gaze, Lt. Colonel Hughes nods.

"Given the threat to his brother and the torture he underwent, I'm not taking any chances. Major Elric is highly influential, his kidnapping had everyone up in arms." he nods at her when she sits up. The whole reason they are on the brink of war is because the Fullmetal Alchemist had been taken, tortured and not even ransomed. The amount of power this kid holds.

"Ed and Al, they are good kids and do so much good which spreads." he smiles fondly, the joy gives way to sorrow as he slouches down in his seat. "Given what we know now about Rockfell trying to get a binding contract between them, his rise through the ranks, and how often he was seen together with Major Elric. He never seemed the type to want to climb the ladder, he fooled everyone. Each promotion by lucky chance, but how lucky, was it all manufactured?" he goes on, curious and frustrated in equal measure.

"He's using them to get a step up, being seen together so often and improving his alchemy." Olivier murmurs as she recalls the alchemic circles passed down in her family and the people that sought apprenticeship under her family only to be turned away if they were not up to snuff. Rockfell having knowledge of Fullmetal's personal circles would makes sense if he was taken on as an apprentice, given Fullmetal's knowledge of alchemy and his ranking as a state alchemist he would have provided the completion certification of his mastery even if the name of his teacher is kept secret from the military. Alchemist were very thorough in documentation of apprentices and completion or expulsion of their students, so long as the alchemist followed protocols then their name didn't need to be given to the military.

After all, not all alchemists wanted the military to know their name, so long as the registered apprentice has proof of mastery then there was no need. Fullmetal provided such authenticity. Is Rockfell hoping that no one will know he stole the knowledge? Or is he stupid enough to not know that when he knew about the contract between apprentice and mentor.

"Do we know yet what Fullmetal taught Rockfell before and after?" Lt. Colonel Hughes sighs heavily as he removes his glasses and pulls out a handkerchief to start cleaning them. She eyes the splint on his nose, the bruises around his eyes and wonders if the man has faced panic fueled attacks before. He'd been well versed in how to calm Fullmetal, how to bring him back from a flashback and was able to redirect him when he fought.

"I know what the two were teaching him the past year, not what they taught him the last few months or what was involuntarily taught." he carefully puts his glasses back on the meet her eyes. "I won't ask him right now, not just yet." Even with time of the essence, she trusts him though. He seems to be good at gathering information in a timely manner, helping Fullmetal and with his brother here with him things will go smoothly. She just needs to be patient. She refuses to overstep in the investigation after the last time.

"Rockfell's alchemy mostly deals with water, he has a leather band on his left wrist and two rings on his right fingers to help him. We can start with that, those circles don't belong to either of the Elric brothers but Rockfell who submitted them along with his state alchemist exam." she nods her head and pens that into her note in the guise of flower arrangements. "I have here, what Major Elric discussed with Rockfell, the books, the theories and even the basic transmutation circles they showed him that any beginner learns." he explains as he gestures to some papers with detailed reports on alchemy, second hand given how much Lt. Colonel Hughes understands himself.

She sets aside the page to read later and looks Lt. Colonel Hughes in the eyes.

"I'm inviting your wife and daughter to a gala for my younger sister." Gone is the tired, sad soldier, in his place is a man full of protective fury.

"Watch yourself General." he warns her, she smirks.

"Do you not use your own wife as an informant?" he straightens, hands utterly still and on the desk between them. The threat implicit, his fast drawing skills with his knives are well known even this far in the North.

"I remind you, General." he glowers at her, eyes glittering with rage. "Watch yourself." he whispers before climbing to his feet and leaving the office without a dismissal. Olivier decides to pen a letter to her oaf of a brother. It is better to have the Lt. Colonel's wife and daughter seen with high profile members of society, it would offer her more protection. Even with the protection the man likely has on his wife now, well, the more they learn of Rockfell, the more dangerous he seems to become. She's looking after an investment.

After all, it isn't the first time a threat has been leveled at spouses of military investigation soldiers. She's just backing up his security and supplementing it with some of her own. She likes Hughes, he has good work ethic, is skilled, intuitive and not afraid to do what needs to be done. Why does that punk pick all the good ones?

She laments the loss to the punk of the east and knows she will never be able to steal them from him. Far too loyal. The one thing he has going for him, his ability to gain the trust and allegiance of his men. 

Teacher is better today, Mr. Hughes' eyes are bruised but he smiles as if nothing is wrong. Brother is asleep, hand finding its way to his elbow which Al puts a stop to when he catches the movement. Dr. Young isn't in the room but Kei is, he's checking brother's injuries and medications. Al can see his brother's collar bones, his cheek still look a little gaunt. Has he not regained any weight? It has been difficult for brother to gain weigh ever since he lost his limbs but he thinks this is very bad.

"Can you take a look at his fingers or does that need to be Dr. Young?" Al asks curiously, he wouldn't mind the woman looking at Ed's fingers but he has a feeling that Ed would bear it more easily if it were someone else. 

"Sorry, Dr. Young would be better." Al waves off his apology and starts plotting on getting his brother to let the doctor look at his hand after making sure that they come to an understanding before she takes a look. Maybe he should tell Teacher, no, that's too cruel.

Al sees hazy gold eyes staring at him, he grabs his hold of the reaching hand and waits for him to talk. Al can see how tired his brother is, so bone weary that he doesn't have the energy to be upset at Al for treating him delicately.

He's careful about telling him about the medications he has to take and how long, the frustration in his eyes kills Al inside. He immediately wants to change the subject when brother looks like he's about to start crying. Ed speaks up before he can try.

"I need you to visit Xenotime, you need to look in on them." he mutters, Al knows who he's asking him to check on. The Tringham brothers who impersonated them a few times before they put a stop to it. Brother had mentioned checking in on the two of them.

"You saw them before they took you?" he asks, Ed nods, guilt swims in his eyes as he squeezes Al's hand. Al's afraid for them, they don't have anyone but the people of Xenotime who wouldn't be able to report them missing with the fact that Russel had impersonated not just a military officer but a state alchemist. Only Ed and Al could look after them, their network is limited in around the radius of Dublith which is where Xenotime fell. They had wanted to stay off Teacher's radar, look where that got them.

"I'm worried about your hand." Ed's grip tightens, eyes scrunching up with tears in his eyes and he knows something. Al wonders if they can delay their departure, he knows the faster they leave the sooner they can come back.

Al doesn't want to go, he wants to stay and it isn't fair to either of them. He stays or goes the results will be vastly different with high consequences.

"I don't want it." he whispers in a small small voice but he looks so resigned. Al hates that this is the position they are in, brother being unable to say no.

"I'm sorry." he can only apologize even as brother shakes his head, Al doesn't know what else he can do. Even with their knowledge of medical alchemy, they'd never done something so delicate as finger bones. Messing that up could have severe repercussions, not to mention the chronic pain brother will be having because of this.

"Tell me too." he orders, Al wants to cry. Ed is so damn stubborn that when the two of them butt heads over medical problems, Al gets one pass to tell his brother what to do. Once a month, it never works for vaccinations but for anything else, like the time brother had to go to the dentist and the other time that brother had to get stitches. Most of the time when Al uses it to get his brother to seek medical attention, it has always been for something minor.

Nothing like surgery which brother would rather trust Granny and Winry with. It's where brother would go it he needed to for medical attention if it could wait. He'd gotten a number of stitches from Granny and Winry. Had his dislocated knee and shoulder fixed by them. If something could be fixed with the two of them not needing outside help, Ed would take care of it himself. Concussions, broken nose, sprains, a broken ankle that had been mostly fixed with medical alchemy or with time when Al sits on his brother to make him rest.

Al knows that his brother will listen to him, really listen to him when he puts his foot down which is why he gives him this power to veto Ed's decision and override any doctor trying to do more than asked. No to drugs, no to surgery unless absolutely necessary.

The one and only doctor that Ed trusts aside from Granny and Winry, a pediatrician in the East who despises the military and would only pay house visits if Ed and Al were staying in a hotel not the military dorms. Even when brother is combative and severely phobic, he's always understanding and doesn't hold it against brother when he gets bitten or punched. He's the one to administer brother's vaccines when it became apparent just how bad it could get. Al wishes they could ask for him, he's someone that brother trusts for a doctor that is. He's never gone against brother's wishes, respecting his wishes and always, always, makes sure brother is okay after everything. Even when he's dealing with bruises or bite marks.

He doesn't hold a grudge. Doesn't turn them away like a few other doctors had when they realized how much of a handful he can be.

"I..." a tear rolls down his cheek and Al's shoulders fall. "Okay, just..." he hates feeling so helpless.

"Just let her take a look first." he rests his hand on Ed's forehead and watches him rest, he's aware of Mr. Hughes coming up beside him to stare at the two of them. He pats Al's shoulder a few times before he leans down to meet brother's eyes at eye level.

"I have to go report to General Armstrong but I'll be back soon, hold down the fort you two." he smiles, brother bites his lips. Al knows how much guilt brother carries, this is more guilt that he will carry even when it shouldn't be.

"Sorry." his voice breaks, Mr. Hughes laughs and pokes brother's nose.

"You have nothing to apologize for, I think I look quite distinguished." brother's smile hurts.

"You look like a raccoon." his smile wavers, a tear rolls down the side of his face and the apology he tries to make is cut off by Mr. Hughes kneeling down so that he can rest his arms against the bed before resting his chin on his crossed arms. Like this, brother has to look down a little to look him in the eyes.

"I know you weren't about to apologize over something that is a perfectly natural response, hmm?" Brother pushes Mr. Hughes' head back before turning away.

"No." he mutters sullenly, he's not so upset anymore but Al knows until the bruises fade he'll carry the guilt even with Mr. Hughes' assurances. Mr. Hughes lightly tussles brother's hair before doing the same to Al and heads out.

"He's a good man." Teacher comments, she looks so pale but he knows better than to think she isn't capable of beating the two of them into the ground.

"He is." Brother agrees as he stares at the wall, Al can see him thinking. He lets him think in peace, Teacher watches them with a sad look on her face. Al sometimes wonders about the mistakes they all made and how it affected them.

When Dr. Young returns, brother is instantly alert even as he keeps his face turned away from the door. Al wants to reassure his brother but finds that it would be of little use if brother did end up needing surgery on his fingers from the repeated strain. 

"Dr. Young?" the woman looks at him, Al settles for holding up his brother's broken hand, she doesn't move for a moment as she stares at him then brother's fingers. Her hand moves to her pocket when brother's fingers twitch, he can see the faded bruises and scratches on her face, the bite marks on her hands and knows her precautions regarding Ed are valid.

Her fear and paranoia are valid.

She isn't the first doctor that has reacted like this, not the last but brother tries so hard and its never enough.

His brother is traumatized. Frightened. And Ed will only ever see her as someone he cannot let his guard down no matter what even if there is trust. Especially after all that's recently happened, he knows how much brother hates how he reacts. Hates that he has to apologize for something he cannot control. Fear makes beasts of men and brother is all fear now. He wishes that people could see his brother for who he is and not who he presents himself as.

And now, with all this fear, it's so much like a wild dangerous animal, Dr. Young sees him in that light. Al just wishes they could see him when he's not driven into a corner. When he's so vibrant and full of life, passionate and happy, he's a completely different person. 

Hopefully they can see that one day. Hopefully they don't grow to resent him like some of the soldiers in the East.

Brother flinches, automail hand clenching into a fist as he relaxes his broken hand when Dr. Young carefully makes her way over after depositing the sedative on a nearby surface. When Dr. Young takes a look at his fingers, Al feels so violently sick he's almost grateful he doesn't have a body. He nearly sobs at the state of his brother's fingers. Swollen, bruised, nearly disfigured and he's been fighting with his fingers in this shape? With his wrist and arm? He doesn't look away even if he wants to, Ed is trusting him to make sure Dr. Young does nothing to him that he will not allow so he keeps his gaze on the woman, on the state of his brother's fingers and withholds the wails that want to escape him. Ed is being strong, so Al will too.

Even when his heart feels like its breaking and he wants to wail at the injustice, he will be silent and still. A watchful guardian who soothes his brother's fears.

"Surprisingly, he only seems to have bruised up his fingers." she mutters in surprise as she looks over his hand as well. She doesn't check under his cast but does look over his shoulder and hums. "I think, as long as he doesn't strain his fingers much, he'll be fine, though the healing time has definitely been delayed." she talks over him, Ed breathes slowly, he's shaking. Al reaches past Dr. Young to try to ground him, fingers drumming against Ed's sternum as the shaking increases the longer Dr. Young keeps hold of his hand.

"Okay, all done, just let me place the splints back on." she gets to work, one eye on brother when he flinches out of nowhere. Al stops trying to ground him and settles for covering his eyes, thumb rubbing his cheek like he remembers mom used to do to him when he had a fever.

When she finishes she backs away, Al removes his hand just as Teacher stands beside them in an instant, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"You're alright, you're with us now Edward." she says as she rests her palm on brother's cheek, thumb lightly caressing his cheek as she turns his head. Brother isn't aware of anything, it takes a few minutes for him to become aware again.

"There you are." Teacher smiles when he blinks a few times and looks around. Al keeps a light hold of his arm to make sure he doesn't try to subconsciously remove the needle. He doesn't try, but his hand does land on Al's hands and just rests there.

"What can you tell me?" Teacher asks, she doesn't demand any answers, doesn't push him to answer anything but asks him what he's willing to discuss. Something that she's always done for them when she realizes that they won't ask for something voluntarily. She always asked them what she could do, what she could give them, and when she could do something for them, she would. No questions asked. She just would. Teacher made it sounds so easy to ask for something.

Brother doesn't look her in the eyes as he licks his lips.

"Al and I hid some of our research in Eastern command, Rockfell knows one place." Al had forgotten that, but neither of them had taught him how to code or decode, nor had they given him any knowledge of their personal or shared code. Al knows for a fact that he isn't good at it, and the best decoders they have in the East are Ed and Al.

"First stop then, I'll get to it." she vows, she looks at Al who nods in response. He'll tell her everything, just not now.

"I left a note for you, Al, at the hotel." Al nods and makes note to check on that on his way to investigate. 

Brother won't look either of them in the eyes, Teacher seems to notice as she rubs his cheek until he looks at her. She frowns softly when he looks away after a few seconds.

"My suitcase?" Al thinks about the belongings recovered, just brother's travel log. Not his cloak, not his watch, their weapons, not any of their books. A rare few tomes that are highly sought after. He needs to write a list of the books for Mr. Hughes and for Colonel.

"The only thing recovered was your travel log." he whispers, everything they carried in the suitcase, while not much, was all they had. A few changes of clothes, maintenance kit, medicines, some books they found on their travels, any research they were studying but heavily coded no cyphers or translations. Even the secret compartments they had in the suitcase and outside it are compromised. He has not doubt the thing was taken apart. Good thing he and brother made everything illegible even with a code breaker. Brother's fast short hand is something even brother has trouble reading sometimes.

"I see." he sighs and turns his head away.

"You think he took it?" Ed nods without looking at him, Al makes note to inform Mr. Hughes and to ask if anything had been recovered from the place that Ed was rescued from and if it was possible to go back there. 

"I'll get started on rewriting everything and giving a copy to Colonel and Mr. Hughes to make sure he doesn't use it or pass it off as his work." Al tells Teacher as he moves to grab some papers from Mr. Hughes desk drawer before returning back to Ed's side to see him staring at the ceiling mouthing something to himself before looking away.

It's quiet for a little while after that. Just the sound of Alphonse writing slowly and carefully, Kei working on something in his office and Dr. Young writing.

Al looks up when the door opens, Mr. Hughes walks in nearly silent before he calls out loudly in greeting.

"I'm back!" he smiles, Al tips his head in acknowledgement, Brother smiles weakly but goes back to staring at the ceiling.

"Why don't we wash your hair?" Al moves aside, Teacher nods at Mr. Hughes as she starts to undo the braids in his hair, brother shoots Mr. Hughes a bewildered look but doesn't protest.

"Edward's belongings?" Mr. Hughes hums thoughtfully as he lathers up brother's hair, brother isn't really tuned into the conversation they're having now. He looks like he's mostly asleep, he's glad that he can still relax like this. "No, I can't say that I recall seeing anything aside from his travelogue. I did search but nothing came up." Al pretends not to hear him mutter about the baby tooth, Al knows that brother more than likely lost it in the fight. He was irked that it had yet to fall off and was tempted to get into a fight to get it knocked out rather than visit a dentist. Its more than likely lost, he doubts anyone would keep a random kid's tooth, let alone the Fullmetal alchemist's tooth, there isn't any value in it. Especially since he was never ransomed.

"As for the base he was recovered from, well..." he sighs as he makes sure to never pull brother's hair. "It was blown up not too long after you and Winry visited him in the hospital." he looks off into the distance for a moment, gaze dark before he shakes his head.

"No one ever came back after he was rescued?" Al asks, he thought for sure that some—

"Rockfell heard about brother being rescued because we didn't know there was a traitor." Al's horrified enough that he stops writing to stare at Mr. Hughes who smiles grimly.

"I went over the reports from the people sent to recover your brother and no one mentioned anything about any belongings, no books, no weapons and certainly not any of Ed's clothes." he looks irritated, given how Al found that his brother was only dressed in shorts and a tank top here in the north where the temperature drops into the negatives, well, he understands him completely. Hadn't Al himself been furious when finding that out?

"Actually," Dr. Young cuts in startling them and brother who nearly shoots up were it not for Teacher gently pushing him back into a reclining position. Dr. Young doesn't move from her desk, nor does she look at them but she does continue.

"Lt. Brody found a red cloak with the symbol on Alphonse's shoulder. It was pretty torn up and grimy so it was left behind." Al's hands clench tightly, the pen in his hand explodes, he drops the ruined pen and stares at the pages in his hand to make sure they weren't ruined.

His brother had pockets in his cloak for this mission. He usually doesn't, but Al knows he did this time because he was there when brother made a new one and put pockets to carry some sweets. But that wouldn't have been the only thing he would have carried in his pocket.

"Did you check his pockets?" he asks softly, rage simmers in his chest as he thinks about the lack of information in regard to his brother's belongings. Belongings that they have very little of.

"Not that I'm aware, I'll have to check." she continues warily, Al accepts the tissue that Teacher passes him to clean his hand and takes out a new pen to start writing again.

"We'll come back to that." Mr. Hughes says as he tilts brother's head back to rinse it out, Teacher makes sure brother remains propped upright so he doesn't have any difficulty breathing. "For now, let's..." he sighs heavily, shoulders slumping as he mutters a Xingese curse. Al pointedly looks away from him, Teacher's fired up but doesn't react like she usually does when someone curses in front of him and brother.

"Sorry." he apologizes, but the point stands that he cursed in the first place.

"I'm tellllinggggg." Al covers his face, he doesn't have to look to see brother's Cheshire grin. "I learned some drachman and royal drachman curses anyway, its okay."  Al snickers at his brother's reassurance.

"Wait, no." Mr. Hughes panics, he's glad that despite the bad situation, brother can find something good. "Come on kiddo, I'll owe you one!" he pleads, Al laughs, he can't help it. Mr. Hughes always gets on everyone's case when they curse around brother even with brother himself cursing up storms and never hesitates to pinch his nose for cursing but for him to curse? This is priceless. 

"Colonel will want to know about this." Al teases, the gobsmacked look on his face has him and brother cracking up.

"I thought we were the best of friends Alphonse." He presses his wet palm to his chest, looking hurt and everything before he looks down when he realizes that he put his wet hand on his chest. He looks disgruntled as he tries to dry his shirt before giving it up when he wets his sleeves.

"Al's my best friend, you have Colonel." brother mutters petulantly. Al hopes that brother takes to heart that Mr. Hughes is calling them friends, sometimes he thinks it doesn't register with him. Sure, he calls people like Tommy, Levi, Rockfell friends but he doesn't mean it the way that they do. It took Tommy and Levi a year to even get past very best acquaintance and even then, when Tommy annoys brother enough, he'll go back to referring to him as an acquaintance.

"You can have more than one best friend." Al tunes out their argument, something the two always end up arguing about when the topic comes up.

Mr. Hughes gently detangles brother's hair even as they argue, he's very conscious to not raise his voice even when he usually starts to shout by now and Al wonders, darkly, if Mr. Hughes is avoiding yelling for a reason that Al has not found out about. Yet.

"No!" Brother protest vehemently, Mr. Hughes tells brother to close his eyes as he rinses his hair out.

"Yes!" he replies back just as insistent, Teacher laughs at them causing them to stop to stare at her.

"I can see that the two of you are best friends." the looks the two give her remind him of the looks that brother and Colonel give Al whenever he says they are getting along so well today.

"AL/ROY IS MY BEST FRIEND!" they stop, look at each other then laugh. Al shares a look with Teacher, she grins at him in response.

"Well, let's leave that alone." Mr. Hughes coughs, cheeks flushed as he rinses brother's hair one more time. He carefully dries his hair, Al goes back to his writing and wonders if maybe Colonel can take a look at Rockfell's alchemy to see if he's changed how he uses it. He hasn't heard anything about it, no one has reported anything recently but he'll have to double check that when they go down the mountain. In the meantime, Reever and William are keeping a close eye on Rockfell and Eastern command for him. He wonders if its wise to only have two of their top informants keep an eye on Rockfell, though more eyes would tip him off for sure that they are onto him.

Thankfully they never introduced him to anyone in their network or even hinted at it so they are covered in that regard. Just Colonel's men and Mr. Hughes know about them.

"Did you want something to eat?" Teacher asks after they sit in comfortable silence while Mr. Hughes brushes brother's hair.

"Sure." Al catches the contemplative look on Mr. Hughes' face before he switches with Teacher who takes over brushing brother's hair.

"I'll bring us all something to eat." he says as he sticks his hand under brother's pillow and pulls out money. Al freezes, Teacher pauses in the middle of brushing brother's hair and brother looks away with a guilty look, cheeks flushing bright red.

"Brother." Al whispers, scandalized. Injured, prone to panic attacks and flashbacks and brother still has the time to cheat at cards? It's the only way he could have such an outrageous amount of money here.

He hums nervously, fingers tapping and Al watches Teacher smother a laugh into his hair, shoulders jerking with the force of her smothered laughter. He can see him sweating the longer Al stares at him without moving, Al waits for nearly a minute before Ed turns to look at Al, sees him staring and then looks away again. He coughs and stares drawing circles on the bed with his finger. He can see that any second now he'll start reciting the periodic table or the elements of their shared circle.

"Don't be too hard on him," Al listens to Kei but doesn't look away from his brother. "But things up here in the North are very different." Al finally looks away from his brother to spot Kei holding a hot cup of something that he passes to brother before he sticks his hand under his pillow to take a coin.

"If he hadn't made any money, he wouldn't have lasted long." he comments, brother sips his drink nervously, still facing away from Al as Teacher starts braiding his hair. Al sighs and decides to let it go.

"Special circumstances." he says pointing at him, Ed twitches like a startled rabbit before ultimately relaxing when he realizes he isn't in trouble anymore.

"This was Hughes' payback." he mutters petulantly into his cup, and yes, he can see that Mr. Hughes did that on purpose. Whoever said the man couldn't be petty, deserved a kick in the back. He can be even more petty than both of them combined and Al can be pretty petty sometimes.

"But you still care about him regardless." Brother stares at Teacher at her comment, she has a patient look on her face. It reminds him of when she would teach them about history and random facts about animals, people, architecture, weapons and even manipulation. Come to think of it.

Mr. Hughes wears that look sometimes when he's talking to them about their day, trying to get them to open up and relax.

"Yeah." brother slumps backwards, he stares at Al for a moment before looking away with a guilty look. Al withholds a sigh.

Why does his brother have to be so stubborn sometimes? Al knows that they have issues, brother's a little more severe than his in some areas because he looked after Al and took the role of his guardian but he wishes that Ed could accept that sometimes people just want to take care of them. Mr. Hughes maybe a little overbearing with his care and attention but he's trying to make up for what they lack. Teacher and Sig weren't as overbearing about it and that maybe the only reason he's okay with them.

"Don't let him think he's a bother." Brother frowns at her when she says that, she presses her palm to his forehead for a moment before she rises to her feet.

"He's not a bother." Al can hear the annoyance in his voice, brother stops to stare at the ceiling for a moment. "Some of the times." he continues with a huff. 

"That's nice." Al jumps, he hadn't even heard Mr. Hughes come in, Brother blushes. "You're not a bother, some of the times." he teases as he passes Teacher a tray, Lt. Brody trails behind him with some drinks for everyone while Mr. Hughes grabs the sliding table and sets the tray with food on it. Ed shoots him a look. Help?

Al promptly returns to finishing his writing, he can see the betrayal on his face and it takes everything in his power not to laugh.

"Thank you for being honest Edward." Al nearly cackles, Mr. Hughes is being very very kind. Poor brother. "I always appreciate our honest talks." Mr. Hughes doesn't miss a beat when it comes to brother being honest like this, which somehow always leads to him feeling embarrassed over nothing.

"Speaking of honesty," Al pays attention without actually looking. "Did you want to try talking with her?" he sits beside brother as he sips his own mug of whatever hot drink is available.

"I don't know, do you want me to?" he replies somewhat unsure, Al wonders if Mr. Hughes will ever push them to do something they don't want to. He's too kind to them, sometimes it feels unreal.

"I do want you to talk to someone." he says not pushy but comforting and just a hint of pleading. Its silent for a few minutes after that as brother eats, Mr. Hughes takes some paper and starts to write himself. "It doesn't have to be her if you don't want to." he continues, Ed stares thoughtfully into the bowl of stew.

"There wasn't anything in the cloak, it was just dirty and cut up." Mr. Hughes hums but doesn't reply, Al wonders if there had been a plan to use brother's cloak or they simply kept it for some other reason. He can't fathom their thought process, doesn't want to really but he needs answers. 

"Okay." Al glances up before looking away, brother looks so defeated. So tired. "Okay."

Al doesn't know if he's ready to meet this woman, not when it makes his brother look like this. Al wonders, if they killed her again. Made her suffer death twice for their selfishness and greed.

Ed can't look at her.

That's normal though, he's been unable to look at pictures of mom for a long time.

His eyes roam around the room, landing on Al who is so perfectly still, he reaches out to touch him to be sure he wasn't actually panicking alone in his thoughts. Al grabs hold of his hand and squeezes, he frowns sympathetically even as Hughes unobtrusively sits a few feet from the woman's side in case he has to move to block her from view

"Well, I've introduced myself to you before but that was a while back. I'm Warrant officer Rain Allen." Ed twitches when she smiles at him, her patient, kind smile overlaps with another. He flinches and looks away from her.

"Did you want to stop?" They don't sound the same, their looks are superficial.

"Look after your brother, you only have one and he's very special." Mom smiles down at him, hand petting his hair.

This is fine, he can handle this much.

Right?

"'s fine." he mumbles, he should handle this. He's exhausted and he doesn't want to keep fighting and hurting people that don't deserve to be hurt when he panics. How many people has he hurt?

"It's alright if it's not." she says softly, Ed grabs a fistful of the blanket on his lap.

"It's alright if you're not okay right now." Hughes says rubbing his shoulder, Ed can't stop his tears as he covers his face with his hands. Al rests his hand on Ed's leg, grounding him. He can't stop hearing those words.

"I know." he does know that but he's tried to not let that show. He causes enough problems when it comes to not being alright so he pretends. He's heard the whispers from other soldiers, seen the resentment on their faces. Not just because of the favored treatment from the Furher but because Colonel, General Grunman, Hughes, and a few other higher ranked soldiers look after him too.

"You've been strong for so long," Ed looks up at that, he doesn't look at her but Hughes, who told him the very same thing after Barry.

"I think it's time to let someone else be strong for you, Edward." Ed looks away again, for too long he's been holding everything back. Holding himself accountable for anything and everything. Keeping to himself even when he wants to be let down his guard but finds that he can't. He was selfish once before, look at what it cost his brother, cost him. He can't.

"No?" Ed looks up at that, her green eyes frown, he flinches and looks away, Al's hand clenches tightly around his and he wonders if he should just send Al out. He shouldn't be here if he doesn't want to. Shouldn't have to see her and remember what they lost.

He takes as deep a breath as he can, his chest hurts but he ignores the pain to focus, center himself and wonders if maybe Teacher should have stayed. She was good at dealing with the two of them whenever the grief was too much for them to handle.

"Are you aware that you told me no?" Ed was not, he mutely shakes his head. "Can you tell me, why you think you can't lean on someone?" Ed glances at Al, he looks back at him and shrugs letting him know that he doesn't know what Ed wants to do. Ed doesn't either. He doesn't want to be a burden even though already is one right now.

"Can I tell you what I think?" he shrugs and starts picking at the blanket for lack of anything to do. He should probably be talking about what happened but they aren't talking about it. Why?

"You've been alone, struggling to take care of yourself and your brother and even with people coming into your life to help out, they've never stayed." Ed freezes. It's not right.

That's not right!

Ed and Al were the ones that never stayed, Ed didn't want to get close to anyone else after...

After...

He couldn't...

Even when people tried—

"It's marked how you view people entering your life now." Ed knows he judges the adults that enter his life harshly. That he doesn't treat them fairly sometimes. He doesn't mean to.

But he panics when he thinks about the possibility of a repeat act. He isn't good at dealing with his emotions sometimes, that's his fault. It leads to him lashing out. A lot. To people that don't deserve it.

They don't even get mad when he does. They accept the involuntary rage episodes, they accept his apologies.

"That's not right." Al protests weakly, Ed wonders if he made things difficult for not just his brother but everyone else by refusing to lean on anyone.

"You're wrong." Ed whispers weakly, he can't look at her, can't look at Hughes who has become someone that Ed can rely on and trust and who is somehow important to him when he tries so hard to keep his distance. Mustang, Hughes, Hawkeye, Havoc, Fuery, Falman, Breda, Levi, Tommy, Karin, Rebecca, Armstrong. So many people that have gotten so close to him, made him trust them even when he hadn't wanted to. The list goes on and on, growing from two, to four, to six and so on. Too many to count on his fingers.

"Edward?" he looks, her eyes full of concern stare into his, her lips turn downwards in a hauntingly familiar way and he bursts into tears.

"Edward?" Mom's green eyes stare into his own, lips turning down, concern written plainly on her face as she kneels down to his level. 

"What's wrong?" Ed shakes his head and wraps his arms around her neck.

"Did you have a nightmare little man?" he nods, she wraps her arms around him and holds him close.

He's aware of Hughes escorting her somewhere, Al's arms are lightly wrapped around him and he can hear him crying in the way that only he can. A voice with no actual tears to shed but the pain and sorrow in his voice hurt all the same. Ed can't even comfort him. They can't seek comfort from one another the way they used to.

He's limited in how much he can move, Al can't even really hug him without causing him pain and he is having difficulty breathing.

Al's stuck in this suit of armor because of him. His selfishness to have their mother back.

All of this is Ed's fault.

He did this to them.

"Breathe Edward," A hand cups the back of his head and he finds himself being held in a loose embrace. "I need you to breathe." It's Teacher.

He wants to tell her to look after Al but can't even breathe past the lump in his throat, can't speak without choking on a sob. It hurts to breathe so much.

He's not a little kid, he shouldn't even be sobbing like this when Al can't shed any tears. He turns to find Hughes comforting Al and feels so much worse. That's his job and he's failed so much already.

"You will be sedated if you don't calm down." Ed's blood freezes in his veins at the thought. His lungs refuse to cooperate, he doesn't want it. He doesn't want to lose time again. He's barely aware of the tightness in his chest or the rapid pace of his breathing as he clings to Teacher.

It's honestly a blur after that.

He doesn't remember calming down, doesn't remember if he did end up getting sedated or if he voluntarily fell asleep.

He's just aware of the ceiling that has 'no tiles?' which is the biggest indicator that he's not back there with them. 

"Brother?" he glances to his left to spot his brother hunched in on himself beside his bed. His heart wilts at the defeated posture. He reaches out despite the pain and rubs his brother's head. Al ducks his head trying to appear smaller but it isn't the same in the hulking suit of armor. He can't make himself small, can't hide behind Ed, can't sulk alone to gather his thoughts without appearing like a threat to everyone in this base. There is so much that he cannot do because Ed's selfishness and greed cost his brother everything.  

He wants to apologize. Wants to beg for forgiveness.

But the fear of never being forgiven haunts him more than the guilt. So he swallows the apologies he wants to say and instead talks softly to his younger brother about the types of fruits and vegetables that will be harvested in Resembool and what the price would be. Who would try to rip off who and what new feud would be started by the time they go back home. It gets his brother to chuckle a little.

Ed doesn't know how he convinced Hughes to try again. Seeing Rain Allen still steals his breath away and he can't look in her direction for too long but Hughes is a 

Al isn't in the room this time, Teacher took him away when Ed gave her a look.

Kei is hammering away at something in his office, he's making a lot of noise actually.

Dr. Young is somewhere, thankfully not here because if he has to get sedated he doesn't want it to be her doing it.

"I'm glad you decided to speak with me again Mr. Elric." Ed doesn't like the formality, but its easier than being addressed by his name when it comes to her at least.

Ed peers at Hughes who is writing in his notebook furiously, pen scratching away at a high speed, pages flying as he skims his other notes. He still finds the time to shoot him a reassuring glance, Ed admires his ability to multitask. 

"Did you want to try to discuss what we were last talking about or something new?" Ed briefly glances at her but finds himself looking just past her.

"Something else." he taps his metal fingers together enjoying the ringing sound, he finds it soothing even if the sound is slightly off because of the differing metals making up his new automail.

"That's alright. Now what do you want to talk about?" she probes as she gauges his reaction. Ed knows he's too honest, Colonel complained about it to his face often enough even when Havoc and Fuery said it was fine because he was young and no need to push him to be able to lie so easily when he's still a kid. Ed did know that he used to be able to lie better before all of this.

Just something else taken from them and he knows that Al can't really lie either.

"I thought you were here to talk about my t—" he cuts himself off with a wary look. "About what happened." he just wants to get it over with. Give Hughes all the information he needs but things are still coming back to him in bits and pieces. What he tends to recall the most is the torture, just beatings for the hell of it or because he was mouthy or even tried to talk back. He barely even recalled Lance and Rockfell, though that may be his mind's way of protecting him from the betrayal he was suffering from. Ed knows better than anyone that he has issues but tries to not let them get in the way too much. Even if sometimes it's hard.

"I am," She begins cautiously, picking and choosing her words like any one of them could set him off. "But there is no rush, Mr. Elric. We can go as fast as you would like or as slow as you like." Ed glances at Hughes who has paused his writing to watch her with furrowed brows. He must sense Ed watching him because he turns and offers him a small smile and nod. Ed wonders if Bastard would pressure him to tell her everything even when he doesn't feel ready. He always pushes Ed before he's ready to do something, though sometimes it isn't necessarily that way. He cares in a way that Ed finds hard to understand sometimes. And not just because he uses Teacher, Sig and Granny as a gauge on how people look after him and Al.

"When you are ready to discuss it with me, I will listen." She says simply as if that is that.

It really isn't that simple though, is it?

Amestris is on the brink of war.

There is someone actively trying to gain information on the state alchemist program and sell their secrets. Military espionage is seen as something so much worse than military defectors. 

"I just want to understand." Ed sighs, his ribs twinge in protest but he easily ignores the pain more than used to being uncomfortable. Hughes grimaces, Ed looks away from him and the bandage on his nose. 

"What do you want to understand?" Ed shrugs a little. "How about we start with something small?" Ed thinks about everything he doesn't understand since he first woke up hanging from a chain attached to the ceiling. 

"What did they think would happen when they took me?" he knows that he's not good at following orders. He tends to end up on the high end of collateral damage even when he tries his best to mitigate it. He has a temper and has been known to explode with rage at the most inopportune times. He's mouthy and would rather ask questions than answer them. 

"You mean, you're reputation as the Punk of the East?" Ed nods, he thinks Havoc actually came up with the moniker. He wouldn't put it past Bastard to have that moniker made up to keep other people from trying to poach Ed. Not that he needs help in that, Ed refuses to work for anyone else, no one aside from him and Hawkeye saw Ed at his most pathetic and didn't look at him with pity over it.

"I think, maybe," Ed tries to look at her but the second he meets her green eyes he flinches and looks at the ceiling. 'No tiles, not there.' And focuses on breathing. All he can do is focus on breathing while tapping his fingers together even though his legs are still strapped down. He's restrained but not because he is a threat but because he needs to heal.

"Your other reputation played a part." Ed feels his face heat up as he recalls the nickname the Furher had given him that more than a few higher ups used to refer to him.

"The Puppy of the state." he hisses under his breath, he knows that Al finds it funny for him to be called a puppy because he gets to poke fun that there is one pet he's allowed. He thinks the only ones not to refer to him as that are Hawkeye and Hughes, not that it means much because they get a look in their eyes when they think about him with the title.

"Though, given your proclivity for mass destruction even on small time missions like mining inspections..." Ed looks up, face red as he points at Hughes.

"That was one time! Every other time I do mine inspections there isn't any property damage!" Ed gripes as he thinks that maybe he needs to punch Russel. Bastard ruined his record for missions that don't involve collateral damage. And it isn't like the people of Xenotime minded! 

"Next time I see him, he gets punched in the face." he grumbles under his breath as he shifts into a slightly less uncomfortable position. He could ask Al but also he knows his brother won't do it. Then again, he's also worried about the other brothers. Hopefully they are okay.

"I have so much to do." he complains, he looks up and jumps when he sees Hughes standing beside him.

"You okay?" Ed shrugs, Hughes hums thoughtfully before he helps Ed sit up and shoves some pillows behind him and to his side so he can recline back comfortably. He relaxes when he realizes he isn't uncomfortable anymore. Still.

"Stop being embarrassing." he tells him as he flaps his hand at him, Hughes laughs but makes his way back to his temporary desk to start scribbling away. He wonders if he should tell him about his impersonator and would Hughes be upset about it when Ed has made his peace with it. He doesn't want Fletcher to lose his brother to a military jail.

"I think people won't make this mistake again." Ed glances in Hughes' general direction and then pretends that he didn't when he sees fire behind him. The glint of the knife eerily reminds him of Teacher being pissed off when some local gang tried to mess with him and Al when they were younger and he decides this is not his problem. 

Hughes becoming as overprotective as Teacher is not something he thought he would ever think, no one has ever matched up to Teacher aside from Sig who is generally calmer. Maybe that's where Al gets it.

Wait.

Does that mean he takes after Teacher?

Oh no.

This is terrible.

But also, kickass.

"What kind of revelations you having over there?" Ed glances at Hughes, he looks very curious.

"None that you'll ever learn." Ed says spitefully, he relishes in his look of disappointment. 

"I didn't realize you two were so close." She says her observation outloud. Ed doesn't look in her direction but continues to face Hughes, whose fake disappointment melts off his face. He stares blankly at Ed who doesn't react, he doesn't even breathe.

Hughes is important.  He's Granny and Teacher levels of important to him and Al. 

Ed has done his best to ignore that recent revelation, he doesn't have the emotional capacity for it right now.

"Something..." he breathes. Ed knows that Hughes will never push him to do something he doesn't want to. That he is very gentle in the way he handles Ed's explosive tantrums. "Else..." he wonders if he has ever hurt him by ignoring it. Al carefully doesn't acknowledge it either.

"Very well, Colonel Mustang expressed his worries about helping you and any difficulties that may crop up as a result of therapy." Ed looks away from Hughes who is staring at Her for saying that.

"You're not supposed to say that." Ed almost complains. He and Colonel also very carefully don't acknowledge the growing relationship they've formed because Ed has blown up at him for showing concern and he knows he shouldn't. Colonel doesn't take it to heart but Ed knows that it eats at him.

He knows and he hates that he knows why he's like this. But Ed cannot handle it. Not when he has to focus on Alphonse's well being, on getting his body back no matter what cost he may have to pay. Ed doesn't have the time or capability of sorting through all of that mess.

"Why?" She asks, he can hear the frown and faces the wall, he hears drilling in the background. How can Ed explain to her all of that when she looks like her? 

He wants to cry.

"I think," Ed grabs the end of his braid just to have something to hold. "That you should stay off the topic of Ed's relationship with myself and Roy." Hughes says in a deceptively calm voice. Ed knows that he has to talk, was ready to talk about everything but realizes that he is not, in fact, ready to talk about things.

"Do you feel safe here, Ed?" Why are all the questions she asks him so hard to answer?

"Why don't you feel safe?" he looks right at her, he jerks his head away at the concern in her green eyes. Why did he look? Why did she ask him why didn't feel safe?

"Dr. Young makes you feel unsafe?" He flinches a little and hates that he's honest without even meaning to be.

"Could your feelings for Lt. Rockfell's betrayal be affecting how you view Dr. Young? She's present and available whereas Lt. Rockfell is not." Ed knows that he doesn't see Dr. Young as a replacement or substitute. He's not taking anything out on her that he would for Rockfell. 

"She's a doctor!" he exclaims, that's the major reason for his distrust. Even when she drugged him against his will, he knows better than to hold a grudge. She's just doing her job.

"She's just doing her job, which is something that you're telling yourself to feel better about not trusting her." he freezes, he doesn't like this talk.

"You can be upset with her." she says like Ed isn't already upset and actively avoiding the doctor when he can. Like Hughes won't take him out of the medical wing if he asks him to.

"I know that." Ed tells her, no one has ever been able to tell him how to feel, let alone himself. "I don't want to be mad at her though." he's tired of being angry, of being afraid. He's been angry and afraid for so long, its wearing away at him mentally.

"She helped me out so much." he knows he must have been very difficult when he first came. She had scratches and bite marks, he didn't recognize where he was, didn't even know he wasn't with the Drachmans for a bit after that. He knows okay, he knows.

"I don't know what to do." he tells her, it hurts that she feels that her only resort to keep him from hurting anyone, especially her, is to sedate him. She keeps her distance until he's fully aware of her. How many times has he attacked her? In a place that she is supposed to feel safe?

"I just want to stop hurting them." he pleads, Hughes has that look on his face. Ed hates it.

It's a look he's seen on mom more than enough times to recognize it on someone else.

"The soldiers of Briggs?" She asks, trying to clarify who 'them' is, Ed nods. He's so tired.

"I don't want to talk anymore." he looks at Hughes and hates that he's running away. He was the one that wanted to talk and now he doesn't? He needs to suck it up and just talk dammit!

Ed sighs when he finds his head being guided to Hughes' shoulder.

"You're gonna ruin my reputation." he tells him halfheartedly even as his hand is gently tugged away from his hair. Ed really does cry.

Hughes made sure he didn't pull his hair.

One day he'll acknowledge how precious his relationship with Hughes is.

Right now.

He just cries, unafraid of judgement and with someone on his side.

Chapter Text

Olivier first hears about the latest state alchemist from her father. Her oaf of a brother sends her a letter about it as well. She burns the letter, lips curled in disgust.

They give anyone the rank of major these days. Where's the effort?

Child soldiers.

What the hell is Bradley thinking.

What the hell is Bradley planning with this stunt.

She hears rumors about the Puppy of the East. Hero of the people. The people's alchemist. The Punk of the East. She only knows one punk in the East.

Of course he would find someone younger than him, more talented, just as much of a punk as he is.

The good and the bad, she hears it all. 

Then one day.

She receives a letter from Furher Bradley himself. His pet alchemist is missing. And while he wasn't heading North when he vanished, that didn't stop her from sending out a team to check out the situation in Central.

Lt. Colonel Hughes gives information to her men.

The skewed timeline and all because the youngest state alchemist wasn't punctual when it came to reporting in but always had impeccable timing when it came to inspections? Sloppy. Too catering of that punk when he should reign the child in. Teach him more, but this, maybe is why he has the child alchemist's loyalty.

She is aware of the many who have attempted to poach the so called Puppy of the East and have failed.

The search ramps up when a month passes with no sign of a ransom. No signs of finding a body. 

Imagine her surprise when she receives a call. Very ominous. 

Very suspicious. 

"Your 'mighty' wall has a crack." Olivier grits her teeth when she hears that. The condescending words oozing with malice and glee in a thick Drachman accent.

"And that pipsqueak slipped through." She's hit with the realization that this call isn't just to provoke her. "It's a a shame you were so easily infiltrated, isn't it?" Her men are incensed by the implication but she's more concerned with the validity of what this man, woman? Is saying.

They hang up abruptly, the call made from the town with no one even aware of who the caller was. Let alone that a call was even made. 

A lone Drachman on their side of the wall.

The call was true. The missing state alchemist, Edward Elric was close and paradoxically far.

It takes a couple of days of reconissance before they make their move. Olivier would have liked to have waited a little longer but with more questions than answers and a child alchemist in enemy hands they had no choice but to move swiftly and with as much discretion as possible.

She is on scene when it turns out that the abandoned and condemened looking building is empty. The two men that left several hours ago had yet to return.

"This reeks of a set up." she growls, Miles nods his head and heads out to join the other men in scouring the building. She heads off in the opposite direction.

Old. Decript. An old inn that used house soldiers on leave until it was realized that it was actually Drachman owned and used to spy on Amestrian soldiers. 

It never recovered and was used as a storage house for years until it was decomissioned wherein the building became abandoned and forgotten by all.

"Sir!" Olivier turns to see Lt. Clarink, he salutes her and at her nod turns and starts to debrief her when she begins to follow.

"We've located belongings that might belong to the two men we saw leave. It looks like a lot of alcohol, drugs and weapons were discovered along side blood though it it is old." He has a look of frustration on his face.

"Recent old?" she knows how difficult it is to judge when blood is fresh or old when liquid freezes overnight and stays in that frozen state for weeks before thawing only to freeze again. But they do have a system for estimating.

"It appears recent old." he grimaces as if to say that he is unsure. They've nearly turned the whole building upside down and have yet to find anything concrete. Was this lead a waste of time?

Or as she originally thought. sone sort of trap.

She gestures for Clarink to head off as she makes her way towards the direction Miles headed off to.

"I think there is something we aren't seeing " he tells her when they meet up.

"Then continue your search but if nothing is found within the next ten minutes we pack up and leave. I will not have us wasting time and valueable resources that can be used elsewhere." he nods from where he is kneeling over the remains of a shattered wooden chair left to rot in the darkness of the room they were standing in.

They find nothing. She orders her men to pack up and leave.

"Where is Major Miles?" she asks, no one has a response. Her hand comes up to rest on her sword for a moment before she heads in the last direction she saw Miles and spoke to him.

He isn't there. She marches forward into the darkness, lantern at her side and finds that Miles was right.

"A hidden passage." she growls under her breath. She can hear her heels click with each step she takes.

"Miles!" She shouts, is even this secret passage a waste of time? "What is taking so long?!" she steps into a room and freezes. She takes stock of the situation, the person with matted gold hair covered in blood with a simple tank top and shorts. The Fullmetal Alchemist, gold hair, gold eyes that are dilated as they catch the light of her lantern.

He sways, she doesn't know how coherent he is but she can guess that he has been heavily tortured during his stay here. She turns to Miles, trapped against the wall by a concrete hand that has his mouth covered so he couldn't even make a sound. He'd slowly suffocate as well.

"You can't even rescue one soldier?" she asks him, his eyebrow raises pointedly. She makes her way over to him, purposely showing the child alchemist her back. She subtly watches him free himself.

"Oh," he sighs. "Yeah." she hears the sound of a chain sliding to the ground. "Stupid drugs." he slurs and his attention is focused on his missing limbs and thus misses Olivier approaching him. 

"Fullmetal, be at ease." he is ignoring her. 

"Fullmetal!" she barks but the younger soldier blinks slowly, mumbling something as he wheezes. She frowns upon realizing that he isn't shivering. His fingertips are nearly purple, she can see his skin is peeling. He coughs, his thin body shakes with the full force of each cough and the little awareness he has seemed to fade as his eyes flutter close.

"Fullmetal," she speaks softly, as if she were speaking to Catherine. "I am General Armstrong of Fort Briggs." she introduces herself, she sees a spark of recognition as he tilts his head with a curious look on his face. He's no longer dozing off but staring at her intently, sitting up as best he can when he can barely sit up. She can see his hand trembling from the effort of keeping him propped up.

"Release Major Miles." she orders, he blinks a couple of times at her as if he barely registered the order then turns to Miles with a faint look of surprise. His hand slides backwwards bit by bit until his palm rests on a blood transmutation circle. He frowns softly, the stone hand slowly starts to recede and Olivier can see him break out into a cold sweat. He smudges his circle, good, leave no evidence.

He pales, despite being frighteningly pale already, she swiftly marches forward when his arm finally gives out on him nearly toppling over were it not for Olivier reaching out to catch his slight weight.

"We have you now." she tells him, she can see he has endured much. "You can rest easy, the Soldiers of Briggs are here." there's a fire in his eyes, he's still wary it seems but she catches what he mumbles before his eyes flutter close. 

'The perfect defense.'

He's out like a light and doesn't notice her manuever him until he's stretched on the table. His expression is tense, a tension in his body that doesn't dissipate as if he is used to being on guard at all times. A child carrying the rank of Major has been put into the shoes of a prisoner of war.

Disgusting.

She catches sight of Miles pushing himself up as he rubs his chest.

"Violent kid." he smirks, Olivier wonders if this pet alchemist of Bradley's may have become feral. 

"I think if it wasn't for the fact that they took his automail, he could have easily escaped." she agrees, she can tell by the state of his hand, his fingers, how hard he's fought.

Olivier turns just in time to see Fullmetal slap Miles when he's bundled up. He's drowning in the fabric as he protests.

"-n't touc—" he coughs, falling silent as his expression smoothens out. He finally seems to relax.

It hasn't even been more than an hour since Fullmetal was brought to her base and there is chaos.

She's running down the hall at the sound of screaming, soldiers yelling and metal crashing into the ground.

She rushes into the infirmary and finds several of her soldiers on the ground, several more surrounding Dr. Young and Fullmetal. His teeth are clamped down on her arm, his hand clenched on her face as glares furiously at her.

He's yanked off her but doesn't go down without a fight as he twists despite his numerous injuries and slams his elbow into one man's nose while kicking another between the legs. He's unsteady on one foot and yet he still manages to point at Dr. Young.

"This is my promise to my brother and like hell I'll let you ruin it!" he's seething with rage, Olivier smirks. All this over hair?

He passes out taking the heavy atmosphere with him.

"Don't cut his hair." she orders, after all. Having long hair when you're a fighter takes serious skill. It's an invitation to your opponent to try and pull it. Only those that are strong and highly skilled to back up their claim can have long hair like this. And this kid.

He's more than proved it. Drugged to high hell, barely coherent of where and who he is with, down two limbs and still capable of defending himself from getting a hair cut.

"I say he's more than earned that."

Lt Colonel Hughes nods as he sets his pen down.

"I see." he frowns, eyes focused on every word he has meticulously written.

"Thank you for that." he sighs as he leans back in his seat. She waves it off.

"I'll see if i can get more answers today. He is going to be seeing Warrant officer Allen again." Olivier has heard how the woman looks similar to his deceased mother. 

"I'll figure this out." He tells her politely with an edge to his tone that pushes the line of insubordination. She had already decided to trust him on his intelligence gathering,  she won't rebuke him now. 

"Dismissed." He nods cutly before exiting her office. 

A few more days before the ball. 

Chapter Text

Maes is worried.

He holds Ed and lets him cry, no muss, no fuss and no judgement. It might not be the best attitude, he knows that but its the only attitude that matters with Ed breaking down. He knows it's hard on him. How hard Ed is on himself, all the pressure he's under despite trying his best to remain so strong all the time.

There are moments where he just...

Breaks.

Despite his maturity, his skills in alchemy and martial arts, he's still that scrawny and nervous twelve year old who forced himself to get automail and join the military to fix his brother. In these moments, Maes keeps quite, he doesn't look out of respect and just holds him close while he pieces himself back together.

Ed wipes his face, sniffling a little and Maes' heart aches. This kid is in a world of hurt but keeps trying to push past it just for one goal. He knows Ed doesn't care if he ever gets his own limbs back, all that matters to him is getting his brother's body back.

"You need to treat yourself a little more kindly." Maes tells him, Ed knocks his head into Maes' shoulder but doesn't respond for a little while.

"I know what it's like to have a hard life." Ed tells him, that Maes knows better than anyone. It makes him sick to his stomach just thinking about all the information he gathered about Ed and Al's past. So many of their little idiosyncrasies make so much more sense with context. He just hates that he had to explain that to Roy.

"So I like to do what I can to help others get back on their feet and make it a bit easier for them." This is why Ed and Al are such good kids. Sure, sometimes Ed seems more feral than the average person and Al seems more naive than any other kid but he knows that it isn't the full picture. Ed can be polite, he can be calm, and Al knows how people perceive him and uses that as a trap in case anyone ever tries to take advantage of them. They are a team, it shows in how they do everything together and let one another take charge in certain areas.

"That is very kind of you." he tells him honestly, he knows there aren't many people who have that attitude let alone children that have faced so many tragedies in such a small period of time.

"I didn't tell you to be praised." his voice sounds muffled but Maes can see his ears turning red.

"And you should know that I don't give empty praise." he chids, Ed ducks his head and relaxes. He knows Ed will avoid him after this. He'll pretend this mental breakdown didn't happen and Maes will let him.

Maybe Gracia is right about him being an enabler.

Kei pokes his head out of his office with a questioning look, Maes waves him off. He rubs Ed's back and heaves a small sigh of relief when he falls asleep. He sticks his leg out to drag his table closer and starts writing. Meticuously, detail oriented, factual and without any of the grief or rage he feels. This is a child.

His comrade.

A case he must close.

His friend that he will seek justice for if it is the last thing he does. In the mean time, he needs to look after his kid. He can tell that he's at his wit's end trying to deal with this much stimulation, his mental capacity for dealing with emotions has never been high but he's been push over the edge for days on end and struggling to cope with each new input. It's a miracle he hadn't burst into tears long before Maes could get here. 

And yet.

Maes can't baby Ed, he won't insult them both by doing that, he walks a fine line but walks it he does. He knows Ed will continue to be pushed because he doesn't have the time to process the way he wants to. Not when he's bombarded by flashbacks, triggered into flight or fight instincts that have been primed against soldiers and a therapist that looks so similar to his mother that this was honestly doomed to failure from the start. He's self imploding and struggling to not take anyone down with him.

He's trying though, doing his best and it hurts that his best still has everyone tense around him ready to hold him down. State alchemists are the Furher's weapons of mass destruction, and Ed is exactly that.

He is a weapon of mass destruction.

A dog of the state.

He sighs sadly and scrubs a hand through his hair. He glances at Ed sleeping, frowning in his sleep, brows pinched in pain and distress that he can't escape even in sleep. How can Al trust him to look after his brother when he feels like an inferior replacement? He can't give Ed the safety and comfort he seeks, not when he seeks knowledge first and foremost. He can work with Ed around his trauma sometimes so he can get answers but how is this any better than what anyone would do? Pushing a hurt child to relive horrifying memories in search of clues to a puzzle that could stop war from breaking out.

Or maybe start one.

Maes peruses his notes and ponders the implications of Ed's abduction again. Specifically if it was his age, his connection to Roy, his connection to Rockfell or something else.

He thinks about the tip called in to inform Fort Briggs about Ed's whereabouts. 

Rockfell has to have known that war would break out if Drachma was involved. He has to have known that Roy and Maes along with their teams would do anything and everything to find him and get him back. What was the motive for this.

"Mr. Hughes." Maes spots Alphonse nervously twiddling his thumbs, he quickly adjusts Ed then makes his way to the younger Elric.

"Teacher and I will be leaving tonight. We have to check on our stashes and Teacher will search Ma— Rockfell's home." he speaks softly but his entire focus is on his brother. He can't even bring himself to say Rockfell's name, his poor kids. They have to deal with so much and on top of all of this, Maes hates that they have to separate so soon. That they can't stay together.

He gets why they can't stay together though. Only Ed and Al know everything they've taught Rockfell or shown him. Ed can't move too well, he hasn't recovered his memories, he's a risk to not just himself but other soldiers. Worst of all, Ed is at the center of a storm brewing that could end in war for Amestris once again.

The only good thing is that Ed wouldn't get drafted with how injured he is. The bad thing.

National pride would get stirred violently once his status is revealed. Enlistment would go up and there would be no need for recruitment tactics. The nation would happily go to war for the puppy of the state. The people's alchemist, a gold hearted child soldier.

"I will look after him." he reassures Al, gauntleted hands gently grip his as his shoulders droop.

"You're exactly who brother needs Mr. Hughes." Al tells him ducking his head to look Maes in the eyes. "You will never be a poor substitute, believe me." Alphonse wills Maes to believe his words and despite the impostor syndrome he feels he nods. He can look after Ed, he can protect him best by remaining at his side.

Mrs. Curtis comes to see him next, Ed is lightly dozing off hugging a pillow to his chest as he reclines against a mound of pillows.

"Look after this stubborn kid, pinch his nose when he bites." she tells him with an amused little smirk. The concern in her eyes tells him how much she truly cares despite the front she puts up. Ed really seems to take after her now that he has seen them interact a few times.

"I've learned some tricks in Elric wrangling." she smiles at him, it reminds him of Ed.

"Good." her expression softens as she sits at the edge of the bed to look at Ed sleep. He twitches a little, frowning but she simply rubs her knuckles against his cheek and the frown smoothens. 

"He doesn't talk about what he really thinks or feels but I can see that your important to him." Maes knows this, he also knows that Ed isn't ready to acknowledge these precious feelings. He's still hurting and Maes has to be careful about how he handles Ed to avoid setting him off. He should talk with Warrant officer Allen about staying away from topics regarding himself, Roy, guardians, parental figures and abandonment issues. So much to do so little time.

And a doctor in the room that has Ed on edge.

Maes wonders if this will make things worse for them all when it comes to future doctor visits and the only two doctors he trusts to do anything on him. Ed doesn't trust people the way other people do. He doesn't make friends, allies, coworkers the way other people do. It makes it harder on them all but they wouldn't have it any other way. Not when it comes to helping Ed and Al.

He just hopes that these fragile bonds don't break because of the actions of a few individuals.

Maes sees Al and Mrs. Curtis off since Ed can't. He feels horrible about it but there isn't anything he can do. Al looks straight ahead as he walks, he doesn't look back. 

"You precious boys." he whispers, chest tight as he realizes the only reason Al can move forward without glancing back is because Maes is here to watch over Ed.

He won't fail either brother.

Al kneels down to hug his brother. He doesn't want to go.

He wants to stay.

But brother's expression is resolute, Al is sure he would have faltered otherwise. But brother is steadfast and stubborn, it's because of him that they never turned tail and went home.

Fire consumes their home, greedily licking away at all their precious memories.

"No looking back." Brother mumbles.

Al can't falter now, he has a job to do in brother's place.

"Go find that idiot and make sure they stay out of trouble. Tell him." Tell him about Ed, about the North, about what Al found while snooping around with people watching like a hawk. The research for the red water has not made it here. That brother's abduction may be the catalyst to war and that any signs of the Fullmetal alchemist outside the North needs to be kept secret.

All rumors have to die down.

No new rumors can surface.

The other brothers Elric cannot be caught pretending or they will be tossed into prison. They will never see the light of day.

"Her?" Brother looks away a little with a grimace. 

A warm smile, green eyes full of love.

"I won't give up." Brother looks determined. "I need to remember." he looks worried. Al understands he just wishes his brother could get a break.

"Don't let him..." Al nods as he catches the small hand reaching for him. Gold eyes stare deep into his own soul fire red eyes.

"I'll stay away from him as much as I can." He can't avoid him entirely or else it would give it away. Al is not a violent person but if he sees the man that pretended to be their friend, he will knock his teeth out.

"Al..." Al freezes at the look on brother's face. "Burn all of it." 

Brother lights a piece of wood on fire. He looks at Al then slowly reaches out and touches the walls and the floors as they leave their home for the final time.

They step outside at watch fire lick at the walls slowly consuming everything in its wake. He tosses the torch onto the porch.

It lights up, smoke rising.

"Some memories aren't meant to leave traces."  Al looks away from him. 

"I understand." he responds as he looks back at his brother, Ed lets go of his hand as he nods grimly.

Burn it down and leave nothing to look back at. Mark Rockfell will stay in the past. A reminder.

A burnt husk of bitter sweet memories that will never be returned to.

Rain worries her pen between her thumb and index finger as she absently ponders the implications Edward and Lt. Colonel Hughes shut down. The relationship Edward has with both Lt. Colonel Hughes and Colonel Mustang, and how it is something that is being carefully monitored by them all. Edward's absent father. Lt. Colonel Hughes' paternal attitude. Colonel Mustang's guardianship of his underage subordinate.

Edward is volatile, a real firecracker that is nearly insubordinate. She remembers hearing about how bold and fearless he had been during his state license exam, the spear he aimed straight at the Furher.

He bristles at being thought of as a child. Lt. Colonel Hughes doesn't get yelled at for treating him like a child. Though he doesn't treat him like a child all the time, or make it seem patronizing the times he does. It feels natural. And he walks a fine line trying to dig for answers. He can't treat Edward like a child when he is a state alchemist but he seems like he damn well tries to do it anyways. A child is a child no matter the title he carries and she is aware that everyone expects him to be soft. Anyone with eyes can see it. 

And Lt. Colonel Hughes is soft.

But he also gets the answers that no one had been able to get. He calms Edward. Soothes his hurts.

He has made it so that the soldiers are no longer having to fight to subdue an injured child to protect themselves and him from his terrifying night terrors or flashbacks.

Rain buries her face in her hands.

This is going to be a lot harder than she initially thought. She can't wear her civilian clothes as that might make things worse. Nor can she hide behind a screen when unaccounted for soldiers unnerves him. They've already tried having Edward focus on Lt. Colonel Hughes but his attention gets split trying to avoid her and avoid uncomfortable topics. Disguising is also out because of his unease with unfamiliar soldiers.

Rain eyes her hair, she quickly braids it and puts it in a bun. She grabs her reading glasses and puts on her military cap. Different enough maybe?

She will just have to see when Edward asks again. He seems determined to keep trying regardless of how many times it ends in tears for him. Admirable but troublesome behavior.

Edward is not giving himself a break, he's not letting himself process his trauma. He's willing to give answers even when it leaves him dissociating.

Rain doesn't take any notes for this patient, not when his information is not safe. And any note taking is done by Lt. Colonel Hughes himself. Anything of importance he makes sure to jot down for the case he was building.

"Warrant officer Allen?" Rain looks up from her palms to see Dr. Young poking her head into Rain's office.

"Yes?" she sits up and straughtens her jacket self consciously. Dr. Young sighs as she enters the room.

"Edward would like to try speaking with you again after his brother leaves." 

Rain steps into the room, Edward is looking at his hand, flexing the automail as he focuses on something other than Rain. Lt. Colonel Hughes is sitting to the side while writing and very much making her aware that he is watching her and will make sure to stop her or Edward if they push him too far.

"Hello Edward." He starts to count his fingers.

"Hi." he frowns as he squints at his palm. "Huh." he mumbles after another second of intense scrutiny.

"Did you want to continue our talk from before?" she asks him as she mentally catalogs the way he is distracting himself from even looking in her direction. She hopes she looks different enough when he does glance her way that he won't immediatley panic or burst into tears.

"Shall we start with Dr. Young?" she's glad the other woman is not in the room for this when Edward's gaze snaps to her quickly looking away the second he registers what he's done. He shrugs casually, adopting an indifferent look, Lt. Colonel Hughes purses his lips but doesn't say a word.

"You can be angry at her." she tells him softly. Saving his life doesn't negate the fact that she went against his explicit wishes to avoid drugs. It doesn't negate the fact that she carries sedatives in her pocket like his captors triggering him each time he sees her hands stray to her pocket.

"And you can still thank her." he frowns softly as he lowers his hand to his lap.

"It doesn't have to be this or that. Sometimes it can be and." Edward shakes his head turning to Lt. colonel Hughes who simply smiles at him. 

"I don't understand." Rain smiles sadly, Edward really is just a boy in an adult world. It's a tragedy for one forced to grow up so young to not learn about limitations. She can see Lt. Colonel Hughes' shoulders slump in defeat. So this is something he's tried to teach Edward before and the lesson had not sunk in yet.

She wonders if Colonel Mustang also tries to teach him to slow down. Edward's mission record speaks of long times out on the road. He spends very little time at any one HQ, not long enough to have a place of his own. Mainly military dormitries or hotels.

Instability so young is bound to cause more harm than either man realizes. The impermenance of a tangilble home and the way that Edward has two male figures of parental age when his own father is gone is bound to send him mixed messages. But she can't broach that topic, maybe with Lt. Colonel Hughes himself.

"What I mean, is that Dr. Young is a doctor and she has helped you and treated all your injuries which deserves gratitude." she says holding up one finger, then she holds up a second finger which he looks at for a moment before looking away from her with a wobbly frown.

"But she has also hurt you by going against your wishes and she has scared you by doing something similar to your captors which rightfully earns your anger." he frowns at his clenched fist. His shoulders slump.

"I'm just so tired." he whispers as he moves to raise his hand but ends up staring at his splinted fingers instead. He stills completely, Lt. Colonel Hughes stops writing and carefully adjusts his glasses on his bruised nose.

"Go." he tells her as he starts to rise to his feet when Edward catches his movement and instantly moves to attack.

"Piss him off. Piss him off." each word compounded by a fist lashing out.

"He doesn't have patience. Piss him off." he mutters fervishly as he throws punch after punch but Lt. Colonel Hughes carefully redirects each strike while making sure Edward doesn't strain himself. She can hear the impact of each fist and hopes that Lt. Colonel Hughes will be okay.

"Don't cry. Don't cry. Laugh. It's all a game." Rain carefully steps back, she's startled when an arm wraps around her shoulders and tugs her back. Kei stands beside her with a grimace and walkie talkie in hand.

"Edward, kiddo. Remember where you are." Lt. Colonel Hughes is so gentle even when Edward pivots on his heel and shatters the small desk he was using to write on with a heel strike. 

"Eddie." Edward flinches, his hand freezes in the middle of a palm strike aimed at Lt. Colonel Hughes' chest. "Wake up, i've got you." he coaxes gently as he taps his fingers against Edward's collar bone. He blinks slowly then looks up.

"No tiles?" he sounds confused.

Kei is worried.

Ed is a kid.

He's not even sixteen years old and he has been dealing with so much. He's unraveling faster than he can try to fix and he's desperately trying fix things. He doesn't feel safe here but can't go else where when they have spies within their ranks. He isn't safe when his own memories are slowly recovering and everything he remembers deals him devastating blows. 

"WHAT DID I TEACH HIM?!" he sobs, a young terrified child.

Two traitors, stolen alchemy, one of the traitors colluding with Drachman royals which can only lead to war. So much uncovered in the span of weeks and how long has this been going on under their noses? 

How long would it have stayed secret if Rockfell hadn't chosen that time to kidnap Ed. Actually. Why did he wait until then? From what he recalls, Fullmetal has gone galavanting cross country many times. Was there a specific reason?

"I'll be right back." Kei catches Lt. Colonel Hughes' eyes when the man leaves, he nods and makes his way over to Ed so that he isn't alone and starts fidgeting with a few claw tipped fingers for the combat automail he was making.

"What is it with you gearheads and always having fingers to tinker with?" he hears Ed ask rhetorically as he looks down at his own hand with a sad nostalgic smile.

It must suck to not be able to see his sibling off when he so obviously missed his younger brother.

Kei has seen a lot as a soldier, a mechanic, a medic. But he's finding that when it comes to Ed, he experiences things as if they were for the first time.

Kei never wanted to become a doctor.

He finds himself acting in a doctor's capacity sometimes and he knows that it's mainly his job title as mechanic, someone that works with automail that saves him from most of Ed's phobias regarding doctors. He innately trusts mechanics, his two automail limbs, as long as he doesn't take on the title of doctor it should be fine to continue helping Lyra treat him when she can't.

But that means he can't help often.

Still.

Kei has witnessed a lot since this kid has come into their care at fort Briggs. Ed is a fighter. Small, ferocious, dangerous and so very fragile. It's horrifying to witness a flashback. How eerily still Ed gets, the blank look on his face as he starts to disasociate. The physical levels of violence he is capable of unleashing despite his numerous injuries, his ability to fight when by all rights he should barely be able to move with the level of pain he must be in.

How desperate had Ed been?

How scared?

All alone against several captors and down two limbs on top of being drugged out of his mind. Ed's mind which is his greatest assest when he is unable to fight was used against him. Tortured by his inability to fight back, escape, plan.

He really does admire Lt. Colonel Hughes for being able to bring him back from the dark hole his mind wanders into. 

Kei is sleeping when he wakes up the first thing he hears is Lt. Colonel Hughes sternly telling someone to Go. He sits up, grabs his walkie and hurries off his bed to see Warrant Officer Allen. Ed strikes hard and fast without restraint.

"Piss him off. Piss him off." his voice is dead. "He doesn't have patience. Piss him off." his heart aches. How many times did Ed tell himself this to just get through the day? He quietly moves forward to get Warrant Officer Allen away from Ed in case he moves her way though he trusts Lt. Colonel Hughes.

"Don't cry." he grits his teeth when hears that. "Don't cry." He's a kid, he should be able to cry. There are no tears in his eyes but he can't help but feel that he would be crying if he could right now.

"Laugh." he sounds scared. "It's all a game." Manic expression on his face as Kei reaches Warrant Officer Allen and tugs her backwards and closer to him as he nervously holds his walkie in case he has to radio for help.

"Edward," the name is breathed like a prayer. "Kiddo. Remember where you are." he really admires Lt. Colonel Hughes. The man is something else. He isn't afraid despite Ed shattering a small wooden desk.

"Eddie." he pleads, Ed flinches violently then looks up slowly.

"Wake up. i've got you." he murmurs soothingly reaching past the hand that had been aimed at his chest. His fingers lightly tap against Ed's collar bone.

"No tiles?" he asks in a small confused voice. He sways on his feet before slowly looking down, somehow even more confused than before as he scrunches his toes in disbelief. His knees buckle and he drops right into Lt. Colonel Hughes waiting arms. Kei relaxes, Ed can't hurt anyone or himself now. Dazed and docilely sitting on Lt. Colonel Hughes lap.

"Hey, hey." Lt. Colonel Hughes gently taps his knuckles against Ed's sternum. "You with me?" Ed looks down at Lt. Colonel Hughes' hand.

"Hughes?" he sounds tired.

"Yeah, its me buddy." Ed blinks slowly then looks up even slower.

"Oh. Something happened?" he doesn't look around but trusts Lt. Colonel Hughes to be honest with him.

"Yeah." Lt. Colonel Hughes smiles softly as he carefully checks Ed over to make sure he didn't hurt or strain himself.

"Did I hurt anyone?" he mumbles, how is this fair? Ed just had a flashback and the first thing he worries about is hurting others when he was only defending himself? Lt. Colonel Hughes gently coaxes Ed to lean against him as he carefully looks his fingers over.

"You didn't hurt anyone buddy." Ed tilts his head up with a small frown.

"Is he reading my mind?" he pouts as he looks at Lt. Colonel Hughes with an offended look. Lt. Colonel Hughes smiles, amusement dancing in his eyes.

"No kiddo, you're thinking out loud again." Again?

"Oh." he hums a little as he starts to lean more heavily against the older man.

"Why don't you rest a little while." he tries coaxing the stubborn child to sleep but Ed rarely does what is best for him.

'Don' wanna." he slurs, eyes fluttering closed despite his words. "On the precipe." he presses his cheek to Lt. Colonel Hughes chest.

"Won't be able to catch myself." he whispers, automail hand clenching around the Lt. Colonel's sleeve.

"I've got you buddy, just rest your eyes." he rubs Ed's back, coaxing him to rest and trust in him.

"Oh yeah, Hughes is here. He's important, Granny and Teacher levels—" Lt. Colonel Hughes shuts his eyes with a pained smile as he covers Ed's mouth. The man is too kind. Too responsible. He is absolutely sure he wants to hear from Ed's mouth how important he is, yet he isn't letting him say it when he isn't aware.

Ed bites him. Kei wants to laugh at the repeat of their reunion when the Lt. Colonel first arrived on base.

"Stalker for the cause." Lt. Colonel Hughes chuckles wiggling his fingers until Ed lets go, which he does as he rolls his eyes. The man looks both touched and offended at the blatant disrespect.

"Alright, up we go." he says as he slowly climbs to his feet with Ed in his arms. Ed blinks, rapidly paling then abruptly passes out.

"Ed?" Kei is moving forward to help the other man lay Ed down and check him over.

"Looks like his blood pressure just dropped. He'll be okay." Kei sighs relieved as he helps prop Ed into a sitting position so he could breathe easier.

"Looks like he remembered something about Rockfell." Kei freezes at the look of murderous rage on the other man's face. "That man has never been known for patience, easily getting upset." He clenches his fist tightly before forcefully exhaling and reigning in his temper with a roll of his shoulders.

"How was he so patient to wait for an ambush or plan one then?" he ponders aloud thoughtfully as he kneels to stsrt picking up his papers.

"Rockfell doesn't seem the type to be able to set up a meeting with Drachman royalty when he has such a low rank and no notable background." he overhears as he bends down to help him clean up the mess.

Ed slowly opens his eyes, stares at the ceiling, wiggles his toes then tilts his head and spots Lt. Colonel Hughes jotting down some theories.

"Trippy." he sounds loopy. He isn't on any medication and he sounds loopy. All that pain is not good for him. He keeps his thoughts to himself though as Lyra moves to check on him. Ed stilling as he looks away from her.

"Kei did a quick check up earlier." Lt. Colonel Hughes informs her as she starts to check everything all over again.

"His blood pressure is still a bit low but that's normal for him after all that's happened." she informs Lt. Colonel Hughes.

"He usually has high blood pressure since he's a double amputee." Lyra nods.

"That is normally the case but since we recovered him it's been low due to all the injuries and trauma." Lt. Colonel Hughes sighs and scribbles that down.

"I'll be sure to inform Ms. Rockbell." he presses his knuckles to his cheek as he reaches out with his other hand to drum his fingers against Ed's sternum. Even after Lyra moves away, Ed doesn't stop staring at the wall. 

"Want to tell me what you remembered about Rockfell?" he asks out of the blue. Kei takes out a sheet of metal and starts hammering it to give Ed the illusion of privacy. Lt. Colonel Hughes is the best investigator they have, poached by the Furher himself. He always gets the answers he is looking for.

Ed doesn't cry.

He's been betrayed by someone he thought was a friend. He is being held against his will and tortured daily. He misses Al.

"Just sign the damn paper!" Ed keeps his hand clenched. He clenches his teeth as his fingers are pried open one by one. He's still just a kid against an adult, he hates being weak. 

He's so very weak.

Ed doesn't cry.

Hs doesn't cry as he is slapped, punched or stabbed. He doesn't cry when his fingers are broken. It hurts but this pain is nothing compared to...

"Sign the paper Edward." Ed blinks when blood nearly drips into his eye and shakes his head to try and rub the blood off. His chin is seized in a cruel grip, lips puckering as the hand squeezes.

"I can be merciful Edward, for an old friend." He's shoved backwards harshly, chains rattling as he swings around a few tines before a grip on the chains stops him. He winces when he starts twisting, then spins wildly out of control when he is released, chains making a clicking sound as they are untwisted. He feels sick.

"Or I can be cruel to an enemy." Ed throws up on the hand on his chest. He laughs hysterically when he gets kicked and sent swinging again. Piss him off, piss him off, piss him off.

He doesn't have patience.

Ed just has to keep pushing. Pushing even when his heart aches. Pushing even when it ends with his blood and sweat coating his body.

It's all just a game in the end. 

Pushing because Ed is not expendable. Ed is necessary.

Ed blinks, he's dizzy.

Breathing is kind of hard right now. He tilts his head back, there's light and he's standing? He tilts his head down vision swimming as his knees buckle but before he can hit the ground he feels someone catch him.

"Hey, hey. You with me?" Ed blinks, he thinks he blinks. Hughes?

"Yeah, its me buddy." Oh. Something happened?

"Yeah." Ed hums when he realizes he is sitting on Hughes' lap. Did I hurt anyone?

"You didn't hurt anyone buddy." Ed tilts his head, when did he start leaning against Hughes? Is he reading my mind?

"No kiddo, you're thinking out loud again." Oh.

"Why don't you rest a little while." Ed feels like he's forgetting something but he doesn't know what. He's sure it'll come back to him.

"Don' wanna." he doesn't think he can sleep when he feels like he's standing on the precipice. One wrong move and he feels like won't be able to catch myself.

"I've got you buddy, just rest your eyes." Oh yeah, Hughes is here. He's important, Granny and Teacher levels— A hand gently covers his mouth. Ed doesn't hesitate and bites, not hard but as a warning. Hughes chuckles and wiggles his fingers until Ed lets go. He rolls his eyes at the stalker for the cause.

Hughes gets a funny look on his face but doesn't say anything to Ed instead he stands up. The blood rushes to his head and he blacks out for a moment.

When he comes to, he is back on his bed and Hughes is writing. Trippy.

Ed checks out when Dr. Young makes her way over. He just has to stay still and not be here while she does whatever. Hughes will look out for him.

Ed comes back to awareness when he feels someone staring at him. It's Hughes.

"Want to tell me what you remembered about Rockfell?" Ed moves so he is facing Hughes, he doesn't jump when he sees how close he is. He doesn't look Hughes in the eyes.

"Contract." he shifts his hand so his broken fingers draw his attention. He looks away as shame engulfs his face.

"Didn't sign." Ed feels like crying all over again. He thought they were friends. They weren't, the whole time he only wanted one thing from Ed and Al. How stupid of him.

"You know, even if you had signed," Ed glances at Hughes from the corner of his eyes.

"We would've known it wasn't because you wanted to." He smiles, its so sad.

"Al and you do everything together. Why would you sign and not him? Even when only one of you needed to sign we all know it would never just he one signature." Ed's lips tremble.

"The two of you never do things by halves." he smiles reassuringly. "And besides, how was he going to pull off secret apprentice when you travel often?" he shakes his head ruefully.

"The minimum requirement is six month with a student in seclusion before they can leave for short periods of time." Ed shuts his eyes against the burning sensation when his vision grows watery.

"He's so stupid." he chokes tearfully against a laugh.

It would have never worked out even if they had taken him in as an apprentice. Ed and Al don't have a home. They travel so often the longest they've ever been stationary was when Ed and Al were first taking the exams to join the military and staying with Tucker.

"Rockfell pulling out a secret contractship while you were missing would have only raised red flags. Especially when you told Roy that you and Al would never take on apprentices." he hates this. If Ed had signed. 

Does that mean they would have found him sooner?

Al would have known immediately but Ed had been so focused on pissing him off. On keeping the focus on him so the older man wouldn't think to go after his brother. Wouldn't have reason to find out that Al is...

"I'm so stupid." tears stream down the side of his face as he presses his palm to his face.

"No, you are a very smart kid." Hughes gently corrects as he lowers Ed's hand back to the bed. "Rockfell is the stupid one." Ed wants to point out that he cursed in front of Ed but he can't. Hughes has that look on his face.

"I don't give empty praise." he chids.

"He is going to regret everything for the very little time he has left to live it." Ed has only seen Hughes angry a handful of times. The anger on his face now,  it's different. And just like the last few times, he rolls his shoulders and goes back to smiling.

"This is why colonel is scared of you." he smiles at Hughes when he sees the offence on his face. 

"Roy should be terrified not scared." He rubs his chin,  Ed's eyes stray to the bruises on his face.  He did this. He closes his eyes and breathes. 

He opens his eyes, Hughes stares at him with that soft patient look. One day Ed will tell him. 

One day he'll acknowledge these delicate, world shattering, feelings.

"I wasn't expendable to him. Being my apprentice was something he needed." Ed thinks about the alchemy he involuntarily taught him. 

He thinks about the alchemy he voluntarily taught him. 

"Alchemy." Ed looks at his automail, alchemy is the cause of his suffering. Ed's knowledge, the burden given to him by truth for trespassing into the domain of a higher being.

"There's something that requires him to have a mastery over something in alchemy?" He sees the frown on Hughes face as he grabs a new sheet of paper.

"Not water?" he asks after a moment. Ed thinks about how they helped him with the limited knowledge he had.

"Not just water." Ed feels sick.

"You don't have a specialty." Hughes whispers. "You're known for your versatility with any element and weapons mastery." he keeps his eyes closed, Hughes is angry angry again. 

"So it wasn't just cause of Roy that he took you..." Ed thinks about the funny feeling he'd felt. The eyes when no one was around. The sense of something lurking just out of reach in a crowd.

"What else do you remember?" Ed tilts his head back.

No tiles.

He tilts his head to the side when the bed dips, Hughes is resting his head on his crossed arms, slightly below eye level to Ed.

Ed looks Hughes in the eyes, he knows this man won't betray him in any form. He won't let Rockfell ruin things for both him and Al. Ed doesn't trust easily. He knows he is a difficult person, not on purpose. Well, sometimes on purpose.

"It's me and Colonel." he starts, he thinks about the gate of truth, the knowledge shoved into his mind when he trespassed twice.

"He thinks I could figure out Mustang's alchemy..." Hughes leans closer.

"You can, can't you." he whispers, Ed doesn't agree or disagree. Even if Ed trusted everyone here at the level he trusts Al, it's to dangerous to say aloud. But Hughes nods all the same like he knows.

Is he still reading his mind?

"Aside from that, what else did he want?" Ed thinks about his escape attempts. Mooks one through ten on top of two others. Twelve people that kept him from going back to Al.

"There was a duke that stopped by once, just to see me." He remembers the man sneering as he raised a hand to his mouth and nose as if afraid he would catch something from Ed. Maybe his cold. He would've deserved it.

"A duke?" he scrutinizes Ed's expression, not because he doesn't believe him but because he is curious what a noble would want with Ed.

"Mm. Nikolai Volkov." Ed remembers that cold stare, the surprise on his face when he stared at Ed's eyes. Ed doesn't know what they talked about since his drachman is limited to Common drachman and not Royal.

"I'll have to see what we have on the nobility then." his expression shifts to one he is familiar with.

"He just came to look at me and left." he assures Hughes who looks sceptically at him but accepts his word after a hard stare.

"Do you have any theories why it was this time that you were alone, that Rockfell decided to move?" Ed thinks about how Rockfell asked questions about apprenticeships and masters. He wanted to know about teacher, Ed had never shut him down as fast or as harshly as he did that day.

"I pissed him off." he says quietly, he can't look at Hughes anymore. Al doesn't know about it either, it was just after Ed had sent him off to get rid of a cat and he couldn't tell Al. 

"You didn't do anything, he just needed an excuse." Ed shrugs.

"He's the adult, he's in charge of his own emotions and you are in no way responsible for his actions." Ed knows that, kind of.

"I'm tired." the weight of the bed shifts.

"Get some rest then kiddo, i'll dig up any information about Drachman nobility in the mean time." he ruffles Ed's hair and starts to tuck him in.

"Hughes." he whispers scandalized at the blatant parenting.

"Hush you, let me have this." Ed purposefully sticks one leg out of the blanket, he hears Hughes chuckle.

"You paradoxically precocious spitfire." he teases.