Leave A Scar

A/N: I completely forgot to mention a few really vital things about this story, and I figure now is better than later!

1) The writing of this fic is very psychological. I've created a lot of characters (most have been developing for around 15 years (I'm 20, so they've been around for a while!)), and the MC of this story is by far the most complex character I've ever made--and she's only been developing for less than five months! From this point on, her mood/self-esteem effects the writing style, so when she's "down", the writing will become more plain. I can talk about this character all day, especially the further we get into the fic, but my main point in this little note is that any and all grammatical description errors, awkward word choices, and generally funky descriptions are all the result of the main character's ability to "write". Not mine ;)

2) Similar thing to note #1, but a little more detailed (and also an example). This ties back into chapter 9 with the homunculi--which, grammatically speaking, would technically be lowercased. However, our main character likes to see certain things as "bigger" than she is; more powerful, in a way. I've done something similar to this with the word "alchemist" throughout the story (either reference to Ed as someone with more "status" than her (Alchemist) or as her equal (alchemist)).

If any of that's confusing, just let me know and I'll try to re-explain!

In terms of this chapter: you guys know this story is a pretty big AU, right? Okay; just makin' sure.

Enjoy!!

We had gravitated towards the middle of the rooftop, where there was a bit more light from the surrounding buildings. Maybe they thought I'd jump off the roof, if I was too close to the railing. I wouldn't, of course. I was much too weak to do something so strong.

My legs were shaking, but the more I walked the more my mind came back to me. Enough to realize why we were walking in the first place.

Al still held my right hand, guiding me as he took his gentle, giant steps backwards. Ed had both hands on me; one still clasping my hand, the other supporting the middle of my back. The thoughts that came to me were ones that rang out in their voice, some collective mixture of both.

"Keep moving forward. You're never alone."

I nearly crumbled all over again. I stopped when their steps slowed, allowing Al to gradually sit down and move me with him. After a small, tiny squeeze, Al's hand found his ŀȧp again. Halfway down to a sitting position, Ed's hands left me too, but almost immediately, a coat was draped over my shoulders.

Warm. I felt the fabric curl against my arms as my knees came to the ground again, much gentler than before. But the joints and the muscles hurt, returning to the same position they'd been in for so long. So I shifted, folding my legs and crossing my shins and feet underneath each other. More relaxed. I felt Ed's coat respond, shaping to the form of my legs and knees. I didn't even realize his hands were still pinching the fabric by my shoulders, still trying to make sure it was on me as much as possible.

I knew I'd never be able to repay this kindness. Nothing could compare to that... Incredible sense of loyalty. I was a horrible friend; I didn't deserve anything they were giving me.

Ed was sitting in front of me again, fixing up the front of the coat and making sure it was completely covering me. His eyes didn't meet mine, and when I looked to them, his stare just moved further away, hands continuing to adjust, slipping down and making sure my ankles and feet were covered as much as they could be.

There was... Something different about the way he was acting. Something about his stare; there was a distance in those eyes, maybe a memory in his brain taking his focus. I wasn't sure how I could decipher that much. Maybe I knew from experience; the hollow feeling that came with thinking about something you didn't want to think of in the first place.

His eyes swept up to meet mine, and despite how much I wanted to, I couldn't smile. I looked away, focusing on his jacket; the warmth, the slight earthy smell to it. It reminded me of a forest, and I closed my eyes, trying to think of trees surrounding me instead of the desolate emptiness of the rooftop. I tried to imagine them with me as well, but that only forced the pain back in. Inviting it like a very old friend.

My eyes shot open, a sound balancing in between my tongue and the outside air. What exactly, I didn't know. A sob, a wince, a cry. Not that making any more noise would do anything. No sound could take this away.

I almost started to really analyze what this was, my thoughts dripping back into self-hatred and memories of dark rooms void of mirrors. Then Ed leaned forward just a little bit, just enough for me to notice he was there. His hands were on my shoulders again, gently resting and holding my arms. Once more, he looked to be in pain; I could see it underneath the concern.

"Sorry." I tried to speak the word, just mouthing it instead.

He searched my face again, like there would be some answer to solving every problem I thought I had written on my skin. I watched him pull away from me, sitting down beside Al as his hands came to support him from behind. His legs stretched out, probably to stretch the limbs that he'd been supporting both of us with for so long.

Ed broke eye contact again, stare searching around his coat, near my stomach, near the folds around my legs.

"I was five when Mom died," he began. "Al was four. We came in one day, wanting to show her something we'd transmuted, and she was on the floor. A basket had fallen when she collapsed, and... I remember how red the apples were. Like they were showing the blood that hadn't been spilled."

He paused, eyes shutting for a moment. I wondered why he was telling me this. But then I realized, figured it must be something of equivalent exchange. I'd opened up to them, so he was doing the same for me.

Or maybe they wanted to keep my thoughts away from myself. Make me realize how well off I really was.

"After her funeral," Ed's voice shook for a moment, and it hurt. It hurt me to see him like this. "We decided to try and bring her back. We studied, buried our faces in every single book we could find about Alchemy. Poured over every word, and eventually we developed..." His hand, his human one, dragged itself into a fist, and I could tell from the pressure that he was scraping his skin against the concrete. "Something that we thought would bring her back. Actually..." He paused once more, bringing a bit of air into his mouth as if it was suddenly dry. "Get her back, so we could see her smile again."

I didn't want to see him like this. But I still couldn't speak. I held the coat, bringing it around me a bit tighter. This caught Ed's focus again, and I watched his face relax. Like somehow realizing I was with him, whether it was a few feet away or just wrapped inside his coat, brought him to reality again. He looked away, and I listened to him speak. I didn't look to the ground like he was, opting to continue and watch his face. I focused on him, because I felt like I might break all over again if I focused on that darkness around us.

"After... The transmutation, after I bound Al's soul to the armor, we were visited by Mustang." Something of a smile curved onto his face, but I knew it was so forced. "Gave me my first lecture. Told me I couldn't just keep sitting on my ȧss, that I had to find a way to get our bodies back because if I didn't, everything would be absolutely wasted. So"—He moved a shoulder, his metal one, and the topic clicked—"And one year later, I was a State Alchemist. We had access to a lot of information about alchemy, stuff we wouldn't have been able to get our hands on before."

He paused, eyes moving to Al and letting his younger brother talk. There seemed to be some kind of telepathy going on, with how smooth the transition was between speakers.

"Our main goal was the Philosopher's Stone," Al began, and there was a sadness in his voice. Crushing the normally happy, lighthearted spirit his words always carried. "We searched around in libraries for some time in between Brother doing jobs for the military."

"Eventually," Ed continued, carrying my focus to him again, "We caught wind of some 'savior' in Liore. People were saying he was some kind of miracle worker, but that just ended up being a bust."

I waited for him to continue on, but he let Al take the lead again. Those bright eyes made of light looked to me, and from the corner of my eye I watched his hands move, giving subtle gestures while still not straying too far from the knees tucked to his ċhėst.

"We figured out that he was using a Philosopher's Stone, but it was really just a fake. The town eventually got back onto its feet again, and a few years ago we heard it was doing pretty well!"

I smiled, holding back my praise of "that's good!" I allowed Ed to speak again, my stare turning back to him. I watched him lean back on his hands again, stare going to his outstretched legs.

"So we ran around in circles for a while, eventually breaking into one of Central's laboratories. The one that's been inactive for a long time." He glanced at me, expecting some sort of agreement. But then he grinned. "Oh, wait; that's right. You wouldn't really know about Central City, huh?"

I swallowed down my guilt, focusing on Ed as he continued on, voice solemn and soft.

"So we went into the fifth lab, and that's where we found some suits of armor guarding the place."

Panic raised bumps onto my skin, but I held my tongue. Literally, held my tongue in between my teeth. I saw Al's head shift downwards a little bit, a sadness seeming to come to him.

"They... Said some things that weren't true..." Al began, his hand clenching into a fist. "At least, the person I was fighting did." He looked up, looking to me. "He really tried to mess with my head, and I let him. I... Let myself be manipulated like that."

I couldn't respond. An apology was at the edge of my lips, but I turned, just seeing Edward move his upper body forward, sitting up and pulling his legs in toward himself.

"But you eventually snapped out of it, right, Al?" he grinned.

Al nodded, still a bit solemn. A smile curved his eyes as he met his brother's grin. "Yeah," he replied, "I did."

Ed's smile grew a bit softer, turning back to me. "While Al was outside dealing with that idiot"—I didn't miss the way Al's eyes curved a bit more in a silent laugh—"I was inside, kind of getting kicked around by another guard."

Maybe it was the memory of when he was blind; maybe it was just some pathetic attempt to try and go back and change that, rid myself of the guilt, but something about the statement—something about hearing him get hurt again—forced words out of me.

"What happened?! Were you alright?"

Ed nodded a little bit, eyes closing and head tilting to the side. "Yeah, I mean, I didn't get scuffed up too bad. Really it was just..."

His words stopped there, and I saw a distant look in his eyes.

"Ed?"

His stare snapped back to me, and I saw a bead of sweat run along the edge of his eyebrow.

"Uh..." He blinked, and then reality caught up with him. He turned back towards the ground, continuing on. "Right, so my... Uh..." His hand curled, metal fingers gripping the loose fabric of his pants. I noticed the hold become a tad bit tighter—angrier, almost. "My automail slipped up. Got jammed and stopped responding. I ... It really didn't make things easier, but I got out of there alive, so there's that."

I watched him, watching how he kept his eyes constantly away from me. Watching how his hand was shaking. His metal one.

Ed closed his eyes, seeming to really be focusing this time. He stabilized himself, both his hand and his voice.

"While I was there, I came across some Homunculi." His head rose, finally meeting my stare. I hoped he could see how worried I was. "The same one you saw, actually. Envy."

I tried to conceal my surprise, knowing how shocked Ed was at seeing that thing again in Dublith. Everything he said was enough to make me realize they'd been enemies or rivals or at least acquaintances in the past. But I didn't know everything went back this far...

"He told me about some 'project' that was happening. Mentioned me being a sacrifice." He shook his head. "That was the first time I heard myself be referred as one."

"A... Sacrifice?" I repeated.

"Yeah..." He glanced to Al. "We'd be jumping too far ahead if we explained it right now, but the lab got blown up and next thing I knew, I was in a hospital." He grew quiet again, the same type of silence that came when he talked about his automail being broken.

"A few military officials came in and asked us some questions," Al chimed in.

Ed grinned, and I saw the little kid in him. "That's when I did that drawing of Envy!"

I smiled, relieved to finally have context for that. "What happened after?" I asked, a bit more relaxed.

Ed's smile dropped, and I could tell his mind had gone back to whatever had been bothering him before. He looked away from me, pretending to clear his throat with the crook of his metal elbow as Al replied.

"After we told a few people about the guards in the fifth lab, Winry showed up and Brother got his arm repaired."

I didn't miss the way Ed's face clenched in the slightest amount of pain, or the clicks his hand made as it came into another small fist. I didn't know what was happening, but I wanted to see that grin on his face again. I wanted to get that relaxed mood back...

"So how did everyone react," I began, trying to keep myself cheerful, "When you told them about the guards?"

Ed took the bait I had set out, a grin hooking his mouth. "They were pretty freaked, that's for sure! I figured they'd run out of the room screaming, but they stuck around until I was done talking about the Homunculi."

"Homunculi?" I repeated, emphasizing the plural tense.

Ed nodded, a shy grin coming to him. "Uh, yeah. Sorry; there was another one with Envy, but they were both equally freaky." He waved a hand, shooing the topic away. "Anyway, as soon as we were out of the hospital, we kept searching."

"The lab was kind of a dead end?" I asked.

Ed dropped his gaze from me, arms unwrapping from his legs, hands supporting himself from behind again. He focused on his feet as his legs stretched out, his voice painfully quiet.

"We... Figured out how the Stone is made," he said, "Before we broke into the lab. The whole reason we went in there was because we wanted some kind of answer..." His metal hand curled again, scratching against the rooftop's concrete. "Sometimes... I dunno... I..."

He didn't continue. I had an idea of what he wanted to say though. I could hear the guilt, the regret in his voice. I'd be lying if I said I didn't understand the feelings. They were friends to me, almost. Painful, close friends.

But I also knew I couldn't change the mood this time. The air was too thick, too heavy. I could only ask them how the Stone was made.

Ed didn't respond for a long moment, and I saw Al's head raise. His eyes met mine again, but before he could speak, Ed replied. The elder Alchemist brought his head back, eyes shutting to the star-filled night sky. Clenching tight, and he spoke with his voice still a bit broken.

"Stones are created through human sacrifice," he told me. "It just takes enough lives; it's as simple and as terrifying as that."

I searched the ground near my legs for a long moment. I dwelled in the shock, the alarm and the fear of it all. I didn't even think the stone actually existed. It had been a legend for so long, and now to hear that fairytale actually become truth. To hear that dream shift into a nightmare...

Words failed me. Once again, I didn't know what to say.

So I said nothing. As simple, and as useless, as that was.

I listened, hearing Al talk again. I tried to focus on his words, but I just heard that voice of a child. I felt my heart crack, breaking a little bit more for him. For both of them.

How could they still go on like this?

A memory of something Ed had told me came back, when we were in the street lamp-lit basement after the bomber was taken away.

"It'd take too long to explain... Just another recap of more failures from yours truly!"

How was it even possible for them to continue surviving? For them to even keep smiling?

Ed called my name. I looked up, seeing a soft concern on his face.

"We can stop," he said, "If you want to..."

I quickly shook my head, wiping away the tears that had started to spill from my eyes. But I knew they had already seen that I was crying, realized I was this upset about their lives. I didn't know how else to express any of this hurt I felt for them. I didn't know how to take their pain away...

"It's alright," I said, and tried to smile. The corners of my lips quivered, and Ed frowned. "I'm fine. What was it you were saying, Al?"

The teen bound to the metal suit glanced between us, a tiny sound of surprise coming to him. A realization that he was going to continue, I suppose.

"R-right..." Al looked back down, gathering his thoughts again. "So um, after the hospital, we just kept searching. We decided to not look for the Stone anymore, and tried to find some other way to get our bodies back. We were also a little unnerved about the Homunculi, too, so we went and visited Teacher."

"You two mentioned her before..." I said, casting my glance to both of them.

Al nodded. "It was nice to see her again; we hadn't been in contact since Brother became a State Alchemist." His eyes shrunk, a nervousness shaking his suit. "But before we got there... Honestly, we were pretty scared."

Ed quickly flapped his lips, dismissing Al's comment as untrue. "Yeah, maybe you were, Al. I was totally fine! Not a single moment of fear in my mind!"

"Then who was hiding behind me when she came out of her house?" Al returned, a tease in his voice.

Ed's face went red. He looked away again. "Okay, whatever. So we trained with Teacher again, and got a bit stronger."

Al paused, seeming like he wanted to add something. But then he nodded, allowing Ed to continue on.

"And then..." the older alchemist paused for a moment, long enough to swallow down something he wasn't saying. His head turned, hand behind his hair. "While we were still in Dublith, Al kind of got kidnapped."

Al was instantly flustered, bringing his fingertips together as he shrank away a little, eyes wide. "Why do you have to say it so honestly like that?!"

Ed looked to his brother, shoulders giving a casual shrug. "What, it's what happened, isn't it?" A grin broke onto his face. "What do you want me to say instead? You went off on a field trip?"

Al looked away, giving a tiny whɨnė with one hand against his face. I grinned, laughing a little behind my hand. I guess old walls were building again.

"So I tracked him down"—Ed looked at me, interest overtaking his features—"Back to the Devil's Nest, actually."

I had no idea everything was this connected. I resisted the urge to shake my head and start mapping this all out on paper, opting to give a nod and continue listening to Ed.

He looked away, stare moving back down to his feet. Solemn, once more. "And we saw Greed for the first time, too."

I remembered that name. "That was..."

Ed nodded. "Yeah. The bastard that was holding you by the hair." He was quiet, seemingly overtaken by some memory. Probably killing the Homunculus again. I didn't want to know the details of it.

Before I could get him to continue on, Ed shook his head, snapping out of the trance. When he spoke again, his voice was heavy; rough, with a pain that seemed too familiar to me.

"Tried to bargain with us. He actually wanted to trade us the secret of immortality for the 'secret'"—the word hissed out of his mouth—"of human transmutation. Like it was some kind of cook book he couldn't find."

He softly cleared his throat, eyes closing and a deep breath moving through him. Something to calm himself down, I think. When he was better, his eyes opened again, and he kept speaking.

"We didn't take it, of course. Refused to, actually. A ... Uh... A few more things happened"—His stare was shifting to Al nervously, and suddenly he tried to grin at his younger brother—"How much of this does she really need to know?"

Al's eyes grew wide. "You started this!" he said, hands waving in front of him. "Don't make me tell her all the really bad stuff!"

"I... I just don't want to screw up her view of the world! Everything gets seriously messed up from here on out!"

"What...?" I said, completely lost yet again.

Ed sighed, relaxing and his hair falling back into place. He looked to me again, and quickly looked away. "Our government's not what you think it is," he began. His stare quickly shifted upwards, half of one eye clenching in thought. "Er—wasn't what you thought it was. It's better now, 'specially since Mustang's almost to power." He relaxed and waved a hand, then suddenly looked to me again. "Don't tell him I said that."

I nodded, smiling a little. I held up two crossed fingers. "Secret's safe with me."

Ed returned the soft expression, nodding before continuing on. "So..." He grew solemn again, arms dangling from his crossed legs, metal knuckle of one finger scratching at the pavement. The rhythm stopped, and he looked up.

"King Bradley wasn't human," he began, but stopped instantly upon seeing how my hair stood up from the shock, how my hands rose to cover my mouth.

"Y-you're not saying he was...?" I couldn't even voice the word.

With one hand covering his mouth, Ed swept his half-lidded stare over to Al. I could almost see his thoughts as words next to him: I tried...

Al tried to smile; he tried to laugh a little, too. "Well, technically he was born human, but he was selected to become a Homunculus and rise to power as our fuhrer."

"One of the ways Homunculi are created is through injections of Philosopher's Stones," Edward said, bringing my focus over to him again. "He was bred for the task, and that's how he got to where he was."

I paused, not wanting to voice my thoughts. I... I didn't even want to know... But something inside me took over my tongue.

"What..." I shifted my stare between them both, "What happened to him?" I asked. "Why..." I forced myself to keep speaking, but maybe I was just stalling. I shook my head. "I knew he passed away, or at least that's what they said on the news..."

"Not sure you'd put it as peacefully as that, but I guess technically he did," Ed replied, a little thoughtful. His head was tilted, stare on the ground between us. He grinned, the expression bashful. "You mind waiting a little bit? If we told you now, this whole thing would just get even more confusing."

I nodded, unable to ease the knots in my gut. I knew someone else had taken power after the fuhrer... left... but I had no clue—I never would've even guessed he was tied into all this mess...

"So Greed ran off," Ed continued, "And Bradley cut him up pretty bad. Killed him, actually..."

I turned my stare over to Al when he spoke, noticing how low the lights of his eyes were. Even though he couldn't express very much, I... thought that... maybe...

The depression I thought had I felt suddenly fled, another emotion taking its place and lifting Al's eyes back up.

"Brother ended up in the hospital again."

Ed jumped a little bit, hair sticking up from the shock. "Why you gotta say it like that?!"

"Why were you in the hospital?!" I asked, hands in my hair. "What did you do?!"

"I..." Ed tried to defend himself, one hand held out to me. Then his expression changed; a dumbstruck grin knocking onto his face. "Yeah, I got dinged up pretty bad by Greed, but don't worry about it!" He gathered his legs in his arms again as he said this, waving a hand to me before interlocking his fingers around his wrist. He noticed my expression then; how the alarm had given way to a type of sadness. He sighed, stare drifting away to one side. "I'm fine now, aren't I?"

"Yeah..." I sighed. I stared at the space between us, wondering why he couldn't heal before. What had changed...?

My stare went up, noticing the scars on his human arm. I'd seen glimpses of them when they had hung around the hospital room and he'd had his coat off, but I never stared long enough to really study any of them. Right now, the small lines were a little more visible, given the streetlights and Ed's proximity to where the light was shining. There were a lot, mainly on his shoulder and upper arm. Mostly just cuts of varying depths, but I noticed some that looked like burn marks as well. I... Recognized those, actually.

Ed looked to his shoulder, twisting a little; enough to try and follow my stare. I just kept thinking... Trying to figure this all out...

"What're you lookin' at?" he asked me quietly, and my name... Seemed so out of place in his mouth.

I tried to shove away the feelings that word brought me, closing my eyes for a moment before opening them again. Studying his shoulder and all those scars along his skin.

"Why did the scars heal," I began, "The ones you got when..." I couldn't finish my sentence. I didn't want to think about those muscles being ripped out of him again.

Ed seemed to know where I was going. He relaxed, hand returning to support him from behind as he looked down to his outstretched legs. Thought came in between his brows.

"I'm not sure." He shook his head, eyes closing. When they opened and that bright stare looked to me again, his eyes actually curved into a smile, a grin hooking one side of his mouth. "I guess that's something I really can't answer!"

I just shook my head, my mind still running in circles. Thinking about how his sight was restored without even taking anything; how the spikes he had driven into Greed a week ago adapted to pierce through that strange armor.

There were so many questions, and I hadn't even formed a hypothesis for one of them.

Before my ċhėst could sink any lower, before my heart could drag back down and crash through the walls I was slowly rebuilding, Ed was scooting towards me—actually scooting up to me with quick little drags of his heels against the ground. The quiet smile on his face was enough to make me laugh a little, bȧrėly concealed by my hand.

He closed the distance between us relatively fast, and I don't know why I expected him to reach out to me again. Twice was probably enough.

We stayed like that for a few moments, sitting close enough for our knees to touch. And when he did nothing but stare and give that small smile, my posture straightened, not quiet becoming eye level with him. Once again, I mentally shook my head at the strange change in height. Another hypothesis I hadn't formed.

My stare shifted, flicking to his eyes and then the lips that were still curved in a small, kid-like smile. I briefly realized the curled side of my hand was still against my own lips, and I lowered my arm back down, resolving that he must have just gotten annoyed with my horrible habits. But he still didn't move, and I felt a smile creep onto my face because HE just kept smiling. What was he doing?

Suddenly, Ed pushed himself away. "Good; you're smiling again."

Al laughed; a quiet but full giggle that echoed out from his suit more than usual. A tension breaker for all of us, I suppose. I grinned a little more, happy that they were happy.

"So, yeah," Ed grinned wide, leaning back on his forearms now, "I wound up in the hospital"—One finger rose, pointed somewhere between Al and the sky above—"Which was the first time we got suspicious of Bradley."

"The..." I wanted to call him what he was, but I couldn't even get the word out. It was just too creepy‼

Ed nodded, understanding what I didn't say. Al continued on, recalling the memory in a thoughtful voice.

"He basically told us to stay out of the way, that we 'should be careful which paths we tread'." The helmet creaked as he quickly shook his head, eyes closing. "I don't even have a spine and I feel like I have shivers running down it just saying that again!"

"Why did he want you guys to stay away," I asked, shifting my gaze between them, "And from what?"

"At the time, we didn't really know," Ed replied, rolling himself up to sit normally again. "But eventually we figured out he was trying to f"—His wide eyed stare swept to Al, syllable stretching out before he nodded—"Frazzle. Frazzle our psyche."

Another joke. I laughed behind my hand, trying to ignore the tension in my gut. If Ed was doing this much to keep us smiling, whatever was coming up must be pretty bad...

He was still trying to defend himself, hands up and directed at Al's playfully astonished expression.

"What? I said frazzle! Get your mind out of the gutter, Al, geez!"

He huffed a sigh, pretending to ignore how much Al and I were laughing.

"Anyway," he began, and then waited for us to calm down with a crooked grin. When we finally did, he continued on.

"He was trying to get us distracted. Question why he would barge in and say something like that; why he would tell us that just after we had found out Homunculi were real." Ed shook his head, giving a sigh. "And really, it kind of worked. We were really tripped up for a while, but there's wasn't a whole lot we could do about it." Ed paused, studying the ground between us again.

"This whole thing gets pretty messy from here on out," he said, "But the basics of it is this: Bradley was one of seven Homunculi, each one created by a... Wanna-be entity called Father."

I mouthed the phrase; wanna-be entity. I stored it away in the back of my mind, continuing to listen.

"Father was a... An experiment. The product of someone getting into something they shouldn't have, I guess. I never found out the whole story on that, but one thing led to another and a lot of people got taken away."

My brows jumped; I hadn't expected that last part.

"Taken away?" I repeated.

Ed nodded, seeming to be thinking hard with one eye closed. "Easiest way to explain it, but even then it probably doesn't make much sense, huh?"

I shook my head. He exchanged a look with Al, and there was something in the air. Some feeling or thought I couldn't figure out.

"He basically created a Philosopher's Stone," Ed told me. "Using... Our..." His face drew into a horrible expression; one that looked like he had just ate something awful. "Eck! I can't even say it!"

Al sighed. "Dad. Using our Dad."

"Not Father," I said.

"No," Ed replied, seeming almost peeved from the mention of whoever this was. "Not Father."

I was still trying to figure it out. "But it's your Dad," I said with a slight question in my voice.

"Yes." One corner of Ed's mouth drew upwards in a small smile, and I couldn't help but copy him. "Father created a Stone using our Dad."

Two different people. I nodded a little to myself, and then the engine of my mind suddenly stuttered to a halt. "Wait, WHAT?!"

Al smiled. "This might take some explaining."

Ed bowed his head forward in defeat. "You know the whole story, Al, but does it really matter?" I'd never heard him whɨnė like this.

"You just don't want to talk about him!" Al protest, arms waving in the air. "When's the last time you two even spoke?"

Ed made a sound with his teeth, rolling his eyes. "I'll send him a postcard next time I think about it"—His hands rose to his face, mock surprise written all over his features—"Oh wait, that's right; we don't know where he is!"

"We know he's somewhere in Creta!"

"Ch'yeah. So he says," Ed scoffed, turning away. "He could be in space for all we know‼"

"He'll come back for us," Al said, looking in the opposite direction. "He always does."

Ed raised one eyebrow, continuing to look away. "You wanna rephrase that, Al?"

Al's eyes shrunk, a little nervous. "O-okay. Almost always." He turned back to Ed, who looked over just enough to meet his stare with squinted eyes and a frown. "For what it's worth, he came back to help when we needed it later on."

The legs Ed had bent dropped to the side, elbows coming to rest on knees and hands folding at his mouth. He smiled at me, but the expression was incredibly painfully polite. They were trying hard not to fight in front of me, and right now he was trying to apologize for both of them. I just felt like I should be the one saying sorry; making them re-live everything like this...

"Wait," Ed suddenly straightened, looking back to Al. "I lost my train of thought; how'd we get to talking about that bastard again?"

Al sighed, but the sound quickly became a groan. "Homunculi..."

"Oh," Ed's eyes went wide, remembering. "Right. Homunculi." He grinned at me, holding his ankles and rocking a little in place. "Eight in total—seven Sins and one Father, who was their creator, not Hohenheim."

"Our Dad," Al clarified in a sigh.

Ed waited for my confirming nod, and I gave it. It was simple enough. Kind of. He continued on.

"Father's entire goal was to become God. And to do that he needed five sacrifices. Al and I were two of them."

"The same sacrifices the other Homunculi were talking about," Once again, there was a small question in my voice.

Ed nodded. "Yeah, back at the fifth lab; same thing." He avoided my gaze suddenly, hand coming to his hair, one finger scratching the back absentmindedly. "The project they were talking about; that was basically world domination."

I almost wanted to let out a small mȯȧn from the back of my throat; not only was this so confusing, it was really starting to warp my view of the government. I guess this was what Ed must have been talking about when he said he didn't want to really screw up my view of the world...

Ed noticed my expression; how my mouth was in a slight frown, open enough to expose clenched teeth. He grinned, laughing enough to throw his head back.

"Yeah, that's what I was trying to warn Al about," he said. His stare dropped to the ground again, and he focused on the space right in front of his folded legs. His finger began tapping different spots as he spoke, like they were points on a timeline. "Where were we? Dublith, Bradley, hospital... Oh yeah!" His head rose, the hook of his hair bouncing for a moment. "After I got released, Al and I kept searching for another way to restore our bodies. We followed a few dud leads, things that were really just whispered rumors."

"One of them brought us over to Meox, where we met Ling!" Al added happily.

"Ah, Ling," Ed added with a huge grin, "That crazy bastard!" The smile suddenly broke, and I imagined the sound of glass cracking. "He's never paid me back for a single meal..."

Al's eyes curved, a quiet laugh coming to him. "He did help us out a lot, Brother," he said.

Ed scratched the back of his hair. "Ah, yeah. Guess you're right. So many room service bills, though." He sighed. Finally, his focus turned back to me, and he began explaining. "Ling's a friend of ours. He came over here from Xing, wanting to research the Stone."

"The Philosopher's Stone?" I couldn't keep my mouth shut; it really wasn't a question that needed to be asked.

Ed was kind enough to nod anyway. "Yeah. I told him the truth about it, but he was still determined to find the secret of immortality. So he tagged along with us, bringing his ninja servants or whatever 'cause he was a Prince." His hand waved, dismissing the idea. "It was frankly pretty annoying, but the real trouble started when we came across Scar again."

"Scar?" I repeated.

Al nodded, and Ed filled me in. "Basically bad guy turned good."

"Basically?!" Al repeated, and I could tell by the way he had his hands up to his mouth he was playing around. "He tried to kill you, Brother—more than once!"

Ed paused, then looked away from his younger brother's wide eyes. He didn't really have time to reply before I was shouting again, completely worried.

"Why was he trying to KILL you?!"

"Would you STOP worrying about me?!" Ed returned, waving his arms with a scowl and a small blush.

I waited until he'd calmed down, realizing I had a small smile on my face. A grin hooked onto his lips and he turned away with a slight laugh, realizing my joke. But it still wasn't very funny.

"Why was he trying to kill you?" I asked, much softer this time.

"Um, well..." Ed gave me another grin; much more sheepish than before. "He was basically after all State Alchemists, given their role in the Ishvalen war and all. Nothing totally personal against me, unless you count the whole 'atone for your Human Transmutation sins' thing. Then, yeah the guy had a pretty big grudge. Um"—He looked away again, and then after a moment, he sighed, expression falling—"We had ran into him before. Kind of literally, too. Thought it was best not to mention what happened..."

"What are you talking about?" I asked quietly, feeling a deep fear rise in my gut. "Mention what?"

Ed looked to Al again, a moment passing before their eye contact broke.

"It's really nothing you need to know," the elder Alchemist said quietly. Another long pause, and I could tell he was struggling. His eyes shut again. "I ..." He sighed, and just the sound sent a harsh weight into my stomach; the fear plummeting into sadness. Ed kept speaking, his voice soft. "Basically someone close to us died. Became an experiment because her father was an absolute psychopath. Scar killed them both."

Once again, words left me. Thoughts failed to form in my brain. I could only listen to Ed's voice, listen to him continue on.

"That happened a few years back, before we met Ling," he said. I could hear the regret in his voice; how he really didn't want to tell me anything about the girl. I understood why; I knew why he had held that detail back. My brain was still stuck a few moments in the past. Still trying to wrap my head around it all.

My self-hatred became a little deeper, cutting into me a little more. I was so stupid; why did I even press? Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut?

I wanted to apologize, but my lips never parted to speak the words. I heard Al's helmet shift like he was looking towards me, and I felt my walls start building again. Becoming a little thicker. Calming myself down enough for the tears to disappear before they broke from my eyes.

I looked up, seeing Al's eyes on me and Ed's turned away. One arm propped against his leg, fist covering his mouth.

"Sorry," I said to both of them. "You can keep going."

Ed looked to me, still keeping his hand by his face. He searched my expression, and I did my best to hold a small smile. See, Ed? Still smiling; nothing to worry about.

Finally, his stare dropped, and with a sigh he straightened his posture, arm falling back to his ŀȧp.

"So Scar came after me again," he began, "and Ling almost got hurt, trying to help. His bodyguard, Lan Fan, protected him, but she lost an arm in the fight." He bowed forward, sides of his fingers coming to run along closed eyelids. "We were in a pretty tight spot, and that's around the time Lust and Gluttony showed up."

Gluttony. That name almost sounded familiar. I thought back to Dublith, back to that room Al was chained up in. There had been another Homunculus there, fat and round and drooling on himself. I thought forward, to what Edward had said about each one being a Sin.

My stare rose to the Alchemist in front of me. "Gluttony was..."

He nodded, smiling a little. Like a congratulations. "Yeah, that was the one we saw in Dublith."

I tried to ignore the use of the word "was". The chills shivered into my stomach anyway and I brought my stare down my ŀȧp, where my hands were resting near each other. Ed's coat was still wrapped around me, still seeming to be radiating the same amount of heat that it had been when he first placed it over my shoulders. The weather was warm, considering how it was in the middle of summer, but I wasn't about to take it off. It was a barrier, keeping me away from that edge again.

Just from remembering how they held both of my hands, how kindly they spoke to me, buŧŧerflies warmed my stomach. But I couldn't focus on myself, couldn't be this selfish when they were waiting for me to say something so they could get this over with and continue on. So I forced myself to keep thinking.

Lust was another one of Father's Homunculi, but what had happened to it? What had happened to Gluttony the first time?

"So what happened?" I asked, looking back to them both.

"They needed to keep Al and I alive for the sacrifices," Ed answered, "even if that meant protecting us."

"We got away fairly quickly," Al continued on. "And Lan Fan got help from a doctor we knew. A friend of Winry's parents, actually."

I immediately felt guilt tie my stomach. I had completely forgotten to ask them how Winry's parents were doing. Before I could, Ed's voice caught my focus.

"Her parents passed away," he told me, my name sounding so delicate coming from him. "They were murdered in the war. By Scar, actually..." His eyes closed, a sigh drifting from him. "We found out a little while after we met Ling, when Scar showed up again. She was there, too..."

"Winry?" I asked.

He nodded, eyes opening to stare at the ground. I saw that tiredness again, the same fatigue I had noticed upon waking up in the hospital. Before I could even think about trying to give some weak attempt at comfort, Ed cleared his throat, straightening his posture a little.

"She left after Lan Fan got hurt," he said quietly, his voice a little distant. He blinked, continuing to avoid my gaze. "So while we were making sure she was alright, Scar showed up again"—He tried to give me a grin—"still hell-bent on his revenge."

"May was with him, too!" Al added.

I looked over to him, surprised at how happy he sounded. "Was she...?"

Al quickly shook his head. "No, May was just traveling with him. She's from Xing, and wanted a way to save her clan from extinction. She was tagging along with Scar because she wanted to find Brother, too." He smiled at me, giving a small laugh. "Completely opposite reasons! She had a crush on him—until she realized how short he was."

The frown on Ed's face was enough to almost make me fall over from laughing so hard. He tsked, looking away.

"She was a little brat, anyway," he said, only to get clocked in the head by Al's fist.

"May is a very intelligent person!" Al replied, ignoring the tears streaming down his brother's face.

Ed continued to hold the lump on his head with both hands, remaining hunched over. "Was!" he repeated. "I said was!"

With an amused smile still curving my lips, I watched Al's eyes silently narrow. He turned back to me, giving a smile and continuing on with the story.

"So, anyway," he said, "Gluttony became very crazy when he saw Scar, since he had killed Lust. Envy was there, too, the same Homunculus you saw in Dublith"—I gave my best nod, trying to keep the confusion away from my face—"And he tried to calm Gluttony down." Al gave a small laugh, trying to remain cheerful. "But it didn't really work, and he..." Al paused, then turned to Edward again. "How would you describe what happened?"

Ed pulled his cheek into his mouth, thinking hard. "It'd take some time to really explain it," he said, tilting his head to one side, "But the basics is... Gluttony was kind of a portal gone wrong."

As much as I wanted to ask what he meant by that, I waited, listening as he thought for a moment. His hands came to hold his ankles again and he rocked in place, small motions stopping when he looked up again.

"I really don't want to confuse you anymore than I have to," he said with a small grin, "But in the simplest of terms, Scar, Envy, and I were transported into Gluttony's stomach, and it was place we couldn't get out of at first." He paused, then nodded. "Yeah, that'd be the simplest way to say it."

"So you were stuck?" I said.

Ed nodded again, quicker this time. "Yeah, that's right!" He gave a small laugh, one hand bashfully raising to the back of his hair. "We had May's pet panda with us, too. And Al's arm, so we really had a party going on."

"How did you get out?" I asked, completely stunned.

Ed laughed again, still seeming nervous as he held up a hand. "Well, first off it took some time to get Scar to calm down. We agreed on a treaty; he could try to kill me after we were out of this mess." I didn't laugh at the joke, and he gently cleared his throat, smile dropping away. His hand fell also, a fist coming to prop up his jaw. "While we were in there, thinking we were about to die, Scar noticed some giant ruins floating around in Gluttony's stomach. Told me they were from Xerxes."

"Ancient Xerxes?" I returned.

He nodded. "That's when I really started thinking about who this 'Father' guy was. Wondering if he was the reason behind that entire civilization being wiped out."

I started to connect the pieces, slowly speaking the thoughts as they formed. "Because it takes lives to make a Stone..."

"Yeah," Ed replied. "So when I was studying these ruins, I got the idea to perform a reverse human transmutation. Transmuting living humans without changing anything." He sighed, and his voice became even softer. "We used one of Envy's stones as payment, trading out all those lives to save our own." He shook his head, like he didn't want to think about it anymore. "So we were able to go back, and when we came to, we saw Father."

"Gluttony was pretty upset about what he did," Al said, "So May and I followed him to where Father was."

Ed paused for a moment, seeming to be searching through his own thoughts, trying to pick out the most important bits.

"Ling wanted to become a Homunculus," he told me, and the chill that shot down my spine was enough to literally make the hair on my head stand straight up. Ed just nodded, understanding. "I tackled him and clocked his face pretty good." He glanced to my expression, still frozen in horror, and then shrugged. "So we got in a little scuffle"—He tried to grin—"Which in hindsight wasn't the best thing to do, given the circumstances."

"Ling was definitely a handful," Al agreed, "Even when we were all out of there. We talked to him for a long while because he still wanted to go back and become a Homunculus."

"Why would he want to do that?" I asked. Then the answer clicked; the conversation they'd had with Greed. He wanted to trade them the secret of immortality...

Ed nodded, seeing the expression on my face. "Yeah, Ling wanted the secret of immortality." He sighed, upper-body bowing forward and his hand coming to his face. "Even after Scar had backed down to heal the injuries he'd gotten from Father, and even when we getting May treated for her injuries"—He glanced up, like he knew I was wearing a face of worry—"Nothing too serious. Everything healed fine." He sat up again, hand falling away. "Ling just wouldn't shut up. He tried to run back to where Father was and had his bodyguard, Fu, keep Al and I stalled."

"I created a distraction," Al smiled, "And Brother slipped passed him."

"Restrained Ling pretty good," Ed added, "And while he was tied up with the ground, he was shouting at me that I didn't know what the hell I was stopping him from doing." He brought his hands to his face, sides of his fingers coming to run along closed eyelids. When he spoke again, his voice was tired. And I felt guilt stir in my stomach; he was having to stay awake, trying to explain all this to me... "I told him that becoming one of them wouldn't do any good. It'd just throw his life away. Make him completely unstable and unfit to run a country. I promised him that there was another way."

"Was there?" I asked in a near whisper, eyes searching his face as he lowered his hands.

He looked up, holding my stare. A soft smile curving his lips.

"Always is," he said.

I found a similar smile making its way onto my face, a warmth blossoming in my heart, the space behind my ċhėst. A dash of pink touched Ed's cheeks and he looked away, still keeping that smile before he turned to Al, grinning wide.

"And I'm really glad he took what I said to heart!" Ed exclaimed. "I mean, who knows what would've happened if he actually became one of those." This was followed by light laughter; mostly nervous, uncertain laughter.

"Y-yeah!" Al said, seeming to be equally unnerved by the idea. "That would've been pretty bad. I'm glad you were able to convince him otherwise, too."

Ed nodded, relaxing with a small breath out through his nose. He kept that same small smile on his face as his hand rose to his hair, eyes shutting as a silence came between the three of us.

"Let's see... What else is important..." he mulled aloud. His eyes opened and that gold stare dropped to the ground again, like he was looking at that invisible timeline. He pointed to a spot, near his right side. "Ended up in Briggs, where we tried to deal with Sloth..." His finger tapped the concrete a few times before sweeping over to one spot and hovering there. Quickly, he continued on, seeming to reach the end of the timeline. "Really, nothing absolutely major happened until the Promised Day."

I noticed Al keep his stare on Ed, hesitating for a split second before nodding once. He didn't say anything, and I felt a heaviness pool into my gut, wiping away whatever warmth that had been there before. I had no idea what had Ed just skipped over, and something inside me was scared to know.

I focused, seeing Ed nod to himself, looking over at the timeline again. Confirming it, I think. He looked to me again. "Yeah, the Promised Day is pretty much our last section."

I forced myself to not repeat him, looking over to Al as the younger Elric spoke. He tried to laugh a little bit, pointing a finger at me. "Okay," he said, trying to make light of everything, "If your brain's twisted now, just wait 'til you hear this!"

I smiled at this, grinning and holding down a laugh. I saw Ed smile as well, and Al continued on. Telling me about a giant transmutation circle that had been set up around our nation, and how the Promised Day was basically Dooms Day - when everyone in Amestris was supposed to be used as Father's power source for him to achieve the status of "God".

"In order to get that circle activated," Ed continued on, his voice solemn and soft, "Father needed five sacrifices, one for each point in the transmutation's inner hexagon. Al and I were two—"

"—Teacher and Dad were another—" Al added.

"And one of Ling's servants was the fifth."

"And you become a sacrifice how?" I asked, trying to wrap my head around all of this.

Another look was exchanged between the two brothers. Al was the first to answer me.

"So," he stretched the word out, like he was trying to gather his thoughts, "The requirement for being a sacrifice is basically performing human transmutation."

I sat up a little more, shocked. "Your Dad... And your teacher...?"

"With Dad, it's a little more complicated," Al said, giving a small smile. "But with Teacher, yes. Unfortunately, she did." The smile dropped, those lights descending downwards. "With Ling and Fu..."

"We... didn't see it happen," Ed began softly. He was looking down at his feet, avoiding my stare. "We just heard Ling talk about it after the fact. How he begged through mouthfuls of his own blood"—His eyes shut tight, like he shouldn't have mentioned that detail—"For Fu not to sacrifice himself. It was falling into the enemies' hands, but..." He shrugged one shoulder; his metal one. "Fu couldn't do it. Ling was saved, and Fu lost both arms."

"Because of the transmutation?" My voice was distant, even to myself.

I had enough of my brain focused to see Ed nod silently. "So Fu became a sacrifice," he continued on, "And the transmutation circle Father had set up around Amestris was activated." He moved his head in Al's direction, eyes closing for a moment. "Before it was, though, May and Al had gone off in search of the closest circle. May could sense the presence of one; said something about it having bad energy."

Al spoke then, his voice almost like a relieved sigh. "May and I got there just in time, just as the nearest circle was lighting up. She drew a line through the mark"—He held the hilt of an invisible knife and dragged it backwards—"and it was just enough for the transmutation to result in a rebound."

Ed nodded a few times, and I think he was stressed just talking about this again. He swallowed before speaking, his voice shaking a little bit.

"Yeah," he said, "Definitely a close call."

"So what did the rebound do?" I asked, leaning over to rest my chin in my hand, my stare shifting between them. "It would've bounced to Father, right?"

Al nodded, and Ed replied to me.

"He just..." Ed raised his hand, fingers expanding as if making a small explosion. "Disappeared. Went away without a warning."

"He just went away?" I asked needlessly, completely stunned.

The Alchemist nodded. "The transmutation was screwed up enough for everything to result in a rebound, like you said. Whatever happened, I really hope he got his ȧss handed to him in the Gate."

I had no clue what he was talking about, but I guess being in that "gate" was bad enough punishment.

Ed moved a hand into his hair, eyes closing to rid the horrible scowl that had twisted onto his face.

"So after that, we dealt with the remaining Homunculi"—his head nodded to one side as he corrected himself—"Hohenheim did, actually. Made sure their stones were detached from their bodies. I did what I could to help keep Ling and Fu alive."

"There were a few more Homunculi that came after May and I," Al said. "And dealing with them was a little tricky, but eventually we got everything taken care of."

That phrase just made me think of what Ed had told me after I woke up; how he had "taken care" of Greed. Had Al...?

The younger Elric must have seen my expression because his eyes went wide and he quickly waved his hands. "N-n-no! I-I would never! Envy... Went out on his own..." Even then, there was a sadness in his voice...

"O-okay," I began. "What happened after?"

"I healed Fu and Ling," Edward said. He quickly shook his head. "Not in the way you're thinking of. Just sealed the wounds with Alchemy. After that..." He looked to Al again, who met his stare. Ed shrugged a little. "Things just kind of went back to normal, I guess. One of Bradley's fallen henchmen, Kimblee, had a Philosopher's Stone on him, so Ling took it and decided to go back to Xing; claim his place as Emperor. Took May with him"—I didn't miss how Al's eyes curved in a smile, just at the sound of her name—"And her clan was helped out."

He paused there, and that left one person on my mind. I searched Ed's face, my stare traveling to Al as well.

"And... And Scar?" I asked hesitantly.

Interested perked into Ed's expression, eyes meeting mine again. He answered quickly, leaning forward, gathering his legs with his arms.

"Yeah, he's alright," the Alchemist ȧssured me. "Don't worry about it; actually became a monk again, after the whole thing with Father happened. He's traveling around the world with another Ishvalen. Rebuilding their religion and keeping the culture alive."

My mind left me. I tried to connect the pieces he just set out. "He... He was a monk?"

Ed grinned, like he was about to laugh at some joke I had just told. "Yeah," he said, the laughter riding underneath his words. "And he became one again. Full circle."

"Oh." I tried to shake my head, tried to get rid of the headache that was throbbing against my brain. "Okay." A few more words left me, an absentminded "Glad to hear it."

I thought back, rewinding and tracing through everything they had told me. But my mind quickly stopped about halfway through, and a heavy weight set into my throat.

"The fuhrer," I said, looking up to them again. "The new one... What about... Is he...?"

Both of them quickly shook their head. Ed was the first to say something.

"He's okay. We did"—Another grin stretched onto his face, a light concern in his eyes—"A lot of snooping, actually. More than I wanna elaborate on. Just trust me when I say he's not a Homunculus. He's just a normal guy, who's spent a lot of time trying to make peace with Drachma."

"But..." I tried to breathe, tried to get my brain working fast enough. I blinked at the ground before shaking my head. "What about everyone else? If... Bradley was..."

"As far as we know, Kimblee was the only one working with Bradley," Al said. "He's gone now, and we've done as much snooping as we can without arousing suspicion. We're pretty sure everyone's safe."

I tried to take his words to heart. I focused on calming myself down, looking over to Ed as he leaned back on his hands again. Listening to his words and focusing on his voice; the relaxed tone. Calm. Like how I needed to be right now.

"They've been promoting Mustang too, so I'm pretty sure that's a good sign. He's all buddy-buddy ȧss-kissing the Fuhrer now."

I almost felt a smile twitch onto my face, but another thought caught my focus.

"He doesn't know anything about this?" I asked quietly. My mind was beginning to pull me back, bring up a memory of the last time I'd seen Mustang.

Ed shook his head. "No. We've never told him anything about it."

The Brigadier General's words rang out in my mind: "There's rumors of a Philosopher's Stone in Dublith. Figure you two would be interested."

He... didn't even know about the Stone...

"Why?" I asked, looking up to them both. "Why keep it from everyone?"

Ed didn't answer right away. Al remained quiet as well, looking down at his ŀȧp. The stillness stretched on, and my gut just got even smaller.

"There's... This feeling I get," Ed said quietly, and a breeze blew through us. Sweeping my hair in front of my eyes, tendrils moving across the image of him, momentarily hiding Ed away. When the wind died down, I saw him finish shaking his head, continuing to look down. Speak quietly.

"It's not fear," he continued. "It's..." His eyes searched the concrete, sweeping along that timeline, nearing the beginning of it all before looking up to meet my stare.

"Protection." The word fell from him, spoken softly but with an incredible amount of confidence. "I... I can feel that there's people I need to protect. And in order to do that, we have to keep everything a secret." He looked away, swallowing visibly. "I know, I get it; I understand how risky that is. But... I can't make it any clearer than that. It's like there's been something forcing us back from telling everyone."

He sighed, and I saw Al's eyes finally shift away from his ŀȧp, watching Ed move again. Automail hand rising to his hair, fingers sweeping into his bangs as his palm ran along the corner of his eye. Trying to wipe the fatigue away...

"And now..." he said, and a quiet smile curved onto his face. "With someone trying to recreate all the Sins... That feeling is back, stronger than ever."

I tried to search the ground beneath us. Tried to find some kind of response or reply. But I felt myself grow so incredibly weak again. I couldn't help. I shouldn't even try.

I pulled myself into my own thoughts, trying to go back and make sure I understood everything they had told me. I skipped over the part about Hohenheim, knowing Ed's reaction to him and resolving that the topic probably wasn't worth bringing up. When my memory caught up with the present moment, I spoke.

"So what do you think is happening now?" I asked, looking between them both. "With the Homunculi and that bounty?"

Ed shrugged. "I dunno," he replied. "Maybe someone's just after my head."

I ignored the horrible twist that statement gave my gut, trying to block out the image of Edward literally having his head cut off from his body. Held out by the hair, like Greed had been holding me...

Ed sighed quietly, bringing my focus back to him again; seeing how he supported himself with his hands laid flat against the ground behind him. He was staring out into the city lights, a soft breeze blowing his hair as he spoke.

"My guess is that someone, somewhere wasn't too happy about us taking out Father. And now they're trying to recreate his plan to be God. The bounty just might make getting me a little bit easier." His automail hand came to his face, roughly trailing down his cheek and gently pulling on the lower lid of his eye. Trying to keep himself awake again. "Which means there's a hell of a lot more of them now..."

"There's..." I tried to breathe right. "There's more people making them?" I asked, trying to search his face for an answer. "More than one person?"

Ed avoided my stare, shrugging lightly. "Maybe..." he said.

"And... They're after you because you were a sacrifice..."

He nodded, the action just as quiet as my voice was. I looked to Al, my brain working again.

"But what about you?" I asked. "You were one, too... And they had you right there!"

Al looked down, thinking about what I said.

"I'm not sure," he replied simply. "I only regained my knowledge of The Truth when I blacked out because my body was trying to pull me back..." One of the hands holding his legs close to him clenched, turning into a fist. "And now I'm not even sure it's alive anymore!"

"Hey," Ed looked to his brother, Al's head rising to meet his stare, "Don't worry about it. You're still here, so your body's still back there."

"But you're getting taller, Brother!" Al responded. So he had noticed it, too... "What about that theory you had, with supplying nutrients and sleep to keep MY body alive in the Gate?!"

Ed looked away, thinking. His focus shifted to his metal arm, curling upwards as his hand drew into a fist. "Well, this automail I got when we were in Briggs is lighter; that's probably a good explanation." He looked back to Al. "And I'm still getting just as much sleep as I usually do. In fact, after that whole thing with Father happened, I slept for a solid three days, remember? I wouldn't have been that tired if I wasn't helping your body."

"But why hasn't it been pulling me to the Gate?" Al asked.

Ed was quiet for a moment, looking down at his outstretched legs. "Maybe it's getting enough human experiences so it's able to hold out longer."

Al looked to him, and Ed just offered a shrug. The younger Elric turned back, folding into himself a bit more and tightening the hold his arms had against his knees. I heard Ed give a sigh.

"So this bounty probably means there's gonna be even more of those freaks coming after me..."

The present situation came back and I shook my head, speaking without thinking first. "What would Homunculi want with money?"

"Dunno." His metal finger scratched against the ground, adding a rough pattern of noise beneath his voice. "Maybe it's not even the money; maybe it's just to see if they can do it..."

He shook his head, dismissing the idea. "Either way, we gotta be on our guard." His eyes looked into mine, that golden stare holding an emotion I couldn't read. "All of us."

I nodded, looking away as I thought back again. My mind went to the sight of Ed's muscles being torn from him, the pain of my own being ripped away. Did I REALLY want to get involved in something like this?

Ed must have been thinking the same thing.

"You sure you wanna come?" he asked me softly, and the sound of my name—the sound of it spoken like that—almost made the tension fall away. It was a strange feeling; a mixture of absolute pain and... Something else. Something much warmer.

I smiled, seeing his eyebrows raise in the subtlest of surprises.

"I'm sure," I answered. Tears suddenly invaded from behind my eyes. I brought my hand up to them, trying to force the emotion away. I couldn't even pin-point what it WAS. Just... This heaviness...

"I mean," A small, sarcastic smile shot into my lips, "I really don't have anywhere else to go..."

They remained quiet. Patiently waiting as I pulled myself back together again. When my eyes opened, I saw Ed's metal hand had clenched itself into a fist against the concrete; Al's head lowered a bit more.

I swallowed, focusing myself back. Trying to distract myself again.

"So what do we do now?" I asked.

"Well," Ed began, "Before that whole thing in Dublith happened, and before we bumped into you in Lauxotan"—he grinned, and I gave a small smile in return, enough to curve my eyes. But it hurt, just hearing the name of that town again... Ed continued on, growing a bit more solemn. "Al and I were chasin' after rumors of this amulet. Something that's said to be even more powerful than the Stone." He shook his head, growing even more solemn. "We haven't found anything yet, though, but I'm sure it's out there, somewhere..."

I knew what he wasn't saying. I could finally grab a thought that was hovering in the air.

"We're back to where we were six years ago."

I looked away, searching for some words I could comfort them with. But I found nothing. What could I say? What could I possibly have to give...?

"I'm sorry." My hand clenched into a fist, and I felt even more weak saying the apology. If anything, they didn't need the pity. They'd gotten enough of it over the years, I was sure.

"Ah, don't worry about it." He stood up, getting to his feet a bit slower than I expected. Maybe his joints were still hurting from when he was holding me earlier. Guilt flashed into my gut, and I watched Ed give me a huge grin as he stood upright. "Nothin' we can't handle!"

A memory came back; when he was blind, and trying to reassure Al.

"Nothing I can't handle! I'll be back in no time, Al, just you wait!"

He was using that same line with me, too?

I looked up, seeing his stare turned away from me, sight on the stars visible in the sky beside us.

I wanted to stand up with him, but I stayed put. Unable to really gather much of the strength.

"So what happens now?" I asked, almost feeling like I was a broken record. Half of that description was accurate, I suppose.

He looked to me, giving a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. His hand extended, and I took it, feeling the years worth of work beneath the warmth of his skin.

"We keep on searching," he replied as I got to my feet. "And we deal with whatever else comes out way." He grinned a little more, adding, "Fully human or not!"

I nodded, and after a moment realized his hand was still holding mine. I let go with an apology, only seeing Ed blush in response, hand rising to the back of his hair as he looked down and away.

Al couldn't hold back the slight giggle he made, and this just rushed more heat to my face. I closed my eyes to the chilling breeze of the wind, finding it had no effect on the buŧŧerflies in my gut.

Forward Motion - Thousand Foot Krutch

A/N: So there you go; some canon-diverging backstory! Back when I wrote the second chapter and kept Hughes alive, I was like 'LOL WHY NOT LET'S DO IT'

I had no idea just how pivotal his death was and how much the military was involved in the plot (both 2003 anime and Brotherhood, but especially Brotherhood/manga). Ugh. Did not stop to think any of that through, haha. So this chapter was definitely headache-inducing at times for sure, but also pretty fun to write!

Also, I just realized how the title of this story can be playfully misinterpreted! Plot twist! They're going to find Scar and leave him somewhere‼ Nah, I ȧssure you it goes much much deeper than that ;)

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Excited to hear your thoughts :)