Hello! It's been a long time, hasn't it? Well, I can safely say that I have been very busy these past several months. College isn't all fun and games, y'know. :) Anyways, I had been writing this in between classes, and after some encouragement from the few people that read my LJ account, I decided to post this, and see what the general consensus is. It's OC with a twist, but I swear it's better than it looks.

Have fun reading! Please review at the end, and let me know what you think!

Alphonse woke up in a cold sweat, his chest heaving as he looked around wildly. A hand fell on his shoulder, and he tried to scream, but his voice was hoarse and he was unable to procure the sound he was aiming for.

"Al! Calm down! It's just me!" A lamp was turned on, and Al breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his older brother's worried face.

"Sorry, Brother," he whispered, and Edward frowned at him before getting up.

"I'm getting a cup of water for you, I'll be right back," Ed said, and he disappeared into the darkness of their room. Al stiffened when he couldn't see hide nor hair of his older brother, but quickly relaxed when he heard the sound of a faucet turning downstairs, as well as the comforting trickle of water as it filled a cup. He listened to Ed turn the faucet back off, and within moments, the older blond was back in the room, handing Al a cup of water.

Al took a sip, sighing in relief as the water soothed his raw throat. "Thanks," he whispered, and Ed shrugged.

"No problem," he said, reaching over to pat Al's head. "It's my duty to watch over you, so I will." There was a pause, and Al watched as Ed squirmed with impatience, as if itching to ask Alphonse what his dream was about.

Finally, Edward could hold back no longer. "What was your dream about?" he tried to make it sound casual, and Al swallowed another gulp of water, staring into his cup. "You don't have to tell me about it if you don't want to," Ed said hastily, his eyes slowly drifting to the floor.

Al hesitated, before finally speaking. "…It was a girl, Brother." Ed's golden eyes darted back to the younger blond, but Al didn't pay attention. Instead, his hands clenched around his cup. "Brother, she was only our age, but a man was doing awful, awful things to her! And a woman was just standing off to the side! Just watching! Not even doing anything!"

"Al!" Al's breath hitched; he didn't even realize he had begun shouting. The cup slipped out of his shaking hands and fell onto his sheets, the water staining the blankets dark.

"Sorry," he mumbled, pulling his knees up to his chest, and Ed was quiet for a moment before sighing.

"It's okay, just-was that all your dream was about?" Ed asked, and Al nodded.

"What kind of awful things?" Al stiffened again, and Ed reached over to clasp his shoulder, taking a seat on his younger brother's bed. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Al shuddered, but continued on. He never hid anything from his brother (well, maybe he didn't mention how he was the one to eat all the cookies in Winry's pantry…), and pressed forward with the dream.

"He-he was beating her. S-she was s-screaming, and he-he took off his belt-and started whipping her-and s-she was screaming-Brother, I wanted to help her-!" Al felt tears rolling down his pudgy cheeks, and he rubbed at them in frustration. "All I could do was watch…" he cried.

Ed was quiet for a moment, before he spoke again. "Is the girl someone we know?"

Al shook his head. "Well," Edward continued, "there's no need for you to worry, right? It was just a stupid dream." Al's head whipped around so he could stare at his brother before he opened his mouth to protest.

"But-brother-!" Ed folded his arms and set his jaw, an expression of stubbornness that Al was very familiar with.

"No buts, Al, you don't even know the girl," Ed said, taking the cup and setting it off to the side. "Just go back to sleep, Al. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." He walked over to the lamp, turned it off, and crawled into his own bed.

"Edward-!"

"I said go back to sleep, Al! I promised Mom I'll take care of you, so I will!" Ed said resolutely from his own bed, and Al scowled in frustration.

"You're not taking care of me! You're just being annoying!" Ed didn't reply, and Al huffed, sinking back into his sheets and avoiding the wet patch on his sheets. "You're the worst!"

"Yeah, I got it, just stop talking, will you?" Al pouted and folded his arms, and his pout became more defined when Edward soon began to snore.

"Stupid brother," Al mumbled, and his pout slowly disappeared. "I hope that girl is okay…"

And Alphonse Elric lay awake in bed, unable to fall back asleep.

Maura Douglass jolted awake, sitting up abruptly from the shock of the dream before she let out a low whine. The dark brunette hunched over, clutching at her chest and lower stomach until the pain of her usual beating subsided, and slowly, she lowered herself back into her sheets, wincing as she hit her bruised elbow.

She sighed in relief when her head hit her threadbare pillow, and as she stared up at the ceiling, she thanked god that she was a quiet dreamer, and that her father was a heavy sleeper.

Maura chewed on her lip as she recounted her dream. She dreamed about a young blond boy, with the most beautiful golden eyes. He was clutching at a beautiful woman's hand, but her beauty had faded. Her eyes were dull, her skin was white, and the boy began to sob harder as she breathed out her last breath. His older brother was bawling next to the boy, and they both refused to let go of the woman's hand, even after it had gone limp under their touch.

Maura felt a tear slip down her cheek, and surprised, she reached up with agonizing slowness to brush it away. The scene was upsetting, but in all the world, she wished that something like that would happen to her father. There wasn't a day that passed in this hell without her wishing that her father would leave, or be arrested, or even better, dead.

She glanced out the window. It was pitch black, meaning that it was way past midnight; probably around three or four in the morning. She slowly exhaled, and closed her eyes, hoping that she'd be able to go back to sleep, wishing that her life was a dream and that she wouldn't have to get up again in the morning.

"We're almost finished with the ingredients, Al! This time tomorrow, we could be talking with mom again!"

Al shifted hesitantly. "Brother, I don't think this is such a good idea," he said uneasily. "Remember what it said in Beginner's Alchemy?" Ed glanced at him for a moment and scoffed.

"Yeah, that human transmutation is illegal, but we're not going to get caught! Teacher's not here, she can't stop us from seeing our mom again!" Edward grabbed a basin, and carefully measured out 35 liters of water into it, before dragging it to the middle of their basement. "Al, come help with this."

Reluctantly, Alphonse listened to his older brother, gathering 20 kilograms of carbon and pouring it in also. "Edward…" he said, and Ed paused, in the middle of pouring out four liters of ammonia to glare irately at his brother.

"What?" he asked, exasperated, and Al twiddled his thumbs before he worked up a reply.

"I just have this really, really bad feeling about this," he said. "What if something goes wrong?"

Ed made a face. "Nothing's going to go wrong, Al," he said. "We've double-checked our calculations, we've gone through each and every ingredient needed for the human body…it's perfect! We just need to write out the equations, draw the circle, and wham! Mom's alive again, and we're one happy family again!"

Al sighed, and began to measure 1.5 kilograms of lime. "I hope you're right, brother."

Al knew he was going to have another nightmare. He just knew he would. The night they were trying one of the biggest taboos in the alchemy world, and he would have another nightmare.

…Or so he thought.

This one was different. They usually started with the girl-he still didn't know her name-fighting back tears as her father beat her, before she was thrown into her room. Sometimes she hit the bed, earning bruises. Sometimes was knocked out. But the dreams always ended after she recovered enough to cry herself to sleep.

However, instead of the usual abusive father and the silent, unresponsive mother, the girl was stuffing her meager collection of personal items into a small bag, throwing it over her shoulder. Al's heart lifted. She was going to run, she was going to leave her home!

The girl took a deep breath and crossed over to the window of her room, carefully picking the lock that closed them before it quietly clicked open.

The girl didn't smile at her accomplishment, however; she froze and listened to the sounds coming from the room next door. When she heard nothing, her shoulders relaxed, and she began to climb out of the window.

Then, everything went wrong.

Her father barged in, a demonic expression on his face, enhanced with bloodshot eyes and quivering jowls.

"You're leaving me?" he screamed. "After everything I did for you?" He was tossing something in between his hands, and Alphonse realized with growing horror that he was holding one of the kitchen knives.

He began to advance on the girl, and she looked from her father to the ground, over twenty feet away from the ground. She bit her lip, and just as her father reached her, she jumped, screaming in pain as her father's knife dug into the back of her shoulder.

She collapsed with a sickening crack, and Alphonse watched, horrified, as she forced herself up, one leg broken and her shoulder bleeding. The knife was still even embedded in her shoulder.

Her breath came out in panicked gasps, and she began to limp as fast as she could down the country lane that led to her house, ignoring her broken leg. She screamed for help-and for once, she was rewarded with an answer.

"What the hell?" A man with blonde hair, blue eyes, a cigarette, and most importantly, a military uniform and a rifle slung across his back stopped, holding up a lantern. "What's going on?"

His eyes landed on the girl, and they widened. He rushed forward and caught her just as she toppled over, her eyes wide with fear and her breath coming in ragged gasps.

"Help…please…" she begged, and he frowned, setting the lantern down.

"Help with what?" He heard a shriek of rage, and his head shot up to stare at the girl's abusive father. He was charging down the dirt road, his face contorted with anger, and Alphonse noticed with a hint of fear that he had grabbed another knife.

However, the military man dealt with the situation with surprising efficiency. He grabbed a previously hidden pistol, and aimed it straight at the father. The abusive father slowed to a halt, the knife dropping from his hand as he spotted the gun.

"Stay where you are," the soldier ordered, taking the girl and hoisting her easily over his shoulder. "What is your name?"

The man swallowed, visibly hesitating. "Frank Marti-"

The man cocked the pistol, his finger lightly touching the trigger. "Just to let you know, I'm coming back from the war, and I'm not in the mood to deal with assholes like you," he said cheerfully, but his blue eyes were anything but. He grinned, his cigarette bobbing with the motion. "So are you going to tell me the truth?"

Alphonse watched the military man with interest. There had been a war going on in the east of Amestris for the past three years, where Ishval was located, and last Alphonse heard, there was an extermination of the Ishvalans going on right now. He was usually frightened of military men, but for some reason, he knew that this man would be a good man.

The abusive father panicked. "Alright, fine! Hans Douglass!"

"Alright, Mr. Douglass, I want you to return to your house calmly, without any trouble," drawled the blond man, gesturing with his gun. "Go on. And you better stay there, since the military police men will be picking you up in the morning."

Hans Douglass snarled, but retreated, slowly backing up before he turned to run. The blonde man nodded, before putting the safety back onto his pistol and shoving it into his pocket.

"Dumbass, the thing wasn't even loaded," snorted the man, before he began to hurry down the road, looking for the closest clinic or hospital.

Alphonse felt a sense of giddiness rise in his chest. The girl got away! She was escaping! A smile crept onto his face, and he beamed.

He woke up that morning crying, but this time from happiness.

Maura awoke with a gasp, tears of fright rolling down her face as she stared at the white ceiling of the hospital room. She had been in here for two days, ever since the kind soldier brought her in. He had left for Central soon after, claiming that he had been promoted to second Lieutenant, and that he was being transferred. He gave her his name and number though, just in case anything went wrong, and she quietly thanked the man.

But now here she was, leaning over the side of the bed and throwing up into the basin placed strategically next to the metal railing. This nightmare-this was the worst. Before, she would get snippets of the boy's life, seeing him studying something fervently with his older brother, working out certain equations and studying alchemy under their strict teacher, or trying to survive on an uninhabited island for a month with his brother (what the hell was that about?). His life was mostly pleasant-sans the parental figures in his life-but this one was by far the worst.

The boy and his older brother started a transmutation, and to Maura, it looked as if everything was going to work. They were going to bring their mother back to life, and everything was going to be happy for them again.

Then everything went wrong.

The healthy blue lightning of a proper alchemical transmutation suddenly turned a deep, bloody red. The two boys looked around wildly, their eyes wide as they realized that something had gone wrong.

"What's going on?" the older one asked nervously, looking at his hands, but Maura's eyes were fixed on the center of the circle, where the small basin of properly measured sat. A large eye opened up underneath it, and everything seemed to go dark in the basement, save for the flashes of blood red light. Black tentacles reached up to grab at the brothers, and the younger one screamed as his body was rapidly taken apart, like he was being torn into tiny strips.

"BROTHER!"

Maura only caught a glimpse of what was forming in the center, and felt her stomach violently heave before she was wrenched out of the dream. And here she was now, emptying out her last meal into a bucket as she tried to forget the image of what they brought back.

The image of a grotesque figure, ribs sticking out of black skin and dark red blood, the organs pulsing in the open air as the creature opened its mouth…

"Are you all right?" Maura finished dry heaving, and looked up at the nurse that had come to check on her.

"Just a nightmare," she said hoarsely, and she leaned back into her hospital bed, her head tilting back.

"How about some water?" the nurse asked, and she nodded weakly, closing her eyes. She felt something cool press against her lips, and she opened her mouth, swallowing the water and washing away the acrid taste of bile in her throat.

"Would you like to talk about your nightmare?" the nurse asked kindly, and Maura shook her head. The nurse smiled. "If you ever need anything, then, just press that button next to your bed," she said, pointing out said button, and Maura nodded, not even bothering to look. The nurse hesitated, before smoothing back the girl's sweat-soaked, matted hair and taking her leave.

Maura gritted her teeth. "Damn," she whispered to the empty room.

Have a wonderful spring week! Any questions, just send PM me, or any suggestions for some of my other stories, then feel more than welcome to send them to me. :D