It was impossible to tell what had happened. The only thing either of them knew was that there were the Elric brothers, or at least one of them. Roy barely recognized the starved body on the ground from a picture he had seen in their house, about five years earlier. Riza walked over to Alphonse and placed her coat around his shoulders. He was barely conscious.

"Brother… where's brother?"

Neither one of them wanted to say what had happened to Edward, so Roy decided to lie.

"He's outside waiting for you."

"Oh, good…" Al trailed off as he lost consciousness. Riza brought him to the car outside as Roy looked at the bloody mess at the other side of the room. "What did you do, Fullmetal? This isn't how I expected to find you."

There was no way to be sure that the torn-up body was that of Edward, but from what they'd heard, there wasn't much of a chance that it wasn't. He walked out of the room and closed the door, his emotions a mix of great sadness and rage.

"You should have asked for help."

---------------

Ed woke up in the back of a car, staring at the roof. He could hear voices, but they were low, and stopped after a moment. It was then that he realized his head was resting on someone's lap. This woman looked down at him and stroked his hair.

"Shh, it's okay. You're going to be just fine."

He tried to understand what she meant. It was only then that he realized his leg hurt. It hurt horribly, and he tried to pick up his head to look at it. The woman gently pushed him back down. "It's better if you didn't see."

Ed looked back up at her. "Where am I? What happened?"

"You're in a car heading towards the nearest hospital. As for what happened, I was hoping you could explain that to me."

"Well… I remember… we – my brother and I – were trying to get our bodies back, but then there was a crash, and someone came in… I think it interrupted us… Maybe that's why my leg hurts so much, I didn't get it all back…"

"That could be, there's a lot missing, but the bones are all there, and most of the muscle, so I think you'll be fine."

"What about my arm?"

"Your right arm? It's automail."

"Then… I didn't get it back?"

"No, I guess you didn't. Shh. Go to sleep. Everything'll be fine."

----------------

Al woke up in a soft bed. He looked at the ceiling, trying to figure out what was wrong with the current situation. Sure, he was hungry, but that was part of life. It's not like hunger was that big of a…

Wait. Hunger. That was it. Armor didn't get hungry. Al sat up in a flash, looking down at himself. Sure enough, there he was. His body. It didn't look like much under the clothes he was wearing, but it was still there.

Al smiled as grateful tears slid down his face. They had succeeded. Al looked around for his brother, but the room was empty. It wasn't much of a room, either. It looked like someone, definitely a guy, had just shoved all his dirty clothes into a corner. Al could see a military uniform in the pile.

He looked more closely at the clothes he was wearing, since he didn't have the energy to stand up. They were definitely too big for him, and reeked of laundry detergent, but Al didn't care. He was in his own body again.

He looked up as the door squeaked open and Roy entered. He smiled at Al as he walked up to him. "You did it."

"Yeah, it's…" Al didn't really know what to say. He was overwhelmed with joy. But, where was his brother?

"You're probably hungry, right? Come on, I have breakfast."

Al stood up, tentatively testing his legs before walking to the door. Why did it seem like Roy was hiding something?

"Where's brother?" he asked while they ate. Real food. Al had forgotten how good waffles were.

"I'll tell you later. Right now you need to worry about yourself. You're definitely going to need a while to recover. And some new clothes."

"But why can't I see him?"

"Look, there's a warrant out for your arrests. If the homunculi see you out in the open, they'll bring you in."

"But they won't recognize me now, will they?"

"I don't know how, but they've heard that you got your body back. They'll probably have a good idea of what you look like now."

Al hung his head. Roy was right.

"So, how are you feeling? I mean, you don't look like you're in the best shape right now."

"Really tired."

"Then get some rest. I have to go to work soon, but I'll be back this evening."

--------------------

Ed was in a daze. His leg hurt incredibly, and he couldn't move. Something was holding him down. He could see people in white down by his feet. They were doing something to his leg, but Ed couldn't see what.

After a while, the woman from before came back. She looked different this time, more official, but she was still smiling gently as she placed a gloved hand on his forehead.

"You're going to have a fever for a while because of this. Don't worry, though, they say your leg will heal up nicely. The recovery process will be long and painful, and it won't look so nice, but then you'll have your leg back in good shape."

"Who… who…?"

"Who am I? I'm a friend. You can call me Tessa. What's your name?"

"E… Edward. Edward Elric."

"I've heard that name before. Are you the state alchemist?"

"Y-yeah, I am."

"It's an honor to meet you, Fullmetal Alchemist. Hold still for a moment."

Ed tried to see what she was doing, but before he could pick up his head, he felt a needle go into his arm. He began to fade. Ed looked back at Tessa as she pulled the needle out of his arm.

"It's just something to help you sleep. When you wake up, it won't be as painful. I promise."

Something about the way she said that worried Ed, but he couldn't figure out what. By the time he realized what it was, it was too late. He was asleep.

-------------------

Al spent several days doing nothing but eating and sleeping. He still wanted desperately to see his brother, but Roy wasn't letting him go outside at all. Another week passed by, and Al could finally look at himself in a mirror without being horribly shocked. He was slowly gaining weight.

One day, Riza came to visit. She came with Black Hayate, who immediately jumped onto the bed and started licking Al on the face. Once the dog had calmed down and jumped back down, Al looked up at Riza's face. She seemed sad.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Listen, before I start, I want to apologize for hiding the truth from you. We just didn't want to make your recovery any harder."

"Eh?"

"Look, when we found you, we also found something else, something terrible, and, well, there's a good chance that your brother didn't make it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Edward…"

She didn't have to finish. Al understood what she meant. "But… earlier, you said…"

"I know. I'm sorry we lied to you."

"But… it should have… how did this happen?"

"Nobody knows, really."

Al didn't know what to do. This was too much for him to handle. He should have realized it earlier. Of course they would hide something like this from him. Then a thought occurred to him.

"Wait, you said there's a good chance he didn't make it?"

"Yes."

"So, you're not sure if he's really…"

"No, there is a chance he is alive, but not a very good one."

"But still, if there's a chance…"

"Are you going to look for him?"

"I have to try, at least."

Riza smiled. "I see. I'd help you, but I still have to work. Just be sure you don't strain yourself. And be careful. People are still looking for you."

"I will be. Thank you."

---------------------

Deep in the heart of East City, there was a three-story building that was in desperate need of some new windowpanes. There were people living in the building, but nobody minded the boarded-up holes in the walls. It was light enough inside, and very nice. The only person who wanted to look through a window was the boy who was trapped in a room on the top floor.

Ed continuously asked why he had to be in that room, but nobody answered him. The only time any of his questions were answered was when he asked about his leg. It was healing, but Ed still couldn't walk on it. But even if he could, he still wouldn't be able to leave the room. For some reason, they kept it locked at all times.

He looked at the pile of stuff they had given him for amusement. On top, the only thing he had looked at, was a newspaper article about him and his brother. They had even added a picture of the two. Of course, Al was still in the armor in that picture, but Ed was fine with that. If Al had regained his body, which Ed was pretty sure he had, there wasn't any danger for him.

Elric Brothers Suspected of Murder, Robbery

Last night, a robbery occurred in downtown Central. Two people, greatly resembling the famous Elric brothers, broke into a house and stole several objects of great importance to the owner. The housekeeper confronted the two, and was consequently attacked, most likely via alchemy. The owner of the house came down to see what had happened, and found the housekeeper on the ground, barely alive. Before calling the police, the owner listened to the housekeeper's story.

The whereabouts of the Elric brothers are currently unknown. Edward Elric is fifteen, with an automail right arm and left leg, and reacts negatively to jokes about his height. Alphonse Elric is fourteen, and is always wearing a suit of medieval armor. If you have any knowledge of these two, please inform the military immediately.

Ed was wondering why he hadn't been turned in. It didn't make any sense. Why were these people protecting him? And besides, who had actually done the break-in? Ed knew for a fact that it hadn't been him or his brother; the date of the break-in was the same night that Ed and Al had been regaining their bodies.

He picked up the article again and reread it. Then, the door opened and Tessa came in. She closed the door behind her and sat next to Ed.

"How's the leg today?" she asked.

"Fine."

"Good. Soon you'll be able to use it again. Maybe we'll go for a nice walk through the woods."

"Woods? Aren't we in a city?"

"We're going to have to move again. I'm sorry about all this moving around, but it's for the best."

"Hey, can I ever go back to Central? I really want to find my brother."

"Be patient. You can't go back just yet."

"Why not?"

"Because… you have to stay with us."

"Why do I have to stay with you?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later, okay?"

Ed was about to respond when the door opened again. This time, a doctor came in. Ed recognized him. He still didn't know his name, but he was always friendly with Ed. He closed the door and walked up to Ed.

"It's that special time of day again!" he said in a joking tone. He seemed to understand how much Ed hated this process, and always tried to make it easier for him.

Ed groaned as the doctor sat down on a stool next to the bed and put on some gloves. "Come on, do you really need to do this?"

"Do you want this to get infected?" the doctor replied, pointing to a red spot on the bandage. "Hey, at least it's healing nicely. You should be grateful for that." The doctor began gently pulling off the bandages, trying to keep Ed in a good mood with jokes and pointless stories. Ed wasn't very amused.

Once he was done, the doctor produced a small bottle. "Need painkillers today?"

Ed shook his head. He was in pain, but he'd rather deal with pain than take strange drugs. That first time when Tessa had put him to sleep, he'd woken up two days later in a state of panic, thinking something bad was going to happen. Sure, his leg hadn't hurt as much then, but he still didn't like them messing with his mind.

The doctor left the room, closing the door behind him. Tessa stayed with Ed, and after a while, she stood up and stretched. "So, want to do something fun?"

"Like what?"

"Maybe a card game?"

"No thanks."

She stood next to the bed for a moment. "Do you really want to know why we're keeping you here?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Be careful what you wish for."

Before Ed could question this, she gently picked up Ed's left leg and put it on the stool. Then she sat down next to him and put her hand on his head. Ed was about to take it off when she began her explanation.