Ed ran full speed ahead. He was trying to get away from Scar, who had managed to destroy his automail-again. Normally, this would be about the time that Ed would sneer at Scar, yelling about how Winry was going to kill him for ruining her precious work. But this wasn't going the way things "normally" did.

For one thing, Scar seemed a lot more angry than usual. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Ling/Greed was attacking them? Ed couldn't be sure. And that was the other thing: Ed had been trying to convince Ling that he should be fighting the homunculus inside of him, not fighting Ed. And that had turned out to be a total failure, since Scar had taken that as an opportunity to get Ed's arm destroyed.

"Brother, look out!" Al called, bringing Ed back to his current predicament.

Ed looked back just in time to see Ling hurl a huge chunk of concrete at his head. Crap, he couldn't transmute with one hand! Calculating in his head at lightning speed, Ed turned to face the oncoming projectile and decided his best course of action was to duck, which he did. Maybe he was thinking about that a little too hard, but hey, the heat of battle made you focus on the weirdest things.

"Al, I think it's time to go." Ed called to his brother hoarsely, who was trying not to get hit by Scar's pseudo alchemy.

"But what about Ling?" Al called back, his voice making it sound like he hadn't been running away from a mass murder for the last half hour. Sometimes, Ed couldn't help but wish he didn't get winded, like his little brother. Must be nice to fight Scar forever without running out of steam.

"What about him? It doesn't sound like he wants to be convinced right now."

"No, you just aren't in any condition to keep fighting him." Al chided.

"Shut up!" Ed snapped, not in the mood for games,"Let's go before you get hurt."

"Whatever you say, brother."

"Believe it or not, I can hear you when you two yell back and forth like that. Just so you know."

An eerie voice whispered, far too close for comfort. Ed spun around to face Greed; he still hadn't gotten used to that creepy voice that the new Greed had. It sounded nothing like the old Greed or Ling, and it only made Ed more determined to get Ling back in his own body. (Even to himself, that last thought sounded a little crazy).

"Who cares if you can hear us? It's not like you could stop us." Ed lied through his teeth. He could only hope that he could get out of there alive; there were no guarantees, especially with Scar there.

Greed laughed; it grated against Ed's ears, and he fought the urge to cover them.

"You think you can get away from me? I get everything I want, and I want to beat you."

Ed was just going to ignore him. No sense in bothering with Greed anymore when he was just trying to get away.

As Ed turned to "strategically regroup", as he liked to call it, Greed started screaming bloody murder. Ed turned back, eyes wide, as Ling fought to regain himself from the homunculi.

"Get…out…" That was Ling's real voice, Ed realized.

"Brother!" Al called, nearly screaming. Ed's heart dropped. He ignored Ling entirely, despite wanting to help his friend. Al was being backed up against a wall by Scar, and Scar looked ready to kill.

"Al!" Ed raced towards the fight, jumping over the jagged hunks of concrete that protruded at odd angles from the ground. Someone was going to be pissed about that later. People didn't seem to like it very much when Ed and Al fought in Central, even if they were in a remote back alley….sort of.

Scar was reaching towards Al, his hand clawed. He wasn't going to make it to them in time.

"Al!" Ed cried desperately. Then, quite unexpectedly to everyone, an unfamiliar voice joined the chorus of screaming echoing throughout the alley.

"Mommy!" it cried. Everyone's heads whipped towards a little boy, who stood at the entrance of the alley. Alphonse and Scar were closest to him, with Ling being the furthest, but their interest in the boy was opposite of their positions. Scar ignored him completely, going back to trying to get Al, while it turned out that Greed had incorporated the boy into his plans. Ed had taken the newcomer's appearance as an opportunity to get his head on straight, and now he felt he was close enough to Scar to try to talk to him. But before he even opened his mouth, he was had a whole new problem to deal with.

Ling, no, Greed, for Ling seemingly hadn't been able to regain himself, was holding the little boy by the scruff of the neck. Greed had somehow managed to get past Ed and Scar to get to the boy. He was crying more loudly for his mother, and seemed beside himself on what he should do. He pathetically tried to flail out of Greed's grasp, but of course, he was no match for a homunculi.

"Everyone stop what they're doing, or I kill this kid." Greed demanded, swinging the child for good measure.

"Stop it!" Ed yelled, too furious to care about falling into Greed's trap; whatever that was. Scar had stopped trying to disassemble Al: the only upside to this awful turn of events. Scar seemed interested in how this would play out, so he had stopped to watch Greed.

"Ling, don't do this!" Al cried, still backed up against the wall. Greed ignored him. He seemed to only have eyes for Ed, who was torn between his brother and Greed.

"While you might not be able to get everything that you want, I can." Greed snickered. "And this is how it's done."

Ed looked at the crying boy. He couldn't have been any older than Nina had been when she died. Forcing back the unshed tears that her memory brought, Ed felt his face turn red with anger. "What do you want?" he steamed, getting ready to kick some serious ass.

"I want…" Greed took some time to think, forcing the others to wait for him. Seriously? He seriously grabbed some poor, innocent boy and held him hostage, without knowing what he wanted? That was it. Ed couldn't take this anymore, especially not from this idiot, Greed.

Surprising everyone, Ed charged towards Greed, hoping the element of surprise would give him enough time to use his alchemy to get the boy out of danger.

"Brother!" Al cried out, but Ed ignored him. He was in the heat of the moment, and he was going to get Ling to realize that Greed was such an idiot that it should be simple to get his body back. Greed watched his adversary advance, obviously too slow to realize what Ed was doing. Or so Ed thought. A step or so away from Greed, Ed reached to clap his hands together to form a sword with alchemy…. Only to find that he only had one hand. Who forgets something like that? That was his last thought before he skidded to a halt in front of Ling, who reached out and punched him in the nose. Ed tasted blood as an explosion of pain erupted from his face. It wasn't the most painful thing he had ever gone through, but it was apparently enough to knock him out. Blinded from the hit, the last thing Ed remembered before losing consciousness was hearing the screams of his brother and that innocent little boy. Little did he know that it would haunt him for the rest of his life.

A/N: Hey people! Thanks for reading! :) I honestly don't know if I should continue this story or not. I haven't worked on it in a while because it doesn't seem like anyone likes it. If I get a few comments on it... *hint hint wink wink* Maybe I'll have the self-confidence necessary to write again. I don't know... 5 comments on each chapter might help me change my mind...

Anway, thanks again for reading! Enjoy!