Dying Embers

Chapter 1
The Flame Alchemist

chapter warnings: language, anime spoilers

comments: please understand that I'm a little bit out of my comfort zone here. My friend finally convinced me to write a RoyXEd fic. I've never attempted any yaoi pairings before and this also happens to be one of my first FMA stories. Oh and I 3 reviews XD

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of it's characters...at least not in this world

The soft echo of footsteps on metal was unusually fast paced. Everyone knew something was about to happen. They'd grown accustomed to the slow, even march of footsteps that patrolled the camp each day, but these footsteps were wild and random. The scattered remains of families clung to one another, unwilling to be torn apart again. Everyone was tense; their eyes wild as they wondered what was going on. No, scratch that. It wasn't a question of what was going on…it was a question of who would be taken away.

Dark onyx eyes scanned the metal room, filled with nothing but filthy people in tattered clothes and a door without a handle. The owner of these eyes was even more alert than the rest. He could sense it…his luck had run out.

"Sir," came the quiet voice. Roy Mustang turned his gaze toward the blonde haired lieutenant. The time spent here had wiped away the professional edge to Riza's personality. Although she was less professional around him now, she wasn't broken like the rest of them. Together, somehow they'd kept their sanity and the bond between them had grown. For a split second her old self was back again, before it faded away into worry. She'd guessed it too.

He opened his mouth to respond when there was a loud beep. Instantly everyone in the room sprang back to the wall opposite the door. All accepted one man, who lay on the ground, moaning quietly.

The door sprang open and perhaps twenty men in uniforms formed a line between them and the door. Fear was written across almost everyone's face as one chocolate-haired man stepped ahead of the others. He had a smug, confident look on his face as he stared at them like they were dirt.

His cold, gray eyes found the man on the floor. He walked up to him and kicked him lightly. His face was disgusted as he stared down at the man. "Get up you worthless rat!" he snarled.

A terrible cough racked through the man's body as he tried to get up. He fell to the hard metal floor. He man motioned to one of the other soldiers. "Get this trash out of my sight!" The soldier instantly obeyed, picking up the man and hauling his weak body out of the room.

Those beetle like eyes scanned the room, glimmering with amusement. "We have reason to believe an alchemist is hiding among you creatures!" Roy's eyes found his rank, right net to the all too familiar Nazi symbol. A General, just like he used to be…before these assholes showed up.

He very quietly stepped back into the group of his people and smirked as he realized how useful his hair was being. He'd hated its length up until now. He hadn't cut it since he'd gotten locked up in this hellhole and it had grown enough to hide most his facial features.

The General strolled closer to them, completely confident in himself. His eyes stared at them all, his eyes searching. He paused in front of Roy. Riza stiffened as he reached out and grabbed Roy's jaw.

Roy froze, knowing it wouldn't do him any good to loose his temper. It wasn't like he could burn the bastard to a crisp anyway…he needed gloves for that. The man turned his head, to look at him from all angles. Roy knew he was caught, but his eyes were defiant as he was examined.

Finally the man pulled back his hair to get a good look at his face and exposing Roy's throat. That was pushing it, and he instinctively responded snapping his fingers, bad mistake. The man smirked as nothing happened. "We've been looking for you, Flame Alchemist."

"Who?" asked Roy quietly, well-aware that his attempts would be pointless in the end.

"Don't play dumb Mustang," laughed the General as he walked out the door.

Roy couldn't help but to hope that this was over and all they wanted to do was confirm he was there. Having hope wasn't a very common thing these days…not since the Gate had opened. Roy shuddered as he remembered those the first time he saw the Germans…those strange flying machines coming out of the portal, and the bombs…

Alchemy was a powerful thing, but only so many people could control it, and even fewer could cause chaos like that and survive the consequences. They hadn't stood a chance against the damn Nazi and their strange technology.

One of said machines was placed before him and he lost all hope. They were all familiar with it by now…and with the side-effects of the gas that came out of it. The crowd shuffled nervously, wondering exactly what kind of gas that it contained. His eyes flashed with worry, but not for himself. He honestly didn't care about what happened to him, but he didn't want to be responsible for the death of all these people too.

By now the Nazi were gone and the machine was starting to release an odorless and colorless gas. Roy coughed as he instinctively put his hand up to cover his mouth and nose. After a little bit a soft thud distracted all of the panicky people, their eyes were draw to the child's limp body, morbidly curious. Then they started panicking even more.

One of them pointed at him and started babbling in some language he didn't understand, but he did recognize it. The German woman had dark hair and accusing eyes. The necklace around her neck told him the rest of the story. He didn't need to speak German to know that this was one of the Jewish people and she was blaming him for all this. The painful part was, she was right.

Then suddenly she collapsed too. All around him he watched the people fall, one by one, to their fate. Eventually, Roy fell to his knees, cursing softly. He spotted Hawkeye, lying on the floor before subconsciously deciding to crawl over to her. He felt lightheaded and his actions were slow and confusing, but eventually he did make it. It was getting harder to breathe and his breath was unsteady as he fumbled at her throat. The soft beat of her pulse against his skin sent relief through the man. Then he fell on top of her and slowly drifted away into eternal night.

When his heavy eyes finally opened he found he couldn't see anything. He panicked, wondering if he really had died. Then his eyes slowly adjusted to the sunlight and he relaxed. Wait…the sun?

He stared out the window as if he'd never seen the sun before…of course it'd been almost a year since he had. After awhile of marveling at the giant orb his eyes surveyed his surroundings, trying to figure out what the situation was.

He was alone in a small metal box with one window. The window had bars across it and judging by the scenery outside Roy guessed he was on the inside of a car. As soon as he realized that his heart sunk. What hell did they have set aside for him now?

His wrists were shackled, with very interesting shackles, specifically designed to keep arms apart. His stared down at the bar that held his hands at a distance. Didn't the Germans understand alchemy by now? In order to use it, alchemists needed a circle…well most alchemist anyway. If the alchemist caught in these had chalk, they would have no trouble drawing a circle.

He stiffened at the thoughts that flickered across his mind. No, that couldn't be possible… could it? Roy's mind sorted through the possibilities. Obviously the first alchemist the German's had ever encountered didn't use transmutation circles. He stopped right there and forced himself to think logically. The particular alchemist he was thinking of wasn't the only one who'd ever been through the Gate.

He could name three others ones right off the back, but still that didn't make sense. The Germans had come from beyond the Gate so…

Hope flared in his chest before it instantly died. Even if it had by some chance been Edward, that didn't mean it was a good thing. So he'd been alive when he reached the other side, but who knows what the Germans did with him?

His heart sank; surely Germany would have wanted to get rid of such a powerful enemy. Guilt clawed at his stomach at the thought. He felt more than a little responsible for the young man's disappearance more than three years ago. He should never have let Edward go alone. He should've been there to…

Do what exactly? came the cruel voice from inside his head. He stared out the window, knowing the answer. The young girl Rose had told them all what had happened, how Ed had been unable to use alchemy because of what Al had become. That mean the same went for him. If he'd been there, he probably would've just gotten in the way, because without his flame…he was pretty much useless.

It hurt him to admit that, even to himself. It bothered him that he knew so little about alchemy, only bothering to learn the basics. As far as he had been concerned his fire was all he needed. Boy was he wrong. Even if he had something to draw a circle with he wouldn't have any clue which circle to draw. He scowled, swearing to himself if he survived all this he'd step out of his comfort zone and learn about other types of alchemy.

Suddenly a small piece of the wall slid outward, bringing in more light. He blinked at the window as a pair of eyes gleam in at him. "Oh Mr. Mustang…you're awake!"

The man seemed uncomfortable and his green eyes had a strangely familiar gold tint to them. Then his voice, it sounded familiar too…but at the same time it was different. Roy's own eyes blinked in confusion at the eyes as they stared back at him. Without even thinking he replied to the man, "It's just Roy."

Now he was confusing himself. Why did it matter that this stranger called him Roy? He didn't have an answer. If there was any consolation it was that now the strange man was also confused. Despite that he carried on in a slight too cheerful voice, "Whatever you say."

"Where are we headed?" Roy asked, trying to gather as much information as possible.

"Central."

"But…I thought…"

"Yeah most of it's just a pile of rubble now. But there's also a concentration camp there, designed specifically for alchemists like you." The man sounded like he didn't like this subject at all. His tone darkened and he could practically feel the man's negative emotions rolling off of him.

Roy leaned back against the wall of the vehicle before asking curiously. "How can you understand us anyway? Most of you Nazi can only understand German."

He heard the man shifting uncomfortably in the front. "I'm-"

"That's enough," came a second, deeper voice. "We're almost there."

The window slid shut, cutting off a protest from the first man. Roy glared at the window for another second before burying his head in his shackled hands. Of course, being surrounded by other alchemists was probably a good thing, but for all he knew he was being taken here just to be killed.

He wasn't ready to die quite yet, there was so much left he needed to do. Besides he was much too stubborn to go down without a fight…this might be his one and only chance to escape.

He carefully examined the shackles, trying to find a weak point. Frustration coursed through him as he realized there was no way he was breaking this without some sort of heavy object…or alchemy. He wasn't about to start banging it against the walls either…that would instantly alert the two men in the front.

He sighed, not liking this situation at all. His only choice would be to run for it once they opened the door. His chances of getting away with this were slim to none, but he had to try. His damn pride wouldn't let him simply give up.

Turns out he wouldn't even get that chance. When the car finally pulled to a stop and the back door open Roy let out a curse. He stared at the huge wall that now separated him from the outside world. The man who had opened the door smirked at him. "You didn't really think we'd give you the opportunity to run now did you? Not after all the trouble we went through to find you."

Lucky me,thought Roy, glaring at the man. "Where'd the other man go?"

The man shrugged. "Probably off to do some other job. I don't really know or really care either," he paused, staring at Roy. "You going to stand there all day or do I have to drag you out?"

His dark eyes flashed as he considered taking the later option, but his dignity wouldn't let him do it. He wasn't going to be dragged into this like some pathetic animal.

Walls surrounded the area and dead center, equal distance from all of them was a large building that clearly screamed prison at anyone who walked past. Barbed wire and chain-linked fences were everywhere. Roy pushed away the hopelessness that had taken hold of him. Nothing was perfect...there had to be a weak spot somewhere.

If there was he didn't see it on his way into the building. The place was totally made of metal and smelled sort of like a hospital. It was a lot like the last camp, with long corridors that led to nowhere but locked doors. Eventually he stood in front of one of these doors. The man fumbled with his shackles, releasing his wrists before pushing him in. He heard the door click shut as he stumbled forward.

As soon as he really looked he was proven wrong. This room was more than four times the size his previous cell had been and there were hardly any people here at all. What shocked him even more was that two of them were fighting each other.

A girl whose light brown hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail was aiming all sorts of punches and kicks at her opponent. Roy's eyes found the tattoos on her palms, definitely and alchemist. Her opponent was a familiar blonde-haired boy with bright blue eyes. He barely noticed the blows as he ran forward, grabbing the girl's foot as she aimed a kick. He grinned at her before throwing her to the ground, "Sorry Suzume, but I think I won this time."

"A-Alphonse?" stammered Roy. The last time he'd seen the boy he'd been ordering him to leave the country and go into hiding. He didn't really have authority over Al, but he couldn't believe that he was in here...instead of looking for Ed.

The young man looked confused for a moment as Suzume stood up and stared at Roy with obvious dislike. "I don't believe we've met..." he said quietly, thinking, "Who are you exactly?"

"Roy Mustang," the flame alchemist spoke slowly, wondering if Al had lost his mind.

"Oh that explains it then! You must -" the boy was cut off by an all too familiar beeping sound.

He and Suzume exchanged glances the girl rolled her sky blue eyes, "Here we go again."

Everyone turned to stare at one point on the wall. After blinking at it for a few moments, Roy realized it was a door. At that moment the door swung open to reveal a shockingly familiar face. Roy's mouth dropped open. It was the man from the car who'd vanished earlier, but it definitely wasn't who he expected it to be.

His old friend looked bothered by something and that soon became apparent as a voice trailed into the room from the corridor. "What would Gracia be thinking if she could see you now Maes?"

Roy, normally so very good at hiding his emotions had shock written all over his face. There was no way he was going to be able to hide it either. "M-Maes?"

The room was dead quiet as he stared at the man who seemed determined not to meet his gaze. There was a suddenly movement outside that Roy wasn't even aware of. He didn't see the golden eyes widen before carefully composing themselves once more. He wasn't aware of anything but Maes until he heard the voice. "Hardly…he's Maes alright, but not the one you remember."

Roy's eyes snapped away from Maes and onto the man standing behind him. Slightly on the shorter side, with golden hair pulled back into a messy ponytail…was Edward.