Contains gore.

''I… Must go on standing,
You can't break that which isn't yours.
I… Must go on standing,
I am not my own, it's not my choice…

Be afraid of the lame
… They'll inherit your legs.
Be afraid of the old
… They'll inherit your souls.
Be afraid of the cold
…They'll inherit your blood.
Après moi le deluge,
After me comes the flood.

I… Must go on standing,
You can't break that which isn't yours.
I… Must go on standing,
I am not my own, it's not my choice…

Be afraid of the lame
… They'll inherit your legs.
Be afraid of the old
… They'll inherit your souls.
Be afraid of the cold
… They'll inherit your blood.
Après moi le deluge,
After me comes the flood.

Be afraid of the lame
… They'll inherit your legs.
Be afraid of the old
… They'll inherit your souls.
Be afraid of the cold
… They'll inherit your blood.
Après moi le deluge,
After me… Comes the flood.

The flood…''

-Peter Gabriel

Roy couldn't believe that he had found himself back at that small house in Risembool. The atmosphere was depressing, saddening. Winry's parents... Well, of course.

But the most depressing of all was that small boy, Edward Elric, with his large, sad eyes. Lying in a bed, helpless due to his own ignorance.

When Roy knocked on the door, an elderly woman answered the door. She was quite short, and had a humorous tinge to her appearance, even though she was dead serious. Roy thought that he remembered her name being Pinako - Grandma Pinako. She glared up at him. '' You have no business here, Officer.''

Everyone treated military officers this way. The usual coldness stung, but Roy didn't react to it. '' I have come to see what Edward has decided. That is my business.''

Pinako rolled her eyes. '' I don't know what the boy is thinking, but he's decided to become one of you.'' She looked back into the house when a scream was heard, coming from a young boy.

Roy recognized the scream as Edward's. He could picture the boy in his head - laying in a bed, right arm, left leg, both stumps. Blood everywhere. Shivering slightly, Roy looked into the house as well, concerned.

Scowling, Pinako turned back to Roy. '' Well, now that you're here, make yourself useful.'' And with that bitter remark, she walked quickly into the house and up the stairs, toward the screaming.

Roy felt awkward doing so, but he too walked into the house and slowly made his way up the stairs. The screaming grew louder, and soon it was easy to tell which room Roy should make his way too.

He stood in the doorway and watched for a few moments. The scene was just as he pictured, except now, the screaming had turned to coughing, and there was much more blood than he imagined... Since the boy was now coughing it up.

Various machines and cords littered the room, all hooked up to the body of a small blonde boy. Said blonde boy was sitting up, leaning over the side of the bed, one hand clinging to the railing, coughing so hard that it made Roy's body hurt to watch him. And goddamn the blood. It was everywhere, surrounding Edward: in the bedsheets, on the floor, even coming out of the boy himself... And he just kept coughing it up. It seemed as if it were never going to stop.

Pinako began screaming various commands to Winry and the boy who's body encased in metal armor. Roy believed his name was Al.

Roy felt blank as he watched all of this going on. It was not what he had anticipated seeing when he decided to visit Ed again. His high hopes of the boy healing fast were shattered.

Finally, the boy's coughing stopped, and he flopped down onto the bed. His chest and shoulders heaved as he breathed, and his whole body shook with exertion.

''Please! Lieutenant Colonel Mustang! '' Roy turned to look into the sad, blue eyes of a young Winry. She was crying, and he could tell that she was slightly scared talking to him. '' W-We have to go downstairs... For a while. Get some stuff to clean this up... T-take care of Ed for a while... Please... Here,'' She grabbed a cloth out of her pocket and dipped into the bucket of water on the floor. '' P-Put this to his face, wash him off... '' She mumbled, and with that, she ran out the door.

Roy turned to face Ed. The young boy had his eyes closed now, and if he weren't breathing heavily, Roy would have sworn he was dead.

He walked next to the bed and slowly - albeit hesitantly - put the cloth to the boy's forehead. Edward made a small sound - both pained and begging - as he opened one eye too look up at Roy.

''R-Roy.''

Lip quivering, the young blonde started to sit up. He couldn't look weak around Lieutenant Colonel Mustang. But it was no use. He fell back down, chest heaving again, gritting his teeth in pain.

He turned his head away from Roy, and began crying. Crying about what, he didn't know. There was so much to cry about. His limbs, Al's body, their ignorance, mother.

The wet cloth was put to his face again, and Ed slowly stopped crying. But he was still in so much pain.He began to whimper, and turned to face Roy again, eyes closed, left arm curled around his stomach.

''Don't die on me, kid.''

'' Th-That's not p-part of the plan, C-Colonel. ''

A/N: Thank you for reading! This is my first story on here, sooo... yeah! Please leave a review if you'd like, and I'll answer any questions that you have. I am indeed aware that there is apparently a story fairly similar to this, but since it's based on a canon scene, that doesn't surprise me. ^_^ Oh well! Thanks again!