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Chapter One

Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, hurried down the street toward the apartment complex that he shared with his brother. He was excited to say the least. He might have just found a way to get his brothers body back; without the use of a philosopher's stone. He just couldn't wait to tell his brother the news.

He was just racing up the steps to the complex when he saw Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes coming down them. He stopped for a short second and let his eyes meet Hughes's. Apparently Hughes had seen him as well, for he smiled and lifted his arm in greeting.

"Hey Edward. How's it going?" He asked the blonde alchemist. "You seem to be in a hurry."

All Edward could do was smile. He let his own arm raise above his head, while yelling, louder than necessary, "Lieutenant Colonel! Hey!"

Hughes was surprised. He had never seen Edward smile so widely or genuinely at anyone besides his brother. He saw that Edward was excited about something so he wanted to figure out what could make the blonde so adorably happy and cute.

"Well, Ed, what's going on?"

"You'll never believe this Hughes!" Edward panted as he had just stopped running up to get in front of Hughes.

Hughes noticed that the smile still did not leave the younger's face.

"What is it?"

"I think… I found… one second…" He was still panting as he held up his finger in a signal to let him catch his breath. After a few moments of deep breathing, he continued.

"I just came back from the library, I think I might have found a way to get Al's body back, and without a philosopher's stone!"

Hughes was stunned, but obviously overjoyed for Ed's situation.

"How's that?"

Edward just smiled wider. And started to go around Hughes to the door of the dorms. Hughes just smiled, knowing that Edward was just too excited to answer him at that moment. He would probably go to see them in a little bit. He watched Edward as he had fully passed him, continuing to the door. Edward glanced back to him and waved him toward him.

"Come on Lieutenant Colonel! Come up, and you can hear with Al!" He explained. "I know you will be one of the first people he will want to tell after this. And this way we won't have to track you down."

Hughes smiled at Edward and Edward just turned and opened the door, holding it long enough for Hughes to reach it and grab it to keep it open for himself to walk through.

They both made their way up the stairs to the third floor and down the corridor to the Elric's apartment. Edward reached into his pocket and brought out his key, then unlocked the door and opened it.

Edward turned and let Hughes go in first and then came in behind him and shut the door.

"Al!" Edward called out. He waited a few seconds and was rewarded with the sound of stomping metal coming down the hall from the direction of the room.

Alphonse Elric came into the living room and stopped short as soon as he saw Edward and the Lieutenant Colonel in the living room.

"What's the big commotion, brother?" Al asked, sounding a little bit worried, and if it wasn't mistaken, a little put off. Hughes smiled at the suit of armor. He knew the brothers were very protective of each other and quite often thought the worst of situations that involved the other.

Edward just ran up to Alphonse and grabbed him and brought him over to the sitting area and pushed him down on the couch.

"You are going to want to sit down for this Al! You aren't going to believe this… I…" He stopped for a second, looking at his brother. Hughes noticed that Edward's joyous smile had suddenly turned into a frown. An expression of worry. "Al? What's wrong?"

Apparently Ed had seen or felt something off about his brother. Hughes didn't noticed anything out of the ordinary, but that didn't stop the fleeting feeling of worry cross his heart. He knew from experience that if one of the Elric's had a bad feeling about something, then that usually meant he needed to trust them.

Alphonse looked up at his brother, stared at him for a few long seconds than turned his attention to Hughes. Hughes felt a shiver go down his back. Something's not right here! What is wrong with Al? Hughes thought suddenly. Al was continuously glaring at Hughes.

"I can't believe you, brother!" Al exclaimed angrily. He stood up from the couch and came toward Ed. "Excuse us for a moment, Mr. Hughes. I need to speak with my brother!" Al took Ed by the arm and pulled him quite forcefully down the hall to the bedroom. He took Ed and shoved him into the room, making him stumble to the floor.

"Al! What the hell!" Edward yelled, picking himself up off the floor as Al came in behind him and slammed the bedroom door shut. Al then turned around towards the door, and clicked the lock in place. He then proceeded to the dresser bureau and pushed it in front of the door, making a barricade in front of it. He then turned back to his brother and noticed the worried expression on the blonde's face and chuckled quietly.

"AL! What's going on with you? Why did you just barricade our bedroom door?" Edward said frantically. Something was definitely off with his younger brother. "What exactly are you doing? I have good news and I thought that Hughes would be want to hear it! Al, I think, I think, well… I don't know how to say it… but… I think I found a way to get your body back!" He said exasperatingly, taking a deep breath than continued. "Come on, Al! Let us go back out! I want Hughes to hear this too"!

Al just sat their staring back at the boy before him. "No." He said plainly. Ed looked at him like he had three heads. "I will not open the door up, for anyone to interrupt this conversation that we are about to finally have."

"What conversation, Al?" Ed asked, starting to get a little worried and annoyed at the same time. He had never seen Alphonse act like this. It was concerning to say the least.

Al continued to stare at Edward, then proceeded to yell something at Edward that he did not ever expect his brother to say to him.

"I HATE YOU, BROTHER!"

Then Al proceeded to rush towards Edward, his fist drawn back.

Chapter Two

Hughes was stunned. He didn't know what the heck was going on with Alphonse, but he knew something wasn't right. He himself had never seen the younger Elric act like this. It was unnerving to say the least. Al was the gentlest person he knew, besides his beloved Gracia and his darling Elysia, but that was beside the point. He had a feeling something bad was going to happen.

He watched as Alphonse had taken his older brother by the arm and continued to the hallway to the back bedroom. He heard a thump and Edward yell something about hell! He flinched when he realized that the thump was Edward and Al had pushed him. Something's definitely not right with Alphonse today. He thought worriedly. He took a few steps forward towards the hall to try and hear what was being said. He knew he should let the brother's take care of their own business but something wasn't right at the moment.

He stood there for a few minutes trying to hear but couldn't really make out anything coherent. He was about to continue down the hallway quietly to avoid suspicion of eavesdropping when he heard the very thing he never expected to hear out of Alphonse Elric's mouth.

"I HATE YOU, BROTHER!"

Hughes stopped dead in his tracks. What did he just hear? Did he hear correctly? Did Alphonse just say that? Hughes then heard a smash from the room and rushed down the hall. He reached the door as another crash was heard. What the hell is going on in there? He thought anxiously. He tried to open the door, but found it locked. He was about to knock, when he heard more yelling from the other side.

"AL! STOP! What are you… ahhh!" Another crash. That's Ed! What in gods' name is going on in there?! Why the hell are they fighting? Hughes couldn't help but feel a little scared about what was happening behind the locked door. He thought he heard pain in Edward's voice but couldn't be completely sure. Another crash, and then the sound of glass breaking.

Hughes reached for the knob again and tried to force his shoulder into the door. Hughes didn't know why the door wouldn't open. Must be a barricade or something! Hughes was definitely concerned now that glass was in the mix. He didn't know what to do now, except try to get into the room. He started pounding on the door.

"ED! AL! What's going on in there? Are you two alright?" He yelled through the door.

No answer came to him, just continued crashes and thumps. He didn't like the sound of what was going on. He was just about to bang on the door again when he heard an unworldly cry of pain. He again froze, That was Ed, what…. He didn't finish the thought. He took a step back from the door and brought his leg up and kicked the door with all his might. To his luck the door practically flew off the hinges but to the cursed fates it only went a couple of inches off the frame.

He groaned. He didn't hesitate as he put both hands on the door and proceeded to push with all his might. He got the door far enough in to squeeze through the space and did just that. He squeezed through the space, and finally entered the room.

What he saw would never leave his memory as long as he was alive. He was sure of that.

The first thing he saw was the room's disarray. The walls had holes in them and there were broken windows and dressers. The bed was uneven as one of the bed legs had been smashed.

He didn't have time to survey the room for long, for as he was looking around the room he saw a suit of metal armor in the middle of the room. What would stay in his memory was the fact that Alphonse Elric was atop Edward and had his hands wrapped around Edward's throat. And that Edward had his eyes closed and wasn't struggling. He also saw that Ed had blood streaming down his head.

Hughes wasted no time in rushing forward and trying to pry Alphonse's hands from the blonde's throat. He didn't have much difficulty, as Al shoved away from him and fled out of the room.

"Alphonse!" Hughes yelled in desperation to stop the younger from leaving. He couldn't believe what just happened. He heard the stomping of armor and then the front door slam shut. He sighed and turned his attention quickly back to the blonde in front of him.

The first thing Hughes noticed about Edward was that he was pale. He stared carefully for a few seconds at Ed's chest before realizing that Ed wasn't breathing. He took a deep breath, he knew to keep calm at a time like this, he was trained, but despite that he couldn't help but feel panic. He put his finger down to Ed's neck, holding a breath, as he was holding on to hope.

He found the pulse, it was still strong, but stuttering. That can't be good. He then took his hands and placed them on Ed's chest and proceeded with CPR. He did the compression then the breaths, he continued to do this three times, and was just about to lose the hope he had when Ed suddenly gasped loudly for air. Hughes quickly put his arm behind his back and lifted him to a sitting position. Ed was then coughing.

Hughes was about to let out a sigh of relief when suddenly he felt something wet, warm and sticky soaking through his uniform pants. He looked down and saw that there was a good sized puddle of blood under him and the young alchemist.

"Edward!" He cried out loudly. He then proceeded to check the younger for injuries. What he found scared him. Embedded in Edward's stomach was a dagger. Hughes gasped. There was no way that this was possible. Al tried to kill Edward! How in the hell did this happen?

Hughes knew what he had to do. He didn't want to do it, as he knew Edward would cuss him out later for it. But Hughes didn't mind that, just as long as he was alive to do so. He laid him gently back on the floor, and got up and rushed out the door to the living room and ran straight to the phone.

The first thing he did was to call for an emergency medic, giving the address and the condition of the Fullmetal Alchemist. He was told they would be there within a few minutes and to try and stop the bleeding. He knew this already, so he decided to just hang up and continue with his second phone call. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with this one, but he knew the person he was going to call would probably fry him if he didn't call him. He sighed and then quickly dialed the number.

Riiing. Riing. Riiing.

On the third ring, the said person picked up.

"Colonel Roy Mustang speaking."

Hughes panicked for a split second and then sighed.

How the hell am I to explain this?

Well that's the end of the first two chapters! I hope you liked it so far. I would appreciate any and all critiques of this fic. Please review!

MysticRose