It wasn't really fair how the two Elric brothers so often found themselves in fights. Sure, they weren't the kids dutifully going to school every day and staying at home during the evenings. In their searches they didn't always need to find the kindest of people and risks were insured, an occupational hazard. Still, if it could be avoided, they would not search for violence just for the sake of it. This guy did.

Colonel Mustang had handed Edward a mission in another far part of Central, to look if something had happened to a state alchemist that had not reported or contacted anyone even though it was his duty. He'd simply vanished from the radar. This town was pretty known for its problems and especially high criminal rate, so a usual soldier to send would not be enough.

Too bad for the Elrics though, really Mustang should have known by then that where they went trouble went too, it didn't turn out to be an ordinary check-up.

They'd been guided towards a small house at the edge, high metal poles surrounding it (something Ed assumed had to do with his alchemy research, he was known for controlling light and even lightning by controlling the exited atoms of the air) and there was an open outfield just aside. The place had given Ed a bad feeling, as soon as they arrived, the air was strangely loaded and it was too quiet. He'd gotten kind of used to being attacked by then, after not even two years in the military, so the alchemist coming up with threats wasn't even surprising. His story was though.

Apparently (or according to the man, Rinston Hurdell, at least) a crew working in the nearby fishing ports had accidently heard military information that they shouldn't have heard.

"They wanted me to get rid of them all. Hide it under the mat. So you see, state alchemists are nothing but weapons. And just like every weapon, the best thing for everyone is to simply burry them," he said, almost in the tone of explaining simple math to a dumb child, voice calm but cold and hateful.

"What does that mean?" Al asked him, ever the innocent one, and not ready to accept the military would go that far for repercussions.

"It means…" Rinston said, pulling a pair of gauntlet looking gloves on. "There will soon no longer be any state alchemists amongst the living."

"This guy and Scar should really get married," Ed stated while crossing his arms, Al that close to rolling his red eyes at the comment.

And so another unavoidable fight began. The guy didn't give them much of an escape route, but even if he had, they couldn't let this man run loose trying to kill people. The name "Lightning alchemist" clearly didn't come from nothing. Not only did those gloes make the man able to shock anyone in outer contact with them, but he could actually shoot out beams of the naturepower from a long distance. It made both close combat and staying afar dangerous.

In the beginning the two brothers managed to hold their own pretty well, they were close to trapping the guy repeatedly and Ed managed to get in one or two hits before he had to back away. It gave the other man an upper hand as the boys couldn't risk killing him, and it seemed he somehow pulled energy to use from the current storm over them.

When another hit of lightning came at him, Alphonse only managed to raise his gloves in the last second, the leather managing to block most of the blow, the rest travelling over his arms and stopping just before the shoulders of the armour. Still, the force of the blast strong enough to blow him backwards. Landing harshly on the soft ground, Al knew he would have no time to create a transmutation circle before the man would strike at him again. If he did, Al wasn't sure his blood seal would hold be it touched.

Fortunately, his older brother was always there to watch his back. A wall of earth rose in front of him, making him an unreachable target.

Unfortunatly, the Lightning Alchemist had seen that coming, noticing how the brothers always would protect each other. Therefor he was ready, and in the absolute last second he redirected the bane of his blast.

Al looked up from the dirt just in time to see the electricity strike straight through Edward's chest, resonating in cruel blue waves all throughout his small body for seconds that passed for eternities.

No scream could be heard from the boy, only the horrible sound of lightning crackling and metal siring.

Alphonse screamed for all he was worth though, and the Storm Alchemist laughed on the verge of madly in the background as the suit of armour frantically scrambled up to reach his brother. Within seconds he was at his only family member's side. It scared him deeply how Ed was just staring forward with wide, unblinking eyes, not even reacting as Alphonse shook his shoulders in hope of a reaction of any kind.

"NII-SAN!" The boy screamed again as Ed's knees suddenly buckled, eyes rolling up in the back of his head. Al, who'd held his brother by the shoulders sunk down with him, trying to be gentle even though his unforgiving metal arms just wanted to shake his brother back to him. "ED!"

The following reaction was not one he had wanted though. Cradling the small blonde tightly in his huge arms, the panic resonating through his soul left him unaware of the Alchemist still behind him. That is until the forsaken sound cut through the air again, and landed straight in the soul-bounded armours back. Of course Alphonse himself didn't feel it, only a strange tingling feeling hit him as the spreading crackles barely missed his blood-seal. No, that wasn't what the boy reacted on. It was on how the lightning was guided through his arms, straight to his brother.

Ed's body spasmed repeatedly in his embrace and this time the blonde boy did scream. It took precious seconds too long for Al to realize he had to let go, quickly but gently laying his only family member down on the ground. He barely had time to register how Ed fell completely limp before another shot blasted through the air, almost knocking his helmet of. The boy spun around furiously, picking the alchemist up with a glare that showed nothing but pure hatred towards the man.

"YOU BASTARD!" He screamed, never giving the man a chance to answer nor transmute as he pounded. Pinning the man to the ground, all he could possibly see was red, and afterwards he had no idea how much he'd injured (or possibly killed…?) the other. He couldn't feel time passing, but suddenly sets of strong arms wrapped around him, holding him back. He managed to land yet another bloody punch before he suddenly heard a familiar voice screaming out his name.

He was thrown back to his senses as he recognised Armstrong unmistakable voice. That didn't bother him though; the man was not part of his one, single priority. "Ed…" He whispered, facing where he left his brother, who knows how long ago. There was now Riza and Havoc, Riza looking impossibly worried as Havoc displayed concern and sadness together with anger directed at a currently bloody pulp of a man.

Just below them kneeled their Colonel, carefully holding a small bundle wrapped in his own military jacket. Alphonse immediately hurried straight to the highest ranked of the three, bending down as well. "What happened?!" Mustang demanded as soon as he did, but without tearing his eyes away from his young cargo. When he wasn't heard he loudly barked out, "Alphonse!"

"H-he… He was struck by his lightning. T-twice," The boy managed to force out, his eyes too locked on Ed. He was painfully obviously much paler than normal, forehead clammy and glassy eyes half open, seemingly completely unseeing. If Al hadn't seen how his brother's chest weakly but erratically rose and sank below the blue fabric, he would for sure have a full blown panic attack at the spot. Not that he was exactly sane at the moment anyway.

Mustang frowned, mask on the verge of slipping as he looked up at Havoc. "Hospital, now."

The blond haired man didn't waste time to answer, he simply turned around to hurry for the car. Roy stood up as well, carrying the older Elric in a tight grip to the vehicle. Alphonse was naturally quick to scurry after, but suddenly his movements were halted. He looked back into the hazel eyes of the second lieutenant, noticing how she held his arm in a firm grip.

"I know you´re worried Alphonse, but you won't all fit. We'll be straight behind them, I promise," Riza said, her normally strong voice forced as officer Falman started the engine to another car a few spaces back. Alphonse didn't have time to complain nor did point out how 'worried' needed a much bigger synonym, because Havoc gassed away as soon as Mustang had closed the door to the backseat. So instead he quickly clambered back in the small area with Falman at the wheels and Hawkeye soon in the passenger seat. As they drove off, Alphonse never once let his eyes wander from the other car currently breaking all the speed limits.

Edward saw Alphonse go down and so he didn't waste any time. Creating a familiar earth wall he quickly made sure that the boy would not be harmed. That's when the white and blue light was suddenly right beside him. He didn't even have time to move nor clap his hands together before searing hot flames of pain suddenly burst all through his body. His vision went completely white and his ears seemed to scream. He wasn't aware of anything else than how much it suddenly hurt.

He wanted, needed to get away from it but he was pretty sure he couldn't move. What was going on?, he thought, mind drifting in and out of reality. One second everything was light and the next it was dark, over and over. The pain didn't even lessen.

Suddenly the world seemed just the tiniest bit clearer, and he was shaken. His shoulder immediately set on fire by that movement, and he would have screamed had it not been for that all of his senses had simply shut down.

What had happened? Was Alphonse okay?

It was extremely hard forming coherent thoughts, but he was so confused. Suddenly, no thoughts mattered anymore as the pain he was experiencing suddenly tripled, radiating through his small body but this time seeming to be even more present in his prosthetic arm, setting his nerves alight.

After that, he was pretty much unaware of anything. Loud sounds hurt his crackling ears and the white would not stop tormenting his vision. His right side would suddenly flare up and he wanted so desperately to scream out. It hurt so bad.

Then there was suddenly people shouting, movement that jarred and made everything just spin uncontrollably. He was pretty sure there was needles there at some point, just before the pain went out of hand once more, shutting him down by the sheer power of it on his weakened mind. Alphonse…

He opened his eyes again. It was white (damn colour) once more, but it was different from before. It was the familiar lights of cheap hospital lamps and sterilized ceilings. There was a faint buzzing in his ears, his body felt numb and his mind all fuzzy.

"Ed?" he suddenly heard, though the sound was slightly muffled in his half-conscious state together with the annoying buzz that wouldn't stop. "Ed, can you hear me?" the voice continued, breaking through his cloudy thoughts.

"… Colonel Bastard?" he asked as his mind finally started wrapping about reality.

There was a relieved chuckle, and Ed finally heard the familiar beep of a heart-monitor, as well as anther machine that he couldn't really place. Looking to his left he saw his superior officer, sitting in a chair with his elbows on the madras of the bed. For someone with always so high perfectionism about his looks, Roy had probably never looked so bad in public. Hair dishevelled, beard stub and tired eyes, uniform wrinkly and with a big coffee spot on it. "Thanks for joining the land of the living," he said, actually sounding relieved instead of the usual sarcasm.

"…Is Al okay?" Ed asked immediately, voice scratchy, mind and throat pained as he spoke but knowing there'd be no rest in his mind until he knew that for sure.

"He's fine," was the answer and Ed breathed out a sigh of relief. "Sadly he isn't allowed to be in the room though. The metal can mess up the fractions of the heart machines, especially now that the metal is kinda loaded and gives small shocks."

He sighed, relieved but tiredly. "Heart-failure?" The boy asked after a while as he closed his eyes, the effort of keeping them open was too great. He kept listening to the colonel though, finding calmness in his strong hand over his own. It gave him a sense of protection, taking away the loneliness he'd repeatedly felt in his wavering pains earlier pains.

"Four times," Roy said affirmably but bitterly. "You're currently on life support."

"Record," he mumbled bitterly back, feeling incredibly bad for how much worry he must have put his brother through. It seemed even Roy had worried a lot too, Ed hadn't seen him show this much emotion combined during the past. His brain was too tired though to wrap around why though, and honestly it didn't matter to him.

The Colonel looked at him sadly, gently stroking away some of the blonde hair from his eyes with the hand that wasn't still covering his own. "You gave us all quite a scare you know. I would be extremely angry with you if your heart wouldn't like, cave in if I touched you."

Ed smiled half-heartedly, feeling exhaustion quickly creep up on him more and more. "I'm sorry."

Roy simply shook his head, muttering something about how they would deal with it later. A few seconds of silence passed before Roy spoke once more, though he seemed hesitant, as if he didn't want to break the developed atmosphere. "I should really tell Alphonse and your doctor you're awake. I'll be back within seconds so don't you dare fall asleep again, hear me?" Roy ordered, getting up from the bed and out the door. Ed sighed, the demand wasn't too easy to follow. He was far beyond exhausted, but he knew he had to be awake to get a check-up, to see if there were problems such as brain damage, paralysis…

As soon as Ed thought the thought he felt panic creeping up on him. Keeping his eyes closed, he tried to move his right foot a little, and to his relief it followed command. His left seemed to work fine too, though the automail had obviously been taken off. Twitching the fingers in his left hand it worked fine, but when he focused his tired attention on his right shoulder, something felt obviously wrong. Very wrong.

Moving just the tiniest bit, and despite all the drugs he'd for sure been pumped with, his shoulder hurt like hell. That in itself was not really the problem, he'd handled pain before. No, the problem was that the familiar weight of metal was completely gone. Now his right side was actually lighter than his real one. Something it hadn't been since the metal port was installed.

He felt himself starting to hyperventilate, reality fading strangely once again. He felt the great need to scream but not finding the strength for it, feeling his chest constrict painfully by the quick movements of his breathing. That was when Roy hurried back in the room with the doctor on his heels. Ed couldn't hear Alphonse crying out from the other side of the ajar door, nor the loud beeping of the heart monitor, and in his panic he didn't notice the hands holding him down.

It was all gone. It was no longer there. No metal, just what was left of his chest. He would have to relive the operation. He would have to do it again, no, no he couldn't, he wouldn't it wasn't possible it...-

"ED! Breathe!" Mustang barked, even though worry something he couldn't hide from his display.

"My port…-" Ed forced out, needing to know if it was really true.

A second of silence passed before the doctor calmly spoke up, though only half of his words passed through the boys messed up thoughts.

"Your leg withstood the damage pretty, though it will need much …" Here she hesitated, looking sympathic. "The shoulder port was completely fried. It kept hurting your remaining nerves and could have even set something internal on fire or keep stopping your heart had we not removed it. It wouldn't have worked either way. I'm sorry, but if you wish to regain your artificial arm, you'll need to remake much of the surgery." She talked long, slowly and gently to calm him down, and it seemed to work somehow.

"Breath, Ed," Roy reminded again, putting a further comforting hand on his shoulder. The boy complied, not even realizing he'd held his breath.

"Your heart is not quite ready for the strain and if you can't handle it we'll need to put you under for a while," the doctor said professionally but symphatically.

"But I… I can't! I won't do it I-!" Ed exclaimed, on the verge of panical sobbing and another round of hyperventilating as his one hand tried to grasp Roy's back but failing in doing so.

He vaguely noticed the doctor quickly putting some kind of sedative in an IV, saying some blurry words to Roy before he knew no more.

"Maybe you could just think of it as a vacation? You know, that would be very good for you. Taking those months of the military to rest up out in the country," Roy said. Ed had been both surprised and relieved to see that he'd actually stayed during his artificial black out.

"You've obviously never read about automail surgery. Not exactly a day at the beach," he muttered, drawing up his one leg.

"Come on, nothing the invincible Fullmetal can't get through, right? You know the one who actually managed to get hit by lightning twice?" Roy tried to joke a bit, reflecting about if he should go over to short-jokes to get a living reaction out of the kid.

Ed simply looked down in his lap, hiding the blank layer over his eyes with a curtain of blonde hair. No way he'd be crying over something like that in front of the Colonel. It was only two months, and only one limb. It should be easy compared to the year he did last time. Still he got panic just thinking about it, he'd promised himself he would never have to go through it again. All of that pain and it would happen once more. But no matter the traumatic experiences, by far the worst was that his little brother would have to suffer in steel for another time period that shouldn't have to occur. He wanted Al to be in the room, not pacing just outside the door, just as much as he couldn't stand the thought. He'd let his little brother down again, and once more precious time was wasted.

Ed didn't even notice he'd nearly started hyperventilating again before he felt a strong hand on his one remaining shoulder. This time Roy didn't say anything, the man simply rose up from his seat. At first Ed was torn by feelings, relieved that Mustang wouldn't be there to see him cry, but also feeling alone and hurt as he thought the Colonel would leave him all alone. But he didn't, as soon as he was up he sat down on the edge of Ed's bed instead, lifting the boys head ever so gently up in his lap, wrapping his arms securely in a warm embrace around the blonde. Ed was shocked, but he had strangely no desire to pull away. How long had it been since someone simply hugged him? Alphonse didn't want to anymore, not after an accident with one of his armours shoulder spikes. It was nice… Roy was warm and strong and for once, the small boy didn't feel like he had the world on his shoulders. There was a grownup there to actually help him with his load, for the first time in very long. He couldn't help it. Burying his head in the military man's stomach he cried nearly hysterically for who knows how long.

And, as in differ to every other adult that had been in his life… Roy didn't leave him.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this little boll of angst and I wish you a great day!

-Hugs MJ