Disclaimer: I do not own FMA *grumbles*

Title: A Trail of Blood

Pair: Ed x Roy

Summary: Roy follows a trail of blood that started at the entrance of his home. As he followed the trail, the story of what had happened was revealed.

Warning: language maybe, blood, deathfic (sorry, I write these a lot)

Friday nights at the office were nearly torture for Roy. Tonight was no exception, but there was no work to be done that kept him at the office. He was waiting for a phone call and when the time kept passing without a single ring from his phone he wanted to give up the wait and just head home. Deep down he had a feeling that something bad had happened but with the young alchemist, something bad was always happening. Glancing at the clock, he saw the clock strike midnight and decided that it was time to call it a night and head home. He grabbed his coat and shrugged it on before giving his phone one last look before leaving to head home.

Not a month before had he sent Fullmetal on a mission to the south to investigate some strange occurrences of alchemy and he was to return two weeks later on a Friday evening. Still, two weeks after his supposed return date, the young man hadn't returned. This is the reason that had him sitting in his office nearly every night waiting for him or Al to call to tell him why they were so late coming back from the mission and every night it was the same. No phone call ever came. The entire staff at the office kept trying to cheer him up, telling him that the boy probably caught wind of a new lead and went in search of that but this did nothing to relieve his worry.

The air outside the office had gotten chilly as the day went on. Autumn was setting in on Central, bringing the chilly wind and rains. Pulling his coat closer to him, he closed the doors behind him as he started off down the road toward his home. On a normal afternoon, he would have someone drive him home but he wasn't about to force someone to stay till he was ready to leave to take him home. The stars shined brightly in the sky as he walked down the street, careful to keep an eye on his surroundings. One never knew what could be waiting around the next corner, but what was waiting for him was a sight he couldn't even imagine.

Slowly, he turned down the last corner and saw that the front light of his house was on. He stopped for a moment before thinking that maybe Fullmetal had returned and just went to home to sleep. Speeding up a bit, he continued toward the front of his house. Throwing open the front gate of his house he took a few steps in before stopping. As if leading into his home, a trail of red blood lined the walkway.

Blood… oh dear god, Edward.

He stepped around the blood and moved toward the doorway. The door of his home looked like it had been kicked a few times before swinging open and letting whomever inside. Following the trail, he found that it lead into his living room. Tables were knocked around, lamps fallen off as if the table had been bumped into. The further he went into his home, the thicker the blood trail got and more jagged. Whoever was bleeding was making one hell of a mess and swaying way too much to be healthy. Worry filled his heart as he saw a pool of blood lying in the doorway to the kitchen. Stepping over the blood, he moved further into his house.

Edward…

"Ed?" He called out, backing into the study that was just off of the kitchen. Flipping on the light switch, he found that the picture frames that had been sitting above the fireplace were out of place. Some lay on the ground in front of the hearth and some were just knocked over but as he neared them he noticed that one was missing. He stood there a moment, staring at the pictures and the blood that seemed to stain everything. The picture that was missing was the picture that Maes had taken of him and Ed at the office one day when the two of them had fallen asleep at the library. Ed was embarrassed by the picture but Roy had kept it as a fond memory of the boy.

A loud banging noise from upstairs took his attention away from the pictures and back to the trail of blood that he had been following. Now with a quicker pace, he moved through the study and up the back staircase toward the rooms on the second story. The blood on the stairs alternated between large globs like someone had stopped for a moment before continuing and small little drips. He was scared, really scared.

"Edward?" He called out again, following the trail down to the end of the hall that led to his bedroom. Please, Ed, be okay.

Pushing open the door, he found a small form leaning against the bed. Moving quickly, ignoring the blood that smeared on his clothing, he knelt down beside him.

"Ed?"

Crying. Tears were rolling down the young man's face. Looking him over, he noticed that something was missing.

"Ed? What happened?"

A shake of the head was his answer. "He's gone," he heard him whisper.

"Al?"

"They took him away again!" Ed screamed, looking up at Roy, fear and regret filling the once fiery golden eyes. "What am I going to do?!"

Roy stayed silent, staring at him. He didn't know what to do or what to say. Someone had taken Al away, taken the young man's only family and reason for his searching. What was there for him to say?

Ed's head fell down again, to stare at the picture in his lap.

"Ed…"

"I tried to get him back again…" he whispered, stroking the picture with his right hand. "It's my entire fault to begin with. I should never have talked Al into doing something so stupid."

"Stop that, Ed." Roy said, trying to reassure him. "I'm sure Al knew what he was getting into when you two had done what you did so long ago…"

"No… He didn't, I told him that it was fine that nothing bad would happen," Ed said, his voice squeaking as he tried to hold back in the sobs. "And now I've lost him again and I've done it again. I'm selfish and I'm paying the price for it." He looked up to Roy.

The moonlight shined into the window, casting a strange glow on the young man leaning against the bed. His golden eyes were red and swollen from the tears and there was a lopsided grin plastered on the man's face. He was trying to be strong, Roy could tell.

"What are you talking about, Ed?" Roy tightened his brows, staring into Ed's eyes. "What do you mean paying the price?"

Ed leaned his head down again and grunted as he moved to lean toward Roy. "I'm paying the price for playing God again, Roy… I'm…"

Roy's eyes widened as Ed's body shook with a fit of coughs, earning him a new stain on the floor as Ed coughed up blood. Shaking his head, he pulled Ed into a gentle hug.

"No, Ed, please." Tears now streaming down his own face.

"I have no choice," was the whisper.

Roy could feel the body in his arms get heavier and heavier as Ed was slipping away.

"I've played God too many times," Ed said, slightly turning his head to stare out the window.

Roy tightened his hold a bit as Ed's breath hitched again.

"The moon, Roy," Ed began, a tear rolling down his cheek. "It looks so…. Warm…"

Feeling the body in his arms go limp, Roy let the tears that he was trying to hold back out. "Yes, Ed, it does."

A trail of blood led him to the answer. A trail of blood lead him to his death. Everything ends with A Trail of Blood.

AN: sorry…. Don't know what came over me…. Review maybe?