Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. All rights reserved to their respective owners.

Part 1

Firelight danced softly against the dilapidated brick shelter. Thin metal-framed beds were crowded together, with hardly any room for the nurses to walk.

Yet somehow, they managed to make it to the beds of the ailing patients. Ed curled up, hugging himself tighter. How pointless, he thought. With that, a violent cough wracked his body and it shook the whole bed. There was quite a commotion, as the nurses desperately tried everything to help the patients. However, it was to no avail. Ed's cough worsened, and blood stained his already sweat-soaked sheets. A nurse was by in a moment to check on him. He felt brief hands fluttering uselessly over him before leaving to attend to another patient whose coughing fit had just begun.

Ed closed his eyes and tried to tune out the sounds of the sickened population. Quarantine. At least, that's what they had called it when they brought him here. Opening his eyes slightly, he took in a sight he knew well: desperate nurses with permanent pain etched into their features, dozens of patients all cramped together in a small area, and the torches as the only source of light, dancing somberly against the old stone walls. The room smelled sickly, with the odor of dried blood and sweat. Ed watched solemnly as the nurses freed a few more beds of their previous occupants.

Night had fallen outside, and they were dying. Despite himself, Ed felt more tears come to his eyes. He tried angrily blinking them away.

It can't end like this… I only just got him back, and now… Ed shook his head feebly, and gave way to another coughing fit. He felt more hands on him, moving him gently as they replaced his sheets. But he couldn't possibly sleep.

Thank goodness he isn't here…

That was Ed's only solace in this den of despair: Alphonse hadn't gotten sick. Of course, an "epidemic" of this magnitude could be fatal, and they'd been lucky to catch it when they did.

Nevertheless, according to the doctors, even the best hospitalization could not help them. Despite their best efforts, they couldn't figure out what was causing this so-called epidemic. The only thing they could be sure of was that it was particular only to this area. They only moved the "hopeless" cases to this run-down place; in other words, they moved anyone who had caught this "virus". He'd just been glad Al wasn't anywhere near this place when it happened.

After he had succeeded in returning Al to his body, Ed decided to remain with the military and continue his research. Al had stayed with him for a while, until Mustang had given Ed the orders for a particularly lengthy mission. Though Ed had expected an argument, Al was surprisingly accommodating, mentioning he'd been meaning to visit Winry and Granny Pinako in Resembool.

Ed scowled. Great. I chose the perfect time to come to this place… he thought sarcastically. But they still won't listen to me because they think I'm just a kid… His scowl deepened. He might be able to help, but no one would listen to him. If anyone did happen to listen, they didn't understand what he was talking about.

He recalled he'd already come here before, but he'd thought he and Al had helped settle the issues with this town. Apparently, they hadn't. Of course, he had been taken in with the rest as soon as he started coughing. The military had already quarantined the entire town for fear the disease would spread. However, due to its location and lack of resources, there wasn't much else the military could do. Though the area had been good for gold mining, it was located in the middle of nowhere.

Turning over, Ed considered just how much trouble all this must be giving Mustang right now… he smiled with grim satisfaction. Of course, he didn't expect any intervention from the military now, especially in his state. If he was just another "hopeless case", what was the point of even trying to visit him? He grimaced, a part of him wishing he DID have someone to talk to, some decent company other than those he'd already met in this damp, disgusting place.

Another coughing fit arose, and Ed coughed for about two minutes before he could finally breathe again. Blood stained his hands where they'd come up to block his cough, mingled with the sweat from his raging fever. Grimacing again, Ed clenched his bloody fist, this time glad there was no one he cared about to suffer the same fate.

Essentially, he was torn in two… he yearned to escape, and he couldn't possibly hope for a better outcome than death, not as he was now. Despair clouded his eyes as he recalled his mother, and the agony he felt at losing her. More tears came, but he let them fall; he did so because he deserved this pain. He was going to leave Al without a family… he really hadn't wanted it to come to this.

I suppose this is the Truth's way of getting even…