DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA, etc. Ya'll know the rest...

Yes, I did say "ya'll"... I'm from Kansas, I can get away with it... Please read and review, nobody knows how much reviews mean to me. Thanks!

--yuki-chan

Ed scrambled up to his feet, panting. Blood was dripping profusely down his arm, from a deep wound in his shoulder. Wincing, he dodged another lunge. Shit. I won't be able to last long. I've lost too much blood already… "Whoa!" He ducked, and the sharp blade went whistling over his head. Blood from a gash on the side of his forehead was dripping into his eyes, and he blinked it away rapidly; it stung his eyes.

A slim, young man stood not ten feet away from him, a thin, sharp sword resting on his shoulder. He had short, silver-white hair, with bright, eerie green eyes, and a long, slim, muscled frame. He was abnormally tall, seven feet or so, with wide curving lips that revealed sharp pointed teeth and pale skin. And on his upper arm, was the mark of the homunculus.

Ed cursed out loud. He was becoming lightheaded from loss of blood. "What the hell do you want!" Ed swiped at the homunculus with his transmuted arm, the blade missing the homunculus by inches.

He grinned, leaping back with unnatural flexibility, and somersaulted backwards with easy grace. "Not too shabby, Full Metal pipsqueak."

Ed gritted his teeth angrily, and jumped at him, slashing his sword. "WHO'RE YOU CALLING A MIDGET AS SMALL AS A SPECK OF DUST!"

The homunculus laughed, a high pitched eerie sound. Perching on top of a high stack of boxes, he smiled down at Ed, his green eyes wide, and shining in the darkness like a cat's. "You're funny, Alchemist. It's a shame I have to kill you, eventually."

Ed made an obscene gesture with his real hand and gritted his teeth in frustration. "Rot in hell, bastard."

The homunculus cocked his head. "Oh dear. How rude of me, I haven't introduced myself yet. It's not bastard, Alchemist, it's Death."

Ed stood up, and held up his automail-transmuted sword threateningly. The moonlight caught on it, shining and reflecting pale white light. "Shut up and let's finish this."

Death laughed again. "Oh dear, he's taken a liking to me. Too bad. I shall kill you later, Edward Elric, and a more painful way, seeing as you were responsible for Lust's death." Death bowed and leapt out of a broken window, swinging artfully and gracefully, and vanishing into the darkness.

Ed rammed into the door, and stumbled out into the night. "Get back here, coward!" His breath came in short, ragged gasps. The chilly night air burned his lungs, and he could not breathe deeply. Wincing, he touched his arm again. Shit… His automail arm was useless now, after the severe beating it had taken from Death's blade. He couldn't move the hand and finger joints, and all he could do was swing his useless metal limb around. He sighed, clouds of heat rising from his breath. Winry's gonna kill me.

He closed his eyes, resting. He was still light-headed, and dizzy. He frowned; there were voices, and they seemed so familiar... He dismissed the subject tiredly, and before he knew it, he slumped to the ground, asleep from fatigue and exhaustion.

Ed groaned. There were bright lights above him blinding him, even though he had his eyes closed. He was in a warm, comfy bed. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up, and his shoulder throbbed. Ed flinched.

"Brother! BROTHER!" A familiar, childish voice echoed around him. He blinked. A hulking suit of armor was reflecting light on him. Ed dragged a hand across his face. He touched a bandage wrapped carefully around his head.

"Hey, Al." Ed groaned again, and lurched to his feet, groggy, only to be pushed down again.

"Brother, never do that again!" Something collided with the side of his face, hard; a metal fist. That certainly woke him up.

Ed howled, and kicked his little brother, succeeding only in bending his toe backward (painfully). "What the hell was that for?"

"You just wandered off by yourself, Nii-san! I can't trust you! You could have DIED, and I would've never known!"

Ed scowled. "Alright, alright, I get the point… Sorry for making you worry, Al. But see? I'm fine!" He stretched his arms out wide; Al merely looked in the opposite direction. Changing the subject hastily, he said, "Where am I?"

"Central Infirmary."

Ed scowled more heavily. "Damn it. Who followed me?"

Al shifted uncomfortably. "What d'you mean, Brother?"

"They wouldn't have known where I was going, unless someone followed me! And I heard voices before I passed out! C'mon, you can tell me, Al." Ed glared at his little brother threateningly.

Al sighed; a defeat. "Colonel Roy Mustang had Havoc and a group of his men follow you…"

Ed spat in disgust. "Idiot. I didn't need him."

Al sighed. "Brother, you los-"

Ed cut him off, changing the subject again. He hated losing. He waved his useless automail arm around. "Can you call Winry for me, Al? I need this damn arm fixed…"

Al waved his hands in the air. "No! You call her, Brother! She'll yell at me on the phone!"

Ed scowled, and flapped his useless metal arm at his little brother. "Fine then. Go get me a phone!"

"You WHAT!" Ed held the phone away from his ear, his eyes screwed up.

He heard Winry curse loudly in the background. Placing the phone cautiously near his ear again, he said, "Uh, I broke my… arm?..."

Winry screeched. "You IDIOT! Do you know how LONG it took me to make that arm!"

Ed shouted angrily, "Shut up, WOMAN! I was doing-"

"Doing WHAT?"

Ed winced. I can't tell her about this…"Uh… spelunking?"

"Spelunking. You went spelunking. And broke a million dollar arm?" Her voice was dangerously calm.

Ed ground his fist into his face. Wrong answer, idiot. "Uh…"

He could hear a sigh on the other end of the line. "Okay. I'll be at Central at about 10 tomorrow morning to check in on it…"

Ed wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. There was a click on the other end, and the dial tone buzz filled his ear; she had hung up.

Al looked up. "How did it go, Brother?" Ed wrinkled up his nose in disgust.

"Crazy machine-geek."

There was a gentle silence, broken when Al asked, "So what exactly happened, Nii-san?"

Ed flopped back on the bed, and fiddled with his useless arm. Staring at the ceiling, he frowned heavily and replied, "There's a new Homunculus."

Al jumped up. "What!"

Ed grimaced. "I haven't found out what his special ability is yet, though. I didn't fight with him for long, and look what he did to me. That bastard killed my arm. He'll have to answer to Winry." He grinned at Al jokingly, but Al did not laugh.

"That's not funny, Nii-san. You haven't told her yet, right? You don't want to worry her."

Ed turned his face away. He retorted loudly, "Who cares about the machine geek? All she ever does is hit me with that damn wrench of hers…" Though Ed could not see his own face, he knew he was blushing; his face was hot with embarrassment.

Al rolled his eyes at his older brother's immaturity. "What's his name?"

"Huh? Who?"

"The new Homunculus, Nii-san."

Ed wrenched his gaze to the ceiling, and shuffled his hands behind his head. His real and metal fingers were entwined with his unbraided, golden hair, and they were laced together, supporting the back of his head. "Death." His blonde hair was spread around his head like a halo; the Angel who had trespassed on God's territory.

Colonel Roy Mustang kicked the door to Infirmary Room No. 127 open, and grinned widely. "Hello, Full Metal."

Ed could already feel his scowl coming on. "You seem happy, Colonel."

Roy shrugged coolly, and Ed could feel a vein in his forehead almost reach the exploding point. "Right. You'll be staying in here for quite a while, I hear, Full Metal."

Ed scowled even more; he'd been scowling a lot lately. "You had that Havoc idiot follow me? You guys let Death get away too, huh?"

"Death?"

"The Homunculus, Colonel."

"Oh really? Was there a Homunculus?" Roy frowned, this new bit of information smacking him in the face like a wet towel.

Ed rolled his eyes. "Great. Another idiot."

Roy pulled a white glove over his hand evenly, and snapped his fingers, sending a red bolt of fire to Ed; it singed the bottom of his hair. "Have some respect, Full Metal." Ed gnashed his teeth angrily.

Tossing Ed a pad of white paper and a pencil from his uniform pocket, he waved his hand. "Be prepared to show us your excellent drawing skills, Full Metal." Taking a seat in a chair placed beside Ed's bed, he crossed his legs casually, and rumpled the mop of black hair set on above his handsome face. "I'm ready to be blown away." Ed rolled his eyes.

Al sat down against the wall, crossing his metal legs and clasping his hands in his lap, child-like. Ed concentrated hard, and sketched Death to the best of his ability.

Roy peered over his shoulder once in a while. When Ed was finished, he labeled "Death" at the top. Handing it to Roy, he tugged the white blanket over his legs, and settled deeper into his pillow. He yawned, "Satisfied, Colonel?"

Roy blinked innocently. "Oh yes, quite. With a magnificent stick figure like this-" Ed picked up a vase to throw at Roy when Al held him back.

"Nii-san!" Al wrapped his arms around his older brother. Ed struggled, baring his teeth.

"Come back here, you horny Colonel-"

Roy laughed, and slipped out the room unworriedly. "Later, Full Metal."

Fuming, Ed said, "Put me down, Al. I won't attack the Colonel, I promise. At least, not for now."

Al eased Ed into the hospital bed. "Get some sleep, Nii-san; remember, Winry's coming tomorrow."

Ed winced. "Yeah. I remember." Turning over and waving his arm drowsily at Al, he scratched his stomach and fell into deep sleep.

Winry poked her head in, her arms full of tools and screws. She saw a head of armor look up: Al. Waving, she smiled. Winry opened her mouth to say hello when Al raised a hand, and gestured at the bed; Ed was asleep.

Winry rolled her eyes. Walking over quietly to the edge of the bed, she cocked her head, and almost burst out laughing; Ed made a comical figure, the white hospital blanket pushed aside, and his beater pulled up, revealing his muscled stomach, which he was scratching at. Mouth slightly open and messy blonde hair spread across his face, he looked like a little boy, fast asleep. Winry laughed quietly. Flopping on the bed, she pushed the blankets aside, and nudged Ed with her hand. "Ed, wake up."

Mumbling, Ed made a face and tugged his pillow over his head. Winry sighed exasperatedly, and bent toward Ed, and whispered one word in his ear: "Shrimp."

Winry almost tumbled off the bed; Ed shot up straight, and a vein in his forehead pulsed. "WHO'RE YOU CALLING A SHRIMP SO SMALL YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE THROUGH A MAGNIFYING GLASS!" He lunged at Winry, who laughed; Al grabbed his older brother's arms disapprovingly.

"Nii-san! Winry-san is here to fix your arm! At least try to be polite!"

Ed blew a strand of his long, blonde hair out of his eyes, and glared accusingly at Winry. "Let me down, Al."

"No! You'll attack Winry, Nii-san!"

Ed glared up at Al. "I won't!"

"Promise?"

Ed sighed. "All right, I promise. Now let me down, Al… Jeez."

Al set his brother down, who sat on the bed again.

Winry grabbed at his arm, and twisted it over, checking the damage. Ed yelped. "OW! Watch it!" Winry elbowed his face out of the way.

"Shut up! I'm trying to fix this for YOU, so stop squirming!"

Ed wriggled his arm. "That's fine! Just don't TWIST IT AROUND LIKE THAT!" He shook her off.

Winry banged him with her wrench. Ed howled. "Damn it! Stay STILL!"

Ed finally complied, grumbling and muttering darkly under his breath. His blonde hair tickled her face. Winry blew it out of the way, and rolled her eyes at him. "All right, I get the point…" He pulled his hair to one side, so she could work without distraction.

Winry rummaged through her tools once in a while, screwing on new sheets of metal she had prepared for him, and tightening and attaching new screws and wires. After an hour or so of squeaking and tweaking, she stood back, and wiped her forehead. "I think that's it."

Ed opened and closed his fist experimentally. "Wow, you fixed it!"

Winry grinned. Retying her hair, she rummaged through her pockets, and tossed Al a pretty oil can. "Here Al! Granny Pinako was worrying about you, so she made a little something so your joints don't rust."

Al caught it, and said gratefully, "Give my thanks to Granny Pinako, Winry."

Winry smiled. "I will." She turned to Ed. "Now, tell me the truth."

Ed blinked innocently. "The truth?"

Winry raised her wrench darkly. "I deserve to know what's going on! I care about you two!" Al and Ed both looked away; Al saying nothing, and Ed clenching his teeth nervously.

Winry sighed, and flopped on the bed next to Ed angrily. "Why don't you ever tell me what's going on? Don't you even care if we worry about you?" Winry glared at Ed, tears in her eyes.

Ed immediately felt guilty. "Wait! Wait, why're you crying? Don't cry!" He held his arms out helplessly.

Al stood up. "Winry!"

Winry sat there on the bed, glaring at Ed angrily with tears in her eyes. Winry suddenly threw herself into his arms; Ed almost jumped away, surprised. She beat his broad chest with her hands, pounding. "You IDIOT! You and Al are BOTH idiots! You don't know how much we worry!" Tears were streaming down her face now.

Ed patted her back awkwardly. "I'm sorry, Win. I really am, but…"

Winry shouted into his chest, her scream muffled. "Why? Why, why, why?
Al rubbed Winry's back. "Winry-san…"

Ed whispered into her hair, "I can't. It'll put you in danger, you machine geek." He teased her gently.

Winry looked up, tears streaking her face. "I don't care! I'd rather be in danger than not know if you're alive or not!"

Al peeled her off of Ed. "Winry-san, I think you need to have some time outside."

Winry struggled against Al. "Damn you, Ed! DAMN YOU! Don't you even care?" He looked away sadly. The doors to the hospital room closed, and he could still hear her crying outside, with Al.

Ed paled. Al came back in, and carried her tools out. "Wait, Al, those are Winry's!"

Al shook his head. "She's leaving, Nii-san." Ed could feel his heart being torn; she was leaving without saying good-bye.

Ed stirred awake; when had he fallen asleep? He blinked at Al, the events from the previous day still heavy in his heart. "Did she leave?"

Al nodded. "Yeah." Ed sighed. His younger brother handed him his breakfast tray. He reached up to braid his hair.

The doors burst open, and someone skidded in. "Full Metal Alchemist sir!" It was a lower-ranking soldier. He blushed furiously. "I'm sorry for the intrusion, sir, but Colonel Roy Mustang needs you in his office. It's urgent, sir." He added.

Ed scowled. "What the hell could be so important?"

The soldier trembled under the Alchemist's fierce glare. "I don't know, sir. But Colonel Roy Mustang seemed extremely upset. It's very urgent," he repeated.

Ed sighed. "Even though I'm still in the hospital?"

The soldier opened his mouth to reply, when someone else burst in, elbowing him out of the way; Roy Mustang.

Ed said, irritated, "What the hell is-"

Roy looked pale. "It's Winry, Full Metal. She's disappeared. And it's rumored that someone saw a tall man with silver hair, about seven feet tall, with green eyes in the neighborhood. With a sword."

Ed dropped his tray. His heart was frozen, and he couldn't breathe. Oh shit. Not Death.