Doctor Knox closed the bedroom door gently behind him and immediately began coaxing a pack of cigarettes from his breast pocket. Ed had been waiting impatiently in the hallway with Roy, who had taken it upon himself to visit the Elric household after receiving a rather disjointed phone call from Ed at two in the morning.

"So?" Ed asked breathlessly, twisting his hands together in worry, "is my brother okay?"

Knox lit a cigarette and took a long drag, allowing for a large plume of smoke to escape his lips before he spoke.

"My advice is to get that kid a shrink."

Roy gazed solemnly at Knox from behind Ed, whose eyes grew in alarm.

"A shrink? Are you saying Al needs a psychologist or somethin' ?"

"Not a psychologist," the doctor answered, striding down the hallway as the other two followed somberly, "a therapist. Psychologists can't prescribe drugs, and from what I can tell, that kid needs some heavy-duty pills."

Upon entering the living room, Ed darted around Knox's side and blocked his path, staring up at him. Doctor Knox twisted his mouth into a broad frown. He puffed smoke above the boy.

"Al's crazy? Depressed? What?" he whispered at Knox. When Knox stood thinking over the question, Ed turned his attention to Roy, "Mustang, do you really think that's true?"

"It's not as far-fetched as you seem to believe, Ed," Roy shoved his hands into his pockets and gazed out the window, his black eyes fatigued, "I'm surprised neither of you have gotten therapy before, after all you've been through...and now, considering what's happened recently..."

Ed stepped back a few paces and lowered his eyes, a gesture that the great Full Metal Alchemist wasn't known to do often. His arms draped limply at his sides, but the experienced eyes of Doctor Knox and Roy could see that his fingers were clenched into trembling fists.

"The kid seems to be suffering from a breakdown," Knox scrubbed at his bristly black hair with his free hand, "there could be other causes too, like stress. What's he been doing lately?"

Ed dropped down on the couch, sinking into the plush fabric, his eyes still turned down, his voice holding no inflection as he spoke.

"He's been studying under a doctor that specializes in alchemical healing...Hovannes...I think the name was. He's gone a lot, and I don't think he gets much sleep..."

Knox nodded.

"That's part of the problem. If I were you, I'd make Al take a vacation, and take him to see a therapist. Roy," he nodded his head in farewell to the man beside him and made his way out the door. Edward buried his head in his hands, golden hair tangling between his ungloved fingers. Roy sat beside him on the couch, gently placing a hand on his shoulder, picking locks of hair away from Ed's right hand.

"You'll get your hair stuck in your Auto-mail, Ed," he said softly.

"What am I gonna do?" the boy's voice hummed from behind his palms. He looked up at Roy with supplication and tears in his eyes, "this is all my fault..."

They sat together in silence, crowned by the morning sun streaming through the window.


AN: Sorry these chapters are so short, the rest will be longer now that I've got the intro done with! Please review, it feeds my soul!