Chapter 2

Roy Mustang walked into the building with his gun aimed at nothing. He was nervous. He really shouldn't have come alone, but the information on Ed's location was subject to change and he wanted to clear this theory quickly.

Heading down the basement stairs of the old house he found himself in an underground maze. The only sound was dripping pipes and a faint huffing. Like someone hyperventilating...or crying. Either way...

Moving slow, taking his time with his gun raised high, he maneuvered through the confusing halls. He should have left a trail to find his way back, but the sobs were desperate and pained beyond anything he had heard or known. It made him sick and he just had to find it, if only to make it stop.

When he finally came to the room though, he wanted nothing more than to disappear. Not two feet from him was Winrey, her arm sawed off, and her eyes vacant, half soaked in the blood she now lay in. An island in her own gore. Roy choked on his spit and looked away, only to face the sobbing victim. Ed. His automail arm and leg gone, he was chained to the floor, curled up as much as the bindings would allow.

Roy approached him carefully and nearly gagged as he saw the shaking boy, soaked with blood. He was cut up so much, blood pooled around him on the floor. Roy could see among the gashes there were also bruises where his torturer had grown bored and decided to simply beat him.

Roy tried to step forward more, but found himself unable to get past the shock. Ed was terrified and shaking violently. His sobs were in vain as you couldn't distinguish his tears from the bruises and blood, and his normally golden eyes where nearly all white in blind panic. He didn't seem to recognize his superior officer.

"E-E-...Edward?" Roy finally swallowed his pride and approached the poor boy, who was not yet responding. "Ed? It's Roy. I'm here to take you home." Mustang fought to control his voice as he realized the boy had little left to go home to.

Two eyes shot up from the wounded orphan. Roy choked again and walked carefully to Ed, bending down and gently reaching toward the full metal alchemist. Ed jerked away liked he'd felt fire. Roy withdrew his hand, unsure of what to do. Ed started to cry again, the muffled sobs tearing at Roy's normally cold emotions. "It's alright Ed. We're going to get you away from this psycho and it'll all be fine. It's going to be okay." He reached out again, only to have the boy wriggling, fighting the bonds, a panicked look in his eyes as he shook and whimpered. "I'm not gonna hurt you." Roy whispered, finally making physical contact, lightly laying a hand on Ed's hair. The boy shut his eyes and tears rolled down his face, the salty water stinging his cuts.

"God, what did he do to you?" Roy desperately wanted to calm Ed, but the boy remained cowering and trembling. For him, 'touch' had become a synonym to 'pain' and there was little Roy could do to convince him otherwise.

Roy jumped at the sound of a malevolent chuckle, making him stand, turning to face a grungy man, holding a chain.

Roy snarled, his anger flaring. It was much to damp in the room for his treasured flames, so he raised his gun. "You sick son of-" He shot several times, missing by a hair as the surprisingly quick man appeared behind him. "Too late."

The last thing he recalled thinking was how desperately Ed was looking at him when he hit the floor. He managed to get out a "Sorry." before the darkness took his senses and feelings.

The waking factor was Ed's screaming. Roy sat up in time to see Ed laying on a table before him, the man hacking away at his skin with a dull knife.

"What the-?" Roy fought the chains that now held him down as the man slashed at Ed's broken form.

"Oh, you're up." The man stopped and Ed continued screaming until the man gagged him, using another blood-soaked rag. Roy looked down at his aching stomach to see himself bleeding, his uniform torn.

Ed shrieked and struggled as the man held him down, knotting the cloth in his mouth.

"You really are too much." The man chuckled at Ed.

"You disgusting son of a bitch." Roy moved his hands down his back to a pocket hidden in his coat, pulling a needle out delicately he moved it around the chain carefully. It was be crude, but it would suffice.

"I'm not disgusting. I'm demented. Insult me correctly." The man laughed and grabbed a staple gun, lifting it above Ed's quivering hand.

"Hold still." the man snatched Ed's hand and held it on the table. He pressed down on the stapler and sickening snap echoed. Roy's protests were lost in Ed's shriek of agony as he felt his hand nailed to the table.

"Oh god." Roy could barely stand to look as the man casually dropped the gun and picked up a twisted chain and moving to Ed's side. Roy turned his head away in revulsion, temporarily distracted from his etching. He fought the need to puke as he heard Ed's cries of torment while the man began to beat him. That's when Roy began dry heaving and Ed's cries became unbearable to listen to.

It took a painful amount of minutes before the man gave up on his fun and left the room for the night. Ed had been ungagged and was now hyperventilating, begging for the pain to stop. Roy was nearly done. "Hold on kid. I'm gonna get you out of here."

"Oh, God. Make it stop. Oh, Please." Ed convulsed on the table top, desperately attempting to stop the agony.

"Hold on Ed. I'm almost..." Roy gasped as the chain broke, the transmutation circle forming it into a knife. He grabbed it in one hand while gripping his stomach, he got up, and rushed to the table. But Ed screamed in terror at even being approached. Roy carefully removed the staple from the young alchemist's hand, doing his best to ignore the boy's frantic need to get away from him. Mustang then went to work on the bonds which had already done their own damage, tightened to the point where they cut slits in his wrist and ankle.

When the bonds did break, Ed shied away and crashed off the table. For the first time Roy took in the true condition of Full Metal. He probably hadn't eaten decent in a few weeks and Roy could see he was exhausted. Mustang still had his military uniform, but Ed was shirtless in the freezing prison. Roy felt he didn't have much time until the man returned. He had to get them the hell out of there. He knelt and caught Ed, trying his best to avoid damaging him, but Ed cringed and was horrified at being trapped again.

"Please...not again...please just don't...don't!" Roy wrapped one arm around the alchemist and held Ed's arm to stop him from clawing. "...Oh god, no. I can't...No!...make it stop...please make it stop." Ed cried out, losing his breath once more and coughing up blood. Roy grimaced, the internal damage was worse than he thought. He wondered how long he had endured this kind of punishment. And then Ed was struggling to get free again. Roy shifted his weight and used his free hand to once again reach for Ed's hair, anxious to calm him. Ed flinched as he had before, and Roy spoke to him as tranquil as he could. "Shhh. It's okay now. You're going to be alright. I'm not going to hurt you." Ed still trembled constantly, but some form of reason that he recently lost fought its way back into his mind. This wasn't the man who had been hurting him.

"...Mustang?" He asked uncertain, his voice hoarse from screaming.

"Yeah. I'm here kid. You're going to be fine. I won't let him hurt you anymore." His voice was soft but there was something harsh and protective. He was greatly relieved when Ed finally relaxed- finally overcoming some part of his fear. Mustang gently released him. The boy cautiously turned and clung to him with his injured hand.

"Roy. Please help me. Please, God, don't leave me." The pain and sheer terror in his words forced Roy to hold back tears. He swore he would make that sorry son of a bitch burn to ashes. Slowly. He put an arm around Ed in a sympathetic embrace. The boy tensed for a moment, a part of his mind still commanding him to run, but then was reassured by Roy's presence.

Suddenly, the door to their prison swung open and Ed violently recoiled, pressing himself against Roy's shoulder, sobbing.

Ever since Ed's disappearance, the military had feverishly been searching for leads. Colonel Mustang's failure to report in was cause for alarm and several officers had been sent after him.

"Sir?" Lieutenant Hawkeye took another step into the darkness. "Colonel Mustang?" She was momentarily stunned when she saw the gore in the room.

"Get a medical team down here," Roy barked at her, "Now!" She nodded stiffly and sprinted back to the others. Roy turned to Ed who looked up at him, anxiety still shaded in his eyes. "You don't have to be afraid. You're safe now." Ed closed his eyes gratefully, and nodded. For once he felt lucky to be a dog of the military.

"In the arms of an angel

Fly away from here

From this dark cold room

And the endlessness that you fear

You are pulled from the wreckage

Of your silent reverie

You're in the arms of the angel

May you find some comfort there"