First of all, those of you who started reading when I first posted this, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I WAS NOT EXPECTING SO MANY REVIEWS SO QUICKLY! *gives you all bags of cookies* But, just so you know, for those of you who read the author's note at the start, where I said I was going to try to do Parental Roy!Ed...yeah...that went down the drain pretty quickly...I changed my mind. I've switched it so that it now reads as Abusive Roy!Ed, and that's what it's gonna be. Sorry to all of you who were hoping I'd see it through...

Also, sorry about the wait. FFN was being really poopy, and whenever I tried to get onto my account, it would redirect me to '503 Error, there is no server to provide you with this site' and all that crap. So, to make up for it, this chapter is just a teensy bit longer than it was originally going to be.

Also, in case you're interested, the lyrics below (see below), are there because it's something new I'm trying. I read a book series (well, technically trilogy, it was The Infernal Devices if you're interested), where, at the beginning of each chapter, there would be a section from a poem that related to the content of the chapter, and I really enjoyed it. However, I'm not that into poetry, but I am, however, into music. So basically, there will be lyrics to a song at the start of every chapter. I would also suggest listening to said song during the reading of the chapter, for obvious reasons.

Also, they won't always be Evanescence songs. The lyrics for this chapter and last just happened to be Evanescence songs that just happened to fit. Next one is going to be a song by Skillet or Three Days Grace. The songs are really similar and I'm still debating the use of either one.

And on with the chapter!

Goodnight, sleep tight
No more tears
In the morning I'll be here
And when we say goodnight,
Dry your eyes
Because we said goodnight,
And not goodbye

~Goodnight (Evanescence)

Roy Mustang was furious. Ever since Edward had gone missing, just over a month and a half ago, he had been worried sick. But now that Edward was back, instead of the feeling of relief he'd been expecting, all he felt was rage. The kid had been missing for weeks, and when he was found he looked as though nothing had even happened to him during that time. There were a few bruises around his shoulders and one cracked rib, but that was all, and Ed said that that was just from being captured.

Hughes' team had gone down into the room where Maes had found Ed, and they had recovered countless files concerning Edward and about twelve other people. Of these twelve people, all of them had been successfully been turned into chimeras of various kinds, and they had all been dated so that Roy could get an accurate estimate of how long it had taken for each person to be Transmuted, and that time was about a month. Edward had been down there a month and a half, minimum. Yet there he claimed that they hadn't experimented on him yet. Roy didn't believe him. He had gone through all of Edward's files that had been found at the scene, and there appeared to be pages missing. The first few pages were dated the day he had been reported missing by Alphonse, and then there were gaps. From what Roy could gather, there was at least one page per day, or one per two, and there were roughly seven or eight dates missing from the whole collection.

He hadn't read extensively each page, mainly just the dates and some of the photographs; he had handed them over to Maes to investigate before he had had the chance, but he didn't like what he was seeing. All evidence suggested that Edward should have been like the others, yet he wasn't. There didn't appear to be anything wrong with him at all.

The thing that concerned Roy the most though was Edward's new limbs. Maes had said the the kid had gone white as a sheet when he'd asked about them, and that he'd said that they weren't his limbs, and then broken down. Edward was yet to elaborate.

There was something Edward wasn't telling him, and Roy intended to find out what.

"Sir?" Riza's voice broke him out of his thoughts, and he looked up at her from the uncomfortable hospital waiting chair that he'd been sitting in.

"Yeah?" He asked, a little bluntly.

"The doctors say that if you wish to see Edward, you may do so now." She told him.

"Thanks, Lieutenant." He said, heading toward the room that Edward was being treated in. She saluted him as he passed, and sat down on the chair he had just vacated. Passing several doors, he finally found the one Ed was in, and quietly pushed it open. Inside, Edward was lying on one of the beds, propped up on several pillows. He was wearing a hospital-issue white shirt, and Roy could see some of the bruises escape the collar, curling up around his neck and shoulders. He also noticed - he hadn't before - that Edward's hair had been cut. No longer did a golden braid fall down his shoulders, instead it was cut short, and Roy realized he liked it better that way. There was a nurse with a clipboard asking Edward things like 'where does it hurt the most' and 'rate your pain on a scale of one to ten' and such nurse-like questions. Roy cleared his throat, and both Edward and the nurse snapped their heads in his direction.

"Excuse me, doctor, but could I please have a few moments of privacy with Major Elric?" He asked politely.

"Of course." The nurse said, nodding her head and shuffling out the door, closing it behind her.

"So how are you feeling, Fullmetal?" Roy asked.

"I've had worse." Ed replied. Roy nodded, and sat down in a chair next to the bed.

"Are you going to tell me how you got those limbs?" He inquired. Just as Maes had said, Edward went stark white, and his hands began to shake mildly.

"They-they put them on me." Edward said at last, his voice low and frightened. "They said...that the Transmutation would be easier if I had...if I didn't have the auto-mail, so they took all of it off, and they...they Transmuted these ones onto me."

"And how they Hell did they do that?" Mustang asked skeptically.

"I-I don't know. I was blindfolded the whole time."

"Convenient, that, isn't it?"

"What?"

"I said," Mustang repeated, "That it seems highly convenient that you were blindfolded the entire time, and you can't tell me anything of use, yet...when Hughes found you, there was no such blindfold to be found."

"Where is Al?" Edward asked suddenly.

"Sorry?"

"Where is my brother. I want him here, he needs to know that I'm okay." Edward said.

"You're changing the subject, Elric." Roy pointed out.

"Get me my brother." Edward said firmly.

Mustang narrowed his eyes. "Why won't you just tell me the truth, Edward. I can tell that you're hiding something, and I want you to tell me."

Edward stayed silent. Mustang clenched his fists, and the sound of the fabric of his gloves rubbing together filled the silence. His blood was singing in his ears, and his chest felt like it was about to explode with rage! How dare this kid, this twelve your old kid, a mere MAJOR, refuse to answer HIM, a COLONEL! He could have torched the kid there and then, but that would put him in a really awkward position with the brass, and that would do nothing to help him climb the political ladder. So instead, he took in a deep breath, un-clenched his fists, and tried again. "Edward, I'm asking you, please tell me what happened down there in that basement. Any information you can give us will help catch the guys that kidnapped you."

Ed didn't answer him, instead he clenched his own fists and readjusted his gaze to the bed sheets. Roy's patience ran out. "Edward, as your commanding officer, I am ordering you to tell me everything that happened down there in that Goddamn basement!" It only added fuel to the fire when Edward continued to ignore him, and in a burst of rage he backhanded the kid's face. Ed's head snapped to the side, but his eyes were focused solely on Mustang, and they were burning with barely contained rage. His fists were clenched so tightly that he had managed to cut his palms, and every muscle visible was strained tight. Mustang didn't care if he'd hurt him. Edward was a soldier and as such was obliged to follow orders. "I want you back at the office by Monday morning, and I want a full report on everything that happened. And Edward." He paused, making sure Edward followed his words carefully. "If you don't give me that report, there'll be consequences."

He spun on his heel and left the hospital room. He passed Hawkeye on his way out, and she jumped up and matched his stride in a heartbeat without saying a word, and Roy was grateful. He needed a few minutes to cool off before he spoke to anyone, or he's end up snapping at them. He headed back to Central H.Q, glad they were back in the city, and when he arrived he went straight to his office to look over what he'd got on what had been officially dubbed the 'Chimera Lab Case', determined to figure it all out.

Today was Thursday, which meant that Edward had exactly four days to get that report written. It wouldn't be a problem for him; his injuries were minor at best, and he was only being held there for the rest of the afternoon for observation. He was perfectly capable of having a report written by then. The question was: would he do it?

Maes' grip on the papers trembled, and he had to put them down for a moment to collect himself before reading on. He'd only read a few pages of it all so far, and already he wanted to throw up. What was written here was disgusting, vile and sickening. Maes knew that what he had in his possession wasn't even all of the documents, he and Mustang had discussed the obviously missing filed earlier, but still he did not want to read on. There was so much detail in what was written, and so many pictures to accompany the writing, and it was just so...intense.

All through the pages were detailed descriptions of Edward's rape, and pictures to go along that Maes had to look at because they were part of the evidence, and he just wanted to rip it all to pieces and erase it all forever, as though it would take back what had been done to Edward. In the picture he currently had in his hand, he could clearly see Edward's face, scrunched up and in pain, eyes invisible behind the blindfold. On top of him was a big, muscular man with short brown hair, who was straddling Ed's hips. He was facing away from the camera, and Maes knew that it was intentional. The people who had taken Edward kept every single detail of their captives kept on file, from the size of their feet to the food they were given each night, so it made sense that they would want to document this too, but if situations like this arose, they couldn't have any of themselves identified, so they had to make sure that they were not facing the camera.

Bastards. Maes thought to himself as he read on. I could kill them all.

Just then someone knocked on the door of his office, and he turned the paper face down on the table before calling in his visitor. In walked a Sergeant, and behind him was Gracia, his wife, with baby Elicia in her arms. "Your wife is here to see you, sir." The sergeant said.

"Thank you. Dismissed." He said kindly, and he saluted Maes before leaving. Maes waved Gracia over and she gladly obliged, giving Maes a peck on the cheek before setting Elicia down on the carpet.

"Hi, Maes." She said.

"Hey, Gracia." Maes replied tiredly. "What're you doing here?"

"Miss Hawkeye called. She asked me to let you know that Edward will be released from the hospital soon, and if we could put him up for the night. His brother is still a few days away from here." Gracia told him.

"Sure, I'd be glad to have him stay." Maes said distractedly, his mind still on what he had read. Gracia, ever and always the best wife he could have ever found, noticed his distraction.

"Maes, dear, is everything all right?" She asked kindly, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Not really, hon." He answered truthfully. "It's this case, it's gonna do my head in. We've just got Ed back a few days ago, after a month and a half of him being missing, and my team gathered everything they could find at the scene, and I've just been looking over it all, and look at this! Look at what they did to poor Ed!" Despite military protocol being that he was not to share evidence or intelligence with civilians, he showed her the papers anyway, because she was his wife, and he new without a doubt that he could trust her. He watched her eyes as they scanned the paper, and after her eyes caught sight of the picture, she gasped, clapping her hands to her mouth, dropping the page back onto his desk.

"Oh my..." She whispered. "Oh my God, poor Edward!"

"Yeah, I know." He said, rubbing his thumbs in his eyes. "And the worst part about it is that this isn't even all of it. There are lots of documents missing from this, and I have a strong feeling that Edward has them. Something a lot worse than this happened to him down in that basement, Gracia, but he's far too proud to admit any of it."

"Hmm..."

"Gracia?"

"Maes, I don't know that boy very well, but I think it's something more than pride, here. From what I can tell of him, he values himself as others value him. Maybe the things your missing tell something more than just something that would wound his pride. Is it possible that something happened that would make him believe that, if you found it out, it might make you think less of him?" She asked.

"Gracia...that's it! You're right! You're amazing, you know that? Truly amazing!" He pulled her closer and kissed her, and when they let go he smiled at her. "I think I need to do some more research here, why don't you go on to the hospital and take Edward home. I'll write up an official letter of authority for you. Oh, and take Elicia with you, before she chews a hole in my couch." They both looked around to see the baby, indeed, sitting next to Maes' office couch, chewing on the side. He and Gracia burst into laughter.

"Roy, you've gotta have a look at this." Maes said, bursting into Mustang's office. Mustang's eye twitched in annoyance. Despite being a lower rank than him, Maes never bothered to knock, salute or bow, and very rarely did he call Mustang 'sir' like he was supposed to. It didn't normally bother Mustang, because Maes was his best friend, but he was having one of the worst days he'd had in years, and he was in no mood for Maes' crap today.

"What, Hughes?" He asked tightly, clenching his fist around the pen he was holding. "I'm in the middle of a particularly huge pile of paperwork...thank you Hawkeye." He added sarcastically, shooting a glare her way.

"You're welcome, sir." She said, not looking up from the report she was writing.

"Mustang, you need to take a look at this. Some seriously...I can't even word it, just read." Maes said, handing him the papers that he'd been holding. Mustang turned them over and saw they were the files on Edward that had been found in the basement.

"What about them, Maes?" He asked.

"Just read them!" Maes said anxiously. Frowning, Mustang scanned the papers, and slowly, his eyes widened, as he realized the extremity of what Edward had been through.

"Oh my God, Maes, how did I miss all of this?" He asked in disbelief.

"I don't know, Roy, but we can't ignore this. We're gonna have to talk to Ed about it, see if we can convince him to go to therapy or something." Hughes said.

"He's not traumatized, Maes, I talked to him earlier today, and he was just as stubborn and secretive as ever." Roy said.

"Roy!" Maes exclaimed. "Were you and I reading two different pieces of paper or something? How can you say that when you just saw what happened to him?"

"He's perfectly fine. Sure, this is some extreme stuff right here, but this is Fullmetal we're talking about here. He'll be fine." Mustang argued.

Maes growled and snatched the paper back, slamming it in front of Hawkeye instead. she jumped and looked up at him, but did not say anything. "Lieutenant, would you please do me the favour of looking over these briefly and tell me what you think?" He asked her.

"Sure." She said. Both he and Hughes watched intently as she read what was put in front of her, and Roy saw the horror in them when she finally looked up. "This...this happened to Edward?" She asked finally.

"Yup." Maes said.

"This is terrible! How could he not have told us this?"

"He's a strong kid, Hawkeye." Roy said. "He probably didn't want to burden any of us with it."

"With all due respect sir, what the Hell?" Hawkeye said, stunning everyone.

It was out of her mouth before she could stop it, and she instantly regretted it. But...at the same time, she didn't. What she had just read was going to leave her with nightmares for a month, and she knew Mustang had just read the exact same thing. How could he flip off something like this so easily? Edward, his twelve year old subordinate, had been raped, constantly, daily, for a little over a month and a half, and Mustang acted like it was no big deal. Fury boiled within her, and it took all her years of practice to keep her cool, collected mask in place. She had to remind herself who she was dealing with, and that helped. This was Roy Mustang, the man she had grown up with, the ever-present constant in her life when so many things weren't. She had grown up with him at her side, because he had been her father's alchemy student. She knew him better than anyone else alive today, better even than his own foster mother, and it was this that was able to make her see that he must surely have a reason for his behavior. Perhaps he knew something she didn't; perhaps he'd already spoken with Ed about it and was just doing his best to feign surprise.

That had to be it, she decided.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant?" Mustang asked, a slight edge to his voice.

"Forgive me, sir. I did not mean to be so blatant. I just do not understand how you can be taking this news so lightly." She said.

"You're forgiven, Lieutenant." Mustang said, and Hawkeye's racing mind relaxed a little. "I just feel that if Edward was not coping with this, we would all be able to tell. He thinks he is good at hiding his emotions, but he is actually quite terrible at it. It's possible, that at his age, he doesn't even fully understand what happened to him."

Hawkeye had to admit, that did seem perfectly plausible. "You're right, sir, Edward probably doesn't even understand the full extent of it all. Sorry, sir." She sat down again (she hadn't even realized she'd stood up), and rubbed her temple. A killer headache was on the horizon, and she still had this report to finish. It was, at least, already half finished. That was something. The Colonel had asked each member of his staff to write full reports on everything they had seen down under that basement, and they weren't easy to do. She had seen some pretty horrifying things down there, and it wasn't even half of what Breda and Havoc had seen. They had come out of that basement quite shaken up, and she could tell that since then, neither of them had slept well. There war bags under their eyes and neither of them were joking the way they normally did. While not any of them would admit it to the Colonel, she had actually helped them both write their reports to take the strain off of them. They had both expressed their gratitude to her, and she had waved it off, not needing it. She didn't need to be thanked, she was just glad she could help them out a little bit.

She turned her gaze back to her own report, picked up the pen, and continued writing. By the time she was finished, an hour had passed by, and she was exhausted. It was late, and she just wanted to go home to her small apartment and sleep. Lieutenant Colonel Hughes had left a while ago, and, at this hour, he would already be at home with his wife and daughter. And Edward, she reminded herself. Ed was staying with him and his family for the time being. He hadn't been in the military for long, so he hadn't managed to save up his salary yet, and being AWOL for a month and a half had not earned him any more, either. Alphonse was yet to arrive in Central, so it wasn't like the kid would have anywhere else he could be. Sighing, she decided she would pay him a visit before she went home.

Packing away all of her things in the drawers beneath and beside her desk, she looked over to see that she and Mustang were the only ones left. He was sitting at his desk, hunched over, staring furiously at the documents beneath him. His eyes were strained, and there were little orange and blue rings circling them. He's exhausted, she thought, He's not going to be able to concentrate when he's this tired. "Not going home, sir?" She asked. His head snapped up, startled from his work, and he relaxed when he saw that it was just her.

"No, I can't, not until I figure all of this out. I've already written my report and given it to General Hakuro, but there's still so much missing from all of this." He said, his voice low and croaky.

"Sir, you need to go home. I know you want to find what's missing, but you can't do that when you're almost falling to sleep on your desk. Please, sir, get some rest, and you can figure it all out in the morning." She pleaded, using the tone of voice she knew he could never resist. He smiled at her, and put the files away. "Thank you, sir." She said.

"No, you're right. I'm never going to get through this in my current state. I need sleep." He said, yawning and rubbing his eyes. Without another word, the two left the office, locking it for the night, and headed toward the exit for Central Command. It was late, and when they finally reached her car, the wind was blowing ,mildly, ruffling the Colonel's usually immaculate hair. The sight of it made her smile. Roy Mustang never let his appearance be anything but breathtaking. He was a handsome man, and he knew it, and he took advantage of that fact whenever he could. He was able to charm his way through almost anything, and Hawkeye both admired and abhorred it. She admired it because it was one of the many things that made him who he was, but she also hated it, because it meant that women were always on their knees for him, trying to make him theirs. This fact may not have bothered her so much if he didn't always let them. Colonel Mustang was a womanizer, everyone knew that, and it was the only thing about him that she truly despised. He was a smart man, but he could also be very, very blind. He never too notice of the subtle hints of affection she dropped every once in a while; the pats on the shoulder, ruffling of his hair, the smile she so very rarely smiled. Or perhaps it was her fault. Perhaps she was being too subtle. Perhaps she just was too good at hiding what she felt.

"Hello, earth to Hawkeye! You there?" Mustang's voice broke her out of her trance and she realized that while she'd been brooding, he'd been trying to say something.

"I'm sorry, sir, what was that?" She asked.

"I said, can you drive me home, please? I walked this morning, but it's cold and late and I don't feel like walking back tonight." He said. For some reason, she felt a small pang that he just wanted a ride home, as if she were nothing but a chauffeur, but then she realized she was just being petty.

"Sure." She said. "I'd be happy to."

"Thanks, Lieutenant." He said, putting on the smile he usually reserved for his womanizing activities. She scowled and jumped into the driver's seat, slamming the door and starting the engine before he even had a chance to shut his door. She pulled out onto the road and turned towards Mustang's apartment, which was, conveniently, the complete opposite direction to where she wanted to go.

"Lieutenant?" Mustang asked, sounding unsure.

"Yes, sir?" She asked, her voice clipped.

"Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"No reason, it's just that you're going way over the speed limit."

With a shock, she realized he was right, and quickly lifted her foot off of the accelerator, and the car began to slow down. On the other hand, they arrived at his home much faster than they would have normally, and she was able to get rid of him before he figured out why she felt so upset. Sighing, she turned the car around, looking in the rear-view mirror to see him waving goodbye, a small smile on his face, and that brought a smile to her own. Just the little things, they make someone feel so worthless, and they could also revive them. Colonel Mustang had a funny way of doing both. Little things, like a wave goodbye and a tired smile, could pull her out of the shadow his womanizing left her in. She stuck her hand out the window and waved back at him, and then he went inside the building.

She sighed and headed towards the Hughes house.

When she got there, after about fifteen minutes of driving from one side of Central to the other, she knocked quietly on the door, and Gracia opened it. "Hello, miss Hawkeye. For what do we owe the pleasure?" She asked. Hawkeye liked Gracia. She was always so polite and kind, and she couldn't remember the woman ever being negative about anything.

"I was wondering if I could see Edward." Hawkeye said.

"He fell asleep about an hour ago. Poor boy, he was so exhausted, with everything he's had to go through. Speaking of which, you don't look much better off, please, come in." Gracia moved aside, a clear invitation for Hawkeye to come in, and Hawkeye found she couldn't refuse. "Would you like anything? Coffee, tea?"

"Tea sounds wonderful, thank you." Hawkeye said, being completely honest. She couldn't even remember the last time she had had the time to make herself a good cup of tea.

"Hey, Hawkeye, what brings you here?" Hughes' cheerful voice sounded from around the corner, and Hawkeye walked over to him, saluting before answering.

"I was planning on paying Ed a visit, but if he's already asleep..."

"Yeah, he was really tuckered out, considering he's spent the last three days in a hospital bed. Come on, he's in the guest room. He's looks so much smaller when he sleeps." He said, with a wistfulness that only a father could possess, even if he wasn't talking about his own child. She followed Hughes quietly to where he had put Ed up for the night, and found herself smiling. Edward was sprawled on the single bed, his golden hair cascading around his face on the white pillow. The blanket had fallen down to his waste, and she could see his left hand resting on his exposed stomach. He looked...peaceful, something that she had never seen in him before.

The moment was short lived as he squinted beneath his closed eyelids and started groaning. He began to toss and turn in the bed, still groaning and mumbling. She turned to look at Hughes, who was frowning, eyebrows knitted together with concern. Looking back at Ed, she could see that the blanket had twisted itself around one of his legs - the new flesh leg. Edward moaned and gasped, trying unconsciously to pull the leg free, but it wouldn't budge. That was when his mumbles began to form comprehensible words. He kept saying 'no', over and over again, and then it became 'stop', and 'leave me alone!', and then his words became unintelligible again. Even on the other side of the room, she could see the sweat on his forehead, and she was unsure what to do.

Then he started screaming.

Before she could react, Hughes had run into the room, grabbing Edward by the shoulders and shaking him awake. The young boy lunged forward in the bed, swinging his fist in panic in Hughes' direction. Hughes didn't make any attempt to block it, instead he waited for Edward's panic to subside, waiting until Ed realized he was safe, whispering to him that he was okay, that he was safe, that he wouldn't let anything happen to him. Hawkeye saw tears in Edward's eyes, and it broke her heart. When Edward realized he had nothing to fear from Hughes, the older man pulled the child into his arms, and Ed rested his head on Hughes' shoulder. His shoulders were shaking, and Hawkeye realized he was trying to stop crying.

She vowed to herself then that she would protect him for the rest of her life. He had been through so much, and she would not let anything else hurt him.