A/N: Thank you so much to those who reviewed. I'm so grateful that I was able to capture some interest. What a relief that you weren't all bored out of your minds! I am so grateful that I figured I would polish up the second part and post it now. The next part isn't written though, so updates will take a while.

To answer a question that one reviewer asked: No, there won't be any pairings. Every time I pair people up in stories, they end up fighting and breaking up… so friendships and parental/sibling type relationships work better for me. Sorry, if that's not what you were hoping for! I hope you aren't too disappointed.

Again, thank you to all who reviewed and favorited and followed. You make me happy.

Nightmares

"They've promised that dreams can come true - but forgot to mention that nightmares are dreams, too."

― Oscar Wilde

It had been a hot day when Edward decided to go play in the creek near the woods. He wasn't exactly supposed to play there. The thistles and stinging nettle plants grew thick along the water and all the children in the area were warned away from playing their games there. There was something else wrong with it too. Something the adults didn't always say outright to the smaller children. However, Ed was clever and he had overheard one day the adults talking about the strange men that had, at one time, taken refuge huddled in the deep foliage around the shallowest parts of the stream. Transients, the parents had said. However, the consensus seemed to be that none of these men were there anymore and it was only the possibility of their presence that parents worried over.

Edward thought this was stupid. He knew how to avoid thistles and the stinging weed. So why should the remote possibility of any homeless wanderers be any concern of his? He was seven now and he didn't have to be careful like the little kids did. Besides, he had made a bet that he could catch more crayfish than that annoying Kaleb who lived down the road. Edward hated that boy as much as he possibly could hate anyone.

Kaleb's family had moved to the area two years ago and Edward had hated him every day of those two years. Kaleb's older brother, Samuel, was the exact opposite of Kaleb and was always kind to everyone, but that might have been because he was fourteen and practically an adult already. Kaleb was taller than Ed and he was nearly a year older. Plus, he always acted like he was the best at everything. More than that, Kaleb had once pulled Winry's hair and he had pushed Al in the mud after the last time it rained! He was always horrible! And Ed had punched him good after he made Al cry, but his mother scolded him because of that. If Ed wasn't going to be allowed to beat him up in a fair fight, then he would certainly win this bet they had made.

They had been playing under the shade of some trees when Kaleb had walked up and begun to brag about playing down by the creek where nobody was supposed to go. He said he had caught five crayfish all by himself and it had been so nice to play in the cool creek while the others had to escape the sun by playing in the shade. Edward said he could play in the creek too and catch way more crayfish than dumb Kaleb any day.

And that is more or less how Edward made the first bet in his short life. This was why he was now standing at the brink of the deep ditch that slanted down towards the creek at its bottom. He couldn't actually see the water from where he was. The trees and shrubs were overgrown and they completely obstructed his view. Edward gave the darkness a weary glance, but then shook his head with resolution. He wasn't afraid of any silly shadows! He cautiously began to pick his way through the branches and, while keeping an eye out for plants that could harm him, Edward descended into the dark.

The foliage was so thick that very little light reached down to the slow moving stream. Edward blinked hard a few times to adjust his eyes to the sudden twilight. He carefully maneuvered around a patch of the nefarious stinging nettle and readjusted his grip on the bucket he had brought from home. A few more steps and he would be at the creek's rocky edge. He caught glimpse of fast movement in the water. A fish (or maybe one of the crayfish he was after) darted out of sight. A grin started forming on his face. This was going to be easy. One more step and he could probably just dip his bucket in and-

"What brings you here?"

Ed dropped his bucket into the stream with a splash and he flailed his arms so he wouldn't lose his footing on the damp stones. After he stopped himself from falling face first into the water, he looked up to see a face peering at him from amongst the shrubs on his left. The vegetation rustled and parted and the disembodied face rose up out of the dark to reveal a tall man dressed in dark, dirty clothes. His hair was a light brown and his eyes were a striking light blue that seemed to shine in the darkness. He carried a slight grin on his face and his voice had a roughness to it as if he hadn't used it in some time.

Edward's heart was still pounding from the surprise of finding someone here and it didn't slow down now that the man was towering over him.

"What's your name?" The stranger asked. Edward's eyes darted to his discarded bucket briefly.

"Ed," he answered stiffly and he stuck out his chest a bit. He wasn't afraid at all, he had just been surprised. The man let out a sudden bark of laughter and Ed was startled again, but he only flinched a little.

"So then… ED. What brings you here?" The stranger's teeth flashed in the darkness as he grinned down at the boy.

"Crayfish." Edward motioned to the creek and his bucket, which had now mostly sunk. The man reached down and saved the bucket from being overcome completely. He emptied the water out of it and gave the object a scrutinizing look.

"Crayfish, huh? You won't catch much with just your hands and a bucket though… I have some back at my camp, you can have them if you'd like."

Edward shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He did want the crayfish…

"Come with me. I've got a bunch of the things. You can have them all." His teeth flashed again in a smile, but something didn't sound right with his voice. It sounded off , like… like… He's not telling the truth. The thought struck Edward with such clarity, that he stopped mid step. When had he even started moving? The strange man didn't seem to be smiling anymore and Edward fumbled with his words.

"Ed!" A young voice suddenly rang out through the dark. Alphonse! Ed turned and looked back the way he had come in. He couldn't see his brother, but it sounded like he was near the top of the slope.

"That a friend of yours? He can come down here too…"

With a twist in his stomach, Edward realized that he didn't like the idea of this man talking to his little brother and he felt a stab of fear, not for himself, but for Al.

Edward turned and ran from that dark place. He stumbled through branches and thorns and at one point he was scrambling on his hands and knees in the dirt. For the briefest moment he could have sworn he felt a hand wrap around his foot, but he had crashed through a patch of stinging nettle and then all he could hear was a faint cursing over the roaring in his ears. When he finally broke free of the brush, he saw his little brother at the very edge of the overgrowth, toeing some branches, trying to find a way down to the creek. Edward grabbed his brother's arm and went running across the field and down the path towards home. Al started shouting at him to let go, but Edward refused. He ran past other people on the road and someone called out to him. Edward barely registered that he had run right past Kaleb and he was probably taunting him about somthing.

When they finally ran up to their front door, Alphonse was crying and Edward was bleeding from scrapes on his knees, hands and face. Bumps had sprung up on his skin from contact with the stinging weed. Their mother asked what had happened, but he couldn't catch his breath to explain it to her. She cleaned him up, applied medicine to his wounds and bandaged him. The rash stayed for a long while and nothing his mother did seemed to soothe it. It kept him up late into the night as he could not get comfortable in his bed. Edward never did find the breath to explain what happened.

When they found Kaleb's body four days later in the creek, his eyes had been gouged out from their sockets.

Edward was ill for a long time after that.

Edward couldn't breathe. From the moment his eyes snapped open in wakefulness, his lack of oxygen was the only thing on his mind. He just couldn't draw breath. A sudden darkness loomed over him and he threw out both arms in defense. His arms collided with metal and he was too late to realize that he still needed to be careful of his stitches.

"Brother!" Alphonse cried out. A great deal of worry filled that single word. "Are you alright?"

A harsh stinging worked its way up his arm and Ed couldn't tell if the pain was from the nettle or his abused stitches. No, no that's not right. The nettle had been years and years ago. Ed felt the sudden rise of bile creep up his throat. He struggled to get out of the bed, but the sheets had become tangled in his legs and his arm hurt. Luckily, Alphonse had taken a step back and he avoided getting vomit on his armored feet or legs when Ed hurled over the side of his mattress.

"Brother!" Alphonse's worried voice again. The lights came on in the room and Edward blinked in the brightness. "It's alright. You don't need to apologize." Alphonse said as he helped untangle the sheets from Edward's legs. Ed was finally able to take in a deep breath. He hadn't even realized that the murmured sound in the background was his own voice apologizing over and over and over again…

Edward started to curl up on the mattress. He felt drained and there was a pit in his stomach that wouldn't go away. A sense of shame had crept over him. He hadn't thought about that day when he was seven in years. He couldn't bring it all up now again. It was in the distant past and it needed to stay buried there. Just because one photo was only similar to what had happened back then….

Stop it. Don't think about it. He scolded himself. It's not the same. It's not the same. It can't be the same. There's no way. I'm overreacting. It's not the same. It's not…

"Brother, your stitches are red."

Alphonse had gently pulled Ed's arm away from him and was examining the long line of stitches along his arm. The redness had indeed spread from the edges of the wound and Edward didn't know how long they had looked like that. Al carefully passed his gauntlet through the air right above the wound, as if he had been about to touch his brother's arm.

"Is it… warm? Do they hurt?"

Ed shook his head, but it was very slight. He began to turn his head to hide his face in the mattress, but with a dull throb of pain he was reminded of the stitches in his cheek.

"Are you telling me the truth?" Alphonse didn't sound angry, but worried and sad.

"It's not infected. Just… irritated." Red and swollen from catching on his coat, from being moved around too quickly… from being hit against his brother's metal chest piece… He wouldn't say that though. He could never say anything that might suggest that Al was at fault at all. He had been the one to thrash about so wildly just because of a stupid dream of something that had happened so long ago. Feeling less foggy then when he had first woken up; Edward forced himself to sit up. He couldn't let Al see him acting like this. He couldn't let anyone see.

"I'll clean this up," Ed motioned to the vomit that was still splattered across the floor. It wasn't very much and Edward remembered that he had not eaten dinner that night.

"No, Brother. You can go clean yourself up. I can take care of this."

It was at that moment that Ed realized he had gotten puke in his hair. Well, it was his fault for not tying it back before falling asleep.

The next time that Ed awoke, the sun was shining brightly through their single window and the dorm still smelled like throw up. Edward's stomach gave an unpleasant turn and he began to curl himself into a ball. As if on cue, Al's voice rang out in the morning.

"Brother, are you awake? Are you hungry?"

Ed let out a moan, but didn't articulate anything.

"Ed, you should eat."

"No…."

"Then we should go to the hospital."

"What? No." Edward sat up to protest, but flopped back down pathetically back on the mattress.

"Hospital or Colonel Mustang. You'll have to pick one, because Colonel wants to see you again today."

"What? Why?" Edward kicked his automail leg in protest so that it hit the wall with a loud thump.

"I told you last night, Ed. The Colonel stopped by and said he wanted to see you today if you were feeling better."

That didn't seem right… Ed didn't remember Al saying anything about that. Though, when Edward really thought about it, he realized that a lot of the previous evening was a bit fuzzy. He remembered being ill and lying on the bathroom floor for a while… Then he must have made the transition to his bed and fallen asleep.

"Brother, you look pale. If you are not feeling well, you should see a doctor."

Edward could not argue anymore with Alphonse on this... and if it was a choice between a hospital visit and having to talk to the Colonel about what had happened…

"Fine, Al. I'll go to the hospital again. But I don't think it's infected." Edward gave his arm a gentle wave in the air. The stitches looked less red around the edges, but they did still hurt and Ed felt that he wouldn't say no to a few more pain pills that would get him through the next few days. As far as he was concerned, as soon as he was cleared for active duty, he was going to get the hell out of Central, mission or no mission.

…It's not the same. It's not…

"I'll call the Colonel's office and tell him you probably won't be seeing him today. You get ready to go."

Edward let out a little sigh of relief, thankful that his brother had offered to make the call. He couldn't risk talking about this. He just couldn't. If this was some demon from the past, then fine. Edward would fight it tooth and nail to lock it back in the recesses of his mind for the rest of his life. There was no point in dragging it all out now.

"There have been kidnappings in several cities in the past two years that are similar to ours. Most of those victims were never found, but the two that were found near Awrosut… had their eyes removed."

"You think this killer is from out of town then."

"Yes, possibly from the East. I've requesting records from all unsolved kidnapping and missing child cases from all over Amestris. The reports just started to come in yesterday, but some of the most relevant ones are coming from near East City. This is only a few of them. I've had more and more coming in all day... I could be sorting through old reports for weeks."

Roy looked over the impressive array of information that was scattered over his desk again. Some items were new, but most were pieces of information he had already seen. A few new photographs caught his eye. They stuck out because they were some of the only images of adults.

"What are these?" Roy asked, picking up a photo of an angry looking man with black hair and dark eyes.

"Old suspects in old kidnapping cases from our closest neighboring cities. That's Lance Bradford. He was picked up in East City. He wasn't charged with anything though. He had an alibi for the night the kid there went missing."

Roy set the photograph down and picked up another. This man had light blue eyes and long brown hair. His expression seemed pretty neutral though.

"Warren Pace. He was a drifter. They never found any evidence against him. Most likely just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Maes tapped the last picture on the desk with his finger. The man had a shaved head and dull grey eyes. An ugly sneer stretched across his face. "This is Brian Ford. He just got out of prison a few months ago. Nobody seems to know where he currently is."

"What was he sentenced for?"

"He stabbed some people in a bar. Nobody died, but most consider him to be unstable. They were never able to gather enough evidence against him, but for a time he lived near one of the victims."

At that moment, Riza Hawkeye entered Mustang's office. Roy inwardly cringed at the thought that she might be bringing him more paperwork. She knew he was helping Hughes and had agreed that it was important enough for him to postpone signing a few documents… hopefully she hadn't changed her mind.

"Sir, Edward will not be in today. He has gone to see a doctor."

Roy's eyes barely twitched in surprise and Hughes set the notes he was carrying down on the desk.

"He was still ill then." Roy stated, glancing at Maes and catching the worry that crossed his friend's face.

"According to his brother, they are worried his stitches are showing signs of infection."

Roy nodded and let out the smallest of sighs through his nose.

"I want to know if he is admitted."

"Of course, sir." Hawkeye gave a nod at Hughes and then turned to leave the room and go back to work. When the door shut behind her, Maes gave Roy a despondent look.

"You didn't tell me Ed wasn't doing well."

"I wasn't going to say anything until I knew if it was something that really needed to be worried about. You have enough of a burden with all of this." And Roy gestured to all the evidence littering the desk. Well, that was certainly true, but…

"Some burdens are borne more readily than others. Worrying about Edward isn't the same as this." Maes rested his elbow heavily on the desk, his eyes darting one way and then the other over the gathered evidence.

"I will let you know once I figure out what the problem is with him."

"His brother said his stitches are showing signs of infection…"

"Yes…" Roy trailed off then as if he was trying to decide to tell Maes something. Hughes knew Roy well and he could usually tell when his friend was omitting information from him. He didn't usually outright lie, but he had a habit of not telling the whole truth sometimes.

"Roy… Is something wrong?"

"Not sure yet. Come on, we are supposed to be getting lunch." The subject change was abrupt and threw Hughes off. He opened his mouth to protest, but only let out a sigh. Pick and choose your battles. That was something he had started telling himself when dealing with his daughter as she was going through her terrible twos. Interesting how it worked for so many other aspects of his life.

They could have easily asked someone to bring them food and that way Hughes could have continued to work through his investigation, while ignoring his sandwich nearby. However, Mustang insisted they walk themselves to the cafeteria and eat lunch there. While it wasn't exactly a fancy restaurant, the change of scenery and the break from work was greatly needed. Roy had said they shouldn't talk about anything work related and instead focus on anything else. While, usually, Maes would take this opportunity to gush over his adorable little daughter, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Every time he thought of his daughter, a rock seemed to settle in his stomach and he felt the urgent need to call home and make sure she was still fine. That she was still there and safe with her mother. Maes frowned at the wilting lettuce leaves in his salad.

"Tell me about your new receptionist." Roy stated out of the blue.

"What?" Maes snapped out of his haze with a jerk.

"She married?"

"Engaged," Hughes answered distractedly, but his mouth twitched up in a small smile. Leave it to Roy…

"Still time, then." Mustang responded with a smirk.

"Stay away from her," Hughes gave his friend a warning glare, but they both knew it wasn't serious.

"I'll just stop by your office a few times. Eventually she'll come to me."

"Roy… you're terrible." Maes laughed for the first time in a long time.

It was probably for the best that Maes Hughes was with Roy Mustang when he learned that six year old Tobias Winthrop's body had been found dumped in a back alley behind a local restaurant. Though not technically part of the investigation, Mustang had accompanied his friend to the scene. When they arrived there, Roy was glad that he hadn't finished his lunch. Besides missing his fingers, toes and eyes, the victim's body was mostly intact. However, the smell of decay was heavy and it was obvious that someone had lost the contents of their stomach already near the far wall. Roy could take the smell and even the sight of the mutilated body, but he would be lying if he said his stomach hadn't given an uncomfortable turn.

Lieutenant Colonel Hughes began commanding officers left and right. Evidence had to be gathered, photographs had to be taken and witnesses needed to be questioned as quickly as possible. Roy watched his friend work with an intensity that he rarely saw. They needed a break in this case. Hughes needed it.

After the initial flurry of activity, Maes returned briefly to Roy's side. A moment of silence passed between the two and Roy crossed his arms in front of him, nudging Maes with his elbow in the process. This seemed to snap Hughes out of his trance.

"I left a lot of files on your desk." Hughes started. He had left nearly all of his files there. "Do you think you can have them delivered back to my office?"

Roy tried to ignore that haunted look that crept at the edges of his friend's face.

"I will see that it is done."

"Thank you, Roy."

Roy nodded and then left briskly. He had some work to do.

Edward was cleared to go back to his dorm. There didn't seem to be an infection, but he was told to be more careful with his stitches. He was happy to learn, however, that the few stitches under his eye could be removed in two days. Edward hated those ones especially and it would be great to look in a mirror and not see the constant reminder of his own actions.

"Are you hungry, brother?" Alphonse asked as Ed plopped himself back on the bed.

"Not really."

"Ed, you didn't eat last night or this morning. It's already past lunch time. You need to eat something."

"It's just the pain medicine making me feel sick…"

"But you haven't had any of that for hours and the doctor said to take smaller doses and you should be fine."

Edward felt his mind go blank. He just wanted to be left alone… To try to sleep without nightmares… But if the nightmares did come, what was he supposed to do?

"Ed?"

Edward jerked with a start as he realized Al was still talking to him.

"I will eat something." As he said it, he felt his stomach begin to cramp up, but he had to try. If not for his own sake, then at least for Al's peace of mind.

During the course of their simple meal of toast and eggs, Alphonse suggested his brother pay the Colonel a visit. Ed felt like he was going to choke on his piece of toast. He took a gulp of water to clear his airway.

"I already visited that bastard yesterday," he protested, but the usual vigor was missing from his tone.

"But he said he wanted to talk to you again and it must have been important for him to stop by like he did… what do you think he wants to talk to you about?"

Edward sat his half eaten toast down on his plate. He wouldn't be finishing it. He carefully studied the condensation on his glass, hopefully appearing casual about the topic.

"Who knows? Probably something to do with my report. He's so damn nitpicky."

"Would you like me to go with you?"

"No!" Ed answered too quickly and too loudly. Alphonse scooted backwards in his chair in surprise. "No," Edward answered more quietly. Damn it, act normal. "You were doing some research weren't you? You said the other day that you found some promising books about the philosopher's stone? I'll go alone. No reason for him to waste both of our times."

Al's gaze went to the stack of books he had on the coffee table. It was true that he had found some interesting material that he would like to follow up on…

"Don't worry about it. I'll go see what he wants and be back in no time."

The few bites of toast he had were threatening to make a comeback. Never had he felt the walk to the Colonel's office was so long and dismal. He hadn't decided what he was going to say yet, how was he going to explain why he had run away from his commanding officer like a scared little kid? He had just been startled, startled by that horrible picture. Who wouldn't be? Who left things like that on the floor anyway?

Ed took a deep breath, hoping it would slow down his racing heart. He just needed to get through this without throwing up on the Colonel's desk. The efforts that he had gone through to steel himself turned out to be pointless. Upon opening the door to the main office, Edward was faced with a room devoid of people. Perhaps they all went to lunch? Ed thought as he studied the empty desks. Curiously, he walked towards the Colonel's inner office and found the door ajar. Without delay, Ed pushed the door the rest of the way open. He thought that someone might be in the office, but was surprised to see Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc collecting papers and putting them into a box he had set on the desk. Havoc jumped when the door opened and dropped his cigarette on the floor. He swore loudly and quickly knelt to pick it up. In his hurry he fumbled some of the papers and they went sliding to the floor.

"Chief, you startled me. I thought you were Lieutenant Hawkeye." Havoc tossed a tense smile in Edward's direction. He motioned to the cigarette in his hands. "I was told not to smoke in here, but I figured everyone else was gone, so it didn't really matter."

Edward just blinked for a moment before he remembered why he was standing in the Colonel's doorway in the first place.

"Mustang said he wanted me to stop by."

"Did he?" Havoc bent to collect more of the papers he had dropped. "He got called away. Then he called everyone else away too. The Colonel told me to collect everything here and deliver it back to Hughes' desk. I suppose I got one of the easier jobs." Havoc grinned more broadly. "It's good to see you're still up and about. I heard you were in the hospital again today."

Edward nodded distractedly and walked over to the desk. He wanted to blame it on just a sense of curiosity, but a bad feeling was beginning to creep into the corners of his mind. He felt a slight tingle of nervousness crawl up his spine and settle in the back of his neck.

Most of the papers had been settled in their container, but a few were still scattered on the desk. A picture of a man with dark hair and dull eyes was looking like it might soon slip from its precarious position on the ledge. Ed slowly picked it up and gave it a cautionary glance over before handing it to Havoc.

"Need any help?" Ed asked in a much more gentle tone than he meant to.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks," He said, but he was giving the boy something of a concerned look. Edward decided to ignore it. He didn't want people looking at him like that.

"What is all this anyway?"

"You don't know? It's for a case that the Colonel is helping Maes Hughes with."

"Kidnappings," Ed remembered. Alphonse had mentioned the Colonel asking about kidnappings at some point. Murders. Why else would there be a picture of a dead child in Mustang's office? Havoc continued placing items in his box and Ed reach to grab a few items that had slipped out of the stack…

Striking light blue eyes that shone through the darkness.

Edward's breath caught in his throat.

What the hell?

Light brown hair… hidden in the shadows of the dense trees.

"Who is this?" Edward had cut Jean off in the middle of saying something. Again, Ed hadn't noticed when someone had started talking to him.

"That…a suspect I guess. I doubt he's one of the victims…"

Edward felt his stomach rebel instantly. The picture was completely forgotten. It could have ended up on the desk or floor or crumpled up in a little ball for all he knew. All Edward knew was that he was going to be sick. Luckily, his legs acted automatically and before he knew it, he was running through familiar hallway corridors. Havoc had most likely called out to him, but he hadn't heard it. How could he hear anything properly with all this damn static noise filling up his head? No, it was more like water. Water filling up his mind and rushing in his ears. His thoughts had drowned in it and now he couldn't breathe right either. He was going to drown in it too.

Through the dark and the murk, one thought did fight its way to the surface…

It is the same.

To be Continued…

A/N: Please forgive any mistakes. It's very late here and I am so tired. The next part will take a bit as I will be leaving the country tomorrow and won't be back for a week. I don't have the next part written either, so it's going to be some time. I will continue it though. If I don't, it means something happened to my plane... Ugh, I'm so nervous about it.

Anyway, thank you everyone! Please leave a review.