So I am finally posting my 2nd chapter. I guess it's been a week. Anyways hope you like it.

It's kinda sad and well... Lemme not spoil it now =D

I forgot to note that Ed has his original limps here as he regained them.

The long italic part is Ed's nightmare.

*Pairings: None.

*Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, any of the characters or the cover picture. All I own is as usual - the plot.

Enjoy!


The Most Unfortunate and Unexpected Encounter

Chapter 2: What he fears the most...

The familiar yet not so familiar sight enveloped him with warmness and sheer happiness as he watched the best moments of his life playing before his eyes. His mom sitting beside him wearing on her warm broad smile, his baby brother Alphonse waving his hands up in the air cheerfully as his plate was placed in front of him and his dad ruffling his short blonde hair. They were all gathered for dinner in the living room. It was an extremely beautiful and delightful sight. Then the scene changed; not entirely, it was pretty much the same but instead of being kids, Ed and Al were teens at their current age, the whole family together surrounding the dining table, chatting and laughing. They seemed an almost perfect family – almost…

In a split second Ed was confined by pitch black darkness and his father appeared in his line of sight.

"You're a bad kid Edward, I can't stand being around you anymore, remember it's all your fault" Hohenheim said in a cold, harsh tone, then turned and walked away. A 4 years old Ed started running and chasing his dad, stretching out his arms hoping to get a hold of his father with tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Dad... Dad! I am sorry … I am so sorry… I will be a good kid, please don't leave… please no… we need you" he chocked.

No matter how much the kid kept running he couldn't reach his dad, and despite all his calling and begging for his dad to stay, the older man didn't even turn and look at his son and he soon faded out, leaving Ed alone in the darkness again.

His mom laid limb on the floor, then changed into a horrific non-human creature in a pool of blood, her bones sticking out awkwardly which brought chills down his spine.

"Why didn't you... make mommy… better Edward? You're a failure…" it said before dying.

Then he saw his brother being deconstructed and taken away by tiny creepy black hands. Then an armor with red glowing eyes stood in front of him.

"It's all your fault brother! If you just listened to me and didn't have us perform the transmutation I wouldn't have been trapped in a metallic body that can't feel, eat or sleep, actually if you didn't force dad to leave us, we would have been able to afford proper treatment for mom and she wouldn't have died in the first place, but you're arrogant and annoying! I hate you brother!" And Al disappeared.

Alexander and Nina appeared; playing around then suddenly got mixed up into a horrific chimera.

"Why didn't you save me big brother?... I thought you would protect me…" the creature spoke pitifully.

Ed started tossing around in his bed, softly whimpering and mumbling apologies.

Now Roy, Hughes, Armstrong and all the crew including Winry and Pinako stood a few miles away from him, even Gracia and Elycia were there. They looked at him pleadingly while they were brutally attacked.

Roy was woken up by Ed's moans and movements. He sat up rubbing his eyes and looked over at the boy beside him. Sweat drops were trickling down his forehead; his hands were clenching at the fabric of the bed sheet, tossing his head back and forth, shivering and panting for air.

'A nightmare, huh?' Roy mused.

He slowly reached for the boy and tried waking him up.

"Fullmetal"

No response.

"No stop, don't kill them. Nooo!" he yelled yet they didn't stop, all the people whom he cared for were shot to death, one by one hitting the ground. They were all murdered in cold blood right before his eyes.

'It's all your fault'

'I hate you brother'

'You're a failure'

'I thought you would protect me'

The voices echoed in his head.

He lost them all…

"No way…" he gasped.

"I am sorry, it's all my fault, I failed you and now you're… you're all dead" he said his voice cracking.

"Edward!" Roy called.

"No no I am sorry, please" Ed pleaded for his torture to stop.

"Edward, wake up, it's just a nightmare!" Roy practically yelled, shaking the boy.

"Nooo!" Ed's head shot up, his eyes wide in agony, his breathing rapid and uneven. He glanced around absorbing in his surroundings.

"Edward, you okay?" Roy asked; the concern audible in his voice.

Ed turned to him still looking terrified and stared at the now worried man.

"I am sorry..." he managed to say as he covered his eyes with his hands.

"What are you apologizing for? You were just having a nightmare. Wait here I will get you some water" before Ed was able to speak Mustang had already left to the kitchen, after a moment he came back with a glass of water and offered it to Ed. After drinking it, Ed's breathing evened a bit but he was still visibly shivering.

"Calm down Ed. It's okay now" Roy tried but the boy just shook his head.

"I am sorry colonel… I always screw up things" Ed said softly but loud enough for Roy to hear him.

"Ed?" Roy was confused.

"Everything is my fault, mom, the transmutation, Al, Nina … I guess Al deserves to live with someone other than me… Even you; all what I have done since I joined the military is cause you all troubles, especially you Colonel. You must despise me, you should, I-"

"What the hell are you talking about Ed?!" Roy interrupted angrily.

"I … I am just sorry for being such a naïve idiot!" Ed replied abruptly avoiding Roy's gaze.

Roy sighed and rubbed his temples.

"No Ed, you aren't an idiot, you're a prodigy who have went through so much for his age. Nothing was your fault. When you performed the transmutation? You had no idea what would be the price. All you wanted was to see your mom again. And Al, you think he hates you, you think he blames you? You've got it totally wrong then. Al looks up to you, he loves you to no extents, you gave up your right arm for him and you were ready to give up your soul if it would save him. You promised him to regain his body and no matter how many times you met dead ends, you stayed true to your words and now see; he is in his human body again. For him you were literally both his parents, not just his elder brother. And the Tucker's incident was by no means your fault either"

Roy raised a hand to stop Ed from trying to protest then continued.

"It was only Tucker's fault; no one would think that a father would turn his daughter to a talking chimera to maintain his state alchemist certification, so you taking the blame for what happened, is non-sense. And about you causing troubles, you may be a hot headed, annoying brat but when push comes to shove, you are ready to do all what it takes to save others, we know you better Ed, you are kind and protective to those around you. We don't hate you and will never do, got it?" Roy asked looking Ed in the eye.

Ed didn't reply.

"Did you understand what I said?"

"Y…Yes colonel" Ed said.

"So I don't want to hear this non-sense again, alright?"

"Okay" he simply nodded.

Roy laid back into the bed and dragged Ed down with him

"Now let's sleep, we are going to have a long day tomorrow" Roy stated.

"Colonel… you… you won't leave like he did, right?"

'Damn that bastard, no wonder Ed is afraid to trust any adult figure'

"No Ed, I won't ever leave" he said and offered the young blonde a reassuring smile before sleeping.


The next morning Hughes had considered going to see how Ed and Roy were doing, hoping they didn't kill each other. Reluctantly, he headed towards Roy's apartment and used the spare keys to unlock the door and slowly crept in.

The place was so quiet so Hughes went to Roy's room and gently pushed the door. He saw Ed cuddled against Roy, both peacefully sleeping and that's when an evil grin covered his face.


Snap.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

"What the hell Hughes?!" Roy yelled as much as he could without waking Edward up.

He was woken up by flash lights and the giggling of none other than his so called best friend.

"Sorry Roy, I couldn't resist; you both looked so cute like a father and his son." Hughes managed between chuckles.

"You're crazy Hughes. A family obsessed person who does nothing but blabbers all the time. And where the heck do you get your camera from every time something cute happens?" Roy hissed and rolled his eyes while carefully getting off the bed.

"Hahaha, a camera is an essential requirement to capture the best moments when they occur" he grinned at Roy.

Roy glared at his idiotic friend and spoke softly.

"Whatever Hughes, let's just leave the room before we wake Ed up, yesterday was hectic and he needs to rest…" he sighed.

"Something happened?"Hughes asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Let's move out and I will tell you"

"Alright" Hughes replied faintly as they walked out.


Roy made some toast and coffee before joining Hughes at the table. And they started eating breakfast.

"Soooooo?" Hughes dramatically asked.

Roy let out an exasperated sigh then started.

"Well I somehow had him speak up instead of keeping it all in"

"You did?! That's great Roy!"

"Yeah… But he ended up breaking down and all then we slept, around 2 hours later he had a nightmare which seemed pretty bad. I woke him up and he was all crumbled, he started apologizing and blabbering about how everything was his fault. I didn't get to know the details of his nightmare but I tried convincing him that nothing was his fault and I hope he understood…"

"He shouldn't be shouldering everything like that when he is just a 15 years old kid…" Hughes said as his face turned a bit gloomy and sympathetic.

"You know, he feels that we would hate him and leave him at some point" Roy looked sadly at Hughes.

"No wonder, his own dad abandoned him Roy, it would be really hard for him to trust others… I just wish he realizes that not everyone would betray him" Hughes let out a sigh.

"Well-" Roy was interrupted by the loud ringing of the phone. He shared a look with Hughes before heading towards the phone. He glanced at the clock which read 9 am.

'Who would phone me at this hour?!' he frowned.

"Roy Mustang speaking" he said in a monotone as he picked up the phone.

"Good morning Mr. Mustang. This is Hohenheim" the voice from the other side replied.

Roy gasped in shock but recollected himself quickly.

"Oh good morning Mr. Hohenheim…"

Hughes glared at him in a way that Roy didn't quite understand. He didn't even notice the fact that Ed was standing behind him with a dazed look.

"Mr. Mustang, I thought that you might know the whereabouts of Edward since you are his officer as of now"

"Well… umm… Edward, he's …" Roy was startled and something about the way Hohenheim said the last part of his sentence set Roy into uneasiness.

"ROY!" Hughes hissed, pointing at Ed. Roy suddenly turned to find Ed staring blankly at him.

"Yes, where is he?" Hohenheim pressed.

"Edward… he is-" Edward cut Roy off as he snatched the phone from him.

"Yes bastard! It's me, what the hell do you want?!"

"Oh Edward you worried us-"

"As if" Ed mumbled.

"Yes Edward. Now come home, I need to speak to you-"

"There's nothing for us to talk about!" Ed said with a dangerous edge to his tone.

"It's something important I need to discuss with you, Al and Winry but they refused to talk about the matter without you being with them. So will you come or should I pick you up?" his dad asked.

By now Ed was literally fuming and radiating fury, Hughes and Roy watched him silently.

"No bastard, I don't need you to pick me up! In fact I don't need anything from you and for your information I am JUST coming for Winry's and Al's sake!" he growled and slammed the phone shut.

The three occupants of the room just stood without uttering a word. The air was so tense that you could cut through it with a knife; a moment later it got so uncomfortable and Hughes decided to break the silence.

"Ed?" he asked worriedly.

"It's nothing. He claims that there is something urgent we need to discuss. Winry and Al refused to talk about it in my absence, so I guess I am going then" he sighed and waved at the two men as he walked towards the front door.

"Wait Ed" Roy said causing Edward to stop in his tracks.

He turned to Roy with a scowl "What?"

"We will drive you" Roy stated flatly and went to his room to change.

"I ain't a kid colonel bastard…" Ed mumbled with an annoyed 'humph' as he crossed his arms.

Hughes chuckled slightly and patted Ed's back.

"Oh Ed, we didn't say that!" he grinned.

"But you implied it!" Ed pointed out.

"Come on" Roy returned and started heading towards the door as the other two followed close behind him.

All the three settled into the car and Roy started driving.


Soon enough, the apartment became in sight. Hughes turned and glanced at Ed nervously; he was sitting in the back seat, his arms crossed over his chest with frowned eyebrows.

"Ed" Hughes spoke softly.

"Hmm?" Ed was trying his best to stay calm but he was miserably failing in that matter as anger was prominent upon all his features.

"See Ed, I know you are angry but you have to try to be rational. Yelling all the time won't help you at all" Hughes said.

"Nor fighting, throwing and breaking things will" Roy added much to Ed's displeasure.

"Shut up colonel!" Ed warned.

"Why do you accept Hughes speaking then?" Roy muttered to himself but it didn't go unnoticed by Ed who grinned.

"Coz you are a bastard with a know-it-all attitude" Ed said and laughed. Roy and Hughes couldn't help the smiles that crept over their faces.

"Whatever Fullmetal, we're here" Roy said as he parked the car.


Oh! Chapter 2 is done! =D

Kind of a cliff hanger *grins evilly*

So what do you think Hohenheim wants to discuss about? :p

Well we will know in the next chapter.

Chapter 3 is most probably the last. I will post it next week anyways hope you enjoyed.

Review and follow. All opinions are welcome. Feel free to give me any ideas for fanfics, will be glad to write them :)

See ya!