Author's note: Sorry this chapter took a while to get here; there was waiting on reviews for chapter 2 (because I don't operate without them), there was having to write chapter 4 (and the age it takes to type up the Amestrian language according to a specific key I have written down) and then the normal waiting period that I allow between each chapter, because they'll be no one reviewing if chapters came out like a shot. Anyway, hopefully this will keep you busy while I write up chapter 5 (no, I haven't got it wrong there, I mean chapter 5).

Also, thank you for the reviews you have given so far, they are very much appreciated, and keep reading. Any support and/or ideas for future chapters you are willing to give will be humbly accepted. (I have ideas for the future chapters, but maybe more of an idea with the Frenchman and Architect would be most appreciated.

This chapter is called Escape, a song by 30 Seconds to Mars from the album This Is War.

Keep reading,

Ophelia Davis

-/\*_;)(-

Both left the headquarters, his hands tucked in his pockets; they crossed the cobbled floor from the entrance. Al seemed nervous, wondering, confused. Edward was a while writing his report, they usually took up to an hour to do, but this one took hours. Well, he was asleep on the couch, but what was Roy doing there with him? Wouldn't he be sat at his desk? What was his hand doing hanging over Ed like that? Is there something I should know about this?

His soul portrayed nervousness, he seemed unsure, of what he should ask, and if it would be right to ask it.

"So, uh… you got the report done then, huh?"

"Yeah, all done." Edward frowned.

"And you weren't in trouble for it being late?"

"He quipped about my priorities, practically called me a pussy, but told me to write the report there and not leave until it was done. He didn't so much as slap my hand for it."

Maybe he was being lenient, because he has a soft spot?

"It's funny though," Al breathed, "I didn't think he'd let you sleep on his couch. I would've thought he would've kicked you out into the break room instead."

"I don't know, maybe he just couldn't be arsed to get his lazy butt out of his chair." He frowned deeply, sensing somewhat the implication of his words. What are you getting at, Al?

"Do you think he has a soft spot for you?" Al rushed out in one breath.

"What?"

"No, no! I mean like, a soft spot for you out of all the other subordinates. No, erm, that came out wrong, I mean like you're his favourite. No, that's sounds just as-."

"Slow down, what's gotten you so worked up?"

"It just seemed odd."

"Odd?"

"Yeah, he was sat on the sofa with you while you slept. Anything could've happened to you, you know?"

"How do you mean?"

"He's a Colonel, but he's still a grown man, don't you think it seems a bit…off?"

"Like he's a paedophile?"

"Yes, I mean, no, I mean... You know what I mean." His soul began to sweat inside from the nervousness. "What do you think?"

"I don't know, he's ok I guess. He's sort of like a fatherly kind of guy, you know?"

"You think so?"

"Yeah, well, he would probably make a better father than Hohenheim."

"Better, than dad? I don't know, I mean, what about all the women he probably brings home at night. That's not very considerate for the children."

"Well, who's to say he's like that anyway?" his stomach began to twist up again, like it did as he left the office, when he caught Roy's eyes staring at his back.

He wouldn't be like that at all, would he? Ok, maybe he is a lady killer, but where does that put me? I've never had a girlfriend, ever, mainly because I've never been interested or I've been too busy, but, why do I suddenly feel so anxious when I think about…him? Oh god…maybe…

"Brother, you ok?"

"Huh? Yeah." No, it's probably just a phase, but it's been like this for a while now. What is it about him that makes me…?

"Oh, you just seem a little off, that's all."

"I'm fine, really, just a little tired. I hardly slept last night." Ok, he's handsome; any woman can tell you that. He's been through a lot of military training, so obviously he's fit, and strong, and lean. Muscular? Oh, why am I even caring? He's a GUY for fuck's sake. I shouldn't even be thinking about him like that. But still, would he be thinking about me…?

"Brother, are you blushing?" A blush was starting to spread upon his cheeks like paint dripping on a page.

"What? No!" he tried to deny it, thrusting away the ideas with his mind. But as they made their way out of the main courtyard, a figure stood in their way. His skin began to crawl as soon as he glanced up to face him. Cold sweat crawled down the back of his neck.

No, not you! How the- Shit!

The man held a look of seriousness; his hair was a deep brown, with a receding hairline. Dark sunglasses clung to the bridge of his nose. A white curled wire seemed to be attached to his right ear. He wore a deep green suit and tie, which was nothing like he'd seen any other man wear before. His clothing was foreign. He looked like a normal business man, and yet he was terrifying.

He stood in their path, not moving an inch.

"C-Can I help you?"

'Yes, it seems to me that you know something, Edward Elric, and that alone is too much.' He stepped forward towards them, 'you have acquired a want to search, for something that you shouldn't know exists.' He looked at him puzzled, he understood him, but, how could he know? Al whispered close to his ear,

"Brother, what is he talking about? How does he know you?"

Suddenly, he was right in front of them, so close that he could see those eyes staring malevolently through those glasses. 'You know of the Matrix, don't you?'

"M-Matrix?"

'Yes, this existence that you so call reality. It's nothing but a dream world. You've seen the fields, haven't you?' The thought of it all came rushing back, the notion of him opening that white door, and staring upon that field, those pink pods with the humans curled up inside and those machines, hovering before them and plucking those metal cables from their sockets. Those humans, they were being harvested.

"They're not natural."

'Ah, so you do know what I mean.'

"So what happens to me?"

'You'll be…taken care of.'

"I don't think so, pal!" he made to run, but the pistol was out of his jacket faster than Ed could blink. The man pulled the trigger, but the bullet ricocheted dully from Alphonse's armour.

"Brother! Run!" The man threw a fist towards Edward; he tried to dodge, but the speed that it hit his face was unbelievable. He backed away, tripping over his feet and falling on his back. The man's foot raised intent on stomping down on him. Ed whizzed to the side, bouncing to his feet from his hands. He sent a kick to the man's chest, but he grabbed his ankles and countered, sending him corralling to the side, rolling to the floor. "You won't kill him!" Al screamed in metallic rage, sending punches flying at the man. He dodged each move, his head dodging this way and that, stepping back as he did. One of Al's fists caught his cheek, but he simply took the brunt, his teeth clenched as the sunglasses splintered from his face. Although shorter than Al, those piercing blue eyes stared the armoured boy down.

'You don't know what you're dealing with. What I am is beyond you.' Suddenly, the gun came out again, the shot blasted off Al's helmet.

As it crashed to the pavement, his eyes widened at the sight. 'I see; I'm not the only one beyond human comprehension. Your body is nowhere to be seen, and yet you're alive and… kicking.' The last syllable lingered on his breath. A smirk curled up at the corner of his lips. Suddenly, more of them, all identical to the first man, came sprinting through the gates of the courtyard. They all ran past him, jumping into Al's armour, all six of them. Al's movements slowed, he shook, trying to resist them, but he couldn't bend his own arms to his will, his legs had stopped moving. One man manipulated his arm, making him reach out for the helmet and put it back on his neck. He cried as suddenly as his own arm acted out again, throwing a punch at Ed that he narrowly dodged. 'Now,' he grinned malevolently, 'let's see if your pathetic human emotions will allow you to fight your own brother!'

There was nothing he could do to avoid it; those men were making his own brother send wave after wave of punches and kicks. Edward could barely stand, let alone dodge the onslaught. Suddenly, a fist struck him in the face, and blood streamed out above his right eye, drenching his face.

"I'm sorry, Brother!" he cried as a metal leg connected with Edward's solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him. "I can't stop them!"

"It's ok-." He rolled away quickly from a foot coming down towards his chest, now trying to sweep Al's foot from underneath him. He packed so much force in the attack, and it did nothing. He wasn't fighting something hollow anymore; he was fighting six men, all protected by one suit of armour. There was so much more power behind all of his brother's strikes. How could he defeat him?

-/\*_;)(-

'Woah, shit!' Tank yelled; he clenched the monitor between his fingers, watching as the agents piled into the suit of armour. Their chosen boy was being beaten, six on one, against agents. All bluepills who went up against an agent died, it was a well-known fact. They couldn't lose him now. 'MORPHEUS! The Agents! They've found him!'

Morpheus charged into the room, Neo and Trinity following close behind, looking over Tank's shoulder at the monitor.

'Damn! This was what I was afraid of! I wasn't certain before, but now I realise! If the Beta-Matrix is here, then of course the Agents will know of it! They must've tracked him through the phone call somehow!'

'There's no time in waiting for that translation!' Tank cried, 'We've got to get him out of there! Now! If we don't then we lose him!'

'I know that! Neo! Trinity! You're coming with me!' he, along with the other sat back in their fur-lined seats, strapping their feet in. Tank got out of his seat, pushing the data probes into the back of their heads.

-/\*_:)(-

Edward lay on the floor, bruised, beaten, he waited for an attack, but it wasn't coming anymore. The suit of armour shook, crouched on the floor, the helmet having fallen away onto the floor again. The men inside were fighting to make it stand, but Al was doing his best to resist them.

"I won't let you hurt my Brother anymore!" He cried, not letting the movements work.

'Isn't it funny?' The man nearest to Edward smiled, too sadistically for an expression used for happy emotions. 'That such strength dwells within this suit of armour, but inside the suit of armour is…not. Honestly, to be beaten down by nothing.'

"Th-That's not true! Al is not nothing!" he screamed, bending over to the floor to spit blood out of his mouth.

'Hm, then perhaps you can answer me this. What is that mark, in the helm of the armour? What does it do?' He gripped Edward's head and pulled, forcing Ed to look at Alphonse's blood seal.

"It's the anchoring point," he gasped in pain, "It's what keeps the soul tied to the armour."

'Then you won't mind if we break it, will you?' One of the men poked a finger into its centre, scratching the symbol with a perfectly manicured fingernail. Alphonse gasped, suddenly feeling the pain of being pulled from his metal body.

"NO! Stop it! Don't! PLEASE!" Edward pleaded, stretching his hands towards Al, struggling to be released from the man's powerful grip. "AL!" Tears welled up in his eyes, and he fell to his knees. The man scratching Al's blood seal pulled back his arm and struck with his fist, punching through the metal surrounding the mark. The blood seal shattered into fragments, and the armour fell limp. With expert co-ordination, the men were able to control the armour, taking up the helmet, the fastened it back on.

Tears shrieked through his body, as he shook with dismay, every inch of him felt like it was being ripped apart. His cries rang through the courtyard. Ed clenched his eyes shut, vainly trying to stop the tears. Shaking he tried to get up, his knees buckling and he suddenly bent over double, vomit plastered the concrete as he retched.

'Hurts, doesn't it? You've lost it all, and now there's nothing left for you to do, except to die.' The man's left arm wrapped around Ed's neck, crushing him to his side. Choking, Ed coughed and gasped for air, his hands tugging at the man's thick arm. The man placed his right hand at the right side top of Ed's head, with intent of snapping Ed's neck.

Any moment now, and he's going to-!

But he didn't. Dull footsteps were heard from behind. Dull, like boots.

'Smith!' The voice echoed through the courtyard. Ed wanted to look behind, to see who it was that knew his near-killer's identity, but his neck was secure between the arm and the body of "Smith". If he twisted his neck too much, Ed would finish the job himself.

'Ah! Mr Anderson! I didn't expect to see you here!' A smile curled up his lips, and he loosened his grip slightly, turning to face Mr Anderson. Edward tried, but couldn't understand the two men's words; it was an alien language to him.

'Let the boy go! It's me you want!' Smith loosened his grip, and Edward fell to the floor, hitting the concrete with a grunt. Smith strode towards Mr Anderson.

'It's not like you to care about a boy like him, Mr Anderson.'

'That may be true, but neither do I care for you!' he screamed, pulling out his own gun. Neo began running towards Smith, yelling as he pulled the trigger. Bullets flew towards Smith, but not one of them hit. Smith jumped, palming his gun and firing off shots of his own. But to his disdain Neo dodged every one, and he clenched his teeth in rage.

The other Smith's jumped out of the suit of armour, all six of them ganging up on Mr Anderson. Slowly, Edward began to get up, his fists clenched in fury. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, hoping to get rid of the rest of that vile acidic taste left from his stomach contents, which lay in a putrid puddle on the floor. He looked towards the man, now known to him as "Mr Anderson". He had short black hair, sunglasses rested up on the bridge of his nose, his skin was pale. He wore a black buttoned up jacket with a high Persian collar. It stretched down to his ankles, revealing leather pants and boots. He clenched his teeth, his expression maddened.

He wears sunglasses like them! He's partnered with them! It's because of him that Al's dead! That bastard KILLED AL!

Raising his fist, Ed charged towards Mr Anderson, screaming as he did so.

-/\*_;)(-

Neo's eyes widened behind his sunglasses. The boy he had saved was now charging towards him with a risen right fist. Neo narrowly kicked Smith's attack away, hearing the boy scream in his own jumbled language.

"EDEVEWEDUG*!" a fist flew at his face, but he knocked it away with a forearm block.

'Stop it! I'm on your side'

"Kih'v gihadeg eihafedexivih ri brex (He's dead because of you)!" Now both Smith and the boy were attacking him. He sent a knee into Edward's stomach, sending him reeling back, and threw a punch to Smith's face, barely affecting the rogue program.

'Morpheus! Anytime now!'

Suddenly, a car screeched through the gates into the courtyard and stopped behind Edward as he continued to stagger around from Neo's strike. The car door flew open, and an arm yanked him in. The door closed, and the car skidded its way out of the courtyard.

-/\*_;)(-

"Oihiw pih jr (Let me go)!" the boy roared, trying to struggle against their grasps. Morpheus had him trapped in a full nelson on the back seat. Trinity was the one who had pulled him in, trying to grip his legs together to stop him kicking. He wouldn't stop thrashing and writhing, his right fist connecting with Morpheus jaw, causing the bald man to spit blood over the seat.

'Stay still!' Morpheus ordered, 'Listen to me!' But the boy didn't, and wouldn't.

"Zekadiu duh brex grle'j (What are you doing)? L gr'ew xe'gihuviwade'g (I don't understand!)" Suddenly, he threw his head to the side, vomiting onto the car floor, some of it hitting Trinity's shoes. She sighed with annoyance. He groaned sickly, unable to wipe the vomit away from around his mouth. Tears glistened in his eyes as the acid burned his throat. "Sohadivih. Wadenih pih edafen. (Please. Take me back)." He pleaded weakly.

Taking a cell phone out of his pocket, he called Tank from it,

'Ok, we need to get a hotel room ready for us to jack him out.'

'Roger that.'

'And his language? Is it learnable now?'

'Yeah, seems to be.'

'Good, I need to learn it.'

'Ok.'

Morpheus closed his eyes momentarily. They shimmered slightly as he opened them, giving the impression that he now knew more things than he did before. He looked down at Edward, slowly taking his arms out of the hold, giving the signal for Trinity to loosen her grip. "Zekr zediv wekadu le' wekh vexliw ri duprexu (Who was that in the suit of armour)?" Trinity looked up at Switch, the driver, with a puzzled face.

"Alphonse! Peb oliwwoh euriwekhu (My little brother)! Wekruh pihe' nloohe klep (Those men killed him)!" Suddenly, he began to cough; the sound was hard, grating in his chest. He covered his mouth quickly. Morpheus patted his back gently, but stopped when Edward did. Taking his hand away, he found blood soaking into his gloves. His eyes widened both in shock and pain, tears fell freely. "L gre'w zede'w wr glih (I don't want to die)." He whispered hoarsely.

"Kade'j re' (Hang on)." He took up his cell phone once again. 'Tank! I'm going to need the location of that room, now! He's weakening fast and coughing blood!'

'I've got it! Take your next left and then the third right after that! There's an old warehouse on the right side and it's just in there!'

'Ok, thanks.' He hung up as Ed coughed more blood into his hands, crying harder.

'We're going to have to hurry Morpheus, if we don't get their sooner, then he's not going to make it. Can't we take any shortcuts?' Morpheus' fists tightened with the frustration.

'No! Unless you know the streets back to front then I'd like to hear it!' She tightened her lips shut.

Suddenly, pain ripped through Ed's chest, clawing at his heart. He grasped at his chest, screaming, his eyes clenched in pain. His forehead was drenched in sweat, his body weakening as the seconds ticked by.

"L gre'w zede'w wr glih (I don't want to die)!" he screamed hoarsely.

'Is he having a heart attack?' Trinity asked, holding his legs down as he kicked out in desperation.

'Shit! We're running out of time!' Morpheus jammed his hand in his pocket, pulling out a red pill.

'You can't just force that thing on him!' Trinity screamed.

'If I don't, then we'll never know if he's the program we're searching for! If he dies, then we die!' he shoved the pill at Edward, who stared up at it with almost glazed eyes. His head was starting to loll on his shoulder, his neck unable to support his heads weight anymore. "Edward, orrn diu pih (look at me)! L fade' vadyih brexu olih (I can save your life)!" his eyes lit up weakly.

"Krez (How)?" he whimpered.

"Wekliv uheg sloo (This red pill). Liw zloo fexuh brex (It will cure you)." Edward looked up at the glowing pill hopefully as he coughed and hacked, spitting away the blood that gathered in his mouth.

"B-Bihiv (Y-Yes). Jlyih liw wr pih (Give it to me)." Morpheus, with a smile twisting at his lips, dropped into Ed's open mouth and rubbed the boy's throat, ensuring the pill went down his oesophagus.

"Ren (ok). Brex'uh jrle'j wr eih douljekiw (You're going to be alright)." A small smile came up on Edward's lips, feeling a relief course through him as the pain subsided. The painful grip on his heart lessened, his eyelids began to droop, and his breath began to lose its ragged edge.

'Come on! Don't die now!' Morpheus tightened his fists together, thrusting them on Ed's chest. 'Are we here?' He screamed in frustration. Switch stopped the car.

'Yes, we are.' Ed was bundled into Trinity's arms and they ran for the warehouse. Edward's mind blanked as he drifted out of consciousness.

-/\*_;)(-

The data probes were pulled out of Morpheus, Trinity and Switch's heads, and they sat up, a somewhat look of relief expressing on their faces.

'Did Neo get out?' Morpheus asked, strolling over to Tank.

'Yeah, he found a phone box outside the courtyard and I was able to get him out of there no problem.'

'Good.'

'And the boy, Edward, how is he?'

'We've got him out, now we just have to wait for him to mature in the pod. Then, we can start teaching him his purpose.' He sighed finally, 'But when he's awake, we cannot tell him that his brother's dead. We just can't have a reaction like that.'

'So what do we tell him?' Trinity asked.

'I don't know. We'll figure that out if he asks.' Trinity retreated silently to a room where Neo lay on his bed silently, as he expected him to.

'Are you alright?' She asked, sitting on the edge of it next to him.

'Yeah,' he sighed, 'Smith was no problem.' He replied again smugly. 'I saw that kid getting bundled into the car. Did he make it out?'

'Yeah, apart from the vomiting, the coughing and the heart attack, everything went without a hitch.' She replied with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

'Geez, problem kid much.'

'Please, be nice to him, will you? It's going to be hard for him to adjust to a new situation and language. Just try and make it easier for him.'

'Fine, fine.' He frowned, dismissing her concern.

'But remember, we can't tell him his brother died.'

'His brother? I didn't even see him there, who was that again?'

'The suit of armour was his brother.' She scowled, but sighed, 'Although I guess I can't expect you to know that. I only picked that up from Morpheus.' She smiled finally, kissing Neo's forehead. 'Anyway, don't be jealous.'

'Jealous? Why would I be jealous?'

'Because you think he's going to steal your thunder. I know you too well, remember?'

She lay down by his side, pushing him up against the wall, he put his arm around her shoulders, and both fell asleep.

Author's note: Just realised, apologies for the swearing!

*Bastard, if anyone's wondering.