Sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter up! It's not very long nor very exciting but I will get to that stuff soon… So enjoy for now…

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist…

Ed lay shivering on his bed. He was thirsty and his parched throat itched making him cough once. Pain exploded in his chest where he suspected he had a few broken ribs. Groaning, Ed curled in on himself, wishing the pain away. He wasn't sure how much more of this "persuasion" he could take before he broke and succumbed to their wills.

A door opened and Ed turned his face into his pillow, shying away from the light. He heard footsteps descend the stairs and then the light disappeared. Plunged into darkness once again, Ed raised his head, his eyes accustomed to the darkness after three weeks of nothing but it. He couldn't exactly see anything but he could make out the outlines of someone tall and skinny with long hair.

"Why won't you just help us Edward?" a soft voice murmured.

Ed cringed at the familiar voice. He hated it when they sent Sloth in and they knew it.

When he didn't reply Sloth moved silently across Ed's small basement prison and sat on the edge of his bed. Ed rolled over, so he was facing away from the homunculus. Pain lanced through his chest at the movement and he wrapped his arm around his chest as though to hold it together. His chains rattled as he turned over but the sound was now as familiar to him as his own voice.

"Oh come now Edward," Sloth said softly, almost caringly, "We didn't want to do any of this but you forced us into it."

Ed snorted his disbelief, then immediately regretted it. He gritted his teeth to stop a groan from escaping. He felt Sloth place a gentle hand on his shoulder but he shrugged it off angrily.

"Please Ed, won't you just help us this once? You could be reunited with Alphonse and then we can be a family again…"

"Shut up," Ed growled. It came out less threatening than he'd intended but he didn't care. He just wanted the imposter to leave.

Sloth's hand tightened momentarily on Edward's shoulder then she released it. Ed remembered a time when someone else had squeezed his shoulder, someone with the same gentle face and that same soft aroma of flowers… He shook his head furiously, ridding himself of the painful memories Sloth always bought with her.

"Please Ed," Sloth muttered, getting off the bed. "Please agree to what they want because…"

She fell silent for a moment. Ed lay still, not even daring to breathe.

"Look I know I'm not your real mother, but I've been watching you and your brother for a while now and I feel…"

"You don't feel," Ed whispered. "You can't feel."

Sloth grinned as she heard the weariness in Ed's voice. It wouldn't be long now.

She sighed. "No Ed, I feel. It pains me to see you like this but I am doing this for us. For you and me and Alphonse so we can be…"

"Just go away," Ed hissed. He was going for anger but even he could hear the defeat in his tone.

He didn't hear Sloth leave but the small sliver of light that crept into the room through the open door nearly blinded him. He squeezed his eyes shut to escape the light, a single tear rolling down his cheek as he did so.

***

"So you're saying you don't know where Fullmetal is?" Roy Mustang confirmed.

His voice was deceptively calm. The young colonel in front of him nodded, oblivious to his commander's inner fury.

"He was not in Risembool when we arrived and Pinako Rockbell said that she hadn't seen them or her granddaughter in three weeks," the colonel reported.

Mustang stared at the hard wood of his desk. Why couldn't that boy last one month without landing himself in the biggest spot of trouble he could find?

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and he snapped out of his thoughts. He didn't need to look up to know that the hand belonged to Hawkeye, the eye of his storm.

"We need to find him before something bad happens," she murmured softly so the young recruit couldn't hear.

Mustang sighed heavily, knowing she was right.

"Get me Armstrong and then you're dismissed," Mustang announced.

The colonel saluted and then marched out of the Brigadier General's office. When the door was closed Mustang released a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. Riza watched her superior in silence, watching as his tactical mind set to work thinking of a way to find Fullmetal.

There was a loud knock at the door. The pair jumped, ripped from their thoughts.

"Enter," Mustang called.

The doors opened and a huge muscular man walked in. His neck muscles bulged as he moved his head in a slight nod to Riza then he saluted Mustang.

"You summoned me?" Armstrong said.

Mustang nodded. "I need your recount on what happened when you went to pick up Fullmetal."

"We went to pick him up from the Rockbell house as you requested but when we arrived there; Mrs Rockbell said they hadn't been home for days. She didn't say where they went as she didn't know. We had a look around and searched the town for them but no one had seen them arrive or depart."

Mustang's mind was racing. If no one from the village had seen them leave then it was likely that whatever had happened hadn't happened throughout the day. A small town like that one was well-known for being nosy about the comings and goings of strangers – or the sudden arrival of a famous State Alchemist and his brother.

"Is there anything else?" Mustang inquired.

Armstrong nodded. "When we were searching the remains of the Elric's old home we found Edward's pocket watch."

Riza's eyes widened as realisation dawned on her. No State Alchemist went anywhere without their pocket watch – it helped to intensify their alchemy – and while Ed didn't need any help with his alchemy, he still carried it everywhere.

"He's been taken," she hissed.

Mustang nodded solemnly, apparently having come to the same conclusion. Armstrong bowed his head, one of his hands digging around in his pocket. He pulled out a silver pocket watch with an intricately carved pattern on its face. He placed it on the Brigadier General's desk and stepped back again.

Mustang leant forward and picked it up. He clicked it open silently and saw a small, messily written inscription on the inside.

"It's his," he confirmed as he pocketed the watch.

He lifted his head to face his friends. "It looks like we're going to have to find him before he does or is forced into doing something he's going to regret."

Riza nodded solemnly and Armstrong stood up straighter. He felt fiercely protective of those two boys and he was going to do anything he could to find and save them.

You should review now! Tell me what you liked/didn't like about it…

The next chapter should reveal what the homunculi are up to… a few questions answered…

Thanks!