AN: What's this? Two Chapters in two days? Thank Dragon the Antihero cuz her plug inspired me :D

YAY!

Chapter 6

Lost and Found

Roy came into the room and tossed a picture in front of Al. He had gone with a team to find his wife and while they had found the alley and the dumpster that Alex and Avery had described, the only sign of Ed was a muddy code written on the dumpster.

"Al, can you read that?" Roy looked desperate.

Al looked at the picture and would have smiled if he hadn't picked up right away on what it said. Yes he could read it. Yes it was definitely from Ed. It was one of the simplest substitution codes they had ever come up with as kids. He could read it just as if it had been neatly typed clear and uncoded. Hell, Alex could probably crack this code if you gave her long enough.

But instead of smiling his eyebrows were drawn into a frown. He couldn't figure out why Ed would leave this. It was obviously for him, but he didn't get it. Was Ed not thinking straight or had something happened that made her really believe this was needed?

Al decided he would lie until he knew more. "No, I'm sorry. I don't know what this is." He looked again at the picture and hated himself for not being honest. But he couldn't ignore what the message was telling him. In letters as clear as day. 'DONT TRUST ROY'

Roy sat down hard in his chair. "Are you sure? No names or anything that could help us find her?"

At least now Al could be honest. "No, Roy, there isn't anything here to help with that. I wish there was." When a thought suddenly occurred to Al he did finally manage a smile. "Hey, at least with this we know she's alive."

Roy, gripped his brother in law's shoulder and nodded. "Yeah, I guess we do."

.oOo.

Riza, Jean, and Maes had stayed behind to look for Ed. They had searched every house that surrounded that alley with so far no luck. The last one was an empty 2 flat apartment house on the corner. Maes went to the upstairs apartment, while Riza and Jean went downstairs. They both began banging on the doors. The upstairs door was locked, the downstairs door however swung open. The apartment was in serious need of repair, but it was obvious someone had been staying there. Even with that it was empty now.

Maes kicked the door in on the upstairs apartment and found the same thing. They all met up in the backyard after going through each apartment and coming out the back doors.

Maes took his glasses off and wiped them on his shirt. "Nothing upstairs. What about you guys?"

Jean shook his head. He still blamed himself for what had happened. He prayed that they would find Ed and find her soon. He looked back at the building and pointed. "Hey, what's in that door?"

Riza and Maes looked and sure enough there was a third door in back of the house. They looked at each other and made their way over. Maes was surprised to find it unlocked. The door opened to a stairway leading into what would have been a kitchen/dining room area if the apartments were in use.

Riza and Jean went through the open door into what should have been a living room. It was simply a large empty space now. There were two doors that looked like they led to bedrooms across from them. Without a word, Riza went to one door and Jean to the other.

Riza opened the door and found nothing but an empty closet with the doors torn off. There was no where for anything or anyone to to be hidden there.

She walked over to Jean as he opened the other door. This room was a mess. There was garbage every where. In the corner there were tic tac toe games scratched onto the floor. But what really got to Riza was the smell. "What is that stench?"

Jean nodded. "I was just thinking the same thing. Honestly it smells like blood and sex." He walked into the room and looked into a corner that was hidden behind a broken dresser that had been left in the middle of the room and his eyes went wide. There was what appeared to be a naked, lifeless body dumped into the corner.

Well, not an entire body. Riza was picking up a couple banged up pieces of automail as Jean realized that at least the left leg was missing from this one. He couldn't see the arm. "Oh dear God, no. Ed."

He rushed over to her and was relieved to find a pulse, however weak it was, and shallow breaths. "Riza! I found her. Get Maes." He then took off his jacket to cover her before starting to cry. "Ed, I'm so sorry. This is my fault. I should have been there."

Jean looked up as two more military jackets were placed on top of Ed and Maes bent down to pick her up. He carried her out of the basement with the other two right behind him.

.oOo.

Roy nearly jumped when his phone rang. "Mustang speaking."

"Roy, it's me, Maes. We found her."

Roy couldn't believe it. He actually began laughing softly he was so happy.

"Roy, you need to know. She's in bad shape. We brought her straight to the hospital."

Roy was confused. "Bad shape? But the only thing wrong with Alex and Avery was being hungry and a bit dehydrated. What kind of shape is she in?"

He could hear Maes gulp on the other side of the line. "Roy, to be honest, we were surprised to realize she was alive."

.oOo.

Roy ran into the hospital and found Maes. "Where is she?"

Maes sat his friend down. "She's in surgery right now. One of the doctors will be out to talk to you soon."

Roy nodded. The girls took turns sitting on his lap while they waited for word. Avery was asleep in his lap when the doctor finally walked in.

The doctor bowed slightly to the Fuhrer "King Mustang, Sir, I'm Doctor Sims, one of the surgeons caring for your wife."

Roy couldn't keep the worry out of his voice. "How is she? Will she be ok?"

"Well, Majesty, there was quite a bit of damage done. We'll keep in an induced coma until we know she'll be able to make it. It will be the easiest way for her to heal." The Doctor looked nervous.

"What kind of damage?" Roy asked.

"Well, she had been badly beaten. More than once. She had several fractured ribs and there was some internal bleeding. Also her leg was broken pretty badly. It looks like it was fractured and beginning to heal but then was rebroken. Her hand was what took the most time. It was completely shattered. And I hate to say it but she was sexually assaulted as well. There was quite a bit of damage from that which needed repair as well."

Roy felt like he had been hit with a ton of bricks. "Can-can we see her?"

The Doctor nodded. "Of course. Now she will be in a coma for at least a few days, but please remember we're doing that on purpose. She will come out of it."

Roy nodded. "Thank you." He then carried Avery to the room with Alex following behind.

He set Avery down in one of the chairs and sat in another. He went to grab her hand and realized that one was broken and the other missing. He laid his hand on her forehead instead. She was going to pull through this. She had to.

.oOo.

Al rested a hand on Maes' shoulder. "Hey, can I talk to you a minute?"

Maes turned and looked at the young man, obviously something was bothering him. "Sure Al, what is it?"

Al pulled the picture of the coded message out of his pocket. "Well, I kind of lied to Roy. I told him this didn't mean anything but really, it says 'Don't trust Roy.' I didn't want to upset him and it really doesn't make any sense. But, I really feel like I should tell you."

"Thanks for telling me, Al. You did the right thing. I'm sure once Ed wakes up we'll figure all this out." Maes then put a hand on the young man's back and lead him to his sister's room.