Chapter Ten-Rescue Mission

Just as his brother had expected, Alphonse Elric was worried sick for Ed's safety. He hadn't heard from him for two days. Now sitting in Colonel Mustang's office, he waited patiently while the Colonel made phone call after phone call, trying to track down his subordinate. Every possibility went through the armored boy's head but there was no definite answer to where Ed could be. He knew he would never just leave like this and not tell anyone. Of course when he presented this fact to the Colonel, he didn't think any thing of it. "He's probably just following a lead, you think he's really considerate enough to tell us anything," Mustang had said. But now that another day had gone by and he hadn't reported in like he was suppose to, it raised suspicions. The receiver slammed down as Roy let out a frustrated grunt. He ran his fingers through his dark hair as he picked up a pen to scribble something down.

"That stupid little punk! How is it trouble always manages to find him?" He had forgotten Al was sitting there and took a minute to calm down. "Sorry, this is just causing me a lot of extra work."

"I'm sorry." It was all Alphonse could think to say. There was a knock on the door and Riza Hawkeye entered, saluting before she spoke.

"Sir, I have a lead as to where Fullmetal was last seen. If you'll come with me, it's not too far from here." Al felt a rush of relief, even though this wasn't necessarily good news. It was something. The Colonel rose from behind his desk, grabbing his jacket.

"Let's go. Alphonse, you coming?" He didn't hesitate to follow.

oOoOo

The cafe owner was outside, sweeping the sidewalk in front of his place when the military car came to a stop. The older man looked up, stopping his task as Hawkeye got out first and made her way over to him.

"Oh you the women on the phone." He confirmed as Roy and Al joined her.

"Could you please tell us about the other night?" Mustang jumped right into the conversation.

"Sure thing, the kid came in for some coffee and I noticed he had one of those watches you State Alchemists carry. Anyway, he saw someone outside and hurried out before I got a chance to ask him about it."

"Really, did you see which way he went?" At first, Roy was unsure about their potential witness but his story made sense.

"Yeah, it looked like he went that way and I thought I heard some commotion in the alley between the buildings. But by the time I got out there, no one was on the street."

"Thanks for you help. We appreciate it," Riza told him as she noticed the Colonel heading into the alley. The only way out of the alley was by way of the street which brought his attention to the fire escape. He'd have to be moving really fast to get up one of those. Alphonse walked in farther, noticing something on the ground. It was Ed's silver watch, covered in mud. Wiping the mud off, he brought it over to Mustang and Hawkeye.

"Brother was here, look." Roy took it from him and turned back to the street, glancing around.

"But where did he go from here?" He brought his gloved hand to his chin, heading down the side walk in search of other clues. The other two moved quickly to catch up to him. As he was about to turn back to them, he heard a crunch under his boot. Glancing down, he noticed several shards of glass laying on the ground. The other two came up to see what he was looking at.

"Where'd the glass come from," Alphonse couldn't find a source anywhere around them. Riza looked up and tapped the Colonel on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, Sir but I think that might help." The other two followed her gaze to see a red jacket hanging from a pipe next to a broken window.

"Brother's here, he has to be." Mustang tried to act calm in case this it was a trap or something.

"Let's go check it out, but we need to be careful. It's obvious someone else was involved in this. They could be dangerous." Now that they all understood, they headed into the building.

oOoOo

Edward's eyes shot open as he could have sworn he heard his brother's voice out on the street. It had been faint and maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, but he knew what he heard. If only Envy felt fatigue, he was sure this would have been over by now. Ed's body would give out a lot sooner then his ever would. He had been at this for what felt like an eternity and it wasn't any less painful now then when they began. This time around, Ed was in too much agony to respond in a positive way which suited him just fine. He never wanted Envy to be the one bringing him any enjoyment. Several more minutes went by before Edward knew he was reaching his limit of pain tolerance. Breaking into a sweat, he turned his head some, trying to make eye contact with the homunculus.

"Een..vvy...pp..please no more. I ccan't take it." He was breathing hard and the stress was evident in his voice. There was no answer to his plea as Envy just kept to his task. There was nothing Ed could do but take it. He had no way to fight back and even if his arms were free now, it would make no difference since he had no energy. This was one ordeal that Envy would win. Edward's imagination toyed with him again as he thought he heard voices down the hallway. It seemed so real but his mindset by this point was so fragile he couldn't think straight anyway.

"I'd say he's definitely here." Roy's voice stated as he noticed the distortion of alchemy. Envy's movements stopped and he let out a growl. "Fullmetal, are you here!" Envy leaned down to his ear with a threat.

"Don't you even think about making a sound." Despite the homunculi's demand, Ed knew they would find him. He'd just have to hang on for a little while longer. Envy pushed into him again, determine to complete. Edward bit down on the pillow again, trying not to make a sound. The once white fabric was quickly turning red from the cut in his mouth. A couple of whimpers struggled out which just caused the movement from behind to become more intense.

"Just finish already," Ed begged quietly as he choked back another scream that was threatening to come out. Envy knew that it would take them awhile to get down the hall in the condition Fullmetal had left it in. He would have time to escape before they got there. After several more slams into the broken teen's body, he released quickly. Just like before it made Edward feel disgusted with himself. Envy moved away from him, pleased with his accomplishment.

"Now I'll go deal with them and in case you decide to make any noise..." Envy's elbow came down, hitting the same sore place on the back of his head. Ed hadn't even seen it coming as his face was turned away. His thought became unfocused as his head began to throb. The homunculus tossed the sheet from the floor over him and transformed before leaving the room.

A/N-Thanks for the reviews. Always appreciated.