The doctors pushed gently on Ed's firm shoulders positioned with his body to move to the door. All in the room struggled with him to place him back into the hospital bed, but he continued to resist.

"Mister Elric, you really need to lie back down and recover from your attack. It was much worse than the last time and your vital signs aren't yet stable!" Dr. Cropton attempted to persuade Ed to calm down, but his efforts were obviously in vain.

Emotional agony reformed the erratic air within his lungs to steam that boiled the flesh of his throat. He choked on his words as hands and arms locked over his diaphragm and throat pulling him back, "He needs me!" His words were a painful rasp.

He spoke! But…"He needs you!? Edward, you need rest!" Marly stepped into the mass now and placed both hands on the sides of Ed's face… He froze. "Al will be alright. He's fine, and you're not. Please, for all our sakes, especially his, lie down."

Ed shook his head hopelessly, "No…" He whispered over and over to himself.

"It'll be alright. We'll all be fine. They're looking for him, so it's alright."

"No… They called off-"

"No they didn't. Colonel Hughes phoned in not too long ago and said he was sorry. They're still looking. Don't lose faith." Marly embraced him as the others let go. "Hold on a little longer… Have patience."

"Please let me go to him."

"You never give up, do you?!" Marly felt insulted.

Suddenly, words flowed from the infected trachea of the determined male, "I can't! I won't give up on my brother! Marly, like your dad to you, he's all I've got. Tell me you wouldn't go after your father in this situation!"

"I would when I was better! And how DARE you make that sort of relation!" She slapped him, "Lie down!" She jabbed her finger at the empty white sheets next to the flat lined monitor Ed had disconnected from himself.

Ed stared down at the blood seeping from the opening where the needle they stuck him with had been. His stomach turned as he imagined Al's blood being spilt even now… "How can I give up?"

"Edward, you need to relax, and stop talking. We'll find him. You stay here and recover." Marly set a timid hand on his shoulder.

A ghostly droplet slipped down Ed's face. He had cried many times in the past, but no tears burned as harshly as these. He needed to find Al… No one knew what Envy was capable of. If they did, they'd release him NOW!

Adrenaline pushed at his toes as strength began to gather into his legs and chest. Escape was evident. Fists clenched, he hooked right, striking down one of the male nurses holding his other wrist. The man stumbled and more nurses backed up to catch him, others stepped away in surprise. Ed shoved past Marly, now tearing up about his stupidity, and he slipped out the door, the hallowed voice behind him; but she wasn't chasing him. They let him go.

Soon enough, Ed found himself back on the streets, running in any direction his soul told him to leap. The bond he had with his brother testified that every turn he made he drew closer: closer to losing him, or closer to defeating the creature that held him.

Uncertain of where his destination lay, he fumbled through crowds to find his dear brother. Determination and will carried his bare feet across the pavement as he ignored crosswalks, laws about them, and other people's space. He would get to Al. Somehow…

So maybe this was madness. Maybe he had finally lost it. Maybe… He couldn't win this one, and he was just crumbling under the fist of God … Maybe there was no going back. This wasn't a second chance… this was punishment. Ed had ruined everything before, ruining him, and now, he had snapped. This could only make things worse. But Ed didn't care.

He continued fighting the fire of emotion that clouded his vision, as he tried to find something logical that might lead him to his brother. This was madness… Nothing rational could come to a reckless mind.

"ALPHONSE!"

People turned to stare at the panicked blond staggering about the road. Whispers began to fill his ears as they searched for some sort of clue.

"Maybe he lost his son?" "Maybe he's drunk." "Maybe he's gay and looking for his husband." "Are you stupid? He's not gay! He's to stressed to be looking for another man. He has to be going after his wife." "Pretty pathetic if you ask me." "Poor guy." "I think he's drunk." "I don't doubt it."

Ed fell to his knees. This was hopeless… He should have stayed at the hospital… He's getting dizzy again… Hyperventilation: a crude possibility. This was a loss he'd never forget.

/\/\/\/\

Lights could no longer affect his consciousness. He remained in a peaceful darkness that didn't need to warm him to comfort him. It just needed to be there to shield him from the cruel reality that Al could possibly be lost to him once again. He didn't need to think either. The voices that told him how pitiful he was did plenty of the talking to last for the remainder of this infinite sentence to the abyss of depression that consumed him, heart and soul. He needed to go to Alphonse, but his body was not capable of carrying him into his sweet brother's arms.

Hauntingly, a new voice surfaced among the whispers. One that could boil the blood of the devil from what he had done. This voice had taken a mother… worked for a cursed father… destroyed the lives of more than 20 at the least. One of which being Ed's. His life had been ruined at the coo of this sinister vocal that beckoned him awake now.

"…You'll find your petty brother there…"

Ed's eyes snapped open to a dark hospital room. The monitor was silent as well, no equipment attached… No one in the halls… No one in the immediate area. He could go to Al. No one would stop him now.

The stairway down into the basement was long and eerie. The silent cold concrete beneath his bare feet creaked only in his head and he struggled to keep from running. In his condition, it would be fatal to perform high activity more than a hefty march down endless stairs.

"Brother?" A sorrowful song drifted up the well and Ed's pace quickened until he reached the chasm of the basement filled with red tanks, bubbling full of liquid that could melt the eyes at the sight of them. Alchemy circles bordered the room and it was something of a bad dream for Ed to find his brother locked in the cruel embrace of a chain on the other end of the stretched basement.

Ed began to go to him.

"Uh-uh. Now, careful. Don't you remember what happened last time?" Envy emerged from the shadows and Ed's pulse sounded in his ears and raged in his throat, his fingers twitched with the pounding in his wrists and his legs itched to charge.

"Give me my brother back NOW!"

"Now, see. I don't understand something, maybe you can make it clear. Why is it people demand their enemy to return that which was taken, when it's obvious that the enemy hates them so much that they would never do as they were told; and the hero knows it… Oops… I mean heroine."

"What do you want, then?" Ed glowered and his hands clenched to fists.

"Isn't it obvious? Don't you remember last time?" Envy spun on his heel and gestured to the rest of the room, "Doesn't this look at all familiar? I tried to make it as authentic as possible."

"Knock it off!!! I'm sick of your s***! STOP JERKING ME AROUND!"

Unexpectedly, Envy went rigid at the sound of an awkward clang. He stumbled, tripped, and spun on his knees to face his attacker. Outraged, he leapt at the man, "I thought I killed you!" Envy's voice was practically a growl as he lashed out.

"HUGHES, NO!" Ed barely caught his breath between the enemy's motions toward the Colonel. Before he knew it, Hughes was struck down, immobile as Envy stooped down to pick up the fallen rod.

"Let me release your spirit… AND BREAK YOUR SPINE!" the metal heaved into the air and with a loud whoop, came flying down.