Disclaimer: I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. I know what a shock.

Lady Monozuki: Well, here's the next chapter. I decided to put when I expect updates to be post in my profile. So if you're curious, just click and you'll see. Thank you Orange Singer, Kev the She-Wolf, and VampireGaaraCheesepuffs for reviewing! This is dedicated to you three. Please continue to review!

Chapter Ten: Unforgotten

Seeing Ed fighting for life was an experience that he would never forget. Every breath became strained, a look helplessness washed over the teen's face and above all the emotions that filled the room, resignation. The free-spirited teen didn't care if he lived or died. To be driven to that point, the torture he endured couldn't be anything short of traumatizing. Whoever planned this assault intended to break him both physically and mentally. From what Roy saw a few short hours ago, the attacker succeeded. The fact that Edward Elric, the cockiest brat he knew, wore that expression convinced him of one fact: the strength that motivated the young alchemist no longer existed.

He glanced once more at the sleeping teen. The doctors managed to bring him back after his heart stopped twice. But because of that, they didn't want him to be alone for the next forty-eight hours. A nurse sat in the chair across from him. She checked Ed's pulse once every ten minutes to be sure that his heart beat at a steady pace. They noticed some irregularity at first so they decided to check his pulse at five minutes. Now that his condition stabilized some, they didn't need to worry so much. Still though, Roy couldn't help but relive that moment. Everything seemed to be fine at first. The doctors said that due to heavy shock and sudden strain, he went into a seizure and "died" for about three minutes before revival.

Whatever those bastards did to FullMetal caused enough to damage to him emotionally to shut down. He seemed surprised to even be alive and to see me. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't have acted that way. Ed…what the hell did they do to you?

--

I'm alive? Why am I alive? I thought for sure that they gave up on me. After all, they told me so. So why is Mustang here? He doesn't even care about what I do as long as I don't cause trouble or blow up anything. Nothing makes sense anymore. Why did he show up? I'm not worth saving. I should've died the night they got rid of me. Why am I still alive? Does Mustang want to keep alive for his own sick reasons? I'm worthless. I ruin everything…that's why my brother is in a time bomb…and why I'm not complete anymore. There's no reason as to why I'm here. There's no reason as to why they're trying to save me. I'm excess garbage. When they get tired of cleaning up after me, they'll throw me out, I know they will.

So then why is he here? Why is he the first person to help me after what happened? He doesn't care…he just wants information out of me. Once he knows the truth, he'll change. They will all end up leaving me eventually. I'm pathetic and useless. Why am I still here?

--

"There's a reason why he's not waking up. Because of that reason, he's much more content to be unconscious. Perhaps he doesn't want to come to face with what happened during his disappearance. Whenever a person is subject to rape and verbal abuse, they are defeated in more ways than one. The rape is to overpower the person and make them realize that they can't fight against the power. Verbal abuse is used to make the victim feel alone in the world. In this case, I believe that Mr. Elric wanted to die but you saved him. Therefore being alive is a shock and that's what caused his seizure. If we're not careful, he could go into a relapse worse than before. The strain on his heart would be too much and we won't be able to revive him again," the doctor recited.

"If FullMetal is resigned and gave up on living, then wouldn't being conscious be enough to send him back into that mode?" Roy inquired.

"Not if we're careful. From what you told me, he seemed fine for a moment and then surprised at two things, the first being that he was indeed alive and the second being that he saw your face. Somehow, I get the feeling that his attacker told him something about you and he believed every word. I'm going to say that you aren't the only one as well. Does Mr. Elric have any family members?"

"A younger brother, why do you ask?"

"I don't recommend bringing him to see his brother right now. If I'm correct about Mr. Elric's state of health, then a visit would do more harm than good."

"What are you saying?" Roy asked. He didn't understand the entire meaning behind the doctor's words.

The doctor sighed as if he couldn't explain the meaning any simpler. "I'm saying that the reason Mr. Elric went into shock is because he didn't expect you to be there, let alone be alive. If we get him to accept his own existence then we can add in people. But until then, I'm going to forbid anyone from visiting him unless he is sedated. If he woke up with any of you present, then I'm not sure what will happen."

"What about the investigation? General Firmin is anxious to talk to FullMetal."

The doctor shook his head. "I don't want to risk sending him into that degree of shock again. Until we can be sure that he is stabilized enough there is to be no questioning. I understand that you are all concerned about Mr. Elric's well being, but believe me when I say that this will be for the better. If there are any major improvements in his condition, you will be the first that I notify."

Roy and his subordinates nodded in understanding. They didn't agree with what the doctor said but that didn't merit breaking any of the rules.

"Hey, I thought that being around familiar faces was the best cure for patients with mental problems," Havoc said once the doctor left the room.

"Not in Ed's case," Riza replied. "In case you didn't listen, being around us is not good for his mental health. We can assume that his attacker told Ed that we didn't care about him. Perhaps that's why he seemed so shocked to find Mustang there."

"Shit, they screwed him up big time," Havoc muttered.

Silence met his words. No one needed to voice their agreement. Everyone knew that Ed's recovery would be long and tedious. However, this is one set-back that they did not anticipate. If they topped that off with the chance of him being suicidal, everything seemed to be stacked against them in this case. Not to mention that General Firmin hadn't uncovered any major clues since Roy handed the case over to him. Right now, their world seemed to be on stand-by. A sigh escaped his lips. He hated being in this situation.

"Since we're not allowed to bother FullMetal, let's go back to the office and get some work done. I'm sure that we all have reports that need to be typed and handed in before the end of the day. Be sure to keep your eyes and ears open in the office. We want to make sure that nothing slips past us."

No one questioned his orders. They all made motion to follow them. He walked out of the room ahead of everyone else. Working would help him to stop thinking about FullMetal. He climbed into the car that Havoc drove. No one needed to say anything to express the one person on their mind. Roy wanted to laugh at how a hot-headed teenager impacted their lives to a point where they could barely concentrate on their work. Most of them went on missions far more dangerous than this and came back without any concern. But this case had everyone questioning. The more they looked at the case, the less the details made sense. Why would the kidnapper chose Ed in the first place?

The obvious came to mind, because of the teen's height and frail looking figure. But even still, they took him from his apartment. That meant that they wanted Ed for a particular reason. Did they rape and abuse him for the sake of breaking his mind? Or did they want to achieve some other goal. If that turned out to be the case, then what else could they want to do? And why did they send him a letter?

They knew Ed and his routines. I'm also sure that they knew about his illness as well. Plus they knew that I was in charge of him. So that means anyone in the military with the ranking of Major or higher could access his files. I'm also going to make the assumption that since they knew of his illness, that he met with someone beforehand. So that means Riza and Havoc could come under suspicion because of their rank. And I know that Edward visited Hawkeye on the day he disappeared. But did he do something before coming to turn in his report? Did he talk to someone else?

"Sir," he heard.

He blinked and looked up. Riza's eyes met his. Then he looked out to see Military Headquarters. He didn't remember them arriving. With a sigh, he stepped out of the vehicle and headed for his office. Upon arriving, his phone rang. He walked over to his desk before answering.

"Central Headquarters, this is Colonel Mustang speaking."

No answer came at first. He considered hanging up for a moment but he didn't.

"Mustang...," a low voice growled.

Roy froze. He recognized the voice.

"I'm so glad to hear that you're still alive…tell me, did you recover from that incident?"

His body began to tremble. Pain covered every inch of his body. Someone walked closer to him, but he couldn't move. Cords bound his ankles and wrists. He blinked. No, that didn't happen. His hand still held on to the phone.

What the hell just happened?

"You worthless little shit!" he heard, though he could tell if that came from the phone or his head.

He realized now that his breathing started to be erratic. The voice continued on, not waiting for him to reply.

"I hope that you enjoyed your time to recover. I'm going to make you suffer again."

Nausea washed over him. He dropped the phone and went over to grab a glass of water. The cool liquid ran down his throat but that didn't satisfy him. His body began to shake at the phone call. Even after all of these years, that voice still haunted him.

"No one wants you. You're useless and pathetic. No one is looking for you anymore."

The glass slipped from his shaking hand and soon he did as well.

--

Softened footsteps brought him out of the darkness. He snapped open his eyes to see two faces, one belonging to Riza and the other to Havoc. He frowned. Why were they in his office? Then he remembered the phone call. His stomach churned. Hearing that voice again made him feel weak and queasy.

"Sir, are you all right?" Riza asked.

He wanted to say something but his voice caught in his throat. What could he say? Lying would be a bad idea, Riza would know the truth. The words that had died on his tongue earlier came through.

"I-I got a phone call."

Havoc furrowed his brows, as if trying to understand how talking on the phone could make someone pass out. Riza kept her usual stoic face on.

"What else happened?"

"I recognized the voice…."

"Sir, you're going to need to elaborate."

"My kidnapper called," he whispered.

Realization flickered on their face for a brief moment. Then concern took over their features.

"How do you know, sir?"

Roy curled his fist. "I'll never forget that voice."

"What did they say?"

"That he's going to make me suffer again."

He closed his eyes and tried to forget those words but they kept coming back. Those simple words put him in a panic. Now he didn't know what to do. He could feel his heart quickening at the thought of being back in that dark room. His scars burned.

Riza scowled. "There's no way that they're going to be able to get to you now, sir."

His breathing started to become shaky.

"That's what we thought about Ed. No one could touch him, but they somehow managed to get him and look at his condition now!"

Every time he struggled against the rope, the more his flesh became agitated. The burning sensation never died away. After a few days, even the slightest movement sent pain coursing through his wrists.

"Roy!" she snapped.

He stopped and realized that he almost went into a relapse of his previous years. He didn't speak to try and calm down and level his breathing. His heart thudded against his chest.

"Riza," he began. "What the hell is happening?"

"I don't know, sir."

He closed his eyes before standing up. Havoc seemed ready to catch him if he showed signs of passing out again. But Roy managed to walk over to his desk without any problems. His mind started going through the possibilities again. His kidnapper intended to rattle his nerves. But why? He didn't know anything new in regards to what happened seventeen years ago.

Maybe we did learn something and he's trying to keep me from looking too deep into certain events going on. But the timing of the call doesn't make sense. If he wanted me to stop investigating, then why didn't he call a few weeks ago? Why wait until now?

"We're missing something," he whispered.

--

I know the chapter is a little strange, but bear with me! Everything will start to make sense soon (at least that's the plan).