Scene Ten:Residential District of Central

"Really? I thought I got rid of you all." Dr Knox pulled his glasses off his face and rubbed his tired eyes. When he brought his gaze back up to see the suit of armor still in front of him, he let out a growl. "And you're still here."

"I wouldn't bother you if it wasn't important." Knox glanced down at the blond in Alphonse' arms and sighed heavily.

"Things were so much more simpler when I just dealt with dead people." Grudgingly the old doctor opened the door all the way, letting Al inside. Ling followed as well, still lugging Ed's clothes and metal limbs. Knox moved through the house, avoiding piles of books and papers. There seemed to be some kind of method to the madness as his two guests left the mess untouched as well. Knox finally stopped at a door in the back of the house. As Alphonse carefully moved down the stairs behind the doctor, he couldn't help but wonder where they were going. "Since Mustang's been calling in so many favors, I set this up down here just in case." Knox turned on the light at the bottom of the stairway to reveal an exam room. "And considering you're here now, I guess it was a good idea." Alphonse placed Ed down on the bed in the center of the room. He let out a weak sound that caught his younger brother's attention. Al leaned down, brushing bloodied strains of hair out of his face and hushing him.

"Brother, it's okay. You're safe, I promise." Edward squinted up and worry instead of relief took over his features. He eyed Dr. Knox wearily. He knew enough about the doctor to know he wasn't the most sensitive guy when it came to his work. When the older man was working on Lan Fan, Ed didn't just stay out of the room out of respect but also cause his stomach couldn't take it. If nothing else he could relate what she was going through and felt more then just sympathy pains for her at the time. He knew that Knox didn't mean to be rough, he just wasn't use to live patients. The fact didn't ease his nerves at the moment though. Any anxiety he was feeling seemed to drain him of what little energy he had and he closed his one eye again. Dr. Knox held out a damp cloth to Alphonse from across the way.

"If you're up to it, would you like to help clean him up?" Al hesitated for a second. He wondered if he got too involved at this point if it would just fuel his anger towards Envy for what he did. Ultimately though, his desire to help outweighed his feelings towards the homunculus. A loud clang from behind pulled him back to reality and he turned to see Ling placing Ed's clothes and automail on a nearby counter.

"Well since there's nothing else for me to do I guess I'll head out. Later." His voice was now clearly that of Greed and no longer Ling.

"Uh okay, thanks." Al wasn't sure what else to say. He turned back just as Dr. Knox switched on another light above their heads before pointing at the pile Greed left behind.

"Now I hope you know I don't have a clue about automail. You're sort of on you're own for that." Alphonse nodded his reply and started to clean up the blood around Ed's mouth. Gently he took hold of Ed's jaw as he wiped his face clean. When he was finished he moved down his neck. Dr. Knox grabbed another cold wash cloth and placed it over the one swollen eye. His skilled hands moved over bruised torn skin and obviously broken ribs. Bringing his gaze down, his hand ran down Ed's right leg. The muscles felt over exerted and finally when he got to his ankle he moved it back and forth before concluding it had been sprained, possibly twisted. There was a soft moan in response to the movement confirming that it was indeed hurting the teen. After checking each of the tendons, he found an ice pack and preceded to wrap the none functioning joint. Alphonse tried to distract himself as he moved over to Ed's left arm and started to scrub the dried blood off. He made it as far as his brother's wrist and stopped. Despite Ed's rants about his height and size, he was small, Al knew this just as many others. So when Al finally got a good look at the already small wrist, he was unable continue his task. The torn gash looked as though it went all the way down to the bone and it had obviously been reopened more then once. The laceration was one of the worst things he'd ever seen, as though something had been gnawing on it. This feeling that attacked Al's soul was a grieving which required tears that couldn't be spilt. Gently placing Ed's arm back down, he realized he couldn't help after all. It was just too much for him.

"Dr. Knox,I need a minute outside."

"Yeah sure thing." The doctor didn't seem the least bit surprised. Unlike Alphonse, he was all too familiar with these kinds of injuries and worst still. Normally he would tell anyone involved to suck it up and get over whatever emotions they might have but in this case, he just let the armor leave. There were things he was going to have to check that he was sure the younger brother wouldn't want to be there for anyway. Alphonse made it up the steps and hurried through the house before bursting through the front door. His large frame leaned forward, placing all his weight on his knees. Even though he didn't have to breath, he found the noise he was making to sound very much like he was hyper-ventilating. Accompanied with this ongoing gasping for air that he didn't need, he swore he could see stars creeping into the edges of his sight. These physical things couldn't possibly be happening to him, no matter how upset he was.

"Soo," a familiar voice pulled him away from his moment of pain. Wearily the armor's red gaze shifted to see Greed standing next to the house. "You ready

to go after Envy now?" The question brought on a whirlwind of other questions, one of which surfaced before the rest of them.

"But what if he shows up here and tries something?"

"I don't think that's gonna happen, trust me, he wasn't following us." Despite any other troublesome thoughts that entered his mind, the suit of armor

next question brought a smile to the homunculi's face.

"Where do you think he is?"