Alphonse groaned lightly as he woke the next morning. He sighed and looked over at his brother's bed. With a start, he noticed it was empty.

"Brother?" he asked cautiously. He got no answer.

Yawning, he sat on the edge of the bed and looked around, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He felt his stomach drop. He couldn't hear the running water from the shower or yelling from downstairs. That was weird. Al squeezed his eyes closed and tried to remember last night. He could remember falling asleep after his brother went downstairs to answer the door, and that was it.

Standing up, he walked out of the bedroom and trotted downstairs. He peered into the living room, his heart picking up its pace. The abuser was packing up a briefcase.

"M-Mr. Welson?" he stuttered nervously.

The man looked up and frowned.

"What is it? I'm busy. I'm leaving for a business trip," he grumbled.

"Um...where's brother?" Al asked quietly, still hiding behind the wall with just his head peering out into the living room.

The man looked back up at him, squinting his eyes in confusion.

"Who?"

"My brother, Edward," Al growled, growing agitated. He fidgeted with his feet, uncomfortable being ten feet from the man. He single handedly made his and his brother's life a living hell, after all.

"He left with that Juan Allen man," He answered, slamming the briefcase shut. His meaty hands were busy messing around with the tie around his neck.

Al felt his heart drop down to the floor, and his eyes welled up. Sick panic crawled up his throat from his chest.

"W-what?"

"He got adopted, brat. He's gone. Get over it," He said nonchalantly as he started buttoning up his jacket. Al was used to his nickname by now, that wasn't what made the tears spill.

"He-he left? Without saying goodbye?" His voice involuntarily raised an octave. Welson sighed in annoyance and finally looked at the trembling boy.

"Yeah, it looks it. Forget him, you're better off without him."

"No! He would never leave without saying goodbye! He would never leave me here!" Al yelled. The man grabbed his luggage and stalked over to him, grabbing the collar of his shirt. Al flinched.

"Don't speak to me that way. You ever start acting like that bastard brother of yours and I will treat you like him. Now beat it. I'm leaving," He finished, shoving Al away and heading out the door. Al stumbled away, regaining his balance and wiping the tears from his face with his sleeve.

Did brother seriously leave me here all alone? What happened?

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Winry sat down at her usual table in science class later that day. She took out her binders and waited for class to begin. She looked around and the bell rang.

Where's Ed? She thought.

She suffered through the class without him, and he never showed up.

Is he sick?

She couldn't believe that no matter how many times she ran the idea by herself. He never failed to show up after he had a fight with his abusive caretaker. He came just to show the bastard up.

When class ended, she decided to skip class and head straight down to the freshmen side of the building. She peeked into each class door's window, searching for a brunette boy.

When she finally found him, he was settling down in the art room. Winry ducked in and waved at the teacher.

"Mrs. Benny?" she asked. "I need Alphonse for a minute. It's an emergency."

Mrs. Benny nodded and went back to taking attendance.

Al stood up hesitantly and followed her out into the hallway. He kept his head bent low with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Al."

He jumped and looked up at her with wide, red-rimmed eyes. Winry was taken aback and felt fear overwhelm her. What happened to Edward?!

"W-Winry? Why are you here?" He whispered.

"Al...What happened?" she choked.

Al sighed and shook his head.

"B-Brother....he's gone," he mumbled.

Winry grabbed Al's arm in panic.

"What?!"

He looked back up at her.

"He left. He got adopted...W-Winry...he didn't even say goodbye."

She watched tears stream down his face, and she felt her own eyes well up as she grabbed him and hugged him tight. He shook as he cried on her shoulder.

"Al, let's go. You need to tell me everything that happened."

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Edward's head throbbed upon waking. Moaning, he opened his eyes. With a start, he noticed he couldn't see anything.

Why the fuck is it so dark?

Panic settled in, and he tried to bolt from the chair he found himself in. His efforts were quickly halted as straps bit into his skin.

Why the hell am I tied up?!

"What the hell is going on here?" He yelled. After attempting to calm his gasping breathing, he assessed his situation.

I'm in a chair, he thought, and I'm restrained. He deduced that his blindness was caused by the scratchy blindfold over his eyes.

Wait, blindfold?

The situation was beginning to feel more and more like some sick kidnapping action show. With a start, he jerked up again and yelled out.

The click of a door opening and shutting sounded throughout the room. Two sets of footsteps came towards him and his eyes widened in fear, regardless of the blindfold.

"What's going on?! Where am I, Allen, you bastard! Where are you?!"

He let out a strangled cry as a rough hand grabbed his chin and jerked his head upwards.

"He'll do fine," a voice mused. "Prep the surgery room. We want to get this done as quick as possible."

Ed bit out at the hand but clamped down on empty air. He seethed for a moment before the man's words sank in. A feeling akin to being drenched in cold water shuddered through him.

"S-surgery?! What the fuck?! I don't need surgery- Is this one of those damn black markets?!" His breathing turned into manic gasping, and white dots appeared across his covered vision.

"Dude, if you want to sell one of my fucking kidneys, back off! I know who kidnapped me, I'll call the police and have your asses thrown in jail, and when you get out I'll fuck you up so bad you'll need organ donors! You bastards! I'll do it right now! UNTIE ME!"

Edward's voice broke after his last high-pitched shriek. His words were tight with terror.

"Shut him the hell up!" came the same voice. Ed felt a cold swipe on his arm and a sharp jab. He swore and yanked his arm away, already knowing that it was too late for him.

His vision tunneled, and he sank, helpless, into his captor's greedy grasp.

…

Where am I?

Why am I here?

What does he want with me?

What if…what if nobody finds me?

Will he kill me?

Will he do worse?

…

Edward's consciousness came in slow waves. With a light groan, he noted that he was freezing. A few minutes later, he was aware enough to realize the presence of an oxygen mask. Another embarrassing minute revealed that he was clad in nothing but a pair of shorts.

Once the sluggishness in his muscles was somewhat gone, he opened his eyes and reached up to fumble with the mask on his face. His arm was instantly snatched and tied to the bed.

His memories flooded back and he widened his eyes. Numbness overcame him, but he couldn't tell if it was from fear or the cold. Why is it so fucking cold?

"What's going on?" He slurred. His eyes squinted in confusion. He felt perfectly fine, just cold. Well, he was also numb, but at least he wasn't in pain. Why would his voice slur?

He looked over and saw a man in doctors' scrubs. The man glanced at his face with a passive expression and grabbed something on a cart behind him. Edward's awareness slipped for a few seconds, but he snapped back when something hard touched his shoulder. He looked over and felt a pang of anxiety. They were drawing on him? Why would they draw on him? What the hell is going on? A man or a woman (Ed couldn't tell because of the scrubs and his fuzzy vision) drew a lines on his shoulder where his arm joined his body. His heart fell when he realized why the lines looked so familiar.

He had seen butchers draw lines just like them on animals they were about to cut up