Chapter 11

Dark clouds rolled in to cover the sun, casting shadows over the mountain and banishing all warmth from below. The wind began to pick up, whistling ominously through the trees and sweeping the fallen snow across the ground.

Roy Mustang stood at the edge of an old path as his long military coat fluttered to the side in the wind as his bangs threatened to poke at his eyes. When he left the underground bunker in a panic, he proceeded to wildly sprint through the forest and luckily came across a staircase that went down the side of the mountain that had a very Ed-like flair to it. The running did no favors for the wounds in his leg and shoulder and the whole recovering-from-hypothermia thing took its tole on the Colonel as well.

However, he couldn't afford for any of that to interfere. Roy's eyes locked on Vance Madsen, who was slowly approaching him. The man with the messy dark blond hair and narrow brown eyes stared back, smirking as if he knew he had already won.

The Fullmetal Alchemist hastily joined Roy's side of the battlefield and clapped his hands together as he faced their opponent. Despite his earlier scuffle with Nicholas Dreyse, he seemed to be bursting with energy that was just waiting to be unleashed. Alongside him, Roy gave his ignition glove an assuring tug, tightening the reactive fabric around his fingers.

Meanwhile, Evelyn was staring into space on her knees. After Roy managed to completely shatter the appearance that she had tried to craft for herself, she needed a moment to pick up the pieces.

Vance's eyes shifted between the two alchemists, having completely forgotten about the woman. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled something out that glimmered a bright red despite the lack of sunlight. A small, red stone was revealed, which Madsen casually rolled between in fingers.

When Edward went rigged besides him, Roy's suspicions were confirmed; it had to be the Philosopher's Stone. It was a rumor; a myth. And yet there it was, about to be used against them. The worst part about it was that they didn't quite know what to expect. Besides the stories they've heard, there was nothing to go off of. The two alchemists could only guess the extent of Vance's new terrible power until he decided to release it on them at full force.

"Stay out of this, Dreyse," Vance ordered without sparing is subordinate a glance. "I'll take care of it."

Apparently, they wouldn't have to wait long.

Vance Madsen stopped several feet away from the other alchemists and knelt down, placing both hands on the ground next to each other, and a bright red light began to radiate. There was a brief second where Roy thought that nothing would happen; until he saw another light coming from the ground between he and Ed.

"Watch out!" He yelled and jumped backwards. Ed did the same as several large spires shot out of the ground. Strangely enough, they were all incredibly smooth, besides the sharp crystals and quartz that extended from the cones all around, causing them to look like over-sized cacti. They would have been torn to shreds if they didn't dodge the attack.

Mustang exhaled exasperatedly as he regained his balance. After making sure to see that Edward was fine, he turned back to Vance with a vexed frown. It seemed that the stone truly bypassed the need of a transmutation circle, just like Edward's alchemy. However, the ground around the attack didn't stretch; it looked like the spires simply grew out of the dirt like a plant.

No more messing around. With his left hand, the Colonel snapped and a spark of red lighting flew through the air between him and Madsen. Vance didn't need to move a muscle from his position to create a large wall to shield himself from the fire. Powerful flames burst against the wall, expanding in all directions until it finally faded. The wall was badly scorched but stood standing.

Before anyone could so much as blink, spears, blades, and shards of various minerals shot out from the wall, rocketing towards the two alchemists. Roy had no choice but to take cover, but Edward zigzagged across the road, running towards the wall at high speed. When he reached it, the blond clapped his hands together and slammed them against the vertical surface; the wall instantly collapsed and the large boulders and rocks fell backwards on Vance. However, with a simple touch to the ground, the rebel leader created a protective arch over his head out of solid iron; the boulders rolled off like they were no more than pebbles.

Roy raised his eyebrows slightly as he rejoined the battle, surprised to see that Madsen was able to pull iron out of the earth so easily; but then again, anything was possible with the Philosopher's Stone, right? Since Vance was the Mineral Alchemist, pulling out small traces of minerals was an easy task. He supposed that the stone allowed him to increase the amount of iron by bypassing the Law of Conservation of Mass; enough to create a shield, anyway.

The earth below Edward began to crumble and cave in, opening up to a pitfall trap filled with shards. The blond teenager leaped out of the way just before falling inside. Just barely holding onto the ledge of the pit, he managed to pull himself up unscathed. Roy took that moment to snap his fingers and sent more flames towards Madsen after he stepped out from the protection of the iron arch. The fire circled and twisted around him, obscuring the others view of him.

When the flames finally died, the rebel leader was nowhere to be seen. The two alchemists instantly knew that he fled underground to avoid Roy's flame alchemy. Mustang looked around cautiously, watching for any sign of him, but he only saw Edward, Evelyn, and Nicholas, who was hanging back.

When his eyes passed over the woman, they quickly returned to her and remained. She hasn't moved, still staring blankly into the space in front of him. Her light brown hair was blowing into her face, yet she seemed unfazed by it.

"Evelyn!" He yelled and noticed the smallest sign of recognition on her expression. "You can't stay there; it's too dangerous. Vance won't care if you get hurt in the crossfire," the Colonel urged, all while keeping a wary eye on the ground around him. There was no response from the woman, though he was sure that she had heard him.

Roy's attention was pulled back to the fight when he heard the ground erupting just besides him; he turned as the ground was manipulated to form something akin to a hand, but it didn't look human. It was an dark iridescent color, signifying that it was made with a mix of several different hardened minerals; most likely to make it much stronger than the ground it came from. It had six wide 'fingers' on all sides of the 'hand'. It reached out of the ground and went straight for Mustang. He knew right away that it would completely crush him if he got caught, and the material was probably too tough to be destroyed by flame alchemy.

The alchemist dove to the side, just narrowly escaping from the hand's range as he rolled on the ground before steadying himself. However, he noticed that the thick arm that extended from the ground had turned, and it was going for him again. Roy swept his arm through the air and snapped in Madsen's direction, causing roaring flames to brush across the path, melting the blanket of snow immediately. Vance brought his arms up to shield himself, causing the large crystallized hand to derail from its path and collide into the ground besides the Colonel with a loud crash.

Evelyn looked up from her daze when she noticed that Madsen had been hurt. Conflict covered her expression as she dueled with which side to chose; which side was right.

"Make up your mind, Evelyn!" Roy called as Vance was distracted. "You know what's right; but are you willing to fight for it or not?" The Colonel pulled his attention away from her, knowing that the rest was up to the woman herself.

Meanwhile, Edward had wisely created a distance between himself and Madsen once he showed himself. While Mustang was keeping him occupied, Ed had knelt by the ground and clapped. When his hands hit the earth, a large, human-like hand emerged from the ground. It rose through the air and arched downwards, aimed for the rebel leader, similarly to what he just did to Roy. A large crater was created in the ground by the base of the arm, portraying how much of the earth was being used for it. The giant fist punched the ground, barely missing the other alchemist, creating a cloud of dirt around him.

Roy sighed deeply and moved closer to their enemy; something told him that Vance still had a lot more fight in him. But of course, so did they.

Inside of the alchemically created crater, Edward started walking around the extended arm to get closer to Madsen, who appeared to be using the fist at the other end that nearly squished him to regain balance.

There was a spark of light, and then everything suddenly stopped.

They were both too close to the stone arm. Roy should have seen it coming. He should have done something. And yet, he could do nothing but stare and watch as a sharp, crystallized spear emerged from the base of the arm and caught Edward off guard. It went straight through his chest and out his back, cutting through his ribs with ease. The kid went rigid; he hadn't expected an attack come from his own creation so suddenly.

"W-what the-" the blond muttered as he looked down to see the tip of the blade disappear inside his own body. Roy watched from a distance as he felt the blood drain from his face. It took several seconds for his mind to kick himself over overdrive and frantically run across the path to the kid.

"Edward!" The Colonel called while the younger alchemist slowly placed his automail hand on the spear, staring down at it in disbelief. He snapped the thin crystal spear in his fist and stumbled backwards. The strength in his legs gave out and he collapsed into the center of the crater. The landing hit the spear that emerged from his back, causing him to flinch violently on the ground.

Roy reached the kid just after he hit the ground and quickly knelt down by his side and slid an arm underneath him to hold him up, mindful of the wound. The crystal (or maybe it was some kind of quartz) was just more than an inch in diameter. It kept most of the blood in, but some of it still managed to slip past and seep through Ed's shirt. It was just left of his heart; possibly cutting through a major artery.

"Oh god," the older man breathed as he looked down at the now broken spear sticking out of his subordinate's chest. His stare traveled over to Edward's eyes; he looked confused and rattled, as if everything happened too quickly for him to process. "How does it feel?" was all he could think of it ask at the moment.

"It doesn't really hurt," Edward started slowly, apparently noticing the worry on Roy's face. The pain of the impalement probably didn't sink it quite yet. Most likely, Ed's body was still numb with adrenaline but his mind was sharp enough to know that he was in trouble.

He opened his mouth to add on, but he just coughed once, twice, then broke into a violent fit. His body tensed as he spit an unnerving amount of blood onto the ground besides him.

"You're probably goes into shock," the Colonel replied as he racked his brain for some sort of cure-all solution. There had to be something he could do! Something was terribly wrong if he was coughing up that much blood all of a sudden.

"Again?" the kid groaned weakly as he looked back down at the shard in his chest and grimaced.

Right, Ed has already gotten stabbed in the stomach earlier in the week... Roy scowled at the thought; why did the Elric have to go through so much pain in such a short amount of time? Why was he constantly knocking on death's door? It wasn't fair, damn it!

But when was life ever fair?

Laughter broke through the anxious silence, bringing Roy back to the present. His eyes darted up to the edge of the crater and fell on Vance Madsen, who was looking down on them with a victorious sneer. He was casually tossing the Philosopher's Stone into the air and catching it again.

"Looks like we can finally finish this up," he mused quietly.

Roy glared at the man as his grip around Ed's coat tightened, as if doing so would somehow help to protect him. He wanted to raise his hand and burn that man into oblivion, but it felt like a showdown. Either one of them had the ability to mortally wound the other in a second; it all came down to who did it first.

Vance finally stopped throwing the stone, and simply held it between his thumb and index finger as if he was showing it off. The dark clouds roared behind him, threatening to drop more snow onto the ground. The wind had picked up stronger than before, making it more difficult for the two alchemists to hear the blond man from where they stood.

Mustangs left hand twitched, just itching to snap the other man into nonexistence. But if Vance managed to perform any alchemy to attack before then, it would end up further hurting Edward as well.

However, before anyone could move, the snow beneath Vance exploded under his feet into a small cloud, then immediately froze, encasing the majority of his body in a block of ice. Only his head and half of his left arm were free.

"What the hell-" Being caught completely off guard, Vance had no opportunities to defend himself from the familiar style of alchemy. From the horizon of the crater, Evelyn appeared besides Vance with a gun pointed at his head. Her hands were shaking, eyes were red and tear stains were visible on her cheeks, but there was a confidence in her eyes; one that Roy hadn't seen in her before.

"What do you think you're doing?" Vance growled, giving her a sideways glare.

"I'm doing what's right," she replied without hesitation as her hands steadied slightly.

Before she could pull the trigger, the ice began to quickly melt, most likely due to the stone that was still in Madsen's hand. She began to visibly panic and stepped back, out of Roy's range of vision. After sending the two alchemists a wary glance, Vance furiously followed her for revenge. He heard the sound of gunshots and the use of alchemy echo against the trees, but wouldn't budge to get a better look

He would have to thank her later on. Roy briefly wondered if she would be alright but his thoughts were quickly pulled away when Edward started to cough again, hacking up blood once more. As much as he wanted to run up there and deliver Vance a well deserved beating, he couldn't leave the younger alchemist in that state. The red liquid dripped down his chin as Roy tried to hold him up in the most comfortable position possible; though there really wasn't one in his condition. Edward's hands tightened around the Colonel's sleeves as his eyes narrowed at the empty space before him.

"Shit..." he muttered just before his frightened eyes fell on the older alchemist. "I'm gonna be okay, right?" He asked desperately in a voice that made Roy's heart shatter. Ed had been in many life threatening situations before, but never like that. It was one thing to dodge bullets and get stabbed by someone who wanted to keep him alive, but it was completely different to get impaled by someone who truly intended to murder him.

Ed wanted to hear some good news so badly and Roy wanted nothing more than to give it to him. But for all he knew, Edward's lungs could have been filling with more and more blood as they spoke. There wasn't any medical assistance within miles and there wasn't much that Roy could do to help. He could try cauterizing it but then he'd have to risk pulling the spear out, and then actually searing the wounds closed all while trying to cause the least amount of pain possible. A burn like that would bring most people into unconsciousness, or at least into shock. In addition, it would easily get infected which would just cause more suffering. He couldn't put Edward through that. The more cynical part of his mind told him that that would only needlessly prolong his death...

Except Edward wasn't going to die!

Except he had no idea how to stop it...

Roy must have taken too long to utter a reply, because the golden eyes eventually dropped, deep in thought. The two of them have faced death far too many times in the past week and the Colonel was getting absolutely sick of it. After Roy had survived hypothermia, they thought they were home-free. Nothing could possibly get worse than that, right?

Wrong. Because before his very eyes, Edward Elric was dying. It might not have looked like it, and Ed might not have felt it at the time, but there was far too much blood for that not to be the case. Even as those thoughts washed across Roy's mind, the teenager in his arms hunched over and coughed up more of the much-needed fluid onto the stained ground.

When he relaxed again, his shoulders were incredible stiff and a strained expression appeared on his visage as his eyes narrowed. The pain must have started to sink in.

"Stay with me, Ed," Roy insisted nervously, hoping that using the kid's popular nickname would somehow help him stay grounded. Even if it was hollow, he had to give him a glimmer of hope. "It's going to be alright. I'll get you through this somehow."

Edward was a very independent person; he always has been. That was exactly why he wanted Ed to rely on him instead of thinking that carrying the weight was all up to him. Over the past few days, Roy had admittedly grown rather protective of the kid and he was not oblivious to his reaction to that in the slightest. Having to grow up with no parents left its mark on the blond; not only did Ed secretly yearn for someone else to shoulder the burdens and protect him, he needed it as well.

The sound of another gunshot shook Roy out of his thoughts, forcing him to glance out to the edge of the crater, yet unable to see anything. Surely Evelyn couldn't keep the fight up for long. Vance desperately needed to be put in his place, but the Colonel's subordinate's life was on the line; he couldn't possible run off to fight.

Edward's grip on Roy's sleeves tightened as if he was trying and miserably failing to pull himself into a sitting position. With a grimace, he quickly gave up and settled for allowing Mustang to hold him up.

"How?" Edward asked, avoiding his superior officer's eyes. "Be realis-" he was interrupted by a cough. "-tic..." It seemed that as soon as the pain set in, so did the pessimism. He looked frail and hopeless; as if he had already given up. "I can feel it, Mustang," Edward added grimly as his flesh hand hovered near the spear in his chest. Even his voice was thick with blood. "I'm dying and it... it hurts," he admitted through his bloodied teeth. The pain that seeped through his very voice was proof enough. Roy could feel that pain tighten around his chest just by listening to the brittle, frightened tone.

Roy didn't have a single doubt that Ed was thinking about the people who would be affected by his death rather than his own life; like Alphonse. If the younger Elric was present, Roy also didn't doubt that Edward would have put up a strong front for his sake. At the very least, the Colonel was glad that he was being honest with him.

It took Mustang several seconds to muster up a response. Watching the life slip out of someone was never easy, in spite of how familiar he was with it. "You need to stay with me." Edward's eyes flickered closed. "Edward!" He exclaimed and gently shook the kid to jolt his eyes open, which also caused him to cough up more of the dark red blood.

"You have too much to live for, Ed. You can't just give up; Alphonse needs you," Roy insisted, trying to think of something- anything to say that would keep those eyes open and that heart beating. "... And I need you too." He wasn't entirely sure what prompted him to say that. Normally, the Colonel never would have said such a thing but they were quickly running out of time.

Edward paused and bit his lip as he gaze fell away from Mustang. He almost managed to look guilty. "As if I have a choice," the blond spat cynically as a flash of anger gleamed in his eyes. However, it quickly vanished and was replaced with the same sadness and fear from before.

"Just hang in there. The military is surely looking for us right now. They'll-"

"Just stop it already." The unfamiliar pleading tone in Ed's voice caught Roy off guard and caused him to snap his mouth shut as he looked down at the kid in surprise. "Stop trying to give me hope," he continued, staring blankly as the dark clouds that swirled above them. "I don't want it... I don't want to think that I'll somehow make it out of this just to-" he cut himself off and broke into a short coughing fit. After several deep, ragged breaths, the alchemist continued. "-just to be disappointed." His coughing continued and involuntary tears formed in the corners of his eyes from the pain that undoubtedly coursed through his body with every breath.

A week ago, Roy would have laughed at the prospect of the infamous Edward Elric giving up on living. But that was before he truly understood that he was just a kid who was unfairly thrown into the adult world. Of course, he always knew that; it was his fault to begin with. But after Ed settled into the military, Mustang had stopped thinking about it. Edward was no soldier. He didn't want to be one and he didn't deserve to be one.

But through it all, he had always enjoyed watching the two Elrics make their way through the world to find the fabled Philosopher's Stone. He had the privilege of watching them learn and grow. No matter what was in their path, they always pushed through it. They were unstoppable. While they were young kids, they were incredibly strong. And yet, Edward had hit a wall that was too tall for him; he wasn't even going to try to climb over it. At the very least, Roy could understand why. He was no stranger to hopelessness or that strange desire to give up after hitting rock bottom.

But to just watch it happen to his youngest subordinate... He couldn't do that.

"Listen to me, Edward." The strictness of his tone convinced the younger alchemist to glance over to him, albeit warily. He seemed to have been using every ounce of energy just to keep himself from coughing to save himself from the pain. "If you stop fighting, that's it; you're done for. But if you do everything in your power to just keep breathing and keep your eyes open, you have a chance. It may be small and you might not be able to see it, but there's a chance that you'll survive. No matter what, you always need to keep fighting- That's an order."

The blond considered him quietly for a moment; his chest heaved, threatening to force him into another painful coughing fit.

"Just... try to get the stone for Al, alright?" His tone was dismissive, as if he really didn't believe that there was any way to make it out of this. "He should still get his old body back, even if his older brother is-" Ed was interrupted by another violent burst of coughing.

Roy opened his mouth to impulsively tell him to get the damn stone himself, but he cut himself off short. One, because even if Edward did survive, he certainly wouldn't be in any condition to fight Vance for it. And two, because a brilliant idea just hit him like a brick to the head.

"The stone!" Edward quirked an eyebrow at him but Roy was too preoccupied with running the idea past himself again to make sure that it was even plausible.

If the stone bypassed the laws and perfected a person's use of alchemy, then even he could use it to close a wound or two without too much blood loss... He was unable to think of any reason as to why it wouldn't work.

"That's it! If I can get the Philosopher's Stone from Vance, then I could probably stop the internal bleeding before it gets much worse," he exclaimed and looked up to the edge of the crater for any sign of movement. But if he had any chance of getting his hands on the stone in time, he would have to move fast.

Edward watched him curiously as blinked slowly. "Don't just run to your own death for it," he muttered halfheartedly, and then flinched as the pain in his chest suddenly spiked. "But you're too stubborn to listen to me, huh," the continued as he grimaced through the burning around the wound. One of his hands slid away from Roy's sleeve to clutch desperately as his own chest.

"Just you wait," was all that Roy managed to say as he shifted his position to lay the teenager back down on the ground. Resting mostly on his side, Edward exhaled slowly as he tried to relax. Mustang brought himself to his feet rather reluctantly and looked back at the dying child. He caught Edward's eyes and noticed another flash of fear. He looked so abandoned there; in a ditch, leaning against an alchemically created arm; all alone. "You better be awake by the time I come back, Fullmetal."

He watched the blond for a moment, expecting a response. Just a simple, sarcastic comment that would secretly be reassuring; something. But Edward said nothing as his eyes dropped to the ground in a tired, accepting daze. Despite Roy's idea, the blond still didn't share his optimism. He was still terrified of dying and terrified of getting his hopes up for nothing. But Roy wasn't about to let him down.

The Colonel reluctantly turned away from the boy and trudged up the slope just in time to see Vance's right arm was encased in ice once more. Evelyn, covered in dirt, snow and blood, pointed her gun at the man once more. However, there was another red flash and the ice began to melt to the point where he was able to break his arm out of it, causing shards of ice to scatter around the ground where he stood. The woman pulled the trigger once more, but he managed to dodge to the side as the bullet just grazed his shoulder.

"Evelyn, get back!" He yelled as he approached the fight and raised his left arm. She glanced over to him in surprise before thankfully taking cover. Vance also took notice of his warning and quickly created another wall for himself; one that looked just as strong as the last. Roy simply narrowed his eyes at the obstacle. He wouldn't allow that to get in his way again.

The alchemist snapped and harsh flames immediately hit the wall, scorching the surface until it turned black. Before those flames could fade, Roy repeated the action with ease. The fire danced off of the wall relentlessly and shook the stones with every hit. With Edward's life on the line, his alchemy was stronger than ever. Nothing would stand in his way of saving his life; that damn wall was no exception.

Nicholas was watching further off, clearly becoming worried and restless. He unconsciously shifted closer to the battle and his hand twitched for his gun. For good measures and sweet revenge, Roy decided to spare one of his attacks for him. The man certainly wasn't expecting to suddenly be targeted; he yelled and recoiled away from the flames that snapped and bit at his legs the best he could . After knowing that he succeeded in distracting the man, Roy quickly went back to his main objective.

He put every bit of energy and strength into each attack; anything to get that stone. Eventually, the great wall became visibly weakened, having been hit by the intense flames so many times and with such intensity.

One more should do it...

His fingers snapped twice, one after another. He commanded the flames to ram the wall once more, causing it to finally crumble. Meanwhile, the other attack had a curve to it; the bolt of alchemic lighting twisted around the wall and straight to the man behind it.

The wall erupted into a flash of flames; flying stones scattered across the path and embers lingered by the dead bushes and splotches of grass that were previously covered by snow. The warmth that radiated from the wreckage sliced through the sub-zero temperatures but Roy didn't allow himself to relish in it.

The Flame Alchemist moved around the remains with haste. Surprisingly enough, Vance managed to survive. He appeared to be unconscious, sprawled out on the ground; his hair and clothing were singed and smoking and he was breathing strenuously on the smoke. Roy had to guess that he created another shield before the flames hit. Nonetheless, Roy didn't really care at the moment as long as the rebel leader didn't get in his way.

Roy knelt by the motionless body and pried his hand open, revealing the small stone. Despite the complaints of his injuries, the Colonel swiped the red orb and hurried back to the crater. It wasn't until he was already half way back to Edward did he consider restraining Madsen somehow before he could wake up.

Well, too late for that.

When every second stood between life and death, he simply didn't have the time to turn back around.

As Roy stumbled down the slope over to the kid, he spared a glance towards the smooth, iridescent rock in his hand. He couldn't doubt its power, especially after holding it for himself. He could feel the heightened potential coursing through him, begging him to take advantage of it. The heightened potential was almost too strong to ignore. Part of him wanted to turn around and see just how far his Flame Alchemy could spread when at its fullest; but alas, he had a priority of higher importance.

Edward Elric was leaning limply against the base of the large, outstretched arm. The stain of blood around the spear in his chest had increased slightly and his breaths were faint and hollow. As the Colonel approached, Ed's eyes slowly drifted up to him; the weakness and pain was evident in his unsteady gaze.

Roy forced himself to focus on the wound rather than the boy. Kneeling by his body, he subconsciously rolled the small stone between his fingers as he wracked his brain for a solution.

First, calm down and focus…

He'd heard Edward ramble off the ingredients to a human being enough times to remember. He wasn't an expert in bio-alchemy by any means and it was definitely a risky thing to attempt, but with the assistance of the Philosopher's Stone, Roy was fairly certain he could pull it off. At the very least, he could do enough to keep Ed from dying before they get help.

"C-olonel," a small whisper pulled Mustang out of his scrambled concentration. Edward's expression was contorted with discomfort. Blood dripped down his chin and he opened his mouth to speak but lacked the energy to make a sound. However, his hazy eyes were still expressive enough to get his thoughts across somehow.

Hurry up, damn it, the teenager seemed to say. And thanks.

Roy smiled sadly as his grip around the Philosopher's Stone tightened. He looked down at the crystallized spear as his faint smile fell. He would need to pull it out just before performing the life-saving alchemy.

Roy took a deep breath and instinctively began going over ingredients and formulas in his head, but a small voice told him that he didn't need to; that the stone would do the thinking for him. All he had to do was point it in the right direction. He could almost hear millions of little voices whispering him the answers, stopping him from drawing a circle and doing the math. None of that was necessary with the Philosopher's Stone; it was amazing. Despite his greater judgment and skepticism, Mustang decided to put his faith in the stone.

Edward watched with apprehension as Roy quickly placed a hand on the crystal shard. After a brief, nervous moment of eye contact, the Colonel tensed and swiftly pulled the object out of the boy's chest. The sudden burst of intense pain that shot through Edward's body must have surprised him; he fidgeted violently as the spear slid out of his flesh, causing him to gasp sharply and curse through his teeth. Ironically, it appeared to have shot more life into the kid, at least for a moment.

Quickly abandoning the bloodied spear, Roy watched in slow motion as more blood freely escaped Ed's body through the gaping hole on his chest. The torn fabric of his jacket and shirt did a good job at obscuring the wound from view, only causing to increase the panic that spiked through the Colonel.

Edward's fists dug into the ground, pulling up lose dirt as he squirmed through the agony. His heels dug into the earth as if he could simply push himself away from the pain. Roy hated having to watch him suffer, but all the more reason to move quickly.

Mustang gripped the stone tightly in his hand that was now lightly splattered in blood. Don't panic. Let the Philosopher's Stone do the work. Just guide it.

"Stay with me, Ed," Roy breathed as his subordinate writhed and trembled from the internal burning. His eyes were shut tightly and his arms clung around his torso, shaking uncontrollably.

Shoving all of his spiraling, confusing thoughts to the side, Mustang decided to simply follow his gut.

Quickly and decisively, Roy placed both of his hands on Edward's chest, despite the involuntary tears that slipped through the kid's closed eyelids and despite the screams of disapproval that escaped his lips. A bright flash of red nearly blinded the Colonel as he scowled at the extra pain he had caused the younger alchemist.

It would be worth it soon enough.

Even though he was unable to properly see what was happening, Roy was somehow able to feel himself repairing Edward's rib cage, the rip in his artery and the holes in his skin. It felt unreal; impossible; nothing more than his imagination. It was just far too amazing to possibly believe.

And yet, the red pool in the cold dirt below Ed's body slowed, and eventually stopped spreading.

Edward somehow found the strength to turn to the side and cough up the remaining blood into the dirt. Roy remained where he knelt and supportively rested a gentle hand on his shoulder as he spat out the remaining blood from his throat, then collapsed down onto his back, gasping for air.

"Everything's okay now," Roy sighed and he tried to convince himself as well. It couldn't possible be that easy, could it? He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that he just healed a life-threatening injury. "Can you breath alright?"

The blond nodded weakly, not bothering to look up at the man quite yet.

"Good… That's good." The Colonel relaxed his shoulders and exhaled deeply. That was far too close. If he didn't consider using the stone, Edward would have died… He shuddered to think about it.

"Uh, R-Roy?" A voice suddenly chimed in from behind. It was Evelyn, standing up at the base of the crater. She sounded unsure of how to address the Colonel.

The alchemist turned to look at her and noticed that she looked absolutely hysterical. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but the words couldn't come out before a gunshot burst through the air, causing his ears to ring. With a muffled scream, Evelyn fell to the ground, clutching her side.

Roy cursed under his breath and began to pull himself to his feet but he was stopped short when Nicholas appeared over the crater's slope, pointing a gun into the center. Except it was aimed for Edward.

Bastard, Roy thought, glaring coldly at the man. Why couldn't the kid ever catch a break?

Vance Madsen appeared as well; his clothing was noticeably burned and the scent of smoke followed him. He looked very unamused, to say the least. As much as Roy wanted to roast them both where they stood, he couldn't do anything with Nicholas pointing that gun at Ed. He would just have to wait patiently for an opportunity…

Vance knelt down at the top of the slope and started to draw something in the ground; at that angle, it was impossible for Roy to see what it was. (Though he had a pretty good guess.)

"I'd like the stone back now," the rebel leader spoke up, frustration and annoyance lacing his voice. Roy felt himself grow tense from the uncertainty, unsure of what exactly Madsen was going to do. And whatever it was, Roy had to be prepared to respond to it.

Just as Mustang began to contemplate the possibility of Edward being attacked again instead of himself, the alchemic light flashed by Vance's hands around the circle he created. The light sparked down into the crater, closer and closer to Roy. He felt himself pull back just as a small stone hand quickly shot from the ground and latched into Roy's right wrist. He instinctively reeled backward, trying to slip his arm free; however, it's hold was firm. He began to reach for his hand to remove the valuable stone from it, but Nicholas stepped closer, pointing the gun directly at the Colonel, reminding him to think again.

Vance Madsen stepped down into the crater, closer to Roy, closer to Edward, and closer to the Philosopher's Stone.

Several hazy ideas spiraled through Mustang's mind with every step. He couldn't let that man get his hands on the stone again… But no matter what the idea was, he would always be hindered by the fact that he was trapped by the hand that clung to his wrist. It was too sturdy to break through quickly enough, anyway.

He considered burning them both where they stood in one swift motion, but he would risk giving Dreyse enough time to pull the trigger. Even if Roy could get out of the way of the potential bullet, Ed was still laying in a daze behind him.

Before Roy managed to come to a conclusion, Vance was already in front of him. The rebel leader pried his hand open until he was forced to release the Philosopher's Stone.

"Shit," Roy spat under his breath, cursing himself for not doing anything. Despite knowing that there was nothing he could do.

Apparently amused by the Flame Alchemist's discontent, Vance sneered.

"You two have been a thorn in my side for far too long," he began, hiding the gleaming red stone into the palm of his hand. "Your death is long overdue. But we can finally put an end to all of that; right now."

"Don't be so sure of yourself," Roy growled, lightly pressing his gloved thumb and index finger together. Luckily, Madsen didn't think to restrain his left hand as well.

Nicholas, who had also decided to join the three inside the large crater, pointed the gun back at Edward once more. The kid looked unconscious, most likely oblivious to the danger.

Roy was trapped in every sense of the word. If he took the risk to use his alchemy on the two rebels, he would risk getting Edward shot in the head. If he did nothing, they would probably both die. That was an impossible decision. One that he refused to make. There had to be an alternative. Roy just couldn't accept that-

There wasn't enough time. Vance's hand began to glow red as the power of the stone was activated. The ominous light only served to highlight Madsen's sadistic grin as he looked down at the two alchemists like they were nothing more than insects. Roy tried to rely on whatever came to mind first, but even his gut instincts had gone silent. There was nothing. His mind was a chaotic blur. He didn't have an answer or a solution or a clever trick up his sleeve.

As that red light grew brighter, Roy suddenly knew what he was missing; the unforeseen variable.

Vance's psychotic laughter distorted into a terrified scream. He dropped the stone in favor for gripping his own arm, which was becoming twisted and deformed as crystallized shards of multiple colors and densities grew out of his flesh, easily ripping through the fabric of his coat. The unnatural growth of minerals quickly coated his entire hand and grew up his arm and then up to his face as well. They poked out the right side of his face like colorful horns, turning Madsen into some kind of crystallized monster.

"Sir, wha-what's happening?" Nicholas stuttered, taking several steps back from his boss, finally losing his composure for once. The gun had fallen to his side, as he was too distracted to keep the other two alchemists in mind.

However, Madsen's painful screams were the only response he could manage.

"It's a rebound," Roy breathed, watching in a horrified fascination as his own alchemy turned against the Mineral Alchemist. That was the unforeseen variable.

AN: Keep in mind that this story is set just before the main story begins in the anime/manga. Meaning that Al hadn't given Ed that lecture about never giving up on life and all that.

Anyway. I have started college, so I'm going to get rather busy. But on the other hand, there's only about two more chapters left of War Heroes! Wow. I want to keep the wait for Chapter 12 as short as possible, but no promises.

Well, another big thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! I appreciate all of the support so much. It's still hard to believe the number of viewers I see for each chapter.

I hope you enjoyed, and have a nice day!