2/16/13 A/N: I'm baaaaack! I just couldn't get into the writing mood lately, sorry. L However, this story really needs finished and I'm thinking this is the next to last chapter. Enjoy!

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CHAPTER 13: The Alchemist's Final Sacrifice

The young man stood upon the ledge of the hospital roof and stared five stories down upon the scene unfolding beyond his brown shoes. So many soldiers in blue scurried about to and fro from the hospital but somehow he caught the gleaming golden glow of his brother's short hair in the bright morning sun and he knew they'd be safe. The young alchemist also caught Winry's pale face looking up at him as they carried her into the hospital on a stretcher, her eyes half closed, exhausted. He felt her blue irises focus on his face, but still, he wasn't sure she actually saw him. He WAS sure that Mustang saw him though. The General stopped for a second to consider the younger Elric and then calmly strolled into the building. Al only had a few minutes to do what he had to do, the only thing he could think of to save Julia now that Edward had used the last of his strength to save Winry.

Alphonse took a deep breath and walked to the door leading into the hospital. As he expected, he found it locked. A simple transmutation dissolved the door and he walked through into a dark stairwell. Out of habit, he turned and restored the door, then carried on downward to the hospital until he found his way into a hallway on the fourth floor. There was still much excitement on this ward so no one noticed as he quickly walked toward the stairs on the east side of the building. A label on a door caught his attention, "Janitor's Closet". Finding it unlocked, he opened it and found the two items he hoped would be kept here. Picking them up, he continued his journey to Julia's room.

The emergency room chaos almost caused Winry to pass out. She wanted to escape into sleep but all these doctors and nurses hovering around her prevented this.

"I can't find any wounds on this one! Where did this blood come from?" A loud male voice carried across the room, a doctor trying to help Edward.

The mechanic turned her head to see a group of people manipulating Ed's body trying to find the source of the blood that covered his chin, throat and chest. They began cutting off his clothing and inserted a needle into his arm. She was thankful he was not awake for the needle. The medical staff missed the fact that both of them lost blood from horrible wounds that had been sealed closed with alchemy. She had to correct them. "He…needs…a transfusion." Nothing but a quiet squeak escaped her tired lips. She had to speak louder. She screamed his blood type, a fact burned into her brain from that night years ago that she and Granny worked for hours to keep him from dying after he lost his arm and his leg. "TRANSFUSION!" She got their attention.

"There's no wounds on either of them! Who's blood is this?"

Winry struggled against the people working on her. She felt them cut away the fabric of her clothing to better access her wounds, wounds no longer there. They didn't understand and she became frantic.

"Calm down, calm down, Miss!" The nurses around her tried to keep her from injuring herself further until they could understand where she was hurt. But this mechanic was very strong and she was not going to give up.

"TRANSFUSION!" She managed to scream so loudly the doctor's at Edward's side heard her and took notice but still didn't understand. Winry sat up and thrashed about against the hands trying to hold her down.

"Get a sedative!"

The young woman felt the icy cold medicine enter her veins and she silently cursed as she didn't even remember them inserting the IV into her arm. No amount of struggling or cursing was going to work now that the drug effectively made her slump back down on the bed defeated. She turned her head slowly as the people working on her body caused her to move and jerk as they frantically tried to find the source of her sickness, and why her blood pressure kept falling. She fought against the sleep that she felt coming and kept her eyes at the young man in the next bed.

"Blood pressure is still falling!" Ed's doctor shouted.

Winry tried to reach for him, but her arm wouldn't move. Her heart ached as she couldn't get the medical staff to understand. She hoped that they'd figure it out fast. She closed her eyes but her ears were still alert and the next sound brought her hope - that booming voice of authority, the voice of Roy Mustang.

"Can't you idiots see they lost blood! Their wounds were sealed with alchemy!"

Realization hit the hospital staff and they scurried to get the bags of plasma and blood hanging and connected to both patients. There was a long silence as the fluids dripped into Edward and Winry.

"BP is rising for both!"

"I need the doctor in charge!" Mustang growled and soon a white-coat stood before him. "You?"

"Y,yes."

"Are they out of danger?"

"I," He stammered, then looked at both his patients, their vitals were improving. "Yes. They both will need continued transfusions, but as long as their blood pressure continues to rise, they should be out of danger."

"Good." He turned and discarded the doctor as easily as he found him. "Hawkeye!"

"Sir!" Riza waited for the General's instructions.

"Go to Julia's room and wait, I'm going to the roof for Alphonse."

"General, can't that wait?" She wondered why Mustang was so intent on interrogating the young Elric on his new abilities but knew as an alchemist, his thirst for knowledge kept his patience at bay.

"Don't question me!" He wasn't really angry with Riza, he was angry that these stupid Elrics and the Rockbell girl got themselves involved somehow in the Table City takeover and got hurt. He was furious that Alphonse was stupid enough to show the Amestrian military and perhaps the Fuhrer himself that he could fly. He was angry because he couldn't think of a way out, a way he didn't HAVE to force Alphonse into the military now that he became an alchemical human weapon. "I'm sorry," He corrected himself. "Just wait outside Julia's room and I'll meet you there." He ran toward the west staircase.

"Yes sir!"

Suddenly, an exhausted looking nurse ran into the room shouting. All heads turned at once, including Hawkeye's. "Code red! Code red! Multiple burn victims!"

"What's going on?" Riza pulled the lady aside. "Where did these people come from?"

"They said on the radio that they are Cretan soldiers. There's some sort of fire in the old city in the valley, many are burned!" She pulled away from Riza's grasp and ran into the room. Orderlies followed and one by one, they wheeled the other injured, including Edward and Winry out of the emergency room to their admittance rooms.

"Fire in the Valley?" Hawkeye retreated into the hallway as the hospital staff quickly changed up the emergency area, readying the gurneys for victims with severe burns. As she turned to walk toward the west stairwell and toward Julia's floor, she made a mental note to contact the floor nurse to find Ed and Winry's room and to alert the General that Cretan soldiers had something going on the valley.

Alphonse came upon the Milosian guards outside Julia's room. Both big men had been unarmed by the Amestrians when the hospital was seized, but both still stood valiantly protecting their senator since the chimera attacked the previous night. Thankfully, they recognized the alchemist as he approached.

"Mr Elric! You are unharmed!" Both men were outside when the wolf chimera raged in the hallway and chased Al from the hospital.

"Yes. I'm fine. Thanks." He walked toward the closed door. "How is Julia?"

"The doctor's said that she is worse. They've inserted a breathing tube. Her organs are shutting down." He didn't hide the sadness in his voice. Julia was well-loved.

"Can I see her?"

"Of course, but she is not awake." They stepped aside and allowed him to enter the room. He closed the door behind.

Finally alone, Alphonse sighed, grateful the two guards didn't notice the items he carried. He walked into the room and turned to a chair next to the bed where the injured senator lay unconscious. He quietly placed the well-used can of black paint and equally well-used paint brush on the chair. The alchemist leaned in and regarded Julia's bandaged face, her single eye closed and peaceful. He stroked the tufts of strawberry blond hair that poked through the bandage around her forehead and leaned in and gave her a soft kiss. Al noticed how cold the pale skin of her exposed forehead was as he retreated and looked upon her again. He knew this was the only choice, the only way to save her. Alphonse walked over to the window and pulled the blinds and drew the curtain enveloping the room in darkness but with just enough light to clearly see what he needed to do.

The dream unraveled in her mind in streams of blurry bits and pieces. Edward stood there as Ashley held her, the cold steel Julia's brother's automail weapon pressed to her cheek. Somehow, she gathered her strength and manhandled the arm into her control. One hostage. The officer ordered one of them to die-she or Ed. One hostage only. Could she shoot that son of a bitch from this distance? No, she was sure of it. Edward's face contorted as the chimeras held him down, she couldn't hear from this distance, but she was certain the former alchemist was growling at her to drop the weapon. His golden eyes struck her just as if he used his hand, trying to smack some sense into her thick skull. It was as if he non verbally shouted: "Stupid! Only one hostage means YOU! Put that gun down! I'm the one to die gearhead!" There was another thing. Did he really say this? He just told her, "This is man's work!" That chauvinistic bastard. Just like when they were kids and he and Al shut her out in an attempt to protect her. How dare he! She'd show him. She'd pull a fast one on HIM! Winry pulled the trigger.

She didn't die, having forgotten to release the safety. Ashley had no intention of shooting her if he had left the safety engaged on his weapon. She was an idiot. Edward grinned that shit-eating grin of his as the blade glided like a warm case knife through the soft butter of his skin. "Close your eyes, Winry!" How dare he demand she not watch! How could she take her eyes off of him as he bled, as he died. He wouldn't deny her of this, no! She couldn't hold him, couldn't embrace him. She could only comfort him with her eyes so she would not look away. Never.

"There, there, honey." The voice wafted into her dream. "You're having a nightmare."

"Huh?" She slowly opened her eyes and looked upon the face of a kind nurse.

"You're having a nightmare."

"Where, where am I?"

"The Miloisan hospital. You've been through the wringer, miss. One of many!"

"Oh, no!" Winry shot up, frantic to find Edward. "Ed?"

"Settle down, that young man is in the bed right over there." She motioned toward the sheer privacy drape that separated Winry's bed from one of the many in that crowded hospital ward. "He's fine, but still asleep." The nurse turned to the empty bag of fluids hanging from a bright steel stand and connected to the mechanic through a thin intravenous tube inserted in the bend of her left arm. "I can remove your IV now, OK?"

"Ah, alright." She wasn't bothered by needles, having inserted many because of her profession. She was anxious to get unhooked from her tether so she could get out of bed and check on Edward.

"All done!" The nurse disposed of the tiny catheter and taped some gauze on Winry's arm. "I have so may other patients, I have to leave. You must rest until the doctor discharges you." She smiled and brushed some stray hairs back from her face and left.

"Ed?"

Of course the mechanic didn't listen to very sound medical advice. She had only one thing on her mind and that was making sure Edward was ok. She tenderly got out of bed and as she went, noting any pains or injuries in her own body. She sighed, thankfully there were none. She was a little sore and tired, but otherwise fine. Winry slowly padded in her bare feet toward the thin dividing cloth and slowly pulled it aside.

More light shown in Edward's small cell than her own. It bounced off his golden hair and into her blue eyes. Winry sat on the edge of the bed and watched him as he slept. She regarded his neck and right where a terrible scar should be was nothing. Nothing but smooth, uncut skin. Just a few odd red flecks in his bangs remained the only evidence of Edward's failed murder. She held his hand, warm and strong and she smiled.

"Wake up already, alchemy freak." She stroked his short blonde hair and smiled. "I need to check on Julia soon."

She didn't notice the dark eyes of a stout soldier burning through his bandages at the couple. No, not at Winry, at Edward Elric.

"There! All done." Alphonse stood back to review his handiwork. The white hospital sheet on the floor now had a near-perfect human transmutation array painted on it. "I know it's not dry yet, and, it's not as neatly done with this old brush…" He turned to Julia and smiled, "…but, it will do." Al dumped the brush in the old paint can and put the can down on the floor and out of the way. With shaky, black-stained hands, he grabbed the edge of the white sheet and gently pulled it up. The alchemist shook the linen up and over the dying Senator, draping her small body with the transmutation circle. Nothing would stop him from returning her body to normal. Nothing. Not even the cost. He thought a moment on exactly what HIS equivalent exchange would be. With all the damage to her body, Alphonse knew just an arm and a leg probably wouldn't cover it.

"Oh, well." He readied himself for what parts of his own body would be used as the raw materials to reconstruct Julia's. "If Brother could endure it, I know I can." Al took a deep breath and raised his hands readying to clap. He hoped with all hope he'd survive. Besides, there was always automail…

"Alphonse Elric!" That sharp voice, the voice of the hawk startled the alchemist. "Don't you DARE!"

"Please don't try to stop me, Miss Hawkeye," His face lowered and his eyes darkened. "I'm sorry, I don't know your rank anymore."

"That doesn't matter, stop what you're doing!" Riza's voice carried as strong as steel into Al's ears.

"This is not your problem, please don't stop me." He eyed her and for the first time, noticed she pointed her handgun at his head. "Shoot me, if you have to."

"Al?" He shocked her with his seriousness. "I cannot let you do this."

"It's not YOUR decision!" Anger welled up within the normally calm soul. It was his life to do with what he pleased. "I am going to save Julia!" He readied himself to start the transmutation.

"I thought you were the smart Elric!" She holstered her weapon and came closer. "You were the one with reason." Riza slowly edged closer. "SELFISH boy!" She stood right beside him now.

"Selfish! How am I selfish for wanting to save her!" Al fumed, his whole body shook with anger. Before he knew it, two strong arms wrapped around his waist and held tight.

"Selfish boy!" Riza screamed again and gripped Alphonse with all her strength. "Your brother sacrificed his alchemy to bring you back! Now you want to throw it away! You're thinking about Julia, you're not thinking about your FAMILY!"

"Let go, Miss Hawkeye! Let me go!" He tried to struggle and pry her arms from him but couldn't get her to release him. "I can't do this with you so close! You'll become part of the transmutation!"

"My father was an alchemist, remember." She smiled slyly. "I know this." She gripped tighter - there was no way she would let go. She slowly drug Alphonse away from the bed and the array.

"My, my…" The voice of authority startled the two.

"General?" Riza knew Roy would also never let Al do this.

"I'm jealous, Captain Hawkeye." Mustang strolled into the room and placed his hand on Al's shoulder. "You never hugged me like that." He finished her job of pulling Alphonse away from the transmutation circle. When all three were safe he turned and threw a hard punch, catching Al on his jaw knocking the youth down.

"I never hugged YOU at all." Hawkeye stood and brushed her pristine uniform back into place as Al massaged his injury. "Did you have to strike him?"

"Those Elrics are thick-headed." Roy rubbed his knuckles, thinking he succeeded in breaking at least one finger. "Aren't you, Alphonse?" He offered his hurt right hand to the young man who was now trying to stand and holding his face. Al stood up and glared at the General. He glanced back at Julia but couldn't stop the tears. Sure, his face hurt, but he wasn't crying because of it. Al had failed. He knew there was no way Mustang and Hawkeye would let him finish. He didn't know what else to do. Alphonse shoved the two soldiers aside and he ran.

"Al! Stop!" Hawkeye reached for him but he zoomed out of her grip.

"Stop him!" Mustang yelled at the Milosian guards as Alphonse also ran past. The two men chased after the alchemist.

"He's too upset to think clearly." Mustang hastily followed in the same direction, Hawkeye closely behind.

The commotion caused just enough distraction for Ashley to quietly sneak into Julia's room unnoticed by any of the hospital staff. He unceremoniously dumped the stolen Amestrian military jacket on the floor and walked over to the quiescent figure still cloaked in a human transmutation circle.

"I know now's the worst possible time for me to ask you to forgive me." He ran his right hand through his dark bangs and sat on the chair next to his sister's bed. "You can't even hear me, can you?" He chuckled a bit and then a noise, a slow creak caught him off guard. He turned at the sound. "Winry?"

"What, what are you doing?" Winry didn't know how to perform alchemy, but she knew there was a circle on top of Julia and one powerful alchemist sitting next too her. It frightened her.

"I'm not sure. But, I think I'm going to save her." Ashley clapped his hands together and slammed his right hand against the wall. The plaster rumbled and undulated toward Winry and behind her then to the ground. In an instant, hard stone rose up sealing closed the open doorway and trapping them in the room. He stood and quickly came toward the distraught mechanic, backing her into the wall.

"Someone will be here soon…you don't want to do anything rash."

"They won't come in time." He slowly leaned in against her, breathing dangerously close to her as he spoke. "I have something to tell you." Ashley gingerly took her left hand in his right. "That night you came to my room…after drinking too much…" He brought her soft hand to his face.

"What really happened?" Her body shook, Winry couldn't help it, Ashley could end her life right here.

"Nothing happened, but I do have a confession." He brought her fingers to his mouth and gently kissed them.

"What?" She dreaded the answer.

"I didn't keep my eyes closed when I put you in my t-shirt." In an instant he threw the arm he was holding up against the wall with his right hand and with his left, he transmuted the wall, the plaster turning to stone and a thick band encasing her arm, effectively trapping the girl against the wall. Ashley stepped away as Winry tried with no luck to free her arm.

"You jerk!" She struggled but couldn't break out of the stone. "Why'd you do this?!" She turned her icy cold stare at the older alchemist.

"To keep you out of this." He leaned against her once more, feeling the warmth of her body. It still shook beneath him.

"Get away." She threatened and he ignored her, putting his mouth against her ear.

"Say you'll leave it all and run away with me." He paused. "Say you'll do this and we both will walk away from here forever, together."

"I can't." She couldn't stop the tear falling down her cheek. Ashley stood back to regard her. "I don't love you. I can't leave with you."

"Thank you." He straightened his shoulders and wiped the tear from her face. "I couldn't do this without that." He smiled and turned toward his sister.

"Ashley?" Winry pulled at her arm, but it was no use, she was not getting out without someone's help. "What are you doing?" She got louder. "Ashley?" Winry screamed as Ashley Crichton clapped his hands together and brought them down on the transmutation circle.

"Brother?" Alphonse wiped his nose with his sleeve and stumbled into the ward looking for Edward and Winry. Having evaded Mustang and Hawkeye, he started pulling away the linen dividers going bed to bed in his search. Finally, he pulled some fabric aside and there lay his brother, still sleeping.

Click.

The sound of a pistol being cocked reverberated through the young alchemist's ears. Edward was not alone.