Anything FMA related belongs to H/A Alice and story belong to me.

Enjoy.

Chapter Twelve: And The Boogieman Strikes

"And why the hell should we tell you anything?" A gruff voice called from behind a heavy metal door. Ed growled as he glared through the doors tiny window. He had been going at this for over an hour or two by now; not getting a single word from the more sane gunman. He clenched a fist tightly, ready to pound the door in, but held it back as best as he could. With a rigid sigh, Ed tried to ask him again.

"Look, I am only going to ask you this, once more. Who were you working for?" He muttered through the bars dangerously. The ginger haired male inside laughed slightly, resting his forehead in a shackled palm. "Man kid, you've been going on at this for a long time now haven't you?" Pulling his hand from his face, the man looked Ed in the eye. "Why don't you give up and find out for yourself, I'm sure that you'll more then likely know who this person is"

Ed slammed both fists on either side of the window. "Don't give me that crap!" He yelled, feeling the glances from several southern soldiers on him. He chose to ignore it and continued to stare at the red-head in his cramped, dank cell. The bed creaked under the gunman's weight as he slumped down on it, creasing the yellowed sheets. Yawning loudly, he snaked his arms around the back of his head, smiling up at the ceiling. He couldn't help the snicker escape his lips as Ed growled through his teeth.

"You know something kid?" He asked, sending Ed at quick glance. "You humour me enough to give you a useful hint"

Ed's eyes relaxed a little, although were still narrowed at the man. Even though Ed would prefer to go in there and just get it out of the man one way or another and get it over with, but a clue would be decent enough and if it wasn't a very vague clue, Ed would probably manage to work out who it was.

The man laughed to himself, resting a hand over his eyes. "This will actually either make you think I'm insane or I'll just give it all away. Whatever, I'm locked up here now, like it matters" Pushing himself up, the man looked Ed right in the eye, making sure that the alchemist would believe him.

"Alright, I noticed a little red dragon, chasing his tail like a puppy," he watched Ed's eyes widen a little and then fell back down into the pillows. "There, I think I've said enough, no?"

Ed didn't need to be told twice as he bolted out of the hallway, down the stairs and straight out of the prison. He cursed over and over again in his head. He should have worked out something was wrong ever since he read that diary entry not too long ago, he knew something wasn't right in the first place; he just never took it to heart. And now, because of that, Alice was in danger, much more danger then she was prepared to handle.

Ed sprinted as fast as he could down the streets of Dublith, racing towards the hospital. He had to get there now, before a certain enemy does.

However, he soon found himself unable to get down the street when something hard flew at his face, knocking him off his feet.

"Honestly," a voice spoke sternly as he recovered on the floor. "What was I thinking when I took you on"

Ed gawked. "Teacher!?"

Let us pray that Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist comes out alive of this reunion.

---

"And then, BOOSH! Toy soldiers over ruled the Earth!"(1) Alice spread her arms wide, shaking her palms in the air. Al chuckled, a sweat-drop rolling down his head.

"Oh, is that so?" He asked, getting an enthusiastic nod from Alice. The girl rummaged through her bag that sat peacefully on her lap. Soon enough, she pulled out a small, green plastic toy soldier, holding a large gun in both hands. The blonde girl then rolled out from under the covers of her hospital bed, prodding the soldier against Al's metal chest.

After a moment, Alice frowned and began to hit agasnt Al's chest a little harder with the soldier. Al tilted his head at her. "Um, Alice. What are you doing?"

"Mr. Phantom Armour Guy appears to have a high tolerance in pain, Sargent Pickle," she pouted at the soldier and then turned back to Al, her index finger lodged under her curled lower lip. "We'll have to take drastic measures, wont we?"

Al watched curiously as Alice threw the soldier aside and began searching through her bag again. After a while, Alice cam from her bag again, coloured pens in each hand. Al knew what this meant. He backed off, lifting himself from his chair. He waved his hands at her."Oh, no, no. You don't want to be doing th-"

"Scribble attack!"

And with that, Alice pounced forward, reaching for Al. The armour stumbled away from her, his foot catching on the tail-end of a curtain. There was a loud rip followed by a monstrous thud. Al crashed down onto the ground, taking half of the curtain with him. He landed in a heap on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, trying to take in exactly what just happened.

Moaning, Al pushed himself up, resting on his palms. Shaking his head, Al glanced around for Alice, finding her in a pile on the floor not too far from him. She pushed herself up, ignoring the mass of pen scattered around her. Rubbing her forehead, Alice whimpered a little. Al was right onto his feet after that, rushing over to her side. He crouched down beside her. "Are you alright?" He asked, worry clear in his voice.

With a shake of her head, Alice looked up at him from the corner of her eye. Al tensed as he thought that the other... girl of Alice had come back again, only to be relieved when Alice greeted him with a grin.

"S'up Mr. Phantom Armour Guy?"

With a sigh, Al shook his head. "I'm fine, what about you? You looked like you had a bit of a hard fall then"

With a giggle, Alice sent Al the thumbs up. "Never better!" She pouted, looking at the mess of pens around her. Some of the lids had came off, leaving long scribbles along the floors surface. Alice's face relaxed into a much more sadden look. "Oh... I messed up, will Alice getteth a slapped wrist now?"

Al couldn't help but laugh at her innocence. Patting her on her head, Al shook his head. "It was an accident, not your fault, OK?"

Alice bent down and began to scramble to get hold of all of the pens, capping them all as quickly as possible, trying to rub off the marks with the end of her hospital gown. Al watched her carefully as she cleaned up her mess, frantically. He couldn't put his finger on why she was so panicky about it: it was only an accident, he told her himself. It was like she was rushing to clean her room before her parents came home again. She's more of a kid the I first thought, Al thought, bringing himself back to reality as Alice slumped back onto the floor, having cleaned her mess and lock it back up inside her bag.

She was clutching onto her teddy bear, rubbing her cheek against it, bracing herself for something; but for what?

Al reached out for her. Placing his hand firmly on her shoulder, Al caught Alice's attention. She smiled up at him. "Why, if it isn't Mr. Phantom Armour Guy! Do you like cookies?"

"Well, I... Alice, what's wrong? You seemed a little, I don't know, panicky, then"

Alice opened her mouth to speak, only for the door to suddenly burst open. Al shot up onto his feet, bracing himself for the worst. His eyes snapped shut.

"Oh my, what happened in here?"

Al's eyes cracked open. His body became limp with relief and his hand pressed against his chest. Phew. Its not teacher, false alarm.

Alice peaked up from the bed. "Oh, hello Miss. Nurse! How ish youeth?"

The nurse stepped inside, tucking a strand of brown hair behind an ear. "Um, fine? Listen, Mister, urm-"

"Please, just call me Alphonse"

"-Alphonse, could I borrow Alice for a moment please?" The nurse smiled, pointing down at the girl. Alice lifted herself to her feet, swinging her bag over her shoulder and pointing innocently at herself. "Me?"

The nurse's smile widened a little. "Yes, just you"

With a grin and not a care in the world, Alice skipped past Al and straight over to the nurse. The tall women looped an arm around Alice's shoulders, ready to guide her elsewhere. But, something inside of Al told him not to let Alice go with this nurse. Something about her didn't seem nice, no, in fact the nurse seemed a little too nice.

Al stepped forward, his arm reaching out for Alice a little. "Wait," he called, causing the pair to stop dead under the doors frame. Al couldn't help but notice the nurse tense before she turned to him, smiling brightly.

"Yes?" She asked, in an all too sweet tone.

Al paused for a moment, stuck for words. "Um, I don't think that I really want Alice to be going with you"

"Oh," the nurse looked down at the blonde as she turned back to face Al. "And why is that?"

"Its just that... what happened to the other nurse that was seeing her before? She had dark hair, quite small and was kind of timid. What happened to her?" Al asked, his tone getting a little darker.

The nurse's smile twitched at its corners. "Oh... her, she's at home, afternoon off you see?" Al didn't respond and the nurse took it as an opportunity. Turning around and pressing her hand against Alice's back, she began to step out of the ward. Al, however, still felt like there was something going on. He chased after them, stopping the nurse by her shoulder. "Wait!"

"Don't touch me-!" The nurse bellowed, a hint of panic at the end after she seemed to realise that she came out of character.

Al's face darkened at her. "Alice," he began, keeping a tight grip on the nurse. "Get away from her"

Alice looked between the nurse and Alphonse. "Al, don't hurteth Miss. Nurse, its bad" She whispered helplessly, gripping onto her teddy bear, hard. Al felt himself weaken on the spot a little. Alice seemed in such distress, but it wasn't a surprise really, she's never seen Al act like this before. If it was Ed, she'd probably react better, since she's no doubt seen him act as such before, but never with Al. For her, seeing him like this made him look scary.

Suddenly, Alice latched herself onto his arm and dropped her bag onto the floor, looking up at him with tear filled eyes. "Its OK Mr. Phantom Armour Guy! Miss. Nurse is going to make Alice better! You'll see! And then we can play all day, I promise! Just don't put her in any pain, it's mean!" She shouted, tugging on Al's arm with all her strength.

The nurse glanced down at Alice and then back up at Al with a smirk. "That's right, you wouldn't want to hurt me, would you, Alphonse"

For a moment, Al seemed as if he wasn't going to make any move against the nurse, until he tensed up and looked down at Alice from the corner of his hollow eye. "I'm sorry, Alice" He breathed, pushing her away with enough force to get her off him; yet not enough to harm her. Stumbling back, Alice ended up landing on her rear on the floor, looking up fearfully at Alphonse. Al winced before turning back to the nurse under his grasp, who-unknowing to him-had slipped away from him and was stood on the other side of him, grinning darkly.

Al spun around to face her, spreading his body out enough to sheild Alice from her. Taking his fighting stance, Al eyed the women carefully as she began to stalk about, her grin not shifting for a second. "Poor little girl," she purred, sending Alice a quick look. Al stepped over, blocking the nurse's view of the blonde girl. "You've terrified her, Alphonse, how could you?"

Awkwardly, Al glanced back over his shoulder, finding Alice further away from him then he first thought, holding her bear tightly to her chest and staring wide-eyed at the armour. He felt his stance weaken a little: he did scare her after all.

"Aren't you going to say that you're sorry to her?" The nurse whispered, catching Al's attention. The armour whipped his head around and strengthened his stance again. However, even with his cautionary stare and fighting stance, Al wasn't prepared as the nurse suddenly darted past him, jumped up onto the bed and slipped over to Alice, crouching beside her. The younger Elric spun around just as she had landed up on the bed, he reached to her, hoping to grab her before she had gotten to Alice, only to fail due to her quick speed.

As the nurse sat beside Alice, Al made no move and just stood there watching her, not wanting to hurt Alice again. "No?" The nurse asked, arching a brow at Alphonse before turning her attention back to Alice. "Then I'll take her without an apology then, it doesn't bother me after all" With that said, the nurse looped her arms around Alice's shoulders and behind her knees, picking her up.

Al didn't need to be told twice as he bolted forward, reaching a hand out to them, although he wasn't sure if he was going for Alice or this apparent nurse. The nurse had other plans, pouncing away from him, she held Alice close to her chest as she flipped in the air and landed by the window, alchemic sparks flying around her as she soared through the air. This left only one thing in her place after she had landed: Envy.

The homunculus snickered as Al tripped forward, only just managing to pick up his heavy body before it could hit the ground. Al panicked when he spotted Alice in the grasp of the soulless being. He went to go at Envy, only to freeze on the spot after seeing a malicious glint in the homunculus's eyes.

Alice looked over to Al, her blue eyes screaming at him as her body shook violently. Al growled at Envy. "Let her go" He ordered, taking a step forward and holding up his fists. Envy snorted, clearly trying to hold in his laughter.

"Or else what? Don't forget who can use the little schizo girl as a shield" Envy said in a sing-song voice. At that point, Alice began to kick her legs about, trying to push herself free from the male's grasp.

"Mr. Robot! Mr. Robot!" She screamed, clutching the bear in her hands hard enough to make it burst. If Al could feel his heart sink, he was sure that it would have been like a pebble in water. She was calling out for Edward's help, even though Al was right in front of her. Al then found himself unable to move until Envy opened the window and flung himself out of it, bringing a traumatized girl with him.

Al ran to the window and looked around for any sign on the homunculus, none was to be found. Curling his hand, Al tore the curtains which he had already damage earlier. Out of anger, he flung the curtain to the floor, only to take the other curtain and railing along with it. The railing clattered loudly on the tiles, bouncing all over the place.

Then, the door to the ward shot open. Al turned around to find Edward stood at the door, panting hard. "Al..." He breathed as he began to saunter into the room. "Where is Alice? We've got to get her away from here, now" His head directed itself to Alice's bed. Ed's brows furrowed after finding that the girl was no where to be seen and her bag was left on the floor.

"Where is she, Al?" He asked, looking back to his brother. Al sighed, his shoulders sagging.

"She's gone"

"Gone?"

Al flinched a little. "Ye-Yeah, Envy took her. I tried to stop him I really did, brother, it's just that-"

"I know you would've tried to stop him Al, I'm not saying that you didn't... but..." Edward stopped, spinning around and kicking the side of the bed, hard. Cursing under his breath, Edward stared at the bag on the floor, fists locked by his sides.

"Edward, what's going on?"A stern voice called. Al looked up, finding young women stood by the ward, staring at the two brothers strictly.

"Teacher!?" Al squeaked, straightening his body at the sight of her. Izumi sent Al a quick look before turning back to Edward, obviously drawn in by his distress.

"What happened?" She asked, walking over to him, both her brows furrowed at him. Edward didn't answer, only glanced over to his side, trying to re-direct his attention. Izumi sighed, fists twitching at her sides. "You haven't been clear with me ever since I first met up with you, Edward. Tell me what's going on-"

Edward lifted his head and opened his mouth to speak, only for Izumi to stop him by holding up her palm. "No" She spat. "I want the truth"

Ed's lips sealed shut as he looked his teacher up in the eye. The women glanced over at Al and beckoned him over. "You too, Alphonse" She whispered, almost darkly. The boy didn't hesitate for a second and was soon stood by his brother's side.

"Now boys. Tell me the truth. Tell me everything"

(1) People in art class and I were talking about Small Soldiers, who doesn't? It's a great film, XD.

Clive In Wonderland will be continuing in the next chapter by the way, incase you're wondering.

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