He watched out the window, looking but not really looking at the buildings that they quickly passed in the fast moving car. In the driver's seat, Riza Hawkeye was skillfully maneuvering passed the slow-moving cars, accelerating enough to get to the destination faster, but not enough to cause unwanted attention.

He tried to ignore the four equally hasty-moving cars that trailed closely behind, following them –the head car- to the east side of the city.

After he and Al figured out that Lee probably had a secret hideaway masked in the sewers, they thought that the best way to enter and catch Lee by surprise was through one of the east manholes. But Roy was not entirely sure that Lee would be caught unaware. Lee was never surprised.

Roy gave a mental scoff. This is how it always was with Lee, there was never a time when he could win those no-rules games that Lee had so much fun torturing him with. That was always something that Roy could remember about Lee so clearly- he like messing with people's minds.

And Roy could never grasp what Lee wanted him to do or how he could win. But this time, it would be different.

He would win, no matter what.

Roy sucked in a breath as the car gave a quick jerk as it swerved right into the next road, and hissing as gravity took effect and his head met the glass of the window with a hard 'thunk', it sent sharp pains coursing through the area where glass met his temple.

"Miss. Riza, what happened?" Al warily asked from beside Roy in the backseat as he re-adjusted himself back onto the seat that the abrupt turn had thrown him off of and onto the floorboard.

Glancing at the boy, Roy felt a wave of sympathy wash over him. Al has never before driven with the sharp-shooter blonde, and he looked exactly what Roy remembered himself like the first time he had Riza drive him. And he had learned long ago to hang on tight and expect the unexpected.

"I never miss my turn." Riza simply replied to Al, the same answer she gave Roy all those years ago. Sighing mentally, Roy realized that somehow things like that never change…

Even though he wished they would.

Roy was pulled from his thoughts as the lieutenant eased the car to a stop, pulling slowly to rest close to the sidewalk that ran along the road throughout the whole east neighborhood.

"We're here." Riza muttered, her eyes scanning the dark shadows carefully and thoroughly for any threat as Roy stepped out of the vehicle, a few seconds later followed by Al.

The air was crisp and clean –not the evaporated gasoline smell that polluted headquarters from the constant in and out of cars. Not many cars traveled through here since it was a housing district and very close to Central's square – close enough that the people living here didn't need to take their cars and just walk.

Something was… off about the houses though. Every single house down the block was pitch back, all the lights cut off. Taking a glance at the watch, Roy gave a confused grunt when the time staring back at him barely read eight o' clock.

Shaking the nervousness that etched over his figure – the instinct sense that resulted from over reading the situation- he cursed the very thing that made him like this, all the time remembering this very same feeling that came over him right now was what kept him alive in Ishbal.

He shook his head at the memories that began to swarm his thoughts, clouding his mind of everything. He remembered that many times the feeling had kept him survive all during the time, but unfortunately- the people he fought against did not. He hated that every snap of his fingers caused someone's life to disappear. Someone… to die.

Ridding those thoughts from his mind with a sudden jerk of awareness, he cursed himself for going back to thoughts that didn't matter right at the moment. Right now, all that he should be thinking about was getting back Ed.

Moving his way around the car to the trunk, he heard the crack of the hood unlocking as Riza hit the button that unlocked it from the front seat, and pushing it the rest of the way open, began searching through all the things that covered the floor space.

Pulling out two pairs of goggles and long sleeved skin-tight shirts, he handed one of each to the boy standing next to him, and pulling on the navy shirt, was about to reach back into the trunk again when the road lamp that hung over them flickered off and on with a buzzing noise. A few moments passed with the in and out flickering, and with a pop, the thin wires inside the bulb combusted, leaving the still-intact glass clouded with heated smoke.

"Shit." Roy muttered, urgently struggling to pull the goggles strap over his head. Once he got it over, he dropped them to rest at his neck, his senses already searching for a threat.

There was no way that could have happened naturally.

Pushing Al and him behind the car, his eyes scanned over the profile of each house, trying to figure out where the person might be hiding.

Suddenly, a 'crack' rang out in the silent night air, and Roy could feel the air of a bullet wiz by his ear, just close enough to realize the danger of this person. They had good aim, and if he gave them even a seconds chance to get a good shot –he would be dead.

Not a moment too late, he pulled himself further down to the cover of the car, trying to shield himself as another gunshot broke out, another bullet straying by just where his head used to be.

"Al." He hissed, pulling the younger by the sleeve further into the middle of the car. "Try to get into the car. Riza will take you-" He cut of as he saw something shining under the car in the dim moonlight, and reaching forward, he shuffled himself so that his heads could fit under the car and get a better look at the circular object.

His fingertips brushed cool metal, and running his hand over the top of the metal, he soon realized what he was just looking at.

A manhole cover.

Looking up from under the car, he could see a small part of one of the lawns and something that made his heart speed up. Two light brown leather boots were approaching the car, the barrel of a rifle hanging loosely from the person's hand and brushing the dew-covered grass.

"Flame Alchemist, come out from the cover of the car, hiding will do nothing." A strong voice called out, deep and commanding. Doing no such thing, Roy quickly set to work digging at the tiny hole of the man cover, tugging the metal aside.

Fear pulse through his veins, the quickly circulating blood making his hands shake and rendering them hopelessly useless as he finally managed to get the cover out of the way of the hole. Motioning Al to slide in, he turned his attention to the hiding Riza Hawkeye in the car. Taking a deep, calming breathe, he made sure Al was out of the way and had disappeared down the hole before knocking a rhythm into the car door.

He knew Riza heard when he felt the vibrations of another knock underneath his hand, and quickly pulling himself under the car, dropped his feet through the hole and wrapping them around the metal latter securely, grabbed the manhole cover with one hand and dragging it back into place.

Just before the cover dipped into the ridges that held it into place, he saw the wheels of the car moving, and Riza starting to speed down the road, leaving behind the man that had been shooting at them in the mix of two sets of burnt tire marks, as three shouts of bullets chased after the quickly retreating car.

Setting to work, Roy pulled a piece of chalk from his pocket, and drawing a circle that he would hope to have the same effect as molding metal, activated it so the manhole cover was fused with the concrete.

Satisfied with the thought that if the guy didn't use alchemy, he couldn't follow them, he began walking down the latter, wondering if Al was waiting a few feet below, or already down the latter.

Since it was pitch-black, he could barely see the hands blindly reaching for the latter bars, even less likely to see the fourteen year old boy. Feeling the end of the latter as his feet touched nothing but air, Roy dropped himself to the sewers floors, feeling a line of water at his feet.

"Alphonse?" Roy called into the darkness, pulling on his goggles as the putrid smell made his eyes burn.

"Colonel?" Al responded, right at his side. "We're in the sewers." He stated, more deadpanned than surprised that there get-away was jumping into a manhole.

"Yeah. Careful not to step too far away from the wall, you might fall into the… waste water." Roy warned as the rushing of dirtied water filtered into his ears, pressing the middle of his goggles, a small white light flickering on.

"Common, we have to start moving soon." He added, not speaking the words that both of them knew was the real reason for the quick step. They had to get away before the guy finds a way in.

A silence stretched over the two as they moved their way through the sewers complicated system of tunnels. Roy, holding the map, began wondering what would happen when he did find Ed. Would the blond forgive him once he explained it all or…

He didn't want to think of the possibilities of what would happen, but one thing he was sure of, was that if Ed was angry, he would deserve everything that was coming his way.

But Roy didn't want to think about the sadness and unknown of the future. He wanted to think of Ed, bright like the sun itself, warm and nestled into his arms. Watching T.V and teaching Edward how to cook, or even stealing kisses when the teen wasn't paying attention. The one thing Roy wanted to do right now was for to hold Ed in his arms while they slept, knowing that the teen was safe.

It's funny how thinks ought to be and they never end up like they should. So many things that could have been so easy- if all of this hadn't happened. The biggest threat to Ed could have been the missions he went on or just walking in the park.

Instead, it was in the hands of a man who wanted to give Roy so much suffering that it could kill him. That's not what he was aiming for though. He wanted Roy to end his life when he saw the one he loved getting harmed by someone he put the boy in the hands of.

But he was dead wrong. If nothing more, the thought of Ed in pain drived him even more, wanting to save the blond before the man could touch the boy with his filthy hands again. There were only a few things that played over in his mind, and that was: Rescue. Revenge. Pay back.

"Mr. Mustang? I think we have a problem." Al's voice filtered into the man's thoughts, waking him up from the daydream that had overtaken his mind. Blinking as his eyes unfocused, he reached out an unsteady hand in front of him.

Surprised when his hand hit solid metal, he stepped back to let the light flash on the silver wall.

A wall that shouldn't be there.

Glancing at the map in his hands, he realized that they were in the exact place that the entrance of the hideaway should be. He should have known it wouldn't be that easy.

But... something wasn't right with the map and the location around him. There should have been a... manhole cover right above them.

"Shit." He swore. How could he have been so stupid? The manhole cover led into Lee's hideaway not the sewers! He should have known that Lee would isolate his hideout.

"Step back." Al ordered, having figured out the problem. Clapping his hands together, he placed them on the wall as the alchemy burst to life in a vivid blue, crackling like firecrackers, only to turn a bright green and with a great force, pushed them both back and throwing them off balance.

"What... what was that?"

When the light died down, the form of the wall was still there, not a scratch on it.

"Alchemy proof." Al muttered in annoyance, frustrated that alchemy had failed him.

Roy shook his head, clearing the disheveled thoughts that clouded his mind from the impact. "Come on, Al." Roy said, picking himself up from the ground that the impact had thrown him. "We have to get back to the real entrance."

He only hoped that this wouldn't set them to far back.

'Uhh... why do I feel so dizzy?'

The thought rang out in his mind, incoherently shifting through his thoughts as he tried to make heads or tails of the situation.

The situation? Wait. What situation? His mind lost all thoughts of what 'situation' had recently played in his thoughts. Like when he couldn't remember a dream. He could see flickers of what had happened, but as soon as the small remembrance passed- he could see nothing.

Was this a dream?

No. It was all too real. The warmth that surrounded him was all to inviting and the smell of smoke and cinnamon all to welcoming. Burrowing deeper into the comfort, he heard a gasp and the warmth tighten around him.

"Ed? Are you awake?"

He heard the voice but couldn't find a face to match. Who was this person and why did they make him feel so... safe?

"Wake up Ed, I was worried about you."

Snapping his eyes open, he found his face buried in a coat, his hands fisted tightly into the shoulders of this mysterious stranger.

A stranger... didn't seem like the right word though. He felt as if he knew this man. Very well in fact. Lifting up his eyes so that he could see the man's face, he let a startled noise whisper past his lips.

"Roy." He let the name hush out, locking gazes with the dark-eyed man.

"Hey." Roy breathed, his customary smirk already in place.

Ed blinked with a blank expression, looking around the room to find them in a brightly lit room, a peach colored paint splashed all the way around the walls. "Where are we?"

"Safe." Was all that Roy gave the blond before he wrapped his arms around the teen's waist, pulling Ed backwards into his lap.

Making an 'epp' sound, Ed turned to face Roy, a question already on the tip of his tongue. The way his cheeks were flushed with a slight pink that dusted across his nose and the way his gold eyes sparkled in the dark was too much for Roy to bare before he lent down and captured those slightly parted plump lips with his own.

It was soft, gentle in a way that no one that had lust filled plans could ever imagine. Sweet as Roy flicked his tongue along the closed part between Ed's lips -asking for permission. Ed gasped out though as he felt the most appendage against dry lips, granting the mans tongue to explore his mouth, nipping and sucking in areas that made Ed moan.

"Ed." He said, bringing the younger into his embrace, wanting not an inch between the two. "You don't know how frustrated I felt when I couldn't do this or protect you."

"I'm not helpless you know. I can handle myself. I just... please Roy don't break yourself down just because of this." He gave a soft sigh and laid his head on Roy's shoulder, wanting to enjoy the moment.

And it actually felt right for once.

"Please...Roy." Was the whisper that fell across the sleeping Ed's lips, making the man that loomed over him laugh.

"Sir?" The guard asked, confused by the mans sudden found laughter- the thing that had caused it falling just over his head in a mess of stupid confusion.

"Just what I thought." Lee murmured trailing a curious hand down the blonds' cheek, watching knowingly as if he expected it as Ed leaned up into his hand. "It's Roy."

" Roy? Is he-"

Lee shook his head. "The thing that I fed him is a sleep drug. It's one of my own creations actually." He turned to glare at the man. "One that you should know about when working with me." With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the now panicking guard, turning to look at the sleeping teen.

"The drug makes you fall asleep- only the user doesn't know it. He often 'wakes up' in the very thing he wants most. It brings out what a person lust over, or even ones most desperate desires." Lee narrowed his eyes, searching for something without an answer. "Only everything is just a dream."

"And this boy wants...?"

"Roy." Lee finishes, already on his feet and at the door. He would win this one.

Just as always.

The calm wind swirled around them, the opening of the forest so quite that you would almost have to say nothing was there at all. Stepping forward, Al began moving for the silver manhole cover that gleamed in the moonlight, resting in the middle of the opened area.

"Wait." Roy murmured, holding a restraining arm out in front of Al. "Something's wrong. It's just too... calm." They really wouldn't let the opening of a hideout so open like this were anyone could just come in... would they?

Well, hence the word hideout, he guessed it would be a little too obvious if armed guys would be standing in the outskirts of the forest guarding a manhole cover... but still. "Stay here Al, I'll go and check it out." Roy muttered, stepping away from Al as he cautiously maneuvered around the overgrowth at his feet.

"Look out!"

He let out a wheeze a breathe when he felt two hands make solid contact with his back, knocking him to the ground as a faint whistling sound rang right past where his head used to be.

Couching as the loose dirt went in his mouth, he looked back to see Al behind him -also on the ground- and his hair mused. "Al, I told you to stay back." Roy hissed, wondering why the teen had done that. But Alphonse gave no answer, but simply looked up toward the nearby tree to the left, and sticking into the back was two syringes, the liquids flowing down the tree as it empted the container.

He winced a little once he realized that he somehow set off a booby trap, and without even detecting them, those syringes were meant for him.

So that means this is the right place.

Suddenly, a siren pierced the night's serene peace, slicing through the silence like a gunshot. Cursing at his carelessness, Roy quickly got to his feet, his middle finger and thumb already pressed firmly together to snap.

Heading for the manhole cover, Roy bent down to pull at the metal, his instincts already scanning the area for any threats.

Hearing a crunch to the right of him, he dropped the cover back and place and before Al could even blink, Roy was on his feet and snapping. Flames danced across his vision, heat waves washing over him as the bright red flame engulfed the guard that was only a mere 30 feet away.

When the flame died down, he felt a gasp rise up in his throat when he saw what had happened in his moment of unawareness.

They were surrounded.

"Roy?" He whispered with his eyes still closed from his recent sleep as a loud siren went off. What... what was going on? I thought Roy said he was safe?

Snapping his eyes open, he glanced around the dark room, searching for the man. Wait. This wasn't the room that he was in before this was...

"Dammit!" He shouted, fisting his hands in his hair and his triangle ears going flat against his head. How could he have fallen so easily into a trap such as that?

Then a realization came to him: Why were the sirens (since when were there sirens?) going off?

Quickly stumbling to his feet, he ran to the door, clapping his hands together to rid the door of the lock.

'Why do they make that so easy? They know that I'm an alchemist... or maybe it's because I'm not the main target?'

Shaking his head, he pulled open the sliding door, sticking his head out to check and see if the guards were still there. Half-expecting to see the line of solider standing against the wall, he was prepared to duck back into the room before they spotted him. Surprise met him though when he realized that he was alone in the hallway.

Stepping out into the hallway, he grabbed his furry ears when he realized that the sirens noise level grew in the hallway. With his ears pulled flat against his head and his tail swishing back and forth in a cautious way, he suspiciously moved through the hallway, expecting Lee or some guard to jump out of the shadows any minute now.

After a moment of checking around him to make sure it wasn't a trap, Ed clapped his hands together, a blade instantly extending from his automail arm.

Now let the fun begin.

Alchemic energy ran through his body in a familiar since as he continues pushing through enemy lines with Al following close behind him. They had just managed to get into the secret hideaway a few minutes before, then as soon as they were in the hideout a new rush of guards flooded at them.

He heard the crackle of Al's alchemy from behind him as a wall of spears came up to penetrate the soldiers in front of them.

Snapping, Roy finished the damage, and then focusing on the next line of guards repeated the action. Suddenly, a thick solid wall came up right in front of him, separating him and Alphonse from the guards. Looking back, he saw Al, getting up from the ground, the transmutation still flickering at his feet.

"Roy, we need to hurry this up. I'm going to transmute the wall back to normal and as soon as I do, I want you to push past the guards and go find Brother."

"Are you sure that is for the best?"

"You do realize that I'm not giving you a choice, right?" Clapping his hands together, he nodded to Roy. On the count of three. One. Two. THREE!"

Slamming his hands against the wall, he destructed the wall back to its normal substance, leaving the guards to stare blankly at the disappeared wall. A moment was all Roy needs to be pushing through the crowd of guards, causing an uproar as they soon realized that one of the targets was escaping.

As soon as he was a safe distance away from the guards, he felt another transmutation a little farther away, and another solid wall came up so the guards couldn't follow him.

Smart kid. He just hoped that Al could manage on his own for awhile.

Now to find Ed.

BAM. The door screeched painfully on its hinges as Ed slammed the door open with his foot, looking into the empty room for anyway out. Sighing again for what seemed the up-teenth time, he moved onto the next door, using the same maneuver to open the locked door.

Usually, he would have been worried about someone hearing, but the siren was still blazing in his ears (his ultra-sensitive hearing causing a headache) and it was almost impossible to hear it himself. Another thing that came to mind was why he wasn't using his alchemy to open the doors. It was simple really: It was more fun this way.

Looking into the now open door, he felt his heart stumble a bit on what he found. He's been here before, and what he saw made a shutter go down his spine.

Then he heard it through the loud buzz that began to form in his ear. Loud slamming of feet against the concrete made him back away from the door, hands pressed together in a ready position. As the sound came closer he finally saw someone turn the corner, his muscles jerking to bring his automail blade around and-

he stopped, the attack falling short as one name slipped off his lips.

"Roy."