A/N: I'm sorry for the update lag. Some of you may be familiar with the Plot Bunny of Doom. For those of you that are unfamiliar with it, it's also known as a Gundam Seed Destiny fic—6 chapters long—that pretty much wrote itself and stole my inspiration for everything else completely. So I blame Shinn Asuka for the lateness of this update. But last night miladyRanger, some other friends, and I watched FMA until about 11:30 p.m. and it brought back my inspiration, so enjoy!

A Recurring Nightmare with Popcorn

Chapter 13: Don't Ever Forget This

"Listen to me well, boy... Don't ever forget this. Always remember we allowed you to live."—Lust, FMA.

In the Swamp Pierce glowered at the medical book in his hands. Trapper was such an idiot sometimes…

Frank was on his weekly field trip to Margaret's tent, so at least he had one less person to annoy him. Mustang was still in the tent, though. He appeared to be playing with a lighter one of the enlisted men had loaned him.

It was actually quiet in the Swamp, a paradox that practically begged the universe to remedy it. The universe obliged when the door of the Swamp slammed open.

Mustang was on his feet immediately. "What the h-?" he demanded, as a very disheveled-looking Riza Hawkeye ran in, with Trapper on her heels.

Trapper blinked, then stared at Mustang. "So it really wasn't you…" he said slowly.

Pierce took a closer look at his friend.

"Trapp, what happened to your neck?" he demanded.

"I just got nicked," Trapper said absently.

"Well, you're bleeding a lot," Pierce said. "I'll bandage it."

"I can bandage it myself," Trapper huffed.

"Now is not the time…!" Riza began.

"Lieutenant Colonel, explain!" Mustang said sharply. "What the h- is going on?"

"The enemy approached Captain McIntyre and attempted to convince him to commit the taboo," Riza said briskly. "He was unsuccessful and threatened Captain McIntyre with physical harm if he did not comply. I intervened, put about five bullets into him and got McIntrye out of the area."

"And where is he now?" Mustang demanded.

"Full—Major Elric is engaging him now, sir," Riza reported.

"And why are you not backing him up?" Mustang asked.

"Removing McIntyre from the area was the priority, sir," Riza said.

Mustang nodded, then said, "Stay here. I'm going to back Ed up."

"With all due respect, sir, no," Riza said. "Envy is too dangerous."

"Envy?" Pierce asked. "Then my dream…"

"Was not actually a dream at all," Mustang finished for him. "We were trying to protect our country's secrets and keep you safe. It appears, however, that both of those efforts were in vain. You are both involved now, and you're both in a lot of danger."

"…Is there anything we can do to help?" Trapper asked hesitantly.

"Get some bandages on your neck," Mustang said. "And come up with some excuse for what happened that doesn't involve the truth."

"Right," Trapper said.

Pierce rummaged under his bed and pulled out a first-aid kit. "Truce?" he asked.

"Truce," Trapper confirmed, getting out a gauze pad.

The door of the Swamp suddenly flew open once again. This time, however, it was Edward, and he did not run in so much as he fell backwards through the doorway.

He was covered in dirt and developing bruises, and his hair was halfway out of its customary braid. His uniform was in shreds, and Pierce thought he saw metal through one of the rips. That couldn't be right, of course, but it didn't change the fact that it looked as though Ed was losing.

He picked himself up slowly, wincing as he got up, and charged back out the door.

Without a word, all of the tent's occupants followed.

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While Riza and Trapper were heading for the Swamp, Ed was busy trying to get some information, or maybe just some blood, out of Envy.

"What the heck do you think you're doing here?" Ed demanded, transmuting his arm into a blade.

Envy ran at him, a wicked smile on his face. His arm, too, had taken the form of a blade. Ed twisted out of his path, swinging his own blade at the homunculus and cutting his upper arm.

The wound disappeared in a flurry of blue sparks. "Wouldn't you like to know," Envy sneered, leaping backwards.

Ed followed, blade first, and managed to stab Envy in the chest and pin him to the ground.

"Talk, homunculus!" he growled.

"I don't think so," Envy said in a sing-song tone, kicking Ed off of him. Ed launched into a roll as soon as he landed, eventually skidding to a halt in a place that he recognized as being near the Swamp. He cursed to himself. He had to get Envy away from Trapper.

Envy, meanwhile, was running toward him once again. The homunculus punched him in the gut with enough force to rupture internal organs, though Ed hoped he hadn't, then ducked to avoid Ed's blade.

Envy aimed his blade at Ed, and Ed blocked it with his automail arm. But even with him bracing his metal arm with his flesh one, Envy was too strong, and he was pushed backwards. He tried to dig his automail leg into the ground to anchor him, but stopped when he heard a sound that was ominously close to the sound of metal breaking.

"Mind your own business, shrimp," Envy said, kicking Ed in the stomach.

Ed rolled backwards, feeling his back slam into something before he finally rolled to a stop, inside of the Swamp.

Sighing, he got up, dusted himself off, and ran at Envy again.

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Trapper ran out into the night air and watched as his fifteen-year-old tent-mate fought with an exact copy of the man standing beside him.

"You're the actual you, right?" Pierce asked Mustang, looking from him to the person Ed was fighting.

"The other one got up after Riza shot him multiple times, so I think it's safe to say he's Envy, which makes me the actual me, by default," Roy stated.

"Is getting up after he gets shot something this guy does normally?" Pierce asked skeptically.

"You saw him get stabbed," Roy said. "Things like him are almost impossible to kill."

"You said 'almost'," Pierce observed. "Does that mean you've actually killed one?"

"Yes," Mustang said, his eyes narrowing. "But I had to set her on fire repeatedly until she stopped regenerating."

"Her?" Trapper asked, surprised.

Just then, Envy launched himself at Ed, but instead of kicking him again, he sped past him and toward Trapper and the others, a maniacal grin on his face.

Ed cursed and leapt toward them, clapping his hands in midair, which Trapper personally didn't think would help the situation much.

He landed, hard, and slammed his open palms onto the ground. Suddenly, blue lightning was pulsing across the ground as it rose into a wall.

Trapper gaped. The kid had just turned the ground into a wall! By clapping his hands! What kind of researcher did that?

"You'd better put that back," Roy told Ed, as if all of this was routine. Which, for all Trapper knew, it was.

"Don't worry, I will," Ed said grouchily.

Envy crashed through the wall, still grinning, and walked towards them. Blue sparks surged around him, lengthening his hair, turning his military uniform into a black tube top and shorts, and etching a circular tattoo on his thigh, until the person in front of them didn't even resemble Mustang at all.

"I figured I'd kill you wearing a face nicer than Mustang's," Envy said in a voice that was almost a hiss. "After all, the doctors aren't potential human sacrifices anymore, so there's no reason to let them live."

"What?" Trapper asked. "Human sacrifices?"

"Don't get all worked up over it," Envy said casually. "You're going to die now, anyway, so it's not really important."

"Like h-!" Ed said, charging him again.

"You two, get back inside, now!" Riza ordered.

"We just want to know what the h- is going on!" Trapper protested.

"I said it once and I'll say it again, I'll answer all your questions if we survive this!" Riza snapped. "Now go before I decide to shoot you instead of Envy!"

Mustang blinked as the doctors ran back into the tent. "I thought I was the only one you threatened with your gun."

"Don't think so highly of yourself, sir," Riza said curtly.

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Ed winced as Envy's foot connected with his injured ribs. "Get out of my way, shrimp!" Envy growled.

Ed wanted nothing more than to chew Envy out for calling him short, but he gritted his teeth and focused on the fight.

"Tell me what you meant when you said Trapper and Pierce weren't potential human sacrifices "anymore"?" Ed demanded, stabbing the homunculus in the stomach with his arm blade. "Is that why you wanted them to commit the taboo?"

Envy coughed up some blood, then laughed, sparks dancing around his midsection. "You sure have a big brain for a shrimp," he said in a sing-song as he turned his own arm into a blade and aimed for Ed.

Ed stepped to the side, and but the blade still caught his cheek. Enraged, he swung at Envy's face. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SHRIMP WHO'S SO TINY YOU CAN'T SEE HIM IF YOU DON'T HAVE A MAGNIFYING …wait, that's actually what you're doing?" Ed trailed off.

"I might as well tell you, since you're not going to be going home and telling the tin can, anyway," Envy said cheerily, ducking beneath Ed's swing and then kicking his leg out in a wide arc aimed at the alchemist's legs.

Ed flipped backwards, but not before Envy's kick caught his automail leg with enough force to produce an audible clang. Ed thought he heard something rattling around inside of it, which was not a good sign. If he broke this leg, Winry really would kill him. "What do you mean, I'm not going home?" Ed asked as he landed, then launched into another flip, legs first, kicking Envy in the face in the process.

Envy got up quickly, and leaped backwards as Ed lashed out with his arm blade. "Y'know how Central Command didn't give you a Stone or tell you how to use the Gate to get back?" Envy asked with a sneer. "That was on purpose."

"What are you talking about?" Ed demanded, his golden eyes narrowing into slits as he tried to cut the homunculus.

"You and Mustang may be human sacrifices, but you've been making an awful lot of trouble for us," Envy cackled, grabbing Ed's automail arm, blade and all, and using it to fling him backwards into something wooden—a building, most likely, though it was difficult to tell. Ed couldn't see well enough to identify it, but at least it didn't sound like anyone had been inside.

As Ed struggled to get out of the pile of wood that seemed to have fallen on him, Envy continued.

"We figured we'd let you stay here until we needed you, and if we don't, well…" he gloated.

Ed's stomach dropped. They were trapped here? He felt himself start to panic. No, he told himself. He's just trying to throw me off. I have to focus!

Finally, he got back on his feet, and tried in vain to brush some of the splinters off of his clothes before he charged the homunculus once again.

"What does any of this have to do with Trapper and Pierce?" Ed demanded. "If all you wanted to do was get rid of us, why did you come too?" He aimed his blade at Envy once again, an evil smirk appearing on his face. "Did the others get tired of you?"

An expression of genuine anger appeared on Envy's face, just for a second, as he dodged Ed's lunge. Then, it was replaced by his customary mocking smile. "No, I'm here to find your replacements."

"Our replacements?" Ed asked, wincing as Envy's knee impacted his ribs, probably fracturing more and sending him rolling backwards, again. He felt a pain on his forehead as it hit the ground, and when he caught himself, he realized that annoying scar on his forehead from his fight with Slicer had reopened again.

He tried to blink the blood out of his eye as he ran at Envy once more.

Envy leapt to the side. "You see," he explained, "we decided we needed some more…complacent human sacrifices. Ones that wouldn't interfere with our plans."

"So you decided to come here?" Ed asked, ducking to avoid another of Envy's kicks.

"Some of the people here showed potential," Envy said, running at Ed with his arm in the form of a blade. "I'm just here to bring it out."

Ed ran at him with his own blade, which Envy blocked. "Who are you going after next?" Ed asked in a voice that was practically a snarl.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Envy chirped, flashing Ed a vindictive smile.

Envy pulled his blade backwards, then moved forward and cut Ed's upper arm as Ed stabbed him in the chest again. "You fell for it," he crowed.

Ed stumbled backwards, clutching his stinging arm, as Envy moved toward him. Then, a gunshot sounded, followed by two more.

Envy moved backwards, wide-eyed, as sparks danced around a triangle of wounds in his chest.

"Back off," Ed heard Riza's voice say. He turned around in surprise to see her and Mustang standing only a few feet away, in the shadow of a nearby tent.

"You could've helped out a little earlier," Ed grumbled.

"You were doing pretty well on your own," Mustang said with a smirk.

"And the Fullmetal Pipsqueak and I were having so much fun," Envy sneered. "Hmm…three against one? Seems fair."

Mustang snapped his fingers and a column of flames engulfed Envy.

"Was that fair enough for you?" Mustang asked, his expression completely neutral.

"This isn't over!" Envy shouted from within the flames.

"For tonight, it is," Mustang said scornfully, turning to walk toward the Swamp.

Ed glared at Envy for a little while before following the colonel.

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Breda scowled and took a bite of chicken. Riza had finally relieved him from warehouse-guarding duty only minutes ago, and he was hungry.

Across from him, Falman and Fuery, who had finished some time ago, were passing time by placing bets on how soon Ed would have his next short rant. He didn't resent them, not really. Or that's what he kept telling himself.

"Breda, Fuery, Falman," Mustang's voice called, cutting through the noise of the mess tent. "Come here, now."

Breda reluctantly put down his fork and turned to look at his commanding officer. "Sir?" he asked, surprised, as he noticed the red array on his glove. He wouldn't be wearing that unless…. "What's going—"

"Now," Mustang repeated flatly.

Breda got up and followed him out, the other two trailing close behind him.

"What happened?" Breda asked as soon as they were far enough from the tent not to be overheard.

"Trapper was targeted," Mustang said briskly. "Ed sustained serious injuries in his fight with Envy, and we have another transmutation circle to take care of. Also, we were forced to use alchemy in front of the doctors."

Breda swore. "You want us to take apart the circle again?"

Mustang nodded. "Be careful not to activate it, and as soon as you remove the materials from it, erase it. When you're done, report back to me. I'll be in the Swamp."

"Sir!" Breda said, saluting. Falman and Fuery followed suit.

The corner of Mustang's lip quirked upward. "Oh, and if you smell smoke, it's probably Envy. I was a bit more…accurate than last time."

Breda swore to himself. He had a feeling he wasn't going to get to eat tonight.

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Frank muttered angrily to himself under his breath as he headed out of the mess tent and toward the latrines. Stupid Amestrians… Frank was sure that was why Margaret had kicked him out. Why else would she? He'd just commented that her uniform made her look a bit bloated…it was hardly something to get upset about.

He arrived at the latrines and was about to open the door when he realized it wasn't there. He gaped as the moonlight illuminated the pile of wreckage where the latrines were supposed to be.

"Those…those…rats!" he spat, turning on his heel and running toward the Swamp. He had no idea what had happened to the latrines, but he knew, somehow, those two were involved.

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As they neared the tent, Ed sighed, and then got to work.

A simple clap of his hands was enough to transmute the wall he'd created back into the ground. Another clap, and the blade was gone from his automail. A third restored his glove to its original state, and a fourth knit together some of the more noticeable holes in his uniform.

The blood loss was making him a little dizzy. The prospect of trying to explain alchemy to two people who knew almost nothing about it was making his head hurt. And as for what Envy had said, about the possibility that he might not return home—he was just trying not to think about it.

He was not looking forward to this explanation.

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A/N: Thank you for reading! This one turned out shorter, but I'm hoping the action will make up for it. I'm hoping to get some serious writing done this weekend but we'll see what happens…I haven't got a quote for the next chapter because the timeline is currently in flux—I know what's going to happen, but not necessarily in what order. I can definitely promise you Pierce and Trapper learning more about alchemy, and Ed getting bandaged up, but that's about it. I hope you'll take the time to review!