Edward and Riza walked into the small place that Beje was conducting his experiment at and knocked on the door. Edward leaned a little into Riza's leg, not feeling very well at the moment. It had been almost a week and half since he called Roy and told him how he really felt about the whole situation. He had expected the response that his superior had given him but was still boiling over the fact that he had been right and it had been done. He knew that Roy was dense when it came to certain things, but Edward had spelled it out so clearly and yet… and yet the man didn't seem to even flinch. He didn't seem to have one iota of a clue about what was going on and how much pain Edward was in.

It wasn't exactly the pain of knowing that Al was gone and what he was supposed to tell Winry or Pinako, it wasn't the pain of knowing he could do nothing to help his brother and it wasn't the pain of having to relive his heart being figuratively ripped from his chest after he heard the last shriek of fear and pain when Alphonse finally 'died'… No, he had come to a draw on those feelings within him about that pain. He couldn't get away and he couldn't get to him; there was nothing he could have done to help his little brother and he would have to live with that every day. Edward decided it was a punishment for the silly taboo he had dragged Alphonse into anyway. He should have lost him then, but luck was kind. Luck was not so kind this time, and Edward knew that this pain was something he had to tuck away and remember to forget. He deserved this pain for his lack of ability to help. This pain was acceptable.

The pain Edward couldn't get rid of, couldn't forget, was the feeling of the man he looked up to so much (even if that bastard didn't know) and that he had left him. He had abandoned Edward to his captors, made him feel like he was going to rescued only to be mocked and proved wrong on all accounts, and the worst part was that Roy didn't even know what he was doing to him. Edward tried to forget it but it stuck so strongly in his mind and it came up at odd occasions. Anything that reminded him of Roy reminded him of his abandonment and an event that had occurred during such a time. It was exhausting to his brain.

Riza touched the top of Edward's head and noticed that he was a little warm. She didn't say anything as the door finally opened and Beje smiled.

"Hello, Ms. Riza. Hello, Baby Edward." Edward frowned as Copplestone looked at him. "You look beat, kid. What happened?"

"Restless nights…" he grumbled as he moved from under Riza's hand.

"You said you finished the formula?" Riza asked.

"Yes, I have! Come in, come in…"

Beje held the door open to let them in and led them to the back of the small house. A small lab was set up on a tall table and Beje grabbed a vial of orange liquid.

"This will get you back to your normal self. Are you sure you want to go back to being a teen? You're so much cuter this way and you have an extra 8-10 years of life to you."

"Coming from you, Copplestone, that statement doesn't make me want to trust you at all." Riza growled.

Beje grinned. "I would never do anything untoward to a child. As we've seen, I kill them if they do." He turned back to Edward. "Seriously, though, this is your last chance."

"I have to figure out what to do with Al and I promised I would make that decision as soon as I was back to normal. I can't leave him like that anymore. He deserves a proper place… not… in the dark."

Beje nodded. "Fair enough. Now this will be just like the last time. You'll fall asleep from fatigue and when you wake up, you'll be back to your old self."

Edward nodded as Beje took a syringe and filled the empty space with the liquid. He held out his hand and Edward held out his arm. Beje injected the serum into his arm and then wiped the spot with a cotton ball. Edward could almost feel the serum going through his body at mach speed and he became lightheaded. He stumbled backwards into Riza's legs and she caught him, picking him up. He could barely keep his eyes open as he looked up at her.

"Don't tell the Colonel…" he mumbled before he passed out completely.

Riza made a face as Copplestone did the same.

"Why did he say that?" he asked.

"It seems there is still something the Colonel has missed with Edward and he's mad at him."

Beje set his jaw. "How did that guy ever become anything in the military? Seriously, he's a dumbass. A big fat dumbass that can't even see his orders past his face."

Riza sighed. "The Colonel is a good man, Copplestone. Despite his idiocy, he's smart in the matters that matter. True, this matters, but there are people he is much in tune with and those he thinks he's in tune with. Edward is the latter. Both of them are the same in that they hide themselves under layers and layers of a facade. To get by in life, they cannot show their true selves to others, for weakness is something to grab hold of and use against you. Two people who function under facades will never find the truth of the other unless it is told directly. The difference between the two is that Edward can take off the mask, drop the facade… the Colonel cannot."

Beje shrugged a little. "If you truly think that, then he is very good at his mask."

"How do you mean?"

Beje smirked. "You think that he is acting the way he is because he doesn't want to be seen as weak? So that others can't use Edward against him? No, you think too highly of your superior. Roy-boy is as proud as he is dumb. He doesn't believe he should be blamed for anything. He doesn't understand what Edward is talking about. If he understood, then he would have apologized."

Riza breathed in as Edward did the same in his contentment. Beje leaned against the table, his face becoming very serious.

"Listen, I'm not the child psychiatrist that you all believe I am, but I can tell you that Roy doesn't understand what the big deal is. He focused on himself throughout the whole issue and now that Edward is calling him out on it, he doesn't want to own up. He has forgotten what he has done and nothing will change until he realizes his errors." He pointed to Edward. "You need to get him back to the car. The changes will start soon and you won't be able to hold him."

Riza nodded and left as Beje watched them leave. He rolled his eyes as he went back in.

"I wish I could give a shot to that idiotic military man so he would understand people. God he's an idiot."

There was a knock on the door and Roy looked up as Havoc walked in with some paperwork.

"Got some more."

"Add it to the pile, Havoc… I'll get to it when I can."

"Sure thing…" He put it on the smaller pile. "Hawkeye called and said that Edward was given the serum by Copplestone and is back to normal. She said the serum makes him sleepy so he's in the bed but his body is back to the way it was."

"Good." he said, reading over a page.

Havoc pulled out a cigarette and lit it up.

"Colonel, what are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm doing paperwork-"

"I meant with Edward. You two have been at odds with each other for a while now."

"Oh, that… He called me and said that he didn't want to be near me or anything else that had to do with his five senses so that's what I'm doing."

"You're avoiding him."

"At his request."

"At your own request. You won't take the time to really listen to what he's saying, Colonel. He's trying to tell you something and you keep taking it as something else. When he told you what he did, you do realize I was here in the office, right? I saw you coming out and you looked like someone had run you through. You know you're missing something because if you were so sure of yourself, you wouldn't be so sad."

"Havoc, don't you have other things to do than analyze me?"

"I do but I can't see you like this anymore. All of us have seen you this past year at the lowest of lows and when you found Edward, you were back to normal. Now you're in the lows again and we all know why. You may think you can hide from us, Colonel, but we were taught by the best of superiors how to read other people and we can see you're not your normal self. Fix it, Colonel… for you and Edward's sakes…"

Havoc turned and left as Roy made a face at his second lieutenant. He had picked Havoc because he was easy to get along with, easy to just spill your soul into, but he was pretty ruthless with his information and sifting through what was said to gather that information. I taught him much more than I should have…

Riza knocked on Edward's door but he didn't answer. She opened it and walked inside to look at him and make sure he was alright. He was awake but he seemed in a daze and Riza felt his forehead. She frowned.

"You're burning up…"

"I have to get him safe…" he mumbled.

"Get who safe?"

"Al… I have to save Al's armor and put it to rest."

"You can do that when you're better. I know you feel you've let Alphonse down because you've been gone so long, but he's safe at the Colonel's-"

"He's not safe."

Riza frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The Colonel isn't safe… he can't keep anyone safe. Not Al… not me… not anyone…"

Riza felt his head again and sighed, going to get a thermometer and a wet rag to cool him down. She came back in and noticed he was a little older than he was before. He wasn't his original age, but he was definitely not four or five.

"Open your mouth and let me take your temperature."

He did as told and she stuck the thermometer in his mouth. She then went to the phone and dialed a number.

"City morgue."

"Copplestone, really?"

"Sorry, I've always wanted to do that. What do you want?"

"Edward's got a high fever and seems like he's a little delirious. Is that a symptom of the serum?"

"Yes and no. The fever could be a symptom but depends on how high."

"I'm getting his temperature right now."

"You know he didn't look like he was feeling well when he came here. How has his sleeping been? He mentioned restless nights."

"He's been up before me every morning but he hasn't indicated that he's been having trouble sleeping. He looks like he's perfectly alright when I see him in the morning."

There was silence for a moment.

"When you first got him back, didn't someone say he had some issues sleeping then?"

"It may have been in his file but I think the Colonel told me the doctor we went to said he had a fear of sleeping. But he hasn't had any issues with it for a while."

"Or has he? Now that he's in his right mind, he has a right mind to hide his fears from you."

"Hold on a minute, I need to get the reading for his temperature."

She set the receiver down for a second to go get the reading. Edward was still in a small daze as she took out the thermometer. It read 101º and Riza walked back to the phone.

"His temperature is 101º."

"Yeah, the serum would only raise it to about 99 or so. I would watch him tonight and make sure he either goes to sleep or doesn't have a restless sleep. And why don't you tell your superior what's going on? I mean, does he even care?"

"Of course he cares it's just that… Edward called him and told him to stay away."

Beje fiddled with the line on his end and shook his head.

"I'm pretty sure that's not why he called."

"That's what the Colonel said-"

"Fuck your Colonel!" he growled, having had enough. "I have been telling all of you this for some time now: he's an idiot! The kid didn't call to tell him just to stay away from him. I'm 100% sure that he called to try and explain what he wants from Roy-boy, what he's still brooding over and having nightmares over. I guarantee you that he tried to get that thick headed oaf to understand what was going on and since he is as described, he fucked it up. The only way Edward could even try to go about his life was to keep Roy out of it, but it's not working. His whole mental state is surrounded by Roy's presence.

"I guarantee you that Edward can't sleep because he has nightmares about what happened to him and what happened to his brother. He can't understand why Roy left him and abandoned him. He wants Roy to just tell him why but that block-brained buffoon can't get past his own pity party cloud. He will not accept that he abandoned Edward to those men and caused this whole problem. Edward can't go on like this… Someone needs to knock that son of a bitch in the head and make him understand because the kid will end up in the hospital from stress and illness. You're closest to him, Ms. Riza, so how about guiding that blind fool out of his fog and make him see the damage he has done!"

He slammed the phone down and ran his hands over his face. He looked over at his small lab and sighed.

"I feel so sorry for that poor boy, but I can't fix him. I'm not the one to do that… I pray every night that Roy's eyes will be opened but I guess he's a lost cause… I'm so sorry, Edward…"

as copplestone said, roy just will not admit what he did. he's too stubborn. poor ed is getting sick over the stress and memories and his fear of sleeping is coming back. it was mentioned waaaaaay back when they found him that he had it but it kind of went away and came back.

and beje is so over it. he just wants edward to be okay and he doesn't think it's fair that roy gets to play the victim. if he could i think he'd bash roy against the door frame until he understood haha