DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. I only own my own OCs and this fic. Thank you and good day.

Thirty-Eight

Alphonse stood among the crowd. He turned his head around as if he was looking for something.

Delilah blinked, and he disappeared.

A small sigh of disappointment and frustration escaped her. She rubbed at her bleary eyes. "I'm starting to see things."

Marcoh looked at her with concern. "Sit back and try to get some rest."

She leaned back against the hard seat and rested her head against the window. She watched the multitude of people in the station as they walked here and there, some hurrying to get on the train while others sat on benches. She thought she saw flickers of blonde, like Ed's golden hair or Winry's straw-colored locks, but she couldn't be sure.

"Close your eyes," Marcoh said, a little sternly.

She frowned slightly but did as she was told. Instantly, she felt a little quieter, a little sleepier, but she could still hear whispers in the back of her mind. They sounded like am I being stupid and why am I doing this and I miss them so much. The noises echoed softly at first, but grew louder with each passing moment until she opened her eyes.

Marcoh sighed. "Try. It's better than you passing out."

"Would you sleep better if Shao May was with you?" May asked, plucking the panda from her shoulder and holding her out to Delilah.

The older girl smiled a little at the panda. "If she doesn't mind." She held out her hand, and Shao May sniffed hesitantly at her fingers before scurrying up her arm and sitting on her shoulder. Delilah lightly scratched under her chin. "Thank you, May," she said.

The little girl smiled. "You're welcome."

"How long will it take to get there?" Delilah asked Marcoh.

The old man shrugged. "A couple hours. But we won't be resting anywhere, so you should really get some sleep if you can."

Delilah let out a small sigh and closed her eyes again. "I'll try."

Sleep was hard to come by, but it did eventually come.

()()()()()

She couldn't smell the blood, but she knew she was wading in it. She couldn't see it, either. She couldn't see much of anything except for the numerous pairs of glowing eyes that rested just above the thick lake like they belonged to rats.

She tried to ignore them. She had to get through this place—Gluttony's stomach, she thought it was. Edward was probably somewhere ahead of her. Ling, too.

Of course, that meant Envy had to be in the same place, too.

The thought crossed her mind, and she instantly became frigid with terror. Her limbs locked up, and her breaths came in ragged gasps. The pairs of eyes around her started moving, the sound of sloshing blood accompanying their scurrying. The creatures squeaked and screeched—they were definitely rats—and she flinched at the sounds.

She might have screamed, because someone called out to her, and a huge shape appeared from the darkness. She had trouble recognizing it at first, but then her heart soared. She rushed to Alphonse, reaching out to him.

He stopped short and roughly grabbed her arm.

"What have you done with her?!" he yelled. His eyes were narrowed with malice. "Give her back!"

She frowned, confused and afraid. She didn't speak. She tried to pull her hand away, but he held her too tightly. She pulled harder, but before she could make any progress, she noticed something.

Her arm was green and squirming as humanoid forms crawled through her skin.

Delilah's eyes flashed open, and her chest heaved as she fought for breath.

"Are you okay?" Marcoh reached over and touched her arm.

She flinched and pulled away, then froze for a moment and shook her head. "Sorry. Just a nightmare."

"Do you want to talk about it?" May offered, a concerned look on her face. "Talking about it can help."

Delilah shook her head before May even finished speaking. "I don't remember much about it," she lied. She could remember almost everything.

May frowned, but didn't push the issue. Shao May had jumped off Delilah when the girl had woken, and the panda was now rested on the alkahestrist's shoulder. There was a prolonged silence, and May looked past Delilah, out the window. Marcoh eventually did the same.

Delilah stared at her lap for a long while. Her heartbeat slowly became normal again, and her breathing regulated, but her mind was racing. She thought of the darkness and Alphonse and the grotesque form of her arm, and she only barely kept herself from shivering.

"May?" she said finally, trying to distract herself, "can you teach me about alkahestry?"

The little girl tore her gaze away from the flashing scenery outside the window and turned to Delilah. "You want to learn?"

Delilah nodded. "I've wanted to learn about it since I heard about it. My alchemy is medicinal, too." She held out her hand, her palm facing upward. "I made this to help me perform healing alchemy quickly."

May and Marcoh leaned forward to peer at the transmutation circle. The doctor pointed at one of the runes. "This looks a little bit off. It's supposed to be less angular." He pointed to another spot. "There's supposed to be a rune here—it's not particularly important, but you should put it on."

Delilah nodded, putting the information away for another time. She looked to May. "So, would you mind teaching me?"

"Of course not!" May smiled. "I'd be happy to. Let's see…" She put her hand on her chin in thought. "Do you know about the Dragon's Pulse?"

Delilah shook her head.

"It's the fundamental idea behind alkahestry," May explained. "It's the idea that chi—a sort of perpetual energy—flows through all things, living and nonliving. Alkahestrists are trained to not only detect this flow—most anyone in Xing can do that—but they also learn how to manipulate it. That's why alkahestrists are known for their healing abilities—they're able to manipulate the chi in a person to heal the wound."

Delilah wasn't used to the idea of the Dragon's Pulse, but she could follow well enough. "Alchemists use the shifting of tectonic plates for our energy. The doctor and I use that energy to stimulate tissue into repairing itself."

May frowned. "Does that work well?"

"…Well, it works well enough," Delilah said. "I'm not sure how big a difference there is in the outcome of our two alchemies."

"Ours works well especially if you have a Stone," Marcoh added quietly. "I assume you think alkahestry is better, May?"

The girl shook her head. "I just don't know the details behind your alchemy, that's all. But…that man, underneath Central… His chi felt off. I mean…his chi was awful. And it just…overpowered everyone in the room except me and Scar."

"You mean when he blocked our alchemy," Delilah said quietly.

May nodded. After a moment of silence, she said, "I can show you how to do alkahestry when we're off the trains. It's a bit crowded in here and we don't want to draw attention."

Delilah smiled a little. "I'd like that."

()()()()()

Roughly half an hour later, the train pulled into East City Station. The building was a bit smaller and less grand than its counterpart in Central, but Delilah was still impressed by the structure. She bought the tickets to go north—they could only afford to get to a city called New Optain, a place still well within the border of the East Area. The trio resigned itself to the fact that part of the journey would have to be spent in discomfort.

They had a solid chunk of time left before their train was due to leave, so they ventured into the city to buy nonperishable food. They saved some money for when they would get to New Optain, if they needed more supplies. They hardly had any money left by the time they got back to the station, though. The tickets had been more expensive than they'd expected.

The group came to a bench and sat down to wait for the train to pull into the station. Delilah closed her eyes, wishing she could rest, but the memory of her dream still lingered in her mind like some sort of sour aftertaste. Just the thought of the green, wriggling skin made her want to vomit. The thought of Alphonse's harsh tone made her want to vomit, too.

She opened her eyes, blandly scanning the crowd. She wanted to distract herself from her thoughts. She wanted to confide in someone, but thought again of the green arm and the blood and the darkness and the rats, and she wished she could just forget it.

Her gaze drifted over the far end of the station, and she stiffened.

Marcoh noticed her actions and frowned. "Is something wrong?"

She shook her head and forced herself to relax. Her gaze lingered on the payphones.

The doctor followed her line of sight. "…Do you know a number to call?" he asked quietly.

She nodded. Some sort of heavy feeling loitered in her chest, and she felt like she was sinking a little.

Marcoh said nothing, but grabbed the backpack and opened one of the compartments. He pulled out something.

"We probably have ten minutes before the train gets here," he said, holding out a few cen coins. "And we're getting on as soon as it gets here—okay?"

Delilah stared at the money for a moment. She knew a few coins couldn't really buy anything, but she didn't want to use up what little money they had. At the same time, the urge to grab the money was hard to ignore. She wanted to use it more than anything else at the moment.

"Take it," Marcoh said quietly. "And just talk with them."

Delilah hesitated, then nodded and accepted the coins he handed to her. She stood and hurried across the station to the payphones, making sure to choose one that was far away from where a woman was already using one.

She took a breath, recalling the number into her mind, and inserted the correct amount of coins into the slot. She carefully turned the wheel on the rotary phone, and soon the line started to ring.

A man answered. "Amestrain Military Hotel. How may I help you?"

"Are—?" Her voice broke, and she coughed for a moment. "Are the Elric brothers there?" Her heart hammered with anticipation.

"I'm sorry," the attendant said. "Mr. Elric just left about ten minutes ago, and I'm afraid his brother isn't staying with us at the moment. May I ask who is calling?"

For a moment, she didn't breathe. Why wasn't Alphonse with Edward? Had something happened back at the train yard? Had Alphonse been hurt? Had he been kidnapped again, like what happened with Greed?

"Excuse me?"

"O-oh, I'm sorry. Um, I'm Delilah Heywood—I'm a…a friend."

"Would you—oh, hold on a moment." There was a pause. "Mr. Elric left instructions for us in case you called and he wasn't here. He left a number." He recited the number slowly, and she ran it through her head a few times to memorize it.

"Mr. Elric only said that you should call that number if he wasn't here, miss. Would you like me to leave him a message for you?"

"Just…just 'thank you' and that I'll see him as soon as I can. Thank you, sir."

"No problem, miss." He hung up.

Delilah pressed the button on the phone to disconnect the call. She hesitated for a moment before she inserted more coins, but only because she wasn't sure what to expect from the call. The number could be to Mustang's office or to the Rockbell's or to Izumi's, for all she knew, and she had no idea what she would say in any of those scenarios.

What if something serious had happened to Alphonse—what if this call brought her to her knees?

She remembered Marcoh's words about how he had let himself be controlled by his fear. She took a deep breath and dialed the number. The line rung only twice before someone answered.

"Hello?"

The voice was instantly recognizable, but she was too stunned to say anything.

"Hello?" There had been a desperate hope in the voice, but now it had been replaced with a disappointment that was barely masked by politeness. "This is Dr. Knox's house. Are you looking for him?"

"…Alphonse?" she whispered.

There was a pause.

"Delilah?" Al's voice was small and questioning, but a moment later, his tone escalated with excitement. "Delilah! Are you okay? Is it really you? Where are you? Are you okay?"

His words babbled out of the receiver, and she put a hand over her mouth, trying to muffle the odd combination of laughs and sobs coming from her throat.

"Are you crying?" he asked, still panicked. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"N-no, nothing's wrong," she said, wiping at her eyes. She coughed in attempt to make her voice sound less splintered. "I-I'm just really happy to hear you."

"…I am, too." He paused. "Is it…is it really you?"

"Me, and not Envy?" she asked quietly.

"…Yeah." His voice hitched.

Delilah closed her eyes for a moment. "We're both lonely insomniacs," she said finally, blushing a little. It felt odd to say such a thing into a phone instead of face-to-face.

"…We are." He sounded pained. "I…I can't believe it's you. Are you okay?"

"Yes, it's me. I'm just tired. What about you?"

"I'm worried about you," he said at once. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too." Suddenly, all her emotions—stress, longing, loneliness and sadness—surged over her, and though she tried to hold it all back, she started to sob.

"Delilah? Please don't cry." Al sounded on the verge of tears himself, if that were possible. "Please stop. Please tell me you're okay."

"W-why does this always happen?" she asked, stammering as she tried and failed to keep her voice level. "Why d-do we keep losing each other?" For a moment, her tears were so thick that she couldn't see. "I…I m-miss you so much!"

"Tell me where you are," he begged. "I'll come to you. I won't leave you. I promise I won't."

Delilah shook her head even though he couldn't see her. "E-East City. I'm…I'm going north with May and the doctor, though. To the mountains. I-I miss you, but I…I can't leave him, and he wouldn't let me go if I tried."

"What—?"

"I'm sorry, Alphonse." Her voice shook. She clutched the receiver with both hands, as if she were holding onto him.

"Delilah, please—"

"I can help them," she said, cutting him off. She didn't want to hear Alphonse sound so hurt. "Remember…remember when we couldn't do alchemy? They think there's a way to find out what happened and to stop it from happening again. The doctor said that Scar told him—"

"Scar?!"

Delilah froze.

Alphonse launched into a series of frenzied questions, and someone tugged on Delilah's sleeve, distracting her. She looked down to see May; the little girl looked guilty about intruding upon the conversation, but she pointed to the platform, where a multitude of passengers had started to board a train. Marcoh stood a little ways away from the crowd, waiting for the two girls.

Delilah turned her attention back to the conversation. "Alphonse?" He didn't seem to hear her and kept talking. "Alphonse!"

His stream of words stopped for a moment. Then: "Please don't go."

He sounded broken. She felt broken. "I…I have to. The train's here. But—but listen," she said, her voice becoming strong as she remembered the story May had told her the other day, the one about the red string. "I will see you again. I know it."

"But… Please don't go, Delilah. Please don't go. Just…just stay there and I'll come get you."

"Alphonse…I-I'm going."

"I'm sorry!" he cried. "I'm so sorry! Just don't go! Please!"

She closed her eyes. Her heart hurt. "I-I'm sorry, Alphonse. We'll see each other again. Please…please don't worry."

"Delilah!"

"I'm sorry." As hurt as she felt, as hurt as he sounded, she didn't want to hang up yet. She didn't know when she would hear his voice again. "I'm sorry for doing this to you. You can blame me if you want."

"Del—!"

She slammed the receiver down and wondered if it would have been better to not have called anyone in the first place.

a/n: Ah, angst. This is more like it.

*huddles in the corner and cries*

I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but I had the urge to update tonight, and I wanted the phone conversation to be the last scene of the chapter so I could make you all cry. I also don't quite know when I'll be able to update next because I start my summer work soon, and I also got the new Animal Crossing: New Leaf game (omg does anyone want to be my friend I named my person Winry and my town is called Xerxes it's going to be the shit even though this is my first time playing Animal Crossing ever, and I also got this cool Hero Cap so I look like Link running around catching butterflies and my town flag is Al's blood seal), so I'll be busy. I do have something important that I wanted to share, though.

Insomniacs will be one year old on July 12th! I'm planning to upload an extra-long, special omake on that day (full of fluff and laughs and all the good stuff), but I also wanted to include, just for giggles, a Q&A for the characters. So, ask away! You can talk to Delilah or Al or Ed or whoever you want (even Lustling!). Try to keep questions PG-13, please. You can ask questions for in-fic canon (is that called fanon or what I'm blanking), or ooc, or just plain whatever.

I might update between now and then, but I just wanted you all to be able to submit questions so I have time to write them in and have everyone answer them.

Have an awesome day, guys!