Warning time! I posted another chapter earlier today, so those that haven't read it, need to do so.

Chapter twenty-four

"Führer Bradley!" Roy heard the doctor squeak. Ed was holding Roy's finger tighter, obviously scared because of Roy's reaction. "Please, Sir, you should leave for your own safety! The two patients are highly unstable at the moment!"

"May I assure you, Sir, I pose no threat or danger to you, no matter how my attempts at protecting Ed from further harm may be perceived," Roy said calmly. If he worded this just right, he might be able to have this idiotic doctor suspended for his treatment of Ed. "So if you would please excuse my current refusal to come out, Sir, as I am merely keeping these people from causing a terrified child from being further distressed and subjected to what will undoubtedly become torture to him."

"If I may object, Sir!" the doctor said. "Colonel Mustang has just removed the restraints from Major Elric and then forcibly taken him from his bed, most likely against his will! He then bit down on his wrist to use his own blood to create a transmutation circle and lock himself in with Major Elric! He is highly unstable and is also posing a threat to Major Elric!"

"Actually, Sir, we a currently sharing a bag of crisps and Ed is resting his head on my lap after using his trouser leg as a temporary bandage for my wrist and the boy is significantly calmer than he has been ever since he was first restrained. My actions were rash, I won't deny it, but also instinctive after what has happened and I would like to say that I find the doctors and nurses to be acting highly unprofessionally and abusive."

"In what way would that be?" Führer Bradley asked calmly.

"Sir! We have certainly not been abusing our patients!" the doctor exclaimed. "We are—"

"Doctor Smith, I was not asking you for your opinion right now, and if you won't let Colonel Mustang speak, then I will have you removed from this room," Führer Bradley said, his voice slightly more intimidating. "Patient abuse is a serious offence, and so is intentionally harming a State Alchemist. I will hear what Colonel Mustang has to say and you are not to interrupt us."

"Yes, Sir." Roy was fighting back a laugh at the sound of defeat in his voice.

"So, Colonel Mustang, in what manner do you find their actions abusive?"

"They are still blatantly refusing to listen to what I have to say, Sir. I am undoubtedly the one who understands Ed best at the moment and I also know what he's been through. They are treating him like a grown and violent soldier that has been tortured into insanity instead of a terrified child who has lost two limbs and who is in fact not insane. The drug Melanie gave him has caused him to forget who he is and just about everything and everybody in his life, including his own language. He's scared and he doesn't understand what is going on, other than the fact that these people too are drugging him so that he can't move properly and then they strap him down, leaving him scared out of his wits while he doesn't know what's wrong with him. I'd say that refusing to take that into consideration is nothing more than torturing a child for no reason, Sir."

"I see. Then what do you propose we do with Major Elric?"

"Let him find out things for himself, Sir. Relearn the way the world works. He can't get any progress if he's just lying still. Especially as seeing my bleeding wrist right now was enough to spark a piece of memories as he seemed to remember parts of the accident that caused him to lose his limbs."

"You look like you have something to say, doctor, I will allow it for now."

"Thank you, sir. To me, it sounded like Major Elric was screaming in pain. Like Colonel Mustang was in fact hurting him. Major Elric is my patient and I do not trust Colonel Mustang not to lie as long as we cannot in fact see them and Major Elric is unable to speak."

"Excuse me, Sir, but if Doctor Smith had been listening closely, he would have heard that Ed was in fact saying his brother's name, which he should know full well from his files. I would say that it suggests that the doctor is more focused on labelling Ed insane than for him to make an actual recovery."

"Your Excellency, that is nothing more than slander!"

"Yet Colonel Mustang does make some very valid points."

Roy wished he could fish some more information out of Führer Bradley's voice, but it was as steady and unreadable as ever.

"From his point of view, Sir! We sedated Major Elric because he was refusing to lie down in his bed, all the while fighting against us with intentional violence. Nurse Susan is currently being treated for a black eye caused by Major Elric's fist. He is unresponsive and violent and with at least a week's worth of torture as his memories, it makes it very clear to us that he is a danger to himself and others!"

"Because you were the ones that were scaring the hell out of him in the first place by approaching him with a syringe without letting me stay with him! You've seen the inside of his arm and you weren't listening to a damn thing I was telling you! Of course he was fighting you off with all his force when you might as well have been pumping him full of the same drugs that had him screaming his head off with agony for hours on a daily basis for the past week!" Roy replied sharply. Ed was looking up at him tensely, and Roy gave him another crisp, seeming to calm him down a bit as Roy kept the salty snacks coming. "Your methods will do nothing to help him towards a recovery and you're not even willing to listen!"

"Colonel Must—"

"Doctor Smith, kindly leave the room, I believe I have heard enough and would like a word in private with Colonel Mustang."

Roy heard the steps of several feet going to the door and then the door was closed. "Colonel Mustang, as you can already guess, Edward Elric is being honourably discharged from the military. However, Doctor Smith has already approved the transfer of Mister Elric to a more secure and better equipped medical facility."

Roy froze, his stomach clenching harshly. "No, Sir, you can't allow that! They can't send him to a lunatic asylum!"

The thought made Roy's blood run cold. Some of the approved practices in those places were torture in their own right, and there was no way in hell that Roy would let Ed get locked up in there. "Please, Sir, you have to believe me, he is not insane!" Roy was panicking. "He's just a scared child and he needs me!"

"So what do you suggest, Colonel Mustang? Sending him back to Resembool to his guardian is out of the question because Mrs. Rockbell is already considered to be unsuitable to take care of him alone because of her age."

Roy looked down at where Ed was lying and into those scared, golden orbs. "Let me take him, take both brothers, Sir. I know how to act around Ed and he trusts me. I can help him recover from what he's been through because I understand it better than anyone else." Roy was trying to make a compelling case because he couldn't let them take Ed from him and hurt him. Roy would escape from the hospital with Ed under his arm and live as a fugitive before leaving him in one of those places.

"That would hardly be considered to be a wise decision, Colonel Mustang, considering what you've just been through and that you are living alone."

"Please, Sir, I'll do whatever it takes to keep Ed. Whatever terms you have, I'll agree to them."

Führer Bradley went quiet for a little while. "Then I have a deal for you, take it or leave it. First of all, I'm giving you a year's leave with full pay. Furthermore I'm giving you a month to prove that you are suited to do it despite what has happened. There are certain conditions that you must meet, however: you're to stay with someone else, not to indulge in any alcohol and you will have visits from a psychologist twice a week. If said psychologist comes to doubt your ability to take care of the Elrics, the deal is off. If you've proven that you can do this during your month, the offer will be extended to a year. After that, we'll reevaluate the position and possibly make the decision whether or not to grant you guardianship."

"Thank you, Sir, I accept your conditions." Roy felt numb and panicked. He couldn't lose Ed, never ever.

"In that case, you're being released from the hospital in three days, I suggest you get your living arrangements set up by then and report them back to Lieutenant General Grumman who will also keep me informed."

"Yes, Sir! Thank you!"

"You just take good care of those boys and don't make me regret this, Colonel. I'll see to it that you get another doctor assigned to you."

Then suddenly a piece of chalk came flying down next to him. "Thank you, Sir!"

The door was closed and Roy picked up the piece of chalk and transmuted the wall and floor back to normal, Ed looking at him with those frightened and curious orbs as he sat up in front of Roy.

Roy felt a tear run down his cheek and next second, Ed was leaning forwards and gently licking the tear away with a small tongue before leaning back again and uttering a curious whimper that seemed more confused and intent on cheering Roy up than anything. The action made Roy sure that he would do whatever it took to take care of him.

"Ed, I won't let them take you away. I will keep you safe no matter what, you have my word. Now let's get back into a soft bed with a duvet," he said with a slightly strained voice as he thought even more tears.

And so Roy turned his head around to see that the Führer seemed to have left them a couple of melons before he departed.

And if anybody finds Bradley's actions strange, I would just like to say that they are because he needs to find out if Ed is still able to be used as a sacrifice, which means that his recovery is crucial to their plans.