So, here's chapter eight, and I'm sorry, but it another cliffhanger...

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, and Ed would probably have killed me by now if I did...

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Chapter Eight

Roy felt sick. Absolutely sick.

He had sworn to himself that he wouldn't burn another child after Ishbal.

And this was his thirteen-year-old subordinate.

And the kid couldn't even move. Couldn't protest.

All he could do was scream.

Scream as Roy burned his flesh with a fucking spoon.

It felt like hours, though it was only seconds.

Then it was over and he threw the goddamn object as far away from him as he could. It flew through the iron bars, but Roy didn't care. He picked up the silently crying child in front of him and pressed Ed's face against his shoulder.

"I'm sorry."

"Thanks for your help," Fullmetal said hoarsely, which made it so much worse.

"Goodie-good, Roy, now please tend to your leg and so we can get on with our schedule."

Roy bit back a curse as he gently laid Fullmetal down on the floor, and moved on to tend to his own wound. It was excruciating to just move his leg into a position where he could actually access the wound. He gripped the first aid kit, and cut out a hole in the trouser leg so that he could actually see what he was doing. He dabbed away some of the blood with one of the towels, then he grabbed a compress, rolled it up and bit down on it as he grabbed the surgical-standard tongs and began digging through the wound in order to remove the bullet. He screamed into the compress. After about thirty excruciating seconds he finally found the object and removed it. He pressed the towel against the wound, fighting the urge to pass out.

After about a minute, he grabbed the needle and thread, and began stitching the wound closed, grunting with pain. Then he grabbed a compress, pressed it against the wound and began bandaging it.

And so he lay back on the ground and spat out the compress. He just lay there, panting, trying to catch his breath.

"Colonel? Are you done?" Fullmetal of course, hadn't been able to see what Roy had been doing and had only heard his screams and yells of pain.

He turned his head towards him. "Yes, I'm done."

"Impressive, Roy, I was sure you were going to pass out. Now please get Edward cleaned up, so we can get on with this," Charles said, obviously enjoying this.

Roy grunted and sat back up. He grabbed the bowl of water and a clean towel, and began cleaning Fullmetal's shoulder and chest. He had removed the black tank top before he had cauterised his shoulder, and the small body was covered with the crimson liquid. The kid hissed with pain as he got close to the newly closed up wound.

Then Charles opened the door and sat down on the floor in front of them, grinning as he brandished his gun and plunked a toolbox down next to him. "How nice, you've been a good boy, Roy, really good."

Roy pulled Fullmetal away from the man and pushed him behind himself in order to shield him at least a bit.

"Oh, come on now, Roy, there's no point in doing that, when I want to punish you, I will. When I want to punish Edward, I will do so too. Don't even try to think otherwise. I'm actually being really nice to let you two stay here in the same cell."

"So you want us to be grateful for the fact that you kidnapped and tortured us?!" Fullmetal said from behind him.

"Oh, Edward, dear, you have completely misunderstood what is going on here. This is not a kidnapping, this is me claiming what is rightfully mine. You two are my prize for winning the game."

"And how did you win, exactly?" Roy inquired.

"Don't you see? It was my game, I was the player who managed to completely control you two! It was a game of manipulation, and I won it!" He laughed gleefully. "Anthony was going to be your prize if you won, but you didn't, and I didn't need him anymore, so I let him go. I was being very nice to you, Edward! You should thank me!"

"Thank you? The hell I will!"

Charles grabbed the gun and the next second he had shot Fullmetal in the right thigh.

The kid yelled behind Roy's back.

"What have I said about swearing!" Charles gestured with his gun between the first aid kit and Fullmetal. "Go on Roy, fix him up!"

Roy immediately went to work, and five minutes later he had a silently crying Fullmetal pressed against his chest, inwardly cursing Charles Hopkins in every way imaginable.

"Now, are we finally going to behave civilised here?" Charles asked exasperatedly.

Having learnt Charles' lesson, Roy gave a stiff nod, hating the fact that he was complying with this madman's wishes, but he was afraid of what he was otherwise going to do to the kid.

"Good. Now, as I was saying, I am only claiming my prize. This isn't a kidnapping, and it never was. You two played the game, and you lost, simple as that. Now, Roy, usually I would only add truly beautiful beings to my collection, but you are a special case. You and Edward are the reason that my sister's dead, which means I can never feel truly fulfilled if I just add my Golden Boy to my collection. I am therefore making an exception in both your cases. You both suffer when the other one does, which means that I cannot collect Edward, as I need him alive. And so you two will start a new collection. A very special one. Are you following?"

Roy gave another stiff nod. Judging from what Charles was saying, he hadn't been far off with his taxidermy joke after all. He barely repressed a shiver.

"Usually I keep my exhibits for a few weeks, some I let stay in these exhibition cages and remove them once the smell becomes too bad. Others need some prompting to achieve their true beauty, they often last for a bit longer. The ones that are truly special, they are preserved. Edward was one of those few. But what I am going to do, is keep you two here for a long, long time. I will be able to see the Golden Boy every day, it will be wonderful! And I will see both of you suffer for what you did to my sister."

Roy felt sick. Taxidermy was actually completely right. Fullmetal might have dodged a bullet there. Or he had just opened the gates to hell.

"You two don't know that, but my sister was so happy that day. She rang me, telling me the most amazing boy had landed in her lap. I don't think she has ever been so delighted. She was actually crying on the phone out of pure happiness. You have such a beautiful song, Edward, I really wish I could hear it. You were supposed to be her crowning achievement. Instead, she lost her life because of you and your commanding officer here. There is no way you can repay me for what you did. No apology is enough, no amount of money. NOTHING!"

He suddenly sprang forward, a hammer in hand, grabbing Roy's left hand, pushing it to the floor and smashed the hammer twice against it, breaking it.

Roy yelled in pain, but Charles didn't stop there. Fullmetal had lost his support and rolled off Roy's lap. Charles grabbed his hand too, giving it the same treatment, although the kid was prepared this time, and managed to only grunt angrily as there was a loud crack from his small hand. It must have hurt him much more than it did Roy, as Roy's hands were considerably larger. Roy glared angrily at Charles, lifting Fullmetal back into his arms, ignoring the screaming pain from his hand, trying to ignore the blood that was flowing from the middle of it.

Fullmetal's, however, was far less easy to ignore, as Charles had obviously been aiming more in his case and had struck it in two separate places to deal as much damage as possible. It was bleeding in two places, and bones had obviously been shifted inside of it.

"Right, lost my temper there." Charles put the hammer back in the toolbox and stood in front of them. "Well, Roy, the drug is probably going to stop working within the next hour, so I am just going to remove Edward's automail, just to be safe. You are allowed to hold on to him, but if you do anything stupid, I'll break your other hand as well as Edward's remaining foot, are we clear?"

Roy nodded. He couldn't bring himself to comply in a verbal form, it felt so much more like giving in.

Charles moved forward with the toolbox, and Roy kept Fullmetal close as Charles removed the kid's automail.

"You know, Edward, dear. You are very lucky that I am a doctor. I have had many patients with automail and I know how to do this properly. Think of how much pain I could accidentally cause you if I happened to turn the wrench the wrong way."

Roy felt the kid tense, and couldn't blame him. Charles removed Fullmetal's trousers, leaving the kid only in his boxers. Roy was reminded heavily of finding Fullmetal strapped to the table in the abandoned morgue where Grace had tortured him and left him in an even worse state than he was in now.

Both of them kept quiet during the twenty minutes that Charles worked on removing the automail. Thankfully, he didn't do anything that hurt Fullmetal, and soon Roy was holding a much lighter kid in his arms.

So that's how much the automail ways him down…

Charles then left with all of the equipment he had brought with him, so that they had nothing to even try to make a transmutation circle with. And to be honest, with the way that things were now, they probably wouldn't survive even if they somehow managed to overthrow Charles by using their own blood to draw with. They had no idea how far away from civilisation they were, none of them could walk and it was quite frankly a miracle that the arrow wound in Fullmetal's stomach hadn't been opened up by being thrown around so much.

No, they were utterly screwed.

And that's chapter eight for you!

I have to say it's a bit funny how I sort of seem to make much more cheerful author's notes the minute I start the torture, he he...

See you guys soon!