I'm back with another chapter! Thank you all so much for the response to this story! It really means a lot!

I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Edward Elric

He opened his eyes only to clench them shut again at the blinding light that welcomed him. He tried to roll over, but an ache in his chest and stomach stopped him.

What the hell happened?

"Ed?"

Lieutenant? It can't be time to get up for school yet, can it? Wait…it should be Saturday. I think I fell asleep on the couch last night….

His eyes suddenly flung wide open. He attempted to sit up, but a pair of hands clamped down on his shoulders and gently pushed him back down. Riza loomed over him, a weak smile growing across her face.

"I'm so glad you're awake," she said. "You shouldn't try to move around too much. You'll rip your stitches open."

Stitches?

He tried to look down at his chest. Riza adjusted the pillows behind him and eased him up so he could lean back against them. Beneath the pale blue shirt he'd been given, he could see the gauze wrapped around his chest all the way down to his stomach. An IV drip dangled next to the bed and attached to the crook of his flesh arm. Riza left his bedside, leaned out the door, and waved at someone outside the room. He looked around, his eyebrows furrowing.

How did I get here?

Footsteps raced down the hall, getting louder as they got closer to the room. Roy braced himself in the doorway, his shoulders sagging when he saw Ed was awake. He slowly walked into the room and sat on the edge of his bed. He swallowed.

"How are you feeling, Ed?"

"I…."

He coughed and cleared his dry throat. Riza was at his side in an instant with a glass of water. He relished the cool water sliding down his throat and gulped all of it within seconds. Riza took the glass from him. He took a shaky breath, hoping the two didn't notice.

That's right. I was sleeping on the couch. Something covered my face and I couldn't move. Then I passed out….

"I'm okay," he finally answered.

Roy and Riza looked to each other, the latter crossing her arms.

"Really?" she asked.

Ed stiffened, the cut his chest and stomach protesting that slight movement.

I have to be, don't I?

Both officers stared at him. After a minute of silence, he couldn't stop his bottom lip from trembling. He bit it, trying to stop before Roy or Riza could notice, but it was too late. Roy slid closer to him. He reached out but hesitated and retracted his arms.

"Can I…." he trailed off.

Ed found himself nodding. Roy gently slipped his arm behind Ed's back, adjusting himself so Ed's head rested against his shoulder. He caught another glimpse of the bandages. He screwed his eyes shut.

I shouldn't be here. What the hell happened?

He opened his eyes, his gaze shifting between Roy and Riza.

They're the reason I'm here.

"Thanks," he breathed.

Roy's arm tightened around him. Riza sat on the bed next to them and gripped his hand. A nurse walked into the room. She grinned at them.

"It's good to see you awake, Edward!" She checked the IV and scribbled onto her clipboard. "Are you feeling any pain? Your drip is getting a little low."

Ed shook his head.

"Does anyone from the military need to talk to him yet?" Roy asked.

"There's a Second Lieutenant Havoc that just arrived in the waiting room. I wanted to see if you all were ready before I sent him in here."

Roy looked to Ed, waiting until he nodded before turning back to the nurse.

"Send him this way. I want to talk to him before he speaks to my son."

"Of course," the nurse said, walking out of the room with Roy right on her heels.

Roy Mustang

He leaned back against the wall and watched the nurse disappear down the hall. He ran a hand through his hair.

We were so close to losing him….

"Sir!" He looked up to see Jean running past all the nurses and doctors right for him. After a glance over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching them, Jean grabbed his arm and dragged him to the end of the hall and into the stairwell. His subordinate clamped his hands down on his shoulders. "What the hell happened?"

Jean's chest was heaving.

"I don't know, Havoc. I came down the stairs and found him unconscious on the table. The killer made a deep cut, but that's been stitched up."

"How the hell did this guy get in?"

"The kitchen window. I'm assuming you've got a team heading out to our house?"

"I've got officers heading there now. I'll meet up with them after talking to Ed. They haven't had any luck finding fingerprints at the previous crime scenes, but I'll tell them to take a good look there just in case." Jean took a deep breath. "How's the Chief doing?"

"He's…."

He's been quiet since waking up. He let me hug him. He can't be okay. Someone just tried to dissect him.

"About as good as he can be given the circumstances?" Jean finished.

Roy nodded.

"He woke up about fifteen minutes ago. He hasn't said much. I can't say I blame him."

Jean let go of his shoulders and leaned against the railing on the stairs.

"I really don't want to make him talk about it yet—"

"But we don't have a choice. He's the only survivor. We need to take advantage of this information while it's still fresh in his mind. I'll call General Grumman after that and get us on a train back to East City. Fullmetal doesn't need to be here after this."

"Right," Jean muttered, grabbing the door and holding it open for Roy. "Let's get this over with."

Roy led them back down the hall toward Ed's room. He looked over his shoulder to see Jean had straightened up. His face cold and determined, as if he didn't know the kid that nearly lost his life that night. The two entered the room, Jean's shoulders sagging a bit when he realized the nurse hadn't returned yet. Roy immediately went to resume his spot next to Ed, but Jean froze when he saw the kid, his gaze lingering on the bandage peeking out from his shirt.

"Hey, Ed."

The tiniest of grins formed on Ed's face.

"Good to see you, Lieutenant."

Jean rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's good to see you too, but I have to say I wish it were under better circumstances." He fished a small notebook and pen out of his pocket. "I…I really hate to do this, but we need to talk about what happened."

Ed nodded, and Roy scooted closer to him. He could see Ed's hand gripping Riza's even tighter than before.

"I hate to say that I didn't see much. I was sleeping on the couch when someone pressed a cloth over my face. It smelled sweet, but it burned when I tried to breathe, and I got dizzy instantly." Jean winced but scribbled quickly. Ed's shoulders hunched up slightly, and he seemed to shrink on himself. "They held me down and trapped my arms, so I couldn't even try to fight back."

Fullmetal, you have nothing to feel ashamed about. Of course they…wait….

"They?" Jean echoed, glancing up from his notebook.

Ed's eyes slowly widened.

"Yeah. There were two of them. One sat on my stomach and pinned my arms down. I tried to move my legs, but someone else grabbed them to keep me still."

We never even considered there might be more than one killer….

"Do you remember anything else? Did you hear any voices?"

"No. I passed out pretty fast. I'm sorry…."

Roy gripped Ed's shoulder.

"You don't have anything to apologize for."

"Besides," Jean said as he snapped the notebook closed, "you've already helped us an incredible amount. We now know that we have two killers we're trying to find, and I think we have a way to narrow down a list of suspects. It sounds like the killers knocked you out with chloroform. There should only be a few places you can get that around here. I know there's a lab on the north side of the city that distributes to most of the drugstores around here. It shouldn't be hard to get a list of customers then go to the stores and get their inventory. We can narrow down a suspect list from there."

The nurse and Ed's doctor entered the room. Jean nodded at them before opening his notebook again. He wrote something on a piece of paper, tore it off, and handed it to Roy. He turned to leave with a wave.

"If you need something or remember anything else, please don't hesitate to give me a call."

"I'll walk you out," Riza said, reluctantly letting go of Ed's hand and following Jean out of the room.

Roy cracked a grin when he read the note. He showed it to Ed, who couldn't help the quiet snort as he took the paper from Roy.

Get better, Chief! You'll be back to annoying the Colonel in no time!

Riza Hawkeye

She nearly jumped when Ed snored softly next to her. She looked down on the sleeping teen, unconsciously gripping his hand harder.

"I can see if we have a spare shirt for you, if you'd like."

The nurse shot her a sad smile. She glanced at her shirt, her eyes widening at the blood stains on it.

How did I not even notice that….

Ed stirred next to her. She ran her fingers through his hair, and he stilled at the gesture. She thought back to walking Jean out of the hospital.

"Your house is currently a crime scene, but they should be done before Ed gets released. I'll clean everything up before you get home. I'm sure Ed will need to take it easy for a couple days before you guys can even think about leaving."

"Would you mind?" she asked, running her fingers through the long, black hair again.

"Of course not."

The nurse was out the door in an instant. She kept looking at the door, waiting for Roy to come back. Another nurse came in just over an hour ago to tell them a representative from the school had heard the news and wanted to speak with them. Roy volunteered to go so she could keep watching over Ed while he slept. She couldn't help her disappointment when the door opened and it was the nurse who entered. She held out a purple long-sleeved shirt.

"It's the only thing I saw that might fit you. I'm sorry. I couldn't find anything for husband."

Riza smiled at her.

"Thank you. I know Roy will appreciate you checking for him."

The nurse checked Ed's IV one more time before leaving again. Riza carefully stood up from the bed, hoping she wouldn't wake Ed. Once she was sure he didn't stir, she swiftly changed. She held up the blood-stained yellow night shirt in front of her. Her stomach lurched at the massive red splotches. She threw the shirt into the closest trash bin and sat down in one of the chairs. She hung her head in her hands, willing the nausea to go away.

She straightened up when the door opened. Roy grinned when he entered and saw Ed asleep. He took the seat next to her.

"Are you all right? You're looking a bit pale…."

He trailed off when he saw the shirt in the trash bin. He crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair.

"One of the nurses tried to find another shirt for you to wear but couldn't find anything," she explained. "I'm sorry."

Roy nodded.

"That was kind of her to look."

The two were quiet after that, with only Ed's occasional snores to break the silence. Roy let his head rest against the back of the chair and closed his eyes. It didn't take long for his breathing to even out. She was tempted to do the same, but she couldn't take her eyes off Ed.

"Principal Meron was in the waiting room."

Riza broke her gaze away for the briefest moment to see Roy still in the same position, but with his eyes open now. Her own eyes burned, but she couldn't get herself to even consider the idea of sleep.

"News really does travel fast in this city. He wanted to let us know he can get someone to cover our classes for the next couple days if we need it. He even offered to bring Ed's lessons and homework by our house personally."

"What did you tell him?"

"I said we'd call him tomorrow night with a decision."

"We're not going back to the academy, are we?"

Roy shook his head.

"Havoc should update General Grumman the second he's done at the crime scene, and I'm calling him as soon as we get back to our house. I'm sure he'll understand that after almost losing a state alchemist, there's no need for us to be here anymore, especially when the officers finally have more information and a direction to go in now. Besides, I would imagine the killers will keep a low profile for a while. They've never had a victim survive—"

"Which is why we should stay here," Ed interrupted.

Roy shot up from his chair and was at Ed's side in an instant. Riza joined him on the other side of the bed.

"How are you feeling? Do you need me to get one of the nurses—"

"No. I want you to explain why the hell we would leave. We haven't found the killers yet!"

Riza's shoulders relaxed at the strength in Ed's voice.

I guess the initial shock has worn off. He seems to be feeling a little better….

Ed's gaze met hers briefly before he looked back to Roy. She couldn't help the slight tug at the corners of her mouth.

The fire was back in his eyes.

"Ed, you've helped the investigation enough," she said.

"But it's not over. If you're right and the killers are laying low anyway—"

"Then the officers stationed here should have plenty of time to investigate before the killers take another victim," Roy interrupted, his voice raising. "That's the best-case scenario. The worst is the killers will set their sights on you immediately and try to finish what they started."

"That's all the more reason to stay. If we could draw them out—"

"This isn't up for discussion."

"Why the hell not? Are you really that concerned about the military losing a state alchemist?"

"Dammit, Ed, we've almost lost you once and that's more than enough!" Roy yelled.

Ed's mouth snapped shut. Roy stared daggers into the floor. After taking a few deep breaths, he pinched the bridge of his nose and turned for the door, muttering something that sounded like "I'm sorry" under his breath. The door shut behind him followed by a thump indicating he was probably leaning against it.

"We'll discuss this more when we get back to the house," she said, sitting back down beside Ed. "Until then, try to rest."

Ed nodded. After running her fingers through his hair a few times, he already drifted back off to sleep.