A lantern shone from the shore where the two figures watched the boat.
Envy's silhouette was unmistakable. Their hair spread out around their head like spiky palm fronds.
And if Envy was there, that meant Ling was too.
Ed didn't know how they'd found him. How they knew it was him out there in the boat. Maybe one of Mustang's soldiers had tipped them off?
It didn't matter. They were here, and Ed knew what they wanted.
Protect Al.
He would protect Al. And that meant giving them what they wanted—immediately.
Thanks to Al, that wouldn't be a problem.
The lanterns were beginning to thin out. A few dropped into the lake, floating bereft on the surface, but most were ascending to the sky, to the heavens. Where they'd call out to another lost soul, like they had Al.
"What's wrong?" Al's clear, high voice cut into his thoughts. His eyes shone golden and curious in the falling darkness.
Protect him.
Ed squeezed his hand reassuringly. "Nothing. Hold on, okay?"
He touched his palms together, then pressed them to the rear of the boat. Water swirled and bubbled below them, and the boat shot toward shore. Ed kept the transmutation steady until they neared the rocky beach.
Ling and Envy had disappeared into the gloom, but a faint greenish light behind one of the larger boulders gave away their position.
Ed catapulted out of the boat, his borrowed coat billowing behind him. Al made to follow, but Ed held up a hand.
Protect him.
"Can you wait here?"
"Why? Where are you going?"
"I'll be just a minute." Ed threw what he hoped was a confident, reassuring smile over his shoulder. "I…have to take care of something. Then I'll be right back."
Al smiled. "Okay." His lightly freckled face glowed in the moonlight.
Ed placed his hands in his pockets and strolled down the beach, hoping his walk seemed casual.
He wanted to keep Al as far away from these two as possible. Especially now that he knew Al's secret.
Ling and Envy were right where Ed guessed they'd be. Envy glared at him, arms crossed, as he approached.
Ed put on a smile. This one felt much more forced than the one he'd given Al.
"What's up, guys?"
Neither of them responded.
"Hey, sorry to lose you back there. I mean, it was great fun swimming, but we all almost died, so let's just call it even."
"You were the reason we were there in the first place." Ling's voice was unusually chilly.
"Okay, fine." Ed shrugged. Why was his heart pounding? It was Ling and Envy. He could handle them, even if this turned into a fight. "You're right. I owe you."
"Damn right," Envy hissed.
"Look—" Ed reached into his pocket and pulled out the Stone. "Here it is. This is what you want, right? The Philosopher's Stone. You can have it." He held it toward Ling, who was closer.
Ling didn't take it.
Neither did Envy, who scoffed and swept their hair back. "That thing's almost worthless. Its power's going to fade soon."
"Wh…" Ed's breathing hitched. "Who told you that?"
He thrust the Stone at the pair again, more forcefully this time.
Just take the Stone and leave, he willed them. Get out of here. Leave me and Al alone.
"A reliable source," Envy said smugly. "But we've been promised a better one. All you have to do is give us the kid."
"The kid…" Ed's heart dropped into his stomach. "No. No way. You're not touching him."
"He said he'd give us a new Stone. One with more power."
"He? He who?" Ed took one step back. Get to Al. Keep him safe.
"The old man. Looks like the king. He just wants his kid back."
His kid.
Al's father.
He was taking drastic steps to bring Al home—to the home he didn't want to return to.
"He doesn't want to go back," Ed said numbly. "You're not taking him."
"Yeah. Yeah, we are." Envy seemed to be relishing the moment.
Ling looked uneasily between Ed and Envy. "Envy, buddy, this is sounding less and less like a lost sheep story, and more like abduction."
"So?"
"That's not what I signed up for."
Envy whirled on Ling. "I'd sign up for anything that gets me revenge on this pipsqueak!"
For once, the jibe didn't bother Ed at all. He clapped his hands, ready to shape his automail into a blade.
He wouldn't let them touch Al.
"You're not gonna hurt him. I won't let you."
"Of course not, pipsqueak," Envy drawled, saccharine sweet. "You'll be the one doing the hurting."
They grinned and held up the red stone.
No.
Vaguely, it dawned on Ed that clapping his hands must have sent the tiny stone tumbling from his grip.
But it was fine. Envy wasn't an alchemist; they had no use for—
Red energy crackled from their fingers. They surged forward, grabbing Ed's arm.
Ed went rigid. It felt as though an electric shock were running through his body.
His vision began to swim.
No. Al. Alphonse!
Envy rippled and stretched before Ed's eyes. The last horrifying thought he had before passing out was that Envy's form was changing.
.
Al sat on the edge of their boat, his feet barely touching the ground. His bare toes swirled wet sand into circular designs.
It had only been a few minutes since Ed had disappeared into the mist.
Why had he been so vague? What was the sudden business he had to take care of? They'd been together all day.
Al tried to shuffle the questions out of his mind. Tried to return to the high of their kiss. He'd wanted to climb a mountain and sing an opera and melt onto Ed's shoulder, all at once.
He brushed his fingers against his lips. They tingled, eager for more.
Selim unfurled from a dark corner of the boat into his four-legged form again.
"He'll be back," Al assured him. Half to Selim, half to himself. "I know he will."
"Hey."
Al jumped off the boat, landing both feet in wet sand.
A familiar figure emerged from the trees. Hands in pockets. Slouchy stride.
Al breathed a sigh of relief. Edward was the same as always. "Hey."
"Come on." He beckoned with one hand, motioning Al back toward the trees. "This way."
Al rocked back and forth uneasily, arms wrapping around himself. Why was Ed leading him into the forest? Hadn't he walked along the shore before, instead of into the trees?
"Ed, what—"
"Don't you trust me?" he almost snapped.
Al flinched. "Yeah. Of course."
"Then follow me."
More than a little stung, Al followed on Ed's heels into the woods.
Ed made confident strides, his brown coat flowing in the cool night air. The bag around his shoulder holding his red coat was gone.
Was Al imagining it, or was Ed taller than before?
What had happened, to make him so terse and distant? Practically ordering Al around. Just minutes ago, he'd been warm and inviting and kind. Held Al's hand. Asked him, gently, to wait in the boat. Smiled so easily.
Al wrapped his arms around his torso, hesitant. Was it stupid of him to expect Ed's kindness every second?
Father had never been very affectionate, never allowing Al to hug or kiss him. But there had been times when he was closer, more intimate with Al, making Al feel included and wanted—whereas other times he'd been completely closed off, barely affording a hello to Al.
Maybe Ed was the same way, Al mused, a little miserably. He'd wanted more. Another kiss, another dance.
It must come with all love, he supposed—the unpredictable pendulum swing. Even with Ed.
Even so, he'd follow Ed anywhere.
There was someone waiting for them in the forest, holding a lantern.
Al stopped short, his fists clenching when he realized who it was.
The yellow-jacketed thief from before. His thick dark hair, which had been pulled into a ponytail before, now hung loose around his shoulders.
What had Ed called him? Ling?
Al stepped on something hard and smooth. He jerked his foot away, thinking of snakes or landmines, but nothing happened. He glanced down into the grass to see a discarded, dirty book at his feet. The moonlight wasn't bright enough for him to see the title.
"Wow." Ling held up the lantern, shining light into Al's face. Al cringed away. "You really do look like him."
Don't like it.
Al began to back away from Ling, but Ed grabbed his arm. He slithered behind Al, taking both of his arms in an iron grip.
Al's breath caught.
"Ed?"
An unpleasant laugh sounded in his ear. "Hold still, pipsqueak."
"What are you doing?" Al's stomach twisted sickeningly. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be real.
"You're a hot commodity, little alchemist. Somebody wants your power bad."
Something clicked into place. The cadence, the words—pipsqueak, little alchemist—the tone dripping with condescension. Al recognized the voice.
"You—you're not Ed."
Ed's other accomplice, the one with spiky hair. Envy.
How?
"Damn, you're fast."
But if this wasn't Ed, then where—
"He gave me a little juice from the Stone before he ran off with it. This power's pretty fun. Just the look on your face! Priceless."
Envy cackled with Ed's voice. It sounded terrible and slimy and wrong. Al could hardly hear it over the words pounding again and again in his ears.
He ran off. He ran off.
Ran off.
No. Ed wouldn't. He didn't. He couldn't have.
He'd stolen that book for Al, the alchemy book now on the ground—
Al turned frantically, searching the trees, the shoreline, for any sign of Ed.
He wouldn't leave Al. Not after what they'd shared. The day they'd had.
Movement on the water caught his eye. He peered through the trees, straining against Envy's hold on him.
His heart dropped.
A boat was sailing away from the shore, a lone figure steering.
In the moonlight, the golden hair and red coat were indisputable.
Ed was leaving.
He wasn't looking back.
"No," Al gasped. It wasn't true. It couldn't be true.
"See for yourself, tiny? He's not coming back for you." Al could hear the leer in Envy's voice even without turning around. "You're all mine."
Al broke. "Ed!" he screamed. "EDWARD!"
Nothing. No response from the retreating boat. Ed didn't even move.
"You could be him, you know. His pipsqueak twin. Fullmetal 2.0." Envy laughed again, breath hot against Al's shoulder.
Ed had left him to these two. What did they want with him? What would they do?
Somebody wants your power bad.
He couldn't let them take him.
Fight back, urged a panicked voice in his head. Fight!
But his mind was too scrambled to think. He couldn't envision a single transmutation that would help.
Selim. Selim could…what could Selim do? He wasn't corporeal. He couldn't fight.
Would no one come to help him?
"EDWARD! HELP!"
Envy whined, annoyed. "Shut him up. Someone's going to hear."
Al twisted and fought as Ling wrangled a gag between his lips—the lips Ed had kissed. The gag was heavy and dry and choked him when he tried to scream again.
Envy twisted Al's arms behind his back, angling his wrists painfully. "This is how he said to do it. His hands can't touch."
No help's coming. Help yourself! Fight back!
Cords were wound around Al's wrists, trapping his palms. There would be no clapping like this.
He tried to picture a transmutation that would help—turning the cords into paper, into sand. He called on the souls inside him. I'm sorry, but I need your help. Please, I have to get away.
Nothing happened. There was no surge of power, no flash of reassurance. No whispers inside his head.
What was wrong with him?
He cried out again, twisting in the thieves' hold on him.
"I'll give you something to cry about," Envy hissed, and sunk a fist into Al's ribs. "You're wanted alive, little one. Alive, not undamaged."
Al coughed through his gag, tears pooling down his cheeks, soaking into the rough fabric. He whimpered, a high, pitiful sound in an unbroken stream.
Ed. Ed. Please.
Edward wasn't coming.
This was everything Father had warned him about. Edward, and trust, and people wanting him for their own gain.
He'd trusted the wrong person, and now he was going to disappear. Father would never be able to find him.
And he'd never see Edward again.
Why did that hurt so much?
"Go easy, Envy," Ling urged. "He's a kid."
"A super special kid, apparently. He's made of alchemy."
Envy pulled on Al's loosening braid, arching his head back unnaturally. "Is this magic hair or something? Maybe I should take some for myself."
No. No.
"Got a knife?"
"Envy, c'mon. Let's just get this over with."
Al felt a sharp tug on his hair, and his head was jerked back and forth painfully. He threw himself forward, trying to pull away, but he overbalanced and fell.
A knee in his back drove him into the ground, and a clammy hand pinned his cheek into the gravel. "Stop squirming."
Help. Please, help.
Envy grunted, and the pain in Al's scalp lessened. "Got it."
Something bright fell into Al's line of vision—bleached silver in the moonlight, it took him several seconds to realize Envy was waving his own severed golden braid teasingly in front of him.
Al sobbed.
"Hey, it looks like Fullmetal's. If they execute him in there, at least I'll have this."
Execute him?
"Let's go, Envy."
"Fine."
Darkness fell over Al as a sack was thrown over his head.
"Hold still, pipsqueak."
Al kicked and thrashed, screaming fruitlessly for help as he was hoisted weightless into the air, tossed over someone's shoulder.
Ed. Someone. Anyone.
Then something hit his captor, the blow reverberating through both of them.
Al tumbled roughly to the ground, the impact forcing a grunt of pain out of him.
Another body thumped to the ground near him. Then someone was pulling him, yanking him upright. Al fought, flailing and protesting, until the sack was dragged from his face—
Father.
Al sobbed with relief.
The moonlight made Father even paler than usual. He almost glowed.
He was here. Father was here.
He freed Al's hands wordlessly and untied the gag, freeing his mouth.
"Alphonse."
Wracked with panic, Al grabbed Father in a hug.
Belatedly, his mind screamed. Horror, fear, hysteria, crowded to be the loudest. Run. Run!
Safe. Al was safe.
Father's arms came around him, hugging him back—much to Al's surprise.
Father hadn't abandoned him, in spite of how he had abandoned Father. He wasn't completely alone in this world yet. One person would still fight for him.
Safe. Al repeated the word over and over. Safe now. I'm safe.
He chanced a glance around him. Ling and Envy lay unconscious on the ground. Envy's form, thankfully, had reverted to its natural state.
"How did you find me?" His voice was tearful. Thin and watery.
Father's deep voice was calm and emotionless as ever. "I knew you would run into trouble. I followed and waited and watched until I was proven right."
Right. Father had been right. All along, he'd known what would happen.
"Where is your precious, wonderful alchemist thief now?"
Al sniffled and looked across the lake once more. Ed's boat had nearly reached the far shore, close to the city.
Father followed his gaze. "Ah, I see." He set Al on his feet and stood, brushing off his soiled white robes. "I did try to warn you, Alphonse."
Al couldn't respond. He was numb, his thoughts drowned by a cacophony of panic.
Father was right. He'd almost gotten himself abducted, sent far away, probably sold off, because he'd told the wrong person his secret. No—he'd told his secret. There was no right person to tell; that he'd told it at all, trusted at all, was his mistake.
That he'd left at all was a mistake.
"I…" he tried, but his voice was all but gone. "I'm…sorry." It came out a whisper.
"I know you are. We'll make further decisions at home. Let's go, shall we?"
Al let himself be steered away from the lake, Father's large hand on his slim, shaking shoulder. He let himself be calmed by the monotone rumble of Father's voice.
Something small picked at the back of Al's mind. Something bothersome.
He couldn't focus on it. His mind was still screaming.