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Warning: Violence, Ed mental/physical torture

IIIII

Safely back in the apartment were the three sins who were basically waiting for the call from Cahts. They were satisfied that she atleast injured the Full Metal but that wasn't enough. They needed him out of the picture. Surely that Nightmare Bottle would work. Inserting it into the blood stream would double the impact, making him twice as tired, and even when he would try to wake up from the effect it would to be of no avail. The fluid was supposed to make you tired anyway but now that he would be tired most of the time it should be easier to capture Al. Getting through the rest of those fools would be easier then Edward.

"She sure is taking a while," Envy commented from the couch.

Lust, who was leaning against the wall near the window, sighed. Shaking her hair out of her eyes, she replied, "As long as she gets the job done I don't really care if she takes her time. Besides, someone just chickened out of it..." she glared at Envy.

"I'm not going undercover again in there today. Not twice in one day."

"She could have been recognized. Cahts was in the military you know."

"Who cares? If she doesn't work then I'll go in myself. Better her then me, right?"

There came no answer.

"Right?" Envy questioned again.

"I'm beginning to wonder about that."

"Hey-" Envy began but the phone began to ring.

Lust walked over to the table and picked up the cordless phone, "Finally. Oh, it got done? Good job Cahts, very good. Sounds like it went exactly according to plan. You were correct when you said it would be doubled if it went into the blood stream? Nice because you better not lie to me. Now get back here before someone figures you out."

"Oh, and one more thing," Cahts said before Lust hung up.

"What?"

"He isn't staying at Quarters. He's staying at some guys names Hughes's house. Know him?"

"Yes. He's in the Military. I've seen him a few times before. I'll find him with no problem. So, your job is done for now, so come back."

"Yes Miss Lust."

IIIII

Hughes loaded Edward into the back of the car. The boy was shivering so they covered him not only with his coat but a couple of blankets. It wasn't cold out at all, the sun shining down onto the streets, so they couldn't understand what would make him shake.

Getting into the drivers seat, there was enough room for Al in the back, and then Armstrong in the passenger seat. Hawkeye said that when she could she would stop by later, maybe with Roy too.

Al looked at his brother. A scared look was on his face as he seemed to cringe in some sort of pain. It could be that his side was hurting but wouldn't he wake up in agony? After buckling Edward in, Al tucked the blankets carefully around his brother's hurt side. He wanted to keep focus on his elder brother for if he didn't he would think to much about Lust being after him. That thought alone scared the boy.

The fourteen year old was brought back to reality once the car started moving. Then a question popped into his mind.

"Um, excuse me," Al said.

Hughes asked, "Yes Al?"

"I was wondering why brother's sleeping. He seemed so awake before."

"The nurse said it was a side effect of the medicine she gave him. There seemed to be some..." Hughes found himself stopping in mid-sentence as he looked back at Al through a mirror. He could have sworn there was expression of sadness on that metal face of his, but of course that was impossible.

"He's going to be okay, right?"

"Sure he is. He's just a bit tired from the fight is all," Hughes replied. He decided that it would be better not to tell Al about the poison, he didn't want to worry the fourteen year old any more then he already was, "So, Al, the million dollar question is why are Lust and Envy after you?"

"...I don't know," Al said in a whisper.

"Don't want to talk about it, eh?"

"I'm more worried about brother."

"You should worry about your well being too, ya' know. Do you know what would happen to Ed if you were captured?"

Al remained quiet. He was still unable to get that image of his mother, or that thing they turned her into out of his head. And then there was Ed...dead...lying on the ground, no life in his eyes. He hung his head in disgust of himself. If he couldn't help Ed in a dream what could he do in real life if he had to battle Lust, Gluttony, or Envy in this condition?

"He'd go nuts, that's what. Worry about getting yourself onto safe ground and that'll make your brother a whole lot happier."

"We were going to send you by train back to your own town for a couple of days but with Ed in this condition..." Armstrong said, "I don't think that's going to happen."

Hughes saw Al tense up in the backseat.

"Just relax! You've got me and Armstrong protecting you!"

"I'd rather have Hawkeye," Al said lowly, "No offense though."

"Awww...attached to Hawkeye, now are we?" teased Hughes, "Al's gotta' crush! Al's gotta' crush!"

"N-No! She's just really nice to me, ya' know?" He said shyly. If he could blush, he really would, "And she's cool. A-And..."

"Aw, come on Al, your fourteen. You probably get a crush on every pretty girl you see."

Armstrong gave a hearty laugh, "Your probably right, Major Hughes."

"Meanie Heads..." Al whispered.

IIIII

"Welcome to Paradise," Edward heard a voice ring through his mind.

His blurred vision saw read as his eyes opened a tiny bit. He found himself chained to the ground, his ankles and wrists cuffed, the chains only about five feet long which allowed him to atleast sit up. Ed shook his head to get his vision back. His golden locks blew as a strong wind passed by, making him shiver.

There was grass, a field of flowers. But yet he was sitting on steel, chained to it, and not sure of where he was. Edward was extremely confused.

"Hey! Is anyone out there!" He shouted. It only echoed with no answer coming back.

The boy looked down at his body. That's when he realized he was only in his blue boxers. Blushing immensely he looked around for his clothes but they were nowhere to be found!

"Alright. I've been sitting her for a couple of minutes and I've had enough of it!" He said to himself.

Clapping his hands together he then touched his chains that connected to one of the cuffs on his wrist to destroy it. An strong burning feeling followed by a small puff of smoke was the result. It didn't break. Looking at his burnt hand, since he used human hand, it hurt pretty bad.

"Dammit!" He hissed as he blew his breath onto the still burning marks on his palms, "Where the hell am I anyway? This is getting creepier and creepier."

"Welcome to paradise..."

His eyes widened when he felt a cold hand on his back. He pulled forward, not sure who it was, but they needed to go out in the sun or something! Turning around a bit he saw Lust kneeled behind him, her eyes staring at him as if inviting him to swing.

"W-What do you want!" Edward tried to stand up out of instinct but the chains pulled him back down.

"Don't struggle, Full Metal," Lust ordered, crawling towards the front of him.

Edward felt the chains pulling him down slowly. No matter how he struggled against it he couldn't help but cooperate. Soon enough he was laying on his back, his arms held up above his head for the locks had moved up on the steel, and his legs separated a bit. He felt like he were on a cross or something.

"How do you feel, Ed? Comfortable?" Lust asked.

"Yeah, feeling greater then ever," He said sarcastically.

Using a sharp finger she began to make a long scratch along Ed's leg, below Edward's knee. He bit his lip as she would keep digging her finger in, almost going deep enough to crack a bone if she wanted. He didn't want to give her the pleasure of hearing him beg for mercy. He'd never do that for Lust. He threw his head back as she began the torment on his flesh arm.

"It hurts. I can see it in your face," Lust stopped, displeased that he would cry out.

"Y-Yeah...but I have a high tolerance for pain..." he gasped for air for he had held his breath so he wouldn't yell, "I've had worse."

"You realize your at my power, right? If you do as your told we won't have to hurt you."

"You don't have power over me. Not now. Not ever."

"We'll see about that," Lust said, beginning to carve circles into his leg.

Throughout the pain Edward kept thinking. Was there anyway to get out of this? What could he do to get out of this torture? He couldn't grab the chains or he'd end up with a burnt hand and he wasn't about to screw up his automail arm. Somehow bearing through what Lust was doing to him, he found after a couple of minutes she stopped, and he got to relax for a moment.

Breathing in heavily was all he could do. His arms were so up high he wasn't able to move anything besides his hands. His legs allowed a tiny bit of movement but he had most likely got the chains to come out a little, since he tried to bring his legs up to kick Lust in the face, but that was to no avail.

The woman was getting tired of her torturing his legs and him not so much as whining. All he would do was clench his teeth and close his eyes so tightly tears formed in them; though no tears swam down his cheeks, only beads of sweat shone on his forehead. She watched him gasp for breath as if he had been deprived of air. Coming to his left side, Lust put a hand on his side.

"Ready for another round?" Lust asked, her eyes hungry for pleas of mercy.

"G...Go ahead..." He said, the voice that was once filled with courage, was weak. Taking a gulp he prepared himself for pain but found none started. Opening an eye he found Lust's arms being held back by a young boy.

"What the..." Ed whispered. Looking at the boy, golden hair, green shirt, shorts...it was the human Al right before he was a suit of armor! "Al! Al! Is that you?"

Lust swung her arms around but Al hung on tightly. He refused to let go.

"Al! Run! Go!" ordered Edward.

"I won't let you hurt my brother!" Al declared, digging his heels into the dirt, trying to keep his ground.

"I said run before she kills you! Do you want to die!"

Lust punched the child to the ground. Making a point with her fingers, she stabbed Al in the shoulder, his scream echoing through the field.

"Al!" shouted Edward.

The evil woman picked him up by the shoulder. His blood dripping to a pool of it, making the once green grass red. Al grasped the point and tried furiously to pull back from it but it only caused more suffering for the poor kid.

I have to do something! Edward thought desperately.

Reaching to the grass behind him, he begged for anything that he could transmute into a long pole. He might be tied down right now but he could still swing something. Grabbing a penny he decided it had to be good enough. Clapping his hands together he smacked his hands onto the penny. It turned into a ten foot pole in a matter of moments.

"You witch, don't mess with my brother!" Ed yelled as he used all the strength in his wrist to swing her off her feet. He then clapped his hands together once again to make it a big steel box around Lust.

Al was immediately dropped to the ground. He rushed over to his older brother and Edward couldn't stop staring. His brother was finally back in his body! He was over joyed at the thinking of Al actually being in his human form once again.

"I'll get you out of these chains, brother, don't you worry," Al said quickly. He reached into his pocket to bring out a piece of white chalk. He made a quick transmutation sign on both of his hand cuffs. After clapping his hands together and laying his hands on each of the cuffs, they broke apart.

Sitting up, Edward smiled while rubbing his wrists. He said, "Thanks Al. Could you do my feet? For some reason my alchemy doesn't work on these things."

There was no reply. Instead, Edward felt arms wrap around him. Those arms were his brothers. The warmth. Real skin. No longer was his little brother trapped in a suit of armor, but he was a living human being, and just that thought took a tremendous weight off of his shoulders.

Gripping him into a tight hug Ed felt safe for a few moments. Like they could escape together or something. Get away from this life of the military and the danger of Lust and...then a question popped into his head. Where was Envy?

His question was soon answered as his 'brother' changed. He changed into Envy. He had disguised himself as Al to fool him!

"You tricked me!" Edward accused, trying to get free of his grasp but it was to tight, "You bastard! Let go!"

"You really thought Al was back in his body! You are such a fool. I think you should realize that no matter what you do Al won't get back into his body. No matter what, that the guilt that it being your fault that he's in that armor, will not go away. It's your fault, Full Mini. He hates you for it too."

"No! No! It's not true!" Edward said.

Now that he had a physical assault, Envy thought it was just about time for a mental once, so he continued. "Do you think your brother appreciates being in there? You were the one suggested bringing back your mother. You forced him into it. Al was just an innocent bystander that almost got killed for your recklessness. Like I said before, you really are a fool."

"Shutup! Shutup! Your lying about Al! Straight out lying!"

"Now that I mention your mother...do you remember what she came back as? Tell me, Edward, was it worth it?"

Images of his mother came back to him, stronger then ever.

"Was it worth seeing her as a monster?"

Edward felt tears dripping down his cheeks.

"Was it worth having the guilt?"

His fists tightened, wanting nothing more then to hit Envy.

"Was it worth putting Al in that armor?"

Edward whispered, "No...no it wasn't worth it. I realize I made a mistake! Now I'm trying to fix it! So shut the hell up!"

He could hear the crying of Al off in the distance. He raised his head to see nothing but the crying grew louder.

"Stop messing with my head! J..Just st-stop it...please...I can't take it..."

"Al's crying. Won't you go help him?"

"Make the crying stop! Make it stop!"

"Help him, Full Mini. Go ahead. Shout to him that big brother is coming to the rescue. But wait, you can't, because we'll kill you even before you can reach him. He'll be crying for all eternity for his brother will be dead, no mother, and he's stuck in armor. And it's all..." Envy leaned in next to Ed's ear, "...Because of you."

Edward started his own crying, if anything to drown out the sound of Al crying.

Envy and Lust only laughed.

IIIII

Edward found himself suddenly in a dark place. He tried to wake up. He could hear Hughes, Armstrong, and Al. He was nearly awake. Now if he could only open his eyes...but he was unable to. What was going on! Ed dropped to his knees, not believing what he just heard. Even if that was only a dream...if it was only a figment of his imagination...it still scared him so bad.

"I'll never let them get you Al. I swear," He hissed to himself. The sound of Al crying once again filled his mind. The laughing of Lust and Envy soon mixed in.

"Brother, you love me, right?"

Looking up Edward saw the present Al standing before him.

"A-Al? Your okay!" Ed jumped up.

"Brother, you do love me, right?"

"W-What do you mean? Of...of course I do."

"Liar!" shouted Al, hitting Ed to the ground.

As he rubbed the bruise, Ed asked in a yell, "What the hell was that about!"

"You're lying! You wouldn't let me be in this armor if you really loved me! It's all your fault that I'm like this! Your fault! I would have rather died then end up like this!"

"Y...You can't really mean that."

"I do."

"No! You don't mean it!" Ed said hopefully.

Al turned his back to his brother, "I'd rather be dead. But I do feel dead enough now but yet I'm here with...with...you!"

I'd rather be dead. I'd rather be dead. I'd rather be dead...

IIIII

The car ride had been short enough, with their conversation ranging from What to do in a Lust situation to Elisia. Al couldn't help but look down at his elder brother, who still looked as if he were in pain. He muttered something once but Al couldn't tell what he was saying. It bothered him that Edward was having troubles and there was nothing he could do about it.

What's bothering you so much brother? wondered Al as the car stopped in front of Hughes's house.

"We're here Al," stated Hughes, leaning over to look at Al, he saw the boy wouldn't even look up at him, "Al? You okay?"

As he finally looked up, he nodded a bit. "Sorry Major, I'm a bit out of it," apologized the armor weakly.

"Don't worry about it. You've had a rough day. Now you can relax for the rest of the evening. I'm sure that Gracia will be delighted to see you boys too!"

Armstrong came to Edward's door to pull the boy out. Snugging his blankets behind his back, he unbuckled him, and scooped the small boy into his arms. It was strange. Armstrong had never seen Edward in such a vulnerable state. He seemed to be struggling in his thoughts for something; or possibly even someone.

The blonde teen suddenly jerked, whimpering a bit. Armstrong asked, "Hughes? Did the nurse say anything about side effects? He seems to be getting pale too..."

"No. She only said he'd be tired."

"That's strange. He might be getting sick. We should get him in bed as soon as possible."

IIIII

"Hi, honey bunch!" greeted Hughes to his wife as he gave her a kiss on the cheek. The bunch came in, surprising her a little, but she smiled once she saw Al and Edward.

Looking at Edward once again she gasped. "Is he okay?" She asked.

"He'll be fine. He...got shot this morning," meekly admitted Hughes.

"That poor boy. Let me take him to the guest room right away. He need his rest!" Gracia demanded and took the boy in her arms. She rushed upstairs while the patter of small feet came by.

"Daaadddyyy!" cheered Elisia, jumping on his back.

"Sweetie!" Hughes reached back and pulled her to the front. Pointing her in the direction of Al, he said, "Guess who came to see you? It's Al!"

"Yaaayy!"

Al would have been more ecstatic but his only concern was Edward. He said, "I'm sorry Elisia. I'm going to make sure brother is alright, then I'll play with you, okay?"

She nodded, though disappointed.

Passing by them all he made his way upstairs.

"That boy worries to much," muttered Hughes.

"Give him a break. His brother was just shot," defended Armstrong.

"Now that I'm home I guess I should make the call to Mustang. He hasn't been informed yet, has he?"

"I don't believe so."

"Oh boy. This is going to put a dent in everything. But I'm sure he'll understand..."

IIIII

"What the hell! Full Metal's been shot, Al's being chased by Lust, and there's another woman on their side!" exclaimed Roy in anger, "Why wasn't I informed on this earlier?"

"B-Because Roy, we just found out about it two hours ago."

"Well you should have called me two hours ago."

"Sorry sir but I also have more bad news..." Hughes said nervously, "Edward won't be able to get out of town. He's sick."

"This couldn't get worse."

"Well...I guess I shouldn't tell you this...but do you know a Cahts Bishop?"

After thinking for a moment, he suddenly asked, "How do you know Red Eyes?"

"Red Eyes?" repeated Hughes.

"She was a private investigator on our team. Well, not really on our team, because you didn't know her. She was more of in my side group. Anyway, Red Eyes was the name we gave her because of her outstanding red eyes. She attacked me soon after I fired her for torturing convicts. Why do you ask?"

"Well...that's the girl that gave Edward a shot...she was disguised as a nurse...I was suspicious of it after she gave him one. And I remembered him saying a girl with white hair and red eyes attacked him."

"Dammit Hughes. Why didn't you stop her and arrest her for doing it?" an aggravated Roy questioned.

"Because I didn't realize it until the shot."

"I'll send you a report on her. You should know everything before you go out to arrest her."

"Awww...I have to leave home already?" Whined Hughes, wrapping his finger around the telephone cord, "I just got to see Elisia too."

"I want it done ASAP. I'll send Hawkeye over to help you. Armstrong can stay at the house."

"Uhh...how about Armstrong comes with me? Al would prefer Hawkeye's company to Armstrong's. I believe he thinks of her as a second mom."

"Fine," Roy took in a deep breath, "I'll send a report to you now. Goodbye."

IIIII

Fourth chapter over and done with. Yayyyy! Don't worry, Cahts won't become a Mary-Sue and she won't kill anybody, I just basically put her there to make things even more difficult for the good guys. I can't help but torture them so. Please review!