Silent:Tears:Fall: Yeah Al's confused all right. And its going to get worse!

Eleventy-Nine: Exactly

Abstractication: I take it you, like I, don't really sleep? ;P

Finding the Catch: The Webs We Weave

It was just as Edward's hysterical voice told him over the phone: Alphonse was disappearing. He was no longer a completely solid form; there were parts of his body Roy could pass his whole hand through. "Don't do that," Ed instructed him sharply. "What if he can feel that? It can't feel that good."

Roy snatched his hand back. "I've never seen anything like this," he admitted. "What's going on?"

Ed shook his head, frantic. "I don't know. It's almost as if- the gate- its still taking from him, little by little. I don't know what to do!"

Roy ran his hand through his hair, flattening the damp strands against his head. It had started pouring half way to Altenburg and the short distance between his car and their front door had been enough to drench both himself and Hawkeye. "Can't you find a way to stop the reaction?"

"But it's not a reaction! Or at least, the reaction has already taken place. This is just… happening on its own. What should I do?"

The man eyed him curiously, the worry evident in his voice when he spoke. "You're supposed to be the genius alchemist, why are you asking me?"

"I might be a genius," Ed said hotly, "but I've been away from alchemy for ten years now. You're an alchemist, you've studied human transmutation and you must have read the latest reports, you must know about things that have been discovered while I was gone!"

Winry frowned. "Not ten years, Ed," she corrected.

Ed raised an eyebrow at her. "What, you missed me so much the time just flew by?" he asked sarcastically.

Roy cleared his throat. "You haven't been gone for ten years, Fullmetal."

Ed drew himself up to his full height, wishing he could be at least at Roy's eye level. "Stop calling me Fullmetal," he retorted. "I'm not military anymore. And I think I know how long I've been gone." He looked from Roy to Winry over to Alphonse in his transparent state.

"How old are you, Ed?" Winry asked suddenly. She watched his eyes travel over her face, studying her features carefully.

"I'm twenty-six," he said finally. "Why, how old are you?"

It was hard to tell how old he was, she thought; because of his size he would always look younger. Besides, she had no reason to expect him to be anything other than the same age she was, just like he had always been. "Twenty-two," she answered slowly. Her face began to flush as she watched him look over at Alphonse again.

When his gaze returned to her, his expression was incredulous. "So if you're twenty-two, that would make Al…" his eyes widened further.

"Sixteen," Roy finished dryly, his lips twisting up in a smirk.

"Winry!" Edward exploded.

Her normally pale skin went from a dark pink to a brilliant red, and she looked down at her lap.

"No wonder people are talking about you!" he exclaimed, shaking his head. "And here I thought they were making a big deal out of nothing…" Suddenly he stopped, closing his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them the frantic look had returned. "Mustang, you need to bring me every piece of research that's been done on human transmutation in the past ten- er, six years. I have no idea what's going on but I'm gonna figure it out. I'm not going to let my brother disappear again!" he said forcefully.

Hawkeye stepped forward, having been silent up until that point, and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Edward, you have every resource we can get our hands on at your disposal." She looked over at Roy. "We would both do anything to help you and Alphonse, now as always."

Edward had collapsed into the chair by Al's bed, his elbow on his knee and his head in his hand. "This is all my fault," he said to the floor. "I thought Al would come back eventually, if we just waited. I had no idea this would happen, I don't even understand what's happening and I can't do anything to help him!" He raised his eyes to the others in the room. "I'll never forgive myself if I lose him again!"

"It's not your fault. Fullmet- Edward," Roy said, sounding surprised, but Ed just glared at him.

"Of course it's my fault," he said miserably. "It was all my fault."