Protect Me

Written by: Luna

Chapter 6 – Taken

Disclaimer – I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, yet any new characters that I have created to fit the story are mine, and part of Protect Me. Thank you!

Author's Note – Just for the record, I wanted to let you know that Ed is 17, Al is 16, and Winry is 16 (I'm only assuming she is younger than Ed…does it ever really say how old she is?)

The sun was just beginning to set over the horizon and the sky was a beautiful canvas of reds and gold.

Ed, Al, and Winry were now walking down a path that led back home. It was a roundabout way, but they thought it would be nice to take the long road for once. There were trees to their left and open fields to the right.

Al was carrying their picnic basket, which now was much lighter with most of the food gone. Ed was walking beside him with the folded blanket under one arm, and Winry was walking, backwards, ahead of them with her hands behind her back, as the three laughed and talked.

"You know, Ed." Winry began quietly. "It's been about a year now since you two have been living with us. Do you plan on ever returning to Central?"

Edward looked a bit surprised. "Wow, I hadn't realized it had been that long already."

Al looked over at him, as well, as they continued walking.

"But, no, I don't think so." Ed continued. "Mustang can live without me being there to take every stupid mission he comes up with. Now that I have what I sought out for…" He turned and put a hand on Al's shoulder, which made Al grin. "I have no need to be in the military any more."

"Brother, don't you think it's a little strange that the Colonel hasn't tried to reach you since we've been gone?" Al asked, looking at Ed.

Ed's face fell as he sweat dropped. "Actually, he DID contact me. Remember that day when I left to go into town by myself. That was him that I was meeting."

Al blinked. "Oh yeah…I remember now. You came home in a really bad mood, but you didn't want to say anything about what had happened."

Ed growled under his breath. "Yeah…I told him that I had no intention of being a state alchemist any longer. So then he asked the reason why." He paused. "As much as I didn't want the military to know any information about us, I had to give him my reason."

Flashback

"So that's it then?"

"Yeah, I don't want to have anything more to do with the military. Now that Al is restored, there is no need for me to be gone all the time. I'm not going to abandon him to go on these damn missions anymore, and I don't want him to come with me. It's too dangerous. He deserves a peaceful life now and so I've made up my mind."

Roy stood in front of the young alchemist wearing an unreadable expression. "Then you know I will be needing your watch back."

Edward growled, expecting this, and thrust the item into Roy's outstretched hand. "Don't tell anyone else about this…at least not why I left. I'm trying to keep a low profile for now.

"Of course."

End Flashback

He let out a sigh. "I hate dealing with that Mustang. He gets under my skin every time I have to see him."

"I didn't even know." Winry confessed as she turned around and began walking straight ahead, still in front of them. She lowered her head as she thought to herself. I'm glad to hear that.

Al looked at his brother with a hint of concern. "Are you sure about that, brother? You were always proud of being a state alchemist. You don't have to quit that because of me."

Ed looked over and grinned. "Nonsense, Al. Just because I'm not a state alchemist anymore doesn't mean I can't use alchemy, and besides, there are people who are more important to me than that title. I don't need it anymore."

Alphonse only smiled and said nothing more on the subject.

The teens fell into silence as they continued at a leisurely pace. It was after they topped a hill that they suddenly came to a stop.

Standing in the middle of the road, facing them with his arms crossed and an angry scowl on his face, was a man none of them recognized. He was dressed in casual clothing, but what was unique about him was the headband around his forehead with what looked to be a transmutation circle on it. His short black hair fell over the band slightly.

Winry was standing in front of the boys so she spoke out politely, but warily. "Hello, sir. Are you looking for someone around here?"

When the man didn't respond and only stared at them with his cold black eyes, Winry started to speak again, but Ed halted her by whispering. "Winry." It was a tone that told her he was beginning to get cautious.

Al was just standing there, looking back and forth, not sure what to think of the situation just yet.

That was when the man spoke out loudly so the three standing several feet in front of him could hear him clearly. "I've waited a long time for this, Fullmetal."

It was the angry, spiteful tone when he said this that made Edward move in front of Al and Winry protectfully. His face became serious and he shouted out. "What do you want with me?"

"You will know soon enough, boy. I have my own plans for you." He uncrossed his arms and began walking towards them, closing the distance to stand just a couple feet in front of the group.

This action made Ed growl under his breath as he shifted his feet. He dropped the blanket he was carrying and spread his arms out, attempting to shield his friends. "Who are you?"

"My name is Sid. That is all you need to know for now."

He fell into silence and just stood there, glaring down at Edward.

This did not make Ed any less cautious though. He didn't want to start a fight, but if this guy made the first attack, then he would obviously fight in defense. At this moment, though, he couldn't tell what Sid's intentions were. There was also the fact that Al and Winry were standing behind him, worried. He didn't want to end up fighting and getting them hurt in the process. This was a dilemma.

The man suddenly shifted into a fighting stance and declared with a growl. "What you have taken from me will be taken from you a thousand times over!"

Ed's eyes widened with shock.

And Sid lashed out.

This surprised Ed enough to catch him off guard, the first punch striking him to the ground.

He heard Winry call his name, followed by a frightened scream and more commotion.

He recovered quickly and jumped back up to his feet only to find that now Alphonse and Winry were in trouble. Two other guys had come out from behind the trees and were now attacking them. One man had long red hair that was tied up in a ponytail. The other had short spiky red hair and a scar that ran down his right cheek. They both appeared to be very strong. Al was giving the man with the short hair a pretty good fight, while the other one was holding Winry with her arms behind her back. She was struggling fiercely to get away.

Ed's first reaction was to run over to them, but Sid stood in his way.

"I am you opponent, Fullmetal."

He watched as Sid lashed out at him again and this time dodged it, landing a punch of his own into the man's cheek. There were a few advantages to having automail when you were in a fight.

Sid slid back, his feet digging into the ground, and stood upright. He rubbed his fist across his mouth to wipe away the blood that had begun to fall.

Taking the opportunity while they were both standing there, Edward glanced over to where the others were and noticed that now both Al and Winry were being held by their attackers, facing him.

This made Edward very angry. His blood boiled but he couldn't make a move. Not when those men held his friends. He didn't know their intentions and Sid was still facing him.

"Your automail is a real nuisance. I will have to end this quickly." Sid said in a gruff voice.

At this, Ed transmuted his automail arm into his sword and charged head-on at his enemy as he yelled out in frustration.

Sid remained standing, raising his arms up so that his hands hovered in front of his forehead, palms facing inward. A glow suddenly formed around the transmutation circle on his headband and wind began to swirl around in front of him. This caught Ed's attention, but not soon enough to avoid the attack.

Sid thrust his arms forward, launching a powerful wind attack at the young alchemist. The force of the wind was strong enough to throw Edward back and send him crashing to the ground. He slid to a stop and did not immediately jump back up. While he was immobile, Sid walked over and looked down at the young man.

Ed brought himself up to one knee, trying to get back to his feet, still a bit dazed. He muttered out. "A…wind…alchemist?"

"This is only the beginning, Edward Elric." Sid then hit the back of Ed's head with his fist.

Ed could hear Winry and Al's screams as he fell. He had no time for words as his world went black before he even hit the ground.

"Edward!" Winry screamed as she continued to struggle against the one who held her, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Brother!" Al was angry. He had watched, unable to help, while his brother fought this man and then get blown back through the air by his wind alchemy. Now his brother was lying there in bad condition and there was nothing he could do about it.

Sid walked back over to where they were and stood in front of them. "Kyle. Kane. We are going to take these two back with us."

They both nodded and proceeded to bound and gag the two teens.

Alphonse was not going to give them an easy time, punching and kicking whenever he could. He had to get away and help Winry, but he was no match against these guys. It wasn't long after he started struggling that his vision blurred and became black.

"Damn kid. He's trouble." Kane said as he pulled his fist back from striking Al in the back of the head. He then proceeded to tie him up and placed the gag around the boy's mouth.

"I'm surprised you were having such a difficult time, brother." Kyle said in a mocking voice as he finished up with the girl.

"Shut up, Kyle. You only had a little girl to deal with. This kid obviously knows a bit about fighting."

Kyle just laughed and then looked over to where Ed still lay. "What about him?"

"Leave him." Sid said in a low voice. "He will be searching for us later." He looked down at the kids who were tied up and smirked. "I have hit Fullmetal's only weakness."

Winry's eyes were wild with fear, as she had watched the man knock Al out. She couldn't move or yell and there was no one else around. She shut her eyes tightly. Please, Ed. Wake up!>