Protect Me

Written by: Luna

Chapter 12 – Urgency

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!

Sid came into the dark, cold room and stormed over to the young boy, ripping him from his sleep. He gripped his wrist and released him from his shackles, pulling him up and dragging him behind him.

He didn't talk or make eye contact with Al as he led him to a more open room with a single table in the middle.

Al whimpered, but didn't cry out. His face was swollen and his ripped clothing was covered in bloodstains.

With a grunt, Sid used his free arm to knock the few objects on the table off to the floor before roughly flinging Al up onto it.

Al squinted his eyes against the pain in his back and tried to get his bearings to roll off the table. Before he could even move, though, Al let out a sickening scream as he felt a knife being driven into his hand, pinning it to the table. It wasn't long until he felt the same agony in his other hand, resulting in another loud cry. He writhed in pain and blinked out tears as he pleaded for the torture to stop. When Al attempted to kick Sid, the man wasted no time in grabbing a sledgehammer by the table and crushing both of his legs, causing them to fall limp.

Al was near insanity as all the excruciating pain coursed through his body at once. Sid just smirked at the prospect of continuing the torture.

"Stop it! Please stop it!" Al choked out as he shook his head from side to side, unable to move his body hardly at all.

Sid walked over beside him with another long, sharp knife in his hand. He wore a dark, shadowed look on his face, as he stared down at Al, raising the knife in the air.

Al looked up with eyes wide with fear, tears streaming down his cheeks. "NO!"

As the knife came down, aimed at his chest, Al screamed with all his energy that remained. "Brother! Help me! AH--!"

Al's scream was cut short as the blade pierced through his body, coming through the other side and going into the table. His blood ran down the blade and side of the table, dripping to the floor, the look of panic still frozen on his face.

"AL!" Ed woke up screaming as he bolted into an upright position in bed. Sweat dripped off his face as his eyes twitched violently in fear. He was shaking as he had never done so before and he brought both of his hands up to grip his head, his hair running through his fingers. "Al! Al!" Tears streamed down from his squinted eyes as the images from the hellish nightmare refused to leave him. Ed remained in that position for some time as he fought to keep himself under control. "Alphonse." He sobbed. "I'm sorry."

Morning came too soon for Edward as the light crept in from the window. He hadn't been able to get back to sleep until a few hours later, which wasn't long before dawn.

He rolled out of bed and staggered into the bathroom, turning the sink faucet on to splash the cold running water on his face. Ed rubbed his eyes and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He looked terrible and he felt even worse.

That nightmare had been the worst yet, and he still couldn't shake the gut-wrenching fear that ran through him as he had witnessed the murder of his brother right before his eyes. He hadn't been able to do or say anything, only watch. He kept telling himself it had only been a dream, but it had seemed so real and the fact that he was unable to protect Alphonse terrified him even more.

Edward felt a renewed sense of urgency. He went over to the bed and dressed quickly. After packing the rest of his belongings in his suitcase and glancing around the room one last time to be sure he had collected everything, he left.

He stopped by the front desk and returned the key to his room, thanking the man behind the counter as he hurried out.

There were still a couple more towns he could visit that were on his list. He tried to convince himself that asking around the town was not as useless as it was appearing. This was difficult, though, because so far he had had no luck with anything after finding the initial information in the library at Central. This was his only lead, so he had to stick with it until he came across something else.

Ed wished that Sid had told him where he would be hiding. "I guess he thought I could figure that out." Ed muttered to himself irritably. "Yeah, right."

He headed back to the train station, pulling out his notebook on the way, flipping it open to his list. "Golden Vale…" Ed spoke to himself. "Haven't been to that place before." When he made it up to the ticket counter, Ed asked for a one-way pass to the town, but then was surprised to hear that the railroad didn't even go through that way.

"Is it really that small?" Ed asked, sounding a bit depressed.

"I'm afraid so. The train doesn't make it to the small towns, unfortunately. You'll have to ride to the nearest city and then take a taxi car from there."

Ed propped his head in his hand and closed his eyes. "Fine. Where is the nearest city?"

"Um, I believe it would be…" The man paused and looked down at a map he kept on the table. Running his index finger down the column, he tapped the name when he found it. "Timperd City."

"Ok. I'll get a ticket to there." Ed said as he handed the man the money.

Edward pushed his way off the train again and stepped out into a clearing, taking a deep breath. "Geez, why do trains have to be so crowded all the time?" He let out a relieved sigh for being able to get some fresh air. After looking around him, he started making his way to the transportation center that would take him to Golden Vale.

The smell of food caught his attention immediately after he began walking, and his stomach growled loudly in response. "Ah, man, I better eat something before I collapse here." He turned into a small restaurant and sat down on a stool, ordering a couple bowls of rice and vegetables along with some ice water.

It didn't take him long to ingest the whole meal and he sighed loudly in satisfaction. He stood up and left the money along with a small tip.

Once he got back out on the main road, he stopped and looked around. "There it is." He said to himself as he spotted a building at the end of the road.

The woman in the shop looked up as Ed came in, the door hitting a small bell in the process.

She smiled. "How may I help you?"

"Oh, hey there." Ed greeted and raised his hand in a friendly wave. "I'm looking for a ride to Golden Vale. Can you get me there?"

"Of course, sir." The woman answered as she began filling out a request form and had Edward sign in his information and a signature.

She asked him to wait in the chair for a moment while she stepped in the back. The woman came out a moment later followed by a bigger man who walked over to Ed and extended his hand in greeting, taking Ed's into a firm handshake.

"I'm Cliff. I can take you to Golden Vale whenever you're ready to go."

Ed smiled in reply and said. "I'm ready now."

It didn't take much time for Cliff to get a car ready and pull around to the front. Ed threw his suitcase in the back and climbed into the back seat.

Cliff went around the car and got in, starting the engine.

The woman waved to her husband and Ed as they drove off to the east.

It took about an hour and a half before Cliff called back to Ed. "There's the town right up ahead."

Ed sat up from his slouched position and leaned out the side window to look at the town of Golden Vale ahead of them. He closed his eyes briefly and prayed that he would find the answers he was searching for here.