Hello again! Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I think that there will only be one or two more chapters to this story but it will be all nicely wrapped up.

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Within half an hour Ed was back from the dry cleaners with Roy's laundry as he handed it over silently to lieutenant Hawkeye.

Unknown to Ed he was being watched.

Roy loitered in the corridor outside his office watching the back of Edward.

After handing over the laundry to Hawkeye Ed turned silently away heading back towards the dorms, presumably to his room.

Roy had discovered that was where he spent most of his time now. He hadn't been seen in the library for so long the staff that were so used to him haunting the isles were worried that something had happened to him on a mission.

It seemed the Fullmetal alchemist had lost his love of books and research.

He'd apparently also developed a tendency of being a late riser and going for walks during the night.

All of these things indicated a change in Ed, he was restless, unsettled.

What was bothering Fullmetal?

Sighing Roy gave up his idea in perusing Ed and returned to his office.

If Hawkeye caught him wandering around he didn't know what she would do…

-

Pushing his door shut after him Ed clicked the lock into place. The room was filled with a pale grey light that sifted through his still closed curtains whilst the air was stale and musty.

Leaning his back against the wall Ed wiped his hand tiredly across his brow as he gradually slid down the wall into a seated position on the floor.

Did Roy know something was wrong?

He had asked…

But that means nothing a bitter mocking voice said from that back of his mind, a new part of himself that he had only recently realised was there. A horrible snide little voice that always knew the exact words to say to bring you down, to make you doubt yourself.

Despair rose in an unbearable wave within him, choking him from the intensity of the emotion.

Another day. Another pointless mission. The continuation of his pointless life.

Burying his face in his hands Ed tried to fight against it. Gritting his teeth he held back tears feeling the corners of his mouth twitch downwards.

This feeling was different from the other times, it was too strong.

Staggering upwards Ed walked over to his bed were he reached under the mattress with his flesh hand so he could feel what he was searching for.

Pulling the object out he held it shakily with both hands as he stared uncertainly down at it.

A knife.

Nothing more then a sharp kitchen knife, but a knife none the less.

As Ed looked down at it he saw he eyes reflected staring back at him in the bright metal.

Not that the blade showed it but it had been covered in his blood before.

Leaning back against the walls Ed took a deep breath as he pushed up the sleeve of his left arm.

Closing his eyes he lowered the knife until he felt the sharpness of the blade against his wrist.

-

Over the next couple of days Roy found more evidence that there was something seriously wrong with Ed.

Roy no longer saw him at the dining hall, true he could be eating out or just getting food from the kitchens but Ed wasn't one to turn down unlimited amounts of free food.

Apparently Ed hadn't left him room during the day since he was sent to collect his dry cleaning.

It had been a couple of days after the dry cleaning mission that Roy had given him that Ed had passed Roy in the corridor avoiding his eyes.

Then something about the alchemist had caught his eye.

There was a red patch on his left sleeve that was darker then the rest.

As he passed the boy giving him a nod of recognition it wasn't until he was halfway down the corridor that the sleeve had seemed of any significance.

In the middle of the shiny corridor floor was a red drop of liquid.

It instantly caught Roy's eye. Crouching down next to it he recognised it obviously as blood.

Standing, Roy looked back down the corridor for Ed but he was no where in sight.

Even now there was no proof that the blood had been Ed's, or that the darker red on his sleeve had been blood but Roy was certain of it, even if he couldn't prove it.

By this point it was not only Roy who had been thinking Ed was acting differently. Hughes had commented on the boy's behaviour after Ed had left Roy's office one day.

"What did you say to Ed, Roy? I don't think I've ever seen him look so down." Hughes had said, sticking his head in around the door frame.

"I didn't say anything worse then usual. I'm glad you noticed it too though, I've thought Ed had been acting weird for a while but no one else seemed to pick up on it." Roy said intently as he watched for his friend's reaction.

"He just seems to have lost his fire; he looked disheartened when he came out of your office, that's why I thought you'd been shouting at him or something." Hughes said as he stepped further into Roy's office.

"I don't know what's going on but I want someone to watch him. You're handy with a camera Maes, I want you to secretly follow Ed in any spare moment you have and to find out exactly what he's up to." Roy said seriously.

That had been a couple of days ago.

Roy hadn't seen Ed since that day he had passed him in the corridor with that darker red stain on his sleeve. There had been no new missions coming into the office so he hadn't given Ed one. Even if there had been he wouldn't have, not until the meaning behind Ed's strange behaviour had been uncoverd.

Roy's thoughts were once again on the blond alchemist as he sat idly behind his desk doodling on the back of a piece of paper work.

KNOCK KNOCK

"Enter." Roy called snapping awake from his musings.

The door swung open to unveil Hughes with an uncharacteristically grim look on his face.

"Maes, how are you?" Roy said

"I'm fine." He said shortly before shutting the door after him as he continued in a quieter voice. "I have some…information to report back to you about Edward. I thought you would want to deal with the problem."

Silently Hughes placed a brown envelope on the desk before Roy.

Looking curiously up at the man Roy slit open the top of the envelope pulling out a number of black and white photos.

The first just seemed to be Ed drinking a drink in a café.

"What am I supposed to be looking at here?" Roy asked.

"Look closer. At his left wrist." Hughes said seriously, no sign of his usual smile.

Looking back at the photograph Roy saw what Hughes was talking about. Ed was holding his drink in his left hand, the cup half raised towards his lips. His sleeve had fallen back revealing raised scar lines across his wrist.

There was silence for a long time.

"Thank you Maes, if you'll excuse me I need to make a phone call." Roy said as he put the photos down sadly.

Hughes nodded silently in understanding before leaving.

Roy sat in a kind of horrified trance as he looked through all the pictures.

Picking up the phone he dialled and unfamiliar number.

"Hello, this is Colonel Mustang. I need to speak to Alphonse Elric. It's urgent."