AN: Guest wished for longer chapters, so I'm going to try and have the chapters be longer! This one is over 2K, and I'm going to aim for making sure the next is even longer. Also stay for the end for another AN!

Disclaimer: I do not own Angels of Death or Fullmetal Alchemist.


Chapter 4

The elevator doors opened once more, and Ed lifted his head, gazing at the area ahead of them. As the sight registered in his brain, he balked at the familiarity of it.

A hospital?

Taking Rachel's hand, Ed stood and pulled her to her feet, the two venturing out of their safe haven to check out the new floor. It looked exactly like a hospital waiting room, something Ed's seen a lot of in his life.

"This place just got weirder." He commented, scratching his cheek.

Rachel pulled on Ed's sleeve to get his attention, frowning at the wall behind them.

"What is it?"

"Look, Ed." She pointed at the letter and number painted on the wall beside the elevator doors, "We're only on B5."

Ed cursed under his breath, scowling a bit. "I hate this place." He says, and he set off on their journey once again, pulling Rachel with him. She followed behind willingly, not wanting to stay longer than she had to.

The two left the waiting room and ventured through a long hallway, silence filling the air between them. It stayed that way for a few minutes, only to be broken by a third set of footsteps. Ed felt his body tense up, and he hastened his pace as his heart began to race. He exchanged a look with Rachel, who seemed to be thinking the same thing as him, nodding in his direction. The two shifted into a full on sprint together, and Ed heard whoever it was behind them change their pace to keep up.

Ed felt himself jerk back as Rachel gasped, and he turned around quickly to see a doctor holding Rachel's hand, preventing her from going any further. The newcomer panted, catching his breath as he smiled.

"Don't be scared! Rachel, it's me." He said, and Ed paused, honestly shocked that this man seemed to know Rachel.

"You know her?" He asked incredulously, an eyebrow raised. The doctor reacted as if he just noticed Ed was there, blinking at him as if he just appeared out of nowhere.

Rachel pulled her hand away from him and retreated behind Ed, gripping his arm as she hid. The doctor, for a brief second, looked displeased, before a pleasant smile graced his features.

"Ah, forgive me! Perhaps I acted a bit rash... My name is Daniel Dickens." He said, holding a hand to his heart as if his words came straight from there. "I'm Rachel's doctor."

Rachel started at that, gripping Ed's arm tighter as she gasped softly. "You... are?" She sounded surprised as she took a step forward.

Ed quickly took hold of Rachel's hand once more, staring intensely at Daniel. The man looked young, professional, and clean. Someone you would trust. But Ed just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with this doctor.

Daniel seemed to notice the tension brewing, and started to speak again. "Yes, Rachel, I'm your doctor. Remember? You tend to call me Doctor Danny." He spoke smoothly, his smile perfectly in place.

Rachel relaxed beside Ed, pulling her hand away as she nodded. "Right... yes, I remember." She said, her voice quiet. "You're my therapist."

Daniel reached into his pocket and retrieved a handkerchief, leaning forward and using it to wipe the blood away from her cheek, taking the moment to look her face over for wounds. Ed resisted the urge to smack his hands away.

He really didn't like this guy.

"So, Rachel, who's your new companion?" Daniel asked, now paying fully attention to Ed as he turned his gaze on him. Ed took notice of how the doctor's eyes locked onto his own, and didn't fail to see the spark of interest that flared up.

"Oh, this is-"

"Edward." Ed spoke harshly, glaring up at Daniel. Rachel blinked at how rigid his form was and frowned a bit, her small brows furrowing in confusion. Ed continued. "Just call me Edward."

Daniel smiled his perfect little smile, closing his eyes, and he returned the handkerchief to his pocket. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Edward. Hopefully we can get along together, yeah?"

"...Sure." Ed replied, turning his head away. He automatically took Rachel's hand, tugging her with him as he step off down the hallway. Daniel fell in step behind them despite Ed's internal wishes that he'd disappear. Something about the doctor rubbed Ed wrong in an almost familiar way, but he couldn't quite place it.

"What are you doing in this place, doctor?" Rachel asked quietly, glancing at the the doctor from over her shoulder. It was a bit awkward, but Edward seemed upset and she didn't want to aggravate him.

"Ah, I was waiting for you. I knew you'd make it here so we could escape together." Daniel replied, smiling down at Rachel.

Ed stopped at his words, causing the other two to pause as well, and they looked at him curiously.

"Ed?" Rachel asked tentatively, squeezing his hand.

"What do you mean, waiting?" Ed asked, whipping around as he pushed Rachel behind him. Daniel appeared surprised by the sudden movement, before his cool expression returned. Ed regarded him with cold suspicion, his body tense.

"I just meant that I made it to this floor not too long ago, Edward. I'm just like you in this place." Daniel said coolly, yet Edward felt his body jolt as if he'd been stabbed. This doctor seemed peculiar since he met him, and now his words were unearthing a memory from long ago.

"We're the same... We're the same, you and I!"

"You're wrong." Ed snapped, taking both Daniel and Rachel by surprise. Anger danced in his eyes, and tension rolled off his shoulders like waves. "I don't think you're like me at all." He glared holes at Daniel, almost seeing through him. A silhouette of someone else seemed to hover over the doctor. The walls around him morphed and darkened, and beady eyes stared at him through metal bars on all sides as the memory crept forward.

"Big brother-"

"Ed?" Rachel spoke up softly, snapping Ed back as he gasped quietly, whipping his head around to look at her. She stared up at him in concern, a small frown on her face. "Are you okay?" She asked, her voice barely higher than a whisper.

Ed licked his suddenly dry lips and nodded, squeezing her hand. "Yeah." He said, turning his gaze on Daniel and narrowing his eyes. "Just reminded me of something."

Daniel returned his stare evenly, seeming to be analyzing Ed, before he allowed his smile to grace his features once more. "Well, in any case, we should continue on." He said, pushing past the two and now taking the lead.

Ed watched him, feet unwilling to move, but he stumbled forward as Rachel tentatively tugged him along.

Silence filled the air as they walked through the seemingly never-ending hallway, passing a few doors, when Daniel suddenly stopped.

"What's the hold up?" Ed asked, irritated as he leaned to the right, peering around the doctor.

A glass wall blocked them from continuing straight on, and to the right of it was another hallway.

"Oh dear." Daniel said, oddly calm. "Looks like we can't go that way."

"Then we should find another way." Rachel stepped forward, looking down the other hallway, as Ed turned and tried the two nearby doors. Locked.

"Damn." Ed murmured, frowning. He turned to Daniel, watching him, and noticing his stare on Rachel. His eyes narrowed.

"Oi, Doctor." Ed called, catching his attention.

"Yes?" His eyes slide from Rachel to Ed eerily, and Ed repressed a shudder.

"Do you think there's keys around here?"

Daniel became thoughtful. "Hmm... Perhaps." He said after a long pause. "But we'd have to look for them."

"That's fine by me." Ed said abruptly, and he turned to Rachel. "Stay here while we go look, okay?"

Rachel went to protest, but upon seeing how serious of a look sat on Ed's face, she relented, nodding meekly.

Daniel seemed surprised but otherwise complied, following Ed as he lead the way back down the hallway. Ed could feel Rachel's stare on the back of his head as he and the doctor walked further away, rounding the corner and disappearing from her sight.

Daniel glanced over his shoulder for a moment, then turned his gaze to Ed. "You don't like me." He said in a matter of fact tone.

"No fucking shit." Ed spat, his shoulders hunched up. "I don't trust you as far as I can throw you- and I can throw pretty far." He stopped to look up at the doctor, cold daggers stabbing into Daniel's body, yet the man remained undisturbed. "But since Rachel knows you, I'll put up with you. For now."

Daniel Dickens, who seemed to be the epitome of calm, smiled freely in response. "If it's any consolation, I don't like you either." He retorted, now walking ahead and leaving Ed to catch up to him.

Ed found himself back in the lobby area, and he immediately began looking for keys, checking the under the chairs and in the plants, before moving on to the check in desk. He moved papers that could have been obscuring anything, and frowned. He began pulling drawers open, rifling through them, and then bent down to look under the desk when that lead him nowhere. He moved to straighten up when that, too, lead to disappointment, and froze when he felt something lean in from behind him. He yelped, whipped around quickly, and pushed back against the desk at seeing Daniel so close to him.

"What the hell, Daniel?!" Ed shouted, raising a hand to punch him, when he suddenly heard the jingle of metal near his ear. He blinked.

Daniel smiled eerily, holding a single key in front of Ed's face. "Found it." He said, leaning back and moving away from the check in desk.

"What- Where-?" Ed spluttered, watching Daniel walk away from him.

"The desk."

Ed frowned, and watched as Daniel approached a door he hadn't previously noticed. It was close to the elevator, and when Daniel tried the key, it worked, successfully unlocking it.

"How did you know the key would work?" Ed asked, finally moving to join the doctor as he stepped into the room.

"Had a feeling." Daniel said simply, not willing to elaborate.

Ed watched him carefully, then turned to take in the new room. It appeared to be an examination room dedicated to eyes, as posters of the subject manner line the wall. An examination bed sits in the room as well as a regular hospital bed to the right of the room, and there's a work desk by a medicine cabinet on the left. Ed even spotted a medical skeleton in the corner of the room. Seeing not many options, Ed resumed his key search by approaching the work desk.

"Don't walk up on me like that again or I'll deck you, got it?" Ed said, more as a threat than anything, but he paused upon hearing Daniel's dark chuckle.

"Understood." Daniel replied, and Ed whipped around as the door slammed shut, the lock sliding into place.

It wasn't even a second before Ed sprinted, throwing his weight against the door and grunting as it held in placed. He knew immediately it was reinforced.

"Daniel, you bastard!" Ed howled, and behind the door Ed heard an unnerving cackle.

"You were right to distrust me, but I think you underestimated by how much." Ed could hear the sneer in his voice, and he then sighed dreamily. "Now you can't bother me while I take Rachel's eyes. But don't worry! I'll be back to take your beautiful peepers after I get Rachel's baby blues."

"No! You better not touch her, you creep!" Ed snarled, slamming his fists into the door violently. "When I get out of here, I'm going to break your arms!"

"If you can get out, that is." Daniel's laugh was haughty, and Ed could hear him walking away.

Ed redoubled his efforts, bashing the door with his fists and only succeeding to cause the wood to splinter. He swung his left leg back and kicked as hard as he could, but only caused a dent in the thick wood. He grit his teeth, and stepped back to take a breath. He threw his body against the door once again, bracing his shoulder for impact. He could hear the door creak each time he slammed his full weight into the door, but with each second it held, Ed felt his panic rise higher.

"Rachel!" Ed shouted at the top of his lungs, hoping his voice would carry through the halls to her, to give her some sort of warning. "Rachel!"

...

Ding.


AN: Hello! I hope you've been enjoying this so far. It's pretty fun to write and I like seeing how much I can make the game change just with addition of Ed. Anything you're hoping to see? Please let me know!

I just wanted to say I may start writing an Angels of Death/Ib crossover fic after I work out the general plot. I don't want to talk about it too much, but it will be taking place during the events of Ib and after the events of Angels of Death. I have plenty of ideas for it already and I'm willing to take suggestions from you readers as well if you'd like to contribute. This fic is also one I'm considering to use as content for my newfound Zack/Garry ship as I accidentally started shipping them the more I thought about this crossover akjsdfkd if that's not your cup of tea then I apologize but if no one will write it then I will.

That's the gist of what I had to say, so please give me your thoughts in the reviews, or PM me if you'd rather! I'm looking forward to what you have to say.