Back again folks! With a new, slightly scary one shot! Anonymous J requested something scary for the upcoming Halloween holiday, so here it is! There are more to come! ;)

Enjoy reading!

Phantom Pain

Frantic hands clawed at his face, gripped at his own hair, scratched at his chest. His whole body thrashed from side to side, shivered, rocked with spasms and shocks all over.

He swore there was a scar, right over his rapidly beating heart, but when his fingers caressed at the spot, he only touched smooth, taut skin.

No dents, no scratchy surface, no broken tissue, no blood. Nothing.

When his haunted eyes finally lowered to look at it, at the source of all his pain, he could have sworn he...

He saw it.

Those round, innocent eyes looking up at him. Then the beady, white eyes of the creature that sorry excuse of a father turned her into for the sake of his State Alchemist license. He shut his eyes tightly closed but the images kept resurfacing, over and over again.

He grasped at his chest again, at the pain, but then he realized it.

The pain wasn't coming from an injury, it was coming from his heart. Golden eyes widened in terror.

He released a guttural scream, blunt nails tearing at himself, willing himself to think of something else, anything else.

It wasn't just the little girl he couldn't save, it wasn't just Nina, it was his brother, whom he selfishly robbed of his body and the ability to feel the warmth of another just to see his mother's warm smile again. it were his friends, all whom helped him achieve his biggest priority; to get their bodies back.

He panted heavily, a thin sheen of sweat covering his whole body, his body wracked with violent tremors. An image of Greed appeared before him, when he sacrificed himself, how horrified he was along with Ling, Lan Fan and...and Lena...how devastated she was when she thought he had died.

A warm, soft hand settled itself gently on his heaving chest, and he felt his whole body fill with warmth.

The violent tremors slowly stopped, the pain stopped.

Fear unlatched itself from his heart like an icy veil slowly melting from the sun's warm rays, his mind slowly cleared.

Gold eyes blinked slowly and he took slow, deliberate breaths in order to calm himself down.

When he looked to his right, he saw her there.

His peace, his salvation, his sanity...

It was his wife, Winry.

She smiled, fully aware of what he had been going through now. Affectionately, her hand slid over to his other pectoral and soothingly caressed the area where his heart was, beating more normally now thanks to her presence.

He heaved a relieved sigh, grasping her smaller hand in his larger one, marveling at the small calluses from hard work and tinkering with her automail in the shop all day.

He lifted it up to his face and lovingly kissed her knuckles, breathing in her comforting and familiar scent of metal and her own scent.

She smiled, lifting herself to cuddle closer to him, kissing his cheek and laying her head on his shoulder.

He had her support and comfort, he knew that, but...

The images wouldn't disappear, never.

They never would.

And he would need to live with the burden for the rest of his life.

He still heard the terrified screams. He still felt the pain. The pain of his past.

That phantom pain that would haunt him every time he closed his eyes.

This was just the start of a few upcoming (longer) more scarier/angsty one shots! The next one shot will be called "A Soldier's Burden". SUGGESTIONS are always welcome!