A/N: Again, a big thanks for all the support I've gotten. Reading the reviews and watching the hit rate rise is an extraordinary motivator, and I'm extremely grateful to all of you for that. Enjoy!

I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of its characters.

Won't Let It Be You

"Damn it!"

A hard automail hand slapped the table, rattling the wood and sending carefully stacked books tumbling to the floor. Alphonse looked up from the page he'd been puzzling over. Ed was on his feet, his face the picture of frustration.

"Another dead end. This is pointless, Al. We're never going to find a real philosopher's stone!"

Al rubbed a hand over the back of his metal neck and gave a little sigh. This new lead had been promising, but only as much as any of the others. Still, the brothers had researched it with the same vigor, the same secretly hopeful dedication. The evidence of how hard they'd worked was stamped on Ed's face, evident in the shadows under his eyes and the hair tousled by frustrated fingers.

"Don't say that, Brother," Al said, battling back his own disappointment. "We'll find a philosopher's stone. We will. We just haven't found the right lead yet."

Ed kicked back his chair and paced the private library room.

"And what if there is no right lead?" he asked, his words hot with aggravation. "What if the reason why no one has ever found a real philosopher's stone is because it actually doesn't exist?"

This was an old argument, and one the Elrics revisited with increasing frequency. One would doubt, the other would parry, and then they'd go round and round until a new resolve was established.

But today, Al couldn't quite seem to work up the optimism that his brother was looking for.

"And what if it doesn't?" he asked quietly. "What do we do then, Brother? Do we adjust? Try to find a way to live as we are?"

Ed faltered in the middle of contemplating whether or not kicking the bookshelf would relieve some of his irritation. Al was disrupting the rhythm of this argument, and when he looked over to figure out why, he saw his younger brother sitting with his giant shoulders stooped and his eyes fixed on his folded hands.

"Al," Ed said, moving back to the table.

Al bowed his head and didn't meet his brother's eyes. Ed ran a helpless hand over his face, battling back the familiar frustration of seeing his younger brother in pain and being unable to help. It burned the back of his throat like acid, made him want to scream at the unfairness of it.

Why, when it had been Ed's mistake that cost them, had Al paid the heavier price?

"No, Al. We won't adjust. I won't leave you to live your life this way, unable to touch, or taste, or feel." Ed bowed his head, so that his hair fell over his face. "I made you a promise. I won't stop until I find a way to get you back, with or without a philosopher's stone."

Al shifted away from the table. He dropped to his knees on the floor and started picking up the books Ed had scattered.

"Without the philosopher's stone, we can't duck the law of the equivalent exchange," Al reminded his brother softly.

"I know."

"And what would you be using to pay the price it would take to get my body back?"

Ed curled his fists on the table.

"Whatever I have left," he murmured.

Al looked down at the thick tome in his hands, and then wound up and heaved it at his brother's head. It hit Ed right in between the eyes, nearly flattening him to the floor. He pin wheeled for a moment, releasing a strangled sound of pain and surprise.

"Ouch!" he shouted, cupping a hand over his face. "What the hell, Al? What was that for?"

Al got to his feet.

"Didn't you hear anything I said after Scar blew off your arm?" Al shouted right back. "Self-sacrifice isn't a part of our plan, Ed! You are not allowed to kill yourself out of some misplaced sense of nobility! It's my body, if anyone's paying for it, it's going to be me!"

"Why would I let you pay for my mistake?" Ed shot back. "I'm the older brother, Al. Shut up and stop arguing with me."

Al made a frustrated sound inside his armor and dropped the books on the table. A soft silence fell over the room, as Al continued to scoop up books and Ed watched him out of troubled eyes.

Finally, he said; "I've told you before, Al. This isn't your burden. I made this mistake, and now I'm going to fix it. All you have to do is make sure that there's something left for me to fix."

Al slapped the last few books onto the table and raised his red eyes to Ed's golden ones.

"And I've told you, Brother, that we both made this mistake. It's both of our faults. So it isn't right for you to take this all on yourself."

Ed shook his head and dropped back down in his seat. He was smiling now, a tiny smile that had nothing to do with joy.

"If we can't find the philosopher's stone," he said. "If we can't ignore the laws. One of us is going to have to pay the price to fix the other. But that's a one-sided equivalent exchange, Al, you understand?"

"I know, Brother."

Ed reached down to touch the pocket watch resting at his hip.

"So, if that ever comes, that day where we can't ignore the law, the one that will be paying is me."

Al inclined his head and shifted his bulk back into his own seat.

"And the one that will be stopping you is me," he said.

Ed's smile grew a little, and he ducked his head again. In two separate heads, an identical thought ran through the silence.

Maybe that day will come. Maybe one of us will have to pay. But I won't let it be you, Brother.

I won't let it be you.