Thank you all so much for reviewing! Yep- MAES LIVES! Finally, I get to use my favorite happy character. Trust me, I'm just excited as all of you!

Now- onwards! :D

Maes was completely, utterly lost, and in a complete, utter panic.

Ed and Roy. Back.

And sitting together on the floor outside his apartment, covered in blood, and completely, utterly unconscious.

There was too much impossible about this situation for him to ever comprehend.

Maes reached his shaking hand forward, an unsteady gasp lurching past his lips when he finally made contact with Roy's wet face. Oh, god. He was freezing. "R… Roy," he mumbled, stunned, though his voice was useless; he might as well have been talking at a brick wall for all that it roused him. "I…" Trembling harder, he lowered his hand down to Ed- small, blood-soaked Ed, god, where was his automail, small blood-soaked Ed who hadn't moved an inch since he'd gotten here-

Who was… ice cold…

"No," he breathed, horror pressing into his heart. "No… no, Ed. Oh, no, don't do this…"

He had to grasp his arm in his hands, so malnourished and wet and sickly and cold; when Maes finally managed to get a firm grasp around his wrist, the pulse he finally found was too thready and weak to reassure him but the fact that it was there at all nearly keeled him over with a gutwrenching sense of relief. Roy was alive, he'd known that, but when Maes quickly transferred his exam to him next, he found a similarly weak heartbeat under similarly cold skin, and knew he had to act quickly.

"M- Maes?" he heard Gracia stammer behind him, and turned just in time to catch her eyes widen in disbelief. "Is that…?"

"Ed and Roy," he filled in shakily; he could barely recognize his own voice, it was so shocked. "I don't have any idea how or why but it's them, Gracia. It's-…" He broke off for a moment, suddenly smiling, suddenly without even the strength to fight it back because they were alive, he'd been so damn scared but here they were, both of them, and he could still feel Roy's heart beating languidly under his hands and oh god they were alive- "C-call an ambulance," he stammered again, still holding Roy. "Then help me get them inside, quickly. They need help, Gracia."

It took her more than a moment to manage a reply, but given the circumstances, he never could've blamed her. Hell, he thought it would've taken him even longer. He heard her hurried agreement as her footsteps ran from him, leaving Maes alone again in the hallway with his best friend and subordinate still out cold before him, and still just too shocked for words.

God, Roy… Ed… He stared between them in horror, and it took more than he wanted to admit for him to get his shaking hands to move forward again, drifting uneasily between the blood that covered the both of them. It- it couldn't be as bad as it looked. Right? It just couldn't. There was so much blood… but if that was all theirs- no. Simply no. Based off everything he could see the two had just walked here under their own power, but if all that blood was theirs, that had to be impossible! There was so much- and they were both so cold…

A frantic gasp caught in his throat and Maes pulled them forward, one arm thrown around Roy's limp shoulders and the other catching Ed to keep him from falling, heart shuddering in his chest and blinking back hot, stubborn tears. They'd been missing so long… and were so obviously hurt, mistreated, Roy had been terrified out of his mind…

They couldn't die. After whatever unimaginable hells they'd made it through to make it back to them tonight, they couldn't, couldn't, die.

Gracia finally returned behind him; he heard her even with his arms still wrapped protectively around the two cold, limp bodies and his face pressed miserably to Roy's neck. Swallowing tightly, Maes tightened his arms for one second longer, then forced himself backwards, rubbing the back of his trembling hand against his face. "Come on, let's get them inside," he forced out, voice still noticeably thick but at the moment he was too exhausted and shocked to care. "Did they say how long it would be?"

His wife nodded reluctantly as she joined him on the floor, the both of them awkwardly maneuvering together to try and move them at least out of the hallway, Gracia reaching down to carry Ed while Maes awkwardly hefted Roy up, trying not to put pressure on any possible injuries. "Half an hour," she told him, letting Maes lead the way inside. "They said they would try to get here as fast as possible, but with the bridge down and the blockades…"

Maes cursed silently, biting his lip. He'd seen that one coming, as much as it worried him; even with the ambulance being expedited through the roadblocks, he'd known it would take a while, and that calling them back to scream they're my FRIENDS, damn it! would accomplish exactly nothing except a pissed off dispatcher. It certainly wouldn't provide any sort of aid for Ed and Roy. So, sighing, he just gave his understanding through a terse nod and kicked the door shut with his heel behind them, Roy still supported in his arms as he watched his wife move forward, carrying Ed.

"Roy was c-conscious," he gasped, gingerly lowering his best friend to the floor. Oh, god. He was so cold. He wasn't moving. No… "Out there, he- he talked to me, Gracia- he talked to me for a little before he passed out, he was awake, he- he has to be okay, right? Or that's a good sign, at least? Isn't it?"

His wife nodded to him as she moved backwards, helping to get Ed inside. "Well, it's certainly not a bad sign, at least..."

Maes forced himself to nod back, insides squirming, but still couldn't tear his eyes from the sight long enough to even really look at her. Roy was utterly unmoving, half in his arms, half on the floor, alternately white as a sheet and covered in so much blood it was horrifying. Maes just couldn't stop himself from starting to rub his hands vigorously up and down his cold arms, trying to force some warmth into him and trying just as desperately not to look at Ed, who was worse in every way. He barely heard his wife tell him to wait or her footsteps as she ran further back into the apartment, leaving him alone again as he tried and failed to calm his frantic heart.

Please be okay… please, god, be okay…

Gracia returned almost immediately, bundles of supplies in her arms and he immediately thanked every single god there was that his wife was a nurse and a damn good one at that; he could think of no one else he'd want here with him to not only get Ed and Roy through this, but get him through it as well. He hugged Roy tighter, only half under the guise of keeping him supported, to watch as Gracia threw a collection of towels out over the floor, already firmly in nurse mode.

"Let's get lying them down…" she murmured, examining Ed herself; Maes' stomach twisted when the boy just flopped limply in her arms like a dead fish. "On his stomach. His back looks to be what's hurt- is Roy the same?"

Maes swallowed as he looked down at his best friend again, starting to examine him with shaking hands. It was hard to tell in the dim lighting and with the blood all over him, all of it wet, all of it recent… his face was bruised, badly enough for Maes to recognize it as a fist fight gone very, very wrong- although given his best friend's state, he doubted it was a fight so much as a beating, and his blood boiled, but that wasn't what Gracia was asking about. That wasn't what had him potentially bleeding out in his arms.

He moved down his arms next, still rubbing them vigorously and his heart clenched at the sensation; surely it wasn't just his imagination, they had to be getting warmer, they had to be. He trailed down his arms, relatively unscathed, some telling ligature marks around his wrists that again had him seeing red, then-

Maes stopped, his heart lurching in his chest.

His hands.

God, his hands.

They… they…

Roy's pale, powerful hands had been destroyed. Maes honestly couldn't find even an inch of unhurt skin past his scuffed, bruised wrists. God, he couldn't even tell what had happened to them. There were deep, dark purple and red bruises scattered over the backs, the fingers swollen so badly he knew they could be broken, and gently turning one over made his heart lurch again to see the red, raw burns scattered across his palms. This wasn't just to disable his hands as an alchemist… these people had fucking tortured him.

It took Maes a couple seconds to exhale his tense anger, blinking hard and forcing himself to stop. Yes, it was horrible, yes, he wanted to tear the monster responsible apart- but his hands weren't why he was potentially bleeding out, either.

And that was all there was time for him to care about, right now.

Maes gingerly let Roy's hands drop, just because there was no way for him to hold them without hurting him. He examined the rest of him as fast as he could, moving the limp form forward in his arms, trying to find the source of all that damn blood-

"I think it's his back," he finally managed, voice hoarse and shaking. He glanced nervously at Gracia as he started to lay Roy down on the waiting towels, positioning him on his stomach and turning his head gently to the side so he could breathe easier, just the way Gracia had gotten Ed down. "Hang on, let me see…"

Maes started to reach for Roy's shirt, had already started to try and peel it over his head when Gracia yanked him back, holding both his hands in hers tightly and shaking her head. "Wait, wait, Maes- look!" She pointed first to Roy, then Ed as well, and when he just stared blankly, his wife moved forward herself, lightly trailing a hand across Ed's still, bleeding back. "They must've been burned, somehow. Their clothes are fused to the skin in places, Maes; we can't get them off without hurting them."

Maes half-choked, darting forward again to squint and stare, heart pounding in disbelief. "They're what?" he breathed, horrified. It was true, he realized- the thin fabric had already been destroyed anyway, soaked through with blood and torn, fraying, but when he looked closer he could see what Gracia was talking about, where the blood seemed to be the worst. It was true for both of them. He could see where the shirts had been burned black and were stuck to Ed and Roy's skin.

"Oh, god," he choked out, running a shaking hand lightly over Roy's back, then stared at Ed, sucking in another trembling gasp. "Gracia, that's…"

"They'll be okay, Maes," his wife promised gently, still kneeling by Ed's side, eyes narrowed with worry. "They'll be able to get it off in the ER; they'll be fine- right now we just need to try and slow the blood loss and keep them warm. Keep pressure on what wounds we can." As she spoke she grabbed another towel from the bundle she'd brought out with her, quickly wrapping it around Ed like a blanket, and Maes wasted no time in jumping to do the same for Roy. He'd trust his wife. He had to trust her that they would be okay, that this was all they could do for them. That had to be true, because if not…

If not…

Maes shut his suddenly stinging eyes for a moment, swallowing hard as he wrapped both his arms and a second towel around Roy, trying not to see the blood already soaking through. He desperately fought to ignore how cold every bit of exposed skin still was, how Roy was smaller than he ought to be, head lolling limply against his shoulder. He tightened his arms, half to keep him warm, half because he just couldn't help himself, because Roy was here and alive after weeks and weeks missing and Ed was here with him, and he'd never been so relieved in his life, but…

Maes swallowed, looking back down at Roy and shifting a little, the investigator in him starting to take over, to look for the evidence he knew he'd need the moment the ambulance got here- so he could find just who the hell had done this to them. And again, Maes found himself swamped with confusion and uncertainty. Sure, he'd never really been sure what to expect when (when, not if, when) they'd found Ed and Roy, but… this?

They both looked as if they'd just broken out of a hospital. Both wearing sets of scrubs completely soaked through with blood, but thin, pale scrubs all the same. Narrowing his eyes, Maes gently shifted Roy around again, sliding the towel down just a bit in sudden inspiration- then scowled. Yes, there it was… a dark bruise in the crook of his elbow. Considering how relatively unscathed the rest of his arms were, considering everything-

The bruise from an IV?

Maes stared harder, his brow furrowing.

Slowly, his heart pounding even harder, he gingerly lifted Roy's cold arm up into the air, and- sure enough. Just as he'd suspected. A plastic hospital ID bracelet around his wrist, identifying him as a hospital patient.

A hospital patient with dozens of untreated wounds, and based off the red marks around his wrist, one who had every sign of having been held prisoner.

His eyes narrowed again.

Immediately Maes slid his thumb between the loose band and Roy's wounded skin, snapping it off with a barely suppressed growl. Still cradling his limp friend with one arm, he lifted the thing up to squint at it again, reading the tiny print.

"Psychiatric Ward," he murmured, hissing out the words like a curse.

"Psychi… what?" Gracia breathed, eyes wide. She stared at him, then looked back down at Ed's arm to pull at his matching bracelet, lifting it up so she could see it for herself. She gasped again. "Maes…"

Maes closed his eyes, his mind racing.

Roy's limp, cold form in his arms chilled him more than he wanted to admit, and for a second, he couldn't even speak at all.

"A few days ago," he said hesitantly at last, "a woman got sent to my office. A psychiatric nurse. It took a week or two for the military police to finally send her my way; we didn't realize who she was, at first… but she wanted to talk to the police because she was worried her patients were being mistreated, but her hospital wasn't listening to her or doing anything about it." He paused for a moment longer, swallowing tightly. "She said their names were Edward Elric and Roy Mustang."

Gracia stiffened across from him, gasping again, and Maes squeezed his eyes shut with a guilty moan. "I know. I know… we were going to check it out tomorrow- but, Gracia, we thought she was crazy! Their names have been in the paper, we thought- we see it more often than you'd think. Lunatics off the street who read about crimes in the newspaper, we had no idea- she was telling the truth?!" Maes shook his head in disbelief, still talking more to himself than her as he gently hugged Roy closer again, heart pounding.

He'd never actually really believed the young woman when she'd finally gotten rerouted to his office, sitting there telling them the story of her realizing her psych patients maybe weren't that crazy after all. It had just seemed too convenient to be true. Because, after all, if her story was true- why the hell had they never broken out themselves? Both genius, combat state alchemists, imprisoned by a couple nurses and some locked doors? Because that was the story she had told.

He didn't think so.

Except, now…

Well, he was starting to realize there was a hell of a lot more to this than what that nurse had told them.

Shaking his head vigorously, Maes fought back his guilt to suffer it later, instead again just tightening his arms and looking to his stunned, blinking wife again. "Gracia, can we cancel that ambulance?"

"Maes…?"

He frowned slightly, transferring his gaze back to his best friend again. Roy was starting to shiver, he thought, just a little… anything was better than that dead stillness from before, though, and Maes swallowed the lump in his throat, rubbing his hands encouragingly down his arms again. "I don't know what's going on here, but by the looks of things, they just broke out of a hospital. I don't know that it's safe to put them back in one."

It might've been overkill, it might not have been- Maes didn't care. He'd spent the last few months trying and absolutely failing to find them- well, now that they'd somehow fought their way back to safety again, his job wasn't to find them, but to protect them.

He sure as hell wasn't going to fail at that now.

But Gracia was already shaking her head to him, adjusting the towel around Ed and Maes blanched to see even more blood soaking through it than there was for Roy. "Maes, just based off from what I've seen now, they both need a sterile environment and trained physicians. They both need blood transfusions now, before they go into shock! They need a hospital, Maes, not some military safehouse! Even just for a day or two… Maes, it's not safe!"

Maes cursed under his breath as he looked between the two again, touching Roy's still freezing skin and looking to where Ed lay limply in his wife's arms, white and barely breathing. He'd be able to get them to a doctor, at least; as much as he'd grumble about it, he could enlist Knox- but he was worried she was right. They needed more help than he alone could get to them, and he still didn't even know the half of what they'd been through.

"A private hospital, then," he sighed heavily, shutting his eyes. "We'll get them to a private hospital and admitted under false names. Then remove them as soon as possible." They'd be safe, still- he'd make sure of it. Either his staff or Roy's would be there so they'd be under guard twenty four seven, and the moment he could he'd get them out of there until he'd found just who the hell had done this to them. Oh, Roy's staff… he was going to have to call Hawkeye soon, she'd be so relieved- and Al…!

Shaking himself again, Maes gently started to shift Roy around again to get him lying back down. He'd answered the door expecting to find nothing at all out there, but in today's climate, far better to be safe rather than sorry- but looked like he badly needed to change course. He was going to grab his military ID and as much of his uniform as he could throw on in a split second, not wanting to leave Roy alone for any longer than that.

But as Maes started to lie his best friend down on the floor, Roy suddenly shivered harder, twitching away from his arms with a soft moan. The colonel curled slightly, trembling, deathly pale face contorting just a little- and Maes froze, hardly daring to move.

Was he waking up…?

"…Roy?" he called softly, his clothes and ID all but forgotten. "Buddy? Can you hear me?"

Roy moaned softly again, his brow furrowing. He turned his head away a little more, mouth falling into a miserable, painful frown.

"Roy?" he murmured again. His voice cracked and against his better judgment, he reached to hold him tighter, suddenly absolutely unable to even think of putting him down.

There was a third soft, distressed moan. This time, Maes could hear the pain in the tiny sound alone.

Heart jolting in his chest, Maes swallowed hard and started to lower Roy again, thinking of the horrible wounds on his back and certain it had to be hurt to be held like this; it be easier for him lying down, no matter how much he wanted to not let him go. "Shh, it's okay," he cautioned, gently lowering Roy down to his stomach. "It's just me, Maes… you're safe now."

Roy let out another soft, pained noise, one trembling and bleeding hand curling against the towels. He twitched, a stuttering gasp escaping past clenched teeth… and then opened his eyes.

Maes' heart leapt.

"Buddy!" he cried, moving forward before he could stop himself. He lowered a hand to rest gently against the side of his head, touching his longer, greasy hair, a smile already spreading across his face. "Hey… welcome back, Roy."

A frown creased into Roy's face again. His dark, bleary eyes narrowed- not even looking at Maes once.

Slowly, searchingly, they moved across the room to land on Ed.

In that instant, Maes felt Roy stiffen.

And then, he was gone.

"Fullmetal! FULLMETAL! Leave him alone!" Roy was suddenly scrambling, fists flying; Maes took a blow to the jaw that left him on the floor. "Don't touch him! DON'T TOUCH HIM!"

"R-Roy-" he gasped, pushing himself back up but in that second alone, Roy was now gone and Gracia was left gaping against the wall, disheveled and wide-eyed. "Roy-"

"GET AWAY FROM US!" Roy slipped and slid away from them, Ed wrapped in the towel in his arms while the colonel stumbled and almost fell, looking no more suited to be up and moving around than Ed himself. But he still ran, sprinting away from them, banging around a corner like the devil himself was on his tail.

"Roy!" Maes cried again, jolting upright in an instant to try and follow. "Roy, wait, it's okay! It's just me! You're safe!"

But his words didn't get Roy to stop. The colonel just ran from him and Maes had no choice but to follow behind, trailing in horror, hurrying behind as he chased Roy straight back- to his own bedroom? Roy was shaking and bleeding and barely on his feet at all but kept moving regardless, kept moving even when Maes came to a hesitant stop in the doorway to block his only way out, and found himself staring in horror instead.

The colonel turned around the room like a rat in a maze, gasping at every wall and shaking harder and harder with every step that he took that led him nowhere. He jolted backwards from Maes, wide-eyed and terrified, nearly tripping over his own feet, shaking his head over and over again. "S-stay back- get away from me-" He stumbled until he hit the far wall, pressing himself against it and shaking, Ed still unconscious and cradled against his chest. "Don't come any closer!"

Maes stared at him in dawning, shocked horror. "…Roy?" he asked hesitantly, not daring to move any closer than he already was. Slowly he raised his hands, showing him he was unarmed, but that didn't seem to put him at ease at all. "Roy, it's okay, just- just take it easy…"

"SHUT UP!" Roy screamed, half sobbing as he fell, knees buckling, bloody back scraping against the wall. "Stay over there! Don't get near me, or I swear- I s-swear, I'll-"

He trailed off, cracked speech silencing, shaking voice dying without ever finishing the words as he hit the floor, holding Ed in his lap and gasping so fast it sounded as if he just might pass out. "STOP IT!" he shouted, shouted even though Maes wasn't doing anything, even though he wasn't even anywhere near him, even though he was safe now and Maes would die before he let anybody past him now, ever. "S-stop… stay away… j-just get away from us… please…"

Maes' breath against caught in his throat. His heart clenched.

It sounded like, underneath the anger and fear and violence… Roy was crying.

"Get away f-f-from us," he sobbed, clutching Ed to his chest, staring up at Maes with those wide, fear stricken eyes. "D-don't… please…"

What the hell had these people done to them?

Roy was actually scared. Scared of him. Holding and protecting Ed- from him. Backed up into a corner and shaking, terrified, sobbing- because of what he thought Maes was going to do to him.

Maes took a long, shaking breath, forcing himself to stay calm and still in the doorway. Roy had lost god only knew how much blood and was in god only knew how much pain. Roy had, somehow, turned up here in the middle of the night, almost certainly on the run for his life. Roy and Ed had been through things he didn't want to even think about.

That was all this was. They were going to be fine. Once they'd been treated and given a chance to calm down and realize they were safe, they'd be fine. He just had to get them through this.

So Maes started to lower himself down to the ground, watching Roy as he might a wild dog as he slowly got down to his knees and still showing him his hands, trying to reinforce the fact that he was not a threat. "It's okay," he said quietly again, praying Gracia would follow his lead, praying Elicia would stay asleep or at least in her room, praying it wouldn't get worse from here. "I'm not going to hurt you, Roy… you and Ed are safe here, all right? Just calm down, buddy…"

Roy just stayed on the floor, shaking, not saying anything, hugging Ed to him in wordless terror. Taking Roy's silence as permission, he dared to take one step forward- only to jolt to a stop again when Roy cried out in terror.

"It's m-my fault," he stammered, high-pitched and near hysterical. "It's m-mine- I made him come with me, I forced him to do this- don't take it out on him! Please, please don't hurt him again, just punish me, it's all my fault, just let him go, t-take me, I-" His voice cracked, broken with sobs, and then he wasn't looking at Maes any longer, burying his face into Ed's hair as he dragged the boy against his chest and turned, using his bloodied back to shield him from Maes, the rest of the room, the world. "It's my fault, it's all my fault… I did this to him… take me, take me…"

Maes froze again, shaking in the doorway. His heart clenched, breaking as Roy just pulled away from him and sobbed, obviously terrified out of his mind and there was nothing Maes could do to stop it.

He didn't know what the hell these people had done to them, but even after barely ten minutes of this, he was starting to realize that he didn't want to know.

He didn't want to even imagine what could've made Ed, that confident, nearly indomitable boy, lie limp and bleeding in Roy's arms, or made his best friend, one of the smuggest, most rightfully arrogant people Maes had ever known, sit there sobbing in the corner in sheer terror.

He didn't want to know- but he also had a very bad feeling that he didn't have a choice.

"Hey, buddy, look at me," he started gently, sinking fully to his knees but knowing it'd be too dangerous to try and move forward just yet. "It's just me. I won't hurt you, I promise." He waited several moments, biting his lip again. "Can you let me take a look at Ed, Roy?"

The reaction, predictably, was immediate.

And not favorable.

"Don't touch him," Roy gasped, half a sob, half a broken, desperate order. "I killed the others- I'll fucking kill you, too. Don't make me do it. I'll do it. I'll do it." He lowered a shaking hand, fingers clenching into the wet blood soaking his shirt then started to draw on his arm, a circle, a triangle- but he was shaking too hard and Maes watched, horrified, as Roy tried again and again, sobbing desperately with each failed attempt. "Don't touch us, I'll kill you, I'll kill you, don't touch him, please…"

"I won't hurt either of you, Roy, I promise." Maes' voice broke again and he looked between Ed and Roy, his eyes lingering on Ed's noticeably shallow breaths, how Ed was still bleeding, how despite all the moving around Ed was still yet to stir even once. The ambulance had to be getting closer, now, but it wasn't close enough and suddenly all Maes could see was Ed dying in Roy's arms, dying because Roy was too terrified to let him get help. "Come on, it's me! You know me! I just want to help...!"

But Roy was far too gone to listen to him.

Maes heard his wife before he saw her, Gracia moving hesitantly up from behind him to stand by his side. Roy flinched at the mere sight of her, and badly; there was another high-pitched gasp and he tightened his arms around Ed again, pulling away. "S-stop," he moaned, eyes wide with fright.

"Roy," she tried next, "Ed's really badly hurt. He needs help."

That was all she said, just that, but that was enough to make his best friend's blood-spattered, white face to contort, his wide eyes darting back down to Ed again. The boy was completely out of it still, held up only by Roy's arms, limbs so awkwardly splayed and face so slack he could've been dead. He knew Roy saw it, too, when his face twisted again, anguish flickering through his eyes- but he still didn't let go of Ed.

"Just let us look at him, Roy, that's all," Maes practically begged, still crouched in the doorway. God, he looked terrified. "We won't hurt him."

There was silence for a few moments more, nothing but the sound of Roy's high-pitched, fast-paced breathing; at last, Gracia took a step tentatively into the room. Roy flinched again, gaze immediately stuck on her, but he didn't yell at her to get out as he had Maes- he guessed because Gracia was smaller than Roy and seemed like less of a threat to him, something that left Maes trembling and fighting back anger as he waited in the doorway. His best friend wasn't supposed to be scared of him. He wasn't supposed to be huddled back in the corner, dripping blood and near tears, flinching from them both like he expected to be beaten or killed.

But, then, Ed wasn't supposed to be as still and cold as the dead, either.

None of this was how it was supposed to have happened.

So Maes could do nothing but hold still in the doorway and watch as Gracia carefully moved forward and Roy evaluated her, looking her up and down and gauging whether or not it was safe. Even when his wife reached him, Roy still did not move, just staring at her with wide eyes and horrified gasps; it took Gracia gently trying to pull Ed from his arms for him to let go- and even then, he still held onto Ed's hand, and moved with Gracia as she lay Ed back down on the floor.

Maes swallowed, throat uncomfortably tight, and once again knew he really did not want to know what had happened, to break Ed and Roy down to this state.

Gracia moved quickly, flipping the limp boy onto his stomach again and checking his heart rate, his breathing, everything. He watched as she frowned slightly, then sat back to put pressure on the wounds, holding the towel to his back.

Unlike Roy, who'd fidgeted and started moaning in pain when his injuries had been touched, Ed remained perfectly still.

Maes winced again.

"W-wait-" Roy gasped, leaning forward, but his voice was maybe a touch less hostile. "You're hurting him- please-"

"I'm keeping him alive," Gracia interrupted sternly, not looking at him. "He's going to go into shock if he hasn't already. Slowing blood loss is what's important right now."

Roy stared between her and Ed again, hands shaking as he reached out as if to help, then just dropped back down again, miserable and helpless. His face crumpled and his shoulders slumped, burying his face in one bloody hand while he still clutched onto Ed's with the other. Maes couldn't help but move forward again, just wanting to comfort him, willing to do anything to just get that shattered look off his face. He let out a tiny moan, moving closer just in time to hear Roy gasp, "It's my fault, it's all my fault," into his hand, and Maes's heart again almost broke.

It was quiet for a few moments, Maes struggling with the knowledge that just reaching out and hugging Roy would only make everything worse paired with the desire to just get him to stop looking so crushed and defeated, Gracia still treating Ed, Roy still… just sitting like that. Face in his hand, hand on Ed, shoulders heaving silently, his own back dripping blood onto the floor.

And Ed, unmoving and cold, unaware of either his wife at his back or Roy by his side.

At last, Gracia turned just a little, giving Roy a small, soft smile. "He'll be okay, Roy. He will. He's really doing well, I promise." She paused for another moment, pressing a little harder down on Ed's back. "You're lucky I'm a nurse."

And once again, Roy stiffened.

His shoulders stopped heaving. His hand, previously hiding his face, abruptly clenched- then slowly dropped, white-knuckled and trembling, very faintly.

His black eyes went cold.

"What did you say?" he asked flatly.

Gracia glanced confusedly at him before turning back to Ed, adjusting the towel a little and frowning again. "What?" she asked, voice distracted, then murmured something to herself and leaned down to check Ed's heart rate again.

"You're… a nurse."

Maes tilted his head to the side, frowning himself as he watched Roy. While, granted, this was much better than the despondent, horrified man of not even a minute before- this was wrong. Wasn't it? What was Roy on about…?

"Um… yeah, Roy," he ventured uncertainly, eying him. "She's a nurse." You knew that already, Roy… "What are you-"

Roy looked back at Gracia again.

The blood drained from his already splattered face, leaving him a cold, ghastly white with no more color than a skull.

Then he cocked his fist back, and punched Gracia in the face.