Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Arakawa Hiromu-sensei, Square Enix and recently, Viz. I earn no profit in this.

Notes: This is an alternate universe story set in a semi-medieval setting. Please bear with me if it seems strange at first.

Please do not rely on me for accuracy of the information I mention in this story. Some are real to the best of my knowledge, while others are purely fictional to fit the FMA story.

oOo

Broken

It's one of those rare memories that do not fade in time. In fact, the memory is more vivid now than it once was. I've embellished it with all my worst nightmares and polished it my fears.

oOo

Roy looked much younger asleep when his usually calculating gaze is hidden behind eyelids. During the day, despite the smirk and the jokes, a weariness settles on his shoulders as he drinks his morning coffee while reading the latest casualty list. After the first night of his adoption, Roy had been true to his word and had gotten Ed a bed of his own. 'What a waste,' Ed thought, he had hardly used it for two months and now they've left it behind. Maybe some beggar might find it and put it to good use.

He now had his own assigned quarters but after dumping his luggage there, he couldn't stop himself from going over to Roy's place. Making up excuses to himself on the way such as 'I want him to go through tomorrow's procedure with me one last time,' and 'It's just a stupid habit. I'm just going over to say goodnight,' he found himself on the doorstep of Roy's (distinctly more luxurious) home.

Since arriving in Central, Ed had been keeping close to the colonel. He blamed it on the fact that he was unfamiliar with the place and that he was concerned about Roy's injury. Before he knew it, they had gone from meaningful glances and chaste kisses, to desperate possessiveness. His hands had been all over Ed the night before and as he stood waiting for the ceremony that was to officially announce his military title as being the Fullmetal Alchemist (for the media's benefit since the military ranks already knew,) along with other awards that were going to be handed out.

"…Our youngest but one of our most promising State alchemists, I give you all, the Fullmetal alchemist…" Ed took the cue and as he stepped forward to receive the certificate, He hoped he wasn't blushing as much as he thought he was.

The attention had been embarrassing for Ed who wasn't used to attention much less being the centre of attention. By the time he was done with all the necessary handshakes and smiles, his wrist was sore and his actual hand was numb. His life the past five years hadn't really been all laughter and smiles, but counting the number of stiff fake smiles he had dished out tonight so far, Ed felt certain that he had caught, if not exceeded, the average tally.

Havoc was still in hospital and the lack of his presence was a sorely felt wound among Roy's staff. Without Havoc's jokes and jibes, there was less laughter and an unusually sombre atmosphere. First Lieutenant Hawkeye was dressed in uniform having come directly from the hospital to check on him. She was probably the only woman in the room not in a dress and when Ed asked why she hadn't gone to change, she had replied, "I believe that duty and punctuality take priority over confining garments."

Ed's respect for her was raised another notch at that. It was refreshing to meet a practical and reasonable woman when all the others in the room seemed to be either airheads or utter dunderheads. Riza was a beautiful woman even in uniform though, and whenever Roy flashed one of his smiles at her, Ed felt an emotion he was loath to call jealousy. He was not jealous. Ed was not jealous at all.

oOo

The sky was starless tonight – and that was just perfect for their plans. The darkness would prevent them from being discovered by the guards too early. The state alchemists were all inside, having decided that outer duties were fit for the lower ranks. The alchemists would be protecting the Fuhrer from the inside while conveniently receiving awards. Al had heard earlier from street gossip that the highlight of the evening would be the formal welcome of a new state alchemist into their ranks; the Fullmetal Alchemist. Apparently this alchemist was going to be the youngest ever state accredited or something. But that didn't matter to Al. What mattered was that it meant the guests of honour and the other alchemists would be focused on this new kid which would serve as good a distraction as any they managed to create.

Al took a deep breath before signalling the first team of men to proceed.

He had the schedule of this evening event mortised down to finer details than even the most impeccable of guests. The Fuhrer would, right this minute be giving his speech a final look through and was due on stage in 13 minutes. Until then the quartet continued to play and the church bell dresses continued to chime with modest giggles and chitchat. Al knew that somewhere in the crowd were three of his men posing as security guards and that there were two outside the main doors ordered to shoot down anyone who tried to escape.

Al knew that an alchemist would be able to dismantle it or create a hole in the wall easily but that was okay. While the three undercover men shot the guests of honour and thus, draw the alchemists' attention and busily occupy them with saving them, the Fuhrer would be forced to escape to safety via a secret passage that was now, well, not so secret to the enemy anymore thanks to their intelligence network. With just one state alchemist and two assistants to guard him, Al and his blood thirsty second in command and four of his best men could certainly handle.

oOo

A rainbow of evening gowns swirled around the ballroom in stark contrast to the black suits worn by the male half of the population. The current fashion in central seemed to be five layered skirts with colourful embroidery decorating the outermost layer and heavy fur-lined frilled on the inner layers. Even Ed (whose sense of beauty has been doubted by many), could appreciate the elegance in the synchronised swaying of those bell-shaped gowns - Like church bells. Although most arrived as partners, there were still many single candidates who came as part of a family. So far into the night, Ed had been asked for a dance by nine girls who were no doubt daughters of some ambitious politicians, but to his shock, one rather brave young man had also asked him for a dance.

Roy had been constantly watching him and Ed had the feeling that the new Brigadier General was keeping count of his number of offers. His suspicions were proven when Roy walked towards him, pinned him with a stare and grabbed his hand.

Dragging him away from the dance floor, Roy led the blond outside before crushing him against the wall to claim his lips. Ed parted his lips and eagerly engaged in a tongue duel with him. Finally breaking apart for air, Roy couldn't stop himself from feeling smugly pleased when he saw that Ed was red faced, swollen lipped and glazy eyed. "What was that about, Roy?" He asked.

Roy leaned in and whispered to his ear, I think I'm too good of a dance instructor. You were receiving far too many dance offers in there." Roy moved lower to lick his neck before biting down hard enough to taste blood. Ed let out a gasp while his body gave a shudder of pleasure.

"I don't like sharing you," Roy said, "So from now on, you had better be a good boy by going to get something to eat and drink and staying seated away from the politician groups and their daughters."

Ed could only nod at this and gave a scowl when Roy gave him a teasing pat on the head before re-entering the ballroom without him.

They were unaware of two figures dressed as guards standing in the shadows observing them. They stayed out of sight and watched as the two who left the room engage in an intense make out session. It wasn't time for the operation to commence yet so they didn't interfere which was just as well, because after noticing the silver glint of watch chains on their pockets, even though they were well trained… openly confronting two state alchemists was idiocy.

So they stayed silent feeling like voyeurs and hoped the mission would start soon and that the two alchemists would end their lip lock even sooner. If they survived this, at least they'd have an entertaining scandal to tell the boys back at camp.

They did return to the room. 'About time,' they thought, and they only had to wait another five minutes before the explosion was heard and the door they had bolted shut on the outside, rattled in its frame. The music ended, the screams began.

Showtime.

oOo

They were waiting for them in the escape route. When the Fuhrer, his personal guard and two assistants was within their sight, Argon stepped forwards blocking their way and announced, "Sorry good sirs, but I'm afraid you have to die her." To the credit of the state military, the alchemist and even the office assistants reacted immediately and took up guarded stances.

'Bugger,' Al thought, there went their element of surprise. Why did Argon have to be such an arrogant ass all the time? Couldn't he just work with Al just this once? Al was already dreading having to kill the two men and women standing before him, he had been hoping for a surprise kill from behind or something. You just don't want to face them, a voice in his mind said. You can't meet the blame in their dead eyes or the look of confusion as to why he wanted to kill them. Other than the Fuhrer, the three others would be unnecessary deaths. Al knew that his brother would be shocked if he ever found out and as soon as he completed that thought, he noticed that he had used 'if' and not 'when'.

He never used to have any secrets that couldn't be shared with Ed. They would never be like we once were but could pretend that it still was. Al needed his brother and if lying would keep Ed from hating him, then so be it. He would live the lie for his only remaining family.

The alchemist was huge. Seriously. Muscles bulged out tearing his uniform as he flexed them for display. Even Argon hesitated to try and figure out whether he was mocking them, screwing with their minds or just plain stupid. Al swore he saw sparkles around him but it must just be the dim lighting playing tricks on him. The man shouted something about a Armstrong technique and charged at them while the assistants drew out daggers from somewhere under their uniforms and flanked the Fuhrer's left and right. Bullets of stone flew at them and Al hastily threw up a barrier spell. The barrier shook and rippled but held until the large bullets crumbled and dropped to the ground.

The alchemist wasn't daunted, however, and didn't give him any time to recover before launching another wave of attack in the form of even sharper, denser bullets. Al wasn't able to block in time so he dived out of the way to the side. The impact of the hits cracked the walls of the passageway and pieces of debris fell from above. A muffled cry told him that at least one of his men was injured already. Damn. Things were not going according to plan. The assistants were covering the Fuhrer's back as they ran back up the tunnel, trying to escape, but Argon was already after them with the other men leaving Al to deal with the alchemist alone.

Al knew that Argon and the men could take care of the Fuhrer and two assistants, so instead of worrying for them, he focused his mind on the opponent before him and prepared himself for another attack. He was quite certain by now that the alchemist specialized in stone and metal alchemy. It was a good and flexible area to work with and would probably cause most enemies some degree of confusion. Although Al was now a mage, this was not always so. Al's foundations lay solidly rooted in alchemy and his understanding of the art of alchemy often took his opponents by surprise.

There was really only one fundamental difference between magic and alchemy and that was unlike alchemy, magic did not follow the law of equivalence and conservation – or so most people think. The price of magic was paid in full, partially by the mage in the form of energy, happiness, or bodily harm, but the majority was paid by other means. The difference between mages and alchemists was that while alchemists had to provide the equivalent price themselves when transmuting, the price paid by the mage was paid by others at random, willingly or not. For every spell he cast, every barrier he constructed, somewhere in the world an innocent paid with illness, pain or material loss.

Al was painfully aware of this as he deflected another of the alchemist's attacks but he needed to resort to using magic simply because it was much faster reacting and energy conserving. Against an alchemist of this level, he needed that advantage if he wanted to win. Rising his hands, he summoned thin blades of ice that were small and agile enough to weave through the alchemist's storm of rubble. He was successful and the attack drew blood. The cuts were too shallow though and despite his large body build, the alchemist moved swiftly with his arms closely raised before him like a shield.

The difference in physical strength was clear so close combat wasn't an option. Stamina was also against Al as he could feel that his muscles were tiring and reflexes slowing. This was only further proven when he wasn't able to dodge in time and took a heavy hit to his left side. Struggling to recover his breath, the only option left to Al was clear. The risk was high but worth it.

At his level of mastery over magic he could vaguely direct where the price was drawn from. He attacked the alchemist by forcing the rock above him to fall and taking the opportunity given when his opponent was busy defending, he touched the rock beneath him and pulled them up so that they formed a circle around the alchemist. A makeshift array. He then concentrated on channeling the backlash of the attack to that location. It was a mix of alchemy and magic and therefore extremely volatile but it worked. The alchemist was trapped, if not dead, and his path was clear. If Argon had managed to hold up his role, then the mission was accomplished.

oOo

The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected
-Sun Tzu

The doors were jammed and most likely barred on the other side but that wasn't going to stop Ed. He clapped his hands and felt the familiar alchemical surge course through his body, formulating the details that normally required an array to do. Slamming his hands on the door, he broke apart the atoms. The door crumbled before him and as he was about to yell at the people in the room to escape he noticed that the noise behind him had almost completely died down.

He turned to see that two 'guards' had the young son and daughter of Major General Hakuro held at gunpoint.

"Clear the way and they won't get hurt," one of the infiltrators demanded.

Roy stepped forward, his seemed calm but Ed could see that his eyes were burning with resolve. Roy looked at the one who spoke and said, "Let them go."

Ed watched as the scenario played out. Roy and the infiltrators were both following their parts as hostage taker and negotiator. The script they seemed to be following was so cliché it was nearly laughable. With Major General Hakuro's children as hostage, they had no choice but step back and watch bitterly as the enemy made a swift but cautious escape.

The enemy had only just left the building when Hakuro ordered all enlisted soldiers to go after them. First Lieutenant Hawkeye was called to lead them while an emergency gathering was made for the State alchemists.

oOo

The rendezvous point was just a few miles further when the blaring sound of military car engines reached his ears. They wouldn't be able to make it to their own arranged transport at this rate, so turning around on his heel Al quickly assessed the men who were coming out of the cars, bent low in order to take shelter behind the cars with their guns raised. It seemed that none of them were alchemists but rather were most likely a force sent ahead to delay them until military's human weapons arrived.

With the mission already accomplished Al had no desire to kill anyone else. This was a hastily formed group composed of quickly pulled together available men. For a squad of men who were relying on a competent leader to coordinate them by utilizing their well trained discipline, their weakest link would be that strong leader of theirs.

After all, leadership was a key to the art of war. Al scanned their rank marks on their uniforms and found the highest rank among them to be a woman baring the three gold stripes and double stars of a First Lieutenant. The blond woman seemed well liked and respected, which suited Al perfectly because he was hoping the Lieutenant's death would buy his own men enough distraction and havoc to escape.

He aimed and sent a needle of condensed air at her, stabbing her cleanly through the abdomen. The Lieutenant fell and the soldiers under her command froze in shock and faltered. The enemy collapsed on themselves. As Al turned and ran to catch up with his own men up ahead, he tried to find peace with himself for what he had did tonight by remembering that he had now fulfilled the conditions to finally visit his brother at the orphanage.

oOo

Back at the ruined ballroom, the medic alchemists pushed their way through the crowd that had gathered around the fallen Fuhrer. The adrenaline was fading and confusion filled the air like a dense fog, everyone was talking and pulling themselves back together from the shock.

Even the best Xing trained medics couldn't do anything. Ed knew enough about human anatomy to know fatal wounds when he saw them…

Beside him, Roy had already placed his right hand over his heart and was saying the standard mourning prayers.

The State hadn't just lost a good man with the Fuhrer's death. The people had lost direction and order. Though up until now, they were clearly dominating the war, this sudden turn of events cast long shadows over the light of their successes.

The weight of the watch that was formally presented to him by the Fuhrer just three hours ago was all of a sudden much heavier. Had the whole thing only lasted three hours? It seemed surreal that his world could be fucked up so quickly. The merry celebration for award-giving was now more like a funeral register and the vibrant decorations seemed out of place.

Roy squeezed his shoulder and said, "We'll get them for this. They'll pay for this tenfold." Ed wasn't sure if Roy was trying to comfort him or himself. He suspected a bit of both. They had been bit hard and with this attack they were now pushed to the edge of devastation. Such emotion can both break and make people. Ed looked around at the expressions on everyone's faces and saw fear, confusion, anguish, anger and revenge. With the right leadership, these people could make the most dangerous of enemies.

"Demoralize the enemy from within by surprise, terror, sabotage, assassination. This is the war of the future."
- Adolf Hitler

oOo

Post Note:

I think you've all noticed by now that my chapters vary in length. Some are short (like the last one) and some are longer. That's because I've divided up the chapters by certain events.

I'm not really happy with how this chapter turned out but because it had a lot of fighting and because I hate (ie. suck at) writing fighting scenes, I'm just going to leave it like this.

Please leave a review on how you think I did! I seem to be getting fewer reviews with every progressing chapter… Am I boring my readers?