A/N: What's this? A Chappie? (would have been up last night but my stupid internets were down *glares at cable company messin' with a fan fic author* I have people to please!) But anyway, *glee* Okay, here you go, my new FMA fans. (Wow I have Bleach fans and FMA fans now…what's next, D. Gray Man and Fairy Tail? Hum, I think so. Allen and Natsu need some personal attention from me. *watches as Allen and Natsu run for the hills* Hehe, they don't know I can find them anywhere, do they? Poor Ichigo and Ed need company.) Anyway, hope you enjoy the beginning of the tale. I am creating the township called Blessed Sanctuary which is in the west and that's all I know.

Chapter Two

Disappearance

-Blessed Sanctuary-

"You know what you want, and they took it from you," the dark haired man with the hood whispered to the man who considered himself king of this particular zone in the west. "The boy was perfect, exactly what you need, and you need him badly, don't you, my lord? Everything you ever wanted, in one…nice…neat…package."

He nodded his head of black hair and grinned broadly. "I've been looking for some way to satisfy this…need…and I think he is the one. So many I've had to go through to find him…perfect. I'll send out Bendal and Seraf this time. They'll bring him to me."

"Yes, Lord Dreasel. You shall have only the best for you. One of the finest minds to bend to your will, and a fine specimen for your pleasure as well. He will serve you well, my lord," the dark man said fondly behind him, placing a hand on the white clad shoulder. The lord barely noticed the shade of blue anymore that tinted his arm.

His head only filled with images of the beautiful blond inside his mind. He didn't know where the image had come from. Long blond hair, a pale face, lovely lips, and a so damaged it was painfully beautiful. It wasn't a person he'd ever seen, but the image had appeared nonetheless. The imperfections making his radiance even brighter until he shined like the very sun. So far, though, his men had been able to turn up pale copies. This one was too stupid. This one was too perfect. This one just wasn't right. And it had been frustrating until the call he'd gotten early this morning.

"Long blond hair, small, almost feminine in features, with an automail leg and arm. Fiery temper and an alchemical prodigy, and a state alchemist already at the age of sixteen."

Perfection! Then, the second call to say that the military had interfered and stolen his prize from him… Three servants died due to his rage until his advisor had come to him and soothed him. He was so grateful to his advisor, able to soothe the stinging need for more of what he desired…

-Central-

"What do you mean I can't see brother?" the walking suit of armor said to the nurse.

"He's not to receive any…oh, Colonel Mustang!" the nurse said, smiling at the dark haired alchemist. "This, ah, gentleman wanted to see Major Elric, but I told him…"

Roy waved at her, giving her his best sultry smile. It was hard to miss the fluttering eyelashes and the slight blush that graced the brunette every time she saw him. "I'll handle this, come on, Al. Before you go see Fullmetal, I'll fill you in on what happened, okay?"

Roy led him into a private room and sat down with a sigh, previous façade of gentleness slipping, but only in front of Al, who he knew he could trust with this slight slip of his mask.

"Al, I can't say how sorry I am for what happened to Fullmetal. Really, I was fuckin' useless when it came down to it," he said, staring intently at the white gloves. A lot of good his ignition gloves had done. He failed to address the fact if he hadn't managed what he did, his subordinante, and himself, could have ended up with slit throats before his team had gotten to them.

Al fidgeted nervously. "Colonel what happened?"

"It was stupid, a trap, and we fell for it. And we woke up and these three bastards had us tied up. They were talking about selling Fullmetal to someone out west…"

"Selling him?" Al would have gaped open mouthed at a statement had he a face to have expression upon. "What, like a slave?"

Roy shook his head. "They took his arm off, and you know, I knew it was painful, but I didn't really expect it to be so…hard…to watch him suffer it. And damn…I saw how hard he was trying not to show it. Your brother is tough, Al. More than I give him credit for sometimes."

Al nodded. "It hurts every time, but brother always bears the pain well. But if they just pulled it off…that would hurt a lot more. He wouldn't be able to prepare for it, and the nerves would be left afterward…"

"They kept us for a while, then this blond bastard came back to look him over, and…" Roy really didn't know how to tell Al the whole story. But he knew that Ed would never give him a true story of what had happened, and since Roy was technically his guardian, he thought Al needed to know. "He stripped him and decided he was good enough."

Al looked at him quietly. "Why…why would they do that?"

"Al, I know you're young but you aren't naïve. The buyer preferred boys, he said. And I'm sure you can understand what that meant," Roy said with a sigh, stomach roiling at the sheer thought there were people that still traded in humans today.

Al was very quiet, his mind clicking facts into place. "But…but why would they want a state alchemist for that kind of thing? There are plenty normal people…people that couldn't fight back like brother…people less dangerous than brother…and he's a state alchemist, isn't that risky just for a…a slave like that?"

"He was looking for alchemists, specifically. Young, smart, and spirited. However, that isn't the worst part of the situation, I'm afraid Al," Roy said, his throat constricting. He really wished the embarrassment of being stripped naked in front of Roy and, in the end, the entire team, had been all.

Al nodded for him to continue. "The guy told our captors that the buyer wanted him…broken in before he took possession."

At first, he was afraid that he didn't catch his drift and he was going to have to spell it out in the words he really, really did not want to say. Saying it was admitting it happened to Al, admitting that he, the great Flame Alchemist, had let it happen sitting beside him through the entire event unable to move a muscle to help him as he screamed in pain.

"No, colonel…you don't mean…" Al said softly. "Not to brother, he…he's too…"

Roy nodded. "I do. And I was sitting less than five feet away from him and couldn't do a damn thing but watch and try to get my hands on these goddamned gloves. I did eventually, when they unhooked my hands and I could use my fingers again, and when Havoc and the others came busting in, I scorched all three of them nicely, but the damage was done. I was too late.

"But they're all down in lock up now, and since they're all three charged with kidnapping of two state alchemists, assault on an adult and a minor, as well as counts of sexual assault on a minor…and anything else I can damn well throw at them."

Al was again quiet for a moment and Roy cursed the suit of armor. Unless Al spoke, there was no real way to read his emotions or thoughts. "Did you get the guy that was trying to buy him?"

Roy sighed. "No, but I have a pair of gloves that are itching to burn off body parts of those three bastards and I'm going to get answers. After the report I've already given, I doubt anyone would stop me. As much of a pain in the ass your brother is, he's still one of us. And we take something like…this…seriously when it comes to our own. I can't kill them, but I will get information. And then they're going away for a very long time. And hopefully, my testimony will mean that Fullmetal doesn't have to say anything about the incident. I'd prefer to use his status as a minor to keep him out of the case as much as possible. Havoc and I both can testify on his behalf, as well as the physical evidence. Is there any way you can get that girl that fixes his automail to come help put him right? I'm sure he would feel better with both his arms working."

Al nodded. "Yeah, I can call Winry tonight, can I see him?"

Roy nodded and stood up to take Al to the room, with Breda sitting outside the door reading a magazine. He nodded and led Al into the room. Ed was laid out on his back, his hair wild behind him, a bandage across his broken nose and a white patch on the back of his head where his split head had received six stitches. His automail ports had been covered with a white bandage, the raw spots around the edges treated. He had a lot of bruises and his flesh arm was wrapped tightly. Between the strain and having it bound, his wrist and elbow both had been sprained. He now held it over his head as he stared out the window.

"Brother!" Al exclaimed as Ed looked up and smiled.

"Al, what are you doing here?" he said softly. Too softly.

"Where else would I be, brother, after the colonel called to say you were here!" he exclaimed, and if he'd had a face it would have been scowling.

Ed snorted, turning back to the window. "Well, just because colonel bastard calls you shouldn't always come running. Just a little banged up, is all. I'm fine. I get to go home soon anyway, you shoulda just waited there."

Al looked at Roy and back at Ed. It was obvious that Ed was going to play strong. Roy nodded and left. His heart was in his throat and he couldn't talk anyway. Ed was trying to be strong for his brother, like always, putting on the brave face. Roy reached up and felt his chest as he walked away, though, where tears had soaked all the way down to his undershirt. The boy had been broken in the worst way, and he was trying to convince his brother it was just some bumps and bruises. He would not soon forget that bruising grip that despite the pain his arm had to be in had held him in, leaving bluish fingerprints on his shoulder. The complete desperation in that grip had been enough to scare even the great Flame Alchemist.

He growled at the thoughts and stormed off, heading from the hospital to the interrogation chamber that held the three men he really wanted to just incinerate. It was honestly unusual for him to get this angry. But something about the look in his gold eyes had left him feeling like he was burning up inside. They were all three at a table in a large room, Havoc and Rita already there, papers ready and looked up as the door banged open when Roy entered. Roy took a clipboard from the desk in front of Havoc and looked at the three men. His eyes contained barely restrained rage.

"Roger Velesta," he said, snapping his fingers in front of the black haired man's face, getting a flinch. "Quintes Ramon," he said, similarly snapping his fingers in front of the brunette. "And Charles Simmons," he snapped before the blond.

"As a special consideration, even though I am technically a victim in this case, I'm being allowed to conduct the questioning since the boy you raped was my subordinate and under my guardianship," he said, not bothering to let an ounce of emotion into his voice. Somehow, it made him an even more frightening figure.

"Now, you are each charged with two counts of kidnapping of a state alchemist, one count of physical assault of an adult, one count of physical assault of a minor, and one count of sexual assault of a minor. Now, as I see it, you'll never see the light of day. And if I can wiggle any more charges in, I will. I'm thinking resisting arrest will be in there as well, and threatening the rest of the team. And when you get into prison, I'll make sure to spread the word that you're each a pedo rapist. We'll see how long it takes before you to acquire attention of some of the more, ah, colorful residents in general population," he said smoothly, enjoying the stiffening and glances between them. "Now, you can help yourselves."

The black haired one, Velesta snorted. "Why the fuck ya care? Oh is it because we got to fuck your little boy toy before you got a chance to do it? I bet he's been suckin' yer dick since the day he started here. Otherwise, the fuckin' brat wouldn't be a Major. Oh, wait; maybe he wasn't suckin' yer dick, but someone higher up the food chain? Surprised he wasn't spreading his legs for them too…talk about surprised when I rode into his sweet ass, nice surprise, too bad you didn't take tha chance when you had it, colonel. Probably the best fuck I've had in my life."

Havoc felt his fists tighten and saw the barely restrained anger in the colonel. Before anyone could react, Roy turned and snapped, sending flames up the man's leg, just enough for him to scream in pain before he squelched them out. No one moved to stop him. No one wanted to. He looked to the two impassive guards at the door, neither of which even flinched.

"He burned himself, how clumsy. Take him to the infirmary."

The remaining two, still nursing some first degree burns on their hands and faces from when Roy had blasted them in the warehouse watched as their boss was half carried, half led from the room, grimacing in obvious pain from the blackened leg. The smell of burnt flesh hung heavy in the air.

"Now, as I was saying, you can help yourself here," he continued, fixing a dangerous glare on two remaining. "Who was the buyer? And how do you contact the bastard that was there today? And if you think what I did to your boss was bad, try lying to me, or even begin to say something that upsets me. I haven't had the chance to reduce someone to ashes in a few years."

"Look, we don't know the buyer, that fuckin' blond bastard was the only contact we had, his name is Wiesterson, that's all we know, I fuckin' promise, we don't know anything else, please, don't turn me to ashes, I swear I only was doin' what the boss said, and I'm sorry, the money was good, really good, and I didn't wanna disappoint the buyer cuz I wanted more work from him, we only got three other alchemists for him…" the brunette with the messy hair stammered.

"Shut the fuck up!" the blond shouted.

"Three other alchemists?" Roy asked. "Tell me more," he said, holding one gloved hand up in the air, fingers together.

"Th-there's a girl, young alchemist, she's not even started, she's at a warehouse down from where we had the boy and you, okay? She's tied up, but she's fine, she was gonna be the next one Wiesterson visited if the blond wasn't what his boss was lookin' for. We couldn't get another boy in the right age so we had to pick her up," he rushed on, despite the glare from the blond beside him.

"Age? What were you supposed to find?" Roy asked, leaning back, and biting his cheek.

"Boys, alchemists, between 14 and 16, preferably without parents, but that wasn't a huge deal. Blonds were preferred, but redheads were okay. No dark hair. Long hair, if we could manage it, but that one is harder to find on a boy. And if two boys couldn't be found, a girl could be substituted. But if the boy was good enough, he wouldn't take the girl. The first pair we had, he took both with him and we got paid a ton…so we decided to do it again when he called saying he needed a couple more," the brunette rushed on.

Roy leaned forward. "You're telling me you kidnapped two other boys and sold them to this Wiesterson?"

Ramon nodded. "Yeah, I dunno what their names were, one was blond, the other had red hair, the blond was 15, the redhead was 17, but he looked young so they didn't say anything. They were both new to alchemy, just starting, and we posted this flyer looking for young people wanting lessons… When they came into the building, it triggered the seal, and if they had ability they passed out, like you did. The others just walked through and we told them because the two kids passed out that the meeting was canceled. It worked, and we called in the guy and he ended up taking both of them with him. I…I think he got mad though because the younger one was…well, inexperienced, and he said he was too noisy. So, I think that's why Wisterson checked this time…"

Roy mused for a second. "What happened to the other two boys?"

"No idea. He just contacted us and said he needed a replacement for the first two we sent, so they could be…well dead for all I know," he said, hoping beyond anything he wasn't going to be fried where he sat. "He-He said that the blond was too noisy and cried all the time and the red head was stupid and wouldn't do, so he said to find someone smart enough this time…"

"What put you on Fullmetal?" Roy asked tightly.

Ramon looked at his companion who shook his head. Simmons ground his teeth. "Opportunist that I am, I heard about him. I mean, fuck, what more could this fucker want? Right age, right hair color, and long even, fuckin' alchemical prodigy, and as pretty as little girl to boot. Figured that he'd be harder to lure, but asked around and found out he was interested in life alchemy, so I spread the rumor of a lab with a possible chimera. Not hard to nose up that kinda information about someone as loud as yer blondie. So he took the bait, and well, ya stumbled right into the arms that caught ya."

Roy stood up and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "So that's all you can offer me? That's helpful, but doesn't do much but give me two more missing kids to find."

"Gives you the girl back," Simmons said evenly, glaring at him.

Roy nodded. "I give you that. Anything else that I should know?"

Ramon looked at him. "This fucker gets what he wants…and I'm afraid if he got his sights set on yer lil boyfriend, he's gonna get hold of him. From what his man said, he doesn't take well to failure, and he doesn't take no for an answer. Wiesterson would have contacted him with the details before long, and by this afternoon would have made the pickup. He's gonna be pissed when he ain't there. He's one greedy bastard, from what I hear, hoarding alchemy and hoarding things he fancies. And I hate ta say it, Colonel, he fancies yer little alchemist."

"Fine, I'll see what I can do." He looked at Riza. "Did you get everything on record?"

"Aye, sir," she answered.

"Get these two out of here, I'm going to see how Fullmetal is doing," Roy said, turning to leave.

He got to the car outside the building and heard a loud boom. He looked up and frowned, realizing that the sound came from the direction of the hospital. His mind spun back to what the man had said. He fancies yer little alchemist.

Roy was in the car and speeding off before a minute had passed. He got closer and realized that the explosion had indeed come from the hospital. Shit, he thought. He was hoping that this had nothing to do with Ed. There was that familiar feeling curling in his gut though, that nagging sensation that something was wrong, horribly wrong.

He was out the door and running, never having bothered to take his gloves off after the interrogation as he was blasted backward by the doorway blowing outward. He landed on his ass and skidded before coming to a stop and seeing a sight that nearly froze him. Two men were running, and he couldn't see much through the haze of debris, but he was sure he saw a trail of bright blond hair as they escaped.

Roy was on his feet as fast as possible, ready to snap fire to consume them, but realized he didn't know which one was holding Ed, if it was Ed, and he had no idea for sure what was happening. He came to the edge of the building to find nothing. He looked around, rubbing his eyes. He knew they'd come this way. There was no doubt he had been on their heels. And now they were gone. From behind him, feet were coming and he turned to see his team, just as confused as he was.

"They got Ed," Breda said, and Roy had to admit, he looked like hell, lip bloody, black eye, and wheezing from something in his ribcage.

"What happened?" Roy asked, looking between those that were there. Riza and Havoc were still dealing with the three prisoners, but they would be here soon he imagined.

"Al was talking to me in the hallway, and there was an explosion in the room, and we heard Ed call out for Al. Al tore the door open to find this…I'm not sure, sir, he looked like a man but some sort of alchemy had augmented him, and he had iron or something laced across his body and arms, and he had Ed in a choke hold until he passed out, then he just…took off with him through the hole in the wall. I went after the other guy, and well, you see how that ended. Then he was gone, and I never saw him leave," Breda said, panting, wiping blood from his mouth.

"Fuck!" Roy cursed, looking around, and sensing the distinct tang of alchemy. "They used some kind of alchemy to get away. How's Al?"

"He's fine, he is up in the room trying to figure out how they got there, since it's like five floors up…" Breda answered, looking up to see Riza and Havoc running toward them with Maes.

"They got Ed," Roy said to them. "After all this and they fuckin' got to him anyway."

"Who was it?" Breda asked.

Roy shook his head. "The fuckin' thugs who did that to Fullmetal, they said they'd kidnapped two other boys, and a girl, I'm sure Riza already sent someone to rescue the girl, but the boys we don't know. They weren't 'good enough' for the guy who bought them. They said he wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted, and apparently, he wanted Fullmetal. We've got to find him, because whatever this guy has planned, it isn't good for him. We've got a guy to find, and I want everyone on it."

He proceeded to give out the instructions on locating the blond haired Wiesterson. He sent someone from another division back to figure out whom the missing boys were and if there was any information on them. He then went back to trying to figure out what the hell kind of alchemy had been used for them to just disappear like they had. After a long moment, he located the remains of a transmutation circle and cursed loudly, snapping his fingers to burn it from the ground.

"Earth alchemy. They went through the goddamned ground," he said as he came up to Riza and Maes. "No trace left. Is someone with Al?"

"Yeah, Breda's up there, getting patched up and Al is staying with him. At least that's what Al thinks. You don't think they'd come for Al?" Fuery asked, frowning.

Roy shook his head. "He'd have to have a body to be of interest."

Furey flinched, knowing exactly what he meant. "Why is he so interested in Fullmetal?"

Roy sighed. "Said he wanted someone smart and young, between 14 and 16, and preferably long haired and blond, and male."

Maes turned and stared at him. "Isn't it awfully strange the guy happens to want someone exactly matching Ed's description? Right down to the long blond hair? I mean, obviously it doesn't seem he was looking specifically for Ed from the start, but still…"

Roy looked at him. "You think there is more to it than just some perverted man wanting a kid his age as a plaything?"

Maes nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe. I find the description awfully specific. What are the chances of finding a boy exactly like that other than Ed? Long hair on boys isn't exactly in style right now, especially among the younger ones."

"The guy said they took him a blond but he cried too much and the redhead wasn't smart enough. So what exactly is this guy doing?" Roy asked, looking up.

Maes sighed, shaking his head. "Well, considering the…requirements of experience…it seems that the obvious answer is true, as hard as it is to accept that this guy wants him for some perverse pleasure, but for some reason he wants alchemists. And he's looking for the perfect one. Who happens to be Ed."