Sorry about the cliff-hanger, I'm evil aren't I? I'm not sure about some of the punctuation in this chapter, if you come across any mistakes I would be most grateful if you could point them out : )

"Fuery?"

"Kain?"

A pair of hands ceased him by the shoulders, shaking him roughly; the panicked voices rang through his ears. Fuery winced as his senses began to emerge from hibernation, the numbness ceasing and beginning to morph into a sharp sting of pain at the back of his head. Blindly moving a hand, a hiss escaped Kain's lips as a pair of cold fingertips prodded his scalp. Wet, the raven locks tangled with the putrid substance.

Cracking open an eye; he could see the bright red substance staining the floor as well as his skin. Blood. Squinting through the darkness as his horrendous vision adjusted, the man could see two relieved faces looming over him, neither belonging to Edward.

Edward! A flutter of panic pounded against Fuery's ribs, Roy's strong gloved hands held him tightly as he tried desperately to scramble to his feet.

"Who did this to you?" the Flames tone was soft but stern. Kain thought carefully, examining his memory. He came to an honest conclusion. He wasn't entirely sure.

Walking. He'd been walking through the dark corridor in search of Edward, listening to the distant sound of footsteps echoing through the silent hallway. After hearing the steps break out into a run Fuery had done the same thing himself, throwing forward one foot after the other, ignoring the throbbing that had emerged from his tired, sore muscles.

After catching his breath, the man remembered the sensation of his stinging airways, the way he'd clutched his ribs while looking down at the tiled floor. The tiles had been littered with several sheets of paper filled with Edward's familiar scrawl. Curiously, he'd bent closer to take a better look, just as a heavy weight had collided with the back of his skull, sending Kain into a pain induced slumber.

Rubbing his eyes, he looked up at the Colonel, who appeared to be getting more and more impatient by the second. Risa gave the Flame a stern glance and helped her injured colleague to sit up, peeling him from the hard, cold floor. After several pained hisses, the man realised his glasses were missing. But still, the absence of his thick black spectacles meant nothing. He could still see the white tiles stained with crimson, dried and disgusting.

"Kain," Risa said softly, "Who did this to you? Have you seen Edward?"

"No..." he hissed, a throb knowing at his skull. A shaky finger pointed to a pile of familiar research papers, untouched since the missing teenager had dropped them.

"Go and look for him," Fuery locked gazes with his superior adamantly, "Don't waste your time with me."

// Edward awoke with a pained moan, furrowing his brows as his head began to pound. Moving only made matters worse, sending a folk of pain through the back of his sore head. The blonde had hit his head many time before, but never anything quite like this. The pounding twisted tight knots in his wreathing stomach. He moved a hand to nurse his poor scalp, only to find that his already sluggish limbs refused to move completely. A thick length of rope cut into his flesh wrist, binding it to the cool metal one. He cursed his stupidity. How could he expect to just get up and walk away after someone went to the effort of knocking him unconscious?

Rope. Odd he thought. Usually in unfortunate circumstances like this, Ed would wake up to find most (if not all) of his automail missing. It appeared whoever was responsible for this had been too lazy to do so. Not that he was complaining of course. It made escape attempts a hell of a lot easier. Hissing at the icy stone floor, the teen bit his lip in thought, skimming through his most recent memory of events. He'd been hiding in a closet like a child playing hide and seek, when a devilish blue eye peered through a narrow split in the wood, gleaming triumphantly.

Before Edward had time to defend himself, a strong fist burst through the door, splintering the wood and ceasing him roughly by the collar. The man raised the blonde inches from his feet and paused when both gazes were level, smirking and smacking the teens head on the white wall with a gruesome crack. The thought triggered a sting, the swell of bruising making itself known to the poor victim, who grit his teeth angrily and called out to the descending darkness.

"Are you in here you bastard?!" his call echoed through the warehouse, fading and fading until once again the silence took hold.

"I know you're in here!" he thrashed against the rope binding his limbs together, ignoring the friction burning against his porcelain skin. The more he moved the deeper it cut, his lip began to bleed, the bitter taste of copper mingling with saliva.

The strong wind howled viscously. The teen was tied up in the darkness, shivering as a sharp blast of air caressed his back, shimmying across the already cold floor. He could barely hear a thing. It worried Ed more than anything else. Was he still in headquarters? There were no obvious clues to the whereabouts of his location. There wasn't even a trace of smoke of gunpowder lingering in air, or the distant sound of gunfire and battling that had dominated earlier.

What if he was too far to be found? It would be a great shame to survive a war and human transmutation only to kick the bucket like this. Unarmed and undiscovered.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the doorway, feet scuffing the floor lazily. The steps ceased as the teen rolled over towards the source of the noise.

"Come here where I can see you!" Ed spat viscously, his gold orbs burning with anger, "You might look a little different, but your eyes are the same! Fucking evil!"

There was a cackled laugh as the man stepped closer, crouching beside the helpless alchemist to give the teen a good view of his eyes, strong and determined.

"I guess it's true what they say," he sang with enthusiasm, "The eyes are windows to the soul."

He got to his feet and began to pace like a caged lion circling its prey.

"Tell me Edward, I'm curious... What does my soul look like?"

"Hell."

The blonde narrowed his eyes and craned his neck to look at his captor, dressed in black from head to toe, a thick mop of short raven hair shadowing his features. He was a little taller, trimmer, and his black locks were looking neater than Ed remember from before. But despite the minor improvements, the man still had his faults, permanent reminders that would haunt him for the rest of his life. Something Ed knew far too well.

The teen sighed in frustration, far too tired to attempt a heated discussion. The rope felt as if it were getting tighter, and the young alchemist feared moving would only inflict more damaged to his injured body.

"Why are you doing this?"

Another howl of laughed made even the blondes metallic toes curl. Archer pulled Edward by the collar, raising him from the floor and putting his face close, an eerie grin etched across the man's scarred features.

"Why?" he exclaimed, as if the answer were completely obvious, "Why don't you tell me clever alchemist."

"Because you're out of your fucking mind, that's why!"

There was a yelp as Edward hit the floor, delivering another smack to his already throbbing head that began to pound in protest, causing him to wince and hiss in pain. Once again, the blonde lay in a helpless heap on the floor. As his head screamed and the blood rang in his ears, Ed wondered if there was a muscle in his body that didn't ache and cry out with exhaustion.

"My mistake," the former Colonel smiled, delivering a single kick to the teen's ribs, successfully knocking the wind out of him.

"Silly me.... thinking you'd understand. But we are in the same circumstances of course."

"What are you-?"

"Scars Edward, Scars!" he cried with another enthusiastic kick, resting his weight on the blondes chest and kneeling on the other leg looking mockingly into his eyes.

"You understand don't you?" he said manically, causing the teen to panic. If the man was in such a state, he was capable of almost anything. Anything while the alchemist lay bound with a minor piece of rope.

"You understand how it feels..." his smile fell to a sad frown, gaze slipping to the automail port bolted to Ed's chest and shoulder.

"The way they stare, pretending not to notice. Pretending not to care." Archer raised a pale hand and began to trace the marks etched into his skin. Some were faint, barely visible, but others were much deeper. Not all of them were physical.

"Don't tell me you've never wished you could go back and do things differently," a pair of blue eyes locked with Ed's wide golden ones, "You and I are much more similar than you think."

"Never!" Ed spat through clenched teeth, growling weakly as the foot above his ribs began to sink lower and lower, the bone and cartilage screaming from the pressure. "Don't put me in the same league as scum like you!"

Silence. Ed knew he'd just made a dangerous move, a very idiotic one at that. The silence was gnawing eagerly at his already fraying nerves.

"Tell me Edward," Archer said with a grin, "Have you ever broken a rib before?"

The nervous blonde shook his head in response. Before he could reply feebly, a great weight pounced hard upon his chest, the familiar taste of metallic blood escaping his lips and splattering on the cold floor, dribbling from the corners of his mouth.

Until the darkness consumed his consciousness again, Edward was weary and confused. He was absolutely sure he hadn't broken anything...

Thank you very much for reading and reviewing : ) I will see you next chapter!