At last, I bring you the next chapter! Which, I know, is far too short for the amount of time it took me to make it appear here. Why? various boring, everyday reasons. sorry guys. Anyway...

This is still from Ed's perspective.

Summary: In which Ed and Alucard have words, and somebody gets shot.

Chapter 5: Was that you knocking kid?

"The name given to me by my Masters, is Alucard."Ed let the implications of the sentence seep into his brain, already tweaking his ever-evolving evaluation of the man. "Master's?"

"Yes." The man-no, Alucard, had straightened his posture so they stood face to face (Ed was loathe to admit it was more accurately face to chest).

Ed frowned, eyes roving over the man. 'So he really isn't God then. After all, how can 'God' have a Master? And what does that mean anyway? He's a, a slave?' The top half of Alucard's jumper caught his attention. 'And is that some sort of straight-jacket?' He looked back up into the eyes that even when not luminescent where eerie. "So, you're a slave?"

Alucard's lips pulled back in what would have been a sneer if not for the upturned corners of his mouth.

Ed felt his blood freeze. For the first time since his appearance, the Fullmetal Alchemist got a good look at the No Life King's grin, up close and personal. More to the point, what the parting of his lips revealed. 'Shit, the guy's got a scarier smile than a Doberman. If he's the slave I'd hate to see the master.'

A soft chuckle broke the deer-in-the-headlights thing Ed'd fallen into. He blinked to clear his mind, only to find the fangs once again hidden from sight; although the smug smile he was receiving wasn't all that much better. He looked off towards the side as if feigning disinterest, looking at the Nosferatu instead out of the corner of his eye.

Alucard's grin faltered for a moment, before becoming something else entirely. "Tell me, human, was it you knocking at the other side of the barrier?"

Before he could stop himself, Ed looked the man full on in the face. "What?"

Alucard frowned, eyes narrowing for a moment before giving his head the slightest of shakes. He looked thoughtfully at the alchemist for a moment, as if deciding how to best phrase his question to get the desired answer. "You where the one hitting from out here?"

"Uh…"

"I believe you referred to him as 'the dwarf in the flask homunculus'."

Ed frowned, wondering if it was just coincidence the man knew which part of the question he'd been mulling over in his head. From there, he was able to mentally rephrase the peculiar wording into ''Where you the one beating the crap out of the guy I tore my way out of'?'.'

Ed missed the split second smirk that flitted across the Nosferatu's lips.

"Yea, until you came in. Although I really can't take all the credit for myself. It was a group effort for awhile." He jammed a thumb back towards where he knew his friends were, although wished he hadn't, the way the red eyes immediately leapt to them. "Although," He waited until he was again the center of Alucard's attention(or at least until the creature's eyes were back on him) before continuing his comment. "By the end of it, it was just me."

"Really…Why? Why did your friends leave you to fight alone?"

Ed, disliking the intonation of the question, replied without thinking, emotions getting the better of him. "Because I was the one Father singled out! I was trapped, and Al sacrificed himself for me so that I could kill the bastard and-" As he'd been speaking he'd put on an air of cockiness, of anger, but the second his own words had sunk in, it was smothered by one of despair and horror. 'Alphonse!' He didn't take note of the eyebrow being cocked at him, was already focusing on his brother's metal body when the fanged mouth opened to speak; By the time he'd turned and begun to walk away he'd already missed the sound of a gun being cocked, and the sight of the reaching hand that had triggered it. He did, however, hear the racket the bullet made as it left the barrel.

Ed pivoted down into a crouch out of habit, hands at the ready, eyes scanning the area for the shooter. His gaze found the smoking barrel first, still aimed as it was, before moving to the wielder of the weapon. Dark hair, white uniform: a Briggs soldier. 'What the fuck?'

Soft laughter, coming from somewhere below his knee, caught his attention. Looking down at the source of the noise, Ed was given understanding. He hadn't heard the bullet hit, nor the thump of dead weight hitting the ground, yet sprawled before him was the Nosferatu, an obvious bullet wound to the head. And he was laughing as if instead of being shot, the soldier had told him a joke. And although the man's cheek was against the cement, hair obscuring his face, Ed knew some sort of deranged smile was on his lips.

This close, Ed was able to see the blood on the concrete as it slithered back to it's point of ejection, said wound closing right before his eyes. He was so engrossed in the peculiar spectacle that he didn't see the shadow that had stretched itself along the ground, merged with the shadow of the gunman and crawled it's way upwards. He only became aware of it once it had latched onto the soldier's throat, causing him to cry out in surprise and drop his weapon. Had the man not been in white, Ed, nor anyone else, would have been able to tell the thing was there.

The laughter grew softer, the animalistic tones in it drawing Ed's attention back to Alucard. He pushed himself up smoothly onto his forearms, head turning as he did to reveal burning eyes and a predator's smile. Even though the Nosferatu wasn't focusing on him, Ed quickly straightened up and took a step back as Alucard slowly climbed to his feet.

The second the No Life King had straightened, the tendril of shadow gained a more solid form, rising from the ground to hold it's own against the laws of physics. There was no obvious command given as the thing lifted the man from the ground and pulled him swiftly to it's master, paying no heed to the attempts of the soldier to be free. Alucard caught the man deftly by the fabric of his uniform, holding him suspended at least a foot off the ground. The shadow retreated to dance idly behind it's master, giving the Nosferatu an unearthly look. The hungry gaze locked on the face of the soldier above him didn't help either.

"Fool, a dog like you cannot kill me, only a Man can kill a Monster!" Alucard's grin widened, pupils contracting as he slowly lowered the man so their faces where closer together, voice lowering to a soft purr. "But since you managed to take one of my lives, I think I'll take one of yours." The soldier's face was now parallel that of the Nosferatu's, dark eyes wide and reflecting the red glow of the creature's irises. "Too bad dogs don't have nine lives."

"No!" Ed's fist smacked solidly against the black clad arm in front of him, the force pivoting Alucard's upper body so he and Ed where again face to face. Ed hit him again, squarely in the chest, forcing the Nosferatu to swing the rest of himself to face the Alchemist. "Don't. You. Fucking. Kill. Him. Bastard!" Each word was accompanied by the sound of flesh hitting flesh, and although he was hitting with his stronger left arm, Ed hadn't managed to move the No Life King at all. The Nosferatu didn't even flinch, taking the hits as if they where nothing, only further infuriating the alchemist.

He struck again, only this time his fist didn't hit the man's chest. Ed stared dumbfounded at the hand closed around his, grip like steel but not actually painful. He hadn't even seen the Nosferatu move. Ed tried to pull away, only to find the arm as unmoving as the rest of the man. Whipping his gaze upwards to yell in the man's face, he found the crimson eyes already on him. They held his, and he couldn't look away. The anger fell away, a stillness he'd never known before washing over him. He felt vulnerable, naked, like every thought, every secret he had inside him was being examined. He didn't like it.

Alucard's eyes narrowed and the feeling ebbed away, leaving only his residual emotions. "Is that an order?" The No Life King's voice was so soft, Ed just barely caught the question. He wasn't sure why that would matter, but if it would save the soldier's life…"Yes, now put him down!"

And to Ed's surprise, Alucard did just that.

The soldier hit the cement with a thud, uniform rumpled where seconds before it'd been held snugly in the hand holding him off he ground. Without waiting for the air to return to his lungs, the man crawled away as fast as he could, not looking back until he'd reached his compatriots.

Alucard had watched the soldier the entire way, his face blank save for the slight down-turning of his lips. Only when the man had melded into the group of soldiers he'd been apart of did the Nosferatu's gaze slide back to Ed's. The alchemist froze, more than expecting some sort of violence against his person. A full minute of silence passed between the two of them before Ed relaxed, coming to the conclusion that he wasn't going to be hit at that point in time.

Alucard released his hold, dropping his hand back to his side. Ed flexed his fingers slowly, eyeing up the Nosferatu. He wasn't sure what to make of the pointedly blank expression, nor the whole altercation for that matter. 'Gah, I'll figure it out later, right now I need to focus on getting both Al and his body back! Boy, does that sound we-'

"You were saying?"

Ed blinked as his train of thought was neatly derailed. "Uh…yea, look there's something I've got to do." He ignored the annoyance being broadcast in the Nosferatu's eyes as he took a step back, pivoted on his heel, and again made an attempt to go to his brother's downed soul-shell.

"Raising the dead?" Alucard's voice was low, sly, and far too stopped in his tracks, one foot hovering slightly over the ground. 'How does he…' Drawing himself up to his full height, Ed, for once, stayed silent, waiting for the Nosferatu to continue.

"If you like, perhaps I can be of assistance."

A small chill ran down his spine at the words, and Ed had to make a conscious effort not to look back at the man. He could feel the eyes on the back of his head, could almost hear the grin that was most likely in place. At that point, he didn't want to know exactly what kind of assistance was being offered. "No. This is something I need to do myself."

"Are you sure?" His tone was even lower, slyer; almost goading, in fact.

Ed pointedly began walking away. "Yes."

Unbeknownst to the alchemist, Alucard was looking at him with just the slightest bit of respect, his next words lost to everyone save himself. "As you wish, Edward Elric."

And there you go, one step closer to...wherever I'm going with this! Sorry guys, no spoilers this time! Maybe next time.

Speaking of next time, I'll warn you that the next chapter updates may be slower in coming. Friend's living across the pond are visiting home for a month, and we plan to party it up. Don't worry though, I won't forget about this fic!

until next time!

deadpan riot