The Flame Alchemist's workroom was dimly lit and cluttered, the pervasive smells of sulphur and ethanol slightly masked by the fresher, sharper tang of drying paint. Maes had been down in this dark room a few times before, but he couldn't say that he particularly enjoyed the atmosphere; it was gloomy and what little light there was glinted menacingly off of the test tubes, flasks, and other scientific equipment that Roy kept on his paper-strewn desk. Still, Maes found himself suddenly wide-awake as he descended the final two steps, his lungs sucking in a startled gasp of awe.

In the center of the room was a new adornment that had not been there the last time Maes have ventured to wander down into this alchemic pit. It was a structure of some sort, hewn from many thin, sharp, four-foot high pillars of stone that speared upward out of the basement's dust colored floor to form a wicked-looking ring in the middle of the chamber. The space between each pillar was only about four inches across, though there was one larger gap of perhaps two feet, the opening of which was partially blocked by a warped plank of wood that swung out on hinges like a crude kind of door.

It was a pen, Maes realized slowly, like for animals. So that's what Roy had been mumbling about...

And in the center of the pen was a transmutation circle. It was huge, perhaps fifteen feet in diameter and so detailed that it hurt Maes' eyes to look at it for too long. The lines were bold and perfect, painstakingly brushed onto the floor just inside the ring of stone with bright red paint. It was a swirling circle of ordered chaos, the lines and alchemic symbols entwining, overlapping, and separating into a detailed network that was both beautiful and almost frightening to gaze upon.

"Goddamn, Roy..." Maes breathed, "How the hell did you manage to get all this done so quickly...?

"Quickly?" Roy asked, turning to his friend incredulously. He had a few smears of paint on his cheek but he didn't seem to notice. "What do you mean, 'quickly'? This took me hours!"

Maes blinked. "...Damn, how long was I asleep?"

"Since like nine o'clock, and it is now..." He consulted his pocket watch, "half past one."

"...Oh."

Roy rolled his eyes and looked back over at his creation appraisingly. Edward was circling the structure slowly, his head held low and his long body tensed. Roy watched him for a moment, then said:

"I'm going to have to do this in stages. Trying to change him back all at once would kill him, according to Tucker's notes. His body is so strained and contorted as it is... too much stress and it could break down entirely. I'll need to be very careful."

"...How long do you think it'll take for him to be... normal again?" Maes asked quietly, his eyes also riveted to Ed's hunched form. He saw Roy shrug peripherally.

"I dunno. Days. Maybe weeks. I have to just play it by ear at first... I have to see how much he can take at once."

"...How much he can take...?"

"This is... not exactly going to be pleasant for him," Roy said softly, keeping his voice low so that Ed wouldn't overhear, "It's going to be hard, and it's going to hurt... and he's already been through so much..." He trailed off for a moment, still watching Ed with his deep, fathomless eyes, then cleared his throat and went on, "And then there's still the chance that this won't work at all..."

"Well," Maes said gently, "we'll never know if we don't try, right?"

The corner of Roy's mouth twitched. "Right."

The two men fell silent as Ed continued examining the perimeter of the makeshift pen. He'd looked uncomfortable at first, but that discomfort was quickly turning into anxiety. A soft, unhappy whine was lurching from his throat as he paced around the ring of stone, his golden gaze locked onto the transmutation circle within.

"No..." he moaned softly, "No. Bad. Twenty-eight..."

Roy took a sharp breath, looking stricken by the sick horror in Ed's warped voice. Perhaps it hadn't occurred to him that Ed might look at this glorious transmutation circle and make connections to his own recent trauma, but in retrospect the pen itself must be terrifyingly reminiscent of the cage he'd been forced to inhabit over the past few months. And the transmutation circle... Ed might not remember much about alchemy, but Maes had a sick gut feeling that he remembered that pain and horror of being transformed and knew that a circle such as this had caused it.

"Come on, Edward," Roy said to him, shaking himself a little as he stepped over to the door of the pen and pulled it all the way open, "I need you to get inside. This is going to help you."

"No... Mean..." Ed rasped, his head swaying from side to side as he backed away from Roy, a look of animal betrayal widening his yellow eyes so that they seemed to glow in the dim light. "Hurt Ed..."

The colonel clenched his jaw and glanced over at Maes uncertainly, but then swallowed and turned back to Ed with a nod. "Yes, it's going to hurt..." he admitted to the chimera quietly, "but we have to do it if we want to fix you, okay? Do you want to stay like this forever?"

A shudder rolled through Edward and he lowered his head even further so that the blond fur at his brow slid forward and obscured his face. "No," he rasped hollowly.

"Then we have to do this, Edward. I need you to trust me."

"Trust me," Ed repeated, his voice hitched with fear as he hesitantly plodded back toward his superior and let Roy guide him into the pen. Roy stepped back out and closed the little door, then lowered himself onto his knees and reached through the gaps in the stone pillars to rest his fingers on the edge of the transmutation circle.

"...I dunno about this, Roy..." Maes said uneasily, a sudden feeling of foreboding twisting his insides. Ed's anxiety was contagious and this dark room gave Maes the creeps anyway, making him feel the need to voice his concerns in spite of Roy's confidence. "Maybe you should do this when you're not so tired..."

"I'm fine, Maes," Roy snapped, looking up at him over his shoulder, "Besides, I'm not going to do much more than get a feel for the alchemy right now. I'm just going to push him a little bit so that I'll know how far I can take it next time. It'll be easy."

Maes held up his hands in defensive mime. "Okay, you're the alchemist..."

Roy nodded curtly and returned his attention to the circle under his fingers, closing his eyes. Hm. Maybe Roy was right... He was, after all, a very skilled alchemist and it looked like he knew what he was doing... Then again, he was still exhausted—no matter what adrenaline rush he'd been gifted with in the wake of his discoveries—and had a rather bad tendency of making bad judgment calls when he was overly tired. But then Maes shook his head. There was no talking Roy out of this now; he was still caught up in his own excitement and Maes just knew that nothing he could say would make the Flame take a step back. So, instead, Maes sighed and stood close, the caution of a soldier squaring his jaw and making his eyes sharp as he waited for his friend to begin.

Roy took a deep breath and the lines beneath his fingers began to glow softly. The glow spread outward through the circle like blood flowing through a tangle of veins, filling the room with an eerie electrical light. The glow reached Ed's crouched, quivering form and enveloped him. The frightened chimera jolted as if shocked by the flood of light surrounding him and jumped up with a pained, nervous whine. The light intensified and almost immediately Ed's soft whining turned into high-pitched shrieks of agony, the terrifying sound ricocheting off of the dusty stone walls of the basement and slamming Maes in the gut with the sonorous force of his disquiet. Yelping in pain, Ed stumbled around the perimeter of his enclosure looking for a way out, frantically trying to escape from the circle that was inflicting him.

"Roy, I think that's enough..." Maes said quietly, his stomach turning to witness the boy's pain and desperation.

The alchemist either didn't hear him or was ignoring him completely—too entranced by the power coursing through his fingertips to even open his eyes—and instead of pulling back he pushed forward even harder so that the glow of the circle lit all corners of this dark underground room, obliterating shadows with cold radiance.

Ed screamed, all four of his legs buckling under the dire weight of his pain. He hit the floor hard and made no attempt to get back up. He curled in on himself like a dead spider, his thin, near-skeletal back heaving as he gasped for breath between pained cries. He coughed sharply, gagging on both pain and the streams of blood that was starting to flow from his nose. It was a terrifying sight.

"Roy, STOP!" Maes pleaded, his cry almost entirely swallowed by the louder sounds of Ed's screams and the electric roar of the alchemic reaction.

Roy's eyes shot open wide as if he'd just been awoken from a nightmare and he looked over at Maes, dazed. And then, to Maes' horror, his eyelids fluttered and he pitched sideways onto the cold stone of the floor, as limp and lifeless as a rag-doll. His fingers broke contact with the circle and the transmutation ceased, plunging the room back into a darkness that was both quiet and entirely too still after such a terrifying burst of light and chaos.

Ed's shrieking died away into a lurching, plaintive whine that sounded disconcertingly similar to the sobbing of a very young child. His parental instincts shaken by the sound, Maes ran past Roy's unconscious form toward the door of the pen and flung it open, rushing to Ed's side. He was curled into a tight ball, trembling and crying, his long muzzle smeared with blood.

"Ed? Kid, can you hear me?" Maes asked frantically, kneeling down beside him and reaching out a cautious hand to brush the long strands of golden hair out of his face. Ed flinched in response but then the whimpering quieted a little and he opened his eyes, giving the lieutenant colonel a tiny, frightened nod in reply. Maes exhaled sharply, relieved.

A low, weak moan sounded from beyond the confines of the pen and Maes raised his head, looking over at Roy. The man was trying to push himself upright with moderate success. He groaned again softly and grabbed one of the stone pillars, using it for leverage so that he could sit up. He pulled himself up onto his knees with some difficulty and leaned his forehead against the stone, panting.

"You okay, Roy?" Maes asked, his tone a little icy.

"Uh... yeah..." Roy rasped, sounding as if he was going to be sick, "...Is he okay?"

"You hurt him," Maes accused, angry, "But, yeah, I think he's okay."

Roy raised his head and looked over at Ed woozily, taking in his frail, whimpering form, "I think that was a little too much..." he stated blearily, seemingly unaware of Maes' ire toward him, "I'll have to hold back more next time..."

"No shit, Roy," Maes mumbled, looking back down at Ed, "I told you that you were too tired..." The kid was making a feeble attempt to stand, but his wobbling legs would not support him and he fell back down with a sharp yelp. "Shh... Be still, Ed," Maes crooned to him gently, running a hand along his back soothingly. Edward shifted a little in response and buried his face against Maes' arm, still trembling. Maes clenched his jaw and slid his arms under Ed. The kid stiffened and yelped again as Maes lifted him off the floor but did not struggle and instead pressed himself even closer. Maes made a low, reassuring sound and held the boy's head against his chest comfortingly.

Maes saw Roy wince a little at the plaintive sound that Ed had made, closing his eyes as if the tiny cry had been physically painful for him to hear. He didn't look too good... he had looked bad before he had done the transmutation, but now he looked half-dead. He was pale and shaking and was obviously having a great deal of trouble with the simple task of getting to his feet. After a few failed attempts, Roy finally managed to stand, leaning heavily on the stability of the pen. Maes carried Ed over to him and then, very quietly, asked:

"What do you want me to do with him?"

Roy looked over at the scared, trembling burden in Maes' arms, his face drawn. He reached out a hesitant hand and touched Ed very softly, but the boy jerked away from him as if burned.

"M-mean... bad..." he cried softly, "Like them... l-like bad place. Hurt Ed. Twenty-eight..."

The colonel pulled his hand back quickly and cleared his throat, forcing himself to hide the flash of horrified guilt that briefly etched itself onto his tired face and turned his attention back to Maes. "Just put him upstairs. I'll be up in a minute."

Maes looked at him for a moment chewing his lip, half-sorry about the anger he was feeling toward Roy and his forceful transmutation. It had been careless of him to insist on doing it when he was so worn... but he certainly hadn't meant to go as far as he had and Ed's obvious pain was rebuke enough. Maes didn't need to make it worse with his own harsh feelings.

"Okay. Do you want me to give him some of the painkillers that the vet gave him? It might not do much, but something is better than nothing..."

Roy nodded slowly, looking back toward the circle, his expression completely closed. Maes bit his lip again and turned from him, carrying Ed back toward the flight of stairs. The doorway at the top looked inviting after being in this dark place, a welcoming rectangle of light at the top of the stairs. Maes looked back at Roy, but Ed gave another plaintive whimper and Maes shook himself, turning back to the stairs and beginning his climb.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Roy looked down at the circle darkly. It was too big. That was part of the problem; it was just too damn big. Too powerful. It had reacted too much with Ed's suffering body and it had taken too much from Roy... and sure, it had probably been a bad idea to attempt something like this while so tired to begin with, but the deep exhaustion tugging at the corners of his mind now was far beyond just the effects of sleeplessness and stress. He could barely even stand. Roy bowed his head a little, fighting back a sudden wave of nausea.

The transmutation had sucked way more energy from him than he'd intended it to. The immense size and detail that Roy had put into the circle had made it vastly more powerful than he had anticipated and he'd lost control of the reaction. It had gotten away from him, feeding off of him and stunning him as it raced through the circle and coursed into Edward, trying to reshape his twisted form...

Luckily, the transmutation's energy source—namely, Roy—had run out before it could get truly nasty and tear Ed apart completely. As odd as it sounded, it was undoubtedly a good thing that Roy had gone into this so fatigued; if he'd been at the peak of his performance when the reaction had gotten away from him, Edward surely would have been killed by the speed of his transformation. The human body—or the canine body, for that matter—is a very durable thing, but expecting it to be able to withstand such a violent change was nothing short of idiotic... his insides would have given way, his bones warping and his organs hemorrhaging... turning him into a tangled mess of half-congealed blood and mismatched parts.

Roy's stomach lurched again, bile rising to the back of his throat. He banished that thought from his mind quickly. He wasn't going to let that happen. Next time he would have more control. Next time he would be more careful.

The man sighed and straightened himself, turning away from the circle. He really wanted to fix the circle now, to redraw it and limit its power a bit so that it wouldn't be so unpredictable, but he really needed to just step away from this before he made any more mistakes. Maes was right: he was too tired to be doing this and now he was even more drained. Roy limped over to the foot of the stairs and looked up toward the door with a groan. He had climbed these stairs many, many times over the past few years but never before had these fourteen steps looked so insurmountable. He honestly didn't know if he'd be able to make the climb in his current state. Perhaps he should call for Maes and have him help him up the stairs... but no, he was taking care of Edward...

With another low, tired sigh, Roy began to drag himself up the stairs. The going was slow and he was already winded before he'd even made it half up the flight. He gasped for breath, muscles screaming as he put one foot in front of the other, pulling himself upward. By the time he reached the top he was shaking like a leaf and his heart was racing so fast that it felt like it was going to burst. He stood at the top of the stairwell dazedly, gripping the handrail and doubling over to catch his breath. His head was pounding, swimming in a muddled haze that was openly threatening to yank him down into unconsciousness. He fought against the tug of darkness and blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear his blurring vision.

"...Roy?"

Roy raised his heavy head. Maes was on the other side of the room, looking at him over his shoulder. He had placed Ed on the couch and was hovering over him, stroking his side calmingly. "...Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, "You look like you're about to pass out."

Roy's vision faded out again, pulsing black in a dull throb behind his eyes. He most certainly was going to pass out. There was no avoiding it now. The only question was whether or not he was going to make it to the couch before he lost consciousness. He took a small, lurching step forward and the room rocked around him queasily.

Nope. He definitely wasn't going to make it to the couch.

"...I'm... I'm fine, Maes," he rasped unfocusedly, "But I just... I'm gonna..."

But then his knees buckled and the world rushed up to meet him. His cheek connected hard with the cold wooden floor, white and yellow stars bursting behind his eyelids.

The last thing his floundering mind registered was the sound of hurried footsteps pounding toward him and a frightened voice calling his name.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

((A/N: sorry I was a little later than usual posting this one. My inspiration for this story is flagging and I'm getting rather irritated with it. I promise to finish this, but I might not be able to keep up with posting a new chapter each week. I will do my best, though. I'm just in a moody funk right now, but I'll get out of it soon ))