Disclaimer: You know, I am miserable that they make me do this; I know that I own nothing, but making me admit it is just depressing.

Chapter Seventeen

Nightmares

Ed lay on the bed with a pained expression on his face. The automail replacements always did this to him. They led him into dreams that could only be described as horrifying.

Ed's nightmare

Ed and Al sat in the lower room of their old house; the room their mother told them was off limits. They had all of the supplies set up for the Human Transmutation that they would attempt, only to lose a body, an arm, and a leg. But, it was different, it felt different to him, they weren't young boys like before. This time, Al was fourteen and he was fifteen, but who could they be reviving? All seemed to be in order.

"Are you ready, Brother?" Ed turned and was met by his brother's sweet smile, this time he wore a very confident smile.

"Who are we reviving, Al?"

Al chuckled. "I thought you wouldn't ever forget her, I thought you loved her? She was your girlfriend."

Ed's jaw dropped. "No…? Winry…?" Al nodded. "How did she die?"

"The homunculi got her." Al's head lowered.

"How are you human again?"

"We did it! You're back to normal, as well."

Ed raised his hands and raised his pant leg. "We shouldn't be doing this again; it didn't work the first time, why would it work now?"

"Because…" Al revealed a gleaming stone in his hand. "We have the stone. Plus, with your increased powers from the Lab 5 incident, we should do fine! Alright, are you ready?"

"As ready as I can be." The boys clapped their hands in unison and touched the complex array which contained the components of the human body.

A bright light enveloped the room; striking everything around them, including the boys. Every time the light touched them, a searing pain flew through them in that area. The components started to take form, twisting and turning in a foreboding fashion. "Al, something's not right, this is too much like last time!"

"Don't give up brother, don't stop!" One of the lights clamped onto Al's body.

"NO AL!" Al's body started dematerializing; he was melting before his eyes. "AL! Not again, please…! Not my little brother! I have lost everyone else, but not him too!"

The deed was done, Al was gone and Ed was left weeping on the floor.

"E-Ed-w-ward…?" A hand rose above some mist

"W-Winry?" He rose and walked over to her side, she closely resembled the body of his mother after her transmutation, but this time, it seemed gorier, there was more blood and muscles showing, the face of the form looked as if was beaten, it was only half covered with flesh. "NO! NOT AGAIN!" He fell to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. He grabbed some chalk from a shelf and drew an array around him and the freshly created monster. "I want Al back, please, GIVE HIM BACK!" He clenched the stone in his hand, causing the sharp edges to dig into his skin, making him bleed.

The light returned, this time bringing his to The Gate. There was a figure waiting for him, it was Greed. "G-Greed? Why are you here?"

He made some motions with his hand. "Apparently, I'm now the Guardian of this hell sent place. Why are you here?"

"Give me Al back…" He made a motion towards the fleshy monster. "And take this and however much of my body that you need, but make him human."

Greed smiled mischievously. "Whatever you say, chief." A bright light enveloped the monster and Ed, all he could hear a shriek of pain coming from the monster and Greed's maniacal laughter. A figure started forming in front of him, he was almost complete. A sickening pain started burning in his right arm and left leg. Al's face started to form and look at him with astonishment.

"B-Brother…?" He looked to Ed's bloody stumps. "What did you do, Brother, What did you do?"

It was getting harder and harder for Ed's gaze to remain on his brother, he was going in and out of focus, and Al seemed to realize this. "No, Ed, don't leave me Please, don't leave me!" His hand went out to him. Ed raised his left arm, but noticed it dematerializing in front of him. "NO, EDWARD! DON'T GO!"

Ed struggled to get with his brother, his body was leaving him. "AL!"

End

Ed rose with a jerk, causing him to fall off the cot, sending sickening pain through his body making him scream in pain. Winry flew into the tent, just the sight of her caused Ed to start to cry. "Y-You're okay…? You're okay? Al…?"

Winry just gawked at him. "We're both fine, are you okay? How did you get on the ground? Let me help you up." She grabbed his flesh arm and helped him into the bed. She grabbed another wet cloth and put her hand on his forehead. "Ed, you have a terrible fever! You have to go back to sleep, I'll ask Kagome if she has any pain relievers." She turned to leave, but Ed grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Please, just stay with me, at least until I fall back asleep…?"

She nodded and sat down next to the cot, resting one hand on his cheek and the other fiddling with his hair. His breathing soon came in even and slow breathes. She still didn't leave him; she didn't want him to have another nightmare. Al came in and sat next to Winry.

"Is he alright now?"

"He had a nightmare, it really shook him up. He has a horrible fever; it's messing with his head. He was concerned about both of us when he woke."

"I'll stay with him if you want to go and sit by the fire…?"

"Okay." She bent down and kissed his forehead and left. She walked out with a blank face and sat down next to Kagome; who put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"How is he doing?"

"Not much better; his fever had worsened and he is having nightmares. This is much worse than the other times this has happened."

"Maybe it is because he is in worse condition…? Do you want me to dress his wounds; I might have some pain relieving cream?"

"That might help him; I'll come in and help." Se rose with a depressed face and headed back to the tent.

Miroku turned to Inuyasha and Sango with a sad smirk. "It seems the moods of Alphonse and Winry depend on the physical condition of Edward."

"He doesn't even realize this, I don't think."

Inuyasha shook his head. "It's rather amusing because they both get very fed up with him, but without him, they seem as though there is nothing in their lives that can make them happy."

Al didn't leave his spot next to Ed when the women walked in; he didn't even look up.

"Do you mind if we redress Edward's wounds?"

"No, as long as it makes him feel better."

Winry checked the "joints" connecting Ed's flesh to his automail while Kagome checked his injuries and rubbed antiseptic pain relieving cream on them. "His wounds are healing fine, how are his 'joints' doing, Winry?"

"They are redder than usual and a little swelled. But, there is no sign of infection."

Al looked over to them. "So, he's fine, but, how is it that he's doing worse than usual, what can be the cause of his nightmares?"

"I couldn't tell you. Maybe there's poison in his system?"

­­­­

Winry didn't sleep well, all she could think about was Ed, and all she wanted was for him to be well again. She slept next to him that night. Her sleep was restless.

Winry's dream

Winry walked around in a dark alleyway. She saw a blond boy running in the street at the end of the alley, after him were a slender female figure, a stout male figure, and a slender male. She recognized the blond as Ed.

"Ed!" She ran after them, trying to get to her love.

They stopped in front of a building, all of them in their battle stances, Ed opposing the other three.

"Your life ends here military slime. We'll wipe you from the face of this planet if you still refuse to make the Stone for us."

"Come get me then, you bastards. Anything that involves taking lives, I refuse!" He spat defiantly.

"What difference would it make, you've killed before, there's no turning back now." Lust smiled, showing her craving teeth.

"I've killed to fight in defense against those attacking me! You bastards have killed for no apparent reason. You killed Hughes; you killed the guards in Lab 5, and so many more! Hughes did nothing, he had a family, he was important to many, and you have no idea what kind of hell you put all the people that were important to him through! And the guard in Lab 5, he was starting to be a good man, he was helping people, he had even admitted his faults!"

"He was a shell of what he was before, we did him a favor."

"Wrong! He wasn't a shell, he was still the same! He had the same soul; he was like Al. AND YOU KILLED HIM, LIKE YOU WERE GOING TO KILL AL!" He charged them, his hand already a blade, but Lust's nails beat him to it, they pierced through his stomach.

A boy in dark clothes came from the shadows. Winry recognized him as Wrath. Wrath chuckled at the boy's current state. "Don't worry, when you die, I'll take care of your body, or should I say my body." He smiled as the boy started to thrash about. He pulled out a knife and neared the impaled boy. His knife ripped through the boy's flesh, he laughed as Ed screamed in pain.

End

Winry gasped as she ended her horrifying dream, she turned to find Ed looking at her with concern.

"Are you okay, Win? Sounded like you were having a nightmare." She nodded. "You too, huh? Why don't you come in bed with me?" He moved over, allowing space for her to fit on the cot next to him. He put his left arm out in replace of a pillow for her to put her head on. She slid in next to him and cuddled close to him; but, she didn't use his arm as a pillow, she used his chest.

He looked at her and blushed a little, but did not fight her, instead he pulled her closer with his arm and held her tight around the shoulders, making her feel as though nothing could touch her.

At the Campfire

Miroku and Inuyasha kept sending questioning glances toward the tent, Kagome and Sango seemed to be picking upon their suspicions.

Kagome stretched and turned towards Sango and the boys with a small smirk on her face. "Boy, Winry's been in there a long time! Wonder what she's doing…"

Al turned towards her and sighed. "In the current state Ed's in, he couldn't even kiss her if he tried. He's completely run down."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and sighed. "You humans are a bore. What could lay him up for so long? By the way, how long is it going to take until he can function again?"

"A couple of days."

"A COUPLE OF DAYS! Are you serious? Why is it going to take so damn long?"

Kagome glared at him and smacked him sharply on the arm. "Inuyasha! His nerves are attached to his metal limbs. Think about it this way…It's like you being in your human form and having your left leg and arm removed at the same time and put back on to heal." Everybody cringed at that image.

"Okay…nevermind."