Aevium - I know. it was a ltitle OOC of Edward, but the thing was that he was trying to rid himself of any fear or whatever he might have had. And the way it was in my head was much better then how it turned out in writing. Sorry about that. But can't you just imagine some kind of stiff SS guard person walking all nervous like and Edward being all grinning and going on about whatever pops into his little head? XD I dunno, I'm crazy. As usual your one of the first to review! Love you!!

Sunkissed Lavender - You asked the same thing so many others have been asking. How is it going to end? You know, I had an ending all planned out, but I jsut might have to change it later. XD It will be good from what I plan! Or at least, I think it will be. You'll have to be the judge. If I said it had a happy ending I would be giving away too much. So I won't say anything more.

just another fma fan - Yeah I have a few different editors, but sometimes they're not available and I jsut post for you guys. When I'm all done with it, I'll go back and fix it up, but by then it's too late. Eh, I'll fix it. Don't worry. As for Trisha, she'll come into play later on more or less. you'll jsut have to see.

Mustard Gal - Oh don't worry. In the original story, Edward and Alphonse went into the gas chamber and both survived various ways, but then I though 'no they couldn't do this and that' so I took it away. So no gas chambers for them, but Edward gets other punishment. Don't worry about that one. X3

soupcan - Yeah, like I said to Aevium. That OOC part was just kind of a moment thing. It was better in my head then on paper (so to speak). Sorry about that. I could just picture Heydrich being all stiff and nervous and Edward all relaxed and trying to lighten the mood with some talking. Yeah, I dunno. More of a younger Ed thing to do, but whatever. As for reviews, so long as I get great reviews like yours, I don't mind. I'd rather have less large in-depth reviews, then a million 'update soon' reviews. I hate those! XD

PrincessZidet - XD I'm sorry for stopping in places like that. I enjoy writting cliff hangers. It means I get more reviews most times. I'm cruel so sorry. The next one won't be a cliffy though no worries!

Chapter thirteen - My Punishment
Edward woke to a start, noting knowing where he was or how long he had been asleep. He was panting hard as he let his eyes wander around the room he was in. Wait, a room? How did he get there? He could remember the smell, the sights, the laughter. Then the vomit and pain in his throat. Then he could remember blanking out and ending up here.

'Here' was a small medical room, mostly white in color. He was on a bed that was definitely more comfortable than the ones in his home barrack. There were two beds, one that wasn't occupied at the moment; though there were blood stains here and there.

A small side table was by his bed where the medical instruments were. Syringe, bag of water, some red liquid he assumed was blood; it also had a few papers labeled EH-5582. His file no doubt.

He groaned and fell back against the pillow on his bed as he stared up at the ceiling; the first thought that came to mind was that he was in an experimental room. He was a subject and nothing more. They'd send in some doctor to mess with his eyes or something. Then he would die here in pain while Alphonse-

Edward quickly jerked up in the bed, "Al!" He shouted out as his body started shaking. He couldn't die there! He was too far away. Alphonse would never know when he died. He'd never know how he died. He wouldn't be able to see his brother again and he'd have to live there alone.

Edward wouldn't stand for that…

"Please calm down Edward," a soft voice said from the side. Someone who'd just entered the room no doubt. Edward swallowed the lump in his throat as he looked over at none other than Trisha Elric. More or less. She was smiling weakly, her hair was shaved like his had been, but hers was growing back. Edward wondered if he was also.

She was also wearing some kind of nurse outfit and holding a clipboard. Edward couldn't help but notice the small Nazi pin on her chest. "Why are you here?" Were the first words to just pour out of Edward's mouth. Better that then vomit.

"Nice to see you again too," she said as she walked over, sitting down in a chair beside him. "I'm glad to see your alive and well."

"Alive and well?" He growled as he glared at the woman. Only a minute before calming himself. He couldn't get mad at her. Not here, not ever. "Alive and well…what does that even mean."

"Here, it means that your still breathing."

"Yeah just barely…" He muttered as he calmed his breathing.

"How is Alphonse? Is he alive and well?"

Edward scoffed lightly over that, "besides people trying to molest him in the middle of the night, and the things he's had to see here, and the fact we're both slowly dying here…yeah he's good."

"Edward, everyone at this camp must go through those things. People will molest other people…everyone must see these things…everyone dies the same death here. Even those you wouldn't think of."

"What the hell does that mean?" Edward snapped suddenly, finding his anger once more.

"It means, that even though you think you have it bad, think about the others. I do not think about myself, only those that need my help here. At the train station, they asked who had professions and I told them I use to be a nurse. They kept me alive to serve them and I have. I heal the wounded and in that, I am able to help people in one small way. You are out there striving for life with your little brother. Your doing just fine for now." She said as she took the syringe, "I need blood."

Edward nodded and held out his left arm. She rubbed some alcohol on it as she began to take some blood. Edward winced slightly but just let what she had been preaching about sink in. Even in this world, under these circumstances, she was trying to help people. Same kind hearted Trisha no matter where she was.

"So what does that file say about me?" Edward asked nodding to the stack of papers. She tilted her head momentarily confused, then nodded as it clicked.

"Oh right, those. It basically tells me that you have no medical problems and that you are schedules for a beating later today."

"A beating?" He groaned and shook his head.

"Yes, it's being done under Himmler's command. A beating that is probably just whipping or something." She said with another weak smile as she set his blood aside. "Don't worry, it's nothing you can't handle."

"How do you know?" He asked as he rubbed his arm.

"Well, record wise, your healthy enough to handle it. They'll just have you beaten in front of the other prisoners as an example or something. At least, that's what they usually do."

"They're not going to throw me into the furnace or that…that building of death are they?"

"Building of death? Oh, you mean the gas chamber. Yes, that's a cruel joke some of the men play on kids like you. I'm sorry you had to see that. I had to watch it also. Isn't it the worst thing in the world. All the screaming…"

They made Edward's mother watch that too? What kind of sick world was this? He didn't even need an answer as the woman stood up. "Well, I should get going. Please take care of yourselves," she said nodding to him as she picked up his paperwork. "I'd hate to see anything happen to either of you boys."

"Yeah, you take care too." He said getting up also. "So where do I go now?"

"They told me to send you outside for now. I assume some men will escort you somewhere else."

"Great," he said as he started to leave the room along with Trisha. "So how are they treating you?"

"Just fine. I get to stay in the medical barrack and heal people to the best of my ability. There aren't many women here, so I guess I'm lucky. I'd like to think so."

"Yeah," Edward said with a short nod as she turned to the left.

"Head down the hall, you can't miss the exit," she said pointing off to the right, "good luck Edward."

"Thanks, you too." Edward said with a wave as he headed in the opposite direction. He didn't say anything more, too lost in thought.

"So your brother's gone to Birkenau," a man said with a laugh as he sat down beside Alphonse. It was a little passed their dinner time. Alphonse was eating slowly and almost painfully alone. The men watched him and kept teasing him about things, most of which he ignored. Now there was some strange man he'd never seen before talking to him. He didn't say anything but hated to be rude. "I've heard about you. EH-5583 right?"

"My name is Alphonse," he said softly, picking at his soup. He'd taken only one bite and that was it.

"Hm, fun name. My name is Havoc. Jean Havoc actually," the man introduced. Alphonse jumped slightly as he looked over at the man for the first time since he'd sat down. Sure as heck, it was Jean Havoc. Blonde hair that had at one point been shaved but was now growing back; blue eyes, prison garbs, bread in hand, a twig looking thing in his mouth.

"You're an Aryan," Alphonse pointed out, slightly confused. "Why are you…?"

"Eh they don't like people acting up. I shot my mouth off too much for their liking," the man said chuckling. That sounded like Havoc alright. "I'd rather be here then be dead though."

"Are you kidding me?" Alphonse asked shaking his head. "This place is terrible. If it wasn't for my brother I'd rather be dead."

"Hey, don't say that kid." The man said frowning, "the dead can't rebel as easily."

"Rebel?"

"Yeah. A few friends of mine are planning to rebel against the camp guards in a few weeks. Your brother and you should join in. You'd be great!"
"Thanks but no thanks. I don't think my brother is coming back…" Alphonse said softly as he tried not to show the tears brimming his eyes.

"Your too negative kid! I was just transferred here from the labor camp, and from the talk around the men, you and your brother are very popular." He grinned as he took a bite of his bread slice.

"Popular?" Alphonse asked rolling his eyes, "that doesn't sound good."

"They say you and your brother are some kind of super heroes or something."

"Super heroes? Why? We haven't done anything."

"No, but they say your brother has some kind of super strength. Bones of steel," Havoc explained tapping his left shin. "In that fight the other morning some guy punched your brother's leg, and he said it almost broke his wrist. The guy your brother punched a few times, he's in serious pain. I heard he had to go to the medical barracks for a while."

Alphonse just kind of listened. If they found out about Edward's limbs, they'd both be in trouble. "Then they say your brother is a good friend of Himmler. Not only that, but they say he knows most of the high workers here. Like that Tucker guy, man he creeps everyone out."

"Tucker?" Alphonse asked looking back to Havoc, "what does he have to do with anything?"

"They say he might be as good a doctor as that Mengele guy. He's been trying experiments even though he's not suppose to without any consent of the SS men. You know, he sold out his daughter to get the position of doctor. He probably could have gotten it just fine without doing it, but he did so, eh. Poor kid."

That made Alphonse crack. He felt himself get a little sick as he buried his face against his knees and started crying. His brother was gone, Nina was dead once again, and he didn't know how he was suppose to survive.

"Hey hey, don't cry!" Havoc said nervously, "I didn't mean to say anything to offend you."

"No I'm okay," Alphonse said shaking his head. "It's nice to talk to someone who isn't trying to molest me…" He said softly as Havoc smiled weakly and patted Alphonse's shoulders.

"Don't worry kid, I'll keep an eye on you until your brother gets back."

"Thank you," Alphonse said in a tired voice. It would be time to go to sleep soon, and if Edward wasn't there, Alphonse knew he would never get to sleep. With a little sigh he looked up at the smoggy sky and whispered, "brother where are you…?"

"Eh-5582, alias as Edward Elric," a SS man announced to Edward as if he didn't know who he was. "Under the command of Heinrich Himmler you are to be punished for the crime of speaking out when not granted permission," Edward rolled his eyes, "for starting a fight in your home barrack, for arguing with Himmler under his own roof, and for-"

Edward stopped listening. They were charging him of nothing. Himmler just wanted to watch him squirm and Edward wasn't going to fall for it. If Himmler was testing Edward, then he'd take the test and pass with flying colors. Like every other test Edward had taken in his life.

"You are to be sent to the gas chambers, from there you will receive instruction," the man finally finished off. Edward made a fist, but like usual, kept it at his side. The gas chambers? So that was it. They were sending him away to die. First let him see the death, then let him live it. Live being a technical term.

He said nothing as he licked his chapped lips and headed in the direction of the gas chamber he'd been to previously. How was he suppose to explain this to Alphonse? As he marched over to the chamber, he kept thinking of different ways to get out of this. Maybe he could run? No, they'd just shoot him. He could fight, but they'd gang up on him.

It was lose lose situation either way he looked at it. So he took in a deep breath, walked over to the large building, and got in line.

The people in the line were like the last ones. Some were happy, some weren't dressed all the way, some were sad. Others were just glad to get off the train and able to take a nice hot shower; but Edward knew what was coming. He would have warned them but didn't want to cause any new uproar.

As Edward watched the line moving, and he approached the mouth of the building, his thought were swarmed with different things. His brother mostly, but also different memories. The people back home that would never know of his death. The ones he'd never see again. The ones that mattered to him most.

Is eyes were half lidded and almost in a trance as he took one step into the building. He closed his eyes all the way, waiting for something to happen. Which something did happen, but not what he expected. A pair of very strong arms reached out and grabbed Edward's shoulders to yank him out of the line. Pulling him out of the building they shoved him to the mud on the ground.

"Hey boy! What the hell do you think your doing?" The man hissed down at Edward. He was confused as he looked up at the new soldier. He was German by the looks of it, and there as some kind of guard.

"I was thinking of going into this gas chamber," Edward growled as he got up and brushed himself off. The mud just stuck like the rest before it. A few people moving into the chamber gave fearful looks as a wave of panic now hit all the people. More guards came to keep them in line as the German man grabbed Edward again and dragged him off.

"You little bastard! Your going to scare the people!"

"Good!" Edward shouted back to the man as he followed. "They can't be completely clueless as they go to their death!"

"Listen! I have orders to punish you. Your punishment under Himmler, and that means you have to be alive for it. So don't try to commit suicide or anything you little son of a bitch."

"Commit suicide? That's the last possible thing I would do," Edward said angrily, though slightly confused. Commit suicide? Wasn't his punishment to be sent to the gas chambers?

"Then don't do it," the man hissed again as he lead Edward to a small flight of stairs. Edward just looked at them momentarily before being pushed up them. The German forced him up the stairs where Edward remained confused, until he got to the top and realized what was going on.

There was a small handful of different men up there already. Germans, Jews, SS men, and so on; with Edward now added to the mix. They were watching the inside of the gas chamber with open windows, waiting for all the people to pile it. They had small baskets beside them, with little ball looking objects.

Some of the men looked sad, others were watching in amusement. The German with Edward pushed him again so that he was sanding over one of the window holes peering down. "So what? You want me to watch this again?" Edward asked in a harsh voice. Been there, seen that.

"Oh no, not this time boy." One man said with a chuckle as he reached over and handed Edward one of the ball objects. Edward took it, then recognized the man as one of the men who had been laughing the last time. "Your going to participate this time." The man said as he took another ball for himself.

"The doors are shut," a Jew said from the side lines. "It's time."

Edward frowned, not liking the sound of that as the men gathered around the window holes. At least three per hole and then some. Edward was at one hole with the man who had been laughing, and the German that had brought him there. The doors shut below them and then nothing but silence.

Edward suddenly felt himself losing it again. Now he knew what was going on. This was where those things had come from. The gas that fell from the sky. It had come from these men! They were to blame! Then Edward looked to his hand where the ball was. Was this it? Was this the gas?

"Okay kid, drop it." The laughing man said to Edward as he looked down. "Just drop it in then close the window. The glass is thick enough so we'll be safe from the fumes.

"No!" Edward shouted loudly as he looked at his shaking hand as though it was the cause of all the pain in the world. Which it, more or less, was.

The men all stared at him then rolled there eyes. The laughing man nodded to the other men and they gave to drop in their balls. One by one until the screaming erupted just as before. Edward felt his stomach turning again, his whole body shaking. Only this time it was different.

"Listen kid, you have to let it go." The man said rolling his eyes as he took Edward's hand in his own and pried his fingers. Edward didn't even feel it or realize it until he saw the ball drop from his window. His eyes went wide and his skin went pale as more screams were heard from below.

Then the man closed his window and watched the sight below them. Edward found it hard to take his eyes off the scene as he just stared. That couldn't have just happened. He did drop that. The man next to him did. Edward would never kill someone. He couldn't.

But he had.

After the screaming faded out and the men stopped laughing, Edward was escorted off the rooftop and into the building itself. He was given a face mask to wear just in case the fumes had not cleared yet. He was on body patrol. He was in charge of moving the bodies out of the building and out into a pile where they would be burned later.

He had some help moving them, a few other prisoners like himself. They had the orders to clean up the mess for the next load. Edward's punishment. Watching the people die, watching them suffer, hearing them scream. Then cleaning them up to make way for more.

He didn't even want to go on anymore. He just wanted to curl up in a corner and die; but every time he thought of that, Alphonse's face flashed in his mind. He had to fight to live so he could get Alphonse out of there. He'd saved Alphonse in the past, now he had to do it again.

If he didn't, no one else would.

Taking in a deep breath, Edward stepping into the chamber and began to move the bodies. At first it was difficult to move the bodies of a mother and her baby, but the day came to an end and Edward's shift was done.

Night fall fell over the Birkenau camp and Edward was taken to a barrack for the night. He slept in a small one person bunk, curled up alone as he let himself fall asleep. For some reason, even after watching the death and having to clean it up…

Edward found himself unable to cry.

There you go! Two chapters in one weekend. Yeah, not much in this chapter but oh well. As promised, no bad cliffy for this one, but Edward is having issues. Oh no! XD I love it.

This chapter was a pain to type, I want all of you to know! I wrote the whole thing originally in Edward's POV with Winry and Roy being in there. Then went back and made it jsut 3rd person POV instead. Then decided to change Winry into Trisha because I didn't want Winry there. Then I went back again and wrote it so Roy wasn't there either and just Havoc. Too many FMA characters in one place at the same time is fun but too impossible. Then after all that! I went through a rewrote the entire thing once more to make it flow better. Gah stupid thing.

So that's what you get for now. Sissy is writing her own version of the song 'Stand my ground' by Within Temptation for the story, so I can't wait to hear it!! She's has such an awesome voice I can't wait! She needs a new drummer though so who knows how long it will take...but oh well. I can wait...ish.

Well, Read and Review you know what to do! (Hehe, that ryhmes...)

- Kori