Mustard gal - Yeah you got it! There's a teeny tiny bit more than that, but It'll all be explained in a while!

PrincessZidet - Ah yes, the insane Nazi Edo. I mean...what? XD

soupcan - Yeah it was a little OOC, but I'm explaining it all in a little bit here! I mean, it was a tramatic thing and all... Poor Ed

Harryswoman - Will do!! XD

Sunkissed Lavender - Yes poor Ed...as for Amestris (sp?) that isn't in the plan as of now. I have an ending plotted, you'll see.

Dark Angel Rising II - Let me see if I can respond in order... One, it's okay that you did a short review. I understand that sometimes people don't have the time or whatever and that's fine by me really! Don't sweat over it! Two, I love hearing when people print the chapters out. I do it myself! XD Does that make me a nerd? I dunno. Maybe. Three, I feel so honored that your teacher liked it! I thought of showing my teacher once or twice but figured he'd hate it because I don't even know what I'm talking about. Then again, but now I'm almost an expert on the subject. And four, as for the conclusion to the story and what will happen. I'm guessing there will be three chapters after this one and then it'll end. So you'll have to wait until then. I don't want to give away any spoilers.

Chapter fifteen - Nightmares

It had been a long night for the Elric brothers. Lots of talking about various things. Edward was quiet for the most part, keeping to himself, as he listened to Alphonse talk. He kept a weak smile glued on his face, and Alphonse was too busy to notice otherwise.

He started by going on about how he met Jean Havoc, and how they became fast friends. How Jean had stayed in Edwards place for a while and then how he was in the back barracks at the moment.

Then he went on about all the running they had been doing and how all the trips to Auschwitz three hadn't gotten any easier. How he had to authorize beatings and such to any mouthy prisoners that reminded him of his brother. He described the camp to his brother and mentioned once that Edward was suppose to join him the next day.

"…for that?" Alphonse asked and looked over at his brother in their bed. Edward snapped out of his trance and shook his head as he looked back to Alphonse.

"Huh? Sorry Al, I guess I'm tired. What was that?"

"I said are you ready for that?"

"For what…?" Edward asked timidly. He felt awful that his brother had been tuned out of his mind, but he was thinking of other things. When Alphonse was talking about the forced labor that went on and all the things they were forced to do besides labor; Edward kept thinking about on Birkenau.

"For the things we have to do. They made me pretend to be a German SS man to lead some men. It wasn't bad, but when they wanted me to punish them…" He shook his head, "I still can't do it brother. I'm just not use to seeing people beaten and used like that."

"No one is," Edward said with a small sigh as he closed his eyes and leaned back on the bed.

"Well…what happened in Birkenau? You still haven't told me much," Alphonse said with a little smile as he too leaned back, watching Edward constantly. "Did they do anything to you? You look like your okay. They even gave you a new uniform."

Uniform? Was that what it was called? Edward scoffed lightly as he thought about it. After the whipping he had gotten, they ending up beating him once more a few days later. It ripped his shirt in a few places and they actually replaced it. Himmler's orders or something; Edward didn't ask questions.

"Um, well," Edward started as he opened his eyes again, not looking at Alphonse as he spoke. "The first day I was there, I saw mom again. She was a nurse in a medical barrack."

"Mom?" Alphonse gasped, shifting a bit so he was closed to Edward. Edward still didn't look at his brother. "How? I thought she-"

"She was a nurse before hand, so they decided to use her instead of kill her." He said it so casually, "anyway, after that I was taken to my barrack and I slept. Then the next day I got whipped, then slept some more. Then I just did different chores. Nothing big," he said shrugging. He wasn't sure if he should tell Alphonse or not about the whole gas chamber thing.

If they were lucky, Alphonse would never have to see one; and Edward would never have to go back to them.

"Just chores?" Alphonse asked raising an eyebrow, "that's weird. Like what? What did Himmler say to you before hand?"

"Al, I'm kind of tired." Edward said taking in a deep breath then yawned and turned over on his side, facing away from his brother. "Can we talk about this tomorrow or something?"

Alphonse frowned at his brothers sudden distance in talking, Edward was usually one to talk; unless it was something difficult for him… "Yeah brother, okay." He said quietly as he turned over also, "good night."

Edward just lay there staring out at the barrack. All the men there… They weren't like the men in the Birkenau barrack. They were bigger and stronger and…

Edward smiled slightly as he closed his eyes thinking about Birkenau. He wasn't thinking about his brother anymore, or even about the new schedule we'd have to deal with starting the next day. His mind was on other things, no matter how bad he knew it was.

Edward took in a deep breath the next morning as he finished eating his ration for the day. Alphonse was beside him as usual; as was a certain Jean Havoc he'd hardly met in this world. The older male was talking on and on about things before the war began and such. Little things that didn't interest Edward at all.

Edward set his bowl aside and wiped his mouth as he awaited any instruction. He glanced casually at Alphonse every once in a while and watched him eat slowly. His brother was thinner than him, to where if you lifted his shirt you could probably see most of the rib cage. Edward frowned at that as he looked at his own stomach.

In Birkenau, Edward was always sure to eat 'properly'. Eating his rations carefully and stealing seconds if he could manage. He was curious, though, as to why Alphonse seemed different in that area. A week or two away had done a number on the younger brother, but Edward wasn't going to ask Alphonse about it.

"EH-5583, your being summoned," an SS man called as he looked over at Alphonse. Alphonse jumped slightly, a little startled at hearing his name. He nodded none the less and set his stuff down as he got up and walked away with the man.

This meant Edward and Havoc were alone together, the perfect opportunity. "So, um, Jean Havoc was it?" Edward asked playing dumb.

"Yeah, that's m' name. Friends call me just Havoc though." He said with a grin as he finished his last bite of bread.

"Right," Edward nodded, "hey I have a question for you. You were here all of last week right?"

"Right," Havoc said nodding as he sipped at his stale water. "I got here the day you left, er somewhere around then anyway."

"So you stayed with Al that whole time?"

"Yeah. The little guy kind of stuck out for me, so I decided to watch him for you. Especially with all the men eyeballing him."

"Thank you for that," Edward said thinking about what would have happened otherwise. "Did he ever...act weird around you? Or just in general?"

"Weird? Like how?" Havoc asked raising an eyebrow as he took another sip of water.

"Weird as in his behavior in anyway. Did he talk funny or act funny? Different than normal people would?"

"Well, under these circumstances, it's easy for one to act weird. It seems everyone who comes to a camp like this changes even a little bit. Me; I use to be able to do what I pleased. Then I came here and had to take orders which got me into trouble. I didn't like that much but knew I had to change if I didn't want a bullet through my skull."

"I know that feeling," Edward said shaking his head.

"You; you're a rebellious type from what Alphonse said. Always getting into trouble but risking life and limb to do the right thing. You'd rather see yourself get shot than an innocent bystander." Havoc took a gulp of water that time, "but now your different too. You'd do anything to keep yourself alive, even if it means watching someone die in your suspense."

"Who told you that?" Edward asked narrowing his eyes.

"Believe it or not kid, I use to work for the military. As such I was an excellent profiler. I can tell your entire past by looking at you. Trust me, you can't hide anything for me." He said with a smile, "but don't worry. I'm not going to tell anyone."

"Whatever," Edward said looking away. After a moment or so he turned back towards Havoc, "you never answered my question."

"What about Alphonse? Well he- Aw damn, out of water." He said holding his cup upside down and shaking it a little so a single drop fell. Edward growled lightly and held his own water out for the man.

"Here," was all he said.

"Thank you, but that would be necessary," Havoc said as he waved the cup away. He took in a deep breath then sighed as he set his cup down. "Alphonse has problems of his own right now. From what I know about him, he's just a kid who was put here by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"He likes cats, from what he's told me, but he's never been able to have one. He lost his mother when he was little and he lost his father a couple years back. You're his only family." He paused, "he makes friends easily which is why he use to have so many. Here, he has no one but you and me.

"The first day he arrived here, he was emotionally scarred but tried to hide it. Especially from you. When you left though, he couldn't keep it bottled up. I was there when he broke down in tears. He needs you Edward or he falls apart." He explained giving Edward a sympathetic look. "He's afraid of you dying and he's barely hanging onto life by a thread. Watch out for him or you'll just end up losing him."

"Thanks but I already knew all that," Edward said standing up as the SS men started lining everyone up for assignments for the day. They would run for an hour or so; the be moved somewhere for the day to work.

Havoc said nothing more, but shook his head as he stood up and waited.

Alphonse had joined the two after their running. Edward asked what he was called out for, but Alphonse just said something along the lines of 'a quick examination'. That made Edward nervous, but only for a minute. He knew Alphonse was in excellent shape. Well, as excellent as you could get being in a concentration camp.

"EH-5582 through EH-5601, you will go to Birkenau and act as watchers. Be sure that anyone who acts up in anyway is punished in the way you see fit. Breaks will be decided based on how hard you work. Some will monitor more than others, where as a few of you might join the prisoners there. Understood?"

Edward frowned at that as a few of the prisoners groaned and whined; Alphonse and Havoc included. Edward, however, didn't feel the same resent as the others seemed to. He didn't feel any anger or sorrow, or anything else. Just something that had to be done.

He shrugged it off and stayed near his brother who was busy talking to Havoc at the moment. Havoc would be going elsewhere for the day since his name wasn't included in their handful. He said a small good bye to the brothers and ruffled Alphonse's fuzz of hair. Both boys had started growing their hair back recently so it was a daily thing now.

After there short good byes it was back to running, only this time they were heading to Birkenau. The brothers were somewhere in front as they all ran. Men spoke amongst themselves about how the end was near for them. That only the dead went to Birkenau. They obviously didn't know Edward very well.

"I'm sorry you have to go back," Alphonse told his brother as they went. Edward snapped out of his daze and looked to his brother confused. "You just got back and now your going straight to Birkenau again..." He explained somewhat sadly, "at least you'll know how things work there."

Edward smiled weakly and nodded, "yeah, there's nothing too different there." Then quickly a flash picture of the gas chambers went through his mind. Hadn't he silently prayed to no one that his brother never saw those horrible buildings?

"I know, besides, I'll be there this time." Alphonse said with a little smile. "You still never told me how things went in Birkenau," he added.

Edward ignored his brother's hopeful eyes a moment as he went back to his own thoughts. Birkenau was a whole other Hell altogether. Alphonse knew nothing of it, and Edward wanted to keep it that way.

"Well," Edward started quietly, "I made some new friends there at least."

That made Alphonse smile, "really? Maybe we'll get to see them."

"Yeah...maybe..."

Birkenau hadn't change since Edward was last there. Everyone were still skeletons, and the men in charge were still mean to where it reminded Edward of the seven sins he'd fought in the past. The gas chambers were up and running, Edward could tell, from sight of smoke up ahead. They were burning bodies and running gas chambers; a typical day for them all.

Alphonse was immediately uneasy at this as he held his breath. "I don't like the smell," he announced to his brother as they followed the other men to the barrack they would lead. Edward just nodded out of instinct, but in truth, he couldn't even smell it anymore.

"Here is the barrack you shall lead," an SS man said pointing to a lonely old barrack that looked as though it was falling apart. Skeletons gathered around the outside and it made Alphonse sick to see them. "These men are all disgustingly diseased, so you'll have to assign them a death."

Alphonse jumped at that, slightly startled. Assign a death to living creatures? The man had to be joking...

"EH-5582 through 85 will be assigned that task, the rest of you, follow me." The SS man walked off and the others went with him. The four men assigned for the barrack job just stood and waited for someone to do something. Alphonse looked around, mentally volunteering another man besides the brothers.

Edward didn't get the memo though. He stepped forward and walked towards the men, arms crossed behind his back. He put a nice enough scowl on his face to where if he wasn't in the prisoners uniform, you would think he was a soldier. Alphonse frowned slightly; his brother was putting on a very good act, but it was all just an act...

"Furnace, shot down, starvation, experimentation, or gas chamber," Edward said loud enough for the skeletons to all hear. "Those are your choices. Notice how there is no life option." He said narrowing his eyes, "those are the ways you die here in Birkenau. No doubt you've all lost family in one of these ways. Well now it's your turn."

Alphonse just watched his brother with pure confusion on his face. Was his brother that good of an actor? He'd never known Edward to be that good. He sounded so...convincing.

"Today I feel like being nice, I will allow each of you to choose your death. It will be slow either way so don't bother to try and find the easiest way out." He looked over at one man that was out farther than the rest, "you?"

"I don't...I don't feel like dying today sir..." The man said weakly. His voice was hoarse and he had to be in his late seventies. He was quite possibly the oldest one there, but it was hard to tell. They were all skin and bone.

Edward narrowed his eyes again at the man and stepped forward, "you don't 'feel' like dying?" He asked with a small hiss in his voice, "well hate to break it to you, but no one ever 'feels' like dying. It just happens, and today is your turn." He pointed at the man, "gas chamber."

Edward backed off after that, looking back to the other men, "you all have five minutes to get your deaths decided." He said as he walked back over to where Alphonse and the other two men were.

They all were speechless as he stood there looking back at them. "Brother...I...?" Alphonse began, but Edward silenced him.

"I was here for at least a week," Edward explained shaking his head. "I know how the procedure goes. I had to watch it a lot... Um, some one else can take over from here. Just take their orders and we'll move them out." He said almost shamefully as he looked down. That way he couldn't see Alphonses' horrified face.

When the men announced their deaths, or had Edward choose for them, they were moved out to which ever one they had chosen. Needless to say, since most of the men didn't know what a gas chamber was, they chose it instead of another death. The SS man that had left them, came back a while later to pick up some of the men to take them. He left the gas chambered ones and the furnace ones to the four.

Edward and Alphonse lead a group of men to the nearest gas chamber, while the other two prisoners lead a group of men to the furnace. Alphonse had remained speechless the whole time. Edward did also from lack of knowing what to say.

At the gas chamber, Alphonse watched their group of men line up and file in with the rest of them. He was curious as to what a 'gas chamber' was, but he could only imagine... If Edward chose it though, maybe it was quick and painless? He smiled so weakly it was pitiful to see.

As the last of the men went in Edward turned to Alphonse, "Al, listen...I-"

"Hey look who it is! It's good ol' golden eyes!" A man shouted from the roof. The brother jerked their heads up to see a few men looking down at them. One or two waved almost happily. "Long time no see ay?" He asked sarcastically.

Edward just nodded and waved as he turned back to his brother, "these um...these are the guys I was telling you about..."

"What? The men who kill innocence?" Alphonse asked bitterly.

"Actually...these are the closest things to friends I have here." Edward said as he started heading for the stairs. Alphonse gave another shocked look to his brother, but Edward was too busy to actually see it. He was already most of the way up when the men came to greet him; Alphonse just stayed on the ground.

"So Ed, what have you been doing today?" One asked as some men went back to their window holes.

"Not much. I added eight to your batch. Some old guys that are really sick." Edward said nodding as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Oh really?" The man asked as he motioned Edward to come closer. He wrapped one arm around Edward's shoulder playfully as he pointed down to Alphonse. "Who's the kid?"

"Oh, that's my brother Alphonse," Edward said with a smile. "He's the one I was telling you about."

"Oh right! Your little brother who likes cats," he said nodding as he turned his head and motioned a man to walk over. He spoke to the other man in a foreign language, though since the man was a Jew it wasn't hard to tell what language. The man nodded and headed down stairs as the other man pulled Edward along. "So, your just in time. Ready to join us in on the drop in?"

"I don't know, I don't really have orders to. We're just suppose to supervise," Edward said looking back to his brother to see the Jewish man speaking to him. He ignored it a moment as he looked back at the man dragging him along.

"Eh, we'll just say that we asked you to do it." He reached down and grabbed one of the gas balls, handing it to Edward. "Just one, for old times sake?"

Edward stared at the ball, gripping it firmly, "well..." It was like a drug to Edward. The more he dropped, the more he wanted to drop. He hadn't done so in almost a day so the wait was almost murder on him. "I guess one couldn't hurt..."

"That's the ticket," the man said as he knelt down by an open hole, letting go of Edward so he could to the same. "It's almost show time," he explained as one man kept watch. He snickered to himself about something but didn't say what aloud.

"The doors are closed!" He shouted after a while as there was a loud slamming sound heard. Edward was third in, and would be going after a SS man. He held the ball over the hole, ready to drop it in.

"Now!" The first man shouted as he let his drop. Then went the second.

With a slight smile, Edward let his go also. The screams began erupting fast, and he could hear mostly woman. He couldn't help but smile as the other droppers laughed and cheered as they closed the glass part over the windows so they could watch from the top.

Edward just watched with mild delight until he heard another sound... One that chilled his blood and stopped his heart from beating.

That scream he could hear in the back of his mind...

The one that was surfacing louder than the women now...

That was Alphonse.

There we go. You get a new chapter which, I think, was way better than the last. Sorry to keep you waiting so long. I finally got my computer fixed! Hurray! That's a good thing. Well, not much to say about this chapter. Well...okay there is.
Havoc is now a profiler. I bet you want to know why huh? Because profilers are cool! I was watching lots of CSI and Mind Hunters yesturday and realized, 'hey, profilers are kinda cool if they're good enough.' So I made Havoc a profiler. A good one too. Because I could see him doing that XD Or something...
And we get more Edo Nazi...ish...thing...it'll turn out alright in the end! I promise ;-; Bare with me through this hard time! Especially you Sissy...
My editor decided to quit on me, so I have to edit my own stuff, which just doesn't work... So if anyone wants to be an editor and is good with it, tell me and I might consider it. This means you'll get more chapters before other people! Whoo-hoo XD
Summer started Monday which means more typing and stuff, and yeah...

Two/three chapters left to go!!! Then it'll be the end. For all those he can't stand to wait I can give you a spoiler...
It has to do with the Elric brothers OO

Anyway, RxR! I love you all!

- Kori