Authors Note: I plan to update this once a week to a week and half. This chapter took a bit longer, and I've been sick. Therefore, it hasn't been edited has heavily as the first two. All mistakes are mine and all FMA characters are not.

Rated M: For mildly disturbing scenes, the F word, and evil alchemists.

Reviews are welcome and thank you to the person who reviewed this last chapter. I'm so glad my first review was a positive one!

Chapter 3: In which Roy and Ed take a trip through the Gate of Truth and people die.

()()()()

"Who are you and how did you break you break in?" The guard leading Roy demanded with a flushed face. God, he must be stupid not to a least recognize I'm military. Well good, Roy could use that. He stood up to his full height, turned so that he was barely looking down at the sweating guard, and lifted up one side of his mouth in a well-practiced smirk.

"Pathetic," he spat. "Truly sad. You have to ask why I'm here; that shows a large organizational problem, and I'll definitely have to note that in my report."

"Your report?" the guard repeated.

"Yes, Officer, my report. As in the routine inspection I'm conducting. Unless you believe that I somehow managed to break into this facility, travel all the way down here without being seen, and then decided to wander the corridors." Roy snorted to show just how silly this was, all the while hoping that Hawkeye had abandoned him to travel further down the corridor. No sense in both of them being caught twenty minutes into the rescue. Roy added for good measure, "I was being escorted by Sargent Wilson, when he left to conduct business elsewhere."

The guard frowned obviously considering the story. Roy was just about to clap his hands together and risk crisping the guy, when he heard footsteps coming down the hallway. The footsteps were quick and purposeful, and as the newcomer turned the corner, Roy saw that it was Wilson himself, both the first and last person Roy wanted to see right now.

"Ah, Wilson, you've finally returned I see," Roy said with a lazy drawl, all the while eyeballing Wilson, begging him to play along.

Wilson looked from Roy to the guard and said stiffly, "Officer Warren, you're free to go. Report back to command. We have new orders."

"Yes sir." The man saluted and turned to Roy, "Sorry about the misunderstanding Sir," and he walked briskly away.

Wilson waited until they could no longer hear the guard's footsteps. His faced relaxed from its gruffness and he exclaimed, "Just what the hell were you thinking Roy? I told you that stuff to keep you away from here, not to go wandering around the basement!"

Hawkeye had not revealed herself once the guard left and Roy took that to mean she had left him when he had first been discovered. He snorted. She could have at least waited and made sure he was all right. He vaguely thought he heard a muffled noise from where Warren had gone."Wilson, you know all that did was seal my decision to investigate. I thought you knew me better than that." Roy responded, trying to figure out his next move. Should he go look for Hawkeye, or stay with Wilson?

Wilson was looking thoughtful, and he seemed to come to a decision. An indecipherable emotion flashed across his face. He then said with a jerk of his head, "Well good thing you did come because I know where they're keeping Edward Elric."

Roy felt a warning tremor go up his spine. He hadn't seem Wilson since Ishbal, and people changed, but there was something off about his easy mood swing. He was too nervous, his gaze too unsteady. Wilson had always been a neurotic, negative person, so it was this strange friendliness that laced his usual bad attitude that bothered Roy. Still, Roy could not afford to let go of opportunity to be directly taken to Ed. That was the entire reason he had been seen in the first place. This place was too damn complicated to search without a map and not be caught. Therefore, even if it turned out to be some kind of trap, he would have to risk it.

Seeing that Roy had made up his mind, Wilson started walking and continued to speak. "Ed's not that far away. I found out from a guard who's a friend that he was down here, but it was after we talked." Roy was only half listening to his former war buddy. Instead, he was surreptitiously positioning his lighter in his palm. He no longer needed a transmutation circle, but flame alchemy still needed an initial spark. "The only thing is, I can't figure out why he's here. I mean they say he blew up a sewer line, but if that were the case, they would have contacted the military and kept him with Gen Pop, not all this secret crap," Wilson said with his eyes on Roy.

Roy sensed the danger before it presented itself visually, and he clapped his hands together, calling the circle of alchemy. Even as he felt it travel from the ground up his channels, though his arms, he felt the presence of a stranger power. It slammed against his own, flicking against his arms and through his chest. The alchemic attack paralyzed his limbs, leaving him unable to control his own called upon power and he felt his own alchemy sizzle through his body, tearing at him unable to be released, until it finally faded out, leaving him spent and still trapped by the attack.

He couldn't move a muscle. When he tried all he could achieve was a minor jerk and spasm. His eyes filmed over and his limbs tingled, then he passed out.

()()()()

Tears were leaking from Katrin's eyes, dripping down in her lap, but she did nothing to stop them. Major Schmidt has betrayed the Councilor, or worse, Bertram had betrayed her. Either way she was locked up in a cell with a powerless Fullmetal awaiting Schmidt's return.

The Elric boy pointedly ignored her, choosing instead to work his manacles, pulling at them futilely. It made terrible scraping noises, noises that grated against her mind until she couldn't take it anymore. "Would you quit it!" she finally screamed shrilly. She was vaguely aware that she was taking her fear and frustration out on the helpless prisoner, but she couldn't seem to stop. "Just stop, please. It isn't helping," she said with a sob.

Edward gave her a measured look, but slowly eased himself back down. "At least I'm doing something. Better than sitting there and crying," he retorted. He then promptly pushed himself back up and began twisting his chains again. He was rotated awkwardly, trying to reach the base of the cuff, and when he spoke again it was muffled by his shoulder. "What right do you have, anyway? You sat there day after day, listening to them, knowing what they were planning, watching them experiment with me. You've been in this cell one hour and you're breaking down." His head twisted to face her and he scowled, "It's pathetic." By maneuvering his weight on his bad leg, which must have been very painful, and twisting his back, he was able to reach his hands with his mouth. He then proceeded to gnaw at the cuff, attempting to grasp the screw so he could turn it loose. Katrin could only watch, awed by his determination, but feeling a bit defensive.

"You wouldn't understand," she said quietly.

He let go of his cuff, and turned toward her, moving off his injured leg and easing down. He faced her with glittering piercing eyes. "Then enlighten me," he mocked.

"I've spent my entire adult life working for Councilor Bertram. I—he is a good person. He sets up community programs and recycles for god sake." She wasn't explaining it very well. She kept remembering the way he had looked in the car the day he had explained his plot. Why didn't I question it more?

"And the drugs," Edward questioned.

"What do drugs have to do with it? He has people working on the new problem with that drug speed, if that's what you mean. They aren't sure who the supplier is."

"He has people working on it," Ed repeated darkly.

"What are you saying?"

"You really are dense," he said condescendingly. "The stains on the guard's fingers? The lack of rounds and security, yet the high traffic in front of my cell, which is on the way to the storage spaces, right? Something's up here." He was looking at her now, reminding her of a teacher in high school who would wait on the answer to a simple question with the same impatience.

She shot him a disbelieving look and exclaimed, "You're trying to tell me that they are running drugs out of the Prison? Come on, that's crazy," but even as she said the words she was remembering the strange behavior of the man who had escorted her the first day. What if he wasn't stupid, but instead nervous? And Schmidt to have so much power…

"Schmidt has to be doing something to get that much power from the guards, like alchemically perfecting the drugs," he continued, echoing her train of thought. He had a bad habit of doing that. "I bet he and your councilor pal are running it together," he said, gauging her reaction with a cocked head.

"Bertram isn't corrupt!" she answered adamantly. She glared at him, suddenly breathing heavily. She was about to keep speaking when Edward tensed in a way that told her he had sensed someone approaching. A second later, she heard the thud of footsteps and the wooden door creaked open.

"Boss says to truss 'im up tighter'n hog," a voice was saying. Two guards were dragging a limp figure through the door. "They got Bertram feelin' important up in command while the Major sets us up down here."

"Yeah," the other replied. Ed was sitting still, straining to see whom they were bringing in. "I wouldn't wanna be these suckers, can't be nothin' good he got planned." They slammed the figure down. The body rolled, and Ed gasped, his face aghast. "Reg'nize your buddy do ya?"

Katrin could finally see him too. He was a soft faced man, with ink black hair that had that perfect manicured length, resting just above his eyes. Gotta have some Xingese to have hair that dark. However, he was unnaturally pale and, most disturbingly, there was blood coming out of all the orfaces on his face; his mouth, nose, eyes, and ears. What the hell could do that? The man was also, as the first guard had so elegantly put it, trussed up like a pig. Ropes bound his arms to his sides, wrapped around and around again, and his legs were the same.

Ed screamed, "Don't you people understand what you're doing? You'll never get away with this!"

"Edward." The voice was weak and trembling but it stopped the Fullmetal cold and he turned his head, "Mustang! What did they do to you? Can you breathe alright?"

The guards looked at each other and then one said, "Ah let 'im talk. They aint got that long till the Major comes back anyway." The first guard turned to walk away and the other followed saying, "Have fun boys," and then they were both gone, leaving the three prisoners in the semi darkness.

"Fullmetal, they have the Binding Alchemist," Roy began to say.

Edward cut him off, "I know. I've been down here for like eight days now." There was a hint of petulance in his voice.

Roy continued with a weak voice, "Didn't expect to deal with a powerful alchemist. They caught me by surprise."

"Yeah no kidding."

At that, Roy tried to glare at his subordinate but it was futile. One, his face was awkwardly squashed against the ground and two, Edward had them all outclassed when it came indignant glares.

"Edward listen," Roy demanded attempting to stay focused, "there isn't any back-up coming. Hawkeye and I broke in on own. Last I saw, she hasn't been caught, but it's only a matter of time."

Ed's face lost its petulance and turned grim. "Right, then what's the plan, Mr. General?"

Katrin could already see the disappointing answer before the Brigadier General lowered his eyes away from Fullmetal. Trails of blood stained his face, but it was his eyes that told her the truth. "I don't know," he said.

Edward didn't answer that at first. He bit his lip. "Right," he finally said quietly. "Well I'll just go back to being the only FUCKING person actually working on our problems." He was shouting now. "Roy, meet Katrin. Excuse me, Miss Colman. You'll get along splendidly; cry your freaking eyes out together!"

At the angle they had dropped him, Roy would have a hard time seeing Katrin but she still felt self-conscious. Not that he bothered really to try to look in her direction. Instead, he decided to yell at Edward.

"Could you be any more of a child!?" he shouted. "I never said I would take this lying down. I said I don't know what to do, Edward. You know, honesty rather than false bravado! If you have some master plan, now would be the time to enlighten us. No?" Roy sneered and Ed looked ready for round two.

"Both of you stop it," she murmured. Even though it was spoken in much softer tones, it rendered them both speechless. Ed jerked towards her and then immediately went back to glaring at Mustang, but Roy's gaze lingered, taking her in. She saw that his eyes were hard and intelligent, but also pained.

Bertram is terrified of this man, the man that is said to have an ice heart, which he needs to control his powers. They say he has a will of steel to go along with that iced-over heart. Yet here he is shouting, as if he were a child himself, at his subordinate that he supposedly has sole control over as if he were attack dog. Edward, who is turning out to be more like a human typhoon that any attack dog, all rage and blustering and bouts of physical force. She could see now that Roy Mustang did not truly control Elric's actions. No, you don't tame a storm and call yourself its master, you can merely hope to direct its force.

Her own heart felt like it was icing over, and she wondered if she was going into some deeper state of shock or if she was finally gathering her wits. I am betrayed. The words echoed across her mind, repeating and turning into a mantra. I am betrayed. I am betrayed. She addressed Mustang then, surprised at the clarity in her voice. "Edward tells me there might be a loosed pin in one of his cuffs. We were working on exploiting this when you were brought in."

That might have been stretching it a bit with the 'we', Ed's look told her as much, but she persisted in facing Mustang. She sensed that he would respect her more if she didn't look away while he judged her.

"Major Elric, how is that coming along?" he asked with all the professionalism he could muster.

"Shitastically, sir," Ed said, his anger evident by the sarcasm dripping from his voice. However now that Mustang had seemingly come to a decision to be professional, his voice had become steady and cool, and Fullmetal's attitude glanced off him. Like ice.

"Well, we'll just have to come up with another plan, won't we," he said.

()()()()

Roy Mustang was in a lot of physical pain. His head was splitting open, and he could taste blood in his mouth. The way his skin cracked when he moved his face told him that blood was dried in other places as well, that and Fullmetal's face told him about his condition plenty. Edward Elric could not hide an emotion to save his life. The girl, he had noticed immediately. She was his age, obviously in shock, and possessing a soft body. Must be a pencil pusher that started to know too much. And brave to attempt to cut across Fullmetal's raving.

Roy had not had time to contemplate a new escape plan when they all heard footsteps, accompanied by a voice whose chilling tone was easily recognized. Schmidt walked into the room, with a piece of chalk in his hand, and with guards dragging two more people in chains behind them.

He didn't speak, but rather bent down, frowned at the floor, and then began to sketch a large circle. That occupied him for a moment, until Fullmetal interrupted him.

"If you're going to kill us, I'd rather have it be quick and clean, if it's all the same to you. I'd prefer not to die as fodder in some horrible alchemy experiment." Roy wanted to voice his agreement but he held himself still, instead trying to study the alchemic circle and figure out what it was for.

"Oh don't worry, child," the answer came in soft clipped tones, "You aren't fodder. You're the grand product." He turned to leer at Edward. "In fact, I'm giving you a gift. You should get on your knees and thank me."

Ed's reply was an impressive glob of spit that nevertheless missed Schmidt by a few feet.

Schmidt's mood soured instantaneously and Roy wanted to groan. Now was not the time for theatrics and bravado.

The Major's tone was icy cold and dangerous. "I might have put up with your…ill attempted impudence in the presence of our dear friend Bertram, but I will not now." He cocked his head, eyed locked with Edward. "Not when I'm giving you a second chance, helping you even. Don't you understand? When we are through with this, I will be letting you go. Both of you."

"Bullshit," Ed spat.

"Truth. You serve me more alive at the moment." He laughed and turned to the two extra prisoners who had been deposited near Katrin. "No," he said. "These are the fodder."

He then continued drawing the circle, ignoring Ed's shouts, the prisoners struggles, and Katrin's shrieks. Roy himself was quiet. He had noticed that no mention had been made of Hawkeye and he wondered what that meant. Schmidt stood up and Roy caught a glimpse of the completed circle. It was shaped a bit like the harmony symbol. A large outer circle complete with two inner ones that connected with a swirl that balanced them out. Inside each of the two inside circles were three smaller ones, zigzagged through with complicated designs. Roy had never seen anything like it. He and Ed were dragged to the two inner circles, Ed still trapped on his knees and Roy wrapped in bonds. The three sacrifices, which included Katrin, were placed around the edge of the circle.

Schmidt's grin was going to split his face if it became any wider. Katrin was crying in her place on the edge of the circle and the two others did not look much calmer. Even Ed seemed to be in shock, as he was not struggling against his bonds. It was strange, the position on his knees made Edward seem postulate, as if he were begging for forgiveness, rather than in danger for his life.

"Time to get this show going, don't you think?" No one answered Schmidt, not that it seemed to do anything to his mood. He merely chuckled.

Edward raised his head and spoke then, his voice ringing, "If you do this. I will never forgive you. I will follow you to the ends of the Earth, I will punish you, and then I will kill you."

This did not seem to worry the Major. "Oh don't worry Eddy, I wouldn't expect anything less." He met Edward's snarling eyes and proceeded to plunge his hands into the circle. In his place of honor, Roy felt it come to life. Huge, powerful streams of energy raced through every drawn line, the kind he had only felt once before in his life. Human Transmutation.

It came for Edward first, building up around him, jutting columns of alchemy that encircled him. If he hadn't been on his knees before, he would be now. His back was arched up in resistance to the power seeking an outlet through him, and he was screaming shrilly. It all plunged into his chest, lighting his face in stark contrast. Roy watch as lines began to etch themselves into Edwards stomach, burning the flesh.

Roy heard a high whine and suddenly realized that the lines were gathering power around him as well, reaching for the ceiling, just as they had for Edward. Oh god, it's coming for me too. This time he could feel it for himself, rather than see it happening to Edward. When the power rushed into his chest, he felt he was being split apart, his body broken down into pieces. Every muscle, every atom was on fire, shrieking in protest. He was sure he had partially passed out, but then the etching started and he knew a new level of agony.

That was when things got a little hazy. There was a thunderous sound that Roy would have recognized as gunfire anywhere, and he saw the Major fall from the circle. This caused chaos in the lines of power. Roy got a glimpse of Riza as she barreled into Katrin, pulling the girl away from the alchemy circle just as the lines reached for them. He wanted to scream at them, that the circle would devour Riza too, but they were saved by Edward, who now had his hands on the circle, replacing the Major. Through his haze, Roy was astonished. Edward's face was stretched in a grimace as he struggled to call the power back to himself. But he couldn't. Ed shouldn't be able to do anything with the alchemy.

"Mustang, help me!" Roy realized that Edward was calling desperately to him and that the rope that had bound him was burned away along with the front of his shirt. The alchemy was tearing at them, out of control, licking at the fragile edges of the circle in an attempt to escape. If it did, then it would blow them all to high heaven with a terrible rebound.

Realizing this, Roy slapped his hands on the circle as well, and felt an immediate connection with it. He could sense it drawing to Edward, but the movement was strange. Alchemy always took the past of least resistance, but he could feel it moving through Roy's part of the circle, detouring before it obeyed Edward and channeled through him. No wonder Ed was having so much trouble bringing it back under control.

"Let me lend you a hand, Fullmetal," Roy called, harkening back to earlier times. Edward didn't bother to look up at him, but yelled, "Just hurry the fuck up, Roy. I'm about to drop it all!"

Roy frowned. The outer circle was supposed to call the power and contain it. The smaller circles inside were for stabilization, a second outlet for the extra power to feed through. To bleed out the power it should be simple to feed it through those circles until it stabilized, but Schmidt had made that impossible. Instead of using the circles how they were intended, they were acting more like miniature transmutations themselves. The more power he feed to them, the more the transmutation accelerated and the faster it destabilized.

"Goddammit, how are we supposed to fix this, Ed?" Roy cried desperately.

Edward jerked as a particularly large whip of power lashed at him. "You idiot, feed it through yourself!"

That almost made Roy lose his concentration and hold on the alchemy all together. To feed it through himself would have been what he would have done with lesser circles like his basic flame alchemy. It was a good strategy for small transmutations. The reason he hadn't considered it was that if larger, more powerful transmutations needed more energy than could be taken from the earth, the transmutation would take it from the alchemist instead, resulting in a rebound that would tear at one's flesh. Edward had experienced it when his failed human transmutation had rebounded on him and his brother. Alchemists experienced it when they did not draw a transmutation properly and called more power than the circle could hold. Ed was telling him to sacrifice himself, rather than attempt to use the stabilization circles.

"Just do it!" Ed screamed.

"Urg." If they didn't control this transmutation soon, it would rebound, regardless of whether they feed it properly through the inside circles or not. It had lost its stabilization the instant Schmidt had dropped it, and an uncontrolled rebound would attack everyone in the room. To focus it on himself would keep the rebound trapped with him and Edward rather than the other people.

When Roy started feeding it through himself, something clicked and the alchemy stopped attempting to escape the boundary. Instead, it started eating at him, pulling at his flesh and breaking it down. It was horrifying. Roy's entire body was broken down, and his last thought was that he was going to kill Edward for pulling him into this.

()()()()

The first thing Roy was aware of was the sound of crying. It was a broken, terrible sound, and as soon as Roy realized that, he also understood that it was Edward he was hearing. Ed was making those agonized noises. He felt he should seek Ed out and comfort him, but the world was empty, an endless white plain, and his head was behaving a bit sluggishly.

"Fullmetal," he called out hesitantly. He looked down at himself and was surprised at what he saw. He was naked, but there was a horrible mark on his stomach, stretching from his navel to just under his breast. It was a circle, etched into his skin as if with a knife, crisscrossed with lines, and dripping blood.

Roy was interrupted from his self-examination by a strange noise. [Please, you can't do this!] The voice was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was in his head but he could also physically hear it. And it was most definitely Edward.

[I didn't mean to. Please punish me, just don't take it out on him- ,] The sob echoed across everything and nothing, and Roy was terrified now. Edward was many things, but it took a lot to make him beg. Roy could not even remember a time he had heard him do so. Frantically staring around, Roy tried to make out anything in the void.

"Edward!" he cried again.

"Roy." The voice called back, though it was quiet and this time merely physical. Roy jerked around, following his ears, and saw that Ed was on his knees behind Roy, facing away from him.

"There you are," Roy said as gently as he could. He moved slowly around to face Edward. Ed was still on his knees, naked just like the Brigadier General. All of his bandages were missing, and Roy could see a gash on his forehead, where a mass of dried blood had matted in his hair. His flesh leg was not much better off. The break in the thigh was visible, along with severe bruising on his knee. Even Ed's automail looked out of shape, as it hadn't been oiled in almost a week. However, the worst was his chest. It was the same as Roy's, bleeding and raw.

"Ed, say something to me, please." Roy was afraid to touch him, so he knelt in front of him instead. "Please."

Edward looked up at that, his eyes empty and haunted. "Mustang," he whispered.

"Yeah I'm here, you idiot."

"No, Mustang. You don't understand. The whole time, you never understood." Ed was shaking and his voice dropped off. He tried to turn away, but Roy clasped him by the chin, and drew his eyes back to his fellow alchemist.

"Then explain it, Edward. Tell me what' s wrong!" Roy said forcefully.

Ed hesitated, and his one word answer was not what Roy expected.

"Alphonse."

That took Roy aback, and he was about to question Ed further when they were interrupted.

[That's right Edward Elric.] This voice had the same strange quality as Ed's had before Roy had found him.

Edward's reaction was to quiver, and cast his gaze around frantically. Roy followed his gaze, and they both saw the white figure standing before them, still and unnatural. The Truth. God.

[You haven't honored the terms of our bargain, Edward.] It said, its' voice echoing judgmentally. Ed was crying now, though furiously trying not to. He made to stand up, jerking a bit as the weight hit his bad leg. That's more like the Ed I know. Roy also moved, standing close to Edward in a defensive position. He cast his arm protectively in front of Edward, aware that Ed wasn't in the best shape at the moment, and addressed the Being, "And just what bargain was this?"

The Truth faced him, as much as a being without eyes could, and it laughed, switching back to the normal audible way of speaking. "Roy Mustang, it's been a while. I hope you have enjoyed my gift." It smirked and Roy scowled.

"I've had about all the gifts I want for one lifetime, actually."

The Truth turned back to Edward and Roy tensed. "You swore to give your gate up in exchange for your brother," It said solemnly.

"Keep it then," Ed gasped. "I don't want this, I never wanted it-,"

He was stopped as the creature suddenly moved forward, its unnatural face directly in front of them. When It spoke again, its voice was thunderous and accusing, and it again echoed through all of their being.

[But that's a lie, Edward Elric. Remember, I am you, just as I am the world. I know. I know you have not learned as you should have. You still covet what was once instead of what is.] It drew back and spoke in steadier tones. "But I will give you what you want Edward Elric. You have not paid for a full transmutation, but I will give you what you have paid. Be grateful I don't ask for completion."

"Alphonse," Edward cried, oblivious to anything else.

The Truth sighed. "Your brother is not a part of this bargain."

Ed nearly collapsed at that, and that was when Roy tried to grab and steady him. His arm brushed against the bleeding wound on Ed's chest and the effect of their touching was instantaneous. The two transmutation circles glowed as a single gate appeared and started to open.

"Have fun," the truth leered, as both Ed and Roy were sucked through to be transported back to the other side.

()()()()

EndNote: Being that this is my first story, I am just now learning that I have a terrible habit of ending on cliffhangers. I promise that the story will level off with the action in a few chapters and I will find a way to suppress my evil tendencies.