Ed was fighting a losing battle of automail vs tree in the park that Winry would have almost certainly disapproved of when Ritsuka found him.

"Ed… Ed, this isn't going to help…" he started, but Edward ignored him and continued to hack away. Ritsuka came up behind him and put his hand on his shoulder. Irritated, Ed spun around mid swing to tell him to buzz off, but he stopped when he saw the boy's reaction. Ritsuka had immediately dropped to the ground, cringing, his hands held up protectively over his head.

"Hey, I wasn't… I didn't mean to…" Ed took a step forward, but Ritsuka only backed away, eyes wary, ears flattened against his head, tail puffed out. Weirdly, Ed was reminded of the cats that Al used to bring home, particularly the ones he'd rescued from horrible little boys who liked to throw rocks. He decided to try what usually worked with them: he dropped to the ground where he was, sat cross-legged and put his hands on his knees, palms up. "Ritsuka. I wasn't going to hurt you."

"I-I know," Ritsuka stammered. He was taking deep breaths, clearly trying to calm himself. "I'm… I'm sorry. It's just… sometimes… swift movements…"

Ed was watching Ritsuka closely. The black-haired boy avoided his gaze, pulling up wet grass with nervous fingers. Who's been throwing rocks at you?

"Look, Ritsuka… I have to ask you. Those bandages…" he gestured to the anxious boy's cheek and his left wrist, which he was now trying ineffectively to cover up, "they're not all from spell battles, are they."

"I-I'm… clumsy. That's all," Ritsuka said in a small voice.

"Right. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine, but don't lie to me, okay? I fucking hate liars."

Ritsuka was silent. He seemed to fold into himself, becoming more distant somehow, as if he had taken a step backward, though he hadn't physically moved at all.

"It isn't… it isn't Soubi who-" Ed began.

"What – NO! How could you even think that, how could you – " He glared at Edward, clearly agitated, his little fists pounding the ground in frustration.

"Alright, alright – look, I don't know, okay? All I know is what I can see. I see you, covered in bandages, flinching from me like a frightened little kitten. What am I supposed to think?"

"…that's just stupid, I mean, you know how it is to be Fighter and Sacrifice, you know that Soubi has to obey my orders!" Ritsuka shouted. "Why would I let him hit me?"

"Why would you let anyone hit you?" Ed countered, before he could stop himself.

Ritsuka's eyes widened, enormous bright saucers glowering in the darkness for an instant before he took off like a rocket, running blindly down the path and out of the park.

Ed started to follow, then realized Ritsuka would probably think that he was trying to kill him, and thought better of it. Well, I screwed that up royally.

He sighed. Thinking it would in actuality be easier to deal with his idiot drunken bastard of a Colonel than to try to figure out this friggin headcase kid, he headed back towards Soubi's apartment. He supposed he would just wake up Ritsuka's Fighter and have him deal with it. That is, if he really was telling the truth, and it's not Soubi who's abusing him… Ed was pretty sure it wasn't Soubi, though. The Fighter/Sacrifice bond made that possibility highly unlikely, and besides, Ed was generally a pretty good judge of character, and he didn't think Soubi was that type.

Still, if he wasn't the one abusing him, he was allowing it to go on, which was just as bad. Edward had a few things to say to him, now that he thought about it, and there was no time like the present.

Soubi had finally managed to get Roy out of his wet clothes and into bed without too much bodily injury, and he was just sitting down to have a cigarette when Roy's little blond Sacrifice came storming back into the apartment, eyes aflame. Uh-oh…

"Hey, you," Ed spat out.

"Hmmm? Still upset with me for getting your Sentouki drunk?" Soubi wasn't sure whether playing it cool would work with Edward, but he was going to try anyway.

"No, I'm over that. What I want to know is, what the fuck is the matter with you that you are allowing Ritsuka to be abused right under your fucking pretty-boy nose, and you're not doing a goddamned thing about it?"

For the second time that evening, Soubi nearly dropped his cigarette. So much for playing it cool. "He… he told you?"

"No, he didn't fucking tell me. He didn't have to. He's covered in injuries, he flinches every time a bird flies by too quickly, and he trembles like a frightened rabbit. Anyone who's not a complete idiot would be able to tell in about 30 seconds. Everyone except you, apparently." Edward was fuming, brandishing his metal fist in Soubi's direction.

Soubi sighed, putting his hand to the bridge of his nose. "He ordered me to leave her alone. I have to follow his orders. There's nothing I can – "

"LIKE HELL there's nothing! What the hell kind of Fighter are you that you can't find a way to – wait, what did you say? Her?" Ed stopped, momentarily taken aback.

"His mother. It's… his mother. I've tried… I've tried to talk to him about it, to get him to allow me to go home with him, but he wont. He's convinced that it's his fault, that he deserves it…"

"And you let him keep believing that?" Ed was still in a state of disbelief. His mother…

"He wont talk to me about it. It's forbidden conversation. If I bring it up, he'll order me into silence. Don't you think I've tried?"

"Sure as hell doesn't seem like it."

"Don't you think this bothers me more than it bothers you? Ritsuka is… everything to me. Everything…" Soubi looked exhausted, both physically and mentally. Despite his irrationality, Ed felt sympathy for him.

"Look, you should go talk to him now. He just ran away from me in the park… he's freaking out. He needs you."

Soubi immediately stood up and headed for the door. "Where did you last see him?"

"Headed out of the north entrance to the park. By the… um… damaged tree. You can't miss it."

"Thank you. Edward, I…"

"Just go."

Soubi met Ed's eyes one more time, nodded and closed the door behind him.

Feeling completely worn out, Ed climbed into bed with Roy, once more curled up against his sleeping Fighter. So, this is how it's going to be, from now on… Against his will, Ed found himself shaking with silent sobs. It was just too much, all these crazy people, all this drama; he just wanted to rest, just for once, to let go… He remembered nights spent curled up in the nest of Al's armor, and he wished with all his might he could be back there, against that cold metal, rather than in this warm bed, cold as ice inside.

He beat against Roy's chest with his human fist. Why are you drunk, why are you asleep, why are you… you! Roy didn't wake, but he wrapped his arms around Ed in his sleep, drawing him close. Ed found himself clinging to Roy, and he hated himself for it, but he clung nevertheless.

"His mother, Roy, his own mother… How could a mother do that to her child? Imagine having a mother who was alive, but so… awful? How is it possible? Tell me how!"

Roy only sighed in his sleep and pulled Ed closer. Ed lay his head on Roy's chest and tried to pretend he wasn't crying himself to sleep.