Hey, I'm back! I'm still alive after my exams. Since I haven't updated in like two weeks, I'm giving you all a treat. This chapter is twice as long as normal- it's basically two chapters in one. Enjoy!

Summary:

Ed and Al performed a transmutation to get their bodies back, but Ed paid for it with his soul, which also caused the loss of his memories. He was turned into a vampire, and was consequently believed to be the cause of recent deaths around Central. Al, Mustang and his team have attempted to gain Edward's trust again, and he informed them of a bomb threat to civilian people. Unfortunately, while they were preventing the bomb (planted by Envy) from blowing up, Al was kidnapped by Envy. Edward refused to go rescue him but was persuaded to by Hughes, who is also a vampire.

Chapter 8-

Ed woke up gradually, slowly shifting from his dark dream world into the dim, real one. He consulted his want to sleep and found it was almost non-existent. It must be night time. He yawned and rolled off his bed before throwing on a different set of clothes and leaving his rooms. Ed didn't want to still be out in the morning- he wanted this cute little rescue mission to be over and done with as soon as possible. However, just because he wanted this to be fast didn't mean he was going to do all the work himself, especially when there was a team of five perfectly capable humans who were willing to practically do it for him. Ed swiftly left for the military headquarters in Central.

Mustang, Hawkeye and Havoc were all working after hours at the office. Falman and Fuery were working as well- they were off in the research department, trying to determine possible locations where Al and Breda could be, and Winry had volunteered to go as well. This meant that Mustang, Hawkeye and Havoc had to pick up the slack, and it was increasingly difficult to work when two of their friends were in danger. But the real reason that those three were waiting around in the office wasn't really about paperwork- they knew that if Ed were to change his mind, this would be where he came. They didn't know exactly how right their assumptions were.

Hawkeye was the first to encounter the teenager again- she was fetching a huge stack of papers that needed signing from the inner office when Ed casually swung through the window. For a moment the two stared at each other in silence, before Hawkeye smiled slightly.

"Thanks for coming back," she nodded to him, but he just shrugged, unwilling to comment. "Edward's here!" she called out to her colleagues, walking through to the outer office with the papers, Ed following behind.

"Finally, now we can start! What the hell took you so long? We lost a whole day because of you!" Mustang frowned at Fullmetal, who looked bored. In truth, he was just angry over the fact that Ed had managed to 'defeat' him with just a single kick. Mustang hadn't been able to move properly for hours yesterday.

"Look, if you don't want to know where your buddies are, just keep talking," Edward said coolly. The three military officers instantly whipped their heads around to face him.

"You know where they are?" Havoc interrogated, anxious to know.

Edward hummed in agreement. "If you don't come right now, you'll lose your opportunity. Do you want to wait another day?"

Mustang swiftly ordered Havoc to fetch the others, and Edward scoffed.

"What?" Mustang snapped.

"You didn't listen to a word I just said. By the time you get those other humans, you'll lose your opportunity." Ed approached the door, intending to leave without them. Hawkeye and Havoc stared at Mustang, who hesitated.

"…Alright, leave them behind," Mustang made a split second decision, hoping it was the right one. He never wanted to leave any of his team behind, but Breda and Al simply couldn't wait another day. Hawkeye looked at Mustang sternly before she ran after Edward, and Havoc and Mustang followed her.

The group ran swiftly through the building, although Ed found their pace annoyingly slow and remained a good couple of meters ahead of them. He reached the military basement and progressed through the rooms, quickly finding the one he wanted. It blended into the wall oddly, and was impossible to find if you didn't already know it was there. He arrived at the covered wall of the room the furthest away from the door just as it reached 7 p.m. The confused, breathless military officers skidded to a stop behind him. Ed pulled the sheet covering the wall off to reveal the symbol of the homunculus, painted in crimson on the wall.

"What…" Havoc started, but was interrupted as the symbol suddenly glowed menacingly. The four heard the crunch of rusty gears turning from somewhere in the wall, and it slid back, then to the right, revealing a dusty, dim hallway. Ed strolled through casually, as if he did this every day, but the officers hesitated. They weren't prepared for the sorts of situations they might find themselves in, although they did have a set of walkie-talkies, and Mustang did have his gloves and both Hawkeye and Havoc had guns. However, almost as soon as the wall had stopped, it began to move again in the reverse direction, closing. Mustang moved before he had even fully decided what to do- he leapt forward, through the quickly closing gap. Hawkeye immediately followed, with Havoc just behind her, although he almost didn't make it through. The wall rumbled to a stop, once again concealing its secret.

"… An underground passage?" Hawkeye realised out loud, breathing hard.

"That's impossible! It was right in HQ! Right here in the Central Military Base! How did we not know about this?" Mustang demanded.

Ed had already started walking, and he called back over his shoulder, "How else do you expect the Homunculi to sneak in to Central all the time? They had to have a passageway and it happened to be here. But it's timed somehow to only open at 7 o'clock… They have this thing about sevens."

The military officers hurried to catch up to the teen.

"Well you were right about having to come right now, at least," Havoc replied. "If we'd waited for Falman, Fuery and Winry, we never would have made it. You really think Breda and Al are down here?"

"They are," Ed said softly. His abrupt change of tone startled Mustang, Hawkeye and Havoc, who all glanced at each other. Edward knew something they didn't.

The odd group of four walked for so long that it seemed it would never end. The tunnel was long and dim, with dusty walls and a low ceiling. Right when Mustang was about to demand exactly how far they would have to travel, a fork in the tunnel came into view.

"Which way do we go, Ed?" Havoc turned to him.

"I…" Edward's eyes were eerily unfocused. "I hear screams that way." He gestured to the right hand tunnel.

"There are people down there?" Hawkeye frowned.

"I said that I hear screams. I didn't say they were human screams." Ed replied, causing chills to run down the officers' spines, "However, I do indeed believe there are humans down there."

Mustang mused, and then ordered, "Alright, let's go right then."

Edward turned as if in a trance, staring unblinkingly at the left tunnel. "Alphonse is in that tunnel," he pointed at the left one. Abruptly his eyes re-focused as he appeared to be normal once again.

"Are you sure, chief?" Havoc clarified uncertainly.

"Yes," Edward answered shortly, vanishing down the left-hand tunnel.

"Havoc, go with him! Try and find Al, Breda or both and let me know when you do!" Mustang pushed a communicator into Havoc's hands. He saluted and sprinted to catch up with Edward.

"Sir?" Hawkeye wondered, waiting for an order.

"We can't allow the risk of people being imprisoned down here, at the mercy of the homunculi. We at least need to scope out the situation," Mustang told her, turning his own walkie-talkie on. She nodded, and the two of them continued down the right-hand tunnel.

Havoc tried to keep up with his younger companion, but it appeared like Ed was running in a headlong rush- he had seemingly detected that something was amiss with Alphonse. As they ran, their surroundings quickly changed, at first heading uphill and then altering to seem more like the hallway in any normal house. Soon windows followed, and Havoc caught brief glimpses of Central outside. It was too dark to tell properly, but judging by the outlines of buildings this was an industrial area. In front of him, Edward reached a doorway that appeared to be locked. It didn't stop him- he ran right through it. Havoc swiftly followed, and burst into a wide, open storage room.

Strange machines lined the walls and were placed back-to-back in the middle of the room. They looked a bit too much like torture devices, and Havoc shivered. His surroundings appeared to be void of people, but Edward ran right towards a blocked-off corner and proceeded to punch someone in the face. Havoc glimpsed a guy with long green hair being thrown backwards. Envy.

"Get your filthy hands off my little brother!" Ed shouted furiously, attacking Envy while he spoke and finally kicking him right across the room. The surprise attack combined with Ed's newfound vampire strength and speed made it easy for him to defeat the sin- Envy coughed and tried to keep conscious, but it was difficult. He was so winded and bruised that he couldn't even speak. Luckily for him, Edward ignored him afterwards in order to rush to Al's side.

Havoc was stunned. That was the first real show of emotion Edward had given since he'd lost his soul. He'd looked exactly like his old overprotective self- proper thought had gone straight out the window when Al was in danger. Havoc hadn't thought it was actually possible to be emotional without a soul, but Edward had managed it. Maybe, just maybe… they could help the teen back to the way he was before? Havoc resolved to try. He quickly followed his companion to Al's side.

Al was hooked up to one of the machines, however Havoc couldn't see anything that was hurting him. The boy was unconscious, but alive. Havoc studied the machine more observantly and began to come to the realization of exactly what it did. Needles and connecting tubes were inserted underneath the skin, extracted the natural nutrients the body creates and transferred them into a collecting bag over to the side. If someone were to be hooked up to it long enough, their skin would wither from lack of nutritional material and the person would die. This machine was definitely the reason for all the recent deaths around Central. But why would the Homunculi want to steal people's nutrients? What possible use could that serve?

Ed pulled out various needles and tubes connected to Al, concerned. He also looked hesitant now- he backed off a bit, suddenly unwilling to touch him.

"What's wrong?" Havoc's eyebrows furrowed slightly. They'd reached Al in time- shouldn't Ed be happy that Al was ok?

"I don't… I don't know where that came from, that's… I… it's never happened… before…" Ed spoke haltingly. He appeared to have forgotten Havoc's presence momentarily.

Havoc's eyes widened. Was Edward having trouble dealing with his reaction to Alphonse being in danger? It was possible- Ed always looked like he didn't care. The transaction from completely unconcerned to alarmed and anxious could be troubling for anyone.

"I knew… you'd come… eventually," Envy suddenly wheezed, intervening from his spot across the room. His was halfway up, doubled over in pain with his hands on his knees. He couldn't ever remember being this out of breath before, but at least he'd regained his ability to speak.

"Why did you do this?" Ed seethed, shoving his uncertainties away. He refused to show weakness to this miserable sin.

Envy smirked, but the effect was lost since he was practically disabled for the moment. "We can't just let you stop searching for the philosopher's stone, pipsqueak! I want those stones. So, you're gonna make me more! Unless you want ex-tin can over there to die? Now wouldn't that be a shame." Envy laughed evilly.

Ed fumed. "Fuck you! I AM NOT SHORT, damn it! If you haven't noticed, I can't do alchemy anymore and I don't particularly want to!"

Envy stared. "…What?" he hissed menacingly.

"You heard me, palm tree! I can't make your stupid stones because-" Ed suddenly bit his tongue.

Envy's facial expression was a cross between enraged and mystified, but Havoc knew why Edward couldn't perform alchemy anymore. He'd heard Colonel Mustang talk about it- alchemy came from the soul.

"Besides, exactly who just kicked who's ass?" Edward changed the subject in his favour.

Envy scowled. "You caught me off guard!" he muttered. "I couldn't see you coz you're too low to the ground! Besides, you'll never get past the other six, ya tiny brat!"

Havoc saw Ed snap.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING MICROSCOPIC DROP OF WATER WHO DOESN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT BEING EVAPORATED COZ HE'S TOO SMALL TO BE CALLED A PROPER WATER MOLECULE?" Ed yelled at him, simmering in anger.

Envy chuckled, mocking the teen, but he had pissed Edward off for the last time. The teen growled and bared his fangs without realising, attacking the homunculus in a rage. Havoc watched as Edward and Envy began to fight. However, a something soon distracted Edward. He furiously knocked Envy out and covered his ears in annoyance.

"What the hell is that?" he glowered in Havoc's direction. Havoc abruptly realised his walkie-talkie was receiving a message from Hawkeye.

"Havoc! Come in, Havoc! Do you copy?" Hawkeye repeated urgently. Ed scowled at the static sound it made.

"Hawkeye, we've found Alphonse. He's unconscious, but he's alive!" Havoc ignored protocol and just told her joyfully.

"Good. Havoc, we need you with us. Here. Now. Mustang says for Edward to take Al back out to the tunnel- he doesn't want anyone injured in the danger range." Hawkeye sounded hassled, rushing under pressure. Something was off about her tone of voice.

Havoc could tell something was wrong. "Alright, I'll be right there. Over and out." He pocketed his communicator and turned to the teenager. "Edward-"

"Yeah, I heard," he muttered, ignoring his unwillingness to touch Al. He prepared to throw Al over his shoulder.

Havoc instantly stopped him. "Geez, chief, what are you doing? You can't just treat an injured person roughly like that! Be more careful!"

Edward rolled his eyes, but picked his brother up carefully this time. Havoc sighed and hurried back to the fork in the tunnel, this time taking the right-hand side.

This tunnel was opposite to the other one- instead of ascending into a normal building, it headed downhill, the earthy walls gradually replaced with shiny, reflective steel. Eventually Havoc arrived at a door, made of four foot thick steel. The door's lock sported a bullet hole and the door itself was hanging ajar. Havoc smiled slightly at Hawkeye's handiwork. As Havoc entered, he noticed an extensive slash on the door, going nearly all the way through it.

"What the hell…?" Havoc studied it momentarily, mystified. After a moment, he remembered Mustang and Hawkeye needed him and hurried along the underground steel corridor.

It was now that he began to hear the screams. Horrifying, agonized screams. Some sounded human, while others… not so much. He shivered slightly. Havoc came to another fork, with the choice of going forward, left or right. Hawkeye was leaning on the wall of the right hallway, looking pale and as if she was in slight shock. Havoc started to speak but Hawkeye shook her head, indicating the need for silence. He nodded and began to follow her. Hawkeye lead him to another door, the same as the first one except with metal bars on both sides. She pushed it open, swiftly moving through and ducking behind a metal restraining table, out of sight. Havoc followed, ensuring that he wouldn't be seen. The room they entered was dark, and the screams were greatly magnified. Havoc peered over the table, and his eyes widened.

Directly opposite him was row after row of cages, filled to bursting point with… things. They were humanoid in shape, but taller and skinnier than a human. Their wax-like skin was paper white and they had no hair. The creatures had disgusting teeth way too long to fit properly in their mouths, and they drooled. Their bodies were misshapen and they looked and acted like zombies. Worst of all, their grey eyes screamed in silent pain, and every so often they would all scream in agony. Havoc felt his limbs grow heavy and refuse to obey him- he simply couldn't move, or even look away.

That wasn't all. Off to one side was another set of cages, this time filled with people, both alive… and dead. Several people were hooked up to machines, screaming never-ending torrents of anguish. It… it was horrible.

"…voc! Havoc! Havoc!" hissed Mustang quietly, in the tone of voice which said he had been calling Havoc for quite some time now. Havoc couldn't speak.

"Come on! It isn't safe here!" Hawkeye murmured, pulling the frozen Havoc from his spot, and the three silently continued along behind the debris, out of sight from the other side. Eventually they reached a spot that was covered from all sides by a tarp, which had peek-holes through it. The three would be entirely hidden from sight. From this new viewpoint, Havoc could see four Homunculi standing off to one side, viewing the progress of the inhabitants of the room. He began to listen to their conversation.

"…this should do fine. They are almost ready." A slow, sensual voice spoke, from a woman in a floor-length black dress with a crimson Homunculi symbol tattooed on her chest.

"They won't stand a chance this time. Not with this army," another woman said. She was a brunette with blue eyes.

"That's the point, Sloth. Yo Pride-y, when are we attacking? I want a victory! " a guy replied haughtily. He wore a black outfit with a green vest, and had round sunglasses on despite the dark room.

A man Havoc knew all too well answered- King Fuhrer Bradley. "On the date we discussed, at midday. Oh, and Greed?"

"What?" Greed looked over- just in time to be hit in the face.

Pride calmly dusted the back of his hand off on his military uniform. "Never call me Pride-y again." He turned and strode across the room, exiting by a different door to the left, and Sloth followed.

Greed hissed in pain- he hadn't had the time to produce his shield properly.

"Well, I'd better get back to it as well. Gluttony will be hungry… I need to find him a victim to eat," sighed the woman known as Lust. She left as well, and after a moment of cursing and grumbling, Greed also exited the room.

"We need to get back-up before we return," Mustang ordered.

Hawkeye nudged Havoc slightly. "Let's go."

However, something had caught Havoc's attention. After a quick check to make sure no-one was coming, Havoc broke his cover and sprinted over to one of the cages which held the bodies of several unfortunate people, ignoring the quiet protests of his companions. He reached through the bars and pulled out an arm. On it was what caught Havoc's attention- a fancy new watch, with initials engraved on the back. He knew this watch. Havoc pulled with all his strength until the head and shoulders of the body were visible. Mustang and Hawkeye, who had joined him, both gasped almost inaudibly- Havoc felt his mouth go dry and his eyes start to water.

The body was withered and bloody, but the three officers knew exactly who it was.

Havoc spoke the name in a pained and shocked voice. "Breda…"