Hi everyone! Sorry this took so long to get up. As said before in my previous chapter, AP testing and graduating took up a lot of my time. Not to mention the fact that I got a huge writer's block for this chapter. I hate writing these necessary fillers before I get to the action parts. They just seem to go so slow! It's aggravating just staring at the page and just wishing that I could just skip this part and write all the awesome action portions.

Anyway, my complaining aside, I do apologize if this chapter isn't up to par like my other ones. Massive, massive writer's block. At least I got this over with. Hopefully next chapter will come sooner. Reviews are always welcome! No matter what you write, reviews always make me feel so warm and fuzzy, kind of like the interaction between Roy and Ed! ^^

So without further ado, here is chapter 12!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Previously:

The two slept peacefully with no knowledge of the wheels that had begun to turn in the shadows…

"Fullmetal will die in a week's time. In that time, I will wreak hell upon his world, as he did in mine."

The Fear of Uncertainties

Roy slowly woke to the mysterious sounds of quiet chuckling and strange clicking noises. He was sluggish, sleep weighing heavily on his mind. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so well rested and comfortable, but he had a feeling it had nothing to do with the foreign bed he was laying on. The annoying murmurs persisted and Roy's eyes reluctantly opened to find his vision obscured by golden, silky hair. Confused, he glanced at his position. He was lying against Ed, his chest pressed against the blonde's side. Roy's arm was draped over Ed's torso, narrowly avoiding his wound. Instantly, he flinched away, worrying that he had somehow worsened Ed's condition. Ed was still as pale as ever, but at least he was still breathing evenly, albeit a little harsher than before. His face was slightly sweaty, but relatively pain free, though Roy had a feeling that that would change as soon as he regained his consciousness. Still, seeing Ed so quiet and serene, in a sense, made Roy feel as though he was looking at an angel with a golden halo spread around his head. He smiled gently, lightly brushing Ed's cheek with his hand, relishing the closeness of them two. A stifled snort broke out and Roy suddenly remembered what had woken him up in the first place. With a feeling of dread filling his stomach, he turned to glance around the room, only to find the two people he had hoped wouldn't see him in the situation he was in.

"Good morning, sunshine," Hughes greeted with a large smile on his face. In his hands was a camera, which explained so much.

"Maes, you better not have done what I think you did..." Roy growled quietly, trying to make sure he didn't wake his lover.

"You know you'll cherish the pictures," grinned Havoc. The young man was sitting in a wheelchair with his hospital shirt unbuttoned, allowing Roy to see the bandages covering his torso that expanded to his shoulder.

Roy frowned at the sight. "Jean..."

Havoc shook his head, "I'm fine. Just a couple of broken ribs and an intensive amount of stitches in my shoulder are all. Nothing compared to Boss." A pause, "How is he? The last time I was actually aware of anything was a week ago, and from what I heard, Boss was still in critical condition."

"I don't know. You know him…he won't show any signs of weakness to anyone, but he was out like a light within two minutes of waking up."

"That bad, huh?" winced Jean. For as long as Havoc could remember, Ed never stood still for more than a couple of seconds. Sleeping didn't seem necessary to the young alchemist. It was weird though. Jean had been trained as a medic for a few years on the field so he could grasp the general idea on wounds and injuries like Ed's, but something felt different, like there was more to it than what met the eye.

"Has the doctor come by yet?" Havoc asked.

"Not that I know of, why?"

"Nothing, I just want to ask him a few questions."

Roy looked at him suspiciously, "What questions?"

Hughes caught on quickly, his brilliant mind turning, "I see…"

"What do you see?" asked Roy, alarm spreading throughout his body. "Maes, what's going on?"

"Ed's condition may be worse than we think," Hughes started slowly, "I overheard some doctors talking about Ed. They're confused about something, but they're not telling us. You probably already realized it too, Roy. Do you think Ed made a deal with the Truth again?"

"Why would he make a deal again? He brought Adonai back and completed his mission. I don't see why he would have to need to."

"Maybe he had to pay a price to leave the Gate."

"Perhaps, but the only reason why he was brought to that place was because of his mission. Once that was over, Ed should have been let back home with no issues…Unless…"

Roy's face furrowed in thought.

"What, Roy?" asked Maes.

"Do you remember Ed telling us that Adonai was a part of the Gate? When we fought Adonai, Adonai said some things that didn't make sense. Like how he was the reason why Ed was able to stay in Amestris."

Hughes started piecing together Roy's thoughts, "Ed always said that the Gate and the Truth were judges of your sins – your punishment was based accordingly to what you have done."

"Right, and Ed told us from the start that he had been forgiven for the sins he committed in this world."

"But he never mentioned being punished for what he had done in Germany."

"So that means that Adonai had some connection to Germany and when he got sealed into the Gate, the Truth learned of Ed in that world."

"No wonder Ed had to make a deal…he would have never left the place if he didn't!"

"Still, that leaves the question of what kind of deal?"

"I think we'll have to wait for the doctors to figure that out."

Roy nodded, his mind still reeling of the possibilities as he looked on at his sleeping lover. Hughes fell silent too, musing and savoring the feel of working out a puzzle once again.

Havoc, on the other hand, found himself astounded at the two. It had been so many years since they last met, yet their close bond of friendship had not shimmered away even by a little. Havoc remembered the days where Roy and Hughes finished each other's sentences or thoughts – everyone enjoyed watching the two become absorbed in their own world, but it was hard to penetrate their little bubble during those short times. Still, all that proved was that their bond was almost as strong as Ed's and Al's, and that said something.

At that moment, a different doctor, a slim, older man who had on square glasses quite similar to Hughes', came walking in with a frown on his face. He was going through the papers in what looked like Ed's file over and over again, but the confused look grew more and more profound.

"Fuhrer Mustang, you are Colonel Elric's guardian, are you not?" he asked, still glancing at the data in front of him. "I would like to ask you a few questions about Colonel Elric's medical history."

"Of course," Roy answered, "Is there something wrong?"

"Was Colonel Elric born with a blood disorder?"

"No, he was not."

"Has he ever had leukemia or any blood clotting diseases? Or has he had extensive surgeries not listed in our charts?"

"No, he has not. He has not had any major surgeries other than implanting automail. Is there something wrong?" Roy asked again.

The doctor looked at Roy, "As you are aware, Colonel Elric lost a significant amount of blood both from the injury and the surgery. Usually, in cases like these, we offer a blood transfusion. Aside from the fact that Colonel Elric has a rare blood type, it seems as though his body is rejecting the foreign blood. I have never seen this before. All the tests show that Colonel Elric has the same proteins within his blood as everyone else so his body should be able to accept the new blood. Yet, it does not."

"Ed's body is rejecting the transfusion? We haven't seen anything out of the ordinary though."

"Due to the fact that one of the surgeons mentioned that something was unusual about the patient's surgery, we ran some tests early, which means that the symptoms actually have not surfaced yet. They will soon, but we are already prepared for it."

"What kind of symptoms?" Hughes questioned, his voice edging with worry.

"Mostly high fevers, but that is the least of our concerns. It seems that Colonel Elric is not responding to any of the medications that we have put him on, other than the sleeping inducers. That includes painkillers and antibiotics to prevent any infections. His wounds are also healing at a worrisome rate – much slower than any other patients with the same injuries. We have had several tests conducted; however, all of them came back normal or inconclusive. Colonel Elric's case truly baffles even the best of doctors here."

"What's going to happen to Boss?" Havoc mustered out. He could feel his heart sinking at the news. He knew that there was something weird going on, but he hadn't thought that it would actually turn out to be the worst case scenario. He stole a glance at Roy, completely unable to imagine what was going through his head, but Roy's face was stoic and impassive. By the Gate, that man had an immense amount of control!

"Colonel Elric seems to be showing signs of recovery, though much slower than what it could be, so he should be fine in a month or so. We would like to do further testing on Colonel Elric to make sure that he is not sick with any life-threatening diseases."

There was hidden meaning behind those words, and everyone in the room could understand it. Cold anger rose among the three, especially for Roy. He remembered Ed describing how his body was, on a molecular level, slightly different than the people of Amestris. If more research was conducted, this nuance would be found and Ed would become an extremely interesting subject in the military.

"No," growled Roy, "I will not permit it."

"Sir, it is vital to Colonel Elric's health that we test for…"

"Test for what? I will not allow Ed to become a lab rat for the military, not while I am the Fuhrer. Destroy any sample of him you have now and I forbid anyone to take any more from him, do you understand me?" Roy's black eyes shone with authority and menace. The doctor felt that if he made one more step into the wrong direction, he would truly understand the meaning of why Roy Mustang was known as the Flame Alchemist and Hero of Ishbal.

"Understood, sir. I will take my leave now," said the doctor, bowing as he left the room. The door slammed shut behind him with a loud thud.

At that sound, Ed broke through the darkness of his dreams and slowly became conscious of a biting pain emanating from his abdomen. Every breath he took pulled on the raw skin around his wound, shooting lighting up and down his body. The worst thing was that there was no respite from the agony. He couldn't help it: he moaned quietly, his fists clenching in an attempt to distract him from the burning sensations that clouded his mind.

"Ed?" came that heavenly voice. A gentle hand rubbed his cheek, trying to get him to open his eyes. "Are you awake?"

Roy was rewarded with the sight of golden eyes staring back at him. He smiled, happy to see those eyes that he loved so ever much.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

It took a moment for Ed to gather the words, "Everything fucking hurts…" he replied, his voice hoarse.

"It should, considering how much your injuries are baffling your doctors," said Hughes.

Ed gave him a confused look, finding speaking a little bit more painful than before. It didn't hurt as much the last time he woke up, so why was it different now?

"What deal did you make with the Truth this time, Ed? Why is it that no matter what the doctors do for you now, it won't work?"

"I don't understand…did the treatments the doctors use before work?" Ed asked slowly.

"At some point it did because you didn't die. And what do you mean by that question?"

The Truth had dictated that Ed would have to recover from the battle the way his victims did. That meant no drugs, no transfusions, no surgeries, and nothing to shield the pain, so from the start, Ed should not have had any response to anything the doctors did. But that didn't make sense. Like Hughes said, he was still alive and he didn't feel his wound as much the first couple times he woke up.

"That doesn't make sense…" he murmured. Did the Truth give him a grace period in thanks of what he did with Adonai? Was that his reward? Whatever the answer was, Ed wouldn't and didn't want to know it. Hell, he wasn't even going to complain – the Truth almost never handed out nice things to people, especially to people like Ed. What was done was done, and Ed was just going to accept it.

"Ed, you never answered Maes' question," Roy said while playing with Ed's hair.

Ed wanted to lean into Roy's hands and feel his lover's warmth, but he was trying so hard to stay still and prevent any more pain from running through his body. He lingered on Hughes' words, desperate for some diversion. "How did you know I made a deal?"

"Long story short, we figured out what Adonai probably meant to the Gate, which meant that you would have had to make a deal in order to come back," Roy responded.

"Not to mention the doctors wanting to experiment on you to find out what why your body won't accept anymore treatments," added Havoc.

The sound of Havoc's voice was new and Ed couldn't help but swing his head around to look for the source. That was probably one of the worst ideas Ed had yet since he woke up. His neck muscles protested the movement, which in turn made Ed's body tense up, forcing an unnecessary pressure on his injury. He groaned as he waited for the wave of pain to pass. Roy's hand found its way into his, and he relied heavily on the warmth, finding comfort in the littlest touch.

Ed took a couple shallow breaths as he tried to compose himself. "F-fuck…" he hissed when the throbbing subsided a little.

"You okay, Boss?" Havoc asked, concern filling his voice, as he wheeled around to Ed's side.

"Yeah…just a little sore," Ed replied as he focused his attention on his friend who he hadn't seen since the battle. His keen vision caught sight of the bandages easily and Ed's eyes visibly softened. "How are you, Havoc?"

Jean grinned, "I'm fine. The pain meds at least work for me."

Ed felt guilt fill his heart. If he didn't come back, Adonai wouldn't have been able to break through and Havoc wouldn't have gotten hurt. "I'm sorry…"

"For what? There's nothing you should be sorry for. You should be saying 'you're welcome' because all we can say to you is 'thanks'. Thanks for saving our asses, Boss. Thanks for coming back alive too. You should have seen Mustang here bawl his eyes out," joked Havoc.

"Jean, do you want to die?" growled Roy.

Ed smiled a little at their interaction, but it fell a little when he realized who wasn't in the room with them. "Where's Al?"

"He's helping Hawkeye out with some paperwork. Al needed something to keep him busy – he was going to make himself sick if he didn't leave your side soon," Hughes explained. He glanced at his watch, "Actually, he should be here soon. Their shift ended ten minutes ago."

As usual, Hughes was amazingly accurate, and the door slammed open revealing a breathless Al. The first thing Al saw was Roy sitting next to his brother and holding his hand. Then, his golden-brown eyes made a connection with sun colored ones. A wide grin spread across his face.

"Brother! You're awake!" called Al, launching forward with his arms spread out. Hughes quickly stood and intercepted the young teenager from actually hugging his brother, but he was a fraction too late. Ed flinched at the prospect of the bone-crushing hugs his younger brother was known to give. Of course, that was the second stupidest thing he did since he woke up – and it topped everything else so far.

Lights burst out in Ed's eyes as his head spun with the sudden searing pain that spread throughout his body. He couldn't breathe – he couldn't move. He was paralyzed in that seemingly never ending stabbing, crushing, mind-splitting, and radiating torture.

Roy felt the sudden change in Ed's movements before he actually realized anything. "Ed?" he worriedly called out.

Like that, the spell broke and Ed found himself able to battle against the agony. He squeezed Roy's hand so hard that Roy couldn't help but wince. He tried to take deep breaths, but they were coming too fast and too shallow – almost to the point where he was hyperventilating. He tried focusing on the stupidest things: alchemy theories, cats, food…anything to keep his mind off the waves of burns that he felt. Nothing worked. It was like his mind was being given shocks of electricity over and over again.

He let out moans that he couldn't hold back, his right hand pressed lightly over his wound.

"Ed, concentrate on my voice," came a far away heavenly voice. It was so enticing and it seemed to lighten the edge of the pain he was undergoing, so he listened. He focused his entire being on his lover's voice.

"Don't take such quick breaths, Ed. Slowly. Breathe slower. I know it hurts right now, but it'll pass. Take your time. It'll be fine…everything will be fine…"

Ed obeyed for once, taking in slightly deeper breaths. It seemed like a lifetime before Roy felt the pressure on his hands loosen slightly. For now, whatever Al's movements had triggered was over.

"Brother?" Al's tone seemed so timid and frightened that even Havoc wanted to just get up out of his chair to hug to poor child.

Ed opened his eyes to smile at Al – to reassure his little brother from all the fears that probably resurfaced from that one attack – but his body was still buzzing in the aftermath, and he could only give a grimace.

"I'm sorry!" cried Al, tears reaching his eyes faster than Havoc running away from Hawkeye when she had a gun.

"It's…fine," Ed gritted, "Not your fault…fucking wound hates me. If I ever see Adonai again, I'm going to fucking kill him."

Al remained silent, staring at his feet in shame.

"Come on, Al. It's not a big deal. It's not all that bad."

A glare from Roy.

"Okay, fine, maybe it is all that bad, but I've definitely had worse. The automail surgery was ten times worse than this, so don't sweat it, Al."

Al kept his silence.

"Come on, Al. Don't make me go over there. It won't end well for either of us," Ed warned.

Al knew that Ed meant what he said. Ed would literally climb out of bed in order to make his little brother feel better, and it didn't matter if he tore apart his body in the process. Al just couldn't risk that. He already lost his brother once and almost lost him a second time. He really just couldn't risk it. He would just have to forgive himself and move on – if not for him, but for the sake of the person most precious to him in this world and the next.

"You get out of that bed and I'll make sure you regret it," Al returned, moving to join Roy on Ed's left side.

"As if I don't already…" Ed muttered darkly. Being in pain and feeling the familiar lethargic hands of sleep groping at him again definitely made him more irritated than usual, and that said a lot.

"Did you say something?" Al asked.

"Nothing…How's Winry?"

That seemingly innocent question was loaded, and everyone in the room knew it. Al had to make sure he chose his words carefully.

"She's…worried."

Ed huffed. "Who isn't? Take a look at the people around you. Hughes is more scraggly than usual, Roy has dark circles under his eyes at are surrounded by more dark circles, and you are somewhere in-between the two. That's nothing new. How is she handling things?"

"You're bedridden, Brother. From what I just saw, things aren't good for you. Maybe you should worry more about yourself than others."

"That's what I said…" Roy mumbled, but with his assassin skills, Ed heard it ever so clearly and shot him a glare.

"Roy, don't aggravate the patient. You'll be thrown out," said Hawkeye, looking impeccable as ever in the doorway.

Havoc and Roy both paled at the sight of her.

Ed, however, felt relieved when he saw her. There was nothing better than seeing the people he was worried about to calm his nerves.

"Hawkeye…"

"Hello, Ed. I'm glad you're awake. You look tired though. Should we clear out of the room so you can get some rest?" Hawkeye's tone was much gentler than anyone else had ever heard her.

It was true. Ed could feel his heavy eyelids drooping, but he didn't want everyone to leave. He needed reassurances – he needed to know that he still existed in this world. It was almost surreal – to be able to get past the Gate and the Truth for the fifth time. Besides, he felt like someone was watching him. It was a familiar feeling from when he was constantly on the run in Germany, and his instincts never failed to keep him alive. Keeping others alive was a different story, unfortunately, but he had learned to never argue against his intuition.

"No…" he mumbled. "Stay here…"

Roy rubbed his shoulder in a comforting manner. "We will. Don't worry."

Hawkeye just nodded and pulled up a chair next to Roy. With everyone he cared about around him, he felt so secure and leaned in against Roy's body as much as he could. Within seconds, he was out like a light, his features calm and serene.

"Roy, if you want to rest, I'll stay awake and keep watch," offered Hawkeye.

Hughes glanced at her, "Why do you need to keep watch, Riza?"

"I'm worried," she replied after a moment's hesitation. "I can't shake off this terrible feeling that something is going to happen. The situation with Adonai and Hakuro ended too peacefully. It just doesn't seem like things are settled completely."

"Adonai is gone for good," Roy said, "Ed's made sure of it, and Hakuro is gone. He won't be any trouble."

"That's just it. Hakuro was a power-hungry man. There is no chance that he would just willingly walk away from such a high position without any words to say. He had the Drachma backing him too. He had nothing to be afraid of, yet he just packed up and left. Why? Questions left answered make me uneasy."

Roy looked at Al and Hughes who shared the same thoughts.

"Roy?"

"Uh…we're fairly sure Ed had something to do with Hakuro leaving. You've seen how he just transforms into his assassin side, right? There is no way someone like Hakuro would not be frightened of him when he becomes like that."

"Whoa! Boss scared Hakuro away?" exclaimed Havoc before he got smacked on the back of his head by Hughes.

"Quiet, idiot! This can't get out!" hissed Hughes.

"If that is true, Roy, don't you think that Hakuro is going to come back to get his revenge?" Hawkeye pressed.

Roy frowned, "I don't think it's possible. Hakuro may be greedy, but he's also a coward. Ed is scary as hell when he wants to be – I don't think Hakuro will have the guts to stand up again."

"What if he hired assassins? Even cowards can pull the strings from behind the shadows."

"Riza has a valid point, Roy," agreed Hughes, "I can't deny that I also feel like something is lurking in the shadows. Should we create shifts to watch over Ed just in case? He's completely helpless right now and will be for a while. We can't risk anything."

"The hospital isn't safe then," started Al, "There are too many openings – too many people we don't know of. We need to move Brother out of here."

"But where? Boss can barely move!"

"We can always use my house. I have enough room for everyone," said Roy, "But Jean's right. We can't move Ed until he's stronger. Until then, we'll keep at least one guard with Ed at every moment, and make sure that Ed doesn't know anything. Ed is much weaker than he has ever been. He doesn't need the extra worries, so for now, the more people, the better. I'll be staying at his side as much as I can, but as Fuhrer, I might be forced to leave. It's the same for Riza, since she's my personal assistant. Al could help, but knowing Ed, Ed would probably throw himself in front of a bullet to protect his little brother no matter what shape he is in, so having Al around might not be the best idea."

Al nodded, agreeing even though he hated that feeling. He wasn't strong enough to protect himself and his brother. He was a scholar now – not a fighter. He had a feeling that the more he tried getting involved in battles, the more Ed would feel obliged to protect him and probably get hurt more in the process.

"Not to mention that Jean is completely out of the question," Roy finished.

"Hey! I can help!" Havoc protested.

"You can't, Jean. Not with those injuries," retorted Hawkeye.

"That leaves you, Maes. If no one else is here, you have to watch over him. I know you probably want to spend more time with Gracia, so I'm sorry for asking you of this. Of course, while Riza and I are here, you are free to do what you want, but…"

Hughes raised a hand, "Stop right there, Roy. There's no reason for you to ask this of me. I would do it on my own accord, but I have to warn you, I don't have faith in myself to have the skills to protect him. I mean, seriously. I've already died once – doesn't that show my limit?"

"That won't be an issue if Ed gets better soon, right? I'll just use some of the medical alchemy I learned and help him out a little," said Al.

"That won't work, Al," sighed Roy, "Ed made a deal again. Nothing will work on him. Not even the drugs."

"What? So pain meds won't work on him either? He has a freaking hole in his stomach and he has to live through all that pain with nothing to take the edge off? What the hell is wrong with him?"

"He wouldn't have been able to come back, Al. Germany caught up with Ed as soon as Adonai became a part of the Gate."

Instantly, Roy could see the same spark in Al's eyes as he saw in Ed's when he figured out and understood something complex. Al didn't speak up again, no doubt racking his brains for a alchemical way out of the situation Ed was in.

Roy let Al ponder without any inhibition, but he would have to make sure that Al wouldn't go too far. Fighting fire with fire only made the fire worse, especially when that involved the Gate. Surely, Al would understand that – he experienced it first hand after all.

Hughes stood up, stretching his sore limbs from sitting so long. "I'm going to take Jean back to his room and go home to see Gracia. Maybe I can dig up some dirt on Hakuro and see what he's up to. Call me when you need me, Roy."

"Thanks, Maes. I'll leave it up to you. Jean, get better soon."

"Don't smoke, Jean, or else…" The lingering threat from Riza made Havoc quickly hand over the pack of cigarettes he had hidden on his person to his girlfriend. Riza just smiled at him and bent over, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Get better soon, Jean."

Jean grinned stupidly, looking too much like a little child who was just given his favorite candy. "See you later, Riza."

As soon as the two left the room, Riza locked the door and stood by the head of Ed's bed in order to get a better view of the entrance and window. Al watched her pull out her gun and flick off the safety before he moved towards his brother, lying down on the other side of his brother. He was absolutely careful to not jostle or even touch his brother in any way, but even still, there was a minute amount of space between him and Ed. The long day was finally wearing down on the young teenager and he found himself nodding off in a few minutes.

Roy meanwhile picked himself up and let the brothers enjoy their rest together. Despite what Ed said about him, he didn't feel tired. He probably had a good four to five hour nap between Ed waking up.

He glanced out the window, leaning against the sill. The darkness of the night created odd, obscure shadows.

"Riza, what do you think is out there?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know, but I don't like it."

"Whatever it is, I will protect Ed, no matter what."

Riza smiled gently, "I know you will, Roy."

I will protect him, was the only thought that ran through Roy's head as he watched the fallen angel sleep. No one will ever hurt you, Ed. Not while I'm around. I promise.

Perhaps Ed and Roy were both on the same wavelength, because right at that moment, Ed's expressions grew more relaxed and a smile appeared on his face.

Roy could almost hear Ed's voice in his head saying, I love you too, Roy.

Roy chuckled quietly. He must be tired, if he was hearing Ed's voice in his mind, though he wouldn't complain about it at all.

Outside, Heino stood from his perch in the tree. Hot flashes of anger were running through his usually apathetic body. Since when was his prodigy so weak? He couldn't accept the fact that he was killed by such a weak man. He couldn't accept that the Crimson Phantom had fallen to such a pathetic degree. Seething quietly, he lightly jumped down from the thirty foot tree and walked within the shadows to stop by a small pond. The moon reflected beautifully upon the calm waters, though to the assassin, it was just a source of unnecessary lighting. Heino stared down at his mirror. A gust of wind brushed aside his long, black hair, revealing a dark and huge scar that maimed his dark-skinned face diagonally from the tip of his right forehead to his left chin. He reached up with his right hand to touch the memento he received from Ed when the blonde had reached his height of his career. Ed was so beautiful then – an untouchable grim reaper that created showers of crimson petals all around him. Too bad Ed had become so ugly now. It made Heino sick.

Angrily, Heino kicked a rock into the pond, distorting his image. Once a phantom came into the light, there was no turning back for him. Heino would just have to save his prodigy by removing him from this world. It was the only way the Crimson Phantom could preserve his beauty.

Heino smirked and turned away from the pond, staring up towards Ed's window. It wouldn't be long before Ed would join him in the night once again, but killing him now would just be too easy. He wanted Ed to suffer – to feel fear shake his very bones. It was revenge that Heino sought out in the beginning. He wanted to kill the man who killed him, but only when the phantom kneeled at his feet and begged for forgiveness and purification.

Only then, could Heino's undying thirst for blood finally be quenched in this murky world of his.

Yep, so the chapter is finally done. Again, sorry if it's terrible and sorry that it's shorter than expected too. Oh, well. Still hope some of you enjoyed it. ^^ Hopefully...

I'll get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but I recently received a request for my Psych story so I'm going to writing that too. That story and this story are completely different tones, so it'll be fun to switch between the two.

But anyway, (sorry, I'm rambling), thanks for reading this chapter! As usual, please review too! ^^

~ Kanae Yuna ~