/AN

Sadly I've had to give up on recovering the lost chapter for this fanfiction and have rewritten it. Thank you guys so much for your support and understanding my dilemma.

And now, on with the story (none of which I own, no matter how much I wish I could claim I did)

AN/

The next morning, Edward found the little kid that was Ludwig standing in the room like it was the most natural thing in the world, especially after they had met a twenty-something male claiming to be him yesterday.

"No, the change isn't normally day-by-day," Ludwig stated like he read Edward's mind. "Once I went for weeks in my adult body."

Edward was slightly disturbed to find that he could talk about something so naturally. He wasn't given the chance to voice this, though, as Mustang beat him too it.

"That aside, first thing's first," Mustang stated. "We've got summons from Fuhrer King Bradley. Fullmetal, Alphonse, and I are to go and speak with him."

"Isn't he one of the Homunculi?" Ludwig asked.

Mustang nodded. "Which means that Feliciano must be involved, but we can't risk bringing you because we don't know whether they know about you or not, and he never mentioned you."

"This'll just give us a reason to scout out the military base," Ludwig pointed out. "You guys go and meet him, and I can take a look around."

There wasn't any reply, but the looks on their faces said everything.

"Well, we can be almost certain that if this does involve Feliciano. Which means that there isn't going to be any reason to check the base," Alphonse pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Edward asked.

Ludwig knew what Alphonse was thinking. "You're right, if you've got a victim, why hide said victim within the rescuer's reach? No, their hiding Feli somewhere else."

"The tunnel under Central," Alphonse said. "Not many people know about it, so it's a safe bet."

"And it runs under the military base," Edward agreed.

Mustang nodded. "Well, that's settled. While we go talk to Fuhrer King Bradley, Ludwig, you can search out the tunnel below."

Ludwig said, "Just point me to the entrance."

With that, the group of four left, Ludwig disappearing into the crowd after a few blocks.

xxx

"Everyone know what they're doing?" Gilbert asked. A few feet away, Envy, Lust, Gluttony, and Pride were talking with a shadowy figure they referred to as 'Father'. Standing by Gilbert were the Nordics, talking amongst themselves.

"We know," Abel replied.

Gilbert nodded. "Where did they put Italy?"

More hissing at the use of a country name, but Gilbert, being the awesome person he is, shrugged it off without a second thought.

"Emil?" Abel asked, looking at the chibi Iceland.

He walked up to Gilbert and motioned down one of the hallways. "Go through there. Take your fifth right, go up the first set of stairs you come across, take the corridor on your left at the top, the stairs on your right should take you down three flights, Run the length of that hallway and climb the ladder at the end. You should come out in the middle of nowhere. From there, run east until you find another manhole cover. Feliciano's in there," Emil stated. "I can't give you instructions for the inside, though."

Gilbert nodded. "Then why don't we start?"

Lukas muttered, "The sooner we can get out of here the better."

"Berwald? Tino?" Abel asked, turning to Sweden and Finland. "Why don't you start us off?"

The two countries nodded and made their way towards the Homunculi. Once they had started the distraction, Gilbert slipped down the indicated hallway, muttering the directions Emil gave to himself.

xxx

Ludwig dove for cover just in time. He watched as Gilbert ran past, seemingly too intent on what he was doing to bother to notice the Holy Roman Empire. Ludwig followed him without a second thought, making sure to stay far enough away from Gilbert so he wasn't noticed.

After what seemed like a lifetime of running through confusing corridors, popping up at one point and running east for what felt like a good half-hour, Ludwig finally came across a manhole cover. The footsteps that were left behind in a pile of sand disappeared inside it. Ludwig knelt and put an ear to the edge, listening for the Prussian. Once he determined that Gilbert wasn't waiting on the other side, he slid the cover open and jumped inside, looking around. There was only one direction to go, so he took it.

xxx

"Hello, Fullmetal. Mustang. Alphonse," Fuhrer King Bradley greeted them. "I'm assuming you three already know why you've been called."

"It's got to do with Feliciano, doesn't it?" Alphonse asked.

"Very good, Alphonse," Fuhrer King Bradley replied. "I'll make this simple. We've got Feliciano trapped in an undisclosed location in the middle of nowhere. Our request is simple. Stand aside and let what will come to pass happen, and Feliciano shall be freed. If you don't accept our request, however, Feliciano will drown to death."

"You expect to use a child's life to shackle us?" Edward growled.

Fuhrer King Bradley replied, "You should think about it, Edward. It could be the worst mistake you make in your life."

Edward grit his teeth. Ludwig, you'd better find Feliciano.

xxx

Ludwig quickly got confused in this cavernous tunnel. There were so many splits, but something told him to keep going straight. The tunnel looked to be man-made, and there wasn't any sign of Gilbert.

"Help!"

Ludwig looked up from his trek when he thought he heard someone.

"Please! Is anyone there!"

There wasn't any mistake. That was Feliciano. Ludwig set off at a run, not caring about whether Gilbert heard him or not.

"Italy!" Ludwig called when he got close enough.

Sure enough, hanging in front of him was the little Italian, tied to a chair with chains and various weights hanging off it. "Holy Rome!" Feliciano called.

Edward growled. How could he make the choice between letting the Homunculi get away with their plan and saving Feliciano?

Ludwig saw Gilbert before Gilbert saw him. He sped up, hoping to reach Feliciano first.

"Brother…" Alphonse said, looking at him as he struggled to choose. How could he possibly think about it?

"No! Holy Rome! Wait!" Feliciano cried as he realized that Ludwig wasn't going to see the traps laid out in time.

"Well, Fullmetal? You've got a choice. Stop us and let the kid drown, or walk away with the kid unscathed," Wrath stated.

Ludwig, in a rush of adrenaline, jumped forward, grabbing the bottom of Feliciano's chair. "Holy Rome!" Feliciano cried. Then Ludwig felt a searing pain in his leg.

"I…" Edward muttered. Feliciano or country? If he hadn't known what the Homunculi were planning, he wouldn't have waited this long in answering.

Ludwig gripped the projectile sticking out of his leg and ripped it out. Blood spilled into the pool of water below, but Ludwig didn't seem to notice the pain as he started to move upward to try and reach Feliciano.

…I'm sorry. Edward bit his lip, before finally saying, "Keep your hands off our country."

"Brother!" Alphonse cried.

"Fullmetal!" Mustang scolded.

Fuhrer King Bradley chuckled. "Bad choice." He hit a button on his desk.

Ludwig felt the mechanism slack and realized the next second they were falling. "Holy Rome!" Feliciano cried.

Ludwig grabbed Feliciano without thinking, and they sank to the bottom of the tank of water. Ludwig set to work trying to free the binds that held Feliciano captive. Feliciano looked ready to say something, but Ludwig placed a finger over his lover's mouth, indicating that wasn't the time to speak. He seemed oblivious to the red tinge the water was starting to take as his blood leaked out of his leg wound.

Ludwig tugged as hard as he could on the chains, but nothing was working. He swam upwards and gasped.

"Dammit potato bastard! You'd better save Feliciano!"

The voice of Lovino was like a wake-up call. Ludwig turned and saw that Lovino was pelting Gilbert with tomatoes, but paused long enough to throw Ludwig his sword. "What are you waiting for?"

Ludwig nodded, diving back under and this time, with sword in hand, was able to break the shackles. He grabbed Feliciano and pulled the Italian to the surface, dragging her over to the edge and pushing her onto land. Ludwig sat next to her and looked for any signs of life. The rise and fall of her little chest, her breath on his cheek, but there wasn't anything.

"You're not getting away that easily," Ludwig muttered. He started using the Heimlich Maneuver on his little friend.

Feliciano coughed up water, but finally got to that point of where he could see Ludwig. "Holy Rome," he muttered.

"Italy. Oh, Italy," Ludwig sobbed. The two hugged each other, never happier to see each other. "You're ok."

Feliciano smiled as he held Ludwig close, happy to know they were still safe.

/AN

I didn't mean for this chapter to end on such a sappy note! But still, it's so sweet! (It was also supposed to end when Lud realized Lovi was there but…changes happen.

While this isn't exactly what I had, this still came out beautifully~ I hope you guys enjoyed reading it!

R&R Please!

AN/