Ed had never known hunger. Not real hunger. Not the kind of hunger you only felt when you hadn't eaten in four days.

Frogbreath brought him a glass of water a day to make sure he could speak when they asked him questions, the same questions as they always asked him. They'd stopped cutting near his vital organs about halfway through the fourth week, deciding to try starving him instead. He couldn't focus during the interrogations leading up to the end of the fourth week, and his struggling against the chains that held him grew weaker each day. His skin was already so much closer to following his skeleton.

He watched them eating in their usual place across the large room on the morning of the fourth week mark. They were almost done, they would be leaving soon...

Pigface caught him staring. That hideous grin spread across his face and he stood, bringing his plate of food with him.

Ed recognized the glint in his captor's eye. This teasing had happened the first day they hadn't fed him. He wasn't letting that grin stay on his face this time.

"Hungry, boy?" Pigface asked, crouching to his captive's level and waving the plate of food he held under Ed's nose. "All this food... You want some of it, don't you?"

"I don't take pity food," he rasped in response, throat dry.

"Think of it as a reward," Pigface said, picking up a piece of meat from the plate. "Answer our questions and we'll give you breakfast." He popped the meat into his mouth, chewing dramatically.

"I'll-" He had to clear his throat before continuing, though it was painful. He hadn't had any water since before the previous night's questions. "I'll never tell."

"Then starve to death."

"No!" he yelled.

He lunged forward, latching onto the plate with his mouth and trying to wrench it out of Pigface's grasp. The man pushed against his face to get him to let go.

And he bit him.

The man's cry of pain filled his ears as blood seeped into his mouth. Still, he didn't let go of Pigface's thumb until Snake ran over and yanked him off by the hair, continuing the motion until the boy's head slammed into the wall behind him.

He was plunged into darkness.

--

"Ah, the boy's awake."

Of course he was awake. His head hurt like hell.

Not that he could say so with a gag in his mouth.

Snake laughed his low, hissing laugh. "No more biting for you, boy."

He turned his gaze to glare venomously.

"Oh, don't give me that." A short pause, and then he explained, "Not only do you get a gag, but you get someone to keep you company while the boss is gone."

That's when Ed realized that Snake was, in fact, the only other person in the warehouse. So they'd left a guard today. Not that he had enough strength left to struggle, anyways.

Or maybe this guy would let him try.

He tugged on the chain holding his automail arm. Yesterday and the day before, it had moved a little more than it usually had, though his latest attempts had all been fairly weak.

Snake didn't seem to notice the excess movement, though. He just laughed.

"You really think that's going to work, boy? He hissed, "In your state, it won't budge at all."

Ed tugged harder ignoring the pain it caused all over his slowly weakening body. He had to get out. He had to get out...!

A knife pressed against his throat.

"Now, now, boy, we don't want you hurting yourself," Snake said, voice a menacing whisper, "Not before your special treat tonight."

Special treat?

Oh fuck, they were going to kill him.

Ed's eyes grew moist as his fear of death attacked him yet again. The knife pulled away from his skin and he let his head hang in defeat.

"That's better," the man said, shutting the pocket knife, "Have a little patience. The boss should be here soon with your present.

No more words were spoken.

Ed sat limply, eyes closed, but unable to sleep through his pain, hunger, and fear. There was no chance of him getting our now that they'd have someone on guard duty all the time. He was going to die here, simple as that.

He was slow to look up when the warehouse door opened, and he couldn't muster enough anger to glare. There was too much fear, too much pain...

"We got it," Frogbreath announced, pulling something from the bag that was over his shoulder and tossing it over to Snake.

The man caught it and smiled widely, holding the object in plain view for everyone to see.

Ed's eyes widened as he stared at the gun, all hope of escaping dissipating.