My. Ass. Hurts. I just thought you'd want to know that sitting here, writing this, has made my ass hurt. Cause it has. xD I need to get up like... ASAP. But I'm gonna write this AN and get this published first!

I got a new laptop. I can officially save my stories and, hopefully, get them out faster for all you lovely peoples. =D

This is the last chapter of this story. That's what most people voted for, so that's how it's going to be. It's going to have a sequel, because that's what I promised you. HOPEFULLY THAT ONE CAN GET INTO THE UPPER TEENS BEFORE I DECIDE I WANNA DO SOMETHING ELSE WITH IT! =/ Yes. I did mean to put that in all caps. I hope you will enjoy the sequel as much as you have this one and Fading Too Fast.

Disclaimer: I... am not a cow lady. I wear contacts, not glasses like the cow lady. THEREFORE... I am not Hiromu Arakawa, and I did not think up Fullmetal Alchemist. I just play make-believe with her lovely, sexy, amazing (except for Winry and Rose; they're just bitches) characters.

Warnings: Slight boyxboy stuff, gruesomely morbid crap, foul language, blah dee blah dee blah. If you love Winry, might wanna skip this bit. -shrugs- Up to you.

Enjoy!

His footsteps echoed hollowly back to him. His breath whooshed harshly at of his lungs as he moved slowly- 'Don't go too fast.'- forward along the thin street. Tall buildings stood on either side of him, not a crack between them and so close that his shoulders nearly brushed them every time he moved. He could barely see a thing; the night was so dark. At least, he thought it was night. There was no moon and no stars, though. The streetlights weren't on, either. It was a miracle he could see anything. He could feel eyes on him, but he already knew there was nothing there. It was just him on this goddamn street, in between these goddamn building, with that goddamn whispering. It wasn't loud enough for him to understand what was being said, but that only served to piss him off even more. For the dozenth time, he whipped around to face the opposite end of the street. Not that he could see where the thing ended or began; it just went on forever, like a line in your geometry class. The whispers paused, only to be replaced by a blood-chilling cackling- right in his ear. Quickly, he turned back around; still nothing.

"Edward." It was throaty, raspy, and drawn out. And it came from right behind him, where he'd been facing only moments before. He could even feel cold breath on the nape of his neck, sending shudders chasing each other up and down his spine and causing the fine hairs on his neck to stand on end as fear grabbed his heart and squeezed.

"Either show yourself or leave me the fuck alone!" he screamed into the open air, fist clenching at his sides.

"Turn around, Edward." The blond froze on the spot, eyes widening until they were as large as saucers. Very slowly- and reluctantly- he began to turn around, eyes closing. When he'd made a complete one-eighty, he took a deep breath to prepare for... whatever he was about to see, then opened his eyes before he could change his mind. What he saw stopped his heart and made his chilled blood turn to ice in his veins. If he'd wanted to scream, he couldn't have. The... thing he and Alphonse had transmuted all those years ago was right in front of him, hanging upside down from what looked like nothing and so close that their noses- what was left of the creature's, anyways- were only inches apart. "How could you do this to me, Edward? I thought you were my strong little man. And now look what I am."

"I-I d-didn't- I'm sorry!" Edward screamed, taking a step back. He barely moved away from the creature, and his hand went up to his mouth in horror.

"Sorry doesn't bring me back, Edward, now does it?"

The cackling started up again as he turned the rest of the way around and started running again, terror threatening to turn his legs into lead weights. Tears stung his eyes, and his lungs were starting to burn from stress. His heart was threatening to claw its way out of his chest, but he didn't dare stop. Until, that is, Winry appeared in front of him, Nicholas situated on her hip. She was wearing a nightgown and a thin, silky robe. They were both covered in blood, and when she opened her mouth to speak, more of the thick substance spilled from behind her lips and down her chin.

"Look what you did to me, Edward. This is all your fault. As if it wasn't enough to break apart our family, then you had to go and kill me. What kind of a husband- and father- are you?" His ex-wife asked, tears slipping down her cheeks to mix with the blood. Nicholas began crying and screaming, pounding his fists against his mother's shoulder. The tears stinging Ed's own eyes began to leak out, surprisingly cool against his flesh. "Look what you've done to him, too, Edward."

"I don't have a mommy anymore, Edward! Why did you do all of this?" his son cried, still sobbing.

"No! No, I didn't do that! It wasn't me!" Seeing no other option, the blond spun around and took a few quick steps forward. Every time someone new addressed him for the first time or after a pause, they said his name. It was driving him insane. As soon as he was sure he'd have made it a safe distance from Winry- though it still didn't look as if he were going anywhere, quiet footsteps sounded behind him. His knees nearly buckled, his legs refusing to move any farther.

"Oh, Edward." Strong arms wrapped around him, pulling him against a familiar chest. It was cold, unlike how warm and comforting it usually felt. "You left me. You promised you'd come back, but you never did. Instead, you married that bitch... and ruined my life. I wanted to die." Roy's voice was soft in his ear- and dead serious. Ed choked on a sob, shaking his head back and forth slowly.

"Please, Roy. Not you, too. I love you!"

"No. You don't, Edward. If you had, you wouldn't have left in the first place." Those strong arms were suddenly gone, as was the firm chest he'd been leaning against. Desperate, he whirled around and came face to face with... himself. He stumbled back, staring disbelievingly at his own smirking, condescending face. That could be him; he'd never looked so evil- so cruel- in his entire life. Had he? Or was that-

"Oh, come now, dear Edward. Don't act like such a coward. You're only facing the truth." his own voice purred, stepping close and leaning into him. That smirk widened evilly, eyes narrowed just enough to be dangerous. "You're a selfish bastard, Edward Elric. You're no better than Hohenheim was. You killed your own mother for a second time, and gave up your very own brother's body to do so. You killed your wife. You left Nicholas. You're doing nothing but leading Roy on. You're not capable of such things as love. You're too cynical a brat. Someone needs to knock you off that pedestal the people of this country have put you on, oh 'Alchemist of the People.' And who better... than yourself?"

"Shut up! I'm no-" The word ended abruptly, blood gurgling up his throat and out of the corners of his mouth as pure agony distorted his features. The Other Edward's hand was buried in his chest, all the way past his wrist, and there was a cruelly, morbidly satisfied look on his face- eyes widened with insanity and lips twisted in a mock smile.

"Oh yes. You are. Checkmate, bastard." The Other Edward jerked his hand- and the Real Edward's heart- out. Ed dropped at The Other's feet, a gaping hole in his chest and blood dripping from his lips.

A scream was dying in his ears as Edward jolted up in bed, shaking so hard it looked as if he was vibrating. Sweat was pooled on his forehead and upper lip, cooling the skin all over his body. There were tears streaming down his cheeks, dripping down his chin and onto his bare chest. Feet were pounding loudly on the hall floor outside, and the bed was shifting under him. Those familiar arms wrapped around him, and he nearly choked on his tears. His trembling hands reached out for his lover as he tried to focus on what the older man was saying.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to ruin your life." he sobbed, hands clawing at the bare chest he was leaning against. "But I do love you! I really love you! Bu-but I..." The door slammed open and Alphonse tumbled in the door, Mei following close behind him. Roy looked up at them, expression shocked and just slightly fearful.

"What the hell happened? We heard screaming- and it wasn't that kind of screaming." Al asked, still holding the door wide open.

"I-I ruined his l-life. And y-yours, t-too! And... And," he stammered as he pushed himself back to look up at his lover, "h-he said I don't l-love you. H-he said I c-can't." Ed stopped, gaze dropping. "I-it was m-me; I-I said that."

"Edward, what the hell are you going on about?" Roy asked him, cradling his cheek with one hand.

"I feel s-sick."

"C'mere."

"N-no. I th-think I'm gonna p-puke." The blond scrambled out of bed, stumbling past his brother and Mei with a hand over his mouth. He didn't quite make it to the bathroom. "Dammit." he cursed hoarsely, scrubbing the back of his hand over his mouth as he dropped back against the hallway wall. The other three were staring at him from the bedroom door; he was well aware of that much. His eyes slide to the mess on the floor, and he let out a long sigh. "I'll clean that up."

"No, Ed. I got it, you just go back to be-" Roy started, but was rudely interrupted.

"No! I... I don't want to. I'm not sleepy."

"Earlier you were complaining about how tired you were and how you just wanted to sleep for hours." Alphonse pointed out. His older brother shot him a withering glare, the fact that he was still sweaty and trembling lessening the effect greatly.

"I... Well, I... Uh..."

"Come on. Lover-boy and I are gonna have a little chat. You two clean this up." Mei stomped over, carefully avoiding the mess on the floor, and shoved Edward into the bathroom. Which really wasn't a smart idea considering his unstable, shaky legs, and she had to catch him. She closed the door with her foot, leaning Ed against the counter. "Now, since you won't tell either of them, you can tell me: What happened?" The blond looked away from her, taking a few shaky breaths. Narrowing her eyes intently, she crossed her arms over the t-shirt that she'd borrowed from Alphonse to sleep in.

"Nothing happened. I'm fine."

"Really? Because most people I know don't wake up in the middle of the night, screaming and throwing up. Oh, and they don't start rambling about a "he/I" telling them they can't and don't love someone. So tell me what. The hell. Happened. Or I will shove your head in the toilet bowl and hold it there." Mei threatened, pointing a steady finger at him.

"It was just a nightmare, okay? A really bad one. That's it." Edward sighed, slowly shaking his head from side to side, as if that could cast the images from the dream out of his head.

"That's it? Edward, you haven't had a nightmare since you got Al's body back. And now you have one this bad?"

"People have nightmares, Mei. It's nothing unusual."

"Most people don't have nightmares this bad."

"Look, I really don't feel like this. Can we not talk about it right now?" the alchemist asked, bending down to get a couple of bath cloths out of the cabinet. He wiped his face off with the first, then the back of his neck. The second he held under a stream of cool water from the sink, then wiped it across his flushed, feverish cheeks and forehead.

"So, what you're really saying is 'Let's not talk about this ever and totally forget it happened," am I right?" When the other didn't reply, Mei let out a long sigh and opened the bathroom door again, gesturing for Edward to hurry up and get out. Which he wasted no time doing, mind you. If only the Xingese girl behind him had kept her mouth shut. "Apparently the bastard here had a nightmare, but won't tell me anything else."

"I just don't think it's that important." he mumbled, refusing to look at any of them. That is, until Roy very gently lifted his chin so they were looking into each other's eyes.

"It is important to me."

"Go on back to bed. I'll read for a few minutes, then come back up and go to sleep again, okay?" When the dark-haired man opened his mouth to speak again, Ed placed a cool, steel finger against his lips. "I just need to clear my head. That's all. I promise, I won't stay up too much longer."

"I'll hold you to that." Roy said after a pause, kissing the finger against his lips. "Then go down to the library. Go." His lover stretched up and gave him a peck on the lips, smiling.

"Alright. I'll be up in a few. Goodnight." he whispered, slipping away from the taller man and hurrying down the stairs to the library. Al and Mei had already gone back to bed, his brother insisting that they were intruding before he ushered his girlfriend back to their room. So it was just him now, awake by himself. He flopped down on the couch in the library, picking up a book he'd left on the side table nights ago when Roy had... distracted him. Even though he opened it, he didn't actually start reading it. His mind floated back to the dream, running over the images again and again as his eyes skimmed over the words on the page.

He wound up falling asleep there, thinking about the dream. Thankfully, he didn't dream again.

"Come on, Ed! If you don't hurry up, we're going to be late for work." Roy called up the stairs, fixing the collar of the greatcoat he'd just pulled on. As far as he knew, the blond was still in the bathroom, getting dressed and pulling his hair back into a tight braid. So he was pleasantly surprised when the pounding of feet- one heavier than the other, so he knew it was his lover- sounded from upstairs.

"Sorry. I was just... ah... busy?"

"Yeah. I get it. Still tired, right?" the general asked, catching the younger man as he stumbled on the second to last stair and nearly face-planted in the hallway. Edward looked up at him and smiled gratefully, getting his feet back under him. He didn't let the dark-haired man's arm go, though, and it didn't look like he'd get out of the other's embrace yet, either.

"How'd you guess?"

"I just know you so well." That earned him a quick kiss and a chuckle before Ed left his arms to get his coat off the rack.

"Didn't you say we were going to be late? Come on."

Instead of driving, the two walked again. It was a nice day, and the blond knew his lover enjoyed walking in the fresh air; he rather liked it as well, especially when the wind ruffled Roy's hair. It also gave them the time to simply talk, because it always seemed like they never got the time to do so. It was a fairly short walk and they arrived at Central Headquarters quickly- too quickly, Ed thought even if he didn't say it. There was a large stack of paperwork waiting for Roy, but nothing waiting for him. Since he knew the general hated paperwork so much, he offered to help. Which was accepted immediately, no surprise there.

"Did you want to die? After I left and when I married Winry, I mean." he asked after looking over a sheet of paper. The dark-haired general looked up, eyes questioning. "I... I was just wondering."

"Yes, Ed. I did." The quick, honest answer gave the blond a pause; he hadn't been expecting that.

"Do... Do you think that I don't love you? That I'm not capable of it?" It was a question that had been on his mind all day, and he asked it quickly, before he could change his mind. Roy stared at him. Just stared right at him for what seemed like the longest time. Then a look of pure shock and what equated to horror coming over his face.

"Of course I don't! I know you love me, and I know that you're capable of it. What the hell brought this all on? Are you... Are you thinking that you don't love me anymore?"

"No! I was thinking... Dammit, I don't know what I was thinking anymore. Just forget about it." When the other opened his mouth, he held up a hand and shook his head. "I'm serious. Just... forget this conversation ever happened." And, even though he could tell he was reluctant, his lover didn't say anything else on the subject.

After a few hours- somewhere between three and four- the phone rang. Edward heard the older man groan loudly- which made him smile fondly- and then pick the phone up. "Hello?" There was a pause, where he knew the secretary was informing him he had a call and blah dee blah dee blah. "Put them through." Another pause, where Roy was listening very intently. He leaned forward, eyes narrowing. "We'll be right over." The phone slammed down. Ed started, dropping the page he was reviewing.

"What's going on?" Roy didn't answer at first, gritting his teeth and glaring at his desk. "Hey! What was that about, General?" he asked, louder this time. The use of his rank got the older man's attention.

"There's been a murder at the Central Hotel." ((Yes. Very creative. Don't judge me. No one told me I had to come up with hotel names, so I didn't.)) His superior got up from his seat and grabbed his coat before turning to his lover. "It was Winry." Edward's heart stopped in his chest. He couldn't remember everything that happened next. There was a lot of rushing, he knew, but it was mostly a blur. Mustang's whole unit trooped out to the hotel. Before going into the room, Roy told him it was fine if he didn't want to go in, or if it took him a few minutes. Which it did, but he eventually took a deep breath and trooped into the room.

"Hey, hey. I told you it was okay if you couldn't come in."

"I-I wanted to." Ed took a breath and shook his head. "Where's Nicholas?"

"One of the police women has taken him out; probably to the station. I don't blame her. We can run by later and pick him up so he won't be all alone and scared. I'm sure you'll want him with us?"

"Of course. Is she... Is she in the bedroom?"

"Yeah, but Ed-" Unfortunately, the blond was already heading back to the bedroom, completely ignoring his lover. "No, Ed, you don't have to go back there!"

The first thing he saw was Winry, spread out on the bed in a nightgown and robe, blood all over the silk and a trail from both corners of her mouth. The second thing was the writing on the wall. It was written in bright blood, with what looked like two fingers. And the words ripped his breath from his lungs harshly. Checkmate, bastard. It was the last words the Other Edward had said to him in his dream last night. The edges of his vision started to darken and fray. He turned and stumbled back out- right into Roy's arms.

"I told you that you didn't have to go in there."

"R-Roy... I... Those words... They... They..." His breathing caught. "I feel dizzy."

"Ed?" Had his lover not already been holding him, he would have hit the floor, eyes fluttering closed. "Somebody help me in here!"

Yes. This did have a crappy ending. But I wanted a cliffhanger, and I wanted all this in it, and I even know where the hell I'm gonna start the next one off... Kind of.. I got the idea, okay? Gosh.

ANYWAYS~ So that's the end for this. The sequel to it shall be up as soon as I get it done. I'll post a note on here to let you know just when I get it published, so if you haven't subscribed to this story, you might want to. Either that, or keep on a lookout for the next part!

Please review! It makes me feel loved. =D Ciao!

hugs&kisses~ Madarao