A.N.s: Before you start reading, I wanted to say this, Ed's 12 years old in this fic. I tried to make it first anime-based, even though I mentioned Briggs. And this chapter is in dedication of my friend who helped me get through writer's block because we promised to watch each other's favorite shows (her's is The Vampire Diaries), so we watched FullMetal Alchemist in Computers the whole time. Which helped a lot. And since my friend is updating this, she'll call me and say "AAAwwww! Thank you!" So yeah, Enjoy this chapter!

"Come on, get up," Mustang commanded.

Apparently, Mustang forgot about Ed's leg problem. But he soon remembered that after he saw Ed sitting on the ground, arms crossed.

"Oh, sorry," Mustang apologized.

"Yeah, y…you better b…be," Ed retorted disrespectedly, "As m…much as I hate n…needing your help, I can't ar…argue with the f…fact that I c…can't walk."

"Seems like you came to your senses."

"W…what do y…you mean by th…that?"

"Shhh! Not so loud, you remember what happened before?"

"F…fine…"

"I'll carry you again. Just hold still, if you can."

Ed was shivering uncontrollably, it was quite noticeable. It was hard to imagine that he could even get his arms to cross without them separating from each other. Mustang then proceeded to get into yet another piggyback position.

"There, get on," Mustang ordered.

And Ed did just that. His body seemed to relax once he was on Mustang's back. Even in this frozen hell, Ed could feel Mustang's body heat radiating onto his stomach, and his some of his shivering subdued due to the immense heat, immense heat to him at least. Ed held onto Mustang closely to get as much heat as possible. And once Ed was safely on Mustang's back, Mustang started again down the tracks which should lead them to Briggs.

Ed started to drift off into a deep sleep, all his muscles relaxed from how comfortable he felt on Mustang's back. And Mustang noticed. 'Well, at least one of us can relax.' Mustang thought as he kept walking, not stopping one time. The faster they got to Briggs, the faster he could relax as well. Then he remembered about the mission the Fuhrer had assigned to the two alchemists. There could have been other state alchemists he could have sent, not just them. It all baffled the colonel; he couldn't wrap his head around it at all. 'Why just send the two of us? There had to have been more state alchemists than just us. I know that me and Fullmetal are both well-known and strong… But that still doesn't explain everything. The Fuhrer knows we don't cooperate great together, even though we're commander and subordinate. And yet he still sent us. And then, by a coincidence, the train exploded while we were on it.' Mustang tried to contemplate it. Nothing made sense. How could it? It just happened so quickly.

Everything went wrong every since that fight. Did that fight start it all? Did everything begin to change because of it? Or is it because of something else? More questions came, but not one was answered. Just how would this all end? The future would unfold it, but before it did, they have to live in the present to make the future.

Mustang had to figure this out, to assure that he and Fullmetal would make it out alive. But two heads are better than one, especially since the other was an alchemy prodigy.

"Fullmetal?" Mustang tried.

Silence…

"Fullmetal?" He tried again, louder.

Again, there was nothing.

"Damn it Fullmetal, wake up!"

That worked, but only made the tired pipsqueak jerk violently.

"What th…the hell? Didn't y…you say n..not to y…yell?" Ed asked.

"Yes, I did, but you didn't respond earlier," Mustang replied, tired of this.

"Fine, wh…what do y…you want?"

That surprised Mustang. Ed always fought back or retorted. This was unusual.

"Are you okay Fullmetal?" Mustang asked, unsure of what was going on with Ed.

"Y…yeah. Why w…wouldn't I b…be?" Ed replied.

"Well, for one thing, you didn't talk back, and you keep stuttering your words."

"And why w…would it c…concern you?"

"It's just not natural to stutter that often."

"Did y..you ever th…think that i…it might b…be because of th…the cold?"

"Yeah, but I'm in the cold as well, and you have your jacket and mine."

"S…s…so?"

That's when Mustang stopped for the third time. He stood by the cliff, and let Ed slide off his back slowly, but not too slowly.

"Wh…what now?" Ed asked, annoyed for the third time in a row.

Mustang didn't reply, but simply put Ed's back to the cliff because he couldn't stand up for this, and ignored his protests that continued to stutter with his words. Mustang crouched down in front of him, and took off one of his gloves and put the back of his hand to Ed's forehead. Ed tried to brush it away, but his arms weren't as strong as before, but Mustang still yanked it back. He even blew on his hand. Apparently Ed was burning up because of a fever. The infection had spread fast from his leg to his whole body. And the gauze was stained and slightly dripping.

"What th…the hell?" Ed yelled.

"Damn it…" Mustang murmured, clenching his fists.

Mustang didn't know what to do. He was never in a situation like this at all were he had to deal with a sick person, let alone someone who can't currently walk and is blind. And they were stranded alone in this frozen hell trying to walk to Briggs all alone. He punched the cliff out of sheer anger for that this had to happen now, and made Ed worry that he did something wrong. Now Mustang regretted not treating the wound earlier, because now he had to carry his blind, incapacitated, feverish subordinate all by his self.

A.N.s: Someone asked a question about Ed's blindness. Yes, the train's explosion was the cause of his blindness because the sharp rock he fell on not only caused his injury, but it was dangerously close to the explosion and Ed was left unprotected. If he does rest his eyes, his eyesight will return, but if he doesn't, it will be gone forever and he will have to rely on Mustang, Al, and the rest of the gang to be his eyes.