AN: It's been a while, but I haven't forgotten you guys! Just a lot of school work! Enjoy!

Fuck fuck fuck! This wasn't going right at all! Ed was in a panic now, struggling to stay awake and determined to keep himself alert. "Al!" his voice sounded weak and watery, there was no answer from his little brother. Ed was ready to chew his hands off, a fox caught in a trap would do just that. They were cemented to the design he and Al had activated. He was panicking, no clear thought formed in his head. He was deaf, not a sound coming to him then, not even his own voice. He should have never come, should have listened to Mustang….

Roy was running so fast that he didn't feel his legs. They were now moving on their own accord, and his stomach dropped to his gut when he saw the strong blue light coming from just beyond some ruined walls. "Shit shit shit!" he hissed to himself and tried to speed up, which ended up in him tripping over himself. He was up before he knew it and back to it again. God, oh God.. .oh dear God…

He hadn't expected to see anything remotely pleasant when he finally made it to the wall and beyond it, but what he did see had him stopped in his tracks. This was his worst nightmare, the stuff he felt he dreamed about, woke up at night in horror and didn't remember in the morning. There was the empty shell of what used to be Al's armour and the leg and arm that had belonged to Ed. There was a large, circular design in the middle of which was a gate. He didn't think he'd ever see one. Was sure that it was seen only by those whom would create the portal itself. Yet there it stood, wide black mouth gaping and all was quiet. So damnably quiet that he couldn't stand it.

The sign was fading slowly, and his stomach plummeted further, desperate to do something, anything, he ran up and jumped into the gate.

He had expected pain, but felt numbness instead, and a chill surrounded him in his blindness. There was that. And next he was standing in a.. he looked around. It looked like well, white. There were no walls, and no horizon. Just white, kind of a glowing, white light that emanated form everywhere. That and another gate. He wondered if he was supposed to go through that too. Would have made a dash for it in fact, but the voice behind him had him spinning in the other direction.

"Nice of you to join us." The figure of a faceless little white man, sitting on air. Said.

"That is so cliché." The words left him before he could check himself. And he didn't care, he found. He was furious, and he had a feeling that the little faceless dick in front of him was responsible.

The thing laughed, a tinkling bell like sound. And cocked its head at him. "You wonder where the brothers are aren't you?" It smiled. Roy shuddered at the gristly image of a face with only a mouth. "Indeed." He stood facing now. "Mind telling me where they went?" That was a slim chance, but he could as well try anything.

"The thing glided out of his way and there, Roy beheld both the brothers, completely human, slumped against each other as though asleep. Ed's arm and leg were still missing. They didn't bleed, they simply weren't there.

He made to run to them, but was stopped by the little man. His temper snapped and he raised his hand to strike. The thing grabbed his wrist with surprising speed and crushing strength. "I've waited for a long time to meet you, you know?" He smiled again. "It's why I've arranged this little get together actually."

"Youre the letter sender then." Roy knew this, he didn't need the confirmation. "Indeed, I am the same!" the cackling laugh surprised the raven a bit. It was drastically different that the tinkling one form a second ago. This was greedy, evil, if he had to name it. A greedy laugh.

"When the brother's attempted to transmute their Mother, They opened up this gate… No, listen." The thing held up its arm and pushed Roy, who was going to protest, back. "This created a bond between me and them, or rather, specifically, Edward. He had more of a connection to me for some reason, and I could see through him into what he himself experienced. " Roy's eyebrow shot up and the thing smiled gleefully. "oh, I could tell you some of the most private moments of that young man laying over there. Things he himself would never share, not even with his little brother, I believe. But back on track, I saw you through him, saw your power, and recognized it as something that hadn't been used in centuries, you are very rare, Mr. Mustang sir."

"You mean my fire alchemy?" Roy asked, unsure what he meant.

"Precisely." The thing continued. "manipulating something that isn't solid, or even liquid is very rare and takes a certain type of power. A power that hadn't been seen in centuries. Previously, I have never felt such a power, although I figured someone must have trained you, I know now that his strength was not at quite the same plane as yours. Do you understand, Roy?'

Roy thought that he was slowly beginning to, actually. It had something to do with alchemy, and he supposed the thing wanted it.

"An exchange then," he said quickly. "My alchemy, for those boys."

The thing laughed again, loudly, his voice reverberated through the space they were in. "very good, you begin to understand I think." He smiled. "those boys were a sort of lure, if you will. And they worked wonderfully indeed! But…"

Why had there always to be a but? Roy wondered, exasperated and shaking, desperate to get the Elrics out of there.

"I cannot do anything with your alchemy alone. What I want is greater than that sir, I.. I want your soul."

Roy blinked once, twice. He had hoped he had misheard. "What has my alchemy to do with my soul?" His voice sounded hoarse.

"they are interlinked, so to speak, and you will find that possessing alchemy alone will not cut it. I need the link it has formed to the wavelength of your soul to get the effect I desire.

"You're going to turn my soul, if I am willing, into energy to power up the alchemy?' Roy needed to understand, this was horrid thinking, and he felt faint.

"You are as bright as they say!." The thing clapped its hands in glee. "But lets make this fun, shall we?" He whirred around the space, now hanging upside-down. "You get this…" here, it pulled out a shining, red stone. It was jagged, and sharp looking, and it gleamed blood red in the white hand. "I suppose you know what this is?" Roy nodded, unable to take in a proper breath.

"You get this, and get to use it three times exactly. Whether you use it to tie your shoes or return someone from the dead, lets say. Three uses is all you get."

"An the catch?" Roy asked. He knew there was one.

"When the thirs use happens, your soul is mine." The thing was nose to nose now. "You can keep it until you die and not use it once, or you might use it all at once right now. Your choice." The stone was placed in his outstretched hand. Roy took the bait and the world around him collapsed.

He came to the same destruction he had left in. The empty shell and the empty limbs and the gate. The only difference here was that there was blood oozing from the automail, and he couldn't stand the sight of it. He was sprawled on the ground between them, and he realised with horror that he was bleeding from somewhere beneath his left lung. It looked like a bullet wound and the pain was getting worse with every breath. He grasped his side hissing, eyes still on the torn limbs. "Fuck." He coughed up blood and cursed. He needed help.

The sharpness in his hand made itself known and he breathed in relief. He could do this. With a flash like lightning, his alchemy went haywire and there was Al, already moving a bit, and moaning. Another, and there was Ed, passed out and alive and whole. Roy smiled in giddy joy and pocketed the stone in his jacket pocket, zipping it up. His job was done. Then he was out.

xXx

When he came to again, a pale green ceiling welcomed him. He was groggy, and the room spun as he turned his head to see what was beside him. The light irritated his eyes, and he couldn't see past the table at his side. Everything was fuzzy. He closed his eyes and a cough overtook him, and then the pain hit sharply and he choked on his own cry.

A rummage and hurried steps before he was being washed down with something cool. A prickling in his arm hurt more than he knew it did, but then everything was bliss, and he was gone again.

xXx

Ed woke up and shot up straight as an arrow. He was alive, away from the overwhelming heat and sand, he was alive and comfortable and where the fuck was Al? "Al!" He hollered, jumping up and out of the bed, already out the door.

Hawkeye hurried to him through the corridor, eyes blazing in anger and he stopped in his tracks. "Riza where is Al?" His stomach was turning inside out, and he felt like vomiting, so desperate was hi fear.

"He's in the room adjacent to yours, sleeping." She stepped back and looked him up and down. "you did it Ed, you kept your promise." She smiled slightly and as Ed looked himself over, disbelief in his face, she looked quite sad.

"Where's mustang? Why did he leave you here?" he asked. Still not believing that what he had dreamed about was really here, done.

"he's in the room down the hall. Try to keep it down will you?" She hummed and walked him to the door of what appeared to be Al's room. "he was there completely, so he's a bit malnourished, needs to stay sedated for a while. Theyre doing all the tests they can, hoping there would be no permanent damage anywhere. But other than worn out, he is fine too." She made to go, but Ed grabbed her arm. "Am I dreaming?" he whispered, looking through the little door window. There was his brother, whole and human and it was done.

"No Mr. Elric, I don't believe you are." She smiled again. "you should rest yourself though, from what we saw when we arrived to pick up you three, you all went through some horrible episode. Although I'm glad at least you two are ok." She turned now, and walked back down the hall to the waiting Huges. The whispered something, and the man shook his head and walked off, leaving hawkeye to walk into the room and quietly shut the door. Ed couldn't move away from the door of his brothers room. They had done it! He didn't remember how, or what happened, but they had done it! He wanted to run around, whoop in joy and scream, but instead went into his room and found his clothes, washed and folded, and changed into them quickly. By the time the doctor arrived, he was done and emerged from the side bathroom, a bit washed up and hair tied back.

"looks like you can go mr. Elric." The doctor smiled. Your brother will remain here for about another week, the mission really tested you all. In fact, you are very lucky you didn't end up like Colonel Mustang. Don't mix yourselves into those kinds of fights." The gray head shook exhasperadely, and then he was free. And rushing down the hall, skidding to a stop before the door Riza had gone through.

He had foolishly assumed that Mustang was resting, perhaps tired out like he and Al had been. He could feel another presence before he passed out, but he assumed that they had come after everything was over. He knew from what the doctor said that it was far worse. He stood frozen in front of the door, afraid to open it, when Riza stepped out, surprised at seeing him there. "Ed…"

He was in that fast, skipping around her and finally coming face to face with the man himself. His eyes widened and he grasped the bed railing as he stunmbeld around the side. He didn't know where to look first, there were bandages covering the bare torso. Mustang was asleep, IV sticking out of his arm and other cables and attatchments were sticking from every which direction. "Oh God…" he whispered to himelf, afraid to touch.

"We found him with the both of you, he was almost all bled out, looks like a shot through his side. barely missed his heart, grazed a lung and broke a couple of ribs. Besides that, he's weak. He wasn't breathing when we arrived."

"Who did this? How did this happen? And how did you know where we were?" Ed slumped into the chair beside him, he ran one finger along the smooth arm. He had come so close to losing this man, how did it happen?

"he and I followed you through the tunnels, but then he ordered me to call for backup and went on alone. When we arrived, we followed his tracks and some light that was still being given out by the sign you two created. Ed looked at her and realised her anger. "It's all my fault isn't it?" He shuddered. "Oh God, its all my fault." He ran a hand over his hair, messing it up.

"he's stable now, I was just going to grab something to drink, I've been up all night. Would you mind watching him for me a minute?"

Ed nodded, not looking up and Riza slipped out quietly. He looked back then, making sure the door was locked, and leaned over the prone body further. He hovered with his ear over the chest, he could hear shallow breathing, could almost hear the heart beating. He sat back down and not knowing what to do, took hold of one pale arm. He gently moved the fingers to his lips and kissed each and every one. And then again. Nuzzling his cheek into the cool palm.

He had never, ever let anyone realise this, not even himself, fully. But seeing the man almost die because of him, that shook Ed to the very core. He wanted the eyes to open, to acknowledge him, and yet he knew that when they did it would be back to formalities again. This was quite possibly the only moment in his life where he could taste the skin that had over the course of recent years become so dear to him without fear of being rejected. No, he thought, rejected is someone whom would actually say what he felt. He knew he couldn't do that either. Mustang was a certified womanizer, and every female in central had wet dreams that Colonel Roy Mustang personally starred in. well, every female and Ed.

He had found himself kissing the crook of the inside arm, actually laving at the dip. The veins pulsed gently beneath his tongue and just like that, he was hard. And felt like shit. He rested his forehead against the side of the bed, unable to let go of the hand just yet. How could he ever possibly make it up to the man? He knew somehow, that Mustang was deeper in this than everyone thought. He had felt failure as soon as he laid his hands on the alchemy. How did this switch into success?

Deep in his stomach another worry coiled. Had Roy been hurt thus trying to save them? If so, he had succeeded, ad was the most courageous man Ed would ever meet.

The door creaked and Ed jumped up a bit, putting space between himself and the colonel.