A/N: Thank you for everyone who reviewed the last two chapters, I hope I can live up to some of your expectations. Sometimes reviewers ask me some general questions about where the story is going and I'm not sure if you guys want an actual answer or are just excited to read the next part. I don't want to answer questions too specifically as far as the plot is concerned… you're going to just have to read to find out.

Warnings are the same as before: Illness, children being murdered, awful situations being terrible…

Wretched

Death is easier than a wretched life; and better never to have born than to live and fare badly.

-Aeschylus

Ed vomited loudly in the bowl of the toilet. It briefly flitted through his mind that he wasn't sure which bathroom he was in. Not the one closest to the Colonel's office…perhaps the one closer to the cafeteria? His thought process was halted when he retched so hard that his eyes watered, but nothing else was expelled from his stomach. There just wasn't anything left to bring up. In sudden exhaustion, Edward sunk to his knees and let his forehead rest on the edge of the bowl. He didn't have the energy to be disgusted. He didn't have the energy for anything at the moment. He would just close his eyes for a minute and wait for the throbbing in his skull to dissipate. It would fade soon, the pain in his gut, the rawness in his throat, the ache in his chest and the moisture on his face from tears that had slipped out from the corners of his eyes… Just a minute and he would get up and he would stop this downward spiral he found himself in. Just one more minute.

If somebody had asked Colonel Mustang, he would have said he was only organizing files on Hughes' behalf. However, the extent of his involvement had increased dramatically in the past few hours and it now seemed that the Colonel was moving himself, and half of his staff, into his friend's office.

Most of Hughes' staff was out, still taking care of their latest crime scene, and Roy found it easy to convince the new receptionist to allow him and a few others into the main office and hub of investigative research. Maes had a board set up with a map of Central pinned to it. Smaller pins designated locations of interest, mostly places where victims went missing and then found in pieces later. On his desk were stacks and stacks of reports from around Amestris, all containing details of missing child cases. There was evidence that Hughes had been sifting through them, putting them in order of what seemed the most likely to be connected, but a new shipment of reports had arrived while he was out, and his desk had become flooded with documents. It was a paperwork nightmare.

Second Lieutenant Breda and Sergeant Major Fuery were sent out and given the task of collecting intelligence. Roy had some connections in the city and he would like to see if any of them could provide him with any useful information.

Warrant Officer Vato Falman had been given the assignment of creating an organized system for all the old reports. The ones that most closely matched the current kidnappings were given to Hawkeye and she was assisting with their assessment. Mustang found himself pouring over a folded map he had found of Amestris. Hughes had been circling other cities and writing in brief notes. Judging on one penned in sentence; Maes seemed to believe that their killer came from Giyoir, worked his way Northwest to East City and then continued on to Central. However, near the city of Giyoir, Hughes had written: No known connection. So, perhaps, Giyoir wasn't a starting point at all or it just didn't have any connection to the suspects.

After they had already made progress through a stack of files, Havoc arrived with the reports from Mustang's office. Roy was about to tell him to put the files with the organized ones and then assist Falman, when he saw the strange look on Havoc's face, as if the man was trying to decide whether or not to say something.

"Is something wrong, Lieutenant?" Roy asked briskly. Havoc shifted his feet, looking hesitant.

"Well, I'm not really sure… Edward came into your office while I was packing up. The kid seemed kind of off, but before I could really ask him what was wrong, he took off running." Roy narrowed his eyes. So he had run off again.

"Did he seem ill to you?"

"Maybe. Kinda pale and sweating, but... no. If anything, well, I would say he looked terrified." Havoc now had his hands on his hips as he looked genuinely perplexed over the incident.

Mustang clenched his jaw. He needed to put an end to this.

"Do you know where he went?" Roy asked in a clipped tone.

"Well no, I came here right away."

"Find him. He is to report to me here immediately, understood?"

"Yes sir," Havoc seemed momentarily surprised by the urgency, but he agreed to the order quickly.

As Havoc left, Roy turned to see Hawkeye surveying him with a scrutinizing look.

"Sir, do you believe Edward Elric knows something?"

Roy gave it thought for the briefest moment. "Yes, I do. Do you think I'm wrong?"

After all, Hawkeye was the one who kept an eye on everything. She wouldn't let him get too far if she believed he was taking the incorrect path. She shook her head, but a concerned look fluttered across her eyes. "I do not think so, sir. But I believe it might be more complicated than it appears to be."

Roy turned to look at the stacks and stacks of unsorted files.

"It usually is."

After checking Edward's dorm room, Jean Havoc didn't really know where to look. Alphonse didn't know where his brother was and Havoc tried not to worry him, telling him he was sure Ed would turn up. He told the younger brother to send Edward to Maes Hughes' office if he showed up and he tried not to seem too apprehensive about it. Al looked like he was going to worry anyway.

"Brother hasn't been feeling well and he is due for some of his pain medicine."

"Well, I'm sure he will be back soon," Havoc gave the suit of armor a smile and said his goodbyes.

After spending nearly an hour searching the hallways, it was by pure dumb luck that caused Havoc to find Ed. Jean had needed to pee and he quickly ducked into the closest bathroom he could find. Once he was done with his business and was just thinking that he needed a smoke, he thought he heard a raspy breath come from one of the stalls. Thinking it sounded like somebody was crying, he glanced under the stall door to see a familiar bit of red coat.

"Ed?" Havoc asked. The boy was sitting on the floor, but there wasn't much else he could see from his angle. "You alright in there, Chief?"

There was no answer and that scared Havoc a little. It was at that moment that his mind registered the smell of vomit that clung to the air. Clearly, Edward wasn't well. Jean gave the door a push to find it wasn't actually locked. He was slightly relieved, as this meant he wouldn't have to be kicking in any bathroom stall doors. His relief quickly vanished when he saw Ed sitting hunched on the floor with his head resting on the toilet seat's edge. He didn't look like he was planning on moving anytime soon. In fact, he didn't look like he could move.

"Edward?" Havoc questioned cautiously. Ed made no move to indicate that he had heard the man. Havoc leaned over and tried to get a look at his face, but the boy's hair got in the way. Not knowing what else to do, Jean wedged himself against the stall wall and slowly slid down to the floor. He legs bumped Edward's feet as he attempted to twist himself into a comfortable position, but Ed still didn't move. With a calming breath, Havoc very gently placed his hand on Edward's shoulder. He tensed, expecting Ed to jump in surprise, but all Edward did was lethargically turn his head to stare blankly at his sudden companion.

"I threw up."

The statement caught Havoc off guard and he only blinked in response at first.

"Yeah, I can tell... Can I take you to the hospital?"

Ed groaned and shut his eyes. "No, I'm fine."

"I might have to disagree with you. You are currently pressing your face against a toilet there, Chief."

Ed quickly leaned back, but seemed to regret in instantly as he winced in pain. He took in a deep breath to steady himself and Havoc removed his hand from his shoulder. "The Colonel wants to talk to me." It wasn't a question, but a very defeated sounding statement.

"Yes, he does," Havoc confirmed. He struggled to pull a handkerchief from one of his pockets and held it up towards Ed. When the boy made no move to take it, Jean had to clarify. "It's for your face… you have some... bile on your chin."

Embarrassed, Ed took the proffered item and clumsily wiped at his face. He missed the spot completely at first and Jean would have found the situation humorous under other circumstances. In the end, Edward was able to make himself more presentable (Havoc tried to ignore the dried tear tracks that had marked his face).

"Do you think you can stand?" Havoc asked, glancing at Edward's unmoving legs. No longer cleaning his face, Ed let his hand drop to the side and he stared into space. He was about to repeat his question, when Ed gave a slow nod.

"Yes…" the boy whispered, "But… just give me one more minute. I just need…" But Ed trailed off. Havoc nodded though and shifted so that his shoulder nearly pressed against Edward's. He didn't want to lean on the kid (he wasn't sure on the locations of his stitched lacerations), but he wanted to be there. He wanted to be as comforting as somebody who was about to make you report to your commanding officer could possibly be.

While listening to Edward breathe somewhat unevenly, Havoc sat by his side long after both of his legs had fallen asleep.

This was beginning to feel like one of the longest days in history, and yet the sun hadn't even set yet when Hughes returned to find his office overrun with over helpful staff that was not his. Overrun was an exaggeration, but still… none of these people in his office currently worked in his department.

"Roy, what are you doing?" He asked his friend, who looked like he just belonged there beside his desk.

"You were busy and you missed the latest shipment of files. Just getting it set up for you," Roy motioned to the investigation board and then to the files on his desk, organized into several neat stacks.

"I appreciate the help, but you didn't have to do that. I know you have other work that needs to be done," Hughes gave his friend a tired smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Trust me, we were very efficient. We've just about finished. Falman and Hawkeye were just about to leave, in fact. I will be on my way as soon as I explain the file system Falman has organized."

"Great," Maes sounded like he would rather collapse on the floor right there then have to deal with this investigation a moment longer. He nodded an exhausted farewell as Falman and Hawkeye made their way out.

"Also, I wanted to ask you a question about some of your notes," Roy continued.

"Which ones?"

"If you think the killer came from Giyoir, why did you write that there was no connection? Surely there must have been some connection. Why would you think so otherwise?" Roy held up the map he had been studying earlier. Hughes sighed and took the map from his friend to look over his own writing.

"Giyoir was the oldest case I found from five years ago that matched. But Brian Ford has no connection to that city and as far as I can tell he was on the other side of the country at that time."

"You thought Brian Ford was your main suspect."

"He seemed likely."

"But if that case is connected to this case then it is not him."

"No, it's not," Hughes glanced at Roy wearily. He really did appreciate the help, but he didn't like being reminded that one of his main leads was, most likely, a dead end.

"Also, the Giyoir kidnapping isn't your oldest case any longer."

"What did you find?"

"Five months prior to that, a young boy was taken from his yard in Kaumafy and three months prior to that, a child went missing in Pleonuk. Both cases are similar to the kidnappings in Central. The only difference is that, for some reason, the killer is staying here longer than he has anywhere." Roy walked forward and motioned to the Map in his friend's hands. "But do you see? He's moving up and down the damn rivers of the country, Maes. He follows the water."

"There are no rivers that go near Giyoir though."

"Not drawn in on the maps, but there are streams and manmade canals in that area. Some of them must link up to the larger rivers eventually."

Maes looked over at his pinned up map in sudden realization. "He could have arrived from the river that borders Central to the north then... I'm going to get some men on that sector. Maybe he stays near the water. If we can find where he takes them, maybe we can find the Adalbert girl alive."

Roy hesitated then, he didn't believe that the children were kept alive for very long once they were taken, but if Maes wanted to believe they could find four year old Milly Adalbert still in one piece, he wasn't going to say anything to extinguish that hope.

There was a cough in the doorway and both men turned to see Havoc standing with a slightly wide-eyed Edward.

"Ah, feeling better, Fullmetal?" Roy asked in a cold tone.

Ed didn't actually respond to that, but he did give a slight glare.

"Anything you'd care to add?" Roy fixed him with a stern stare and crossed his arms over his chest. Ed's eyes shifted uncomfortably to the map pinned up behind Roy.

"Who's Adalbert?" Edward asked instead, but his voice sounded rough, as if he was beginning to lose it.

"A girl that's been recently kidnapped." Mustang watched Edward closely. The boy's eyes were shifting quickly around the room, but he seemed to not be interested in taking one more step inside. The threat that he could bolt at any moment was obvious and Havoc had placed himself firmly behind him, he seemed concerned that Edward would try to run again too.

"Roy…" Maes seemed uncomfortable; he didn't want Edward involved in this in the first place and Roy knew that. But he hadn't seen the way Ed looked at that picture in Roy's office.

"Hughes," Roy snapped back, "he knows something." Roy turned his glare back to the boy who was now staring resolutely at the floor.

"I don't know anything about Adal… Adalbert or any of them. I don't."

"Care to tell me why you keep running away then?"

"I'm not running. I-I'm sick!" Edward's voice cracked at this, but he was back to glaring daggers at the Colonel and just like that, Mustang had had enough with this game.

"You're not sick, you're scared!" Roy shouted. He had lost his patience and he was pissed. Edward never acted scared of anything and now he was obviously terrified and he was hiding something and he was lying! Colonel Mustang had been working hard putting the threads together for this investigation and now this child was keeping something from him. Couldn't he see the damage it was causing? The strain it was putting on all of them? On Hughes?

Maes said something, probably telling Roy to stop yelling in his office. Edward wasn't able to keep eye contact and his gaze has shifted to somewhere over Roy's shoulder.

"I'm just coming down with something that's all, Mustang." Roy detected a note of pleading in his voice that wasn't there before, but he would not be dissuaded.

"Fullmetal," Roy pitched his voice lower now, "if you know anything about this, you will tell me right now."

"Roy, don't." But Maes was ignored.

"You are impeding an investigation. Do you understand what that means?" Roy continued when Ed made no response. Edward blinked hard for a moment.

"I don't know anything," he said with resolution.

"Damn it, Fullmetal."

"Roy, leave."

With barely concealed surprise Roy turned to Maes to find him looking incredibly serious. His face softened for a moment when he caught Roy's eye, but then it became tense again.

"Colonel Mustang, I would like you and your staff to leave my office. I would also like your permission to interview your subordinate in private… please. I appreciate what you're trying to do, but this isn't your investigation."

Roy surveyed him for a moment. Hughes was right; he had overstepped a line with this.

"Fine," he answered curtly.

"Thank you," Hughes murmured, looking more exhausted than before. Mustang nodded before turning back to his subordinate.

"Fullmetal, when you are done here, go back to your dorm and stay there. Report to me tomorrow morning, understood?"

"Yes," Ed answered tersely. With that the Colonel moved briskly past him to the open door.

"Good luck," Havoc muttered quietly to Edward before taking his leave and shutting the door behind him. Ed didn't respond, but he took a deep breath to prepare himself.

Hughes studied Ed for a moment before moving behind his desk and resignedly sitting down.

"Please sit down, Ed." Hughes motioned to the chair on the other side. Edward worked his jaw for a moment before cautiously moving forward and sitting on the very edge of the chair.

"How's your arm?" Hughes asked suddenly. Ed blinked in surprise. This wasn't the conversation he thought he was going to be having.

"I didn't get to visit you in the hospital, how's the arm feeling?" Maes clarified, when Edward didn't respond.

"Fine… were you… there?" Ed asked quizzically.

"When it happened? Only towards the end. You weren't entirely conscious at that point. I'm not surprised you don't remember." He had been in the area and had come running when he heard there had been an accident in the hallway and that a medical team had been called. He had knelt there with Roy, trying to help keep pressure on Edward's bleeding arm. He hadn't been able to get Edward's blood out of his slacks… he was pretty sure Roy hadn't been able to save his own jacket either… though maybe there was an alchemy trick for removing bloodstains. Maes would have to ask Roy sometime.

"I think I do remember hearing you," Edward said quietly. Hughes nodded at this.

"I'm glad you're on the mend."

Edward nodded, but didn't say anything again. Maes leaned forward slowly, resting his elbows on his desk.

"Edward… Colonel Mustang believes you know something. Do you know why?" The subject change didn't seem to surprise Ed, in fact he had been trying to prepare for the questions he knew were coming.

"I got sick and had to leave his office yesterday," he answered flatly. Hughes studied him for another moment and Ed shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"Why would that cause him to believe you knew something about this case?"

"I… saw a picture…" Ed stared hard at his hands in his lap.

"You reacted to it."

"Anyone would have!" Ed protested loudly. Hughes sat back, some concern showing on his face. Roy was right, something was wrong here. The boy was pale with deep circles under his eyes and there was a tenseness in his posture that Maes hadn't seen before. After a moment, he took a deep breath and replied.

"I know your life hasn't been… easy. I know there are things you don't talk about, but if it's something important… something that would help me find the two victims that are missing or if it's something that is hurting you, please tell someone. It doesn't even have to be me or Colonel Mustang. Just tell somebody. Can you do that?"

Edward wanted to so badly to say yes, but this felt like a promise and Ed didn't think it was one he could keep. He swallowed hard, feeling a pang of guilt wash over him.

"I… I will take care of it."

"Thank you, Ed."

Edward slept fitfully that night. No matter what, he couldn't seem to get his mind or body to relax. He had taken the reduced amount of painkillers, but his stomach was in knots and he felt the nausea building still. The worst part was that Alphonse knew something was wrong and Ed knew he was awake worrying about him all night.

Sometimes he would awaken to hear Al say, "It's alright, brother. Go back to sleep." Then he would drift off, only to wake again moments later.

It was the middle of the night when Edward sat up straight out of bed, gasping for breath. "You're alright, brother," Al quickly supplied. Ed clutched the blanket tightly in his fists and squeezed his eyes shut, willing the dizziness to pass.

"I was falling," Edward stated quietly, still not entirely awake.

"You were dreaming. Go back to sleep," Al answered softly.

Ed fell back against the mattress, but instead of letting his eyes close, he stared into the darkness around him.

"Al?" Ed asked hesitantly.

"Yes, Ed?"

"Do you… do you remember the Barringer family?"

"Barringer? From Risembool? They moved away didn't they?"

"…Yes."

There was a moment of quiet as Al sorted through memories.

"You used to fight with the younger brother a lot… There was an accident or something wasn't there? Didn't he drown?" The memory was fuzzy, but it was still there. Mostly he remembered hushed voices and some people crying…

"Something like that," Ed responded softly.

Ed knew that Al had been younger than him and the adults wouldn't have said much around him. Also, he wasn't good at sneaking around to catch the adult's conversations either. He probably only heard that Kaleb was found in the creek.

"Why do you ask?" Al asked curiously.

"No reason," Ed turned on his side away from his brother to face the wall. It would be several minutes before sleep found him again.

The next time he awoke, the sun was shining and Al had made him toast again. Ed ate one piece of toast without complaint, but then said he wasn't hungry for the rest of it. Al made a discontent noise at that, but Edward cut him off before he could say anything.

"I have to report to the Colonel," Ed reminded him. Al sighed at that.

"I still don't know why he wants to talk to you again."

"I told you, he was too busy yesterday to talk to me." If Edward had thought about it, he would have realized that Al knew he was lying and was only allowing his older brother get away with it for now. "I'll be back later, Al. Don't worry about me."

And with that, Edward was out the door.

The river that bordered northern Central was quite large and Edward had never had a previous reason to visit it. There were only a few buildings that sat near the water's edge and there weren't many people out and about that morning. Ed walked away quickly from the little homes and fisher's huts, heading north toward the tree line that bordered the river. It wouldn't take long for someone to realize that he was missing and Edward wanted to get this situation resolved as quickly as possible, before he was found out. He didn't have a plan exactly and, if nothing came of this, he was going to be faced with quite the lecture… and possibly worst punishments if this was taken as an act of insubordination. He was ignoring a direct order to report in to his commanding officer, after all.

Edward walked through the forest, always keeping the sound of the river within earshot. It was darker under the cover of the trees and he kept nearly tripping over hidden tree roots. Still, Edward barreled through the brush, not noticing the noise he made as he determinedly looked for… something… anything. It had been a gut feeling that had driven him out here. He had felt it yesterday the moment he heard Mustang say that the kidnapper was using the rivers. Of course he was… he must have always had.

Ed stopped and doubled over with his hands on his knees. He wasn't sure how long he had been walking. Not very long, surely? Lately, he felt like time was moving forward in leaps and bounds while he was getting left behind somewhere.

Why was it so damn hard to breathe all of a sudden? He quickly wiped his sweat away on his sleeve and that's when he saw it. The small tree in front of him had broken branches and a few bloodied leaves on one side. The little air in Ed's lungs left in an instant. Could be left from an injured animal, he reasoned. It didn't look new, maybe a few days old. Edward cast his eyes to the ground. He brushed away some of the freshly fallen leaves from the earth and that's when he saw the indentation in the mud. It was a definite boot print. He cast his eyes around and saw other disturbances in the foliage surrounding him. A broken branch here and a recently disturbed stone there…

With much more caution, Edward proceeded through the trees, casting his eyes wearily around him. He was trying to listen, but the forest seemed to have gone quiet. How long had it been silent? When had he last heard a bird chirp or any other animal rustle in the brush? But then how could he hear anything over the rushing of the river? It was so damn loud now; filling his ears and his head with gushing water. He knew he was drawing breath, but he couldn't hear the air moving or feel it expanding his lungs. He was stepping on twigs and it occurred to him then that he was making too much noise, but it all seemed muted somehow; overtaken by the loudness of the water drowning his brain.

So overcome by the noise, he noticed too late that the sun wasn't filtering through the trees like it should have been. A darkness loomed over him and the sudden dimness was the last thing Ed noticed before the woods were filled with the sound of a sharp crack and Edward fell to the ground, unconscious to the world.

To be continued…

A/N: Thank you for reading. Sorry if I butchered any spelling or anything. I reread the last two chapters and found some pretty obvious spelling errors/incorrect words that I used… and I edited some of the more blatant ones. I am incredibly embarrassed about that. I swear I do know how to spell Colonel… Please be forgiving of any errors, I do write these quite late and it doesn't help that I'm just a ridiculous person.

Also, I'm going to be starting school tomorrow, so updates might be kind of sporadic. I'm hoping it won't take me longer than two weeks for each chapter. Hang tight everyone. There should only be two more parts to this.