For an hour straight Edward paced, fuming and cursing. His mind was too preoccupied with the many violent things he would do to get back at Al, Havoc and Lin. He couldn't believe they had the nerve to gang up and trap him. But as time wore on his anger turned to worry and fear. His pacing slowed. The stress from the last six days was finally settling in and began to weigh him down. That combined with the amount of energy he exerted during his fight with Kimbley really started to take its toll on him.

He stopped in front of the opening Al had graciously left for him to look out of miserably. For the hell of it he tried to use alchemy again but all it did was fizzle out. He tried scratching a circle on the chamber wall with a knife he had in his pocket but that too was a waste of time. Closing his eyes he leaned against the rough stone wall and slid to the ground with a pathetic thud, his arms hanging uselessly. He didn't want to be alone like this. He was scared where his thoughts would lead.

They started innocently enough, wondering what Richard was like, whether his son would want anything to do with him... if he'd ever see his son alive... He shook his head. He was miserable enough already, why make it worse?

Then he began to wonder what Al, Havoc and Lin were doing. How far behind were they from Kimbley and Russell, did they catch up yet, were they anywhere near Elysia and Richard? Then he feared he might never see the three of them again.

He wondered what Havoc was going through with these turn of events. The Brigadier General was so calm, taking charge when needed but probably the whole time reliving the day he was nearly killed by a homunculus. Havoc was always good at hiding things from him but he knew it must have brought back painful memories and he felt horrible that his friend had to endure them again.

He was even worried about the traitorous Emperor who had lied to him... or actually, he had to admit, had decided not to mention what exactly happened with the homunculus Greed. He felt so stupid for not even noticing that little detail had been skipped over. In a way it was partially his fault for trusting people he never completely trusted in the first place. But Lin was the Emperor of Xing and a close ally of Amestris. If something were to happen to Lin on his behalf how would that affect the two countries relationship? Would Xing blame Amestris if their Emperor didn't come back alive? He pressed his palms against his eyes. There was too much to think about it was starting to overwhelm him but he couldn't stop when he started to think about his brother.

He hoped Al was alight. He couldn't bear the thought of losing his little brother over this. Al with his large family expecting him to come home... another thought to shake free before it really tore him up inside.

And Elysia. Poor Elysia. What she must be going through. He was scared to think about it. If she saw Richard, he wondered how she felt about his son and she would no doubt have come face to face with Envy, her father's murderer... and Kimbley. Elysia knew what he had done to the Crimson Alchemist. With Grumman along for the ride, the old man was sure to have informed one or both at some point who Elysia was. She was game for Kimbley and Envy's sick, demented minds. If anything that was the worse and he felt a hot flare of anger erupt deep within him again. But there was nothing he could do. He was trapped.

His body was tired and his mind was loaded beyond capacity. He barely noticed as he slowly slipped sideways and was soon stretched out on the ground, staring ahead unseeing, his eyelids drooping then falling shut. Before he fell asleep, the last thing he saw was the image of Elysia, lying half awake with the early morning sun threatening to waken her fully, her dark hair spread out on the pillow. She looked so peaceful and serene. The last thought as he drifted off to sleep was hoping to see her like that once again.

He slept fitfully. He dreamt he was in a Drachman prison cell, alone, his automail missing. He was being beat. The pain was so fresh in his memory when he slept and he tried to wake up but he was too exhausted his body wouldn't respond immediately. It was only his mind replaying these horrible memories, they weren't happening for real and soon the pain faded and he was with Elysia, holding her tight but there was something wrong. Her body was limp and cold. He wanted to cry out but bit his tongue. It wasn't real and he woke with a start, shaking, glad he was able to wake up without much more ceremony than to still be lying on the ground in a cold sweat. He sat up and leaned his head against the wall as he calmed himself by taking deep breaths and clearing his head of the awful images. It had taken years for him to learn how to get over a nightmare. They didn't stop but he knew how to handle them now.

As he sat there, slowly calming down he thought he heard something. But he was still mentally exhausted to pay heed to it and he felt his eyes droop again. Then they snapped open immediately and he stood up to look through the opening. He could hear it distinctly now; it was so familiar and almost comforting. It was the sound of marching men. Soldiers.

The normal cacophony of sounds that marching soldiers brought was a relief; now he wouldn't be alone anymore and he could get them to help him out of his prison.

Peering through he strained to look but he didn't see anyone immediately but it wasn't long before a blue uniformed soldier appeared within is line of sight.

"Hey!" Edward called out. "Over here."

The soldier seemed taken aback and then saw Edward looking out. He turned to call over his shoulder for an officer then walked over to Edward.

"Sir," the soldier saluted then looked embarrassed and uncomfortable. Edward scowled knowing he'd probably already been informed he was no longer a General and the salute was out of habit and not knowing what else to do. "We were told you'd be down here somewhere."

"Oh, really," Edward said irritably. "Well, help me out. There's a circle of iron out there. Find it and get it away from here."

The soldier bent and picked something up, showing it to Edward. "Is this it?"

"Yes, now…"

"Don't listen to him, Private," a very familiar and unwelcome voice said interrupting Edward and making him cringe.

Out of the shadows pushing through more soldiers Mustang came stalking through with too much swagger for Edward's tastes. The Fuhrer held his arm out and the soldier dropped the iron transmutation circle into Mustang's gloved hand. He held it up to get a good look and smirked.

"This is quite impressive. It looks like Al has a few tricks up his sleeve too," he smirked and dropped the circle back on the ground, right under the opening where Edward was looking through.

Edward could hardly contain himself and barely managed to growl, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Mustang ignored Edward's question and turned to an officer that had made his way through the crowd of soldiers that had gathered and were looking on curiously. It was Brigadier General Miles.

"Miles," Mustang said officially, "get these men to move back a bit so I may speak with Fullmetal in private."

"Yes, sir," Miles saluted and started shuffling men back with the help of another officer, a Lieutenant Colonel.

When the men retreated back down the tunnel the way they came and were far enough not to overhear, Mustang turned back to Edward and ducked in time to avoid his ineffectual swing that was encumbered by the small opening.

"Ed, calm down," Mustang exclaimed staying far out of Edward's reach as he to make a grab for the Fuhrer.

"You can't order me around anymore so don't tell me to calm down," Edward said through gritted teeth finally giving up and pulling his arm back through, hitting the wall with his right fist to release some of his frustration and anger. "What are you doing here?" He asked again.

The Fuhrer hesitated a moment before answering, looking guilty and uneasy. "I couldn't let you do this alone," he said softly. "This is my fault and you're the one being made to suffer for my mistake. And I can't stand by and let Hughes' little girl be taken like that. I couldn't live with myself if something were to happen to Elysia."

"It sure didn't bother you to keep his murderer alive," Edward spat.

Mustang flinched as if he'd been hit. "You don't know how I've…"

"I don't want to hear it," Edward said shaking with anger as he eyed Mustang dangerously. "Now just let me out of here so I can clean up this mess."

"No."

"You son of a bitch, let me out!"

"No. Al is right. You've done enough. This is not your fault so you shouldn't be the one to fix it."

"You knew Al was going to do this to me?"

"Yes."

Edward pushed away from the wall and paced, frustrated, unable to look at Mustang.

"I'm sending a company to support Al and we'll stay here with another company of men to keep their escape route open. Here."

Edward looked and saw his repaired, recently cleaned silver pocket watch hanging through the opening. He could barely trace the lines of the crest with his eyes through the dim light that filtered through the opening. "I have a feeling we're going to need you, General."

Instinct launched him forward but he stopped and swallowed, pulling his hand back. It was tempting but he couldn't help but stop and wonder if he wanted this anymore. He had found a place that had kept him busy through the years with something he was good at but it had been nothing but heartache until he married Elysia and started a family.

"You can resign again formally when this is all over," Mustang added as if he sensed Edward's internal battle.

"Why do you think you'll need me?" Edward asked, a nervous lump forming in his throat. "Al acts like he has this all under control and so far you and everyone else have gone along with him."

"Olivier told me about Grumman." Mustang wasn't looking at Edward. "I never told anyone this but he spent a lot of time talking with Envy…"

"You idiot!" Edward raged. "So this is just more than revenge against me?!"

"I believe so," Mustang acknowledged. "Another reason why I followed you here. It's not that easy to enter Drachma by any of the main roads unless you're expected. I think Envy may have told Grumman about…"

"Oh, shit," Edward breathed pacing again this time sick with fear as he realized what Mustang was saying. "So Al is probably walking into a trap meant for me and there's the possibility the Drachmans could have built up…"

"Yes."

"Let me out!"

"No."

"You're still going to leave me in here knowing what Al could be facing?!"

"We could be wrong and if I let you loose and you were found in Drachma there would be no way to stop them from arresting you."

"What does that matter?"

"It matters to a lot of people, Edward."

That stopped Edward, his chest tightened. "You can't leave me in here knowing all this."

"I'm sorry but I am."

That renewed Edward's anger and he stalked back and grabbed his watch. When he did he met Mustang's eyes. They were filled with as much pain and regret as Edward felt.

Clutching the watch tight Edward then shoved it into his pocket. "I guess I shouldn't expect anything different from you. You've always found a way to hold tight to my leash."

"It's not something I'm proud of," Mustang said looking like he meant it. Then his eyes traveled down to Edward's hands noticing for the first time that they were covered. It had been so long since he'd seen the Fullmetal Alchemist wear white gloves… "Is that mine?"

Edward smirked. "I guess you're not as quick as you think you are."

"I wouldn't talk," Mustang smirked back. "I'm not the General who was trapped by a civilian."

Edward bit down on the stream of curses he felt ready to burst through as Mustang walked away.