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~*~Edward~*~

A couple of weeks have passed since Hughes took the Colonel with him and it has helped me to focus on some things in regards to Sergeant Fuery. Going through Tucker's research has been very helpful and I've taken lots of notes on the melding of the two creatures together. I have a theory and would like to try it on Fuery but I don't think it's a good idea as of yet because I don't want to kill him because I'm wrong. I feel like I might actually have to… experiment on something so that I get what I need to be done done correctly.

"Hey, Al?" I ask as I sit at the kitchen table.

"Yes?" he says, looking up from his book on the couch.

"Would… would you think less of me if I used two animals to test this theory?" I ask shyly as I look over the notes I've taken and the notes that Tucker had made.

"What do you mean?"

"You know… I don't want to kill Fuery on a whim and then have that guilt on me as well as the wrath from the military would be killer… I can't just go through with it but I just can't do that to a poor defenseless animal."

"Well… Maybe Mr. Hughes knows where they still have some of Tucker's other chimaeras and you can practice on trying to separate them since they've already been turned."

"But isn't that just the same as doing it and then turning them back?"

Alphonse gets up and walks over to the kitchen, looking over my shoulder. I can tell he's thinking and reading my results to see if it's a good idea to go through with it as well.

"Well… the way I see it, Tucker destroyed them already by taking away their identity. Using this transmutation on them to try and separate them will save them either way I think… either they will separate or they will die but anything is better than what they are living as now, right?"

"Yeah… I just… the thought of it…"

"But if you don't try it out and you kill Fuery…"

"Yeah… Gah! Why does everything have to be so damned complicated!" I yell, frustrated at the Catch 22 that I'm in.

Alphonse chuckles when the phone rings and he goes over to get it.

I take out a fresh sheet of paper so that I can write proper notes in order and directions for what I would need.

"Brother? It's Lieutenant Colonel Hughes…" he says, holding out the phone.

I get up and walk over, taking the receiver from him.

"This is Edward."

"Hey, Ed, how's it coming along?" Maes says in a chipper voice from the other end.

Even though his voice is happy, I can tell there is something wrong.

"It's going well… What's going on, Hughes?"

He chuckles wryly on the other end and sighs. "Can't get anything past you, huh?"

"Hughes, did something happen?" I ask, getting a little panicked.

"Nothing happened but that's just it. He's done nothing since he came here. He won't eat, he hardly drinks, and he stays in bed most of the time. He's been in a lot of pain since the… thing has grown even more since we last saw him. He's really weak and seems to have bad dreams… they're always about you. He wakes up screaming, sweating bullets and calling your name. God, Ed, I just… I don't know what to do for him."

It felt a bit awkward to have someone like Hughes sound like he was totally giving up hope. I gulp, struggling with words.

"Do… do you need me to come over?"

"If that isn't too inconvenient for you." He says, and I can detect a hint of hope in his forlorn voice. "At least just to get him to eat something. I'm worried about his health."

"Yeah, he's a tricky bastard. I'll be there shortly."

"See you then."

I hang up the phone as Al hovers over me.

"I have to go to Hughes' house. The Colonel is causing him all sorts of grief. I'm going to run that theory by him though and see if he wants me to do that and if he thinks it's barbaric or not. You think?"

"I would ask Mr. Hughes too. He has a non-alchemist view of things as well."

"Good point."

I knock on Hughes' door and he opens it up.

"Hey, Ed, come on in. The Fuhrer allowed me to take some days off to take care of him but…"

I nod, understanding, and go deeper into the house.

"He's asleep for now in his room but Gracia made an apple pie for us to munch on while she took Elysia to the market to get some fresh vegetables."

"Alright. I have something to run by you anyway so this is good."

He nods and starts to get out some plates and glasses. He opens his fridge and is about to pour milk into my glass but stops.

"You don't like milk, right?"

"No. That stuff is disgusting."

Hughes laughs. "I remember now… Ironically, ever since Roy's been harboring that thing, he hasn't liked milk either."

I smile as he cuts me a piece of pie and we sit at his bar.

"I have a theory to run through you, Lieutenant Colonel. It involves Sergeant Fuery's return to normal. Um… you wouldn't happen to know if any of the labs have some chimaera's lying around they don't really need, would they?"

Hughes lifts an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I have a theory but I don't want to run it on Fuery without testing to make sure things will be alright, ya know? I don't want to kill him in the process. I talked it over with Al and we both kind of agree that if I tried the experiment on chimaeras already turned then I will be helping them by either getting them back to normal or by killing them to get them out of their misery. Do you think that's a good idea?"

Hughes rubs his chin a little, the stubble making a scratching noise against his hand as he thought.

"It's all a matter of how you view it, I guess. They've already been through hell by being merged like they were two clay molds the creator decided to morph into one so… I guess in the event of helping someone who truly needs it, a human, it wouldn't be bad. But on a morality scale, it's a little messed up."

"Lieutenant Colonel, the whole thing is messed up."

He nods when this loud scream lets out and Hughes stands up quickly. I follow him to Roy's room as he opens the door and rushes in as Roy thrashes and bucks in the bed like he's being beaten up by some invisible person.

"EDWARD!" he screams as his eyes open and he sits up quickly, though with difficulty.

"Calm down, Roy, it was just a dream…" Hughes says, putting his hand on Roy's shoulder. "What happened?"

"He… Tucker had him. He had Ed and I was there but just… he's looking for him! I never told that bastard but… Shit…" He puts his face in his hands. "What is wrong with me?"

"You'll be fine… Look who came to visit though?" he says, pointing to me.

Mustang looks over but his eyes narrow at me for a moment. Hughes decides that that's when he will leave us alone and walks out of the room. I'm sure that Mustang isn't happy about the fact that he just had a vivid dream about me and now I'm here.

"H-hey, Colonel…"

Mustang just looks at me and it looks like the tension that he had had dissipates and he leans back.

"Fullmetal. What brings you here?"

"Hughes wanted me to come and see you… He um, he's worried about you."

"Why?"

I stare at him in confusion as he turns his head slightly with a faint smile, his longer hair falling into his eyes. His hair and brow are sweaty from the ordeal in his dream and he looks like he can barely lift himself up from the bed lest flail around like he had been moments before.

"Because you look like hell." I say plainly, keeping things the way they have been.

"Thanks." He says dryly, actually being sarcastic with me.

"Well, can you blame me? You're skinnier than a corpse and you don't eat."

"I just haven't been hungry."

"Colonel, you have to eat to support yourself and whatever that is inside of you. If you are harboring it, don't you think you have to eat?"

"What's got you all paternal?" Mustang says with a mocking laugh but I realize that this is not dumb.

Being worried for him is not as dumb or weak as I thought it was. I haven't really worried too much about Mustang because he's pretty much the epitome confidence and strength but these past few months, right now, I can't help but fear that he's going to die. If nothing is done soon, I know he'll die and I can't do another transmutation because I have nothing to give. When Roy is gone, he's really gone and what are we supposed to do? What am I supposed to do?

I watch him as he still sits there looking like shit but with a cocky grin on his face and God knows what growing inside of him and I can't help but feel my stomach drop. I feel myself slowly walking toward him and I sit on the bed, watching as his smile starts to fade.

"What's wrong, Fullmetal?"

"Nothing."

I turn away. I can't just tell him how I feel about him. How Al and I value him being able to handle us, letting us to out to try and get our bodies back, keeping our secret, worrying about us even though it's a pain in the ass. I can't tell him he's the closest thing to a father that Al and I have ever really known.

"Edward." I turn to him and Roy looks at me with a kind smile, though tired. "What's wrong?"

"How can you just sit there and act normal when things aren't normal? You were pretty much comatose for a while, you have nightmares, you're harboring something inside of you, and your men have gone through traumatic experiences as well… Colonel, you just tried to kill yourself some weeks ago."

"True. But I realized afterward that this thing has nothing to do with what I'm going through. It didn't ask to be created, it didn't ask to be put into a man by a crazier man by alchemy. Whatever it is, it didn't plan being alive and I can't take my frustrations out on it. If our mothers did that, would we be here today?"

"No…"

"I've come to the resolve that this will happen and I can't help it."

"Then at least show us something to let us know you're trying to fight, dammit!" I say, standing up. "You just sit there all weak and not eating and don't even think about how we feel. Colonel, what we see is you literally wasting away."

Mustang's eyes widen a little and then he gets that stupid kind, fatherly smile he's been giving me this whole visit.

"You're scared for me."

"Of course."

"Like a son to his dying father." My eyes widened and he looked at me with a stoic expression this time. "Did you think I didn't hear that when I was blacking out?"

"That- that was just- You can't do that!"

"Do what?"

"Make fun of me like that or berate me-"

"Edward, I'm not making fun of you. Do I look like I'm laughing at you?" I crossed my arms but he wasn't doing anything bad. "It kept me going and made me want to stay alive because you sounded like you needed me around a little longer than what I had planned for myself… That's why I was so surprised that Hughes was taking me back."

"That wasn't my decision."

"I know. But you know that I'm not going to make it through this ordeal, right?"

"Don't say that! Don't you ever say that!" I yell, grabbing his shoulders and shaking. "Don't act like dying is alright!"

I suddenly felt his hand on the back of my head as he pulled me to him and I was on his chest as he hugged me.

"I dunno if it's hormonal or not, but I'm happy that you're scared for me. If I can help it, I won't die but I really don't think I can't. This is too strange even for us to bear."

I lifted my head and he grinned a stupid grin and I pulled away from him.

"Whatever, idiot. If I get you something to eat will you try to eat it?"

"Maybe."

"You'd better you dolt."

I left the room but the pressure I was feeling on my shoulders was definitely gone. I knew though that he was right: if things went awry, Roy would die.

very angsty and parental royish and all sorts of fluff. yay! it's the calm before the storm yall so yeah...