Warning: Viewpoints switching VERY rapidly in this chapter. Prepare to keep up with the thoughts of at least 3 different parties.

Disclaimer: I keep forgetting I need these, but HOPEFULLY no one thinks I own FullMetal Alchemist. I DO NOT OWN FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. I do own the Ishvarlans featured in this chapter though, and Roy's house. Ha ha ha. I have my own house...In my dreams.

--------------------------

When Roy got up to make coffee the next morning, he could already hear Ed in the shower. Before long FullMetal was sitting in front of the fire combing out his wet locks.

"Do you want help?" Roy offered. Ed shook his head.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable last night." Ed just nodded his head.

When Ed went out a few minutes later, Roy didn't realize it was to the train station with Alphonse. Hawkeye told him Ed had called to tell her to tell him he was back in Rush Valley a few minutes before Roy came into the office.

Roy was still in a bad mood at 6 that night, so Hawkeye sent him home a half-hour early. He couldn't get Ed off his mind. 'Stupid blond punk...Stupid black-haired fool.' Why had he imagined that pretending to adopt Ed was going to be easy? He had to chase him around and try not to piss him off and feed him and-Wait. Who was he kidding? He was actually trying to adopt Ed, legally or not. That's what his problem was. 'I thought he'd be out of town most of the time. And he'd just sleep here or something. When did I start taking care of him?'

Roy didn't know.

Ed tripped as he shoved his way out of the busy Rush Valley train station, landing flat on his face in front of Al, who chuckled softly and pulled him back to his feet.

"Alright, who did that?" Ed yelled. Al sighed. "Why are you so cranky, Brother?"

"I'm not." Was the cranky response. Al sighed again. He didn't like not understanding Ed's behavior. It always made him unsure and hesitant when Ed hid something from him. If only he could figure out what had happened between Ed and the colonel last night. Then he could be sure whether or not that's what Ed was upset about or if it was something else. But there would be no asking Ed now.

Roy picked up his phone at a look from Hawkeye that said 'NO ONE's out on lunch break right now so you have no excuse not to pick up that phone. NOW.'

Before he could even say hello, a young panicked voice blasted his ear.

"Colonel! Please-help-they're-after-me-and-they-have-Ed-somewhere!"

"Alphonse?"

"Colonel! It's the Ishvarlans! They cornered us and took Ed! I have to go now! Go to Dublith and ask our teacher Mrs. Curtis! I made sure she knew. I-have-to-go-now. Please-help-me!"

Roy stared at the phone.

"Hawkeye! Havoc! Breda! Fuery! Falman!"

They all appeared, lined up in front of him.

"Alphonse Elric has just told me-" Roy paused. What the hell had Al said? Ask Mrs. Curtis what?

"Urgh. Alphonse, I believe, has just told me that Ishvarlans have captured Edward and that I should go to Dublith and ask their alchemy teacher...I'm not sure what. They were supposed to be in Rush Valley." he looked at his concerned officers standing in front of him.

"Falman. You and lieutenant Havoc will go to Dublith and track down Mrs. Curtis. That's her name. Hawkeye and Fuery, you're coming with me to Rush Valley. As soon as Falman and Havoc find anything, they'll get in touch with us. You'll have to manage our communication Fuery. Breda will stay here. I don't want it to get out that Ishvarlans have kidnapped an officer until I know all the details. Think up something else for all of us to be doing, got it?"

Breda nodded nervously. They all saluted as Roy stood. "Everyone, pack a week's worth of clothing. We leave today."

Ed cringed as a tiny needle pierced his upper arm. The tiny sting made him mentally nervous. The sharp little pains were nothing. The man crouching next to him ran an ink soaked brush over his arm now, coloring the pricks. Ed's eyes were used to this darkness now. His hands were bound and secured to the stone wall behind him. The dark-skinned man wearing heavy home-spun pants and a shawl had cut away Ed's tank top to do this. Ed's collarbone and shoulders were already tattooed, but Ed couldn't really see the design. When he'd first arrived, Ed had screamed and shouted and struggled, but they hadn't really reacted, just seemed worried. They'd given him plenty of food and water and had given him a blanket last night. It seemed like they didn't want to hurt him, but they'd kidnapped him and gone after Al. That was when Ed had screamed loudest, yelling himself hoarse. His throat still hurt.

"NO! NOT AL! LEAVE HIM ALONE!! YOU HAVE ME, DON'T GO AFTER HIM! LET HIM GO!!"

Ed had bruised his wrists and back struggling against the same wall he remained tied to now.

They'd just stared at him and switched to talking in Ishvarlan. He knew they were going to hunt down Al. He couldn't get away. His hands were tired back to back, making alchemy impossible right now.

They'd sent four people after Al. Now only two men came to check on him every hour. And now this one with the rust-colored home spun pants and shawl, was covering his upper body with tattoos. He cringed as the needle pricked his chest. He was already dreading having his stomach pricked over and over and over and over...

He sighed. Thinking like that would only depress him when he needed to fight.

"Don't worry. I'll be done soon." the man spoke quietly and awkwardly. Ed didn't answer.

Fuery nervously fiddled with the pay-phone. They'd managed to get Mrs.Curtis number from her personal files having to do with her minor conflicts with low-ranking military officers. If the reports were all true, she was a formidable woman. According to them, she'd won every fight she picked with military personnel. Roy was glad he'd sent his subordinates to Dublith and not himself.

"Contact!" Fuery interrupted Roy's thoughts. The young man let the phone ring twice before hanging up and redialing. If Havoc was there, he would know the call was for him.

"Score!" Fuery said. "I've got the lieutenant."

"Let me talk to him." Roy shouldered the smaller man out of the way.

"Havoc?"

"Yes sir. Mrs. Curtis got a phone call as well, but it didn't last long enough to find out a lot. All she knows is that Al told her we'd be coming to see her and that they're about 4 miles Northeast of Rush Valley in an abandoned town with rock buildings. Al's on the run from the men who captured Ed, but he told Mrs. Curtis he wouldn't leave the town without Ed."

"Roger that, lieutenant. You and Falman meet me out there at the town. I'm going now." Roy hung up.

"Come on. 4 miles NE of here is a deserted village. That's where we're headed."

His whole torso from the base of his neck to his waist and his fingertips was now covered in tattoos. His stomach was sore from being pricked so many times. At least now it was over. The runes on his stomach and arms, the ones he could see clearly, were alchemical runes. No circles or diagrams as far as he knew, only runes. What kind of transmutation could be done like that? Ed couldn't think of anything else the two men could be planning except to use him for ingredients.

Human Transmutation...

What would happen to him?

Al slipped into another old alleyway with a crumbled dead-end. Climbing over the rubble the collapsed walls had created long ago, he sprang down to the level ground again and started climbing a ladder up onto the roof of an old grocery store. He could hear the four people chasing him growling and swearing as they scrabbled over the rubble Al had cleared so quickly. If he could get a good look at the city, maybe he could guess where they were holding Edward.

They had originally come out here to this town when Ed hit on a mysterious lead. Paninya had found out from an automailed friend about some creepy alchemists living out here that might practice human transmutation. Ed and Al could handle creepy. Just so long as they could talk to someone who'd seen the G ate besides their teacher. Neither Ed nor Izumi remembered anything about transmuting bodies, but the brothers were hoping that maybe someone else had. Unfortunately, Ed had forgotten to conceal his pocketwatch well enough and tense but friendly conversation had turned into a kidnapping before Ed could react.

"RUN AL! I'LL BE RIGHT BEHIND YOU! GO!"

He'd bolted, completely trusting his brother in his moment of panic.

What had they gotten themselves into?

Roy jerked in his sleep, startling Riza. Fuery looked at his commanding officer with concern.

"Is he alright?"

"I'm sure he's fine." Riza replied. Laying a gentle hand on Roy's shoulder, she shook him gently.

"Sir?" Roy whimpered and twitched. Eyes flashing open to meet Riza's, he grabbed her arm.

"Lieutenant?"

"I'm sorry to wake you sir. Were you having a nightmare?" Riza wondered why Mustang was still holding her arm. She saw him crack as he clenched his teeth and hid his face.

"Ishbal. Nothing unusual about that." he said. Riza nodded.

"It's alright sir. You're not alone." She looked out the car window at the barren landscape the sight of which could bring many military men to tears. They were getting close now. Not to Ishbal, but to where it had once been.

Al dashed out beyond the rock walls to meet the Colonel, First Lieutenant and Master Sergeant.

"I think I finally lost them, but not for long. I'm so glad you made it! We have to hurry and find out where they're keeping Ed." Al told them after politely bowing and saying hello.

"Oh, and the car probably won't fit on most of the streets. It'd probably be best to leave it here."

Roy nodded, tugging his glove on. Riza cocked her gun, and Fuery saluted awkwardly, having nothing to do to get prepared that made any cool noises.

The dungeon had been transformed by a few candles, a rug, an altar and a square. The large square next to the rug on the floor was drawn with chalk and it turned into itself, spiraling down to a point in the middle. A small bundle of threads had been arranged on it as well, each end of each little piece touching a corner of the turns inside the circle, spreading out beyond its outer lines.

The man who'd tattooed him gently unhooked Ed's restraints from the wall and tugged him up. Ed's legs were shaking. As the man tried to lead him forward, Ed threw himself sideways to escape his grasp. He rolled towards the stairs and struggled to stand. The door above him opened with a bang, light pouring in and outlining four silhouettes. Ed's heart skipped a beat. they had been sent to capture Al. But he didn't see his brother among them.

"What did you do with my brother?" Ed screeched. A woman's voice answered him from behind a cloth mask.

"We were unable to catch him. But that's alright. You're the one we want." Another woman rebuked her in Ishvarlan. A third masked person grabbed the ropes between Ed's bound wrists and pulled him to his feet.

"Prepare yourself in whatever way you think best. We understand you do not pray to a God."

"Prepare myself for what?" they didn't answer. The man who didn't wear a mask, but not the one who'd tattooed him picked him up suddenly and set him down in the middle of the square, not giving Ed any time to kick him. The man held him there in a kneel as the four with masks gathered around the square. The one who'd tattooed him went to the altar and took up a large, leather bound book and a familiar pot of ink with a brush sticking out of it. Kneeling down to dance the brush over Ed's automail arm, he spoke reassuringly.

"I wanted to make sure the ink didn't come off before the ceremony. You certainly are a strange young boy."

"What are you going to do to me?" The man behind him held his arms tighter, and suddenly Ed was reminded of Mustang. If he died, or worse, here, he was going to really regret snapping at Roy about his parents. It had been childish to think Roy would understand his reasons for snapping, but it wasn't like he'd really wanted Mustang to understand. It was just that Ed missed his mother too much to let anyone take her place. And he hated his father too much to want to be reminded of him every time he looked at Roy. But then, what was Roy to him? Roy cared about him and tried to look after him and didn't mind letting Ed cling to him. Or at least he didn't seem to.

The tattoo man conferred for a moment in Ishvarlan with the other man holding Ed and pointed to his book. After a moment, the other four pitched in and decided on something, or it sounded like it. One or two words were repeated a few times and then they all stood, then quickly knelt and touched the edge of the square as they began chanting those few unfamiliar words over and over.

It wasn't quite the Gate. But close enough to scare Ed. He could see it, as though it was about a block away down an invisible street. All six Ishvarlans were here as well, stripped of their masks. Two women and four men chanted something. For a moment he thought it was his name But they weren't saying Edward Elric.

"Ajer Dae, Ajer Dae, Ajer Dae, Ajer Dae, Ajer Dae..."

The chanting summoned swirling colors around him and he became aware of his tattoos faintly glowing as they stood on blackness, floating somewhere in nothing.

Ajer Dae.

"I can see them! They're headed to an old rock dwelling!" Kain exclaimed, alerting Roy and Riza to four masked men who Al had identified for them.

"Kain, ALL of these buildings are old rock dwellings."

"Yes, lieutenant."

"Where are they?" Roy looked hopelessly around with his binoculars.

"See the old rock grocery store? Go to the left past the old rock church and then up the street across from the old rock saloon." Kain told him.

"Where?"

"Let's go, Colonel, Sergeant. I'll lead the way." Riza sighed.

Al caught up with them two streets North of the building the three officers had climbed.

"OK. We get Brother back and then what?"

"I need to know exactly what they've done to Ed, what they were planning to do to Ed, all those sort of things. Hopefully there was just a misunderstanding or something and I won't have to report them to the military, but if there's an organization or a conspiracy involved, we may have to take hostages." Fuery and Hawkeye nodded. Al replied "Okay. Let's go."

They hadn't counted on getting lost. Especially not with Lieutenant Hawkeye leading the way. But they did.

Havoc pulled up next to Mustang's black car and hopped out. Falman did the same, noticing a note taped to the window.

"Havoc, Falman-

Follow the paper arrows through this stupid maze of stone buildings until you get to the ladder with an upward arrow on it. Look underneath it to find further instructions.

Colonel Mustang"

The four of them were still wandering around when Al jumped suddenly.

"Hey! I thought I just saw Lieutenant Havoc and Warrant Officer Falman!"

"Really?" Roy wheeled around.

"There!" Riza yelled. Getting lost had been acutely embarrassing for her, as she'd offered to lead the way.

They all bolted toward the two officers. the men were running, assuming they'd be behind on the action and ended up entering the building Roy had directed them to in the letter before Roy, Riza Al and Kain did.

Havoc Burst in the door, taking out a handgun.

"Colonel? Colonel!" Roy came running up, panting hard, to clap a hand over Jean's mouth.

"We got a little behind lieutenant. We haven't gone in yet." he panted.

"Mmm. Marreee."

"Huh?" Roy let go.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Come on. They're probably keeping Ed in the basement." Al started down the stairs that started in the bare room. There was nothing in it except for some piles of dirty laundry in the corners. Al walked through the door at the bottom of the stairs. While letting his eyes adjust to the light (or lack thereof) he swiveled his creaking head around, making everyone in the room freeze and stare at him. He could now make out the four people who had been chasing him scrubbing the floor with cloths and a bucket while another man carried a small wooden altar into a corner.

"Where's my brother?" Al demanded. One of the masked women opened her mouth, but from upstairs, behind Al, came a shriek. Then another, clearer screech. "Military bastards!"

Al swiveled and followed Roy, Riza, Havoc and Falman back up the stairs.

Fuery was fending off a very young girl who was bashing at him with a stick. Fuery was not evading her very well and had taken numerous hints to the torso already.

Hawkeye pulled her gun, but Al couldn't let her shoot at the girl, even if she missed on purpose. He picked up the young girl and carried her outside to see if she would answer his questions about herself and, hopefully, Edward.

--------------------------------------

Read and Review!!

I hope to be done with the "Ishvarlan Arc" soon, but it's taking a while. This story was really supposed to be a bunch of fluff in Roy's house, but it needs some excitement, eh? I hope it wasn't too creepy for anyone!

Um, if the description of the "transmutation square" was as bad as I think it was, you may want to check out my blog for a picture of it.