Author's Note: I suppose I should have mentioned this in the first chapter, but for those who might be unfamiliar with my posting policy, this fic has been completely written and proofread before I started posting. That means that, barring some kind of internet crash, a new chapter will go up every Friday. I like to write this way because then I can be sure that what I post will be worth your while.

In case you were wondering, the chapter titles come from Beethoven's 7th Symphony, which forms the backbone of The Fall's score. Though the written word unfortunately doesn't automatically have a score to go with it, I wanted to pay some small tribute to this beautiful piece anyway. I encourage you all to go find it somewhere and give it a listen. It's beautiful and soothing, but also gives the sense of impending conflict that I hope you can sense as my story unfolds.

Edward Elric had quickly learned that you had to be extra smart when you were down to two limbs. Once he'd recovered enough to explore the hospital in his wheelchair, he'd realized that he needed a way to get around by himself. After all, Winry and Granny Pinako could only be there during visiting hours, and most of the nurses were too busy to push him around wherever he wanted to go. So he just taught himself how to push the chair with one hand.

It took several days of practice and almost knocking people over in the hallway, but in the end it was simple. Thankfully, he still had his left arm and right leg, so he pushed off the floor with his leg while pushing the left wheel forward with his hand. He ended up moving in a sort of wobbly zigzag most of the time, but he could keep to a basically straight route, and that was all that mattered. As long as he could go where he wanted to without having to ask for help, it wasn't too bad.

Most days, he liked to go around back of the hospital and watch the big trucks unloading food into the kitchens, as well as the occasional ambulance with its flurry of activity. But today, he had something much more interesting to do after Winry and Granny had left for the day. He zigzagged squeakily down the corridor from the elevator, passing only the occasional nurse now that the excitement of the day was winding down.

When he reached the right room, he hesitated outside the open door. A man sat in the chair next to Roy's bed—one last straggler lingering after visiting hours. Ed rolled up against the wall, waiting patiently. It was only a matter of time before someone came along and shooed the man away.

"You've gotta get yourself out of this rut, Roy," the man was saying. He had messy black hair, a scruffy sort of beard, and squarish glasses. He wasn't sure why, but Ed immediately liked him. Maybe it was the way he was looking at Roy, not even seeming to notice the thick bandage around the man's eyes. Ed liked it when people didn't stare, because staring made you feel like you were an animal in the zoo, rather than a person.

"I'm serious," the visitor continued. "You can't beat yourself up over what happened. She wouldn't blame you, you know. No one's perfect, Roy. You just have to accept that you're human, too."

Roy said nothing, just lay there frowning slightly. It was really hard to tell what expression he was wearing, since the only thing to go on was his mouth. But Ed didn't mind. That just meant Roy couldn't stare at him either.

Finally, the visitor seemed to give up. He stood and squeezed Roy's shoulder, smiling sadly. "Cheer up, Roy. Look on the bright side—at least now I can't pester you with photos of my beautiful Elysia, right?" With a chuckle, he strode out the door. He gave Ed a friendly smile as he passed, but Ed was already rolling into the room.

"Who was that?" he asked, stopping himself with his foot when he reached the bed. Roy just sat there, frowning. Ed would have almost thought he was asleep, if the man hadn't been talking to him. "Was he being annoying?"

"What?" Roy roused himself a little, turning his head to face him. "Ed? No...No, he's my best friend." He smirked a little. "But he can be a little annoying, I guess."

Ed nodded sagely. "Winry is sometimes too."

"Is Winry your best friend?"

Scrunching his nose up, he thought about it. "I guess so. She's a girl, but she's okay." Suddenly he remembered why he'd come, and he leaned forward with a loud squeak of his chair. "So are you gonna tell me the story? The epic one?"

Roy sighed for a moment, then sat up straighter. "Sure. But first, you have to close your eyes, because our story starts on a dark and stormy night..."

Ed obediently closed his eyes, but he said, "You know that's a really lame beginning, right? Every story begins that way."

"Do you want to hear this story or not?" Roy snapped, but he didn't sound angry. "It was a dark and stormy night, like any of a thousand dark and stormy nights, except this one...was broken by a scream. In the basement of a house on a hill in the countryside, a young boy lay on the floor, screaming in pain. He'd risked a powerful alchemic transmutation, but it had rebounded."

Ed opened his eyes again to frown at Roy. "Alchemic transmu-what?"

"Alchemy." Roy raised a finger. "It's the science of changing one form of matter into another."

"Oh, like magic."

Roy tilted his head. "Sort of, but it's governed by very specific laws, and to break them...well, this little boy had learned the consequences. One of the rules was the Law of Equivalent Trade. For everything an alchemist gained, he would have to give up something of equal value. No one was allowed to transmute gold, either. But most importantly of all...human transmutation was strictly forbidden."

"What's that?"

Roy leaned in closer and said in a conspiratorial whisper, "Bringing the dead back to life. And that's what this boy had tried to do. He and his little brother tried to bring their mother back to life, but the transmutation backfired. Suddenly, everything was being pulled into a strange white portal. The boy lost his left leg, and the last thing he saw before blacking out was his brother being pulled away. He screamed his name-"

"Alphonse," Ed whispered. He could see his little brother again, screaming as the house collapsed around them. The last he'd seen of his little brother was him stretching his hand out to him, pleading...

"But the boy knew how to get his brother back!" Roy's voice crashed into his thoughts, reminding him of where he was. "If he gave up his arm, he could bring back his brother's soul and seal it to a suit of armor that was sitting in their basement. So the boy completed the transmutation, sacrificing his own arm to bring back his brother."

Ed grinned. "Hey, that's me! I'm in this story?"

"Only if you want."

"Okay, but you hafta be in it too!"

It was hard to tell behind the bandage, but Roy looked surprised. "Me? Okay... Well, the Elric brothers decided they wanted to get their bodies back if they could. If alchemy could take their bodies away from them, it could give them back. But they needed to find something that would be worth enough that they could trade it in. And one day, a man came to their house offering them a way. If they became State Alchemists, and worked for the military under him—Colonel Roy Mustang—he would help them find the Philospher's Stone. A legendary stone that was said to hold unlimited alchemic power.

"So the Elric brothers agreed. But first, of course, Edward Elric had to find a better way to move around. He wouldn't be a very good State Alchemist in a wheelchair, after all." He tapped the metal rim around one wheel. "So he went to his best friend Winry, who was an automail mechanic. She could build him metal limbs, so he could walk again and become a State Alchemist."

Ed settled back in his chair, resting his chin comfortably on his one remaining hand, and let himself become submerged in the tale that Roy began to unfold. He imagined what it would be like, to have metal limbs that would actually allow him to walk again. To have two hands again.

And as he listened, it was like he became that other Edward Elric. It was like he had Al with him again. Together, they could face anything. Especially when he was freaking awesome.

"Edward stood over the trembling priest and said, 'You want to feel the wrath of God? Well, let me show you!' Then he clapped his hands, and transmuted the huge statue of Leto. The giant stone fist crashed down mere inches away from Cornello, knocking him flat onto his back!"

Ed laughed appreciatively. He would have clapped too, if he had two hands. "That was awesome! Where'd they go next?"

Roy held up a finger. "Before I continue, I want you to do something for me."

Eager to get him to continue the story, Ed prepared himself to go fetch something for Roy. "What is it?"

"I want you to play a little game. Hold your hand in front of one of my eyes—without touching—and I have to guess which one it is."

Ed wasn't sure what good that would be, since Roy's eyes were still bandaged, but he agreed anyway. Roy tilted his head back so that the fluorescent light would fall directly on his eyes, and Ed leaned forward. His arm wasn't quite long enough, so he had to clamber out of his chair and sit on the edge of Roy's bed. Kneeling was always an awkward position now that he only had one knee, so he had to lean against Roy's side to reach up and cover his eye, but Roy didn't seem to mind.

Precariously holding his position, Ed held his hand just over Roy's right eye, positioning his arm so its shadow wouldn't fall over his left as well. He stuck the tip of his tongue between his lips, waiting for Roy to guess. After a long pause, Roy said tentatively, "The...left one?"

Quickly, Ed switched the position of his hand. "Yep!" he said cheerfully, then plopped down to find a more comfortable position next to Roy. "So I guess Ed and Al went back to Central, then, huh? Where'd they go next to look for the Philosopher's Stone?"

But Roy was looking at him—or at least, pointing his face in his direction, even though he couldn't see anything. "Were you being honest just now?"

"Huh? Just get on with the story!" Ed's insides squirmed with guilt. He should've known that Roy would figure it out.

"No." Roy's strong hand gripped his shoulder—his right shoulder. Ed winced a little; his wound was healing, but it was still sensitive. "Did you lie about which eye it was?"

"Okay...yeah I did, but how could you expect to see anything through that bandage anyway?"

Roy let go and said, "Yeah...I guess so." But he leaned back and frowned at nothing.

Ed hunched his shoulders. Was he angry? "Please tell me more of the story?"

Running a hand through his messy hair and sighing, Roy said, "All right. When Edward and Alphonse went back to Central City, they asked Colonel Mustang if he had any leads that might lead them closer to their goal. He suggested they study under Shou Tucker, a State Alchemist who'd made a talking chimera."

Even though Roy's voice was normal as he continued the tale, Ed felt horrible for lying to him. He was probably angry. It didn't seem too much of a coincidence that Nina, who Ed instantly liked, ended up as one of Tucker's sick experiments and then killed by the mysterious scarred man.

With a scowl, he told himself silently that he was not crying. "Why'd she hafta die?" he mumbled, trying not to let his voice waver.

"It's a logical progression of the plot," Roy replied, sounding annoyed. "Scar was after all State Alchemists, and he knew that there was no way to put Nina back the way she was, so he put her out of her misery. It was kinder to her that way. Death...peace..."

He trailed off, so Ed poked him in the side. "Hey, did they catch Scar?"

Roy jerked at his poke, then smirked and poked Ed back. "Actually, Scar hunted down the Elric brothers next."

Ed squeaked and tried to edge out of Roy's reach, but he was already on the very edge of the bed.

"Ed and Al were very sad about Nina's death, so they didn't even notice Scar until he was looming above them—ready to attack!" He jabbed all of his fingers into Ed's sides.

Ed shrieked with laughter and fell right off the bed with a clunk. Laughing, he scrambled up awkwardly again. "Hey, no fair! I've only got one hand!"

"Scar blasted apart Edward's arm!" Roy cried, lunging for him and somehow grabbing hold of him even though he couldn't see. "And he said, 'I will give you a moment to pray...before I blast you into oblivion!'"

Pinning Ed's arms to his sides with one arm, he used his other hand to tickle Ed mercilessly. But in the midst of his laughter, Ed noticed Kimbley, the tall thin man with long black hair, get up from his bed on the other side of the room and shuffle towards them. He hunched over as he walked, clutching his stomach as though it pained him, but he still managed to stomp across the room in a very menacing way.

Before Ed realized what was happening, Kimbley grabbed him by the collar and ripped him away from Roy. "All right, that's enough," he snapped. "I've had it up to here with your shenanigans!" He shook Ed so hard that he lost his precarious balance, his one foot sliding out from under him. Kimbley released him, letting him fall in a heap on the floor. "This isn't a playground; this isn't Storybook Time in the Library!"

Roy had gone from laughing to clenching his jaw in the space of a second. He grabbed a fistful of Kimbley's unflattering hospital gown and jerked him down as if to look him in the eye. "You leave him alone," he growled, a note of danger in his voice that Ed had never heard before.

The old man in the bed across from Roy's calmly sat up, stepped into his slippers, and crossed over to Ed, helping him back up into his wheelchair. While Kimbley continued to shout, trying to break Roy's grip, the old man quietly pushed Edward all the way to the elevator and pressed the button.

"Don't be afraid, young man," the old man said with a kindly smile, laying a hand on the top of his head. "Kimbley is disagreeable to everyone, but with any luck, we'll be rid of him soon. Please come to our room again." He leaned closer and winked. "I want to hear what happens next in your story."