A/N - After this chapter, there will be two left.

Ed saw Roy miss a step and try to adjust. He saw the branch above Roy swaying like it didn't want to take his weight. He saw the branch break, and he saw Roy fall.

Roy managed to land on his feet, and there was a space between one heartbeat and the next where Ed was sure he was fine. This fresh disaster had somehow been avoided.

But then Roy's leg crumpled like a piece of paper, and he pitched to one side. It was about then that Ed started screaming for him.

Ed kicked off the blanket, fever and pain completely forgotten. He couldn't get himself to his feet, but Roy wasn't far, and Ed started crawling. By the time Ed made it to Roy's side, Roy was curled on his side, blinking sluggishly at Ed. Blood was beginning to streak down the side of his face, and for a moment Ed's heart stopped. He knew he didn't have much longer before the fever took hold and the last of his lucidity left him, and if Roy was concussed, they were pretty much dead.

"What's hurt?" Ed demanded, already reaching out to Roy's bloody cheek. He didn't bother asking if Roy was alright - no one who looked like that was alright. Beneath Ed's fingers, the blood smeared away to reveal a small cut across Roy's cheek, probably from a branch on the way down.

"Ankle's broken," Roy whispered, his voice tense with pain.

"Broken?" Ed asked, already glancing down towards Roy's feet. Roy had been wearing dress shoes for the convention, and they were now covered in scuffs and mud. He would be really pissed about that, Ed thought, if they survived.

And then he remembered that was the fever talking, and he was in the midst of an emergency. Carefully, he reached down and pulled up Roy's pant legs, revealing his already-swelling right ankle.

"It could be a sprain," Ed said hopefully. It didn't look much like a sprain, but those could get bad. Maybe Roy hadn't broken his leg at all, and he wasn't as badly hurt as they both thought, and this wouldn't add to their current nightmare.

"It's broken," Roy said flatly. "I…I can tell."

For all that Ed made fun of Roy for whining, he knew that the General was shockingly tough when it came to actual physical pain. If he said that it was broken, Ed believed him.

"Okay. Well, that's not great-"

"I don't know if I'll be able to walk," Roy continued, his voice dropping quieter, almost into a whisper. "The river…it's pretty far away, I don't know if I can walk on this…."

Roy sounded scared. Ed wasn't sure if he'd ever really heard that before. He didn't like it, and the fever was muddling his thoughts enough that he wasn't exactly sure what to do.

"It's not that bad," Ed tried. "We can…we have a first aid kit."

"We might be trapped here," Roy said quietly, and he closed his eyes.

"Just…just hold on," Ed said. "Let's-"

"I'll test it now. Maybe…maybe it is just a sprain."

Ed moved to stop him, but Roy was already pushing himself upright, teeth clenched. Slowed by the fever and the stab wound, Ed couldn't do anything but watch as Roy's leg immediately buckled beneath him, sending him toppling back to the ground.

Roy looked at Ed with glassy, dilated eyes. All the color had drained from his face. He was pretty pale anyways, but now he looked sickly and almost translucent, and Ed was worried about him passing out. He was still shaking, so badly his teeth had started to chatter. He didn't say anything.

Shock. Roy had just gone through this a few days before with Ed, and Ed at least sort of remembered. Shock was the biggest concern with a serious injury like this, and out in the wilderness…there wasn't all that much that could be done, but managing pain would go a long way. Painkillers, painkillers, Ed could get Roy those.

He crawled the fifteen feet or so back to camp, desperately wishing he could move a little better and think a little clearer. He grabbed the whole first aid kit, since he wasn't sure what in there would be helpful, even though it wasn't super easy to maneuver. Roy was still looking at Ed when he came back, but Ed couldn't tell how well he was tracking.

"Painkillers," Ed said, fumbling for a bottle.

Roy shook his head jerkily. Ed wasn't sure why until he felt the bottle - it was way too light. Ed didn't have time to count them right now, but they couldn't have more than a few doses each left. And when those ran out….

Ed couldn't think about it. Getting Roy's pain under control was the only important thing right now. "Don't worry about that," he said roughly, forcing a few pills into Roy's hand.

Roy just stared at him, and Ed felt his panic starting to mount. "It's alright to take them," Ed insisted. "You…you have to…your leg…."

Roy dry-swallowed the pills, looked for a second like he might vomit, and then looked relatively okay again. Ed confirmed there was a little ace bandage left in the first aid kit. If he could find some sticks, he could probably make a pretty good splint….

Finding sticks was easy enough, even with Ed unable to walk, and it was the first time Ed had even had a flash of gratitude about being stuck in this godforsaken forest. Ed had never needed to splint his leg before - his odds of him breaking a leg were halved, after all, but he'd broken his arm enough times. He tied the sticks securely on either side of Roy's ankle, making the pressure tight enough that it would hopefully keep the swelling down.

"Alright, how does that feel?" Ed asked when he was done.

Roy didn't respond. Ed looked up at him, and found that he was staring off into space, eyes unfocused.

"Hey, hey!" Ed said, snapping his fingers under Roy's nose. "You need to pay attention to me for a second. How do the bandages on your leg feel?"

"Um…," Roy whispered. "They're…."

"Look at me," Ed said sharply. He didn't want to be yelling at Roy, but he really needed the General to focus on him. If Roy couldn't even see straight, then Ed needed to be a lot more worried.

Finally, Roy's eyes drifted over to meet Ed's. His formerly dilated pupils had constricted as the painkillers began to take effect, and Roy blinked confusedly at him.

"How are the bandages on your leg?" Ed asked again. "Are they too tight?"

Roy blinked one more time, then seemed to try to pull himself together. "They're…okay."

"You sure?" Ed didn't really think Roy could be sure of anything at the moment, but he was going to try.

"Yes," Roy said, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth. Ed saw one of his hands curl into a fist, and he recognized the gesture from his own encounters with painkillers. Roy was trying to ground himself.

He opened his eyes again, and it seemed to have at least somewhat worked. He was at least looking at Ed, which was more than Ed had really expected.

"We have to go," Ed blurted out. He really, really wanted to give Roy a moment to rest, but at this point, every second counted. His own dose of painkillers was wearing off even as they spoke, and when those were gone, Ed was pretty sure the two of them were fucked. The one shot they had was to make it out of the woods and back to town before that happened.

"I know." Roy had apparently come to the same conclusion, either that or he was too out of it to really understand what Ed was saying. Ed hoped it was the former, but he didn't have a way to tell, at least until they started moving.

"I…." Roy looked down at his bandaged leg and trailed off.

"Right," Ed mumbled, feeling some of the adrenaline wear off and the bleak reality set in. "You can't walk. Um, let me…"

Ed still didn't want to actually walk around, instead choosing to save his strength until they were ready to leave. Luckily, they were still in the middle of the aforementioned godforsaken forest, and he was able to locate a long, staff-like branch pretty close to Roy's spot on the ground.

"You can use this to help you walk," Ed told Roy, dragging it back with him. Roy nodded tightly, reaching out for it, and tugged it closer.

"I'll pack the first aid kit back into the backpack," Roy offered, voice still thinned by pain. "The pills are starting to kick in."

"That's good to hear," Ed said.

Ed realized with dawning horror that not only would he not be able to help Roy walk, but Roy wouldn't be able to help him walk either. It had been over a day since Ed had been able to walk unassisted - pain was bowing him over, and weakness made his limbs tremble. His head felt relatively clear right now - the panic was keeping the fever delirium at bay. But once he was upright, he was sure the dizziness would return, and he was legitimately worried about fainting. When Roy had stood at least a possibility of catching him, that had been one thing, but now…a bad fall stood a good chance of doing either of them in.

Ed sighed. He knew it was a bad idea to try to walk. He knew it was a bad idea to put Roy on his feet. If he had been thinking more clearly, maybe he would have been able to think of something else. But as it was….

"Let me try to get up first," Ed said. "Then I can…I can help you get up too."

Roy scoffed at that, which was probably fair. Ed crawled to a sturdy-looking tree and started going hand-over-hand to try to drag himself up the trunk. It wasn't the fastest or most comfortable process. But in less than a minute, Ed had his shaky legs underneath him, gripping hard to the tree as he tried to keep his balance.

"You look pale," Roy said from his place on the ground. His words were almost slurring.

Ed felt pale. He felt that when he'd gotten himself vertical, all the blood had immediately drained from his face, and now his brain was…a wave of dizziness swept over Ed. He leaned his forehead against the rough bark of the tree, and tried to focus on his breathing.

"You look pale," Ed finally snapped. He wasn't actually looking at Roy, but he felt that this was still a fair guess to make.

"Are you going to pass out?" Roy asked.

"I'm not going to pass out," Ed snapped.

"If you're going to pass out, you should really sit back down. If you fall, it might reopen your wound."

"I'm not reopening my wound."

Finally, the world steadied around Ed, and he was able to look back at Roy, who was staring at him with concern. "See?" Ed said. He knew his voice was a little shaky, which kind of ruined the effect, but there wasn't much to be done about that. "I'm fine."

There was a much longer pause than there would have normally been. "You look fine," Roy commented dryly.

"Let's see you do better."

Ed saw Roy's jaw clench, probably since they both knew that Roy was not going to do any better.

"I intend to," Roy said, wrapping his hand angrily around the stick Ed had gotten him. Ed rolled his eyes lightly, resting his head back against the tree for a moment. It figured that they'd somehow managed to turn even this into a competition.

Ed forced himself to pick his forehead up from the tree, once again turning back to Roy. He'd said he was going to help Roy stand, but now that he was standing himself, he wasn't entirely sure that was possible. He didn't think he was going to immediately fall over if he took a step, but he still felt dizzy and weak, and if he did immediately fall, he wouldn't be overly surprised. He certainly wasn't confident in his ability to pull Roy upright.

"Stay there," Roy grumbled, pushing himself to his knees and getting his good leg underneath him. His face immediately drained of color, and Ed started forward.

"Wait-"

"You look…terrible," Roy gasped, pausing and planting the stick firmly in the ground, and looking at least as bad as Ed did.

With an effort, Ed pushed himself off the tree, and for an instant the world tipped hard around him. When his vision cleared, and he found himself still standing, Roy was halfway to his feet, leaning heavily on the stick.

"Stay…there," Roy panted, looking up and glaring at Ed. This time, Ed obeyed - he couldn't do much else. He wasn't even sure that he could make it forward, not until he got his breath back.

Somehow, Roy clambered the rest of the way to his feet, hissing with pain as he straightened to the best of his ability. His skin had changed from its usual pale color to kind of grayish.

"What are you…looking at me…for?" Roy managed, giving Ed a weak, frightening grimace that Ed guessed was supposed to be a smile.

"No reason, bastard," Ed replied. He decided not to tell Roy that he looked as though he was about to fall on his face. For all he knew, that would be the final straw, and maybe Roy really would fall. "Let's go."

This time, at least, Ed didn't have to stop the second he began to walk. It hurt, and it made him feel dizzy, sick, and unhappy, but his vision stayed clear. Ed wondered how long that would last - he wasn't overly optimistic. He bent over and fished the backpack off of the ground, and tried to ignore the way the movement made his insides throb.

They didn't talk much as they walked through the forest. Ed didn't think he could manage the extra concentration, and he was sure Roy must be feeling the same. A few times, one or the other of them hissed in pain, and the other would ask if he was okay. The answer was always yes, and it was always a lie.

Ed tried to keep their rests to an absolute minimum. After all, the hardest thing for both of them was actually getting to their feet, and once they were there, things were…okay. But sometimes, Ed felt that he literally couldn't go another step without sitting down for a few minutes. The pain would get too great, and darkness would start to swim in front of his vision, and he would forget to remember how to breathe.

Ed kept asking Roy if he needed a break, but Roy seemed somehow even more averse to resting, and no matter how tight with pain his voice got, he always refused. Ed tried to keep an eye on him, and his heart tightened with fear every time he stumbled. But there wasn't really much he could do. It wasn't like he could catch him. He could barely stay on his own feet, and just watching him was plenty to ask of Ed.

Ed wasn't sure if he was being selfish by asking them to break every so often, or if he was taking one for the team. Roy was a stubborn bastard. He should really take a leaf from Ed's book, Ed had learned not to be so stubborn and it shouldn't just be up to him to make sure they got rests….

Roy really had seen the river from his time in the tree, at least, and that was something. Once they had made their way back to the river, they could walk on the relatively clear and flat riverbanks instead of through the dense forest. Of course, that meant that they were completely exposed, but it was worth it. Ed doubted Roy would have been able to make it long in the forest itself. He obviously wasn't very steady on his feet.

And anyways, if they were that close to being caught, they probably would have been caught by now. The forest was big, and the men they'd escaped from didn't seem to be actually tracking them, just combing the forest for them. Ed hadn't seen any indication yet that they'd even realized Ed and Roy had crossed the river. Maybe they would be okay.

The sun moved into the center of the sky, and then slowly started to sink again. They'd managed to walk the majority of the day, which was quite impressive in Ed's opinion, all things considered. He was sure they hadn't actually gotten very far, it's not like they were moving quickly. Even with Roy practically dragging Ed along, they would have been able to cover more ground than this. But if they made it another mile or two tonight…Ed hadn't driven that far to get Roy….

And then Roy made a small sound of pain. Ed stopped dead, his head snapping to look at the older man. Roy was shaky and unsteady-looking, and as Ed watched, he took two faltering steps before his leg crumpled beneath him.

Just as Ed had feared, there was nothing he could do but watch. He started forward, but at his current speed, he got maybe half a step before Roy hit the ground with a heavy thud. The stick he'd been using to walk fell out of his hand, rolling away as he made no attempt to grab it. Roy didn't move at all, in fact, not even to curl in on himself or to reach for his ankle. He just lay there on the ground for a frozen moment, eyes unfocused, chest heaving as he tried to breathe through the pain.

"Fuck," Ed managed, and for a split-second that was all he could think to do. Then, his brain started working again, and he was able to stumble forward, pushing through the pain to get to Roy.

As soon as he got close enough to see the greenish-grey tone to Roy's skin, he knew that there was no hope of getting him to stand. If he tried, Roy would just go right back down.

Still, he didn't have a choice. They hadn't gotten anywhere near as far as they needed to, and Ed was well aware that they were running out of time. If they wasted a whole night here, that would just be all the much further to go the following day.

Painfully, Ed managed to force himself into some sort of horrible squatting position, where he thought he could help leverage Roy upright without hurting his own wounds too badly. He reached down, offering Roy a hand.

"Are you okay?"

Roy opened his mouth, and for a second all that came out was an agonized exhale that made Ed even more sure that the entire endeavor was doomed. He recovered himself a little, swallowing hard, and looked up at Ed. He nodded, once. Apparently, that was about all he could manage.

A little half-heartedly, Ed reached down, locking his hand as well as he could around Roy's wrist. He felt Roy's fingers tense around his own wrist in response, although the grip felt disturbingly weak.

"Ready?"

Ed didn't bother to wait for the answer that wouldn't come - he just pulled. Roy seemed to be doing his best to try and help, and for a second Ed almost thought that it might work. He even got Roy a few inches off the ground.

But as soon as Roy tried to put any weight at all on his ankle, the whole affair turned into something a lot like trying to balance a cooked noodle on its tip. Roy collapsed back to the ground in a heap, and Ed barely let go in time to avoid being dragged down with him.

"I'm sorry," Roy choked as soon as he hit the ground.

"Don't say that," Ed whispered. "Your leg is broken, of course you can't walk very far. And you did a good job, I think we made it a few miles…."

"I'll…I'll be able to walk more," Roy whispered. His voice sounded strangled. "I think I just need a rest."

Ed knew he was rambling, and as it was happening, his brain was working a mile a minute. He should have taken inventory of the painkillers before he left, but he didn't think they could have more than four or five doses left. They wouldn't be able to sleep without painkillers, but they wouldn't be able to walk without them either. If Roy wanted a rest now, they probably wouldn't get a lot of sleep during it. Then they could try again to walk in the morning, getting another dose. Assuming Ed was right, and they even had that many….

But they would have to make it at least this far tomorrow, ideally even farther. Ed thought he had maybe two more good days in him, and that was pushing it. If they hadn't made it out of the woods by then, they would die here.

The shadows were starting to get longer, so they really hadn't wasted that much time. A few hours of good light, maybe. Roy couldn't walk in the dark normally - all the various stumbling around and cursing from the previous nights had shown that - and Ed was sure it would only get worse when he was also navigating a broken leg. So this was…as good a time as any to make camp. They just would save their painkillers, and they could walk again tomorrow morning.

"We can make camp," Ed said. "Get some rest. And then be ready to walk tomorrow."

Roy nodded, at this point looking more exhausted than anything else.

"I'll be ready to walk tomorrow."