To those who reviewed: thank you very much! I did get a question from InuEdbabe, who was wondering what Ed's abilities are. She pointed out that after the Promised Day in FMAB, Ed could no longer use alchemy and had regained his arm. That is true! I am shamelessly twisting the plot there, making this slightly AU, in that Al has his body back, but Ed kept his alchemy and his automail- obviously. The reason I'm doing this is it was the only way it would work for my plot line. I apologize for the confusion, guys! Hopefully this won't set you off from the story too much.

If anyone has any other questions, feel free to PM me or address them in a review. Thank you!

Chapter Three

Obediently, Ed pivoted his body and held his hands far apart, mind racing to come up with escape routes. What the hell did this fucker want anyway?

Ed hadn't made any enemies in the past two years, was a freaking hero, like James said. Who had a grudge against him now?

A conversation with Mustang from a few weeks ago came to mind, deepening Ed's grimace.

'You've become far too famous and infamous for your own good, Fullmetal. Everyone knows your name, and your game. Soon enough someone's going to become so obsessed with you that they'll come after you. You know how tortured regular celebrities are- imagine all of the people that are going to want a piece of you. You have to be careful.'

The man approached Ed cautiously and began tinkering with his automail, causing a sick, uneasy feeling to grow in the alchemist's stomach. Before Ed could even attempt to break free, his arm had been detached and the sound of metal hitting the concrete was louder than a gunshot as it rang through the night.

'Now then. Without two hands to transmute, you're pretty much like any other runt, right?' the man sneered down at him and grabbed a handful of blonde hair, wrenching the teenager's head up to meet his eyes, 'If you try anything stupid like that again, I'll put a bullet through your head, understand?'

'You're Drachman,' Ed responded with narrowed eyes, 'what the hell do you want with me? This isn't about the military, is it? 'Cause I'm a teacher now.'

'If that's true, then why do you still have the watch, dog?' the man closed his hand around the silver oval in Ed's coat pocket and brought it out to inspect it closer, before yanking it to break the chain. He pocketed it without another word and Ed's eyes followed the State Alchemist watch for just a moment before flickering back up to the bastard, who was tightening his grip painfully in the teenager's hair.

'Now you're going to be a good boy and come along, or else we'll have to do something mean to your little friend.'

We're?

The sound of gasping pleas reached his ears a moment before James was dragged into sight by another man, clothed completely in black- just like his counterpart. Ed's lips drew back in a snarl and he glared at the men,

'If you have me, you can let him go!'

The man that had him by the hair laughed in disbelief, 'Right. As soon as we let the kid go you're going to try and escape. I don't think so. He's coming with us. Don't worry- he'll be released just as soon as we reach the border.'

It was Ed's turn to cast a look of incredulity at him, 'You seriously think you're going to make it to the border with two hostages? Ones that will be noticed as missing before even a half a day has passed? You're shitting me right now, right?'

The men both smirked at that, 'By tomorrow, your country will have more to worry about than two little kids going missing. They won't come looking. Not until it's too late, at least.'

Ed's eyes flickered over to James- the boy was calming down but tears were still in his eyes and blood was streaming down his forehead from a probable head wound. Lips parting in a silent snarl, Ed could only hang his head. This was way too surreal. His body was tensing and aching for battle as if those two years had never happened.

He was the Fullmetal Alchemist once again, but had absolutely no power to save himself or this boy. At the moment. Ed swore to himself he would get James out of this. Whatever would happen to him would happen, but he wasn't just about to stand by and let another kid get killed.

'Listen, I promise I'll do whatever you say, just... let the kid go. He has nothing to do with this. I'm... please.' Some part of his soul wanted to wither and die at having to beg, but despite his change of character the men just seemed more sadistically happy as they dragged them out of the street and into the shadows of the alleys.

'I don't think so, alchemist. Like I said, we'll let him go just as soon as we reach the border. If you're a good boy until then, nothing bad will happen to the kid.'

After a short walk through the darkest shadows of Central, they turned a corner to find a car revved and waiting for them patiently on the curb. Yet another man- this one younger and apparently weaker with midnight black hair- leaned against the sleek vehicle, smoking a cigarette as he waited. The scent of the nicotine swam through Ed's head, reminding him of Havoc, a moment before the man stubbed out the fag and helped the other men bundle the two alchemists into the back of the car. The first man that had attacked Ed- with dark skin and emerald eyes- slid in beside the blonde, effectively trapping him in the middle while grinning faintly as he turned the automail arm over in his hands.

Ed could only be glad the idiot had actually brought it along. That would make escaping a whole load easier.

The car pulled away from the curb and they were gliding along Central's empty streets innocently, the only thing disturbing the midnight hour being the scrape of tires against the road. It wasn't long until the vehicle had passed the train station and making its way out of the city without a hitch.

Ed refused to say a word, no matter what the Drachmans said or James whispered fearfully. He wasn't bowing to their level any longer. Not until they reached the border and it was time to let James go- he would not say a word.

This demeanor obviously made the Drachmans nervous but they thankfully didn't try to strong-arm him into talking or anything like that.

All the blonde could do was go over the day in his head, wondering where the hell everything went wrong. Everything had been pretty normal that day, other than the guy appearing in his class and the ominous warning from Mustang. It just had to be tonight of all nights that one of his students followed him home to get a further lesson. Why tonight?

Why were the Drachmans taking him, anyway? They said that the country would have more to worry about tomorrow than two missing alchemists... did that mean they were totally confident that Drachma would be able to get through the Briggs Wall? How the hell had they sneaked into Amestris in the first place? Well, three people were fairly easy to sneak in, he was sure. But a whole army? No. Impossible.

Unless they had crept in individually, few by few, the past few months, or even years. How long had they been planning this?

His mind whirled and his left hand curled into a tight fist. If only he could get free and warn Mustang. That's what he needed to do. There was still time- the country was still quiet and undisturbed so obviously whatever the Drachmans' plan was, it hadn't been enacted as of yet. Maybe he would still have time... he just needed to get James to safety first.

So. Let the bastards take him to the border, and as soon as James was free, make an escape. Easier said than done, he snorted to himself. But he would come up with something. He always did. And as soon as he was free he would warn the military. But what if it was too late by then? And this only hinged on trusting that these terrorists would keep their word and let his student go.

Jaw aching, Ed attempted to stop his teeth from gritting together in stress but he was like a wire pulled taut, vibrating and humming with the urge to snap. He just... he couldn't think! Had he been out of commission for so long that he couldn't even figure a way out of this situation? Or was it really that hopeless that he was trapped, backed into a corner, with no way out?

He eyed his automail arm longingly where the dark-skinned guy had it in his hands, still analyzing it curiously. Ed was almost nauseated at the way those large hands would caress the metal, those wretched fingers dancing on the sleek, layered plates. After leaving the military, Ed had decided to keep the upgrade of northern automail, preferring speed over force as he got older and didn't have to fight as much, but no amount of speed with or without the arm would stop these men from putting a bullet in either James or him before he could reattach it. And there would be those few seconds of blinding agony of his nerves reattaching...

Shit. He really was stuck, wasn't he?

Hours passed, and the packed and enclosed space was becoming more and more claustrophobic as the car rumbled through the countryside toward the west, not stopping once as the miles passed under them. Ed's breathing was becoming faster with each town that sped by them, the tension in his muscles tightening further and further, chest constricting with a mixture of something like panic and impatience.

Apparently James was suffering something similar because nearly ten hours into the drive, he finally began panting and gasping, 'I can't, I can't! Please let me out a moment, please...'

The three Drachmans shared a look and the driver shrugged before pulling the car over. They were in the middle of nowhere between towns, just fields upon fields of grains and the smoke of an engine chugging in the distance being the only companion to the gently sloping horizon. James scrambled out of the vehicle, collapsing on his hands and knees and breath sawing in and out of his body like the gusts of a particularly vicious wind. Ed climbed after him, shoving off the hand that tried to grab at his shoulder from the man holding his automail captive, and put a hand on the student's back gently.

So much for keeping his silence.

'Breathe, James. Calm down and try to breathe through your nose.'

'I- I can't, I-'

Ed grabbed the boy's shoulder and shook once, roughly, 'Yes you can just calm down.'

'What's wrong with him?' the driver questioned with something like concern as the man got on his knees next to Ed.

Golden eyes regarded him coldly before Ed turned back to James, 'It's a panic attack. It-' Ed cut himself off. He had been just about to say that it would pass soon and that James would be fine, but he could use this to his advantage, 'it looks pretty bad. He might need medical attention.'

'A panic attack?' the green-eyed demon holding his right arm rolled his eyes, 'It's nothing. The kid will be fine in no time. Come on, Axel, get back in the car. We need to keep going.'

Damn it.

The driver obeyed only hesitantly, shooting an apologetic look to Ed before rising and getting back behind the wheel of the car. Ed closed his eyes, feeling the stress and panic that was radiating from the young brunette in waves, and sighed.

'He's gonna need a few more minutes to calm down. Unless you want a screaming, panicking kid in the car when we go through West City? That won't be suspicious at all.'

The leader glared at him, 'How the hell did you know where we're headed.'

Ed just laughed, 'C'mon, man. I've been all over this country ten times over. I know the route to West City. I bet you're going to try and sneak through the north-western border to Drachma. Too scared to try for the north wall, right?'

Pain exploded on the side of Ed's head, so quick that he barely saw the fist coming before it connected. His back hit the ground hard and all his breath flew out of his lungs. Before he could gasp in more air, a heavy forearm pressed down on his throat in warning, making his flesh hand come up instinctively and grasp at the coiled muscles under dark skin. Ed was faintly aware of James screaming and sobbing in the background but dark blotches were already dancing across his vision.

'We are not scared of you pathetic Amestrians,' the accented voice hissed in his ear, 'now take a nap you stupid alchemist.'

The pressure on his windpipe tightened and Ed's skull and lungs were roaring in pain at the lack of oxygen. Within moments the blackness had enveloped the horizons of his vision and he wasn't even aware when his arm fell away weakly. The last thing he could fathom was James' voice, strangled with tears, begging and pleading at their kidnappers.

Al...

End of Chapter Three. I know this one was a little shorter, and the next one is going to be the shortest chapter I've written so far, since it's going to be in Roy Mustang's POV, so I'm sorry about that.

If it's too short and you guys want more right away, review and let me know and I might go ahead and just post the next chapter tonight as well.

Love y'all! Thanks for reading!