This was not the first time the Fullmetal Alchemist had ended up in the hospital after a mission. In fact, it could be argued that he ended up in a hospital bed about forty percent of the time. He was just that way.

Edward Elric was headstrong, inclined to take the hardest, most dangerous paths. He was self sacrificing. He never guarded himself like he should, and he foolishly ignored his injuries on a regular basis.

It was no secret why.

It was guilt. Subconsciously or not, he felt that he deserved it every injury he received, ever since the night the Elric brothers had tried to bring their mother back, and as a result, destroyed their bodies. But more than that, it could be argued that he had a mortal fear of doctors, stemming from the time he lost his limbs, and so would hide his injuries, foolishly hoping they would just heal before he had to come in contact with one of the white-coated menaces.

But this time he had gone too far. He hadn't just ignored a broken bone or a bruised rib. He had ignored an inch thick hole in his side. And he had nearly died for it.

The room was white and sterile. A heart monitor beeped steadily, the only real sound in the area besides the shallow breathing of one Edward Elric. His face was pale, sunken in and devoid of color. Deep shadows dusted high cheekbones under closed eyes. Bruises marred the rest of his smooth skin, black, purple and varying stages of a sickly green. His muscled and steel arms hung over white sheets at his sides, the rest of him obscured. Golden hair, bedraggled and short, so different from his characteristic braid, hung limply over his eyes. The cut was ragged, obviously done with a crude blade in a moment of desperation or anger. Despite his small form, the cut made him look older, framing his defined cheeks and exposing his muscled neck. Even in sleep, the boy–no, the young man–had a pinched expression on his face, as though he was still experiencing intense pain, despite the many drugs currently flowing through his system. His white teeth were clenched shut and his blonde brow was furrowed. He twitched, as if dreaming.

The surgery to save his life had not been easy. When the young man was carried in, limp in the arms of a blue clad soldier, he had been so very close to death. His body, already having less blood than the average human because of his missing limbs, had nearly shut down from lack of the precious liquid. The wound, caused by some kind of penetration of metal, was wrapped crudely and ineffectively, and any blood clotting that might have happened appeared to have been repeatedly ripped open by violence and movement. It was a wonder the young alchemist had been able to function at all. Despite the hole's small size, it had ripped through much of the muscle in his hip and chipped off a small piece of bone.

It must have been so painful.

But still he had continued.

Alphonse Elric was in no better shape. The vessel that held his soul was almost completely destroyed by some ungodly creature, evident by what was clearly bite marks on the edges of what was left. The first officer that had touched Alphonse had pulled back with a curse when the remaining acid on the armor had burned through their hand. That particular man was in the hospital in the room next door, still trying to recover from the extremely corrosive liquid and the severe burns it left behind.

Whatever had happened in the chambers of Lab Five, Alphonse had been forced to watch as his body was consumed. What was left of him was sitting in the same room as his older brother. Only the upper torso remained, and it rested against the wall opposite Edward's hospital bed. Jagged teethmarks edged the bottom of his chest plate, and his limbs were gone, leaving only a chest and a head. Alphonse Elric had never been farther from human than he seemed in that moment. Crimson spots of light stood out on a dark metal face, and they stared unwaveringly forward at his older brother, and that was the only indication that the boy was still alive, somewhere inside the meagre metal.

Mustang observed them both with tired eyes.

By the time help had finally arrived, the boys had been in Lab Five for two hours. Such a short time. And yet plenty of time for their entire worlds to be destroyed once more.

Alex was gone.

Mustang didn't know how it happened. He had arrived too late. Much too late. By the time he could get to the three boys, they were already in a state beyond repair, and almost beyond saving. Edward was bleeding out on the floor, face down against menacing lines of human alchemy, the paint burned into the floor as if a massive transmutation had taken place. Empty containers lined the whole room, and it didn't take Mustang long to guess what had contained them.

Alphonse was lying against the wall, body nearly gone and mind almost the same. He was incoherent, calling out for his brothers and sobbing. He didn't seem to understand anything that was happening, and was completely unresponsive to the men that arrived to save him. He only quieted completely when they arrived at the hospital and his brother was stable. He had not spoken since, merely staring at his unconscious brother blankly.

Alex had already been taken by the time he got there.

Mustang was standing against the closed doorway observing both of the remaining bothers, neither able to even respond to his presence. His gloved hands were clenched in his pockets, one hand holding on tightly to the note Alex had left him.

Alex had known something like this would happen. He had seen it coming, though he could not properly explain why. That night he had come to see Mustang long after the moon had peaked was the last time the colonel had seen him. Even then, though it was weeks before this tragic event, he had known that an end was coming. He had warned Roy.

And Roy hadn't believed him. Not really.

Now he was regretting that negligence. He was regretting it with his entire being. Roy Mustang never thought he could feel anything close to the regret that he felt after Ishval, but as he gazed down at Edward's hospital bed, the young man pale and so close to death, his brother a vacant shell leaning against the wall beside him, red eyes dull…he discovered he was wrong.

The hours after he found the brothers were a blur. He never liked seeing his men injured, never liked seeing them die in the line of duty, but this was different. These were children. The men and women who signed up for the military as adults knew what they were getting into, knew the risks. But as he held a bleeding Edward in his arms, the boy feeling so light and small against his body, his gut had roiled in nausea at the wrongness.

And the worst part, the part that was more terrible than any other thing that could have happened that night, was that…it was the military that did this to them. It was the military's lab where all of this had happened. It was the military that had done the experiments on human beings and sacrificed them for power. Somehow, the military was connected with a league of homunculi that terrorized these three boys since the beginning, although at the moment Mustang didn't know what that connection was. But the fact remained that it was. And the military could be blamed for that.

Perhaps even Mustang himself.

He had been the one to recruit this young man to be a state alchemist. At the time, it was for purely selfish reasons. He had seen power in Elric, a power he had not seen since his father. And he thought he could use him. He thought he could use them to gain the power he needed to become the Furer.

Now that seemed like such a selfish goal. But no. He wanted to become Furer so that things like this never happened again. He may have used them, but over time he had come to care for each of them dearly. His men were never just a means to an end. Each one of them was his family. They supported each other, and they supported him.

He was doing this for them.

Mustang looked out the window with shadowed eyes, exhausted. The sun was rising finally after this ridiculously long night. And with it came the warm breezes of Spring. Winter had finally ended, and it felt like another chapter in each of their lives was coming to a close with it.

Jäger yawned widely in the tired man's ear, and Roy patted it gently. It had clung to him doggedly since it came to him the night before. Truth, had it only been four hours…? It draped around his neck, long tail hanging limply against his chest. It seemed that in the absence of its master it had chosen Roy to be its furnace.

Mustang felt a pang in his chest as the little chimera whimpered and cuddled to him closer. Alex had left it behind. No, he was taken.

The colonel closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He knew that the next few days would be hell for him as he had to explain his actions in Lab Five. He would have to pretend he had no idea that the lab was still in operation, and he had to pretend to pander to his superiors, superiors he knew were corrupt. In the back of his mind he would be analyzing them. Just which ones were responsible for all of this? Which ones were involved and which ones could he call ally?

In a few short hours he would have to return to the game. And the stakes were unfathomably high.

"Brother…"

Mustang's head snapped up as Alphonse weak voice broke the stillness of the early morning. Slowly he turned his black gaze to the young man on the hospital bed.

Golden eyes stared at the ceiling dully, thin, pale lips pinched together. The expression seemed hopeless, and Mustang was vividly reminded of the time when he first saw Edward. He had seemed so small then, so defeated.

But the Edward in front of him now was larger than life. Even as he watched, the pools of gold seemed to shimmer with inner fire.

"Fullmetal," Mustang said quietly. Golden orbs turned to him, and the older man was relieved to see their intensity.

"Mustang." The voice was dry. Cracked.

Determination seemed to rise within him, and with a grimace, Edward sat up slowly, hissing in pain as the stitches on his injury tugged. Mustang almost lifted a hand to stop him, but dropped it immediately. It would be no use.

Once Edward was upright. He had to pant a few seconds and work through his pain. Once that was accomplished, he locked eyes with is little brother. Agony flashed over his face, even more intense than the expressions for his own pain. It hurt him to see his little brother like this. It hurt him deeply.

"He's gone…isn't he." It was not a question. His voice was completely dull, almost resigned.

"…Yes." Alphonse's voice was equally blank.

"Al…what have we done?" Ed smirked down at his hands, the expression derisive and self mocking. "We delivered him right into their hands. I had–I had to–" Golden eyes filled with tears and Edward brought both shaking palms to his face to hide them.

"Brother…"

"Can you ever forgive me, Al?" His voice was shaking now, trembling and small. "Can you–will you stay with me…? Please…"

"Brother…I'm not going anywhere…"

Ed finally looked up, tears glimmering but not fallen. "I don't deserve you…"

"…Ed. They took him."

He looked down once more. "I know…"

"So what are you going to do about it?" Mustang's voice broke between the brother's conversation, and both of them looked towards him.

While Alphonse was completely unreadable, Edward's expression seemed to say enough for both of them.

Fear.

Their enemies were so much more powerful than them…

Resignation.

They had already been through so much…

Pain.

It hurt. Everything hurt. Their souls, bodies, psyches…Hearts…

….Anger.

They were angry. Angry at themselves, angry at their enemies, angry at the world…

And finally. Determination.

Edward's golden eyes turned to liquid fire, Al's red orbs burning just as fiercely across from him.

Chins tilted up and expression set in deep frowns, they answered as one.

"We are going to…"

"Get him back."

Mustang closed his eyes, a smirk pulling at his mouth. "I thought you might say something like that." He snapped his gaze back up, expression challenging, and pushed off the wall. "Get better. When you are healed…we will." Roy clenched the note in his pocket tightly. He had promised that he would take care of these boys while Alex was away. He hadn't said anything about not coming after him.

The colonel turned his back and left without another word.

o-0-o

The colonel closed the hospital door firmly behind him, already mentally preparing himself for the ordeal ahead. His gaze was drawn up, however, by a black pair of boots. He looked straight up into the eyes of Riza Hawkeye.

Her severe expression was fierce and determined as ever, but also filled with the compassion he knew her so well for. She looked just as tired as he, but still unwavering and strong, always by his side.

"Sir, we've been summoned by the Furer."

Mustang sighed. "I know." He placed a hand on her shoulder and walked past her slightly smaller form. Only to stop short once more.

They were all there.

A ragged group of soldiers stood in the hallway outside of the Elrics' hospital room, exhausted from the night they just had.

Armstrong standing tall over all of them, eyes sparkling in support.

Hughes, leaning against the wall with an arrogant smirk, confident as always, and Barret standing beside him with a bored expression.

Havoc, smoking an ever present cigarette between clenched teeth, grinning, Breda resting an elbow in his shoulder with a roguish smirk.

Falman, the dutiful soldier standing ever guardedly over Fury, the bespectacled man smiling timidly.

Surprisingly, even Ross and Brosh were there, standing almost formally to the side, a determined set in their shoulders.

Riza began to walk down the middle of group and paused, looking back at a stunned Mustang. Her eyes sparkled in amusement at his reaction, but her face remained serious as ever.

"Sir?"

A smile tugged at thin lips, and a deep arrogant chuckle resonated from Roy's chest. Family indeed.

"It's nothing." He began to walk down the hall between all of them, and they fell in at his back. "Let's give 'em hell."

To be continued…

Authors notes:

Breathes a huge sigh of relief. Ah, it's finally over. At least, this part of the story is. We still have a long, long way to go before the saga ends.

You thought reading that ending was intense? Writing it was intense. Because unlike a reader, I agonized over every detail for days, weeks even. This scene has been in my mind for so long I thought I would go crazy if I didn't write it down. To be honest, my original plans weren't quite like this when I started this story, but it grew and mutated till my original notes were obsolete.

For example, Alexandria's fate. I know I've been hinting for a long while that there would be no way back for Alex. It was one of the reasons why I didn't go into too much detail about his past or his world, because those things really won't have much relevance to the story. But Alexandria's fate…I was of at least four minds about that. I literally had the options listed out, with an alternate ending for each one.

Excerpt from Lynnxrider's plot notes:

Options for Alexandria's fate:

1. She was in a coma when her soul was taken. Kyle kept her alive until the baby was born, but a year later when she still didn't wake, he pulled the plug. Alexandria is dead.

1.5 Alexandria and the baby died, and Kyle became cold and withdrawn.

2. Alex was never human, only a copy of Alexandria. Nothing happened to her and she lives her life normally with her son and Kyle. Identity crisis.

3. Alex is only a piece of Alexandria's soul and she was badly damaged personality-wise when he was taken. But she lives her life normally with her daughter an kyle, and they seem happy. Truth tells Alex that if he returns, his personality and memories of this place will be destroyed. He will cease to exist.

Do you see what I mean? Any one of these directions would have worked, and each one would have made the ending turn out a little differently. It was hard to decide. I chose option 1.5 because it was the most likely scenario from what I saw of Barry.

About Truth:

All will be explained in the next couple of books. Truth takes different forms in both series, and my Truth also takes a different form. All you need to know about him for right now is that he is slightly different to each alchemist that faces him, and only Alex gets close to who he actually is.

By the way, did any one see that Empathy bit coming? I especially liked that part.

About the brothers:

It truly was a journey to integrate Alex into the Elric clan. If you remember, in the very beginning he was just a stranger. He was really only a burden to Edward and a way to feel for Alphonse. But as their journey continued, their relationship changed dramatically, and it was a real challenge to make that seem realistic. I think that if Alex had been reborn a female and closer to what he was in his other life in age, then that would never have happened.

Fullmetal Alchemist is about the bond and journey between brothers, and I tried my damnedest to do that justice. And, boy, did those three come to love each other in the end. Now there are no real distinctions between their relationships with each other but their own insecurities.

About Alex:

Wow, what a character. He was so interesting to write. He has the soul of a now 26 year old woman, an appearance of a 15 year old boy, and a physical age of three. I won't get into too much detail about this since I already kind of hit on that in chapter 45, but let me just say that it was so interesting to write and think about. It's something that defines every relationship he makes, and there are just so many perspectives to think about that it was a real challenge. And his development isn't over, oh no. The revelation that he can no longer be Alexandria will change him irrevocably once more. They were all changed by the revelations at the fifth lab.

About the ending:

Yes, Deliverance ended in tragedy. But really, I've kind of been preparing you for this for a long while. Alex kept having these doubts and seemed to be letting go of his old life bit by bit. Lust's plans for him seemed so inescapable, and in the end they were. He had an expiration date on his life if certain terms weren't met, and Edward really had no idea how he was going to get him back to his world in any case, and even said as much a couple times.

Hm, I don't even think that in the series he had any idea of how to get their bodies back for the longest time. He was always going on about philosopher's stone, this and philosopher's stone, that, but he never voiced how not having equivalent exchange would help. But whatever, science fantasy.

About the next book:

Hah, I know that this is what you really want to read: my plans for the next part.

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure yet, so I'll just start with what is set in stone. I've changed my mind again. I will be continuing this in another story on my profile. I decided that it really is too long to put all into one. I didn't expect this part to last 57 chapters, but here we are. And who knows how long the others will be. I'm probably going to call it SubSoul 2: Divergence.

If you are interested in the second book, I suggest you subscribe to my profile if you want to keep up with it. If you don't care to do that, no worries, I will post an update in this story once I start the next one, so if you are a subsoul follower, you will be informed, and then you can just follow the new one. Or you can forget about it for a while and check in a year or whatever. Up to you.

I probably won't start on this until after I graduate in May. For now I'll be depressurizing from this and writing my one-shot collection I've been planning. There are a ton of insistent plot bunnies that need my attention or they will die. So sad.

For those of you that are not satisfied with the tone of this ending, don't worry. The next book will start out much like this one: heavy on angst, but having plenty of lighthearted fluff and comedy, just like the original series'. Alex will make it through, and so will everyone else. Ed and Al recovered, didn't they? Have faith. Besides, as much as I like drama, I'm not really into angsty stuff. There has to be balance, or I get bored. This is FMA dammit, not Deathnote for christ's sake.

That's all I'll say for now. I have some serious planning to do, which includes watching the entire two series all the way through again so I can work out my plot the way I want it. But like the title suggests, Alex's involvement has already changed a lot, and the plot will only continue to diverge from the original. But that's what makes fanfiction interesting, ne?

There is so much more I can say about this story, but I think I'll spare you the extra thousand words for each character. If they can't explain themselves, then I obviously didn't write them very well.

To my readers:

Thanks for sticking with me. No really. I enjoyed every single comment and pm and question I received. And I even almost reached my goal of 230 reviews already. Yeah! Or was it follows… whatever. I'm pleased.

Lurkers: this story has finally ended. If you are one of those peeps who wait till the end to review, I would love to hear from you now. If you've made it all the way here, even to the end of my ridiculously long AN, then you've probably got a thing or two to say. If not, then I'm glad you enjoyed it in any case.

Anyway, if anyone has anything they are dying to see in the next book, I would love to hear your thoughts. No idea is a bad one. It will help me plan out the next part if I get some directions that I might not necessarily come up with myself. Or, you know, oneshot ideas. I'm always game for those.

See you next time.