Hey, Y'all! So sorry for taking a bit longer to upload than usual! My summer break has started and I got busy watching Death Note and playing Assassin's Creed III on the switch. I've decided that there might be a little more space in between uploads now that I have more time. I hope that's alright. Anyways, I really don't like how this chapter turned out, but I think it got the point across and I really like the ending. I really appreciate all of the comments, favorites, and follows! It makes my day reading reviews! Feel free to leave a review if you want! Thanks!

Central Headquarters was almost always empty at night. It only ever contained guards who were protecting its secrets. Tonight, however, it contained a morose, inebriated colonel Mustang. Working hours had ended hours ago, but the man had not left.

He had stayed longer, trying to find anything that would lead to a start on how to find the kid. He took another swig and hissed as the alcohol burned his throat. The memory wouldn't go away, no matter how much he drank.

He couldn't get the sight of the kid out of his head. They hadn't made it. The sight of the kid hanging limply over one of those Drachman bastards shoulders with a bloody face shot rage through Roy that he didn't know he had in him.

He had called the kid's name, trying to reassure him that he'd get to him. His fingers were poised to snap, but he froze the moment he saw Ed's golden eyes slip shut, blood trickling from a broken looking nose.

It couldn't have been more than a second that he'd been frozen. He'd been startled out of his trance by Hawkeye pushing him to the ground. The explosion came a second later, a smoke bomb. When the smoke had cleared, the Drachman's were gone...along with Fullmetal.

He takes another sip of whiskey and rakes a hand over his face, his mind, fogged and slow. God, he was a mess. It had been three days since the kid had been taken, two since he'd gotten any sleep over scouring for a lead. He shouldn't have started drinking. It was only going to prolong how long the kid was suffering.

He releases a shaky sigh. It was slightly easier to think when one was drunk. It was even easier for the guilt to take over. Right now, he couldn't get the last conversation he had with Ed out of his head.

He had to look the kid's brother in the face and tell him that he hadn't made it to Ed in time. His heart throbbed as he remembered the armor trembling and shaking and releasing tears that he couldn't cry. The kid spent the past three days desperately helping him look for any lead to where Ed could be.

He bares his teeth and throws the cup, glass shattering. He can't stop the tears threatening to fall. God, he was a bastard. He should've made it on time. He should've never put the kid's little brother through that.

'God, kid. Where are you? Your little brother needs you, I need to apologize to you. Please, I just need one simple sign.'

Ed was fourteen! Just a kid! He should be doing things that other fourteen-year-olds did. He shouldn't even have to be in the military. That was his fault too. He'd taken a bright, good kid and uprooted him from all that he knew. It had been the kid's choice to take the exam, but he was the one to plant the idea in his mind.

"Damn it!" He tosses the papers from his desk. This wouldn't have happened if he'd just listened to the kid. Ed had been under his command long enough for him to know that he could make some good plans.

He wondered what plan the kid could have made right before the Drachman's took him. The tears threaten again when he thinks of Ed's small body being beaten, bloodied, you name it. They wouldn't show mercy to a kid. They never did to an adult.

Would they even save the kid before the Drachman's could beat information out of him? Edward was strong, but, he'd never be able to withstand Drachman torture techniques.

That sends the tears streaking down his cheeks. A sob escapes from lips and he presses his hands against his face. He crumples to the floor, burying his face in his knees.

"Colonel?" He jumps and looks up quickly. Riza is standing at the door, a bewildered but worried expression on her face.

He swipes away the tears and clears his throat. It's hard to look at her face due to what he'll see. Nobody has said that they blame him, but he knows that Alphonse must.

"Lieutenant, I told you to go home." His voice is shaky, but he doesn't care, she's seen him after worse tragedies, like Hughes.

"Sir, I can't leave you with how much you're drinking." She pries the bottle away from his fingers, screwing the cap back on and hiding it in her coat.

"Roy, are you ok?" His head lifts at that. A small smile comes to his lips. Her brown eyes are filled with concern for him. She only ever called him 'Roy' if they were alone.

She walks to him and bends down. He can't stop himself from burying his face in his shoulder, something he did when he was her father's apprentice. She freezes for a moment before placing her hand in his hair and cradling it.

They shouldn't be doing this, they decided that long ago, but he needs her now. More than ever. Before he can control them, the sobs force themselves out of him. He feels so guilty for laying this out on her. She has her own guilt to deal with. She shouldn't have to help him shoulder is.

"Riza, are we ever going to find a lead?" He sounds so helpless, he hates himself for it.

She pulls back, staring him in the eyes. "We will. He's the youngest state alchemist in history. We've been on missions with him before, you've seen what he can do with vastly stronger enemies."

"How can you be sure?"

She pulls back, a firey resolve in her eyes.

"That kid had automail surgery to replace two limbs at the same time. From the things I've heard, its next to impossible without being immobilized due to pain. He did it at eleven. If he can do that, then I'm sure he can withstand whatever the Drachman's throw at him."

Riza was right, she usually was. The thought of the kid's pain tolerance hadn't even occurred to him. The kid had an unbelievably high tolerance. He remembers being horrified on a mission when the kid had been stabbed in his right thigh. The kid should've been on the ground, crying out in pain. He didn't, he stood up and let Roy drag him to the nearest hospital, not even wincing as the wound was stitched.

Roy had always figured that it was due to adrenaline. He never had connected the dots between automail surgery and pain tolerance. He kicks himself, the kid was probably mocking the Drachman's, egging them on for more as they spoke. That didn't stop the guilt or worry in his heart. No fourteen-year-old kid should have to go through something a grown man did.

"You're right, he's a strong kid. I just hope he knows he'll be able to hold up through it."

"He's unique in that way. He's been through a lot in just a few years."

He nodded, pulling Riza into his arms and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Let's get you back home." She helps him to his feet, catching him when he stumbles.

"Will you stay for tonight?"

"Roy…" Her eyes warn him. He hears the warning in her voice. They could get caught. Its always been a possibility, but it's just for tonight. She's what he needs.

"Just for tonight." He says, searching her eyes.

She sighs. "Just for tonight."

She helps him to his car and on the drive there, his mind drifts to the kid, wondering what hell he could be raising at the moment.

The night was unusually cold or that's what Winry told him. Alphonse wasn't able to feel how cold it was as he sat on the grass. He hadn't been able to feel anything for the past few years.

A metallic sigh escapes him and wraps his gauntlets around his knees. It was lonely without Ed. It'd been three whole days since his brother was taken. Three whole days since his world came crashing to the ground when Mustang told him that he hadn't been able to get to Ed in time.

The anguish hits him as hard as it did three days ago. His unfeeling, metallic fingers fist the grass, pulling up chunks. He should've listened to his brother. He had blown off Ed's plan as stupid and hadn't even listened to what he could've possibly thought up. Ed made amazing plans when he had time to prepare.

He had intended to talk to Ed eventually sometime during that night. He'd gone to the cell and found Winry curled around Ed, sleeping. If he'd had a face, he'd of smiled. He gently woke Winry, who told him that Ed had gone back to sleep, the drug still affecting him.

So he left. He had intended on coming back a little later, he really had. It felt something was stopping him every time he even thought about going back to holding cells.

Alphonse realizes now that it was guilt. How could have faced his brother after holding him down and letting the team knock him out? He should've gone to see Ed anyway. He knew his brother. Winry had told him that Ed hadn't been angry with him when he woke up.

That brought another thought to his mind. Winry had let Ed go. He didn't blame his closest friend. Ed was good at getting people to listen to his reasonings, along with the fact that Al was pretty sure something had happened between his brother and Winry when they went off on that walk.

Once again, a metallic sigh pulls itself from Al.

He was annoyed with Winry, yes, but he wasn't angry. These past few days Winry looked at him with multiple emotions in her eyes. She would open her mouth and try to say something but would then close it and look away. She probably blamed herself but he didn't blame her in the slightest.

"Al?"

He jumps and spins around quickly. Speak of the devil. Winry's blue eyes are bloodshot and she looks as if she's just woken up.

"What're you doing up, Winry? It's really late."

She sighs, gingerly settling herself down beside him and leaning against his shoulder.

"Winry?"

"I couldn't sleep."

There was more to what she was saying. Al knew that there was something Winry didn't want to say, but he wasn't going to press her on it.

He sighs, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She presses her face into his side and he realizes she's shaking.

"Winry, are you ok?"

Panic fills him when he hears her let out a sob. He's always been good with calming down his brother but never has he had to calm down Winry. He'd never had any experience with calming down girls!

"I'm sorry, Al. I shouldn't be crying. I was the one who let him go. I have no right to miss him." She tried to calm herself down but only succeeded in making herself cry harder.

"Winry. It's ok. I don't blame you." He pleaded, he was panicking badly, he hated seeing Winry cry and he didn't know how to stop her tears.

After a while, Winry's sobs slowed and turned into hiccups as she tried to stop crying. She wiped her face and turned her big blue eyes to him.

"Do you really not blame me, Al? I let him go, I should've known better." Her voice shook.

He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Winry, I know my brother. He's very good at convincing people of things."

Winry shook her head. "He didn't have to convince me to let him go."

That surprised him. Winry was usually able to convince Ed that what he was doing wasn't the right thing to do. So why did he not have to convince her? Unless there was something else going on

"Why didn't he have to convince you? Does this have anything to do with you and him alone together while I was planning with Mustang?"

She freezes for a second before relaxing and releasing a sigh.

"Ed and I have been together for over a year now. The other night, he said that he wanted us to officially be a thing…" Winry swallows and her eyes fill with tears once again.

"He told me he loved me, Al. I was so happy, he was too. We laid on the grass for the longest time, just talking. On the way back he told me about what he had to do. He knew that what he was going to do was probably going to get him captured," Winry swallowed and wiped her eyes.

"After he woke up, colonel Mustang visited and I heard them arguing. He said some really harsh things to Ed, things Ed has regretted every day. Mustang thought the plan was ridiculous, but when I listened, it made a lot of sense. Before I helped him, he promised me that he'd make it out,"

A shaky sigh left her lips. "Now, I just don't know if what I did was right. If something happens over there, I don't know if I could ever forgive myself." She pressed her face into Al's side.

That...That was a lot of information for him to take in. It wasn't hard to understand why Winry had done what she had done. She was in love and so was his brother. Love made you do things sometimes that you wouldn't have done otherwise.

"Winry, I get it. You and Brother are in love. That just makes people do things that they normally wouldn't. You felt what you were doing was right. I don't blame you."

"I felt like I was doing the right thing! I just don't know now!" She yelled, fresh spilling from her eyes.

"Look at me Winry." His voice is surprisingly serious.

She does and he stares into her bright blue eyes.

"That doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that we get him back, then we can yell at him for being an idiot.

Winry laughed at that. He'd always loved hearing her laugh. He suddenly remembered when they were younger, he and Ed fighting over Winry, Winry rolling her eyes at them. She always chose him or Ed every other week.

He finds himself missing that as Winry curls around him, eyes drooping.

"I'm taking you back now, Winry. You need your sleep." Winry groaned but didn't fight him on it.

He picked her up, she was light, not that he could really feel any type of weight with his body. He was suddenly struck by the promise that Ed made to Winry. Ed only made promises if he intended to follow them.

Hope filled his heart, his brother was determined to make it out of this, one way or another.

"We've stopped."

"Are you sure?"

Ed perked up, breaking from the near sleep that he'd been close to, suddenly wide awake.

It'd been three days since Ed had awoken in the truck. It had only stopped to insert that drug in his system (His limbs still ached a little) and to refuel and throw scraps of cold food when they reached marrow.

They hadn't stopped for over two days now. Something that was of great interest to Ed. It was like they had a time limit or something of the sort.

"How long do you think it's been?" He listened carefully for any external sounds.

"No longer than five minutes," Byer says, eyes narrowed, listening for anything.

They listened for a few minutes before the door of the truck was lifted open.

Ed's eyes narrowed at the Drachman that appeared in the entrance. The man's dark eyes surveyed each of them before landing on Ed.

The Drachman turned around and barked something in his language and another one appeared beside him. "Boy," He pointed at Ed.

Ed didn't move, choosing to glare at the man and bare his teeth in a snarl. Something is said between the two men and they both hop into the truck, black cloth in of the man's hands. He stares at it, determining it to be a blindfold.

He growled as they stepped up in front of him, watching in the corner of his eye as the others watched intensely at what the Drachman's were doing.

The bigger of the two grabbed his shoulder and managed to wrestle his arms behind his back. Ed growled low in the back of his throat as the other one quickly placed the blindfold around his head.

He was shoved off the truck and he quickly noticed that it was colder.

'We're probably in Antyau now.'

The Drachman bastard pushed him and he stumbled, trying not to fall.

Drachman voices spoke all around him as he and his guards made their way to wherever they were going. Wherever they were smelled, like how it smelled after the rain had finally stopped and the sun came out.*

The smell changed as they walked up a set of stairs and growling met his ears.

Wait...growling?

It didn't sound a thing like any animal he knew.

The thought is broken by the squealing of a door. He's pushed and planted onto something, arms, and legs restrained to the chair. The blindfold is taken off.

Ed shakes his head, allowing for his vision to clear before he can see where he's at. He frowns, there's not enough light to fully see his surroundings. Light from a few hanging bulbs cast shadows around him.

Through the shadows, something moves, Ed can't see well enough to figure out what it is but the growling coming from it. His heart freezes as the shadow creeps closer, eyes glinting.

Terror shoots through his veins as the creature comes into the nearby light. A chimera, one that has the upper half of a wolf and the lower half of a lion, sharp claws and all.

He looks into yellow eyes and his breath catches.

'W-Why hasn't it attacked yet? Why is it here? I should be dead by now.'

Ed shifts nervously and the golden eyes of the chimera narrow, yellow teeth bared into a snarl. The face is what scares him the most. It is of a wolf, yes, but the eyes looked as if they had intelligence that didn't belong to them and there was something so decidedly human.

He gasped. The Drachman's...they were making chimeras? How was that possible? Drachman's didn't have alchemists, at the most they were very hard to find in Drachma.

Ed felt sick to his stomach. They had most likely turned something into this...this creature.

The Chimera's ears prick up and it looks past him. The door then opens with a loud screech.

The chimera relaxes, a Drachman voice talking to it. A man in a white coat comes into Ed's point of view, a stool with him. The Drachman pats the Chimera's head and settles himself on the stool.

"Who are you? Where am I?" He snarls at the man. "And why are Chimera's here?"

The man's green eyes regard him with interest. The man looks down at the notepad in his hands and then back at Ed.

"Edward Elric, The Fullmetal Alchemist?"

"Yeah, and who wants to know?"

The man chuckles, amusement sparkling in his eyes.

"I am Dr. Yanovich. I have heard of your escapades in Amestris. They interest me greatly."

'It would also make this go easier if we agree to not lie, my young friend."

"Sure."

Ed snorted at the word 'escapade'

"What's there to know? I've been doing my job."

Dr. Yanovich's green eyes narrow. "Yes, but you cause quite a bit of destruction everywhere you go, no?"

Ed chose not to answer that, maintaining the look of boredom on his face.

Dr. Yanovich ignored his nonanswer and continued on, "I've been told by many of my country's loyal soldiers that you can use alchemy without a transmutation circle."

Ed stiffened a little at that. "How would they know that? The last time I encountered a Drachman was two years ago."

Yanovich chuckles and Ed doesn't get what's so funny. "There are many of my people everywhere in your country, my young friend. They tell me all that's needed is clapping, provided nothing is stopping you."

Yanovich looked at the collar around Ed's neck. "Unfortunately, a demonstration isn't possible now, but it could be if you cooperated. Your alchemy is something that has interested my superiors for a very long time now. They would like to know how it works."

Ed searched his mind, looking for a lie to give the doctor. He was not telling this man how it had happened, Human Transmutation was not something to be played with.

He finally came up with a good one, one that made little sense to him but would hopefully make a lot of sense to the doctor.

"I taught myself. I read countless books and learned from them."

Yanovich's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I thought we agreed not to lie to each other, Elric."

Ed swallowed harshly. "I'm telling you the truth, Doctor." He said, calmly.

The doctor sighs, all friendliness was gone from his face. "Interesting, so those metal limbs wouldn't have anything to do with you being able to perform alchemy without a circle?"

"T-Those are from an accident in my hometown when I was younger."

Yanovich's green eyes glinted a mysterious light. "Yet according to residents from Resembool, it is Resembool if I'm correct, you and that brother of yours were not seen for months and when you appeared again he was in a metal suit and you had two metal limbs."

Ed stared wide-eyed at the man. He couldn't have known all of these things! It was impossible.

Yanovich scooted closer to him and Ed had to stop himself from recoiling at the smell of the man's breath.

"You committed Human Transmutation when you were eleven and your brother was ten. Your mother died. Isn't it funny that you committed an Alchemist's ultimate taboo a year to the day she died?"

'He knows! How does he know!'

To say Ed was horrified was an understatement. This doctor...he knew. How could he have known? How had his worst mistake been found out? It didn't seem possible for anyone to find out unless a lot of thorough digging was done.

"H-How…" he trailed off, not knowing what he should even say to the man.

What would happen now? Would the Drachman's try to find out how to use Human Transmutation to be able to use alchemy without a circle? That was impossible. One had to know alchemy to even be able to do that.

"We have our ways, Mr. Elric. We have our ways of gaining important information. That is unimportant now. What is important is that you must help us learn the art of alchemy so we can learn to transmute without a circle. You see, we are building something that requires alchemy to power it,"

The doctor looked behind Ed before continuing.

"It has taken many months to get to the starting stages of what is being built. It would help greatly if all of the soldiers and scientists here could learn alchemy. I would be able to get you out of the mines if you just helped us. It would save you so much hardship."

Ed's teeth bared and he pulled at his restraints. "Human Transmutation is not something to be messed with! I will never help any of you bastards! There are tolls that are paid and I still haven't paid all of mine!"

His golden eyes burned with anger as he stared at the man, who's face changed into interest.

"Well, we could learn of the tolls. You can teach us as you help us."

Uncontrollable rage flooded Ed's veins. He wanted to beat this man senseless. The man didn't understand, people lost parts of their bodies through Human Transmutation. It was no something that should be messed with and the truth wasn't very kind. He was lucky he'd even escaped with only a leg and arm missing.

"I'd rather rot in hell." He hissed.

Yanovich's face tightens, his mouth curling upwards into an angered smile.

He stands up and grabs Ed's braid, forcing his head mere inches from his own.

"I had hoped that you would want to cooperate with us. I'd hoped to save you from the mines, but if you insist on not cooperating, then there's nothing I can do."

The doctor wrapped a hand around his throat and Ed's eyes widened as his windpipe is closed.

He can't breathe!

The doctor's angered face swims before him as he wheezes, trying to force any semblance of air into his burning lungs, but the man doesn't let go.

The doctor's voice echoes in his ears and he strains his ears through the oncoming darkness to listen.

"Perhaps hard labor will convince you in time. You will not be the first to be broken by it and you certainly will not be the last…"

The last thing Ed feels before the darkness swallows him whole is his bonds releasing and the cold, hard ground underneath him.

He doesn't feel himself come to. One minute, blackness is all he sees and the next is the sharpening of whatever is above him. He blinks, once, twice, and suddenly there are faces above him.

Their faces show relief and he groans. His left hand travels to his throat, feeling for the bruise. A small flash of pain flies through him. His throat must be bruised.

His eyes open and he tries to sit up, his aching body doesn't want him to. It seemed as if these people could sense it because multiple hands are helping him sit up.

"Did they hurt you?" A man asks, his voice worried.

Ed looks at the man. The man is skinny as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. He looks at the woman touching his shoulder and she looks the same, only her cheekbones showed predominantly through his skin.

"Young man?"

Ed jolts, his eyes traveling back to the man in front of him. The man's hand rests on his knee.

"Yeah. I'm alright, the doctor got a little rough with me."

He hears gasps from the people around him, their eyes widened. More people are approaching from the rows of cots. He suppressed a shiver, they all looked so skinny. His eyes widened a little when small faces peeked from behind some of the women. They had...they had kids here!

"Are...Are you the alchemist we've been hearing about?" The man from before asked, he must've been the one in charge.

"How do you mean?"

The man's eyes travel to the collar around his neck. His eyes widen and a gasp escapes his lips.

"You are! You're Edward Elric! We've heard that you were coming!"

Ed doesn't really even know what to say to that.

"W-We heard you were coming. Perhaps to free us from this. We didn't believe it, we all haven't been able to talk about it, we haven't been able to gather." A woman speaks up, her brown eyes misty with tears.

"Hold on, I need to know, where am I? What is this place?"

The man sighs, "You're in the area of the compound where materials are mined. I'm surprised the Fullmetal Alchemist would be here. I thought he would've been with all of the alchemists that have been captured and are having experiments performed on them."

Ed's eyes widened at that. The other alchemists...Rana, Byer, Jenaja, were they having experiments done to them?

"I came here with people! Some of them were alchemists, they told me a little about this place."

The man's expression fell. "They're dead. Our captors have no use for alchemists that are no good at alchemy. They will be experimented on, all for the meaningless hope that in their bodies lies what our captors are looking for."

"How can they do that! Alchemy isn't biological!" He yelled. Some of the people flinched back.

"It doesn't matter to them. They're on a desperate search. If you're here, that must mean they desperately want something from you and you won't give it to them."

Ed's rage nearly spilled over. Rana...Byer...the others, he hadn't known them more than a few days. How could the Drachman's base how much an alchemist knew without even seeing them perform it?

"You mentioned the mines. What are they digging up? What are they searching for?"

"They haven't told us. They want gems, coal, any precious minerals they can get their hands on."

"All of you work in the mines? Even these children?"

Ed's golden eyes turned towards the kids. They looked so impossibly young. The oldest couldn't have been more than eight. He shied behind his mother as Ed's eyes landed on him.

"They are desperate, Fullmetal Alchemist. They demand work. If we don't work, we die. They don't care who does it. That's what they told us the day we were brought here."

"I refused to help them. I told the doctor that I would rather die."

The man's face somehow fell even further.

"That is why you are here. With stronger alchemists, they throw them to the mines, wait for them to break under the stress. With the weaker alchemists, they kill them. They have no use for inconvenience."

"They won't break me. They don't know all that I've been through."

The man glanced at his automail and then back at the golden eyes burning with a raging fire.

Then the man smiled as if he knew something.

The man turned back to all of the people close behind him.

"He will not be easy to break. This might be our chance to finally get out of here."

A flash of annoyance flickered through him. What was he talking about?

"What's this 'chance' you're talking about?"

"You are different, Edward Elric. I do not know what it is about you or how long it will take, but I believe that you are the one that will save us."

"I don't know the first thing about being trapped in a prison compound! I came here without anyone!"

How could they expect him to save them without a plan? Without any backup How could they put this responsibility on him?

How could they expect him to save them when he didn't even know what the Drachman's were planning?

But these people were desperate. He saw the way their skinny forms held themselves, how they held their children with eyes beginning to fill with newfound hope as they looked at him.

Damn it! He was only fourteen!

Yes, he was only fourteen...

But he was the only hope that they had left.