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A Little Light of Love	By : squallstorm Category: Fullmetal Alchemist > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 7987 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 21
- 22
- 23
Disclaimer:
I do NOT own Fullmetal Alchemist or its characters.....I'm just
playing with them.

Author's
note:

Thanks
to ZaKai for reading and beta-ing my story once again. XD

Chapter
22

They
walked quietly through the back streets, both lost to their thoughts.
Roy couldn't help but think about Ed and where things would go from
here. He had yet to hear Ed's answer to his tentative suggestion and
each passing moment made him question more and more about his
decision to do this; to involve Ed.

Even
if he wanted to change his mind about staying with the military, it
would be impossible. The wound to his shoulder had done more damage
then he'd originally thought. He'd have use of his arm, but it'd
never be the same again. It would always be a little bit slow to
move and weaker then his left arm. If this was the only sign that
he'd seen action, he was getting off fairly easy. At least he was
going to be keeping his arm.

Noa
sighed, making him look across at her. He averted his eyes and held
his peace. Whatever she wanted to talk to him about, she'd do so on
her own time. Maybe that was why Ed liked this woman. She was a
calming presence to his angry personality. He certainly felt at ease
around her even though he didn't really know her that well. Maybe he
felt a sort of kinship with her since she also had abilities that
were unusual. Beyond his grandfather he'd never met someone who
could do things like he could, and thought himself the only one.

“Roy...”
said Noa hesitantly. Roy arched an eyebrow at her. As far as he
knew, she'd never called him by his first name and wondered at the
change now. “I know you feel drawn to Edward, but there are
things you should know.”

“Go
on,” mumbled Roy cautiously, feeling like the rug was about to
be pulled from under him. Here it comes...

With another
sigh, Noa stopped in the middle of the avenue and looked up at him.
“Edward and Alphonse...” Roy stopped a little ways ahead
of Noa, turned back and frowned. “They aren't—this may
be hard to believe, but have you ever read science fiction?”

“What?”
asked Roy, taken aback by the question. “I, uh, maybe a little
bit.” This was not what he was expecting and for the life of
him, he couldn't understand where this might be going.

“Edward
likes to use the term 'parallel worlds'. He even has a science
fiction novel about it, but that's just so it makes it easier to
understand. But it's not really like a parallel world at all. I
think he thinks of it as 'connected worlds'.” She looked up at
him them, and smiled sympathetically. “I'm sorry, I know this
is confusing you, but try and bear with it until the end, and then
you can ask whatever you like.”

“Yeah...okay,”
agreed Roy. This was beginning to sound like she was a crazy person
too. Ed had said some very strange things when they had first met,
and again, when he was under the influence of that fever. Maybe now
he'd get answers to questions he wasn't even sure he wanted to ask.

“Edward
theorizes that there is more then just this world or universe. Like
an onion with its may transparent layers lying on top of one another;
that there are multiple versions of you, for instance, living same
but different lives, and at each turning point you diverge from your
many selves...and...there are at least two worlds that Edward knows
exist. In this other world—that is much like ours—science
as we know it has taken a back seat to the more fantastic science of
alchemy. Making one thing into another is what this world has that
we don't.”

“Okay,
wait,” interrupted Roy. All this talk about onions and worlds,
connectedness...? “Are you seriously trying to tell me that
alchemy exists and that, what? It's like magic or something?”
asked Roy skeptically.

“Yes,
that's what I'm telling you,” said Noa, utter conviction in her
voice as she looked at him. Roy clicked his tongue at the woman,
shaking his head in disbelief. “Edward used to live there,”
said Noa, drawing his attention again.

“What?”
asked Roy breathlessly, an unconvinced frown on his face.

“Edward
and Alphonse come from another world. They aren't from here, but
they came though a gate—”

“A
gate! Ed mentioned a gate before...” said Roy, recalling how
Ed had asked him if the gate was still open and where it was. All
the stuff Ed had said had been dismissed by him as crazy talk.
Memory loss, crossing over...strange things. Ed had been so angry
when he'd said that, too. He'd thought him insane at the time.

“Yes.
In this world the Thule society sought power to help Germany fight
back against the Treaty of Versailles; in Edward's world, his brother
sought to bring him home.”

“Wait,
you're losing me again. Why would Al want to bring Ed home, wasn't
he in that other world?” wondered Roy.

“I'll
start at the beginning. I only know so much because of an instance
I'll get to in a moment. When Edward was ten and Alphonse nine, they
tried the unthinkable for their world. Human transmutation.
Restoring life to someone who had already been buried; reversing the
flow of life in order to resurrect the mother who left them all
alone.”

“Their
father left them when they were young, and perhaps if he'd been there
it would have never have happened, but no one knew what the boys
planned. And so, one night, in their empty house, Edward and
Alphonse carefully drew the circle that would bring back their
mother. As a result of their folly, Edward lost his leg for doing
the unthinkable; Alphonse lost his whole body.
Taken as payment for the life they gave
to the creature before them. To keep Alphonse with him, Edward
willingly gave up his arm to bind his brother's soul to a suit of
armor in the corner.”

“So,
they were
able to restore their mother?” wondered Roy, being drawn into
the unbelievable story. He wasn't sure if he was convinced that what
she was telling him was the truth or not, but either way, it was
riveting. The thought that two children could go so far for their
mother, when his own mother was so horrible to him, it was mind
boggling. He wondered how two boys could maim themselves as she was
suggesting. He didn't think it was possible for a human to willing
do that to themselves.

“What
they made that night was not their mother, but a hollow copy. A
soulless being who was barely recognizable a living being. The next
day, a man came to see the boys.” Noa looked over at him. It
didn't seem as though she was seeing him, but rather, she was looking
through him; past him. “A colonel by the name of Roy Mustang.”

Roy gasped.
So that was how they knew him...wasn't it? Many times, both Ed and
Al had referred to him by either Mustang, or in Al's case, mentioned
how much he sounded 'like him'. He had wondered how Ed had knew
about his Indian name, which contained mustang or the equivalent
meaning. At the time he hadn't paid too much attention to it, but
now...

“Yes,
you understand, now. He is your double. An older version of you.
While this man had fourteen years over Edward, you only have four.”
Noa paused a moment, and then started down the avenue, turning
slightly to beckon Roy to follow.

Roy blinked
once and then hurried to fall in beside her. Questions were bouncing
around his head, but he had promised to listen. It was just that, it
was so unbelievable. How on earth could there be two of him? An
older version of him... What would he be like ten years from now?
It was hard to think beyond the fact that he was going to be without
a career soon, let alone wonder where he'd be in ten years.

“This
man, Mustang, offered the boys a path, a choice which Edward took up
with a determination uncommon in someone Edward's age. At twelve
years old, Edward became the youngest ever state alchemist, the
position granting him the rank of major.”

“Damn,”
swore Roy, looking down at his feet as he walked. That was
impressive if it was true. A twelve-year-old major... It didn't
really mean much that at twenty-four he'd been able to attain the
rank of captain since, in this time of uncertainty, one could rise
through the ranks reasonably quickly. However, he was impressed that
someone would give that sort of power to a child. It must have been
a weighty burden.

“For
four years they searched for the key to restoring their bodies, and
finally at the end, while fighting against the people who had been
stringing them along, Edward was fatally stabbed through the chest,
and died,” said Noa softly.

Roy
frowned, looking side long at the woman beside him. How on earth
could any of this
be true? It seemed ridiculous! Alchemy, missing limbs and
bodies...death? Ed died, but yet, he's here alive? He'd seen Ed
without his shirt. If he'd been stabbed through the chest where was
the scar? Beyond the scars lining his arm and a few scattered over
his torso, Roy couldn't recall anything like what Noa was suggesting.

“Unable
to think about living without his brother,” continued Noa
sadly, her voice full of remorse. “Alphonse sacrificed himself
to bind Edward's soul in his body, thus dying himself. When Edward
awoke to find Alphonse gone, he also couldn't take the thought of
living without him, and when he offered himself up to the gate, he
was taken to this side, unaware if he had succeeded or not.”
Noa fell silent, staring down the street contemplatively.

Roy
shook his head. “Do you know how impossible this all sounds?
Do you have any proof? How on earth do you expect me to believe
this?” asked Roy. This was some
joke she was trying to pull, and he was not amused. What the hell
was the point of telling him these weird things?

“Do
you need proof?” asked Noa, looking him directly in the eyes.
“Doesn't your faith require you to believe without proof?
Haven't you always worked from the assumption that God is all
knowing, all seeing, but have you ever been giving proof that He's
watching you?”

“Faith
and fictional stories are two different things,” argued Roy.
He was not about to get into a religious discussion with her,
especially since if all went well, he'd be turning his back on
religion for good. He had to admit to himself that this wasn't
sitting very well with him. It was so ingrained, the paths well
worn, that to step away from that and make new paths was almost as
terrifying as leaving the military.

“No,
unfortunately they are not,” said Noa sadly. “Not in
this case. This did
happen; this is who
Edward is. You have to understand this in order to move forward.
You must have faith in what I'm saying.”

“Why?
I don't know what you're trying to get me to understand,”
complained Roy, his frustration mounting.

“Edward
is really very simple, but on the other hand he's incredibly complex.
You have to know this to be on an even playing field.”

“Wait,
wait,” said Roy, pulling on Noa's arm to make her stop and face
him. “I get that you have...abilities, so that lets you...know
things about me, and I get that you're only looking out for Ed's best
interests, but what I don't
get is why you feel you need to...do whatever it is you're
doing—telling me all this...nonsense!”

Noa
nodded her head slowly, looking at the ground between them. “I
know. And if you do what you plan to do, then you will both lead a
difficult life full of lies and secrecy. I want you to know before
going into that who you'll be investing in. Edward is fiercely loyal
to his brother, to the point of doing harm to himself in order to
save the same torment from befalling Alphonse. He won't be easy to
control and made to live in a perpetual lie. Things will
go wrong, and if Edward...falls for
you the way you're falling for him... I just want you to know as
much as possible, and if you think this is too much for you, then
please, stop it before it has a chance to hurt either of you.”

Roy was
speechless. To say so much, so freely, about how he would
live...with a man... So, did that mean that Ed had feelings for him
too? His left hand found its way into his hair, lifting it off his
face as he tried to sort out all of this. He wasn't sure if he
believed her story, but maybe it was just a way of illustrating Ed's
character and personality. It was disturbing to know that Ed had
intentionally hurt himself for his brother's sake. More then once
apparently; somehow cutting off his own arm and leg... Was Noa
trying to suggest that that would be directed at him if things went
well between him and Ed?

“You
said you know all this from some 'instance'? What happened?”
asked Roy, starting down the street again. Maybe if he focused on
knowing what happened on 'this side of the gate' it'd make more sense
to him. He wasn't ready to answer Noa about whether he could do this
or not. How was he supposed to make a decision for the both of them
without talking to Ed first?

“I
was forced to see Edward's dream in order to help the Thule society,”
answered Noa.

“Forced?”
asked Roy, raising one eyebrow at her.

“We're
almost there, let's hurry,” suggested Noa.

Taken off
guard by the switch in topic, Roy asked, “Almost where?”

“The
hospital. I've been away since late last night. Hopefully Alphonse
made it out of surgery alright,” said Noa. She lengthened her
stride leaving Roy behind.

Roy blinked
at her back dazedly and then hurried after her. The hospital? That
was where Ed was? That meant he'd get to see Ed. Sooner then he'd
thought. What would he say to Ed after all that had happened? And
why did he suddenly feel shy to be around him? All this new
information about Ed swirled around his head as he followed behind
Noa, climbing up the stairs to the civilian hospital.

What
if he was wrong about Ed? Sure there was something
there, but what? Camaraderie? Friendship, perhaps? One born from
going though a difficult time together? If even half of what Noa
said was true, then there was a double of him out there, older and
different from him, that Ed seemed to like if he was going to go by
that time he'd been kissed. Ed had called out his name, but had it
been him
that Ed was calling for, or this other fellow? Maybe when Ed had
yelled at him it was more due to the fact that he
wasn't the guy Ed had been hoping for. Maybe Ed was in love with
this other person...

Was he
totally misreading everything and assuming more then he should?
What if Ed did feel more towards this other man and not him? Why
then would Noa tell him all this stuff? She wouldn't go to all that
trouble for nothing, he was almost certain. What did a few looks and
glances amount to anyway?

Not much,
Roy had to admit. Ed was just a very interesting person...he
probably only wanted to be around him because he felt friendship with
the man. These other 'feelings' he had for Ed...did they have no
meaning?

What
did
he feel for Ed? He was interested for sure, but why? Was it because
Ed was so unlike anyone he'd ever known? Or was it because for the
first time in his life, he felt something for anyone. And that
feeling was so...exciting, that he didn't want to let it go just yet.
His heart would beat just a little bit harder and faster, a euphoric
feeling of happiness usually accompanying that when he was around Ed.
He hardly let himself feel these strange responses to Ed's presence
before, but now the mere thought of him...

Noa held the
door open for him to pass, and together they walked over to the
reception desk to find out what room Al was in. Roy stood back and
let Noa do the talking since his head was too full of
self-recriminations to interact with others.

- - - -

Ed felt
caged in, trapped. Unsure if he should act now, or wait for those
guys to come find him. He was caught in an indecisive loop with each
moment becoming more costly. His body was humming with the need to
move, making his left hand shake. Each half-heard sound from beyond
the door had him on the balls of his feet about to spring. He
quivered with wondering how to handle this.

“Fuck...”
hissed Ed. He had to leave—no, that would leave Al
unprotected. He had to stay, but that would leave Al vulnerable too.
“Fuck!” he hissed harshly.

With
a wary eye on the door, Ed backed up until he was near the window. It
wasn't like he was expecting to see those two freaks, or even the
Seniore, but he needed to do something.
With another quick glance at the door, Ed turned to look out the
window and looked down at the small garden. The day was growing late
and the sun had moved far enough across the sky so that the garden
was now bathed in sunlight. There were many people out there now, in
various stages of recuperation, but he didn't see any uniforms and
anyone that moved like a man used to fighting...not that he actually
expected to see them out there at this point.

But the lack
of any direct attack on him...it didn't make sense. Why weren't they
going to press the advantage? He was sitting here, waiting. He was
an easy target right now. Hell, if he wanted to get to someone in a
room like he was holed up in here, there would be no issue. He'd
have gone in right away. The lack of any attack unnerved him. As
the minutes passed, one after the other, Ed began to question what he
saw. Could he have mistaken those men for someone else? Was he just
seeing what he wanted to see? Maybe his dream from this morning was
playing on his nerves.

With a sigh,
Ed sagged against the window, letting the tension go. Then he bit
his lip, thinking hard. Or maybe it wasn't just his mind playing
tricks...

Ed frowned
at the floor, then at the door. Pushing himself away from the wall,
he slowly headed for the door. If they were waiting for him to
move...they would be waiting just outside the door, read to pounce
and get him unawares. They might be sneaky like that. He didn't
like that kind of fight. If it wasn't in your face, it wasn't a fair
fight. Tricks were playing dirty in his book. Ed snorted to himself
as he neared the door. Okay, being a hypocrite, he could deal with
that. How often had he used dirty tactics in a fight? Too many to
count.

He rested
his right hand on the brass door knob. Ed turned the handle and
pulled the door inside the room feeling as though the trap was about
to close on his neck. The scalpel was gripped tightly in his left
hand as he walked out of the room, shooting glances all around him at
once. Again he was surprised to see that there were no identical
looking men in British uniforms, nor were there any men with a scar
down his face anywhere in sight.

In
confusion, Ed turned around in a circle searching amongst the few
people in the corridor with a deep frown on his face. Where the fuck
was the attack? If they were here then shouldn't they be jumping
him? He didn't understand. What was going on?

“Hey!”
said Ed, pulling on a passing nun's arm, making her look at him
passively.

“Yes,
my son?” the matronly nun asked. Her eyes quickly swept down
his body and then back up to his face. Out of habit, Ed shoved his
right hand into his pant pocket before she could see his auto-mail.

“Did
you see any men hanging about around here? Maybe two guys in British
uniforms?” asked Ed gruffly not liking the way she was staring
at him, like he was a misbehaving boy. It had been eons since he
last considered himself a boy and resented that she saw him as such.

“No,
my son. I have not seen any men like this. You look burdened.
Would you like to make confession? The priest will be in the
hospital chapel for mass—”

“No,”
said Ed, leaving no room for doubt that he meant what he said. He
wasn't about to entertain such an idea or let her think there was a
chance to 'save his soul'. He didn't need that rubbish.

“Very
well, my son. God bless you,” she said, making the cross
before moving away down the corridor. Ed snorted after her.
Whatever, he didn't care about her, but what was coming. He looked
down the corridor searching the few people in sight but none were the
right size, or wearing the right things. If they were coming after
him, wouldn't they be here by now?

Maybe he was
imaging everything. It didn't make sense to leave him here for this
long if they were going to try and grab him. Had he really seen
those fucking weird twins? Or was it a trick of his over tired mind?
If he was seeing things then that would explain what he'd seen.
That was the only other explanation he could think of. He pulled his
right hand out of his pocket and cradled his forehead as his eyes
closed. Exhaustion was back making his mind slow. He couldn't seem
to understand any of this and the confusion was making him agitated.

“Edward?”
A hand landed on his left shoulder making him jump and whirl around.
He smacked at the hand, knocking it off his shoulder with the back
of his hand. He was about to lunge at the voice, turning his hand
over so that the thin blade faced the speaker when his mind caught up
to his body and saw Noa looking at him in shock.

“Noa?”
said Ed, feeling unsettled and disorientated. He didn't know if this
was another trick or if it really was Noa. He frowned at her, his
hand poised to come down on her face if she made the wrong move. He
studied her surprised face, looking for any inconsistency, any little
thing that wasn't supposed to be there. But, as his eyes roamed over
her face and then across her body, he couldn't find anything that was
'wrong'. Bewildered, Ed looked up at his hand, just now noticing
that he was poised to slash at his friend's face and took a step away
from her as he realized that he was about to attack her. He let his
hand fall back to his side.

“I'm
sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean...” stammered Ed, his right
hand covering his face again. “I'm sorry... Al's in there,”
he said, pointing to the room. Damn...he couldn't believe what he
had almost done. Noa patted his arm once, leaving him out here
without comment and for that he was grateful. He just wanted her to
leave him alone.

He was
falling apart and he knew it. Seeing things can't be a good sign and
he hadn't slept, a good sleep, in a long while. He couldn't even
recall clearly when he'd last slept. Everything was becoming jumbled
up and confused in his head. Letting his hand fall away, Ed turned
back to the room, pushing the half closed door open to find that Noa
had already claimed his chair and was holding Al's hand tenderly in
one of her own.

With a sigh,
Ed leaned into the wall and just watched as Noa brushed Al's hair out
of his face, murmured to him, and placed a light kiss on his cheek.
He studied the way the sun played with Al's hair, making it shine.
The light also showed how pale Al was, the color almost totally gone
from his face. There was a darkness under his eyes too that he
hadn't noticed until now. It made him wonder if he didn't look the
same. He certainly felt tired. The longer he watched Noa with Al
the more he felt that he was intruding on something he wasn't
supposed to see. He sighed again, pushing off the wall to head back
out into the hallway. He needed a break from in here anyway.

There was a
row of chairs a few rooms down from Al's. Ed claimed one for
himself, falling into the wooden chair with a thump. Leaning back
into the uncomfortable back, Ed folded his arms into his lap and
closed his eyes. His little scare had drained him more then he was
willing to admit. He wondered just how long stuff like that would
happen to him. Would he always be looking over his shoulder? Always
wondering if some crazy was looking for him?

Shifting on
the hard chair, he felt something prick at his leg, and looked down
to see the scalpel still in his hand. What in the world was he
thinking of, using a scalpel? He reached back and placed the small
blade on the ledge by the window and let his eyes close once more.
Once Al was better, then he'd rest.

- - - -

He couldn't
believe it. He was lost...again. Roy found himself suddenly without
Noa and lost inside a civilian hospital. It was laughable and he
would have done just that if it wouldn't drawn all sorts of
attention. All of it negative. He didn't need to be thought of as a
crazy person.

He had been
foolish enough to let a passing nurse coerce him into helping her.
Even though he was one handed, he was asked to lift a tray out off
the food cart she'd been pushing while she adjusted her patient into
a sitting position. After she was done, he had nodded at the woman
and went back out into the hallway. That was when he found that Noa
hadn't waited for him like he had thought and he hadn't paid any
attention to where the front desk had directed them.

Maybe if he
adopted Ed's attitude just a little bit women wouldn't find him such
an easy mark. He just didn't like how they insinuated their way into
his business; batting their eyelashes or implying that they were free
that evening.

Well, he'd
come from that direction, thought Roy, looking down the hall, so if
he went in the other direction, he should find Noa. Hopefully. He
set out, looking in the rooms as he passed hoping to catch sight of
either Noa or Ed to let him know he was on the right track. Maybe he
should ask one of the nurses that seemed overeager to catch his eye.

Now he was
looking down the hall as well as into rooms. As he passed down a
connecting hallway, he noticed two men coming towards him--British
soldiers by the looks of them. They were coming down on the left
side of the hallway, so Roy moved over to the right, letting them
pass. He nodded at them in acknowledgment, but stopped suddenly as
he recognized the men.

He was about
to call out when a cloth soaked in chloroform covered his mouth and
nose from behind.

- - - -

“Where's
the captain?” asked Noa, making Ed blearily open his eyes at
her.

“Huh?”
grunted Ed. He blinked in surprise to see that the sun was setting,
making the walls dark. He'd only just
closed his eyes, how did that happen? He had been aware of all the
noise and people moving around him, it wasn't like he'd actually gone
to sleep.

“Captain
Taylor accompanied me here. He said he was going to keep you company
while I visited Alphonse,” answered Noa, becoming concerned
which confused Ed.

“What?”
asked Ed, sitting upright and winching as his body protested this.
Falling asleep in a chair at twenty wasn't the same as falling asleep
at sixteen. He was definitely getting too old for this. He rubbed
at his eyes to help wake him up further.

“You
didn't see him at all?” wondered Noa.

“No,
why would I?” asked Ed. His brain, he knew, wasn't keeping up
like it should. There was something wrong, Noa was telling him that
something was wrong, but he just couldn't seem to grasp the concept
that there really was
something wrong.

“Edward,
please focus,” said Noa, standing from the chair beside him and
looking down the hallway. “He was right behind me. I thought
that... I didn't look to see if he was with me when I came up to
you, but I just assumed... Do you think he went back to the base?”

“I
don't know. Why would I know what he does?” asked Ed, feeling
petulant. He wasn't Roy's keeper, so why ask him?

“Edward,
please go look for him. He's not really supposed to be out of bed.
What if something happened to him?” Noa turned back and he
felt like he was being scolded for something he didn't even do, but
he was too weary to argue.

“Fine,”
said Ed, pushing on his legs to stand. “Watch Al for me,”
he said as he strolled down the hallway, raising his arms over his
head to ease out the kinks in his shoulders and upper back.

- - - -

Roy awoke
shivering. It was dark and cool, and he was lying on an even colder
metal, but then there was something strange in the fact that he could
feel the coldness all along his body. Hands pulled at his arms and
legs. His eyes opened reluctantly to a dim room.

“Ugh,”
grunted Roy, his throat feeling dry and rough. He blinked at the
ceiling. The pawing became harsher. He swallowed to try and bring
his throat back into working order.

“Well
captain, it seems that it'll just be the two of us for the moment,”
an accented voice told him. “No, leave the neck restraint off
for the moment. Are his hands secure?”

“Yes,
Seniore,” a second, younger sounding voice said.

Roy lifted
his heavy head to look for the source of those voices. They sounded
familiar but the fog in his mind was making him slow to react and
process his surroundings. Three men stood before him at the end of
the platform—no, table—he was kneeling on. Two of the
men looked alike, and the third had a scar running down his face. He
blinked at the men staring at him in confusion and then just like
that it all slid into place.

“What
is this?” demanded Roy, yanking at his restraints, testing
them. He looked at the smirking faces and growled. “I thought
you were dead!” he hissed, hiding his growing anxiety with his
bravado. He looked down his chest to find himself stripped of all
his clothes but his underwear. At the moment he couldn't really feel
his shoulder, but with each passing second he grew more and more
aware of the pain.

“Ah,
exaggerations I assure you,” said the Seniore moving around to
stand beside Roy's right side. With a condescending smile, the
Seniore reached out his hand towards Roy's bandaged arm. Very
lightly he picked at the white tape holding down the gauze and then
looked Roy in the eye. “Did you know that the human body is
one of the more resilient life forms on Earth?”

Roy kept his
silence, holding the pit of fear working its way around his stomach
from showing on his face. The Seniore looked along his positioned
body with a interest that sickened him as well as added to his
apprehension.

“I
must say, my
Edward does have good taste,” said the Seniore, his eyes still
raking over his body.

“Your
Edward?” growled Roy, hating the possessive note in this man's
tone. He glared daggers at the man hoping that somehow, God would
grace him with a miracle and all three of these men would suddenly
have heart attacks and drop dead.

“Yes,
quite.” The Seniore reached out his hand, almost casually, and
ripped the bandage from the front and then the back of his shoulder
making the irritated flesh pull. Roy hissed. “My
Edward. But when he realizes you're gone, I'm sure he'll come
looking for you. Shall we demonstrate just how resilient you can be
for him?” The Seniore fingered the red, puckered flesh and the
black stitches, pulling them this way and that. Roy closed his eyes
against the dull pain shooting up his arm, making him sweat even in
the chilled room.

To his great
surprise a clap of leather on the table jerked him out of his silent
suffering and opening his eyes wide to see both twins with their
belts off. Roy looked between the two men who were moving to flank
him on either side.

“Do
you know,” asked the Seniore. “That I've already had a
taste of what Edward has to offer? Very sweet, and oh, so tight. I
can't wait until I can ram into to that fine body.” Even as
the Seniore finished saying that, he was nodding at the twins.

“You
fucking bastard!” yelled Roy even as the belts rained down on
his exposed chest with the full force his tormentors could muster.
He strained against the ties on his wrist as the pain lanced through
his body. The pain went from sharp and twisting to a dull buzzing
along the strikes. The twins stayed their hand, looking to the
Seniore.

“I
can understand how you might be upset that I got to Edward first.
You wanted that honor, did you?” whispered the Seniore into his
ear. Roy let his eyes flutter closed, feeling hatred like he'd never
known before make his skin crawl. He was shaking with pain that made
the table rattle slightly under him, filling the empty room with its
noise. “Well, I'm sorry to say that you won't taste it at
all.”

The belts
cut new streaks of pain, one over his chest the other on the tops of
his thighs. His cry got caught in the back of his throat. Thrashing
in his bonds, Roy choked down the pain, forcing his eyes open to
glare at the man near his head.

“If
you like, you can watch as I take Edward at your feet,” said
the Seniore, smiling serenely at him as another round marked him.

- - - -

Ed rounded
the corner and headed down the next hallway, looking in any open
doorways for a dark-haired man that liked to play with fire. But as
he worked his way towards the front of the building without seeing
any sign of Roy, he began to ask nurses if they knew anything or saw
someone matching Roy's description pass this way. He backtracked,
heading towards Al's room again, asking the nurses if they had seen
Roy pass, and with each conformation he became more worried.

“Ah,
ma'am, did you see an American solider with his arm in a sling pass
by here? He's about this tall, with really black hair, and dark
eyes,” asked Ed again. The same question over and over.

“Oh,
yes. I've seen him. Very dashing, he was,” said the young
woman with a small smile.

“Hm-hmm,
did you see where he went?” wondered Ed, getting impatient. It
seemed that Roy attracted the female population just as easily as
Mustang did...dammit. That made him...annoyed.

“I
did. Two British soldiers came and got him and you know, they must
have been twins, because they looked exactly alike,” the nurse
said. “Then their friend came along, and just in time, too.
The poor man, his shoulder must have been bothering him, because he
collapsed. Luckily, the three of them were able to help him.”

Ed felt his
heart stop dead. It really did miss a beat before it started again,
pounding hard and fast. “Where did they go,” he asked
breathlessly. His hand was tingling with pins and needles, making
him rub his palm along his pants.

“I
think they headed for the stairs. And If I'm not mistaken, they
mentioned the morgue. But I don't think that's right because all
soldiers would be taken to the military morgue, though why anyone
would want to go there to recover—”

Ed
didn't stick around to hear what else she might tell him because he
was already running down the hall towards the nearest staircase. How
long had Roy been with those guys? He shot past an elderly couple
making their slow, ponderous way down the middle of the corridor, and
past a nurse pushing a trolley. Weaving in and out until he slammed
into the stairwell door, throwing it open with a crash. What would
they do to him while he had been sleeping? They surely wouldn't kill
him...he would be a good way to control him. Ed was sure
that Roy would be alive!

He
took the stairs two at a time. It wasn't as if this was a large
building or had many floors, but the thought of Roy getting hurt
because of him...it made his skin crawl, and his stomach drop through
his toes. Skidding to a stop in front of the basement door, Ed took
three large breaths in order to instill a bit of calm before he found
whatever was awaiting him. He dreaded
what was waiting for him... He
really hoped that Roy was alright...

Reaching
out, he twisted the handle and pulled the door inside with him;
getting his first look of the darkened, dim hallway. He pulled the
door closed behind him and waited for his eyes to adjust, though he
was loath to waste the time like this. While he strained his eyes to
pick out any movement, he listened hard. He could hear the internal
workings of the building, the furnace, the faint buzz of electricity,
but nothing else. No cries of pain, no gloating half heard
comments...nothing. It unnerved him...

Looking both
ways, Ed eased away from the staircase door towards the left, sliding
along the wall. The way to the right ended in a dead end. His
breath echoed loudly in his ears, and his step seeming even louder.
It was hard to force himself to take slow, quite breaths through his
nose, and lighten his step. Ed held out his left hand before him,
just in case he ran into something in the dark, unawares.

As his eyes
adjusted further, he could now make out large metal stands pushed up
against the far wall that would most likely be able to hold a body or
two very easily. It was grim just thinking about what purpose these
carts served. Even the smell of formaldehyde had Ed picturing dead
bodies. It sent a chill down his spine.

Suddenly
there was a noise in front of him. Ed froze. Just now, he though
he'd heard something coming from down the next hallway. He strained
his ears to see if the noise would repeat itself. And there it was,
a soft cough; rough sounding. Ed slid along the wall more slowly
this time, watching for anything that might indicate a trap.

There was a
dim light coming out from under double swinging doors just in front
of him and he could hear the coughing again, still soft but
recognizable as Roy's voice. He shot a glance behind him, searching
the darkness for any sign of those twins or the Seniore, but nothing.
He didn't like this. It reeked of trap all over the place, but
there wasn't really an option. Roy was in trouble. He just knew
it...

Ed crossed
the hallway, feeling open and exposed in the middle of the corridor,
to peek in one of the small windows that was just out of his sight
line. He was forced up on his tip-toes and what he saw had him
gasping silently. Roy was stripped of his clothes down to his
underwear and was kneeling on a metal table. The faint light
highlighted one side of Roy's body, leaving the rest in darkness.
His arms were spread eagle, then pulled down, restrained with strips
of cloth and tied to the underside of the table, another strip around
his throat making him arch backwards. He could see that Roy was
sweating hard as he tried to hold the impossible position without
strangling himself.

And there
was blood.

Roy was
bleeding from his shoulder and it looked like lash marks from a belt
or other flat implement criss-crossed their way down to his thighs.
Each hard edge of those marks oozed little lines of blood that mixed
with the sweat until it dripped down to the table top. Ed scanned
the interior of the room, but the light was too poor to see anything
beyond Roy.

Roy coughed
again when he lifted himself up too far. Pressing his lips, Ed knew
there wasn't anyway he could make this situation any better. He was
fucked no matter what, but if he could save Roy from further torment,
then so be it. He pushed the door open, letting it swing loudly to
and fore behind him.

“Who's
there?” demanded Roy, twitching in his bonds. The table
rattled under him with a dull metal gong.

“Roy...”

“Edward!
What are you doing? Get out of here, that man—”

“So
good of you to come, my dear Edward,” said the Seniore from the
darkness. Ed turned towards the voice, suppressing a shiver of
disgust as the Seniore walked out into the light. The man's face was
transformed with bruises, his nose had a brace, and his lips were
swollen. “I found something of yours. You should really take
care of your possessions.” Roy growled low in his throat.

“So
does that mean you'll give him back, then?” demanded Ed,
frowning at the half lighted face. He glanced over at the table
quickly to see the muscles in Roy's neck and arms strain against the
ties.

“Edward,
don't—I know what you're thinking, but don't,” said Roy.
He tried to turn his head to the side in order to look at him but the
angle was all wrong. “I'm not worth it.”

Ed glanced
at the Seniore and saw the smile on his face, but it didn't look like
he was about to do anything at the moment, so he began to shuffle
closer to Roy. Ed groped for the edge of the table, the sound of his
hand knocking against it made Roy jump in his bonds again. He put
the table between himself and the Seniore, moving up to Roy's face.
He tilted his head down at Roy, not breaking eye contact with the
Seniore until the last possible moment.

“Ed,
don't, please,” begged Roy. “He-he told me. I'm sorry
but don't, please. Not for me.”

Ed felt his
face soften as he looked down into Roy's face. So, he didn't have to
tell him after all. But he didn't want Roy to know at all if he had
his way. He leaned forward, brushing the sweat soaked hair out of
Roy's eyes before capturing either side of his face in his hands. He
rested his forehead on Roy's with a sigh and looked into those dark
eyes. There was no choice. If he left now, Al, Roy, and Noa would
be safe. Why go after them if the Seniore already had him. There
would always be the unspoken threat of their safety to keep him in
line, and it would.

“Ed,
please,” begged Roy, softer this time. They stared into each
others eyes. Ed saw the silent plea in Roy's and countered it with
his reasons why he had to. He let his eyes slide closed.

“Roy,
I don't have a choice. I don't want to see you hurt because of me,”
said Ed, only loud enough for Roy to hear. This was going to be the
last time he saw any of them. What did he have to lose by risking it
all now? “I love you,” whispered Ed. He kept his eyes
closed as Roy gasped. He wasn't brave enough to see if Roy felt the
same.

“Oh
God, Ed—” choked Roy, yanking on his bonds hard. The
table clanged. “Don't say it like that! Like I won't see you
again!”

“This
is very touching, Edward. I'm most impressed,” simpered the
Seniore with an amused snort. Ed frowned at the reminder that the
Seniore was watching all this and enjoying his pain.

Slowly, Ed
opened his eyes to look into Roy's panicked ones. He saw it then,
the little spark of love returned to him. So small in both of them
at the moment, and now it would have no time to be something more.
His chest squeezed painfully as he looked into those dark eyes and
his resolve faltered. He couldn't do this without at least knowing
what it was like to kiss someone for love.

That
thought, that he wasn't even going to know what love was, made him
gasp at the welling of emotions inside of him, making him close his
eyes with a pained frown.

He did it
without a second thought. He leaned in, closing the distance between
them, lightly touching his lips to Roy's. It was tentative at first.
Ed hadn't ever kissed someone like this but for in his dreams, and
he didn't really know how. Then Roy caught his bottom lip, licking
it with his tongue, and Ed felt desire run though him like he didn't
know it could. Like two drowning men, they struggled with each
other, pulled each other closer with their lips alone; pouring all
their emotions into this one fiery kiss.

Ed broke
away first, letting his head rest on Roy's forehead, breathing hard.
He couldn't turn his back on this. How could he even think about
throwing this away? This was what he wanted, not the Seniore and his
weird hang-ups.

“Ed,
get me a spark and we can get out of this! Fight
them!” hissed Roy. He glared up at him with those dark eyes,
jerking in his bonds again to push his head off of Roy's. Ed stepped
back and looked at the Seniore and the slimy smirk he had. There was
a terrible glint in his eyes; one that made him sick to his stomach.

“Very
good show, Edward. I'm very pleased right now, almost enough to
suspend your punishment for all your insolence towards me. Boys.”
The Seniore raised his arm, motioning over Ed's shoulder.

The sound of
footsteps behind him had Ed looking over his shoulder to see the
fuck-up twins coming into the light. As he turned back, his eyes
scanned the room, looking for anything he could use against those
two. By himself, he didn't think he'd be able to take them both on
if they were going to be as strong as they had been before. He
needed someway to take one or both of them out at the same time.

A spark?
What could he use to make a spark? The only thing that came to mind
was the small lamp pointed at Roy. And then the twins. What to do
... He need to stall for time, he needed to think.

“Do
I have your word that you'll let Roy go if I come with you?”
asked Ed, moving away from the table towards the Seniore. “I
need to know that he'll be safe.” His eyes swept around the
sterile morgue taking in all the shelves, the glass beakers, the
doors to the cold storage for the dead bodies.

“Ed
don't do this! Think about Al!” yelled Roy angrily.

“I
am, Roy. And about you and Noa. It'll be okay, I know you'll be
fine,” said Ed, playing his part. He let his gaze fall to his
feet.

Roy made the
table clang again and growled, “You're being a fucking martyr,
and for what?” He could hear Roy cursing behind him under his
breath.

“Yes,
Edward. You will not have to worry about those other people anymore.
You need only think of me, pleasing me,” the Seniore said, a
smug smile spreading across his face. “You will belong to me
now. Come to me now.” He could hear the smile in the
Seniore's voice; enjoying the sight probably.

Ed felt
disgust as the man uttered those words. His every instinct was to
hurt the source of his anger as he had been hurt. His pride violated
in front of his brother, his friend, and Izzy; his body violated in
front of everyone. Forced to endure that man's touch otherwise his
loved ones would be hurt. It was unthinkable that he was brought so
low by someone who was so weak.

When
he raised his head to look at the man, he saw that the Seniore had
his hand extended towards him, palm up. “Fuck that!”
said Ed, abandoning his attempts at acting. He shook his head in
denial, his eyes landing on two large glass jars almost filled to the
brim with formaldehyde and cadaver saws resting beside them on a
clean cloth. “You were 'lucky' the first time! There won't be
a second!” he told the man loudly, glaring at him.

“I
beg to differ. You're alone and I have him. You'll do what I want
or else!” growled the Seniore back. The Seniore hooked his
finger and Ed could hear the twins come closer.

“You
will never—” Ed took a step closer towards the Seniore,
angling for the table. “Ever!” growled Ed around
clenched teeth. His fists shook down by his thighs. “Touch me
again!”
The sheer amount of energy coursing through his system felt like it
was going to burst forth at any moment. It just needed something to
trigger it.

There was a
scuff behind him; Ed was already in motion before the sound could
finish. He was reaching out for one of the two jars on the table,
his fingers hooking around the large glass container just enough to
lift it from the table. Ed twisted his body around, pulling the jar
behind him until he sighted the twins moving at him. By the time his
arm made it into his peripheral vision, Ed let the jar fly towards
the twins heads. But he didn't stop there. Immediately after
throwing the jar away, Ed was picking up a bone saw from the table.

The glass
shattered on impact on arms raised in defense. The sound of glass
hitting the floor, as well as the liquid inside filled the room,
along with the acrid smell of chemicals. Ed rushed forward lunging
for the Seniore. Everything was happening so fast, that he Seniore
was just now reacting to the thrown missile at the twins. He didn't
even respond to the fact that Ed was now in his face brandishing a
weapon. However it wasn't his intent to use the weapon on the
Seniore; that was for freeing Roy.

Ed pulled
his left hand down to his right hip, twisting his body away from the
man. He shifted his weight, preparing to release his fist at the
Seniore's face. But he waited that one crucial moment for the
Seniore's attention to shift from the flailing going on behind him,
down to his wound up body. Once those eyes landed on Ed's determined
face, Ed unleashed his arm. It came out of the Seniore's blind spot,
swinging upwards towards the man's face. He never knew what hit him.

As the
Seniore reeled from the blow, Ed was already moving away from him,
shoving the twins away as he cut between them. With the amount of
chaos he'd created, he should be able to free Roy and get out of here
before they sorted themselves out.

“You
idiots! Get up! After him!” the Seniore yelled as Ed slid to
a stop beside Roy's table. He immediately began to hack through the
bindings holding Roy's arm down.

“Hurry,”
urged Roy, straining against the bindings.

“I
know,” hissed Ed, working hard. His hand was shaking too much
though, and he inadvertently dropped the saw to the floor, where he
had to fumble around and pick it up.

“What's
the matter with you!” screeched the Seniore. “Get him!”

“Oh!
Our eyes!” moaned one of the twins, echoed by the other one.
“Our eyes!”

Finally, Ed
was able to pick up the saw again and get back to work on Roy's
ropes. He dragged the saw back and forth, gritting his teeth and
hoped that he could get out of here soon. He wanted normalcy again.

“Oh,
no you don't,” growled the Seniore, pulling on Ed's shoulder to
whip him around. Ed crashed his hip into the table edge, winching at
the numbing pain that made his leg weak, inadvertently dropping the
saw to the floor in the process.

“Ed!”
Roy shouted, but Ed couldn't answer as the Seniore was already in his
face.

The
Seniore's hands were reaching for his neck and Ed just managed to get
his own hands up to grapple with him. The Seniore's hands inched
closer to his throat. Suddenly Ed was pulled away from the table for
one instant and then pushed back, his same bruised hip slamming into
the table edge. He grimaced in pain.

Ed hated
these kinds of fights. He had no room to move around or use his
speed. This was all about advantages now. The Seniore had a height
advantage which he was using to control him at the moment. Ed had
his auto-mail which was about the only thing that was preventing the
Seniore from squeezing his throat.

The Seniore
growled at him, pulling him away from the table and spinning him
around. Ed's feet got tangled up with each other as he became
disorientated. Falling slightly, Ed's lower back connected with
corner of a desk making him grunt while he glared up at the leering
face over his. He slid sideways off the desk, the force of their
turn not quite done with them yet as they toppled to the floor, Ed
absorbing the blunt of the impact as he was on the bottom.

For one
brief second, Ed became stunned from the drop, his hold loosening
just enough for the Seniore to throw off his hands and wrap them
around his throat. By the time Ed realized his error he was already
clawing at the grip around his neck franticly, natural panic setting
in when he couldn't breathe. His legs kicked out blindly seeking
purchase.

“You
little shit,” growled the Seniore, spittle dropping from his
mouth to land on Ed's cheek. The Seniore leaned forward, pressing
all his weight down over Ed's windpipe. “You ruined them!
What good are they now, huh?” Ed croaked at him, his eyes
rolling back. “I won't let you live for that, you unworthy
cunt!”
yelled the Seniore, lifting his head off the ground only to slam it
back into the floor.

The strength
Ed always prided himself on, the ability to handle anything that came
his way, was useless now. All the many ways teacher had drilled into
him about how to handle these situations forgotten. He'd waited too
long to throw off the body over him. Now, as the need for oxygen
became a distant necessity, Ed felt his hands slip away from those at
his throat and his vision dim. His mind ebbed away from things that
were happening around him and drifted. Letting his eyes close, he
even felt the fight leave his body and lay limply on the floor.

--To Be Continued--

Here it is! A shiny new
chapter! XD The only thing is, I don't know when the next one will
be ready, but I'll work hard on making it just as shiny as this one!!

Review? Please XD
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A Little Light of Love