Guilt of the One Left Behind [Ch 6] FMA Fanfic

Al was surrounded by darkness. He was like that for a very long time, or maybe it had been mere seconds, he wasn't sure. Regardless of how long he was under, after a little while, he heard something. It sounded muffled and far away, and for a while, he couldn't make it out. Slowly, as he began to fade back into consciousness, the voice became clearer. It was his brother's voice, and he was calling Al's name.

"…n you hear me?"

As the voice became clearer, it became more troubling to Al. Where was he? What happened? Where was Ed? He racked his brain for the answers, but came up blank. The recent past was nothing but a messy blur to him. He didn't even know where he was, and the only hint to his location was the old, damp, musty scent in the air, and the unsettling, strong scent of blood.

"A..onse…"

That's right, he was in the old warehouse that he was held captive in. He remembered Ed showing up to save him, he remembered the glow of the transmutation, but what had happened after that?

"...ay som… ing..."

He could smell the musty, old warehouse.

He could smell it.

He could smell.

"AL!"

"Ah!" Al squeaked as his eyes flew open. It took him a minute to adjust to all the sudden sensations after being isolated from them for so many years. Once his head was no longer spinning, he felt strong arms holding him tightly, and looked up to see his brother's concerned face. Amber eyes met gold, and both filled with tears.

"Brother…" Al choked out, his voice weak from years of not being used. He reached up and wrapped his arms around big brother as if he were his lifeline. And, he supposed, that was close enough to the truth.

Al had missed his brother's scent, a scent that made him feel safe and secure, especially now. He'd also missed the soft texture of his hair, which cascaded down Ed's shoulders and gently brushed against Al's cheeks as he held him. He must have lost his hair tie at some point, either before or after Al had blacked out, he couldn't remember. And although he couldn't hold on very tightly in this weak form, he clung to Ed with as much strength as he could manage, never wanting to let go.

The corners of Ed's mouth twitched up in a cautious smile as he looked down at his little brother's frail form. He'd done it. He kept his promise. Al was finally back to normal. Everything the two of them had gone through, all the pain, loss, and sorrow, hadn't been in vain after all.

The two were so immersed in the moment, they almost didn't notice one of the bodies lying on the ground behind them stirring. Ed's head quickly snapped around before the scientist in question could get any closer. Al, noticing the change in mood, strained his neck to look in the same direction as his brother.

He was a young man with spiky brown hair that stuck out in every direction, probably in his late 20s. He was visibly shaking and breathing hard. With his right hand, he clutched a deep cut on his left shoulder that was bleeding heavily. He also had many other wounds, including a few bruises, and a long cut that ran from his stomach down to his thigh. His current condition was most likely thanks to Ed, and he looked about ready to pass out from loss of blood.

However, there was strong determination in his eyes. Determination Al had so often seen in the golden eyes of his older brother.

As Al continued to study his appearance, he let his eyes trail down to his left hand. More specifically, the weapon that was grasped firmly in his left hand. It was a butcher knife. A rather large, rectangular piece of metal with a deadly, razor-sharp edge and a thick, black handle.

The man charged toward the two Elrics with his weapon extended. Ed gently lied Al down and stud to meet the sudden threat. As he watched his brother rush up to meet the man's attack, Al noticed a bright red liquid glistening on the sharp edge of the butcher knife. Al was sure that Ed had noticed it too, and Al's assumptions were proven correct when he watched his brother take careful care to make sure he blocked the weapon with his automail arm, keeping it from penetrating his flesh with the strange liquid dripping from its tip.

Al got the feeling that he had seen that red liquid before somewhere, but he couldn't remember where. Then again, he could just be imagining things. It was just a red colored liquid after all, there wasn't really anything unique about its appearance.

Al held his breath as he watched his brother fight. He was starting to get pushed back now, which wasn't surprising considering his condition and the fact that he was missing his automail leg. It was probably pretty hard to focus on fighting while also trying not to lose your balance.

Ed froze. Al didn't understand what was wrong at first, until he took a closer look. His brother's automail was finally at its limit, and he could no longer move it. It fell limp at his side and Ed cautiously took a step back from his opponent. The scientist noticed the blonde's change in confidence. With one quick move, he chopped off Ed's arm, wires now sticking out in various directions from the shoulder port.

With the sudden change in weight, Ed lost his balance and fell sideways to the floor. Al tried to reach for his brother, but he was too weak to do anything to help. However, much to the boys' surprise, the man turned away from the eldest Eric and took a few steps toward Al.

"Hey! What are you doing?! I'm your opponent! Don't you dare touch him!" Ed shouted hoarsely.

"This is the kid who was in the armor, right?" he asked, speaking for the first time. "You used the stone to get his body back, didn't you?"

Ed nodded slowly.

"That stone was my only chance! The Homunculi promised all of us anything we could wish for if we worked for them and were able to produce a successful philosopher's stone. This was my last chance to save my daughter! If I just had more money, I could afford to put her in a better hospital! They could have given me what I need!"

Ed used his left arm to lift himself, so he could sit up. "You're naive," he said in a hushed voice. His head was down and he was panting, his long bangs obscuring his face.

"What?" The scientist spun around at Ed's comment so he was facing him again.

"The Homunculi have no respect for humans. You can't trust them. They'll make you empty promises they never intend to keep. I wouldn't be surprised if they planned on killing each and every one of you once they got what they wanted." Ed finished and looked up, his gaze unwavering and filled with experience. "Even if they could give you what you needed to save your daughter, this isn't the way to do it. Killing hundreds of lives to save just one isn't right. No human has the right to take the life of another, we aren't gods."

The man turned his head away, lifting his arm to wipe away the tears that had begun forming in his eyes with his sleeve. "What do you know? You're just a kid."

The three stayed in silence for a few moments, until the man lifted his weapon once again. "They might have still been willing to help me. It was my last chance, and you stole it away!" He was now being driven by anger and his own delusional thoughts. He needed someone to direct his anger toward, and the Elric brothers seemed like the perfect target.

Once again, facing toward Al, he raised his weapon and prepared to end the younger Elric's life. Al tried to get up but he was still too weak to move, not to mention paralyzed in fear. He squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself.

A while passed, but nothing happened. No pain. Instead, Al felt a something warm drip on his face. He opened his eyes cautiously, and saw his brother standing in front of him. He didn't realize what was happening at first, until he took a hand to whip the warm liquid off his face. When he brought his hand in front of his eyes, it was red. Blood. His brother's blood.

Al looked up in horror to see the butcher knife had been plunged straight into Ed's chest. Seemingly in surprise, the scientist had let go of the handle and took a step back. He hadn't been expecting Ed to jump in front of Al to protect him like that. After the initial adrenaline and anger that had been driving him wore off, it almost appeared to be a look of guilt had flashed in his eyes for a moment, but Al couldn't be sure.

Ed, his body still shaking, grabbed the handle of the knife and pulled it out of his chest. With one quick movement, he bashed the handle of the weapon into the man's head, knocking him out cold.

That's when Ed collapsed.

Al summoned every ounce of strength he had in his frail body, finally managing to get himself up off the ground. He crawled over to his brother's side, lifting him in his arms.

"B-brother!" Al screamed weakly, tears streaming down his face. Tears mixed with blood dripped onto the ground around the two brothers as Al held Ed close.

Ed looked up at his younger brother, his eyes trying desperately to focus on his face. "Al… don't cry," he whispered. "Everything's gonna be okay."

Al sniffed, his tears beginning to blur his vision. "No Ed, it will never be okay, not unless I have you with me! Don't leave me like this! You're my big brother, I need you!" Al squinted his eyes shut as sobs racked his fragile body.

"Al… don't… say that… you need to live… no matter what happens to me…" Ed insisted, his voice growing weaker.

"No! You're not going to die, brother!" Al screeched.

That's when Al heard the sound of the warehouse's large, sliding doors opening and the squeak of footsteps on the old, warped, wooden floor. Only a few moments after that, he heard the Colonel's voice.

XxXxXxXxX

"…and then you guys showed up. You know what happened from there," Al finished, looking up at Roy expectantly.

Roy took a deep breath. With this new information, they now had a chance at saving Ed. "Thank you for your help Alphonse. I promise to do everything in my power to make sure Fullmetal pulls through this. Doctor?"

Grant nodded. "As will I. We must head out to the scene of the crime immediately to find the butcher knife you described."

Their words seemed to reassure Al slightly, and Roy was glad for that. He didn't want this to cause the boy too much stress. Hopefully, he would stay positive and it would all work out fine in the end. If only Roy could follow his own advice, he had never been a particularly optimistic person.

"I'll call Hawkeye and tell her to bring my car around to the Hospital. Then we can get going," Roy said to the Doctor.

"Alright. You can use the phone at the front desk," Grant suggested. Roy nodded and started for the door to make the phone call.

XxXxXxXxX

The long drive back to the warehouse seemed to last even longer than last time. Every second wasted was another second of Ed's life being in danger. Roy only hoped that they'd be able to find the weapon, so the Doctor would be able to find a cure.

At least it hadn't taken long for Hawkeye to pick them up. He could always count on her. Not wanting to waste a single second, they had hopped in as soon as she had arrived, letting her take the wheel. She probably had a better memory of how to get there anyway since she was driving last time as well.

Hawkeye parked the car on the side of the road and hurried out the door. Roy and Grant followed her lead, the three of them rushing toward the familiar, large, wooden doors. There was caution tape surrounding the building and several people dressed in military attire standing around it, most likely in the investigation team. The men were most likely there to stop silvans from entering, despite the emptiness of the town, but they didn't do anything to stop the three of them from entering once they spotted Roy and Riza's uniforms.

Once they'd made it inside, Roy began to notice some things he hadn't noticed the last time he'd been here. Last time he'd been so preoccupied with trying to save Ed and get him and his brother to a hospital, that he hadn't paid much attention to the actual crime scene. Now that he looked closer, he could see a detailed transmutation circle drawn on the ground, underneath the layers of splattered blood, just like Al had described.

He took a few more steps into the building, searching for the object that could possibly be the key to Edward's salvation, when his eyes landed on a busted up piece of metal that resembled the shape of an arm. He kneeled down and picked it up to examine it more closely. This was definitely Ed's automail arm. It was really beat up and nearly in pieces, but he could still see the outline of the grill and and the distinguishable shape of the hand and fingers. One thing was for certain though, there was no way it was still functional.

Setting the arm back down, Roy let his obsidian eyes scan the room once more. This time, he found what he was looking for. Lying just a little ways from where he'd found the arm, was a large butcher knife with a thick, black handle. Roy rose to his feet and hurried toward the silver object. Once again, he knelt down, wanting to get a better look at it just to make sure it was the right one. When he looked closer, he noticed a red liquid pooling around the sharp edge of the knife. This is what they'd been looking for.

With renewed hope and excitement, Roy called the doctor over. "I found it! Come take a look!"

Grant turned toward Roy when he heard him calling his name and hurried over to his side. "You're right, it looks just like Alphonse described." He took a quick glance behind him, eyes scanning the room to make sure there wasn't any weapons similar enough to be confused with the one they were kneeling next to. "I just need a few samples of this red liquid, then we can head back to the hospital," he said as he pulled a few test tubes out of his coat pocket. While he was getting the samples, Roy went to talk to the head of the investigation team to authorize the removal of evidence from the crime scene.

XxXxXxXxX

The drive back was more relaxed then the drive to the warehouse. Roy, Riza, and Grant were all more at ease now that the object of importance had been retrieved, but there was still a tense sense of urgency in the air. It wasn't over quite yet, not until they found a cure for whatever this strange poison was.

Several hours later, Riza was finally able to pull into the parking lot of the hospital. The three of them wasted no time at all getting out and hurrying toward the front doors. They walked through the halls briskly with Grant in the lead, followed by Roy, with Riza taking up the back.

On their way to Ed's room, they ran into a nurse. Literally, ran into. She fell to the floor, dropping the sheets she had been carrying, as well as a few bottles of pills and other types of medicine. Grant apologized and helped her up while Roy and Riza kneeled down to gather up the items she dropped and hand them back to her.

"I'm so sorry, I'm such a klutz! I was in such a hurry that I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," The nurse apologized, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

"It's quite alright, we were in quite a hurry as well. It's not your fault," Grant assured her. "Now then, why were you in such a hurry?"

The nurse looked up, brushing her short orange hair out of her face. Her hazel eyes widened suddenly, as if she just now realized who she was talking to. "Dr. Grant! You're the one I was looking for actually," she exclaimed.

Grant's brows furrowed in contemplation. "You were looking for me? Why, has there been an incident with one of my patients?"

Roy's breath caught in his throat and he froze. Could something have happened to Ed? Were they too late to save him? Was he… was he… dead? No, that couldn't be it. Roy chastised himself for jumping to conclusions. Grant was a very accomplished and well known doctor around Central, he had many patients other than the Elric brothers. There was only a very small chance of it being about Ed.

"Yes, that's right. It involves a Mr. Edward Elric," she replied.

Well. So much for those odds.

"What happened? Has his condition worsened?" Grant asked her calmly.

She stood up and began walking back the way she had come. "Well, come see for yourself," she told them, beckoning with her hand for them to follow her. Once they reached Ed's room, she reached for the nob, but paused before opening the door. "It's not that his condition has worsened, it's…" She opened the door. Roy peaked inside with apprehension, dark eyes reluctantly making their way to the bed.

It was empty.

The nurse turned to face the three of them again. "Mr. Edward Elric has gone missing."