Slave Driven

Disclaimer: I Don't Own FMA In Any Way.

Rating: PG-13 and Older Due to Bad Language, Some Sexual Themes and Scenes of Torture.

A/N: This story was inspired by Chapter 74 of the FMA manga where Hoenheim is a slave. This story will mostly be manga-based; it's when Ed and Al have Al's body restored finally. Ed still has Automail limbs. Ages will be revealed within the story itself :) Have a happy read…

F----------------M----------------A

This had been so annoying. What the hell did he have to come here for? Edward Elric, 18, sighed through gritted teeth as he stepped off the horse that had carried him at least halfway to Xing. The first half was walked and the horse was picked up in the ruins of Xerxes. Some archeologists were there with their own mounts and had given a couple to Ed and the other military officers with him, as long as an escort came back with the horses later.

The agreement was made and Ed, along with three other military officers, took the mounts and had now arrived in Xing. The Elric rubbed some sweat off his forehead and proceeded on removing his black jacket. He supposed he could walk around with his Automail showing, as long as it meant staying in a much cooler black tank top. Pulling the jacket around his neck for the moment, he removed the small baggage from the horse he was riding. He was still part of the military and he had an assignment by a higher-up to bring the package to Xing and drop it off.

The assignment was for him to go to the place with three escorts. He found it suspicious, though, that they didn't let his younger brother tag along. Al went with his older brother everywhere but the higher-up said only the three soldiers he would provide could come. He found it somewhat iffy but dared not ask what may have been the matter. It was a fairly simple assignment and he just wanted to get it over with so he could return to his home in Central along with Al and Winry. He felt bad leaving the two alone, especially now that Al had joined the military as well.

Ed had tried his best to support his little brother when he said he would join. The younger wasn't a State Alchemist but was currently serving as a Second Lieutenant to Roy Mustang. He was still against his only brother being in the military but he always put on his best face for the younger. He was also secretly grateful that the young Elric was a subordinate to Mustang. The Flame Alchemist knew the two of them well and he also knew that Ed would murder him if Al was ever put in danger or if his life was put on the line.

Edward threw the package over his shoulder and looked back to the three military officers who had accompanied him. He hadn't really given much thought on the trio; they were rather quiet on the trip over here and followed any minor orders he gave them. Just as he looked to them, though, they were mumbling something from one to another. One of them saw him staring at them and he quickly slapped the other two on the arms, in a way that said 'shut up!' Ed found it somewhat odd and he suddenly got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Maybe it was nothing but, then again, maybe it was everything.

He tried his best to ignore it for now.

"C'mon," he called to them and began walking. "The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go home," he complained. He distinctly heard the three voices of the men shout 'yes sir!' before he heard some minor rustling and then boots heading his way. He didn't look back but could easily feel their presence behind him. He shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small paper.

Managing to unfold it with one hand, it opened and revealed a smallish map. On it was marked the position Ed had to get to get to. He looked up and back to the map, finding a few landmarks that matched that of the map in his hand. He continued walking, simply following the path he had already chosen. He almost crashed a few times but he soon made a sharp turn left, into an alley between two buildings.

It wasn't long after that he stopped, right in the middle of the alleyway. He looked up and around before his brows furrowed in confusion.

"This can't be it…" he mumbled. "This has to be a mistake, it should be right here," he said, mostly to himself. He looked over his shoulder but was surprised when he didn't see his escorts there. He raised a brow and dropped the package over his shoulder to the ground, letting his jacket fall as well. He looked all over the area and saw no one.

Apprehension was growing within him as he noticed the Sun was extremely close to setting. He looked back to where he had originally entered.

"Officer's, fall back!" he ordered heatedly. Nothing. The feeling from earlier returned; his stomach was growing uncomfortable, as was he. From the opposite direction, he suddenly heard the sound of boots heading his way. He looked over towards the sound and saw one of the officers coming to him.

"Sir!" the man said as he stopped in front of the young man and pulled a quick salute. Ed shrugged, untrustingly.

"Where are the others?" he demanded angrily.

"They've gone ahead, sir. They felt you could find the place yourself but I was sent after you had taken some time," the officer explained.

"According to the map that general gave me, this is the place," Ed replied suspiciously. "And I've just got here."

"That's correct, Major Elric," the military official stated, his voice suddenly turning dark. Ed widened his eyes, somewhat anxiously.

"What do you mean?" he asked in a low, paranoid voice. The officer simply grinned manically at the teen before him. Before Ed could even give it a second thought, a silent gunshot rang out in his ears and a painful pinch was felt in his back. He screamed from the pain and looked over his shoulder to the smallish needle that had struck him. His eyes widened; it looked like tranquilizer ammo.

He turned back to the officer, breathing heavily and glaring.

"What the hell!?" he seethed through gritted teeth. He struggled to stay standing as the fluid was already seeping into every vain in his body, making his muscles go weak. He suddenly felt so tired. Before he could get his answer, he shrugged lowly before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out. The officer caught the teen in an arm and chuckled quietly.

"Good little Alchemist," he mumbled teasingly. He reached over and pulled out the needle from Ed's back. He threw the small arrow on the ground and stomped on it with his foot. The sound of cracking and breaking came before the Military Official let the Elric's limp body fall to the ground.

"Slave Drivers will pay big for you, Fullmetal."

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"What!?" a very pissed off Colonel Roy Mustang screamed a few days later in his office back in Central. The officer before him showed little emotion to the man's outburst. "What do you mean kidnapped!?" the higher-ranking officer demanded.

"Sir, a group of military rebels kidnapped him and took him as hostage. They said they would kill him within the next few days," one of the escorts who had taken Ed to Xing explained.

"And you three did nothing to help!? The Fullmetal Alchemist is one of my most skilled Alchemist's, what the hell!?" Mustang ordered, pounding his fists onto his desk. The officer hung his head low, as if ashamed.

"They said if we even tried to help, they would kill us as well," he explained. The Colonel growled irately. Such pathetic subordinates he had, who couldn't even risk their lives to try and save another. Why the hell would they join if they didn't prepare to die!?

"Get out of my sight and send Alphonse in," he ordered through gritted teeth as he sat back down and tried to calm himself.

"Yes sir," the other man said and bowed before walking out of the office, closing Mustang's door behind him. The Flame Alchemist couldn't believe it. Edward Elric was kidnapped by rebels and was most likely dead. It sounded improbable but the man that was traveling with the Elric had just told him. Edward could be dead.

"You wanted to see me, sir," a young boy's voice asked as he stepped into the ebony-haired man's office. Mustang looked up to the younger Elric with tired and stressed eyes.

"Come in, Al," he mumbled quietly, bringing his hands under his chin. Alphonse, 17, stepped in, closing the door behind him, and walked up to the man's desk, bowing respectfully as he did.

"What's wrong, Colonel?" he asked curiously. The higher-up sighed into and looked up to the younger. Suddenly, the picture of this poor boy when he finds out that his brother is possibly dead filled his head and he mentally panicked. He couldn't take that; the destruction of ones soul because the death of another. Another picture filled his head; the face of Winry Rockbell with the same sadness in her eyes.

He swallowed a lump in his throat and stood up.

"Alphonse," he said, trying to sound as formal as possible.

"I have an assignment for you."

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It was dark. It was dark and cold. His flesh wrist was in so much pain from being hung like this. It had been like this ever since he had woken up from being tranquilized. He was hung with his arms wide apart.

His chest was bare and he had been in nothing but his black pants and boots. He was tired from standing for so long; three days to be exact. The only light he ever saw was when they came to feed him. Sadly, there was never enough light to see who the hell had done this to him. He had simply resorted to flinging an Automail leg for a while after the stranger's had fed him.

He would then scowl at them but he soon learned that kicking them was a mistake. Defiance always had a cost. After he kicked them, the people would punch him either in the face or in the gut; or both. Either way, it was a cheap shot, seeing as he was restrained. Not that they cared, apparently.

Cowards, Ed thought heatedly as he tried to get comfortable within the restraints of his metal shackles. His flesh arm was so tired; he didn't even feel like moving it. It had been three days and he still didn't know what the bastards wanted with him. All he knew was that he was trapped. Trapped and there was a slim to no chance of someone saving him.

His fate lay within the hands of his captors. He would either die or live by their hands. Ed had no choice but to play along. He was tied and unable to perform Alchemy. He was stripped of any small articles on his body that he could've used in any way as a tool or weapon; even his pocket watch was confiscated.

He just stood there and waited. He didn't know what to wait for. Freedom? Answers? He just didn't know.

His eyes felt so heavy and tired. He hadn't been able to sleep that well, mainly because of his current position. But he was getting rather annoyed. Hell, he's been annoyed ever since he arrived in Xing. He knew this was all planned and that just ticked him off so badly.

He remembered getting shot with tranquilizer ammo. The moment he passed out, however, was the moment that he couldn't remember anything. He had many questions but, when he asked, he was either punished or ignored. They were treating him like a damn animal. No, he was lower than an animal right now; animals were protected from this kind of abuse by law.

But, then again, so were humans. He sighed and let his eyes close. He couldn't do anything for the moment but stand and wait. Wait for his fate to be chosen.

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A/N: Please R&R, constructive criticism, no flames :) thanks! ;) There will be artwork in the future for this particular story that I will post on my DeviantART page if anybody's interested ;)