Author's note: You'll probably notice some of the speech is from the anime, this is because I'm keeping as close to the episodes as possible, until later in the story. I won't bother with Winry's side story, since that's not going to be any different.

Enjoy!

Ed gingerly pulled his jacket sleeve back up his arm, clenching his teeth when he reached the source of his discomfort. He knew that everyone was watching him with bated breath, and it was annoying the hell out of him. Sure, he'd just shown them that he was rotting from the inside out, but that didn't mean they had to watch him like he would shatter at any moment.

"It only hurts around the edges," Ed explained to Riza, who looked like she was about to faint.

While it would have been something to see the one and only Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye faint, Ed didn't want his condition to be what caused it. He'd always imagined her fainting because the colonel had done something, like ask her out. Of course he doubted that something like that would faze the lieutenant.

Riza swallowed and inhaled deeply, trying to steel herself against the light-headedness. She looked sorrowfully at Ed's shoulder, saddened that the young man had accepted this as his fate.

"How long have you known about this, Fullmetal?" Roy Mustang asked coldly, obviously not happy at finding out about this situation now.

"I saw the first signs of the rot just before I went into the practical part of the State Alchemist Exam," Ed replied nonchalantly.

"Three years?" Breda asked disbelievingly.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Mustang demanded.

"Back then the rot was only this big," Ed explained, holding up his automail hand up with his thumb and forefinger together to form a small circle. "Besides, what could you have done?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Al whined despairingly. "You could have died at any moment, and I wouldn't have known why."

"Al..." Ed sighed as he looked at his brother. "If I had told you, you'd have been scared that I might keel over at any second. I didn't want you to worry."

"Brother, you should have told me," Al scolded. "If I'd known, nothing would have stopped me from finding a Philosopher's Stone. And when we find one, we're going to heal you."

"Al! Didn't I just say that a Stone won't be of any use?" Ed protested. "This is something the Gate's done to me, and even if the Stone could help; it would have to deconstruct the parts of me that are rotten, and then reconstruct them into healthy tissues and organs. It would probably use up the whole Stone."

"Then we'll just have to look for another one for me," Al countered.

"Al. I'm going to use the Stone to bring you back to the flesh, that's all I care about! I don't care about what happens to me," Ed answered hotly.

"Edward..." Roy spoke quietly, defusing the argument between the brothers. "Do you know how compromised you are inside?"

Ed stared at Mustang for a moment trying to interpret what the man meant. He looked down, trying to think of an appropriate answer. As much as he thought, nothing came to mind, apart from being honest.

"No," Ed answered finally. "It'd be silly to think that it's not in every part of me, including my brain."

Roy didn't speak, no one did. They all listened silently, taking Edward's words slowly and understanding everything.

"I don't know how degraded the inside of me is," Ed continued solemnly. "It seems that everything decays at different rates. My nerves are the slowest to rot."

"Does-" Kain swallowed awkwardly. "Does it hurt... much?"

"Not really," Ed smiled wistfully. "I just notice that that part of me doesn't feel anything anymore."

Inside Al's armour, Martel had her eyes clamped shut and tears were still flowing down her cheeks. She had her hands over her ears and wished that she wasn't sitting in a metal suit where sound was beautifully resonated and amplified. She didn't want to hear anymore, she couldn't bear to.

"Let me out Al, I'm gonna hurl," she whimpered quietly.

Of all the things that had happened to her, to her friends and comrades, hearing this speech so dispassionately from a kid was more than she could take. When she had been in Laboratory 5, no one had taken their treatment willing, and all had fought to some degree. But here she was, trapped in a military base inside a metal suit, listening to someone not even half her age talk calmly about how they were losing their body in the most grotesque manner that she could not even have imagined in all of her darkest nightmares.

Alphonse had heard her plea for freedom, but knew that he couldn't move. As much as he wanted to let Martel out of his armour, he couldn't leave the room without drawing suspicion, or at the very least, curiosity. He looked to the door and then back to his brother, hoping that Ed would catch the message.

"Al and I are gonna bunk up," Ed announced, getting to his feet. "Can I trust you not to tell anyone about this, Colonel?"

Roy didn't speak, but inclined his head in thought. He had no desire to let Edward continue to wonder about Amestris, but he wasn't sure how he could prevent that without letting the military know about Ed's situation. So far, he'd managed to keep the real reason as to why Ed had joined the State quiet. But, he wasn't sure how to keep this secret, and wondered if it was advisable that he keep it at all.

"What are we gonna do, sir?" Havoc's question broke through Roy's thoughts.

Roy looked up and realised that Ed and Al were gone, and had probably left a short while ago. He turned to observe his subordinates. To him, they all looked worried, understandably queasy, and very unsure of their next move.

Roy rested his elbows on the table, clasped his hands together and rested his chin and mouth on them. He remained like that for a few moments as he continued to contemplate their own situation now that they knew Ed's. Finally, he looked up at his team.

"For now, we'll keep this quiet."

Martel was a state when she finally made it out of Al's armour. Her eyes were red from her tears and the rest of her face was extremely pale. She looked like she was five minutes away from being violently ill, and neither Ed nor Al could blame her.

"Sorry you had to hear all that, Martel," Ed apologised. "I know it was none of your business."

"I... just need some air," Martel gasped.

She quickly retreated into the bathroom, and the brothers left her alone.

They sat on the beds and remained like that for a moment. Then, Ed flopped down onto his side and faced the wall, so he couldn't see his brother looking at him. However, he could still feel Al's gaze on his back, obviously wondering how much of his skin was already rotten, wondering how much damage was already there.

"Why didn't you tell me, Brother?" Al asked eventually.

"There's nothing you could have done, Al," Ed reminded. "I didn't see any point in letting you worry over something that you knew you couldn't fix."

"I guess..."

"Look Al," Ed propped himself up and looked back over to his brother. "I want you to promise me something."

"Wha- what Ed? Promise you what?" Al asked, straightening in his armour.

Alphonse had a nasty feeling that he knew what Edward wanted, and he feared it. He was more afraid of this request than when Ed had shown his rotting shoulder, more afraid than when he had been at the homunculus, Lust's mercy. He was more afraid than when he had knelt in front of the transmutation circle that had changed his and Ed's lives forever.

"Promise me that, when this is all over, you-"

The bathroom door opened and Martel walked in. She looked refreshed, her hair was a little damp and a water droplet fell from her chin. She stopped as soon as she'd stepped into the room, glancing between the two brothers.

"Did I interrupt something?" she asked rhetorically.

"I can't believe Ed's been hiding this from us for all this time," Kain muttered sadly. "They really don't know, do they, about what happened to Brigadier General Hughes?"

"Apparently not," Havoc replied, a fresh, unlit cigarette in his mouth. "I guess everyone's been keeping secrets."

"If the Colonel had told the boys half of it, they'd no doubt run back to Central in tears," Breda mused.

"Fullmetal's work is too important here," Falman agreed. "He can't-"

A book being slammed shut silenced Falman and everyone turned to Lieutenant Hawkeye

"The Elric brothers have entangled themselves in a very dangerous web," Hawkeye murmured. "And, now that we know about Edward's... problem, the Colonel wants them under his supervision now. That's the real reason he's keeping them close."

Riza stopped speaking and looked over to the approaching suit of armour. Everyone else followed her gaze as Alphonse walked up to them.

"Uh, you guys know where my brother went?"

Colonel Archer looked at the young man before him and smiled. This was going to be easier than he'd thought.

"I want you reporting directly back to me, that's very important," Archer ordered. "But as long as you agree to all the conditions that I've laid out, we have ourselves a deal."

The doors burst open and Colonel Mustang strode in. Archer could see why Mustang was called the Flame Alchemist; he could almost swear the man was smouldering.

"Edward, what are you doing in here?" Mustang demanded.

"Always overreacting, Mustang," Archer noted sarcastically. "Mr. Elric here has... requested to do some scouting for us in Lior."

"You're going to let one of our most prized State Alchemists to go sight-seeing?!" Mustang scoffed.

"It's his talents that make me confident that he'll come back in one piece," Archer replied calmly. "Right, Ed?"

Edward didn't look at Archer, or Colonel Mustang.

"He also knows the city's layout better than any of us do," Archer continued, unfazed by Ed's lack of response.

Mustang looked concernedly at Edward, wondering what was going on in that young alchemist's head. The fact that he now knew about Ed rotting from the inside didn't help him feel at ease with this either. There was no way Roy could tell how much of the Edward he knew was consciously making this decision.

"And don't worry about him going AWOL," Archer stated smugly. "He's leaving his brother here as collateral. As devoted as he is, I'm sure Edward won't run away and leave his little brother behind."

Mustang and Ed silently left Archer's office and walked down the corridor without saying a word. Mustang constantly looked over to Ed, who neither made eye contact nor seemed inclined to speak.

"Why the hell didn't you come to me?!" Mustang demanded angrily.

"Well, you wouldn't have said yes," Ed answered curtly.

"You're not thinking straight," Mustang quipped back, before realising the gravity of his words, and quickly thought up a reason for them. "You're upset because you just learned the truth about Lior."

Edward slowed his pace and then stopped. He heard Mustang stop behind him, obviously wondering what kind of reaction he would give. Ed knew that Mustang had only mentioned Lior to give another reason for not trusting him. If that was so, then he was happy to go along with that.

"And I wonder who I have to blame for that," he mused, turning to Mustang.

"And what about your problem?" Mustang asked as Ed turned away. "Did you tell Archer?"

"Why should I, so he can say no to me as well?" Ed queried, not looking at Mustang. "Why? You gonna tell him?"

"I promise you that I won't tell anyone, unless I absolutely have to," Mustang assured. "But be honest, Ed. Knowing that your body is rotting, do you really think that you can pull this 'mission' off safely?"

"We're about to find out now, aren't we?"

With nothing else to say, Edward walked down towards his room. He couldn't hear footsteps behind him, so he knew that Colonel Mustang was watching him. He couldn't help but worry about if the man was right.

Was he in any condition to go into Lior?