A/N Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, what do I have hereeee? I can't believe I finished this guys. It was like hell for me. lol. I started this last summer, in August, and it took me until now to finish it. And because it took so long, I look back at the first chapters and cringe. XD It's funny how writing styles evolve and improve. :)

Anyway, I just want to say I'm ecstatic right now, because I finally finished it and I'm breathing a million sighs of relief every few seconds! haha.

Just a little warning, though. I'm not too satisfied with the first few chapters, but that's only because they were written months ago and I feel like I've improved since then, so do expect some fast pacing (for the first chapter especially) and a bit OOCness. It gets better though, I promise. The first chapter is probably the one I'm less satisfied with, because it was written on a whim and I feel like the pace is horribly fast and not much is explained, but I promise everything will settle down really soon. :D

Enough with my babbling, enjoy! God, I hope you enjoy. This gave me hell...But I'd do anything for my babies. Now I'm off to start the other one I have in mind, haha. Pitiful XDDD

Chapter 1

Sweat trickled down Roy's brow as he ran down the small town's streets, eyes searching and alert, body tense and ready. The others followed behind him dutifully, not once complaining about the long run they had been forced into. Roy's fingers itched to snap at any given moment as the man they were following led them slowly but surely out of the town.

Abruptly, he took a sharp turn and Roy's crew skidded to an instantaneous halt, muscles screaming their protests.

"Over there, sir!" Hawkeye's sharp voice entered their ears, finger pointing left.

It only took one moment for Mustang's team to get back on track and they picked up their pace once more, heading for the way the infamous killer had gone.

Now, they were located out of town completely, endless grass and scattered trees being the only thing in front of them. Roy's eyes swept the scene, scanning for the man. His pace didn't falter as he ascended the steep hill in front of him, hoping for better luck.

"Damn it! Where is he?" he cursed to himself as he and the rest of the crew came to a halt at the top of the hill. Immediately they each took their respective battle position and prepared for another confrontation. Mustang's head went back and forth in an attempt to locate their hiding pray, but instead his eyes only took in the greenery. His mind calculated the distance to the two areas covered chiefly with trees on either side of them as a plan started forming in his head.

"Lieutenant." The Colonel addressed Hawkeye sharply and pointed at the small forest to the right. Hawkeye nodded curtly and started sprinting towards it, her arms outstretched in front of her, hands gripping the gun with all her might.

Mustang then turned to Havoc and Falman and motioned for them to follow Hawkeye, to which motion they complied.

"Breda, Fuery, and Alphonse you go to the other side, Fullmetal–with me." Roy's orders were precise and left no room for negotiation. The three aforementioned men gave a curt "Yes, sir!" and headed off to their assigned territory, while Ed remained behind the Colonel. When Roy started moving forwards, Ed followed, all the while keeping an eye out for the killer. He was a dangerous one and, judging from his past murders, he wouldn't hesitate to do in anyone if he found the opportunity.

They had run from the town all the way here, just trying to catch up to him. The orders Mustang had received back at Headquarters were urgent – coming directly from the Fuhrer – and all his subordinates hopped on the first train with him in order to pursue the serial killer. They soon found out though that he was good at slipping away, and gaining the advantage despite being outnumbered.

The two marched towards the end of the hill, until the Colonel abruptly halted and peered downwards. He sucked in a deep breath and took several steps backwards and Edeline, out of curiosity, craned her neck to get a glimpse of what Roy was looking at. She blanched.

It seemed like this was a rather sharp cliff, and at the bottom was the deep blue of the ocean water, its angry waves hitting and crashing against the rocks as the wind howled with such intensity that Ed had to repeatedly push her hair out of her eyes. Just then, there was the sound of a gunshot coming from the right side of the forest and immediately after several birds flew upwards, each making its own frantic sound.

Ed and Roy whipped around swiftly and, with a curt nod to each other, they both took off towards the sound, Roy a few steps in front of Ed.

They ran in silence in the forest until Ed exclaimed a warning and pointed a silent gloved finger at a few moving bushes. Mustang motioned for her to stay immobile as he cautiously walked closer, his hand with the ignition glove stretched out in front of him.

"Careful," the blonde murmured firmly and in response he gave a curt nod.

Perspiration trickled down his neck and formed at his brow as he took deep breaths in order to calm his rapidly beating heart. His muscles were as tense as they could go and he was sure he'd be in desperate need of a hot bath once this was over and done with. His fingers were itching to snap, but he held himself until the right moment. If this was the person they were looking for then they couldn't afford to be hasty.

Behind him, Ed had her arms outstretched with the gun tightly in her hands, as reluctant as she was. She didn't want to have to kill, though after losing her alchemy and regaining her right arm, she had sworn she would still serve the military and had therefore been taught how to utilise a gun. Her stubbornness would simply refuse to let her falter when the time came to protect this person currently in front of her.

Roy was nearing the moving bush now, while Ed had remained behind close to the edge they had been standing before. Mustang's eyes narrowed as he rubbed his thumb and middle finger together in anticipation when he peered behind the bush and immediately went rigid and ready to snap. He heard Ed suck in a breath from behind him and seemingly holding it, only letting it out as a sigh of relief when he lowered his hand and relaxed. No killer.

A sudden yelp from behind had him swirling and ready to snap again, only to completely freeze at the sight before him.

The murderer, Nicholas Dennar, had taken his blonde comrade by surprise and had one arm tightly around her neck while the other was pointing a gun at her forehead. Edeline's gun had fallen on the ground from the sudden attack and Nicholas had made sure it was way out of reach. Ed was scowling and attempting to grace her captor with one of her most fierce glares as she tried digging her nails into the arm around her neck.

"Let him go, Dennar," Roy growled, his hand raised ominously.

Dennar laughed, his grip tightening around Ed. "And let you kill me? I don't think so, Mr. Colonel."

The blonde was trashing and struggling against the firm grip to no avail. She gazed at Roy with fierce golden eyes as the dark haired man smirked, chocolate brown eyes glinting with satisfaction. Roy forced himself to calm down and think of a plan, a way to get Edeline out of that bastard's dirty hands. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long for the other members of the crew to surround them, all of them holding and pointing their guns at the man. As the killer looked around to evaluate the situation and study each one of his subordinates, Roy started taking small steps towards him.

A tiny smile crept up the Colonel's face when he realised he'd take Dennar by surprise, since he wasn't focusing on him. The feeling of gaining an advantage left as soon as it came, however, and his eyes widened when Dennar grinned and took a step backwards, towards the edge of the cliff. He must've realised there was no way for him to get out of this one alive if he stayed impassive for much longer, especially if he let go of Ed.

Roy worried his bottom lip, the adrenalin rush making his breathing laboured. His rigid muscles screamed for him to relax and his pulse echoed hollowly in his head, but he forced his mind to go over all the possible actions he could take.

Suddenly, Dennar made an abrupt spin and after that everything happened so fast Roy wasn't even sure what had transpired.

He heard a gunshot, a scream, several voices calling his and Ed's name and that was when he realised he was holding Edeline tightly in his arms as the wind whipped him in the face. He opened his eyes with slight difficulty but then they widened in shock as he came face to face with the dark blue ocean water and realisation slapped him in the face.

Edeline had been thrown off the cliff and he had on instinct lunged to catch her.

She thought she had never felt so scared in her whole life.

The way the wind whipped her braid back and forth with such intensity it hurt and the way she couldn't possibly open her eyes or even breathe made her feel dead already. Dennar had decided that in order to get away he'd have to distract the others somehow, and what better way than to throw her off the cliff?

As soon as she was released and her feet were no longer securely on the ground, she couldn't help it; she screamed.

After that, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.

Dennar ducked and ran for his life as fast as he could while Hawkeye and Havoc fired poorly aimed shots at him, Alphonse shouted her name repeatedly while the rest of the crew stared at her with expressions of pure shock and horror and then Mustang unexpectedly lunged and enveloped her in his strong arms as they both started falling towards the water, suddenly too fast for her liking.

Once they hit the water, instinct kicked in and she held her breath, but flailed helplessly when Roy's grip on her slackened and they were separated. That was when true panic settled in. In Roy's arms she had felt safe, protected, but now her senses had abandoned her and the only thing she could feel was panic. Where was Mustang? Why had he let go? Was she drowning? Was she already underwater? Questions she had no idea how to answer crossed her mind as she felt the water enter and burn her lungs.

There was no way she could survive this, the automail was going to drag her down – she had to find Mustang, but what if he was drowning too?

Taking a deep breath which sent her into a coughing fit since it had been half oxygen and half water, she began shouting as much as she could and as loud as she could. "Must'ng!"

No answer. She felt tears of desperation blur her vision and she briefly wondered how that was even possible when her whole face was already wet. Seconds meant hours to her and she continued flailing fruitlessly and shouting for the only person who could possibly save her now but receiving no answer. The tears overflowed and rolled down her pale cheeks as the waves threw her back and forth as if playing with her.

She clenched her teeth hard and tensed her muscles, readying herself for one last try. She mustered some courage, and with one last breath she shouted, "Roy!" before the current dragged her down.

Under it was all so peaceful; there was no wind loud enough to deafen you, there was no noise whatsoever. No indignant waves to crash against rocks in a fierce battle, and the water was warm, not freezing cold as it was on the surface. What a way to die.

Her lungs were burning now. She couldn't breathe and her body didn't have the strength to keep trashing around. And what for? There was no-one to help her, and she had no idea what had happened to Roy. Was he alright? Was he…dead? She let out an involuntary sob, which came out more as a choking action, and she put her hands to her mouth with a grimace as her automail dragged her further. The surface wasn't even that beautiful light blue she always loved to dive to see when she was a kid anymore – it was dark and murky and was only going darker as time went on, as she went further down.

Her lungs and throat burned, the edges of her vision were hazy as her mind didn't receive the necessary oxygen. She was sure she would be feeling dizzy if she were to emerge now. But the metal attached to her was dragging her further down, and she felt the beginnings of anger bubble inside of her. Her arms felt like lead but with one last burst of power, she tried to bring herself upwards, but cringed when black spots entered her vision instead.

What would become of Al if she wasn't here anymore? What would happen? He would be devastated, she was sure. She just hoped he didn't do something stupid; he had other people to care for him and they'd do a much better job than what she had been doing all these years. He would have to learn to live without her – as painful as that might sound; Ed couldn't imagine a life without Al and she was pretty sure he couldn't do so without her either. But he had to; she wanted him to live, and she wanted to tell him all this too, but now she'd never get the chance. She'd miss him so much it pained her heart just thinking about it. She had wanted to see him find someone he loved, get married, have children – a new family…Now she'd never get to see that. A choked sob passed her lips only for her to choke on more water.

I love you little brother.

She was going to die, but even during her last moments she was more scared for Mustang than she was for herself. He had jumped off a cliff to save her. Off a fucking cliff. He could have been saved; it wasn't fair for him to die. She was always giving him a hard time and pissing him off to the point where his whole being just radiated anger but he had jumped off a fucking cliff to save her, to try and stop the fall. He had failed, and now she would practically take his life, because she was to blame for all this. If she had been more careful instead of focusing exclusively on Roy she would have been able to sense Dennar behind her and defend herself. But she had made the mistake of focusing on her sight and neglecting her hearing – and this was the result. She had wanted to protect him, but she had ended up killing him instead. What a horrible person; she really didn't deserve such a commanding officer – maybe that was why he had never even given her a second look. And she had been such an idiot, thinking she had any sort of chance with him.

With that last thought, her eyes were too heavy to keep open and she closed them, fading into the darkness.

Roy emerged from the water and gasped, his eyes not leaving a second to scan his surroundings hoping, praying to spot something blonde or red. Anything, just a hint of Ed's whereabouts.

The intensity and speed with which they had been falling was too much and his grip on the blonde had weakened, and when they hit the water, the waves had mercilessly pushed them apart.

Holding his breath, he dove into the water again and searched for a colour other than blue, to no avail. Out of breath, he emerged for a second time only to catch a faint shout. He couldn't hear very well from the intensity of the waves hitting the rocks, but he could have sworn that was his name being called.

"Fullmetal!" he called back, betting on it being her who was calling. Who else could it be? "Edeline!"

When he received no answer, he panicked for second, before convincing himself that she just couldn't hear because of the wind's howling. He had just started to calm down, deciding to search for her calmly, when the panic returned with a vengeance when it hit him that the automail would be her death if he didn't hurry up and find her.

Adrenalin rushed through his veins and gave him the strength he needed to push through the waves and swim towards the general direction he had heard the voice come from. His uniform stuck to his skin uncomfortably, but his mind didn't even register it. Everything was wiped out of his mind; everything but Ed.

Looking around frantically again, he gazed upwards with hopes of catching a glimpse of any of his subordinates but ended up shuddering at the height they had actually fallen from. Not even the forest was visible.

What if Ed was injured?

He gulped, swallowing what was a mix of his saliva and salt water and dived in again. He was certain now; she was no longer on the surface – she was underwater. Drowning.

After a few minutes of futile searching, he caught a glimpse of something red. He emerged, only to take a deep breath again and dive once more with renewed hope.

There she was, pale as hell and unconscious, letting the automail pull her further and further into the depths of the ocean. He pushed himself harder, and it was getting tougher and tougher as he went deeper and deeper. Once he was sure he would catch her though, he extended his arm and grabbed the hood of her coat, attempting to hoist her upwards towards the surface.

Easier said than done.

The automail was proving to be a great obstacle to achieving this, and Roy found himself nearly out of air. Grabbing the coat with both hands, Roy pulled with all his might and managed to get it to work; they were both heading for the surface.

Once they emerged, Roy gasped for air and panted while Ed remained terrifyingly silent and still. As soon as he had caught his breath, he swung Ed over his shoulder and with difficulty managed to swim over towards a calmer part of the water.

When they were safe from the attacking waves, Roy looked at her.

Her face was ghostly pale and he hurriedly tried to find a pulse by placing his fingers on her neck. He waited for several seconds until he felt it – a tiny, short and dying beat of the heart. She was alive and Roy had the sudden urge to cheer but contained himself. Now wasn't the time, and if he didn't do something to get her warm and out of the water – the water inside her included – she'd definitely die. And that was the last thing Roy wanted.

He pressed firmly on her chest in vain as he ventured to get as much water out of her lungs as possible, but with one hand and in the water he just wasn't strong enough.

Think, think.

He looked around but saw nothing other than the endless blue sea. Frowning, he realised that he'd have to swim until he found something, anything to rest Ed on. Looking down at himself, he figured he could remove some of the excess clothing he and Ed were wearing in an attempt to make the swim easier.

Having made up his mind, he hastily removed his military coat and shirt, and then stripped Ed of her coat and chest bandage to allow her to breathe easier, before securely placing the blonde over his shoulder and starting the painful swimming.

It was a few hours later, when he was exhausted beyond belief and thirsty and hungry that he saw it. It was still far away, but now that he was no longer attacked by the current and was swimming in calmer water he thought he could manage – it was a thin brown and green line on the horizon, and that meant only one thing; shore. Soil. Trees. And that brought the rest; food, water and possibly people. Help.

Checking Ed's pulse, he was satisfied it was still there, and took a moment to catch his breath. Then, he resumed his swimming, watching as the line became thicker and thicker as time moved on.

After what felt like years, he practically threw Ed on the sand and fell on his back to catch his breath. All his body ached; the muscles of his arms and legs were killing him as well as his back, he had a splitting headache, and the fatigue he felt wasn't anything like he had seen in years. The only thing he wanted was to curl up and sleep but he couldn't. Not now. Not when Edeline was dying right next to him.

He pushed himself into a sitting position with the help of sheer will power and leaned over the blonde who seemed to grow paler as time wore on. He placed both his hands on her chest and firmly pressed down in order to get her breathing normally again and get all that water out of her system.

With each press small trails of water slid down the sides of her mouth, and Roy cursed loudly as his attempts failed. He was starting to get frustrated as he pressed down on her chest again only to have the same outcome. How much water had she taken in?

Putting his head in his hands, he focused for a moment before leaning in closer to her mouth. Tilting her head back, he lifted her chin up and pinched her nose before covering her mouth with his and blowing. He pulled back and pushed down on her chest again, before placing his mouth on hers once more.

He had no idea how long he had been doing it for but he was determined not to stop until he received a reaction, and when he did, he nearly cried.

Edeline started coughing severely and instinctively turned over to retch all the water out. She gagged when there was nothing left and Roy stroked her back soothingly. The blonde collapsed on her back and breathed in deeply, her eyes open very slightly and not entirely focused. After a moment of hesitation, Roy tenderly brushed her soaked hair out of her face and waited until she was ready.

It was at that moment, as he watched her place a hand on her chest and pant that he realised he had nearly lost her. She had been so close to dying. God, he had nearly lost her.

With that realisation, he shut down all thinking as he enveloped her into a firm embrace, his face buried in her hair that had been let loose sometime during the fall.

"…Roy?" His head snapped to her face and he gazed into unfocused golden eyes. Her voice was soft and so low he was sure that, had her mouth not been exactly over his ear, he wouldn't have caught it.

Since when had she been calling him by his first name? He wasn't angry, not at all, but it surprised him a little to hear the name come from her lips. He came to realise though that 'Mustang' or 'Colonel' were larger words and would therefore require more energy and concentration. 'Roy' was shorter and easier.

He smiled at her and gently manoeuvred her body so he could hold her weight in his arms. "I'm here," he whispered softly and stroked the loose strands of blonde hair out of her face.

"'m glad…" she murmured back and closed her eyes. Realising she had fallen asleep, he only now gave himself some time to take a look at his surroundings.

They were at a beach, obviously, and in front of them seemed to be a large forest, though in order to get to that they would have to pass grass and wet soil, something that right now seemed like an insurmountable ordeal. He was hungry though, and he needed to find shelter since they'd probably be spending the night here. And hopefully only one night.

The place didn't seem inhabited so he only guessed they were on some sort of deserted island, which meant that the forest was a house to dangerous animals and insects. But it also had food, and he was hungry, and he was sure Ed would be as well when she woke up.

He was beyond exhausted from all the swimming but he needed to push himself a little bit further and then he'd have all the time to rest he needed. So, picking Ed up bridal style, he shifted her in his arms so she was on his back, and grabbed hold of her legs before starting walking forwards, her hands falling over his shoulders.

The sun was burning his head after a few minutes of walking and Roy ended up dragging himself and Ed instead of walking. His eyes were drifting shut and he was sure the forest wasn't getting any closer – though he also knew that was definitely a hallucination of some sort because he was moving so there was no way the forest wasn't coming closer. He heaved himself forwards and felt his legs shake from the strain.

He couldn't do it anymore.

His legs gave out and Edeline fell to the side as Roy fell on his knees. He couldn't move anymore. He needed rest.

Falling on his back, he gazed at Ed's peacefully sleeping face and felt his own eyelids droop precariously. But if he passed out what would happen to Ed? What if she woke up and he was still out? She was in no condition to move around. But, what if none of them woke up and an animal came and thought it had found dinner?

He wouldn't allow anyone to have Ed.

Roy rolled over with the strength he had left and wrapped his arms around the blonde female as tightly as he could, pushing her head onto his bare chest. That was it, he wouldn't let go even if he was dead.

With that last thought, Roy closed his eyes and let unconsciousness consume him.

A/N I'm actually really apprehensive to post this. XD I have no idea why. Maybe it's because I started it ages ago? Or because I'm not 100% satisfied with it? I dunno.

(btw, please ignore any silly typos, I've reread this a million times but one or two might've slipped)

Anyway, if you enjoyed, do drop a review if you have time! Maybe that will make me feel less worried about how this fic will go... :')

Aren't my babies really cute? *fangirls*