Chapter 1

Edward Elric immediately noticed three things once he gave up on getting any more sleep: the first was that the room he currently occupied was filled with darkness save for a single sliver of light from underneath a closed door, directly facing him. The second was that he was sitting against a stone wall with his left arm tied above his head by a coarse rope while his right was gone. And finally, he had a throbbing headache.

Shit, what happened?

The air was cold but nowhere near unbearable. Ed blinked several times in a vain attempt to further adjust his eyes to get a better view of the situation. As he did so, the blond became conscious enough to notice that his entire body, but more specifically his arm, was aching and worn, and his mouth was unnervingly dry. (He tried not to think about the hunger.) With an annoyed huff, Ed tugged on the rope around his wrist experimentally only to discover that the other end was attached to the wall and the cheap rope dug into his skin in retaliation. He certainly had no plans to try that again. Furthermore, he realized that he was able to move one leg, but the other automail limb was also missing up to the knee. He wouldn't be able to perform any alchemy in that sorry state. To make matters worse, his jacket and flashy red coat seemed to have vanished as well, leaving him with just his shoes, pants, and sleeveless shirt.

The Fullmetal Alchemist wanted to speak out, to insult the bastards who put him there, or maybe (but very unlikely) call for help. However, the sheer uncertainty of the situation forced him to refrain. He couldn't see anything besides the light of the door and a few basic shapes that might indicate a table against the other wall. Besides that, the room was so unbearably quiet. He couldn't hear voices, footsteps, traffic, birds, anything. It somehow felt unnatural. It was as if where ever he sitting was completely disconnected from the rest of the world. Even at night in the quiet town of Resembool, Edward could at least hear the clanking of Al's armor and the sound of pages turning while he read. The only solace he found in the silence was that it meant Al wasn't trapped in there with him.

Then finally, a sound was made; right next to him, in fact. Ed heard a faint shuffle of fabric and a light, incomprehensible murmur only a few feet away to his right. He wasn't alone. But more importantly, that tiny, almost insignificant voice sounded familiar enough to jog some recent memories.

"To Hell with that!" Ed yelled, slamming an automail hand on the smooth, wooden surface of Roy Mustang's main desk. "We were just about to head west to follow a new lead! There's no way I'm going to give that up so I can watch some boring drills in the north with you of all people."

"With all due respect, Colonel," Ed's giant of a brother added in a much softer, yet dedicated tone. "We're feeling really confident about this one!" The suit of armor clenched his gauntlets into fists, radiating excitement.

Mustang released an exasperated sigh and leaned back in his comfortable office chair and folded his arms. "Is your attention span really so short that you can't even wait for me to finish explaining before blowing up, Fullmetal?"

"Oh no," Al sighed, apparently knowing exactly what was going to happen next because of that trigger word; just like everyone else in the room, who had wisely decided to ignore the conversation. Or at least pretend to. "Here we go again..."

"What did you call me!?" Edward yelled in a sudden rage, flailing his arms blindly. "Say it again! I dare you," he hissed with stiff shoulders and a vein already appearing on his forehead.

"Oh, you didn't hear me?" Mustang asked, as he mockingly raised an eyebrow. "I guess since you're so small, my voice just went right over your head."

Ed made a sound that seemed like it belonged to a savage animal, rather than a fifteen year old boy. Both Mustang and Alphonse often wondered how so much raw, fiery anger could even fit inside such a small body.

"Brother, please calm down," Alphonse tried but his small voice was lost by Ed's insults and Mustang's witty remarks and laughter.

Finally, after several minutes, the Colonel decided that he had his fair share of amusement for one day and it was time to move on before the fuming kid decided to attack him. "Alright, going back to what I was talking about before…" he rested his arms on his desk, intertwining his fingers together, effortlessly slipping back into the mask of the serious military officer. "I don't want to send you to North City just because of the drills. Word is; there's a little group of anti-government idealists running around the Northern Area, causing trouble every chance they get. And they're getting bolder. Northern command is having a hard time dealing with them and the Briggs soldiers are too busy dealing with the newest threat from Drachma to help." Ed's superior officer smiled confidentially. "So since I'll be in the neighborhood, I thought I'd give them a hand."

The blond crossed his arms and frowned. "You just want to show someone up and steal the glory, you power-hungry bastard."

Al shifted his weight and glanced at his brother as a silent reminder to the older Elric that he shouldn't throw so many insults like that- a reminder that was promptly ignored once again, due to the fact that the bastard Colonel deserved it.

"Besides what does any of that have to do with me?" The Fullmetal Alchemist asked impatiently as he began to think coming into the office was just a waste of time.

Roy Mustang's smile quickly shifted into a knowing smirk for a brief moment. "I also hear that the leader of this band of rebels is able to perform unbelievable feats of alchemy and is in possession of a mysterious red stone."

Ed and Al exchanged looks, apparently using their magical brotherly telepathic powers to communicate before both turning to look at Colonel Mustang, who just quietly watched them, already knowing he had won.

"Fine; I'll go up to North City with you guys only to look for the stone and Al will go west. We'll meet back up in East City in-"Ed paused and narrowed his eyes. "How long is this stupid training exercise thing supposed to take anyway?"

Mustang shrugged. "A few days, probably… Or as long as it takes to catch those guys," he added in a quieter tone as his smirk widened ever so slightly.

Neither Ed nor Al quite knew what he meant by that but Ed at least didn't care enough to ask. He'd find the rebels, take their Philosopher's Stone and be on his way to getting Al's body back as soon as possible, regardless of the drills.

Ed's thoughts were interrupted by another shuffle from whoever sat next to him in the darkness. When he squint his eyes, the blond was able to make out the shape of what he assumed to be an adult restrained to the wall, similarly to him. He considered speaking to the figure but the pounding in his head and his dry, painful throat told him to stay quiet- at least for the moment.

Complying, Ed allowed his head to rest against the cold, stone wall once again and closed his eyes. There was really no point in keeping them open in the dark anyway.

Returning to his thoughts, Ed decided that he did go to North City with the Eastern Command and was most likely being held somewhere in the mountains of the surrounding area. But he had yet to remember how he got caught off guard; where did he mess up?

Come on, brain; work with me here, Ed pleaded with a sigh. He recalled the train ride, his amazement when he got off only to see snow as far as the eye could see, and arriving at Northern Command despite how eager he was to get started on the real reason he came along.

The opening ceremony of the North vs East Training Exercises was long and boring. Every soldier stood in perfect formation with a path that split between the two sides, despite the freezing cold air and the constant fall of snow. Ed was standing near the team and several Majors; quietly seething at the fact that he was forced to attend. Mustang somehow managed to get Ed into one of those unnecessarily long, stuffy military coats but only at the compromise that he wore the rest of his trademark outfit underneath.

The Northern General who rode horse-back down the path had a face that was unfamiliar to Ed and therefor, the blond stared down at his feet instead, deciding that it was much more interesting as he shifted his weight, watching the prints that were left in the snow.

Occasionally, he looked up to see Havoc making an exaggeratedly bored expression in Ed's general direction. He snickered in response, earning a warning glare from the Colonel who was standing not too far off.

Later after all of the formal nonsense was out of the way, the actual training drills were about to begin. Ed caught a glance of someone amongst the crowd speaking to Mustang and pointing in a specific direction. The blond didn't think much of it until the Colonel walked over to him immediately after.

"Apparently, they're temporarily separating the State Alchemists from the rest of the soldiers this year," he said, confusion and uncertainty lacing his voice, tough there were few people who would be able to pick up on it.

Edward quickly caught on to his concern. "Why would they do that?"

Mustang shook his head. "I don't know." He removed his military cap and ran a hand through his hair before replacing it back on his head. "Only one way to find out," he answered and Ed followed him through the crowd.

The Fullmetal Alchemist almost felt claustrophobic, maneuvering through so many unformed soldiers who all looked exactly the same at first glance. When they removed themselves from the crowd, there were just a few other confused looking soldiers of both Eastern and Northern Command standing in the same area, disconnected from the others, who didn't seem to notice them for the most part.

Edward was mildly surprised to see so few alchemists but didn't comment. There were many explanations for that but none could be confirmed in that moment anyway.

Mustang opened his mouth to question the purpose of stepping out of alignment until the person who originally approached him appeared once more. Ed noticed that the woman's eyes quickly shifted over the few who gathered, then towards the rest of the soldiers, and back again to the alchemists.

"Just to confirm," she began, her fists tightening and untightening by her sides. "You are all alchemists, correct?"

The dozen-or-so soldiers all nodded, some more confidentially than others. The woman smiled nervously and as if on cue, one of the men in the small group swiftly crouched down to the snow covered ground and placed both of his palms down. With a flash of light, snow and dirt burst into the air at once, creating an effective smokescreen strong enough to cover the entire clearing.

In that instant, there was a scream and hundreds of alarmed voices, filling Edward's ears with the sound of utter chaos. The blond clapped his hands together and was able to make out Mustang raising his dominant arm into the air, posed to snap in order to clear the air with his own alchemy.

However, before either alchemist could move further, Ed felt a hard thump on the back of his head. His limbs suddenly decided to disobey and he felt himself fall; he blacked out before he even reached the ground.

That explained the headache.

The person to his right muttered something unintelligible once more.

"Hey," Ed finally said as loudly as his strained throat would allow, yet he was still much quieter than he intended. There was no response other than what he could only assume was a flinch. "Hey, wake up," he tried again. "Who are you?" Despite them apparently being alone, considering the complete lack of all other sounds, Ed didn't want to rise to voice too high. He tried to tell himself that it was because he didn't want to alert their captors, but more realistically, breaking the silence that lasted for so long was surprisingly a mentally difficult task.

"… Fullmetal?" The other man replied in bewilderment, his strained and hushed tone matching Ed's.

"Yeah, who else?" the blond alchemist replied sarcastically once he confirmed who the man was, before sighing. He couldn't help but feel extremely annoyed at the situation, but he had to at least try to keep it in check until they knew what was going on. However, that would most likely prove to be quite difficult, considering he was stuck there with only Roy Mustang for company. "Any idea where we are?"

Roy attempted to scan the room to pick up any and all possible information. He exhaled slowly, carefully processing the extremely little that he could gather in the nearly pitch black room. His mind raced but none of the answers he came up with were solid enough to put any stock into.

"Besides in the mountains, no." Just like Ed had tried before, Roy tugged on the rope that bound both his arms above his head and was also rewarded by the painful material digging into his wrists. "It could just be the room, but the air seems thinner here. I'd guess that we're somewhere north of North City, probably far from any sign of civilization and – agh." Roy stopped and recoiled in pain.

"What?" The teenager asked, concern slipping into his tone. The inability to see and gauge the situation was absolutely infuriating to Ed. "You okay?"

Roy nodded, knowing Ed couldn't see it anyway. "Yeah; a headache just kicked in."

"Join the club."

"That reminds me," Roy continued, some energy returning to his voice. "Fullmetal: what's your status?"

"What? Oh." Ed blamed his slow processing speed on the migraine. "Uh… Well both my automail limbs are gone and I have a headache too but other than that, I'm fine. No thanks to the guys who jumped me." Ed narrowed his eyes as he stared at nothing. The attack seemed completely unprovoked. Why go through all that trouble just to throw him and the Colonel in an empty room? "Who were those guys, anyway?"

"I can't be sure, but," Roy shifted his weight, trying and failing to find a more comfortable position despite his very limited options and tried to clear his throat. "It's most likely the group of people we came here to find in the first place. There was noise about them having ties in the military… But they've never done something so drastic before now. How they managed to sneak into a military compound filled with some of the nation's best soldiers and capture at least two State Alchemists is beyond me," the Colonel huffed, just as pleased with the situation as Ed.

"Well," Edward began, slipping some confidence into his tone. He'd gotten out of worse, so there was no need to worry. "I've had enough of this," the teenager announced as he used the rope to pull himself up. Almost immediately, however, his one leg gave out underneath him and his grip on the cheap rope tightened to keep himself up despite the pain it caused his palm, seeing as it was the only thing keeping him from falling on his face or swinging into the wall.

"Fullmetal, what are you doing?" The older man demanded once he heard Edward's flailing.

The teenager couldn't tell if Mustang was actually concerned that he got himself hurt, or if he was just telling Ed to stop being annoying. He assumed it was the latter.

"I'm trying to get out of here," Ed strained to say as he focused on regaining his balance. "Maybe you should try it; better than waiting around until someone finds us."

"If we're going to escape, we need to make a plan first," Roy replied sharply, eyes narrowed in Ed's general direction. He saw the teenager's figure lean against the wall, apparently drained from exerting so much energy all at once, just to stand up on a single foot. After a few seconds of silence, his body straightened up, as if the say something but both alchemists suddenly froze and looked at the door.

They heard something that sounded like a different door closing, followed by several footsteps. Several strenuously long seconds passed as the footsteps got closer until they were accompanied by hushed whispers as well.

"Fullmetal," Roy began softly, not taking his eyes off the thin line of light from under the door; the only barrier between them and the people who put them there. "Don't do anything stupid."

"What could I possibly do like this?" The teenager fired back quietly.

"Fine, don't say anything stupid."

Before Edward could respond, the door knob twisted back and forth until the door opened slowly, causing both alchemists to squint their eyes from the sudden light then entered the room, silhouetting two people in the doorway.

Roy caught a glance of a stairway directly behind the doorway that went upwards before they turned on the only light in the room and closed the door behind them. There was a single ceiling light that gave the room a warm glow, despite the temperature and the daunting situation. Along with the wooden floors, the room had potential to look quite cozy; if it wasn't being used to hold people hostage, anyway.

At second glance, Roy was able to see some smaller details about the room; such as the complete lack of windows, the spider webs that occupied each corner and a small table in the corner closest to the door which, to his surprise, held a bundle of clothing, including his military jacket and Ed's red coat.

Both alchemists watched the two newcomers carefully as their eyes adjusted to the new light. Both appeared to be Amestrian; one male and one female. The man was very tall and looked to be in his early thirties'. He had a square jaw, short black hair and stoic brown eyes that could easily be confused for black as well, especially since his bushy eyebrows blocked any light from reaching them. His broad shoulders made him look like an impenetrable wall.

"Hello, Roy Mustang and Edward Elric. My name is Nicholas Dreyse, and this is Evelyn Walther," he introduced, gesturing to the smaller woman who took a step out of his shadow.

Evelyn was towered by the man next to her, but stood taller than Edward. She had long, light brown hair that was tied up in a simple ponytail. She held a determined expression but her blue eyes displayed a deeper layer of anxiety and unsettled nerves.

"You look familiar," Edward began, staring at the woman as if the answer would jump out at him at any moment.

"So you noticed as well." The blond looked over at his superior for the first time since the light was turned on. His hair was messy and his military jacket was gone, leaving just a white button up shirt. "She's the one who told me to leave formation to join the other alchemists."

Ed nodded at the explanation and turned to watch the two again.

Nicholas Dreyse continued speaking as if they never interrupted him.

"I'm sure you two have already heard of us. We are revolutionists who plan to reform the government and change this country. Amestris is on a path to self-destruction unless we change our ways. The only way to do that is by force. And the key to that is alchemy." Nicholas waited a moment, giving the two a short moment to speak. When neither did, he continued.

"Despite being a smaller nation, Amestris has been able to fight against Drachma, Creta, and Aerugo, sometimes all at the same time, because of our superior technology and the military's favorite human weapons: the State Alchemists. But due to that, the Fuhrer and his lackeys have gotten arrogant; at the rate we're moving, all of that war and destruction will only continue and grow until it engulfs the country completely."

"I know firsthand how terrible war can be," Roy interjected. "But-"

"But what?" Dreyse cut in, his voice rising. "You can't possible defend that senseless destruction. The battles that surround our borders all started by Amestrian instigation! There's no need for it either. The country has plenty of land and resources; it's not even overpopulated. Every person in this nation has a roof over their heads and food on their plates." He paused and coldly stared down at Mustang, then continued in a deadly quiet tone. "Everyone, except the Ishvalan people."

Roy's eye twitched but Nicholas continued speaking nonetheless. "Yet another conflict started by Amestrian troops. Isn't that right, Flame Alchemist? As you know, the State Alchemists play a major role in every battle as they completely slaughter the human beings they are told to call enemies for no good reason. Where's the justice in that?"

The man started by addressing both Roy and Ed but since war was brought up, he had focused his attention solely on the Colonel. During his speech, the teenager had slipped back to a sitting position, knowing his already tired leg would have given out soon if he hadn't. Ed watched the scene unravel and noticed something he had only seen once or twice appear in Mustang's eyes. He couldn't tell if it was fear, guilt, or something else that shadowed those dark eyes that currently stared blankly at the ground, but the teenager didn't like it.

"Hey bastard!" Ed jumped in, drawing the attention to all three of the room's occupancy towards him. "If you hate the military so much, then how about you march into Central right now and leave us out of it?" He growled. All the talk about war and fighting had nothing to do with him. He was only in the military to gain better access to research. He didn't care about these guys or thought of them as any kind of threat, considering who they're up against.

Nicholas Dreyse clasped his hands behind his back and took a step back to look at both of the restrained alchemists again.

"We will, one of these days. But for now, we need to increase our numbers; which is why you two are here."

Edward and Roy looked up at the man with a mix of confusion and curiosity.

"You honestly think we're going to team up with you guys?" Ed asked, almost laughing as how ridiculous the notion sounded.

"And why not?" The tall man asked, raising an eyebrow. "Fighting back against this county's injustice is the only way to redeem yourselves after what the State Alchemists have been doing for years now." He turned to look directly at the Colonel again, who glared back in response. "If you feel any shred of guilt for the atrocities you have committed, then I suggest you do something about it instead of bowing to the people who gave the orders!"

To Edward's surprise, Mustang visually flinched at the man's words. It was strange to think that a man who was usually so unshakable and confident could have such a powerful weak spot that even none of his well-crafted masks could cover.

When there was no audible response, Dreyse straightened up and walked back towards the doorway so he stood next to the silent Evelyn Walther once more. His arms fell to his sides as his dark eyes shifted back and forth to the two alchemists in front of him.

"You have two options: the first is to forsake your positions in the military and join us to change this country for the better… The second is to suffer the slow, painful death that you dogs deserve."

"There's no way I'm going to work with you scumbags," Edward yelled immediately despite the objections of his dry mouth, not having to put any more thought in his response. The man looked unfazed by his insult, as though he had expected it.

When Roy didn't immediately back him up, a shred of fear sparked inside Ed's chest, causing him to look at his superior, trying and failing to catch his eye. He knew Roy was heavily involved in the Ishvalan massacre and had many scars, even now. If he really felt so guilty, would the man actually consider becoming a traitor to make up for it?

Almost as if Roy heard the teenager's questions, he looked back up at the stoic man that faced them, returning his gaze with cold, determined eyes.

"Go to Hell."

AN: Well that was chapter one... Welcome to my story!

I want to apologize, since half the chapter a flashback, but I'd much rather get all of the introductory stuff out of the way so we can get to the fun stuff sooner.

I have been staring at this document for many hours now, so I would love to get some fresh perspectives on it. Please let me know what you think, if you feel so inclined.

Thanks for reading and have a nice day.