So this takes place two years after Conqueror of Shamballa, so the Elrics won't be in it. I won't put much focus on the whole CoS plot, hardly any, but there will probably be some major spoilers for both it and the first anime, so you have been warned.

Don't know how often I'll update and the updating schedule will probably be very inconsistent as I write on whatever story I feel like when my muse allows it, but I swear that my chapters will be longer than this prologue.

And I'm tired of writing disclaimers, so this counts for the whole thing: I do not own FMA.

And I hope you people will enjoy this!

Prologue

Benjamin had no idea what was going on.

Why had he woken up? It was in the middle of the night and they were staying with Grandma and Grandpa and everything seemed peaceful and —

BANG

"YOU BASTARD!"

Ben sat up. That was Dad.

But there was no reason he should have been shouting like that at either Grandma or Grandpa.

Nor why there should be guns going off.

Ben was terrified. What was going on? Dad sounded like he was in trouble, but the rule was to not make any noise and just lock his bedroom door if anything like this should happen.

And so Benjamin got out of bed just as he heard footsteps going up the stairs and his father shouting, his voice strained by tears.

"PLEASE! I'LL DO ANYTHING! JUST DON'T HURT HIM!"

Ben locked the door, frightened tears running down his cheeks. He'd never heard Dad sound like that. He'd never heard him scared like that.

And he had never thought he'd hear him pleading with criminals.

"Shut up! We don't want anything from coppers like you! You shot our boss, this is payback!"

"BEN! RUN!"

Benjamin unfroze and did as his Dad told him, his heart hammering in his chest as he ran over to the window and pushed it open just as somebody shot the lock to his bedroom door.

Ben screamed and swung his foot out over the ledge, but then a pair of strong arms caught him around the middle and lifted him up. His chest hurt, his panic rising as he screamed and tried to fight the man off, but he couldn't and he could hear Dad screaming as well as he was carried downstairs and then froze as a knife was put to his throat. "Shut up, kid, or I'll cut out your tongue!"

Ben went quiet and then he saw Grandma and Grandpa. They were lying in a pool of blood in the hallway and Dad was kneeling with his hands behind his head and two masked criminals pointing their guns at him.

And Dad was crying, pleading with the criminals not to touch his son, but they only kicked him in the back and pinned him to the floor. Ben couldn't breathe, he was so scared and this wasn't going to end well at all and Grandma and Grandpa were dead and —

"Right then, Mustang … You remember where the bullet hit? Right here," the guy holding Ben said, holding the knife right in front of his left eye. Dad was staring at him, sobbing. "PLEASE! I'LL DO ANYTHING! JUST PLEASE!"

"Sorry, Mustang, but this is non-negotiable. You know the saying, right? "An eye for an eye?""

Ben felt the sting of the knife as it cut into his eye and then he gave into the dark spots forming at his eyes as he heard Dad shout his name.

When Ben came to, he was lying on the floor, Dad holding him to his chest and something was pressed to his left eye which was in complete agony. "D-Dad?"

"Ben, listen to me, everything is going to be okay, so please don't be scared." Dad was whispering, his voice strained and his breathing heavy. He was obviously in a lot of pain.

"So your brat's up, huh?" Ben heard the man who held the knife and —

Ben panicked. "My eye! Dad! It hurts!" He began sobbing, the pain complete and intense and then someone was grabbing the collar of his pyjamas and dragging him away from Dad and Dad was…

"NO! DAD!" Ben screamed as the guy dragging him let him go and Ben crawled back to him and watched the steadily growing pool of blood form under Dad and coming from the two holes in his shirt and Dad had blood running out of his mouth and —

"Ben … Please … Just … Just … Hold my hand, okay?" Dad said weakly, tears running down his cheeks. Ben took it and held it tightly, hardly noticing the blood dripping down his own face. Dad coughed weakly, even more blood coming from his mouth and it was too much blood and Dad wasn't going to survive this and "PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME, DAD!" Ben shouted as Dad's eyes began to droop and Ben couldn't breathe from it.

"Nah, he's gonna watch his brat die first," the knife guy said.

Dad's eyes opened wide and then there was blackness before Ben had even had time to register the gun going off.