Hey, friends! I'm back! With a new story! WOO! Ha-ha. It's been a while, hasn't it? I've been a bit busy with HOBY and job hunting and what not, but I'll try to update this as frequently as possible. And I actually have a few questions for you guys but I'll save those for the end. Until then, on with the show!

And I changed some of the text and scene from the original episode. And this takes place around Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Episode 29

By the way, I'll be using xxx to separate the flashback from the rest of the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

CHAPTER I

WHAT WOULD KEEP HIM UP AT NIGHT

Fullmetal, Fullmetal, Fullmetal! All Roy Mustang could think about was Fullmetal! That damn golden hair and shit-eating grin were burned into his retinas. Roy knew he should've been paying attention to the words being spoken to him at the direct moment, but he couldn't help but lose his focus as easily as he was. There was too much on his mind and the droning speech being presented to him was only making his mind wander even further. The events of the previous night continually tormented him by replaying over and over again in the colonel's mind.

xxx

"Alright, now get in the car, invalid!" Edward ordered in his typical cocky attitude.

Al leaned in closer to the car and spoke to Riza. "Lieutenant, please take care of Lan Fan."

Riza nodded in agreement and placed her hand on the injured girl's forehead protectively.

'Wait a minute…' Roy slowly began to realize, 'Why is Alphonse telling Hawkeye to look after this girl? Why can't he watch her? And why aren't those three getting into the car!?' Suddenly, harsh realization dawned on Roy. "You expect me to run away and leave this to you, Elric!?" Roy barked at Ed.

"IF YOU STAY YOU'LL JUST GET IN OUR WAY!" Ed hollered while getting into the colonel's face.

"Yeah, leave!" Alphonse added, just for good measure.

Roy was well ready to protest when Riza stopped him. "They're right. You won't be any use here. Sorry."

Roy felt like he had just had the wind knocked out of him. Useless. He was useless.

Ed straightened up and put on a serious expression. "Right now, you need to go and do your job. The head of the military is a homunculus. Don't you think you should do something about that?"

Roy's eyes widened with the level of maturity Edward was displaying. It was truly a remarkable sight.

Riza gasped and jumped in her seat. "The head of the military? You aren't talking about Fuhrer Bradley, are you!?"

Dr. Knox, who had been waiting somewhat patiently in the driver's seat, slammed his fist on the steering wheel in frustration. "We can talk about it later! Now, get in!" He apparently lost what little patience he had left.

Ed, Al, and Ling all looked at each other and nodded. Ed returned his gaze to the colonel and gave his best shit-eating grin. "The car looks full. You go ahead."

Dr. Knox's jaw dropped. "You dumbasses!"

Riza was just as equally stunned. "You can't really believe that we'll let a couple of children fight this battle for us!"

Ling smiled confidently and looked past the car in a star-gazing way. "With the senior staff involved in this, you're going to need all the help you can get."

"And that would include getting whatever information we can out of this Gluttony guy, wouldn't you say?" Ed added, hoping to convince the occupants of the car to leave them behind.

"We'll stay here and find out what we can. I don't think it matters much that we're children," Alphonse stated. Now this level of maturity was expected of Alphonse, so it came as less of a shock.

Edward took a step back and gave a thumbs-up. "This was our mission to begin with and we're going to see it through. We appreciate your help up until now, though."

Roy never felt so useless before in his life. All of that was a lie. They could deal with the Fuhrer after this beast was taken care of. The only thing that made it so Roy couldn't stay and fight was his injury. He'd never felt so weak before. And now, he was leaving children to fight a homunculus all by themselves.

Riza pulled out her handgun and clicked in a new magazine. "Here, Edward, I want you to take this. You do know how to use it, don't you?"

Ed gasped at the gun being held out for him. He stared at it wide-eyed with shock.

"That's a weapon for killing people…" Al stated in disbelief. He couldn't believe such a device was being handed to his older brother.

"Yes," Riza answered, "But it's also a weapon for protecting your lives."

Ed seemed to be debating the whole matter in his head. After a few moments, he hesitantly took the gun into his hand. "I'll take it."

A loud explosion and ball of alchemical light erupted from the forest behind them.

Ling quickly leaned into the car and stared at Riza. "Look after Lan Fan." Riza nodded in agreement.

The injured girl stirred and began to fuss. "Wait… my lord!" She called.

Roy couldn't help that his mouth hung open slightly as he watched the three run off into the distance. And for reasons he can't explain, his gaze fixated on Edward, his youngest subordinate. He got a feeling in his chest… Some sort of guilt mixed with sadness and fear bubbled up inside of him. But as he watched the boy's blonde hair swoosh from side to side, he was also filled with another emotion. One that he just could not name for the life of him.

"Let's go," Roy demanded abruptly. When there was hesitation, he became more aggressive. "I said go!"

Knox punched the steering wheel yet again and slammed on the gas. "Damn! What're they thinking!? Those three are going to get themselves killed!"

'Don't you even think about dying, Fullmetal…' Roy silently ordered, fear slowly building up in the back of his mind.

xxx

Roy was pulled out of his thoughts by the names of his subordinates being listed off to him. He quickly remembered just what his situation was, and is immediately pissed. The Fuhrer knows that he knows that he is a homunculus.

"I'd suggest you listen carefully, colonel," Bradley told with his back facing Roy. The homunculus in disguise was staring out of the window while drinking tea from an intricately decorated teacup. He was eerily calm and collected for just having been discovered as a homunculus.

Mustang growled very quietly in pure disgust. He'd just lost every one of his men, save the lieutenant. But everyone else was being sent to opposite corners of the country. His army was being torn apart in a matter of seconds, and there wasn't a single damn thing he could do to stop it.

Bradley shifted on his feet and took a sip of his tea. "As I have told you, Selim will never be used as a weakness towards me. You certainly can try to hold him over my head, but it just won't work. But you, Mustang, your human nature makes making a threat far easier. You care about others, making my job less of a hassle."

"What are you talking about?" Roy spat. He was using every ounce of his will to not lunge from his seat and take down the Fuhrer right here and now.

"I'm talking about Miss Hawkeye, your lieutenant. She's being reassigned as well… as my personal assistant. With her under my watch twenty-four-seven, I can control your every action. If you even think about disobeying one of my orders, she'll pay. If you try to do something foolish, she'll pay. And if you ever think about interfering with our plans, she will pay."

Roy stewed quietly in his seat. He didn't dare make a move. With Riza's life at stake, there was nothing he could do except silently damn the man in front of him. And now everything had been taken away. His pawn, his rook, his knight, his bishop, and now his queen: all of them had been ripped out right from under his nose.

"Of course, I do want to stack the deck," Bradley announced abruptly before taking another sip of his drink.

'Stack the deck? He has every one of my men! What more could he take away!?' Now Roy was beginning to sweat. Was this bastard planning on killing one of his men, just to prove that he could and would do it? Or maybe he was going to take away his rank as well. But other than that, Roy couldn't think of anything more Bradley and the homunculi could take away.

"We do have that boy to deal with. He has become quite a nuisance. Unfortunately, I am not permitted to kill him. But… there's no rule saying I can't put him through excruciating pain. Now, what do you think we should do about Fullmetal, Mustang?"

Roy gasped. Now he lost control. He flew up from his chair, knocking it over in the process, and began to scream. "You bastard! You leave Fullmetal out of this! He has nothing to do with this! You stay the hell away from him!"

Bradley let out an evil laugh as he turned away from the window. "Did I strike a nerve, colonel? I honestly didn't expect that kind of reaction from you, considering how cold you act towards the boy. I figured the boy was nothing more than a dog on his leash in your eyes. I'd have to say, this is turning out better than expected. Now I really can't leave the boy out of this," Bradley paused and moved his gaze right into the colonel's. "And he has far from nothing to do with this."

"Don't you even think about laying a finger on him!" Roy cried. He couldn't explain why the threat against Edward was getting him so worked up, but getting him worked up it was. "I'll light you up faster than you can say-"

"Colonel!" Bradley scolded, "I would highly suggest you refrain from threatening your Fuhrer. You see, now that I have control of everyone under your command, there is nothing you can do to me. And I promise you, I will make that boy experience pain like he has never felt before. Do not disobey me, Mustang, because I will take it out on him. And if I happen to get carried away, so be it. I can always find another sacrifice. And I will always have someone else to use against you."

Mustang was ready to snap, literally snap. He wanted to burn Bradley to a crisp. No, he wanted to burn him to nothing.

"Now sit down and collect yourself, we have guests."

Roy bowed his head and picked up his chair before resituating himself in the comfortable, cushioned seat. The creak of the door opening caused Roy to involuntarily look up and crane his neck towards the noise. And to his surprise, the topic of their discussion was waltzing in as if nothing had happened, suit of armor in tow.

Roy was overjoyed. He was beyond overjoyed. Except for the bandage placed on the boy's forehead, he looked unharmed. Which was shocking considering just how pissed that Gluttony was the night before. But in walked the golden-haired alchemist, looking as healthy as ever. And surprisingly clean as well.

The next half hour went by in a blur. If you would ask Roy to recall anything that was discussed, the only thing he could tell you was Fullmetal tried to give up his title as state alchemist. However, the Fuhrer used a similar tactic as he had done with Roy and held Ed's mechanic over the boy's head, threatening to do something awful if Ed gave tried to leave the military.

When it was all said and done, the two alchemists were dismissed. Roy was trying his absolute hardest to control himself as he walked out of the office. He jumped a little as the Fuhrer inserted his sword into Alphonse's armor, not quite certain why Bradley thought it was necessary to stab someone that couldn't exactly be killed. But still he kept quiet. Well, he kept quiet until they were out of the office.

"Fullmetal!" Roy shrieked, interrupting the two boys' conversation.

Ed sighed and rolled his eyes before returning to Alphonse. "You take her to Knox, alright? I'll catch up with you in a little bit."

"Okay, brother. But be careful," Alphonse requested as he made his leave.

Roy was a little irritated at being ignored, but he quickly got over it. "Would you care to tell me just what happened after we left, Fullmetal?"

Ed crossed his arms and shifted his weight. "You really think this is the best place to talk about it? I'll tell you about it when we get to Knox's. But right now, I have some business to take care of."

'You have business to take care of!? I've been worried sick and you just run off without telling me a damn thing!? Just what the hell could be so important that you have to leave so suddenly!?' Roy was screaming on the inside while the outside appeared calm. He figured whatever Ed had to do was important and he could wait for his explanation. Although, he really didn't have the patience to wait anymore.

Ed suddenly jumped as if he'd been shocked. Then he started to dig around his pockets. When they turned up empty, he turned to Roy. "Hey, colonel, do you have any change on you?"

Roy raised his eyebrow but emptied his pocket despite the confusion. "Yeah sure…" He answered as he placed the few coins in the boy's hand.

Ed sorted through the changed and sighed. "Jeeze, is this all you've got? Oh well, it'll have to do. I'll see you later, colonel!" Ed called as he took off.

Roy blinked a few times in surprise, but soon recovered. "Damn it all… Now I'm broke, confused, and I still don't know what happened…"

…

'What am I supposed to do now?' Roy pondered as he trotted along the street. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and fixed his gaze on the ground. He took a sudden left, too busy thinking to worry about where he was going. 'The Fuhrer is a homunculus… Our nation's ruler is a homunculus! Maes was right, the problem isn't closing in on us, it's coming from within us… The whole military is corrupt. I can't just stand by and watch Amestris fall to pieces!'

Roy stole a quick glance at the street and made his move to cross, not even sure where this path would lead him. 'But if I try anything, they'll go after my men. Not that I have to worry about them, I know they can handle themselves. They're more than capable of protecting their own lives… not that they should have to.'

"Sorry," Roy muttered to the person he bumped into. They probably didn't even hear him, but he still felt the need to apologize.

'But Fullmetal… They'll go after Fullmetal… I'm sure he can take care of himself, but he's still just a kid. He's not an expert marksman, or knows anything about bombs, or is a technical genius. He's just a kid… But is one kid's life worth risking an entire country for?'

Roy's head shot up at the thought. He mentally slapped himself and started forward again, steaming from his own stupidity. 'Don't ever say anything like that again! That kid has been through more hell than any one person should go through in an entire lifetime! He deserves to live! And you'd better damn well find a way to fix this country without sacrificing any lives!'

Roy ran his hand through his hair and looked up into the blue sky. Streaks of pinks and yellows were starting to penetrate the intense blue, indicating the beginning of a beautiful sunset. "What am I going to do, Hughes?"

"Colonel?" A voice blurted from behind.

Roy turned to see Ed running up to him. He had to smile at the boy's energy. It was refreshing to see some enthusiasm.

"What're you doing out here, colonel? I thought you were going to Knox's," Ed tilted his head slightly to the side, emphasizing his confusion.

Roy shrugged his shoulders and looked up at the sky. "It's a nice day so I figured I'd walk. Guess I just lost track of time." He shook out of his distant gaze and looked down to the blonde in front of him. "You didn't get hurt last night, Fullmetal, did you?"

"Well…" Ed started. He scratched the back of his neck and laughed nervously. "Not exactly…"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I got eaten…" Ed mumbled, almost as if he were embarrassed to admit it.

"WHAT!?" Roy screamed.

Ed face-palmed and started forward. "Way to draw attention to us, colonel. Now I can't tell you anything until we get there."

Roy growled and started behind Edward, wishing he had controlled himself better. 'I can't wait any longer dammit! I don't have that kind of patience!'

"What should we do now, colonel?" Ed asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had crept up in between the two.

Roy sighed and frowned. "I don't know, Fullmetal…"

"Bradley said Al and I could still look for a way to restore our bodies… we just can't get involved with their plans or interfere with the military. What about you? I'm guessing he's threatening you somehow as well."

"He's sending all of my men to the different ends of the country. And Hawkeye is the Fuhrer's new personal assistant."

Ed kicked at the ground and shoved his own hands into his pockets. "I guess you're pretty restricted in what you can do too. But… we have to do something! We've got to stop them, colonel, no matter what!"

Oh how Roy wanted to agree with Edward. He liked the boy's enthusiasm, but something like that could get someone killed. "Don't worry; we're going to stop this. There's no chance in hell that I'm going to let them go through with this."

"Good," Ed muttered. He stifled a yawn and scratched his head. "Hey, I'm going to go get Al and head back to the hotel. I'll meet up with you later, alright?"

Roy nodded and waved at Ed as the boy took off. But before the kid got too far away, he decided he wanted the final word. "Be careful, Fullmetal!" Roy called, hands cupped around his mouth. 'I can't let them go through with their plans… but that means putting Fullmetal in danger. I… I don't know what to do…'

Okay, I have a few questions.

- I'm going on a date Saturday ( my first one ) and I don't know what to wear. Just a little dating advice would be appreciated lol XD

- I have a really short, dark, depressing one-shot that I'm hesitant on posting because there is honestly nothing happy about it but I don't feel it's that bad. Just give me a yay or nay on posting it.

- Okay, this is the big question. In the episode where Scar first meets May Chang and Xiao May, it looks like he reaches out to touch that panda. WHY? Please, I need an answer. It's killing me.

Okay, if you happen to have an answer or and advice, just leave it in a review or PM me. IT WOULD BE SO WONDERFULLY APPRECIATED!

And if you haven't already, I invite you to read my other stories When You Forget the Date and Overcoming Differences.