It was cold. Ed shivered slightly as the freezing surface beneath him sank deep into his skin. After a moment his groggy mind cleared and he forced his eyes open.

The room was unfamiliar and dark. He saw a thin strip of light that shone beneath the crack of a door. Ed sat up and his stomach exploded in pain. He immediately grabbed hold of it with his hand. That was when he noticed his entire midsection was wrapped in a thick layer of white bandages. Through the darkness, Ed saw a bright crimson color seeping through the tightly wrapped bandages.

Ed groaned. He struggled to remember why he was there. He looked around and nothing looked familiar. Footsteps could be heard, with every passing second the footsteps grew louder until they stopped altogether.

Ed heard jingling keys and the click of something unlocking. The door was swung opened and bright light spilled into the room, chasing the darkness so it was forced to take refuge in the farthest corners of the room.

Ed squinted against the light that blinded him. He saw the familiar silhouette and felt his heart sink. There, standing outlined against the light, was Daniel Tucker wearing his usual cruel smile.

"I see you're finally awake," he said. Daniel took a step into the room and shut the door, allowing the shadows to take their back their spot and chase away the light.

"Shut up." Ed winced as a sharp pain exploded in his stomach.

Daniel walked closer to him and looked directly at him, turning on a light. "Hmm, looks like your wound reopened."

"Shut the fuck up," Ed growled through clenched teeth. His hand held his bleeding stomach tightly, but doing so only made the pain worse.

"Hmm, I guess well just have to do the experiments before you bleed to death." Daniel was silent for a moment. He turned off the light and straightened up. "I'll be back in a few minutes." Daniel left the room and locked the door behind him.

Ed sat up and noticed that he still had both automail limbs. He took a deep breath and tried to transmute something, but it didn't work. Ed looked at his hands in confusion. What the hell? He tried again and again to transmute but it didn't work at all.

He looked around for a way to escape but saw nothing that he could use. "Damn it," He muttered to himself.

The door opened and Daniel walked back into the room. He was followed by another man with rippling muscles. Ed felt nervous just looking at his. The man looked like he could snap him in half with his index finger and thumb.

"Looks like we can begin." Daniel and the man walked to the edge of the room, leaving Ed alone in the center. This reminded Ed of a certain memory, a memory he would rather forget. That's when it all happened again.

The floor began to glow dimly until the entire room was bathed in a deep purple. A horrible realization occurred to him and he knew that they were doing it again. He was being turned back into a Chimera.

"No! Stop!" Ed shouted. "Don-"

He stopped in mid scream as he felt unbearable pain erupt in his entire body. Pain tore at his skin and clawed at him. Ed shut his eyes tight and screamed, the pain becoming more than he could handle. After what felt like hours, the pain began to fade until it was no more than a dull throbbing. Ed sat up, thinking it was over. Boy was he wrong.

***

"Where's Fullmetal?" Roy demanded, once again, to Hawkeye.

The Lieutenant only looked sadly at Roy and shook her head. "I'm sorry Colonel. There was nothing I could do."

The two of them were standing in Roy's office. Hawkeye was standing in front of his desk, her hands stiff by her side and her neck wrapped in bandages. Roy sat down heavily in his chair and a hand in his hair. How could that bastard take Ed again? Roy thought. I'll kill him if I get my hands on him.

"I'm sorry sir," Hawkeye said softly.

"It's not your fault," Roy said with irritation. "You were stabbed in the neck, I would probably have been as useless as you were."

"I know sir." Hawkeye sighed "But It's Ed I'm worried about."

"I know." Roy shut his eyes as he tried to think of a way to find Ed, but nothing came. "Lieutenant, get me a map of Central. Now."

Hawkeye saluted. "Yes sir." She walked out of the office, leaving Roy alone. His only company was the great guilt that was weighing him down. "I'll get you back," Roy whispered to himself, knowing no one else could hear him "I promise you that, Ed."

***

Ed knew he was going to die. It was only a matter of time before his body had enough of the experiments and failed. It was the third experiment that day and Ed was in terrible pain, barley able to move. His hand held his bleeding stomach weakly and his head spun. His breathing was pathetic and his eyes were a dull gold and half closed.

It was the fourth time Daniel walked in that day and Ed knew what was coming.

"Get ready my lovely Chimera," He said innocently. "Were almost done for the day."

Ed didn't move. He shut his eyes and stayed still. It's not like he could move. His body hurt so bad that he could barley manage to lift his arm off the floor where he lay.

Daniel jabbed him in the ribs and Ed's eyes opened until they were two slits. He didn't say anything. He doubting he could say anything louder than a slight whisper. He saw Daniel walk towards the edge of the room and Ed braced himself.

He took in a deep breath and then the pain started. Terrible, agonizing pain that tore through him worse than every previous experiment has been. He was in and out of consciousness the entire time. He used the last of his strength to survive, to stay alive long enough to have any hope at all to escape, although that seemed very unlikely at the moment.

The glow finally died down but the pain lingered still. Daniel walked over and beamed down at him. "Step four complete," he announced. "Congratulations my lovely Chimera. You're the first to make it this far."

"Sh-shut up," Ed growled through clenched teeth. He took in a ragged breath and released it slowly, his chest aching with every struggled breath.

Daniel frowned. "Why are you so rude. You should be glad. You're on a whole new level of human."

"I don't care." Each word was terribly painful and hurt his chest.

Daniel stood up and walked towards the door. He turned back before exiting and said, "Tomorrow we start step five. Prepare yourself. It'll be the hardest yet." He locked the door and left Ed alone again in the darkness on the cold stone floor.

***

Roy stared intensely at the map that was spread out in his desk. His eyes darted back and forth, looking for something that would give him a clue as to where Ed was. When he couldn't find anything he banged his fist against he desk. "Why is it so damn hard," He growled.

"Sir, maybe he's not even in Central?" Hawkeye suggested.

Roy shook his head sharply. "That can't be. I've contacted every train station leaving Central and none of them saw Daniel or Ed."

"Colonel, maybe he didn't take a train?"

Roy looked up. "What do you mean by that?"

"Daniel might have found a different way out of Central that doesn't involve taking a trains"

Roy stood up. "Lieutenant, gather a team and tell them to investigate the East, West, South, and North."

Hawkeye saluted. "Yes sir." She left without another word to gather a team to find Ed.

As for Roy, he continued to stare at the map spread out on his desk. There was something missing. Something that led right to where Ed was. His eyes stopped on a small area on the page. The map beneath his desk, the part that overlapped, circled one specific area.

"I'm coming Ed."

***

Ed wished he would die so he didn't have to experience any more pain. He wished the experiments were over but he knew better than to believe in false hope. Three days. Three days of agonizing torture and unnecessary pain. Ed's tail was back, so were his whiskers and fangs. Everything that he got removed had been replaced painfully back.

Ed lay on the floor, his vision constantly a blur from the blood that he lost every now and then. He couldn't move anymore. No matter how much he tried he couldn't move a single inch. His body was weak, he was low on food and felt as though he were dying of hunger, thirst, and pain.

Since he arrived he's had not a single crumb of food or drop of water. His throat was horribly dry and his stomach growled painfully with hunger. He didn't want to die, but if he did maybe just maybe, he could get away from all this pain. However, he doubted that he had that kind of luck.

Ed closed his eyes and lay there. He felt a small tear fall down his face but he couldn't wipe it away. He couldn't stand it anymore. He was a fool, letting himself being caught again by the same insane alchemist.

A shiver ran up his spine and another tear fell down his face, followed by another, and another. Ed looked in the direction of the door, wishing that someone would walk in and rescue him.

***

Roy stood up abruptly, startling Hawkeye, who sat at a table looking to find out where Ed might be. "Lieutenant, I've found Ed. I know where he is."

"You do?" Hawkeye asked. "Where is he?"

Roy stared hard at Hawkeye. "He's underground beneath the prison."

"Do you want me to come, sir?"

"Yes. Don't tell anyone where we're going."

"Yes sir." Hawkeye saluted.

Roy threw on his coat and walked quickly to the door and dawn the hall. His ignition gloves were in his pocket, this time he wasn't going to go easy on the place.

As Hawkeye drove Roy stared out the window. He was prepared to fight and prepared to kill. He's known for a long time that he would do anything to protect Edward, and would even kill to do so. Hawkeye finally pulled up to the prison and Roy immediately got out of the car and walked around. He stopped, felling suddenly colder in that one spot.

This is it. This is where Fullmetal is. Roy took in a deep breath and thought for a minute. He wasn't good at any Alchemy other than his Flame Alchemy, but he had to try. Ry quickly but carefully drew a transmutation circle in the loose dirt and placed his hands on the edge. Blue transmutation sparks traveled along the ground and soon enough there was a deep hole that stretched down for a long while.

"Lieutenant, I'm going down there. You stay here." Roy walked to the edge of the hold.

"Yes sir." Hawkeye saluted. "Please be careful."

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Roy then jumped and went sliding down into the hole.

***

Ed thought he heard footsteps, or perhaps he was only imagining it. Daniel never came this time of night. Sure enough, Daniel Tucker walked into the room and shut it again.

"Time for step five." He walked towards the edge of the room and stood there.

When the pain started Ed couldn't help but scream. It seared his body, sucked all the breath from his lungs. His just recently closed wound on his stomach reopened and blood seeped through the already soaked bandages and onto the floor. Ed's strength faded rapidly, his vision growing darker, but he forced himself to stay conscious. He relaxed his body and let the pain come. He knew there was nothing he could do to stop it so he just let it come.

Pained tears flowed down his face as he grew more weak from the pain. Finally, holding onto the last thin string that connected him to the world, the door opened and light spilled into the dark room, bathing Ed in a brilliant golden light and chasing away the darkness and the Transmutation sparks.

There, standing with the light reflecting off him, was Colonel Roy Mustang. The Flame Alchemist raised his hand. "Hand Edward over to me, or I'll turn you into a pile of ashes."