Because I-I," Ed stuttered. "Love you."

Roy's world was painfully silent outside of Ed's pained panting. He honestly was not expecting that response. The memories of the last few weeks all raced around Roy's head, every touch, every comment, and every look. Ed loved him. Ed was willing to face serious injury or possible death to keep Roy safe — because he loved him.

The very idea made Roy feel sick as a sense of dread went through him. He didn't deserve someone who seemed to love him so unconditionally that he would put everything on the line for him. His heart sank into his stomach at the idea that he had led Ed to this without being completely aware of all the facts. It wasn't fair on Ed.

Ed was closing his eyes. In that moment, Roy found it harder to breath and his heartbeat sped up as his hands started to shake.

"Ed?" Roy's mouth felt so dry, but he quickly became frantic when Ed didn't open his eyes again. "Ed! You can't say something like that and just pass out. That's not fair. You can't jump in front of a bullet for me and turn around and say that!"

Roy kept one hand over the bullet wound before using the other to start shaking Ed in hopes of getting him to regain consciousness. Instead, all Ed did was groan and arch his back slightly. Roy instantly regretted his harsh actions towards Ed, who must have been in a great deal of pain already. He was feeling worse and worse with each passing moment, unable to help.

"Shit!" Roy swore and pulled Ed's shirt up as gently as possible before picking up his flint again. "I'm sorry, Ed."

It was hard, but Roy took a deep breath before clicking the flint. All it took was a spark and he was using his alchemy on someone he had been trying hard to keep safe. Ed screamed as Roy seared the wound closed.

"Ed?" Roy tried, knowing full well that Ed had probably passed out. "Ed, you are such a fucking idiot!"

Roy felt so overwhelmingly dizzy. The flint fell from his grasp. The throbbing pain began to spread through him rapidly as he stayed kneeling at Ed's side. This all added to the nausea that was rising in him. The smell of burnt flesh wasn't something he really enjoyed. Carefully, Roy stood and headed for the cupboard where Ed had hidden the phone.

"Maes?" Roy asked, his voice sounding lost even to his own ears.

"Roy?" Maes replied. "Thank God! What's going on? Are you okay?"

"Ed's been shot," Roy said as he leaned against the cupboard.

"Is he alive?" Maes asked quickly.

"For now." Roy sighed shakily. "I had to cauterise the wound. He said he loved me."

"He's such an idiot." Maes groaned. "You weren't kidding about him not following orders well. Help is on the way. We've managed to trace the call. What about you? Where is Lambert?"

"I'm fine," Roy lied. "I don't know where Lambert is. I shot some flames his way. I'm hoping I burned his face off."

"And if all else fails the firing squad will take care of him," Maes said lightly. "Have you seen the rest of the team yet?"

"No." Roy's voice was weak with exhaustion. "I need to find them… But I need to take care of Ed."

"The team can take care of themselves," Maes assured him. "Just stay with Ed. Are you in a safe location?"

"Not really." Roy looked over at Lambert's horrible attempt at alchemy.

"Then try to hide and lay low," Maes suggested.

"I'll see what I can do," Roy said before he suddenly heard Ed make a small noise. "Ed's waking up."

"Go," Maes told him. "I'll talk to you when I see you. And I better see you!"

"See you soon," Roy said and he put the phone down.

He limped back over to Ed and shook him gently. "Ed?" Roy called out, hoping for a response.

A small amount of relief went through Roy when Ed opened his eyes for a moment, but it didn't last long. Ed's eyes closed again.

"Edward!" Roy called out before going to shake Ed but then reframed when he recalled how bad he felt last time. "Come on. Stay with me. That's an order. Help's coming." Roy tried to reassure Ed as well as himself. "Just hang in there. It's coming."

Roy reached out to check Ed's pulse, and realized how much his hands were shaking. The harder he tried to calm down and get his hands more steady, the worse his shakes seemed to get. It made it hard to find a pulse and in the end, Roy gave up.

"I spoke to Maes," Roy said quietly, mostly to himself. "He said you're an idiot, too. Apparently it's not just my orders you don't like following."

Ed moved slightly and for one second Roy thought Ed might have actually have been coming around. However, the movement quickly escalated from small movements to a whole-body jerking. It took a few seconds for Roy's brain to actually work out what was happening. Once he realised that Ed couldn't breathe, Roy grabbed his shoulder and hip before rolling him onto his side as carefully as possible.

"He knew," Roy whispered. "Maes knew how you felt. He never told me."

Ed's harsh coughs filled the air as blood spilled from his the corner of his lips. A dizzy spell hit Roy for a moment and he tightened his grip on Ed to try and stay upright. The sight of the blood coming out of Ed's mouth really wasn't making him feel better. A new wave of guilt and nausea passed through him.

"I'm so sorry, Ed." Roy said, sounding strained even to his own ears. "You should never have been anywhere near this assignment."

Carefully, Roy rolled Ed onto his back once it looked like Ed was done. Ed's head lolled to the side. Roy couldn't help but notice with the contrast of blood on Ed's lips that the blond looked so much paler now. They couldn't stay here. Help was on the way, but would they get here in time? Carefully, Roy brushed Ed's bang out of his face. He allowed his hand to linger on Ed's cheek for a moment as he readied himself to start moving.

"Your brother is going to kill me when we get back." Roy sighed loudly.

Ed's breathing evened out a little. It was still clearly strained and pained, but it was clear that Ed had passed out again. If Ed's state of consciousness before could even be considered consciousness.

The sound of footsteps had Roy scrambling to grab his flint. However, the sound came and went. When the footsteps faded away to nothing, Roy let out a shaky sigh of relief. He couldn't do this by himself. He needed his team. He needed Maes. He needed Ed. It was so strange to think about how much he had come to rely on Ed in recent weeks. But right now, Ed needed him.

Moving carefully, Roy gathered Ed into his arms. He took a few deep breaths before lifting Ed up off the ground. He groaned at the pressure and the weight on his leg sent a wave of white-hot pain through his thigh. In his right hand, he held the flint while trying to keep Ed's knees on his forearm between his wrist and his elbow.

As Roy took his first step, his limp seemed more pronounced and the burning in his leg just seemed to grow. It was only as Roy started to head out of the room that he realised that his leg was actually shaking. Moving through Lambert's poor attempt at transmuting a hole in the wall, Roy was listening very carefully for footsteps. So far there were none.

He continued through the room and towards the hallway. After looking left and right, Roy limped down the hallway. However, he didn't make it far before he heard footsteps returning and coming up behind him. In that moment, Roy panicked. He started to move quicker, getting as close to a run as he could manage with his injury and his charge.

"There!" A voice with a thick accent called out behind him. "Stop!"

That was the only warning Roy got before they opened fire on him. He panicked and hit the deck. He tried to roll so he could protect Ed from the fall, but his leg gave out on him, causing him to land on top of Ed rather than to protect him. Ed's cry of pain was just further testimony to how badly he was failing to help Ed at this moment.

"Shit!" Roy panted and got off of Ed as quickly as he could. "Sorry. Fuck. Sorry."

Roy grabbed the flint he had dropped when his leg gave out and pulled the trigger. He aimed his flames in a wide burst down the hallway. This was not by design, but by being just overwhelmingly exhausted at this point. The control over the alchemy was the very heart of his transmutation and required most of his energy and concentration. Right now he had neither. The results annihilated the people firing at them, as well as scorching the walls and causing a few burnt marks on the random paintings that had once decorated the hall.

"Sir!" A familiar voice called out.

"Lieutenant!" Roy looked up and saw with great relief that the rest of the team was coming towards them. "He's been shot. He's…"

In that instant Hawkeye was at his side. Her hands were cool as they brushed his forehead. Havoc was kneeling by Ed's side with Falman and Fuery. Falman pulled up Ed's shirt and revealed Roy's work before carefully probing the wound. Ed made a small noise and Falman backed right off.

"You cauterized the wound," Havoc gasped.

"He was bleeding out," Roy told them.

It wasn't the first time he's had to cauterize a wound and definitely not the first time he had used it on a member of this team. Roy could tell Havoc was thinking something similar. After all, if it wasn't for this technique, Havoc and Roy might not have survived their encounter with Lust.

"We need to move out," Hawkeye said.

"I got in contact with Maes," Roy informed them. "Help is on the way."

"Then we'll need to get closer to the exit," Hawkeye decided.

Hawkeye tried to pull Roy to his feet, but Roy's legs were just refusing to hold him. Falman came over and supported him on the other side. Roy tried to apologise, but Hawkeye hushed him. Meanwhile, Havoc pulled Ed into his arms.

"I think he's going into shock," Havoc said.

"I'm surprised it's taken this long," Roy replied. "Take their guns, cover us."

It was only then Roy actually realised that the group already had a set of guns. It was weird coming upon a realisation of something he should have noticed when they arrived. Thankfully, no one said anything about it.

Trying to walk with Falman and Hawkeye supporting him wasn't working very well. His bad leg was refusing to move at all now. In the end they were half carrying and half dragging him down the hallway. At some point must have blacked out since they were suddenly outside, in the snow, and there was a lot of yelling around him.

"Get him in the truck!" someone called out.

"In you get, Sir," someone said as Roy was helped into a truck.

It was getting so hard to focus. Roy could see Ed from the truck though. He was on a stretcher and he didn't look good. Normally, Ed had a glow about him from spending so much time out in the sun, now he was as pale as the snow around them. The dried blood on his lips really seemed to stand out in contrast now. All Roy could see at this stage was Ed and even that was starting to waver. Someone was pushing Roy down onto a semi-soft surface. After the last three weeks, it was heaven. They were moving his leg around, but he didn't even really notice as the world started to fade around him.

"He's highly feverish," someone said, close to him.

"We need to get this one to the hospital now!" someone else called out from outside the truck. "He's fading fast."

"I don't think Mustang is doing much better," the person inside the truck with him said.

"Get him in the truck with Mustang," someone replied.

The last thing Roy saw was Ed being lifted into the truck with him. As the world fell away, Roy landed in a sea of feverish dreams that left him with watching Ed and his team die in many different ways, and took him back to the Ishval war.