There was a bullet in Ed's shoulder. Lodged deep in the socket, splintering bone and cartilage, sending searing pain down his arm with every small movement.

There was a bullet in Ed's shoulder. Put there by the gun of a thug who had been a little hostile towards Ed during his last mission.

There was a bullet in Ed's shoulder. Al was in Resembool and Ed was on the mission alone, so he dealt with his arm alone too. Cleaning and bandaging it in his dorm bathroom, staining the white tile floor a muddy crimson.

There was a bullet in Ed's shoulder. Ed didn't have time to be laying around in a hospital, so he decided to put off the problem for as long as he could, hoping he could avoid infection for the time being.

There was a bullet in Ed's shoulder. He had a report due today, and he had a meeting with Colonel Mustang soon.

There was a bullet in Ed's shoulder, and no one was going to find out about it.

Ed walked the familiar hallways of Central Command, trodding along absent-mindedly to the office of a certain raven-haired bastard colonel. He held his flesh arm close to his body, trying to ease the shooting pain that came with every step.

He sighed as he approached a set of mahogany double doors. Today, he opted to just open the door in lieu of kicking it in. He was tired and any sudden movement caused him more pain than he needed to be in.

"Hello, Edward." Greeted Hawkeye. The office was sparse, her and Havoc being the only ones there.

"Hey, Hawkeye." He replied, being sure to add as much fake enthusiasm into his voice as possible. "The colonel in?" She nodded, leading him further inside and towards the door to the inner office. She knocked and opened the door.

"Sir, Edward is here to see you." He looked up from his paperwork to Hawkeye, then over to Edward.

"Ah, Fullmetal. Just the person I've been wanting to see. Sit." He gestured with a nod to the chair in front of his desk. There was something in Roy's voice that made Ed uneasy, but he complied anyway. He sat down in front of Roy and cradled his flesh arm in his lap.

"So, Edward. How did your latest mission go? Get yourself injured at all?" Ed shifted uncomfortably at the mention of being hurt.

"Uh, no, I'm fine." He replied gruffly, handing Roy his report. Roy took it from him and began to scan it's contents. He leaned back in his chair.

"Hm. You see, Fullmetal, there's something about your report and the police report that don't add up." Ed's brow furrowed with worry and confusion.

"Um, huh?" He asked intelligently. Roy looked up to Ed and sat his chin on his folded hands.

"There was blood at the crime scene, Ed. None of the criminals were injured. Now let's see... if it wasn't their blood, whose blood could it be?" Ed's heart sank into his stomach. He hadn't thought about the blood he left behind. "So, Fullmetal. What I'm asking is where and how are you injured and why you're hiding it from me." Ed felt a bead of sweat roll down his back. He stayed silent. Roy looked him up and down. "Why are you holding your arm like that, Ed?" Ed's eyes darted around the room. If he found out he'd been shot then he would send him to the hospital, and he couldn't go there. "Why don't you take off your coat? Stay awhile." Ed sank further into his chair and pulled his coat around him. Roy sighed. "Hawkeye, Havoc, could you come in here?" Ed was sweating profusely now. Roy stared daggers at him.

"What is it, sir?" Asked Hawkeye, reading the tension in the room. Behind her stood the ever clueless Havoc, who was grinning.

"Edward is injured, but he won't tell me how or where." Hawkeye eyed Edward warily. Ed gritted his teeth.

"What's wrong, Edward?" She asked from his right side, with Havoc studying him on his left.

"Just tell us, chief. We can't help you if you don't tell us what's wrong." Havoc added. Ed sighed in defeat. He wanted to tell them that he didn't want their help, he was dealing with it. But, he knew there was no way he was getting out of this.

"Fine! But you have to promise not to take me to the hospital!" They all looked concerned at the fact that Ed had dubbed his injuries hospital worthy, but hesitantly nodded nonetheless.

They all stared as he began to remove his red coat, being careful not to move his left arm at all. He slowly, carefully, slid his right arm out of his black jacket, and took a deep breath before sliding it off of his left shoulder, revealing the layers of bandages covering his shoulder. Roy squinted at him in concern, and Havoc kneeled beside Ed.

"May I?" He asked, holding the bottom edge of Ed's tank top. Ed hesitantly nodded, and Havoc gently helped him slide out of his top. He touched the end of the bandage, and looked to Ed for permission, who nodded at him. He slowly began unwrapping the gauze, revealing the bloody wound. They all gaped at him. Havoc frowned. "Hawkeye, get the first aid kit."

"You've been shot?!" Roy yelled, looking a mixture of exhausted and shocked. "You were shot and you didn't tell anybody?!" Ed rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm irresponsible and stupid could've gotten myself killed blah blah blah..." Roy sank his head into his hands.

"What the hell am I gonna do with you, kid?"

Hawkeye showed up next to Havoc, laying a first aid kit beside him. Havoc inspected the wound.

"Um, boss? There's no exit wound." Everyone in the room visibly paled.

"Edward." Roy began quietly. "Did you get the bullet out?" Ed looked away and stayed silent. "Edward." He began, a little more sternly. "Did you. Get the bullet out." Ed closed his eyes. "For the love of God, kid! It's still in there?!" Ed gave him a one shoulder shrug. Roy looked exasperated. "Let me get this straight. You've been walking around with a bullet in your shoulder for three days, and you were just hoping that no one would find out?" Ed turned away sheepishly.

"Well when you put it like that... " He murmured. Roy sighed wearily.

"Well, we're going to the hospital." He stated. Ed frantically shook his head.

"Nope. Not gonna happen. You promised!" He yelped, curling into himself slightly.

"That was before I knew there was a bullet in your arm!" Roy defended, throwing a hand to Ed's now steadily bleeding shoulder as Havoc tended to it.

"You still promised!" He quaked. Roy frowned at him.

"Look, Ed. I know you don't like hospitals, but this is serious. You could get an infection, lose function in your arm, it could kill you." He reasoned solemnly. Ed scooted back as far as he could in his chair, his eyes wide and filled with fear.

"I don't care. I won't go. It'll be fine!" Ed knew he was being illogical, but he had gone this far, and he wasn't ready to just give in. Truth was, the pain from the bullet wound mirrored the pain of losing his arm, and the idea that they could amputate his other arm as well terrified him to the furthest edges of his being. "I can't do it, Mustang. I can't." He pleaded, golden eyes glassing over. Roy's shoulders slumped and he fell back into his chair with a sigh.

"What are you so scared about, Ed?" He asked, his voice thin and low. "I've seen you get stabbed, beaten and broken, and then get up and beat the other guys ass!" He chuckled softly. "What changed?"

Ed frowned and shifted, his eyes sending Mustang a pleading look.

"Don't laugh." Ed trembled, looking away.

"Ed, I promise to you I won't laugh." Ed looked into his eyes to search for dishonesty.

"I don't want them to take my other arm. The way it feels- i-it," He stammered. "It feels the same as when I lost my arm, and I don't want it to happen again." He added, his voice barely above a whisper.

The three soldiers were quiet with sympathy.

"Ed, I wouldn't laugh at you for that. That's a perfectly natural fear." The blush on Ed's face told him that he wasn't convinced. Roy rubbed his face in his hands. There was no way to convince the kid to go to the hospital knowing what he knew now. "Havoc, what can you do?" He looked to the man who was holding pressure on Ed's wound.

"Well, technically speaking I can take care of it here. Problem is, there's nothing I can do for the pain, and I'll have to remove the bullet, and it'll hurt like a bitch." He hissed sympathetically. Roy looked to Ed.

"Well, you have two options. You can go to the hospital and let them take care of it with proper tools and medicine, or you can let Havoc fix you up and deal with the pain." To Ed, the answer was obvious.

"No way in hell am I going to the hospital. I did automail surgery with no pain medication, this'll be a piece of cake." Ed stated confidently. They all gaped at him.

"You're telling me you had surgery involving the attachments of your nerves to a machine with absolutely no pain medication?" He asked, dumbfounded. Ed just nodded, looking unphased.

"Are you kidding me? That surgery makes grown men on morphine scream!" Havoc exclaimed. Ed shrugged one-shouldered.

"I come from a backwater town, I had the surgery in an improvised operating room in Winry's house. What'd you expect?" They were all at a loss for what to say next. What do you say to a kid who just admitted to going through hours of torture and acted like it was nothing? "Why are you all looking at me like that?" He asked, looking uncomfortable.

"Oh, sorry. It's just- that must've been so awful, kid." Roy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Ed flushed and looked away.

"Oh, well, sure, I-I guess." He stuttered.

Havoc was readying his materials. He laid out a variety of scalpels and forceps on a clean towel on the coffee table. He stood up and pulled a pair of white latex gloves onto his hands.

"Sure you want to do this chief?" He sighed. Ed nodded.

"Hell yeah. Ten times better than going to any hospital." Havoc chuckled.

"Well chief, you and I certainly have very different definitions of 'better'."

Roy and Riza stood nearby, watching on with concerned expressions. Havoc was standing by Ed, who had not moved from the chair, wielding a small scalpel.

"Ready, chief?" Ed nodded, looking not even remotely worried. "Brace yourself."

He dug into the wound, cut it open further by about 3/4 of an inch. Ed gritted his teeth, but didn't otherwise react.

"You okay?" Havoc asked, surprised by the kids lack of reaction.

"Yeah, m'fine." He replied nonchalantly.

Havoc wiped away the stray blood, holding gauze in place while he reached for the forceps. Roy watched the kid with a furrowed brow, while Riza looked calm, but those who knew her could see the worry in her eyes.

"This is gonna be the worst part, so bear with me, kid." Ed nodded, while Havoc reached towards the wound with the forceps. He dug into the bullet hole, losing almost the entire length of the forceps in Ed's shoulder. Ed closed his eyes and grimaced, not making any noises of discomfort, aside from a small whimper when Havoc latched onto the bullet.

"Sorry, kiddo. Almost done." Roy and Riza watched on with anxiety as he slowly pulled back the forceps, retreating from the wound with a rather large bullet in tow. Havoc quickly deposited it onto a nearby tray, rushing to put pressure on Ed's now heavily bleeding shoulder.

"Ah, shit.' Havoc cursed as he piled more gauze on top of the wound.

"What is it?" Roy asked, biting his fingernails. Havoc looked at him, slight worry in his expression.

"Must have hit an artery, sir. Now that the bullets gone, there's nothing to stop the bleeding." Mustang paled a bit at that.

"Well, what do we do?" He asked, eyes widening when he saw the blood already seeping through the many layers of gauze and onto Havoc's gloved hands.

"Well sir, I know how to stop the bleeding but you're not gonna like it." He said, gritting his teeth and slipping more gauze under his hands.

"Well it doesn't really matter if I like it or not, he'll die if we don't do anything." Havoc frowned at him.

"You have to cauterize it, sir."

Roy paled and began to sweat.

"Well, you're right, I don't like it. I can't burn him!" Roy exclaimed. It was quiet for a few moments as Roy went over his options.

"Hello-o, kind of bleeding out here, will you just do it already Mustang?" Ed argued, looking substantially more paler by the second.

"Ed, I don't want to hurt you." Roy stated solemnly. Ed rolled his eyes.

"You're not hurting me, you're helping me! I'll bleed out if you don't do it!"

Roy swallowed, but knew he was right. He frowned and slid on one glove. It took him a few times to snap well enough to get a small flame going, due to the shakiness of his hands. He knelt beside Edward, and looked into his eyes. Ed nodded at him in understanding.

Havoc removed pressure from Ed's shoulder, causing blood to come pouring out with every heartbeat. Trying his best not to think, he inched towards Ed, small flame flickering above his fingers.

"I'm so sorry, Ed." He touched the flame to the gushing wound.

Ed screwed his eyes shut and growled through his gritted teeth, his bottom lip quivering. As soon as it had begun, it was over; though it felt like years for Roy. The room was silent aside from Ed's pained panting.

"You did so good, kiddo." Havoc assured, quickly moving to stitch the wound closed. Ed was too busy trying not to pass out to respond.

Roy looked almost as bad as Edward when he sat back down behind his desk. He kept thinking about how based on Ed's reaction, what he did to him hurt a heck of a lot worse than having Havoc dig around in him with forceps; which must have been agony in the first place. He just couldn't get over that he had caused Ed that pain. Riza must have realized his inner turmoil, as she laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

7 neat stitches later, and Havoc was wrapping bandages around a half-conscious Ed's shoulder and across his chest. He finished off by tying a white sling around Ed's neck and sliding his forearm into it. Ed was looking ready for a nap as he stood there, eyes half lidded. Havoc ruffled up his hair and helped him over to the couch, where he promptly fell asleep almost immediately after laying down.

Roy, Riza, and Havoc all stood beside the couch, watching the steady rise and fall of Ed's chest.

"You know boss, I've seen hardened soldiers cry when having bullets removed. The kid didn't make a sound." Havoc stated, shaking his head in amazement. "Not to mention he had walked around with it stuck in there for three whole days without saying anything." Roy nodded.

"The kids incredibly stubborn, that's for sure." Roy chuckled.

"Yeah, that he is, but he's strong too. Stronger than anyone I've ever met." Added Riza. Roy smiled.

"Yeah, he's strong alright. Stronger than I'll ever be."