Edward just stared at Roy as he shook on the ground in front of the toilet, sniffling because he had been crying and looking scared half to death. Finally, Edward's senses came back to him and he slowly walked into the bathroom, grabbing the rag that was on the vanity of the bathroom. He turned the water on and wet the rag and wrung it out, turning back to Roy. He bent in front of him as Roy looked at him with fear in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Edward..."

"What did you do, Colonel?"

"I just... I just wanted to be myself again."

Edward sighed, confused about how calm he was but glad about it all the same. He knew that whatever was helping him be this way made things so much easier.

"Where is the blood coming from?"

"M-my mouth... I vomited it up... It just kept coming..."

"And did you plan on dying in the bathroom?"

"I knew you'd be back."

Edward's anger could no longer be suppressed and he whacked Roy on the head.

"Ow!"

"Dumbass! That's no excuse for you sitting here bleeding all over yourself! What if I had forgotten to come back or something came up that made me take a little longer, huh?! Were you going to just die here without telling anyone?"

Roy didn't say anything as he looked away and Edward sighed, kneading his temples.

"Look, I may not like you a lot but you are my friend. The fact that your pride would make you not call for someone is a bit angering."

"I couldn't get up..." Edward looked at him. "It wouldn't stop and I couldn't get up to get to the phone."

Edward kind of figured that, what with Roy just sitting on the floor with blood pooled in his hands and all over him, but it still pissed him off about it all. He shook his head and grabbed a hold of Roy's hand.

"Let's get you cleaned up a little, okay? No sense in looking like you got murdered or something."

He nodded a little as Edward took his hand and began to get the blood off. After wiping his hands clean, he moved to Roy's face and gently removed some of the blood there. Roy was shaking and looked like he was about to go into shambles. Edward sat beside him and was surprised that for once, his small frame was bigger than someone else's. In a comforting gesture, Edward pulled the Colonel into his lap as Roy lay his head against his chest.

"We need to call Hawkeye."

"No!" Edward looked down. "She'll kill me!"

"Like you didn't almost already do that."

"That's what I mean. She'll kill me for real."

"I have a feeling she'll berate you but kill you? I don't think so."

"Please don't call her."

"We'll see."

Roy leaned his head on Edward's chest, completely worn out.

"I'm just going to take a nap. And Fullmetal?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell no one about this." He said as he closed his eyes.

Edward nodded when Alphonse came back in.

"The ambulance is on their way... Should I call Ms. Hawkeye?"

Edward nodded a little and Alphonse nodded, going to the phone.

The ambulance finally came and took Roy to the hospital to be checked out.

*********************

"Well, Roy, it looks like you've dodged a pretty good bullet today. If your friends had not come when they did, you would have been dead." The doctor said, looking over his charts. "Tell me, did you eat something that made this happen?"

Roy didn't say anything as he stared at the hospital bed. The doctor sighed and walked over to him.

"I know who you are, sir." Roy looked up a little. "The little guy outside had to tell me what happened. With alchemy, I believe everything he says. So, tell me what happened on your end and I can try to understand things a little better."

"You know I'm a colonel then?"

"I do."

"Then don't call me by my first name."

The doctor smiled. "Duly noted."

Roy then told him everything that he had gone through and the doctor listened with intensity. He was surprised that Roy was telling him some top secret things but he guessed it was because it dealt directly with what was happening to him.

"So, I transmuted the water the color of the serum and when Hawkeye was asleep, I drank the whole thing. I got back to normal this morning but by the time I got home, I was feeling nauseas and ill. About four or so I started having abdominal cramps and I went to the bathroom to vomit. When I started, it seemed to not want to stop and eventually every time it happened, I felt myself getting younger. Towards this stage that I'm in now, the vomit began to turn bloody and I panicked, knowing I was regressing further and further but I didn't know how far. I eventually figured I was going to die..."

The doctor nodded a little and cleaned his glasses.

"Well, that explains a lot of things. I will need to run some tests on you to see why you began to vomit blood and also see what we can do about the regression."

"What can you do, Doc? You can't perform bio-alchemy like Dr. Striker. What are you going to do?"

"First of all, I'm going to get the samples he took as well as the results he found. It's true that I don't know bio-alchemy but I know how to read results and how to conduct my own research. I want to help you, Colonel."

Roy nodded and the doctor patted his knee.

"As for now, you're just going to have to stay in the hospital for a day or two until we can get your strength back. In the mean time, don't go near Dr. Striker and just be patient with the results. You'll have to stay like this for a bit, I'm afraid but if you wait, then we can get things done properly."

"Okay."

The doctor smiled and left the room. When he left, Roy scoffed, throwing his head back on the pillows. Why me? Why does it have to be me?

*********************

Later that day, Jean walked in with Breda and Fuery. Roy was looking at a magazine and looked up, frowning.

"Hey, Colonel, what's happening?" Jean said with a nervous chuckle.

Roy looked at Breda and Fuery, who were both staring at him in awe and looked back at Jean.

"I thought you could keep this a secret?"

"I did but Hawkeye said that you were in the hospital and I tried to make them not come but they insisted. So I had to tell them so they wouldn't get freaked out... Sorry, sir..."

Roy just sighed. "It doesn't matter anymore. My pride is gone, has been for a while, so it doesn't matter."

"So it was actually you who beat me at chess?" Breda said, walking in.

"Yeah."

"So that's why you said you had been waiting years... Well, it's kind of funny that it took you a fifteen year regression before you could beat me."

Roy glared at him for a moment.

"Breda, I might look five but I still know how to do flame alchemy."

Breda stopped laughing and cleared his throat.

"So, have you talked to Hawkeye yet?"

"No. I don't plan to either."

"Don't plan to what, sir?"

Roy grimaced as Riza came from behind the other subordinates. She looked calm but he knew that she was known for not showing her emotions for a reason.

"Uh, bye, Colonel. See you... I hope..."

The others left the room and Riza looked at Roy. She walked over to him and then promptly smacked him in the face. He took it with as much dignity as he could as Riza sat on the bed.

"I should kill you. I really should."

"I know."

"Why did you think I would be hiding something from you, huh? You know that I don't do anything that isn't for your own good, right?"

"I know."

"Then why did you think it was a bright idea to drink the serum? And what's more, you did it while it was in its concentrated state. Even Dr. Striker told us to dilute it when he gave it to us. How could you think we were holding out on you?"

"I just wanted to be normal again. I was tired of being treated like a child when I am a full grown adult. Dammit, Riza, do you have any idea what it feels like to have this happen to you? To lose all dignity and pride?"

"Many a time, sir. I lose dignity and pride a lot when you're not around... And I do understand how you feel, though not exactly like this. Your stubbornness almost cost you your life because you didn't want to wait for something. Edward had a feeling that this serum was not going to do what was told the intent would be and you really proved us right."

Roy sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Colonel, just think before you act sometimes. I wonder how you can be so smart and yet so stupid."

"Geniuses aren't perfect, you know." He said softly.

"They also seem to lack basic common sense."

Roy laughed a little and Riza got up, walking closer to him. She moved his bangs and kissed his forehead.

"Get some sleep, sir. We have a lot of things to do ahead of us."