Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Gravity Falls. They belong the to Hiromu Arakawa and Alex Hirsch, respectively. I only own the OC characters.

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It was dark. Where was he? Was he back there, in that horrible place? No, no, god, please no. Not this, anything but this. He tried to struggle, but he couldn't move. His heart raced faster in his chest. He made no sound; he couldn't even hear himself breathing.

He whimpered as he felt the pulsing mass of flesh force its way into his mouth, sliding down to lodge in his throat. He could taste that salty liquid again, and he gagged. He felt the hand in his hair, gripping it tightly, holding him still. Tears slipped down his cheeks before he could stop them.

Suddenly, another throbbing mass thrust inside him from the other end. He yelled out in surprise, voice muffled by the appendage still stuffed down his throat. He screamed when this new intrusion pulled out and dove back in, harder and faster. The pulsating mass speared deeper and deeper into him, sending a wave of pain through his body with each thrust. He sobbed and pleaded, but no one could hear him. But he didn't care, it hurt so much, and he just wanted it to stop just please make it stop make it stop...!

Edward shot up into a sitting position, breathing heavily. He was in a room he didn't recognize, laying in a bed with the sheets pulled up to his chest. They fell down to his waist when he bolted upright, revealing the light blue hospital gown he was wearing. White, pristine bandages covered his flesh arm, his chest and back, his neck. His hair was still loose, framing his face.

He didn't notice any of this, however. The nightmare still lingered in his mind. His expression was fearful, like a deer caught in headlights. He could still taste the salt on his tongue. He became nauseous, bile rising in his throat. Before he could stop himself, he vomited up whatever was left inside his nearly empty stomach. He coughed and retched, trying to dispel that awful taste. The front of his gown and his sheets were stained with his puke.

A nurse who was walking by heard the boy dry heaving. She was a pretty woman, blue eyes and blond hair done up in a loose bun. She peeked inside Ed's room. The teen was clearly struggling, and she was compelled to help him. She didn't know where to begin, but she was certain she could start by cleaning him up.

"Your bed's all dirty," she stated. "Don't worry, I'll help you with that." She rushed over to Ed's side, reaching out her hand towards him. "Just need to get you out of bed first."

The last time that Ed had woken in a place he didn't recognize, he was hurt. Any hand that touched him intended to hurt him, in all kinds of cruel ways. The hand that rested on his shoulder was unfamiliar to him, so he reacted accordingly. He jerked away from the nurse, a wild look in his eyes. "Stay away!" he yelled at her. "Don't touch me!"

"Please calm down! I'm just trying to help you!" The nurse grabbed his shoulders and tried to hold him down, but it only seemed to aggravate the teen further. She had never dealt with a patient like him before. He seemed to have gone off the rails, as if he was seeing someone else instead of her. She had to use all her strength to keep him from leaping off the bed. He continued to struggle and shout at her, sometimes throwing colorful words into the mix. She was appalled by his extensive vocabulary.

Another nurse rushed into the room at the commotion, taking in the sight before her. "What are you doing?!" she exclaimed. She looked older than the other nurse, brown eyes with her brown hair in a tight bun.

"Barbara!" The younger nurse looked over at the one standing in the doorway. "I need help here! He won't calm down!"

"Of course, he won't calm down!" The other nurse, Barbara, fixed the younger with a reprimanding gaze. "He's a trauma patient! He can't handle new people!" Barbara took another step into the room. "Get away from him before he-"

Both were cut off in their tracks as a blue light lit up the room. Without them noticing, Edward had instinctively clapped his hands together. His hands were no longer bound. It was easy for him to form his automail blade to defend himself. Both nurses stared in shock at what they had just witnessed. It looked nothing short of magic to them.

They momentarily forgot Edward's panicked state. He went to follow through with his defensive strategy: the point of his blade made a beeline for the blond nurse's face.

Barbara sprang into action, dashing forward to launch herself between the both of them. The younger nurse had dodged the bullet, but Barbara was the one that took the hit. She felt the blade dig into her left arm. She stumbled away from Ed, bumping right into the other nurse, who held her up. A torrent of blood spilled from the wound, staining her light blue scrubs. It ran down her arm and dripped on the floor.

Ed barely registered the slam of the door. Katelyn had barged in when she heard someone screaming from the teen's room, and she ran to see if he needed her help. To her utter dismay, she connected what happened when she took in the sight of Barbara clutching her bleeding arm and Ed's crimson stained automail blade. She rushed in and immediately went to the boy, not noticing that Dr. North had followed her in, choosing to rush towards Barbara's side.

As soon as Katelyn took a hold of Ed, the boy tensed up again, ready to fight her off. "Hey, Ed, calm down! It's me, Katelyn! It's me!" Ed stopped his struggling and looked up at the familiar voice. Katelyn took on a more soothing tone. "You're in the hospital, remember? No one's going to hurt you here."

Ed visibly relaxed as more tears slipped down his cheeks, realization flooding through him. He wasn't in that white room anymore. He was in a safe place, and Katelyn was here with him. The girl in question reached out to place a hand on top of his blade. "Let's put this away, yeah?" The boy looked incredulously at his transmuted automail, as if he didn't remember how it had gotten like that in the first place. After a few seconds, the boy clapped his hands again, and in a flash of blue light, his arm had returned to the way it was before.

Katelyn still gripped his shoulders in a comforting way, keeping him grounded. She turned towards North and the nurses. "Please don't mention this to anyone."

Over the sounds of the blond nurse apologizing profusely to an injured Barbara, Dr. North nodded. "Of course. Your secret's safe with us." With that, the doctor helped the older nurse out of the room, the other one following dejectedly behind.

Once they were left alone, Katelyn moved her hands from Ed's shoulders to place them in front of her on the bed. She clasped them together, trying to think of what she was going to say. "Seems I can't leave you alone for one second," she joked lightly, flashing a small smile.

The jibe failed to lighten the mood, however, as Edward lowered his gaze to stare at the vomit-stained sheets in his lap. Katelyn's face fell. This was serious. She leaned in closer. "How are you feeling?"

The young alchemist fidgeted with the blankets in front of him, not sure how to answer that. The pain and emotions from the last several days finally caught up with him. It was hard to believe that he had been saved, long after he had given up the hope of being found. For a long time, he thought he was going to be stuck as a plaything for Léon and his bastard cronies. It all became real for him, that he was in the hospital with Katelyn sitting right next to him. He was safe.

Ed moved closer to Katelyn to wrap his arms around her. The young woman immediately shifted onto the bed to draw him into her embrace, holding him close. Her grip was firm as the small form in her arms trembled as he sobbed against her chest, staining her red t-shirt. She didn't care. She rubbed soothing gentle circles on his back, allowing him to let it all out.

After what seemed like a long time, Ed pulled away to wipe his eyes. "I'm okay," he answered in a shaky voice. Katelyn knew that the boy was far from being okay, but she took this as a start. After a few more minutes, a different nurse came by to give Edward a new hospital gown. Katelyn took it from her, then helped the teen out of bed to the adjoining bathroom so he could change. The girl promised to wait outside the door. As soon as the door shut, the nurse came in to take the soiled bedsheets and replace them with new ones.

In the bathroom, Ed slipped off the gown covered in vomit. He noticed that he had been given a bath when he was out. Every speck of dirt and grime that was on him was scrubbed off. With all his filth washed from sight, it stood out to him that he still didn't feel clean.

Ed opened the door once he had gotten into the clean gown. Katelyn helped him back to his bed, the sheets completely free of stains. "So," Katelyn said as he got settled once again, "I called Rosalin and Michael while you were asleep. It'll take longer for Ros to show up with Alphonse, but Michael will be here sooner."

Ed didn't show much reaction at the mention of Katelyn's friend (though he, and everyone else who knew them, believed that they were more than friends, but she would deny it if anyone mentioned it.) He didn't get to know him that well. All he knew was that he was a "software engineer," whatever that meant, but Katelyn liked to use the term "computer geek." He still hadn't figured out yet what a "computer" was, either. All this futuristic technology made his head spin sometimes.

However, he was more focused on the other thing that Katelyn said. Rosalin's bringing Alphonse. Ed was both excited and terrified to see his little brother again. He had been afraid that he was never going to see him again, and once he did, he wondered about what he would say. He couldn't keep his condition a secret from him. It was much harder for him since he believed that Al had given up on searching for him like everyone else had. He was afraid that he would forget his brother's face in that hellhole, even in his armored form.

At least Katelyn was here. Her presence would make the reunion much easier for him. He looked up into Katelyn's blue eyes and put on the best smile that he could manage. "That sounds wonderful." The cheer in his tone was not at all faked.

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Ed's eyes shot open. It took him a moment to emerge completely from the nightmare. He checked his surroundings again to make sure that he wasn't still asleep.

He was lying on his side in his room in the hospital, the lights shut off and the curtains drawn. It was dark outside, the moon shining slightly through the cracks of the drapes. He focused his gaze ahead of him, settling on Katelyn's sleeping form sitting in a chair next to his bed.

The nightmare left him lonely and scared. Having someone nearby calmed his nerves a bit, but he was afraid to fall back into the dark recesses of his mind. He reached out with his automail arm to gently tug on the young woman's shirt sleeve.

For several moments, Katelyn didn't stir, continuing her light snoring fest. But finally, she blinked several times before glancing over at him, a dazed look on her face. Once she saw that Edward had gently nudged her awake, her face softened. "Hey, Ed," she said, her demeanor showing signs of grogginess. "You okay? Had a bad dream?"

The boy nodded his head once against the pillow. Katelyn could tell that he was afraid and uneasy. He still didn't particularly trust that no one was going to hurt him, especially when this place was completely foreign to him. She was the closest thing he had to cling to. That was made clear to her as he tugged at her arm, confirming his silent request.

"You want me to come up there with you?" Ed nodded again. Giving a small smile, the young woman moved to climb up onto the bed. The young alchemist scooted himself backwards to allow Katelyn to lie on her back next to him, stretching herself out. She circled her arm around his small body as he rested his head on her stomach, rising and falling in sync with her breathing.

Katelyn was immediately sent back to a time when, all those years ago, she once comforted her little brother in a similar fashion. Jonah and Noah would sometimes have nightmares too, and since their older sisters' rooms were closer than their parents', they were compelled to go to them first. On those hot summer nights in central Michigan, she would curl up next to her brother, acting as his guardian to keep the Boogeyman at bay.

It appears she would have to do the same for Edward.

Ed closed his eyes, soothed by the steady rhythm of Katelyn's breathing. As he drifted off into sleep, he was finally granted mercy from the horrors of his mind. He had no dreams while he was safely curled in Katelyn's arms.

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Author's Note: Hello again, everyone! Are you glad I'm not dead? I sure am. I'm so sorry that it's been forever since my last update. I've had to deal with some of my personal issues during the school year. Thankfully, I managed to pass all my classes with flying colors. Which means... you guessed it... you're looking at your new high school graduate, off to college in the fall. To be honest, I'm actually really nervous about moving to college. It'll be the first time that I'll be on my own, to a certain extent.

Another exciting thing that happened is that when I logged into my account, it said that this series is eligible for the Wattys. I'm a bit apprehensive since this contains non-consensual sex, but mature stories are allowed. My mom's also encouraging me to enter it, especially since I have a chance at earning money from it. I've decided to try it out. You might see it on the Wattys page.

Keep a lookout for a new story I'll be publishing!

Praise is appreciated and constructive criticism is encouraged.

You're all beautiful. See you next time!

-The_Mayflower