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

Description: I was inspired by a fic I found on archive of our own called "conflicted by the very air i breathe." I forget who the author is. Go check it out if you haven't heard of it. This takes place in my crossover universe again. Hopefully, this will help establish the relationship I want between Ed and my OC. Be forewarned, they're both gonna have a bad time. This story is still rated M for Mature.

Warning: This contains elements of nonconsensual rape.

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Consciousness came back to her slowly and sluggishly, like trying to swim to the surface of the ocean. Her limbs were heavy as she became aware of each of them. Her eyes refused to open when she tried, as if they were weighed down by some un-seeable force. It seemed like forever when she finally managed to crack them open, the action itself still a monumental effort.

At first, she thought she hadn't opened her eyes. Everything around her was dark. After blinking a few times, she realized that she was awake, and her eyes adjusted to survey her surroundings. She was lying on her side on a hard, stone floor, the room itself cavernous and cylindrical. From her position, there wasn't much else she could make out.

She attempted to move herself into a sitting position, but strange weights on her limbs and the sound of metal clattering prevented her from doing so. Still dazed, she glanced blearily down at herself to assess what sort of situation she was in. Two things surprised her that kicked her mind into overdrive.

First, she wasn't wearing her usual clothes. Instead, a plain white dress with long sleeves draped over her frame. She had on nothing else, not even her undergarments. She desperately steered herself away from the thought of someone touching her naked body while she was asleep. Second, heavy iron shackles circled her wrists and ankles, her arms bound behind her back. There was even a matching collar wrapped around her throat. The feeling of that weight on her neck sent a jolt of apprehension down her spine. The chains attached to each shackle was fixed to the wall behind her. Judging by the amount of slack she could make out she would only be able to move a foot or so in any direction.

She let her head fall back to the floor, which she found was filthy. Her brain struggled to dredge up any memory of what had happened prior. However, the effect of... something was still working its way through her system, lingering fuzz hanging around in her mind. Still, she searched her foggy brain to recall the events leading up to her current predicament. She couldn't quite remember the details, but she knew that someone was with her.

Who was it? I remember that they insisted on coming with me, even though I told them it might be dangerous. They never listen to me... Wait, that's it! Her eyes shot open as golden hair and eyes and a red coat flashed in her mind's eye. Ed had been with me at the time when... everything happened. Oh god, is he alright? Where is he? She scrambled to upright herself, her eyes roaming the space around her to catch a glimpse of gold. In the middle of her slight panic, she heard metal shifting and a small muffled groan.

She immediately locked her gaze towards the noise as she finally got to her knees, the hard floor scraping at her bare skin. The chains wouldn't let her up any farther. As she blinked rapidly to dispel the blurriness in her vision, cursing, she spotted a small form huddled at the center of the room. It was about twenty feet in front of her, and its continuous grunting and squirming proved to her that it was another person. As her vision finally cleared, she could make out large, golden orbs blinking open.

"Ed!" she exclaimed in relief. "You're awake, thank god!" Blissful euphoria threatened to send her crashing back down onto her side. It hardly phased her, though. She was grateful that the small, spitfire sixteen-year-old she had grown to care for was in one piece, even though he was completely stark naked.

She pointedly averted her gaze away from the young alchemist's undercarriage as he, with great difficulty, forced himself up onto his knees. He tried to say something once he eventually caught sight of the young woman in front of him, but the gag distorted his words. He frowned as he discovered the offending piece of cloth, and he tried to dislodge it with his shoulder. It was tied too tight, however, and he soon gave up.

His attention was diverted as the young woman cleared her throat. "Uh, hate to break it to ya, kid," she said, embarrassment tinging her voice, "but I don't quite appreciate the view." He looked down in confusion. Once he realized that he was displaying his exposed body for all to see, he squeaked and drew his legs together, looking away from those bright blue orbs in shame. He could hear her chuckle at his reaction, and familiar irritation bubbled within him.

He decided to take in the situation. He craned his neck to look down at his limbs. His arms were also bound behind his back, his wrists locked in massive iron cuffs. Similar leg irons were fastened around his ankles. A thick chain connected the two separate restraints. He twisted his wrists experimentally in the cuffs, the iron scraping his flesh wrist and his automail squealing against the heavy metal. No matter how much maneuvering, however, his hands couldn't reach each other. Which meant he was stuck.

The young woman in front of him heard him sigh. "No good?" she asked. He nodded in response. She tried, once again, to activate her powers, but was met with the same result. Nothing happened. It wasn't gone, per se, it was just... out of reach. It was like it was dangling on a fishhook high above her, taunting her. This was strange. Something was blocking it. She glanced down at the metal shackles binding her. Could the cuffs be bewitched? Or have some kind of suppressing magic imbued into them? It seemed unlikely, but whoever was behind this managed to abduct them, a skilled alchemist and a person who could technically be classified as a god. Whatever the case, it certainly didn't bode well for them.

Suddenly, the sound of a heavy door opening startled her from her thoughts. She whipped her head towards the noise, Ed doing the same, as a figure entered the room through a metal door to her left. She hadn't noticed it until now. The interruption sent her reeling, unprepared to meet their apparent captor. Calmly and stoically, a woman strode in, glancing between each prisoner in turn. She had long black hair that flowed down her back. Her dark, auburn-colored eyes looked almost red in the dim light.

"Ah, excellent. You're both awake. I was wondering how long the drugs would keep you under." She said it so nonchalantly, as if they weren't bound in whatever kind of dungeon this was. "It's nice to finally meet you," she continued, directing her gaze towards the boy in the center, "Edward Elric," she said, ignoring how the boy's eyes widened at the sound of his name as she turned to stare at the young woman, "and Katelyn Johnston."

Katelyn composed herself after the initial shock of this and fixed the woman with a pointed glare. "Who the hell're you?" she demanded. She figured that this was no random kidnapping, but hearing her name come from this stranger's mouth reinforced it for her. The thought made her uneasy, but she masked her reaction.

The woman's features didn't change in the slightest. "My name is not important," she stated monotonously. "What is important is that you remember me. Vividly." She started walking casually towards the bound girl. Katelyn fought the urge to scoot away from her as she approached. Instead, she held her steely gaze as their captor stopped to stand in front of her, blocking her view of Edward. "What does that mean?" she asked, her posture radiating defiance.

The woman leaned down and gripped Katelyn's chin. She tried to pull away, but the woman's nails dug into her skin, and she held in a hiss of pain. "As you've no doubt discovered by now, you are here for a reason." She turned her head to glance at Edward. "You both are." She returned her gaze to Katelyn. "There is a lesson for you to learn, Katelyn. A lesson that everyone should learn."

She scoffed in the woman's face. "A lesson? You've seriously got some screws loose in that psychopathic brain of yours." The woman scowled ever so slightly before roughly releasing her face. She swiftly turned her back and briskly strode towards the center of the room, right for Ed. He tried to move away, but she reached him before he could get far. She knelt next to him, grabbing a fistful of loose blond hair, yanking it back. He let out a muffled yelp as the woman positioned them both to face Katelyn. "My sanity is irrelevant in this situation," she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "You will come to realize, girl, that everything you hold dear, everything that you treasure, is only temporary. What you possess that gives you meaning can be taken away at the slightest whims of fate. And you will be powerless to stop it."

Katelyn had gasped and strained against the chains binding her when the woman had grabbed Edward. It was clear from this stranger's demeanor that she had harmful intentions. It was then that the subtle signs of fear began to stir at the base of her gut. She wanted to throw the woman into the wall, wanted to hear the satisfying sound of her soft body crunching against the hard surface. "Get your hands off of him," she snarled, the tone of her voice promising pain if just one hair on Edward's head was harmed.

The woman ignored the underlying threat, side-eying the boy next to her. "Edward means a lot to you, yes?" she continued. "A replacement for the brothers you failed to save?" She was unbothered at the sound of Katelyn jerking harshly on her shackles, a look of pure fury on her face. "You don't deserve him. You don't deserve to have your personal chance of redemption, and you know it. The universe knows it, too. That is what you will soon come to learn."

Katelyn struggled and shouted in frustration. "What the hell is your problem?!" she yelled. "What're you even talking about?!" The woman watched her struggle for a few moments before giving her an answer.

"Edward is here to help teach you this lesson," she said, looking at the boy fully. The child in question stared warily at her, refusing to believe what this stranger was implying. "He will suffer for you. The thing you treasure the most will be beyond your power to save. And you will learn how helpless you truly are."

Katelyn's face crumbled into one of desperation. Her struggles grew more frantic. "Alright- alright, listen," she stammered, now truly afraid for the boy in front of her, who also wore an expression of barely contained terror. "Whatever beef you have with me, it's just between you and me. He has nothing to do with it."

The woman's expression did not change. It remained as indifferent as ever. "This has everything to do with him. You will soon come to realize that." She brought forward something she had been holding in her hand, something that Katelyn hadn't noticed before. Once she did, her eyes widened in horror.

The woman widened the mouth of the burlap bag before moving it towards Ed's face. "Bear in mind, this is only the beginning," she said, as she slipped the sack over the boy's head. Ed's muffled protests could be heard underneath the thick material. The woman pulled the string tight before tying it, securing it firmly. Throughout all of this, Katelyn continued to struggle against her bonds. "Stop it!" she shouted, desperate and pleading.

Their captor straightened up and walked to the far side of the room, towards something out of her line of sight. She didn't think the feeling of dread in her stomach could get any worse until the woman returned, dragging a large chain with a hook on the end of it. "What are you doing?!" She couldn't care less if that came out as a whine. However, the woman ignored her, and continued to make her way back towards Ed, who was still struggling, any noise he made muffled by the gag. At some point, he had fallen back on his side in his frantic squirming. Once the woman reached him, she kneeled and fastened the hook to a slot that was now visible underneath his leg irons. Once she was finished, she made her way over to a large hand crank located near the door.

It took Katelyn way too long to follow where that heavy chain led to. "No, don't! Please!" She doubled her efforts to pull against the chains. But they held. The woman continued to ignore her pleas as she began turning the crank, grunting with the effort. Ed started to panic as he felt himself being dragged across the ground. Once the chain reached the end of its slack, his body was slowly lifted into the air. He cried out in shock as he lost contact with the ground completely, suspended in open air. The crank continued to turn, raising him higher and higher. It seemed to go on forever until, finally, the crank locked into place with a loud clank.

Katelyn stared up in horror at Edward, hanging upside down from a height that would surely injure him if he fell from it. The chain connecting the arm and leg cuffs kept his arms locked behind his back. He continued to squirm in his bonds, rattling the chains. His muffled shouts could still be heard underneath the bag over his head. It was clear he was still in the grips of blind panic.

The woman rubbed at her hands as she made her way towards the door she came in before. "I suggest you try to get some sleep," she said. She opened the door before glancing back at Katelyn. "You will definitely need it." With that, she left, slamming and locking the door behind her.

"You bitch! Get back here!" she screamed, rage enveloping her. She writhed in her bonds, hoping there was some sort of give in the chains. But there was no such luck. She stopped once the feeling of frustration left her, leaving her exhausted in its place. Even Ed had seemed to calm down, despite his harrowing position many feet above her. She had seriously underestimated how big this room was.

Katelyn slumped over in defeat, letting out a huge sigh. "I'm so sorry, Ed," she muttered, hoping the boy could hear her from where he was. "This is all my fault. I got us into this mess, and I can't get us out of it." She fell silent. Edward made a soft, muffled sound, as if he was trying to reassure her. She huffed in light amusement. "It's going to be okay, though," she said, determination hardening her tone. "I'm sure Al, Ros, and everyone else will come looking for us. They'll find us for sure." She wasn't sure if she was trying to convince Ed or herself.

After some time, Katelyn decided to take their captor's advice and try to fall asleep.

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Author's Note: Again, go check out that fic I mentioned in the description. Decided to post this because I'm on an angst vibe right now. I want all the angst.

Strap yourselves in, this is gonna be a wild ride.

Praise is appreciated and constructive criticism is encouraged.

See you next time!

-The_Mayflower