Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot(some what? It is a little over used) and any OC characters used or mentioned. Any similarity to real people/places is honestly a coincidence. All FMA characters, music, and any other references to obviously copy righty things belong to their owners. No matter how much I wish they were mine.

The Scientist

Chapter One: Come Up to Meet You

"More tragic deaths such as this could be avoided if doctors would stop prescribing-"

Click Click Click

"Cuz baby you're a firewo-"

Click Click Click Click

"If I di-"

Click Click

"Come up to meet you, tell you I'm sorry."

A relieved sigh could be heard from the young woman as she stopped scrolling on her Ipod's radio and settled on a station. Honestly, she couldn't help but think to herself, she wouldn't have this problem if she would stop being such a cheep stake and buy more songs.

Grumbling to herself as she placed her music player in her pocket and shifted the stuffed messenger bag she was carrying. The bag was known and acknowledged by those who new her as "The Smuggler". Really, you bring your elderly relative some 'necessities' and suddenly your things are nick named after criminals.

Rolling her eyes to herself, she started to walk across the pedestrian crossing to "Gold Ways Hospital". A snort escaped her. Yeah. It was real golden alright. That's why the building looked over a hundred years old and that it was going to collapse at any given moment.

The electronic sliding doors don't even work she thought glumly as she pushed them open. Why the hell had her father sent his own mother here? It was a thought that had haunted her for well over a year. It wasn't like the man was poor or even not doing well, he could definitely afford to send his Mom to a better hospital.

"Hello Nura."

Looking around to see who had spoken to her, Nura's eyes settled at a woman at the main lobby desk. The woman was in her mid twenties, with soft grey eyes. She had long dark brown hair and a slightly heavier build that was hidden behind a black flowing dress. Her lips were a surprising color of lime green.

"Hey Tina, how are you today?" Nura asked.

"As good as I can be in this hell hole where color is not allowed," Tina responded with an angry pout. "My Lips o' Rebellion and I are going to win us our colored clothing. Once the head honchos realize I won't stop using different colors on my lips until they at least let us wear some solid colors, they'll have to give in!"

"I'll pretend you made any sense at all. Good luck with that."

"Thanks. By the way, I heard your Gran has a new roommate. Just thought you should know. Since you, you know, look like you rolled out of bed and grabbed whatever you could and ran here."

"..."

"Hey! Don't look at me like that! I tell you these things because I care! I'm a very caring person! If I wasn't, would I be working at a hospital?"

"I'm leaving you now," Nura grumbled as she started walking towards the elevators. Well, that explained why her Grandma wanted her to bring double what she usually did. Would have been nice if she would have warned her though, then she could have dressed semi presentable. No wonder people never took her places.

She stopped in front of the elevator area and noticed people already waiting for them to come down. Sighing in aggravation she leaned against the closest wall. She could probably crab walk to the other side of the building and back before the doors would open. The stairway was still under construction, and there was no way she was going to even try risking her life to get upstairs faster.

Nura took her Ipod out of her pocket and turned the volume up. Tina would probably be angry with her if she found out she'd been listening to it and her at the same time. Oh well. It had been a pretty crappy week, she was owed some form of happiness right? So wearing comfy clothes, bitching, and being unenthusiastic was allowed also right? Right.

Looking up from her things she decided to people watch to amuse herself. Four other people were also waiting to get onto the elevator with her. One of them was a woman in in her thirties who was yelling into her blackberry in another language. Man did she look unhappy. If Nura was to guess, she'd say that the woman was German. Her accent was thick and sounded as though it came from deep in her throat. She also had beautiful piercing blue eyes.

The next person was a man in his fifties or sixties. He seemed to have a cold or maybe bad allergies because every once in awhile he would sniffle or rub his nose against his sleeve. She really hoped she did not have to stand next to him. If he touched her, she had no idea what she would do.

The third person was an old man possibly in his eighties, and he was breathing heavily. Very heavily. Heavily enough that Nura was starting to become concerned. Especially when she noticed that he seemed to be staring into space. Just to be sure she looked over in the direction he was looking in and her eyes widened. Perverted old man!

Standing where her eyes had turned was an extremely attractive young man. Dark green eyes gave a blank stare at the elevator doors and mouth was twisted downwards in a slight scowl. Short black hair was slicked back and she noticed a slight scar on his forehead. He honestly couldn't have been much taller then her, maybe by one inch or so, maybe he was five foot six then. His broad shoulders and sturdy body made up for it though.

Quickly Nura looked away. She was almost as bad as that old man! Well, maybe not she thought as she glanced over to see him still panting. Creepy. So very very creepy. Surely she would have nightmares about this. Should she be a good Samaritan and throw something, like a crumpled piece of paper, at him to get him to stop his scary staring?

Luckily she was broken out of her musing by the ding of the elevators announcing their arrival. "Finally," she muttered as she turned her Ipod off and shoved it back in her pocket. One by one the four visitors entered the elevators. The very small, and now very cramped elevators. At least she was pressed against the German lady and the hot guy. She would have started crying if it was one of the other two.

Actually, she thought as she looked up to see the youngest man looking at his fellow occupants, she wished he was on of the others. She really hoped she didn't smell. She did honestly do what Tina said, roll out of bed and grab her clothing and things. How was Nura supposed to know there was going to be a gorgeous man here? So, because of her non-precognitive abilities she was wearing a chewbacca hoodie and neon paint stained jeans. If that wasn't bad enough, her light brown hair was in a haphazard bun and she had dark circles under her hazel eyes, making her look like a crazy druggie in her opinion.

Life was so very cruel Nura thought moodily as the group shifted to let the sniffling man out at his stop. She looked down at her jeans and started picking at the peeling paint. They had been her favorite. So comfy, so wonderful. Then her friend 'borrowed' them and they came back like this. She was interrupted from her thoughts as the elevator jerked to start moving again and she was bumped into.

"Entschuldigen Sie bitte, I mean, I'm sorry," The blue eyed woman said quickly.

"Its fine." Waved off Nura. She was surprised. Slightly because most people wouldn't have apologized for such a minor bump, mostly because the woman had sounded ready to kill someone on the phone earlier. "It was nothing, really," she reassured. The woman nodded and turned back to whatever she was doing now on her phone.

Nura grinned in relief when they finally reached her floor. Hopping out she noticed she wasn't the only one who had exited. So had Mr. Wonderful. She chuckled nervously to herself. Great, now he got to get the full view. Oh well. He'd probably turn at some point and she'd never see him again.

Like right now, or now. How about now? Oh come on! There aren't many more places he could turn into! She knew for a fact that the other half of this floor was staff only which left only five more rooms for them to go into, one was closed due to the "incident", crazy Dan was in the other, and one was her Granny's, leaving only two.

That really didn't make any sense though because she knew for a fact that one of those rooms was Mr. Ander's, and the only living relative/friend he had left was his daughter. The last room housed Ms. Kelly, and Ms. Kelly only let family members and fellow patients, doctors a given, into her room after the "incident". Nura highly doubted that the strong black woman was related to the white male behind her.

So that left her with nothing. Where was this guy going? Nura's shoulders tensed. Was he following her? It would make sense she guessed. Was he going to attack her? He hadn't said a word to her the whole time even though it seemed he 'coincidentally' was heading in the same exact area. Should she run or would that set him off?

Nura nearly cried out in joy when she finally reached her Grandma's door. Then nearly cried out in terror as the man followed after her. Oh man she was going to die in a freaking hospital in front of her Granny and some random person! Wait a minute...

Another person! She was such an idiot. Of course the other patient was there and probably had a family. What kind of moron was she? Why did she always have to get herself worked up over the most stupid things? Like panicking because she couldn't remember if she blew out the candles before she left home or-

"Are you alright?"

Jumping, she twirled around to face the man she had been having a mini crisis over. He had on eyebrow raised and had his mouth twisted in a slightly concerned frown.

"Fine! I'm fine!" Nura announced in a high-pitched whimper, shaking her head a little.

A disbelieving look formed on his face. "Then why exactly did you stop in front of the door and start glaring at it?"

A dark pink blush started to scorch her face. "I thought I saw something wrong on the post it board. Sorry." She looked off to the side embarrassed. Once again, there really, truly was a reason people didn't take her places.

"Its fine," he responded as he reached over her to open the door. "Ladies first." She couldn't help it as her face sky rocketed from pretty in pink to rose red. If this continued on, she was going to die from a rush of blood to the head. She was such a loser.

"Brother? What did you do to her?"

Was the first thing she heard when she entered the room. Nura looked over to see another young man laying in a hospital bed. He had bright green eyes and brown hair pulled into a short pony tail. He wasn't as broad as his brother, but she could tell that he was taller. The beds were six foot five so she'd guess he was about five foot nine. He also had two bright pink casts on his legs.

"Why do you always assume I've done something?" Came the irritated reply from the man next to her.

The other male rolled his eyes. "Because over eighty-five percent of the time you have done something. So what did you do?"

"I'm telling you, I didn't do anything," he replied. Then he turned his gazed to her. "Tell him I didn't do anything."

"Brother! You can't bully her into telling me what you want me to hear!"

"I didn't do anything! Besides, I was asking!"

"You have a funny way of asking!"

"Excuse me..?"

"Well fuck you Al!"

"Brother, watch your language in front of the lady!"

"Excuse me."

"I don't see why she would give a shit about how I speak since I've done some mysterious voodoo bull to her!"

"So you did do something!"

"Excuse me!"

"Goddamn it Al, I didn't do anything!"

"You already admitted it Brother! You may as well fess up now a-

"Holy somersaulting Batman! Would you two stop arguing and let me speak!" Nura exclaimed in an agitated tone. The two boys froze and turned towards her. "He didn't do anything to me! Alright! No weird voodoo! So can we stop fighting and can one of you tell me where the hell my Grandma is?" she asked in an irritated huff, pointing towards the empty bed. An awkward silence descended on the room.

"I told you so," the black haired boy said smugly.

"Eric!" Al exclaimed. He looked upwards as though that would offer some type salvation from his suffering, and then he turned his attention back to Nura. "A nurse came in a little while ago to take her for a walk. She should be back soon," he finished with a kind smile.

"Thank you, Al?" she asked uncertainly as she moved her bangs and some stray hair out of her eye sight. Why hadn't she dressed properly again?

"Alec Ballard, its a pleasure to meet you. I'm guessing you're Nura?" Al asked with a curious upturn to his mouth.

"Yeah, Nura Tadd. Its nice to meet you too?" she asked nervously.

Nura received a wide grin back. "Your Granny told us, Eric," he motioned to his brother, "and I, a lot about you since we've been here the past week."

"Of course she has," she groaned in despair. The old lady was out to get her, she swore it. She could have prevented this, but her dad had to be a jerk and screw her week up. Crazy family members.

"Nothing terrible though, so you don't need to worry," he tried to assure her as he winked. She blushed a little more. He and his brother definitely hadn't shorted out on the attractive genes.

Nura heard an amused snort and turned to see the older brother, Eric, looking at her. There was no missing the cruel curl at the side of his lips "She did tell us about the ceiling fan fiasco."

"Brother!" Alec exclaimed as he glared at him and then turned to the horrified looking Nura. "Its not so bad! Brother and I have done much worse things! Well, mostly Brother-"

"I resent that." Ed pitched in with a flat look towards Al.

"Its nothing that you don't already know though" was the flat reply.

"How is it my fault that those bastar-"

"Brother! What did I say about your language!"

She couldn't help the amused grin that crossed her face. "Its alright Al," she stated kindly. "Besides, I'm eighteen, not eight. Any words your brother could say I probably heard before I graduated from high-school."

"Your eighteen too? Cool! That means you can team up with me against old man Brother when he's being an idiot." Alec responded, completely ignoring the whole point of her statement.

"Old man?" Eric sputtered indignantly. "I'm only one year older then you Al!"

"Still older then me," Al responded cheekily.

"An' I'm older then all of ya." Came a crinkly old voice from the door way.

Spinning around, Nura came face to face with an elderly woman. She had hazel eyes, blue brown, just like her own, and short grey curly hair. Her mouth was split into a wide tooth filled smile, causing the wrinkles around her mouth and eyes to stick out more. She also had a cane to help her walk her small body around.

"Granny!" Nura exclaimed in delight as she enveloped her in a gentle hug. "I've missed you so much. I'm so sorry I haven't been over more often!"

Granny chuckled in amusement. "Its alrigh' sunshine. I know abou' ya Daddy takin' ya away from me for awhile. I'll forgive ya if ya brough' the stuff," she added with a wink. Smiling, Nura brought out "The Smuggler".

"Its all in here Gran. All the baked goods and magazines your elderly heart could desire," Nura said while motioning into the overflowing bag.

"Wonderful. I knew their was a reason I kep' ya."

"I was worried. For a minute there I thought you kept me because you loved me. I'm glad to know its only because I'm an awesome middle-man."

"Smar' ass."

"I learned it from the best."

"Damn righ' ya did," Nura's grandmother replied proudly. "Ya boys been trea'in' my baby girl righ' while I was gone?" she asked, giving the boys a mock serious look.

"Yes Mam'," Al responded with a smile.

"Why does everyone always think I've done something?" Eric grunted out with his arms crossed in annoyance while glowering sideways at Granny.

"Don' look a' me like tha' boy. I may be small and rus'y, bu' I could still whip ya ass!" the old woman exclaimed as she shook her cane at him. She settled down on her hospital bed with the help of Nura and continued to glare back at Eric. "Jus' try me shor' stuff!"

"Who the hell are you calling short, you hagling!" Eric roared out.

"There's only one person I see here wh' falls bellow the average high' limi', and it sure as hell ain' Al or Nura!"

"I'll shorten you, you goddamn tarsier!"

"Not again," Al moaned out as he sunk back in his bed.

"This has happened before?" Nura asked, looking with morbid fascination at the two arguing.

"Every day this week."

"You poor soul."

"You have no idea.

"Ya so shor', tha' midge's consider ya ver'ically challenged!"

"Where are all your children lady? Are they waiting for you in the shoe?"

"Aye-Aye!"

"Tarsier!"

I hope you enjoyed my first chapter! I've kinda had this "Ed and Al in our world" for awhile now, and I figured why not. The story is pretty much mapped out in my mind, so its all a matter of if you guys enjoy it enough to want me to continue writing. Just FYI, if I continue, there will be Ed/Oc and Al/Win later on. Just so you know :)

I'm trying to make Nura a relatable character, and her personality will start coming out in the next few chapters. She's a little depressed right now, and a little bewildered be her Grandma's behavior with Eric. If at any point you think she becomes "Mary Sue" like, inform me. Send me messages like none other. Making a Mary Sue will destroy my soul. To bad for Ed and Al. No walking Philosopher's stone for them!

See ya!

WAIDTA