Here's another FMA Brotherhood fic for you guys. Aaaand…this one does have Ed and crew in it.~ (Though, fair warning, there may be times when they are totally not in-character. Feel free to point these out to me so I can fix it.) This takes place sometime before Al is able to transmute without circles and after meeting the Homunculi… Yeah, I'm so specific. XD I'll work it out. Somehow.

…~Chapter One: Who is this Girl?

"I can't believe he misses the briefing again," Hawkeye muttered from her post.

Roy Mustang cast her an amused look from under his dark hair. "Were you honestly expecting more from Fullmetal?" inquired the colonel. She gave him a sort of half-hearted shrug in response. "He'll be here. That, at least, you can count on."

No sooner had Mustang finished speaking when the door flew open. They both looked over, knowing who was there before even looking. The entrance revealed a rather (*ahem*) short boy of fifteen with golden hair put in a braid at the back. His bangs fell to both sides of his face, and one strand stuck straight up in the air. The kid had his trademark red, hooded cloak and elevated shoes, as well as the white gloves that concealed the fact that his right arm was not in fact a real arm; rather, it was made of metal. His golden eyes were seemingly full if disdain for the older man, but Roy knew better, and made no move to reprimand him.

"You're late, Fullmetal," Mustang said instead.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Ed gave his commanding officer a sour glance. "So, what's all the commotion about?"

"If you had attending the briefing, you'd know."

Ed gave another sour glare. "How about you tell me now, then? Better late than never, as the saying goes."

Mustang exchanged a glance with Risa. "Well, I suppose you're right about that." He interlaced his fingers and peered over them at Edward. All cheerfulness was gone. "I have no doubt you've heard about the recent deaths in the area. Four people have died in the past two weeks. None of them knew any of the other victims, but they were all killed the same way. Electrocution."

Ed narrowed his gaze slightly. "I'm getting the feeling you don't mean they stuck a fork in a wall socket."

"You're right." He reached down and passed a single piece of paper to the boy. Ed took it, listening to Roy, but reading. "That's our suspected killer."

Ed turned to paper over, and when he noticed there was nothing on the back, gave Roy an odd look. "This is it? A couple vague sentences?"

"Unfortunately." Roy turned his head to look out the window. "To tell the truth, I know more about her than that paper does."

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold up a minute. Her? The serial killer is a girl?"

"Or so we assume. We suspect her for several reasons…and none of them are very pretty." He glanced towards the other briefly, then launched into what he remembered. "She's actually not much older than you. Her name is Kaiya Woolf, and she used to be a State Alchemist."

Ed blinked. "Used to be? What, did she quit?"

"Yes. She quit right after the war, when droves of others left as well. We all thought it was because she was ashamed." Roy fell silent for a moment, the unpleasant memories swamping his mind.

…FLASHBACK

"Colonel, there's a message for you."

He turned. The nameless soldier handed him a piece of paper and jogged away. Mustang frowned at it for a moment, then turned it over and unfolded it. He let his eyes scan the paper, not really taking it in until a name caught his eye. Shock radiated through the Flame Alchemist, and he nearly dropped the paper.

"No, they're sending her here?" he asked in a voice no louder than a whisper. "She's just a child. What are they thinking?"

Several days later, the Amestrian soldiers were having one hell of a time trying to keep the Ishvalen people away. They were smart enough to duck and cover whenever Mustang sent his fiery infernos their way. At the rate the battle was going, the Amestrians would soon be defeated. Roy was angry, but mostly at himself. Things weren't supposed to be happening like this! He was supposed to protect these men, not lead them to their deaths!

And out of nowhere, lightning descending from the sky. Long blue tongues of frozen fire murdered the Ishvalens on contact. The Amestrians lifted their heads, daring to come out of hiding. How had that happened? There wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"What just happened?" one of them asked.

Roy said nothing. He knew who was standing behind them. Slowly, he turned around, and there she was. Thirteen years old, and Kaiya Woolf, the Coldfire Alchemist, had saved his life.

"Jeez, Colonel, you're getting careless," she said, cracking a grin. "Good thing I came along."

"Coldfire," he returned dryly. "What have I told you about speaking that way to your commanding officer?"

She raised her eyebrows and half-hooded her eyes. This was Kaiya's version of an eyebrow raise. She strode up to him, not having to look up far to go eye-to-eye. "And without my help, my commanding officer would be dead."

"That means nothing."

"On the contrary, it means everything." She tipped her head to the side, as if studying him like an interesting bug. "Are you really going to start up a battle of logic with me, Mustang? You won't win."

He reluctantly let out a sigh. "All right. Glad to have you on board, Kaiya."

…END FLASHBACK

"So she served in the war?" Ed asked in a low voice.

"Only for the last few months. She was my charge before you came along. She specializes in electrical alchemy, and even I don't know how she does it. She either had one incredible master or had a ton of free time." Roy stared out the window again. "She quit when the war was over, leaving with the droves of others. We never gave it a second thought until a power outage wiped all of her files from the database. Later that same day, everything we had on paper about her was destroyed as well. The only thing we still had of her was a vague memory. I can't even recall what she looked like other than she had dark hair."

Ed was quiet. So a rouge former State Alchemist was killing. Well, it wasn't confirmed that it was this girl, but the evidence did point that she didn't want to be discovered. Who is this girl…and what does she want?

…~

End of chapter one!