Author's Note: This is my new Fullmetal Alchemist story, and I cannot be more excited. While writing it, I was surprised to see that it draws more parallels to the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist than Brotherhood—which is really weird, because I personally prefer Brotherhood overall. Oh well; I like both, so I guess it's not too big of a deal.

P.S. In this AU, Alphonse is not in a suit of armor. Edward, however, does have the automail limbs. Just thought you should know.

Then, without further delay, here is the first chapter:

Chapter 1

"Ain't Winry going to be surprised," Ed mumbled haphazardly while he grazed on the end of a kebab, "when she sees we're going to visit her without my arm even being broken."

"Yeah, it's been awhile since you have done something nice like that," Al responded slyly, elbowing his older brother.

"Hey, come on now! I do nice stuff all the time! I'm one of the nicest guys around!" Ed insisted. He took the kebab stick out of his mouth and tossed it into the aisleway of the airplane, directly contradicting himself.

"That's littering, Brother," the younger of the two informed him in a hissed whisper.

"Feh, who cares?" Ed objected. "I don't know why we got to take this stupid plane in the first place. Trains are better. And cheaper! Why didn't we take a plane?"

"It's faster to go this way. And we don't want to miss Winry's birthday—especially this year because we remembered to get her a present and everything!"

"Oh yeah…" Ed folded his arms over his head. "We're two new men now, Al. Getting gifts, visiting friends… I can hardly even recognize myself anymore!"

"Yeah, yeah." Al shook his head.

"Attention, passengers! We'll be taking off very briefly!"

"Finally." Ed complained, "It's been, like, twelve hours since we got on this damn plane!"

"It's only been five minutes…"

"My point is still valid!"

"No, it's not."

The airplane started to crawl into motion, picking up momentum down the runway. Despite all his talk of being a "new man," Edward had a fear of things that flew for a long time, and he gripped the seat as the aircraft lifted into the sky, his stomach churning most disagreeably. Regretting every bite of food he had scarfed down in his nervousness, the Elric closed his eyes and tried to imagine himself somewhere else. Yes, somewhere less… thousands of feet in the air.

"Are you okay, Brother?"

"Huh? Oh, of course." Ed did not open his eyes but kept his voice upbeat in an attempt to assure Al that he was truthful. "I'm just tired is all. I think I'll take a nap or something."

"Good idea," Al responded. He was well aware of Ed's little phobia, and the younger brother knew it would be best if Ed slept through the trip.

Alphonse left Ed to sleep and glanced down the aisle, curious as to how the airplane operated. He was less scared of flying and more interested in how it actually worked.

"Excuse me, Miss?" Al inquired at a blonde woman in a flight attendant uniform. She handed off the glasses of water she had been serving to passengers to another attendant and came to Al's side.

"Yes, how can I help you?"

"Well, uh, you see…" Al was suddenly embarrassed over his curiosity. "… I don't really know how planes work all that well. Do you? I'd kind of like to know."

The attendant hesitated only for a second and then answered, "Sorry, I'm new to the job. And all I do is serve food and drinks. If you have further questions, you'll have to talk to the pilot." She gave him an apologetic smile. "On that note, could I get you anything?"

Al sighed. "No, but thanks anyway. Maybe I'll talk to the pilot later."

The woman nodded and walked briskly away.

"They sure do dress the attendants sexily, don't they?"

"Hey, I thought you were asleep!"

Ed chuckled, though his eyes were still closed. "Nah. Can't sleep with all this noise." He stretched and finally opened them, announcing, "But, hey, if you want to know how the plane flies so bad, we can just go ask."

"I don't want to be a bother…"

"Aw, come on. Don't give me that." Ed unbuckled his seatbelt and shakily stood up. He insisted, "It'll give me a good distraction."

"Well… Okay." Al followed suit, shadowing his brother down the aisle.

When they reached the pilot's room, Edward knocked gently on the door. "Anyone in there?" he called through the wall.

"I would think so." Al laughed. "The plane wouldn't be flying if they weren't."

"Oh, and suddenly you're the expert?" Ed droned sardonically. He knocked on the door again, this time louder and more obnoxious. "Yo! Hello? Is someone gonna answer me? We just have a quick ques—"

Ed had tried the door handle, to see if it was locked. Turns out it was not, and it swung open on only one hinge.

In a single glance, Edward surveyed the area and realized what had happened.

"Get down!"

The older Elric grabbed hold of his brother's shoulder and pushed him towards the ground, out of the rage of fire. A single bullet sped past them, piercing the carpet of the aircraft.

"What's going on, Brother?" Al asked shrilly, allowing Edward to push him as far against the wall as possible, his automail arm sprawled against Alphonse's chest and acting a makeshift shield.

"Shh!" Ed hissed, holding a finger to his lips.

Within a few seconds, several men stumbled out of the pilot's cabin, guns in their hands.

"This is a hostage situation!" the man in the front of the others shouted out, a wave of panic running over the people in the plane. "The pilot is dead, and if you don't want to be next, you'll sit in your seats, sip your drinks, and not utter a word!"

"What are they doing, Brother?" Al whispered, his tone trembling and panicky. "Are they going to hurt the people on the plane?"

"Considering the shape I saw the pilot in, I don't doubt it," Ed said morbidly. "In any case, we have to do something."

Suddenly, a woman appeared from under the seat behind the brothers, towing a rifle in her hands.

"Are you kids all right?"

"Hey, you're that flight attendant from before!" Al recognized, his exclamation followed by shushes from Ed and the woman.

"Yes, that's right," she confirmed softly, loading a few rounds into her gun.

"Jeez, for a flight attendant, you sure are packing heat," Ed commented. "So, is that your gun? The attendant business not paying enough or something?"

"No, I'm First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye of the State Military." The rifle made a soft clicking noise, announcing it was ready to be used. "I was asked to pose as a flight attendant because my Colonel was sure that there would be a situation on this plane today."

"How kind of him to put you in the line of fire." Ed added with genuine curiosity, "And where'd you pull that gun out from anyway? I see no pocket on that miniskirt you're wearing."

"Women's secret," Riza deadpanned, but there was a cruel irony in her voice. "At any rate, you kids should stay down and be quiet. I'll handle this."

"We can help," Al insisted.

"No need. My Colonel didn't put my here for nothing. Stay here." The Lieutenant steadily straightened her back until she could see just above the seat in front of her, set the gun on it to use it as a steady, and aimed. "You two might want to close your eyes," she informed them impassively.

Ed moved his arm up over Al's line of vision.

Several consecutive shots were fired, a screech of pain being produced from each one. There were a few cries of panic from the passengers of the plane, but it quickly died down when they realized it had only been the hijackers who had received the wounds.

When Hawkeye did not move a twitch from her position, Ed questioned, "Aren't you worried one of them still might be alive and retaliate?"

"They're not going to get back up," Riza promised grimly. She looked at the boys and told them, "The leader is still in the pilot's cabin though, so I'm going to go take care of him too. Please remain here until I return."

"Shouldn't you at least let the passengers know that everything will be fine?" Al asked concernedly.

"I wouldn't worry about them." Hawkeye loaded another round into her rifle and leaned the top of the gun on her shoulder. "In a couple of hours, all this event will amount to is an interesting discussion topic to bring up around the dinner table." She cast them a grim smile. "At least, that's what officers of the military strive for each day."

"I see." Al let his gaze fall on the floor, feeling helpless in the situation.

Riza sighed and sneaked around the corner, disappearing almost instantly out of sight.

"Don't feel bad, Al," Edward told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure that the Hawkeye lady has got this. She seems pretty efficient."

"I suppose…"

A minute went by, and a sound was not made. The passengers were quiet, the airplane was quiet, and a surreal feeling of unsettlement had nestled its way into the air around them.

Finally, several shots were heard. But they did not cease immediately after as was assumed they would. No, they continued for several minutes, giving no hint that it would stop soon, if not ever.

"Something is definitely wrong," Al observed.

"Yeah." Ed muttered, "I think I'm gonna go check it out." He gave his brother a weary look. "Can you stay here and make sure the people know everything is going to turn out fine? Despite that Lieutenant's calm demeanor towards this, I think you had a good idea."

"I can do that," Al agreed, accompanied with a nod of his head.

The brothers stood up at the same time, going opposite directions.

The plane was still in the air, and it was starting to get some turbulence. Ed had to hold the sides of the aisle seats just to keep his balance, but he tried to sprint as fast as he could nonetheless.

The sound of Hawkeye's rifle got louder and louder until Ed was in front of the captain's door. He didn't knock this time though and instead forcefully kicked the door down. This time he opened it, it fell off its last hinge all together and collapsed to the floor.

Even in the small area of the pilot's cabin, Riza and the plane hijacker were on the outermost edges of the room. The Lieutenant was shooting at the man, and he was dynamically dodging each one with ridiculous and almost inhuman-like ability. Ed figured Riza would have the upper hand, being a trained and armed lieutenant of the military. But she actually seemed to be on the losing side, considering the broad smirk the hijacker was wearing.

Within a moment of Ed standing there, Hawkeye's rifle ran out of ammo. She didn't seem overly concerned though and began swinging her gun towards the criminal, attempting to knock him out. Unfortunately, he kicked her to the ground when she got within striking range.

When the hijacker pulled out a gun of his own, that's when Edward made his move.

The man's weapon hit the window of the cockpit.

Ed shook his hand, getting rid of the sting that lingered after he had punched the gun. "Hey, bastard, isn't it a little ungentlemanly to be fighting a woman?"

"Kid, stay out of this," the Lieutenant ordered calmly but forcefully. She wiped some blood off her cheek onto the back of her hand. "You don't know what you're dealing with. He's a—"

"Yeah, yeah, he's a bad guy. Whatever." Ed cracked his knuckles. "All I see is a disarmed bastard who interrupted my merry time on this little trip."

"No, it's not that. He's an alch—"

"Sit back, Lieutenant. I can handle this one."

The hijacker merely sneered. He clapped his hands together and slapped the interior of the airplane.

Edward raised an eyebrow at this.

Suddenly, the metal lining the cockpit began to crumple around the Elric. He narrowly slipped out of the trap, shouting, "What the hell was that?"

"My alchemy!" the hijacker answered, grinning maliciously while he sent several more flying metal parts at Ed.

"'Alchemy'…?" Ed echoed. He dodged a slab of sheet metal and growled, "I don't have time for your parlor tricks!"

"Then how about this one?"

The floor extended upward, almost like a large, mechanical hand. It hit Ed in the chin, sending him flying backward against the wall.

"Brother! Miss Hawkeye!"

"Al, go!" Ed's head was throbbing and his world was progressively getting darker, but he shouted anyway when he heard his little brother's distinct tone. "Quickly!"

"I'll kill this one first then," the criminal decided, beginning his "alchemy" by clapping his hands.

"You bastard…" Ed snarled lowly, picking himself up from the ground. "If you think I'll just sit here while you hurt my brother…" Sub-consciously, the older brother joined his hands together. "… You're mistaken!"

Edward lunged forward, and something of a blade extended from his automail arm. It felt foreign and natural all at the same time as the weapon that came from seemingly nowhere cut into the hijacker, the man hitting the floor and being knocked cold on impact.

"Brother…" Al breathed. "How did you do that?"

"I'll… I'll let you know… later…" Ed mumbled as the world spun until it became veiled in darkness, someone catching him just before he hit the ground.

-transition-

"Are you really okay, Miss Hawkeye?"

"Yes, I'm fine. It looked worse than it was. But thank you for being concerned, Alphonse."

A groan came from Edward. "This sucks…" he grumbled, rolling over and covering the aching spot on the back of his head. "What the hell happened?"

"Brother, you're awake!"

Ed was suddenly crushed into a hug, to which he sputtered a bit in pain.

"Eh, eh, easy!" Ed told him.

"Oh, sorry." Al chuckled slightly and released. "Are you okay now, Brother?"

Ed sat up in the hospital bed. "Yeah, I think so. It's starting to come back to me… Wait, are we still on that godforsaken plane?"

"No," Hawkeye assured. "You're on the ground."

"Phew. Glad our nightmare in the sky is over."

Riza awkwardly tugged at the bandages on her neck. "Yes, well, my Colonel would like to have a word with you in a couple hours when you're feeling better."

Ed narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"Just to talk over some things."

"Somehow, I doubt it's as innocent as the light you're putting it in, Lieutenant."

To this, Riza remained quiet. She exited through the hospital room door and commanded sternly while it was slightly ajar, "Get some rest."

With that, the door clicked shut.

"What'd you tell her, Al?" Ed questioned.

"Nothing," Al insisted. "All she wanted to know was our names. Nothing else."

"Did she ask about my metal arm and leg?"

"No."

"Or about where we come from?"

"No."

"Or about where we were going?"

"No."

"Why does it feel like you're covering for her?"

"I'm not!"

"Feh." Ed sighed and stared out the hospital window. "Fine, I believe you. But I do want to talk to her Colonel or whatever. I have a few choice words for him."

"Please don't yell at him. You'll make a poor first impression."

"I'll yell if I wanna yell!"

"Brother!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Ed rolled over so that he was facing the wall. "So the bastard wants to know about Alchemy, eh?" he muttered under his breath. "Oh, I'll tell him. I'll tell him all about Alchemy."

Author's Note: Why can't action scenes just write themselves? OTL

Well, there it is. I hope you guys like it so far, and I look forward to elaborating on it more soon! Here's hoping I don't screw it up!

(Oh, and reviews would be fantastic.)