Dawn: Whew, I'm pooped.

Ace: Me too.

Envy: Why are we doing this again?

Ed: Because Ace was being lazy.

Envy: Oh yeah...

Dawn: I'M GONNA KILL YOU!

Ace: NOT IF I GET THEM FIRST!

Envy: Oh shnitz! *runs away*

Ed: *sigh* Ace5980 and ImmortalDawn18 do not own FullMetal Alchemist...

Chapter One

Clare Evernight did up her hair with trembling fingers, somehow navigating the slender white strands into place in her clip despite her minor impediment. Her gleaming silver eyes reflected the light of the room tellingly, describing her heritage for all to see. Her lithe body was sheathed elegantly in a red button-up shirt, the picture of a respectable woman, while her velvet skirt showed off all the professionalism she was known to possess when in truth she felt like being violently ill.

Today she had to go down to the Military's Central Headquarters to pick up a pair of children who had been orphaned by a tragedy and all she could think about was how to pull together the pieces of her shattered coven. Clare hated to be so cold about these two orphans, but politics moved quickly in Central and if Clare stayed down for too much longer, it wouldn't be long before she'd get attacked. So, she carefully fitted on her mask of indifference and swept out of the room, needing to go pick up her new charges.

Natalie yowled quietly, trying to ignore the pain throbbing through her body as she looked at the blood dripping down the faces of the dead civilians. She was the Wildfire Alchemist. She wasn't supposed to be a vampire, so she had to conceal her latest urges. It wasn't her fault she'd been craving blood recently, she hadn't even been bitten before in her life, but ever since she'd had to deal with that mission where she was locked in a coffin for about three days, she'd come out different.

No one noticed the warning signs. They all said she'd be antisocial, that she'd try to shy away from all the old instruments of her craft, the art of hunting vampires, but they didn't know she was distancing herself from the others to try to prevent a feeding and that her weapons hurt her now, which was why she didn't use them often.

But now, with the blood staining the faces of the innocent, she could deny it no longer. She'd been infected with vampirism, and she had to get out of there. Covering her mouth with her hand as though she was about to be sick, she ran out of the alley, ignoring the concerned cries of her co-workers as she darted into the streets of the city, navigating by instinct alone until she came across an abandoned warehouse. Once there, she found herself hit over the head, knocking her unconscious, and dragged off somewhere, likely to die…

Edward hissed in discomfort as he swabbed at the scratch on his arm with disinfectant. He always hated that part, but he couldn't help it. If he wanted to remain untainted, he would endure the sting each and every time he was injured, whether he had been fighting a vampire or not. It would not do for a prominent State Alchemist such as himself to succumb to the infestation of vampires.

"Hold still," a voice said gently, its speaker kneeling down beside him. The boy looked to be about Edward's age, roughly 16, with his long brown hair tied back in a ponytail behind his head and playful chocolate eyes. "If you would wait all of three seconds, I can finish that up for you." Edward considered the option for a moment, but in that moment, the boy took Ed's arm from him and began bandaging the open wound. "My name is Shane, by the way."

"Edward."

"You, my friend, need to be a little more careful when applying that disinfectant. You missed a few spots," Shane murmured quietly, looking intently at Ed. Realizing the intimacy of the situation, he swallowed and lowered his gaze back to Ed's arm. "So, what's it like, being a State Alchemist?"

"Well," Ed muttered, thinking about it and giving an honest answer, "it's rewarding to take the worst kind of vampires off the streets, but I wish we were given free reign, like we used to be. Not all vampires are good, you know."

"Yes," Shane ground out, his hands jerkily finishing up tying off Edward's bandage, "but not all of them are bad either."

Clare strode into Colonel Roy Mustang's office like she owned it, knowing very well by now that you either had to be firm with these alchemists or ship out. "Where are the forms I need to sign, Flame?" she asked assertively, glaring at him.

He handed her a small stack. "Half of those are for the boy, Shane Darkmoon, and the other half for his sister, Cassandra." Silence permeated the office, punctured only by the light scratching of pens against paper. After a short while, Clare handed Roy the completed paperwork, and the alchemist escorted her out chivalrously to her new charge, a small girl with her long brown hair hanging loosely down her back as she played absently with Black Hayate. Clare scooped up the girl Cassandra hurriedly, moving to get out of that nest of killers as quickly as she could while maintaining her dignity. However, she did pause before the doorway to murmur a quiet, "Thank you," before she walked out.

Roy chuckled, eying her appreciatively. He understood her unease quite well, but it was unfounded with him. Unlike most State Alchemists, Roy did not enjoy staking vampires. He may not have believed all of them were innocent, but he also didn't believe that all of the creatures he had staked had entirely deserved it…

Cassandra led Clare straight to Shane, stopping before the boy absently. "Come on, Shane," she murmured childishly, tugging on the edge of his sleeve, "We gotta go."

Shane looked up from Edward's arm, standing up in a hurry. "Fine," he growled. "So long as I don't have to stay here one moment longer."

"Calm down, Shane," the girl whispered the instant they were out of earshot. "He may have said those things, it's true, but trust me, he's only bitter about losing his younger brother as a bloodslave. If you keep trying, you'll get through to him eventually."

"Are you sure, Cassie?" he asked dubiously, unsure.

"Positive. The nature of my visions has never been wrong before."

Ace: STRANGE STRANGLE STRANGLE

Dawn: MURDER MURDER MURDER

Both: DEAD!

Ed: *wide eyed* I will never doubt you two again.

Ace: *pats on head* Good boy.

Dawn: Aw. I still wanted to rape Envy.

Ace: ...That's what we have the reviewers for, silly! Reviewers will be able to donate one Stone to revive Envy for Dawn to rape.

Dawn: DO IT, DO IT, DO IT!

Ed: They also get the opportunity to take blackmail footage they found somewhere...

Ace: I never disclose my sources...