A/N: Hello and welcome to the first chapter of Edge of Lightning. If you're one of my old readers, you know I've been building this up for awhile. I am FINALLY doing a Brotherhood fanfiction. Stay tuned at the end of the chapter for a Q&A using questions you guys sent me and some I made up myself.

If you are a new reader, welcome! I've written this story to be friendly to newcomers though I'd love it if you read some of my other Fullmetal Alchemist fanfictions. OCs from past fanfictions will be featured in this story as well, though in slightly different forms.

Also as a new segment, for each chapter I will list the 'song of the week' which is the song that particularly fits the chapter or fic. At some point I will make a playlist with all of these songs. It'll be kind of like a soundtrack for the fic.

This Weeks Song: 'Again' by Yui. (As the first opening of FMA Brotherhood, I thought it would be fitting)

Without further ado, enjoy the first chapter!

Edge of Lightning

Chapter 1: The Blind Alchemist

On the surface, the job was simple. But then, things always seemed simple from the start when it came to Roy Mustang.

Edward Elric had learned not long after receiving his state title that a train ride could turn into a terrorist attack, a simple inspection could turn into a catastrophe and a tentative lead on the philosopher's stone could lead to a psychotic cultist or an angry mob.

"If we just expect the worse, maybe everything will be straight forward." Ed muttered, drumming his fingers on his suitcase.

"Brother." Al sighed. The suit of armor clinked at even the small movement.

"I'm serious, Al. Maybe the reason we keep on getting screwed is that we're being too optimistic." He pointed at his brother. "It's probably you jinxing us. You always have so many good feelings when we go on a job."

"So your solution is to make me a cynic?" Al asked.

"Yes," Ed said.

Al shook his head, looking down at the papers briefing them on their mission. "I might not be so optimistic on this trip. This already looks pretty bad brother. All of these people dying from some sort of sickness… kind of reminds you of the case with the Trinam brothers."

"Yeah," Ed said. "Sort of does. It could mean that there is a philosipher's stone involved. Or it could just be another false lead. Mustang didn't say anything about the stone this time around, right?" He leaned forward. "I didn't just miss it in the paper?"

"You didn't miss it. All it says is we are supposed to investigate the deaths and make sure there's no foul play involved, particularly from alchemists." Al said. "It's a farming community, of course. It could be something in the food. Or maybe the water supply."

"If that's the case, the sickness should have spread outside of the town." Ed said. "Mustang is probably right—"

"What was that brother?"

"Shut up." Ed jerked a hand through his hair. "I'm just saying that this reeks of alchemic mischief."

"Yeah." Al looked down at the paper again. "I hope we can help these people though."

Ed rested his head against the window, watching the countryside role by. "Yeah… me too, Al."

Chloe Brooks could feel everyone in the hospital as she passed. Her alchemy picked up every vibration as the dying writhed in agony on the ground. Bad enough that she could hear their moans from outside. Feeling them brought a whole new level to her discomfort.

She had wanted to take the long way around, but her brother had insisted he needed the ingredients as soon as possible. Whenever he got in one of the moods, he could be a bit unpredictable. Totally absorbed in his alchemy and angry at anyone who interrupted him.

Still, passing by the hospital now, Chloe found him justified. Nothing was more important than a cure for this illness. Especially not her own discomfort.

Stoneridge was a small town surrounded by farms in the east of Amestris. Many of the people who lived there were farmers but there the town had grown immensely since Chloe had been born. She had lived here all of her life and watched the population grow and thrive.

Well… she didn't exactly 'watch'. Chloe had never had that luxury, with unseeing eyes that hadn't worked since the day she was born. It didn't matter much to her. She was used to it. Her brother suffered the same ailment and he had helped her. But she had to help him too. She was much better with her sense alchemy than he was. That meant she could walk around town more easily to find things he needed for his alchemy.

The town needed him to find some sort of cure. He was the only alchemist nearby.

He was their only hope.

She arrived home, slipping inside and moving quietly toward the basement where her brother was working. She knocked on the trap door and pressed her ear to the wood, listening for an answer.

"Leave the stuff there, Chloe!" Ryan called up to her. "I'll get it in a moment. I'm in the middle of a breakthrough."

"Alright. Tell me if you need anything else!" she called down in return. Then she stood and moved into the kitchen to make some tea. Should she make some for her brother too or just herself? If he was in the middle of a breakthrough he wouldn't have time to stop for tea.

Perhaps she could make him some just in case.

She lit the stove and prepared the tea kettle. Then she moved back into the small living room to sit down on the couch. Her hand passed over the table, tracing over wood and a stack of books. It was sort of funny that they kept books around the house. A mockery of their eyes that could not see. Their mother used to love books, or so Ryan said. But their mother had died giving Chloe life.

They kept alchemy books around the house. Many of their neighbors were willing to read the books out loud to them and Chloe transcribed the most important parts in raised letters that she could feel out. That was how she was able to study alchemy. And how she was able to make up for her sight in other ways.

Chloe's brow furrowed as she sensed vibrations on the front porch. She placed her feet flat on the ground. Yes, there were two figures standing right outside the door. One much larger than the other and… made of metal? She stood, trying to make sure she was right. Metal always gave off stronger vibrations and this figure seemed entirely made of it. If she didn't know any better, she'd think he was hollow.

There was a knock on the door and she jumped, almost forgetting that the people on the porch probably wanted to be let in. Her brother was too busy now, so she'd have to entertain them. Hopefully they didn't want to see him.

She hurried to the door and opened it up. "May I help you?" she asked, trying to level her head so that it would look like she was making eye contact. It was still a work in progress, pretending not to be blind.

"We hope so," the voice of a boy answered her. "I'm Edward Elric. This is Alphonse." He seemed to shift his weight toward the large metal man. So he was alive. How strange.

"Chloe Brooks," Chloe replied. "Its nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you," the metal man responded. Chloe frowned. The metal man was huge, much bigger than the other boy, but the voice sounded younger. "I hope you don't mind but… can we come in? We have a few questions."

Upon questioning the townspeople, Ed and Al discovered that there was only one alchemist in Stoneridge. Ryan Brooks. But though they questioned people to see if he was a shady type, they had nothing but praise for their local alchemist.

'He works day and night to find a cure for the disease.'

'I hear he barely ever sleeps.'

'He's skilled enough to leave us but he stayed. We owe him a lot.'

"Doesn't sound like the kind of guy who would hurt people with alchemy. Or create a philosopher's stone." Al said.

"No, he doesn't. But we should question him anyway." Ed looked up at Al. "Besides, we can see how much he knows about the disease. Maybe he's close to finding a cure and we can help." He forced a smile but he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Yeah, maybe," Al said, seeming to brighten considerably. Damn. An Ed had been trying to keep his optimism down.

They found the house and knocked at the door. But instead of the man they were searching for, a girl answered the door. She looked a few years younger than Ed with long blonde hair and blue eyes that seemed oddly… vacant.

They exchanged names and she invited them in. "I have tea on the stove now. It should be ready soon." She smiled. "I guess it's a good thing I decided to make extra."

"Yeah thanks," Ed looked around the house, searching for any suspicious materials. But all he saw were harmless alchemy books. "Look, we really need to talk to your brother. It's important."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but he's very busy at the moment." Chloe took the kettle from the stove and began to pour tea. "He's in the middle of a break through. I'm not sure how long he'll be down there." She brought the tea into the livingroom and handed it out. "You can talk to me though."

"We kind of need to talk to an alchemist." Al said.

The girl smiled and raised her leg to show them the bottom of her shoe. She had a transmutation circle carved into the sole. "I am an alchemist."

Ed's eyes widened. "Oh. Well… we were told there was only one alchemist in the entire village."

"Not as many people know I practice alchemy." She lowered her foot. "My form of alchemy is a bit more subtle and less impressive than my brother's. I haven't been able to study as much as I'd like, taking into account my limitations. I mostly use alchemy to help me function as normal."

"Limitations?" Al questioned. Then he gave a little gasp. "Wait… are you blind?"

Chloe nodded, waving a hand in front of her eyes. "Always have been. I was born this way. So I can't really read. I need someone to read materials aloud to me. It makes studying a little slower, you know?"

"Still it's amazing that you're able to use alchemy this way." Al said. "I've actually never read about it being used like this. And we read a lot for the state alchemy exam. Do you remember anything like this, brother?"

"No." Ed said. "I wish we had time to talk about your alchemy. But we were sent here by the state for a reason." He leaned forward. "We're supposed to make sure that there's no foul play going on here."

Chloe's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"We mean, maybe this disease is more than just a disease." Ed explained. "It could be some kind of product of alchemy. And if so, we have to address it."

"What do you think, Chloe?" Al asked. "You're an alchemist and your brother is working on a cure. Do you think it could be a product of alchemy?"

"Well…" Chloe set her empty tea cup down with a clink. Even though she was blind, she had no trouble placing it directly on the table. "The disease doesn't seem to spread naturally. Its not airborne. Whenever one person in a family comes down with it, everyone else does too, almost at the same time. Which isn't natural. Usually there's a space of a few days before a disease passes itself on. And other families have avoided sickness altogether." Chloe frowned. "It does seem like the sickness is engineered."

"By an alchemist." Ed nodded.

Chloe's eyes narrowed. "I hope you don't suspect my brother. He's been working to try to combat the disease. He would never do something like that."

"I haven't met your brother. Until I can talk to him and see his research, he is a suspect." Ed said flatly.

Chloe's shoulders hitched as she seemed to bristle with anger and Al hurried on, hoping to calm her. "It's just that we've seen this kind of thing before, Chloe. We once went to a small community where people were getting sick. And we found out that a rich man was using alchemists to engineer a red stone, a cheap copy of a philosopher's stone. Have you heard of it?"

"I've heard legends about the philosopher's stone. Nothing more than that," Chloe said.

"Well even a fake is powerful…" Ed said. "But a byproduct of the experiments made the town sick. We think that was the rich man's intention."

"Rich man?" Chloe's fists clenched in her lap. "Conrad."

"Who's Conrad?" the brothers asked in unison.

"The richest man in town. He lives on a mansion not far outside the city limits." Chloe spoke bitterly. "He owns half the farm land but he doesn't work it himself. He hires people to do so, usually for a really terrible salary. But…" She pursed her lips. "None of his workers have gotten sick. None of their families either. Everyone who works for him seems to be avoiding the disease."

"That's a clue we need." Ed stood, grinning. "Thank you. You may have helped us. Its possible this rich man is hiring alchemists from out of town to do his dirty work." He looked up at Al. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Al nodded, setting down his empty tea cup. "Thank you for the tea and the help, Chloe."

"Of course," Chloe stood. "What do you plan to do?"

"Question the guy politely of course." Ed said.

"Yes, because your specialty is being polite," Al sighed.

"Ah, shut up." Ed nudged him with his elbow. "We'll be back, Chloe. We still want to talk to your brother. But I think we have a new suspect."

"Maybe we can help your brother with a cure." Al said as they backed out of the door. "We'd be happy to offer some assistance."

"Thank you." Chloe smiled. "I'd appreciate that."

They closed the door and hopped down onto the street. Al seemed to have a bit more of a spring in his step. "See? I didn't think that the local alchemist was behind it."

"Yeah," Ed muttered, looking up at the darkening sky. "Why don't we go back to the hotel and question this guy tomorrow. If we come too late he'll be more on his guard."

"Right." Al said. They walked back to the hotel in silence for a little while before he spoke again. "Brother, what's on your mind?"

"Nothing… I just don't trust Ryan Brooks yet," he said.

"He sister spoke very highly of him." Al said.

"I know, but you know how younger siblings are." Ed kicked a rock. "They always see the best in their older siblings… even when they shouldn't."

"Brother," Al murmured, but he didn't protest. It was true after all. Al had gone along with Edward's plans a long time ago. He had lost his body in the process and yet all he talked about was fixing Ed's body. Not his.

In a lot of ways, Al should probably hate him. But he didn't. And for that reason Edward couldn't take the word of Chloe Brooks just yet.

The girl, hooded and cloaked, entered the hotel just before midnight. Only a few patrons lingered in the downstairs bar. One was snoring quite loudly and the other was on his seventh drink and looked close to passing out. The innkeeper, a portly man with a scraggly beard, slouched over the counter, looking a bit annoyed when the girl approached the counter.

"We're not renting out anymore rooms. It's too late," the innkeeper muttered.

"Surely you can make an exception," the girl replied sweetly. She sounded young to the ears of the man. He couldn't help but wonder where her parents were.

"No exceptions. Look, it's late. If you want a room you should come at a decent time of night."

"The train was delayed. Couldn't avoid it." The girl shrugged. "I really hate trains. They have lousy service."

"Don't care about your problems with trains. I'm not renting you a room."

"I'd reconsider if I were you." A glint of silver caught the innkeeper's eye and he started as the girl slapped something on the table. It was a pocket watch. A state pocket watch. His eyes widened. "Y-you're an alchemist?"

"Yep." With a flash of white teeth, the girl drew back her hood, shaking out her short, dark brown hair. "Elizabeth Parker. Lightning Alchemist." She leaned forward, dark eyes glinting mischievously. "Now how about that room?"

A/N: Next chapter we'll get more Liz action, don't worry! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Now let's do our Q&A!

Question 1: Let's talk OCs. Which OCs from past fanfics are making an appearance in this story?

Well, my main three OCs will all be making an appearance. Liz, Cara and Chloe will all play a major role in the story and that means, yes, there will be lots of fun interaction between the three of them. I'm looking forward to some Liz and Cara conversations. I am not sure yet if some minor OCs, such as Lucy, will be making appearances. It will depend if there is room in the story for them. The OCs WILL have different back stories, however. The most similar is Liz, but even she has some alterations. Cara and Chloe are completely different in their origins this time around. So that should be fun :)

Question 2: (From Nixie the Bloody Pixie) Will there be any new OCs?

Yes there certainly will be. There will be one MAJOR OC addition to the cast and other minor OCs in the far future (though they won't become relevant for awhile.) I can't tell you anything about this OC yet, but I can tell you her name is Ashai.

Question 3: Will this follow FMA Brotherhood pretty exactly or will there be changes?

While this will be reasonably loyal to Brotherhood, I will be making some minor plot changes like the order of events and the fate of certain characters. And the ending might change a bit. But I will be mostly faithful.

Question 4: What's happening with Envy's character?

You might remember the poll I put up earlier this year regarding Envy's character. I wanted to know how everyone felt about his original anime self vs. his brotherhood self. At the end of the vote, most people said they like his anime self better. I agree with this of course. Brotherhood Envy is a little... wimpy and comic reliefy? Yeah, that's a good word for it. As such Envy will be more similar to his Anime self and thus similar to who he was in my past fanfictions. Most of you seem to like him in those so we shouldn't have a problem.

Question 5: And is the Kristen back story still a thing?

For those of you who don't know, Kristen is a girl from Envy's past who he had a thing for but she was killed. One of the reasons he and Liz become a thing is because she kind of looks and acts like her. But the answer is NO that is not a thing in this story. Liz and Envy have a WHOLE nother foundation for their relationship, and it'll be really fun :) Promise.

Question 6: (From Nixie the Bloody Pixie) Will there be Liz/Envy pairings in the Brotherhood Project?

Considering that it was the favorite pairing in the poll I took, the answer to that is whole heartidly yes. I love them too guys. There will be lots of Liz/Envy in this story.

Question 7: What about other pairings?

Other pairings I can tell you thus far: Cara/Ed and sort of Al/Chloe. I support Ed/Winry a lot but since I can't pair Cara with Envy (he is taken) Ed was the next choice. It might be a bit of a love triangle between Winry, Ed and Cara but we'll see. You know how I feel about love triangles (gag me). The new OC, Ashai, will also have a pairing... but that's a secret ;)

Question 8: (From kitsunelover300) Since Truth had a big role in the original trilogy, will there be hints of its existence with Truth in Brotherhood? Maybe he'll mention it as a thought?

Thumbs up to you for a question I hadn't thought of. I hadn't thought much about working Truth in but I did love his dynamic with Liz when he was a voice in her head. It might come back but as of now I'm not entirely sure.

Question 9: How many characters are you going to kill you sick psychopath?

Me? Kill characters? In what universe is this? :)

Question 10: And how many cliffhangers should we expect?

Well! That's all the time we have for today! Thanks for joining me and see you next Friday for chapter 2 of EDGE OF LIGHTING!

You suck.

Bite me. Have a lovely week!