"Another sunny day in Central, huh Al?" A miffed Edward Elric sighed as he kicked up the dust gathering in the road "It hasn't rained in weeks! I thought we left the East for a reason.." Ed was right, Central had fallen under a horrible dry spell turning the city into an oven. With no rain, the residents were also under strict water conservation protocol. Ed lifted his right arm to wipe the sweat from his brow, although his metal appendage was covered by his white glove, the emanating heat from the metal made him even hotter.

"Well, I do wish I could feel the heat brother. As gross as it sounds, I'd like to sweat again." Al responded with his familiar metal ringing. Ed lowered his head, the guilt washed over him once again. He knew he couldn't let Al see this so he beamed that award winning smile at his brother instead, even if it was half-empty.

"Don't you worry, we'll have you back in that body of yours in no time! Then you can stink all you want!" Al smiled, his brother always knew how to cheer him up.

"Do you really think the Colonel found a good lead for us brother? To get our bodies back?" Al asked as they walked under the hot sun, the nearing headquarters.

"Well I sure hope so, that jerk hasn't turned up anything good in months!" Ed humphed as the brothers ascended the stairs in to central headquarters, "Just dead end after dead end, maybe that head of his is empty after all."

"AH THE ELRIC BROTHERS HOW HAPPY I AM TO SEE YOU!" The Strongarm Alchemist popped out from a nearby building immediately cutting off the brothers.

Oh great the great muscley pain in my ass.. "Hi major." Ed scoffed and crossed his arms. It was too hot to deal with this meat head.

"What brings you to central my dear boys?" the Major asked with that infamous twinkle.

"We're just here to the Colonel, Major." answered Al, anything to get out of the conversation before Major takes his shirt off. "Do you know if he's in?"

"OH WHY YES WHY DON'T YOU LET ME ESCORT YOU YOUNG ELRIC BROTHERS?"

"OH that's okay Maj-AHH HEY LET ME DOWN!" cried the quite helpless Ed as Armstrong flung the boy over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Well, more like a sack of potato chips.

As the interesting crowd entered Colonel Mustangs office, Major quickly dropped Ed on his butt and saluted to his superior, "The Elric Brothers, sir!"

"I can see that Major, you are dismissed." Roy replied in his usual smug tone.

"Sir!" with that the Major closed the door curtly leaving the boys alone with the Colonel.

"I trust you got my message?" Roy leaned forward in his chair, perching his elbows on his desk, his head carefully posed over his interlaced fingers. Around him were stacks and stacks of papers on his desk as well as on the floor beside him. Had the Colonel actually been doing paperwork?

"Why else would we be here? Certainly not to visit." retorted Ed, flopping down on the couch positioned in the middle of Mustangs office.

"Brother.."Al sighed, the conversation has barely started and they are already at each others throats. "We did Colonel, does it sound promising?" Sitting down next to his brother.

"I can't say so or not yet Alphonse. You boys will have to figure that out yourselves. My only request before I hand you over this information is that you bring back what information you find, or who you find, back to me. Speak of it to no one but myself, and my team. Got it?" The usual smirk dropped off of Mustang's handsome face as he said this. His eyes stared into Ed's golden ones, reiterating how serious he was.

"Yeah, yeah sure thing Colonel." Ed replied casually, but his mind lingered on what Mustang had said, who we find?

"After going through several restricted files, mainly to do with Lab 5," both of the brothers sat up in there seats once they heard this, "the same name kept turning up. I have done extensive research in the military database for this person but only one thing comes up. A child, left in the military's care after their parents died on duty. That was 12 years ago."

"A kid? Left in the care of the military? Can they really do that?" Al asked with genuine concern.

"I suppose, there's no rules against it. I did further research on this child but her records just stop about 6 or 7 years ago. No death certificate, no forward address, it's just like she disappeared."

"So what does this have to do with us?"

"Well, about 6 or 7 years ago a girls name started appearing in Lab 5 case files. It appears she was a subject there and escaped."

"Another chimera do you think?" Al shuddered at the thought of the chimeras he had seen die, and the horrors of making one..

"No, I don't think she's a chimera Alphonse. There seems to be proof that she is an alchemist. A powerful one at that. Her name is Freia Lockwood, she should be around 17 now."

"What a funny name." Fullmetal scoffed.

"Well do you want the details or not Fullmetal?"

"Yeah, yeah where can we find this Leya?"

"Freia, idiot."

"Idiot! Pompous a-" Edward makes a full lunge at Mustang but Al grabs on to his short tempered brothers shoulder.

"Now, now brother the Colonel was kind enough to gather this information from us wasn't he?"

Mustang smirked, "Your brothers right, y'know maybe Al is the bigger one after all."

"WHY YOU!" Al kept holding on to his brother tightly, the Colonel sure did know all the right buttons to push when it came to his brother. Ed scrambled to get away from Al furiously shaking his fist at Roy.

After having a nice chuckle, Mustang stood up from behind his desk and approached the dynamic duo.

"Here are your case files, you will find her in the East. I'm sure of it."

Ed scoffed, "Yeah thanks Colonel. Wait a second, before you told us all this you said you wanted us to bring back any information we find, or who we find back to you."

"That's right."

"Does that mean we bring back the girl too?"

"Hah, that is if you can Fullmetal. But yes, that is what I mean. This girl obviously knows a lot, Edward and has probably seen too much. Be careful."

"Wait a second, the East? Man, that dry hell-hole of a place is nothing but trouble." Ed shuddered at the thought of all that sand. It was hot enough here in Central!

"And yet the perfect place to hide, wouldn't you say?" The Colonel extended the files to the boys and gave them a knowing nod.

With that Ed snatched the files from the Colonel's hands and turned on his heel straight out the door.

"Come on Al! We got a girl to catch!"

Roy sat back behind his desk and stared down at the case files he had collected. Lockwood.. Where had he heard that name before? He rubbed his temples at the thought, he hoped that he had not sent the youngest State Alchemist in history in a death trap.