This whole story is already written, so don't worry, it's definitely not going to be abandoned. It might take me a little while to get the whole things up though. It should be six chapters of around this length. Thanks for reading!


"I'm sending you to a small village to do some investigating," Mustang said. "It could take a couple days. And you'll be leaving tomorrow."

Ed wasn't particularly paying attention to his superior officer. Instead, he was looking out the window, trying to imagine that he was anywhere aside from sitting in Mustang's office in Eastern Headquarters, going over future assignments and paperwork.

"Fullmetal?" Mustang asked again after a few seconds. "Did you hear me?"

"I heard you," Ed said. "I'm going to a village to do some investigating." He frowned slightly. "Um...what is it that I'm going to be investigating, exactly?"

Mustang sighed a little. "An unusual amount of alchemists have been disappearing from the village."
Ed perked up a bit. "Kidnappings?"

Mustang shook his head. "They just moved. Or so it appears. It's suspicious enough that we wanted to send someone just to look around a little."

Ed nodded. That sounded like it could be more interesting than a lot of his assignments, actually. And it would be nice for him and Al to get away from East City for a little bit. They could have some freedom for once, maybe take some time to relax….

"Oh, I almost forgot to mention," Mustang said. "Second Lieutenant Havoc will be going with you."

"What?" Ed said angrily. "Colonel, come on, Al and I do missions like this all the time, we don't need a babysitter…."

"He's not just there to watch you," Mustang said. "The town is extremely unfriendly towards the state alchemy program, but they respect the Amestrian military and you'll be safer with him along."

"But why Havoc?" Ed whined. It wasn't that he disliked the lieutenant, he just wanted to be left to his own devices and he knew that Havoc wouldn't allow him to do that.

Ed hadn't expected an actual answer, but Mustang put his hands flat on the desk and sighed again. "Because Lieutenant Hawkeye could not be spared at this time," he said simply. "And Lieutenant Havoc was the next best option."

"Alright," Ed finally said. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow." Mustang frowned. "I just said that. Don't you ever listen?"

"I better go pack," Ed said evasively as he left, nodding at Havoc who was sulking in the corner.

"Now stopping in Tranquility! Transfer here for Mayfield and Varney!"

Ed stared out the window as the train pulled into the station. Beyond the small wooden building lay the neat, clean, boring streets of Tranquility.

"Tranquility...what a dumb name," he muttered. Beside him, Al made a soft squeak, and Ed sighed. Al has such terrible taste, he thought, with a superiority that can only come from being born first.

The train stopped with a hiss of steam and a lurch, and Ed stood up.

"Alright, let's get this over with. Al, wake up Havoc, will you?"

"I'm awake," Havoc yawned unconvincingly, and the three of them stepped off the train into Tranquility.


Al stayed behind his brother, carrying his suitcase as usual. As they walked through the streets, searching for a place to stay, he began to agree with Ed. This town seemed...well, boring. But in a good way, Al thought. Sometimes, he could use a little boring. And Tranquility seemed to fit its name perfectly. Every street corner was clean, every house had a carefully tended patch of flowers above the well-kept lawn. The people they passed smiled and waved. A few of them even stopped and welcomed them to the town. If Al could have smiled, he would have. They could spend a few days here in peace, relaxing, then go back and satisfy the Colonel. Everybody wins. And maybe brother can relax a little, too. He's always working so hard…

"Rose Garden Inn," Ed said from a little ways ahead. "They have a vacancy. I wonder if they have complimentary breakfast…"

"They'd regret it," Havoc muttered quietly, and Al snickered. Ed apparently missed the joke, because he pushed open the ivy-covered gate and walked up the path to the inn without answering. Al and Havoc followed him into the reception room just inside.

Ed swaggered up to the counter and peered over the top of it. "Do you have two rooms open?"

The receptionist smiled down at Ed from her stool, and Al winced. His brother wouldn't like this.

"Are you with an adult?" she said kindly, glancing up at Havoc. Al sighed as Ed's face and neck turned bright red.

"I'm a State Alchemist," he snapped, dumping his pocket watch on the counter.

Instantly, the receptionist's face dropped into a scowl. "A...State Alchemist?"

Havoc stepped up to the counter, edging Ed smoothly out of the way. "Yes, ma'am," he said, smiling at her. "East City sent us, just to make sure all of you citizens are safe out here in Tranquility. We've heard reports of some dangerous wildlife in the East, and we just want to make sure everything's okay. The alchemist's here in case we run into any problems."

He beamed at the receptionist again, and she smiled back at him. Al was impressed. Havoc's cover story was a lot better than the one Ed had suggested. That one had involved highwaymen, flying machines, and lots of fighting. Ed frowned. Al could tell that no part of this situation was making him happy.

But the receptionist nodded. "We do have two rooms available. Third floor. Does that work for you?"

Ed opened his mouth to answer, but Havoc cut him off. "Thank you, that's perfect," he said. He gave the receptionist the information for the military account, and she handed Havoc one set of keys and Ed the other.

"Let's go unpack," Havoc said, "and then we can look around."

"Can we get food first?" Ed whined. "We didn't get anything on the train. And it's past lunchtime!"

Havoc sighed. "Fine," he said. He turned back to the receptionist again. "Is there a good place to eat around here?"
The receptionist nodded enthusiastically. "The inn has a tavern, it's right through that set of doors."

Havoc thanked her, and the three made their way through the doors and into the tavern. They sat down at a table close to the door, as far from any of the other patrons as they could manage so they wouldn't be overheard.

"You'll need to order something too, Al," Havoc said. "Just to keep up appearances."

"That's fine, I'll eat whatever we get for Al," Ed said quickly.

Havoc stared at Ed. "You want two full lunches?"

Ed nodded. Al knew that eating two meals was nothing out of the ordinary for Ed, he often ate Al's food and sometimes simply ordered two dishes for himself. But Havoc had clearly not been expecting that, and he was still looking at Ed in confusion. Ed shrugged.

A waitress came by, and Al ordered something that he knew that Ed would like. "How long are you going to be in town for?" she asked, voice friendly.

Havoc started to answer, but Ed cut across him. "We should just be in town for a few days. I'm a State Alchemist, and we're just looking into-"

"A State Alchemist?" the waitress asked, raising her voice. Immediately, at least five heads snapped up. Al could feel the eyes of many of the other patrons boring into them. Havoc groaned.

Ed seemed oblivious, and continued to talk. "...and my brother is an alchemist too, but he doesn't work for the military, we're all just here looking into a few things…."

Al watched as the waitress shot them one more angry, frightened glance, but she didn't say anything else and disappeared to get them their food.

"Brother," Al said, determined to get a word in before Havoc had the chance to say anything, "you can't keep telling people you're a State Alchemist. Now everyone in the restaurant knows, and State Alchemists aren't trusted here. Word is going to get around, and we won't be able to do anything in this town."

Ed sat back in his seat, sulking. "Me being a State Alchemist is supposed to help us, but it just gets in our way," he muttered, desultorily shoving bread into his mouth.

"Well, if you don't scream about it to everyone you meet…" Havoc pointed out. Ed glared at him, and Al got in the middle - again.

"They glared at me too, though," he said.

Havoc shrugged. "I guess they don't like alchemists in general. Good thing they don't seem to have a problem with the military...at least someone can get some answers." He peered over at Ed's plate, still piled high with both his own food and Al's. "Are you gonna finish that?"

Al sighed as Ed snarled and held a fork in what he undoubtedly thought was a menacing manner.

"Okay, okay. I'm gonna go out and see if I can find anything. That receptionist seemed pretty friendly…."


Ed threw his cards down on the bed, grimacing in frustration at the bad hand he'd gotten.

"If you're done playing cards, do you want to try and go meet Havoc?" Al asked him.

Ed shook his head. Secretly, he was relieved that Havoc had taken it upon himself to investigate. He didn't think that the Second Lieutenant would come up with anything, and besides, he was suddenly feeling very tired. He yawned.

"Actually, I think I'm gonna take a nap."

"But- don't you want to hear what Havoc finds?"

Ed shook his head firmly. "He won't find anything. This town is as innocent as it gets."

Just then, a loud rap on the door made them both jump. "Ed! Al! It's me, open up!"

Ed rose from the bed and went over to the door to admit Havoc. He looked rather more excited than Ed had expected. As soon as he was in the room, he closed the door behind him and checked to make sure they were alone.

"There's definitely something weird going on in this town," he said, and Ed groaned as Al chuckled slightly.

"What did you find?" Ed said reluctantly, seeing his vacation vanish before his eyes. And he was so tired…

Havoc pulled up a chair and began. "Okay, so first, I talked to Meggy-"

"Who?"

"Our lovely receptionist," Havoc answered, beaming. "She said that the missing alchemists moved to the countryside, but she didn't seem too sure about it. So I went to a bar-"

"Useful," Ed muttered, and Al shot him a glare. Havoc didn't seem to notice.

"And everyone there said the same exact thing."

Ed shrugged. "That doesn't seem too suspicious to me. It's probably the truth."

Havoc shook his head. "No, you don't understand. 'They moved to the countryside to study alchemy in private.' They all said that sentence, in those exact words. That doesn't seem a little weird to you?"

It did seem a little weird. And as much as he wanted to tell Havoc that he was wrong, he couldn't deny the feeling that was starting to grow inside him.

"They really all said that exactly? Are you sure?"

"Yes, of course." Havoc broke off at another knock on the door. "You can see for yourself," he hissed, and opened it.

A bellhop entered with fresh sheets. He handed them to Ed, who placed them on the bed behind him. Curiosity getting the better of him, he turned back to the bellhop.

"Hey, I notice there aren't many alchemists in town, where are they?"

The bellhop stared straight ahead of him. "They moved to the countryside to study alchemy in private," he said, almost chanting. It was clearly a rote answer, and it was deeply unnerving.

"Thank you," Havoc said as the bellhop left, closing the door gently behind him.

Then he looked pointedly at Ed. Ed sighed. He had to admit that the interaction with the bellhop had been extremely strange. There was something unsettling going on in the town, there could be no question of that. Havoc had been right. They would need to do some actual investigating after all.

"Did you find out anything else?" Al asked curiously. "Especially any information about where the alchemists actually could have gone?"

Havoc shook his head. "Not yet. But I have some connections now, so we should be able to find out some more information tomorrow. But there's nothing else that we can do tonight, so now, if you don't mind, I am going to go hit on the receptionist."

Havoc must have caught sight of Ed and Al's shocked expressions, because he immediately tried to backtrack. "Not hit on. Did I say that? I meant...befriend. Yeah. I'm gonna go befriend the receptionist. See you boys tomorrow. Stay out of trouble. Have a good night…."

As Havoc was speaking he slowly backed out of the room, shutting the door behind himself the second he was clear of it. Once he was gone, Ed sighed.

"Alright," Ed said, "I'll admit it. I guess there is something going on here. But, like Havoc said, nothing we can do until tomorrow. I'm going to bed."

"But brother, it's so early…."

"I'm tired, alright? Just-"

"You really should report to the Colonel before going to sleep anyways," Al said. "He'll want to hear that there's something going on. You know that."

As much as Ed did not want to talk to the Colonel, he had to admit that his brother was right. He really did need to report to Mustang, especially now that they had some actual information to report. Reluctantly, he used the phone in the hotel room to dial up the number for Eastern Command. Within two minutes, he was on the phone with the Colonel.

"Hello, Fullmetal," he said. "Have you already run into some sort of a problem?"

"Hi, um, no Colonel, I'm just calling because we have some new information about the town, and I think you were right, it does seem like there's something weird going on here…."

"Go on."

"The townspeople hate State Alchemists, first of all. I'm not going to be able to pull rank that way, I won't get anywhere. But it's more than that. Lieutenant Havoc asked a bunch of different people if they knew anything about where the town's alchemists had gone, and they all said the exact same thing. I mean the exact same thing, like same words and everything. And-"

Ed broke off as a wave of dizziness washed over him. Frantically, he reached out and steadied himself on the bedside table, sure that if he wasn't holding onto something he would fall. His vision started to swim, then tunnel. He tried to breathe deeply, tried not to pass out right then and there, still on the phone with the Colonel.

And then the vertigo started to vanish, just as quickly as it had come. Now, he could hear the Colonel was still on the other side of the phone.

"Fullmetal?" he said sharply. "Is something wrong? Are you alright?"

"Um, bad reception, talk to you later Colonel," Ed said. Then he slammed the phone down. He stood by the table, breathing heavily. What...what had just happened?

"Brother?" Al was using his worried voice (or his more worried than usual voice). "Are you alright?"

"I'm just fine!" Ed said, probably a bit too cheerfully. Sounding manic even to himself, he carried on. "The phone call had some bad reception. That's all!"

Al still looked a little suspicious, and Ed yawned gigantically. "Okay, guess it's time to go to bed!"

Before Al could protest, he turned out all the lights and got ready for bed, hoping that the dizziness wouldn't return.

When Ed opened his eyes the next morning, he regretted it immediately. His head was throbbing, and the light from the sun peeking in the windows was searing his brain. He winced and sat up. He felt like the room was spinning around him, like he was somehow off-kilter to the rest of the world. He closed his eyes and waited for the feeling to pass. Eventually, the unpleasant tilting sensation in his stomach subsided, and he cautiously opened his eyes again.

Carefully, he climbed out of bed. Each fresh movement sent waves of pain radiating from the spot right behind his eyes all the way down his spine. Ed vowed to ignore them. He had things to do. Besides, he didn't want to worry Al, mostly because his little brother wouldn't stop nagging at him. So he'd just have to make sure Al didn't notice anything was wrong.


Al watched Ed through narrowed eyes. His brother was moving slower than usual, like every step hurt him. Even his ridiculous hair antenna looked a little droopy. And that dizziness last night… But maybe he was just tired. The circles under his eyes could be from a series of poor nights' sleep. Al resolved to watch Ed closely, to see if he showed any more symptoms. He knew that Ed wouldn't tell him something was wrong until the last possible minute, so he'd just have to find out on his own.

"Hey. It's Havoc. Open up."

Ed turned towards the door, but didn't make any move to open it. Al let Havoc in, increasingly worried about his brother.

Havoc clearly didn't notice anything was wrong. He bounced into the room, slapped Al lightly on his armored back, and sank into his chair.

"How did hitting on the receptionist go?" Ed asked, sounding a little scornful.

Havoc grinned and took out a cigarette. "Great! She's so nice! And helpful, except when I asked anything that connects to our actual mission… And so pretty, too!"

Al giggled softly. He liked Havoc. And Ed seemed to like him as well, which in some ways, was more important. If Ed didn't like someone, there was usually lots of screaming.

"Let's get breakfast, and we can figure out the rest of the day then," Ed said, cutting Havoc off.

"Is all you care about food?" Havoc asked. He didn't sound angry or annoyed, just genuinely curious.

"Yes," Al and Ed said at almost the same time. Havoc shook his head slightly, and the three of them made their way down to the inn's tavern again.

"Hey, are you alright?" Havoc said, squinting slightly at Ed once they were sitting in the natural light of the window. "You look...pale."

"I'm fine!" Ed said, slamming his metal hand down on the table. "I just didn't sleep well last night! Why does everyone keep asking?"

"Okay, sorry, sorry," Havoc said, already having moved on to staring at the receptionist every time the tavern doors opened and offered him a brief glimpse of her.

But, examining his brother more closely, Al thought that Havoc was right. Ed did seem quite pale. His eyes were sunken slightly into his face. He looked sickly.

But, when the three breakfasts arrived, Ed ate all of his own and a hearty portion of Al's too, so Al thought that he couldn't be too bad off. As long as Ed was still eating normally, there couldn't be anything seriously wrong with him. He must be alright.

"So what are we trying to do today?" Ed asked around a mouthful of toast. "Kidnap and question some people? Maybe break into a few places?"

"Brother, no!" Al said, voice horrified.

"I was joking," Ed said, mouth still full. Al wasn't sure that this was entirely true, but he let it slide.

"I was thinking we could just try to walk around town and gather more information," Havoc said. "The same way I did last night."
Ed shrugged. "Alright, that sounds fun. And I would like to see some more of the town."

Havoc narrowed his eyes slightly. "I don't think you're going to be coming. I'm sure everyone in town knows you're a State Alchemist by now. We won't be able to get anything done."

Ed frowned and scratched his head, musing over the problem. "I've got it!" he announced, eyes brightening a little.

"What is it, brother?"

"We'll all wear disguises!" Ed grinned, clearly certain that he'd found the key to the problem at hand. Havoc shook his head.

"I don't need a disguise. And it's gonna be pretty hard to disguise Al… Plus, a disguise will just make you seem a lot more suspicious."

Al sighed quietly. He would actually quite like a disguise. Then maybe people wouldn't stare at him all the time… A cool disguise, not tacky like whatever Ed would likely create.

While he was longing for anonymity, Ed and Havoc continued to argue.

"It won't be suspicious! No one will know it's me! That's the point of a disguise, duh!"

"Just what exactly are you planning to wear?" Havoc asked critically, and before Ed could answer, Al jumped in.

"Ooh! Brother, you should disguise yourself as a girl!"

Havoc grinned. "Actually, that's a pretty good idea. Your hair's long, covers your face...the height-"

"DON'T CALL ME LITTLE!"

"-yeah, that could work pretty well. As long as he doesn't talk to anyone…" He looked over at Al, above the red-faced, rage-filled Ed. "Good thinking, kid."

"Thanks," Al said proudly. He thought it was a pretty good idea, too. And Havoc probably knew something about disguises… Al wasn't exactly sure what Havoc's job entailed, but he had a vague idea that somewhere, it probably involved cool things like disguises and Top-Secret-Missions stamped For-Your-Eyes-Only. Al figured that he knew what he was talking about, and he hoped that Ed would take their advice.

Ed did not. He got up in a huff, placing his metal hand flat against the table to support himself.

"I'm not gonna dress up like a girl," he said flatly, and stomped out of the tavern, muttering about disguises and fake hair as he went.