Life's Equation

by Iceasfire

Takes place one month after the FMA movie. As the two brothers are adjusting to their new life a mysterious event occurs...They find themselves back home. They reunite with old friends, but more importantly they seek out How they got back...and by Who?

Life's Equation

By:

Iceasfire

Authors Note:

This story follows along the lines of the anime (I have never seen Brotherhood and probably never will) and takes place one month after the FMA movie. After watching the movie I was somewhat disappointed at where it ended. It felt like there was more to it, that the story wasn't over yet...which got me thinking about alchemy. During the course of the series many people challenge the brother's belief that equivalent exchange applies to the world as well as alchemy. Something that these people fail to see, especially when using the brother's lives as an example, is that the equation is not finished yet. They are still alive and judgment cannot be passed yet, they are in mid-transmutation so to speak. In my work I try to continue on with the equation, fill in some unanswered questions, and just generally show more of the lives of the characters that we have grown to love. I have put a great effort into this fan fiction and in exchange I know that it will be appreciated. So please enjoy!

A/N-New-My first posting of this years ago was a complete mess. I was young and naïve to the ways of but now I am older and wiser. That and if it seems that bits of the story are left out is because it is. This was written for a contest and to keep it within the length limits I had to cut a lot out. The paragraph dividers are now in place (something that was missing before making it a mother to read). But other than that I have done no new editing to it. I'm sure that I can spiffy it up now that I am more experienced but I prefer to leave it as is.

The sun had not long set upon the secluded military facility deep within the old German forest. The only sound came from the wind blowing through the near bare branches of the trees. Thick clouds hid the away the moon, and promised at snow. The occasional guard walked along the outer fence, watchful and silent. A siren suddenly sounded out from deep within the building. The alarm was soon matched by the watchtowers who immediately switched on their spotlights and began to scour the grounds for any signs of movement. On the far side of the facility, two figures emerged from one of the back doors and began to quickly make their way for the chain link fence, fiercely bickering with one another.

"That was real smooth Ed. You just had to didn't you?" The smaller of the two with short hair said. "When door says level four personnel only you don't just go busting it open!"

"How was I to know that it was a room full of officers shirking duty and playing cards?" said the figure leading the way, hair worn long and pulled back.

"By actually thinking and listening first!"

"Oh shut up about it already, will you Al?" Ed said as they reached the fence. Multiple guards were coming at them from across the compound, letting the dogs run on ahead.

"Shit." Ed swore looking around. There were coils of barbed wire lining the top of the fence. If they couldn't go over it, they would just have go through it. He grabbed onto the fence with his right hand and began pealing it back as easily as if it were made of thread, while Al anxiously watched the rapid approach of many snapping jaws.

"Come on." Ed said going through the tear in the fence. Al quickly joined him and Ed twisted the metal back into place just in time to seal them off from the guard dogs. Several vehicles poured out from the main gate loaded with trigger happy solders, but they were too late to catch the two perpetrators before they disappeared into the dark dense forest.

Some time later, once they felt that it was finally clear, the two of them quit running for the night and took shelter in an old abandoned farmhouse they found along the way. The inside of the decaying old barn was covered in dried out straw, debris that had rotted from the ceiling, and the smell of must and decay was absolutely everywhere. The two lay back to back as close as they could, coat's used as covers, in an attempt to stay warm on the cold December night. As least they were out of the wind and the old straw scattered everywhere made for somewhat decent insulation, Al thought to himself trying to look on the bright side. Still wired from the excitement earlier, and unable to sleep, Al spoke up.

"Brother, how long has it been?"

"A few hours now." Ed said with a sigh. "If they were tracking up they would have caught up by now."

"No. I meant since we've...since I've been here, in this world."

"About a month now. Why?"

"Nothing. Just wondering." Al said nestling down further in the smelly stray, regretting that he had brought the subject up.

"Homesick?" Ed asked, almost as if he were reading his mind.

"...Yeah. A little." Al confessed.

"Just get over it Al. The quicker you do the better off you'll be." Ed said, bitterness creeping into his voice.

"You don't miss home anymore?" Al asked, sitting up to look at him. Buried beneath the coats and straw, Ed said nothing. Al lay back down, settling in once more. He remained quiet as well. What else could he say?

0o0o0o0o0

Sciezka grabbed the stack of books that she had been sifting through and prepared to place them back on the shelf. She took a step to the bookshelf, but realized that she had forgotten two books. Gathering them up, she turned once more only to realize that she had forgotten the file reports and the folder. Sighing, she glanced at the clock. It was nearly eleven. Another long fun-filled night, she thought to herself, and still so much left to do. There was a soft knock on the office doorway.

"Excuse me, Sciezka?" Riza Hawkeye asked, peering in. She was out of uniform and dressed in casual street clothes.

"Muh?" Sciezka managed to say through a mouthful of files, startled enough to where several of the numerous books slid out of her arms. "Lt. Hawkeye!" She exclaimed. The file papers immediately fell from her mouth to litter the floor. She looked down to the mess she had made, and in the process dropping several other books "Um." She said, at a loss for what to do.

"I've got it." Hawkeye said entering the office, sat something down on the floor, and began to gather the books and files.

"Thank you so much." Sciezka said setting the armfuls down on the desk before she dropped anymore. "You're here awfully late this evening."

"You're one to be lecturing me on working too hard." Hawkeye said handing Sciezka the papers and books. "I'm off duty now, but I knew you would be working late tonight so I brought you this." She bent over to pick up the foil covered pan and placed it on the small book-free area of Sciezka's desk. "It's a casserole. With you here every night lately I figured that you would like to have a dinner already ready." The lieutenant said, noting the impressive amount of work on her desk.

"Thank you so much." Sciezka said on the verge of tears from gratefulness, her stomach growling now that it sensed the long absent presence of food.

"Is Winry still staying with you?"

"Yeah. The doctors here insist that they can care for her patients until their automail settings have healed enough to be fitted at Resembool, but Winry insists on overseeing them personally. Although she'll never admit it, I think that she just doesn't want to go home." Sciezka said sitting back down, thinking about her guest. When they did see each other, nothing much was really said between them, but Sciezka could see it anyway.

"I regret that there were so many casualties in the attack, but it is comforting to know that these individuals are in capable hands. So how many people is she working for?" Hawkeye said, sitting down in a chair by the bookshelf. Sciezka paused for a moment, trying to remember.

"Five I think, but we hardly see anything of each other. She's always at the hospital or a garage, and I'm working late every night. What with the incident last month and all the work that Roy Mustang has been piling up on me I haven't had the time to do anything. I'm only in military records for goodness sake! I can't be expected to keep up with every item of paperwork in all of central. I think I'm getting close to another breakdown." She said running her fingers through her hair, leaving it in even more disarray than it was previously.

"Well, that's Roy for you." Hawkeye said crossing her arms and looking at the ground. "I'm glad to see that he's at least acting somewhat like his normal self."

"What do you mean?" Sciezka said, slightly surprised by the testy tone of her voice.

"He only received his new rank last week and he's already behaving as if HQ had been his all along."

"Oh." Sciezka said. That was not exactly what she had meant, but it really wasn't her business to pursue the subject. She supposed that Hawkeye was still angry over the fact that Mustang had abandoned them all to go north...or maybe it was something else. She had never really been good with all the ins and outs of relationships. If only people came with footnotes, she ruefully wished. The lieutenant also fell into an uncomfortable silence. She spotted a newspaper hanging off the corner of Sciezka's desk. The headline read 'Five more missing, the third incident this week'.

"Another multiple disappearance huh?" She said, reaching out for the paper. "This is getting out of hand."

"Yeah. The investigations department is doing all they can, but the department has just never been the same since Brigadier-General Hughes left us." Sciezka said sadly.

"I agree." Hawkeye said softly.

"And that's another thing that makes working late so horrible." Sciezka said in a low, fearful voice.

"What?" She asked, pulled from the memories.

"Its scary walking all the way home in the dark! If I were an alchemist or an ace shot like you it wouldn't be so bad, but I'm just a book freak! What could I do? Correct their grammar?" She frantically rambled on, getting the chills just thinking about walking home tonight.

"Were you not issued a gun? Its military regulation."

"Well yessss..." She said abashedly, avoiding Hawkeye's unwavering gaze. Then she rambled out once more. "But I have no idea how to use a gun! Knowing me I'd probably end up shooting myself and save the criminals the trouble of having to put up with me."

"It's not as bad as your making it out to be. Where is your gun now?"

"Um well...it's kinda maybe at home being used as a book stopper...sorta." She said, suddenly becoming intensely absorbed in the logo of her pen set.

"Sciezka." Hawkeye said, exasperated.

"I know." She answered, hanging her head in shame.

"Come on. Those reports can wait for a little while." Hawkeye said, suddenly standing up.

"Huh? What, wait...?" She asked as Lieutenant Hawkeye took her by the hand. "Where are we going?"

"To the shooting range." She said sternly, and pulled a weakly protesting Sciezka down the hall.

0o0o0o0o0

Everything was dark in the small little house in the middle of central, not a single light was on, but the moonlight shown through the windows to reveal countless stacks of books piled everywhere to where there was hardly space left to walk. There was the sound of a key being inserted into a lock and the front door knob being turned. "Sciezka, I'm back." a person called out as she stepped in. She dropped a heavy bag full of tools on a pile of books by the doorway where it slid off with a crash. The tools went clanking and rolling out everywhere. Winry didn't bother to try and pick them up now. She was far too tired and only wanted to climb into bed. "It's nice to see you too." Winry muttered to herself after no one greeted her. She didn't bother turning on the lights, she had been here long enough to be able to effortlessly navigate the sea of books in the dark. She did, however, stop to flick on the kitchen lights on her way to the stairs. The table was bare. She turned the lights back off, not exactly disappointed because she really hadn't expected anything to be there in the first place, and she didn't feel up to cooking either.

After climbing over and skirting around the rows of books along the stairwell she finally made it to the guest bedroom where she collapsed on the bed sighing. With a wince of pain, Winry fished around under her for the hard object she had landed on. She pulled it out and saw by the moonlight coming through her window that it was a wrench, one of her oldest ones. She let it fall to the floor, not wanting to look at it anymore. Winry turned away from the window to face the darkness.

She lay like that for thirty minutes or more, unable to sleep but not really thinking of anything in particular. On the nightstand by her bed, she finally took notice of the flashlight setting there. On impulse, she reached out and picked it up. She twirled it over in her hands feeling the cool metal on her skin, blinking it on and off a few times. She paused for a moment, remembering the old times, and then bitterly threw the object to the foot of the bed where it rolled down the trailing covers onto the floor. No need for that anymore, she despondently thought to herself, there's no one left to come home.

0o0o0o0o0

"Why the hell isn't something being done about these disappearances!" Mustang demanded the next day, bristling. He threw down a slightly charred newspaper onto the desk. On the front page there was another article about missing people. The soldiers looked about the office, trying to avoid his scathing gaze.

"What more can we do?" Breda asked, shrugging.

"Yeah." Havoc said jumping in, sitting backwards in his chair. "There's a complete lack of evidence and relationships between the various cases."

"Well you're just going to have to find some because I can not allow something like this to continue under my jurisdiction!"

"The whole military is under your jurisdiction now boss, you can't personally cover every single incident that occurs in this state." Breda said, trying to reason with him.

"Things will be quieting down soon enough anyway. At least for a while." Falman said ominously.

"What do you mean?" Mustang asked, somewhat surprised by Falman's statement.

"Well I was speaking with Sciezka the other day and we came to the realization that there is actually a pattern to these disappearances...that is if you're willing to stretch your imagination a little."

"Explain." Mustang said sitting down, arms crossed, and curiosity aroused.

"Well..." Falman slowly began, hesitating. Apparently not entirely convinced himself about what he was going to say. "We figured that we traced this to start at a little over a year ago. There would be a brief period of disappearances, all with no relation to one person or case to another, and then they would stop. Things would go back to normal for a month or more, then more missing persons reports would come in. Now it's never been anything major like a train car full of passengers gone, just a person or two here and there. Now most of these instances have been attributed to other causes like gang disputes or people abandoning their family for an old flame, and the like. But all of these cases have one thing in common...no bodies."

"Creepy." Furey said with a shudder.

"And all of this doesn't even take into account unreported cases." Falman added.

"Come to think about it, the crime rate has been down." Havoc said glancing up to the ceiling, jarring loose the ashes from the stub of his cigarette, mentally reviewing some recent reports.

"So?" Breda challenged. "What's that got to do with it?"

"So...what if it's because there aren't any hobos or thugs around anymore to commit them?" Havoc said, voice dropping.

"Ok, you guys are freaking me out." Furey said putting his hands over his ears in a desperate attempt to block them out. "I you keep this up I am not walking back to the barracks tonight alone. (This is worse than warehouse 13.)" Falman ignored him and continued on.

"That and the number of people being taken after each period of inactivity have been increasing. This may be due to the fact that most of the 'easy' victims have been taken, or that the perpetrator or perpetrators are not getting what they want...or are very close to it. But considering the number of people taken lately we should be reaching our plateau of peace for now."

"And you and Sciezka found this out?" Mustang asked, expression unreadable.

"More like theorized, sir."

"Congratulations Falman." Mustang said deviously, standing up. "You are now the head of investigations...with this case as your primary objective."

"Sir?" Falman asked, stunned. The other three matched his expression.

"Oh and tell Sciezka that she is temporarily suspended from records duty and is to accompany you with this case immediately."

"Yes...yes, sir" Falman said. He saluted and left the room, still in disbelief.

"Are you sure that Falman is up to something like this boss? Head of investigations? That's one hell of a promotion." Havoc said, pulling out a fresh smoke.

"We'll see how he does and Sciezka too. After all they picked up on something you all had missed." He ended severely. The others divert gazes uncomfortably, sulking. "Now get back to work!" He said and promptly left the room. Immediately after he had gone the gripes and moans began.

"I thought that with Mustang at the top we would get it easy, but he's been working us as hard as ever." Breda mumbled sifting through some files.

"That's true." Furey said. "It has kind of a nostalgic feel to it though, doesn't it?"

"Yeah right." Breda threw back at him.

"I can't say that I blame him though." Havoc said, catching the other twos attention before the sparks could fly. "As corrupt as the state was with Bradley in charge, I'd say that I would want some major revamping done too if I were in charge."

"I know. And we are the ones he trusts the most. But still a promotion or two would be nice." Breda pouted.

"Aw come on guys, it's not that bad." Furey said busily and happily at work. "And besides the more you drag you feet the longer this is going to take."

"Shut up Furey." They wearily said in unison.

0o0o0o0o0

"This seems like a really nice little town." Al said looking around. The place was a blend of old log houses and modern architecture. Despite the seeming conflict of ages, the town had a united and relaxed feel. Buildings were lined up one after another, some with flowerpots hanging outside the windows. Shop owners peered out their doors hailing at every passerby in the hopes that they would be their next customer. The road was paved in cobblestones. They were well worn by the elements and traffic, but not to the point that they were in disrepair. A car would drive by every now and then, but mostly people were out walking, talking amongst themselves, and taking in the fair day.

"It is a nice town. In a weird way it kinda reminds me of Dublith." Ed said, outwardly relaxed but actually on the alert for any signs that they had been spotted.

"Why do you say that brother?"

"I dunno. It's about the same size, the style of the buildings are kinda similar. I guess it's just the feel of the place. Peaceful and kind of familiar, you know?"

"Yeah. I can see what you mean. Too bad it doesn't have a train station though. The more distance we put between us and those soldiers the better I'll feel." Al said fighting the urge to glance nervously behind them.

"Nah, trains are the first place they would look for us at." Ed reasoned, sticking his hands in his pockets. "And since this place doesn't have a station we should be alright long enough to find somebody to give us a lift."

"But we hardly have any money left. We can't afford to get a driver."

"We don't have much of a choice about it Al." Ed said testily. "Its better to give up what we got and ride than try to dodge bullets on foot." He said crossing his arms with an air of finality. Al sighed, knowing better than to try to argue the matter further.

"...So, where are we headed next?" He asked, hoping for a new conversation.

"I'm not completely certain, but out of this country for starters. Things are getting a little too tense here in Germany."

"This world certainly has a lot of troubles, doesn't it brother?"

"Yeah it does, but who are we to talk? It's not as if home was a utopia." Ed said with an edge to his voice.

"Are you alright?" Al asked, curious as to what had upset him.

"Forget it. It's nothing." Ed said. Al looked away deep in thought, and the silence continued between them once more

The faint roar of aircraft caught their attention, and everyone on the streets paused to watch as the three plains made their way slowly across the sky.

"Every time I see one of those I think of Winry" Ed said watching as the aircraft faded off into the distance

"What do you mean?" Al asked looking away from the sky to Ed.

"Its advanced machinery. Like nothing we had at home. She'd have it taken apart within an hour and then put it back together working better than before...and love every second of it. I can just hear her go on about it now..." He said still watching, the faintest echoes of a smile showing. Al said nothing, homesickness washing over him. Ed remained silent as well, watching. As the aircraft faded away, so did the smile. The expression of grim melancholy returning once more. Al diverted his attention to some children playing tag down the street. He hated that look, it just wasn't like Ed. Despair just wasn't in his personality. He had always been prone to fits of moodiness, but this was different. This was the look of a stranger, not his brother. Al would give anything to have him back to his old temperamental, driven, yet happy self again. But there was nothing he could say or do to make it better.

"Now what are you two strapping young boys looking so down for?" A little wizened old lady asked peering out of her window next to them. "Youth is for smiling faces. Save looks like that for wrinkled old bats like me." She said wilily. The smug 'I know it all' look he was getting right now was also brought forth memories of home. Just the pipe was missing. Ed smiled at her in spite of himself.

"Sorry granny. But sometimes it's hard to find things to be happy about."

"Well you're smiling right now, now aren't you? And because of me none the less. And they say you have no purpose once you get older." She said with psudo-indignanty. Al began to giggle despite his best efforts to hold it in. Ed had to admit, she did get him on that one. "There now, see? We've done each other a favor. I've brightened your day and by giving an old woman the time of day, you've made mine." Equivalent exchange, Ed thought to himself, but before he could comment a cry rose up from down the street.

"There they are! Don't let them get away!" A solider far down the street shouted. Immediately several others rounded the corner to join him.

"Dammit! How'd they find us!" Ed demanded, completely caught off guard by their sudden arrival. "Come on Al, we've gotta go! See you later granny!" He called back to her as they tore down the road.

"I thought you said that they wouldn't look for us here!" Al accused between pants.

"So I was wrong...big deal!" Ed shot back.

"It is a big deal Ed! If they don't kill us there gonna ask why we've been breaking into all those facilities, and torture us until we tell. Then they're gonna want to know how we knew about the bomb in the first place, and then..."

"Will you just shut up and run!" Ed shouted, taking Al by the arm and pulling him off the main street into a side ally. A roar of "There they go!" spurred the two to run even faster. In and out of alleys they weaved. Between houses and over fences. One by one they lost the soldiers in the chase until the two finally ran out of breath. They came to a stop in a dirty old alleyway between a decrepit red brick building and the towns ten foot outer wall. Garbage was strewn about everywhere and the weeds were growing high.

"I...think...we lost them...Al." Ed gasped, holding himself up against the brick building.

"I think so too...brother. I haven't heard...anything."

"Let's take a breather here for a few minuets Al. Let everything settle down for a while." Ed said, sliding down to the ground, rubbing a stitch in his side.

"No arguments here." Al said, plopping down beside of him. After a few minuets they managed to catch their breath enough to speak properly.

"I didn't think that they would search this extensively. We must have somebody somewhere worried." Ed said picking at the tall brown weeds.

"They probably think that we're spies." Al said watching the wispy clouds float on by. "And they want to catch us before we let out their secrets...That or find out exactly what it is that we're looking for so that they can guard it better."

"Both. I would say." Ed said looking up to the sky as well.

"Over here!" a soldier shouted upon round the corner and spotting them.

"Damn." Ed said, exasperated. "They just never give up do they?" They sprung up and took off running again with Ed leading the way. As he rounded the corner of the crumbling old building he never saw the butt of the rifle or the soldier waiting for them.

"Brother!" Al cried out as Ed dropped to the ground, out cold. Al fiercely stood his ground, ready for a fight with the man, but the first soldier that had spotted them quickly joined his comrade and made short work of the boy.

0o0o0o0o0

It was dark for the longest time, then the golden light illuminated everything once more. Everything. All that ever was, is, and will be. The entirety of what the universe held shown through clearly for a few moments in the swirling chaotic light. The nightmare then took a turn to what would more accurately be described as memories instead of a dream. What they had created, the loss of his brother, the events in the true lab, and even of Nina. All of these memories came flooding back at once so that he could not tell one horror from the other. Ed jerked awake, tense and broke out into a cold sweat. He opened his eyes, but quickly shut them again as the light pierced through his already pounding skull.

"Ow." He muttered closing his eyes tighter. He slowly realized that he was lying on his side on a cold hard stone floor. The cold from the floor was seeping into his right arm making the bone that the automail settings were attached to ache dully. Between being knocked out and the nightmares, Ed felt as if his head was about to split in two. "Just wait until I get my hands on those jerks...they're gonna pay." He growled softly to himself, his breath frosting in the frigid air. The only light in the room came from a small lamp hanging in the corner. As Ed's eyes adjusted he saw that he was in a room made from filthy worn down brick with no furniture and a door on either side of the room. He tried to set up but was held back by something heavy. He looked down to see that he was bound around the midsection by ropes, but they were loose and a few of them had actually been severed. Before he had a chance to puzzle over the matter, he felt a stirring directly behind him. He twisted around in the loose bindings to see Al tied to him starting to come to.

"Ouch." Al said holding his head after Ed had peeled the loose ropes off of them.

"Al are you all right?" Ed asked helping him up.

"I've been better." Al groaned, rubbing his forehead, a dark bruise beginning to form there. He paused to take in the surroundings. "Where are we?"

"I have no idea, but we're getting out of here while we still can." Ed said. Something glinting in the dark corner of the room caught his attention.

"What is it?" Al asked brushing himself off, teeth chattering, watching as Ed went over to pick the item up.

"A knife. Someone has been cutting us loose before we woke up. Where are they now?" He said warily, taking a slow look around.

"Listen." Al said sharply. Ever so faintly the sounds of voices and footsteps began to sound through the stone walls.

"That's our cue to leave. Come on, this way." He said heading though the door opposite of the one closer to the approaching sounds. This door opened up into a long dark hallway.

"What is that smell?" Ed asked covering his face, the odor nearly physically knocking him back.

"I think were down in the sewers Ed." Al said taking a step back. He then noticed how long and incredibly dark that hall was. "Maybe we should grab that lamp." Al said hesitantly. Abruptly the other door in the room slowly began to open up.

"No time!" Ed shouted shoving Al down the hall, stepping in, and quickly pulling the door shut. Instantaneously a cry rose out from the other room along with the unmistakable sound of weapons being at the ready. "Damn." Ed growled to himself trying to think fast. This door had no knob, only a metal handle. He quickly took the knife that he was still holding and slid it thought the handle at the same time crushing the metal so it wouldn't fall away. Almost immediately there was the sounds of someone trying to pull open the door.

"Open up immediately!" A stern male voice called out from the other side.

"Yeah right!" Ed tossed back then bolted down the hall to join Al. There was not a single light whatsoever and the air was filled with the nearly unbearable stench of sewage.

"Where the hell did they drag us off two Al?" Ed asked leading the way, one hand trailing along the wall as a guide and the other held defensively out in front of him. Every now and then he would feel the protruding rusted metal of a pipe sticking out from the wall, confirming that they were down in the sewers of a city.

"You'd think they would take us to some military facility...or at least the local jail." Al said, voice muffled because he was doing his best to block out the smell.

"I know, something's not right here." Ed said, thinking hard, but the solution to this riddle remained as dark as the tunnel.

"Look! I see some light!" They rounded a corner to be greeted by the sound of flowing water and a dead end. Pale moonlight shown through frosted street grates to reveal that they had reached a waterway, but were blocked off from it by inch thick iron bars.

"Well now what do we do?" Al asked uncertainly.

"Just hold on." Ed said as he stepped up to the bars. He placed his left foot high up on one bar, grabbed the one directly beside of it with his right hand, and then strained to wedge the two rods apart. The iron protested fiercely with a long metallic groan as they slowly began to give way. Several gunshots echoed down through the hall.

"Hurry Ed, they're coming!" Al anxiously urged.

"I'm. Trying." Ed said though gritted teeth. He let go with a pant. "This is as far as there gonna go. We just might be able to squeeze through." Al gave him a dubious look. "No time to argue! You first." Ed stood guard listening intently to the sounds of cautiously approaching footsteps while Al somehow managed to squeeze and wiggle his way through.

"Alright brother, hurry up and come on." Ed forced his way through the bars head first. He got stuck briefly, but after exhaling all the way and Al pulling as well, he managed to fit through.

"Ow ow ow ow owww." Ed whined prancing about and rubbing his sides.

"Quit complaining and come on." Al said pulling him along the narrow concrete walkway. They had not gone ten paces down the path when they were stopped by voices behind them.

"There's no way the target went this way." One man said.

"Wait, look. The bars are bent." Said the stern voiced man from earlier.

"So what? My fourteen year old daughter couldn't even fit through that small of a space."

"What did he just say?" Ed whispered fiercely, shaking his fist.

"Easy." Al quietly cautioned.

"Come on." the first man said. "One of the pipes down the hall is probably what we're looking for. Let's just hurry and find them, I'm freezing to death down here." Their footsteps faded away in the distance. Ed began to quietly rant. Al, happy to finally be in the clear, just ignored him.

0o0o0o0o0

Are you sure this is a good idea Ed?" Al asked uncertainly that morning, following closely behind Ed between the buildings. "The train station is bound to be swarming with guards."

"It's not like were going to stroll up and buy a ticket. Were going to sneak on board and then were outta this place. Wherever the heck we are..." Ed said irritably. Its was difficult enough to navigate through a large city via back-ways, especially when the direction to the destination was given by a vague wave of the hand by a child who was more interested in collecting pebbles.

"And how exactly do you propose were going to sneak on brother?" Al asked, beginning to doubt the thoroughness of Ed's plan.

"I'll figure it out when we get there." Ed snapped. Al sighed, beginning to get a bad feeling about all of this. A train whistle sounded close nearby. "See? Were already there. Come on."

"Brother," Al asked thirty minuets later after they had snuck in through the back. The station was rather large one as far as station goes. There were several platforms, all of them busy with people trying go get where their going, greeting loved ones that they had not seen in ages, and weary businessmen commuting back and forth. They hadn't seen one solder yet, which was surprising considering the large crowd gathered that day. ("Good", to which Ed had responded, "That just makes it easier on us").

"Yeah Al?" Ed asked.

"Is it just me or does this place look a little familiar to you?"

"Uh-huh." Ed said mindlessly agreeing with Al while peering around a column, not really paying attention to him. "Ok, come on Al, let's go." He said taking Al by the hand and darting on ahead to merge with a group of passersby.

"Are you even listening to me Ed?" Al demanded pulling his hand back, while being jostled around by the crowd.

"What? We'll talk about it later Al when were out of here, but for right now I would appreciate some help." Ed rounded on him, becoming angry.

"Will you just Hold on a second Ed?" Al demanded, his temper starting to flair as well.

"Hey! You there, stop!" The portly red-faced conductor of the train right beside of them shouted. Both brothers froze on the spot, mid-grapple. "What do you think you're doing there, huh?" He demanded, marching on past the Elrics to some punk teenager who had been drawing on the side of the train. "You know the rules, no alchemy in public venues. Now I suggest you get going." The man said puffing up, although with his surprisingly high voice he was far from intimidating.

"Pfft, whatever." The kid griped then sulked off. The two brothers just stood there in stunned silence. Al was the first to speak.

"Did he just say what I think he said? And is that a...?" He began, pointing to the nearly completed transmutation circle. Ed didn't respond. He turned and took a good long look around at where they were. The layout of the platforms, the design of the glass ceiling, it all looked exactly like Central station.

"But it couldn't be..." Ed said more to himself than to Al. Al grabbed his arm, looking about as well.

"Brother, I think we're back home..."

"But that just isn't possible." Ed said still looking about. "The odds are higher that this is just a really vivid dream..."

"Brother." Al said in a low voice, suddenly serious. "Last night, when we woke up in those sewers, I had a dream about the gate." Ed immediately turned to look Al in the eye.

"So did I...but I just thought that it was a dream." He said. He had passed it off as a nightmare, and then the whole issue was wiped from his mind while they were trying to escape the sewers.

"Me too." Al said quietly then suddenly reached out and pinched Ed as hard as he could.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Ed demanded, slapping Al's hand away.

"I wanted to see if this was a dream."

"You're supposed to pinch yourself idiot! Not me!"

"No way, that would have hurt."

"That's the whole point of it stupid."

"Excuse me, but is there a problem here?" An officer in a blue uniform firmly asked, walking up to the bickering brothers.

"Yes. Excuse me sir, but where are we?" Al politely asked freeing himself from a headlock, ignoring a scowling Ed.

"You're at Central. Why? Did you boys get off at the wrong stop?"

"Hold on. I'll settle this." Ed said walking up to a nearby post. "There's only one way to be absolutely sure." He said putting his hands together. There was a quick burst of light then the poll stood as a rectangular chunk of iron.

"Hey! What exactly do you think your doing?" the officer demanded, marching up to Ed. Ed ignored him, staring at his hands in silence. "Did you hear me?" The solder demanded then faltered as Al abruptly ran over and picked Ed up off his feet in a bear hug.

"Ed! We're home! Were back! Were home!" He cheered, jumping up and down.

"Yeah...we are..." He said quietly once Al had set him down and he was able to breathe again. "We're home."

0o0o0o0o0

"So it's a no-go with the raid then Falman?" Mustang said resting his chin upon his fist, leaning on his desk. Falman stood at attention in front of the desk. Havoc sat draped over the back of a chair, a cup of coffee in one hand, multiple case files in the other. Armstrong stood by Mustang, serous and solemn.

"I'm sorry sir. All we found was several empty tanks, a bundle of severed ropes in an adjacent room, and the smudged remains of a transmutation circle. We've combed through the sewers but nothing more has been found out about the subject that escaped." Falman said regretfully.

"Did you get a copy of the transmutation circle that you found in the sewers?" Armstrong asked in his deep booming voice.

"We have several photographs, but the pattern is no longer recognizable."

"That is too bad, that would have helped us out greatly..."

"The weird part is that the tanks were like up on the outer rim of the circle, but they contained no traces of any substance whatsoever...not even dust, which is odd considering that they were in a filthy old sewer." Havoc said shuffling through the files.

"Hmm...this is turning into quite the mystery..." Mustang said. Then fell silent, deep in thought, troubled. There was a sudden knock at the door, and a soldier stepped inside, saluting.

"Sir, I have two people here to see you."

"Tell them not now. I'm busy at the moment and can't be bothered." Mustang waved him off, not really wanting to put up with anymore crap today.

"One of them said that you might say that sir, and asked me to relay a message to you if you did."

"Well what is it?" Mustang demanded, instantly becoming annoyed and ready to let everyone know it.

"Uhh," The soldier hesitated a moment, he then cleared his throat then spoke up again. "Well...(another cough) He said that you shouldn't take it out on everybody else just because you've reached your mid-life crisis sir." Havoc spued out his coffee all over the case papers, then faked coughing to try and cover of his laughter. Everyone else just stood there in stunned silence, none more so than Mustang. He recovered a split second later.

"What the hell! Send them in right now!" He stormed.

"Yes sir!" The soldier said, saluting, and promptly left. Mustang shot a look over to Havoc who was still 'coughing'.

"Just choking on my coffee boss." Havoc said, quickly sobering up. The door opened up without so much as a knock and Ed and Al stepped right on in. They were both a little dirty and ragged. Al smiling form ear to ear, and Ed. wearing his hair back braded again just like old times.

"Hi!" He said cheerfully. Al gave an enthusiastic wave, laughing. Everyone was astonished beyond all speech. Mustang halfway stood up.

"Ed...Al...?" He whispered, astonished.

"Yup!" Ed chirped, annoyingly perky. "We've decided that you've had it too easy and came back home to start some trouble again." Placing his fists on his hips.

"But how?" Armstrong asked in wonder, stepping forward. "I thought you boys were lost for good."

"Honestly we have no idea either." Al said. "Just last night we woke up in some sewers. We only realized ourselves that we were home almost an hour ago."

"Where the heck have you two been all this time?" Havoc asked, curious.

""Wait...did you say sewers?" Falman asked abruptly.

"Yeah. We woke up and we were tied together, but some of the ropes were cut and we got loose."

"Yeah and then some men were chasing us but we managed to get away." Al added in.

"It was you guys!" Falman and Havoc shouted pointing at them, Havoc's cup and chair flying.

"Huh?" The brothers asked in unison, slightly startled by this.

"Who we were after, it was you two!" Havoc accused. Ed and Al just looked at one another.

"They apparently don't know anything Havoc." Mustang said, stepping in. "I'll discuss the issue with them later, but as for right now..."

"Come on, don't act so formal. You know you're glad to see me!" Ed said in his trademark smug, know-it-all voice.

"Oh! And I can remember everything now, general." Al threw in, just realizing that they didn't know yet. Armstrong abruptly burst into tears. He ran over to the alarmed Elrics and picked the both of them up in a bone-crushing bear hug. All Mustang could do was smile to himself as he watched the two futilely try and squirm out of the majors tearful embrace.

"This is absolutely wonderful, wonderful!" He boomed out. "The two of you have finally come home at last! And after such a long and dangerous quest, but you boys persevered and achieved your goals anyway!"

"Not entirely" Al faintly added, face partially buried beneath muscles.

"Huh?" Armstrong's grip lessened as he was taken aback by the unexpected remark.

"Still have the automail." Ed shrugged. "But I'm not complaining." Armstrong looked at him for a moment then burst out into renewed tears.

"We must have a celebration to commemorate this most joyous occasion! I know! This evening at my family's estate, I'll throw the both of you the welcome home party of the century!" Ed pictured what that would be like. Hundreds of people chattering to one another, decorations to the max, classical musicians, tables upon tables of nasty food that aristocrats seemed to love, and in the center of it all...three enormous bronze statues of the three of them posing-shirtless. Ed shuddered.

"No really, that's ok..." He began to politely protest. Armstrong squeezed tighter, putting an end to any more protests...or breathing.

"Nonsense! I won't hear of it." He said finally loosening up and the two wiggled away from his teary grasp, gasping for air.

"I think it's a good idea. I'll invite everyone you two know. "Mustang said smugly, getting up and walking over to them.

"You really don't have to major." Al said politely, getting his wind back.

"What about the incident sir?" Falman interjected, trying to get back to the business at hand.

"You can worry about it later Falman. I'll have the boys go over everything with you tomorrow."

"Well what are we waiting around here for? There's so much to do!" Armstrong declared loudly, absolutely overjoyed, and ran out of the room thinking over the plans aloud.

"But..." Ed weakly called out to him.

"Give it up Ed." Mustang said amused, putting hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you two come back to my place and get cleaned up? You sure could use it." He said noting the fair amount of filth they were covered in.

"Heeey." Al said, slightly offended. "It's not our fault that we've had it rough lately."

"I know but that doesn't change the fact that you smell like sewer." Mustang laughed. He then leaned down between the two to whisper, "Besides, I would like to talk to the two of you in a more privet setting...ok?"

"Yeah, I got ya." Ed whispered back.

"Now let's get going." Mustang said aloud once more. Havoc, go and track down Armstrong for me. We need to catch him while we still can.

"You got it boss."

"And Falman, come with me. I'll be needing you to make some calls.

"Yes sir!" Falman said with a salute. They then left Mustangs office. Havoc took off in the direction of the suspiciously noisy hallway in pursuit of Armstrong, while the others made for the entrance of HQ.

As they rounded a corner, the four of them nearly walked right into Lt. Hawkeye and Winry, who where talking over some medical reports. Winry let all the papers she was carrying slip through here fingers and fall to the floor as she realized who she was seeing.

"Hi Winry." Ed said, at a loss for anything else to say. Al smiled and gave a little wave. She stood there and stared at Ed in stunned silence for a moment, then drew back and punched him as hard as she could. Ed went reeling. Mustang caught him before he fell over. Everyone stared at Winry in shocked disbelief, Ed included.

"Winry, what the..." He began, wiping the blood from his mouth.

"Don't!...Ed..." She said sharply, cutting him off. She held her hand up, looking away to the floor. "You've been gone for so long...then you come home only to take Al away and leave me behind again." she said. Starting softly then voice rising with her anger, fury tears beginning to show. "After all that...the only thing you can say is 'Hi Winry.'?" She practically screamed at him. Mustang wisely stepped back. Ed cringed as she stepped up and grabbed the collar of his shirt with both hands. She tried to give him a good shake, but was too emotional to muster much strength. "I hate you Edward." She said, looking away and letting go, then collapsed on him in an embrace sobbing. He slowly wrapped his arms around her in return.

"I'm sorry." Was all that he could say.

"You j-jerk." Winry barely managed to whimper out. Everyone looked on in silence. He held her a little tighter. He wanted to explain. To explain why he had left, why he had always have had to leave. He also wanted to tell her that he wouldn't be leaving anymore, but all those thoughts refused to form themselves into words. Ed felt his composure starting to give way. To avoid anyone else from seeing, he buried his face in her neck and whispered to where only she could hear and once more said, "I'm sorry." Mustang made a silent motion for everyone to leave, and the two were left alone in the hall.

0o0o0o0o0

"I'm glad to see that you're still in one piece." Mustang said as Ed climbed into the car. He didn't answer him. He just settled in and stared out the window, ignoring everybody.

"Are we ready to go sir?" Lt. Hawkeye asked looking through the mirror to the three passengers. Mustang nodded, and they took off. The next few minuets passed on in silence. Mustang was the first to break the silence.

"Aright boys, fess up. How did you two get back?"

"Like we said, we don't know." Al answered him.

"We were kind of hoping you could answer that one for us." Ed said finally looking away from the window to them.

"You mean you really don't know?" Mustang asked, genuinely surprised. He had thought that their story from before was a lie because of everyone else present in his office.

"Nope. One minuet were in hot water, then the next thing we know were back on this side of the gate." Ed said lounging back in the seat.

"What gate?" Hawkeye asked, following the conversation closely from behind the wheel.

"A great gate that determines the flow of energy and lives. It's what links this world to the one we were in."

"Another world?" She asked, unable to hide the wonder in her voice.

"Yeah, but alchemy can't be done on that side of the gate so it had to have been someone here that pulled us back." Al said leaning over the seat to talk to her.

"Any ideas?" Ed asked turning to Mustang. "If anybody, we figured that you would know, so we came to you first."

"I wish I could say Ed, but I'm just as in the dark about this as you are." They all fell silent once more, with nothing to listen to but the sound of the road.

"So...you say you came back to cause some trouble did you, Fullmetal?" Mustang challenged.

"You're darn right!" Ed said laughing. "With everybody kissing up to you, you need someone around here who's gonna get on your nerves.

"I still can't believe that were back home." Al said gazing out the window watching the familiar scenery go by. "It almost doesn't feel real does it?"

"I know.

"Oh by the way," Mustang said, stepping in. "Your going to have to transmute you own clothes because that last time I wore something in that size, my mother had bought it for me.

"Ha ha...ha." Ed said blandly, irked. "I see that your scene of humor hasn't changed.

"The same could be said of your temper." Mustang said smugly.

"For your information, I have grown. But I see how you could make that mistake, you know, with the problems in your depth perception now and all..." Lt. Hawkeye and Al just sighed, trying to ignore the two engaged in a battle of insults as they drove down the road.

0o0o0o0o0

The welcome home party was nowhere near as bad as Ed had envisioned it to be. Given the enormously huge and extravagant nature of the Armstrong estate, the party was fairly moderate in set up. Mustang must have stepped in and had something to do with that, Ed supposed knowing Armstrong's tendency of going way over the top. The only mildly embarrassing thing there was an extremely massive thirty foot long banner that read "Welcome Home Elric Brothers". There was only about thirty people attending. Most of them were military personnel such as Mustang's group, Ross and Block (both proudly sporting weddings rings much to the Elric's surprise), and even the central librarians. Armstrong personally introduced the brothers to his family. The patriarch of the Armstrong family began to narrate to them the history of the family in great detail. Nearly thirty minuets later Mustang had to come 'rescue' them from Armstrong's longwinded, and somewhat def, father. During the party, Ed kept noticing Lt. Havoc repeatedly trying to creep up to speak with Katherine, only to chicken out and slink away.

For nearly the whole night the brothers were showered with questions, most of which they couldn't really answer. Such as: "Where did you go off to?", "Why did you take off so suddenly like that?", or "Al...How did you get so small?" Thankfully, Mustang was able to deflect most of the more delectate questions, by telling them it was classified information.

It was nice seeing all those familiar faces just as he remembered them, Ed thought. During a moment of peace, Ed found himself off in thought thinking about the differences of an individual in the two different worlds. He had seen many familiar faces, and to a degree they had even acted similar. Just like a dream but real. He was pulled from his thoughts when a familiar voice behind him caught his attention.

"Hello Ed, sorry where late." He turned to see Gracia, looking exactly as he remembered her. And holding her hand was Elicia, who had grown a remarkable amount over the years.

"Gracia, it's been ages since I've seen you. How are you doing." He said, fumbling over his words, uncertain as to what to say.

"I could say the same of you Ed. It's been a long time since you've dropped by to say hello. But I'm glad you're back with us now. And we've been doing well, haven't we Elicia?" She said looking down to her daughter.

"Who are you?" Elicia bluntly asked.

"Elicia, now that's not very polite." Gracia mildly scolded, but Ed just laughed.

"I'm not surprised that she doesn't remember me, it's been so long." And then to Elicia. "Hi Elicia, my name is Edward. Did you know that I was the first person to ever hold you."

"You were?" She said wide eyed. Ed noticed that she was starting to look more like her mother each time he saw her.

"Yup, and you know what else? My birthday is on the same day as yours."

"Neat! I'll be turning seven this year." She said proudly, crossing her arms. "Do you want to come to my birthday party too? It coming up."

"You bet." Ed laughed.

"How old will you be?" Elicia asked him.

"Nineteen."

"Wow, your old." Elicia said as-matter-of-factly. Gracia politely tried to hide her smile at the shocked expression on his face. And as if she were going in for the kill, Elecia asked The Other question.

"If you're a grown up, then why are you so short?" It took all of his willpower not to be angry, but his blood pressure did rise considerably. She looked up expectantly at him.

"When I was eleven I had a really bad accident, and it kinda messed up my growth." Ed said, trying to find a way to explain it without going into too much detail...although it was eating him up inside by admitting it, even to a little girl.

"What happened?" Elicia asked pressing the subject, curious.

"Elicia, don't bother him. He might not want to talk about it." Gracia chided, stepping in.

"But I wanna know."

"I might tell you when you're older." Ed said, smiling at her curiosity.

"I hate it when grownups say that." She sulked, crossing her arms. He tried to think of something that might interest her and steer the conversation in another direction.

"After the accident though, I did get this." He said pulling up his right sleeve, revealing the steel prosthetic, newly polished.

"Cool! I've never seen automail up close before. Can I take a look?" He nodded and Elicia started poking around at it, looking at the joints, and how the hand was put together.

"So you like automail, huh?" Winry asked walking up, proud that someone was admiring her handy work. Elicia just smiled at her and went back to her examination. "Look out Gracia, you might just have a future mechanic on your hands." Winry laughed.

"You just might be right. She's always taking things apart around the house." She said with the sad yet happy eyes of a mother who takes pride in seeing her child take in the wide world around the, but dreads the day that they leave them to make their own way in that world.

"I promise I'll tell you all about automail one day Elicia, and even take him apart to show you how it works."

"Hey..."

"But for right now can I borrow Ed?"

"Aright. But remember that you promised." Elicia said, shaking a finger at Winry, the other hand on her hip.

"Come on Elicia. It's been nice seeing you Ed."

"You too." He said waving bye as they went and joined others in the crowd. "I'm glad to see that she's doing alright." He said still watching.

"Yeah..." Winry said as well. "Look Ed. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry...for hitting you earlier." She apologized, avoiding looking him in the eye.

"Ah, it's aright. I would have punched me too if I were you." Ed joked, trying to belittle the incident, although his face still smarted some.

"Hey Winry, Ed. I've been looking everywhere for you." Al said running up to them. "Where have you been?"

"I've been talking to Gracia and Elicia. You should go talk to them when you get the chance."

"Really?" Al asked, scanning about the crowd for them.

"Before that can I talk to the two of you for a moment please." She asked

"Sure Winry. Let's go outside where it's a little quieter." Al said motioning towards the door of the balcony.

The frigid quality of the air was almost enough to send them running back inside, privacy or no. Al began to get slightly suspicious, and worried.

"Your not going to beat the life out of us are you?" He asked, prepared to run back inside and leave Ed to get the full brunt of her wrath.

"No Al." She said amused. "I just wanted to talk. I haven't seen the two of you in forever. I've missed you." The two brothers shuffled around uncomfortably, not knowing what exactly to say. "Look. I'm not going to ask you where you've been or why you haven't come back until now. I know that you would refuse to say anyway to save me the worry. Although I'll get the answer out of you one day." She said smiling deviously, shaking her fist. "I just want to spend some time now with my best friends." She said now softly, joking aside. Did she have to make him feel worse about it, Ed thought to himself, sighing. It's not as if he hadn't missed everyone terribly as well.

"Ok, but if were staying out here, we're gonna need some hot cocoa." He said trying to sound casual, pulling his coat around him tighter. Al fervently agreed. In the end they wound up fleeing back inside before ten minuets were up. Conversation could wait, hypothermia wouldn't.

One by one the members of the party began to head home (or in several cases, to find another party to attend). Pretty soon, all that was left were Winry and the brothers, Mustang, Lt. Hawkeye, and Armstrong himself.

"Thank you for all of this." Al said politely. "You really didn't have to you know."

"Don't mention it Alphonse Elric, It was my pleasure. I'm just glad to see the two of you finally home." Armstrong said, smiling down at him.

"And believe me, were glad to be home." Ed said stretching, fighting back a yawn.

"Have the two of you got a place to stay tonight?" Mustang asked. "If not your always welcome to come back with me."

"No, that's ok. Winry has us covered."

"I talked it over with Sciezka and she said it was alright if they came and stayed with us. Actually I think she liked the idea of having more company around." Winry said while putting her coat on.

"If you boys can, I would like you to come to my office tomorrow so we can discuss more on what happened. Perhaps if you two and Falman put your individual pieces together, the whole of this mystery will become clear." Mustang said, preparing to leave with Lt. Hawkeye as well.

"Suuurre." Ed said through a yawn. "But as for right now we need to crash. I'm about to fall asleep right here and now. It's kinda been a busy day.

"No kidding." Al added.

"Well I'll see the two of you tomorrow then." Everyone said their goodbyes and went their separate ways for the night.

0o0o0o0o0

"You mean that's all you can tell me?" Falman asked, visibly disappointed. The brothers had just finished narrating their tale, without the enlightening break in the case that he had been looking for.

"Yeah. Other than that there was someone else there that had been cutting us loose, that's all I can tell you." Ed said. Al nodded in agreement.

"Clearly there's some alchemic mischief going on here." Mustang mused. He had remained quiet throughout their entire narration.

"Oh defiantly. There's no other way to explain how we got back across the gate." Ed said crossing his arms sullenly.

"Gate?" Falman asked, looking to the three of them.

"It's an alchemy thing." Al said, slightly amused at his confusion.

"That still doesn't answer the questions of why and how..." Ed said, finding no humor in the situation at all.

"What about the missing people?" Mustang asked them.

"Missing people?"

"We have had a rash of missing people here in central for over a year now. Without a single body found for evidence." He explained. Ed and Al looked at one another.

"Now that would certainly explain the how. If people were being manufactured for red water that would certainly be enough to open the gate. But why? Why should someone set out to pull us back?"

"Perhaps that wasn't their true intention." Al said slowly looking at the floor, deep in thought.

"What do you mean?"

"There were quiet a few scientists working on the philosophers stone in laboratory five, so there may still be some people out there who know the process of making a stone but are not able."

"What are you getting at Al?" Ed asked, impatient.

"Let's say someone gathered people to make a stone, but they didn't have the alchemic power to pull it off. Now we didn't belong in that world at all. What if, while the gate was open and the alchemic process was going out of control, we were pulled back? Just like oil and water sorting itself automatically when mixed."

"That could explain it Al, but as of right now we have no proof."

"I'm sorry...you guys lost me." Falman admitted, visibly confused.

"Never mind that Falman." Mustang said sternly. "I want you to gather information on anyone involved in lab five, up to three degrees outward, information on every alchemist in this state with biological studies, and detailed reports on the research fields and experiments of the other four labs, got it?"

"Yes sir! I will get on that immediately sir!" Falman said, and promptly left.

"I assure you," Mustang said, standing. "If it is within the military we'll sniff it out."

"I'm still suspicious of all this." Ed said. There were just far too many questions and not enough answers. He had been too happy at being home to try and put much thought into the situation before, but now that he was thinking clearly again he didn't like what he was coming up with.

"There's not much we can do until Falman and Sciezka gather us up some more clues. I have to confess that I'm somewhat in the dark about this gate as well." Mustang said, not liking this mystery either.

"But you destroyed the circle holding it open. Didn't you even look at it?" Ed asked, honestly surprised at this.

"Like hell I did. I may be an alchemist but I know where not to stick my nose."

"What's the matter general? Afraid you'll end up like me?" He asked mischievously, taping on his automail.

"No point in discussing it." Mustang said with an air of finality. "I'll give you a call once Falman finishes that assignment for me. In the meantime why don't you go out and have some fun for once?"

"I think I'll have to take you up on that general." Ed said standing up, looking forward to some serious goofing off.

"Uh..." Al stepped in, fishing around in his pocket. "I don't think that they accept marks here in Central." He pulled out a wad of German bills.

"Oh yeah..." He said, slumping. Mustang rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Here." He said pulling out his wallet and handing them everything in it. Ed took it, suddenly suspicious.

"What's with the generosity? Usually you would have pulled off three short jokes and would have had me kicked out by now."

"Get out of here before I change my mind and have you jailed on the charges of evading arrest, theft, and going AWOL." Mustang stormed.

"That's more like it." Ed said laughing. Al stared at the two, failing to find the humor in this.

"It's about time you two." Winry said, getting up off the steps as the brothers left the building "I don't see why I can't go too, you know. Al gets to go, and your not even a State alchemist anymore Ed"

"I know." Ed said with a sigh. "But they still treat me like one. Hey...I wonder if I can still get free food at the mess hall."

"Brother..." Al said, amazed at Ed's complete lack of shame when it came to food.

"What?"

A commotion across the courtyard caught their attention, putting an end to the argument before it could start. Approaching the group of clustered solders, they finally saw the source of the fuss.

"See? Not even the winter cold can compare to the fiery aesthetic beauty that has been passed down the Armstrong line for generations." Armstrong boomed out, posing in the center of the gathered solders, shirtless, even though the sky was threatening with snow. "Come now! Don't just stand there all bundled up shivering! Nothing is more warming to the body and soul than rigorous physical exertion." He said with a mighty pose, muscles rippling and budging dangerously.

"What? Are none of you even going to try? A solder ashamed of his physique is disgraceful, or are you all just intimidated by my boundless muscles? Come now, there at least has to be one real man among you?" Armstrong challenged, gazing out across the crowd. Everything abruptly went dark as something landed on Ed's head. He pulled it off to see that it was Winry's coat, only to be blinded again a moment later by her over-shirt. Everyone watched in silence as Winry marched right up to him, obviously fighting shivers in her sleeveless white blouse. Two pairs of blue eyes remained locked onto one another for a long tense moment...then with a snarl Winry struck a pose, flexing as hard as she could. The Elric's mouths dropped open and the crowd burst out into a raucous cheer. Someone in the back cat-called but no one noticed him go flying with a quick burst of transmutation light as Winry and Armstrong began matching poses together. Winry inhaled as deep as she could to try and puff up, but lost it all as she burst out laughing. She looked over to where the two stunned, and somewhat embarrassed, brothers stood amidst the cheering crowed.

"Ed, Al, come on!" She beckoned to them.

"Yes Elrics, join us." Armstrong said in his deep rich voice, mid-flex.

"No way." Al said holding out his hands. "Its waaaay too cold for me."

"Aww come on Al pleeeeease...How about you Ed?" Winry begged. She stared at him expectantly. Ed hesitated for a moment.

"Aw, why the hell not?" He finally said, tossing Winry's things over to Al then his own jacket and shirt, and ran out to join them. He felt a little self-conscious about everyone staring at his automail but was encouraged by Winry and Armstrong cheering. "Come on Al" Ed called out, mimicking the other two.

"Not a chance Ed. No way. Forget it." Al said shaking his head, peering out from the armful of clothes. The crowd clapped and cheered until someone called out from the group.

"Boo! Put your shirt back on runt!"

Everyone immediately began scrambling for cover from the ongoing destructive transmutation, while the alchemist responsible for it ranted "? You ignorant, low-ranking, military jerk!" Mustang, who had been watching the scene from his window, sighed half in exasperation, half in amusement.

"I'll get someone to clean that up sir." Mustang looked up in surprise. It was Lt. Hawkeye. He had been enjoying the show too much to notice her come in. He looked at her for a moment, thinking.

"How much longer are you going to act like this?" He finally asked.

"Like what sir?" She asked. Tone and expression unwavering.

"That!" He said, exasperated. He walked over to her. "Look, how many times do I have to say that I'm sorry?" He said taking her by the shoulders. No change. He sighed. "I don't blame you for being mad at me, you have every right to be. But what I'm asking now is that you forgive me. Please." After a long pause she sighed.

"You know," She finally said, brushing his hands off. "One day you're going to have to accept the fact that you can't always have your way...because not everyone out there is as understanding as I am." She said firmly. Mustang just smiled.

0o0o0o0o0

The day was the warmest one they had experienced in weeks. The sun was shining brightly, and fluffy cumulus clouds drifted serenely across the sky. But neither of the brothers were interested in what was going on above their heads. Their focus was on a small white tombstone, one of many covering the expansive green fields. They were silent for the longest time. Minutes...hours...they couldn't tell, and didn't care. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Edward was the first to speak up.

"Even though I know better, I can't help but to wonder, to wish..."

"I know...I know what you mean. To have gone though all that we have, brother, and still have these thoughts...It makes you really wonder, about human nature." Al said miserably.

"We'll never learn, not really. As long as there is suffering among mankind people will go to any lengths to stop the pain, even if it means more pain. Like a fox that chews off its own leg to escape a trap." A sudden sound caught Ed's attention. He looked over to see Al fighting back tears.

"I just don't understand brother..." He managed to say through the tears. "Equivalent exchange, right? Why should our lives be any different than his? Why do we get another chance at life when Hughes will never get to..." Al covered his face, unable to speak anymore. Ed reached over and pulled Al to him in an embrace. Al buried his face in his shoulder, unable to stop the tears from coming. Ed sighed and closed his eyes.

"I don't know Al, It doesn't make sense to me either. I wish it did." He held him tighter, fighting tears himself. After several long minuets Al eventually quieted down, composed himself enough to talk again.

"Brother...I'm scared." Confused, Ed let go and held him at arms length.

"Of what?" Al looked away, trying to avoid looking him in the eye. He started to speak but lost the words before they could form. With a deep sigh he tried again.

"Thanks to the philosophers stone and the lives of all those that were lost, I managed to bring you back, but that was then. We can't know what tomorrow holds. What if...what if..." He said becoming emotional again, looking once more at Hughes's grave.

"Al." Ed said, expression softening.

"I just don't want to lose you. Not again. I don't know what I would do without you..."

"Have a long and happy life anyway stupid." Ed laughed. Al looked up sharply at him, angry that he could joke over something like this. Unfazed, Ed continued on. "I'm not saying forget me as soon as I'm in the ground, but if I do go first I want you to live and enjoy life, both for yourself and for me. And I promise you Al..." He said, all joking aside now, making a fist. "That if things do turn out that way...I'll wait for you." Al just looked up at him, trying to take in what he was saying. "I won't move on to whatever awaits until you're with me again. I promise..." He said softly. Slowly and faintly, Al began to smile. He wiped off his face with the ends of his sleeves.

"Me too." Al finally said. And right there they locked hands, sealing the promise.

0o0o0o0o0

"Hi everyone. I'm back." Winry announced, coming through the front door, setting down heavy bag of tools in her customary pile.

"Hi Winry, your just in time for the battle of the century...literally." Ed said with a huge yawn. He was sitting in a chair that had been turned around watching Sciezka and Al at the table, playing chess.

"What?"

"I think Sciezka has finally met her match." He continued. The other two didn't even so much as look up as she came in, they were so locked in intense concentration over the board.

"Oh yeah?" She said walking over. She leaned over him, chin resting on top of his head, observing the board intently to see who was winning. As far as she could see they were pretty evenly matched, most of the pieces were still on the board.

"They've been at it almost an hour now." He said, ignoring the fact that he was blushing. "I just don't have the patience to play chess."

"You mean you can't cheat at it." Al said, moving a pawn.

"Al, where did you get to be so good at chess?" Winry asked, watching as he took away Sciezka's rook.

"At HQ there were a lot of places strictly restricted to military personnel only, so I had a lot of downtime while Ed was busy. I spent quite a bit of time playing chess with general Mustang. I always thought it was a little odd though that he would spend so much time playing with me considering the amount of paperwork he always had to do." Winry started to laugh at this. She could just see the forms piling high.

"What took you so long to get back?" Ed asked looking up at her, brushing away a stray lock of her hair that was tickling his face.

"Oh this one guy was throwing a fit with me." She said standing up and finding a stack of books to sit on. "Once he figured that the fun part was yet to come, attaching the automail, he started to whine whine whine." She said in a mocking tone, waving her hands about in the air. Ed started to laugh.

"So how did you calm him down?" Sciezka asked, focus unwaveringly zoned in on Al's hand as he wavered between two pieces.

"Well," She said standing up, preparing to act out the scenario. "I marched up to the foot of his bed and said 'Look. You are a grown man. You outta be ashamed of the way your behaving. I knew an eleven year old once who lost an arm and a leg and he didn't so much as complain once. You're a soldier, act like one.'."

"What did he say after that?" Ed asked, amused and somewhat proud at being indirectly bragged on.

"Oh nothing." She said sitting back down. "He just turned red faced and went about sulking."

"Oh, sorry about dinner Winry." Sciezka said suddenly, moving a bishop. "I called and told you that we were having steak, but then I found out that it had been in my freezer so long it was starting to turn colors."

"You should have just let me transmute it back instead of throwing it out." Ed griped at her.

"No way. That's disgusting."

"I'm still dressed, I could run out and pick some up." Winry said sitting up.

"But there's no stores open this late." Al said, sourly watching as his knight was removed.

"There is one open at the corner of Pinecress and Seventh, but the storekeeper there is a little odd." Sciezka said, finally looking away from the chess board to her.

"Odd?"

"Yeah. I don't go there because he gives me the creeps. He's always laughing out of nowhere for no apparent reason. He doesn't close shop until two in the morning. He has an idea to someday run a store that stays open twenty-four seven for late shoppers, as if that idea will ever catch on."

Winry stood up determinedly. "Odd or not I'm starving and I don't think I can stand another night of sandwiches and leftovers." She turned and made for the door.

"Hey, can I come along?" Ed asked. She turned, in mid-reach for her coat. "I can't take this slow-motion battle of wits any longer. I'm bored out of my mind. Save me." He begged, looking back at the two, silently engaged in figurine combat.

"Yeah. Let's go." She said happily.

0o0o0o0o0

They walked down the street along the sidewalk. The sky was completely clouded over, so the only illumination they had was by the street lamps posted every few feet.

"So have you and Mustang found out anything yet?" It's been almost two weeks." Winry asked, trying to make conversation to break the long silence.

"Nah, we haven't even got a lead yet. Everything we turn up is a dead end. Even these mysterious disappearances have stopped. I'm starting to think we'll never know." Ed answered. They had been looking, but for all their effort they turned up absolutely nothing. With every failure the mystery became stranger, and even began to take on a sinister air.

"Hey. What about that incident a few nights ago? Where two people from an asylum escaped, killing a few guards on their way." Winry said, bundling up tighter.

"I've heard about that. The two to escape were a man prone to violent rages due to chemical poisoning and another who apparently fell into a walking comatose state after the loss of his family. They managed to escape because of the carelessness of the attendants." Ed said, trying to remember the details of the event.

"What do you mean?"

"Well the patient mostly responsible for it all was an ex-state alchemist. The "Dynamic Alchemist", Vern Luscher, if I'm remembering right. Apparently they didn't watch him close enough and he managed to draw a circle...and you can imagine it from there." Ed said picturing the image himself. It wasn't pretty.

"Dynamic Alchemist huh? Odd title..."

"He got it by being able to keep matter in a liquid state without altering its composition or temperature. Like melting down that light post into a cold movable metal puddle."

"Cool." Winry said, imagining what that would look like. She wondered if it would still function.

"To pull off something like that you need an ongoing continuous transmutation. Not just anyone can do something like that. Most people get tired after a few quick ones."

"Can you?" She asked, curious as to Ed's capabilities as an alchemist.

"What do you think?" He said slightly offended, puffing up. Winry started to laugh.

"Of course." She quickly added before he took it the wrong way and got angry.

"Hey look." Ed said, catching her attention. "It's starting to snow."

They both stopped walking and watched. Big fluffy flakes begin to drift slowly from the sky. Only a few at first then they were joined by countless others. Soon, the air was filled with snow, dulling the glow from the street lamps. Ed reached out and caught one of the falling ice clusters on the tip of his finger. There it remained, glistening in the light, safe from melting while on the cold metal. He offered the snowflake to Winry, who blew it off where it drifted down to disappear on the wet sidewalk. He smiled to himself.

"So what are you going to do now that your back home? Are you going to rejoin the military again?" Winry asked, watching as he caught another. Ed looked up at her for a moment then away, letting the snow fall.

"I don't really know Winry. The only reason I joined before was to get the philosophers stone and get Al back. Then all my focus had been spent on finding a way back home. Now that Al is his old self, and I'm back, I don't really know what to do with the rest of my life." Honestly, he had never really put any thought into it. All of his time and energy had been spent in pursuit of one goal or another, even the seemingly unachievable ones. Now he had nothing to strive for, no challenges to rise up to. He had no idea what he was going to do now.

Suddenly, there was the sound of someone being violently sick in the ally adjacent to them. Startled, they dropped the subject for the moment and went to find the source of the noise. It was a man in slightly ragged clothing, on his knees, doubled over behind a trash bin. He was shaking violently and sweating profusely despite the cold.

"Hey are you aright?" Winry asked hesitantly, noticing the poor color of the man's skin. "He needs to get to a hospital."

"Hold on for a little while for us ok? We're gonna get you some help." Ed said crouching down beside the man preparing to try and help him up. Winry jumped as Ed sprung up away from the man holding his upper leg and cursing.

"What's wrong?" she asked alarmed by his sudden behavior.

"The psycho just stabbed me with something!" Ed snapped, rubbing the sore spot. The man began to laugh to himself between coughs and ragged gasps.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Winry demanded turning to the stranger, pissed. "Do you think stuff like that is funny? Come on Ed, we're leaving." She announced turning to take Ed's hand. She faltered immediately once she saw him. He was swaying unsteadily on his feet, one hand held out the wall for balance, and holding his head with the other. "Ed! Are you alright?"

"That bastard." Ed weakly managed just before he collapsed. She tried to catch him but was unprepared for it and ended up being pulled down on top of him. Before she could began to try to shake him awake, she was stopped by a sudden tiny clinking noise. The small syringe had rolled from the man's lap as he had tried to stand, and it fell to the street where it rolled a few inches to come to rest in a partially frozen patch of water. The man paused, on his hands and knees, and looked to where the hypodermic lay, midway between them. Winry's eyes widened as she saw that it wasn't completely empty. The two locked eyes for a split second then they both lunged for it. She was the faster of the two but was abruptly stopped, fingertips mere inches from it. She suddenly realized that her left arm was still pinned under Ed. Before she could free herself, the man victoriously scooped up the needle and struck quickly.

0o0o0o0o0

"You're awake now. I didn't expect you to be up for another hour or so." A voice said. Ed couldn't tell if it was male or female, young or old, everything was so distorted. He opened his eyes to see cold dark concrete, illuminated by a dim yellow light. The room he was in looked like an old storage building for construction equipment, abandoned for the season. There were crates, girders, chains, and heavy machinery everywhere. The yellow caution lights hanging from the ceiling gave everything an eerie quality. A strong hand from somewhere out of sight gabbed him by the collar and forcibly sat him up. The vertigo caused by the sudden movement and the drugs wearing off was almost too much to take. While he was trying to regain his focus, someone softly walked up and kneeled down beside of him. He looked up to see a pair of sharp blue eyes staring back at him. It was a little girl, around ten years of age. She had on a black dress and wore her long brown hair back in an elegant braid. He stared at her for a moment, still slightly disoriented, but recovering. Slowly her face began to grow more familiar, like re-dreaming a dream that he had long ago. It was a face that he couldn't forget.

"Nina?" He asked, stunned and more than a little confused. At first he thought that he had crossed back though the gate again and was seeing Nina's other self. She then smiled at him. It wasn't the smile that he had remembered, it was a cold smile. One filled with darkness and cold calculating ways. It was strangely familiar.

"What..." He said horrified, as everything began to sink in. He tried to move away from her, but couldn't quiet move properly. His left arm was twisted up painfully behind his back and tied there...his right arm was missing altogether.

"That may have be what this body was called when it was actually alive, but you know me by a different name Edward." She said, still smiling.

"What's going on here? Who are you?" He demanded, faltering. He tried to stand, but someone behind him forced him back down. He twisted around to see that it was the man from earlier, the one on the street. Ed also noticed that he wore a broad silver ring, with a transmutation circle engraved on it. The man looked down and saw that Ed had noticed. He ran his thumb along the edge of the ring in a subtle yet clear warning to behave. Decidedly unhappy and worried about that fact, he turned once more to face the thing that looked like Nina. Apparently it was her calling the shots.

"Who are you and why do you look like her?" He said firmly and steadily.

"I'm surprised you don't recognize me." She said lazily and smugly content with herself. "I'm somewhat hurt. And after all that we've been through at Liore and down in the true lab..."

"Dante!"

She just laughed in her high little voice. The ill man made sure that he had a firm grip on the ropes tied around Ed. It was useless to struggle but he was too angry to care.

"You! How are you still here! You should have rotted away a long time ago without the philosophers stone to jump to another body." She stood up and took a step back, no longer amused.

"And so I would have Edward if fate hadn't provided another opportunity for me." Ed just glared at her, not quite understanding what she meant. "Because your brother decided to waste the stone on bringing you back, I was stuck with no options and little hope." She said crossing her arms, annoyed at the very memory of her helplessness. "But like I said, fate was on my side and delivered into my hands Shou Tucker and the empty doll that he so desperately clung to."

"Tucker?"

"Yes. With my body falling into a rapid state of decay due to my fractured soul, I played out the one card I had left...I gave up what was left of my soul to the gate and transplanted my mind into that empty shell of a body. And what you see before you are the results. A body free from the worry of decay and a set of homunculus abilities of my own." She said spreading her arms wide and twirling about for him to see.

"You sick bitch! You should have just died and gone to hell where you belong!" Ed spat at her, held back from showing her what he really thought of her.

"No, I'll never die now. And besides, are you not curious as to what I can do?" She said, voice low. She walked back over to him and knelt down to where they were eye to eye. "Well, aren't you?"

"Try me." He challenged defiantly. Dante remained there, no answer no movement, just staring him in the eye. Why isn't she doing anything, he thought to himself, she was so damn proud and worked up a minute ago. The he began to wonder. She said that she was a homunculi now, or at least was in the body of one. Homunculi were artificially created humans. People brought to life by alchemy. Well, didn't he fall into that category now? He had died, there was no question about that. And he had been brought back by alchemy. What if for the past two years he had been living a lie? Maybe a homunculus like Wrath who could still perform alchemy. What if the mark of oroborous was hiding somewhere on him now? He was actually a monster just waiting for a chance to show his true colors. He had better just accept it. Embrace his destiny, and give in to the will of...

"Stop it!" He said shaking his head, trying to physically force the thoughts form his mind. Dante smiled at him, pleased with herself. "You're doing this aren't you?"

"That is the true nature of sin, and I am its master now. Born in the mind, lives through the body, and dies with the soul. I can influence the minds of anyone I choose, and in some cases, control completely."

"Well I'm not buying it, so get out!"

"No, I knew it wouldn't work on you Edward, your will is much too strong for that. But like I said before, not everyone is as strong as you. And for those like my acquaintance here, who has no mind whatsoever except for primal violent rages, why...they're like puppets in my hands."

"The breakout at the psychiatric hospital...that was your doing wasn't it?" Ed said, finally recognizing the man from his photograph in the paper. Vern Luscher, formally the Dynamic Alchemist.

"But why would you waste your time with him?"

"As a state alchemist that I could easily control, and a uniquely powerful one at that, he was exactly what I required. I need someone to do alchemy for me, since I no longer have the ability." Ed stared at her, stunned by this unexpected revelation.

0o0o0o0o0

Winry slowly sat up. It was pitch dark all around her, she couldn't see even the slightest hint of light. She rubbed the sore spot on her arm where that man had jabbed her with the needle. The whole event suddenly came rushing back to her. "Ed! Ed are you in here?" She called out, but was only answered by silence. She tried to stand but immediately fell over again, still dizzy. Instead, she busied herself by searching around with her hands along the concrete floor. Perhaps he was in here with her after all, except still unconscious. She felt everywhere but found no trace of him. Her fingers came to a dead end. It was a wall. She stood up using it for support and felt along it. A corner. Another corner. Eventually she came to a steel door. She quickly grabbed for the handle but it refused to turn. "Locked." She whispered to herself. Suddenly she heard sounds in the distance. It was voices. She pressed her ear to the door and listened...

0o0o0o0o0

"Of the trinity I was born with: mind, body, soul...the only thing I have left now is my mind. I thought that if I retained just part of my humanity I would still be able to use alchemy. But it seems that it is not simply humanity that allows for the use of alchemy...but the possession of a soul."

"A soul?"

"That is why homunculi cannot use alchemy and why your brother, in that pathetic metal shell, had the ability. It is all in the soul. A rather grievous oversight on my part, I'm afraid to admit. But in return I gained a body that will no longer break down on me and a blind puppet that would do anything that his sweet little girl Nina asked of him." She said, mischievously. "But sadly Tucker is no longer with us." She said, faking bereavement.

"What did you do with him?"

"I didn't kill him, although I suppose I am the one to blame for his death."

"What do you mean?"

"I needed him to get you back from the other side of the gate."

"You were the one to pull us back in this world? Why? What do you want with us?" Ed demanded, pieces of the puzzle falling into place. It certainly cleared up the mystery of what had happened in the sewers.

"Not 'us'...you."

"What?"

"Recall back, if you will, to laboratory five. There, in the struggle, you absorbed massive amounts of the unrefined philosophers stone."

"So, what does that have to do with anything?" He asked. He couldn't remember the event very well. The whole thing was sort of a blur to him.

"Ed it has everything to do with it." She said stepping closer. "Because of the power of the gate—you yourself are a circle." She slowly put her hands together as if she was preparing to transmute. "And I believe that those souls are still in here." She said, poking him in the chest. "Although it will take special measures to access that power."

"You're out of your flippin mind if you think..."

"I don't just think...I know." Ed just glared at her. "You were able to bring back your brother from the gate, were you not? How do you suppose that you accomplished this yet still remain as you are?" He was at loss for words...had wondered long and hard about that, but never came up with a clear answer. "How ironic is it that Hohenheim, creator of a philosophers stone, would have two sons that would be one themselves. Although the materials within you are not refined and I'm afraid that in regaining you brother much of it was lost. Indeed you were truly luck not to have suffered a rebound."

"What I did is none of your business! And what do you want with me anyway? You said it yourself, that most of the red water from lab five must have been used up, so why the hell are you doing this?" He then started to struggle and fight so violently that Dante's companion had to step in once more and hold him still.

"Raw material can be replaced. But there is till yet another use for you." She said softly.

"What would you want with another philosophers stone anyway Dante? You told me yourself that you gave up your soul. You can't run from body to body anymore in your attempts to avoid death. You have nothing left to give."

"Oh no, I plan on keeping this body. As a homunculus, it is far more enduring than any human body, and it also gives me my unique ability's." Dante said tapping the side of her head. "It is also very adorable. Don't you think so?" She posed, trying to look the picture of cuteness and innocence. For just a brief moment she reminded Ed of the way Nina used to while she was waiting expectantly for him to transmute a ring of flowers for her. Then the illusion of the sweet little girl of his memories was shattered and nothing was left but the inhumane monster before him.

"And one day I will grow to be a beautiful young woman. The world will practically be at my feet."

"If you think you're so 'perfect' the way you are," he said with a sneer, "than why are you after the stone again?"

"A homunculus is an artificially created body that is far superior to the real thing, yes? Well, with the philosophers stone I am going to forage a soul..."

"What?" He asked, shocked.

"I will forage a soul that will never break apart and give me magnificent alchemic powers never heard of before in this world...and you...you are going to help me."

"Like hell I'm gonna cooperate with you." He said, angry and inwardly horrified at the thought of it all.

"You will if you care for the well being of your pretty little friend." Dante said smugly, anticipating his reaction.

"Winry?" In the shock of seeing Dante again, he had forgotten about her. "If you hurt her, Dante, I swear ill..." He struggled to his feet. Luscher stepped in but this time fought back, struggling and kicking for all he was worth.

The two wrestled with one another for nearly a full minuet. Eventually, with a growl of frustration, the man picked Ed up in a bear hug, went over to some nearby hanging chains, and hooked one of them to the rope tied around him. He hung nearly two foot off the ground, unable to get any leverage to work with.

"Oh calm down Ed, and besides I never got to answer your question earlier." Dante said sitting down, growing tired of Ed's stubbornness. Luscher came over to sit on the floor beside of her.

"What friggen question?" He asked, still fighting to get free.

"About what ever became of that pathetic creature, Shou Tucker." Ed calmed down just a little, but not completely. He had to act like he was still struggling to cover up his movements. Being hung up on the hook by the ropes took most of the pressure off of his arm, allowing for more movement. He believed that he could manage to pull it free if only he had a little more time. He had to make sure she kept talking to give him more time. Unaware, or too absorbed in her narration to suspect anything, Dante continued on.

"Previously I had dismissed the matter of lab five because I had a far more reliable means of creating the stone already in motion. But staying with Tucker I suddenly remembered what had transpired, and I came up with a new plan. The first step of which was getting you back. I could manipulate Tucker but as much as I would like, I could not increase his alchemic powers, and there was no way he could retrieve you for me without assistance. So I began to gather human materials for him to form into red water for a twofold purpose. One, was for him to have the power to pull you back and two, was for you."

"What do you mean 'for me'?" He asked, not liking what she said or her tone.

"It was for making sure you had enough raw materials for the stone to be made."

"Stop taking as if they were just materials. Those were human beings you're talking about. And what makes you think that I would Ever refine the stone for you?" Ed demanded getting worked up for show. He finally pulled his hand free and felt around behind him for the knot. "I would rather die." He growled.

"Oh you will refine a stone for me and you will have no say so in the matter." She said frankly.

"Oh yeah?" He said, puffing up at the challenge.

"Yes, you were to be under my control."

"I hate to break it to you, but I'm not like your loonies. You can't control me no matter how hard you try, or didn't you figure that out the first time?"

"In your current state, no. But tell me, how much control did you have over your actions as you took the unrefined substance at lab five?" Ed glared at her, knowing what she said was true. "Not much? I didn't think so. It is to be in this window of opportunity that I will get you to forage the stone. Then through your impressive, yet human, alchemic powers I will forage a perfect soul, at the cost of your life." She said, savoring the idea of it, longing for it.

"It seems as if you have everything pretty well planned out. So tell me Dante, what went wrong?" He taunted, trying to buy some more time. Apparently he struck a nerve. Dante's smile faded, replaced with a look of cold scarcely contained wrath.

"Exactly what went wrong with my plans down in the true lab." She said at last. "Your brother."

"Al?"

"Yes. Instead of you alone, your brother came back across the gate as well, which was something I had not accounted for. As a result all of the red water we had gathered up over the past year was used up and ultimately Tucker was lost to the gate as well. And before I had time to do anything with the two of you...The meddlesome military decided to come poking about. But that doesn't matter." She said moving closer to him, menacingly. "Because we're all going to go somewhere far out of the military's reach. Just us. My friends, and your friend...otherwise know as your incentive to behave or else..."

"Nah, I think we'll pass."

The knot finally came loose and he dropped to the floor, landing on his feet, and immediately took of running. Luscher was after him in an instant. Ed was the faster of the two and pulled ahead of him, weaving thought the piles of junk. So single-mindedly determined to catch his subject, Luscher couldn't react quickly enough as he turned the corner to avoid the mini avalanche of three inch thick steel pipes clattering to the floor that Ed had just knocked over. He went down hard, landing painfully on his back upon the pipes. Ed paused long enough for a quick smirk at the oddly comic sight then took off through the dark warehouse.

0o0o0o0o0

Winry heard the commotion going on outside the room and knew that Ed had gotten loose. She immediately began making a huge racket, kicking and beating on the door, all the while calling out so he could find her. Soon enough there was the sound of someone going down hard then the door unlocking. Before Ed could completely open the door Winry tackled him hard in a hug. She faintly registered the sight of a large bald man in a white uniform lying facedown by the door, unconscious. He had been silently guarding her in case she found a way to open the door.

"Are you ok?" He barely got out, unable to breathe through her tight embrace.

"Yeah."

"Good. Because we have to run." Ed said. As if on cue, Luscher rounded the corner and held up his ring, preparing to transmute. They only just managed to duck behind a piece of heavy equipment as he began the reaction. As the large machine began to melt down into a puddle of shining liquid, they took the brief opportunity to escape and hide elsewhere, ducking down and running as quietly as they could. The entire warehouse suddenly lit up from a powerful transmutation, a stark contrast to the previously poor lighting. The walls began to shimmer then run and distort, like a watercolor painting in the rain. All the windows and doors were soon covered over. And just as quickly as the transmutation began it ceased, leaving no exit to be found.

"Dammit. He's filled in the doorways and windows, then he converted it all back to a solid. We're trapped in here." Ed whispered, ducking down behind a pile of girders, both impressed and pissed.

"Can't you just transmute a way out?" Winry asked, crouching down close, not happy about the situation either.

"They'd be ready for that. Sealing everything was probably both to keep us from escaping and to try and trick us into revealing where we are. And besides..." He growled. "I can't let her continue with this madness any longer."

"We'll what exactly do you plan on doing, Ed?" She whispered hotly at him. "You can't exactly take the both of them on one-armed and without alchemy."

"Don't remind me. But I have to think of something..."

"Your automail, do you think it might be in here somewhere or do you think it was destroyed?" Transmutation lit up the building again, and another towering machined melted away out of sight soon followed by another.

"He's eliminating hiding places." Ed said, wondering how long it would take for him to move in their direction. He turned back to Winry.

"Dante would have it. She wanted me to transmute later for her so she wouldn't have got rid of it. But it's not like he would just let me go up there and take it."

"Not you maybe but me."

"What?"

"You keep that man busy long enough and I'll go and snatch you arm back."

"Winry, there is no way I'm letting you do that. It's too dangerous."

"What's the problem? She can't use alchemy anymore, right? I'm sure I can take her on." She said, puffing up.

"Wait...how did you know that?" He asked, completely taken aback. She rolled her eyes.

"For heavens sake Ed, haven't you ever heard of eavesdropping? Look. She wants you alive, so you don't have to worry about being reduced to a puddle. I'm a different story. And besides, if we don't do something soon we might as well just give up right here and now." He hesitated, deciding.

Luscher paused, looking around. They had to be hiding around here somewhere. It was possible to reduce everything in this warehouse to nothing, but in doing so there was also the possibility that they would get caught in the reaction. There was a rustling sound behind him. He turned just in time to catch the iron rod before it came in contact with his head. Ed quickly let go as the weapon began to melt away. Luscher smiled at him. Ed was sure that, hiding somewhere nearby, Dante wore the same expression on her face. He charged at the man again. He would defiantly end up on the losing side of this fight, but then again his intention hadn't been to win. He had to put on a good enough show and keep Dante preoccupied long enough so that Winry could sneak about and find his automail. He didn't bother trying to look for another weapon, it would meet the same fate as the one he had used at first. Although later he began to wonder if that wasn't the better course of action. Still slightly sluggish from the effects of the drugs, he just couldn't move fast enough to attack or dodge properly. The fight was a short one. He went down hard. In an instant Luscher was on top of him pining him down. Ed tried kicking him off, but his opponent was nearly a hundred pounds heavier than he was. The man then began to strangle him, not to kill him-Dante would have none of that-but just to render him unconscious and put an end to this. Ed tried his best to pry the man's hands away but couldn't loosen the iron grip.

Abruptly a column erupted from the floor, hitting Luscher hard in the side sending him flying. Ed rolled over coughing and choking.

"All you alright Ed?" Al asked emerging from behind a stack of boxes.

"Al?" was all Ed. managed to get out.

"Get him outta here!" Al ordered to someone out of sight as he squared off against Luscher who had just got to his feet. Before Ed could get up someone emerged from the shadows and grabbed him by the wrist and began dragging him off, all the while whimpering and gibbering in terror. Some rescuer, Ed thought, looking up. It was Sciezka, and she was verging on hysteria.

"Gonna die, gonna die, gonna die..." She rattled on. Ed twisted around and got to his feet just as Winry popped out from behind some boxes and beckoned them over.

"What are you doing here Sciezka?"

"When you two didn't come back we went looking for you. Al spotted some transmutations going on and it lead us here." She said curling up and wrapping her arms around her knees. Winry smiled in sympathy then turned to Ed, who was looking rather rough.

"Are you all right?" Winry asked, looking him over.

"I've been worse." He muttered wiping the blood out of his eyes. "Do you have it?"

"Right here." Winry said holding up the automail.

"Why do you have his arm?" Sciezka asked in an unusually high voice. They all hunkered down and winced for a moment as they were showered with debris from the ongoing fight between Al and Luscher.

"Hurry and put it on, Al needs help."

"One minuet tops." Winry said, already starting to attach the wires.

"Sciezka, keep a watch out...for Dante." He said between flinches, feeling a jolt of pain as each wire went into place.

"Who?" Sciezka asked, completely bewildered.

"A little girl...she might try to...sneak up on us." Sciezka gave a questioning look to Winry, apparently not quite understanding the situation.

"She's not really a little girl, Sciezka. She's more like a monster...or an alien." Sciezka's eyes got wide and she began trying to look around everywhere at once, she even glanced up to suspiciously eye the ceiling. Ed looked at Winry who sheepishly shrugged as if to say 'what can you do?'

"Ok. Are you ready for this?" Winry asked, hesitating at the final step.

"Just do it." Ed said closing his eyes and clenching his teeth. He didn't make a sound as Winry finished attaching the automail, but after several long moments of the unbearable pain he felt himself get lightheaded. Winry drew back and slapped him across the face.

"Don't you dare black out on me Edward. Al needs you, so get up and get out there!"

"You enjoy causing me pain a little too much Winry" He said rubbing his face, coming back. Winry managed a smile. "You two stay hidden alright?" He said getting up.

"Yeah..." Winry said watching him go.

"Its about time Ed!" Al shouted from behind a protective wall as Ed joined the fray.

"I kinda had something to take care of Al!" Ed shot back.

Together they managed to drive the man back. One on one, Luscher wouldn't have stood a chance, but now that the brothers were fighting together he went down within a matter of minuets. The two looked on as he collapsed to the floor unconscious, fighting for air.

"That was easy enough." Ed said giving Al a thumbs up. "Now why couldn't you have shown up before I got my ass kicked?"

"I'm sorry brother. We were out looking for you two. I saw some transmutations in the distance and came as quickly as I could. What happened?"

"It's kinda a long story..." Ed began.

"You!" Dante screeched, springing out of the shadows with a sawed off pipe ending in a glinting point, heading right for Al. The attack was so sudden and unexpected that the brothers had no time to react.

A shot rang out. The steep pipe clattered across the concrete floor, rolling out of sight. Dante looked in shock at her now empty hand. The three of them looked across the warehouse to see Sciezka, kneeling atop a crate, gun drawn. Everyone stared at her in dumb amazement. Sciezka paused and looked at the gun. Then, realizing what she had just done, promptly fainted.

Dante took advantage of the distraction and bolted. And shielding her from pursuit was Luscher. He stepped out in the middle of the floor between the direction she had run and the brothers, swaying unsteadily on his feet.

"Out of the way! We don't have time to put up with you again!" Ed shouted at him, watching as Dante ran behind some equipment and disappeared out of sight. Luscher said nothing. He held out his ring and with the other he almost gently touched the machine beside of him. At first nothing happened, then the metal slowly began to glow. A faint smile crept across the man's face.

"Watch out! It's going to explode." Al shouted. They very nearly didn't manage to transmute a wall in time to shield themselves from the blast. The whole building shook with the explosion, surely waking up half of central. Coughing they slowly sat up, brushing the debris off of them. They slowly stood up after the smoke and smoke began to clear. The two of them looked about for Dante, but they knew it was no good. She was already lost to the night.

0o0o0o0o0

"So let me get this straight..." Mustang began, "You just happened to be out for a walk with Al, Sciezka, and Winry. The four of you of come across the warehouse that the escaped patient was hiding in. And it took the four of you until he halfway destroyed the place and nearly beat the life out of you to stop him." He said going over Ed's story, clearly not believing a word of it.

"That pretty much sums it up." Ed said, sticking to it. Before the police had arrived that's what the four of them decided what the story was to be. With four identical accounts and the sheer amount of destruction to back it up, the police hadn't thought to dispute them. Mustang, on the other hand, always seemed to be able to sniff out a lie. After they had given their accounts (Sciezka's position in the military helped out greatly) the police decided to let them go along their way. Luscher never made it out of the blast. The second man that Dante had taken was escorted out to return to the hospital. He was a little roughed up, but he seemed to be coming to his senses some. Perhaps it wasn't entirely a negative thing that he had been taken. Mustang remained quiet for a long moment. Ed put on his best 'I'm innocent' smile, but the bruises kind of took away from the effect. Mustang decided that he had had enough.

"I don't believe you Ed...I know that that's not the full story. I can understand you lying to the police. You wouldn't unless you had a darn good reason to, but I want the truth. All of it. The full story about the philosophers stone, the homunculi, everything. Tell me the truth for once."

Ed said nothing at first, thinking it over. Finally, he said, "I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because...everyone that knows is put in danger. And if that info got out..."

"What? Do you think that I'll use it to my advantage? For power?"

"No it's not that..." Ed paused unsure of what to say. He stood up and walked around to look out window.

"You would have told Maes, wouldn't you?" Mustang said quietly a moment later. He was somewhat hurt at Ed's insistence at keeping him at a distance. Hadn't he already proved that he could be trusted? He had bent over backwards for years to try and help that runt out and still he behaved as if they were on different sides.

"It was her, Dante." Ed said, taking him by surprise.

"Dante?"

"Yes. She was the leader of the homunculi. She was the one to pull us back from the other side of the gate. She wanted to use me to make a philosophers stone for her and forage an artificial soul."

"An artificial soul?" Mustang asked slowly, not understanding.

"Yes. Hers had rotted away over the past four hundred years. And without a soul she can't do alchemy."

Four hundred years? He thought, wondering if he was hearing correctly. "This is a lot to take in Ed. I thought that you had taken care of everything two years ago."

"That's what I had set out to do but..."

"But you failed."

"Yeah. I'd label that a failure alright." Ed said sourly, remembering what all had taken place in the true lab. It wasn't exactly cheery, encouraging memories.

"What happened?"

"Ahh you'd have to hear the story from the beginning to understand it. It's like opening a book and only reading the ending." Ed said coming back and plopping back down in his chair. "But the whole story will have to wait."

"Wait for what?"

"Wait until you buy lunch, I'm starving." He said, bring forth an amused smirk from Mustang. "And besides, I don't think I can tell it all in one day so I'll come back tomorrow if you have the time."

"Of course I do Fullmetal."

"Also there's some things I wanna try and pry out of you too. I'm not the only one that's been hiding things." He accused, dead serious. "I'm gonna get some answers out of you Mustang one way or the other."

Mustang laughed at him. "Sure Ed. No secrets among friends." The silence let the statement sink in. After several long moments Ed spoke up again.

"General...I have something important to ask of you..."

0o0o0o0o0

"Why do we have to wait out here again?" Winry asked, arms crossed and foot tapping rhythmically, leaning against the building.

"Because Mustang said that he wanted to talk to Ed alone." Al said trying to coax the pigeons closer with a piece of bread, but Winry's bored fidgeting kept them skitting away.

"I know that but why? We were in that whole mess too you know."

"I know. He probably wants to talk with brother about something else." Al giving up and tossing the bread away.

"Really? Like what?"

"Hey guys. Sorry it took so long. Mustang's still as long winded as he ever was." Ed called out to them as he exited the building.

"Well what did he say?" Al asked.

"Oh nothing." Ed said nonchalantly strolling on past them.

"Come on, don't give us that. Tell us what you talked about." Winry asked, her and Al matching pace with him.

"The weather mostly..." He said then pulled out a shiny object and began swinging it around by a silver chain. Al reached out and caught it in mid-swing.

"Is this what I think it is? A state alchemist pocket watch?"

"Yup." Ed said proudly. "I've been reinstated as a state alchemist. Without the exam this time. Good thing too. I hate to admit it but after two years I've gotten kinda rusty."

"Speaking of rusty, this watch looks kind old. See, it has some scratches on the back of it." Al pointed out.

"Yeah," Ed said taking it and fastening it to his belt. "I plan on fixing it up later. I figured that Mustang would have taken better care of it. But then again its no surprise, he's been in the military like forever now."

"Wait, this was his watch?"

"Yeah. He didn't have a new one on hand, so he just gave me his."

"Wow." Al said softly.

"And I've already been assigned a new mission. It's kinda ironic that it's the complete opposite of our last one." Ed said stretching his arms out as he walked.

"Really? What is it?" Al asked, curiosity taking hold. Ed stopped, took a quick look around to see that they were alone on the sidewalk, and motioned for the two to lean in.

"Don't tell a soul about it. Not even Aunt Pinoko Winry, because if anyone else knew it would defeat the whole purpose." He paused for a moment to let the gravity of what he was telling them to sink in. "Our mission, is to eradicate any knowledge and information about the stone."

"What?" Al and Winry asked in unison.

"I need you to reinstate me as a state alchemist." He had told Mustang, back in his office.

"Why? What are you planning Ed?" The general had asked suspiciously.

"I plan on searching for any information on the philosophers stone again...only this time to destroy any trace of it." Ed had continued on despite the surprise on the generals face. "The stone causes nothing but destruction. I have to put a stop to it."

"You know Ed, its going to take more than the burning of a few books to put an end to the ledged of the philosophers stone. Especially since you say this Dante character is on the loose."

"I know. And without a doubt she'll try for another one. And that's why I have to try and stop her."

"...Then I'll help you. I'll stay here at the top and support you so that you can achieve you goals." Mustang had said, had promised.

"We're the experts on the subject Al." Ed said walking along again. "To keep further loss of life, we have to put a stop to it." He said grimly, recalling the tragedies of the past.

"I don't think we can do it brother." Al said uncertainly. "Wipe out anything to do with the stone? It's practically a legend."

"And it's our job now to make sure it stays that way."

"But you just came home." Winry said sadly, stopping the brothers in their tracks.

"Winry." Ed began, not really knowing what to say.

"You finally come home against all odds and now you say you're leaving again?" she demanded.

"It's not like we'll be gone for good...just out on a mission." Al offered trying to calm her down.

"Yeah Winry. And besides, we have to." Ed said backing Al up.

"Have to? Have to!" Winry shouted, the infamous Rockbell temper flaring high and aimed at two brothers who began to back away. "You don't have to do anything! If Roy Mustang thinks he can just jerk you around like that...I think its time me and him had a talk." She said turning around, heading back.

"It wasn't him." Ed said stepping in. "It was me. My call. My decision not to go home."

Winry stood stunned for a moment then the anger was back, burning even more hotly that before. She had half a dozen things to say to him right then and there, but wasn't able to articulate a single word. In the end all she managed was "Dammit Ed!" then began to feel about herself with a low growl of "Where's my wrench?" An expression of fear came across both the brothers faces. While Ed only took a step back, Al had the sense of self to take shelter behind a lamppost. "I must have left it at Sciezka's." Winry said to herself when all she found in her pockets was fuzz and a few coins.

"Look Winry." Ed started, trying to hide the relief in his voice, when he was silenced by a glare. Winry pulled one of the coins from her pocket, turned her back to them, and began to scratch something into a parked car beside of them. The brothers shot each other a quick look but before they could say anything the lights and sounds of a transmutation filled the air. Winry turned around brandishing a newly formed, if not somewhat misshapen, wrench. Instead of the signature crack of metal impacting a skull, there was the sharp clang as Ed caught the wrench aimed for his head. Winry tried to pull it back but she couldn't compete against the grip of automail. Ed looked from her to the wrench and back again.

"Winry...you know alchemy? Wow, I'm impressed." He said taking the wrench from her and observing it more closely.

"Who taught you?" Al asked stepping up to get a look as well.

"No one. I learned from all the books you two left behind." She said becoming slightly flustered. "I know it's nowhere near what you two can do, and it's really messed up through here..." She said pointing to one half of the crescent in an attempt to divert their attention away from the blush that was creeping over her face.

"No Winry, it's great. Learning on your own through books is a hard thing to do. Believe me, we know. I think you did a great job considering that you didn't have a teacher." Ed said handing it back. Winry took it, embarrassed, anger forgotten.

"I would love to come home Winry, I really would." Ed began, serious once more. "But thousands and thousands of lives are lost each time a stone is created. And if we can we have to try and stop it. Me and Al know better than anyone out there how it's made, with the exception of Dante. And you can bet that she'll keep trying. We know what to look for. Mustang will do his part, but we've got to do ours. Please understand that we have to do this." Ed pleaded with her. It was true, he wanted nothing more than to just go back to Resembool and finally be able to rest. But then again how could he have peace of mind knowing that tragedy was out there waiting to happen and he was doing nothing. Winry remained quiet for several long moments, gaze averted.

"I understand." she said at last. Then with a sigh she placed her hands on her hips and asked, "Alright, so when are we going?" A stunned 'huh' from both brothers was her reply. "You boys have been leaving me behind ever since we were little. Well I'm not having it anymore...I'm coming with you." She said matter-of-factly. Winry stood her ground against the barrage of protests, all of which centered around the theme that it was too dangerous.

"Look." she said shaking the wrench at them. "I'm fully aware that it will be dangerous, but haven't I proved myself already? Now tell me what would you two do if something needs fixing, if you break you automail yet again, or you need a lady undercover, and so on? Yep, you'd be sitting there moping saying 'I wish we had brought Winry along'." She joked getting them both in a headlock. "And besides, if things get too rough I know that my military guard dog and knight once in shining armor will be there for me."

"That was bad Winry."

"Yeah. And I thought that Ed's jokes were awful. But that one takes the cake."

"Joking aside Winry." Ed said freeing himself. "It could get pretty serious."

"I know. But also if you don't take me along how will learn anything about alchemy?"

"What?"

"You said it yourself, learning alone from books is hard, so I choose you to be my teacher."

"But..." Ed protested, still at a loss for words.

"Alchemy has some potential in the automail business. It certainly would help in the manufacture of the materials needed for the parts. And just think about the money we would save by transmuting the shards and scraps into something useable again. Oh and don't even think about saying no Ed, because you can think of teaching me as an equivalent exchange for the free automail that you're wearing now and all those tune-ups I had given you before." Al started to laugh.

"She has you on that one brother. I'm starting to think that it might be a good idea that Winry come with us. Sometimes you're no company at all Ed. And besides, it's not as if Scar and all the other homunculi are after us anymore."

"No, just their deranged leader." Ed said sourly.

"Please..." Winry begged him, giving him her cutest most imploring eyes. Although logic was dead set against her coming and gave numerous reasons to back it up, Ed felt his resolve breaking down. As if he had ever been able to say no to her.

"Alright." he sighed. Winry gave a cheer of joy and embraced him in a bear hug. Acting as if he weren't blushing, he continued on. "But if things start to get too rough you'll have to go, alright?"

"I promise." Winry said with an x over her heart and crossed fingers behind her back.

"What happened to my car?" Shouted the man that had just stepped out of the building to see a chunk missing from the side of his vehicle. "You kids, did you do this!" He demanded. Winry quickly hid the wrench behind her back, but was too late to keep him from seeing it.

"What was that?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"Uhhh..." Winry started, trying to think of an excuse. "He did it." She said, pointing at Ed.

"I did not you liar! You're the one who transmuted the car!"

"Ed! Shut up!" She said cracking him upside the head with the wrench. Finally having enough, the man started after them. The three of them immediately took off and made a break for it.

Epilogue

To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange. This is not only true for alchemy, but for the entire world. Not even the legendary philosophers stone, an object said to grant with without sacrifice, is exempt from equivalent exchange. My belief in this law has been tested many times. Sometimes by others, but the hardest questions have come from myself. A life for a life has never been enough, and never will be. It took thousands and thousands of lives just to restore two. And I wonder...where is the equivalence there? Then I remember her words. All is one, one is all. Our teacher taught us that through death...new life is created. This brings to light another thought: that the equation is not finished. The lives of my brother and I are not over yet. When it is time for us to go, we may have ended up saving thousands more lives than was necessary for ours to be restored. We don't know...But maybe, just maybe, there is someone out there who does. Either way, I'm going to try and my hardest to make the most of the life that I have now, without regrets, and have faith in the law of equivalent exchange.