(A/N: This is my very first story, please go easy on me! I am new to this whole computer crap to, so i might have issues, please bare with me! Anyway, this is AU and that. please point out if you find any errors or things that don't make sense!

This was going to be the worst day ever, she could tell. She just knew it. As Ed and her Big brother Alphonse headed towards central, the closer they got the worse she felt. Nervous and jumpy, like something bad would pop out and knock on her head, saying 'should've listened to your instincts'. And that is something she didn't want to happen, not again.

Edlyn and Alphonse Elric sent for from central and known for their knowledge of alchemy at a young age. Rumors of the golden haired siblings could be heard in almost every town in Amestris. They, along with other well heard of prodigies, have been called forth to be 'protected' by the Amestrian Military. But most people knew they were going to be used more than protected. And that is the main reason Ed didn't want to go. Her elder brother thought the same, but there was little they could do when asked by Fuhrer King Bradley himself. And so the Elric siblings had no choice but to be used as weapons at the simple age of 15 and 17.

Ed sighed as she walked alongside her brother on the sidewalks that lead to Central City's Military Headquarters. They had just arrived by train, having to leave their small village of Resembool. The younger blonde slowed her step until she was behind her brother, the height difference quite noticeable. Once she was far enough behind she called out to Alphonse.

"Hey Al, heads up!" When she was sure Alphonse was aware, she made a small dash and jumped onto his back. Al hooked his arms around and under her knees, while Ed wrapped her arms around his neck. She smiled as Al gave a small chuckle.

"Ed, you do realize how weird this looks when you're on a crowded sidewalk, right?" he looked back at her while continuing their walk to the large building. She shrugged the best she could while in that position.

"Why should I care? It's not like we're out to make a good impression. And besides, no one knows who we even are." But then a small smirk placed itself on her face. "Yet, that is." That caused Alphonse to chuckle once more, but this time it was more of a nervous chuckle. He knew what that smirk meant, and it didn't mean anything good. Well, good for Ed maybe. But it never meant good news for those around her.

As her elder sibling walked, Ed took the time to look around. Intense golden eyes mapped their route and all the stores around. She would be living here from now on, so why not be done with memorizing it, right? She found a clothing store which she made a mental note to check out later. They didn't have much except for the things on their backs. They had left their luggage with military personal, them saying that they would take it to where they were staying. But there wasn't much luggage to begin with, only about 3 more sets. They didn't have much for money after all. But since she couldn't walk around in her black leather pants, black tank top, black combat boots, white gloves and red jacket all the time, or her brother in blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and black jacket with his brown shoes, they are in desperate need of more things. The one good thing about working for the military after all, was the pay.

While Ed was planning all this in her head, Alphonse was thinking about a completely different matter. The main thing was him keeping his baby sister safe. He wasn't about to let her get herself hurt. And even if she didn't notice all the stares from the male population she was getting, he certainly did. Her long golden hair pulled up into a high ponytail and her stunning gold eyes with long lashes looking around easily caught attention. And there was no way on earth Al was going to let anyone lay a finger on her.

Al sighed as their destination came into view. Don't get him wrong, it was a large building that was pretty shocking compared to the small houses in the village back home, but it was also the place that they now worked at. It was huge and gray and had large flags hanging from the roof on each side, green with Amestris' symbol of a dragon. He may keep his musings silent, but he was now looking forward to the faces he would get when carrying his sister around a military base. It was bound to be amusing. He chuckled inwardly and added a bounce to his step, getting Ed up in an easier hold. This made Ed giggle, a sound Alphonse loved, for it was a rare noise his sister made. They got to the front gate and showed the letter from the Fuhrer for permission to go in. The guard nodded and they were on their way.

"Hey Alphonse, who do you think is in charge of all of us being roped into the military? We know it's a colonel, and that there is only a hand full more like us, but don't you wonder if he'll be able to handle all of us?" While asking, she had placed her head on his shoulder, causing them to be cheek to cheek. Alphonse shrugged as he started up the front steps with ease even with his load.

"He'll have people from his unit to help him out too you know. It's not like it's him against multiple teens all by himself."

Ed gave a small 'hm' before she replied "I suppose that makes sense. I mean, we'll be trouble enough. I can't wait until we get to meet our team mates. It sounds like it will be fun with others our age. Just hope there won't be bullies or anything cliché like that." She says the last part with a small laugh. Alphonse simply shook his head.

"What do you mean by 'we'? You're the one that causes all the trouble. You just like to rope your innocent big brother into things." He said all this with anything but innocent smirk on his face which made Ed roll her eyes at him with a smile.

By the time they got to the front door Alphonse had a huge grin on his face. Ed still had her chin on his shoulder, their heads close together. When like that, the similarities and differences were crystal clear. Ed's hair was bright gold, while Alphonse had a bit more of a sandy tint to it. The younger of the two mostly had her hair up in a ponytail or in a braid, with her bangs going down to her chin with a small cow lick/antenna stuck out in between the parting. Al just had his cut short and it stylishly messy. And while Alphonse had green/gold eyes, Ed's had a pure gold color to them.

They walked through the front door as casually as you can while in the position they were in. And oh, how the elder was right about the reactions. It was like they were being thrown a curve ball after 10 normal pitches. But while Al was enjoying the reactions, Ed was reminded of why she felt so bad earlier. Everywhere you looked, there was blue. The uniforms and the stiff postures were sickening to Ed. Will the people taking care of us be this stiff and uptight? I mean, come on, it's like the lot of them have sticks up their asses. She thought. Ed sighed, she sure hoped not; otherwise this was going to be boring as hell.

Then Ed, being herself, got off topic in her mind in the most random way… Even though I don't believe in heaven or hell, that saying makes no sense. How does someone find hell boring? I mean its hell. With all those stories of burning in fire, wouldn't you be anything but bored?

With the younger so deep in her… odd thoughts, Al kept walking. They got to the stairs and many had to stare at how easily he once again walked up them with that girl on his back. They were soldiers, but come on! Al went up and up until they got to the third floor. They were almost to the room they were told to go to. Once Ed was out of her musings, and Al done with his fun; showing off, they could both feel the nervousness come back. They had absolutely no idea of what could be beyond that door.

Alphonse stopped in front of the closed door and took a deep breath, jumping again to get Ed higher on his back. He looked behind him to see that she was already looking at him. When she saw she had his attention she put on a reassuring smile and tightened her hold around him. He smiled back and turned the handle with one hand, still holding onto Ed with the other.

They walked into an office that was pretty big. In front of them across the big room was a desk that sat in the middle of a large window. To the right of them was a cluster of smaller desks, to the left was an area that looked like a living room. It had two couches, a coffee table in between them, and then by a fireplace in the wall sat a few recliners. The walls were cream colored and the floor was a dull pea green color. While the siblings were looking around, the man behind the main desk stood, catching their attention with the movement.

"Hello, are you two the Elric siblings?" he stepped around the desk walked towards them. He was around the same height as Alphonse, if not an inch taller. He had deep midnight blue eyes and dark black hair that was flat yet somehow messy at the same time. He had this smile that looked suspiciously like a smirk. That rubbed Ed the wrong way, making her glare at the man. Without even waiting for an answer, he continued. "I'm Roy Mustang and I am in charge of all the prodigies in the new group. It is nice to meet you." He held out his hand and Al shook it, holding Ed single handed again. Ed noticed his gloves and that he had alchemy arrays on them.

"Nice to meet you sir, I am Alphonse and-" He was cut off by Ed pushing herself up with her hands on Al's shoulders, bending over him. She reached out and took Mustang's hand out of her brother's, turning it over so she could see the array better. She noticed that is was a very complex fire alchemy circle.

"You aren't just a Colonel, are you?" Ed asked, still looking at his glove. "I'm guessing you're a state alchemist. Why else would you have arrays on your gloves? And since there is only one alchemist that specializes in fire, I would say you're the Flame alchemist, right?" she then looked up at him, her golden eyes strong and confident. She was satisfied that she saw some shock on his face, though it was gone in a flash and hidden by a smirk. She let go of his hand and jumped off Al's back, standing by her brother.

"Yes, I am the Flame alchemist. You observe your surroundings pretty well." Ed simply shrugged her shoulders and continued to look around.

"…And this is my younger sister Edlyn… You know Ed that was really rude." Alphonse turned to face his sister with his arms crossed.

She ignored that and faced Mustang again, while pointing to her right at the group of people looking at them by the desks. "Who are they?" she asked.

The colonel sighed and shook his head, a small chuckle escaping his lips. "They would be my subordinates Edlyn. Some aren't originally in my team, but were ordered to help with the new group of teens." He motioned for them to come over and they obliged. They stood at attention in a line, reminding Ed that this place usually meant no nonsense. "That would be First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye." He said while pointing to the first in line.

She had chocolaty eyes that were on an emotionless masked face. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a twisted loop causing the tips to be facing up. Her bangs covered one eye a little, being swished to the side.

"Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc."

He was a tall blond with blue eyes. He had an unlit Cigarette dangling in between his lips and he smirked in a friendly manner at the Elric's, his salute looking casual.

"Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda."

Breda had orange hair and was a beefy man; you couldn't really tell what color his eyes were though.

"Master Sergeant Kain Fuery."

He was a short man who, although at attention, you could tell was shy. His hair was black and spikey and he looked like someone who an older woman would call a 'sweetie'. His eyes looked to be black, but it was hard to tell.

"Warrant Officer Vato Falman."

He was an older looking man, he had grey hair. You couldn't see his eyes for they were closed. He was pretty tall too.

"First Lieutenant Meas Hughes."

Meas was grinning and looked kind, but smart too. He had black hair that was a little spikey but in a messy way, and his eyes were like a green and wheat like color that were covered by glasses.

"Major Alex Louis Armstrong, he is another state alchemist."

He was a very large man, with a single blond curl on his forehead, and a mustache that covered his mouth. On his hands he had metal gloves with alchemy arrays on them.

"It is nice to meet you all." Alphonse said in a formal like manner. When Ed didn't say anything, he elbowed her.

Ed sighed. "What he said." she grumbled, looking away.

The group all stopped saluting and relaxed after Mustang gave them a nod. Hughes took this chance and rushed over to the siblings and went to get something out of his pocket. This caused them both to tense, years of keeping each other breathing showing when they subconsciously stepped closer together. This didn't go unnoticed by all the adults in the room; they knew they did the same thing. The only difference was that they were in the military and where trained to, these kids on the other hand…

Meas calmly pulled out the pictures he wanted to show, leaving the kids to sigh in relief. Again, that did not go unnoticed by the adults in the room. Ed stepped a little closer to look at the pictures while Meas spread them out like you would cards. "This is my precious daughter Elysia! Isn't she adorable?! She will turn 4 this Saturday!"

"This Saturday is E-" he was cut off with a wince as an elbow made a rather harsh blow to his ribs. When he looked down with a questioning gaze, he was met with a glare of molten gold. He raised an eyebrow and grinned at her. Before she could stop him, he held his hand over her mouth and grabbed her wrists and held them behind her back. "That's the same day as Ed's birthday." His grin vanished at the same time as he pulled back both his hands. "You licked me!" he stared at Ed in disbelief.

"Don't cover my mouth like that!" she yelled at him. How dare he do that? She glared at him with full force. "Next time I might bite you instead!"

"Why you little-" he cut himself off so he could pick her up by the waist and sling her over his should, holding her by having his arm at the bend of her knees. This caused some of the adults to chuckle.

"Alphonse! Put me down! Al!" she started hitting him on the back, squirming around, trying to get loose. "This isn't funny Al, Come on!" a whining tone entered her voice as she struggled. Very suddenly she stopped completely and tensed. Sensing this, Al frowned.

"Ed, what's wrong?" She simply held her throat and Al hastily put her down and put his hands on her shoulders. She continued to hold her throat, her body not in any way relaxed. "Edlyn, you have to cough. The doctor said not to hold it in." the worried tone in his voice caused Riza to walk over and past Meas. Mustang stayed put, knowing that if anyone could help, it would be Hawkeye.

"What's going on?" she asked Al with her brows furrowed.

"She has issues with her health due to…some past problems. They don't know how to cure it, they simply give her some medicine and advice to make it easier-" He suddenly tensed. "Ed! I said cough, you can't hold your breath anymore!" she finally gave up and started coughing. They were confused when he pulled out a napkin and handed it to her. She then coughed into that instead of her hand. They sounded awful and caused many of the adults to flinch. Once she was done coughing she simply inhaled as much of the needed air as she could. She slowly gave him the napkin and he scowled at it. Riza gasped as she saw the reason for the napkin.

"Is that blood?" this made Meas walk over to stand beside Riza. "How long has this been going on?"

"I will tell you later, but do you mind letting her laydown for a bit? She gets dizzy after this happens." As if to prove his point she held onto his sleeve, leaning on him.

Meas nodded and pointed to the living room like area to the left. "Right over there."

He scooped her up, holding her shoulders and legs as he walked over to one of the couches. Once she hit the couch, she was out like a light. He turned back to face all the elders in the room. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm really sorry. I don't know how, but a long time ago when she was 3 and I was 5, our father decided it would be fun to… test some theories on my sister." The last part had his jaw tighten. "Mother and I didn't even know until Ed was old enough to tell us. That was when she was 6 and had a vague idea that it wasn't normal, that what he was doing was wrong." Al sighed and repeated his apology.

The grownups just stood there, shock on most of their faces. But Meas looked outraged. "Your father tested on his own daughter? That's sick." Meas scowled, but his gaze softened when he looked towards the couch that was behind Al, the back hiding Ed. "What all did he do?"

A dark look crossed Alphonse features. "He gave her many chemicals to consume, and did more tests to see how it affected the human body. That is one of the reasons she is here in the first place. Something he did to her increased her alchemic ability. Ed and I are both pretty smart about alchemy, but she has heightened strength when actually using it. I'm here simply to watch out for her. And to make sure doesn't break her automail." Al sighed and rubbed the back of his neck again, looking back at Ed. "I forgot to give her this morning's medicine. Miss Hawkeye? Can someone get her a cup of water so she can take it?"

"Sure, Fuery, can you do that please?" Kain nodded and rushed out of the room, closing the door behind him. Riza then turned back to face Al. "Al, didn't you say automail a little bit before?"

"Yes, she got in trouble a while back when she was 11. She hasn't told anyone about it, but when we found her she was missing her right arm and left leg. She didn't want to spend her life in a wheel chair, so we went to rush valley and got her some. The whole thing left her a whole new thing to have nightmares about." Al explained. No one could shake the feeling that he was leaving something very important out of that story.

After a minute of awkward silence, Fuery came back inside with a water bottle and handed it to Al. The elder sibling took out a pill case from his pocket and put two tablets in the palm of his hand. He walked around the couch and kneeled down by Ed, lifting her gently by her shoulders. This caused her to wake up, and since she was used to the pills she simply took them and popped them into her mouth. Al opened the water for her and she gulped them down, wiping her mouth on her sleeve.

"Thanks," she croaked, her voice sounding rough. Al slowly let go of her, she holding herself up on her own. When she looked around and saw all the faces looking at her, her cheeks went a deep crimson. "What the hell is everyone looking at? I got something on my face?" she snapped, annoyed. She didn't like being the center of attention, especially if the audience showed pity. She hated being pitied more than being the center of attention.

"Ed, don't be rude, they are only worried." Al scolded.

"Well no one needs to be worried, dammit, it's not like I'm going die!" she said, crossing her arms. Everyone was sure that she probably didn't know she was pouting, and it was a pretty good one too. Al sighed and shook his head, he knew better than anyone how stubborn his sister could be, and it only got worse with her being defensive. "And besides, I am perfectly fine now." She added, standing up and stretching. Ed looked over to Mustang after it seemed she remembered something important. "Hey, in the letter it said something about us being able to use the whole library, even the higher ranked areas, was that true?" she asked, her eyes large and begging, doing one of the best puppy dog eyes anyone of them had ever seen.

Mustang chuckled from where he stood near the other adults, crossing his arms casually. "Yes, the letter didn't lie. You can go there while Alphonse fills out some papers." Ed and Al shared a look, than they looked back towards Mustang, Ed giving a little nod. "Havoc, take Ed to the library and make sure she knows how to get from here to there, and vice versa."

"Yes sir," Havoc said with a lazy salute and a smirk, the unlit cigarette bobbing in between his lips. He walked over to the door and held it open; Ed hastily walking threw it with a wave to Al over her shoulder, causing Havoc to hurry after her.

Mustang motioned Al over to his desk and handed him a folder. "That is a folder of all the other members of this new group, and of the roles of military personal that are working with us. I will talk about the other kids in the group first." When he pointed at a chair, Al sat down as silently asked to. "First is Winry Rockbell whose guardian is Pinako Rockbell, her grandmother. She is the same age as you; Al. Winry's specialty is in the medical department, and in automail. She and her grandmother will help out at Centrals military Hospital for those who lose their limbs during missions. She could probably help out with Ed's automail as well. Then there is Rose who is 16, her last name is unknown for she was raised by locals in Liore. She is here because of her knowledge in languages. She will help with translating when a foreigner comes here. Then there is 4 Xingese who have been sent here to escape from being used as hostages, Ling who is 16 and Mei who is the same age as Ed are Prince and Princess for two different clans that get along, and Lan Fan is Ling's bodyguard, also being the same age as him. Fu is here to watch all 3, he being Lan Fan's grandfather. Mei is good at Xingese Alchemy while all 4 of them are good at martial arts.

And last but not least are the Tringham brothers. Russell is the older one, being the age of 16, and then there is Fletcher who is 15. They are here for two reasons. They are very good at bio alchemy, so they are still prodigies. Then there is the fact that there father was a state alchemist who passed away in the Ishbalan war, so the state has been taking care of them. They, like Ed, Ling, Lan Fan, Mei, and you will be sent on missions for the military in pairs. But the brothers and you plus your sister will still have access to the laboratories to practice your alchemy as long as you give all your findings to the Research and Development department."

Mustang stopped, letting Al think of what was just said. When Al looked up from the folder, he continued. "Now Alphonse, I will tell you this right now. You cannot be with Edlyn on all of her missions." The flame noticed Al grit his teeth at this. "I know you don't like this, but I am not in control of the matter." Mustang said, apologetically.

Al sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. "I understand sir." He crossed his arms. "Where are all of us staying, if you don't mind my asking? We weren't told when they took our belongings."

"You will be staying at the Armstrong manor. That is why Alex was assigned temporarily to my team." Al nodded, then blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Is something the matter Alphonse?"

"Er, are we allowed to have pets, sir?" Seeing Mustang raise an eyebrow, Al continued with a slight chuckle. "My sister tends to pick up strays. I don't think she can help it sir. When I told you about her and… father, he also added some animal jeans into her structure. It didn't change how she would look, but she has animal like characteristics. This is another reason she is such a good fighter." He said, a bit sheepishly.

Mustang frowned at this information, looking at the young man in front of his desk. "The Armstrong manor is quite large; I don't think they will have a problem with a few animals. In fact, they already have two of them there besides the horses they own. Mei Chang has a miniature panda while the Rockbell's have a dog named Den. Alex is right over there, why don't you go ask him and then come back to sign your papers?"

Al nodded and stood up, walking to the large man with a timid smile. "Excuse me, Mister Armstrong?"

"Ah! Mister Elric, what can I do for you, hm?" Alex asked, giving such a large smile that his eyes closed.

"Well, sir, I was wondering if it would cause trouble to have a few pets. My sister likes to pick up strays a lot." Al asked, rubbing the back of his neck again. It seemed to be his habit when not knowing what to do.

"Of course she can! Tell her that she can bring all the animals home that she wants! The Armstrong family has loved animals for generations!" Alex said, his voice booming all over the room, causing Breda and Mustang to chuckle and Riza to give a slight smile.

Meanwhile, Havoc was walking to the library that was a building away from HQ, that being the labs. Ed was right next to him, looking around and asking what building was what. "I myself have always wondered why they didn't just make one large building with everything in one. It would make things much simpler." Jean said with his hands in his pockets casually.

"My guess would be that it is because that way, if a building catches fire, everything won't be burned down, you know?" Ed said in reply.

"But how easily would a full brick building with water sprinklers burn down?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. He actually liked this kid; he was able to have a real conversation with her. He didn't feel like he was talking to a 15 year old at all. She was pretty good company.

"True, maybe it's easier to know your way around? Not as many halls to get lost in. And the laboratory being separate I can understand. What if they were doing something and it went wrong, causing the whole place to smell? Then there is the fact that there could be an explosion that could wreck the whole place." Ed said, crossing her arms in a way that showed you that she was thinking hard. She liked Havoc as much as he liked her, he didn't baby her and treat her weak because of her gender and age.

"Those are both good points…you're a pretty smart kid. No wonder you're a part of this new group." He smirked well naturedly, not a tainting 'I am better then you' smirk. This had Ed smiling, though it was a small one, it was still there. It also added some pink to her cheeks though, so she tried hiding her face with her bangs. It didn't work; Havoc still saw it out of the corner of his eyes, making his smirk grow into a smile.