A/N: Ed: 13, Al:12, Winry:13, Shelby:13

Ed had been working for SHIELD for only a few weeks, and he was already heading towards Mustang's office to receive his first actual mission. As a state alchemist, his jobs were uphold peace, act as advanced agents and soldiers, and, specifically in Ed's case, act as an occasional detective.

He entered Mustang's office and was overwhelmed by the amount of work going on. "What's going on? It's a rare day when this unit is actually doing something."

"Well, I could say the same about you showing up on time for us. We're busy doing work on a serial killer and a cat burglar to see if they have any connection. I need you to follow the cat burglar leads we've got." Mustang said, handing Ed a folder marked 'The Wraith'.

"'The Wraith'? Is that what we're calling them? Do we even know what gender they are?" Ed asked.

"No, we know next to nothing. That's why we asked you to look into it." Mustang said. "Now go and try to find out about her."

Ed looked through the folder. All it had was a list of things that had been stolen, mostly museum pieces and some money from rich guys.

As Ed went to school the next day, his head swam with questions. Who was this Wraith? What was their motive, if any? As he thought these in the halls, Shelby, a girl in his grade, came up to him.

"Hey Elric. Did we have any biology homework last night?" she asked him.

"Uh, yeah, answer the questions on page 56. But it's due today. Do you plan on doing it in the halw- nevermind, I know you, yes you are." Ed told her.

Shelby smiled and laughed. She didn't have many friends at school, but she also didn't no get along with many people. She was more athletic than most kids her age,but she also wasn't exactly stupid, just average.

"Yeah, that was the plan. So, any big, secret military things going on?"

"Nothing secret. I'm hunting down that cat burglar, the Wraith, but there is no way I can handle it. I've got next to no information on them." Ed said. The Wraith is a publicly known thing, so there was no harm telling Shelby. Right?

"Oh, that's cool. I need to go." Shelby said rather quickly.

As she walked away, Al and Winry came up to Ed. "Hey, Ed. What did Shelby want?" Al asked.

"Just the biology homework."

"Doing it in the hall?" Winry asked.

"Doing it in the hall." Ed confirmed.

"Any luck on that case, brother?" Al asked. "You were up basically all night trying to find a pattern in the thefts."

"No, that's still a dead end for me. If I could find a pattern, I'd be able to catch them at their next target. So far, I just know it's happening on friday night, since that's when it always happens."

"I know!" Winry exclaimed. "I've got a criminal investigations class next hour. Maybe Mr. Lehr can help!"

"I doubt that a teacher can succeed where a group of highly trained military officers failed, but it's something I guess." Ed said, handing Winry the folder.

After school, Winry came up to Ed. "Mr. Lehr said that he found a connection, and wants to speak with you about it."

Ed went to his room, and walked in. "How can you help me?"

"Well," Mr. Lehr began, "Ithink, based on this order of thefts, that the Wraith's next target will be something at the museum. Specifically, the new exhibit put in with actual gemstones. They could make lots of money with this."

"Alright. Good to know."

And that is why Ed found himself sitting in a corner just outside the Central City museum on Friday night. He was hoping that the wraith would show; of he was wrong about this place, he'd be in serious trouble.

Suddenly, the museum sprang to life with alarms. Ed immediately got up. Must be a distraction, he thought, They've never set alarms off before. So, while museum security was working to find the Wraith inside the building, Ed started looking for signs of them outside. He spotted movement on a nearby building.

With a clap of his hands and bright flashing light, Ed was making a pillar to carry him up to the building, in an effort to cut off the Wraith. He jumped off at the top, just as the Wraith reached where he was.

"Are you the Wraith?" Ed asked, getting straight to the point.

"Yes." they replied. It was obvious that the Wraith must've been a female. A girl, specifically.

Then Ed remembered where the he had heard the voice before. It wasn't possible, and yet, here it was. Ed clapped his hands again, this time turning his metal right arm into a sword tipped weapon. He had to see for himself.

Him and the Wraith fought, exchanging and dodging kicks and punches. After a while, Ed was able to get in close enough to slash off the Wraith's face, and what he saw confirmed his belief.

"Shelby?!" Ed asked, confused. Even though he recognized her voice, it still shocked him to see he was right.

Shelby just stood there shocked for a minute, then grabbed her bag and ran the opposite direction, leaping onto another building. Ed followed in suit.

"What the hell are you doing, Shelby?" Ed cried at her, although he wasn't expecting a response.

This is just like when me and AL would steal cookies as kids, I guess. Neither of us would speak or actually admit to it. It was pointless, we were caught whether we said we did it or not.

Just as Ed caught up to, they heard the sounds of a ship of some sort. Then, what looked like a cross between a plane and a helicopter appeared out of thin air.

"What the-" Shelby started, before being shot in the gut, with a zapping sound.

"Shelby!" Ed cried, running at the ship. He didn't care if Shelby was a theif, he wasn't going to just let her get killed by these people. They were all in black suits, and each carried a gun, except the one in front, who just had two katana's across her back.

"Shoot the other kid. We don't need him following us." she said to the soldier behind her.

"Yes, Raven." he responded, aiming his weapon at Ed. Before Ed could react, he heard the zapping sound, felt a sting in his chest, and fell over unconscious.

Ed woke up in a hospital room. Al, Winry, and Mustang were standing to the side of his bed.

"Ugh, what happened?" Ed asked. Then, he remembered the events of the night before, assuming he was only unconscious for one night, immediatly jumped up. "Where's Shelby?"

"Who's Shelby?" Mustang asked.

"She's in my grade. She's the Wraith! I saw some guys with guns shoot her, and then they shot me. What happened to Shelby?" Ed asked, worried.

"No one was with you when we found you. I have no idea what happened to your 'friend', who is a burglar, I might add." Mustang said. "I've got to head back to work now. We still haven't cracked that serial killer case yet. Recover soon, Fullmetal."

"Yeah, sure." Ed said as Mustang left the room. "Who attacked me?" He wondered out loud to himself. "And why take Shelby?"

"I don't know, Ed. Do you have any idea who it might've been?" Winry asked.

"Well, they had a lot of high tech gear, and they clearly wanted the Wraith brought down. I wonder if it was… No, that doesn't make any sense." Ed said, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself that whatever conclusion he made made no sense.

"What do you think, brother?" Al asked.

"It could've been SHIELd. Dammit! This is why I don't actually like sHIELD! They hear an order to kill, and they don't hesitate. Well, I will. I swear that I will never kill someone just because SHIELD told me too." Ed said.

I'm sorry, Shelby. I wish I could've helped you...

Meanwhile, Shelby herself was just waking up. "What the-" she said, before getting a good look at her surroundings. She was in some sort of transportation, that was obvious.

"Relax, Miss Trinity." said a woman, who had a near perfect face, save one scar on her cheek. "You'll be at your new residence shortly."