"Edward!" yelled the ever commanding General Mustang from behind his desk, stacked high with paperwork. Ed blinked and lazily stared over at his boss with a look of annoyance. "What, General?"

Roy narrowed his eyes and sat back in his chair, his hands clasped in front of him. "A little early in the day to be slacking off, Fullmetal. Especially considering the important mission I'm assigning you to."

Edward breathed out hard just to get on the General's nerves. "Give me a break, important mission my foot. You haven't given me a single important mission for weeks now." Mustang just stared forward. "And besides, if you wanna talk to me about slacking off…" Ed motioned with his hand to the large stacks of undone paperwork. "…you should probably take a good glance at yourself first."

Mustang looked at the paperwork out of the corner of his eye and smiled. "Aww, look at the little man trying to be a big boy. How cute." Steam literally blew from Ed's ears and he jumped to his feet in an instant. "Who are you calling a runt so small he could dance with a grasshopper?"

Roy laughed and threw a thick folder down on the desk. "Here. Just read this and get the mission done. And don't make me say it again." Ed calmed down and stomped over to the desk, swiping up the folder. He opened it up and flipped through.

The first page he stopped on was the back story for the mission he would be embarking on. He skimmed through quickly to try and get the gist of it, but ended up getting completely absorbed in the story.

The mission was to stop a man who had killed many people with alchemy. This wasn't very shocking considering how many of those types were around all the time, but the real thing that affected Ed was the man's past. This man, who was responsible for so many deaths, had lost his mother when he was very young. He didn't have a father but he did have a brother. He and his brother had tried to bring their mother back when they were young with alchemy, but they didn't have the proper alchemy training to pull it off. Instead, it went horribly wrong and he ended up losing his mother again and his brother completely. After that traumatic experience, something in him just died and he no longer had any value for life. He grew angry with the world and eventually started killing people as a result, or so it said.

Edward gripped the folder tightly. "This man is…"

"The same as you."

Ed was appalled by the General's statement, but he didn't voice his disagreement.

He knew deep down that what the General had said was true. This man had seen the same things that Edward and his brother, Alphonse had seen. But he drew the short end of the stick in the eyes of fate. He lost everything and didn't have anywhere to turn. No one was there to guide him in his time of need. He was all….alone.

Roy stared at Ed's expression with an intent gaze. "I gave you this mission for a reason, Fullmetal." Edward looked up and the General sighed. "But I won't tell you what that is until after you complete the mission. So you'd better hurry." Ed straightened and nodded respectively at Mustang. "I'll have the report on your desk by tomorrow."

Edward exited the General's office after that and stood in the hallway. "Brother? Are you done?" Alphonse said from beside him, his armor creaking metallically as he stood up from the ground. Ed looked up at his brother and clenched the folder to his side. 'That could have been me in this folder.' He thought, considering again how similar the man's past was to his own. He looked down at his black boots. "Hey Al, I have a question for you." Alphonse's glowing eyes stared intently at his brother.

"What is it brother?"

Ed felt his throat suddenly get dry. He didn't know quite how to phrase the question. Mostly because he was afraid of how Alphonse would react. "Ummm…Let's say hypothetically, I knew a guy who tried to use alchemy for human transmutation and he failed and lost his only family, his brother. Would that justify him eventually killing hundreds of people in the future?"

Alphonse seemed shocked by the suddenness of the question. He looked as if he didn't know how to respond. "Brother…why are you asking me this?"

"Just answer the question, Al!"

Ed didn't look up from his boots. So he jumped when Al started to voice his response. "No. Killing people is wrong. It's never justified." Al fell silent for a moment and then continued. "And if I was the brother that was lost, I don't think I'd want to see my brother live out his life as a murderer." His voice softened. "I'd want to look down on him and see that he is happy and that he can continue living for the both of us. I'd want to see him smile and fulfill everything that he wanted to do in life. I wouldn't want him to wallow in despair about something that wasn't in his power to control. I'd be sad, staring into his lifeless and empty eyes, because he wouldn't be alive, and I would feel responsible for killing what was left of him."

Edward blinked in surprise and moved his eyes to stare at his brother.

"You're wrong."

Edward and Al looked down the hallway and saw a man standing with his hands extended in front of him. He had alchemy symbols tatooed onto the palms of his hands.

"You're wrong!"

It took a moment, but Ed finally realized that the man before them was the man in that folder. The man with the similar past. Edward turned around just in time to dodge a piece of flying rubble that sailed straight toward his head. Alphonse stepped out to brace himself and punched the rubble out of the air to the floor. "Brother!"

Edward clapped his hands together and formed his automail arm into a dagger. "Don't worry about it, Al! I got him!"

The man pulled his hands back as Edward started toward him and slammed them onto the ground. "Get past this pip squeak!"

Tons of stone spikes, shot out of the floor one after another and headed in Ed's direction. Ed growled and dodged one that shot up in front of him. Then he swung his auto mail dagger toward another and sliced it in half. "Is that all you got?" He yelled, grinning.

The man clenched his teeth and proceeded to extend his arms again, but Ed was faster. He popped up in the man's breathing space and pointed his dagger directly at his jugular.

"Checkmate." Ed said and the man scowled menacingly at him.

"Edward Elric. State Alchemist. Refered to as Fullmetal for your auto mail arm and leg. You travel everywhere with your brother, Alphonse Elric, who lost his body when you tried to perform a human transmutation to bring back your mother." Ed's eyes widened. "How are we so different? What exactly do you have that I don't? How did you make the same mistakes as me but still manage to save your brother and remain sane? I just don't understand."

Edward remained silent. He didn't have an answer to that because he himself didn't know. Why was he the way he was? It didn't make any sense to him.

"You're different because you gave up." Alphonse said from directly behind Edward. Ed looked back at his brother slightly. "My brother has one thing you don't. Strength. He had the strength and determination to continue walking when fate repeatedly beat him down. And when he gave up hope…" Al looked down. "He had people that cared about him to help him up again. Me, Winry, Aunt Panako, General Mustang, Hughes, Lt. Hawkeye, Lt. Ross, Havoc, Breda, Fuery, Falman and many other people, they all stand by my brother and help him keep walking forward. "

Alphonse looked at his brother than returned his gaze to the man. "You didn't even try to live life or think about what your brother would have wanted for you. You selfishly decided that life was pointless and meaningless without first giving it a chance. You gave up. I'm here today because my brother didn't give up on getting me back. And we're here today because we didn't let the odds deter our hopes of continuing on. That's why you are nothing like him."

Edward blinked and felt stunned by the things his brother had said. He had never viewed his actions in that particular light, but it brought a smile to his face hearing it being said by his brother. Edward looked back at the man and frowned. "Taking a life isn't something that can be justified by simple emotions like anger or emptiness. In fact it is never justified. But taking something as valuable as your own life because of those emotions is a hundred times worse. What would your own brother say if he saw you now?"

The man was speechless and for the first time since he'd been there, he looked like he was seriously considering what was being said. "Sammy…"

Edward continued to stare forward at the man. 'Sammy' must have been the man's younger brother.

The man finally let his arms fall limply to his sides, breathing out with defeat. "Edward Elric, you are truly fortunate to have such a kind hearted person as your brother. I had almost forgotten what it was like to hear words like that. It's quite the wake up call."

The man looked over at Alphonse and smiled slightly. "Thank you for your kind words, Alphonse. It made me remember when my own brother said things like that to me. Thank you."

Al tilted his helmet to the side and made a content noise. And even though it wasn't visible, Ed saw the warm smile of his brother in that armor's place.

"Edward! Alphonse!" shouted Mustang's gang of soliders; Havoc, Breda, Falman, and Fuery. They spotted the situation as they closed in and each drew their guns from their hip holster. "Are you boys alright?" Falman said first.

Ed looked at their drawn guns with widened eyes. "Don't point those at me!" The Lieutenants lowered their weapons and Ed continued with a smug tone. "And besides we can handle ourselves. We're not kids anymore."

The Lieutenants took over the situation after that and did Ed a kindness by taking the man to prison. "We'll take it from here. You go and write your report for Mustang. He'll be expecting it soon."

Havoc said nonchalantly. Ed saluted he's fellow officers and thanked them for their help before he and his brother went to their quarters.

"Hey Al," Edward mumbled from where he was hunched over the desk, writing his report. Alphonse was seated on a small couch in the middle of their tiny room. "Yes?"

"Do you honestly believe that we made it this far simply by strength?"

Alphonse moved to settle his orb like eyes on his brother's back.

"I mean all I've really done up till this point is act on my own selfish impulses and fear. I don't see how that's strength."

"You're wrong, brother."

Edward put his pencil down and turned to face Al. "How so?"

"You reacted to situations based on what you judged to be the right thing to do. You put yourself at risk for everyone even if you didn't know them and even did the same for me. And then when you were faced with things that would have made regular men give in, you kept moving forward. That is what true strength is, brother."

Edward's mouth fell ajar and Alphonse stood and went to stand beside him. He put his armored hand on his brother's auto mail arm. "This is what you gave up for me. Not many would make the same choice. That's why that man today lost his own brother. He didn't have the strength to give up everything he could for him. So don't you tell me that was a reaction based on your own selfish impulses and fear, because that's not true."

Edward didn't say a word. Or more accurately he couldn't say a word. For the second time today, his brother had left him completely speechless. He had never heard Alphonse mention anything like this before. It was shocking and very reassuring to hear his little brother say such things about him. He thought that Alphonse secretly hated him for dooming him to live with his soul attatched to a suit of armor and he would have accepted that fact if it was true. But to find out that his brother still looked lovingly up to him, came as quite a surprise.

"Alphonse, you don't…hate me for what I did?"

Al looked at his brother and though he had no expression, seemed to be baffled. "Why would I hate you?"

Edward looked down with a pained expression. "Because you don't have a body, Al. You can't feel all the things you could when you were human."

Al looked down and his voice became soft. "That may be true, but at least I'm able to still be with you. I wouldn't be able to do that if I wasn't in this armor."

Ed looked back up at his brother. He saw genuine love in his brother's orb like eyes. He stood up and walked around the chair he had been seated in to stand in front of his brother. "Even so I'm sorry, Al."

Alphonse looked at his brother. Then his helmet began to quiver and he looked down again, shedding invisible tears. Edward frowned and his lower lip trembled. He couldn't help crying when he saw his brother doing it. He wrapped his arms around Al's armor waist and Al did the same, embracing his big brother as they both cried silently together.

"Well, I didn't think you'd actually fulfill your promise from yesterday. But I guess I was wrong." Roy Mustang said, skimming through Edward's report. The stacks of papers from yesterday were completely gone from his desk. "What happened to those papers?" Ed questioned, pointing at the General's desk. Mustang looked up from the report for a split second, cocked his eyebrow at Ed, than went back to reading. "Don't worry about it, Short Stuff."

Edward growled under his breath at that remark. Then he heard an ensemble of yawns and agitated muttering coming from the other room. He looked toward the noise and went over to the doorway, to peek his head in at what was going on. "Damn it! Why do we have to do this? Doesn't the General know we have our own lives?" Havoc yelled from his desk, which was stacked full off papers. Edward looked at him then at three other desks that were stacked with their own piles of papers. Fuery was moaning with his head down on his desk. Breda was nodding at Havoc's remark and grounding his teeth. "It ain't fair that he gets to go home and we're stuck doing his work!" Falman leaned back in his chair. "I didn't know people could have this much paperwork. This is ridiculous!"

Edward smirked in mock humor. "So that's how."

Ed trudged back over to Mustang's desk and saw that Lt. Hawkeye had arrived in his absence.

"Honestly, Roy. You shouldn't be taking advantage of them like that." She said and Mustang sighed. "I'm only taking advantage of my assets, Lieutenant. I don't think that requires a lecture."

Ed looked at his commanding officer with disbelieving eyes. "And you call yourself a General?"

Mustang slapped down Ed's report and leaned back in his chair. "Good work, Fullmetal. You may leave now." Ed stood his ground, not moving an inch. The General cocked an eyebrow. "Was there something else?" Edward placed his gloved hands in his pocket. "You told me yesterday that there was a reason you assigned me that mission."

Mustang looked up, like he was trying to recall the incident. "Ah! Yes, now I remember. You want to know that reason I assume." Ed nodded and the General leaned forward onto his elbows.

"I gave you that mission so you could understand every aspect of the choices you made in your past." Edward became puzzled so the General continued. "Like I said yesterday, that man had a very similar past to yours, actually so much so that it was eerie. He made the same decisions as you did, the only differences being that his life didn't turn out the same way. Why do you suppose that is?"

Ed looked down in thought. "I don't understand."

"He didn't have people supporting him."

Edward looked at the General skeptically.

"In a battle, if a general doesn't have an army behind him, he's going to get rundown by the enemy. That's obvious." Mustang became serious, focusing solely on Edward.

"The same thing applies to everyone. If they don't have people they can rely on behind them in their time of need, life is going to roll right over them." Mustang looked down at the report on his desk. "That's how men like him are created."

Edward's eyes widened. He was finally starting to get what the General was trying to get across.

"I think I get it, General."

"Good. That saves me some time."

Ed frowned at Mustang.

"Jokes aside, Fullmetal. Keep your allies close and don't take them for granted. You never know when that time of need is coming."

Ed nodded seriously. Mustang was actually genuinely worried about him. He could tell.

He grinned. "Thanks, General. I'll keep that in mind."

He nodded respectively to the General and Lieutenant before he turned and exited the room.

"That was nice, Sir." Lt. Hawkeye said from beside Mustang.

Mustang looked back at her then yawned, stretching his arms.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm tired. I think I'm gonna head home now."

He stood and turned to grin at the Lieutenant. "Care to join me?"

Lt. Hawkeye blinked, surprised. Then she smiled, blushing slightly.

"Sure, I'd be happy to, Sir."

Mustang walked around his desk to the coat hanger, which was standing by the doorway.

He grabbed his coat off the hook and shrugged into it. Lt. Hawkeye did the same and the General opened and held the door for her. "After you."

The Lieutenant, still smiling, thanked him and walked out into the hallway. Mustang followed, switching off the lights in the office as he shut the door behind him.

"Hey! General? Lieutenant Hawkeye? Anyone?" shouted Breda from the other office.

"Hey you guys! Stop fooling around! Turn on the lights!" Falman shouted after Breda.

There was silence as they waited for some kind of response.

"It looks like they left for the night." Fuery said

They all let out an exasperated groan.

Havoc growled loud above the noise. "Damn it! Curse you Roy Mustang!"

Mustang and Hawkeye walked down the hallway silently, away from the office.

"Did you hear something?" The Lieutenant asked.

The General smiled, chuckling to himself. "Nope, I don't hear a thing."