Chapter II –

An hour later, as they sat together at the desks in the office, Ed across from Hawkeye and beside Havoc, who was beside Breda (and Falman's desk, considering he was out doing something else right now) with Fury across from those two, the radio he was tinkering with earlier long since forgotten on the desk beside him, Mustang came out of the office and slapped an envelope on the back of his head, knocking a bit of his ponytailed hair over his shoulder.

He knew from the gesture it was a joke; there was no way Mustang could ever hit anyone he wasn't completely pissed at or ordered to (and even then, he probably wouldn't) but Ed still looked to see the envelope he had given him when he had returned in his hand. He leaned forward, taking his own off his desk and ripped open the bottom of it. He squeezed it in a way that the paper in it fell out just barely, making its landing in the middle of his palm. He flipped the top of the tri-folded paper up and read it quickly.

His chair tipped backwards as he groaned, throwing his head back. His arms flew out as he fell, flailing, before he froze in the midair, closer to the ground than the desk. His left hand came up and rested above his forehead as he let out a quick breath. He threw his weight up, flopping back properly. "I need to readjust to that," he muttered quietly, more to himself than to anyone else.

"You need to tell me how you predicted this," Mustang corrected, motioning towards the envelope in his hand.

"It was a joke," he groaned. There was a pause before he laughed slightly and leaned forward, plucking the white business envelope from his superior's hand and took out the letter. "That's weird."

"What is?"

"We're being called at the same time and place. Hey, guys, open your letters and tell me when and where they're requesting you." He finished, looking up at the others. Quickly, everyone had their envelope opened and, instead of telling him, they passed them over—Falman's, too, after Havoc took a moment to stare at it with a furrowed brow.

"Everyone's is for the same place and time," he muttered, quietly. "But they all have different reasons for the meeting."

"What are they?" Mustang went so far as to voice his team's question. The fact that he had said it aloud instead of having it in the open right there, waiting for the rest of them to voice it put it in perspective for them all with how odd it was. The moment that he had said it, Ed knew from the way the air felt around him, they had brushed it off but now that it was out there….

"Well, yours is for some sort of document that burnt down with the First Branch all those years ago. I can't tell if it says 'XI' or 'Eleven' though. Mine is 'in regards to the Promised Day', imagine that. Ah,"—he put those two letters and envelopes aside and grabbed another before he made sure to read who's it was—"Hawkeye's is for the Ishval Rebellion—I don't get it, that was over a decade ago, wasn't it? Shouldn't that be cleared up?"—He shook his head and moved it to the side, grabbing up the next two letters—"Havoc's is for some sort of disturbance or something he was called to back in February as is Falman's, only his was from May. Kain's is actually him being called to lecture some of the cadets on the 'proper use of Military Lines' and 'how to lay them on the front lines' of war. Breda's just says it's in regards to his mother…."

"But they're all the same place and time, you said?" Havoc replied, furrowing his brow. "Where exactly is it?"

"Ah, some place at 142 West Emerald Street with the note saying 'the left door'." He paused a moment before he reached into his desk and pulled out a large map of Central, folded it slightly and laid it out. He found the street that marked East from West and quickly followed it down, looking for Emerald. Almost immediately he found it and moved until the square block said '142'. "I thought that sounded familiar. Really, Chris?"

Mustang looked at him for a split second or maybe two before he shook his head and picked up his envelope.

"She needs a hobby," Ed muttered, laughing into his hand as he handed the others back their envelopes.

"What are you talking about?" Mustang asked, using his voice that clearly said he was joking—the last time Edward had heard this voice directed towards him was when he was studying for the State Exam, readying for the rest of his life. "Her hobby is messing with us."

As Edward laughed, Mustang turned around and retreated back into his office, shutting the door. At long last, the blond turned to the others and shook his head "These letters are bogus. The owner of a bar just wants us to go to her Grand Opening this Saturday."


Ed sat in the office around noon a few days later, debating on whether or not to go to lunch yet when he noticed someone stop outside the oak doors, leading in. His head lifted from where he had stopped reading in the Alkahestry book and he stared for a moment, catching Havoc's attention. He cleared his throat and said "We're in here, Mei! Ignore the lack of lighting."

The door opened and the shapely woman walked in, offering up a warm smile. She now stood at 5'2'' and her thick black hair was pulled around in a large braid, leading back into the buns on her head. Her warm, dark coloured eyes danced around the room before landing on him. Still, she wore that same red-pink kimono (as he had learned they call them) as always with the slit on its sides halfway up her thighs.

"Why's it so dark?" She asked. Her accent was thick for the first few words, but she quickly switched to the Central Accent, pronouncing things easily without the heavy emphasis on the letters—especially 'th' sounding as 't'. It was hard for him, too, to learn the proper Xingese Accent since it's such a back-of-the-throat and nasal language whereas Amestrian was right at the tip of the tongue.

"The power's out," he answered, simply, and motioned towards the candle that stood on the corner of his, Havoc's and Hawkeye's desks, melting slowly into the golden cup. There was another one on the other corner of Havoc's in between Breda and the other side of Fury's workspace. Since Falman was still out today, they hadn't lit the one on his desk, though there was one there.

"That's stupid." She pouted for a moment before her eyes flickered from the floor to the ceiling and back to his face. "Why haven't you just fixed it yet?"

He shrugged for a moment before his hand came up and he pointed towards where Captain Hawkeye was still hard at work. There was a long time before she blinked a few times and looked up, giving him her signature 'Get Back to Work' glare and looked back down at her paperwork. Mei giggled before coming over and shutting his book, sitting on the corner of his desk.

"I take it you're bored, Mei-chan," he said, leaning back and giving her a raised eyebrow look. She just shrugged and looked behind her as she leaned back and pressed her hands onto his desk, making sure to keep them off of the others'.

"Yep!"

"Is there any particular reason why you're in this office?"
"I've got to meet with your General." She shrugged her shoulders, like it was nothing.

"Well, the Lieutenant General is in a meeting. Has been since this morning before we all got here. Can I take a message to him for you?"

"Yeah, tell him to 'Dépêchez-vous va le faire t'avec sa rencontre' for me, sil te plaît."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because with the way you said that you're telling him to 'hurry the fuck up with his meeting' and that will get me fired."

She arched her right eyebrow at him and tilted her head, giving him a small, disbelieving grin. Her shoulders readjusted themselves so that she was at a much more relaxed position. "So? That's never stopped you before. And there was a 'please' in there."

"Before, I had a contract to hold to with the Fuhrer, now, however, my contract is directly with Mustang and, at any point in time he feels it necessary, he will terminate it. I realize that with you being a princess and all, you don't need to have a job to keep you living, but I, however, do. And the 'please' was directed at me." She just stuck her tongue out at him.

He rolled his eyes and scooted his chair back, standing up and knocked on Mustang's door, waiting for his "come in" before his the cold brass was pressed against his white glove, allowing him to open it. Mustang was leaning against the front of his desk with his hands on the lip, bracing himself and someone he'd never seen before was seated on the couch he had been laying on only three days ago.

"What is it, Full Metal?" Mustang's voice touched his ears the moment he had gotten the door open enough.

"Sir, Mei Chang of Xing is here, requesting your presence."

There was a pause as the man pulled out his State Watch and looked at the time. His lips moved in the silence, though Ed could have sworn they had just barely said 'She's early' before he nodded at him. "Thank you, Full Metal. We'll be a minute more."

"Yes sir," he nodded his head and shut the door behind him as he left. He gave Mei a glare before he sat down again and kicked his legs up on his desk, next to her thigh. "He'll be with you in a minute."

"I'm going to kill him," she growled, glaring at the doors. It was his turn for his eyebrow to arch as he shifted once more in his chair, giving her a hard look.

"I'm tempted to arrest you for that, too, if the feeling you gave off when you first entered has anything to do with that sentence."

She just scrunched her nose up at him and stuck her tongue out again. "Hey, why's Alphonse-sama acting antsy?"

"He's your fiancé." He pointed out, lifting his right hand into the air for emphasis. She leaned forward just slightly, testing him as if he honestly did know. Of course, he did, so he was careful to keep his breathing right and to trick his body into thinking that it was true—which, for his own sake, seemed a lot easier than it should have been. "Why don't you tell me?"

"Exactly! He won't talk to me ever since we planned our wedding day! I mean, sure, we talk but we don't talk like we used to and every time I ask if something's wrong, he just says 'no, nothing's wrong' like it's true! It's so hard to talk with him now!" She let out a breath and turned to face him. "So, how's your family?"

"Leroy's in first grade-"

"Already? Last I checked he was just in preschool!"

He smiled. "I know, right? And, anyway, Nina's starting to tinker with my ex's Automail and just a few days ago she put together this train set, all by herself. We think she's going to follow in Leroy's steps."

"Wait, your ex? You mean you and Winry got divorced? Why! You two were so perfect together!" He grimaced for a moment. "Is that why you came to Xing!"—She jumped off the desk, leaning over slightly—"Because if it is, that's a shitty ass reason!"

"You've obviously been spending way too much time with Alphonse." He cut her off. "And, no, that's not why I went to Xing. I went to Xing because I needed to. Don't you dare cut me off. We can finish this conversation later; Lieutenant General Mustang is ready for you." As he said that, the door opened and out walked the man he had never met, giving him a glare with his cold steel eyes.

Mei started towards the door—which had been left open—before he caught the shift of her shoulders and her hand moving. He was beside her in an instant, holding her back by the collar of her kimono. She growled at him, telling him to let her go, but he ignored her as he held his right hand out, saying "give them here."

She growled for a moment before slapping the kunai knives down, adding in four more throwing knives with long red ribbons tied to them and a few throwing needles from her hair. "When I said 'give them here' I meant all of them, Mei." She glared before bending over and untying a small container from her right ankle, handing it over along with the handful of different Bangs. "Merci."

She rolled her eyes as he released her collar and turned to the others. "I'm going to take my lunch break." He started walking towards the door before he caught the movement completely within his blind spot and raised his hand, catching the knife between his first two fingers. The red ribbon drifted off of it, pulled around his wrist at the sudden lost of motion.

He left without another word.


When he came back, the others were all gone for their lunch breaks. The lights flickered on overhead and he took the moment to look at them before he pulled off his left glove and licked his fingers, squeezed them around the wick and put out both the candles. He sat down and laid out the weapons that Mei had just forcibly given him and looked at them for lack of anything better to do.

He picked up the knife that she had thrown at him and took off his other glove, pinching the ribbon between his thumb and forefinger as he ran the fine silk through there. He could already see them in the pentagram array, anchoring the flow to the Dragon's Call and vice-versa. He could see, in a powerful array, the red flying up with the energy, reaching into the middle and entangling itself with the other lines until a neat knot was formed and the energy locked away.

He slipped the knife in his pocket with his wallet and looked at his State Watch before he stood up and left once more, heading to the other side of the floor.


Three hours later, Mei finally skipped out of Mustang's office and stopped to look at Ed's empty desk. "Where's Edward-kun?" She asked, facing the others. All but the woman shrugged and she pouted for a moment before gathering her weapons, counting them off. "Hey! He has my other receptor!"

"You did throw it at him." Mustang pointed out behind her. She looked up and gave him a dirty look before throwing one at the side of his head. It lodged itself in the wall beside him and he didn't even flinch! "You're only digging the hole deeper," he pointed out, raising up his left arm and caught the knife between his thumb and forefinger, tossing it back underhand.

She stuck her tongue out at him as Ed walked into the room, making his way towards his desk. "Where's my receptor?" She demanded.

"I put all your weapons and Alkahestry tools on my desk," he pointed out, "obviously you had to have counted incorrectly." He stood behind it, opened the top and grabbed out some reports he had completed earlier in the day, tucking them under his left arm.

"Then turn out your pockets."

He looked up at her out of the corner of his right eye and arched his brow. "You're kidding me, right?"

"No. Do it. Now."

He rolled his golden orbs and placed the papers down on his desk, reaching into his pockets. He took the moment with his right pocket to pull out his wallet and leave it on the desk, on top of the documents, before once more replacing his hand in his pocket. He turned them out, showing the white cloth before replacing them. He grabbed up his wallet once more and returned it to his pocket.

"The one with your watch in it." She crossed her arms, showing that she wasn't impressed just yet.

He shook his head and reached up, pulling the State Watch from it and pulled the pocket out next. "Are we done yet? I have a meeting I have to get to."

"Show me the inside of your gloves."

"I'll take that as a 'no'," he muttered and took them both off, flipped them inside out. He waited for her head to nod before he flipped them back and put them back on. "Now can I go? I'm going to be late at this rate."

"Fine," she grumbled. He gave her a smile and patted her shoulder before he picked up the papers once more, placed them under his arm and slipped his right hand in his pocket. "We're still on for dinner, right?"

"Yeah, same place," he nodded over his shoulder. He removed his hand from his pocket as he got closer to the door. The moment he got within the length he'd need to be to open it, he pivoted around and threw the knife.

She squealed and ducked, wrapping one arm around her stomach and one arm around her head. There was a long pause before she looked up and saw her knife there with a tag he'd added with a face sticking its tongue out. She made a frustrated noise and yanked it out, turning toward the door, which had been left open. She rushed out and looked both left and right before she stomped her foot. "Where did he go?"


In the tallest room of the Main Street Clock Tower sat a man with a hidden face, leaning back in his chair with his head pressed against the wall behind him. Through the large window to his right he could hear the sound of loud voices and cars honking, the sound waves echoing through the room and making it seem twice as loud.

The radio on his left cracked and an Alchemized voice came across it, telling him that his target was spotted walking onto the heavy street. The moment he heard it, he was out of his seat and at the window, the scope of his sniper easily helping him take aim as he waited for the figure.

Within two minutes, a blue clad man came into his reach. His shoulders were slumped and his left hand was raised, raking through his hair as he let out a deep breath. His finger was on the trigger, already pulling back when the man bent over, picking up a few papers he had dropped. Too late, the loud explosion hit his muffled ears, making him realize how far back he had pulled as people on the street screamed, running away.

He, however, didn't run fast enough. His second bullet sliced through the man's pale skin, right under his shoulder blade at an angle that would prove his skill to the one he was trying to impress. The black haired man fell down, clutching his shoulder with his knees pulled up close to his chest as his entire body shook.