When Ed woke up the next morning, he saw no Al in the room. This wasn't the first time and he knew what Al was doing before he picked up the note on the nightstand.

'Out for a walk. I'll be back in the morning. Al'

Ed stood up and stretched before putting on his shoes and snatching his coat. The breakfast buffet was really tempting right now. Some scrambled eggs, sandwich with ham and orange juice would be nice. And of course, some chocolate cake afterwards.

He darted out of the room, but stopped abruptly by one of the phones. First he had to make a phone call to Shou Tucker. They would have to spend yet another day in his library to find some useful information about the philosopher's stone.

"Shou Tucker," the man answered after two signals.

"Hi, Mr. Tucker. It's Ed," he began.

"Oh, Edward! I was just about to call you!" the man said. "I think I've found something that might interest you!"

"Really? What is it?" Ed couldn't keep the curiosity from his voice and Tucker chuckled warmly.

"I think it's easier if you come over and see it for yourself, but it's something that might give you some clue in your research."

"Really? That's great! When can we come over?" Ed asked. He couldn't wait to see what it was.

"Right now if you want to." There was a short pause on the other line. "But this is something that I want to show you first, so don't tell Alphonse about this yet. I want to know what you think."

Ed thought about this for a moment. He didn't want to make his brother excited over something that might turn out to be a disappointment. It was better if he took a look at it at first.

"Alright, I'm coming over right now. Expect me in a few minutes!"

"See you soon then," Tucker said before Ed hung up.

Tucker sighed in relief. This was going smoothly right now. Nina was at her friends house to play during the day and Ed trusted him, no doubt about it. To fulfill his plan, he would have to take him by surprise. Rumors indicated that this wasn't a kid you fought down easily. Besides, fighting had never been Tucker's strong side.

Ed was standing by the outer door a few minutes later. He was panting since he had been running the whole way. He had decided to skip the breakfast buffet, which was very unlike him, but he had lost his appetite out of excitement and curiosity. And Tucker had always offered them something to eat when they were there on a visit.

He stood there catching his breath before knocking on the door, which soon opened, revealing the form of Shou Tucker. The man gave him a smile.

"You must have been running to get here that fast."

"Couldn't waste another minute," Ed replied and grinned. "Soo what do you want to show me?"

"It's in the library. There's a book on the table I want you to take a look at." Tucked gestured for Ed to come in. "You seemed really tired after yesterday so I thought I should lend you some help."

"Wow, that's really nice of you Mr. Tucker. You really didn't have to," Ed said, almost embarrassed. Tucker really was a nice man.

"It's nothing really. I'm a scientist after all. Researches are a part of my life," he said. "Why don't you go take a look and I'll prepare some coffee."

"Thanks." Ed headed for the library that was down the corridor. There on the table was an open book lying. He picked it up and began to read. Tucker's kindness was almost overwhelming. Ed had met few people as kind as him.

Therefore he was surprised when he felt something cold pressed against the back of his neck, followed by a stinging sensation. He whirled around, only to see Tucker standing in front of him. In his hand was something that resembled a gun, only smaller than a real one.

"What?" Ed asked utterly confused. His hand felt for his neck, wrapping around a small object and pulled it out. There was a small dart in his hand. Something was working its way through his veins right now.

"I'm so sorry for this, Edward," Tucker said.

Sorry for what? What was going on? What was he doing?

"What.. what are you doing?" His voice was slurred and he was feeling dizzy. "What have you done to me?"

The man said nothing. His form was becoming blurry. Ed realized that he needed to get out of here. Fast.

Tucker just watched as Ed stumbled past him out to the corridor, convinced that he wouldn't make it that far anyway. Ed's eyes were betraying him and so was his body. The legs were starting to feel numb and they soon gave out underneath him and he fell to the floor with a thud. He attempted to crawl the last meters, but failed as his muscles shut down completely. He was like an animal that had just been hunted down. The last thing Ed felt before the darkness swallowed him was a pair of hands gently lifting him up.

I know this was a short chapter, but it just seemed good to cut it here. Chapter 3 will be up soon:)