Ed was bored out of his mind. Not to mention confused and aggravated. Nobody knew where he was from, and he didn't know anything about where he was. And they wouldn't even let him out of his room. There was someone from the FBI guarding his door. Ed hadn't paid much attention when he had introduced himself, but he remembered the man saying his name was David Sinclair.

He realized he could have amused himself by watching TV, but some part of him didn't want to be caught assimilating to the technology of wherever he was. He wanted to read a book he'd gotten with his brother, but then he realized he didn't have any of his belongings other than what he'd been wearing.

He thought about his clothes for a while and began to look through them, seeing what all he had. To his relief, his watch was still attached to his belt. He took it off and sat back down, looking at the watch for a while.

Not knowing what else to do, he began flicking the watch open and closed. After a while, he looked more closely at it and was rather surprised. The watch was still working.

"That's interesting," Ed muttered as he closed it again.

"What is?" asked the man who had been standing out in the hallway for the past few hours. Ed started. He hadn't realized that Sinclair was there.

Ed pointed at the watch. "This is still working. I thought for sure it wouldn't after what happened."

"Yeah, we were wondering about that. It isn't waterproof, is it?"

Ed shook his head. "I don't see why it would be. I doubt the people who made it thought I'd be spending any time underwater."

Sinclair laughed and sat down. Ed went back to playing with his watch. He wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, especially not someone from the government of a country he'd never heard of. The room was quiet for a while.

"So… how did you get it?"

There it was. Another question Ed couldn't answer without talking about his country and making himself appear even more insane. He thought about the question for a while before deciding not to answer.

"Okay, never mind. How about the date that's carved in there?"

Ed paused. "It's just a date that's important to me."

"Why is it important?"

Ed was quiet for a long time as he thought about how to answer without saying too much. "It's a reminder."

"Of what?"

"So that I don't forget the biggest mistake I've ever made."

It was quiet for a while longer. Then Sinclair spoke up again. "I guess you don't want to talk about it."

Ed shook his head. "Not really."

The room was quiet again. Then Ed jumped as Sinclair's cell phone went off. As soon as he realized what it was, he sighed. He still wasn't used to the technology in this place.

As the FBI dude went out of the room to talk on his happy little phone, Ed went back to staring at the ceiling. He had a feeling that whoever it was on the phone was asking about him. Ever since arriving at this place, Ed had the feeling that he was caught up in more than just a murder case.

---------------

"What's up, Don?"

"We have another victim. I just got done at the crime scene."

Sinclair smiled, even though he knew Don couldn't see it. "So this kid isn't responsible for the murders?"

"He definitely has an alibi for this one, but someone called with a claim that she saw Ed at one of the other crime scenes. Fake limbs and all."

"So you're thinking he's an accomplice?"

"I don't think he is, but he's definitely involved somehow. Considering how we found him, I'd say he's a victim."

"Wait a second. If he's a victim, then why are his injuries different from the rest?"

"I've thought about that. We also have to consider the fact that he isn't the same as the other victims in a lot of ways. And then we add in that weird story he's been giving us… There's got to be something we're missing, but what?" Don was quiet for a while. "Maybe we'll figure this out when we take Ed to that psychologist."

"Yeah, about that, I think he's hiding something. It might not have anything to do with the case, but it's definitely suspicious."

"Right. We'll see how things go tomorrow."

Sinclair hung up and went back to the room. A nurse had brought food in while he was talking on the phone, and Ed had already eaten. Only one thing remained on the tray, and Ed was avoiding its gaze so much that Sinclair had to comment.

"What, you're not going to drink your milk?"

Ed responded with a death glare. Sinclair laughed to himself and sat down again.

"You know, milk's good for you."

"I don't care."

"It helps you grow."

"Are you implying that I'm short?" Ed growled dangerously.

"No, not at all. I'm just thinking about your ribs. If you drank more milk they wouldn't have broken so easily."

"If someone wanted me dead, I don't see how it would matter how easy it to break my bones."

"Yeah, good point. You- wait a second, how did you know about that?"

Ed folded his arms over his chest. "Why else would you be watching me if I'm not a suspect or whatever? I'm not stupid."

"Hey, nobody said you were. I'm just surprised you figured it out so quickly. You're pretty sharp."

Ed didn't reply to the compliment. He grabbed his watch and started fiddling with it, anything to keep himself busy. Once he was alone in the room, he sighed. There were going to be a lot of awkward silences while Ed was here.

----------------

Ed woke up very early the next morning. He sat up, looked around, remembered that he was going to be leaving the hospital later that day, and lay back down. He was asleep within minutes.

When he awoke, it was to someone gently shaking him awake. Ed opened one eye and saw that it was a nurse. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and sat up.

"Morning. We have one last checkup scheduled for you, and then you're free to go."

Ed raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, so you'll be going with Mr. Eppes to a psychologist. But hey, at least you won't be stuck in the hospital anymore, right?"

Ed smiled weakly as he did what he was told. He sat as still as he could as she checked his chest, occasionally putting more pressure than what was needed on his ribs. She stopped when she noticed him wince.

"All right, everything seems to be in order. If you can, you should come back in two weeks, just so we can make sure everything's healing the right way."

Ed nodded. "Thanks." He took his clothes and changed as the nurse left. Before he left the room, he grabbed his watch from the nightstand and looked inside again. "Don't worry, Al, I'll find you. At least, if you don't find me first." With that, Ed closed the watch and reattached it to his belt before walking out of the room.

Don was waiting for him just outside the door. Ed followed him through the hospital to the parking lot, and he got another shock when he saw just how different the cars were. Somehow, Ed managed to hide his surprise as they walked to Don's car.

As Don drove, he saw the strangest expression on Ed's face. It was a combination that was rare, a mix of boredom and fascination. He could understand the fascination, since Ed's mind was accustomed to early 20th century technology, but he didn't understand why Ed was bored.

After a while, Ed stopped staring out the window. "What exactly is this meeting about?" he asked.

"It's to check the status of your mental health and see if there are any problems that came from what you went through."

"So in other words you're seeing if I'm crazy."

They came to a stoplight. Don looked over at Ed as he waited for the light to change. "Yeah, that's pretty much it."

"Is it because I'm from somewhere that doesn't seem to exist?"

"Yep."

"The light's green."

Don started and looked up. Indeed, the light had changed, and he began driving again. "We're also going to see if there's any hope of you remembering what happened," he said as he pulled into a parking lot. He parked the car and turned it off before turning to Ed. "Listen, don't say anything about alchemy, okay?"

"That might be hard," Ed replied.

"Why?"

"It's been a really big part of my life for… most of my life, and I mean it's really something…" Ed trailed off. "A lot of things have happened to me because of it." As Ed said this, he unconsciously gripped his right arm. Fortunately, he noticed what he was doing fairly quickly and let go, but not before Don noticed.

"Did you lose your arm because of it?"

"Something like that."

Don looked at the clock in the car and sighed. "Okay, just… do your best. The only reason I'm telling you not to say anything is because it might make you look more insane than everyone thinks you already are."

Ed nodded and got out of the car. They walked quietly through the streets to an office. Ed sat quietly on one of the couches as Don talked to the receptionist. After a while, a door opened, and a friendly-looking man came out. The man introduced himself as Dr. Russo and led Ed into another room.

----------------

"All right, Edward, let's begin."

"Okay."

Dr. Russo pulled out a map and placed it on the table in front of Ed. "Do you see your home anywhere on this?"

Ed observed the map for a while, trying to picture the shape of the land around Amestris. After a while, he gave up. "No."

"Is there anything that resembles the land around your country?"

"No."

"Check again. There might be a sea or something that gives it away."

"There isn't."

The doctor wrote something down on a clipboard and put the map away. "All right. How well do you remember your country?"

"Well enough to know that it isn't a figment of my imagination."

"And how well is that?"

Ed sighed. "I've traveled around a lot. I've been to the major cities several times. I've met people from all over."

Dr. Russo took some more notes and put down his clipboard. "Are there any incidents in your childhood that you want to forget?"

Ed's first thought was the failed human transmutation, but then he remembered what Don had said. He nodded anyway. There were plenty of things he wanted to forget.

"Can you tell me what they are?"

Dammit, this guy's way too blunt. Ed took a deep breath. "Why do you need to know?"

"Edward, we're trying to understand how you're feeling at the moment. If you can't share these events, then how do you expect us to help you?"

"I don't need your help," Ed snarled.

"You may not think you do, but consider what you've been through in the past few days. And besides, you're missing a part of your memory. We're trying to help you, Edward. You don't need to lash out at us."

Ed glared at the man. "Who said I'm lashing out?"

Dr. Russo started. "That's what you were about to do, wasn't it?"

"No. I just don't see why I have to be here."

"Do you realize just how rare it is for someone to have a case like yours?"

"No, because I didn't think there was anything wrong with me."

"We aren't saying there's anything wrong with you, but do you understand the situation you're in?"

"Yeah, I understand it! I just got taken from my home and now I'm in some country where everyone thinks I'm crazy just because I'm not from around here!"

"Edward, sit down."

Ed sat down and glared at Russo. The doctor smiled and stood up.

"There's nothing wrong with what you're feeling. We're just trying to know more about you, so that we can return you to your home after this mess is sorted out."

"What do you want to know? How my brother and I lost everything in a single night and are still trying to recover? How we met someone so sick that he was willing to use his four-year-old daughter in an experiment? How someone almost killed us because we were Amestrian? Do you really need to know every single detail of my life?"

"Edward, calm down."

Ed continued, tears in his eyes. "I've seen hell! I've seen people die right before my eyes! I've put everything I have into helping the only family I have left! And you're saying that everything I've been through is fake?"

"No."

"Wha…?"

"Edward, sit down. I'll explain the situation to you, so be patient for a moment, okay?"

Ed sat down, still glaring at the doctor. "Okay, go right ahead."

"The fact that you remember events and seem to be able to remember specific details shows that you still remember the majority of your life."

"Then why-"

"Please don't interrupt. I've come to the conclusion that someone put this country into your mind. They didn't want you to do anything they didn't want you to do, so they convinced you that you're from a country that doesn't exist and promised you they'd help you return there."

"So you're saying I was brainwashed."

"It's simply a theory, but it fits the circumstances the best at the moment."

"Great."

The doctor stood up. "Well, that's it for today. I'm going to talk to Mr. Eppes, so wait here for a while. I'll see you in a few days."

"Eh?"

"We're going to be continuing these meetings until you're back to your normal self."

Ed was about to give the man a piece of his mind when the door shut, leaving him alone in the room.

------------------

Don didn't need super-awesome investigative skills to see that Ed was pissed. Nor did he need averagely awesome investigative skills. All he needed was one glance into the teenager's eyes. Those eyes said it all. And to Don, they were saying, "Why the hell am I here?"

Despite his position, he began to feel bad for Ed. Especially after his first encounter with Dr. Russo. Don sighed as he remembered what the doctor had said.

"We made a small amount of progress today, but it'll be a while before he lets go of his 'world.' The only thing I can suggest for whoever's going to take care of him is to watch him. Expose him to technology, to history, things he supposedly doesn't know about. If he's really convinced that he isn't from anywhere in this world, he'll show it."

"And what about his memory?"

"He probably lost it from shock. If that's the case, then there are ways to regain it, but he'll have to want it."

"I don't think that's a problem. He's gotten frustrated several times because he doesn't remember. Anyway, I'll bring him in next week. See you then."

He parked the car and got out. Ed followed silently as they entered the building. He gave Ed an ID and brought him to a room with a one-way window (or whatever they're called) and told him to wait there. Then he left and met up with Terry and David and the woman who had claimed she had seen Ed before.

The woman looked at Ed for several minutes before speaking. "That's definitely him."

"Do you remember what he was doing when you saw him?"

"He… was arguing with someone. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but he seemed scared, as if he didn't want whoever he was arguing with to do something. If that makes sense."

"It makes sense. Could you see who he was arguing with?"

"Yes, but his face was hidden. He had a deep voice, though, and he was about a foot taller than that kid."

"What did they do afterwards?"

"The man showed him something, and they left, but I don't think he wanted to follow the man."

"You didn't get to see what the man was holding, did you?"

"No, I didn't have the best view, and the guy was in the shadows."

"Okay, thanks for your help. We'll call if there's anything else."

Once the woman had left, Terry looked at Ed through the glass. "So I guess he's definitely involved now, but just what side is he on?"

"I guess we'll just have to wait until he can tell us himself," Don replied.

"Speaking of which, how'd it go today?"

Don pulled out Russo's report and looked it over again. "Well, Ed's definitely not happy. As for him hiding something, he did mention several incidents that are definitely things he wouldn't want to go into. Here, take a look." Don handed the report to Sinclair and waited as his colleague read through it.

"He said he lost everything in a single night? What did he mean by that?"

"I don't know, but there's a very good chance it has something to do with his arm and leg. But for some reason, I doubt any of this has anything to do with our case." Don took back the report and flipped to the back page of it. "Anyway, Russo said that it's possible to get him to remember, but from what he said, it'll be difficult."

"And what about that other issue? With his different country and everything?"

"He said to expose him to anything he wouldn't find in his 'world' and see how he reacts."

"So, just take him to Radio Shack or something. There's plenty there he won't know about."

"That might be a little overwhelming."

"Then what about a museum? From what we know about his personality, he seems like he'd enjoy learning about history."

Don shrugged. "We'll just have to talk to whoever's taking care of him from here on about it."

Terry and David exchanged glances. "Actually, we don't have anyone who can take him right now. Everyone we asked is too busy with their own problems."

"Everyone?"

"That's what I said. Anyone we haven't asked wouldn't be capable of watching him in case he's attacked."

"So what, you want me to take care of him?"

Terry smiled. "Well, he seems to like you the best out of all of us."

"True." Don looked back at Ed, who had pulled his watch out again. "Yeah, that might be a good idea."

"Good luck."

----------------

Ed sighed as he sat in the small room. He glanced at the mirror to his right and noted that he looked tired. Then again, considering the events of the day, he wasn't surprised. He suppressed a yawn as he waited for someone to tell him why he was sitting all alone in some room with a mirror. Then he remembered a select incident with Colonel Mustang.

Ed had been following the Colonel around on a tour of East City headquarters when they came to the crime division. Mustang had been particularly proud of a rather new addition to the area: a room with a mirror that allowed people on the other side to see through it with perfect clarity. "This is pretty new, Fullmetal. You're one of the first to see it."

So, they're watching me? Ed thought. Or is someone identifying me as a suspect?

Just then, the door opened, and Terry Lake walked in. She sat down across from Ed with a notepad in her hands.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

Ed shrugged. He didn't really know how he was doing. But he did want to know what sort of situation he was in, so he asked.

"We're trying to find the person who attacked you. Someone saw you arguing with someone near one of the crime scenes. From what she said, it sounded like he was threatening you. Do you know anyone who could have that kind of power over you?"

Ed thought about it for a while. True, there were several people who had the ability to control him, but he knew for a fact that none of them would go around murdering brown haired women. Envy might, but then again, that was Envy. He shook his head. "No, I can't think of anyone."

"Is there something that people could easily threaten you with? Something other than a weapon?"

Ed thought back to a certain threat from Wrath. "Yes."

"What is it?"

"When someone threatens the safety of someone I care about."

Terry understood immediately. "Like a hostage situation?"

Ed nodded.

"Okay." Terry went to the door and let someone in. The person sat next to Terry, across from Ed, and set a blank piece of paper on the table "This is a sketch artist, Ed. He's good at drawing people when you describe what they look like. Can you give us a physical description of your brother? Just so that we know what to look for?"

Ed nodded again. He thought about his brother, wondering where to begin. Would it be better to start with the Al he remembered from his childhood, or the Al he had seen when arriving at the doors to escape from that sea of blood. He decided to go with the former, knowing that talking about a starved body would put suspicion on the two of them, and he felt like there was enough he had to deal with at the moment. He finished by talking about the armor, stating that he hadn't seen Al without it for several years. Ed looked at the sketches. They were amazingly accurate in portraying the face Ed hadn't seen in over four years.

Once the artist had left, Terry looked at the drawings with some confusion in her eyes. "Ed, isn't your brother fourteen?"

"Yeah."

"This looks like a ten-year-old."

"Yeah."

"Why is that?"

Ed paused, trying to think of a good way to tell the truth without talking about alchemy. "It's because I haven't seen him… or more accurately, seen his face… for four years."

"But hasn't he been with you all that time?"

"Yeah, but he never takes off his armor."

"Why not?"

"It's… complicated."

Terry saw that Ed wasn't going to say anything more about it and put the drawings away. "Okay. We'll talk about this after we find him. Right now, though, you need to focus on other things. And just so you know, you're going to be staying with Don until we get this settled out."

Ed didn't know if he could argue or if he even wanted to argue against this turn of events, so he merely said, "Okay."

-------------

Note: I have no idea when those glass window one-way thingies were invented, and CLEARLY I don't know what they're officially called, so if I'm way off… IT'S CALLED ARTISTIC LICENSE! DEAL WITH IT! XD