So... here's the next chapter! Thanks to the guest reviewer and Shiloh Moon for being the first to review!

So, just to clarify, this takes place in the Brotherhood universe, though I might just add a few things that were in the 2003 series, like maybe a character or two that appeared in the 2003 series... Also, I'm not sure exactly at what point during the series does it start, though it's somewhere between seasons 2 and 3.

I actually feel fairly good about this chapter. There's some comic relief in here, as well as a hint of Royai (though to all you fans of the pairing, it's really only just a hint. BLINK AND YOU'LL MISS IT!) Though it does get a little angsty afterwards...

Please review and tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I regret to inform you that I do not own any of this... as awesome as that would be.

"Still no sign of him," Roy sighed, not even bothering to look up from the mountain of paperwork that was currently giving him a massive headache. As much as he hated even looking at paperwork, he also didn't want to see the look of disappointment on the boy's face that would inevitably result from the words he had just said.

Al sighed and flopped himself on the couch. He had been hearing those words, or something very similar, for the past half-year, but they still managed to hurt him every single time. Every time he came here, with that desperate hope that there was some proof that his brother was still out there, still alive, only to be dashed almost immediately when he stepped inside Roy's office… it just made it that much more difficult to hold onto that dying hope. "Nothing at all, huh?"

"Unfortunately not," Roy replied, setting his pen down and looking up. He figured he might as well focus his attention on the boy and the discussion that was no doubt inevitable. "It's the same as always. Just a bunch of rumors and claims that someone saw him, but when it's investigated, there's absolutely no proof that he was there at all." He pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "Your brother isn't making this very easy." The understatement of the century, Roy thought to himself—Ed was making this all but impossible for everyone else.

Al didn't say anything for a few moments, knowing that he should probably leave, as there was nothing else to say at this point. But at the same time he didn't think he could make himself leave, and that wasn't just due to the weakness that still lingered in his limbs as a result of his body wasting away in disuse for five years. He knew how likely it was that there would still be no news on his brother's whereabouts, that the search was probably still just as fruitless as his own attempts to remember exactly what happened that fateful night, but he refused to give up. After all, if it were he who was missing, he had no doubt in his mind that Ed would tear the world apart searching for him. But then again, it probably wouldn't have taken him nearly this long to do so.

Roy was right—Ed wasn't making things easy at all. His brother had been as elusive as a ghost, stubbornly refusing to be found and leading all of Amestris on a wild goose chase that seemed at times like it would never, ever end.

Al finally groaned and asked, "Why does he have to do this? I mean, I know he thinks this is for the best, but does he really think he has to do this on his own? Doesn't he understand how this is affecting the rest of us?" He wanted to go and knock some sense into his older brother, make him understand just how worried he and Winry and everyone else was, and tell him that he was right there to help him deal with whatever it was he had to deal with—if only Al knew where he was in the first place.

"You know him," Roy told him carefully. "He's only doing it because he feels it's absolutely necessary. And look on the bright side—they haven't found him, either." Roy knew he didn't need to clarify what he meant by "they."

"I guess," Al said, not really feeling any better about the whole situation. "Still, I feel so useless when it comes to all this. Brother's out there, somewhere, and I can't do much of anything about it." He took a deep breath. "I can't stand not being able to do much of anything about it. And… I know that I might be able to do more, if only…"

"No," Roy said firmly. He knew where this conversation was going—it had been brought up on several occasions since Ed's disappearance. Roy, of course, had always shot down Al's suggestion thus far, and this time was not going to be any different. "You're not going to join the military."

"How else am I supposed to do this?" he protested. "It'll be so much easier for me to search for him and figure out what he was trying to do if I had access to all those resources as a State Alchemist. I can just take that test right now—"

"You're only sixteen, Alphonse," Roy pointed out.

"Well, Brother was only twelve." Al reminded him stubbornly. "If he was able to do it then, then I should be perfectly capable of doing it now, right?"

"Your brother was an exception. One of the few cases where someone younger than legal adult age was permitted to take the exam." Roy steepled his fingers, remembering when Ed had showed up to take the exam, the determination that flared in his golden eyes, so different from the hopeless look they held when Roy had first met him. "And speaking of your brother, I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't want you involved in this. He'd kill me if he ever found out that I let you become a dog of the military."

"But he's gone, which is why this is being brought up in the first place. If he'd never left, and had just told me what was going on, I wouldn't have to even think about it in the first place."

Roy shook his head. "That's not going to change my mind," he said. "And anyway, you're not the sort of person that would belong being in the military in the first place." Ed's younger brother had always been the softer of the two, that much had been clear to Roy from the very beginning. While Ed had long since developed that tough outer shell necessary for life in the military, Al had managed to retain his sense of innocence over the past five years. This was the kid who picked up stray cats on a regular basis because he "couldn't just leave the poor thing out in the cold like that." How the hell was such a kid supposed to face the horrors of military life, when there were certain aspects of it that even his older brother couldn't handle?

"What do you mean?" Al asked him. "I've practically already been a part of the military, considering how I've always gone with Brother on assignments and whatnot. This can't possibly be any different, can it?"

Roy leaned forward, his obsidian gaze locked onto the teen before him. "Look," he said, "I understand that you're desperate to find him, as everyone else is, but trust me when I say I'm doing everything I possibly can. You don't need to join the military just because you think there's no other way for you to find your brother."

Al gave a sigh of defeat, knowing that the conversation wasn't getting him anywhere at this point. "I guess so," he muttered. He stood up, feeling a little wobbly—but he didn't need a cane to walk at this point, thankfully. He headed towards the door, but stopped briefly to look back at the Colonel. "You'll tell me, right? If you find anything that has to do with… with where he is…"

"I already told you I would, didn't I?"

The teen nodded, knowing that would be good enough—for now, at least. With that, he turned on his heel and left the office, trying to convince himself once again that soon, soon, they would find out where his brother was, as well as discover the mess that made him leave in the first place.

Only a few minutes after Al left, another person came into Roy's office—none other than Lieutenant Hawkeye herself.

"Colonel," she greeted, striding swiftly over to stand right next to his desk. "I just saw Alphonse on my way here. He was inquiring about his brother again, I presume?"

Roy nodded. "He's still so determined to find out what happened to his brother. And every time… every time I have to tell him that we haven't found anything just yet, any more than he has, as much as I really wish I didn't have to. It's always so difficult, having to tell him that." Roy stopped, and then, in a sudden display of frustration that was actually rather unusual for the colonel, slammed his fist on the desk, sending papers flying everywhere. "Damn it, Fullmetal, why the hell did you have to go and do this?" he growled, even though he knew the answer. It was extremely important, enough that the corrupt upper echelon of the government was very invested in it, especially the Fuhrer himself—and by default the homunculi as well. But he didn't know what about the whole situation was that imperative that Ed had the government chasing after him—almost no one did. It made Roy Mustang that much more determined to find the Fullmetal Alchemist, if only to give the boy a piece of his mind for taking off like that and not bothering to inform anyone else about the situation, let alone ask for help—because, even though he would never openly acknowledge it, there was a part of him that legitimately cared about the younger alchemist, hence why he was just as determined to search as Al was. Roy wasn't just doing it for Ed's younger brother, much as he liked to pretend otherwise.

In response to the colonel's outburst, Hawkeye simply stooped down to pick up the papers that had fallen to the floor, then the papers that were now scattered across Roy's desk, shuffled them into a single, neat stack, and placed them back on the desk in front of Roy. "I understand that it isn't easy, sir, but there really isn't much else you can tell him at this point, is there? After all, you are doing all you possibly can. That's really all he's asking of you."

"I know, but that doesn't make it any easier to tell him." In fact, Roy was pretty sure that one would have to be soulless, inhuman, in order to not be affected in such a way by the look on the boy's face whenever he was told that his older brother was still nowhere to be found. It was yet another thing that made Roy want to slap Fullmetal in the face the moment he found him. Didn't Ed realize how much his disappearance was upsetting his younger brother? "And then there's the fact that he thinks joining the military is his best bet, when in reality it's not going to make the search go any faster."

"He brought that up again?" Riza asked, a touch of concern lacing her words. She understood perfectly the colonel's resolve to keep Alphonse out of the military—the younger Elric just wasn't cut out for military life, at least not in terms of his personality. Though Al didn't seem to realize that, even if Roy had no qualms about letting him join the military to look for his brother, he would still have difficulties in doing so, not only due to his age but also the fact that his body wasn't exactly in peak physical condition quite yet—after all, it had spent the last several years wasting away somewhere without a soul. But then again, Alphonse so clearly possessed the very same stubborn determination that Ed did—it was one way that they were very much alike—so she wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if he had ultimately succeeded.

"Yeah, and of course I told him no. Hopefully he won't bring it up again next time. He doesn't need to go through all that just because his brother refuses to be found." Roy blew out a breath, the stress of his job weighing heavily on his shoulders, and ran a hand though his hair. "I'd say that trying to find him is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but the truth is, a needle can't run away and hide somewhere else if you get anywhere close to finding it." And, Roy thought, scowling at the massive stack of papers in front of him, it won't create a ton of paperwork in the process. Roy had no clue how it was even possible, but somehow Fullmetal had managed to create even more paperwork after disappearing off the face of the earth than he created normally (which was a lot to begin with already). He mentally added it to the list of things he'd get back at Ed for upon finally finding him. But in the meantime…

It was unfortunate for Roy at that moment that Riza had always been able to read him very well—she knew exactly what he was thinking as she said, "You know you're going to have to do it. It'll probably be best for you to get it done before you leave today."

"I can't," Roy told her, a legitimate excuse already ready for him to use. "I've got a date tonight."

"Well, I'm sure whoever this girl is, she wouldn't mind at all if she knew you were held up by something rather important." If he didn't know any better, he would say that there was a touch of jealousy in Riza's tone. "Because you aren't getting out of it that easily, Colonel." The look she gave him implied just how serious she was, and Roy groaned, feeling his headache coming back to him in full force just thinking of all the paperwork he was going to have to do.

Paperwork. The bane of his existence.

But Hawkeye really wasn't about to let him get away with not doing paperwork—in fact, Roy knew she wouldn't hesitate to pull one of her guns on him, if not both, if he continued to try and get out of it. So, in the end, he gave in, but that didn't stop Roy from grumbling about it the entire time.

The dream wad devastatingly familiar to Winry—she had experienced it over and over again almost every night since the day she'd found that Ed left. Yet somehow, even after six solid months, the dream never failed to hurt her in a way that lasted long after she had already woken up.

She dreamed she was back in Resembool, back in her childhood home, standing in front of one of the windows in the living room. Winry wasn't entirely sure why she was just standing there, though, and was about to leave and go do something productive, such as working on automail, perhaps, or making dinner—but just then she noticed the all-too-familiar figure standing outside on the grass, staring up at the glittering night sky.

She went outside curiously, wondering what Ed was doing outside. Perhaps he was in one of his more contemplative moods, though that wasn't necessarily a good thing, considering how it sometimes weighed him down with unnecessary guilt over things he stubbornly believed were his fault, regardless of whether something truly was his fault or not (it usually wasn't). Ed would always pretend that everything was okay even after getting into such a mood, and seemed to think that Winry (or everyone else, for that matter) wouldn't notice, but she did. After all, she'd known him pretty much her whole life, and so therefore knew him far better than most people did, save for Al and Granny Pinako. It was only natural that she'd be able to see right through him.

She was about to ask him what was bothering him this time, but then he turned around, and the words caught in her throat. At that point, she could do nothing but take in the sight of him standing there, the wind gently toying with his braid, his exotic honey eyes locked onto her, filled with an emotion that Winry couldn't understand at all.

Because he looked so… so sad. It was as if that emotional agony was etched into every last golden fleck in his eyes, which made her recall a time when he wore a similar look of despair on his face—the days immediately following the failed transmutation of his and Al's mother. It hurt her just as much as it did then, but somehow the fact that Winry couldn't for the life of her figure out why he was so sad made it even more heartbreaking, especially since something told her that it wasn't so much that she didn't know as she didn't want to know what was upsetting him like that.

"Winry…" he whispered, a single tear making its way down his cheek. "I'm sorry…"

And with that he somehow vanished right in front of her, leaving Winry standing there, suddenly feeling far too alone.

As a result, her mind instantly jerked back into consciousness, her eyes opening wide before shutting again almost immediately after, blinking against the late-morning sunlight streaming through her bedroom window.

After a moment she sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes while she reminded herself that it was just a dream. She wasn't in Resembool, she was in Rush Valley, and as for Ed… he was missing, He had been for six months. And it was remembering that which caused the ache in her chest which would not fade for some time, just as it had done almost every day since he first went missing.

So really, there was only one thing she could do that had any chance at all of helping, even if it wasn't likely that it would help at all. Even so, after she got dressed, brushed her teeth and ate breakfast, she immediately went to the phone and called Al.

HE picked up almost immediately. "Hello?"

"Hey Al, I hope you weren't busy or anything—"

"If you're calling to ask about Brother, I've got nothing."

Winry didn't say anything right away, letting the words rattle around in her head for a little bit before speaking. "Nothing at all, huh?" She sighed. She knew the answer before she even picked up the phone, but still, she had hoped against all reason that this time, things would be somehow different.

"Yeah, same as always. I'm not any closer to finding him as I was before, and neither am I any closer to finding out why he left in the first place." That, unfortunately, still hadn't changed at all, no matter how much both of them wanted it to. "It'd probably be a little easier if I were part of the military, but Colonel Mustang still won't let me."

"Well, to be fair, Ed wouldn't want that for you, regardless of the reason for it. "You know he—he did keep you from having to go through certain things…" It was one of the few things Winry knew concerning Ed that Al seemingly did not—the full extent to which the elder Elric would go for the sake of protecting his younger brother. Every now and then he'd come back from a mission fairly injured, automail broken, and with Al demanding to know why he went by himself, and though Ed never said anything outright about it, Winry could tell by the haunted look in his eyes, as well as how he couldn't seem to look at Al when confronted about it, that for whatever reason, it was something he didn't think his little brother could handle.

"And anyway," she continued, "didn't you already find a workaround for that?"

"Yeah, but it is pretty flawed. After all, I'm stuck relying on someone else to get certain documents for research. And it's not like he left behind any clues." The only thing he'd left behind was that note, and Al had legitimately tried to decode it, hoping his brother had left some encrypted message that would at least hint at the answers he was searching for. But either the code was just far too complex for him to figure out, or the note wasn't encrypted to begin with, because Al had gotten absolutely nowhere with it.

With all the time that had passed without so much of a hint as to where Ed was or why he left in the first place, it seemed a miracle that both were still able to hold out the diminishing hope of seeing him again.

Winry was about to say something, but just then she heard Mr. Garfiel calling her name.

"Winry, darling, there are some customers here for you!"

"I gotta go," she told Al. "I… I hope you find him soon."

"So do I. Bye, Winry."

"Bye."

When she'd first discovered that Ed was missing, the first thing she wanted to do was find him, no matter what it took. Then the question came up: what could she really do about it? The answer, as disappointing as it was, had been absolutely nothing. She was just an average girl with a talent for automail, and the situation was about so much more than someone going missing—there were things involved that she could never hope to understand. There was really only one thing that she could possibly do.

So today she did the same thing she'd been doing not only for the past six months, but since that fateful day when the brothers had first left on their journey. She waited patiently for him, trusting that he'd be okay and that he'd come back to her, just as he had always done.

"Envy, is there any news at all on the boy's whereabouts?"

Envy shook his head. "Nope. Damn pipsqueak is still hiding. Well, if he thinks he can get away with playing a game of cat and mouse, then he has another thing coming for him, because I have absolutely no problems being the cat." In fact, it was Father's decree that he be kept alive that was the only thing stopping Envy from killing him. The so-called "hero" that so many humans looked up to was really just a pathetic brat who couldn't even take a life, and just thinking about that fact sickened Envy. Not to mention how the pipsqueak couldn't even be bothered to be a good little human and not completely fuck with Father's plans, which made him just that much more infuriating.

"I must admit, he is quite impressive for someone who's only human," Father murmured thoughtfully. Though he supposed he shouldn't be all that surprised, considering this boy was the offspring of the man he had been made from. Even so, they were still only human—and there was no way he would ever lose to a human. "But one way or another, he must be found. If my suspicions are correct, he might just have found a way to achieve what I've been looking for all this time."

Envy understood immediately what Father was referring to. The surge of incredible power was something that was impossible not to feel, and he'd been ordered to investigate it immediately after it happened. He wasn't sure how the hell the pipsqueak had managed to best him, but that had been the last anyone had seen of thee Fullmetal Alchemist. But that wouldn't be the case for much longer.

"Of course, Father," he replied with a grin. With that he left, thinking of all the ways he could get his hands on Edward Elric once and for all.

Father watched as he left, still thinking. The boy had messed with his plans, effectively delaying the Promised day, and at the same time provided him with an intriguing alternative. It was only a matter of time before he could finally become the perfect being, the god, that he'd been planning to become. Father could easily be patient just a little longer—after all, he had centuries of being patient, making sure that all the dominoes were lined up correctly, so to speak. What was a few more months in comparison?