Chapter 2: Newfound Power

"You don't have to tell me… because… I saw it. When you touched me and I noticed your arm, it was like the physical connection between us allowed me to look into your head, into your mind. I saw the memory of what you did when I brought up your arm, and I know your brother is just a sould bonded to armor. Look, if you want to focus on getting your bodies back, do that. Don't worry about me if I am just going to further delay your search, alright? I'm sure that I can figure something out." Hughes, Hawkeye, and Mustang looked from me to Edward, and back and forth again a few times before Edward growled at them, took my arm, and led me out into the hall and down a ways into a barracks room that contained a bunk bed, and a small table, shoved me in, and quickly shut the door behind him.

"Valerie… You saw into my mind?"

"Yes. I had always read in novels that some vampires got lucky and traits they had as humans would carry down into their vampire lives. But, telepathy? I never even thought it was possible. Maybe its because I always like to listen to people when they had things to get off their chest…."

"Could there be a way to, I don't know, make the link stronger?"

"If physical contact started it, then physical contact would be the only way to see into your mind and I'm not gunna force myself onto you just to strengthen a telepathic bond with you, Ed."

"You act like I wanted to jump in the sack with you so we could share all our dirty little secrets. I'm saying is there another form of physical contact that we could use that could link us so that we can speak through our minds? Sometimes, some things are best left unsaid in front of others. And if we come up with leads that we don't need people to know about?" I pushed him up against the wall, and he seemed to go pale and rigid underneath my firm grasp. I could her him thinking… God, what the fuck was I thinking? Shes a friken vampire, and here I am, a smart ass, dragging her off and making her think the wrong thing about me! God I cannot understand women… Why am I worrying about any of this now when I should worry about her? Then again, why should I….

"You know, Edward, I kinda like seeing into your head." I let him down and he sighed, but I still stayed within close proximity to him, a way to keep the link active. I heard him swallow, saw tiny drops of sweat trickling down his forehead as his nerves went haywire with me so close, and I got my face closer to his. I breathed over his lips, and I could sense he was nervouse about my next move, and I gently pushed my lips to his and he relaxed. I felt his arm snake around my waist as my hands gripped at his shirt, holding for dear life as he began to kiss me back. Well, I must say I was beginning to become some sort of seductress… He quickly pushed me off and I chuckled to myself as he stared in awe at me.

"I just heard your thoughts!" I smiled and nodded.

"You're some type of seductress, huh? Those are far from the words I would use to describe you." He sounded smug as his fingers trailed over his slightly swollen lower lip.

"Hey, I call it on how I act. I was quite the heartbreaker back home you know… the boys wanted what they couldn't have, and I didn't want a boy, I wanted a man. Basically, you fit that description perfectly, as much as I hate to admit it. I'm not tying you to me." God, I felt as though my knees were going to crumple nder me at any second. I knew this guy for a whole day, not even, and I was hitting on him… What the hell? He was pobablly younger than me too, and I didn't want to seem like a creep to him! I just wanted help…

"Creep, huh? Honestly, I quite enjoyed that… I wouldn't mind that all over again… God, what am I thinking?!" I laughed as Edward swept his bangs out of his face, and then glared at me.

"Well, strengthen the bond, check. You know, I think I hear everyone coming down the hall, trying to make sure that I don't kill you because you were being a jerk. We might want to-" and the door flew open before I could move away from the position we had managed to get into. His arms were still tangled around my waist, my arms around his neck with my face buried in his chest, hands gripping the back of his shirt, still pressed against the wall that I had pinned him to. The looks on all their faces were priceless… And with that, a lot of yelling progressed and we were led back to the confines of Mustang's office, and told not to leave his sight because he could trust two hormone-enraged teenagers, which I took offense to right off. Finally, we had all sat and began to have a discussion about everything that happened to me in the Gate. I went into detail that the Truth had just told me that I needed to find the cure to vampirism in order to gain my humanity back, and nobody could figure out what it was that the truth really wanted. I was just thankful that they believed me.

"You know, I was thinking… What is the Truth wanted you to find a Philosophers Stone?" I cocked my head. I had heard that term, but it had been when I was younger and addicted to Harry Potter. While it had been known as the Sorcers stone, I knew that the british version was the philosophers stone.

"A stone that can prvide immortality? But, I'm already friken immortal. Why would a stone to immortality be the cure?"

"A philosophers stone, in simple terms, is an alchemic power source that can amplify a persons alchemy and ignore the laws of equivalent exchange. That's why it could be the cure…" Edward said, and everyone kind of put two and two together.

"Edward, you haven't found many positive leads on the stone as it is… How could she find it?" Mustang had sounded irritated at the suggestion. "Plus, she has no way to access the resources that you have. So, how would she go about finidng the stone, or any leads?"

"It's simple. She could study to take the state alchemists exam. She has a lot of potential to be able to pass. She has been through the gate, so obviously she must have had some sort of alchemy within her possession even if she didn't know it. That could be how she opened the gate."

"So, FullMetal, you want me to let her go out of my jurisdiction now to learn alchemy so she can take the State Alchemy Exam? If you haven't noticed, there are no female alchemists… How do you think she could possibly be able to pass the exam?" Mustang just didn't sound convinced that I could pass this thing! I stood up, glaring at the colonel.

"I will pass the exam. If You give me some time to learn alchemy, then I will promise you that I will pass the exam. Please, just let me learn and then you can recommend me! You managed to recommend Ed and he passed, didn't he?"

"Yes, Valerie. But then again, he was a child prodigy who managed to have the skills needed to pass this exam. But… I guess if you believe you can pull it off, I can allow you to learn and then take the exam upon the Fuher's approval. FullMetal, she is your responsibility, alright? I don't want to hear from you stating she has gone rampant and haywire…" God, what am I thnking?! She does hae a lot of potential though, so I cant complain. I believe that she could be a valuable asset in my group…

"Oh my god! Edward, I think… I think I just heard Roy's thoughts too… My telepathy doesn't just cover you… I can hear everyone's thoughts. Yours was through physical contact, though. So how do you think I heard Roy?!" I looked at Edward, unsure of how I was manageing to hea Roy's thoughts. That was until I began to hear Hawkeye and Hughes as well.

"Valerie, could it be because you fed? You get your strength from the blood you drink, so could it be possible you can also have the power to hear others though that as well because of your strength?" hawkeye suggested.

"True. Alright! So, I need to learn alchemy, so Edward… Where do we go?"

"Well, lets just say that we should go to our hometown of resembool. I need some automail repairs anyway, so staying there for a while wouldn't hurt. You ready, Al?" The three of us marched to the door, wishing the others goodbyes and promising to keep in touch about my progress. This was it… a new adventure. I really couldn't wait.

On the train….

I found myself watching out the window at the scenery as Edward snored in his seat next to Alphonse. I couldn't help but wonder about the fact that I could use alchemy… I wasn't from a world where alchemy even existed. I had heard about it, that's for sure, but it wasn't a practiced science or even theory. There was research on it, and in history it was used, but modern day alchemy wasn't even real.

"Not going to try and sleep?" Alphonse said. I turned to see him staring at me, and I nodded my head.

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't sleep… The whole immortal vampire thing kinda prevents it. I don't need the sleep… Its nice, but then again, not much of a point to it I guess…" I uncapped a silver thermos full of blood and took a swig off of it. I figured it would be best to keep myself full rather than risk someone getting hurt.

"So in a way your like me… You saw what brother and I did in his head? How much he thought about it right?" I could hear the sadness in his voice as he spoke about it. I had seen all the gorey details, ight sown to Ed sacrificing his arm to bind his younger brothers soul to the armor he was now trapped in… To think that they went through so much at such a young age made me cherish the fact that I at least had my parents around until I was almost fifteen.

"I guess you could say that, Al. Look, I'm sorry that I just dropped in on you guys with all these issues. You didn't have to help e you know. You two have enough on your plates as it is, trying to get your bodies back, and trying to figure things out as you go. I feel like im just this burden to you guys and I don't want to be. I want to be able to fend for myself, I want to be able to restore what I lost and just get home before my brother does something completely stupid. Without me around, he is a ticking time bomb because since our parents passed away, he has no self control. If he thinks something happened to me, he's gunna go rampant and off the rails, I just know it…"

"You aren't a burden at all! Besides, helping you might help us find the way to get our bodies back. Plus, you don't know many people, so we are the best shot you have at getting your humanity back. We cant just leave you with nothing you know. So… What do you think about the state alchemist exam? Do you think you could manage it?"

"Your brother thinks that I might have some sort of alchemic power without even realizing it. To be honest, he may be onto something. While alchemy isn't practiced in my modern time, nor even really thought about, I think that its possible since I remember my dad talking about alchemy with my mom. I used to filter through his office on weekends when he wasn't home, and een after he had passed away. I found these circles, and all sorts of notes on the science of alchemy and how to make it work. I never really thought twice about my father being an alchemist in general, I just thought it was a hobby. But if he was an alchemist, that say, came from another time or dimension, that would mean that I would be able to perform alchemy if I was in the right time and place to do so, right? Its not a far off theory in all reality…"

Our conversation went on and on until the sun set in the horizon and Alphonse pulled out an alchemy book and started reading, leaing me to go back to boredom and stare out at the night sky. There were so many stars here, and I never saw many in the city what with the building that towered oer our apartment complex. The most I got was hearing honking horns and sliers of moonlight that shone in my window when the moon reached its peak. I looked at Ed in his peaceful slumber and realized I really wanted to slep, even though I didn't have to. I figured a slight nap might do me some good until I heard some of Ed's dream. I could hear him talking, and then another voice that sounded kinda like mine, but I couldn't make out what they were saying… It was weird if you ask me. I leaned back and closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep.

"Valerie, come on, you know you can do this…"

"Dad, algebra's the absolute worst!" I crumpled up the equations I had jotted out and tried to sole, failing miserably, and aimed the paper straight for the trash can and started fresh on a new sheet of paper. My father smirked at me.

"Honey, you're overthinking the problem. If you lay it out step by step, like this, it would be far easier to solve and easier for you to understand. Your smart, Val."

"So, sleeping even though you don't need it?" I head the Truth again in my head, and whirled around to face it. How was I here again?

"Big deal if I am… What of it?"

"I figured you would be playing the part of an immortal rather than trying to act as human as possible. Besides, you are far from human now. You feed on the lives of others, and therefor you no longer need the trifle little things that humans need in order to survive. Your stronger, faster, and you can tell what they are thinking. I'm really surprised you haven't figured out more to your power as a vampire in this short amount of time. Arent they fairly popular in your world?"

"Just because I know about things that some can do doesn't mean all are capable of it. Usually, its one specific talent per being, not multiple per vampire…"

"Well, child… You will just have to try and find out…"

"Valerie!" My eyes flew open to find Edward's hand on my shoulders, and Al looking straight at me. I could feel the sweat on my forehead, and the tightness in my chest. The Truth was the last thing I had thought would pop into my head. But, that memory of my dad… Maybe it was a hint, but I couldn't be certain. I ran a hand through my hair, feeling its dampness and tugged it back into a messy bun and sighed as Ed sat back and stared at me.

"Were you in my head while I was asleep?"

"I could hear muffled thoughts, probably whatever you were dreaming about, but couldn't really make them out."

"What were you dreaming about, anyway? I thought you said vampires don't sleep?" Al asked me. I put my hands on my lap.

"Vampires think of sleep as a luxury, really. We don't need it to survive, but its nice once in a while to get some peace from the life we suffer from. Not that I got much pace at all…"

"You saw the Truth… When I woke up, it was because you were talking in you sleep. And I could hear it in your head loud and clear to top that off… Is that why you didn't want to really sleep in the first place?" Edward had caught onto the fact that I didn't want to sleep in earlier conversations, afrad that I would see the truth again. But, I couldn't hae fear keep me fom trying to maintain a sense of noramlty.

"yeah… I woied that i would see the truth, and I just didn't want to go through it again. But, I cant be afrais of something like that. I wont give in… I will find a way to get my humanity back and go home. I wont be a burden on anyones shoulders but my own, and I will live by the hand that I'm dealt…"

We had been walking for a while and Edward hadn't said so much as two words to me since we got off the train earlier that day. By now, it was high noon, and while he was sweating, I was walking along like nothing bothered me. It felt good to feel the sun on my cold skin, to jst enjoy a peaceful walk to wherever it was that we were going. Son enough, we came to a house, and it had a sign outside that read Rockbell Automail. Automail? That must be what Ed's prosthetics were called here. Everything here was far more advanced in a sense, but some things were far too simple compared to my modern time. There were no cellphones, laptops, or fancy cars. Everything was older fashioned, but science was far more advanced and alchemy was not only a personal gain but military gain as well. I saw two people on the porch of the house, one was waving to Ed but stopped when she saw me.

"Welcome home, guys!"

"Good to be back. It's nice to be able to get some time off in a way. Hope your making stew and some apple pie!" Edward lead me and Al into the house, and the two women watched me as though they worried that I was some deranged serial killed trying to trick Ed or something… I didn't want them to know about my involvement with the truth or what it had done to me.

I never thought about how they would react to me bringing some strange girl with me… Winry probably thinks I got in trouble, or that shes some sort of body guard. But I cant tell them about what she is; it could put them in danger, just as much as telling them about any of our involvement with the military… Ugh…

Ed… Lets just stick to a story of Im new to the area and you are teaching me alchemy until you can get me to your teacher? Does that sound reasonable enough?

Wha-? What are you doing in my head?!

Oh, figured id drop by and help you with a cover story to save my ass and protect them too…

We all sat around the table that night, and I had put off the food as though I wasn't all that hungry in the first place and I was on a diet so I could only have the special drinks that I had with me. Nobody thought twice about it, so I graciously sat at the table while everyone else ate and talked about new and coming things with automail, or progression on getting their bodies back. Eventually, I found myself looking through an alchemy book that Ed had given me later that day, and I found it fairly interesting and easy to understand, even though I was never the best at science. Before I knew it, the sun had set and everyone was in bed and asleep. I had managed to find some paper and drew out some simple circles, wanting to try some simple transmutations.

"How's the reading coming?" Ed spoke and I whipped around to face him. He stood there in just his black leather pants, his golden hair hanging loose around his shoulders. I smirked at him.

"At least I understand it, that's a plus. Honestly, I was never big on science and math, so being able to figure out these calculations and understand the gist of the circles and how transmutations work, im proud of myself. I remember when my dad used to help me with my algebra and science work because I never understood any of it, and he always managed to have a way that helped me to understand things so much better. The more I look at it in the way he used to break things down for me, it makes everything easier to grasp and understand…" I ran a hand through my pale blond hair, and leaned back into the couch as I closed the book for the night. I wasn't entirely sure what I would do tonight, since I didn't want to overload myself on alchemy that night. I felt Ed sit on the couch next to me and move the book to the table, opening it to a page that talked slightly about the philosophers stone.

"You know, it was said that Xerxes was a city that had been wiped out in a single night. Nobody really knew what it was that happened to cause the destruction that it did, but I have a clue. The philosophers stone; do you know what it's made of?" I shook my head, as I hadn't really read much on the philosophers stone. "So, the philosophers stone, said to be an alchemic amplifier, we found out the hard way that its made from human sacrifice… Im guessing that Xerxes just so happened to be made into a philosophers stone, leading it to destruction… If the Truth wants a philosophers stone, it made you a vampire in order to create a philosophers stone through your need to feed. If you killed enough people, then you probably could have made a small philosophers stone…"

"Why would someone sacrifice mass amounts of people just to gain immortality knowing the cost? I would never be able to hurt, let alone kill anyone… So why would the Truth want a philosophers stone?"

"I'm not really sure… It's only a theory though…" I watched him as he skimmed through the book, pointing out different elements and trying to talk me through how to activate and use a transmutation circle. I hadn't gotten around to even trying the ones I had found that seemed simple enough, but I gathered the papers up, placing them on the table. Ed looked at me, shocked to see what I had done.

"You managed to draw a perfect circle, but you didn't try them?"

"Nope. You came down here before I could even get a shot at it. I figured they seemed like the most simple circles in the book, and I couldn't do much damage with them." I took the top one rom the pile and laid it on the floor, while Ed had managed to gather some ashes from the fire place to use in the transmutation. He walked me through the steps, and I managed to make a perfect little tree from the ashes and paper, even though it was slightly deformed. I smiled, glad that it seemed I could transmute easy enough.

"Well, at least we know you can perform alchemy. Starting tomorrow, we hone your physical skills, right along with your knowledge of alchemy." He stood up, stretching and yawning. Poor kid looked beat, like he hadn't slept decent in days, or weeks even. But, he didn't seem to mind helping me with my alchemy whatsoever since I didn't sleep.

"Ed, you should get some sleep you know. I may not be human, but you are, so you need food and rest." I stood and pushed him towards the stairs, and he huffed under his breath.

"I hate knowing you're awake down here, all alone. Sure, Al doesn't sleep either, but… You're my responsibility."

"Edward, just go. Go get some rest, and we can do whatever you want me to do tomorrow. If you want, I'll even try to sleep." At this, his shoulders relaxed, and he sighed to himself.

"You're saying that to make me feel better. You wont sleep, because you know that you'll see the Truth again. I may have only known you for a few days, but I have seen into your head and you have seen into mine enough to know that the Truth isn't something that people want to see…" I felt myself move and wrap myself around Ed and he froze on the spot. My arms had wrapped around his neck, my head on his shoulder and buried in his neck, inhaling his scent. He was a comfort to me, knowing that he understood why I fear the Truth the way I did.

"Ed, just promise me you will try and get some rest, please?" With that, he finally agreed and moved away to go up to his room and get some rest. I made my way back to the couch and stared at the ceiling all night, wondering about if I would be able to get home, and if I would even want to by the time that I got to that point.

Days turned to weeks and eventually I had been in Resembool with the boys for a month and a half and had considerably honed my alchemy skills, as well as my combat skills. We had then decided to give Roy a call, and explain to him that we would be going to Dublith soon to see Izumi Curtis, the boys old alchemy teacher. Ed had felt as though I could learn a lot from her since that was where he had learned alchemy himself. And soon enough, we had arrived in Dublith.

"So, you want me to teach her more about alchemy? Why should I?" Izumi was skeptical about why I wanted to learn alchemy, I could tell that much by the tone in her voice. I proceeded to show her my skill in both combat and alchemy and she agreed to take me on as a student. But, I knew I wound t be able to hide my secret from her….

She's going to freak out when I tell her Ed! I think the whole learning from your teacher was a bad idea…

Valerie, calm down… She isn't going to flip her lid because of what you are. Shes far more accepting than that when it comes to the things that you cant control.

We sat at the dinner table later that evening and I managed to force myself to eat some human food while dinking blood from the thermos. It was when teacher gave me a look that I knew I would hae to tell her sooner rather than later.

"So, you saw it too… and you're from a completely different realm? Honestly, I would think you were crazy if I were a halfway normal person, but hearing that you saw the gate gives me proof enough to believe you. And you want to become a state alchemist?"

"Yes, miss Izumi… Its all I can do, really… I have to try to get back home. As much as me and my elder brother don't get along, he's all I have left, and Im all he has left… That's why I want to become a state alchemist; to fix what I did. To fix what I started, even though I have no clue how I managed to open the portal… The Truth turned me into a vampire, too, and I want to gain back what I lost…"

A/n: So, I know I am making major changes to the story line from the original, but I really think I went about writing it the wrong way the first time, so its like working from a whole new perspective. I have been working on this chapter since last night when I got home from work after eating a late dinner and was up till almost midnight, and then from ten this morning until a half an hour until I got ready for work today XD And, today marks the start of a new 5 ½ week term at college for me…. Things are going to b hectic, so I am going to try my best to get the next chapter written and posted by Wednesday evening. I managed to finish the first one, and the rewrite of Forbidden isn't going to be any different! I hope you have all enjoyed XD Reviews are much appreciated!