A/N: Welcome back to the rewrite. This continues on the alternate opening to Lightning Strike so still lots of new content. The chapters for awhile will contain mostly new stuff before we get back into the story line from the original. Said story line will be less altered because, well, it follows the anime. But it WILL be better written, hopefully.

Thanks for all the reviews and support. Enjoy!

Chapter 2: The Too-Short State Alchemist

Previously

I aimed my glove at them. "Alright boys. I don't know if you're thieves, murderers or overzealous basement enthusiasts, but I'd step away from the building and go about your merry business."

The smaller figure whirled around, jumping to his feet. He had blonde hair and stood only a few inches taller than me, impressively short for a guy. He had blazing golden eyes that narrowed when he saw me.

"This is none of your business, little girl. Get lost."

My eyebrow twitched. "Little, huh? I think you just made a big mistake."

I restrained my temper around important generals, but short trespassers, not a chance. He was going to get a 'little girl' flavored taste of fury.

I clapped my hands together, drawing energy from the air around me. Being on the property of the shock alchemist, the atmosphere was ripe with static and other little materials I could use for my transmutation.

"Brother, she's an alchemist." The suit of armor said. I was surprised to hear such a young voice, coming from such a large being. He sounded younger than me.

"I noticed." The short boy said. He clapped his hands together and slammed them to the ground. My eyes widened.

"No transmutation circle?"

"That's right." The boy grinned. The air around me crackled with alchemic energy and the ground beneath me shifted as a spike rock shot up right below my feet. I didn't resist the movement, but rather moved with the sudden projectile, pushing off and flipping back before landing in a crouch a few feet away, my hands still pressed together. I had to allow the energy time to circulate before it could be of any damage. That was one of the disadvantages to energy alchemy.

"Nice try." I said. "But my aunt can deal out more damage than you."

"I'm just getting started!" the boy snapped.

"Brother…"

"Stay out of this, Al!"

The boy pressed his hands to the ground again, sending several more projectiles. I ducked around each missile then threw out my hands in front of me. "My turn now!"

A bolt of energy shot from my left hand, hitting the armor near the short alchemist. The person inside would receive a good shock and so would the boy standing next to him. It would be enough to stun but not to do any serious damage. Liz had no intention of killing anyone, especially not petty thieves.

As planned, the bolt hit the armor dead on, but he surprisingly didn't seem to falter. He just gasped in surprise, staring down at his body as if had noticed some kind of stain.

"Yeah, good effort." The blonde boy sneered. "But Al here is a little sturdier than that." He placed a hand on the armor, Al's arm and immediately stiffened, letting out a squeak of pain as the charged energy shot from the metal into his body.

"Looks like you're not though, pipsqueak." I smirked.

"Pipsqueak! Who the hell are you calling pipsqueak, little girl."

"The shorty who's about to get his ass kicked for that comment!"

"I'm taller than you!"

"Shut up!"

Al stepped forward, holding up his hands in a placating way. "Brother. Miss. If you don't quiet down, someone will—"

"Who goes there?!"

"Hear us." The armor mumbled, his head dipping.

"Shit." The blonde alchemist said as the light of a flashlight appeared around the corner. "Time to go, Al."

"Right."

They barreled past me, almost knocking me off my feet. The alchemist clapped his hands together, opening up a door in the stone wall. He and his brother burst through and took off running down the street.

"Damn it." I muttered under my breath as the voices drew nearer. I wasn't guilty of trespassing, but I wasn't going to stick around and be caught still on the property. So I charged after the two potential thieves before I could be spotted.

They were fast but with a little exertion, I managed to catch up, running right beside them.

"Who the heck was that girl?" the blonde boy was saying. "Psycho shorty with shock powers."

"The name is Liz Parker." I said. "And its energy alchemy."

"The hell?" The boy turned to look at me and in the process charged himself into a street light, knocking him flat to the ground.

"Edward." Al skidded to a stop to help the boy and I slowed as well, spinning to face them as the blonde sat up, rubbing his forehead. In the midst of his fall, something had dropped out of his pocket. A silver watch on a chain.

My eyes widened. "Wait, Edward?" I looked from the watch to his face. "You're Edward Elric, aren't you? The Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Yeah, what's it to you?" He muttered, standing slowly with Al's help.

"I'm just surprised." I cocked my head to the side. "I was expecting the youngest state alchemist to be…"

Edward's eyes narrowed. "Go on. Say Taller. I dare you."

"I wasn't going to say taller." I smirked. "I was going to say 'more impressive'."

"That's a synonym for TALL. I'm a COMPLETELY normal sized. I'm taller than you."

My brow twitched. "Yes, but I'm a girl and I have an excuse. Don't call other people small if you don't want to be called small."

"You started it!"

"I beg to differ!

"You—" Ed began but he stopped, swaying on the spot, looking a bit dizzy. "You…" he toppled back and Al caught him.

"Brother!" He shook his shoulders but Ed only grunted in response. "I think you hit that street light a little too hard. Oh, great." He looked around. "He needs to lie down or something. I knew we should have gotten a hotel before we decided to go sneaking around. Why does he never think things through?"

"How about this," I suggested. "I'll let him crash in my room until his head gets sorted out if you tell me why you two were snooping around the General's property."

"Noooo, Al. Don't promise her… anything…" Edward mumbled, his arms twitching a bit.

"You're the one who wanted to go sneaking around and doing suspicious things before we talked to the guy." Al glanced down at Edward before looking back to me. "Okay. Take us to your hotel room and we'll explain. Thank you."

"No problem." I gave a salute. "Just doing my civic duty and helping a state alchemist."

"You're just doing it because you're nosy." Ed muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" I asked, flicking him on the head as I passed, causing him to wince.

"Owww."

"That's what I thought."

Al, who I discovered was actually Edward Elric's younger brother despite being taller and far more responsible, carried Ed back to my hotel and lay him on the bed. I checked to make sure his pupils were dilating, just to make sure he didn't have some kind of serious concussion.

"They're acting a little funny, but it's nothing to worry about. It's probably a minor concussion at worst." I sat down the chair in the corner, crossing my arms. "And that's why you should always look where you're going."

"I wouldn't have run into anything if you hadn't distracted me." Edward protested, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Oh please, don't pretend like I'm the one in the wrong." I placed a hand to my chest. "As far as I knew, you two were thieves trespassing on the General's property. Why wouldn't I try to stop you?"

"She has a point, Ed." Al said, glancing at his brother. "We can't pretend we're innocent when we were sneaking around."

I decided I much preferred Al to his older brother. He was far more agreeable and logical, and he had yet to make a comment about my height. Edward on the other hand…

"Well, I thought it would be best to get a little information about the guy before we talked to him." Ed said. "Then we'd know what to do and where to look. The kind of questions to ask in order to get his secrets." He crossed his arms. "I just wanted to get the mission over as quickly as possible so that we can get back to our search."

"So this is a job for the military." I cocked my head to the side. "But why would the military order you to spy on a general and longtime state alchemist. It doesn't make sense."

"Because they suspect that he might be using humans in his research." Ed said. "To improve the capabilities of energy alchemy."

My eyes widened. "Human subjects?" My brow furrowed. "But why would he do that? It doesn't make sense."

"People do a lot of bad things when they're desperate." Al said. His armor clinked as he leaned forward. "Including tamper with human life."

"And he's on a deadline." Ed said. "The reexaminations are coming up and he hasn't made any progress in the field of alchemy for a long time. He needs results fast. And when alchemists need results, they will abandon the law and their own moral principles."

"He wouldn't do that." I shook my head.

"How do you know?" Ed asked.

My eyes narrowed. "Well, unlike some people, I try to meet a person before I go snooping around their property."

"So you talked to him?" Al asked.

"Of course I did." I crossed my arms. "Why else did you think I was on the property? I had a meeting with him and I had dinner with his family. He's a really nice guy. The nice, grandfatherly type, you know? I can't see him using humans as subjects."

"We've seen nice types go bad before, Liz." Al said. "There was a man a few years back who seemed perfectly nice and normal. But he combined his dog and his own daughter to create a chimera."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"And he was on the same deadline, searching for progress." Ed said. "Investigating the General is a necessary precaution."

"But there's no need for him to do that anymore." I protested.

"Of course there is, he has all the reason in the world." Ed sat up. "Weren't you listening?"

"Yeah, you said he'd resort to drastic measures to advance his field of alchemy. But he doesn't need to do that anymore. I figured out a way to surpass the block." I said.

Ed and Al stared at me. "You… what?"

"The block in his theory. The reason energy alchemy is so deadly to its users." I placed a hand on my chest. "I devised a new transmutation circle to alleviate the pressures energy alchemy causes on the body. That's why I went to talk to him. I hoped he'd endorse me to take the state alchemy exam."

"You devised a new transmutation circle?" Ed blinked. "You?"

My eyes narrowed. "What, think I'm too young to do it? Because, no offense Mr. Youngest-ever-state-alchemist, that seems a little hypocritical."

"It's not because you're too young." Al promised. "It's just that energy alchemy has been at a block for a while. When we took the test, it was barely mentioned because it's thought of as a lost art. Not like other forms of alchemy. It's surprising you even studied it, really."

"Well, a lot of the books where I'm from are older." I crossed my arms. "I'm no crusader for knowledge or anything. Honestly, I saw energy alchemy mentioned and I investigated it because I thought it sounded cool. Shiny and dangerous and such." My eyes flashed and I flexed my palms. A few sparks of energy circulated around my fingers.

Ed and Al seemed to lean away from me a bit, but maybe that was just my imagination.

"So you thought it sounded interesting and you found a way to improve it." Al said.

"You make it sound easy. I spent two years doing nothing but investigating this." I said. "I read up on other forms of alchemy but it was mostly this. I almost never stopped. It became a bit of an obsession."

An obsession that had saved my life really. An obsession that had pulled me out of a deep hole of depression and self-loathing. This new transmutation circle was the result of my climb up, my emergence from the pit. If I could just get my state alchemist title, it would all be worth something. Then I would have a job and something more to fill my life with.

I looked back up at them. "I mean, you two probably have an alchemic specialty. I'm sure you know what its like to have an obsession."

Ed and Al glanced at each other, hesitating. Unseen words seemed to pass between them and it sparked my curiosity.

"Well, what were you obsessed with?" I asked.

"It's none of your business." Ed muttered.

"Fine, whatever." I held up my hands defensively. "But you know what it's like, regardless. To be obsessed. We become capable of a lot of things when we focus on only one goal."

"Yeah." Al said. "And brother, if she has made a breakthrough, we might not have to worry about the general."

"Not true." Ed said. "Because he could have been using human subjects up until this point for his investigation. Even if he didn't find the solution through the immoral means, he still might have committed the acts." He looked at me. "And he can't renew his state title with someone else's findings. They belong to you. It wouldn't let him keep his title, especially if they find out a kid made a breakthrough before him."

I let out a little huff, though it's hard to dispute his kid comment. I don't like to be treated like a kid but I'm still far younger than General Raiven and it will look bad for him that I made the discovery before he did. But he seemed so thrilled when I showed him, its hard to believe he was jealous. He seemed happy simply because progress was made. He didn't seem like the type out for personal gain.

"I hate to admit it, but brother is right." Al said. "There's still a lot at stake for him. We have to try."

"Thanks for your help. But this is state business." Edward stood, pulling on his red jacket. "It's our job to investigate whether he's guilty or not. I'm sorry if this wrecks your chance at becoming a state alchemist, but we have no choice." He flicked his blonde hair back from his eyes. "We just want to get this inspection over so we can get back to what's important to us. So don't get in the way."

My fists clenched and I glared at him. "I'm not trying to interfere with state business. I'm trying to protect a possibly innocent man from trespassing shorties and their tin can companions."

"Tin can…" Al mumbled.

"Short-ow!" Ed winced. The blood rushing to his head in his rage must have caused a jolt of pain to go through his head, effectively muting an angry rant. Instead, his eyebrow twitched. "Well, now that you know the circumstances, I trust you won't get in the way anymore, right little girl?" He stepped out into the hallway, followed closely by Al. "See you."

He slammed the door.

"Fine if that's how you thank people who let you rest to recover from your concussion!" I called after him. "Ugh. Boys." I kicked the edge of the bed. "I know he's a child prodigy state alchemist but does he have to be so damn annoying?"

I'd always expected the real Edward Elric would be a smart, level headed person. The kind I could get along with. Someone like his brother. I never guessed he would be such a hot headed jerk.

But they did have a point. Even if General Raiven was innocent there was the possibility of foul play. It made sent to investigate him. But as soon as two state alchemists showed up at his door, if he was at fault, he would be smart enough to keep the evidence from him. He didn't become a General for nothing. He'd suspect the military was on to him and swiftly hide the evidence.

Not like when he encountered a little girl with hopeful dreams to become a state alchemist. There was no need to hide from her because she didn't suspect him.

"An opponent's underestimation is their weakness and my strength." I murmured to myself. Then I hurried out the door, pulling on my jacket as I went. "Wait up, Elrics!"

"What was with that dumb girl?" Ed muttered, rubbing his head as they walked down the street to find another hotel. There was plenty of room in the one they had just left but Ed didn't want to stay in the same building as the annoying girl.

"She did help us out." Al said.

"Yeah, after spoiling our operation."

"We were trespassing."

"We've been over this, Al." Ed said. "Anyway, I wouldn't have needed her help if she hadn't popped out of nowhere and surprised—"

"Hey," a voice to his right said. He almost tripped over himself all over again when he turned to see Liz trotting beside them.

"What the hell! Can't you give us warning before you appear?" he burst out.

"Sorry, your faces are too priceless." Liz sidestepped in front of them, blocking their path. "You said you wanted me to stay out of your military business, right?"

"Exactly." Ed said, trying to shoulder past her, but she blocked him.

"I'll do you one better." She smirked. "I'll help you."

"Absolutely not." Ed said. He sidestepped again but she mirrored easily.

"Come on, Mr. Child Prodigy, put your brain to work." She poked him in the still bruised forehead and he winced.

"The hell!"

"Whoops, sorry. But anyway, you'd do well to accept my help." Liz crossed her arms. "Think about it. If General Raiven is breaking the law, he will have expected state alchemists to come knocking. He'll have a plan in place to avoid detection. He won't trust you." She jerked a thumb in her direction. "But he doesn't expect this girl to be investigating him. He'll trust me. So I can get more information quicker than you two ever could."

"We can handle ourselves." Ed said sourly. "Now get out of the way."

"Brother, she has a point." Al said. "Alchemists are paranoid people. It will be hard to get information with a method that doesn't involve trespassing."

"We don't need help, Al, we work alone." Ed said.

"Oh relax." Liz rolled her eyes. "I'm not asking to be your loyal follower or helper or anything. Trust me, you're way too obnoxious to stand for long periods of time."

"You're not making me like you anymore." Ed muttered, but the girl continued on without missing a beat.

"But my disliking you aside, if General Raiven is using human subjects, I don't want him to get away with it." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I like energy alchemy. Its my passion. I don't want to see it being abused. So let me help." She looked between him and Al. "I'll get you insiders info. I won't ask for anything in return. I just don't want my research to be used the wrong way."

"Brother." Al said. "You're the one who said we need to get this mission over quickly. What do we care if someone else helps us?"

Al had a point. This wasn't like their search for the philosopher's stone. This was just a routine job. Why not let the girl help out.

"It is your research on the line," he said grudgingly. "So I guess…you can help. But don't expect this to be a multiple time thing."

"As if." Liz rolled her eyes. "Don't go getting a big head, state alchemist. I'm doing this for my own gain more than yours."

"Right, but remember, you can't drag us down." Ed said. "We don't have time for that."

"You don't have to worry about me." Liz's eyes flashed. "I'm not to be underestimated, Edward Elric."

"Brother," Al leaned down. "She's scary."

"You're the one who wanted her to help."

"I think she has black eyes."

"Yes. Yes she does." Ed coughed into his hand, clearing his throat. "So, where do we start?"

"We start with you two getting a hotel and some sleep." Liz said. "And tomorrow, the real work begins." She held out a hand. "Do we have a deal?"

Ed hesitated to take her hand but at last he reached out and clasped it in his, trying to be light with his grip so she didn't recognize the metallic nature of his automail limb.

"Yeah, deal."

She grinned. "Pleasure doing business with you."

Ed sighed. He had a feeling he was going to regret this.

A/N: And that's the new chapter. Again, I'm slowing down the meeting of Ed, Al and Liz to make it more realistic. Its going to be a transition before we catch up to all the stuff that's already happened. So Envy's probably not going to make an appearance for a little while, at least if I keep their meeting in Lior (I might change it. I'm not sure yet)

But hopefully you enjoyed this new meeting and conflict. And next week, Liz's investigation begins and we discover the truth behind General Riener. It promises to be dramatic. Just like everything I write.

Check out the poll set up on my profile and my blog, youtube, twitter and pintrest (the links are also on my profile). Review with your feedback or PM me if you have other questions.

Have a great week!