H'lo! My name is Cross. Call me Cross. I like the name Cross. I am Cross. So call me Cross.

…

My name is – oh. Whoops. Already did that. Well, anyways…

If you read the first chapter before I changed the title of the story I apologize. I had a very limited amount of time to write and publish this story so I had to come up with something. "Who the Heck is That and What is Going On? Isn't exactly what I call 'a good title'.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA. If I did wouldn't write FanFi- Wait. Scratch that. I would write FanFiction but that's not the point here…

Hehheh… Anyway… On with the story…!

Chapter Two

Distractions

Edward sighed angrily for the fifteenth time that day. He had had to settle for a cupcake after all...

'Damn stupid girl! If she had just let me have it in the first place…!'

He sighed angrily again, rubbing his temples. 'And now this damn headache…'

There was a touch on Edward's shoulder and he jumped slightly. Looking up he found himself looking into Al's worried gaze.

"Brother… If you get too angry you're gonna feel even worse…"

Edward waved the hand off. "I'm okay, Al. I'll be fine, I'm not gonna get any worse…"

Alphonse let out a saddened breath. "You always push yourself too much, brother…"

Edward shook his head, only to flinch with the pain it was causing him. "It's not that, Al. It's that damn girl... That 'Bitch Girl'... When I get my hands on her…"

Al shook his head at his hopeless brother. "It's not her fault you're so short tempered. I'm sure she was just as hungry as you."

Edward growled. "She was not! I could tell by the evil gleam in her malicious eyes… SHE DID IT ALL ON PURPOSE!!"

Alphonse sighed and looked around from the steps outside the Central Library.



They had arrived with barely any minutes to spare before the Library closed for the night and they had not gotten any research done. It was now late evening and the two of them were sitting outside on the chilly steps for no particular reason. Well, actually there was – Edward wanted to rant about the 'Bitch Girl'. Apparently it was all her fault Edward had a headache, was hungry, never got the muffin, had had to rescue Alphonse from the crowd, the crowds were even more compact and hard to move around in, that they had missed researching more on the Philosopher's Stone, that Edward had kicked the double doors in anger with his real foot and now it throbbed, that it was chilly outside, that it was late, that they still had to contact the bastard colonel, that they were bored, that they had not already gone back to the dorms, that that people were giving them weird looks, that they had no new leads on the Stone and that they were 'stuck' out on the steps and Edward had to rant on and on and on and on about the 'Bitch Girl'.

So, yep. That's about it. Oh. Except for the fact that it was all the 'Bitch Girl's' fault.

Other than that everything was just dandy. Yep. Everything was cool. Yep, the night was definitely 'cool'…

"Edward…" Alphonse sighed, "We should get back to the dorms."

Edward didn't even stop in the middle of his ranting to spare Alphonse a glance.

Alphonse drooped. 'That's harsh, brother… Don't even acknowledge your own brother… Man… Please… Anything to distract, Ed… Anyone out there… Please get Ed out of his own world and ranting long enough to get back to the dorms… That's all I'm asking… I usually don't ask for much… Just this one time… Pretty please, with sugar on top…?'

Just as Alphonse hoped, there was a distraction – just not what Alphonse had had in mind.

BOOM!!

Edward jerked out of his ranting and twisted around towards the noise.

The presence of a strong alchemic energy raced through the air and the brothers had a sudden feeling of 'blackness'.

Edward immediately jumped towards one of the side streets shouting for Al to follow him through coupled evening crowds that were screaming in fear and panic.

Alphonse froze for a moment, then raced after his spontaneous brother. 'Damnit! I didn't mean something like this! Why?! Why me?! All I asked for was one simple distraction! That's all I asked for! But no-oo-oo…! It just had to be something like this…!' Alphonse groaned in anger. 'Just my luck…'

"Brother!" Alphonse cried in frustration. "Wait up!" With this the boy began to speed up as Edward did not slow down any. In fact, he went even faster.

"Edward!!" Alphonse shouted. "Just wait a sec!"



Edward turned his head and shouted back, "Al! If you don't hurry it up we'll never get there in time!"

Alphonse twitched as best as a suit of armor could. 'Oh, that's right; don't listen to me at all!' But even as he thought this Alphonse knew he was being unfair. It was just recently that he had had these thoughts…

A yell of pain called Alphonse out of his reverie. "Brother?!" Edward had disappeared from his younger sibling's sight and around the corner of an alleyway. Of course, being the brother that he was Alphonse got worried. 'Was that brother?! Or was that one of brother's victims?!'

The streets were dark, even with the lamps placed evenly around the sidewalks and parks. But in the alleys it was even darker; it was hard to even see your own hand in front of your face. And because of this Alphonse had a hard time deciphering what was going on as he skidded around the corner and into the musty alleyway.

In front of him Alphonse could see that there was a figure sprawled on the ground, but because of the lighting he couldn't see any distinguishing features or even tell the size of the victim. Above the fallen person was a fuzzy outline of another person.

"Brother?" Alphonse called out hesitantly.

The figure turned and Alphonse let out a sigh of relief. This figure was about the same size of his brother. "Brother, you shouldn't run off like that. What if something bad had happened? You need to be more careful."

The figure advanced, not uttering a sound.

Alphonse backed up a little. "B-brother? Wha-what is it? Is s-something wrong?" he stuttered nervously.

The person kept advancing as Alphonse backed away, frightened. "B-brother…?"

There was a hollow clang! as Alphonse backed into the side of the alleyway. "Bro-ther-ther…?"

The person raised an arm and placed their hand on Alphonse' steel front. Then, ever so slowly they lifted their fingers away.

"Brother…?" Alphonse squeaked in a tinny voice.

The person flinched momentarily, and brought their fingers quickly down upon Alphonse' breast plate in a sharp tap.

Ping!

A dark glow rippled from the fingers and across the armor, freezing Alphonse in place. His scarlet glowing eyes flickered for a moment, then faded as the armor slowly toppled over onto the dirty ground harshly.



The person took back their fingers from their place in the air were they had touched Alphonse. Bringing their fingers to their lips they stared at the place Alphonse had been. 'Brother…?'

The scurrying of a rat further along the darkness caused the person to shake their head roughly. Turning on their heel they made their way back to the other person sprawled on the ground. Crouching down, they swiped away the bangs to reveal the tan face of Edward Elric. Sliding their fingers down the boy's skin the assaulter checked his pulse. '… Good, only knocked out…'

The person didn't bother to check the boy's younger brother; they knew that he was alright from experience.

Rising to their feet, the person ambled over to a partially hidden doorway behind a stack of worn wooden crates. Raising their left hand they wrapped three short times. The entrance creaked open to reveal a pair of tinted glasses.

"Good job…" the voice rasped. "You are such a good girl… Yes, you are… Didn't knock them out too hard did you…? No… I see not, my sweet… Now, run along and get the equipment before you bring our dear guests in, will you…" The lenses reflected off the light of the little light the alleyway had from the street.

The girl nodded her head in an obedient manner before swiftly striding into the building.

The man she passed smiled sickeningly sweet as he watched her moving away from him and deeper into the structure. '…Such a sweet girl I own… Soon… It'll be so soon… Yes… I can't wait…'

:--:

The girl looked out one of the high windows overlooking the filthy alley. The moon barely peeked over the clouds and shone into the alley, letting her see the fallen figures of the two brothers. The folder the girl was holding was gripped tightly as her knuckles turned white. '…Brother…'

The girl narrowed her eyes. Growling slightly she released her death grip before the research notes were torn beyond what her 'Master' could repair. Looking down upon the brothers she flinched slightly again before turning back to her duties, violet eyes glowing angrily in the silvery light.

:--:

Okay…! Please tell me what you think…!



Yay! I have a story alert!! Thank you! (I don't know if I should put your name down, you may not like it so I didn't… --') Okay…! I have no reviews so far and I want to know what people think when they read this! So, please read and review! If you have any suggestions, flames, compliments – anything! I will except anything but flamesmean flames about my main OC! I love her to death! I will except flames about her – but not mean flames!

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Anyway… Heh heh… Please read and review!