I would love feedback from all of the people reading this story. Please, if you have the time, tell me what you like and don't like. Feel free to let me know if there are any problems and/or mistakes in what I've written.

This story does not follow any certain timeline. I've taken parts of the Fullmetal Alchemist story-line, but not everything is going to follow or has followed in any order in relation to it. If you are confused about anything, please feel free to ask. I am trying to make things as clear as possible.

Thanks so much to those of you who are reading and following along. I really appreciate it.

Chapter Two – First Steps

Alphonse remembered exactly where the antique shop was. He'd made sure to take a good look at it and kept track of where he'd been going while he walked back to Central Headquarters. He was certain that he could take Mustang back there.

"That will be our first step, then," Mustang sighed, standing and heading towards the door of his office. He stopped at the coat rack and removed his jacket before pulling it on. "I'll need to alert Lieutenant Hawkeye, if that's alright with you?"

Alphonse nodded his head. "I trust her," he said. "I thought she was working for the Fuehrer, though."

Mustang shrugged his shoulders and opened the door. "After his disappearance, there wasn't much work for her to do, so she's been helping me out down here."

Al had heard about the disappearance and it had been suggested that Mustang was possibly behind the entire situation, but there had never been absolute confirmation on the fact. The way Mustang's smug expression crept to the corners of his eyes and lips led Alphonse to believe that he'd just gotten his confirmation. "Well," he said after a moment too long. "That's good. I'm sure you're glad to have her back by your side."

Mustang regarded him for a moment before walking through the doorway and into Hawkeye's office. Alphonse thought Mustang's expression looked a little odd, as if he were confused as to why Al would have made that observation, but he didn't dwell on it. He had more important things to worry about, like figuring out where his brother was and how to rescue him.

Hawkeye stood to attention as they entered the smaller room, but Mustang waved the formalities off. "We have a situation," he told her. Her eyes briefly landed on Alphonse before she returned her attention to Mustang and listened to him tell her the entire problem. She didn't say anything, but Al could tell that she didn't question anything that the Colonel had said. If he believed Alphonse, that was enough for her, and Al appreciated not having to convince somebody else of his emotional attachment with his brother. Mustang had seen enough to know it to be true, but other people hadn't really been privy to it and it might be difficult to persuade them into believing that he might be able to feel something wrong.

"I need you to continue on with the mission," Mustang told her. "But we might be forced to call on you for assistance."

"Of course," she said. "I'll take care of everything, Colonel. You two find Ed."

Mustang was glad that everyone at Central was so busy worrying over the Fuehrer to bother noticing him and a giant set of armor walking out of Headquarters. It didn't give him mush confidence in Central's ability to keep themselves safe, because somebody should have done or said something, but for the time being he'd take it for his advantage. He really didn't need to have anybody ask him questions and nobody needed to pay attention be aware of the fact that he was associating with Alphonse. That would cause people to wonder if he was associating with Edward and that would bring up a lot of questions after Fullmetal had basically disappeared months before. Mustang had always known that he was safe, from the minimal contact that they had all done, but he often found himself wondering what the young slchemist was doing and how he was holding up.

They made it safely out of Headquarters without so much as a curious glance from any of the soldiers and Mustang breathed a sigh of relief. He had opted to walk because he didn't want to draw attention by taking his car and getting Alphonse into it. He hoped it wouldn't be too far away.

They walked for about a mile in mostly silence. Mustang wasn't really sure what to say and Al was so wrapped up in thoughts of his brother that neither of them felt the need to speak at all. When they arrived at the little antique shop buried deeply inside one of Central's less than inhabitable alleyways, Mustang was surprised by how nervous Alphonse was beginning to seem. It was usually quite difficult to discern what emotion the younger Elric brother was feeling unless he spoke or expressed himself, but now he practically reeked of worry and fear and Mustang felt terrible. Alphonse had always been such a positive light to Edward's obsessive, erratic, and sometimes maddening behavior; Mustang hated to see that change. He hoped they would be able to find Edward quickly and that he would be without damage.

The store was quite when they walked in and Alphonse watched as Mustang looked around the small place for a few minutes, until the shop keeper emerged from a door that led to the presumable storage area. "Hello," he said. He offered him a mostly toothless smile and Mustang forced himself to smile back. The man didn't wait for a response, instead motioning to Alphonse. "I see you must be interested in that armor."

Mustang was confused for a moment, but then reasoned out that the shop keeper must not have been aware that the armor had moved from the store and that Alphonse was probably not standing in the same place the shop keeper had placed them. "Yes," Mustang confirmed. "I'm curious as to…who sold you this armor."

"Oh," the shop keeper waved his hand in the general direction of the door. "They were here just a few hours ago. A big guy, real fat, honestly, and a young boy. They were with another and if I didn't know better, I'd have thought he'd been drugged or something because he was quite groggy."

"What did he look like?" Alphonse demanded.

The shop keeper jumped and Mustang cringed inwardly as the man hit the wall behind him and brought his hand to his heart. "What the hell!" He cried.

"That is…my friend," Mustang said casually. "He collects these things, you see, and wanted to…try this one on." The situation was getting a bit out of control, now, and Mustang was becoming worried that it might escalate into something that they were not prepared to deal with. Scaring the poor shop keeper hadn't really been in his plans.

"You need to warn a man before you do things like that!" The shop keeper yelled. "I'm lucky I didn't have a heart attack."

"What did the person they were with look like?" Mustang pressed, wanting to get out of the shop as soon as possible and not really caring about the man's fright if he wasn't actually having any heart issues. He was going to have a lot more to worry about if they couldn't find Edward.

"He was little. Blond. I don't know, the fat one was carrying him so I couldn't get a look at him."

"And the child?" Mustang asked, cursing himself for how desperate he sounded. The shop keeper might get suspicious and they didn't need that.

"Black hair? Young. I don't know, why does it matter?"

"It doesn't," Mustang agreed, shaking his head a little. "We'll just be on our way, now." They needed to get out of there before they gave the man any more reason to call the authorities for how suspicious they were being. Nobody needed to know what they were up to. He started heading towards the door, Alphonse at his heels.

"Wait a minute!" The man yelled, just as Mustang was almost out of the shop. "You'll need to pay me for the suit!"