I did it, I finally got this chapter out.

Pairings: Ed/Winry, Al/May, Allen/Ling

Please enjoy~

Ling watched as Allen stood with his toes in the surf, a bright smile on his face, and seeming to have completely forgotten the events of the night before. After Lan Fan, Fu, and Allen had finished...presenting their ...victims... to the police, Allen had gotten them into a relatively high class hotel a bit further from the center of town.

"Diplomatic privileges!" Allen had grinned, and waved them off to head to his own room.

Ling had been watching him that entire time for signs of shock, or maybe repressed emotion, but it honestly seemed like what had happened the previous day had no effect on him whatsoever. That coupled with the few sentences about his background had Ling in a contemplative mood.

"My Lord, is something wrong?" Lan Fan spoke from next to him, and he shook himself out of his melancholy.

He smiled his wide eyed smile, even while knowing it wouldn't fool her, "Of course not!"

~~.~~

Allen was relaxing back in the sand, after having successfully transmuted water to soak Ling, and was enjoying the warm sun.

"Well, I must say I am surprised to see you here, Manifold Alchemist!" A voice that he knew, but could not place ran out from above him.

Allen sat up, shading his face with his flesh arm, and then gracefully got to his feet, giving the man before him a firm handshake.

"Minister Lagorio, I wasn't expecting to see you here, though I guess that is roughly more likely than me being here, but the beaches in Aerugo are the best,after all," Allen smiled, and the Minster grinned at the compliment.

"Of course, no where will you find better, and you don't have any in poor Amestris, I hope you are enjoying your stay?" the Minister smiled and looked out at the ocean.

"I ran into some unfortunate souls yesterday, but otherwise this trip has been wonderful," Allen smirked, and Minister Lagorio raised an amused eyebrow.

"Ah, yes, get the fun in while you can..." he trailed off and his face contorted into concern, "Especially with the situation that is brewing."

Allen stilled, "I'm sorry, I have been on vacation for the past month, what situation are you talking about?"

The minister grimaced, and looked over his shoulder, before stepping closer to Allen, "I've been hearing...rumors, about Drachma, apparently they have decided to try another talk with Amestris about the Armistice, and making it a full blown peace but...I highly doubt that is the case."

Allen nodded, thinking back on past talks with Drachma and flinched, "Yes...it really does not seem likely. It may be best if I head back to Amestris sooner than I thought, tensions between the two countries have always been...violent. On that note, doesn't Aerugo have an alliance with Drachma?"

The Minister shook his head with a small smile, "Words only, nothing more, we are so far separated that there is truly no point in setting up any kind of system between us two. It was more for the use of back when King Bradley the Warmonger was in charge."

Allen nodded agreeably, and then shifted as a warm presence sidled up next to him, and Allen looked over to see Ling smiling widely at the Aerugean Minister.

"Hello, you must be Minister Lagorio, it is a pleasure to meet you, I'm Ling Yao," The man eye smiled, and gave the Minister a brief bow, which he returned.

"Ling Yao..." the Minister trailed off, and then a light filled his eyes, "ah yes, the twelfth in line for the Xingese throne, it is a pleasure to meet you as well, it isn't often your country men come this far."

Ling let out a laugh, "Mmm, yes, but I have been travelling with Diplomat Walker for some time, and I have always wanted to see the ocean."

The Minister gave an understanding nod, "Well then, don't let me keep you, and next time you are in Aerugo, please stop by." With a nod, he left.

Allen gave a wave, and stretched his arms over his head.

"Do you know that man well?" Ling spoke quietly next to him.

"Yes," Allen responded, "He is my major contact in Aerugo, and I usually stay at one of his manors when I am involved in talks.

Allen turned to look at Ling's face, his normal smile only halfway there.

Allen lifted an eyebrow, "What?"

Ling hummed, "His qi didn't match his expressions, he was hiding something."

Allen nodded, "Well, that does tend to happen in my line of work," he trailed off thinking back on the conversation, and grimaced, "though if he was lying about the situation, that might be...bad."

Allen let out a tired sigh, "Looks like I'm headed back early," he gave a small smile up to Ling's confused look, "Drachma is being weird, and Aerugo has an alliance with them, so if something is going on my break is over."

Allen dug his feet into the sand, and he gave one last glance to the ocean waves lapping at the shore, "Ah well, this is the most free time I've had for a while..."

"You will be going back to Amestris then?" Ling spoke quietly.

Allen shrugged, "Yeah, either tonight or early morning, I have a system of circles in between Aerugo and Amestris, so it will be an almost instantaneous trip."

Ling hummed again, "Amestris...I have heard many rumors over the past few years about Amestris, things about the stone, beings of impossible power..." he tapped his fingers against his chin, "what was the name again? Elvic...Elrics, yes, they supposedly had something to do with it."

Allen let out a bemused snort, "Don't even try getting them to talk about it, they will probably just stab you, or politely (or impolitely) tell you to 'fuck off'"

Ling raised his eyebrows, "So you know them well?"

Allen's smile stretched over his entire face, "Of course, they are my brothers after all."

~~.~~

Ling was pouting. Ling was pouting very loudly and Allen was doing his best to completely ignore it.

Ling heaved a loud sigh, staring down at the table morosely, every few seconds his eyes would flick back up to Allen, and then back down to the table with a look of utter despair.

Allen twitched after the fourth loud sigh, and clenched his fists over the documents he was reading.

Allen breathed out through his nose, and then slammed the documents on the table, "Fine! Fine! I will bring you, but I swear when Edward stabs you I will just sit there and laugh at your demise!"

Ling immediately brightened and sat back in his seat, oozing contentment.

From somewhere in the ceiling, Lan Fan let out a loud sigh.

~~.~~

Allen nodded, and wiped his hands at the lightly drawn chalk outline near the outskirts of the city. Ling was standing just outside the circle, looking at it intently.

"This is what you used on me during the fight, isn't it?" Lan Fan spoke from her perch nearby, and Allen nodded.

"Yes, it is a transportation circle, I have several all over the place and I can transfer from one to the other. There are some limits, such as how far I can travel in one time, and the amount of people I can bring, but it is a really handy tool." Timcanpy nodded in agreement, and went back to sitting idly on Allen's head.

"But when you used this before, you didn't draw a circle," Ling gestured towards the complicated diagram, and Allen shrugged, "It depends on what I want it to do, I can do it without a circle, but if I don't think of all of the variables when I form it, then we could be in trouble. So I set up actual drawn circles for the more complicated, or longer journeys."

Ling nodded, his eyes tracing over the lines, "How does it feel?"

Allen hummed, "It doesn't last long, a couple of seconds at most...it is like opening a door and stepping through."

"It was very white," Lan Fan added, and Allen nodded..

"Very well," Ling took up a noble posture, "Let us be off."

Allen rolled his eyes, and gestured for Lan Fan and Fu to join them on the circle. With a clap they were gone.

~~.~~

Allen's apartment that he had in Central was sparse, as he rarely used it, and had never really gotten used to having a space of his own. It had a large room in the back that was filled with all sorts of items that he could summon to him, and a room to the side of the entrance that had a transportation circle just for him to use. His bedroom was unadorned, except for photos of his friends, both Alchemists and Exorcists, and random books that Ed and Al thought he should read.

The echos of a clap rang out through the empty room, and the four travellers appeared in an alchemical flash.

Ling blinked as he looked around the new environment, "That was...impressive."

Allen didn't respond, and Ling looked over to see him swaying where he stood.

He reached out an arm, and grabbed Allen's shoulder, holding him steady. Allen blinked blearily up at him, and gave a small smile, "Give me a minute, had to use a lot of circles...more people than usual, had to be careful...didn't want to lose any bits."

Ling nodded, and guided Allen out of the room, following as Fu led him to an open living room, where he gently helped Allen to the couch. The minute Allen had laid down he was out like a light, startling a chuckle out of Ling

Tim flew around lazily, and landed on Ling's shoulder, munching on his ponytail, and Ling shook his head as he looked around the apartment.

"Lan Fan, Fu, I want you two to look around, normal procedure, I will be staying here for the time being," Ling ordered, and the two nodded and disappeared with the shadows.

Ling looked down as Allen snuggle deeper into the jarringly red couch, which clashed horrendously with the light blue curtains, and yellow- gold chair nearby.

Allen was breathing deeply, his hair splayed out around his face, bang tickling his nose with every breath. His feet were tucked under one of the pillows, and his legs twisted together, arms hanging loose by his sides.

Ling bent down, and reached out, running his fingers ever so gently over Allen's hair, one finger straying to barely graze over his face.

Then he was tugged back with a strong force as Tim bit and pulled at his ponytail.

Ling huffed, and retrieved his hair from the little demon, and stood back up to look around the house.

~~.~~

Allen woke, his head aching slightly, and it took him a couple moments to recognize where he was. He heaved himself to his feet with a sigh, and looked around for the crazy trio that he had brought with him...

And they had all vanished.

Allen ran a hand over his face, "Mustang is going to kill me."

"You mustn't have a functioning system if your Fuhrer is going to kill one of his head diplomats," Ling voiced from nearby, and Allen turned, and followed the voice into his bedroom.

Ling was standing in the room, looking over the pictures on the walls with a great amount of interest, Timcanpy hanging from the end of his ponytail like some kind of bauble.

Ling looked over to him, and smiled, then pointed at one of the pictures on the wall, "Are these two Xingese? I must say I have never seen that kind of uniform before...are they a special unit here?"

Allen looked over to see what Ling was pointing at and grinned, " No, Kanda and Lenalee aren't Xingese, and none of them are from around here. These are my friends from back where I came from."

Ling nodded, running a hand over the picture, "Your hair is much shorter."

Allen nodded, "I have both my arms, too."

Ling looked carefully at the picture, before turning to Allen, and looking him up and down, "Are you well now?"

Allen nodded, "It just took a lot of energy to get here...by the way, where are Lan Fan and Fu?"

Ling smiled, and said nothing.

Allen sighed.

"Well then, I need to go to talk to Fuhrer Mustang and Edward..." he trailed off and looked at Ling.

"I believe I shall spend the rest of the day...exploring Central," Ling smiled broadly.

Allen let out a sigh, "Just don't collapse by the side of the road because of starvation, the police will pick you up and throw you in jail."

"Ah, but I know you would get me out, Allen," Ling grinned, and Allen grumbled as he left his apartment.

~~.~~

Ed was working through the next transmission that had been passed through from Drachma to Creta, when a knock made him look up at the door, ready to destroy whoever had stopped him from his task.

Except when he saw who it was.

"Allen!" He bolted from his seat, vaulting over his desk, and got Allen in a headlock.

"Are you alright? Where is he, this stalker, I'll kill him, why are you back so early, you were supposed to be gone until the end of the month...was it the stalker!" Ed didn't even breathe, and Allen pushed himself out of the headlock with a grunt.

"I'm fine Ed," He smiled, and gave Edward a hug, which was returned immediately, and the two split apart, " I was in Aerugo when I heard about the Drachma situation, so I decided to head back early."

Ed stared and then began to glare as Allen didn't say anything else, "And the stalker?"

"Stalker?" Allen looked up at him with wide eyes, "What stalker, oh, you mean my letter about the hypothetical stalker, ahh..."

Ed's glare sharpened, and flames began to spark in the background.

"Allen."

Allen grimaced, and fidgeted from foot to foot, "We, ah traveled together for a bit, and it was fun, so um, he is in Central now? And wants to talk to you?"

The flames burst into pillars of liquid magma, "Oh, does he," Ed nearly purred, and Allen sighed, "Please don't hurt him Ed, he hasn't actually done anything."

Ed pointed at him, and yelled out "Stockholm Syndrome! What has he done! I will kill him for this!"

"Fullmetal, would you kindly shut up. Ah, Manifold Alchemist, welcome back," Mustang stood in the doorway, one eyebrow raised at the dramatic tension that filled the room.

Allen grinned, and and gave Mustang a nod, then his grin widened, and Mustang grimaced.

"I have some wonderful news for you, Fuhrer Mustang, " Allen spoke, and grabbed out some papers from his suitcase before handing them over to Mustang with a flourish.

Mustang grimaced at the sight of the papers, but then his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in an unusual display of emotion.

"I found them near Xerxes, and well," Allen gestured towards the papers with a wide grin on his face, "Good work for a vacation, right?"

Mustang looked up at him, and let out a breath, a small sad smile curving over his face, "Indeed." Mustang passed the papers to an impatient Fullmetal Alchemist, who read the first line and let out a startled noise.

"The Ishvalans? Really! This is huge...and this is with one of the matriarchs as well."

"Sometimes, I love Elric luck," Mustang grinned, and took the papers back from Ed. He suddenly switched to a much more serious expression, "But unfortunately, we have another situation to deal with at the moment."

"Drachma," Allen spoke, and Mustang nodded.

"Drachma."

~~.~~

Allen was laying on his stomach on the floor of his apartment, with a wide range of papers scattered about.

Treatises, news clippings, old laws, culture, anything he could find out about Drachma was arrayed all over the apartment.

"Were you hit by a monsoon while we were gone, Allen?" Ling spoke from where he was perched on the window sill, and Allen looked over at him, and groaned, his head hitting the carpeted floor.

"Somehow, the Drachman ambassador got word that I was back early, and so set up a meeting for tomorrow in Bindces, as they know I can get to any of the major cities easily. So I need to memorize as much as I can before I go there, don't want to cause a war because I bowed wrong," Allen puffed out a sigh, and grabbed a small book from nearby, reading over the chapter on how to address people of different stations again.

Ling frowned, "That seems quite rushed, I'm surprised that the Drachmans were able to figure out you came back so quickly."

Allen nodded, "It most likely means we have a spy somewhere, which is pissing Ed off a lot, but there is nothing we can do at the moment if we do not want to cause a problem."

Ling nodded, grimly, "Will you be going by yourself then?"

"I will meet up with some officers there, and they will be part of the proceedings as well."

Ling nodded, slowly this time," Yes...well then, I have something I need to do for the rest of the night, so I won't be seeing you again until you come back. Stay safe, be careful, remember that I shall always be here for you if you need-"

Allen slammed the window shut, causing Ling to bounce out of it, where he landed with a neat stance on the neighboring roof.

Ling chuckled, and began to make his way towards his next goal.

~~.~~

Allen sat at the far end of the table, Amestrian soldiers standing behind him on either side, and had a large group of paper stacked neatly in front of him.

The door opened, and a well dressed man, no older than forty, with brown hair that was cut short, wearing a large coat, stepped in. He handed the coat off to one of the soldiers that had walked in behind him, and moved towards the table.

Allen rose and walked over, his hand splayed over his chest as he gave the new arrival a low bow. After he straightened he spoke, "It is an honor to meet you, General Lyovkin, I'm Allen Walker, the Manifold Alchemist."

The General nodded, his eyes hard, and he held out his hand. They shook, and then the man spoke, "We have heard many stories of you and your brothers exploits, Manifold Alchemist."

Allen grinned, his eyes flashing, "Please, call me Allen." The man nodded, and Allen gestured towards the table, and they both sat down. General Lyovkin carefully ordered some papers in front of him.

He looked up, "Before we begin, might I ask you a few questions unrelated to this effort?"

Allen smiled, "Of course you may, I may be unable to answer them, however."

The man scoffed, "Of course, of course, well.."

He trailed off and looked down at a paper in front of him.

Suddenly Allen felt a shiver go down his spine, they had already started the game, but it seemed that Allen wasn't playing the right one.

"You see, we in Drachma do not use alchemy, and we have heard some strange rumors about alchemy that hasn't been seen ever before, and shouldn't exist, such as travelling from one place to another instantly."

Allen suppressed his growing urge to get the hell out of there, and smiled, "Indeed. Well,
something new is learned by alchemist each and every day, who knows what the next break will be."

The man nodded, flipping through a few papers, before dropping them down in front of him.

"Let us stop with this foolishness, no? Manifold Alchemist," the man grinned, and Allen continued to smile, his fist clenched by his sides, "You have something we want." The man nodded, and Allen looked over to see one of the Amestrian soldiers standing behind him holding some kind of needle.

Before he could even move, it was plunged into his neck, and then everything went black.

School is killing me, so sorry about the time spent getting this chapter out!

The major plot begins, mwahahahahaha! Poor Allen, goes straight from a vacation to who knows what! (I do! But I'm not telling :P )

I hope you enjoyed this random out of no where chapter!

~Not Necessarily in Between