"Morning Al," Ed said. He didn't sound anywhere near as cheerful as he usually did, but Al didn't seem to notice as he sat down at the table. It looked like Ed had got some eggs. They didn't look very appealing though. A bit … greenish … they probably weren't very safe to eat. Al looked at the egg, maybe he should consider skipping breakfast …

"Al, we need to have a talk," Ed said firmly, looking at his younger brother.

"About what?" Asked Al, focussing on the egg.

"I'm sorry about how I acted last night. You've been acting really strange though recently, and I want you to tell me what's troubling you, maybe I can help." Ed said gently, hoping to win over Al.

"Nothing's wrong," Insisted Al.

"But you haven't been yourself lately," Ed retorted.

"I'm just, still getting used to living here," sighed Al.

"Is that it? That's all that's bothering you? Because you were fine until a while ago."

Al said nothing; he just chewed his lip nervously, wishing that Ed would just drop it.

"Well?" Ed asked, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms, "I want you to tell me what's on your mind. We shouldn't be keeping things from each other."

Taking a deep, quick breath, Al looked up at his older brother. "I miss Winry," Al said honestly. Ed stared at him, his face unreadable. Al felt a bit bad about saying that to Ed. It was true, Al did miss Winry, terribly, especially now. Obviously, they were both going to miss Winry and their own world and home and all their friends, but being together is what they had wanted.

"I'm sorry Al," Ed whispered after a few minutes. "I wish there was some way I could get you back."

Al shook his head and tried his best to smile. "No, I want to be with you Brother."

Ed was about to answer, but Al quickly jumped up. "I don't want to be late, see you later Brother." Waving, Al picked up his things and hurriedly rushed out of the door.

Walking down the street, Al felt like punching himself. Why didn't he just tell Ed what was going on? It was probably the smartest thing to do, Ed would have put a stop to it, Al was sure of it. Things had just been worse yesterday. After the events in the classroom that morning, they had pinched some of his food, given him more work to do, punched his face when he had tried to ignore them and hidden his geography book. No, Al thought, he couldn't tell Ed. What if Ed couldn't stop them? Then his life would just end up being even more miserable that it already was.

Al froze as he arrived at the school. There they were, watching him, waiting for him. Damn, why hadn't he done their homework last night? He hadn't even done his. He was in for it now. The teacher would kill them and then they would. Why him? Well, Al was perfectly aware that a very large amount of the children here got picked on. It just seemed natural. Unfortunately, a larger amount of the students were the people who picked on the others. They usually travelled in gangs of two to four or five, and would usually target just one or two people.

Al walked past them, looking straight ahead, trying to pretend that they were not there.

"Hey Elric, get over here!" Peter called.

Al continued walking. Part of him wanted to stop, another part was telling him to get away as fast as he could.

"Get back here Elric," Yelled Kurt.

Al turned around to see them coming after him. Impulsively, Al ran. The two boys were running after him. They were very fast runners, Al noted, glancing behind him. Al began gasping for breath. He wasn't a very good runner. This was just like when he used to play games with Winry and Ed. Except, Winry and Ed would never beat Al up. Nearly knocking someone over, Al abruptly changed direction and, without thinking, raced out of the school gate. He stopped for a second, blinking, realising what he had just done. However, Peter and Kurt were following him. They looked a bit angry, but they seemed to be more amused, supposedly finding it funny that Al was scared and running away from them.

Sergeant Hughes walked casually into the store, lounging at the counter. Gracia walked over, smiling shyly.

"Anything I can do for you today Sergeant?" She asked.

"Thanks, no." Hughes said. She nodded slowly. "Would you like to go to the theatre with me tomorrow night?"

Gracia looked up, her eyes wide. "Can you afford it?" She asked, frowning slightly.

"Course I can," grinned Hughes.

"Well, okay then."

"Good."

Hughes left the shop, whistling merrily. He was approaching a small alley in between two buildings. There seemed to be a brawl or struggle going on, between a small group of boys.

"Ok you lot, break it up!" He commanded, stepping in, trying to pull the boys apart. That was when Hughes recognised one of the boys involved.

"Alphonse!"