Knowing More Than Recommended

Note: Thank you everyone for 100 views! Me likes reviews. :3 Maybe this chapter you'll finally find out whose hand that is on Amy's scenes, yeah?

This chapter features: Episode 23 "Heart of Steel." The investigation of Lab Five brings mountains of military corruption to light, in which Hughes isn't afraid to investigate further. Winry visits Ed in the hospital to fix his automail, while Al goes through a major identity crisis, unsure if he is even real. Al runs away and his doubt continues in the next episode…

Episode 24 "Bonding Memories." But thankfully the younger brother gets his shit together and all is right in the world again. This is basically a filler episode and they continue their journey by the end.

-/-/-

"It's really odd. You said that Kelsey turned up about two days ago? That's when Brandon seemed to appear out of nowhere too." Winry spoke to Ed while she was working on his automail. Alphonse was on the roof, and the two they were talking about had gone somewhere else to talk to one another.

"I'm not buying their 'getting on the wrong train' load of crap," Ed added pointedly.

Winry wanted to get them the benefit of the doubt, but she considered Ed's judgment. "It could be the truth, or some variation of a story too long to tell. Also, you said she seems to know more than she appears? Same with him! I didn't even mention what was wrong with your automail, and he guessed correctly!"

"He guessed I'd been reckless?" Ed asked nervously.

Winry jumped, voice shaky. She didn't want Ed to realize she did the maintenance wrong. "U-uhm no…" Winry bounced back to the subject. "But it was really odd. I think he's psychic."

Ed turned his head the other way, thinking. "I don't think that's it… Kelsey just seems to know everything but is hiding it. She looks at me likes she knows my every thought and secret. It's got me a bit worked up. But it could be nothing, like you said."

Winry smiled. "Well, aside from that thought, they seem really nice, good people. I think we can trust them if we need to."

Ed didn't answer, just sighed, letting her finish on his arm. "Let's just concentrate on fixing Al."

-/-/-

Amy could hardly believe the sight. A tall, muscular man with dark spiky hair was holding his hand out to her. A red tattoo of a serpent eating its own tail was imprinted on the back of his right. Beside him was a man wearing clothing that looked more worn than hers, and his navy hair was pulled into a neat ponytail on his head. His hands rested safely in his pockets, though a moment ago they'd been out. Behind them both was what looked like the freak squad, but Amy realized perfectly well who and what everybody was.

Her mind was still registering what just happened, however.

She glanced around her- instead of three bodies on the ground, there were two. Blood coated the bottom part of her jeans and part of the wall, which slowly washed away in the rain. Once she realized what caused the blood, she made eye contact with the man standing in front of her with the ponytail. His golden eyes cut straight through the gloomy rain, right into Amy. Bomber alchemist came to mind, and she shivered. Knife-guy, fittingly enough, had the pocket knife lodged into his chest. She stood right in the center of the death, still holding herself.

Looks like this group was just itching to draw blood.

"Nice job, Kimblee. I didn't know that's what those neat tattoos on your hands were for," the leader with spiky hair noted. The ponytail-man next to him gave a 'my pleasure' sort of gesture. Kimblee, the Crimson Alchemist, let a sadistic smirk play on his lips as Amy stared.

"Poor thing. Running away from home? You'd fit in great with us, then. We're runaways too," the leader teased.

"B-bitch." Bastard number one with the broken nose was still alive. Injured and on the ground, he reached for Amy's ankle. Without hesitation, she let out an insult of her own before pulling her foot back and punting him in the face. That sent a howl of pain out of his mouth, so she went to work on his arm, his chest, his gut...

"Woah, steady. There's a fine line between getting him off your back and just being cruel," the leader pointed out. He came over and stomped on the bastard's neck, which ended his life with a resonating snap.

Amy gasped, and the leader took a step toward her. She took a step back, and brought her hands up, ready to defend herself again. She knew who these people were, but after what just happened, she didn't know what the hell was up or down, who was safe and who was a danger. He stared disappointingly at her through his shades, before calling to the others following him. "Come on." He walked passed her, further down the alley. She swore Kimblee stuck his tongue out at her, but it must have been her shocked imagination and the filter of the rain.

As her adrenaline winded down and she watched the group walk away, she realized that this might be her only opportunity to get off of these dirty streets. Danger waited for her anywhere, she realized, whether it be out here or with them.

"Wait, Greed."

Her voice echoed off of the brick walls and through the sound of the downpour. The leader, she knew only too well, turned to look at her, now interested. "And how it is you know my name?"

She swallowed her nervousness and pointed at him. "I know all about you," she said, getting a warm, smug feeling to her voice, though her cheeks were cold and pale. "For example, I know what it means for those who have a tattoo like the one on your hand." Greed stared blankly at her, thinking whether this was a bluff or not.

"You do, do you?" he replied. She knew she had gained his interest indefinitely when he smirked. His violet eyes narrowed behind the circular shades. "Let's get to where we need to be, and you can tell me what you know, doll."

Amy forced herself to move, ignoring the different stares from the chimeras around her. The question she was asking herself right now was 'Why not?' Why not tell Greed what he could know to keep him from getting killed, maybe getting Wrath on his side, keeping Kimblee on their side and the military (with that weasel-headed Frank Archer) out? Why not try to get him to believe her in order to gain a home and trust with someone she sort-of knew indirectly? She'd gotten passed the phase where she was thinking this was a dream, because the pain and cold and fear she felt were most definitely real.

-/-/-

"Why not?" Kelsey crossed her arms, face getting pouty.

"Kelsey," Brandon sighed, holding his head. "You can't just tell Hughes in broad daylight he's going to die. We need to catch him before the act, before he goes and meets that homunculus Douglas, and stop him. Somehow." He scratched his head, pondering the thought.

The two of them sat in the inn room Edward was still paying out for Kelsey to stay in. It was raining outside, different from the welcome sunny skies that had greeted Brandon and Winry yesterday. Today was the day Ed and Winry were trying to find Al, since he ran away, head filled with those foolish thoughts of him being a fake.

"Look, you want to stop Hughes from getting murdered, right?" he asked forcefully. Kelsey nodded with a rarely aggressive yes. "Then we need to stay behind in Central when Ed and friends go to Rush valley. And then Izumi finds them and takes them to Dublith." He named the events on his fingers. "We can always catch up with them. We know where they're going."

Kelsey nodded again. "Alright. I'll stay behind with you. We have a couple days until… you know, the event. We could just run up to his house and beg him not to go meet Mrs. Douglas the night of," she suggested simply.

"Great. I like it. How the hell do we prove what we're going to tell him?"

Now they were both silent.

"If Amy were here, we could just pull out her episode guides and show him that he's not going to survive if he continues what he's doing, poking around with the stone and lab five and Ishbal and the homunculus and everything…" her voice trailed. She brought her legs into her chest and let her read hair rest on her shoulders. "I'm worried about her. What if she's dead?"

Brandon choked. "Don't think that! Now it's going to happen!" he shouted in alarm. He was all about the superstition thing. Especially when having a witch for one of his best friends. Quickly, he knocked on wood, while Kelsey suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.

"But you have a point. Her episode guide books would really come in handy, but also a real pain if they got into the wrong hands."

After another long pause, Brandon reached over and grabbed the 'Advanced Alchemy' book. "You have an alchemy book? Speaking of, I can do alchemy! I tried it at Winry's house. Nothing big yet, just turning little rocks to spheres. Simple stuff."

Kelsey grinned. "Wow! Really?"

Brandon nodded. "Yeah, it's like I just instantly had the knowledge to perform it after we got here."

Her smile faded. "That was the book with the spell we used, but it changed to an alchemy book after we got here. I don't know if witchcraft exists here, and I wish the Central library hadn't burned down so I could find out. I don't know any way we can get back."

Brandon was drawing little transmutation circles on the floor, wondering if he could do anything from the Advanced book. "Get back? Where?"

Total disbelief struck her face from the fact Brandon was clueless. "You know, we came from another world? We were at the city library when this happened!" She said nervously.

"I'm just yankin' your chain," he said with a smirk. Kelsey curled her brows together and stuck her tongue out. He returned the gesture before going back to drawing chalk circles on the ground.

-/-/-

Back in her world, the series of Full Metal Alchemist was sold in two box set seasons, or in thirteen individual volumes. Amy personally had collected the thirteen volumes (and the movie), and inside each one was a small booklet. The pages held artwork, character bios, and short episode synopsis. Luckily for Amy, she had all thirteen of these 'episode guides' in her bag, because she liked to doodle at school and wasn't artistic enough to sketch without reference pictures.

Right now, in front of Greed, Amy slammed two guide books on the wobbly table between them. The books were mainly about the episodes with Greed in them, after Lab Five. She watched the spiky-headed homunculus carefully, trying to read his reaction. So far, he just seemed curious, but altogether unimpressed. "I have a fair amount of information for your gain, if in return I'm allowed to stay here under your protection." Strike the deal first. "Put me to work, pay me, don't pay me, whatever you want. But I get to call my own shots. If your orders aren't something I want to comply with, I have that option."

Greed acknowledged her request with a large, toothy grin. This mysterious doll-face was turning out to be quite an interesting figure, he thought.

"Who are you hiding from?" he asked.

No one, she wanted to say. However, that didn't sound very interesting, did it? She paused and ignored the question, before going on.

"You're Greed, a homunculus created by Dante. You were sealed for over a hundred years, and unless you want to be sealed again, in about three or four month's time, I advise you to pay attention to the details.

"She has your bones, all of them except the skull. You can resist her though. You know that. She and the military are going to be against you if they find where you are, and it might take more than a pack of loyal chimeras to take care of everything. In the time you've been sealed at Lab Five, all of the other sin names have been taken, including Wrath. He doesn't belong to anyone at the moment. He's sort of up for grabs, if you catch my drift." Amy opened up the guide book while she spoke, and showed Greed a picture of Wrath using alchemy. "The little guy can use Alchemy. Why? Don't worry about it."

She flipped through the other book, looking for another picture she wanted to make clear to him. "Lastly, there's a prodigy named Edward Elric coming your way. The other sins want him to do their bidding before they kill him, but he's one you should try to get on your side. He's not really cooperative, but if he thinks of you as an ally it would be nicer for everyone. Especially you." She turned the picture toward him, and his eyes narrowed behind the circular shades. In the illustration, Ed was stabbing Greed through the heart.

That sort of explained why Ed's alliance was worth something.

The sin remained quiet. His large arms were crossed over his chest; after awhile he change position and kicked his feet up on the table.

"If you don't believe everything I'm saying, that's fine. But, I... I know what's going to happen to you and the people around you, Greed. It's nothing good in the end, and I'd like to change that. Your death probably isn't on your agenda. More like getting everything you want, am I right?"
Greed still didn't reply. She didn't move, just waited under the intimidating stare of his amethyst eyes.

Finally, he chuckled and stood up. "Well, you're rather well informed, doll-face."

"Amy," she corrected.

"Doll-face has a much cuter ring to it. Now," he continued so she couldn't get a word in. "I believe you, and accept your terms. You can stay here, in Marta's room might be best."

The woman looked relieved, but then she stopped and thought, this is Greed. There must be a catch. "But..."

"But, as far as orders go, if you're going to be a part of the group, you're going to be loyal like the group. However, since you're so cute, I'll give you one get-out-of-jail free card." He held up one finger to emphasize. "ONE order to disobey. Don't worry, I won't be an asshole who makes up orders you don't want to follow. I'm an avaricious bastard, not a masochist."

"And if I don't like those terms?" Amy asked.

He pointed at the exit. "Door's over there, sweetheart."

"Fine, deal."

Greed stretched out his hand with the oroborus tattoo to her. She hesitated, before returning the gesture with a strong grip.

"You said I have a few months until shit goes down? Let's all party before we get down to work. Here." He shoved a clipboard at her. Some financial-looking paper was attached. "You seem intelligent enough. Your job will be to take care of the bar's profits and alcohol shipments once I open it up. Happen to know what I'm going to call it?"

Amy couldn't suppress a smile. "The Devil's Nest."

-/-/-

Brandon and Kelsey decided to stay behind in Central instead of go with Ed, but they waved them off at the train station. They were, after all, still staying in the hotel room that Ed had paid for.

"Thank you for everything," Kelsey said to him, Al and Winry. They were just about to board the train toward Rush Valley. "I hope you find who you're looking for," she added to Edward.

Ed gave her an odd look again. "Who said we were looking for anyone?" Kelsey turned red, letting yet another clue slip that she knew too much.

"Lucky guess." Brandon cut in, patting Kelsey on the shoulder.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us? I thought you were my bodyguard," Winry teased. Brandon laughed away his blush, and then pointed to Ed and Al.

"You have two bodyguards now. We'll catch up to you guys later, if you want me around so bad," he joked. Winry smiled.

Kelsey felt she didn't want to invade personal space by giving them a hug, so she put her hand out. "I don't want to say goodbye, because I want us to meet again," she admitted in a small voice.

Ed took her hand, followed by Al.

"Alright, how about… See you later?"

Kelsey nodded. "Alright. See you later, everyone."

The three boarded the train, and left the station toward the West. Brandon had to drag Kelsey away from waving at them until they were out of sight. She and he really needed to plan how many days they had and get to Hughes. Their timing had to be perfect, so that they arrived before he left to go meet who he thought would be Marcoh.