Author's Note: Here is the new chapter guys! Sorry it took a bit longer to get out than the first three. I have been busy. But thanks again for reading, whether you are guest or website user, I truly appreciate it. I also appreciate feedback, doesn't matter if it's just nice or if it's criticism , anything helps me become a better writer. That is my goal. =) I hope you enjoy this chapter! I think it's my longest one so far.

P.S. There is another point of view change in here like the last chapter. I didn't get any complaints about it last time about it, but I just wanted to clarify to make sure no one got confused this time. =)

Ed continued to jog down the dark road; it had only been a couple hours since he had ran away and told Mustang off. During his isolation on the road, he had more than enough time to sift through the flurry of thoughts and emotions that swirled about his mind. At first the only thing comprehendible to Ed was blinding rage and anger. But as he continued to run, that anger and rage slowly began to ebb away and was replaced with feelings of guilt and worry.

As his legs carried him further and further down the dusty path, the guilt clawed more viscously at his insides; why couldn't he have prevented Al from being stolen? How could this have happened literally right behind his back? Why wasn't he able to save his brother from something as simple as this? Why must old wounds be ripped back open and torn apart so suddenly?

These questions weighed heavily on Ed as he silently ran through the frigid night air. His face scrunched in a permanent scowl as he tried to procure answers to these seemingly answerless questions.

On top of drowning in questions about himself and of his brother's well being, thoughts of Roy Mustang wriggled their way into Ed's already occupied mind. It annoyed him to no end, because what right did he have to be thinking about that smug bastard anyway? His sole focus should be on Al, not Mustang. Why should he feel sorry for ditching him anyway? He obviously wasn't going to take the immediate necessary action that was needed to help out his brother. He had needed to act, and he did. He didn't need Roy Mustang's help to find Al. After all, Ed had done the impossible before.

Even with all the excuses and reasons he made up to justify leaving the colonel behind, Ed still felt the guilt linger inside him. Ed shuddered, nearly repulsed with himself. He didn't understand his fascination with the older man. Upon first meeting Mustang, Ed sized him up to be a phony. A man who simply had one aim in life; to become furher. A man who would let nothing and no one get in his way on his rise to the top. It sickened Ed that some people only seemed to crave power in life, and he knew that Al and himself would probably only be considered nuisances to the colonel when he had first become a dog of the military.

However, slowly over the time Ed had been a part of the Amestris military, his annoyance and disgust with Mustang waned. With distaste, Ed began to become attracted to the dark haired man. He always knew he had been different; he never looked at girls the same way as someone like Al may have. He never got those funny little butterflies around girls; no, he had no psychical attraction to women. But when it came to other men, well, that was a different story.

Ed didn't care if being gay was considered weird or abnormal; it was how he felt and who he was as a person, he couldn't change that. And in his eighteen years, he hadn't exactly had time to date anyway. So being scrutinized and judged for his particular taste in lovers was never an issue. Still, he didn't like that he had to develop a crush on Roy Mustang. Of all people, why him? The guy clearly only cared about his personal agenda. Yes, he may have helped him out in fighting the father homunculus, but that didn't change much. He still was the same smug, and annoyingly attractive, bastard to Ed. Even if he may have some sort of feelings towards his commanding officer, Mustang would never reciprocate them back. What could he possibly have to offer him? Ed knew that Mustang most likely loathed him. He only had ever caused trouble for the older man. Yet, if he was so convinced that Mustang hated him, why was he even conflicted about this issue in the first place?

Ed gave an angry snort; irritated with himself, "damn Mustang" he muttered under his breath.

He tried to clear his mind, and became more aware of his current surroundings. The sky had finally begun to lighten ever so slightly; he had no idea it had been so long since he ran off from Winry and Pinako's home. He realized with a pang from his stomach that he was hungry, and he was nearing the point of exhaustion. He had been so preoccupied that he hadn't even noticed his body screaming at him for rest. With a huff, he slowed his pace to a brisk walk. Craning his neck, Ed tried to see if the town was visible yet. A glimmer of relief flashed in his golden eyes when he could barely make out the silhouettes of houses. Slowing down even more, Ed continued to walk down the path that led to the little town.

"Sir, are you certain that Edward would have gone this way?" Hawkeye asked Mustang a bit unsure.

"Positive. Fullmetal wouldn't assume these kidnappers would willingly go through Central knowing that the army will most likely be on the lookout for suspicious people. He would assume they will try to remain as inconspicuous as possible; after all, why would these people risk being exposed going through such a large city filled with soldiers?"

"I see sir. You seem to know a lot about the way Fullmetal operates. Any reason why?" she asked casually.

Roy hesitated for a brief moment, debating on how to answer the question. He trusted Riza with his life, but he didn't feel it necessary to inform her of his fondness of Ed. "I'm simply observant Lieutenant." He stopped before smirking and continuing, "like I've noticed how you always check up on me through the corner of your eye to make sure I'm doing all of my paperwork. Or how I know you wouldn't even give a moments hesitation to protect any one of the men in our squad; even if that means putting yourself in harms way." pleased with his answer, he finished and glanced at Riza as they continued to walk through the early morning sun.

A smile crept on Riza's normally serious face, "I guess you are observant colonel."

Roy smiled back and nodded. Silence ensued once again as the two continued their trek down the dusty road that Ed had most likely taken before them. Morning had already arrived as he and Hawkeye began to near the little town. Roy prayed that Ed was still in the town searching for clues, instead of already searching farther for the people who stole Alphonse away from him.

"Do you think Edward is still in the town sir?"

He hesitated, his face twisted into an uncertain scowl, "that, I can't be sure of Lieutenant. There are many factors involved that would determine if he would still be in town or not." Head cocked slightly to the side in a thoughtful manner, he paused; considering all the possibilities for a moment before continuing, "for example, maybe he decided he needed to get some rest and supplies before heading out further. Or maybe he just felt the need to simply scope the place out quickly for any abnormalities in order to keep ahead of us. I say that only because I assume Fullmetal is intelligent enough to know that we will be trying to find him."

"Even if he isn't sure that we will even consider going to this small town to look for him or Al." Hawkeye added.

"Exactly."

Walking a little farther, the cozy little town came into view. Roy gave a sigh; relived to finally arrive. He and Hawkeye had been walking all night without rest, it would be nice to stop for a little bit and catch their breaths. Mustang had wanted to take the car in order to catch up with Edward, but realized that Maes would need it more than him to make a swift return to Central with his family.

The thought of Ed again made Roy's stomach twist into anxious knots. He worried about the teen's safety. He knew how reckless Edward could be when it came to his younger brother's well being. He shuddered to think of what he might sacrifice this time to retrieve Al from the clutches of the kidnappers. All Roy wanted to do was find Ed, and let him know everything was going to be okay. That he had overcome even more difficult tasks before; that he could save Alphonse once more. Roy then remembered the likely possibility that Edward probably disliked Roy; a lot. He was surprised when his heart grew heavy with sorrow at the mere thought of Fullmetal hating him. He pushed the depressing thoughts aside as he and the Lieutenant finally walked into town.

They walked slowly; examining the town for Ed, or anyone who looked suspicious. It was still fairly early, so not many places were open. He looked around for a good place for him and Riza to take a break, and to question anyone who may have seen Fullmetal or any strangers pass through the town.

The pair came upon a small diner; it was already open, even in this early hour of the day. Roy opened the door, allowing Riza to enter first before following.

An older woman stood at the counter of the tiny diner; her hair whitened with age was pulled back into a bun, her face was wrinkled and she wore a used to be white apron around her thick waist. She immediately turned her head and smiled in his and Riza's direction when she heard then door open.

Sitting down on the burgundy stools at the counter, she greeted them with bright hazel eyes; "well hello there! You two are up quite early! What can I get the nice couple?"

"Oh, we're not a coupl-"

"We'll take whatever your specialty is, and some coffee please." Riza interrupted.

"Should be ready in about ten minutes." she smiled before heading towards the kitchen.

"We'll take about a twenty-five minute break here sir, then head back out to look for Edward."

"Sounds good Lieutenant." he nodded his approval.

And ten minutes later, just as the old woman said, she appeared with their freshly cooked meals. The diner's specialty turned out to be eggs and sausage, and unfortunately the pair didn't exactly enjoy the kind old woman's cooking. Regardless, they ate the food because they did in fact need the substance. Once their meals were consumed, they drank their coffee, which was significantly more delicious.

While finishing up his hot drink, Roy decided he might as well question this woman to see if she knew anything by chance. Better to ask then to not and regret it later.

"Mam, may I ask you a few questions?" he asked sweetly in that voice he used when he wanted something from someone.

"Well of course you may young sir! Shoot!" she beamed back at the dark haired man.

He chuckled inwardly to himself, he could wrap any woman around his finger it seemed; "I was just curious if you noticed any strangers come through town last night. They would have been driving a car, and there was a few men and a teenage boy."

She stood for a moment and considered what Roy had just asked her. "No, I can't say that any strangers passed through here last night. And I'm actually the reliable one in town to ask about little things like that." she smiled.

"Oh really? How so?" he asked, curious.

"Oh deary boy, it's cause I hardly ever sleep. And just about any noise will wake my little self up! And in case you were wondering, there have been folks who pass through here in their vehicles before, and they sure did wake me up with those loud engines of theirs. So if a car did pass through here last night, I would have most certainly known about it."

"I see. Well that is extremely helpful mam. Thank you for that information. Now I have just one more question for you; did you happen to see a young man in town? He probably would have been here only a few hours ago. He isn't very tall, long blonde hair in a braid, and a bright red coat."

"Now you're testing an old lady's memory!" she giggled blushing a bit in Mustang's direction.

Roy noticed Riza give a slight eye roll at the sight. He smirked; it always annoyed her that any woman was putty in his hands. Well, every one except her. Roy didn't care though, he didn't need to control her, and she had a will of her own, which he respected. And he knew that Hawkeye didn't get annoyed out of jealousy or anything like that, she simply just disliked the fact that women always seemed to throw themselves at him for no apparent reason. It amused him to no end to see her lose her composure over this sometimes.

It took Roy a moment to realize that the older woman had already started to answer his question while he had been entertaining himself over Riza's apparent annoyance.

"-did see a boy of that description earlier! I had just woken up, and I had looked down from my window upstairs, and there he stood. It appeared he was looking into the window right over there," she motioned towards the diner's door, "but of course not even I was open for business yet, and he left after a few moments."

Hope grew inside Roy as he finally knew that he was right about Edward heading this direction. He knew now that he could probably catch up to him.

Apparently his newfound hopeful thoughts of Ed lasted longer than he knew, because Hawkeye ended up asking the next question.

"And he left town after that? Or is there any lodgings here?"

"We do have a hotel miss, but it's very small. I couldn't tell you if he stayed or left town. But I can tell you that he did head in the opposite direction of the way you two just came."

"Thank you mam. That's all we needed to know. And thank you for the meals." Riza said as she handed the woman some money for the food.

"Yes, thank you." Roy added in quickly as they both stood up and left the diner.

"I assume you would like to check out the hotel then sir? To see if Edward decided to stay there for a bit?"

"Yes Lieutenant. Let's go."

"Sir." she responded nodding her head in compliance.

They strolled down the middle of the town; looking for the small hotel the woman had informed them of. They shortly found it and entered; it was indeed a small facility, and it wasn't very cleanly either. Roy scrunched his nose up in disgust as he and the Lieutenant approached the front desk. Ringing the bell, they waited for assistance.

Roy leaned over to Riza's ear and murmured, "If I were Fullmetal I think I would consider sleeping on the dirt road as opposed to sleeping in this dump..."

Riza smirked at the comment, but it quickly disappeared as someone approached the front counter.

"What can I do to assist you folks?" the man asked them.

Roy cleared his throat and placed his mask firmly back on before speaking, "we're here only to see if a young man had or is still checked in to this hotel. He is a little on the short side, has long blonde hair that may be in a braid, and wears a bright red coat with black clothes."

"Yeah, I might have seen a kid that looked like that. What's it to ya?" the man sneered at Roy.

"Of course this man would be like this." Roy thought to himself. On more occasions than he would have liked, Roy had run into people who weren't very fond of the military. Many people loathed the army for different reasons. Maybe they were mistreated by an officer, maybe a loved one was killed by a solider, or their loved one was a solider who died in action. Or maybe some people still disagreed with the Ishval War. Roy couldn't blame them for any of the reasons it could be, but it did make his job more difficult when people weren't cooperative.

"I am Colonel Roy Mustang, and this is Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. We're looking for the Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric, or the young man I just described to you. We know he was heading towards this town, and we are making sure to look around for him before leaving to search further. It is imperative that we find him. So sir, I apologize if our presence here is an inconvenience for you at the moment, but I would really appreciate it if you could tell me anything you may know about Fullmetal's whereabouts." he finished with a serious tone; eyes darkening ever so slightly.

The man looked a little afraid suddenly; considering his options. But to Roy's relief he chose the right one, "yeah colonel, I did see that kid. He stopped by here and woke me up from the pleasant dream I was having about this really beautiful woman and we were-"

Roy stopped him before he could tell further detail of his most likely inappropriate fantasy, and urged him to simply tell them what he knew about Edward.

The man's face turned a light shade of red embarrassment before he began to talk again, "Oh yeah, the kid. Well he woke me up and asked if there were any rooms available. And I told him we were booked. He got kinda pissed and then stormed out. I think he headed to the north end of town." he finished.

Roy glanced around the small hotel lobby, "you're booked? How many rooms do you have?" he questioned slightly disbelieved.

"We have ten rooms. All full."

"So you're telling me that this little, practically unknown town has at least ten people visiting and staying here?"

"Well..." he began nervously, "yes and no. You see, there is a few rooms taken, but the rest just aren't good enough to let people stay in."

"Makes sense..." Mustang huffed under his breath to himself.

"What was that?" the man asked, a hint of offense in his voice.

"Oh nothing. Well thanks for the information. It was very helpful, good day. Let's go Lieutenant."

"Yes sir."

The two officers quickly left the hotel to breathe air that didn't stink of something like dead animal. They walked a little ways and stopped again to sit at a singular bench placed awkwardly in the middle of town.

"What next sir? It seems that Fullmetal has already left town. And that the unknown suspects didn't even go this way." she asked Mustang a little tired sounding.

"I need to make a call." he stated firmly.

"I think I actually saw a phone in that diner, should we go back there?"

"Yes."

Making their way back to the diner, Roy was irritated with the lack of information he received about Alphonse's kidnappers. And he was annoyed that they didn't find Ed, even if they had a good idea of which direction he took. He let out a sigh as he and Riza walked back into the old woman's diner.

"Oh you're back already are you? Did you enjoy the food that much?" she asked excitedly.

"Hello again mam." he smiled back, "actually, we were wondering if we could use your phone real quick?"

"Of course! Help yourself."

"Thank you."

He headed over to the phone and listened to the familiar ringing sound. He waited until Hughes picked up.

"Hello?" he heard his friend say.

"Hey Hughes. How's it going?"

"Roy! Hey there! It's good. You find Ed yet?"

"Negative. And we also found out that the kidnappers didn't even come through this town." he said angrily.

"You're certain they didn't?"

"Positive."

"I see. Well, I assume you called then to see if I figured anything out yet?"

"Yeah."

"Sorry Roy. I got nothing. Not yet at least. But now we know they took the route towards Central. Now we can keep an extra good lookout here in case they are still in the city, or see if they haven't even arrived yet."

"Thanks Hughes. Sounds good."

"You going to keep looking for Ed?" he asked curiously, his tone carrying hints of humor in it.

"Yes..." Roy began, unsure of what his friend was implying. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh no reason Roy. No reason at all."

Roy could almost hear his friend smirking like an idiot through the phone. He gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"Is that all Hughes?"

"Sure is! Unless you have anything else to add?"

"No. Contact me if you find out anything else. And if you don't contact me first, I'll most likely be contacting you again within a few days. Hopefully we'll have Ed with us when I do."

"Will do. Be safe Roy. You and Riza both."

"I will."

With those words said, Roy hung up the phone and went over to where Hawkeye sat patiently at a table.

"What's the plan sir?"

"We're still going to look for Fullmetal. We'll contact Hughes again once we find him. Or Hughes said he'd somehow contact us if he finds out any more information on the kidnappers. After all, the only possible way they could have went is towards Central if they didn't go this way."

"Yes sir, you're right. Well are we ready to head out again then?"

"Yes, Ed's got a few hours on us still, let's go close that gap."