Next chapter up!

Pairings: Ed/Winry Allen/Ling Yao Al/May-Mei Chang also Miranda/Taylor


~~.~~Edward~~.~~

Ed was scribbling away on a piece of paper, tallying up the total count from the call in of Fort Briggs. He blindly read through the numbers, positioning them against their areas in the border. Though it seems the army had marched up close to the border at the moment they hadn't moved, obviously waiting for some kind of signal.

Ed shuffled over, and grabbed a stack of notes one of the General's aid had dropped by, focusing on weak points on the Amestrian border with Drachma, as well as the most fortified areas. He mapped the positions against each other, and then leaned back, confused.

"Something wrong, chief?" Breda walked into the room, hoisting another pile of papers.

"Yeah, look at this," Ed gestured forward, and Breda dumped the pile in a nearby chair.

"Here is a map of where the Drachman's are lining up, and here is the comparison of our defenses," Ed pointed from one map to the other, "They are half way into the desert! The could have covered half of Amestris' borders at this time, but instead they are lining up from Fort Briggs and to the East. We know that they aren't making a joint effort with Xing, the Emperor is close to death and can't push a war at the moment. We know they have had dealings in the past with Creta and Aerugo, but there has been no movement with their troops, either."

Ed tapped his pen against the map, tilting his head from side to side.

"Hmm," Breda leaned over, tracing the lines of the maps, "We know that Allen was taken from Esfakot, which lines up well with the position of their troops, but you don't need an army to take down one person..." Breda trailed off, looked over at Ed, flickers of comprehension passing over his face, but then continued on, "So whatever they want is most likely in this area."

Ed growled at the paper, "The thing is, is they have no preparation to fight in the desert, we would have the advantage there, they never attacked from that side before, and would not know what to expect."

"Well, maybe that's the point," Breda nodded, "They have this huge army set up because they know they won't be able to get through the desert easily, but there must be something important for them to risk this army to get there."

"We just need to figure out what it is," Ed grumbled, and then blinked.

He stood, and grabbed a small folder of information. He dropped it on the desk, and brushed the other paper's aside. He started flipping through papers, his brows drawn tight.

"What is this?"

"Allen managed to set up the beginnings of a treaty with the Ishvalans around the ruins of Xerxes, they might have more information on what is happening, and we should warn them of this possibility."

"They won't want soldiers out there," Breda pointed out.

"No, but I think they would like the warning, from what Allen told me, they don't mind me or Al, so if they get a message from us it won't cause too many problems...I can send them a message with Allen's circles, but they can't send one back. Well, it would work better then nothing," Ed began piling other papers around.

"Thanks, Breda," Ed gave him a smirk, and Breda smiled in response.

"Got it, chief," Breda saluted, and left the room.

Ed began writing the message, going over the terms for the treaty, as well as information about the upcoming situation. He tucked it in his pocket, and got up from his desk.

He walked down the hall, and over to where Riza was piling over paperwork. He gave her a wave, and walked into Mustang's office

"I'm heading over to Allen's, I'm going to send a message to the Ishvalans in the area, it looks like Drachma is targeting something in the desert, so they might have some clue about what is going on. You want anything else sent?"

Mustang looked up, face pinched, "I'm guessing you also wrote back about the treaty? Here, let me read it."

Ed rolled his eyes, and handed over the letter. Mustang read it quickly, and handed it back,"Well, at least it isn't in crayon. Fine, send it. We will have to look into who we can use as a messenger between the Ishvalans and us."

Ed nodded, "I was thinking Al, when he gets back, I was going to send him a message and tell him to stay in the area. He will probably reach there in a couple more days, and that way we won't need to worry as much."

Mustang blinked in surprise, "You don't want him here?"

Ed grimaced, "Of course I do, bastard! But..we both need to do what we can do, and he will do better out there than here. I can work here just fine, but he wouldn't be able to do much here."

Mustang nodded in approval, "Alright, send a message to him too, and make sure to add that to the letter."

Ed nodded, gave a half hearted salute, and made his way to Allen's apartment.

He opened the door, and walked inside, glancing at the mismatched furniture. He walked over to Allen's "teleport" room. He grabbed the chart from the wall, and flipped through pages till he saw the most recent update.

Ed walked over to the transmutation circle, and with chalk added a few lines along the middle, with that it would transport the message to the circles Allen had set up in the Ishvalan camp.

Ed placed the letter in the circle, and clapped. The flash bang and cackle of alchemy cracked through the room, and after a few seconds, the letter was gone. Ed then roughed out the old chalk markings, and put in new ones he had memorized. Placing Al's letter down, he repeated the procedure, knowing that Al would receive the letter in the small wooden box he carried with him everywhere, much the same as Ed did.

Ed wiped away the chalk again, and left the room. He walked into the main hall and froze, something seeming to be off. Ed slowly clapped his hands together, and edged out his automail arm into a blade.

"You must be Mr. Elric," a gruff voice spoke from nearby, and Ed jumped back with a yell, stepping into a fighting stance.

He looked around the room, and couldn't see anyone, but then slowly looked up.

A piercing shout wrung out across the apartment complex, but once the neighbors heard that it came from the Walker residence, it was summarily ignored.

Ed stared at the two figures who had been hanging to Allen's ceiling, his face twitching.

"The fuck are you doing here!"

One masked figure looked at the other, and then shrugged. The shorter of the two spoke.

"We are looking for our Lord, Ling Yao, if you have any idea where he is you, will tell us."

Ed's face slowly morphed into a devil's smile, "Oh, so that is the stalker's name is it?"

The taller squeaked, and then spoke, "Our Lord is not a stalker! How dare you say that!"

Ed raised an eyebrow, and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest, "You must be his bodyguards...well good job you did then, you lost him!"

At once both figures bowed their heads, and Ed could feel the depression seeping into the air.

"Anyway, no idea where the stalker is, I'm busy, war to stop, brother to find," Ed shook his head, and began to turn to leave.

"War?" the taller one questioned.

Ed grimaced, 'Yeah, fucking Drachma kidnapped Allen, the entire country is about to be up in arms."

The smaller spoke, a sense of dread filling his voice, "They kidnapped Mr. Walker?"

The taller one groaned, "Oh no."

Ed raised an eyebrow, looking at them with annoyance.

"My Lord," the shorter groaned out, and then shook his head.

"What?" Ed growled, and the shorter nodded to the taller.

"We will be coming with you. Fullmetal Alchemist."

"What? WHY?"

The taller spoke again, her voice heavy with annoyance, "Our Lord most likely followed Mr. Walker...and as such...they are probably stuck there together."

Ed's eye twitched.

~~.~~

"So what you are saying is," Mustang spoke, trying to stop himself from smiling,"Is that Allen's stalker, who you wanted to eviscerate, has somehow followed him and most likely ended up in Drachman territory, and is one the closest heirs to being the next Emperor of Xing."

Ed nodded, glowering.

"And, that this kid's bodyguards lost him, so they are stalking you instead."

Ed huffed.

Mustang nodded, keeping his face deadpan.

"Well, look on the brightside Fullmetal, at least Allen isn't alone."

"Stalker," Ed growled, his eyes narrowing.

Mustang waved his hand and swatted the word away, "Are they willing to work with you?"

Ed groaned, but nodded.

"Very well," Mustang spoke magnanimously, and then looked over to the two who hadn't spoke, "As I'm guessing you didn't come into the country legally-" both froze"-I'm giving you permission to stay in Amestris as long as you follow certain rules. You will help us with information gathering, and any knowledge you have of the area and of what the Drachman's aims are. You do not harm Amestrian citizens during your stay, except for self defense. And," an evil grin spread over his face, causing Ed to look at him with worry, "You will stay with the Fullmetal Alchemist during your stay."

"WHAT?"


~~.~~Miranda~~.~~

Miranda made her way off of the train, and looked around the station. She made her way over to the waiting car.

"Private Johnson, ma'am," a soldier saluted, and Miranda entered the car, her face staying blank.

The private began to drive them, looking back in the mirror every once in awhile, steadily getting more nervous.

Miranda said nothing.

'What am I doing, I'm going to screw everything up, I'm a failure!' Miranda was freaking out in her head, paying no mind to the glances that were being sent her way.


~~.~~Taylor~~.~~

Taylor watched the progress of the car that Miranda had entered, and went to go talk to one of Armstrong's contacts in the city.

"Good luck, Miranda," the man spoke quietly, and raised his hood to block the cold weather.


~~.~~Winry~~.~~

Winry shook out her arms, and looked around the crowded train station. Her eyes skimmed over the crowd, until they caught on an extremely large man standing in the middle of the platform.

She raised her hand and waved," Mr. Armstrong!"

He looked over, and sparkles sprouted out all over his person, " Ah, young Miss Rockbell! Let me take that bag for you! Come, we must head to the Capitol building at once!"

"How is Ed doing?" Winry questioned as she followed closely behind the man, who was parting the foot traffic in front of him.

"He is...doing what he can, we should talk more about this later, but I believe that your presence here will aid him with his work," Armstrong said gruffly.

Winry nodded, shoulders heavy with worry, "Alright, let's go!"


~~.~~Alphonse~~.~~

Al blinked with surprise as his bag crackled with alchemy, but he quickly dug through it and pulled a small letter out. He read through the letter, and scowled.

"What was that?" May looked over with interest.

"Brother doesn't want me to go back to Amestris," Al replied, looking over the letter again, annoyed at how much sense it made.

"But, why?" the girl blinked, "I thought he wanted you to go back home?"

"He thinks it would be better for me to stay with the Ishvalan's near Xerxes. It looks like they may be right in the way of whatever is going to happen, so he wants to make sure that we have someone in the middle," Al sighed.

"That does make sense...and while we are there we can look at the old Xerxes ruins!" May grinned, and Al smiled in response. He then urged his camel forward, to tell the Caravan leader of the change in location.

Al let out a sigh, and crumpled the letter in his hand, reading over the last line one more time.

"and whatever you do, stay safe. We are going to get that idiot back, no matter what."


Next chapter is a return to Allen and Ling, and their escape from Drachma!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please leave a review on your way out!

~Not Necessarily in Between