A/N: This chapter vexed me. It's not what I wanted, but had to make myself write.

CHAPTER 7: STRONG

"Brother?" The young man stumbled to the altar, his legs still uneasy. "It's me...really...it's..."

"Al...Alphonse?" Edward, still sitting on the altar top, strained because of his missing arm but managed to turn toward the dark-haired boy.

"It's like a family reunion!" Ila twirled around, her white dress ruffling with the movement of her small body.

"Prove it!" Edward took his one arm and pushed off of the altar, standing next to the strange boy. Winry gasped. "How do I know you are Alphonse?" His eyes glared into green ones.

"Ed?" Winry came to his side. "Could it...really be..."

"That's what I'm trying to find out. Prove it, kid!"

"Yes! Alphie! Prove it Prove it!" Ila was elated.

"Ed..." Alphonse breathed. "You hate milk. You snore so loud, my bolts shake. You can eat five pounds of steak in one sitting." He stood taller, his voice growing louder. "You hate being called a shrimp. You blame yourself for me losing my body."

"Those could be wild guesses!" The alchemist snarled.

"Ok, well, I do know something only you and Winry know."

"Tell it!" Winry shouted. "C'mon, if you really are Al, here in the flesh, tell it!"

"Well...um...so..." He stammered.

"Yeah, I didn't think so." Edward crossed his arms.

"I know what you and Winry did last night!" He shouted, sorry for it immediately after the words left his new lips.

"Ooohh! Alphie, what DID they do?" the girl in white encouraged him.

"No!" Both Ed and Winry shouted and placed a hand over the boy's mouth. They all knew the truth, but didn't want it uttered out loud.

"What did you do to my brother!" Edward turned his angered amber gaze toward Ila. "You could have KILLED him!" Winry held on to Edward's left shoulder.

"If I were an amateur like you, maybe...but I've been doing this for a very long time and have perfected the practice." Her tone turned dark.

"Souls cannot be bonded to flesh! it's tricky enough bonding them to an object but they are NOT compatible with a different person's body!" His anger could not be controlled. "The body will reject the foreign soul...it's one reason, it's..." He couldn't utter it.

"Edward?" Al flashed his green eyes.

"It's one reason, I never suggested it to you before, it's not possible."

"Yet, here he is..."

"Ila," Winry was not known for keeping quiet, but she had quietly stood there, taking this all in. "So, you saved my life, and probably Ed's too. You've given Al a real body." Her blue eyes seared with anger. "Now where is Ed's arm and what the hell do you WANT with us?"

"Winry is it?" The girls gray eyes sparkled and the hair on the back of her neck rose. "Sit down and shut up." She clasped her hands together and touched the ground. Immediately a tiny blue spark traveled the short distance toward Winry who immediately clutched her heart and doubled over in pain.

"Winry!" Ed grabbed her as she fell. Alphonse turned toward Ila and started for her.

"Behave, Alphie!" She jumped out of his grasp, clasped her hands again and the spark traveled to Al. He immediately doubled over, grasping the strange transmutation circle etched over his heart. "Everyone be stil!" She shouted and slowely stepped away from the trio.

"What did you do!" Edward looked from Winry to his brother, who was no longer in pain, but very weak, he held the girl close.

"Safety precaution, Edward." She pointed to the circle on her chest. "Alphie and Winry also have one, although HERS is temporary and Al's, well, it keeps his body alive...for now. Call it a blood seal if you wish."

"Please tell us what you want from us." Al rose up to a sitting position, breathing hard from the pain.

"You and your brother are part of Keren's army now. Tomorrow morning we will attack the mass of Amestrian soldiers already in Resembool. You will use your alchemy to assist us. We will turn the dead and wounded into more soldiers and press onward defeating anyone who tries to stop us until we reach Central City where we will place Keren in power."

"Ila, I don't care if you did give me a body...I'm not going to help you kill anyone, not especially our friends in the military." Alphonse stood fearless.

"That goes for me too," Edward screamed.

"What you don't understand, dear Alchemists, is you don't have a choice. I hold both Alphie's and Winry's lives in my hands." She clapped her hands together and touched her blood seal. Both Alphonse and Winry convulsed in pain, both clutching their hearts.

"Stop it!" Edward shouted. "Just stop!" The girl released her hand from her heart and the screaming stopped.

"That's better."

"What do we have to do?" Edward pleaded.

"Brother, no!" Alphonse gasped, trying to also get this breath.

"Shuddup, Al, let's hear what she has to say." Ed looked at his brother and Al realized Ed was formulating a plan. He lifted Winry up to a sitting position. "Win, are you ok?"

"No, but I'll live." She rubbed her chest and moved her bloodied coveralls aside to see a dark red transmutation circle drawn over her heart. She rubbed it furiously but it didn't even smear.

"It won't come off." Ila chided her. "Althought it was placed on your skin with alchemy, it is not permanent until I activate it, but it will not rub off. Alphie's on the other hand, it's on him for good." She calmly strolled over to Ed and Winry and knelt down until she was inches away from the boy's face. "And if you do anything at all to hurt our cause, both of them will die." Edward stared into her gray eyes. "Got that? Tell me!"

"I got it." He smirked. He smelled the stench of the girl's breath and at this close range, he could tell something was not quite right with Ila. Her hair was flat, dull and brittle. He imagined if he grabbed it, it would fall out in clumps. her skin was not plump and fresh as it should be in a twelve year old girl, it was thin, like an onion and her blue veins were visible. In the dim candle light of this basement meeting hall, her condition was not so apparent, but this close, Edward could see it clearly. Alphonse noticed it too. "We'll do what you want. Just don't hurt them."

"Good. You'll need your arm, some food and rest." She stood up and began walking toward the door. Before she got there two men entered. "These are some of my Generals." She turned toward the men. "Did you get him?"

"No, he wouldn't be convinced." He lowered his eyes, having failed his mission.

"Scar killed three of us, we tried to reason with him, we tried to convince him our goals were the same." The second man pleaded.

"Very unfortunate. He would be a powerful ally, now he's a powerful enemy." She sighed.

"Show the alchemists and the girl to a safe house, they need cleaned up," She pointed toward Winry's blood stained clothing. "Bring the boy's arm and get them all some fresh clothes and food."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Edward, Alphie," She turned toward them. "Don't think about leaving before the battle." She smiled and left the room, one of the men leaving with her.

"Follow me." The other man motioned for the trio to follow.

"Ed, did you see it?" Al whispered.

"Yeah." Ed replied not missing a beat.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Winry got the words out right before she threw up in a pew. Alphonse was closest and he rushed to her side.

"Hey!" Edward shouted to the man leading the out. "She's sick! We need water, please?"

"Stay right there." The man exited the door.

"Good diversion, Win!" Ed patted her back.

"What...diversion...?" She choked.

"Al, can you find it? Can you get it quickly?"

"Right." Alphonse leaped up and ran to the far wall. He hoped it would work. Having not tried alchemy in his new body, he was unsure if he could do it without a transmutation circle. He clasped his hands together and placed them on the wall. Miraculously, the wall disappeared and a doorway materialized. He ran through it.

"Winry, I need you to be strong, can you stop barfing?" Edward was rubbing her back.

"I think so. Been standing too long." She wiped her mouth and he helped her up.

"You lost a lot of blood, you need water." He held her hand with his new automail, reveling in the sensation of her skin on the metal. A faint glow and movement drew his attention as Al reentered the room, closing the wall back as he entered, then running to his brother and Winry.

"Got it." He panted, out of breath. And not a second too soon as their guard returned with a glass of water. Edward walked toward him, and took the glass.

"Take a few sips, Win, slowly." He offered her the drink and she took it.

"We must go. NOW." The man motioned toward the door. "Carry her if she cannot walk."

"I'll walk." She said defiantly, but still sipping the water.

"Good girl." Edward praised her as they left the room, knowing she really didn't need it, she was strong, she'd have to be for what he knew would come.