Disclaimer: I do not own FMA, FMA:B, Phineas and Ferb, or the German language. Nor do I own a properly functioning computer. T_T

Technology mocks me.


The landscape sped by Edward's window. It was barely visible in the dark of night. Ed looked away from the window. Lex was curled on the seat next to him, hugging the bag with the book close. Her glasses were at an odd angle, but it didn't seem to bother her.

"Hey, Al." The sound of moving metal told him that Al was looking at him. "Lex is pretty protective of that book. She's only had it for a day. Don't you think that's a little weird?"

"She does seem like she doesn't want us looking at it."

"I think it might have something to do with how she appeared in Mustang's office." A frown pulled at the corners of his mouth. He didn't know what to think of this girl.

The amulet resembling those worn by anonymous murderers. So , bad. Yet she looked surprised to learn of its meaning and utterly horrified when she saw the, um, body parts. Not to mention her little speech to Rose. But that could easily be good acting. She knew things she shouldn't have known, like how he would react to being called 'small'. And how she reacted to Al losing his head. Even Winry had looked frightened the first time she saw Al after the transmutation, even if only for a few seconds. And she seemed to know who Hughes was, even though she couldn't have met him before.

Wait, Elysia's name was on the back of the photo. Realization hit him like a wave.

"Alphonse! Elysia's name was on the back of the photo!"

"Huh?"

"When Lieutenant Colonel Hughes showed Lex that picture of Elysia, she squealed her name! Her excuse about knowing that was that it was on the back, but Lex didn't see the back until after!"

"How would she know that?"

"Exactly!" Ed sighed. "As much as I hate to slow down on looking for the Philosopher's Stone again, I think we should watch her a little more closely."

A clink of Al's told Ed that he had nodded his head. "Right."

Ed's eyes wandered back to Lex's sleeping form. She shifted and a small smile appeared in her face. He definitely didn't know what to think.

(-Lex-)

I have really, really weird dreams. Maybe it was induced by the train, but it was weird. You must not underestimate the weird. For you to understand, I must tell of the dream.

When it started, I honestly thought I was back home for a moment. Until I realized that none other than Perry the Platypus was next to me. But that was just the tip of the 'WTF' iceberg.

The scene changed to a twilight expanse, and Doofenshmirtz was chasing Perry on what looked like a big yellow banana. Off in the distance was a little brown speck. Suddenly zooming up on it, it turned out to be a bay Pegasus. Being ridden by Edward and Rose.

And I'm not done.

They flew into a temple, where my school teachers were on this balcony, just watching. Some random person pushed a stone button and Rose just disappeared. Then a second later I'm riding the Pegasus with Ed, about to fall off. So I instinctively wrapped my arms around his waist. We flew through this swirling purple course, where the finish was a huge round door with Excalibur on it.

And on top of that, when we went through the Excalibur door, I was suddenly riding a palomino with Ed riding next riding next to me. His Pegasus seemed to have lost its wings.

It was right then that I was shaken by a large metal hand.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaat?" I drawled sleepily.

"They just announced we're almost back to East City."

I brought myself to a sitting position, rubbing my eyes and adjusting my glasses. The light from the window was a pale yellow, so I guessed it wasn't long past sunrise. "And just when I was having a fun dream, too."

Al sat back down in his seat. "What was it about?"

I opened my mouth to launch into the whole thing, like I would with my mom. I closed it as I once again became painfully aware that I wasn't home. That and Ed was sitting next to me, and I'd rather not have him knowing that he was featured in Lex's Psycho Subconscious. And in situations I would consider embarrassing.

My ears burned red. "Um… Just something about a platypus."

Ed shifted to look at me. "What's a platypus?"

"You don't know what a platypus is?" They seriously don't have platypuses-er, platypi… platypeople? Seriously, what is the plural word for that?... Whatever.

Al cocked his head a little. "I've never heard of a platypus."

"Um, well…" I put my hand on my chin in the classic thinking pose. "A platypus is like a cross between a beaver and duck."

"How would that work?" The brothers looked totally lost.

"Well, it looks mostly like a big beaver, but it has otter-like feet and a duck bill. It's a mammal, but it lays eggs, and the males have a venomous spur on their back feet."

"You're making that up!" Ed sneered.

"I am not! They live in Australia!"

"Where's Australia then?"

"Ah… Really, really far away from here."

"So you're making it up!"

"Just because I can't tell you where Australia is doesn't mean it doesn't exist!"

"Ye-"

"Passengers for East City, please exit the train. Passengers for East City, please exit the train."

I breathed a sigh of relief. Couldn't have come a moment sooner.

The people in the seats around us began filing out. I couldn't help but notice the similarity to a school bus. I started down the aisle when a flash of green caught my eyes. I stopped dead.

A girl was staring at me. She couldn't have been more than a few years older than me, maybe sixteen or seventeen. She wore her chestnut brown hair in a high ponytail. It reached her waist, curling around itself at the end. Her skin was tanned, and all in all, she was pretty. But what threw me off were her eyes. They were a vivid leaf-green, sharp and unfeeling. My eyes flashed to her chest. Sure enough, a dark jade jewel hung there, pulsing with the faintest of lights.

She was the girl from Liore.

"Lex, keep moving!" Ed snapped behind me.

"Es tut mir leid!" I muttered, walking off of the train.

"What?"

"Es tut mir leid ist 'sorry' auf Deutsch."

"Now you're just speaking gibberish." Ed shook his head. "Anyway, we have to tell Colonel Bastard about Liore." Al nodded. I sighed. Does he really not get that Mustang's been looking out for them all this time, or is he just in denial? Maybe he just delights in acting like he hates him.

I twisted my neck back and forth. Man, sleeping on that train really messed up by back. I wonder if they have chiropractors in Amestris.

I got more and more nervous as we walked through the halls of EastCity military HQ. Al was walking beside me, Ed just a few steps ahead. He was walking with a stiffness. He was obviously not looking forward to this.

I wonder if Hawkeye will need to break up another fight. I grinned. That would be fun.

Ed pulled to a stop in front of the door to Mustang's office. And just stood there for a moment.

"You should knock this time, Brother." Al suggested.

"No way!" Ed proceeded to let himself in.

"Ed!" Alphonse groaned.

"Ugh… Do they do that every time they see each other?" Neither the animes nor the manga had shown the degree of bickering that could go on between Roy and Ed. The sound of rain pattering against Al as he walked next to me was almost all I could hear. The cold water was beginning to soak through my clothes, causing them to cling to my skin uncomfortably. Ed was walking a good two yard in front of us, a tick mark still visible on his head.

"Not every time. Usually it's a lot less, but I think Brother's a bit stressed out."

"Yeah, I'd expect." I really was just a dead weight to them. "If you'd let me, I can try to help you out a bit."

"You don't need to do that!"

"Ah, it's the least I could do." Really, it is the least.

I felt a shiver go down my spine.

"Are you cold?"

My eyes darted around. "Not really."

There.

Walking through the rain was a tall, dark-skinned man. Wearing a gold jacket and sunglasses with white hair, he was unmistakable. And he was heading toward us.

"Dirty word!" I hissed. I sped up, nearly slipping on the slick stone.

"Lex, what is it?"

I grabbed Ed's sleeve, pulling him in the opposite direction.

"What are you doing?!"

"Shut up and move!" I threw another look over my shoulder. He was running at us now.

"Would you let go of me?!" He had caught up. His right arm flew out towards Ed. "What the-"

"Shit!" I pushed Ed out of the way. He skidded a bit, then caught on to the whole running thing.

"Brother!" Al was still a bit behind us.

"Come on, Al!"

We were off. Debris from another blast collided with a transmuted wall. A few loose stones scraped my skin as they flew through the air. We came to a flight of stairs and began scrambling down. An explosion of rocks above our heads sent pebbles raining down on our heads. Scar jumped down in front of us.

Blue sparks ran along Scar's arm, and the ground collapsed underneath us. As we began to fall, Al caught the edge of broken stairs and Ed's leg. I managed to work my way onto Al's back. Another miniscule flicker and Al's handhold was gone. I landed hard on my ankle and a sharp pain sparked in my entire left leg.

Ed clapped his hands, "Guys, grab on!"

A stone pillar moved beneath us, carrying us several yards before being broken by Scar. I tumbled off the transmuted pillar and my ankle twisted underneath me. Before I could even fully fall, both brothers grabbed one of my arms and yanked me to my feet.

"Damn it, what the hell is this guy's problem! I only tore his shirt, and that was almost three years ago!"

I nearly tripped again. They had met Scar three years ago? Did that mean the whole Tucker incident was over with?

Ed grabbed a wall and turned sharply down an alley. Within seconds of entering the alley, I finally slipped. I slid a good four feet before my feet hit the alley wall.

"Ow."

Blue snaked across the wall, exploding at the end of the alley. I sat up, staring at the man at the opening of the alley.

"Who are you anyway?! Why are you after us?!" Ed shouted at him.

Scar stalked calmly toward Edward. "As long as there are creators like you in the world, there must also be destroyers."

"Looks like we'll have to fight." Ed clapped his hands, making a dagger in his hand.

The smile on Scar's face was outright demonic. "Gutsy one, aren't you?"

The Elrics charged him, throwing separate puches. Scar slid easily between them.

"Too slow." Then there were pieces of Al everywhere. Since I didn't know what else to do, I began collecting the fragments closest to me. Al himself landed on the ground a foot away.

"Al!" Ed rounded on Scar. "You bastard!" He took a swing at Scar with his dagger, only to have his arm grabbed by the State Alchemist killer. Ed was blown back as Scar's attempted transmutation failed. Ed discarded his coat and transmuted his automail to a blade.

"Brother, don't! Just run away!"

"You idiot! I'm not gonna leave you and Lex behind!" Ed rushed at his attacker. But as he neared him, Scar captured the automail in his hands.

"First I have to get rid of this abhorrent right arm." Gears and wires and pieces of metal clattered to the ground. "Now you will not be able to use your heretic's alchemy. I will give you a moment to pray to God."

"Brother! Run away!"

"Move your behind!" I couldn't hear anything. Nothing but the rain. I couldn't hear any vehicles, not even faintly in the distance. And if they didn't get there on time, Ed would be very, very dead.

"Unfortunately, there isn't any god I'd like to pray to."

I still couldn't hear them. "I am an idiot." I mused. I picked up the only projectile I could get my hands on; a small fragment of Al's armor. It whizzed through the air, hitting the back of Scar's head. He spun his attention to me. I gulped.

"You should stay out of things that aren't your concern, girl." His voice was quietly vicious.

"Lex, what are you-" Al started while Ed simply stared in a mix of shock and 'what does she think she's doing'. Even I didn't really know.

"You believe that Ishvala is the almighty creator, right?" When he didn't respond, I continued, "If Ishvala is the Creator, then he made Amestrians, too, right? He gave His children free will, and that means they can mess up! Amestris messed up, and they're still messing up! But so are you! Killing only leads to more killing, so what you're doing just-"

"Shut up, girl!"

I shut up.

And I finally heard the cars. And the guns.

Scar danced away from the rain of bullets. I let out a sigh of relief and leaned back against the alley wall. I could still hear the fighting going on, but the alley felt so far away from it all.

A loud crash was followed by, "NOW FACE THE ALCHEMY THAT HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN THE ARMSTRONG LINE FOR GENERATIONS!" I couldn't help but grin at that.

Ed crawled over to Al.

"You okay, Al?"

"Why didn't you run when I told you to?!"

"I wasn't just going to leave you here with that psychopath!"

"Running wouldn't have helped anyway. He was after Ed." I pointed out. Al rounded on me.

"And what were you thinking?!"

"Yeah, do you have some sort of death wish?!"

"Don't you go ganging up on me, I was trying to buy some time! Which I wouldn't have had to do if you didn't just lay there!" I poked my finger at him.

"Only an idiot accepts death!" Al proceeded to haul off and punch Ed square in the jaw.

"You could've been killed you know!"

"And maybe I wouldn't have! Choosing to die is something only an idiot does!"

"Hey, easy with the idiot stuff, I'm still your older brother!"

"I'll say it all I want!" Al grabbed Ed's shirt, which only caused his own arm to fall off. "Oh, great! Now my arm fell off because my brother's a big fat idiot!"

Ed sighed and hung his head. "We're really falling apart, aren't we. We look like we belong in a junkyard."

"But we're alive."

Suddenly I felt like I was intruding. I shouldn't have been there in that alley with them. Heck, I shouldn't have been in freaking Amestris. But there I was, butting in on a touching and meaningful moment.

Hawkeye walked up behind Ed, draping a coat over his shoulders. Then she moved to me, handing me one too.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." She smiled. Then Havoc and Armstrong were there, too.

"Hey, Havoc."

"The chief got you into a bit of trouble here, huh?" He grinned.

"I didn't do anything!" Ed protested.

"That's debatable, you know."

"Who is this tiny young lady?" Armstrong asked loudly. Not that anything he says is ever really quiet.

"I'm not tiny, you're just freakishly large!" I protested. I noticed that I was definitely smaller here than home, but I was still taller than Ed! I sighed. "My name's Lex Hadesty."

"It is an honor to meet you! I am ALEX LOIUS ARMSTRONG, THE STRONG ARM ALCHEMIST!" A huge grin enveloped my face.

"You really do sparkle!"

"Yes, they along with my alchemy have been passed down the Armstrong line FOR GENERATIONS!"

I laughed.

Maybe I was intruding, but by all things bright and beautiful, I was going to make the most of it. If I couldn't go home, I could at least try to make things easier.

"Well, Ed, Alphonse, what are you going to do now?"

We were again in Mustang's office, his team, Hughes and Armstrong sitting on the couches or standing nearby. I was sitting on the arm of the couch next to Hughes, my ankle wrapped in the 1910's version of an ACE bandage.

"We're going to keep moving. We can't just sit around. Before we can make any headway on getting your body back, first we have to get my arm back to normal."

"Brother!"

"We've got no choice! It's been a long time, but we need to make a visit to our mechanic."

Riza turned to Roy. "On another matter, maybe it would be wise to assign Lex to someone else."

What?

"Hm. Fullmetal, what do you think?" Ed seemed confounded that Roy would ask his opinion.

"W-Well…" He looked like he wanted to say something, but then glanced at me.

"Don't hold back what you want to say. I already know I'm not trusted." Didn't expect to be. I crossed my arms, staring at the floor. Ed continued to look down.

"Okay, I'm lost." Hughes announced.

"Me as well." Armstrong immediately looked to the Colonel.

For some reason, I didn't want Mustang explaining it. It was my fall down a rabbit hole. It was my story. But my eyes never once left the floor.

"I touched the wrong transmutation circle. I materialized here, in the Colonel's office." I fumbled with the wet flaps of my pockets, trying to remember which one I put the necklace in. I really hope my iPod isn't busted. Oh, there it is. "I got this in a package right before I got transported. I just found out what it meant a few days ago."

Immediately memories of that murder scene flashed in my mind. I shuddered, and shoved it back in my pocket. There were several moments of silence before Ed spoke.

"I… I don't think she's a threat, but I know she's not telling us something."

"So what do you propose we do with her?"

"Ah…"

"Why don't we ask her what she wants?" Al chimed in. How about you guys decide for me! I had never been good at making decisions.

Roy 'hmmed' again, resting his chin on his hands. I could almost see the gears turning in his head as he though out the possibilities.

"Well, Lex, would you like to be reassigned?"

My head snapped up. I stared at him through wide eyes.

"I-I don't know…"

"Think about it. Fullmetal, get some rest. Come here tomorrow before your train and we'll discuss what to do with Lex."

Ed nodded.

"Armstrong, follow them and make sure that Scar doesn't come back to finish the job."

Since Al's hollowness was exposed, I got to sleep in an actual bed. Not that I was sleeping right then. No, I was staring at the ceiling.

Why couldn't they have decided for me? I didn't want to be reassigned, but if Ed and Al didn't want me tagging along, I definitely didn't want to get in their way. But a part of me didn't want to take the chance of getting killed, didn't want to watch events play out. I glanced over to Ed. It looked like he was sleeping, but one never could tell with that midget.

"Alphonse, what do you think I should do?" I whispered.

"Sleep?"

I stuck my tongue out at him. "That's not what I mean, and you know it."

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know."

"Yes you do."

"Ah…" Thoughts bounced around in my head. I want to stay with you guys, just start with that. "W-well, I'd like to stay with you guys, but… I really don't want to get in your way. Plus, I wouldn't be a whole lot of help anyway."

"You stopped Rose from shooting Brother."

"Well, yeah, but-"

"And you stalled long enough to stop Scar from hurting Brother."

"But there's a lot of fighting in you guys' path, and I'm…"

"I'm sure you'd be fine." Ed's voice nearly startled me off my bed.

"I don't fight! I'm a pacifist! I mean, reading about it in fiction books is one thing, but in real life…" I shook my head. "If someone said kill one to save a million, I'd get shot thinking about it."

"Then don't get into that position! You did fine with Cornello and Scar."

"You just want to find out what I'm hiding."

A spark lit in Ed's eyes. "So you admit you're hiding something!"

Crap. I wasn't going to tell him… But I supposed I could hint. I was never any good at keeping secrets anyway.

"Of course I'm hiding something."

That seemed to throw them both for a loop.

"And I swear I'll tell you eventually. But I have some things to figure out before I tell you guys much of anything. Except for what a platypus is."

"Now you're definitely coming with us!"

"You can't just decide things on your own like that!"

"I thought you wanted us to tell you what to do! So I'm telling you you're coming with us."

"I'm just a pile of contradictions, aren't I?"

I fell back on my bed. I supposed that worked out pretty well. My eyes began to force their way shut.

But when things really start to pick up… Will I be able to manage?


Yeah, I actually had that dream. It was so realistic, it's scary. It was so much fun! You have not lived until you've dreamed that you rode on a pegasus with Edward Elric!

But yeah, my computer's being mean, and I'm hoping my dad can get it fixed before it messes up my writing schedule too much.

On another note, I have made a deviantART account, with the same user name with no spaces. Mostly it's just me messing around with this paint thing I discovered, editing out Winry and using my meager technological skills to turn her into Lex. Eventually I suppose I'll get around to drawing her friends (who will remain nameless to you until I introduce them).

So... yeah. And to TaylorRiley17, done and done. ;)

... My parents ears hurt now.