DISCLAIMER

If you are really stupid enough to think that we own FMA, then you must be three years old. We don't own anything except for our original characters and story arcs. Pairings are OCxOC and Canon.

May or may not happen. WARNINGS: Contains material some viewers might not find suitable. Most chapters rated T. Other chapters will have a separate warning and will be rated M.


After explaining why his face was broken, and why he was walking funny, Colonel Maes decided to head back to his own office for some peace and quiet.

"Stupid girl… I swear I am going to make her pay," he fumed as he walked back down the hall.

To his surprise, Major Weber was already in the office, going over paperwork at his new desk. His face was calm and he appeared to be in deep thought. The colonel just watched, not wanting to interrupt, but also intrigued. Markus seemed so mature for a boy of 15. Said boy's trance seemed to be broken as he looked up.

"Hello, Colonel." He greeted, his calm face returning to a boyish smile.

"Ah… Yes, hello, Major… Listen about the other day; I'm sorry for snapping at you so much. I think we got off on the wrong foot."

"I believe you're right. Why don't we start over?" Markus suggested.

"Sure. I'll start. Hello, Major. I'm Colonel Maes Walsh."

"Nice to meet you, Colonel. I'm Major Markus Weber. It will be an honour to be your subordinate." The two shook hands and Maes went back to his desk.

"So… Steelfist, huh? How did you get that name?" He asked as he sat down.

"Well, I work with lightweight steel gauntlets to perform transmutations. I got the idea from Lieutenant Colonel Armstrong. The key difference, while he focuses on strength with stone gloves, I focus on accuracy with steel and other metals like it." Markus explained.

"Wow. Sounds very nice. What type of research are you being funded for?" Maes was intrigued.

"I work on coming up with the lightest steel that I can, and finding different types of steel mixtures for more proficient work. What about you? I mean obviously you have some amazing skill to be a Colonel this young."

"Well being the Quickblade Alchemist, I make weaponry, mostly swords and knives, very quickly by manipulating the metal to mix in different ways. My funded research is developing different blades and bullets." Maes finished with a flourish of his hand and an annoyed look on his face, almost as if he hated his job.

"Wow!" Markus exclaimed. "You make all that?"

"Yeah. It's not too difficult unless it's mass production."

"So how do you-" Before Markus could finish his question, Edward nearly slammed the door open.

"Major! Colonel! We have a problem!"

Flora Jenkins was sitting in a hospital bed, barely alive. She was awake, but she looked traumatized. Her leg was in a cast and her chest and neck were wrapped in bandages.

"Aunt Flora!" Maes darted over to the side of the bed, Ed and Markus staring in shock. "Wh-what happened?"

She looked up at him with fearful eyes. "That g-girl… Maes… She tried to kill me."

"What did she do to you?" His eyes filled with tears. "Are you okay?"

Her eyes softened the fear dissipating and her voice turning motherly. "I'm quite all right, dear. Don't worry about me."

"How can I not worry?" The tears made their way down his cheek as he held her hand. "You're all banged up because of some serial killer."

"Trust me, Maes. You're the one I'm worried about. Roy and your friends too. Not to mention poor Derian... I hope he's alright."

They were silent for some time. Roy knocked on the door. "Edward, Major Weber, Walsh, meet Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye and me back at my office when the three of you are done."

"Oh… Yes sir." Markus responded. Roy left the room, and the three boys alone to talk with Flora.

Flora gave them all a grim smile as she beckoned the boys to sit down. "I'm supposing you'll want a report about all this." She said with a sigh.

"Y-yeah," Maes responded, regaining his composure.

"About five minutes after you guys left, a strange little girl entered my shop demanding that I tell her where Derian was. She threatened to kill me." Flora said in a soft tone, just barely above a whisper.

"T-Then what happened, Aunt... Ms Jenkins?" He asked trying to contain his new found fury, and sadness that he couldn't seem to adjust to.

"Well, you probably won't believe a word I say from this point on, but I assure you, it is true." Flora said in a slightly louder, but less self-assured tone.

Ed grinned. "Trust me, Ms. Jenkins. You can't surprise me."

"Well, like I said, she ordered me to tell her where Derian went. When I refused, all of the sudden there was a flash of red and she had an axe! I thought she might have transmuted it, but there wasn't any evidence anywhere to show where she got the material from. I got scared and ran into the back room, but she followed me. She cornered me and the red light happened again then the axe became a short sword, like those maiden knives from Xing." Flora explained.

"What happened then?" Markus asked.

"She broke my leg, stabbed me in the stomach, and shoulder, and cut up a bit of my everywhere else. I grabbed one of the knives off the counter and got her in the chest. She stopped moving, so I assumed she was dead, I was losing a lot of blood and fainted. I woke up right before the medics arrived. The girl was gone. Then they rushed me over here."

Markus, who was taking notes, finished writing. He and Maes looked over at Ed. He had a look on his face as if he had just realized something horrible.

"You alright, Mr. Elric?" Markus asked concerned.

"Ms. Jenkins." Ed stated without looking up.

"Yes dear?" She replied.

"This girl… did you get a better look at her?"

"Yes. A much better look in fact."

"Did she have a tattoo?"

"I saw a picture on her forehead. It might have been a tattoo. It was a picture of a dragon or a serpent-"

"Swallowing its' own tail?" He finished for her.

"Yes… Exactly…"

He got up and leant down close and whispered just loud enough for only her to hear, "The weapons were coming off her body… weren't they?"

She nodded her head and before she could say anything, he was out the door.

"Edward!" Maes shouted after him. "Where are you going?"

It was too late. He was already halfway out of the hospital building. He ran as fast as he could, trying to find some way to get back to HQ. He didn't pay attention and smacked his face against a broad chest, bouncing back and falling to the ground.

"Jeez! Doesn't anyone in this town watch where their going?" He shouted to no one in particular. He heard a chuckle and looked up; ready to rip whoever had gotten in his way a new one. To his surprise he saw First Lieutenant Mikkel Jenson from the night before.

"Oh… It's you…"

"Who were you expecting? God?"

"No. Not really… Well maybe… I don't know. All I do know is that I need to get back to HQ pronto."

"Well I was going to visit the Colonel's caretaker. I heard she was in the hospital. I guess I can take you there if you really need me to."

"Thanks! You're a life saver."

"Ah-ah-ah~" He moved his index finger back and forth. "First you have to apologize."

"Oh... I'm sorry for smacking into you." He sped through the apology, as if to indicate exactly HOW much of a hurry he was in.

"That'll do. Now let's get going." They got into his car and sped off towards HQ.

The ride was quiet for most of the time. Mikkel decided to speak up.

"You'll have to repay me for this somehow, you know. You look like you have a strong back and legs."

"Now listen here you! I'm married and I'll have you kno-"

"It's not like that!" He interrupted. "I have a very heavy, very large dresser I need to move so I can make room for a new bed. I was thinking maybe you could help me move it."

"Oh. Yeah. No problem. Can we work out the finer details later?"

"Sure, I'll talk to you about it tomorrow. Alright, we're here. Now go on and hurry."

"Thanks! Bye!" He slammed the car door shut as he took off to get to Mustang's office. He burst into the room in typical Ed style. However, his face was a distinct mixture of fear and anger.

"Edward. You're here quicker than expected." Roy remarked. "Are you still uppity about hospitals?" He chuckled until looked up and noticed the expression on Ed's face.

"What happened?" He asked.

"The little girl that's been attacking soldiers… She's not human."

"Don't be ridiculous. You're just overreacting."

"I'm not overreacting, Roy."

'This must be serious. He never calls me by my first name.'

"If she's not human than what is she?"

Ed looked around the room. He closed the door, turned off all the lights, shuttered the windows, and got close to the desk.

"Ms. Jenkins saw a tattoo on her forehead… An ouroboros tattoo." Roy's eyes went wide.

Ed's voice dropped to a whisper. "The weapons used against her came off of the girl's body and even though Flora thought she had killed her, the girl was gone before the medics arrived."

Roy looked at Ed through the darkened room. "This isn't good. Now not only does it involve Central, but all of Amestris. Possibly the surrounding countries too."

"So what do we do, Brigadier General?"

"We find and eliminate all of them."

Markus looked over at Maes who had gone silent. His face was pensive and also held what appeared to be annoyance or possibly even suspicion.

"Are you alright, sir?" When he didn't receive an answer, Flora laughed.

"What's so funny, Ms. Jenkins?" Markus directed his attention to her.

"That's his 'thinking face'. He goes through thoughts in his head. It's hard to get his attention sometimes, but you just have to know the right tricks. Hand me my rucksack, please, Major."

He grabbed the shabby bag that was hanging off of a chair. He unclasped it and handed it to her. She thanked him and took out a small towel filled with cookies. She handed one to Markus and pulled out a second.

"Oh Maes~" she called with a cheerful voice. "Do you want a cookie?"

His deep thought broke and he looked up and around the room. "Huh? Cookies? For me? Awesome!" He hopped up out of the chair and thanked his aunt as she handed him one.

"I think we should go, Colonel. We still have to catch up to Warrant Officer Elric."

"Yeah. We'll see you in a couple of days, Aunt Flora."

"Goodbye boys! Good luck!" She called as the left.

When the boys arrived at Mustang's office, they were shocked to see Roy, Riza, and Ed sitting in the dark.

"What the hell's going on?" The young colonel asked abruptly.

"Close the door. Lock it too." Ed responded.

"That doesn't answer my question, Elric."

"Just do what he says, Walsh." Roy snipped. After doing so, Maes and Markus sat down across from the other three.

"Now listen. Normally I wouldn't involve you in this. But seeing as this is going to require some assistance, we are going to tell you two a secret."A look in the dark haired man's eyes told the two that if they ever said a word about what they were about to learn, they would pay for it with their lives.

Riza was the first to speak. "Edward, if you would."

Ed nodded his head and looked to Maes and Markus. "Colonel, Major. We are currently facing a monster and quite possibly more than one."

Roy was the next to speak. "The girl described by Mrs. Jenkins is what's known as a homunculus. I'm certain you boys have heard the term, being well-read alchemists."

"I'm familiar with the term." Maes said.

"As am I." Markus added.

"Over the next couple of days," Roy began. "We will be teaching you all of our knowledge on these inhuman creatures. But first, I will be assigning each of you a task. Colonel Walsh."

"Yes sir?"

"You will begin tracking this girl and finding out where she is and if she has any accomplices. Major Weber, you will be assisting him."

"Got it." They responded in unison.

"Ed, you will be watching Selim Bradley. We need to find out if he is the cause of this or not. Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye will be assisting you actually... you might need your brother too. Given your... condition." Ed glared at him.

"What will you be doing sir?" Riza asked.

"I will speak with the Führer about all of this."

Markus stood up. "Let's go, Colonel. We have a lot to do if we're going to track this girl."

"Alright, Major." Maes responded. Then he turned to Roy. "See you at home, sir?"

Roy nodded his head and Markus lead the Colonel back to the office. When they arrived they found the Xingese man and Lieutenant Colonel Mortizzi busy at their work.

Maes began to bark orders at them. "Lieutenant Wei, I need three maps, One of Amestris, and two of Central."

"Yes, sir!" With that the one identified as 'Wei' left the room to find the maps.

"Mortizzi! I need coffee and the finished paperwork off my desk and I need it yesterday."

"Right away, sir." She responded, as she also left the room.

"So, Colonel," Markus said. "What makes our 'team' so special?"

"Well we all have certain skills. For example, Alexis Mortizzi is an excellent gunman. Nothing to boast about but she gets the job done. My good friend, Mikkel Jenson, is my information specialist. The guy that just left, Yun Wei, he is our technical man. He likes to work with radios and is always coming up with little mechanical devices. Then there's you and I. Obviously we use alchemy to our advantages. And then there's the fact that all of us come from different places. Mortizzi is from Aerugo, Mikkel is Ishvalan, Yun is from Xing, and I was born in Drachma. Don't tell too many people about that though. Only the upper ups are supposed to know that."

Mikkel appeared in the doorway. "A pretty well put together team then, isn't it, sir? Especially if we can keep each other's secrets."

"Hello, Lieutenant Jenson!" Markus greeted.

"Hey there, Mikkel. What are you doing here, didn't you finish your work early?"

"Not today. I just got back from the hospital. I was visiting Flora. Is there anything you need, sir?

"No. Everything is just dandy at the moment." A hand set itself on Mikkel's shoulder. "Who's that there with you?"

It was then that Alphonse peeked his head past. "Hey there, Colonel!" He greeted cheerfully.

"I was bringing some lunch to Ed and I remembered you wanted to see some of the plant research. I brought those with me too." He squeezed past Mikkel's large frame and set the files he was holding on Maes's desk. Mikkel went back to his own desk and got back to work.

"Thank you very much, Alphonse. I think I might read these tonight."

"You're welcome, Colonel. Oh… um…" He gestured for said colonel to come closer, which he did.

"Yes?"

Alphonse cupped a hand around Maes's ear and whispered something that only he could hear. When they parted from their stance, Maes nodded his head. Alphonse's face became grim.

"Oh, man… I think I'm going to have to speak with my brother a bit more. I'll see you guys later!" He ran out of the door, heading for Mustang's office.

"What was that all about, Maes?" Mikkel asked.

"Haha! He was just asking about some girl. Guess that means he's out of my league, right?" He and Mikkel began to laugh. Markus just stood there, looking confused.

"What does that mean?"

"I'll tell you some other time, kid." Mikkel responded.

"Yeah," Maes added. "Some other time."

"What? No! Come on, guys!" The other two just laughed at their shared secret.