A/N: Hello, my dear readers!

This chapter is dedicated to darkreverie13, for snapping me out of my post-NaNo-induced daze. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

~InkRoze

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or its associated characters (which include Greed and Envy, unfortunately). I DO own my version of Selim, Kate, Asher, Jack, and all my other OCs, which, in truth, there are a lot of.

(EDITED: April 3rd, 2012)

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"I never guess. It is a shocking habit destructive to the logical faculty."

- Arthur Conan Doyle

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Asher slid his dark glasses into his hair and peeked through a crack in the train car's door, assessing the situation with a practiced eye. There were four men- that he could see, at any rate- but there were no doubt more on other cars of the train. The thugs, obviously in some sort of gang or organization due to their uniform purple bandanas, were too busy terrorising the passengers to notice the door slide slightly open. He thanked Ishvala that they weren't in an unattached train car, or observing them would be next to impossible. The cabin all three of the teenagers- four, now, he supposed- had been sharing was a sectioned off part of a larger, lower-class passenger car. The thugs must have missed the extra room on their first sweep. Asher mentally sighed. He really, really didn't want to have to use force. It was so… unprofessional. He was so focused on trying to hear the men inside, that he didn't notice Jack and Kate come up behind him until it was too late.

"So, what's the plan?" Kate whispered, making him jump. He only turned halfway toward her, trying to keep his attention both on the girls, and on the thugs.

"I told you two to wait in the cabin!" Asher hissed. Jack shrugged, but kept silent.

"No can do, Ash," Kate grinned. "We're coming, whether ya like it or not. The art of apprehending train hijackers has been in the Armstrong family line for generations." Asher growled quietly, and glared at Kate with his automail eye. She just stared back, nonplussed. Inside, however, she was supressing a shudder. The glare, especially with his mechanical eye, unnerved her.

"If Jack is caught, then I'm going to be-" He was cut off when the door suddenly slid open. The alchemist pitched forward onto the hard floor, followed by Kate, who had grabbed for his coat to try and pull him backward, but she mistimed her lunge, and over balanced. She fell onto his back, jarring him with her elbows as she tried to cushion herself against the fall. Asher held in a groan of pain, unable to scramble to his feet.

"Hey! Knox! There's a couple kids we missed. I thought I heard something," the man called to the train car behind him. This is your fault, Armstrong, Asher thought bitterly, as Kate's elbows kept digging into his spine. The gang member grabbed Kate by the back of her collar, and hauled her off of Asher. She gave an undignified squeak and started to struggle, but Asher shook his head. Kate thought for a moment about ignoring him and hurling her captor right through the train wall, but she knew Asher had his reasons. Even if he didn't know that she packed more of a punch than her small frame suggested, it was enough to deter her from fighting back.

It also might have helped that the hijackers had guns.

A different member of the gang, who had been standing behind the first thug, grabbed Asher's arm before the alchemist could slink away. As the half-Ishvalan was pulled to his feet, he managed to slip his glasses securely back on his nose. Asher discreetly glanced over his shoulder, but Jack was nowhere to be seen. He held in a sigh, and glared at Kate through his dark glasses, instead. Ishvala, that girl, he thought, as she stuck her tongue out at him after noticing his annoyance. Asher had known the Armstrong for maybe ten minutes, and she already irritated him to no end.

"Alright. Put them with the others," a quiet, but authoritative voice replied. Kate's eyes widened slightly as she noticed the man they had called Knox. From the way he spoke, even with his soft tone, Asher knew that the middle-aged man must be in charge. He was relatively nondescript, with flat brown hair, and casual blue eyes. His only outstanding feature was a black, simple tattoo of a snake on his neck. It looked unfinished, somehow, to Asher. Kate recognised the man instantly. Asher watched her face flash from recognition to a slightly morbid curiosity. Knox nodded to their captors, and both Kate and Asher were dragged over to the next train car. It was filled to the brim with frightened commuters. They must have forced all of the other passengers in here, Asher thought, as he and Kate were shoved inside, and the men left. The door locked behind them, leaving both teenagers with a train car full of hysterical people. Brilliant.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Jack quickly pressed herself into the small space beside the sliding door, silently thanking her slight build for the first time in her life. She watched as Kate and Asher were both grabbed and pulled into the train car, and held her breath until it slid shut again. Jack bit her lip, not quite sure what to do. Those thugs had her best friend. While she had no doubt that Kate could take care of herself, in addition to having Asher there to watch her back, Jack couldn't help but worry. A hand suddenly clamped down on her shoulder, and she stiffened, opening her mouth to scream. A second hand quickly covered her mouth, and Jack struggled in her captor's grip, about to bite them, and hard. She reached for her gun.

"I would advise you to stop struggling, Miss Mustang, or they will no doubt hear you," a familiar, sophisticated voice hissed in her ear. Jack relaxed, closing her eyes in relief, and slowly pried her fingers from around the handle of her firearm. After making sure she was calm, he released her. She turned around, her dark eyes blazing. She usually would have smacked any normal person, but Selim wasn't by any means normal.

"What was that all abou-" she started to whisper angrily, but Selim shook his head, and put a finger to his lips. Almost soundlessly, the Bradley leaned closer to the door, trying to hear the men inside. Jack blinked, still fuming. After a while, he pulled back.

"They've moved to another car. I take it Kate and Asher have been apprehended?"

"If you mean kidnapped, then yes. The gang members yanked them into the room a few minutes ago, and I haven't seen or heard anything since."

"I wonder what their motives are," Selim mused aloud, ignoring her.

"Who cares? Are we going to go save them, or what?" she asked, miffed.

"I care. The possible motives include; one, the gang is after something valuable on this train. If so, then they will most likely search the cabins and passengers until they find it. Two, they are after a specific person, and will search the passengers until they find him or her. Three, they want to commandeer the train, in which case the passengers will possibly be either kept as prisoners, or discarded at the next station. Or four, the gang is trying to send a message to the government, or military. If this is the case, then most likely the passengers will be held as hostages or killed, including Miss Armstrong and Mr. Reed. There also is the possibility that the gang's motives are none of those things, but I'm not absolutely certain." Jack blinked at his miniature monologue. He wasn't even out of breath.

"K-killed?" she stuttered, as his words sank in. Selim resisted rolling his eyes, but it was difficult.

"Yes, Miss Mustang. My point is that we should more than likely wait to find out what they are after before we rush into things." Jack frowned.

"Alright, then. You sound like you know what you're doing." Selim smirked, and turned to the sliding door.

"More or less."

"More or…" she echoed, dumbfounded. "Hey! Wait a second!" But he was already gone. Grumbling under her breath, Jack ran after him, trying to muffle her footfalls as best she could.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kate and Asher both stared at the group of twenty or so hysterical people crammed in one car. The group of people stared back, taking in their odd appearances. Kate, irritated as it was, glared at them.

"Hey," she stated indignantly, "We're hostages too, ya know. Ya don't haveta stare like we're on display." The passengers turned varying degrees of sheepish, and went back to being frantic. Asher glanced at Kate, who turned to him, and shoved a finger in his face.

"What's the big idea, Reed? We could have taken them!" she hissed, trying to keep her voice down. Asher tilted his head to the side, and just looked back at her calmly.

"Then Jack would be safe, and we wouldn't be in this mess! We're hostages, Reed!" she continued. The Armstrong stretched to her full 5' 5" height, but he still looked down at her. Or at least, she thought he was looking at her. It irritated her that she couldn't see his expression behind his dark glasses.

"Kate," he interrupted, "There were four of them. They had guns. Even if you managed to subdue a few of them, which I highly doubt, you'd never make it out alive." He snuck a look at the people behind them without turning his head. He knew they were listening, even though he was trying to be quiet. I hope she doesn't say anything stupi-

"You highly doubt?" Kate echoed incredulously. "Well, then, Mister State Alchemist, couldn't you have done something?" Never mind, he thought flatly.

"A state alchemist?"

"What's he doing here?"

"He's captured as well?"

"Even he can't stop them!"

"We're going to die!" The passengers whispered in panicked tones, as they began to shift around the car. Their restlessness was beginning to eat away at Asher's frayed nerves. Kate seemed oblivious to their murmuring, and opened her mouth to continue.

"Kate," Asher growled before she could get a word in, "Shut up." Kate gaped at him.

"Why, you-!" She raised her fist to punch him.

"Please, don't," Asher asked as politely as he could through clenched teeth. The last thing he needed was a fight from someone supposedly on his own side. He wasn't sure if she could do any real damage, but he remembered how much her earlier punch had hurt, and decided not to risk it. Kate narrowed her eyes at him, but lowered her arm.

"Because ya asked so nicely," she grudgingly replied, still peeved. "So what are we gonna do now?"

"Thanks to you," Asher remarked, "The passengers are panicking, and in a hostage situation, that's the last thing anyone needs. More people are liable to be killed that way. But if we can calm them down, we can probably find out what hap-"

"Talk to them? Ash, come on! Let's just take the men out, and be done with it! They don't get what they want, whatever that may be, and we get the heck off this train! Deal? I think yes." Asher just stared at her for a long while before he turned away, muttering something Kate couldn't make out.

"What was that?"

"I said, 'my alchemy isn't exactly combat-based.'" Kate's mouth dropped open, yet again.

"What? So you're useless?" she nearly shrieked. Asher cursed in Ishvalan.

"No!" he stated firmly. Kate could have sworn that the glare he shot her was melting holes clean through his glasses. She shuddered as he continued more calmly.

"No, I am not useless. I meant that my alchemy won't be much help in this situation. I, on the other hand, have combat experience, however limited it may be. Violence isn't exactly professional, so I do what I can to avoid it." Kate met his gaze, her expression skeptical.

"Professional? That's whatcha care about? Ya don't exactly strike me as someone who'd give a damn." When Asher didn't respond, other than an annoyed twitch of his eyebrow, Kate shook her head. "Alright, then. What exactly do you do? Dad only told me your alias. Does 'Scarlet Shadow' have anything to do with your alchemy?"

"Not exactly."

"Then what?"

"Kate," he said suddenly, ignoring her question, "You seemed like you recognised the leader, Knox, earlier. Who was he?" Kate gave him a wary look, but let the subject drop.

"Knox? Well, not him specifically, but I-" Both Kate and Asher were interrupted, yet again, by the door to the train car sliding open. One of the gang members entered, holding a gun loosely in his hands. He seemed completely at ease, gesturing with the gun in a careless manner. The passengers shrank back into their seats, leaving Kate and Asher even more exposed.

"Alright, stand up, the lot of you," the man ordered slowly, clearly. The passengers glanced around nervously, rising to their feet against the sway of the train, but some sat defiant, unwilling to cooperate without a fight.

"What are you going to do with us?" one braver man asked. The gunman smirked, his dark eyes sadistic. Kate eyed him through her bangs, noticing his unkempt appearance of black hair and three-day-old stubble. Something about him told her that he would shoot first and ask questions later. She also noted the little bit of black poking from beneath his collar, signifying another snake tattoo. So I was right, she thought grimly. It is them.

"The boss just wants a word with one of you," the man continued. "Just a chat. I'm looking for a Jason Ross." No one responded. The gang member's smirk grew wider.

"Come on, now, I just need Ross. Only Ross. Why should all of you have to die for just one man?" The atmosphere was tense, and both teenagers backed up a few steps, trying to blend into the crowd, somewhat.

"I'll begin at the back," he said lazily, "And work my way to the front. If I don't get an answer from any of you, I'll kill one of the women, starting with blondie here." He gestured to a terrified blonde woman a few feet from him. The woman shrank back in fear, the man beside her sliding in front of her protectively. The gang man ignored them.

"After I kill her, I'll start again," he continued. "If I still don't get an answer, I'll kill another one, and so on. I'll do it as many times as needed, until I get an answer." He paused. "Do we have an agreement?" No one responded, but the passengers glanced between themselves, as if trying to figure out which one of them was the unlucky Jason Ross. The gunman stepped forward, and stood in front of a young man, maybe in his early twenties. Kate recognised him as the same passenger who has spoken up earlier.

"Are you Jason Ross?"

"No," the young man stated boldly. The gang member simply moved on, unruffled by the rebellious response.

"Are you Jason Ross?" he asked another man, and received the same answer. Again and again, the answer was no, and the tension rose. Kate glanced at Asher, silently imploring him to let her help. He subtly shook his head, as if to say, Wait just a little longer. Finally, the hijacker reached Asher. The entire train car went deathly silent, knowing that the woman's survival depended on Asher's answer. The gunman's dark eyes narrowed at the alchemist's odd appearance, but opened his mouth, regardless. Before he could speak, Asher inclined his head; a barely discernible movement, but enough for Kate to read his unspoken agreement. Now.

Without any warning, she lunged forward, and in one quick movement, punched the man square in the jaw. He went down like a sack of bricks, and the gun clattered to the floor. The passengers gasped in both shock and horror, and Asher couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in surprise. The amount of force in her blow seemed impossible, coming from her size. She looked maybe twelve, maybe thirteen, but she had decked a full-grown man with one punch, like it was nothing. The girl in question dusted off her hands and removed one of her fingerless gloves to inspect her knuckles. They weren't bleeding, thankfully, just slightly bruised. She slid her glove back on, and bent down to examine the now unconscious gunman.

"He'll live, I think," the Armstrong stated, unconcerned. "I held back a lot. I'm pretty sure only his jaw is broken." She poked at his face with a finger; none too gingerly, either. "Yep. Definitely broken." Asher looked from the unconscious gunman to the sliding door, where he knew the other gang members were. He drew both Drachman Steel blades from inside his jacket.

"No going back now," Kate grinned, as she noticed Asher's rueful expression. "One down, the rest of the gang to go."

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