Disclaimer: We do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Around 7:30 pm…

Jess had begun to settle down from the sugar rush. While Al snoozed in the chair at her bedside, Jess noticed that Ed was close to having a panic attack.

"Hey, what's wrong, Mr. Grumpy?" Jess asked, punching him in the arm.

"…Shae hasn't come back yet…" Ed worried, starting to pace.

"Ah…she'll be fine –"

"Jess, whoever is after us is still out there!!" Ed growled, raking a hand through his hair. He mentally punched. Why am I worrying? I'm trying to avoid her, aren't I? He wondered.

Jess handed him the phone. "Call the apartment. She might've gone home."

"I've already tried. No one's there."

A grave expression grew on Jess' face. "Go find her. If she isn't at any nearby restaurants or the library, then you can start to worry – and don't call the police. They're already breathing down our necks – hey!"

Ed had already grabbed his coat and speed-walked from the room.

In an abandoned cathedral…

Shae opened her eyes. The ceiling seemed a million miles away, but it only took her a few second to realize why. It was arched. She was in a church of some sort. She immediately sat up and looked around. The cathedral was in ruins. The only source of light came from a few lanterns that were placed on the steps she now sat on.

"What's going on?" she asked to what she thought was an empty church.

"Funny you should ask."

Shae whipped around to see her captor lounging in a nearby pew. She gulped, not having the slightest clue who this was.

"My boss sent me to do away with you."

"Why??" Shae yelled. This was beginning to annoy her.

The stranger grinned. "You know too much." At Shae's confused look, he sat up. "You are a writer, am I correct?"

"Y-yes…"

"And you like getting inspiration from the books you care for at your job, yes?"

Shae broke down. "I'm not infringing copyright I swear!! Don't feed me to the fishes!!" she begged, a smile appearing on her mouth.

"No no…it's not that. You came across a note, hidden in a book one day that you knew you shouldn't have seen."

The stranger would have continued his story, but he felt like cutting to the chase. "All in all, we demand you pay us to not kill you for it…or we keep you captive until your family pays up."

A sickening feeling spread through Shae, but she tried to keep her sense of humor. "Sorry. I haven't any money on me," she scoffed.

The stranger grinned. "Then you'd better get used to this place, 'cause it's gonna be your home for a real long time."

Back at the hospital…

"Where'd Ed go?"

"To look for Shae."

"Where'd she go?"

"Dunno. Hmm…I'm hungry," Jess said, pushing the button for her nurse to come.

"Just don't order any muffins."

Out in the streets, sometime around twilight…

Ed's heart raced as he made for the public library. It was getting late and there was still no sign of Shae.

As he dashed into the library, he went straight to the front desk. "Has Shae Smith shown up here any time this afternoon?" he asked in a rushed voice.

The librarian shook her head. "Sorry."

Ed scowled and rushed back out to the street. He glumly made his way back to the hospital.

Before he turned the corner, something caught his attention in the alleyway. Shae's journal was lying there. It was battered and a few pages were torn. Ed felt his stomach rise up into his throat as he read the note that had been messily shoved between the pages.

In the cathedral…

Shae lay on her back, staring up once again at the vaulted ceiling. Her stomach screamed at her in hunger. As she cringed and rolled onto her side, her captor walked over and knelt beside her.

"How's it going?" he asked with a smile, lighting yet another cigarette. He reached out and put a finger to her nose. "Y' know…you're really cute –"

"Go away!" Shae groaned as she squeezed her eyes shut. I…wish Ed were here, she thought, shocked to even be thinking this about the man who had been avoiding her like the plague.

After the stranger walked off, Shae fought sleep. She didn't want anything to happen beyond her control. When she involuntarily let her eyes close, a voice whispered into her ear.

"Come on. I'm getting you out of here."

Shae turned to see Edward hiding behind the altar with his hand outstretched. Without questioning, she began to crawl over to him, but she froze as a heavy foot pressed into her back.

"Get out of here, boy. She stays."

Shae grinned evilly and quickly threw her free leg backwards, bringing her captor to the ground.

As Ed threw his arms around Shae, the stranger pulled a knife on the two, leaving Ed with a gash on his chest and Shae with a deep wound across her back. In anger, Ed kicked the man in the face and followed Shae out of the cathedral.

Around one in the morning…

When Al arrived back at the apartment with Jess, they found Ed and Shae curled up on the couch together. They were both badly hurt. When Al turned to Jess, she was already armed with her camera.

"Pure gold," Jess laughed quietly, trying not to wake the elder two. Al rolled his eyes and got a blanket for Ed and Shae.

3:42 a.m…

Ed awoke to a sharp pain in his chest, causing him to remember the fight. His eyes trailed to Shae. She was curled up with him and she looked awfully pale from losing blood.

To get his nerves to calm down from just being so close to her, he gently got up and stumbled to the kitchen. He splashed his face with water from the sink and slumped into a chair at the table.

"Thank you."

Ed turned to see Shae standing behind him. She seemed timid at the moment. "Um, you're welcome…it was nothing. Really."

Shae collapsed into the chair beside him. "You were hurt! You shouldn't have come to find me."

Ed stared at the table. "That man would have killed you in what way he pleased…you don't deserve that." Before Shae could respond, he moved extremely closer to her and placed his hand over her mouth. "By the looks of it, I don't think he was going to contact your family."

Shae didn't need to ask how he knew about that part. Without another word, she went to her room and locked the door behind her.

A few hours later…

Jess snuck into Shae's room (she had a key) and woke her up.

"Whatdya want?" Shae mumbled, attempting to sit up.

"The purple people eater is here to eat you," Jess said with an almost cross look.

"Purple people eater…?" Shae asked slowly, not quite sure if she heard right.

"Yeah, he's waiting for you in the living room."

"Okay, sure."

Jess was just about to leave when she turned again. "What d' you want for supper?"

"You can't cook!" Shae reminded her, glancing at her sling.

"Geez, ya never complained before…I'm really that awful?"

"No, I mean you can't cook with one arm, can you?"

"Dunno. Mr. People Eater's waitin' though," Jess said with a shrug as she exited the room.

Shae understood instantly who the Purple People Eater was as soon as she saw the large man standing and talking to the brothers. Ed's lips pursed in troubled thoughts as he nodded at something. When the three men noticed her presence, Al headed to the kitchen to the kitchen to help Jess and Ed backed up as the chief detective came forward.

"We got another note from the person or group that wants you dead – "

"What now??" Shae growled, sitting in a chair, "They almost did away with me, isn't that enough?" As she buried her head in her hands in frustration, Ed moved to her side and rested his hand on her shoulder.

"Well, you're no longer safe in this entire city. It's best if you left," the chief said.

Shae sighed and rubbed her forehead before getting to her feet. "I guess it'd be a good idea to head home…" she said as she quickly back to her room.

After Ed had locked the front door, he stared long and hard at Shae's door. As he walked past, he heard her crying. A strange pulse at the pit of his chest made him long to go and comfort her, but he just couldn't muster the courage.

When Ed turned to enter his and Al's room, he heard the purple door open.

"Ed…?" came Shae's voice in a raspy tone. When Ed turned to her, he felt his heart stop. She was extremely pale and tears stained her cheeks. As she stood there, clutching the door frame, Ed slowly walked over and led her back into her room. Just as they made it to her bed, Shae melted into Edward's arms and broke down completely.

In the kitchen…

While Jess busied herself with dinner, Al examined the bandages left by Shae and his brother. The amount of blood was unbelievable. "What did they get into??" he wondered.

The two turned their heads as they heard Ed giving Shae comforting words as she cried.

"Is she going to be ok?" Al asked, standing and leaning on the oven.

Jess bit her lip and cast a distant look at the purple door. "I don't know. She doesn't want to leave…and that oven is on!" She laughed as Al sprung away from the oven.

When Jess shoved Al out of the way, Al lost his breath yet again when she got close. He just stood there, watching her every move.

Back in Shae's room…

Ed sighed at how close Shae was to him. She had literally wrapped her arms tightly around his chest and buried her face into the place where his neck and shoulder met – despite the hardness of the automail. Her breathing was uneven from her crying.

Without realizing it, Ed had begun to gently rub Shae's back. She seemed to relax under his touch. With a violent shudder, she whispered, "Don't stop." Ed smiled and pulled away.

"Shae…why don't you want to leave?"

"…"

"You in there?" Ed laughed, waving his fingers in front of Shae's eyes.

"Oh! Well…I…I don't want to leave you," Shae replied, a blush threatening to surface. She felt Ed's golden eyes burning into her very soul. Before either of them spoke, she felt Ed pressing her back into the pillows and her face turned a dark shade of red at their closeness. Suddenly, her heart soared as his lips met hers. This kiss was different from the one he had stolen when she had been angry at him. It lasted longer and she enjoyed it. She also felt a strong bond form between her and Ed as their lips lingered just millimeters apart. Her eyes watered when he backed his face away.

Ed's hands shook as they explored Shae's facial features. "Will you be my girlfriend now? Please…before I lose my mind," he begged. His voice quivered and his lips barely brushed hers as he spoke.

Shae was speechless. She had lost the desire to pull away and just wanted to remain there with Ed. Through her shock at her racing heart, she managed to nod.

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Hey guys,

This is silent-twilight09, one of jess' friends. She had needed a bit of help with this chapter so I helped her out by writing some of this chapter and typing it all up. It's now five forty-nine in the morning on Saturday… (yawn) I'm at her house right now with another of our friends and we haven't slept at ALL! Well…jess has…she out. She pops in and out of consciousness every once in a while but she always goes back to sleep. I'm shocked. We're being pretty loud XD.

Well…I'm gonna start a bit of chapter 11 for her...darned writer's block. I swear it's a disease…XD

kenni shae

Hi Ya'll,

I'm awake now!

Well, Kenni shae (silent-twilight09) is now my co-writer. So, most likely the rest of the chaps will be half written by her since this fic. Is kinda based off the last one we wrote.

Well, hope ya'll liked this one,

See ya,

Jess