A/N: Whoa! My longest chapter yet! Well worth the wait!

"So... Dublin." The Doctor said, stepping out out of his escort car.

"Dublith!" Said Edward annoyedly. He stayed silent the whole way there.

Whatever's waiting for them must be monstrous... thought the Doctor. He checked over the files they had given him one more time.

Name: Lazar

Age: Unknown

Height: 6' 0"

Sex: Male

Description: Suspect has grey hair with a stripe of black down the middle. Suspect wears military personnel clothing to fool civilians. Suspect is also missing left hand.

Orders: All personnel are to instruct citizens of the situation and what to do. Ask all suspicious characters if they know of the whereabouts of Lazar.

Behind the file was a criminal record, with a photo attached. He looked to be about in his late thirties, but the official file recorded no age. He claimed to be hundreds of years old. "Delusional, then, this bloke?"

"Apparently." Said alphonse, looking around at the all-to-familiar scenery. "Hey, big brother! Remember when we used to play ball over in that alley?"

"Yeah. Good times, eh, Al?" Edward said, nudging his brother with his arm. There was a familiar metal on metal clank from that nudge.

"Sorry if I'm intruding... but why does Alphonse wear that armor?"

Just like that, Edward's smile disappeared from his face. "Long story."

"I'll shorten it, then." He said, kneeling down in front of Edward. He place his two fingers on Edwards temples.

"What are you-"

"Hush, now!" He snapped. The Doctor closed his eyes. "Empty your mind of all thoughts except the ones you want me to see."

"Why would I- Are you in my brain?!" Edward asked nervously. "I can feel you in there."

"Yes. Y'see those memories you don't want me to see? Imagine a door. And close it." The Doctor narrowed his eyebrows. "Who's Win- Ooh... closed that one pretty fast. And that one. What-" The Doctor stumbled around Edward's brain for a minute until he found the memories labeled 'Incident'. He frowned as he relived those events. When the Doctor was done, a tear rolled down his cheek. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Edward pulled away. "it's fine. It was our fault."

"Yes, but I was there just then. And I know it hurt. I've had to do something of a similar nature before, actually."

"What was that?" Alphonse asked.

"I had to doom my own race of people do their deaths..." The Doctor said, his voice quivering. He wiped the tear from his eye and got up. "Right then! Lazar. Dublith."

"We should start our search on the east side of town." Alphonse said, pointing towards the houses to the east.

"What are we waiting for?" Edward asked. "Let's go!" Somehow, this statement sounded anything but reassuring to him.

When they finished, there were no signs or clues to Lazar's hiding place. The only side of town they hadn't searched was the west side. The Doctor wanted to go search, but Edward caught him by the cuff.

"We don't need to go search that side of town!" Edward said with a nervous laughter. "He's probably long gone by now." Alphonse wan nodding his head furiously in nervous agreement.

"Oh, quit being a shortstop!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT YOU CAN STEP ON LIKE AN ANT?!" Edward suddenly changed character from nervous to furious.

"Just c'mon!" The Doctor said, and began walking into the sough side. Lots of markets on this side thought the Doctor. He walked up to a butchers shop, to Edward and Alphonse's horror.

"NOT THAT ONE!" Edward yelled.

Too late. The Doctor was already inside ringing for assistance. Out of the back came a burly man, about the Major's size, with matching black hair and mustache-goatee. "Can I help you?" He asked in a deep voice.

"Allo! I'm the Doctor. Sorry to bother..."

Edward and Alphonse were hiding outside the door, panting frantically. "Maybe he doesn't know were here?" Edward mused nervously.

"Me and my associates, Edward and Alphonse Elric, need to ask you and any relatives of yours some questions."

Edward had a conniption. "I'll kill him." He said under his breath. He walked around from the doorframe and smiled a nervous smile. The big man raised an eyebrow. He walked out from around the butcher's counter, went up to Edward and Alphonse, and brought them in to a huge hug. The Doctor was confused.

"Izumi will be thrilled to se you." The man said, still crushing them in his arms.

"Friend's of yours?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes. And of yours?" The big man asked.

"Yes." The big man let Edward and Alphonse down, and the Doctor stood next to them. "So then... may we ask you and this 'Izumi' some questions?" Edward and Alphonse were shivering at the sound of her name.

"Of course." The big man led them back around the butcher shop to a white-walled two story house. He let them in and sat therm down. "I'll go and check to make sure that she's decent."

When he left, Edward and Alphonse were practically pushing the Doctor out the door. "C'mon... while we can!"

"Come off it! What's so bad about her?!" The Doctor demanded.

"She's our teacher!" Alphonse squealed.

"And we just recently got expelled from the academy. Which means..."

Like that, a young woman with black dreadlocks and a white housewife dress, about in her early thirties, walked through the door to the living room. Edward and Alphonse froze.

"Oh, Ed. Al. I didn't expect you back so soon." She sounded sweet and surprised.

"Yeah. We were just conducting an investigation on-" He barely made it through the word investigation before she was upon him. She hit him square in the jaw, sending him flying through the now open door. Alphonse stepped away, but to no avail, for she grabbed him and threw him out the door after Edward.

"WHAT KIND OF IDIOT DO YOU THINK I AM?!" She yelled at them furiously. They were shaking nervously as she walked out the door towards them. "Why on this earth would you return to me so soon!? And as a dog of the military, no less?!" She was about to rip into them, when streams of blood came out of her mouth, and she began choking. When she cleaned up, she had her crosshairs set on the boys.

"Were sorry!" Edward and Alphonse were bowing there heads and apologizing frantically. Izumi turned towards the Doctor and smiled.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, how rude of me! Im Izumi Curtis, these boys' ex-teacher." She glared back at them, and they nearly fell over from fear.

"I'm the Doctor, Military volunteer. We would like to know if we could ask you a few questions about suspicious activity lately."

"Of course!" Izumi looked over at the huddled mass that was the Elric's. "Get your butts inside now." She said sharply. Like that, they were rushing inside to her whim.

"I see." Izumi said. She put her hands to her temples and thought about the questions. "Lazar... can't say I've really seen anyone of that nature around here."

"It's fine, as long as all suspicious activity is reported to the military." Alphonse said.

"Yeah. Were looking for him and need all the help we can get!" Edward smiled. Izumi glared at him, and the smile immediately disappeared from his face.

"But still something I don't understand." Izumi said. "Despite all you've told me, I wonder about his motives. Why would he hang around here?"

"That's what we wan't to find out!" The Doctor stood up and walked to the door. He stepped outside and walked around. "We need more clues, so we need more interrogations. So we need to get going!"

"Right!" Edward walked towards the door, but Izumi stopped him.

"You're welcome to stay here, in case the investigation takes to long." She said softly.

Edward looked at her and smiled. "Thanks, teacher!"

Izumi immediately snapped back, "Don't call me that!"

Edward flinched and raced out the door with Alphonse. The Doctor stopped at the end of the walkway and turned around to face Edward and Alphonse. "So that's your teacher then?"

"Yep. That's her." Alphonse said.

"I can see your fears weren't misplaced-"

Right as the word misplaced escaped his lips, a black car pulled up on the lawn behind him. The doors swung open, and masked men came out. Two of them grabbed and stifled the Doctor and threw him in the car. The third one rolled down his window and shouted, "Lazar sends his regards!", and sent a bullet flying into Alphonse's helmet. Within a few seconds, the car drove out of sight of everyone. They were all dumbstruck.

Like that, the Doctor was gone.