*cringe* I hate this chapter but after going through it several times I couldn't think of anything to do to make it not… sucky.

NOTE: I've changed the one insane alchemist to a group of insane people (although not all alchemists). I mean, one alchemist is not enough to call all those troops to the East.

And you ask me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And designer love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

-Better Days by Goo Goo Dolls

At Eastern HQ

"It's so well written. Honestly, it had me absolutely enthralled! Now, I personally don't care for fiction but the way the author writes just had me in tears-"

Perched on the edge of her desk chair, beaming freakishly up at her colleagues, Sheska continued to babble on about the dozen or so books she had read in past week. Nobody seemed to be paying her even the slightest amount of attention but she managed to overlook that as she went into detail about her favourite parts, authors, characters and techniques.

"And she used these little poems that were-"

"The troop of soldiers from Central are arriving in five minutes!"

The bold exclamation (from the office's interrupting secretary) was followed by the scraping of chairs pushed back on hard wood floors and excited murmurs from the people Sheska was talking to. Unbeknownst to her, her workmates rushed out the door, leaving her alone in office. She continued blabbering on until she finally realised no one was responding to her comments.

Pausing, she called out a shaky, "G-Guys?" It echoed around the empty room, leaving her wondering what exactly had happened. "Guys?" she tried again.

"Aren't you coming, Private?" her commanding officer asked, popping his head back through the door. "Everyone is gathering out the front to welcome the soldiers."

She gladly rushed to his side. "Of course, sir. Although... I don't really understand what the hype is all about."

Turning on his heel and making his way back down hallway, her boss, Colonel Sanders, said, "Most people know some of the soldiers coming. They're excited to see their old friends."

Sheska had always liked her boss. He was fair to the soldiers, treating the lower ranks almost like equals. He opened up to his subordinates and didn't think to conceal anything before he spoke. Because of that, she wasn't afraid to open her mouth and confess, "I don't really know anyone coming… I don't really have many friends."

Sanders sent her a warming smile and declared, without doubt, "Well then you're just going to have to make some! I'm sure there's someone from General Mustang and Brigadier General Elric's divisions that will want to be friends with such a beauti-"

"Wait," Sheska interrupted, "did you just say Elric?"

"Well, yeah, he's one of the commanding officers on the mission."

Sheska could feel a smile creeping upon her face. She fastened her pace and sped down the corridor, leaving her superior wondering where her sudden enthusiasm had come from. "Thank you, sir," she called over her shoulder. "Your support means a lot to me."

Running the rest of the way, she suddenly felt a lot more positive about the upcoming week.

"Ugh, my head feels like I've been hit by a train. Seriously, how the hell did you convince me to drink?"

"What can I say?" Havoc grinned, throwing an unsympathetic arm over Ross's sagging shoulders. "Everything feels better with booze." (1)

Opening up one glaring eye, Ross hissed, "I hate you, you jerk."

"Hey, now," Ed put in, "you were the one who decided to drink."

"You have no place to talk, midget," she shot back. "You were the one that transmuted that alcohol. I'm just as pissed at you."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Mustang said from behind them as they walked towards HQ. "Or see it," he added after a pause.

"And I'm going to pretend I don't know how to transmute alcohol."

"That would probably be smart."

From underneath Havoc's arm, Ross groaned loudly.

"ED!"

An unannounced, completely unexpected force collided with Ed and he suddenly found himself with an armful of bookworm. He was sent stumbling backwards and into Mustang, who, in an act of habit, wrapped his arms around Ed. The three were sent hurdling to the ground, Ed sandwiched in the middle.

"Oww..." he croaked.

"Oh, gosh," Sheska cried, leaping up and away from the two alchemists, "I wasn't thinking, I was just so glad to see you Ed!"

"Its okay, I'm fine." The nature of the conversation was similar enough to yesterday's to make a small, amused smile grow on his face.

"What about me?" Mustang choked out. "I'm certainly not fine."

"Oh, get over it, you big baby," Ed snapped. His words were harsh but his voice held nothing but fondness. "Although… we probably will need a hand up…"

"Isn't this exciting?"

Two women stood huddled against the glass of a second floor window, watching the entrance of Eastern HQ and the new band of soldiers that approached it.

"I know! It's a nice change from the usual boring officers we have to put up with. Its so great that all these soldiers get to come!"

"If by great you mean an insane, murdering group of terrorists then, sure, this is great," a third, clearly male, voice said.

"Oh, Colonel Sanders," one of the girls, a blonde Private, said, "I hadn't realised you were standing there."

"Make no mistake," he continued, acting as though she hadn't spoken, "this mission their on is not a thankful one. Nor is it one for the faint hearted."

"So the rumours are true," the second girl piped up. "There really is a group of-"

"-psychopathes hell-bent on the complete destruction of the military? Yes… That's what these soldiers are here to stop, so we all need to stay out of there way and let them do there job."

"Understood, sir!"

"Of course, sir!"

Joining them at the window, Colonel Sanders sighed and said, half to himself, "This isn't going to be easy on them…"

They stood in somber silence, overlooking the progress of men and women into their building. No one spoke but the quiet was not awkward. It felt, if anything, as though their silence was a sign of respect to those assigned to the daunting mission and the people that would suffer because of it.

The minutes flew by in silence until the blonde finally broke it. With the narrowing of her eyebrows and a confused scan of the grounds in front of them, she asked, "Is that… is that Sheska?"

It took both Sheska, Havoc and all of their strength (Ross stubbornly refusing not to move lest she puke all over their boots) to untangle the pile of mess that had become the two alchemist's limbs.

Five long, painful minutes later, they both stood, unraveled and finally apart.

"Thanks," Roy huffed, dusting the dirt that had gathered from his uniform. "He may be half the size of a normal human being but his automail still weighs a tonne."

"Well, we can't exactly stand there while our commanding officers lay in the sand, now can we?" Havoc said, shooting Ross a meaningful look.

"I know I already said this, but I am sorry. I was just so excited to see you again, Ed!"

"Its okay, Sheska," Ed told her, "I'm just as glad to have friends here as well. After so long…" looking down at his open, gloved palms, he blushed, his face taking on a small content smile, "its… comforting, really nice. Actually… I want you guys to know that… well, you mean a lot to me." (2)

"Oh, Ed, that's so swe-"

He coughed in a very loud, very fake manner and announced, "We need to move on! Come on everybody, I want to get to HQ before the Harvest Festival."

Striding determinedly past his friends (oh, gate, did he seriously just say that?) Ed noticed that many of the soldiers, much like the ones on the train, completely ignored him. Instead they walked casually towards HQ, taking their time and chatting away. As he walked, his friends jogging to catch up with him, he managed to tune into the conversation of the group beside him.

"What do you think this mission is about?"

"Sounds dangerous…"

"Why do they need so many soldiers?"

"I don't know. There has to be reason, right?

"Hey, look! Its Havoc!"

"Ha, idiot is still alive, then?"

"I thought the General was going rip out his heart or something."

"Sounds like something he would do… "

"Oh! Ross is with him!"

"Ross?"

"Second Lieutenant Maria Ross. She was in another carriage. Apparently the General called on her too."

"And she's alright?"

"Actually, she doesn't look too flash. Kind of… sick."

Another voice interrupted and Ed recognised it as his own subordinate; Anderson. "More like hung over."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Trust me, after that train ride, I would know. "

"But… why would she be hung over?"

Ed never got to hear the answer to that as Havoc suddenly called out, "Hey, boss!" the blonde man appeared at his side, his arms weighed down with luggage. "Here." He thrust a familiar battered suitcase into Ed's arms and said, "I'm not carrying your stuff. Geez, what have you got in there? Rocks?"

"Um, no, not rocks," Ed looked vaguely embarrassed, "…books."

"Books? Books? Did you even bring any clothes?"

"…not really." Before Havoc could open his mouth to reprimand him, he continued, "but I brought a couple of uniforms! And a hairbrush and a toothbrush!"

"What are we going to do with you?"

The week passed and the Central soldiers slowly began to feel more at home at Eastern Headquarters. The terrorist group stayed quiet, strangely quiet. All possible leads for the case dried up and the string of murders they were responsible for (all of them on military soldiers) stopped. In all the time they had been there, no one had died.

Ed relaxed with everyone else; far more than he ever had at Central. Whilst there were officers stationed in the East that held a higher rank than him, none of them held any real power. None of them could promote or demote him, not like the ones from Central could.

That week it was like… therapy. Better than therapy. It gave him a chance to recharge his batteries and his friends time to enjoy him. Every excuse he found, he would head to Roy's makeshift office and just… be. Sleep, read, fill out paperwork, talk, stare at the older man, anything. He felt as though he was walking around in a peaceful, dream-like state. Nothing felt real. But that was fine. Real was painful, real was hard, real was something worse than nightmares. If Ed could stay in this summer daze forever, he would.

But with his relaxation came laziness and sloppiness. He let his subordinates take days off, missed several paperwork deadlines, didn't punish soldiers who deserved it and even managed to prank Mustang. (Although, no one did work out how or who turned the man's black hair a bright, shocking pink.) He let himself go, forgetting anyone and everyone in his haste.

Safe to say, none of his subordinates could work out what brought on his sudden change in mood. Taking extreme precautions, they tiptoed around their boss, paranoid that he would snap and break the nearest person's neck. Like a werewolf on a full moon.

But they weren't the only ones to notice.

It was on one lazy Tuesday afternoon that Ed found himself sprawled out on Mustang's couch, a happy smile playing at his lips and the older man's jacket covering him like a blanket. The two had been in that office since sun up, discussing everything from alchemy to automail.

A brisk knock pounded on the door, interrupting their current conversation on why other countries would never be as alchemically efficient as Amestris. Shooting Roy a confused look, Ed stood and approached the door. It swung open and, in its threshold, stood three very annoyed, very high-ranking officers.

"Brigadier General Elric," the closest man said, "I think we need to talk." He eyed Mustang suspiciously. "Privately."

1) That's Havoc's logic. Still being underage, I wouldn't know.

2) Yes, completely OOC. Ed suddenly blurted it out, that's why he's embarrassed; he didn't mean to say it.