Should have doe this at Chapter 2 & 4, when I used real characters, but I didn't so here we go.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters created by Hiromu Arakawa.

In other news teaser for my chapters can be found two days before the official release date of my chapters. My tumblr is: IronRoseAlchemist

Chapter song: Goodbye, Apathy by OneRepublic

Enjoy!

Ana woke up in a hospital bed. This was accompanied by a pounding headache.

She was alone in the room, which surprised her. Whenever she woke up in hospitals Naomi was alway there. At first it was creepy but after the first five times, Ana had gotten used to it.

Ana attempted to sit up but her head protested violently and she fell back. A lock of hair fell into her face. Ana noticed it was gold. She sighed in annoyance. As she pushed it back, her hand brushed her face over her left eye. Well should have brushed over her eye, but there was something covering it.

Ana reached up and ran her fingers over what she assumed to be an eyepatch or a bandage.

Wait, bandage….?

Eyepatch!?

Ana screamed.

Jack and Savon had finally managed to drag Naomi away from Ana's bedside. The girl had an absurd sense of loyalty.

It had been two days since they had rescued Ana and Jack from the underground lab and Naomi had barely eaten. She had refused to leave the room, opting instead to worry and pace back and forth.

The three teens were currently in the hospital cafeteria eating lunch. No one spoke.

When they heard the scream, Naomi shot up from the table. She dashed to the doors.

"Naomi!" Savon called, chasing after. "Where are you going!?"

"That was Ana!" she hollered back. "Who else would scream in a hospital!"

When Naomi reached the room she found Ana and a few doctors trying to calm the young girl down.

When Ana saw Naomi, she nearly sobbed in relief. "What's going on? What happened? Why am I here?"

Naomi frowned. "You don't remember?"

Ana blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

By this time Savon had arrived. Ana demanded clarification but Naomi quickly shut her down.

"I'll answer any questions as soon as the doctors are done," she said.

The doctors gave Ana a quick check up. They said everything looked fine and that Ana could be discharged tomorrow. They also explained that Ana's eye was fine and intact, however, it would have to remain covered for the next few days. The doctors did not know how or why but the eye had reverted back to normal a few hours after Ana arrived at the hospital.

Jack arrived by the time the doctors had finished, and then it was just the four of them.

"So…." Ana asked, "what happened?"

Only Naomi would meet her gaze as they told her what had happened in the underground laboratory. At first Ana was silent, then she looked away from them and curled up on the bed. Her friends did not know what to do. It was as if someone had hit the girl's shutdown switch and turned her off.

Savon reached out a hand and placed it on her shoulder. It was intended to comfort Ana but she jerked away and moved farther from the rest of them. Naomi pulled Savon away and led him and Jack out of the room.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Jack, concerned. "Did we do something?"

"No," said Naomi sadly. "She just needs time to process what we told her."

The police came next. They wanted to talk to Ana and get her statement. She refused to talk to them. They would ask her questions but she just kept her lips sealed and laid on her bed.

Naomi attempted to get Ana to speak to her and eventually Ana caved. However, as soon as the topic turned to what had happened at the underground lab, she would clam up again.

After Ana was released from the hospital, she was swarmed by reporters. They were all trying to get the "victim's" side of the story. Jack and Naomi attempted to keep them at bay while Savon got Ana to the car that would take them back to her apartment. Once they were there, the four teens quickly rushed up to Ana's room.

They stayed for a few hours but went home after Ana made it clear that she was not in the mood for company.

All of a sudden a knock came from the door. Ana tore her eyes away from the book she was reading and called out, "Hello?" She was confused. Her friends had left fifteen minutes ago. It was probably more reporters.

The knock came again and she sighed and walked to the door. She opened it to find her uncle and aunt.

"Uncle Al! Aunt Mei!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, we were in town and decided to come for a visit," said Mei cheerily.

"Why?" asked Ana.

"Your father told us you were in Central under the alias "Edwards", and when we saw the news and heard you were hospitalized, we decided to visit," explained Al.

Ana was shocked. "But how did you find me?"

"As you know, Mustang's an old family friend. We just called him up and asked," stated Mei as if calling up the Fuhrer was the most normal thing in the world.

"All the reporters outside the building helped too," commented Al.

An awkward silence fell over the three. The type of silence that can only fall between extended family.

It was broken when Al asked, "Ana, why were you in the hospital?"

Ana bristled. "I don't want to talk about it," she said coldly.

"Well we do," stated Mei.

"It's not like I haven't been a hospital before," Ana snapped.

"We read the reports," explained Al. "They made it sound as if you were targeted."

Ana opened her mouth to retort but nothing came out. She stood there. At first she looked angry, but as she processed what he had said her expression fell. She looked scared.

"Ana," Mei said soothingly, "talk to us."

Ana shook her head furiously and curled into a ball. Mei reached out to comfort her niece but Al stopped her.

"Mei, can you wait outside? I want to talk to Ana alone," he said.

She looked at him curiously, but nodded. As soon as she was gone, Al knelt down to where Ana was curled up on the couch.

"Ana, look at me," he coaxed.

She raised her head until he could see her eyes. Ana mumbled something from behind her knees.

"What was that?"

"I'm scared," she said quietly.

"Of course you are. I'd be much more worried if you weren't. That was a traumatic experience. Do you want to talk about it?"

Ana started crying. She unfurled and latched on to Al's shirt. Her tears quickly soaked the fabric of his shirt and the bandage.

"He said that Dad was a 'living Philosopher's Stone'. He thought that I could be one too," she said after she calmed down. "What did he mean?"

Al looked into his niece's eyes he wanted to reassure her and say that everything was going to be okay, but he knew that would not help her in the long run. He remember when he and Ed had found out that Mustang had hidden Hughes's death from them. He did not want Ana to feel betrayed like that. Al decided to tell her about his and Mei's research.

"Ana," he said slowly, grabbing her attention. "I'm going to tell you something very secret. Can you keep it?"

She looked up at him questioningly, but nodded.

Al took a deep breath. "Mei and I have been doing research into the Philosopher's Stones. As well as combining alchemy and alkahestry, with the help of Scar, of course."

"Why?" asked Ana.

"Well, back when your dad first became a State Alchemist, we met a little girl and her dog. Her father turned her and the dog into a chimera in order to renew his State license. Later on, we met more human based chimeras. Ed and I promised we'd fix them. Since he can't do alchemy anymore, Mei and I have been working on the project."

"But what does this have to do with the Philosopher's Stone?"

"You know that the main ingredient for a Philosopher's Stone is a human soul?" Ana nodded and Al continued, "Ed doesn't know this, but we've been looking into the Philosopher's Stone as a cure. It's supposed to work miracles. Through combining alkahestry and alchemy we've found something close to it."

"What do you mean by close?" Ana asked with interest. Al was surprised by how quickly the young girl's energy had returned just by talking about an alchemical theory.

"Fewer souls would be needed to create a full Philosopher's Stone. But that's not good enough; we have to find a way to need no souls."

"But what about the things that guy said about me and Dad being Philosopher's Stones?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure," Al said with a sigh. "But it intrigues me…."

Ana's face contorted in a mock frown. "Uncle Al, I refuse to be part of any of your evil science experiments."

Al laughed. "That's not what I meant."

A comfortable silence fell between them. Then Ana asked, "What should I do now?"

Al thought for a moment. "I think you should go back to Resembol."

"What?!" Ana exclaimed. "No!"

"Listen," Al said, trying to calm her down. "I mean that you need to talk to Ed about this. He's the only one who might have the answers about why that man was after you."

Ana thought about what her uncle was saying and concluded that he was right.

"I'll leave tomorrow," she stated.

Reyna stood up slowly as she approached the door to her motel room. The knock at her door had startled the small woman. She had not been expecting any guests. However, the knocker simply slipped a letter under her door and left quietly.

Reyna picked up the letter and examined it. It was from that woman she had met in that Central bar, Danielle Ascott. She ripped it open and read the information inside.

The information was a report on a sighting of Bernard Alter in Lizberth, a large city near the border of Amestris and Drachma. The report detailed that Mr. Alter had appeared in a grocery store buying enough food to last two people a good week or two. They wouldn't be leaving Lizberth any time soon.

Reyna smiled coldly. Kill the husband and then the wife. And anyone else who got in her way.

Rackem found it very strange that there had been no sightings of the Alters in almost three weeks. The last time she had any sort of lead was when someone had found their car but that was days ago. It was found on the outskirts of Roth, a decent sized city on the border of Central and the West.

At first, she had assumed that the Alter's would be heading south from there, towards Creta. Creta had stricter rules concerning the practice of alchemy but they were always in need of new chimeras to put in their gladiator games. Lori's skills would be in great demand. But Jaroue had pointed out that there was an equal chance of them trying to get into Drachma. It was incredibly difficult for Amestrians to get into Drachma as the two countries were in the middle of a cold war, but there was a chance the Alters would go that way. Drachma was definitely the safer pick of the two counties. Amestrian police would not be able to retrieve the two if they decided to go there.

Lori was exhausted. She and Bernard had been on the run for almost three weeks. They had made it to city of Lizberth. Lori hated the place. She despised the hustle and bustle of city life. She loved the open space and quietness of the country. It was Mustang's little brat who had ruined that for her. Well, him and that horrid Kiev woman. It was not Lori's fault that the woman could not keep hold of a child.

Bernard was cooking in the kitchen. The house they were "residing" in had a modern kitchen with an electric stove and refrigerator. They were staying for five more days and then they were crossing the border to Drachma. Lori knew that the Drachmans would have no problem with her research. After all, that was where she got the human component for all her experiments.

When Bernard called that dinner was ready, Lori turned and walked to the kitchen. He had made a vegetable stew as well as biscuits. As they ate, they talked about where they would go once they got to Drachma. Usually Lori hated small talk, but she could bear anything for her husband. For some reason he was the only person whose pain did not amuse her.

Drachma was her chance at a "happy" future. She and Bernard would be safe from the Amestrian military and she could continue her experiments. Everything was going to be perfect.

A/N: Hello world! It's different talking to you down here but whatever. I'm cool with it...Emotional turmiol AND we get to see Al and