So, as of writing out chapter twenty-one, I've officially decided on a pairing for Ed! Who do you think it is?

Hint: You'll be blown away by the character I've paired with her.

Chapter Eleven

They had stopped to go to the bathroom, but Ed was mostly thinking about what to do about finding Al and the others. She shouldn't have let her guard down around Kimblee. Because of it she had been injured and was put out of work for two weeks. The stitches in her stomach had been removed, but the flesh around it was still tender, and she knew should could open the wound easily still. But she needed to focus all of her energy on Al. She hoped he found Winry.

"Hey, Fullmetal, quit spacing out," Darius called, breaking Ed from her thoughts. "So what's the next plan of action?"

"Well, let's see..." Ed trailed off, drifting back to her thoughts. "The first thing I need to do is meet up with Al. He should be with Dr. Marcoh by now."

"Well, where are they?" Darius asked.

"You do know how to find them, right?" Heinkel asked.

Ed rubbed her hand against her chin in thought. If she was going to find Al, she would have to think like Al. If she were Al, where would she go?

"I've got it," Ed said.

Ed sighed. The last place she had been with the others before anyone knew her secret. Well, before Ling had found out. She knew this was where Al would be.

"Where are we?" Darius asked as he looked at the wrecked house. It was in pieces from when Gluttony had attacked them.

"We've used this place as a hide out before," Ed answered, not going into details about the last time they had used it. It really hadn't ended well.

"And you're positive your brother's here," Heinkel said.

"Oh, yeah, I know Al better than he knows himself," Ed said. "This is the only place he would be."

They made their way into the crumbling house to see it's empty state.

"Hey! There's nobody here!" Darius exclaimed as he whacked Ed over the head. "Yeah, you really know your brother."

"We busted our tails for hundreds of miles for an empty house," Heinkel commented. He suddenly sniffed the air before pushing himself back against the wall and cocking his gun hastily. Ed and Darius followed suit. Ed was about to peek around the corner when Ling crashed to the ground in front of her.

"Ling!" Ed stared down at her friend. "I mean...Greed."

"Hungry...need...food..."

"Heh," Ed laughed. "No, it's Ling."

They handed over their rations to the Xingese prince, who seemed to be growing stronger with his stomach being filled.

"Oh, wow, that did the trick!" Ling exclaimed. "Thanks, Edward, you're too kind." At least Ling wasn't calling her 'Edelle'.

"It's amazing that you're not a giant fatass," Ed commented.

"You're telling me," Darius added. "He ate all of our rations."

"Are you gonna introduce me to your pals?" Ling asked.

"Well, that's Mr. Gorill-" Ed began.

"My name's Darius!" Darius interrupted.

"And I'm Heinkel," Heinkel added. "We're ex-military, but we wound up getting stuck working with this kid somehow."

"Now what's this guy's story?" Darius asked Ed. Because everyone had a story.

"Well, let's see..." Ed trailed off. "It's really kind of complicated."

"More complicated than being a girl lying about being a boy?" Heinkel asked.

"I'm a homunculus!" Ling answered cheerily.

"Can you try to be more discreet?" Ed practically growled.

"Seriously?" Darius asked.

"It'll take too long to explain," Ed said. "And what are you doing here? I thought you might be in Central."

"Well, to tell you the truth, Greed had a falling out with the other Homunculi so I took advantage of his confusion and managed to regain control of my body," Ling explained. "I had to get out of Central and needed some place close by to hide, so...I..."

"What's the matter?" Ed asked.

"It's Greed," Ling managed out, obviously struggling. "He's starting to fight back..."

"Hey!" Ed exclaimed. "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! Fight back, you idiot! Don't let him overpower you!" Ed beat on Ling's head as she shouted this.

"Jeez!" Ling groaned, pushing Ed's hand away from him. "Listen; that guy beneath Central, the one they call Father, he's gonna open the portal on the day of reckoning. I could be wrong about this, but I think you and Al should jump in when he does. It's the best chance of getting your bodies back."

"Wait a minute, this makes sense and everything, but there's a toll that must be paid to even open the portal," Ed said. "This day of reckoning; do you know the exact day he's gonna open it?"

"It's happening..." Ling trailed off as he struggled against a losing battle against the Homunculus.

"Ling! Come on!" Ed shouted.

"Dammit, I can't hold him much longer," Ling groaned out. "The message; you got it to Lan Fan, right? You gave her the message."

"The message?" Ed asked for a moment before she remembered the strip of cloth with the foreign lettering that Greed had given them. "Al gave it to her. And she's doing all right. I don't know where she is, but she's safe."

"Thank you, Ed," Ling thanked. "That's good to hear."

"Ling!" Ed shouted.

"Sorry, that's it for me," Ling said. "I'm gonna..." Suddenly a new voice took over. "Damn, pain in the ass prince, he needs to learn to keep his big mouth shut."

"Is that you, Greed?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, what tipped you off," Greed said as he rolled his eyes. Heinkel cocked his gun in the direction of him. "Don't even bother; you can't even scratch me with that thing." He stood from where he had been sitting and began to walk off. "Well, see you later."

"Hey, aren't you gonna try to capture us?" Ed asked. It seemed like that's what Bradley was hell bent on doing.

"Eh?" Greed asked. "Were you even listening to anything that prince told you? I'm working on my solo career now. All these memories started coming back and I kinda went nuts and attacked Bradley. Who knows what they'd do to me if I came crawling back? And I don't really work well with others, so it's probably for the best and that's that."

"Then why don't you team up with us?" Ed suggested. "You've got nowhere to go. Why not come with us?"

"Team up with you? You want me to follow a little girl like you?" Greed laughed. Ed frowned, but she needed Greed on their side. He had power, that's for sure. "Thanks for the laugh. Up yours, kid. This world is my possession, not yours. Now, it's a different story if you wanna follow me. You're welcome to join my team. Later."

Ed sat in thought as Greed walked away. Despite the fact that he wasn't really on anyone's side but his own, Greed was a great asset to their team. Even if Greed would be the leader, Ed could still have a chance to use him for that day of reckoning thing Ling was talking about.

"Let's go," Ed said as she ran off after Greed. The two chimeras shared a look of doubt in their young leader and ran after her.

"Hey! Ling!" Ed called out. "Wait up!"

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm Greed, not Ling," Greed said as he turned toward them.

"It's too difficult to keep track of," Ed brushed it off. "I'll just call you Greedling from now on."

"No you will not!" Greed shouted.

"Listen to me, Greedling; I'll follow you," Ed began. She could see Greed stop in his tracks slightly at the news. "I've thought about it and I've decided to join your team after all, if you don't mind a girl joining. And since these guys seem to follow me everywhere, you've got two chimeras on your team as well."

"Who do you think you are?!" Darius shouted. "You don't get to make that decision!"

"Who said you were our boss, pipsqueak?!" Heinkel exclaimed as well. "You little runt!" The two tackled Ed down to the ground. It was moments like these that she was glad she had told them she was a boy before they found out she was a girl. If anyone knew she was a girl from the start, they would never treat her like this. Well, except Al and Winry.

"I realized something," Ed began from the ground. "I've been a follower ever since I became a dog of the military. I lost my pride a while back. So I'm already used to rolling over on command. And besides, there's too much at stake. I can't let any information you've got slip through the cracks." She needed him for the day of reckoning. "I really can't let my ego get in the way."

"All right, kid, but working with me means you gotta live in the shadows," Greed explained. "I don't want to hear any regrets."

"Gimme a break, I've already got a million regrets!" Ed exclaimed smirking. "What's one more?"

"A million and one," Darius and Heinkel said simultaneously from the background.

"Good, then it's settles," Greed said. He stepped toward the chimeras. "So, then, you guys are working for me too."

"Doesn't seem like we have much choice," Heinkel said.

"I don't care who I follow as long as they feed me," Darius interjected.

"So what kind of chimeras are you?" Greed asked.

"I'm part gorilla," Darius answered.

"I'm part lion," Heinkel said.

"That's pretty cool," Greed commented. Ed lost track of their conversation as she felt something unfamiliar in her pocket.

She pulled out Winry's earrings in her hand. She sighed a little. She had a feeling she wouldn't see Alphonse or Winry for a long time. But they would be safe as long as they were together. She needed to focus on the day of reckoning.

Lily (Anon): "Yay! Thanks for another awesome update. I like how Eds real name is Edelle. I wish my name was something I could shorten. I'm not a girly girl at all. I hate most dresses and anything girly. My name is really girly because it's a flower name. :("

I used to always use 'Ella' for Ed's female name, but I wanted something that meant she could still go by Ed, even after she was no longer disguising herself. It just seemed better that way. I pretty much just googled girl names that had 'Ed' in it. I came up with a few and it was a tie between Eden and Edelle. Since I was watching a tv-show at the time that had a character named Eden, I went with Edelle. And don't even sweat the name stuff. I can't go by anything either and I'm not girly. My name is Hali (pronounced Haylee) and I really didn't want to be referred by that. I got people caling me 'Hal' for a while, but nothing stuck. My dad calls me Bug.