Author's note-I couldn't think of a quote for this one, so just enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 20

After a few more weeks of sessions Dr. Zavansky informed Mustang that she felt Ed was up for review if he wished to remain with the military. He had managed to make enough progress to converse with everyone, eat dinner with everyone, and not feel uneasy around large groups of people. He seemed to be back to normal, but he was a lot calmer than everyone remembered him being. He however, was still a little uneasy around Winry, but he was working on that.

Today Ed walked by himself to H.Q. he had his hands in his jacket pockets, he was still dressing in all black. He did tie his hair back in a ponytail. He looked up upon hearing Havoc's voice; ''Hey boss, coming in for your review?"

Ed nodded, ''Yeah, what are you doing out here at the gate?"

Havoc shrugged, ''Smoke break, and the cheif wanted me to great you to make sure you didn't get lost."

Ed laughed, ''Figures as much."

Havoc dropped his cigarette and stepped on it; ''Ready to go then?"

Ed nodded, ''Yeah, mine as well get this over with.''

Ed stood before the council, it consisted of mostly people he had met once before; Mustang, Riza, Havoc, Breda, Fuery, Falman, and Armstrong's older sister. Ed sighed as he stood before all of the, they were seated at a long table facing towards the double doors. Ed couldn't help the smirk on his face, it was set up to be intimdating, but he didn't feel intimidated at all. He stood with his hands in his pockets and looked at them.

Mustang smirked at him, ''Well, Ed . . . ''he cleared his throat; ''I mean Fullmetal, what is your position on continuing a career in the military?"

Ed sighed, ''Well, I have thought about it for a while and I came to the decision to withdraw from military service."

They all exchanged glances then after a few minutes of some of them talking Mustang cleared his throat and they silenced. He nodded, ''Very well, considering that you were enlisted for over five years you are available for compensation and retirement . . . "

Ed cut him off, ''Keep it, I'm sure I cost the State enough money while I was running about looking for the stone. Use the money as you see fit."

Riza smirked, ''That's generous, but we already deducted the costs for the destruction you caused on your journey from your check. A State Alchemist makes the same wage as an officer. You were among the most revered State Alchemists'. Your are entitled to a large sum of money for the years of service you provided for the military, the pain and suffering you went through to save the country of Amestrius, and of course the pain and suffering while you were still listed as a member of the military."

Ed shrugged, ''It doesn't matter, I don't want it . . . "

Mustang sighed, ''Ed, listen . . . I'm the Fueror now, I will not hang this over your head. You said you want out, so be it. But you should except the money you earned. You can use it to start your life over and care for your family. You can travel to wherever you wish. I am sending you the money, I will have it directly put into your account. If you still want to donate it back to the State, then you can do so yourself."

''I only ask for you to discuss this with Winry and Al,'' Riza added. Ed sighed, ''Fine, if you're going to be stubborn about it. I lost my watch a long time ago and I never wore the uniform to begin with. So is that all."

Mustang crossed his hands in front of his mouth like he always used to. After a moment he looked directly at Ed, ''Just one thing Ed, what do you plan on doing now?"

Ed scratched his head then smiled slightly, ''Living my life the way I was meant to."

Mustang lowered his hands, ''Sounds like a good idea, that's all Ed."

Ed nodded, then turned around and walked out of the room. When he shut the door everyone turned to Mustang. Riza smiled at him, ''I think he made a wise decision sir."

Mustang nodded, ''Yeah, I just hope now that he's back he can stay out of trouble."

Havoc shrugged, ''You never know, the boss always had a knack for trouble, it's more like he's a magnet for it."

Breda smirked, ''Well, he can handle himself. It still won't be the same without him."

Mustang laughed, ''That's true, I actually started to miss the shorty after a while. But I don't miss how much he got on my nerves."

Riza smirked, ''He kept you on your toes sir, it was actually nice to see you so riled up when he was around. But I must say, I will miss him as well.''

On the other side of town, down a alley in the side of Central known as the slums a woman sat atop the roof watching the people below walk about. Prostitution, poverty, alcoholics, and bums were known around this side of town. Many of the buildings were run down, smelled of mold, and had boarded up windows. It was a dangerous part of town full of thugs, murderers, and psychopaths. She smiled wickedly as she stood up. Her figure hugging, floor length, strapless, black and red dress made her appear tantelizing. She had curves in all the right places and was the envy of any man's dream. She had slightly tan skin, mouse brown hair that was wavy, shiny, and seemed to enlighten her shoulders and back. Her crimson eyes glowed with lust towards any man and malice when one in particular came to mind. She examined her nails, they could become deadly blades that could pierce through anything. Her skills with alchemy were renoun and feared. She could change her appearance into the past appearance of all the humunculi with her chosen sin before her. An alchemic glow enveloped her and she changed into a slightly taller woman with moon pale skin, dark green eyes, wavy, long, black hair, and a vengeful glint in her eyes. She licked her lips then reverted back to her orginal form. She jumped down into the alley and came across a homeless woman with a wore down, black cloak wrapped around her. She extended her fingers stabbing the woman in the throat before she could make a sound and took her cloak. She then draped it over her form and set out into the busy street. As she headed towards the better side of Central she whispered with a hiss of anger in her voice, ''Edward Elric, I will find you again . . . "

Ed helped Winry clean up the dishes from dinner and watched as Jason played with a toy train. Al and Noah sat on the couch, Al was bouncing Trinity on his knee and her giggling filled the apartment. Ed smiled and set back to the dishes. Once the kitchen was clean he took a seat on the floor next to Jason.

Jason climbed onto his lap and held up his toy train; ''Dad, we're taking one of these to go somewhere in a couple of days, right?"

Ed smiled, ''Yeah, where do you want to go?"

Jason shrugged, ''Can we go see Miss Izumi again, I know she can be scary, but she's nice too."

Ed laughed, ''Sure, if that's what you want to do."

Al nodded and stopped bouncing Trinity to sit her on his lap, ''That sound like an idea. So what happened with the council?"

Ed shrugged, ''Well I decided not to stay with the military, but all of you knew that was coming. Mustang was a stubborn ass and has the money I'm granted direct deposited to my account. I have no idea how much that is. But I guess I'll just use what I have to of it and give back the rest."

Winry stood next to him, ''Ed, before we leave, wouldn't it be a good idea to find out how much is there?"

Ed scoffed, ''That's bound to take a month or two to begin with. Sorry we have been using up all your money Winry."

She smiled, ''Don't worry about it, hell when you were a State Alchemist I used up plenty of your money."

''I know, me and Al ended up working dead end jobs to cover the expenses you cost us. Still, thanks."

''Yeah, yeah."

Ed got to his feet picking up Jason as he did so. Jason held onto his toy train as Ed walked back to his room. Jason laughed when Ed dropped him onto the bed. ''Dad, are we really going to go see Miss Izumi?"

Ed laughed, ''Yeah, now get ready for bed."

Jason got off the bed and walked over to their shared dresser, after he changed and Ed tucked him in Jason set his toy train on the nightstand next to his bed. Ed sat down on the bed next to him, ''I will see you in the morning Jason."

Ed kissed him on the forehead and Jason smiled as Ed stood up. When Ed stood in the doorway Jason said, ''Goodnight dad, I love you."

Ed smiled and turned out the light, ''Goodnight son, I love you too.''

Al, Noah, and Trinity went to bed soon afterwards and then Ed sat on the couch with Winry. He had an arm around her shoulder as she cuddled next to him. Ed sighed, ''Are you sure you want to take this on? I mean I do come with a package deal."

Winry laughed softly, ''Of course Ed, I love Jason and you, I wouldn't have it any other way.''

Thanks for reading.