I have nothing to say, really. I mean, I could advertise my gnarly new stories - the Greek Mythology fic, The Contego, which I worked my butt off on; or the Inuyasha, Kouga/OC fic, A Girl Named Arrogance.

But this isn't a chapter for all that! Ahahaha..!

The Lovely Daaaarlings!

AirMage99: Why thank you! Haha, she needs to answer quick!

Fmagurl123: Yay! Haha, I loved that part. They have such dirty minds… Tsk tsk. Me too. I don't often put Hannah in the chapters as much as I did, but I'm hoping to change that in the next few chapters.

Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD: Tons and tons!
Dx
Aw, me too.
And here you go, my dear!

IceFire Dragon Alchemist73: A Winry/Riley Tagteam would do loads of damage, don't you think? xD

Warning746: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. x.x
SHE TOTALLY IS A POKEMON. DOOD, THAT'D BE FREAKING AWESOME!

Mizunou: Aw shucks! My very own tractor!… You can keep the Winry bit though. I'd prefer my tractor to remain in one piece.
And she totally is. 8D

yumiXjaganshi: HAHA. I couldn't imagine it worded any other way.

Katsekala: Drama galore! xO

Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha…

I don't own FMA. I do own Riley. Bluurg, my disclaimer was no fun this chapter. Dx

Chapter Thirty-Six:
Why Couldn't He Have Said So Earlier?

Pictures.

That was all we had been looking at. Pictures of Yoki, the dead guy. I was interested at first but you can only look at the same dead guy for so long before it just gets boring.

I was sitting backwards in a chair that was placed in the corner of the room. My elbows rested on the back of it so I could have a place to lay my head. I still needed to think over some things. When they got back, Ed tried asking what was wrong but Hannah just led him away. I was sick of being in this rut, if that's what you could call it, and I needed enough time to think my way out of it. I still hadn't been able to answer that one simple question.

Placing her hands on my shoulders, Hannah looked me in the eye. "Riley… Do you still want to be a State Alchemist after all this is over with?"

I didn't know. I mean, okay, yes. I did want to stay a State Alchemist. But for some damn reason a part of my mind kept telling me I didn't. But I did. Since Maes was… I'd take over his job of supporting Mustang. That didn't sound so bad, really.

But on the other hand… I'd gotten attached to Ed and Al…

"This is so confusing!" I shouted, grabbing the edges of the back of the chair and slamming my forehead onto the top of the back. "It's so stupid!"

"…Riley?"

Quickly, I looked up in surprise. Everyone was staring over at me in confusion. "H-Huh?" I mumbled, blinking a few times. "Are we leaving now?" I asked.

Hannah sighed, "You're pathetic, Riley." I glared at her as I stood from the chair. Just as I had suspected, we began to leave as Al filled me in. Apparently it was Lust that killed Yuki, or whatever the hell his name was.

When we left the tent again, we heard some protests going on. Looking over, we all saw Winry along with the kids fighting against soldiers. They all stopped and looked over when they heard us come out. "Winry?" Ed asked, confused.

. . .

"Rick, Leo, listen to me. I managed to get you guys acquitted. You're no longer in any trouble. The rest of your people will be released from the station, too."

Ed, Al, Winry, Hanna, Riza, Breda and I stood around Rick and Leo outside the area. Ed was explaining the situation to them and I was taking in every moment of what was going on for once. "But they're still going to send you to the camps," Al added.

"If you two want, you can go live in Resembool. I've got permission," Ed offered.

Scowling, I glared into the air as I mumbled about it being dangerous to live in the same city Winry probably drives in. She glared at me once more as Hannah tried not to laugh at us. "No thanks," Leo said firmly, "We'll go live with the others."

Ed smiled slightly and nodded. "Your call," He said.

"And where are you off to, now?" Rick asked, looking up at the blond.

Acknowledging the question, Ed looked down slightly. "We're going after Scar," He replied seriously. Hearing the ever familiar name began bringing back a whole lot of memories. Bad bad memories…

Ed and I stood there on the side walk in Central, ignoring the rain, as we looked over at the man that stood several feet away. Scar's eyes narrowed as he looked over at me. "You. We meet again…," He stated firmly, not bothering to say anything to Ed.

I nodded grimly. "So it seems," I mumbled in reply.

Ed's eyes widened, looking between Scar and me. "You two… Know each other?" He exclaimed in shock as he looked over at me.

Letting out a sigh, I glanced away from them both. "We… Have a past," I said, causing Ed's eyes to widen even more.

"You promised we would be together forever," Scar suddenly said, glaring at me.

My eyes widened a bit but I quickly responded, shaking my head, "It was never meant to be! We're just too different."

Ed shook his head, waving his arms around angrily. "Woah, woah, woah! When the hell did this happen?" He shouted, looking at Scar, and then back at me in a panic.

We ignored him though(Of course) as Scar stepped forward, holding his arms out in a begging manner. "Riley, my lurv! We can make things work!" He shouted, looking at me.

I paused, looking at him with sad eyes. After a moment, I nodded, happy. "Scar!" I exclaimed, going starry eyed as I ran toward him.

"Riley!"

I could feel any and every bit of oxygen I had leave my body immediately as my eyes began to widen. Falling to my knees, I clutched my head tightly, staring at the ground with a horrified expression. "Noooo… No no no… Take it back, take it back!" I whispered out, grasping my head tighter with every second that passed.

"R-Riley?"

Whoever said my name surely wasn't expecting me to jerk forward, hugging them tightly. I sobbed into their chest as I screamed, "I DON'T WANT HIS BABIES!" I paused, jerking away to see the terrified, red face of Ed. Grabbing his collar, I stared at him hopefully through teary eyes. "If I ever have Scar's baby, promise me you'll kill it!" I shouted, shaking him.

Any color that was on Ed's face disappeared.

"JUST WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM?"

. . .

Ed, Al, Hannah and I sat on the same green tractor we came in on. They were all laughing hysterically. Ed was laughing so hard, he had to clutch his aching stomach. Al was kind enough to try not to, but in the end he still couldn't resist. My brow was twitching continuously as I glared at the ground. I could feel the light blush lining my cheeks but I ignored it.

I had told them about that dream. I had to! Ed was about to start lecturing me about sex. Ed was. The boy who blushed when I smacked my ass and said something along the lines of, "You wish you could touch this." We were both relieved, though. He didn't have to give me a lecture, and I didn't have to hear it from him.

Winry was going back to Central with Riza. She said she wanted to see Maes. I couldn't tell her the truth, and neither could Riza really.

Finally the others began to calm down and I glared over at them. "It wasn't funny," I hissed, glaring at them intensely.

"Oh Riley, my lurve, it was hilarious," Hannah said, patting my shoulder as she sat down beside. I blushed more and looked away from them all, muttering about revenge that was soon to come to them. "So, where are we going now?" Hannah asked, ignoring my mutterings.

Ed sat behind the wheel and looked to the direction the train was in. "I guess we'll start in Ishbal."

Al sat across from Hannah and me as he looked to Ed. "Let's hope Scar hasn't created the stone yet," He said.

Looking back at him, Ed nodded. "Yeah…," He turned back to the wheel and smiled a bit, "It feels strange to say that, since the stone's what we were looking for."

It was quiet for a moment, and I realized it was now or never. "Hey, Ed," I mentioned, looking ahead of me thoughtfully. Once I felt him glancing at me, I continued. "Do you want Hannah and me to go?" Ed frowned and I could tell he was about to ask me not to start. But I stopped him. "I'm being serious," I said, turning to look at him over my shoulder.

Silent, Ed looked away and back to the wheel. He thought over his answer before sighing slightly. I watched him open his mouth to reply and I leaned forward in anticipation. But instead of replying, he closed his mouth and looked downwards a bit. "So this must be the ignition," He mumbled in wonder.

"H-Hey!" I shouted angrily, glaring at the back of his head, "Answer my question!"

Ed grinned a lopsided grin and reached toward it, "Let's hope I'm right!"

"Asshole!" He flipped the switch, ignoring me still. As soon as he flipped the switch, the tractor took off. We all let out screams of terror as it swerved right and left.

. . .

"Damn Winry… She needs to be more careful when she's doing a tune up!"

"Winry? Damn Winry? You're the one that drove it into a cliff!"

Where were we? Who knew. Ed was driving, when he hit a cliff. The tractor was pretty much busted. And Ed was blaming Winry. Becoming flustered, Ed looked up at me defensively, "It swerved and headed to the cliff too fast! What was I supposed to do?"

Glaring down at him, I hissed out, "Put your hands back on the wheel and steer away!"

Scowling, Ed looked away from me, glaring at the tractor. "It's this stupid thing…," He grumbled, slamming his hand onto it.

Electricity shot through the engine and Hannah and I hid behind Al. Just as we thought, the tractor exploded. Once the smoke died down, I saw Ed with burnt and puffed up hair. As funny as it was, when I remembered the fact the tractor was broken, I began to glare at him from behind Al. Noticing my glare, he slowly glanced over at me. "Before you do something irr-"

A loud smack echoed through the area after I slammed my fist into his cheek. "YOU IDIOT!"

. . .

I sighed, looking at the different camera equipment the store was selling. We had just gotten there a few minutes beforehand and Hannah and I slipped away. We were getting tired of the arguments. Ed was in a fowl mood and Al was being… Well, honest really. The area around us was still desert-like but we had finally found human civilization.

"Maybe I should get something," I mumbled, holding up a box of film. It had been a while since I was able to use my camera. When I heard nothing from Hannah, I looked over curiously so see her staring down the road. "What is it?" I asked, walking over.

Slowly, she pointed up, "Look…"

Once I reached her side, I look in the direction she pointed and began twitching. From the sky, I could see long blue glowing spikes. Alchemy, to be exact. "What are those two doing?" I shouted, taking off in that direction.

"H-Hey, lady, you didn't pay!" Not wanting to pay for it, Hannah quickly followed me down the road. We ran until we finally reached Ed and Al. My expression turned deadpan at what I saw.

Several fists, arms and columns of rock had erupted from the ground in random places along the road. But that wasn't what surprised us most. Al was contained inside metal bars, while Ed was being held in the air by a large fist. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I shouted, running closer to stand between the two.

Neither replied to us. Instead, Al shouted to Ed, "If you weren't so stubborn, we wouldn't even be here! We could've asked Dad for help!"

Ed became angrier than his typical temper tantrums and I stepped back, knowing this was a sore subject for the brothers. "Are you kidding? I'll never ask that bastard for anything!" He shouted back.

Al stuck his head out the bars with an instant reply. "And that's what makes you stubborn!"

"Shut up," Ed grumbled. Clapping, he removed the hand as he scowled. "Do whatever you want," He told Al before turning around and walking off. He walked away quietly, ignoring Al's protests.

I sighed, watching as Ed left us all there. "Al, you need to go-" Hannah stopped when she looked back to face him, only to see that he, too, was gone. My brow twitched when I noticed this too.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

. . .

I panted slightly, running down paths and alleys to find one of the Elrics. Hannah and I split up, hoping that between us, we'd be able to find the both of them. So far, I was having no luck. There was no blond or armor in sight.

Sudden jerking and wind brought me back to reality and just as I began paying attention to what was in front of my eyes, I landed hard on the ground. Groaning, I winced as I began to pull myself up. Of course… Once I got on all fours, I pulled a knee to my chest. There was a large red area along it now. Of course… Sighing, I used the knee to push myself up and I stood back up, looking around the area. They had to be around there somewhere.

I began to give up when I spotted a flash of yellow down the road.

Running down the road, I got a closer view of him. He stood by a railing that showed the view of the city, hands in his pockets. I began to wave an arm back and forth. "Ed!" I shouted, running toward him.

He began to blink when he acknowledged his name and turned to see me. "Riley…"

Finally I reached him. Panting, I walked over to his side and placed a hand on the railing. "Jeez, Ed. You're harder to find than Al!" I complained, resting my weight on the railing.

Ed looked back to the city as he replied calmly, "Where is he, anyway?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. He took off shortly after you did," I explained with a shrug. He sighed in disappointment and I watched him for a few minutes. He seemed to be thinking pretty hard. "I guess you two used to fight about your dad a lot, huh?" I asked, looking to the city with him. Feeling his gaze on me, I glanced over at him and smirked, "He's just worried, you know."

"…Yeah," He murmured, turning back to the view of the town.

A few moments of silence passed, so I grabbed the railing and stretched, yawning. "Well, let's get going then! We should see if Hannah and Al found each other by now," I said, letting go of the railing and turning to walk. Ed turned toward me and I began heading down the steps.

"Riley…"

I stopped walking and turned back, looking up and over at the blond. My brows furrowed when I saw that he seemed to be thinking over what he was going to say – or ask. "Yeah?"

He paused before walking over. Reaching me, he looked down at me, square in the eyes. "What's been going on with you, lately?"

I said nothing. Because I didn't know what to say. How was I supposed to respond to that? We continued staring each other in the eyes; he was trying to find an answer and, well, so was I. "…Nothing," I finally replied before starting to walk again.

Before I could take another step, he grabbed my arm and jerked me back around. He frowned, holding my shoulders to keep me in place. "Tell me what's going on, Riley," He said firmly. I could tell he wasn't going to let it go this time.

"…" Sighing, I pushed his hands off. "I don't know. I've just been thinking too much."

"About what?" He asked.

I turned around and let myself fall onto the step I was standing on. He knelt down and sat beside me quietly, waiting for an answer. "Everything," I grumbled in annoyance, "Something's going on inside the military, and the homunculi have something do with it. Then there's Kimblee, Scar and Blackburn. I just have a really bad feeling about what's going to happen." Ed nodded quietly and I paused. "…I'm staying with you and Al."

Ed's expression immediately turned to surprise as he looked at me quickly. "Wha?"

Nodding, I looked back at him firmly, "I'm staying with you guys. You keep saying this is too dangerous for Hannah and me. Well I'm a State Alchemist and Hannah's practically a sharp-shooter. We can take care of ourselves so if it's dangerous for us than it's dangerous for you and Al. Four is better than two so suck it up and deal with it."

"…" It was silence between us for a few minutes. I was surprised to see Ed began to smile. Chuckling, he shook his head at me. "You're ridiculous, Riley." I opened my mouth to protest but he interrupted me, "That's what you've been worrying about, isn't it?"

The amusement he found from this irritated me. Blushing slightly, I looked away, glaring at the city. "Of course not," I grumbled out in response.

He only chuckled a bit more. Quietly, he began to stand and I looked up at him curiously. "C'mon," He said, holding his hand out for me. He began to blush slightly as he continued, "I have an idea of where Al is."

I said nothing at first, trying to figure out what happened as I looked up at him. Did he… Did he mean he still wanted Hannah and me there? Looking Ed in the eyes seemed to take more time than I thought when I noticed his hand began to lower back to his side. Coming back to reality, I grinned and grabbed Ed's hand before it lowered completely. He was startled at first, but tightened his grasp and I stood, taking off down the stairs as I pulled him behind me. "Well let's go then!" I laughed out, glancing at him over my shoulder.

. . .

We stood along the path, coming closer and closer to our friends. Ed was right about his idea. Al was at the river. Apparently Hannah found him because she stood at the edge of the path, waiting on him. The view was beautiful – I could understand why Al would go there. The sky was orange, reflecting on the water. It was calming, to say the least.

Once we reached Hannah, she looked over and smiled. "Hey," She said, looking between Ed and me.

Ed nodded at her but looked back to Al. He headed toward his brother so I glanced over to Hannah. "How's Al?" I asked.

She sighed, glancing to the armor we knew as Al. "He's alright… Pretty quiet, though," She replied.

I nodded and looked back to Ed and Al. They were both headed back toward us. Al stopped Ed and said some things, but we were too far away to hear it. Ed said nothing in return. Al walked past him and he began to follow. When the two got up to us, we started to walk back down the path. "How did you know where to find me?" Al asked him.

"You haven't changed at all, Al," Ed replied calmly. He looked over to Al and explained, "When you were little and we had a fight, I'd always find you sitting by the river." Al looked to the river and 'hm'ed in thought. He began realizing what Ed said was true and I grinned, glad the two were back to normal.

. . .

Desert. That was all we could see.

"So… What do we do now?" Al asked nervously.

I scowled slightly, knowing what the answer would be. Hannah was frowning. From the look in her eye, I could tell she was preparing herself for this. Ed wasn't happy about it either. "I guess we have to walk," He said, "We don't have much choice."

Sighing, I drooped my shoulders in worry. By the time we got anywhere, Scar would've most likely made the stone. Hearing honking, we all perked up. We looked over to the direction of the sound and saw a bike pull up, a blond woman driving it. She smirked over at us, and something seemed oddly familiar about her. She wore a military uniform, save for the jacket, and a tattoo was clear along her shoulder and chin. "Hey, want a lift?" She asked us, pointing backwards to the cart that was attached at the end of the bike.

"Marta!" Al exclaimed. I looked over at him, still curious as to who she was. The name was really familia…

I came to a clearing within a few minutes, and saw Greed and Al standing there. Hiding behind I tree, I listened in. "Hey, Marta. Stay in that can until morning. If I'm not back by then, you're on your own. Just make sure you have some fun. Okay?"

"Greed," I heard a female voice from Al, "What are you gonna do?"

He smirked, "Can't get into it, doll." He looked around them and cleared his voice, "Oh, kid?" My shoulders stiffened. He knew? Pouting, I peered around the tree, glaring at him all the while. "Take care of these two while I'm gone."

My eyes widened in recognition. "Oh!" I shouted, now in just as much surprise as Al, "You're the one from before…!"

Ed and Hannah looked to us curiously. "What's that? You two know her?" Ed asked us.

Al 'err'ed, looking between Ed, Marta and me. "Well, yeah… Sort of," He mumbled in reply.

Grinning, Ed turned back to Marta. "Alright then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" He said, running toward the bike.

"No, Brother, wait!" Al protested, holding his arms up to stop him.

Marta looked from Ed to us. "It's no big deal," She shrugged, "I'm just trying to help someone in a bind."

Al sighed, knowing it was a losing battle. I grinned, glancing up at him, "We minaswell, Al. Better than walking the distance!" He looked over at me and nodded slowly, knowing I was right. "So let's go," I said, walking to the bike with Hannah in tow. Al sighed, following as well. As we all positioned ourselves in the cart, Al muttered something to Marta. I wasn't sure what it was, so I didn't think too much into it.

"Everybody ready?" Marta asked. Making sure we were, she took off.

Ed and Al talked about when they were kids, but I wasn't listening. My legs hung off the edge of the cart, flying back behind us. It felt good. For once I wasn't thinking too much about things. Sure, I knew the end was near and I knew that whatever happened, had to happen. And I knew I probably wouldn't like it, either. But at that moment, I was okay with it.

"We even fought about who would marry Winry!"

I almost fell over after hearing this. Hannah grabbed my collar, making sure I was safe in the cart. "What?" I shouted, looking over at them in surprise. I wasn't expecting to ever hear that.

Ed and Al continued talking about it, and Hannah laughed at me. "Jealous, Riley?" She mumbled, leaning toward me in a taunting manner.

"What?"

"S-Stop moving, you'll tip us over!"

"Good, it'll be easier to kill you when you're trapped under a bike!"

Be Responsible. Don't Flame and Drive! Rawr.

Ehehehehe… I'm uber excited for the next chapter. RILEY STOPS BEING OBLIVIOUS. xO

"Trettifire," is Norwegian.
"Trinte Cinq," is French.
"Harminchat," is Hungarian.