I do not own the Fullmetal Alchemist

Hawkeye sat at the small table. Ed walked up, wondering what she called him there for. He hoped she wasn't going to ask him to give Dahlia a shower. Al's bratty cat was on the floor, hissing at Ed.

'What's up, mom?'

Hawkeye smiled and held up a collar with a bell. 'We need to send her out now. I hope your brother doesn't mind if we pretend his cat is a stray.'

'Uh, sure.'

Ed barely managed to put the collar on Dahlia as she scratched at his face with her claws. He noticed her fur was ragged and dusty like she really was an alley cat, she was one before Al had adopted her against Ed's will. Her fur hid the thin collar underneath it, the bell was really a camera and mic, there was a chip inside for the footage but the mic was broadcasting whatever was going to an earring that sat in Hawkeye's palm.

'Are you going to be wearing that?' Ed asked. 'I didn't know you had pierced ears.'

Hawkeye carefully put the round earrings in her ears. 'I got them pierced when I was your age. Do you like them? Red as the sunset.'

'Heck, yeah!' Ed agreed. Her earrings were the same color as his trademark coat. 'Let's do it.' He couldn't be more pleased to get rid of the cat.

Ed carried the hissing Dahlia down the apartment. He winced as one of her claws nudged the fresh wounds on his arm. 'Calm down,' he muttered, 'Would you?'

The street was dark outside, only dimly lit by a few blinking lampposts. A few people huddled in patched-up clothes wandered around, begging for money. Ed wanted to help them in some way, but he had to ignore them.

'There.' He dumped Dahlia on the ground. She swatted at him with her tail before stalking off haughtily. Ed rolled his eyes. 'Won't be seeing you anytime soon either.'

Making his way back, something caught Ed's eye.

A man was walking down the dark street. Unlike the other people, he wore an outfit that looked like he was trying to stay incognito. Which he wasn't doing a very good job at, considering the cartoon-spy-like brown trench coat he wore. His face was concealed due to the large hood over his head. From what Ed could tell, he was staring at something in his hand. From the looks of it, it was a set of keys.

What got Ed's attention the most was his posture. Ed had spent enough time in tense situations that screamed "TROUBLE" to recognize the man's body language.

His shoulders were tightened and his pace was quick but unsteady. His other hand clenched the inside of the pocket and his gaze constantly switched from the keys in his hands to scanning his surroundings.

Ed stuck his hands in his pockets. He hunched over and stared forwards like he wasn't paying any attention to where he was going. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the man bought his trick and ignored him as they brushed past each other.

Ed ducked behind an alley. Quickly, he scaled the wall and climbed over onto the roof. From above, he began to follow the man.

As he moved from the rooftops, he began to chide himself. What am I doing? How do I even know if this guy's a threat to anything? I'm probably just being paranoid. Jeez, now I'm sounding like Al. Well, too late to turn back now...now that sounds more like me.

The man kept on walking through the street in a straight line. Finally, as Ed was about to move ahead of him, he slowed his pace and looked around him. Ed ducked back over the roof, after a brief moment he peeked back again. The man's footfalls echoed quietly to the left turn.

Ed followed behind him after that as he kept turning left between what felt like miles of heading straight. After ages of tracking, he realized with annoyance that every left they'd taken had just simply led them right back to where they'd started. Ed crouched back, hiding himself over the roof. Does he know I'm here? He thought. At least now I know he's doing something that's probably not allowed. Or he's just crazy lost.

The man walked straight again. Stifling a groan, Ed followed him. Ed followed him as he looped around his route another two times before finally deciding to move ahead of the man the third time he started walking the loop. Unfortunately, when he turned back around, the man had disappeared.

'What!' Ed growled under his breath. He jumped down from the rooftop. 'He was right here!'

'Who was right here?'

'GAH!' Ed jumped back and scowled. 'What're you doing here?'

Mustang smirked, which was hard to look smug as he was in a boring employee's uniform. 'I just finished work, Charlie. Aren't you supposed to be doing homework?'

'Shut up,' Ed muttered. 'I was busy.'

'Busy doing what exactly?'

Ed looked around them stiffly and didn't say anything. He glared at Mustang. Mustang got the message and gave a fake but convincing laugh. 'Well, let's hope a rat didn't scare you out of the house again. Though they must remind you of your height a little, Charlie.'

Ed twitched. 'DON'T CALL ME LITTLE!'

Thanks for reading!