DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. I only own my own OCs and this particular fic. Thanks.

Eight

Delilah's dreams were dark and disorienting. She was constantly wandering through a cold mist, searching for a person whose name she couldn't recall. At first, her surroundings were vaguely like a dirty alley, but somehow she emerged onto a dry plain; the grass scratched unpleasantly at her ankles, and she couldn't see where she was putting her feet.

She tripped over a stone, and she grunted in slight pain before she lifted herself onto her hands and knees. She looked up to get her bearings and found herself staring into the blank eyes of Trisha Elric.

"I…apologize," Delilah said, stammering somewhat as guilt dripped from her voice. She had stumbled over Trisha's grave and disturbed her rest.

Suddenly, Trisha put an infant into her arms—Delilah hadn't noticed the baby before, nor had she noticed that she had risen into a standing position.

She looked at the baby in her arms, surprised. "Alphonse?"

The baby stared at her innocently, sucking on his pacifier. "Delilah?" he replied, his voice echoing even though his mouth didn't move to speak.

Out of nowhere, a man with no head appeared next to Trisha and shoved a toddler into her hands as well. Delilah was so startled by the headless man that her heart rate skyrocketed and she broke out into a cold sweat.

"They're too much trouble," Trisha said before she and the man vanished.

"But…you want them, right…?" Delilah muttered after them, wanting to shout but somehow unable to do so. The toddler, Edward, tugged at her hair. His lips moved as if he was laughing, but Delilah didn't hear what he said. Alphonse reached up and tried to touch her hair as well, but his stubby arms were useless when it came to accuracy.

Without warning, she dropped the both of them. The two boys fell straight through the ground as if it wasn't there, and a moment later, she plunged down after them, landing on a hard surface. Once she regained herself, she looked around to find herself in a dark space; the only light shone down in an X-shape, illuminating everything there with a strange, white tint.

In the middle of the X were the bodies of Edward and Alphonse. Edward's blood pooled everywhere, and his mechanical arm and leg were broken to bits. Alphonse's body was shattered and torn, marked with bullet holes and dents, and his head lay on its side, his hair stained red. His blood seal was shattered.

Winry was crying over their lifeless bodies, and Delilah realized that she herself had been crying since the moment the infant Alphonse had been put into her arms.

()()()()()

When she finally awoke, Delilah only felt groggy. She knew she had had a nightmare since her heart was pounding, but she couldn't recall what had happened. Actually, the last thing she remembered was trying to eat breakfast. Obviously, she wasn't in the restaurant anymore—instead, she was in a dull-colored room, lying on a cot with itchy sheets.

Slowly, she regained her senses, and once she had done that, she realized her mistake. "I supposed I stayed awake too long again…."

The clank of metal alerted her to Alphonse; the armor-boy quickly came to her side. "You're awake!"

Edward was at his side a moment later. "'Again'?" he repeated.

Since her heartbeat had returned to normal, she was able to respond to him normally, without any adrenaline fueling her voice. "I pass out when I do not get enough sleep," she explained as she slowly sat up. "It is a natural reaction."

The boys were thrown at her answer, and Alphonse's fists clenched and his eyes narrowed. "'Natural'? Well, it's not healthy! And you had us worried sick!"

Delilah shied away from his outburst, not expecting Alphonse of all people to explode at her like that. She was saved from having to answer him when a doctor came into the room, followed by Ross and Brosh.

"Well, young lady, you gave your friends quite the scare," he commented. "From the looks of it, it was—"

"Exhaustion," she finished for him, glad to have a distraction from the angered vibes Alphonse was emitting; since he had yelled at her, it was impossible for her to ignore it. "I forgot to take the medicine my town doctor made for me to help me sleep. It find it nearly impossible to sleep without it, but it is easy to forget about."

Her explanation took everyone by surprise, but the doctor was the first to speak. "I assume you boys didn't know this?"

The brothers shook their heads, and Ed assured him that if they had known then this would never have happened in the first place.

"Your vitals are fine," the doctor went on, "so there's no reason to keep you here, especially since you need some good food in you for dinner, and frankly the lunch ladies here don't make a very nice meal. After you eat, the first chance you get, I want you to take your regular dosage and get lots of rest, understood?"

Delilah nodded, and Edward assured the doctor that they would make sure that she got sleep that night, as well as on a regular basis. Alphonse said nothing.

The car ride to the hotel was somewhat tense. Delilah expected the boys to lecture her, or for Al to launch into another outburst, but it was actually Ross who spoke.

"Delilah, you should take better care of yourself. If you don't get enough sleep, you'll be prone to sickness, and you're fragile enough already."

Delilah was still a bit too tired to appreciate Ross's words, however. She found herself zoning out, for once not thinking much of anything. However, the idea of having another nightmare—whatever may have happened in it—kept her awake. Thankfully, whenever she took her medicine, she usually didn't have any dreams at all.

After they all had dinner (Alphonse still refusing to speak or even pretend to eat), they all returned upstairs. Ross had Delilah show them where she kept her medicine in her briefcase, in case something happened again. She took it easily and crawled into bed, and for once she was asleep within minutes.

()()()()()

When she awoke and sat up, she noted that the clock on the wall read 5:15. For the past few days, the morning didn't start for their small group until at least six. However, she doubted she could fall back sleep, so she was about to stand in order to get dressed when she noticed she wasn't the only person awake in the room.

"Uh…good morning," Alphonse greeted from where he sat on the floor against the wall. He spoke softly, so as to not wake Edward, who was asleep in the other bed. "I hope you don't mind, but Brother and I were worried about you, so we switched with Ross and Brosh."

Delilah shook her head. "I do not mind."

Alphonse hesitated before he stood and walked over to her bed. "Mind if I sit down?" When she gave her permission, he sat on the edge of the bed; the mattress sagged under his weight. "So…why is it you can't sleep?"

"A form of insomnia. I have too many thoughts that do not let me sleep." She tipped her head. "But you cannot sleep either, can you? I suppose that makes us both insomniacs."

He let out a noise that resembled both a laugh and a sigh. "I guess you could say that." He paused. "But are you really okay? While you were unconscious, you muttered a lot. It looked like you were having a nightmare."

"I was, but I do not remember it. I always dream when I do not take my medicine. Sometimes I have nightmares."

"You…said my name, though," he said. "So part of it was about me…. I'm sorry if I scared you."

Delilah blinked. "But you do not scare me, Alphonse. Perhaps I thought something happened to you, but you do not scare me. You would not hurt me."

Alphonse's eyes widened a little at her words. He looked away for a moment before making eye contact again—he was a bit surprised to get eye contact from her of all people, but he was pleased, too. "Well, when you were hallucinating, you thought Scar had broken me again, so maybe the dream was about that. Have you been worried about him?"

At the name, Delilah flinched slightly. "…Yes. I do not want him to hurt you two again."

"Brother and I can take care of ourselves," Alphonse assured her. "I won't lie to you and say we won't get hurt, but you have to understand that we won't just let ourselves die. We have to get our original bodies back."

Delilah nodded slowly. "You are right. But I still worry. …I want to help you if you or Edward gets hurt…."

Al would have smiled if he could. "I understand. With your skills, I'm sure you'll get a chance to. And…I'm really sorry for yelling at you earlier. I was just worried about you. Brother was, too. But that happens with friends; you worry about them."

Delilah almost didn't understand what he said, for she had been completely floored by the context, that one word. "…Did you say 'friend'?"

Alphonse shifted. "Yeah, I did. What do you mean? Brother and I think of you as a friend, even though we haven't known you for that long…. Do you not…?"

Thick, warm drops of water splashed onto Delilah's hands, and she realized belatedly that she was crying.

Al panicked. "A-are you okay? What's wrong?"

Delilah wiped at her tears. "I…have never had anyone call me that before…"

His eyes widened. "Never?"

She shook her head and smiled at him. "You are my friend, too. You and Edward, and Winry and Den and Granny Pinako, and…" She trailed off, not knowing what to say anymore. She had never proclaimed anyone as her friend, either.

"…thank you," she finished.

()()()()()

Delilah took the remaining time after her tears had dried to get dressed. Alphonse had gone over to stand beside his brother so that neither of the Elrics would see her, purposely or accidentally. Not long after she was finished, Al was forced to wake his brother up.

Edward comically rolled over and faced his brother. "Al…"

"Come on, Brother. Sheska might be done today."

The elder Elric sat up and his face twisted into a determined grin. "You're right!" He jumped out of his bed and made to take his shirt off, but Al stopped him.

"Brother! Don't just start taking off your clothes. Sheesh."

Delilah smiled at Ed, still immensely happy that she had friends. "Good morning, Edward."

"Oh, right." Ed pulled away from his brother and ran a critical eye over Delilah's form. "Did she sleep all right, Al?"

"Up until about half an hour ago when she woke up. And she doesn't look tired anymore, see?"

Ed put a hand to his chin in thought. "I suppose she can help us today. But," he added, pointing an automail finger at her, "don't you do that again, you hear? You hardly have any money, and I don't want to pay for any more of your hospital bills!"

Delilah blinked, and then she genuinely laughed. "Okay!"

()()()()()

"Sorry it took so long, but there was so much material that it took me five days to write it down," Sheska said as she finished pulling out the last of the transcribed notes. She had an entire desk covered with several large stacks of paper. "Here you go! Right down to the last letter!"

Everyone was stunned, but Delilah recovered first and trotted over to Sheska. "That is amazing! I wish I had a photographic memory."

Sheska blushed. "It's nothing, really…."

"Now it makes sense," Al commented as he and Ed came over to look at the work. "Marcoh couldn't run away with his notes because of the sheer volume of material."

"Are you sure all of these are Marcoh's?" Ed asked Sheska.

"Yes!" Sheska said, holding up a couple stacks of the notes. "Tim Marcoh's recipe book: One-Thousand Meals for Daily Living!"

"…Huh?" Ed and Al chorused; Edward smiled as if he had heard her wrong. However, upon looking at the notes, the group discovered that, indeed, Marcoh's work was entirely about cooking.

"Sheska, are you sure that this is a flawless reproduction of Marcoh's work, down to the last detail?" Edward asked her.

"Yes! There are no mistakes!" Sheska insisted.

"You're amazing," Ed complimented, grinning at the notes. "Thanks a lot. C'mon Al," he went on, grabbing a large stack of papers, "let's take these back to the library!"

()()()()()

Once at the library, Edward explained that Marcoh had written his notes in code, and that it was their job to crack it. Delilah was excited; she loved puzzles, and the thought of helping her friends with their search for their original bodies filled her with surprising vigor.

Time seemed to go by slowly as they worked, but Delilah was actually enjoying deciphering all the notes. They had food delivered to their study room in the library, and Delilah and Ed only left to use the bathroom and wash up when Ross complained of their smell. Also, early in the endeavor, Al had made Delilah and Brosh go fetch the girl's medicine so she would be able to sleep on the study's couch instead of remaining awake. Alphonse had to do none of these things, so he was able to plow through a good portion of the work while Ed and Delilah were asleep. Still, he had to remain in tip-top shape, and Delilah took the time to make sure his joints were oiled.

Nearly a whole week of the monotony (well, it was entertaining to Delilah) went by before the three were visited by Sheska.

After announcing herself somewhat awkwardly, she bowed slightly. "Thanks to you, Edward, I was able to transfer my mother to an excellent hospital! I really don't know how to thank you…."

Edward waved his hand. "No sweat. It was nothing."

"But I feel bad about accepting so much money…."

"You don't need to worry about that. I got off cheap compared to the secret contained in this data." As he said it, he looked incredibly tired, probably reminded by the fact that he still hadn't been able to fully decipher the notes yet.

"So…how is your deciphering coming along?" Sheska asked. "I mean, these can't just be recipes…."

She was rewarded with the gloomy looks of Ed and Al. To be honest, even Delilah was starting to tire of the nonstop work.

"Have you found a job yet?" Alphonse asked.

Sheska slumped momentarily before she regained herself. "Well, I'd better go. Thank you so much!"

"No problem. Don't worry about the money," Ed added.

Sheska shifted. "It's not just the money…. It makes me so happy that a nobody like me, who's never been good at anything, was able to help out. Thank you."

"You're not a nobody," Alphonse assured her. "I think being so passionate about something is a talent in itself. Plus, with that amazing memory of yours, I'm sure you'll do all right."

"I wish I had your memory, Sheska," Delilah added.

Sheska smiled. "Thank you!"

The doors to the study suddenly opened, and a man with dark hair and glasses entered, startling Delilah. "YO!"

Ed and Al looked up at the man. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes!"

The man, Hughes, smiled. "I heard from the Major that you'd be here. I told you guys to give me a call if you were ever in Central!"

"We've been kinda busy ever since we got here," Ed apologized.

"I know what you mean! I've been so swamped lately; I haven't been able to leave the office." Hughes scratched his head. "There've been so many incidents lately; the Court Martial office that I'm in charge of has been really bustling. And we still haven't closed the Tucker Chimera case." Noticing Edward's pained look, he frowned. "Sorry. Didn't mean to bring up a sore subject."

"'Tucker Chimera case'?" Delilah repeated.

Ed looked upset. "It's nothing." Even she could tell he was lying.

Hughes seemed to notice Ed's plight and saved the day in his own special way. "You must be Delilah! I'm Maes Hughes. The Major told me about you."

Delilah smiled at the man. "How is he?"

"Just great. Hey, you know who else is great? My daughter, Elicia!" In the blink of an eye, Hughes pulled out his wallet and began bombarding Delilah with pictures of a pigtailed toddler. "Isn't she just adorable?"

"Oh…" Delilah stared at the picture for a moment before she beamed. "She is!"

Hughes seemed delighted that she agreed with him, and he was about to move on to pictures of his wife when Edward said loudly, "WHAT ARE YOU HERE FOR, HUGHES?"

Hughes reluctantly put away his wallet before sitting in an empty chair. "Just here on break, thought I'd drop in and say hi. I've gotta head back in a minute." He sighed. "It's busy enough as it is without the first branch burning down like that. I can't take much more of this."

"The first branch?" Al repeated

"Yeah. It was close to the Court Martial office so we used it to store our records. Incident logs, lists of names, that kind of thing. As you can imagine, the fire's really slowed us down."

As one, the trio of alchemists turned to look at Sheska. Within minutes of an explanation, Hughes hired her on the spot and dragged her off to the Court Martial office; as they left, Sheska called out what could've been a hundred thank-yous.

Somewhat refreshed by the visit, the three continued to work.

()()()()()

Once Edward had brilliantly discovered the cipher, the notes nearly seemed to translate themselves. Still, the sheer volume of the work required another day to be translated. The mood in the room began to heighten with excitement as they neared the end.

But it all ceased when Edward muttered two words, something that completely changed the nature of his and Alphonse's search, not to mention the atmosphere of the room.

"…human lives…"

a/n: sorry if there are any typos...it's nearly 2am. XD Whoopsie. Maybe I should go to sleep. I apologize if the second half seemed rushed, but you all know what happened so I thought, screw it, I'll write less. The first part was what's important to this fic, anyway.

Also, if you hadn't noticed, Delilah has already started to change a bit. If all goes according to plan, she'll go through a lot of character development, so I hope I do a good job. But yeah, she's never had friends before, mostly because of the stigma of mental illness and also because of her...airiness. But they're connected; she was so used to not really being engaged one-on-one in a fun, friendly way that she just sort of built a shell of airiness. Of course, it's part of her, but with Ed and Al it's already starting to go down a bit.

Anyway, I got THREE reviews for the last chapter! Jfkl;asfja;l In the seven chapters before this one, I've had 17 reviews in total. SEVENTEEN. That is like gold to me. I haven't gotten so many reviews in so long. *cries a river*

Keep the reviews coming, please and thank you~ They make me write faster. *nodnod*