Dani stared at the words that had been carved onto the inside of the watch with a mixture of fascination and morbid curiosity. Elise gave her another one of her somber smiles and said…

"It's the symbol of me and my brother's resolve," Elise said, "Shows me that I can't look back."

Dani rose an eyebrow and said, "I'm sorry if this is a sensitive question, but what happened on that day?"

But before anyone could talk, Tiffany came to the door and called out…

"Hey guys, Nate said he needs to talk to everyone about the case. Could you guys come to the table?"

Dani and Elise both knew they would have to finish that conversation later and raced to the table. Nate, Tiffany, and Randal were already there by the time the girls got there. Randal, of course, was staring at Elise despite the latter giving him a death glare for his troubles.

"Me and Tiffany finally were able to read the files that were downloaded and found some important information." Nate began.

Tiffany then continued, "First off, we learned the missing alchemist's name."

But the answer Tiffany found shook Dani to the core…

"His name is Edward Elric."

Dani tried not to let her shock show, but holy crap. All along, she met the very person the group was tasked to search for. But now, she was in a pickle. He told her to keep it a secret and she agreed to it. But because of that, she couldn't tell anyone she had seen him. Elise had a weird look on her face. Dani was nervous that Elise was suspicious of her. Nate continued on unaware of Dani's inner conflict.

"He's been missing for two months and the files state that there's no sign of kidnapping or foul play."

Randal piped up and stupidly said, "Hey, that's our hero, Elise, came!"

Elise let out a low growl and said, "Someone gag him. He clearly has nothing useful to say."

Tiffany ended the foolishness by continuing with the briefing.

"There is slight suspicion of world trotting activity being involved."

After that, Nate gave some stupidly obvious information such as eye and hair color before dismissing everyone. Dani learned from Tiffany that the ice cream shop would "renovate" when a mission was going on, so no one would be suspicious. Dani was still nervous about what to do next.

…

Elise knew this was not going to end well. Dani was probably confused and upset by this sudden revelation. If she wanted things to go smoothly, she needed a plan and fast, or Dani could accidentally destroy her plans. Elise tried to think of ways to dance around it or throw her off like always. But this time, she couldn't think of any good ways to keep this a secret from her. Elise finally decided she had no choice but to reveal everything.

It was strange though. Elise was able to keep her identity perfectly hidden until Dani came along. When Dani came along, she just felt too comfortable around her. And because of that, Dani knew too much, and her neck was now at risk. If Tucker found out who "Elise" really was, the entire plan would be ruined, and the ones forced to pay for it would be Al and Nina. She had to tell Dani.

After that whole fiasco, the day was mostly normal with Randal being dumb, Tiffany playing more disgustingly sappy dating sims, and Nate analyzing the files (which Elise thought was kinda stupid considering he already did). As soon as night fell, Elise left the Ice Cream Bowl sure that Dani would leave her room due to the stress of that discovery. And she would be in the alleyways waiting for her…

…

As she thought, Dani couldn't fall asleep for the life of her. She was still so confused. Elise had to know Edward somehow judging by her face earlier. Dani also knew she would have to make a choice soon. Tell everyone and risk Edward's safety for the sake of the mission or keep it a secret and risk getting in massive trouble for it. Dani was also frustrated that everything had be kept a huge secret. Even a smackerel of information would be nice. She couldn't do much to help if she didn't know anything about what she was supposed to do.

Maybe Edward was in the alleyways. Dani decided she should probably talk to him about it and form a plan. He was her best bet for saving both him and the mission. Dani thought the walk would help clear her head even if she didn't find Edward. Without any further hesitation, she put on a coat and left the shop in search of her friend.

Luckily for her, Dani looked around the alleyways and found Edward. But unlike last time, he looked like he had been waiting for her for hours. Edward's expression was just as serious as last time, but he looked softer and kinder.

"I was actually hoping you'd come here." The alchemist told her.

Dani chuckled nervously at the fact that they seemed to have the same idea.

"Funny, I was hoping I'd find you."

But she wasn't laughing when he walked up to her with a grave expression on his face,

"Dani, there's a lot I need to tell you about the mission you're on."

Oh! Thank goodness he had the same idea.

"I'm glad we share the same thoughts on that. What am I supposed to do, Edward?" Dani sighed.

"Before we get to that, there's something I need to tell you." Edward said.

Dani tried to mentally brace herself for whatever he told her, but once again her expectations were exceeded.

"I've known you longer than you realize, Dani." Edward told her with little to no emotion in his voice.

"H-How," Dani sputtered, "We only met last night!"

Edward looked up with her and finally showed something akin to emotion…that emotion being fear.

"Me and Elise…we're the same damn person," Edward blurted out, "I've known you because I was Elise all along.

Dani took a moment to process this, but when she thought about it, it made sense. Elise was always so secretive about her past, and Edward told her he was trying to stay under the radar. Edward didn't want to reveal anything that would give him away. Dani was happy that she was at least getting somewhere with her search for answers.

"It's actually kinda obvious when you put it like that." Dani chuckled.

Edward actually chuckled a bit and said, "I was half-expecting you to be livid, but I guess I had nothing to worry about."

"What about the others?" Dani asked.

"Keep it from them for while longer," Edward answered, "Who knows what the hell Randal would do?"

Dani laughed and said, "Yeah, Randal probably wouldn't take to that too well."

They both started laughing when they talked about Randal and his antics. Of course, all good things had to come to end eventually as Edward told her.

"I know it's frustrating, but I can't tell you why I'm in hiding right now," Edward sadly explained, "I know you want to know."

Dani smiled and responded, "I understand. Good luck, Edward."

Edward ran to leave but turned back to her and made one last request.

"You can call me Ed."

Dani waited to leave the alleyways so Ed's escape wouldn't look suspicious. When she finally returned to her room, Dani knew she had one hell of a mission. But first, she needed to get some sleep. She heard Monica crying to the other room meaning Elise was probably feeding or changing the baby girl. Dani smiled knowing at least she finally knew something even if it wasn't much.

A/N

The moment we all knew was coming. But the question remains. Will this knowledge be a risk to the group?

I'm super excited to continue this story and super thankful that you guys are reading this and enjoying it. Critiques are very welcome as long as they're constructive.