Protect Me

Written by: Luna

Chapter 8 - The One to Turn To

Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, yet any new characters that I have created to fit the story are mine, and part of Protect Me. Thank you!

Author's Note - For some reason I am unable to keep the scene change dividers for the chapters. Sorry if that makes it a little confusing when reading. It's kinda annoying for me, but I can't do anything about it. Anyway, hope you enjoy! A lot of action coming up in future chapters!

Edward continued down the road he had been walking on for some time now.

After spending the night at the house and after Pinako had treated what injuries he had gained from his fight with Sid, he bid her farewell and left, leaving his promise that he would return safely with both Al and Winry.

The alchemist knew what his next move had to be, and he wasn't looking forward to it, but this was certainly not he time to let his personal differences get in his way.

After a while longer, he finally made it to the train station. He went over to the ticket counter and bought a one-way trip to Central, then walked over to a bench and sat down with a frown to wait for the train departure, which was in about thirty minutes. He hated waiting.

Kyle and Kane were sitting at a table playing cards.

It would be hard to tell that they were brothers except for the red hair. Kane had dull grey eyes, while Kyle had piercing green ones. And Kane was one you would guess had been in a war with how muscular he was and the scar running down his cheek along with his short spiky hair added to his fierce look. Almost completely opposite from him was the younger of the brothers who could be seen as frail compared to Kane. But Kyle wasn't without strength, although he wasn't interested in brute force more than working his way with the women. Kyle was tricky and deceitful and Kane was strong and unfeeling. Yet, even though they both had despicable characteristics, they looked out for each other. The only reason they decided to join up with Sid was because they liked the ideas he had come up with and they both wanted to have some fun. Sid had provided their fun by kidnapping the kids and now they could do almost anything they wanted to them as long as Sid approved it. All of this fell under Sid's plans. So far, everything was working out perfectly.

Sid came into the dingy room and walked over to the two brothers, stopping by the table. "Fullmetal will be looking for us by now. If I know him, he'll find us soon enough."

Kane moved the cigarette, hanging out of his mouth, with his tongue and spoke in a deep voice. "Yeah, well I don't know if we can expect too much out of a kid like him. I mean, what could he possibly do to us?" He let out a rough chuckle and put down another card on their game.

"Don't underestimate the kid." Sid replied, turning his head to the side. "He is a respected state alchemist from the military and so has obviously earned his name."

"Pah! The military." Kane grumbled as he blew out his inhaled smoke. "Those scum deserves to die. Anyone who works for them should be killed, or in this case tortured. I just don't understand why we didn't simply take the kid instead of those two. He's the state alchemist anyway."

Sid slammed his fist down on the table, causing some of the cards to fly off. "I have my own plans for him! This is the way I want to hurt him. Taking his brother and the girl is the best way to get to him." He stood back up and resumed his old position with his arms crossed. "The kid will wish for his own death by the time he sees what will have happened to those two."

Kyle leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head, the disturbed game forgotten. "That's just fine with me." He chuckled, kicking his feet up and crossing them on the small wooden table. "Just as long as I get my way with that lovely young women in there."

Kane grunted. "That's all you ever think about, isn't it?"

Kyle only smirked in reply.

The train pulled into the station at Central and Ed found his way through the crowd to get off. It had been the regular boring ride as usual, only this time he had his thoughts to keep him busy. He could only imagine what could happen to Al and Winry, and he was sure he was thinking of the worst, which kept him from getting a peaceful sleep.

Ed had dressed in his usual black outfit with his famous red coat and white gloves. Stuffing his hands into his pockets he make his way to headquarters.

Roy was not surprised when he heard a knock sound on his office door, but when he gave his permission for whoever it was to enter, he was shocked to see Edward walk in. Yet, all that was expressed was his eyes widening slightly.

Edward came in fully and shut the door behind him, coming over to take his seat on the couch. You could say he had been in better moods.

After a couple of minutes, Roy stood up behind his desk and put his hands on the surface. "So, Fullmetal, what brings you here? I know you wouldn't come for pleasure."

The young alchemist only glared at the sarcastic colonel and grumbled under his breath. He really didn't want to say anything to him, let alone this, but he didn't have a choice.

"I..." He gritted his teeth and stared ahead of him. "I need your help with something."

This got Roy's attention, so he waited patiently for the boy to continue. He could tell something was eating away at him.

Ed spoke quietly and Roy had to strain to hear him, but was still able to make out what he said.

"Al and Winry were kidnapped."

This caught the older man off guard because that was the last thing he had expected to hear. Roy didn't know what to say to that so instead he remained quiet and waited for the rest of the story.

After a while when Ed said no more, Roy finally spoke, asking the question. "What do you want me to do?"

Edward raised his head to look at him. Instead of the sharp, sarcastic tone he had expected, the expression in his question was soft and gentle. His eyes widened slightly in surprise and then he turned his gaze back to the floor, both arms propped on his knees.

"I was hoping you would be able to give me something on this guy." He paused. "There were three men altogether, but I only know one of their names. Sid. He seemed to be the leader."

Roy looked at Ed, sitting back down in his chair. "I'm going to need more than just his first name, I'm afraid. Do you remember anything in particular about this guy?" He pulled out a drawer and brought out a binder full of files along with some blank paper, putting it all on top of his desk.

Ed furrowed his eyebrows. "Our fight didn't last long, but he did use alchemy."

This caught the man's interest as he began jotting down notes.

"He was a wind alchemist, and I hadn't come up against anything as strong as that attack when it came to wind." He remembered the time when Lyra used her wind attack on him in the coalmining town of Youswell, but he was able to stop that.

"Anything else?"

Ed thought for a moment. "Yeah, he wore a headband that had a transmutation circle on the front. That's what triggered his attack."

Roy continued to write down the information. "What about appearance?"

"He had short, black hair and black eyes. I would guess he looked to be about twenty-five or so. He wore casual clothes, nothing fancy, and the headband."

Edward leaned back and let out a tired sigh. "That's all I know about him. Like I said, our encounter didn't last long."

Roy put down his pen and gathered his papers into a pile, also letting out a sigh. "This doesn't give me too much to go on, unfortunately. We don't even know if this guy has a record, but I'll get my men on it. I'll let you know anything I find out as soon as possible."

Ed looked a bit disappointed that he couldn't find out anything right then, but what did he expect? That the location of their hideout would just fall from the sky? He got up from the couch and started towards the door.

"Edward."

He stopped and looked back over his shoulder at his former boss. "Thanks for your help, Roy. I'm going to be in the library when you have any answers for me." With that, he left, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Roy leaned over his desk, rubbing his eyes with his hand. He wondered why this had to happen to the boy after all he had already gone though. After a few minutes, he got up from his desk to go in search of Hawkeye. He was determined to find out something about this man. He had to.