To the reviewers who wanted a triangle- I'm sorry, I really am, but there will be no EnvySerenaEd. A triangle would definitely have been nice, but with what I've got in mind for this story, it probably wouldn't go over too well. Envy and Lust think of Serena as a little sister. I truly am sorry, I hate disappointing my readers. If you like, I'll try my hand at writing an EnvySerenaEd triangle in a different fic. In fact, I'm already starting to get an idea...

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's not mine. Please don't rub it in.

Roy Mustang was currently pissed off.

All his subordinates knew well enough to leave the Flame Alchemist alone when he was in one of his moods or else they might get 'accidentally' barbecued. Mustang was currently glaring at a folder on his desk, and if looks could kill, there would be nothing left of the folder except for scorch marks on his desk. But then Hawkeye would shoot at him and probably force him to do another mountain of paperwork as punishment, so the Colonel had to simply be content with glaring.

Sighing, Mustang opened the folder and looked at the first paper and the photograph clipped to it. It was a survellience photo of a middle-aged, brown-haired man with large glasses. Name: Ken Tsukino. Age: 34. Occupation: jewelry alchemist.

The next photo showed a lovely woman with long, shining blue-violet hair and dark blue eyes. What bothered Mustang was the blankness of her eyes, as if she had nothing going on behind them. For some reason, it simply made his skin crawl. Name: Ilene Tsukino. Age: 31. Occupation: None. Muttering to himself, the Colonel picked up the last page and froze.

Well. This was interesting. It was the same girl in Ed's picture. Older, definitely, but those eyes were hard to mistake.

This photograph showed a delicate-looking girl with long blonde hair and large, soul-piercing blue eyes. Name: Serena Tsukino. Age:15. Occupation: None. The paper went on to describe Serena as a shy, sickly child who was often kept inside, due to her extreme fragility. Storing that information away, Mustang drummed his fingers thoughtfully on his desk.

This was unnatural. A man should not be producing diamonds in such quantities, and so fast. There was no history of a diamond mine in that town, and the State strictly forbade the production of any precious stones by alchemy. Not only was this unnatural, it was worrisome, what with the condition of Tsukino's daughter. Mustang had a hunch, nothing more, that Serena's illness and the generous heapings of diamonds being sold were connected, but his hunches were often frighteningly correct.

The Colonel would have to send Ed in, then. As soon as Fullmetal found out what was happening his friend (and possible crush), he would probably scream and insult his superior and demand to go anyway. They boy would go into one of his fits of fury when he learned the truth, and for once Mustang was pleased to turn him loose on someone else. He would not want to be Ken Tsukino when Ed saw what was going on.

Mustang wasn't going to tell his young subordinate, though, for three reasons. One, he wanted Ed to have a little time to rebuild his friendship with Serena, not just go charging in to arrest her father. He did care about Edward, no matter what harsh words passed between them. Two, Serena might testify willingly against her father if she thought there was someone in the military she could trust. And three, he did not want Fullmetal blow up the whole town in his quest for vengeance.

The Colonel stood up and stalked to the door, yanking it open to poke his head out. "Lieutenant Hawkeye!"

Riza looked up, reddish-brown eyes calm even though her hand was inching toward her gun. "Yes, sir?"

"Find Fullmetal and tell him I have a mission for him," Mustang paused, a gleam entering his dark eyes. "Tell him to hurry. I think he'll like this one."

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"So what's the Colonel got for me this time?" Ed inquired grumpily as he trotted to keep up with Lieutenant Hawkeye.

"He didn't say. The Colonel merely stated you would like this mission." There's a first time for everything.

Ed snorted disbelievingly and mumbled to himself, obviously doubting that last statement. Not that Hawkeye blamed him. There was always a double meaning behind Colonel Mustang's words.

Riza waited edgily as Ed entered the office. Silence. She wasn't sure if silence was a good or bad thing. Surely the Colonel would yelp more if Ed was mauling him? Still silence. Then an explosion.

"OF ALL THE FUCKING NERVE!"

The door slammed open, revealing a literally smoking at the ears Edward Elric. His face was an interesting shade of red, and a vein was throbbing at his temple. All of the former were impending danger signs, and everyone in the office quickly arranged themselves so they wouldn't be mowed down. Luckily Ed never noticed, too busy fuming about whatever it was the Colonel had said. The Fullmetal Alchemist was so furious he couldn't even finish his own sentences.

"Why that dirty... how could he THINK...freaking insane...I do NOT...smug, smirking...RRRGGHHHH!" Ed roared out the last part as turned and kicked the door, successfully leaving an indent of his foot in it before he whirled and stomped out, still shouting nonsense phrases. Everyone heard him as he stormed down the hall, occasionally punctuated by loud crashes that conveyed Ed's mood. No one moved until the noises had long since faded. Then, slowly, everyone tiptoed over to peer into Mustang's office.

Roy was leaning back in his chair, a broad smirk across his face. Riza automatically decided to get the Colonel more paperwork. Lots and LOTS more paperwork. He enjoyed torturing Edward far too much.

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Serena winced as she sat down on a bench at the train station. She was dressed in a black turtleneck and black jeans, just to be on the safe side. Her father had practically ripped her back open to the bone with his administrations. Luckily for his daughter he had realized his mistake and quickly forced her to drink some sort of vile healing potion before she bled to death. Serena's nose crinkled as she remembered how violently her stomach had tried to reject the alien substance.

Serena's hand found it's way to her neck, gently running her thumb over the locket that Ed had given her. She couldn't thank Trisha enough for giving her this last memento and grieved constantly for the her, because she was the only mother figure Serena had ever had. The teenager couldn't even begin to compare Trisha and Ilene, the differences were so obvious. While Ilene preferred preening in front of the mirror and gossipping, Trisha loved spending time with her children and devoting her life to helping others less fortunate.

The woman had been an angel, an earth angel that was rarely ever seen, much less heard of. Serena had adored Trisha, and the Elrics' mother had viewed the young girl as one of her own children. It had broken Serena's heart when she had heard of her death, and for days she had refused to leave her room or eat. It was then that Serena began to drift away from her parents, preferring to sit on the roof of their home for long hours and think.

The train pulled in with a screech, making Serena flinch and stand up abruptly. To think she had almost forgotten who she had come here for!

You? Heck no, I couldn't forget you if I wanted to!

Serena felt a smile grace her lips as she remembered Ed's words from six years past. Her friend had never lied to her yet, and she intended to keep believing him. Serena strained on her toes to peer over the heads of the crowd- it was rather annoying to be at least a head shorter than everyone else. She glimpsed a flash of gold, bright in the dim evening light. All time seemed to stand still for her as bright golden eyes locked on her own blue ones.

Ed looked older, definitely, with a sharper face and different clothes. He had been letting his hair grow out, and it was tucked in a neat braid that nearly reached mid-back. Quite frankly, to Serena he looked like an...angel. Honestly, he did.

Next to him stood a large suit of armor that towered over everyone else in the station. It couldn't be...Al? But there was no one else next to Ed, so it had to be Al. Serena's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. Then she shrugged it off and bolted toward them, skidding to a stop in front of them and throwing her arms around Ed. He was warm, and wonderfully solid against her petite frame as he hugged her back hesitantly, and there was a faint tangy smell of steel lingering around him. Serena buried her face in his chest, inhaling it discreetly.

At last Serena tugged away and turned to embrace Al. The youngest Elric was cold and uncomfortably hard against her, poking her rather roughly with the sharp points as she barely came up to Al's waist. She was even shorter than Ed, and that was saying something, though Serena tried to refrain from joking to Ed about his height. Alphonse laughed, almost as if sensing her thoughts as she let go of him.

"Guess you haven't changed much, Sere," Al remarked, still laughing a little. "If I wasn't in this armor, you'd have crushed me."

"Heeey...are you trying to imply you don't like my hugs?" Serena pouted mockingly. A gentle yank on her hair made her turn to swat at Ed, unable to stop smiling.

"You've been letting your hair grow out," he remarked, looking not at the golden hair he held in his fist, but at her face. Serena blushed, unable to help herself, then reached up to tug at his chin-length bangs sharply, but not hard enough to hurt. Much.

"So have you."

Ed released her hair, a little smile on his face as they began to bicker as they walked out of the train station.

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If anyone had been bothering to look up into the shadowy rafters of the station at the moment, they would have seen a most interesting sight indeed. Envy was currently trying to jump off the rafters after the pipsqueak and his brother, but he wasn't succeeding. Lust had him by the back of his shirt and was refusing to let go, even employing her claws from time to time.

"Lemme GO, Lust! Stupid pipsqueak, what does he think he's doing! OY-" Lust clamped her hand over Envy's mouth to keep him from yelling a challenge after Fullmetal. Honestly, the shapeshifter was getting very hard to deal with.

"Stop trying to bite my hand, Envy!" Lust snapped in irritation. "Before you say another word, look at Serena."

Envy did, and stilled almost immediately. Lust removed her hand from his mouth, but kept a hold of his shirt in case he tried to jump again. It was easy to see why her 'brother' had stopped. Serena had a warm glow practically radiating off of her, and a soft, happy look in her eyes that neither of them had ever seen before. For the first time, she didn't look as if she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders.

"You know you can't kill Fullmetal, Envy. He's the closest one to creating the stone for us right now." And he makes Serena forget about her father, something we can never do.

Envy settled grumpily, mumbling explicitly under his breath about short alchemists and annoying clawed women. When he finished, he turned and scowled at Lust.

"Fine, I won't do anything to the pipsqueak," Envy growled. "But if he hurts her in any way, he forfeits his worth."

He didn't even need to say that. We both know what we'd do if the boy hurt Serena, Lust mused. For the moment, she indulged herself in a pleasant fantasy of ripping Ken Tsukino's body to shreds with her claws. A sinister smile found it's way onto her lips. That day was coming soon.

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(shivers) Ooooh...I wouldn't wanna be Serena's dad right now, not with Lust, Envy, and Ed coming after him. Don't worry, he'll get his due...but in an unexpected way. (grins evilly)

Ed: (eyes suspicously) What are you plotting?

Nothing, nothing...

Ed: What the heck did the Colonel say to me, anyway?

(sweatdrops) You figure it out.

Read and review, please!