So I sold Ed off to a shrimp factory. He still refused to give me the rights to FMA.

…omg! ED!

BIG NEWS!

LOOK! HELD GOT FANART!

http/www. deviantart. com/ view /27356878/

(Please fill in the spaces when entering the link. I have to space it out or will not allow me to post the link.)

Anyways! Thank you so much Wallflower-chan!

Held

By The Gomp

Without saying a word Klose suddenly turned and gave me the glare that should have sent me to my grave. She grabbed my metal shoulder roughly and began to pull me towards the door, her words were low and annoyed. "How dare you speak to a Chairman with such disrespect." Even though she was looking at me and speaking to me, her thoughts seemed to be somewhere else. She didn't seem completely there.

We left Hakuro's office and passed his annoyed secretary who gave me a grumpy look. It wasn't till we reached the halls that Klose finally freed me from her death grip. I didn't even wait for her to speak, I jumped right to it.

"What the fuck was that about?"

Klose didn't even look at me. She simply turned her eyes to the side, looking like she was deep in thought.

I grabbed her wrist with my metal hand to get her attention. "Klose, I'm a fucking Major, do you know how bad that looked?" Yea sure, when did I ever care about my image? But still, what the hell had gotten into her? Was she trying to protect me or something? I didn't require her damn protection.

Her voice came out soft, but carried an edge. "You were being rude."

I was tempted to punch her… so, freakin' tempted.

"You were being rude butting into our conversation! I can't believe you did that!" I turned away from her tempted to punch a damn wall instead of her face. It wasn't like I could go back into Hakuro's office and apologize for Klose's rude behavior and then go back to bitching him out… it didn't work that way. Man, and I had some really good stuff to say to Hakuro too.

"Edward." Klose's voice sounded… bold.

I turned. "What?"

Her eyes narrowed, but then softened. "I apologize for my rude behavior, I suppose I got worried that the Chairman might do something bad to you."

I was tempted to roll my eyes… so she was playing the heroine. "We had some business to discuss. Argh, I don't feel like talking to you!" I felt annoyed. Really annoyed.

When I saw her turn away though, with a frown gracing her lips, I started to feel bad. Crap.

"Klose, argh, I-"

"I suppose I know what you mean."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Huh?"

Even though Klose's face was hidden by her hair, I saw her eyes wander towards the door that led to Hakuro's office. Her voice was soft and sincere. "I'm really sorry Ed for being rude. Really, I am."

I still wanted to be mad at her, but I could feel my anger slowly seeping out of me. "It's… alright, I guess."

Klose shook her head slightly. "I'll make up for it."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Oh?" I folded my arms over my chest in a mocking manner. "It better be damn good." Klose giggled softly. "Trust me, it will, but for now I got to go back to work."

I could feel the old friendship ties with Klose slowly returning. It was comforting in a way.

"Ok."

Klose nodded while she turned on her heels and headed down the hallway. I watched her back as she slowly began to disappear.

My eyes narrowed as they turned towards Hakuro's office.

"Damn it."

"Hold still."

I was positive my eyes were as wide as saucers.

"I said hold still young man."

Between gritted teeth I spoke. "Easier said then done."

The doctor gave an annoyed 'huff' sound then went back to his tedious work.

Ack, eww, so… gross… waa! My human and auto-mail fingers dug into the sides of the bed.

The doctor sat back in his chair while pushing up his glasses. His face scrunched up as he looked at me with displeasure. "Major, I'm sure it must feel odd for you, but you are acting like this is painful. Are you hurting?"

I took in a deep breath and allowed it out slowly. I gave a crooked grin that had no heart to it. "Really, I'm fine… you're right, it just feels weird."

The doctor nodded while his tweezers headed back to do their work. I closed my eyes as the tweezers grabbed a random stitch and pulled. Gahhhh! So gross!

"Most of your stitches have fallen out; you were supposed to have these removed a few days ago. You missed your original appointment." The fat man looked at me accusingly.

I rolled some saliva in my mouth before I spoke. My voice carried a hint of innocence. "I was busy."

The doctor smirked ever so slightly. "Well Major, I believe that is quite obvious."

I was tempted to ask what he meant, but felt it was better to keep my mouth shut. The doctor gave a tug and I felt one of the stitches slip out from my skin.

Silence filled the room for the next hour or so as the doctor did his work. Starting at the top of my shoulder, he worked his way down and repeated the process three times for each individual cut. By the time he had finished I should have been tempted to pass out or cry from joy, instead I sat there silently looking at myself in the mirror that sat across the room.

I didn't look at the doctor, but I could hear it in his voice that he was frowning. "It didn't heal as well as I had hoped."

My metal fingers ran down the long bumpy scars. The skin was still tender and slightly pink. These weren't the type of scars I was used to, I was used to the ones that simply marred the color of the skin, but did not stick out. The three claw marks were puffed out, jagged at certain areas. In all honesty, they were simply hideous in sight.

I sucked in a deep breath, feeling a faint stinging in the corner of my eyes. I mean, it would be dumb for me to get upset over something so stupid. Ha, ha, my body just getting even uglier to look at—stupid to care right?

My bangs hid my eyes as a pulled my shirt on. The doctor stood in the corner of the room holding his clipboard. "Come back in a week so we can give you a check up. If you experience any problems, such as bleeding, or infection, return immediately."

I nodded my head as I ran my human fingers through my hair, the movement irritated my shoulder slightly, but I ignored it. I forced a smile on my face. "Thanks for everything, sir."

The doctor nodded, I turned away from him and walked out of the door. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remove the damn frown that graced my lips.

It was so stupid to get upset… so why was I?

My dorm door shut behind me. It was getting late, and the day was weighing heavily on me.

I took off my shirt quickly, my eyes darting towards the mirror, but I quickly turned away before I could really get a good look at myself. I grabbed a white tee-shirt off the floor and threw it on and then my pants fell into a nice heap on the floor, only the boxers remained.

The sun had set; the dark sky was all that remained. All I wanted to do was to jump in my bed and just go to bed… but a thought crossed my mind.

I eyed my door with caution and eyed the whole room with caution.

"Would he really?"

Hakuro… hmm, I knew his dirty secret about having the fake stones. Would he… punish me for knowing that?

I rolled my eyes at my paranoia. I suppose it was better to be safe than sorry.

I sighed and clapped my hands together, feeling the electricity of alchemy come alive. The glow lightened the whole room to a bluish color.

I had a feeling I was going to spend a good amount of time safeguarding my room. Damnit all.

It was early… really damn early, when I heard the knocking. I forced my eyes open, my precious eyes that did not want to budge.

The knocking happened again, and again…

I finally rolled over and pushed myself up, my shoulder felt less sore which I suppose was a good sign. My feet hit the cold floor of the bedroom and padded their way across the wooden panel. I went to open the door, but groaned when I realized I had used alchemy to lock it. I clapped my hands and heard a satisfied click.

Havoc stood on the other side of the door. I was tempted to groan at him and tell him to go the hell away, but he rarely visited and usually only did when things were important.

"Did I wake you?" He rolled his unlit cigarette around in his mouth.

This time I did groan. "Isn't it fucking obvious?"

His smirk was subtle, but he pushed my bedroom door open the rest of the way so he could enter himself. He gave a low whistle as he looked at my mess. "I suppose I can forgive you for this mess since I know you have been busy."

I rolled my eyes as I went looking for my pants and asked him with sarcasm: "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" I found my pants pushed halfway under my dresser and pulled them on.

Havoc chewed a little on the butt of his cigarette, his smirk mischievous. "Well, I think I already got my answer so really you can go back to bed."

I stopped my movements while I glared at Havoc. "What the hell?"

"You're alone in here, right? No one hiding under the blankets of your bed, eh?"

What an odd question, but I nodded uneasily. "It's just me. Why?"

"Just looking for a lovely lady friend of yours." He winked.

My eyebrows shot up. "Do you mean Klose?"

"If you are referring to Roy's secretary, why yes. It's nothing serious. Roy had asked her to come in a little early today, but she hasn't showed up yet. Most likely she forgot, I was told to see if she was in your room." He gave another wink.

I grabbed my father's watch and looked at the time; Klose wasn't due in on her regular shift for another two hours. "I have no clue where she could be." I had to admit, I was a little perturbed that someone would suggest she would be in my room. Damn rumors.

Havoc shrugged while he pulled out his cigarette from his mouth. "Like I said, nothing serious. Most likely she was just having fun last night and forgot to set her alarm." His toothy grin helped finish his sentence.

I was tempted to roll my eyes. "Did you ever think of knocking on her door?"

"I already did. I also checked inside, the room seems normal, just missing the occupant in question."

"I see." I shrugged my shoulders helplessly. "I'll tell her that you guys are looking for her if I see her, but I doubt I will see her any time soon."

Havoc nodded while he headed for the door. "You look like you're tired, get some more sleep."

I yawned while I pointed to the door. "Yea, I will. Now get the hell out of my room."

The door shut and I jumped back to my bed desperately needing more sleep.

The awkward silence pierced the room. Roy and I couldn't even look each other in the eye, I knew for a fact his ego had been slightly damaged the other day and well… I had run like a sissy so that didn't help mine much either.

I was happy to notice that Roy had gone home the past night and showered. He smelled and looked much cleaner, shaved too. But, even though he looked cleaner, he still had a subtle wild look in his lone eye. In a sense I had a feeling this war was griping Roy at his seams and slowly tearing him apart. I wanted to say something to him, lend him some advice… but what did I know? Roy knew more then me, he had already lived through a war. I knew in the Ishbal war Roy did not have the baggage like he had now. He now had a family and home to return to. Was that what was internally killing him? The thought of losing everything that was important to him? I wanted to reach out, talk to him about things.

Instead I stood there, my mouth moved a few times, but no words left my lips. I internally sighed as I collected myself, reminded myself of the reason I was there.

For a few more minutes an uncomfortable silence hung heavily in the air. Roy was sitting at his desk, twirling a pen between his fingers. He continued doing that until suddenly the pen fell and clanked loudly on the wooden floor, almost like a whistle blown telling us to begin.

We both spoke at once.

"I called you in bec-"

"So is Ms. Kurt-"

Silence filled the room again, but this time our eyes connected. It took a few seconds, but Roy finally finished what he was saying. "I called you in because my secretary has done a disappearing act. Do you know where she is?"

I shrugged my shoulders and walked more into his office as Roy followed my every movement like a hawk. "I had seen her yesterday, she was helping Chairman Hakuro like you had said. Other then that, no I don't know where she is."

A frown formed on Roy's lips. "She has never been the type to simply skip work. This is odd."

I took a bold move and sat down in the seat in front of Roy's desk and studied his features for moment, getting nothing but a blank stare. "Well, I agree. I don't think see her to be the 'ditching work' type, but it has been hectic around headquarters. Maybe she needed a break and decided to play hooky." I had to admit, I really didn't believe in my own explanation. Klose really wasn't irresponsible like that, but at the same time I really couldn't imagine her in any danger unless… Hakuro…

"Is something on your mind Edward?"

I blinked a few times as I looked at Roy's face, genuine curiosity now marking his features. I was slow in my speaking, trying to find the right words. If I was alone in the office with Roy, might as well ask the questions that needed to be asked. "How dangerous do you think Hakuro is?"

Roy seemed taken back by my question. I couldn't really blame him though, switching from Klose to Hakuro… but Roy knew the Chairmen better than most. Besides, he wanted to know what was on my mind.

"Chairman Hakuro? Are you in some type of trouble?"

I was tempted to laugh. Ha, I really had no clue if I was in trouble or not. "Not particularly. Will you answer me…?"

Roy narrowed his lone eye at me. "I have never found him violent, maybe stupid, but never violent."

Well, I suppose that was a good sign that he wasn't violent. Klose had interrupted Hakuro and my argument the other day… could it be that Hakuro was extremely pissed off by the disruption? I mean, what if he had done something bad to her?

Maybe I was thinking way to hard… or maybe I wasn't thinking enough.

I sighed in frustration as Roy looked at me. "You are hiding something." It was a statement that had caught me off guard.

My eyes had widened. "Umm, heh, don't be silly." I scratched my head and tried to look innocent. The reality of the matter was that I was hiding A LOT from Roy, not just one thing. How did you explain that to your superior officer?

Roy looked rather annoyed as he folded his hands in his lap and looked at me sternly. "I don't have time for games. I will ask you one more time; do you know where my secretary is? Trust me Edward, if you do not answer this honestly I will find out and you will pay." The threat was very real, and very unlike Roy.

"I do not know where she is." I wasn't really lying. I had hints and ideas, but I didn't really know the truth.

Suspicion was apparent in Roy's features. He scanned me with his one eye and was critical, I sat still for a moment not sure what to think or do.

"If she does not turn up by this evening, you will be the one to search for her. Usually I would assign a search party, but seeing as to how everyone is busy…"

"What makes you think I'm not busy?" My question held an edge. Roy wasn't sounding too friendly towards me; I didn't plan to be friendly either then.

The laugh was not a cheerful one, it sounded like he was annoyed. "You have not handed in any paperwork which I had given to you since your return. Find her, we are short staffed and we can't afford to fall behind in the work."

Something was off about Roy. I mean, it was totally justified why he sounded funny and acted more aggressive then usual, but it did not comfort me. I could see the stress in him, I could see how tired he was, how miserable. For some reason I was tempted to ask Roy if joining the military was worth it now, but held back the question. Hah, not the time to ask such stupid pointless things.

I stood up and was about to turn to leave, but Roy's voice stopped me. "You are hiding something… hah, to think I thought you would have matured from your old self."

I didn't turn as I spoke, but I kept my voice light with a touch of cheer. "It's hard to change sometimes."

"Maybe so…." His voice went into a whisper. "maybe so." His voice returned to normal. "Don't forget about your report." Oh how I cringed at the word 'report'.

I walked out of the room and didn't feel like looking back.

I had eaten, showered, and changed before I finally had decided to sit down and start working on my 'Ishbal Report'. While writing the report, I quickly realized it was a more difficult task then what I had first anticipated. You would think lying would be easy… well try lying where you can't have any slip ups and think it worthy of government approval, Roy's approval.

Grr Roy… My pencil scratched the paper as I bullshitted my way through my next sentence.

'-dead blamed on sudden attack of Xing soldiers.'

"Roy is never going to believe this crap!" I took a deep breath and allowed it to leave slowly. Roy wasn't an idiot, it was what made him a great General. It was also what made him suck.

My pencil rolled away from my fingers as I sat back in my chair, pushing my glasses up my nose. I then crossed my arms and stared at the horrible report. If Al was around he would have been able to give me creative ideas.

Well, the old Al would have at least.

…I cursed myself for thinking that.

I began looking at the room, something to distract me for a moment. My eyes landed on an envelope that sat on my nightstand, along with one of my white gloves.

It was the note Klose had given me awhile ago concerning our… relationship situation.

I felt my face go warm, but ignored it. I stood up and walked over to my bed. The flap of the envelope was still open, the letter neatly folded and slightly poking out.

Was I supposed to take Klose's disappearing act seriously? I mean… I really didn't know and I really didn't want to care.

Deep down, way inside my fragile little heart, I knew I did care though. I just wanted to ignore the subject. Damnit.

I looked at my watch, it was about mid-afternoon.

I stood up from the bed and placed the envelope back on my nightstand. I was about to turn and go back to my report, but the flopping sound of my white glove hitting the floor grabbed my attention.

I removed the glove that covered my human hand, dropping it to the floor. I ran my bare fingers over Klose's warm skin; it was so soft, so smooth. I wanted to touch her, to discover all the hidden secrets I had never known.

I closed my eyes at the memory. The reality was Klose had done nothing wrong that night; it was me who was all wrong. I wanted to avoid her, push her out of my thoughts. .

Now she was missing and what was I doing? Trying to bullshit my way out of trouble, typical.

I groaned at my own stupidity as I pulled off my glasses and found my black long-sleeved shirt.

"This is what the boss gave me."

I jiggled the key around in the lock. "Well, the door doesn't seem to want to open."

Havoc looked at the lock, his eyebrows drawing together. "It worked this morning." He took the key out of the lock, pushed me aside, shoved it into the lock again, and gave a quick jerk of the wrist. The door gave a satisfying click. Havoc smirked, I glared.

I pushed the door open the rest of the way, flipping the light switch. Havoc came into the room behind me. "Everything is the same as this morning when I came in."

The room seemed about the same since my last visit, if you subtract the music and candles… also the half naked female.

I blushed.

"Gee Ed, do you get that flustered by just walking into a female's room?"

I gritted my teeth as I gave a threatening glare towards Havoc. He just smirked with victory. "Seems you do."

"Just leave the key with me. I will return it to General Mustang's office when I'm done."

Havoc's smirk grew to a smile as he tossed me Klose's key and began to head towards the door. "Catch you later kid."

I rolled my eyes as the door shut, just me and Klose's bedroom… great.

I did my 'investigating' work at a slow pace. I searched for any clues that might reveal where Klose could be. I checked from the window sills to the wooden floor. I checked her bed, under her bed, briefly scanned inside her drawers, and her bathroom.

I finally turned my eyes to the final un-searched piece of furniture in the room. I stared at her desk… her work area. She had things organized neatly. There was an elaborate candle that sat in the center of the desk, almost like a center piece. The candle was green and fat. It had red vines that wrapped around it and figures of mystical creatures carved into the wax. It was pretty cool looking. It sat on top of a gold holder that was rather plain.

I opened the first drawer of her desk. Pencils, unused note pads, ink, and various other un-relevant items were in there. I growled in annoyance as I threw some papers from the drawler behind me. I had a feeling Klose was going to get pissed off once she saw the mess I had created. Haha, oh well.

I pulled open the next drawler down. Books, notes, folders…

My hand reached deep inside searching for anything that might be in the back. I felt something that felt like leather, expensive leather actually.

I pulled out the object. It was a black leather notebook that was the size of my hand. I began to flip through the notebook before I suddenly realized… it was a book of numbers, aha! Finally, something that might hold some significance.

I placed on my glasses and took a look. It seemed that there was no specific order to the phone numbers. I recognized a few of the names; some names were those who were at headquarters. My name and phone extension number was the last number inscribed in the book, but my name had been slightly smudged by someone's fingers.

I was about to shut the book, but something inside me compelled me to open it back up and look at the front page again. I did so. There was only one number on that page which was written in pencil.

'Daddy'

Mr. Kurt's number… wouldn't be a bad number to call.

I took off my glasses and placed them back in my pocket. I pushed the open drawer closed and went through the last one… there was nothing of relevance. I sat up and wiped my hands against my pants. I shoved the leather book in my back pocket and was about to turn when I, on accident, hit the cool looking candle with my metal elbow. I heard a loud smack, a snap, and the roll of the candle on the floor. I turned and found that one of the red vines had snapped off the candle and the candle had rolled half way across the room. Damn.

I walked over and picked up the candle along with the broken vine piece. I sighed as I examined the damage I had created. The missing vine wasn't that obvious, but it was a shame none the less. I went to place the candle back, when something shiny suddenly caught my eye from across the room. I placed the candle gently back on its golden stand and walked over to the shiny object.

Somehow it had passed my eyes before, strange.

My fingers gently ran down the blood red ribbon which was loosely tied around the post of Klose's bed.

I scanned the room a few times and stopped when I saw something silver glittering; the flicker of the candles kept causing the silver piece to gleam. It was a necklace dangling from the post of her bed.

My mouth went dry and my fingers grabbed the golden key that hung at the end of the red ribbon. The key was actually rather fat. I lifted it up so I could look at it better in the light and saw that numbers were carved at the top of the key '71'. I lifted an eyebrow as I turned the key over. On the other side it had the initials 'F.B.C.' on it.

F.B.C.? What the hell did that stand for?

I held a piece of paper against the wall with a pencil in hand. The phone continued to ring, and ring… and ring. I sighed when I realized no one was going to pick up. I suppose the old man was out or something.

I went to hang up the phone when the voice of a woman suddenly spoke. Her voice was quiet, more like a whisper. She spoke with an almost sultry alto, just a little too raspy for my taste. I smiled when I heard her pick up. I quickly jumped into conversation.

"Hello, my name is Edward Elric and I was curious if Mr. Kurt was there."

There was a moment of silence. I heard the woman take in a deep, raspy, breath. She spoke slowly, as if trying to choose the right words. "I'm sorry Mr. Elric, it seems you have not heard. Were you a friend of Mr. Kurt?"

I lifted an eyebrow, suddenly feeling curious yet uncomfortable at the same time. "I'm a friend of his daughters. Is he alright?" I already had a sinking suspicion what was coming.

"Mr. Kurt had recently passed away. He had a weak heart."

My eyebrows shot up. Things suddenly made sense. Klose's father died, she must have found out, leaving without a word. Losing a parent was a terrible and tragic thing, I was extremely aware. "I'm so sorry ma'm for the loss. I had no idea. Is his daughter there, Klose?"

The woman swallowed loudly. Her voice sounded almost angry. "Are you from the government?"

I was slow in speaking, not sure how to take the question. "Uhh, yes ma'm, I am."

The phone went dead.

I stared at the phone for a moment. Oh man, that lady had to have been kidding me. She did not just hang up on me. Oh no she didn't!

I slammed the phone on the receiver and lifted it up again. My metal fingers clanked as they began to dial the number again…

The soft knocking of wood right beside my head caused me to turn sharply.

Kain Fuery, thick glasses and all, looked at me uneasily. "Edward."

I turned and hung up the phone with an annoyed gesture. "Yup?"

Kain spoke quickly. "Sorry, General Mustang asked for me to retrieve you."

I rolled my eyes at Mustangs name. "What does he want?"

"He needs to talk."

Oh, how I love to talk.

"She's been missing."

My mouth fell open. "Missing?"

"Her unit has disappeared also. She has not radioed for check in for 2 days now."

With a breath, the word "Oh" fell from my lips. How many people were going to go missing that day!

"Interesting though, it seems that things aren't matching up." Suspicion leaked into his every word. Roy was always smart… always so bloody smart.

"How do you figure?"

Roy held up a piece of paper as he read it, his eyes scanning the sheet calmly, his voice monotone. "It says here that she had last left base a couple days before her disappearance. Those days follow into the days you claimed you were together. Also, it's interesting that you never checked in at the base while in Ishbal." He placed the papers down, folded his hands. "Which leaves me to wonder: What exactly happened…or did not happen, while you were out there?"

I looked down at my hands. Ross, she was missing. The day I last saw her she had dropped off the injured and dead at base and left with the rest of her nit.

"Ross, once you get your men patched up I need you to go back to these ruins you found. Take dynamite with you guys, just blow up that sanctuary."

If she had done what I said… then did something go wrong?

Roy's voice was firm and on the borderline of threatening. "What happened?"

What could have happened to Ross? Surely enough time had past that she would have been able to blow up the sanctuary and returned to base. If not, she was still not one to miss check-ins or anything.

Could have the enemy gotten her? Could have-

"I thought I saw someone in the shadows on the balcony. Edward, they looked directly at me… their eyes seemed dead."

My eyes snapped wide open. Oh shit.

"Edward!"

I stared at Roy practically blindly. What had I done? What if-

Roy stood up and used his cane to walk around the desk. His eye was narrowed. He grabbed me by my shirt and jerked me forward. "What happened!" It wasn't even a question. It was a demand.

I blinked a few times. God damnit all! What had happened? I had the sinking suspicion something very bad had happened to Ross and I was the one who was at blame.

"Edwar-"

"I don't know."

The grip Roy had on my shirt tightened. "What?"

"I said I don't know." I looked Roy in his lone eye. "I had met with Ross right outside of base. No, I never did check in. There was no need to."

"What do you mean no need? It's standard procedure to check in." Roy let go of my shirt, allowing me to sit back. "Is this a game to you?"

Emotionally I could tell Roy was at the edge of his sanity with me. I wanted to smack him and yell at him to back off… but, I couldn't. He had every right to be suspicious. He had every right not to trust me.

…I wouldn't even trust me.

I took in a deep breath and slowly allowed it to seep away. Should I be honest? Should I lie? I closed my eyes tight.

"I don't know where First Lieutenant Ross is. We had met outside of base, discussed what was needed to be discussed and I headed back here to headquarters. What do you want Roy?"

Roy ran a hand through his hair. He leaned against his desk while he shook his head. "I see."

He knew I was lying, neither of us were that dumb to fall for my false explanation.

I just didn't know how to explain things to him.

His voice was unexpectedly soft. It sounded like he was talking to a child—I was the child. "There is something you do not want to say, I know there is." I looked up at him. He seemed relaxed and calm, I was baffled. "I knew the moment you returned something laid heavily on your shoulders." In my mind the image of Wrath flashed by. "But Edward, if you know anything about the possible location of Maria Ross, please, tell me. We both know she's a good person, she deserves our help."

I believed a great man was not a fool. Roy, he stood above many—above most. He defiantly stood above and beyond me.

I cleared my throat before I spoke. "And what about the things that don't want to be said?"

Roy placed his hand on my shoulder, giving a light squeeze. "You were always good at avoiding certain… details."

I smirked. I couldn't deny that one.

I placed my elbow on the arm of the chair and my chin into the palm of my hand. I shook my head then smiled, I knew I had Roy's full attention. "Ross had taken me to an abandon town a fair distance away from base. There was a reason she didn't want us to go into base and part of that reason dealt with something she had found in the Great Desert-"

Time passed by rather quickly. I told him every detail about Ross, the Great Desert, and the sanctuary. I even told him about Mei-chan. The only details I left out were the ones that concerned Wrath and the few days spent in Dublis.

"-the place to look would be at the sanctuary."

Silence spread for a moment. Roy was now sitting in his seat rubbing his chin with his thumb and pointer finger.

Roy spoke. "This girl, Mei-chan?" I nodded. "You said she was treated like Royalty, right?" I nodded again. "And she told you to stop a man named Ling?" I nodded once more.

Roy lifted an eyebrow at me. It was like he was looking at me as if I was stupid. "Edward, who is the Emperor of Xing?"

I blinked a few times looking at Roy confused. I felt an embarrassed blush suddenly consume my face. "Oh, heh, umm to be honest Roy—I don't really know." Now I felt like a total idiot, I was so caught up in my own life I seriously didn't know that much about the enemy in the war. I had a feeling Roy had told me the Emperor's name at least once, but I just couldn't recall what it was. Nice, now I felt like a complete moron.

Roy rubbed his nose bridge while he tried to calm himself. Yup, I felt like a complete and total idiot. "Edward…" He took a deep breath. "Considering Ross obviously did not take notice of this either, I can't justifiably yell at you. This is just rather disappointing. The Emperor of Xing is a young man named Ling."

My mind went to a sudden halt. Haha, he had to be joking, right?

"The tradition in Xing is for the Emperor to take on a wife from every clan. I had told you this before, Ling has many half brothers and sisters. Mei-chan must have been one of them. You had obviously butted heads with the Royal army." I was waiting for him to call me a stupid dip-shit. Luckily for me it never happened.

I smacked my hand over my face. I couldn't believe I never realized that! Mei-chan was bloody Royalty!

"Which means Edward, you had allowed someone very valuable to slip right between your fingers!" Great, now Roy was angry. What happened to: 'can't justifiably yell at me'?

"I didn't know!"

Roy stood from his chair while shaking his head. "You didn't know? You even said so yourself, the army was 'suspiciously well dressed'! Come-on!"

"You said that you wanted Ross' location, you have her damn location!"

Roy's eye darkened. "And to blow up the sanctuary without a proper investigation." His fingers tightened around the arm of his chair as a growl fell from the back of his throat.

Roy did something unexpected. He threw his chair to the side, it smacked hard against the wall and fell to the floor. The arm of the chair was broken off.

"You have created more trouble for me then anyone I have ever known."

My mouth fell open slightly. Those words hit me like ice. They were meant to hurt, I knew. "Roy…"

"How could you tell Ross to just blow up the sanctuary? Edward! You have no idea of what you are messing with." He walked around his desk. He didn't use his cane, his anger allowed him to walk straight. I stood from my seat and took a step back. Oh god, what was wrong with him?

"This Tao is actually an ancient religion." Roy stopped in front of me. "Get your damn coat."

"What?"

Roy walked past me. "I need to make some calls. After I am done we are going to visit a friend."

So I did as told, I went back to my bedroom and grabbed my red jacket. I just had also picked up something else that was tucked into a pocket in the silver suitcase.

The name engraved over the front gate was bold, big, and clear. It spoke large amounts about the family's large ego.

The estate was… huge. Ok, huge wasn't even the right word. It was freakin' enormous!

Roy and I hadn't talked at all in the car ride. So, when we made it to the front of the house, I practically jumped out of the passenger side of the car just to get away from the awkwardness. A servant dressed in a penguin type suit greeted Roy and I.

"We have been waiting for your arrival."

I was about to reply, but Roy spoke first. "Thank you." He handed the servant the keys to his car. "We might be awhile…"

The servant bowed and handed the keys to another servant behind him. He gestured towards Roy and I. "Please, follow me."

I looked over at Roy, but Roy did not even glance my way. I frowned but followed the servant. The two front doors opened together, leading us to the entrance of the house. The house was simply spectacular: the ceiling of the first room must have been 3 stories high. It stretched high above, decorated with suns, moons, and angles. The chandelier was a sight in itself. Two stairways rounded the front, leading to a balcony that surrounded the second floor. In the center of the room though, stood a bulky man who sparkled like a shining star, I quivered in a fear.

"General Mustang, Major Elric!"

Both Roy and I gave a flat "Hi" before we were engulfed in the huge arms of Armstrong. Roy squeaked out a "Careful, you're still hurt", before Armstrong was willing to loosen his hold. I gasped for air as his arms loosened, trying to re-teach myself how to breath. Armstrong sure as hell didn't act like he was injured.

"It has been so long since I have gotten visitors! Please, come in, come in!"

Roy and I both followed the large man in front of us. I stared in awe as we passed paintings, antiques, and beautiful statues that did not belong in most homes. Armstrong's house was purely exquisite, I had never seen his house before and I was beginning to understand more about the justification for Armstrong's family obsession.

We walked for a good ten minutes till we reached a room that seemed to be an office. I was pretty sure it was Armstrong's personal office.

The room was large. Bookshelves lined the walls, red oak was the core for most of the furniture. The ceiling was painted a forest green, which just complimented the thick drapes which were a dark red. Little light seeped in from the heavy drapes so Armstrong turned on a couple lamps.

"Take seats the both of you." There were three couches that surrounded a small, coffee sized, round table in the middle of the room. Each of us took a couch, I scooted as far away from Roy as I could get. He still didn't seem too happy with me.

Armstrong beamed as he poured Roy and I some drinks. He handed both of us a glass before he leaned back in the couch he sat on. I sat back myself, feeling the luring comfort the couch provided. I could tell the couch was expensive just by the feel of it.

Silence remained between all of us for a few minutes. Armstrong was silent as well. His beaming eyes glanced between both Roy and I, but slowly the spark in the depths of his iris's disappeared. His eyes finally stopped at Roy. "What is bothering you?" His tone surprisingly still had some cheer, but I picked up a ting of worry.

Roy took a sip of the cold drink Armstrong had provided. He licked his lips before he finally spoke. "You once mentioned to me of a religion in Xing, an ancient one: Tao."

The changes in Armstrong's features were obvious. It was like someone had flipped a switch—like the word 'Tao' had hit something deep inside him. Any remains of his sparkly self were totally wiped away. What was left was an intelligent wise man. Also a man that seemed haunted by a memory…

"I had paid my dues with Xing long ago."

Armstrong ran a hand down his face. "That was long ago," His voice had dropped a few notes lower. "very long ago."

I wanted to ask Armstrong what bothered him so much… what exactly had happened in Xing. Armstrong was characteristically known as a beaming sunshine. That was defiantly not the type of man I was seeing now. I suppose we all had our hidden secrets. He had Ishbal and whatever happened in Xing.

Roy moved in his seat, causing the cushion of the couch to squeak slightly. His voice was crisp. "Edward has a story he would like to tell…"

I had a story? Great of Roy to inform me ahead of time that I was going to have to retell everything. I internally groaned as I took off my red jacket and pushed up the sleeves of my long sleeved shirt. My shiny mental arm reflected the light from the lamp closes to me. "First Lieutenant Ross' had asked me to meet her in Ishbal-"

I told him the story, almost word from word like Roy's. Armstrong didn't speak, but you could see his expressions constantly change—curious, questionable, thinking, serious. I wished I knew what he was thinking.

"-Now Roy thinks this Ling guy is the Emperor and Mei-chan is one of his half sisters."

Armstrong sat up in the couch. He murmured to himself, repeating a few things I had said. He finally spoke when he looked me in the eye. "You're claiming that Ross should have destroyed this 'sanctuary' by now, correct?"

I nodded as I took a sip of my drink. "I had instructed her to do so. I- I am just worried something has happened. I mean, she did say she had seen something. What if that something was still there?"

Roy cut in. "Base in Ishbal should be searching for her as we speak. Ross kept detailed coordinates of all the land she surveyed. They think they found the right coordinates of the general location the sanctuary would be located in."

Roy must have made that call as I got my jacket. I ran my fingers through my bangs. "How many soldiers did they send out?"

"Three." I would have loved to complain about that number, especially if there was something at the sanctuary that was dangerous, but we were at war. The military could only do so much.

Armstrong cleared his throat as he stood. He walked over to a certain book self in the back, behind his desk. This book shelf had gold trimming, a glass door closed over the shelf. It was more elaborate then his other shelves. He opened the door carefully. His large fingers ran across the covers of the books as he skimmed for one he was obviously in search for.

He pulled out a brown bound book which seemed like it was about to fall apart from age. It was a fair sized book, words of a different language marking the front. He blew some dust off the top of it and walked back to the couch he had been sitting in. He plopped down and opened the book, the pages were a darkish brown from age. Each page was covered in strange writing which I had never seen before; I wanted to run my fingers down the pages, run my fingers over the straight lines which made up words. I placed on my glasses.

Armstrong flipped through the book, eyes scanning the pages. It wasn't till halfway through the book that Armstrong stopped and my eyes popped open.

I dug into the back of my pocket, pulling out a folded sheet of paper. I unfolded the paper carefully, a few bits of sand fell onto the table. I flattened the paper, leaving everyone in awe.

"It's practically the same." I pointed to the paper I had and to one of the images in the corner of the page. "Both…they are almost identical."

The image Ross had drawn for me was the same as the image in the book… except it was a single image of a sun and not one in an alchemy array. The double headed dragon was missing also.

The book had five images on the page. One image, the one almost exactly like Ross', was one of a sun. Then there was one of a tree, a waterfall, a circular image like the earth, and a strange square box.

The words of Mei-chan rang through my head: "Too hard. Wood, fire, earth, metal, water. Five equal one. It is from a dead religion, Tao."

I pointed to each image as I spoke about it. "The sun means fire, the tree means wood, the waterfall means water, the circle shape is the earth, and I guess the square box is metal. What does this mean?" I asked that more to myself then to anyone.

Armstrong answered. "Alchemy is ancient… but, it is not originally from Amestris. It originated from Xing." I looked over at Armstrong, taking in everything he said. "Tao, it is not exactly a religion that is smiled upon."

"What do you mean?"

"Tao… the routes of alchemy stream from it. In the Xingen's eyes, alchemy is a power that disrupts the world."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Then why are they using it in this war?"

Roy answered this time. "Disruption and corruption lie almost in the same category."

I wanted to rub my head. Argh, this was too confusing for me. "But still, they have been using alchemy for centuries for healing purposes. You would think they would have banned it if alchemy was so bad."

Armstrong slid the book over to where he was, his fingers traced the images. "They did, at one point in Xing's history, alchemy for almost two centuries was banned. They removed all Alchemists from the country and forced them into the Great Desert." The sanctuary…the ancient city- in the Great Desert…made sense.

Armstrong continued, "Alchemy had been forgotten during those passing centuries. It became almost a myth. There is a well known tale that is told in Xing. It talks about an illness that swept the lands, killing almost everyone in its path. The desperate cry of the civilians reached a young traveler's ears. The traveler had a magical power that the town's people had never seen before. He healed the sick, saving those who were told could not be saved. The civilians considered his power sacred. They begged him to teach others, and so he taught a select few. They became traditional healers." He took a sip of his drink. "In your eyes, you see those healers as Alchemists. They see themselves as the blessed."

I sighed as I pulled the book back to myself. "So, some of those banned to the desert perfected their work. Some went to Amestris and if Ross has not lied about this city in the Great Desert, some stayed in the desert. Later on, you have a traveler who probably came from the desert and traveled to Xing and reintroduces Alchemy?"

Armstrong nodded.

"So then, what about this book?"

Armstrong smirked. "If you follow rumors, and if you're willing to pay a hefty price, you might just be able to find precious souvenirs." Uhuh, right.

I drew my eyebrows together. I had a feeling that meant Armstrong had paid a nice lump for this ancient text. Nice, but that still didn't answer my question.

Armstrong, the educator for the night, kept talking. "Taoism died along with the Alchemists that were forced from the country. It was once practiced by many, especially the upper class. Alchemists originally were meant to heal the sick, so households had their own personal Alchemist for whenever they were in need."

I played with a long strand of hair that hung in my face. "I still don't understand what was so bad about Alchemists that they originally had to kick them out of the country."

Armstrong smirked. His smirk actually seemed spooky, a very un-Armstrong like smirk. Heck, the whole conversation was un-Armstrong like. This was a day I was going to have mark down in the calendar. "The obsession for eternal life is what placed Xing in fear."

I played with what Armstrong said for a few moments… then immediately sat up with wide eyes. My father flashed through my eyes. "Eternal life? What do you mean?"

"Many of the upper class, especially those who had high social statues, became obsessed with immortality. They felt that Alchemy could be the answer. A race began, a rather competitive one. Once the Emperor found out about this race he banished Alchemists."

My mouth was dry, Roy had sat silently while Armstrong had told his little tale. I looked at Armstrong confused and unsure as hell. "How in the hell do you know all this?"

"Rumors, folklore, myths, -"

While Armstrong spoke Roy leaned forward and grabbed the book from in front of me. His lone eye looked at the page. He cut Armstrong off. "Edward…" Armstrong and I turned towards him. "This text is a history book. It's a history book collected from the Royal house."

Many questions sprang through my head. How did Armstrong have that type of access? Why did any of this really matter? What the hell were these guys trying to tell me!

Armstrong spoke while he looked at the book. "It's a rather detailed one. I bought it on the black market and found a translator."

I rolled my eyes, now Armstrong shopped at the black market. "Just what are you guys trying to get at here?"

Armstrong's eyes flickered between Roy and I. He cleared his voice. "The Emperor banished Alchemists because… well, supposedly one Alchemist had found the solution to eternal life. One of the Emperor's closest associates that was in search for eternal life had an alchemist try an alchemic formula, it supposedly killed him. The Alchemist assured that the man was still alive though, even though he laid 'dead' before him. The body was given a proper burial."

"So the Alchemist lied." I shrugged. Obviously the guy died and the Alchemist was trying to save his ass.

"The family returned to the grave for mourning the next day and the body was gone."

"And the Alchemist had removed the body to save his own ass."

Armstrong shook his head. "The Alchemist was killed shortly after the body had been discovered."

I shook my head. "So you're trying to tell me you think the alchemist had found the means for immortality? The man had lived and left the grave on his own?"

Both Armstrong and Roy nodded.

…yea, sure. "So you really think this Alchemist had created the Philosopher stone?"

Roy laughed. It was a rather odd situation to laugh in, or so I thought. "What the hell is so funny?"

"Edward, hasn't it occurred to you yet that there might be other ways to gain immortality?"

My eyebrows shot up. Other ways? "But you need the Philosopher's stone to avoid equivalency."

Armstrong leaned forward and pushed the old text from Roy to me. "What is there to be equivalent about in this situation?"

The image of my father flashed through my eyes. "The body…" I swallowed hard, remembering my fathers rotting flesh. "As the soul ages the body slowly begins to…rot."

Roy lifted an eyebrow. The look on his face gave me the impression that he might have known who I was referring to. I doubted though that Roy knew my fathers dirty little secret.

I turned away. "Even the Philosopher's stone can't stop that."

Armstrong spoke, his voice almost haunting. "Wood, fire, earth, metal, water… in Taoism it is believed that every matter in this world is composed of these five elements. It was felt by Alchemists and Taoists that if you were able to combine these elements properly you could provide eternal life—the existence of all matter in one—not even the soul could cause the body to rot. The only problem was no one could find a way to secure the bindings of these elements; that is why almost all Alchemists had failed at finding eternal life. Now, if this alchemist had found a way to bind these elements… it's very possible that he had succeeded."

The room fell silent. I scratched my head as I looked very skeptical at the book. I mean, it seemed rather far fetched if you asked me. Eternal life by five elements? I mean, well maybe… the human body wasn't composed by much… but still!

Something that also stumped me was the sanctuary, the alchemy arrays on the walls resembling two of the elements. So, what did that mean? Luck? Chance? Was someone really trying to…

"Lung-mei, the dragon's pulse."

"The dragon's pulse?"

"It flows through the earth, the power of the world."

…Mei-Chan had said…

Oh god…Oh my fucking god.

My heart pounded heavily as all reality, all sensibility struck home. My hands shook ever so slightly as I looked at Armstrong. "Do you still have your Alchemist watch?"

Armstrong looked at me curiously, but nodded. "It's upstairs, let me get-"

"I have mine." Roy stood up. His hands reached deep into his back pocket. He handed me the silver piece, it shined. I did not know why Roy still carried his watch around… I saw no real reason to ask him.

I placed the watch next to the double-headed dragon which Ross had drawn on the white sheet of paper. I was right by my first reaction to seeing the double-headed dragon… it did resemble the alchemist watch in some sick twisted sense. That is if you consider that on the watch it was just one dragon… it was practically identical.

I wanted to barf.

My heart raced as I looked at both men, I had a feeling both of them saw the resemblance also, even discarding Ross' artist perception.

Something to bind the elements? How about a damn dragon's pulse that was the 'power of the world'. Maybe that could just give the elements a nice freakin' helping hand.

"Well guys." I gave a nervous short laugh. "It looks like we are officially fucked."

Where's Klose? What on earth happened to Ross? What does F.B.C mean? What significance is there with the double headed dragon and the alchemy watch? Why does it look like everyone is officially fucked?

Ha…I uhh, don't know these answers XP

…or maybe I do XD!

TAO and ALCHEMY HISTORY LESSON!

Believe it or not I did not bullshit this whole thing. Yes, I did twist the history of Tao ever so slightly… haha, but not that much.

Ok:

Taoism originated as a philosophy from China and would later become a religion. Taoism still is around today, you can always read up on it. It is a very intriguing religion if I do say so myself.

You are probably wondering though what the hell do Alchemists have to do with Taoism. Ever hear the saying: Alchemy is the mother of Chemistry? Well, if you haven't heard that, then you have officially learned something new. But see, before alchemist's were really chemists, they actually dealt with herbs, drugs, and yes some chemicals. You could say they were almost like… a miracle doctors…almost. Let me explain:

Here is a phrase I stool from religioustolerance . org. This phrase comes from the belief system of Taoists: 'Five main organs and orifices of the body correspond to the five parts of the sky: water, fire, wood, metal and earth.'

In Taoism it is thought that all matter is one, and that all matter consists of Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, and Earth. Back in ancient China Taoist did actually search for eternal life. They believed that if you combined these elements you could find this eternal life.

Ok, so here come your Alchemists. Way before Alchemist in the European area were busy trying to create gold, Alchemists in China almost a half millennia before were in search for helping Taoist (or being a Taoist) and finding eternal life. They would use potions that consisted of water, fire, wood, metal, and earth thinking it was the key for immortality. Also, an 'inner alchemy' was practiced, almost like a meditation or yoga, but this is something we will not touch upon.

Alchemists were not kicked out of China/Xing- that is simply for my story.

The story I told of the dead man and the alchemist that claimed gave him eternal life: Haha! I kid you not… that actually is not totally made up. I did twist it around a bit though. So ok, here is the real story (or what I remember about it, it's been awhile since I had that class XD):

A man of high ranking had died, the family found the dead body and blamed the alchemist for this mans death (since it was the alchemist eternity potion that killed him). The alchemist did tell the family that the man was not dead, he was pretending dead so he would not upset the family. The alchemist begged for his life, telling the family that in one week the man would rise from his grave and would never be seen again. The family gave the alchemist one week… the week passed and the body was gone. The family wanted to know the secrets to eternal life- the alchemist would not tell them, but claimed the man was on a island in the sea. Well, word spread around China…and I shit you not! China spent like billions (well, in our currency) in search of this island. They wanted to find the secrets for eternal life. Well, of course, they never found this island. So, everyone wanted to know what happened. With time, everyone decided the man had risen to the heavens. He had eternal life in heaven now and became almost like a God. They also began to believe now that others had found eternal life and were also in the heavens along with this man.

From then on Taoism became a religion, people began to worship those in 'heaven'. They would pray that these people who had already found eternal life would bless them with the same.

Confused? Well, if you still have questions please feel free to ask.

Also, if I am mistaken in any of my history please correct me. It has been awhile since I took my religions class and my mind does seem to fade in some areas. I believe I am pretty close to being accurate though.

OMAKE!

Han-chan is now hosting the Omakes at: http/ hangebokhan. livejournal. com/

(Please fill in spaces. will not allow me to post links.)

Anyways, please check them out! Awesome as usual.

Authors Note:

Sorry guys! Took me an extra day or two. I sorta got into a major fight with my best friend…tee heh. Anyways, enough of my personal life, we have an update! And, the best part is, this is a pretty big chapter. We have learned so much in this one! And better yet, the plot thickens even more. Next chapter many questions and much truth is reveled. Man, I just can't wait!

OMG! Can you believe I got fanart! Me! I was so surprised. Thank you again Wallflower-chan!

So anyways, this story is seriously almost near a end. We probably have at most 6 chapters left. I am going to be extremely sad when that time comes, but all good things must come to a end. Anyways, till then!

Thanks to my beta Han-Chan! I couldn't do this without her help and support!

Questions you may have…

1. Why was Ed so upset about his body?

I have always noticed Ed being a little sensitive about his body. I think Ed would be a little upset over having these huge claw marks going down his body. Personal opinion of course :p

2. Why is everyone being so moody all the time?

You have the pressure of the war constantly nipping at them. Haha, I personally would get a little moody too.

3. Gomp… where's Klose?

I uhh… don't know.

OMG! MOST REVIEWED CHAPTER TO DATE! You guys kick total ass!