AN: Everyone was so nice about the slow chapter, I thought I'd give you one more before
I went on holiday.

Chapter 2

"He absorbed the stone into his blood," Ed whispered.

The 'Philosopher's Secret' document was spread in front of him, beside the open Latin dictionary.

"Into his blood!" Al yelped. "Wouldn't that hurt?"

"Dunno…he obviously managed it, so it can't have been that bad."

"But if it was in his blood…it's gone." Al tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

"Not according to this." Ed tapped the ancient pages, becoming excited. "It says that he…it's a bit foggy, but it seems to say he hid it somewhere."

"He hid his own blood?"

"Yeah, sounds pretty weird, but there's this passage… cognatus lapiscampana," Ed mused, flicking through the Latin dictionary. "That should mean…blood…stone…bell. Blood of the Stone Bell?"

"The Stone Bell!" Al exclaimed. "It's old, and it's supposed to be carved from a red stone…you don't think…?"

Ed grinned, golden eyes blazing. Forget making a Philosopher's Stone, it looked like they were about to be handed one! "I think we should check it out. Right now."

He rose, but was stopped by Al's voice. "Not now, brother! It's nearly midnight, the whole belltower will be locked up!"

"We can always transmute a door."

"Brother, what difference can a few hours make?"

"Al, we may be inches away from the stone itself!"

"But no one knows about these notes, it's not like anyone will get there before us."

Ed glared for several long moments, then capitulated. "Fine," he growled, tossing his coat and boots to the floor and sliding between the sheets of his bed. "But we go first thing in the morning."

"Actually, we have to report to Colonel Mustang first thing in the morning."

"Fine! We'll go second thing in the morning, then!"

Al stifled a snicker. Sometimes Ed was just too easy to rile.

But long after his brother had gone to sleep, Al stared out the window. Not reading, just gazing at the dark shadow in the stars that was Central's belltower. Wondering if the Philosopher's Stone really dwelt in that imposing structure. And hardly able to believe that their ultimate goal, after seeming so distant for so long, might be just within reach.

He could understand why Ed didn't want to sleep.

oooooooo

Ed and Al were unusually cheerful and especially fidgety when they reported, and Roy commented on this.

"We may be on the brink of a major breakthrough," Ed smirked.

"Oh, really?" Roy raised one black eyebrow. "Well, let me know how it goes, won't you? Dismissed." He went back to his ever-present paperwork.

Ed gritted his teeth. Somehow, Mustang's superior attitude never failed to get on his nerves. At times, the older man didn't even have to try to annoy him.

He slammed the door on his way out, and Roy was unable to hold in a chuckle.

"Riling Edward is a dangerous occupation, sir." Riza's voice held a definite tone of reprimand.

Roy grinned unrepentantly. "But it's so much fun."

A stern glare was his only answer, which just made his grin wider. He adored her when she was feisty.

oooooooo

Ed was startled to find the door to their rooms open.

"Must have forgotten to lock it," he muttered, stepping into the room.

But both he and Al soon discovered they had not forgotten to lock the door. Their room had been broken into.

The table they had been working at was overturned; the Latin dictionary hurled into a corner so violently the cover had bent. But everything else was undisturbed.

"What the hell…?" Ed swore, gathering up the scattered pages.

"Who did this?" Al wondered, looking around the room to see if anything else was damaged.

"I don't think anything was taken," he said at last, clanking through the bedroom.

But Ed was sitting on the floor, rifling frantically through the papers.

"No," he hissed, "No, no, NO!"

"What is it?"

"The notes!" Ed cried, "The 'Philosopher's Secret'! They're gone! They've taken it!"

"What!"

"They're gone," Ed repeated, defeat riding his tone. "Nothing else…just the notes. Whoever broke in…that was all they wanted…"

Ed leapt up, galvanised into action. "Come on, Al! If someone's taken the notes, they know as much as we do, maybe more!" His hand closed around the reassuring presence of the leather-bound book in his pocket. "I've still got the notes in my journal, but we need to move, now!"

They charged out the door so fast they never realised they didn't close the door.

oooooooo

"It does look like the stone," Al commented, sounding excited.

Both brothers stood in the top of Central's belltower, in front of the Stone Bell. It was forged of a strange mineral, with an almost ruby-like sheen and texture. Ed's breathing was a little uneven, staring at what could be the end of their quest. Could this bell really be…?

"Let's find out if it's the real thing."

Ed stepped beside the bell, trying to quell the hope rising in his chest.

"I'll try to transmute something," he told Al, "If it really is the Philosopher's Stone, it won't demand Equivalent Exchange. I'll try to make…"

Ed's mind cast around wildly, and an image of Winry floated to the surface. "I'll make a sheet of metal."

"Where did you get that idea?" Al's mischievous tone suggested he knew very well what Ed had been thinking of.

Doing his best to ignore his brother, Ed clapped his hands and pressed his palms to the bell. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then, to Ed's dismay, the bell warped, and a sheet of metal formed from the stone.

"It needed Equivalent Exchange." Al had never sounded more disappointed.

"It's not the stone," Ed muttered. "Just our stinking luck!"

He plunged his hand into his pocket and brought out his journal, flicking through his notes. "Maybe I mistranslated…"

"But we had a dictionary…" Al sighed. "Maybe it meant something else, something besides the Stone Bell."

"And now whoever stole the papers are probably miles ahead of us by now…" Ed cursed, kicking the bell viciously before starting down the stairs.

"Brother, wait!" Al called, "We need to fix up the bell, you can't just leave!"

oooooooo

Winry knocked, surprised when the door opened immediately. She peered around the jamb, but all that greeted her was an empty room.

Ed and Al weren't in.

Winry sighed, disappointed but not really surprised. They'd probably found a new lead or something, and just forgotten to lock the door when they left.

And it wasn't like she'd given them any warning of her visit. She'd come to the military quarters without any invitation, just in the hope she could see them before she left. Pinako had rung early, saying she needed Winry back right away. So the young mechanic was booked into the next train to Risembool, and she had been hoping to say goodbye.

Well, she'd write them a note, at least.

Grabbing a blank sheet of paper and a pen, and dropping her toolkit in the bedroom, Winry began to write.

Ed and Al,

Don't bother calling into the hotel, I've checked out. Granny called, and I need to go back right away. It was great to see you guys!

Winry.

P.S. You better take good care of your automail, Ed!

She was searching for a convenient place to pin her note when the door opened. Winry jumped and spun around, her hand already reaching for her wrench.

She relaxed when she realised it was Ed.

"Ed," she smiled. "I thought I might not get to see you again before I had to leave."

On impulse, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. Winry was surprised when Ed hugged back, just as fiercely.

And she nearly passed out when he kissed her cheek.

"Ed?" she queried, drawing back ever so slightly.

And went stiff. She could have sworn…just for a second…Ed's eyes had been…purple?

"Yeah, Winry?" There was something wrong with his voice, too. It wasn't the words, or the tone, or the accent or anything quite so obvious. She couldn't put her finger on it, but it was there.

Something was definitely wrong.

"Where's Al?" she asked, striving for a casual tone.

"Oh, he's around somewhere," Ed smirked, placing a casual kiss on her lips as though he did it all the time. "But I need you to come with me."

Winry knew something was wrong. Ed always knew where Al was, and if he didn't, he panicked. Ed and Al were practically inseparable, and Winry could admit that she sometimes wished Ed cared that much about her.

But this was downright strange. He was acting as though they were already a couple, hugging her, kissing her. It was almost as though he were a different person.

"So, will you come with me?" Ed asked, a hard glitter in his eyes that suggested painful consequences of she refused.

That clinched it. Ed would never physically hurt her.

For a heartbeat, Winry panicked. What could she say? She didn't know what was going on, but she knew she had to act normal – what would she normally do?

"Sure, Ed," Winry replied, plastering a false smile on her face. "Just let me get my tools, I left them in the bedroom – you know, from the maintenance I did earlier."

"I remember," he nodded.

Well, that was more proof that something strange was going on. She hadn't done any maintenance, why was he agreeing with her?

Winry trotted into the sparse bedroom, picked her up her tools, then looked around for something that could help her. She had to tell Al, somehow…

Her eyes fell on the jar of grease under a bed. Grease for Al's armour, ensuring his joints didn't squeak or his metal rust. It wasn't much, but it was all she had. Winry grabbed the jar and snatched an old receipt and a pen from the bedside table. Working as quickly as she could, she wrote another note, this one addressed to Al.

Al,

I was going to go back home, but then Ed came in. He was acting really strange, and he asked me to go somewhere with him. He looked like he was going to hit me if I refused. I hope I'm wrong, but I've got a really bad feeling about this, so I'm going to put your grease on the bottom of my shoes (I promise to buy you some more later). I'm not sure if this will help, but it's all I can do. Please, try to follow us.

Winry.

She tucked it inside a thick alchemy book resting on the covers, knowing it was hardly conspicuous, but not daring to make it more visible in case Ed came in and saw it.

Working quickly, she emptied the entire jar of grease, silently thanking anyone who was listening that it was clear. Ed would probably never know she was leaving a sticky, slippery trail for Al to follow.

She didn't quite know how he was going to follow, but she hoped he could use alchemy to do something to the grease.

Winry smeared it across her the soles of her shoes, in a layer so thick she wondered how she was going to walk.

"You found them, yet?" Ed's voice came from the other room, making her jump.

"Be there in a second," Winry answered, hastily wiping her greasy hand.

It was a little awkward to walk with such greasy shoes, but Winry found out that if she just stepped down flat – the entire shoe making contact at once, instead of the heel or toe first – she was able to pass it off as a weird limp.

"What's up," Ed said, eying her strange gait.

"Nothing." Winry tried to smile. "I think I was tinkering with the automail too long, my legs have really stiffened up."

Ed took her hand and guided her out of the room.