After much persuading and persistent patience, more on Alphonse's part than Edwards, Sierra decided it was in her best interest to remain with them if only for her survival. They seemed friendly enough but she had learned that nice people were the one's to watch out for. She had learned at a young age that no one did anything for free. They always wanted something in return starting with Slovovic whom had taken her in after her mother had passed away. He had just happened to be passing by and noticed her crying in the rain. At first his words were kind however after getting to his home and being told she would be responsible for the house work, the cooking, shopping in the market and taking care of his spoiled children whatever little hope she had managed to survive on died and she became cold and cynical. Of course being captured by the German troops and tortured hadn't helped any either. In the presence of Edward and Alphonse she felt like an outsider intruding in their happy little family circle they had going on. Their warm demeanor was such a contrast to her bitterness it almost made her feel bad. Sure Ed had made her laugh a couple of times cracking through to her for a few minutes at a time and Alphonse's embrace held her so tightly when she was upset that she began to wonder if this is what brother's were supposed to be like and she had just received a raw deal with her mother's sons. Although she wouldn't admit it she was happy she supposed since she wasn't really angry or sad any more so she figured it must be happiness although she wouldn't admit it to either of them or herself most of the time.
"First things first, we have to figure out who your parents were." Edward said tooling over some papers he had received from Germany.
"Well my mothers name was Freda Heisenstaffer and she had three other children besides me." Sierra said.
"Hans, Freadrick, and Kurt were born all with in a year of each other to three different fathers." Alphonse said rustling some papers as well.
"Alright well let's see, they were all just local guys from the sound of it. No one influential." Edward said more to himself.
"What are all those papers you guys are looking at?" Sierra asked reading over their shoulders.
"Birth certificates, criminal records that sort of thing." Ed said.
"Is mine there?" Sierra asked intrigued.
"Criminal records? Yeah this huge stack here." Al said pointing to a blank stack of papers. Sierra crossed her arms and pouted.
"Not funny Alphonse." She said more amused than anything else.
"No we couldn't track your birth certificate. Are you sure you were born in Munich?" Ed asked laughing.
"As far as I know, yeah." She replied. Edward rubbed a gloved hand across his face before sighing.
"I'm going to bathe." Ed said suddenly and took off his glove revealing his hand. Sierra's eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. Ed caught her gaze and proceeded to take off his shirt revealing his arm, clearly artificial, made from some sort of strange material.
"It's called auto mail. My left leg is made from it too. I lost them while saving Al when we were kids." He said.
"Full metal." Sierra whispered causing the brothers to stare at her.
"Where did you hear that name?" Alphonse asked jumping up causing Sierra to tremble slightly.
"I…I don't know. I don't know why I said that." She said looking away. Ed and Al stared at her their scientific minds racing. Sierra became uneasy with the serious looks they were giving her and didn't begin to relax a bit when Ed cracked a smile.
"Well I'm going to go wash up." He said and went into the wash room. Sierra sighed and sat down in his chair looking down at the papers. Al occasionally glanced up at her before back down at the papers.
"I didn't mean to scare you sister. I'm really sorry." He said suddenly.
"Don't worry Alphonse. I'm fine." She said quietly. She ran a hand through her hair frustrated.
"There isn't anything here! This is a waste of time." She said angrily.
"Patience is a virtue sister. If there's something that Ed and I are good at it's researching and learning." He replied calm as usual. Alphonse grabbed a book that they had received and thumbed through it his eyes darting across the words.
"What's that?" Sierra asked when Alphonse let out a gasp.
"These are our father's notes. Apparently he was working with the government post world war one on a plan to create the ultimate weapon." He said intrigued.
"Ultimate weapon?" Sierra asked walking over to him. Alphonse shut the book before she could read anything and set it aside.
"Once brother is finished in the bathroom you should wash up and go to bed." He said his face paler than usual.
"Project E.N.V.Y. Envy." Ed said some time after Sierra had fallen asleep.
"That homunculus that father had transmuted from his son." Alphonse said. Ed nodded.
"Yeah that's the one but what would Envy have to do with Sierra besides the fact that she's our potential sister." Ed said leafing through the pages of the book.
"We need to get our hands on the military records from the year Sierra was born and the year before as well. I have a bad feeling about all of this." He said pointing to a few pages that had been torn from the book. Alphonse sighed sadly and walked over to her. He sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand in his.
"Al…" Ed said.
"She's not a bad person brother." He said choking up.
"I know that. We'll find out the truth Alphonse and we'll help her." Ed said standing next to his younger brother placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Do you think she's really our sister, brother?" Al asked after a minute.
"Well all sounds point to yes so far." Ed replied.
"I like the idea of having a younger sister." Al said.
"Me too, Al. Me too.