I was inspired by all your wonderful reviews. So I decided to write the next chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviewed!

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PsycoNeko15 – You'll have read to find out. Either way Mustang will probably find out either in this chap or the next. Here's an update.

SilverFlameoftheWindScar – lol. It's fun to torture Ed! As for what I did for Ed, you'll have to read to find out.

silent:tears:fall – Thank you for the support. It's good to know people thought that bit was ok.

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Maiden-of-the-tao – Thank you! Here's the next chapter

The Echizen – I know there should be at least some hints of EdWin in here and when I origionally started it, there was more EdWin. I've only recently decided on how to introduce Winry. Don't worry though; there will be EdWin sometime in the next two chapters.

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Naru-Rin – (gulp) Here's an update! (please don't kill me! I'll never be able to finish my story!)

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed! Here's chapter 7!

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"Brother are you sure this is a good idea? I mean…" Al looked pleadingly at his brother and trailed off.

"I told you Al, I'll be fine!" Ed growled for the third time since they had left Mustangs office, half an hour ago.

"But Brother, you're sick. Mustang said that this guy is wanted for attempted murder! Maybe we should tell the Colonel that we can't take the mission." Al begged.

"I'll be fine. This is probably some two-bit crook who couldn't hit something 10 feet in front of him. I'll be fine." Ed said

"But…" Al sighed. His brother was too stubborn for his own good. "…I guess…"

Ed and Al were heading in the direction of the cafeteria. There mission was to begin tomorrow and the two were to go over Anton Geist's file for useful information before they began looking for him.

Snagging an empty table, Ed opened the file inside was all the information the military had collected on Geist. Ed's mind began to buzz with possible plans and ideas on how to best catch the man.

"Hey Al, how does the two of us going under cover sound?" Ed said with a grin.

"Huh?" Alfonse tilted his head in confusion. Subtility was not exactly one of his brother's strong points. His usual method was simply to rush in and deal with things head on.

"Think about it Al. Look at this guy's file. He's strong and has a lot of people who will help him or back him up, but when it comes down to it, the guy's an idiot. He won't expect an attack to come from his own people and we can probably just drug him and tie him up in his sleep. We might not even have to get in a serious fight with him."

Al gaped. It wasn't usually Ed's style to think through his plan of attack or to try to avoid a fight. Yet Ed was using the time Mustang had given them to think of the plan with the least risks.

Ed laughed at the surprised expression on his face. "Come on Al, I do think things through sometimes." Ed sobered suddenly "besides, if I can't handle a simple mission like this it'll raise suspision. Mustang, much as I hate to say it, isn't an idiot. He'll figure it out if we're not careful."

'So that's it.' Thought Al. 'He knows he's to weak to fight any real opponents so he's choosing to do this in a way that probably won't require a fight, and if it does, we'll still have the advantage.'

"So, you up for it Al?" Ed asked, grinning; though, Al noticed, the grin didn't reach his eyes. 'He's nervous' Al thought, slightly shocked.

"You bet Brother. Somebody's to keep you out trouble." Al chuckled. Images of his brother lying unconscious on the floor still haunted him. He'd thought his brother was dead. Had died and left him alone. He never wanted to feel like that again. That feeling of desperation. Like it was him dying instead. He wondered if it was that feeling that had made his brother so driven to bring back their mother. Whatever it was, Al would do whatever he had to do make sure that Edward was safe.

Ed mock glared at his younger sibling before muttering, "Go get yourself some food" tossing him some change to buy lunch with.

"Brother, you should eat too" Al said sternly as he noted that Ed had only given him enough food for one meal.

"Not hungry" Ed muttered quietly.

"Wow, Edward Elric? The Full Metal Alchemist? Not hungry? You feeling alright pipsqueak?" commented from behind the two brothers.

Edward spun around in his seat to face the owner of the voice and growled out " Shut up Mustang."

Al turned around at this point as well and let out a polite "Hello Colonel" before turning to face his brother again. "You need to eat Ed, or you'll get sick"

Ed mentally winced at the hidden meaning. That if he didn't eat he'd end up in the hospital again. At least Al had the sense to say it in a way that the Colonel might not pick up on it.

"He's right Ed. You not eating? That's got to be a sign that your not well" he agreed only half joking. He had noticed how pale the younger alchemist was. This was just another thing to the list of suspicious stuff he'd seen concerning Ed since the Elrics' had arrived in Central.

"Just go by yourself some lunch Al. I'll eat something later alright?" Ed bargained.

"Alright Brother." Al gave in. This wasn't over though, and the look he sent Ed let his brother know that in no uncertain terms. But he couldn't say much while the Colonel was there without giving away that Ed was sick. Sighing, Al got up and went to go buy food.

"Seriously Ed. Are you alright? You're always willing to eat. I've never heard you say you weren't hungry." Mustang asked, a look of concern on his face. After the years he and Ed had spent with each other, somehow he found himself liking the boy. Almost like Ed was a younger brother or something. He found that the idea of something being wrong with Ed frightened him.

Edward sighed. "Why does everyone think there's something wrong just 'cause I'm not hungry?" he asked, frustrated. "I'm fine, dammit!" he said, glaring at mustang.

"Just checking pipsqueak. You know, you'll never get any taller if you don't eat. I mean, even Al is taller than you." Mustang grinned. If anything was going to set him off that was it.

"I'm 17, Mustang. I think I've pretty much stopped growing; and stop calling me a pipsqueak!" he glared daggers at Mustang and Roy found himself remarkably glad that looks couldn't kill. Still, Edward had not reacted as he normally would to both being called small or having it pointed out that his brother had outgrown him. 'That's it. There's got to be something wrong with him. Not eating? Not reacting to being called short? Something is definitely wrong, and I'm going to find out what.' Mustang thought determinedly.

"Brother! I've got some lunch." Al called, having finally gotten through the line to receive food.

"Hey Mustang! Don't you have paperwork to do? I'm pretty sure I saw Hawkeye around here looking for you" Ed asked

Mustang glanced around nervously. "I'll see you later Full Metal," he said. Mustang shuddered. Hawkeye could be scary when he hadn't done his paperwork. "Oh, Full Metal? Your staff will be arriving in four days."

Edward's head snapped up. "Staff?" he questioned nervously. He didn't want staff. From what he'd seen staff were prone to being far too curious of their commanding officers.

Mustang chuckled. "Yes staff. You were recently promoted to lt. Colonel, weren't you? Once you reach that rank the military assigns you a set of staff. Don't worry. You'll still be going on missions and such as you are still a member of my staff." With one last chuckle Mustang exited the cafeteria, leaving a steaming Ed and a confused Alfonse in his wake.

"Stupid bastard. Damn him to hell!" Ed muttered before shaking his head and turning towards Al. "We better get ready if we're going to be heading tomorrow." He rose from the table and began walking towards the doors, Al following closely behind.

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"So how are we going to find this guy Brother?" Al asked, glancing around at the rather decrepit buildings that lined the street they were walking along.

"These guys are creatures of habit. It's likely he went to one of his old hide- outs. We're going to check there first." Ed explained, looking around for the sign of the pub that had been the first on the list of old hangouts.

"Ah ha!" Ed declared triumphantly several minutes later. "The fox and hound. Here it is Al. Let's go" he grinned; pushing his died black hair out of his face. While being famous did have some advantages, it got rather annoying when he was trying to inconspicuous. Luckily he had grown to look more mature over the years, and since he had gone on few dangerous missions, the public was still used to how he looked before they had gotten Al's body back. So, it wasn't as difficult as it used to be, but should someone recognize him they were both screwed.

Al on the other hand, while well known, was not easily recognized, since he had become human once again and dropped the armor that people were used to. He needed very little disguising.

"Let's go Brother." Al said smiling.

"Al, while you're in there, you can't call me that. If things go bad and they find out that I'm really a state alchemist I don't want you dragged into it. Just call me Ed for now. Ok?" he asked

"A-alright br-Ed" he agreed, stumbling slightly over the name change. He had called Edward' Brother' for as long as he could remember. Not calling him that felt foreign and wrong.

Ed grinned, looking slightly relieved. He knew this plan was likely to get shot to hell and if that happened, he didn't want them to think that using Al against him would be a good idea.

"Ok Al. Let's go."