I jolt awake as the train pulls into the station. "Hm?" I glance around as Ed and the others stand, stretching. Ling seems to have disappeared already. I can't help but feel a little pity for Lan Fan and Foo, having to chase the goof-ball prince around.

Must be like herding cats.

I glance at Skye who's still asleep, her cheek resting against her propped up arm. I poke her shoulder. "Skye. Skye, c'mon, we're here." She blinks sleepily, yawns and glances around. "Huh? Wazzit?" I pull the earbuds from our ears and stuff them in my pocket. "We're in Central. C'mon, you got exams to take, remember?" She blinks a few times before jumping up, fully awake somehow. "OMIGOSH YOU'RE RIGHT!" I chuckle and rub the sleep from my eyes. I pull myself to my feet and step out of the seat as Skye pulls her backpack from the luggage compartment above us. (I remembered what it's called! Aren't you so proud of me? X3) She lugs it over her shoulders and we follow the crowd to the platform.

She sighs and pats my shoulder. "I'm gonna go find a cab. Hope I'll see you around." I grin and nod. "I hope so too!" We do an awkward hug thing before she turns and runs off, waving over her shoulder. "Bye!" she calls. I laugh and wave back. "See ya Skye!" I then spin on my heel and, spotting the familiar helmet and feathery thing, jog over to the others. I pop up just in time to hear Ed say something that wipes my good mood away.

"Let's stop by headquarters first! Lt. Colonel Hughes works at the court martial office, right?"

I slow my pace and keep right behind Al. 'ShitshitshitshitSHIT! How do I break this to them?' Al asks Ed something, the only word I manage to catch is "Philosopher's Stone".

"What're you guys talking about?" asks Winry. Ed frown and glances at her. "Men's stuff!" he says. Winry huffs. "You always say that!" she whines. I chuckle and poke her shoulder. "They're talking about ways to get their bodies back." I tell her and she nods happily. 'Wow, she really is cute. Now I get why that one guy at Briggs said what he did about her.' I giggle at the thought of the huge scary man getting all worked up over Winry being cute.

"Hey!" We all turn at the sound of Foo's voice. "Where is the Prince? You cads were with him the whole time!" The others glance around as I shake my head. "I hope you guys realize that Ling probably has teleportation powers." I say. Lan Fan and Foo share the same head-hanging look before disappearing off to look for him. "Scratch that, ALL Xingese people can teleport."

We catch a cab to HQ, where I decide to take a quick leap of faith. "Heyyyyy, Winry, how about you and me go to the hotel and chill out? The guys can deal with HQ on their own, right?" Even to my own ears, my voice came out quick and squeaky. Forcing on a smile, fake as it is, I tap my fingers together as the others stare at me with confused looks. Ed scratches the back of his head and shrugs, glancing down. "Might as well, we're going to just stop by to check in. Military stuff." Winry pouts and I chuckle. " 'Sides! You and me can visit the Hughes' on our own!" Winry brightens up and nods. I smile, feeling a teeny bit of the weight on my shoulders vanish.

And about a ton more fall in it's place.

Al tells the driver to pull over and Ed hands Winry a piece of paper. "Give it to the front desk and they'll show you the rooms we rented." She nods and we both clamber out. The guys wave as the cab drives off.

I sigh and follow Winry inside. She talks to the people at the front counter as I eye the surrounding area, scanning for any strange signatures. I can sense Ling somewhere in HQ, probably being held for deportation, Lan Fan and Foo hopping around looking for Ling, Ed and Al in their cab, Mustang and Riza just getting to HQ themselves, and-

I can feel my eyes widen slightly. 'Who the hell is that?' The energy is moving surprisingly fast, to fast for a normal human. One of the Homunculi? Now? No, it.. it's too familiar. It couldn't be one of them… but, at the same time, the energy is strange. Unsure, I decide to keep tabs on this source, as it's stopped a few blocks away.

The source takes an abrupt dive and vanishes. I sigh and shrug it off. 'If it was important, I'll find it later.'

I follow Winry and one of the hotel staff upstairs. He hands us two sets of keys, one for the room on the left, and one for the right. After peeking into each room, we both agree it'd be better if the guys get the room on the right, which has an open area with a table and a couch facing the table and a small bedroom off to the side. The room on the left has a slightly bigger open area and two small bedrooms off to the side, each connected to a bathroom.

As soon as the hotel staff had left, I set about preparing. I chose the room with no windows. I start snooping about with a stick. "What're you doing?" Winry asks, surprising me. I yelp and spin around. "Nothing, nope, what? What am I doing, what're you doing?!" I slap a hand over my mouth as Winry stares at me with a confused look. "Uhhh… okaaaayyy…" I blush and sit on the bed. "Winry… I need to talk to you about something…" I pat the top of my head as I try to think of a way to put what I need to say- "You and Ed are dating?" I yelp and crash off the bed at Winry's words. "Wha- WHAT!? WHAT GAVE YOU THAT IDEA!" I fume. "I WOULD NEVER DATE THAT IDIOT! HE-HE" I growl and shake my head and glare at Winry, who's burst into a fit of giggles. I can feel my face flushing a thousand shades of red. As her giggles subside, she smiles up at me. "S-sorry, I ju-ust wanted to see how you'd react. And it was SO worth it!" She burst into another round of giggles as I glared at her, cheeks puffed up as much as I can get them.

Once she gets her laughter under control, she stands back up from where she fell before leaning against the doorframe. "So, what's up?" I sigh and curl my fingers nervously around the hem of my shirt. "Uhm…" I bite my lip and look down at my knees. I can see Winry's shadow move, tilting her head slightly. "Lisa? Are….you alright?" I close my eyes and take a deep breath, hoping to keep my heart from breaking my ribs. 'It's now or never Lisa.' I look up, allowing my hazel-green eyes to meet Winry's confused blue eyes. "Something happened to Mr. Hughes, after you guys left for Rush Valley." I watch as the blue orbs narrow with confusion. "What do you mean, "something happened"?" I lick my dry lips before standing up. I grab Winry's arm and drag her into the room, slamming the door shut. I turn around and glance the room over.

No light. It's pitch black.

"What the hell?!" Winry yelps as I grab her arm. "Winry, you've got to listen to me very carefully. If anyone finds out what I'm about to tell you, the Hughes are as good as dead." I feel Winry's arm tense up. "Wh-what?" she stutters in a very scared voice. I grit my teeth before whispering. "Someone made an attempt on Maes' life. I.. knew before hand and I told him it was gonna happen so… so I went with him!" "What happened?!" I hiss a warning at her loud voice. "Don't talk so loud!" I whisper-yell before glancing around. "The people who tried to kill him can hear through shadows, so without light there are no shadows. When we leave the room, you HAVE to react as if I just told you that he was murdered and that was it, understand?" She nods. I slowly pull her down so that we're both sitting on the floor. "I can't tell you much about who did it or why, or even where the Hughes' are now, but I can tell you that I faked Maes' death and then got him home. He, Gracia and Elysia have moved to a remote location where they'll be safe." Her arm quivers as she puts her other hand to her mouth. I can't tell if she's crying or not when I realize something. I tighten my grip on her arm slightly. "Winry, for your sake, as well as the Hughes', you CANNOT tell Ed or Al." "What? Why not?!" I sigh and shake my head. "For one thing, Ed'll lose his mind. For another thing, I have to talk with them about it anyways. So, please, just act the way you would if I had just told you Maes had died, ok?" "But-" "Winry, please." I beg. "You just have to trust me, ok?" she hesitates before nodding. "Ok." She sniffles softly before nodding. "You just keep your promise and I'll trust you." I smile and nod, remembering the promise I made to her on the roof. "I will, no matter what."

I give her a quick hug. "Remember, we have no idea if they're watching us, so you have to react as if I told you Maes died, ok?" I watch Winry nod. Even if my eyes are adjusted to the dark, and the whole 'cat's-night-vision' thing helps, I can't quite see her expression.

"Lisa?"

"Yeah Winry?"

She sniffles and glances up at me. "Why didn't you just tell me Mr. Hughes had died? It would have been a lot easier than explaining all of this." I sigh and pat her shoulder. "I'd feel awful telling you something like that. Plus, I was thinking I'd give you their new number so you can talk with them once in awhile." I can actually see her eyes widen. "R-really?" I nod, smiling. "The guys leave you out of things a lot and I always thought that was kinda unfair. Even if sometimes it's was for your safety, a lot of the time it was just Ed being pig-headed. So I'm not going to do that. I'll tell you what I can when it doesn't put you in danger, ok?" She smiles and nods. "Fair enough."

I help Winry to her feet and we both leave the room. Winry ends up pretending to be depressed really well, several times I ask her if she's ok because I actually think she's for-real upset. She continues to wave me off and say she's fine.

I can only hope the guys will take it this easily.

For the rest of the day, we decide it'd be better to go for a walk and see the city. Neither of us know Central that well so we figured it'd be kinda fun to wander for awhile, and it was a good way to keep our minds off the Hughes'... situation.

We get back to the hotel just as it gets dark out. We both stay quite. Even if I faked it, it still feels like he's really dead. I can't explain the feeling, it's just… empty. I so emotionally drained right now that I don't know if I can tell the guys. Winry's been through a bit of an emotional roller coaster too, so I guess we're doing pretty good at "pretending" to be down.

The guys aren't back yet.

Winry's a bit worried now, sitting on the couch and hugging a pillow, hiding her face in it. I can hear her mumbling from the kitchen. It's really late, almost midnight now. While we were out, I managed to get stuff for cooking, not that either of us are even thinking about food. I slowly work on making the one thing I can think of that counts as comfort food at the moment.

While I did end up leaving Gracia's dish of mac 'n cheese at Izumi's, I managed to find enough stuff to make some more. The noodles are done and in the dish, I've layered a whole package of cheese throughout the noodles, and now the whole thing is going into the oven. I sigh and press my back against the counter. Winry just sits quietly, still hugging the pillow. I feel my stomach flip at the thought of explaining to Ed and Al about Maes after they find out from Mustang…

Barry should be breaking Maria out of jail now, if he hasn't already. I hope she'll be okay after all this.

I walk over and sit down next to Winry, the couch squeaking from my added weight. I let my arms dangle over knees as I glance to the blonde. She's worried about Ed and Al, of course, but was telling her about Maes making her more stressed out? I hope not.

"Win?" I force myself to speak up. "Winry?" She doesn't respond, continuing to mumble to herself. I don't even think she's saying anything, just mumbling something to keep her from wandering. I sigh and snap, a fluffy blanket gently settles on her shoulders.

I pat her shoulder and allow a small smile to pull at my cheeks. "Get some sleep, ok? The guys'll be back soon, I promise."

Only the tiniest nod of her head was the only sign I had that she had heard me.

I sigh again and nod before getting up and returning to the kitchen. 'Might as well have something warm for the guys if they get back tonight...'

I awaken to the sound of a door opening and closing. I blink and sit up. 'I don't recall falling asleep… that's probably why I don't feel like I did… Damn, just being in this world has screwed up my sleeping schedule.' I glance up to see a very depressed looking Ed and Al. I immediately perk up. "You're back!" I jump up and hurry over to them. Ed nods dully before leaning against the door. Al, on the other hand, nods to me. I can more sense than imagine the weak smile he's trying to offer. "Good morning Lisa." His usually cheery voice is soft and sad. I feel myself frown sadly. 'They've had one hell of a night and now I've gotta tell them more bad-ish news… best day ever.' I think weakly. "I… imagine it's been a hell of a night." Al nods. I clasp my hands in front of me, squeezing my palms together once, twice, before gesturing to the couch. "I.. made some mac 'n cheese yesterday… if you want some…" Al turns and we both watch Ed for a moment before he gives a small nod of his head. I allow a small smile to pull on my cheeks. I nod and head to the kitchen, listening to the soft sound of Ed's boots on the carpet and the muted clanking of Al's armor.

I pull open the oven open and pull out the mac 'n cheese. Even after it finished cooking, I left it in there to keep it warm. I set out three plates and pull out three forks.

"Lisa? Are you up?"

I turn around to see Winry emerge from her room, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Winry…" She glances up at me and then between the boys. "Hmm…?"

It takes a moment for her to register who all is in the room.

"Ed? Al? When did you two get back?" She asks, moving to sit beside Ed with a look of terrified worry. "We just got back. We wanted to check in on you two before we went back to our room." Says Al.

I put a large spoonful of the dish onto each plate before carrying the three plates and fork to the coffee table. I set them down before sitting across from Ed. Al carefully sits beside me. "I… assume Mustang told you about…" "He told us what happened to the Lt. Colonel…" Al tells us. I glance to Winry. She meets my eyes and nods. "Tell them." She murmurs aloud. "Tell us what?" Al turns to me. I press my lips together and tap my fingers. "You'll have to give me a second." Before anyone can say anything, I stand up. I walk around the room, closing doors, turning off lights, closing the windows and then the curtains. I even tack blankets over the curtains and stuff a blanket under each door, to guarantee no light getting in.

I return to my seat, a weird feeling settling in my stomach along with my guilt for not saying anything till now and the worry I have for telling them NOW.

Ed and Al give off very confused vibes (as that is a thing she can kinda sense) while Winry grabs Ed's flesh hand. I take a deep breath and glance down at me intertwined fingers. "I know that Mustang told you guys… that Maes… died… but… Well, you remember how, when you guys went to Rush Valley, we told you that I was going to stay because of Elysia?" Al's armor shudders slightly as he nods. "Well…" I swallow my nervousness. "The real reason that I stayed behind is because… is because I knew someone was going to make an attempt on his life! A-and I didn't want to let that happen, so I stayed here in Central and we… we...we faked his death…" Any sound that was left in the room, the sound of our collective breathing, the clinking of automail shifting, was suddenly sucked from the room.

I glance up to see Ed's eyes widen as his grip on Winry's hand tightens. "Y-you mean.. he's…" Al trails off, looking at me with such a hopeful look it almost hurts. I nod. "He's still alive, Gracia and Elysia went with him out into the country somewhere so they're safe… the reason I made it really dark in here was to make sure-"

The blanket on one of the windows tears away from the wall, blinding light searing into the room.

"Was to make sure my new family didn't catch wind of her little escapade."

Ok, I hate to do this to you guys, but this'll be the last chapter out for awhile. You are now caught up with Wattpad, so you'll have to wait a lot longer between chapters... the next one should be out soon, but the wait time between chapters after this one... a few weeks... maybe a month, depending on how much motivation and inspiration I get... Again, I'm sorry