Unedited.

School is mean to me. My only excuse.

Walking through the food room, Ed huffed out a breath as he reached the stair way. He hated recruits and he hated these stupid mock missions with a passion. Hated. He already got several weird looks and read one as insulting. That guy wasn't going to get rid of that black eye for a long time.

Ed just couldn't stand all of this. People were already giving him an attitude and what was he expected to do? Just let them? If he just let them walk all over him where would he be right now? A leader was supposed to lead and be respected or at least feared. Either one, he was fine with. As long as they damn well knew their place, then there wouldn't be any problems.

Just as he was about to step up the stairs, heading to his room he felt a tug at his pant leg. His back, almost painfully, stiffened as he flinched back, fists ready to lash out at whatever grabbed him, but confused when he didn't see anything.

"Boss?" A little voice croaked, "Where you goin'?"

He immediately relaxed as he looked down, catching sight of wide, dark blue eyes.

"Hey, bud. What's wrong?" Ed asked Aphid, completely forgetting the kid's question as he kept glancing back towards the door that led to the lobby. Paranoia started creeping up as he imagined a under-cover recruit seeing the attachment between him and the kid and using Aphid as a hostage. And Ed damn well knew himself that he'd roll over and beg like a dog to make sure the kid was safe. It was best for everybody to think he was just a charity case and not attached to any of the higher up gang members for now. But it was hard to just ignore the poor kid. Especially when he sounded on the verge of tears.

"Why're you guys leaving, can't I come?" Aphid pleaded, grabbing onto Ed's metal wrist and tugging it a little. His hand rocked in it's socket, clicking metal against metal and making him grimace, tugging his arm away.

"Sorry, Kid," He said, sticking his automail hand into his pocket, so Aphid wouldn't grab at it anymore, too self conscious of the limb, "You're not big enough to go outside on your own yet."

The reaction was immediate. A pout slipped on Aphid's face and he scowled up at Ed, whining, "When'll I be big enough? I won't be alone, I'll be with you! All I do is stay in this stupid old building!"

The last part was spat and Ed nearly recoiled at the sudden anger. Instead he grabbed Aphid by the upper arm and steered him towards the staircase, walking behind him as they started ascending to the first floor, trying to make sure he didn't trip up Aphid because of his longer strides.

"You need to keep it down there, little man. Something bad'll happen if I just let you lose on the streets, you know I care about you ki-"

Just as they reached the top of the stairs Aphid turned around on him, shaking Ed's hand off his shoulder roughly, eyes livid as he yelled into Ed's face, "You didn't want me here in the first place, Al did! Don't think I don't remember, 'cause I do! You hated me. You wanted me put back on the streets-!"

Snatching up Aphid's jaw with his flesh hand Ed glared down at him, feeling shocked at his sudden aggression towards Aphid but all the same he hissed, "Don't be saying shit like that. You know I still don't mean that, you have no idea what was going on at the time. Right now, I want you to stay in here."

Aphid stared up at him, still scowling, but fear was settling in his expression and Ed felt the guilt starting to cling onto his sides, along with the constant anger and absolute disgust with himself. What the hell is wrong with me?

Taking a deep breath, Ed released his hold on Aphid, the guilt intensifying as Aphid unconsciously reached up to hold his own jaw, where Ed had grabbed him, never looking so betrayed.

"Look, Kid, I'm sorry-" Ed started but Aphid shook his head and turned away from him, running down the hallway and up the next flight of stairs, his footsteps thudding loudly as he left Ed at the end of the hallway and feeling like such an asshole. But none-the-less he was an asshole who didn't know how to handle kids or his own temper.

"God, I'll never be a Dad."

Following Aphid's tracks, Ed stopped outside of the kid's bedroom door, feeling like he should go in and at least talk to him, but his hand wouldn't move to the doorknob, no matter how much he wanted it to.

Taking in a deep breath and letting it out in a sigh, he passed Al's and Winry's bedrooms and got to his own, feeling disheartened like never before.

He hadn't meant to grab Aphid like that. But his metal hand had twitched and he never wanted to strike the little boy before like he did at that moment. It was either thator grabbing him and Ed didn't know how he would live with himself if he ever struck one of those kids, especially with his automail arm. What was wrong with him? He shouldn't even think about hitting one of those kids! Let alone with his metal arm. He could have broken something, he could have killed him if he hit hard enough. Feeling the burn in his eyes he dug into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, picking out his own door's assigned key. The card swipe systems in the hotel had long ago perished after so long without maintanence. Once again something Winry could have easily fixed.

Unlocking his door, he had to kick it with his false leg a little to wedge it open, jolting the leg in it's socket hurting his thigh, further worsening his mood. Everything had to go to fucking shit, didn't it? The kid hated him, Al was slightly ticked at how Ed treated the damned H.A.E he and Winry had insisted on keeping. Kevin was Kevin, Jeremy gave him baleful looks but then again Jeremy gave everybody baleful looks, and his stupid side wouldn't stop hurting!

Gritting his teeth, he lifted the side of his shirt just to check and make sure the metal frame wasn't on fire. Snorting with revulsion at the scarred skin stuck to the metal he yanked his shirt off and tossed it to the ground dragging the worn-out suitcase up from the ground at the foot of his bed and opened it up on the mattress, digging through the few articles of clothing he possessed.

One glance out of the window told him it was going to be freezing that night, possibly even rain. The constant ache in his metal limbs and the plate on his side told him so too. The sky barely gave anything away, since there was always that cloud of smog in the air, blocking out most of the sun, casting a dull gray light onto the stinking city. Anyone with half a barely functioning brain could see the place was shit and no matter how many Green Protestants there were rioting that the place was just going to get even worse. Ed just hoped that he would be dead by that time.

Snatching up an ugly tan shirt with long sleeves, he pulled it on, glad he at least owned one thing that was thick enough to keep him a little warm. The chill and the humidity was going to killhim out there but he was going to have to man up. What kind of Brat'ja leader would he be if he couldn't even go to the Chimera Alley in a little bit of pain? The recruits might start thinking he was too chicken to go himself.

That thought made him grind his jaw a little too hard and after digging out a wool sock he slammed the case shut again.

Winry always bitched at him to at least wear a hat on days like these. To keep the heat from escaping his "fat" head. But he wouldn't have any of that. He had an image to uphold, unlike her. He couldn't look cold or scared or in pain or even too happy. It would just throw everything off.

Just as he was about to rip the hair tie out of his braid a knock came at the door. He flinched, glancing back at the window before walking towards the door, prepared to answer it to a sulking kid.

"Look, I'm really sorry, Aphid-" He started but the door opened on it's own and a lighter pair of blue eyes looked in on him.

"Oh... It's you, Win."

"What happened with you and Aphid?" She asked, stepping in and shutting the door behind her. Ed ground out another sigh before walking away from her and sitting on his bed.

"Nothing. Little brat was just giving me a lot of mouth...What's in the bag?" He tugged the tie from his hair, pulling his fingers through his hair and unweaving the braid, just noticing that Winry was holding a paper brown bag to her side.

"Oh, I just...I know you don't want to, but it's best since it's going to get really cold tonight, alright? Just for tonight? Please, Ed?" She asked, throwing Ed for a loop. Since when did she start asking so nicely?

"I don't even know what the hell it is. You know I don't want to wear any of them stupid hats, Win. So don't even bother with that wooly shit-"

"I got a jacket for you." She interrupted, glaring down at him, "And it's not wooly and stupid. I thought it'd look nice on you."

Ed raised an eye brow at her as he pulled his hair back into a low ponytail at the base of his neck and crossed his arms, staring at the bag.

"Well, then. Impress me."

"You keep talking like that and I'll knock you the hell out, got it?" Winry snapped, eliciting him to make a face at her. Stomping over to the bed, she sat down next to him and dug into the bag, pulling out a rich blood red fabric and dropping it onto his lap.

Losing the sneering comment he had in his head he picked it up and let the grin easily slip on his face.

"Hey, this ain't too bad- Ow! What the hell was that for?" He snapped, rubbing his arm where she pinched him.

"You can do less with that attitude and tell me how you really like it. You don't have to put up that stupid act. I hate it when you're like that in front of me. So cut it out." She frowned, crossing her arms at him as he went back to examining the jacket.

It was definitely thick enough to keep out the chill and it also looked like it had a thin layer of some plastic silicon material on the inside, a way to keep heat from escaping, like a windbreaker. On the back there was a strange black symbol on it. At first he scoffed at the cross, but then saw the snake-like figure entwining the cross topped with a winged crown.

Standing up he slipped it on, glad it fit well. The hood was baggy and large, not one of those cheap, small ones and the hem reached a few inches past his waist, but not with too much length. It was almost too perfect.

"Hey, thanks. This fits perfect, where'd you get it?" He asked, forgetting about his bad attitude from earlier and smiling at her.

She kept her arms crossed and sniffed, "Doesn't matter where I got it." She glanced back at him, "Don't you have any manners at all? You don't ask where someone got the gift, you should be happy for what you got."

"Well, I'd kinda like to know where stole it from, so we could go back," He teased, watching her stand up and flare at him.

"Just 'cause you're all thieves around here, doesn't mean I am-"
"Where'd you steal it?"

"I..," She sighed, "At Harriet's Plaza.'

Grinning again, he rubbed the back of his neck, "Knew you stole it. What unlucky guy deserved to get outwitted by you? Unless this is a girls'..." He sniffed the arm of the jacket trying to detect any perfume, "This was a guy's right?"

"They were actually having a little market there," She said completely ignoring him, 'Expensive as hell, so I just left a little money and took it." She walked over behind him, losing all humor and touched his right arm, fixing the cuff and straightening the sleeve, "You sure you're going to be alright? It's going to get pretty cold out there."

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes because it wasn't the time to be teasing anymore he looked over his shoulder at her and nodded, "Yeah. I might need a bit of a tune-up when I get back. Feeling a little out of it."

He could almost feel her hand tighten on his arm before she said, "I can do it now. Before you leave."

"No. I need to go now. Everyone's waiting. I'd like to get this over with before it's too late. Sleep is a good thing, y'know? Just figured that out." He grinned. A grin here or there usually would settle her, but she completely looked past it, frowning at him.

"Ed, I don't need you to get hurt because I didn't give you a small tune-up. It'll take me just a few minutes to make sure it's all running-"

Grabbing her hand on his arm with his flesh hand, he smiled over his shoulder, "I'll be fine. You know it takes more than that to put me down. 'Sides, I'll be stuck with that black-haired moron, remember? He's hardly a threat."

He gave her hand a squeeze and let go, turning around to face her. She pursed her lips, looking down for a second before she looked back up, determined, "I don't like the looks of him. I think he's up to something. Are you sure you should trust him?"

Grabbing the zipper of his new jacket he pulled the tab up, already feeling the heat building up inside of the jacket and taking the edge off the pain from the automail. Scratching the back of his neck again he shook his head, "Nah. I don't trust him, actually. That's why he's stuck with me for the night."

Scrunching her eyebrows together she opened her mouth to question him but he just talked over her, "I'm going to keep an eye on him. You know he can't go into one of those groups. He already knows what's going on. He already knows about you guys not being recruits so it just defeats the purpose of him going into one of the groups. Best off seeing if he tries anything tonight. Tonight is his best chance to get me off guard. I'm pissed off, alone, and obviously agitated." At that the corner of her mouth lifted, "Although... even if he doesn't try anything he'll be lucky if I just don't curb stomp him."

She gave him a helpless smile as she shook her head and stepped forward, wrapping her arms around his waist in a tight hug.

"Just don't do anything stupid, alright?" She spoke, muffled into his shoulder. Smiling, he hugged her back.

"Since when do I do anything stupid?" He scoffed, earning a harsh nudge into his stomach by a prodding finger.

"You know what you do, idiot. Even when I don't know about them and you hide it, I still know you did something stupid." She pulled away from him and headed towards the door, "Now let's go down stairs before they break out into a riot."

"Uh, you go ahead, I need to...get my shoes back on." Ed murmured, trying to block the wool sock, that Winry had given him a while ago. out of view from where it lay innocently on the bed. She hadn't said anything about it yet so hopefully she didn't spot it yet. They had argued about him wearing a 'stupid, stuffy sock' but after his last mission he regretted not wearing it since he damn near got frost bite on his little toe and now he was going to actually wear it. But hellif he was going to let her see that he was giving into her advice and throwing his pride away by wearing the stupid, ugly thing, but unfortunately Winry had already saw it.

"You don't have to hide it. It's a such a nicesock, Ed." Winry grinned in a 'I-told-you-so' way at him, before stepping out and closing the door behind her.

"I could go out there bare-footed if I wanted to!" He yelled, snatching up the sock and shaking it after her.

Al stared up at the hotel as he and his group moved out, walking towards the oh-so-dreaded alley. He knew that there wasn't any Chimeras left, after all his brother killed them all. But he wasn't allowed to tell that to the fretting Brat'ja in his group. Some of them looked absolutely bored, but he could see one or two of them casting sketchy looks at each other. Al was feeling bad for shooting up their nerves like this.

His brother had made sure to try and split everybody up from their friends and family members. He wanted them to work with strangers and not rely too much on a familiar face. Al didn't like that, but he wasn't the one in charge so he had to sit by and watch. Al had gotten stuck into the "suspicious" group, since Al could read people better than Ed could. What Ed called suspicious was just a bunch of scared kids trying to look menacing. But there were a couple that did look a little off.

There was one man, brown hair and sneaky looking eyes, that Al absolutely did not trust. Head held high and an unlawfully straight back. He had the most arrogant look about him. Almost like he was laughing at how stupid Ed was for not even suspecting him. But Al knew full well that his brother had picked this rat out within two seconds.

Al walked along side him carefully, but not too close, and was watching him through the corner of his eye. He didn't know what this man was up to but he had no doubt that it was means to harm his brother. Now, he was sure that the man wouldn't pull anything on Al himself, but he was still waiting for the metal gleam of a blade or the barrel of a pistol. Anything for Al to suddenly lash out and stop this man from going on any further and hurting his brother.

"You're awfully quiet."

Al's hand flew to his pocket, ready to grab his knife and he jumped to the side, eyes immediately training onto the man, who's eyes lit up with amusement.

"And you're quite jumpy too. I'm just trying to make conversation, you don't need to attack me," He laughed, causing Al to frown at how forced it sounded.

They had both stopped walking as soon as Al jumped to the side. The other people in the group had stopped, turning to watch, wondering if a fight was already going to break out.

Relaxing his stance, Al took his hand away from his pocket, casting a side glance at the small audience that had built up to the side.

"I'm sorry, but trust isn't something around here that we give on first acquaintance. You have to earn it."

"Yes, but we're allowed to talk aren't we?"

Al pressed his mouth into a firm line, starting to walk again along with the group, "I suppose. But most people here don't just want to talk."
"I can promise you that I won't do you any harm."

"And I can't take your word." Al retorted, casting a hard look over at the man.

"What's a little boy like yourself doing in a place like this? I have to say you must be one of the youngest I've seen."

"That's not any of your business, and yes, I am one of the youngest. But you should be careful, young ones will go for the throat quicker than you can blink." Al gave his best smile at the man, who returned it.

I'm onto you, snake.

"I agree. But I also think that they act a little too hastily. You never want to run into something that's over your head."

Then why don't you do something about it?

"Another thing about young people. We always bounce right back up. But the older you get," Al glanced at him, rising his eyebrows, "the easier you break."

You won't lay a hand on my brother.

"If I didn't know any better I would say that that was a threat."

Looking away, Al smirked to himself, "You could say that it is."

"Alright, if we're going to win this stupid game, then we're going to need a leader. And I think it should be me," A young Xingese girl in her teens announced in Kevin's group, "Any objections?"

Kevin waved his hands, shaking his head, "No, no, no, no, no. I don't think so, little girl. If anyone's gonna lead. It's gonna be me."

The girl threw Kevin a dirty look before raising her hand, "Majority rule. Who's for me leading?"

Kevin watched in horror as all the hands rose without another word. But most of them looked like they didn't give a shit who lead or not.

Scowling at the younger girl, Kevin opened his mouth to mock her but she just stuck her tongue out at him and continued talking.

"First off, Fullmetal said we have to break into the old Detroit Bank building that's on the Alley and we need to take the 'classified documents' without alerting the 'gaurds'."

"Sounds like a game of capture the flag if you ask me," A red-headed guy mumbled, crossing his arms sullenly, "What a load of shit."

The Xingese girl glared at the boy, much to Kevin's amusement, and growled at him, "You already got your orders, pal. Fullmetal said there wasn't any available missions for us. Unless your too scared to go into Chimera Alley. You scared of the big, bad Chimeras?"

Turning dark red the guy spat on the ground, looking lethally at the girl, "You'd better watch your mouth, you little-"

"Hey. Take it easy there, fire-head." Kevin intervened, "You don't need to go off calling her names. She's just a kid-"

Kevin didn't get to finish his sentence when the guy shoved him, snapping, "Why don't you mind your own god damned business-?"
Gripping one of the offending hands before it could pull away, Kevin twisted it turning the slightly taller teen around, earning a strangled yelp as he drove the body forward, slamming him into the ground, pinning the writhing back under one of his knees.

Grinning, Kevin twisted the hand, feeling the wrist pop before promising him, "Touch me one more time and I'll break your neck."

After waiting for the nod, Kevin stood up still smiling as the red-head brushed off the dirt from his front and cast Kevin a deadly look.

"Hey, there's no problem!" Kevin said, still smiling, "Just lighten up, okay, man?"

Scoffing he crossed his arms, looking away from Kevin, but much to his amusement the guy rubbed his wrist. Shrugging, Kevin looked back over at the Xingese girl and winked, earning a furious look from her as he said, "You were saying?"

Glaring once more at him, the Xingese girl snorted, crossing her arms, "As I was saying we need to break into two groups. One for distraction and the other to break in. Do we have any skilled lock pickers? And I mean someone who's quick, we need to be able to get in there and get out."

Kevin watched with interest as the scarred girl from before raised her hand, earning a look from the Ishballan guy sitting next to her. He murmured something to her but she just shook her head, watching the Xingese girl intensely.

"And what's your name, by the way? I know we all hate each other right now, but we're a group and we need to know names."

Kevin was beginning to like this Xingese girl's style. She had hell of a lot more guts then most Brats he knew. Not as much as him, of course. But now he was actually going to find out this scarred chick's name. Watching her intently, hoping she wouldn't refuse, Kevin waited for her to speak.

She just shrugged, "Call me Chase."

"Okay, Chase. You'll be the lock pick, what's your friend's name?" She asked. Indicating the Ishballen man standing next to her.

"His name is Tamas. What about you? What's your name?" Chase asked, looking up at Tamas before glancing back at the Xingese girl, who grinned, putting her hands on her hips.

"It's May."

Kevin recited the names over and over in his head so he wouldn't forget, which he was most likely going to do before the night was out. Stepping forward he raised a hand, not one to be left out, "And I'm Kevin, nice to meet you all."

Chase was giving him an unreadable look and Tamas just looked away, while May nodded her head, "And what do you do? I actually think I have a perfect position for you."

"Oh really?" Kevin mused, trying to think of what would be the best position for him, "What is it?"

"We really need someone to be a distraction. Think you're up for it?"

Making a face at her, Kevin shook his head, "I ain't gonna be bait. What do I look like here? I'm probably the most useful person in this group and you want me to be a distraction?"
May rose her thin, black eyebrows at him, "Oh. But you'd be perfect for it. You're charismatic and strong and fast enough. You'd be a perfect distraction."

Nodding, Kevin was seeing this girl's point. And he was liking her all the more and more. "Alright, alright. I see your point. I guess I could be a distraction." After all, the Brats that were stationed as "guards" were the Brats that chose these recruits. They knew Kevin and Kevin knew them, since they've lived together for years, so it wasn't much of a problem.
This could actually work for him.