I had to delete the Prologue to fix it and this in turn had to be deleted so the chapters would line up. Sorry for any inconvenience. I would post the original author's note here but it didn't seem relevant.

Chapter 1

Al watched as his brother ran down the street, crawling through the wooden boards of a nearby apartment. He stood there, sighing and looking down at the crying woman clinging to his armor. She appeared to be in her early twenties, long golden brown hair pulled away from her face to reveal bloodshot hazel eyes.

"Don't worry miss; my brother will get your necklace back." Al said gently, but with confidence. The woman looked up and smiled sadly.

"Thank you so much, you don't even know me and yet you're doing something important for me." She let go of Al's arm, whipping her tears with the back of her sleeve.

"That's what my brother and I like to do. Don't worry about it." Al looked down at her, wishing with all his heart that he could smile. The girl at least got the tone of his voice and calmed slightly.

"My name is Annabel." She said, holding out her hand, "I'd feel better if we knew each other's names."

Alphonse gently shook Annabel's hand, "My name is Al and my brother is Ed." He could tell that the woman was feeling better by her small smile and friendly gesture, but sadness still shown in her eyes.

Before Al could say anything a loud crash sounded from a nearby alleyway. People that were closer than he was ran to investigate, ragged men and woman darting like mice towards the commotion. A few looked up at the top of an apartment, one of them letting out a yell of anger.

A loud scream sounded from the alley, a familiar sound that Al had hoped never to hear again. He looked down at Annabel to see her face go white, knowing the same time he did as to who was injured.

They both ran Al slightly ahead as thoughts rushed through his head. How badly hurt was Ed that caused him to scream in such agony? He got his answer as he rounded the corner.

"Edward!" He screamed, running past worried people to stand over his brother. Ed had landed on a tipped over trash can, his upper body leaning against it with his arms and head dangling over the edge. Both of his flesh limbs were twisted awkwardly, his chest rose and fell unevenly as blood ran from his mouth.

"Big brother!" Al cried out again, kneeling down to get a better idea of the damage. At his call Ed's eyes fluttered open, glazed over with pain. His brother opened his mouth as if to say something but blood rose from his throat instead. Ed spat it out and reached out a shaking automail arm, but before Al could take it his brother shuttered and went limp. His arm clanged against the metal trash can and his eyes closed.

Al was suddenly aware of the howling of an ambulance and police cars. Annabel was at his side, gently tugging his arm and whispering tearfully that they had to move. He allowed her to drag him from the alleyway, his eyes never leaving his brother until paramedics crowded his view.

"I-I-I'm so sorry!" Annabel sobbed, burying her face in her hands, "If he hadn't helped me…"

"No, it's not your fault." Al said, turning so he was face to face with the crying woman. "Brother chose to help you; no one knew this would happen."

Even with Al's soothing words Annabel's sobbing didn't ease. Before she could say anything else two officers walked up to them. One was tall and muscular, authority oozing off of him. The other was short and thin, a young man that stood confidently next to his larger companion.

"Do you two know what happened here?" The tall man asked gruffly, mustache quivering. Al said nothing and just turned his head towards his brother. The paramedics had carefully lifted him onto a gurney, braces on his arm, leg and neck.

"A man stole my purse and the boy went after him, then…" Annabel's crying made it impossible to hear the rest. Al turned back to see the tall man trying to calm her, large hand on her shoulder as he looked at Al.

"He's my brother." Was all he could say, the sound of the ambulances doors closing making him twitch. The smaller man clearly saw this and stepped towards his partner.

"Jeff, let me take him to the hospital. You can stay here and get this woman's statement." The man named Jeff let out a frustrated breath as he looked at his companion. He opened his mouth to argue but the wailing of the ambulance cut him off.

"Fine." He growled, "We can question him later." Jeff turned his attention back to Annabel, who watched the scene with bloodshot eyes.

"Thank you and now sir could you please come with me?" The smaller man motioned to Al, who began to follow him to a waiting police car. Before he could get in a gentle hand grabbed his arm. He turned to see Annabel looking up at him.

"I'll be praying for the both of you. Please tell me how he's doing when you know." Alphonse nodded and turned away, the woman's hand sliding off his arm. He ducked and got into the car to see the smaller man turning the key in the ignition. Al looked out the window to see Annabel tearfully talking to Jeff before the car sped of down the road.

"You seem familiar." The man said, not taking his eyes off of the wheel, "You aren't a troublemaker are you?"

"No, my brother is Edward Elric. The two of us hang around Central command." Alphonse suggested, seeing the man nod with recognition.

"Makes sense now, knew you two were with the military. Jeff and I report to them every week and I remember seeing the two of you there." The man continued but Al wasn't really paying attention. After a minute the man noticed the silence coming from his passenger and closed his mouth.

They rode in silence until they reached the hospital. Before Al got out of the car he looked at the man, holding out his hand.

"Thank you sir." He said as the man returned the gesture, shaking Al's hand.

"My pleasure, I hope your brother gets better." With that Alphonse stepped out of the car and walked quickly into the hospital. He walked towards the receptionist desk where an older woman looked up at him.

"The paramedics told me to expect you." She smiled warmly, setting a form on the counter, "Just some general information." She said when Al began to look it over.

"How is my brother?" He asked, taking the form and a pencil that lie beside it. The woman sighed and gave Al a sad look.

"I don't know, they wheeled him away into the ICU before I could ask. He didn't look good though." She lowered her head at the same time Al lowered his.

"Thank you, I'll wait over here and fill this out." Before he could sit down the woman gently grabbed his hand.

"The form requires a guardian's signature, since your brother is underage. If you need to call anyone the phone's down the hall and to the left." She said gently. Alphonse nodded, turning to walk slowly down the hall. He reached the phone and dialed the number, saying the person's name into the directory and in turn getting the sound of ringing.

"Hello, Colonel Roy Mustang answering." The voice on the other end said after three rings.

"Colonel, its Alphonse, Ed's been in an accident…"