A/N: Mentions of gore/violence(mild-because it's wounds )

Part I: Chapter II:

Exposition

"Hello?" Roy picked up the phone, which Riza Hawkeye had handed him. He wondered who had called, briefly broken out of his thoughts about the ongoing investigation of the murder of...he shook his head. "Who is this?"

Riza had told him that this was a call from an outside line. Typically he would ignore most phone calls, but the code given to gain access to the military line was...Fullmetal's. Roy felt something akin to confusion and panic rise in his chest, though he had no clue as to why. He rapidly went through a list of people who might have somehow gotten a hold on Fullmetal's military code. It wasn't long. Fullmetal didn't trust people easily, so Roy doubted many knew his identification code.

Roy had answered the call, and having heard a young girl on the other line, his panic subsided and he relaxed considerably. Though, another feeling rose in his chest. The girl was Winry Rockbell, childhood friend of the Elrics.

What the hell was he supposed to say to her? He swallowed the lump that subconsciously formed in his throat. "Winry."

There was a pause. "...yes. This is Colonel Mustang, right?"

Awkward. Awkward, awkward, awkward. Roy cleared his throat. "That is correct. What are you calling for, Winry-I can call you Winry, right?"

"Of course. Um...I'm calling to ask if you know anything about..." A pause. Roy inhaled sharply. "About...well..."

Roy had a feeling that if he waited for Winry to say his name, he would be stuck there for a while. Not that he could blame her. The name felt like taboo, now. He cleared his throat again-damn, what was wrong with him? "Fullmetal."

The reply was nothing but stiff silence. "...y-yeah. I got a note from the Department of Internal Affairs asking if I could come to Central and assist in the investigation...and, well, I think they want me to answer some questions they had as well."

"Questions?" Roy's interest piqued. Why would they call Winry to have her come all the way down to Central just to answer a few questions? And what would they ask her?

"Yeah...the note said something about a transmutation circle...and...I heard that Al got his..." Winry trailed off, seemingly lost.

"His body back, yes. And Fullmetal was found dead in the center of a large transmutation circle, one that no one had ever seen before." Roy felt as if he shouldn't share any information with a civilian, but he also had an inkling of a feeling that he should-consequences be damned. He might have been a little blunt with the information he was giving her, but he had a feeling she could handle it.

Despite the amount of times the girl stumbled over her words, she didn't sound like she had been crying. She didn't sound scared, well, not noticeably scared. She sounded...determined. Strong. Winry reminded him almost like...Fullmetal.

He smirked slightly. 'Those two were pretty much made for each other.' His smile faltered when he realized that if Winry had any feelings towards his youngest subordinate at all, it would make it more painful then ever. Not that someone who she considered family being killed by another family member was any easier to handle.

Winry took in a deep breath. "I see." She stated solemnly. "Well...it might have been an accident, or maybe...human transmutation...?" Winry spoke the last two words hesitantly, with a blind hope that maybe, just maybe...Alphonse Elric didn't kill his older brother.

Roy unfortunately had the wonderful opportunity of shutting that hope down. "No. Human transmutation might be hard to research and figure out the circle, but it isn't impossible. And aside from that, it didn't make sense for Fullmetal to be in the center of the circle. And also..." He hesitated. Should he really be telling her this...? "Alphonse confessed, not just a few minutes earlier."

"...what?"

The two stayed quiet for a moment. Roy had cornered Major Armstrong in the hallway and demanded him to tell him what happened. The kind-hearted Major seemed shaken up, his two officers at his side, even more so. Perhaps it had been because they were in such an emotional state, that Roy managed to get the horrifying piece of information that he wanted to know-whether or not it was true the Alphonse of all people killed Fullmetal.

Roy spoke up again, asking a question that had been bugging him. "By the way, Winry...nobody actually knows why the transmutation circle was there...but it had nothing to do with how he die-"

"I know." Winry inhaled sharply, cutting the Colonel off. "I was just..." Winry trailed off, sounding as if she felt lost. Not that Roy could blame her. He felt the same way, in denial and trying to find any excuse as to why what happened wasn't true.

"Hop on the next train, Winry, to Central. I'll send someone to meet you at Central Station, but you need to go, now." Roy ordered, his calm and ordering demeanor shining through.

"N-now?" Winry seemed surprised, though Roy could detect a faint hint of glee in her voice. 'Perhaps she had been waiting for me to suggest her to come to Central in the first place, hmm? Clever girl. I'm assuming she learned that from waiting for those Elrics all the time.'

Winry huffed. "Well, that's fine. I'm already at the Resembool Station anyway."

'Ah, there it is.' Roy felt a smirk align his features as he replied, "I'll see you soon, Miss. Rockbell." And with that he hung up the phone, stood up and walked towards his window, overlooking a part of Central City. 'We're going to figure this out. No matter what.'

Ling Yao felt nervous. Which, considering his usually cheerful demeanor, was strange for him. Though; considering what he felt two days ago...he felt a deep worrying feeling in his heart. A deep worrying for a specific blond-haired alchemist. A worrying for the only person he considered his best friend.

He was sure Lan Fan and Fu felt it too. They felt something missing. It was quite...odd, if one could put it that way.

As for what happened two days ago, well, not much. The three of them, him, Lan Fan, and Fu were keeping on the lay-low in the Southern part of Amestris, when suddenly-and it was sudden-all three felt a strange pulsing through the Earth. It was...unnatural, to say the least.

What was even more unnatural was that Ling could've sworn he felt Edward's energy as well. As well as an inkling of Alphonse's energy...which was quite unusual.

So from there, he, Lan Fan, and Fu decided to go head to Mr. Garfiel's automail shop, where Winry might've been, someone who could tell them if she knew anything about the Elrics. Strangely enough, she wasn't there. Garfiel had told them that she went to visit her Granny in Resembool for a while, who had needed some help on an automail project.

"Oh! Winry, it's you!" Ling jumped up at Garfiel's sudden shout. He ran over and snatched the phone from Garfiel's hands and yelled into the phone.

"Winry?!" He panted, ignoring the confused look Garfiel and Paninya sent him, as well as the look Lan Fan and Fu exchanged when they followed him.

"...Ling? Is that you?" Winry seemed in awe, though, that was understandable, considering he always dropped off the radar.

"Yeah." Ling replied breathlessly. "I've been looking for you-or rather, I've been looking for Ed and Al...so I was wondering if you knew anything about what happened to them...have they been to Resembool recently? That's where you are, right?"

Though Winry wasn't in the same room as Ling, Ling could tell that she had suddenly stiffened, judging by the tone of her voice. "Actually, I'm in Central right now. I'm waiting for someone to pick me up at the station, as per Colonel Mustang's orders."

"Why are you in Central? And, wait, why can't Ed and Al pick you up?" The silence that met Ling made panic arise in his chest. "Winry." His voice barely rose above a whisper. "What happened?"

"...Edward's gone." Winry replied softly, voice detached from the conversation.

Gone? What did Winry mean by gone? His best friend couldn't be gone. Not the genius alchemist that would always hit him. Not the small teenager who always had a knack for getting into trouble, yet somehow managing to get out of it. Not Edward Elric, Hero of the People, the Fullmetal Alchemist. He was...gone?

Ling felt sick. Maybe she meant something else. She had to. That's right, she said "gone" not...

"Winry." Ling spoke, feeling like fainting, yet held it in. "What about Alphonse?"

Ling wasn't sure if changing the subject was the best course of action, but he eagerly awaited her response. Up til' two days ago, he always felt in the usual chipper and determined mood. Then he began to feel uneasy. Now, though, he just wanted the world to stop.

Lan Fan had been his only friend growing up, seeing as how he always had to keep his guard up around people in fear that he might be killed. But she wasn't exactly what Ling would call a best friend. That was what Edward had been. Yes, he'd only known Ed for about a year, but that one year was enough. It was the best year of his life. Even though he was undercover and keeping low off the radar, getting into fights daily, and was now on the hit-list of immortal monsters...it just felt different, compared to how it felt fighting for his life in Xing.

Edward wasn't just his friend though. He could tell through the crestfallen look Lan Fan gave as she listened closely to his conversation on the phone. Ling wasn't sure when the two had gotten close, but he didn't ask. He didn't mind. After all, was he supposed to? Lan Fan desperately needed a friend as bad as Ling did, and Edward filled that role for both of them. They made a few more friends as well, but as Ling considered Ed a best friend, he was irreplaceable to both him and Lan Fan.

Listening to Winry tell him what happened to Edward and Alphonse, therefore, was the most painful thing he'd ever been through. He just lost a friend, and because he called Winry, he was forcing her to recall to him what had happened to the same friend, who was closer to her than to him.

"Winry," Ling spoke gently. "You don't have to tell me this if you don't want to."

"No." Winry inhaled, and Ling noticed a small waver in her voice. It wasn't that noticeable, but Ling had been trained to notice these things. "You deserve to know." And so, she continued speaking, explaining about the letter in the mail and how she had to go to Central to help with the investigation. She explained how Alphonse was a suspect, and that he was back in his original body. She told Ling about the conversation she had with Colonel Mustang before she left Resembool, and how Alphonse apparently confessed to the murder of his brother. She also spoke about the transmutation circle Edward was apparently found in.

"There was no blood?" Ling interrupted, understanding the situation. "So the resident walked in and...he assumed Edward was dead?"

"He wasn't breathing. The resident, I don't know his name, apparently thought Ed had collapsed and went over to help him. That's when he checked his pulse and realized he was dead. Later on, the diagnosis said...that he was poisoned."

Ling's mind was going a mile a minute. "So, he was poisoned, Al was the suspect and...confirmed that..." Ling felt a mental shudder go through him for a moment. "Al is in his human body...wait."

Something felt out of place. If Alphonse was in his normal body, then...did that mean the Brother's found a Philosopher's Stone? And what was the transmutation circle for if Edward was killed through poisoning? And why would Al even kill Ed in the first place?

"What is it, Ling?"

"...I'm sorry. It just, seems like something doesn't add up." Ling chewed his words in his mouth for a bit, thinking deeply.

"Right? I thought so too. Something in the details just...I dunno, seemed out of place. Especially when I read the next piece of information they gave me."

"They sure are giving you an awful lot of information for a civilian." Ling realized, suspiciously.

Winry paused. "Apparently, they're going to give me more when I arrive to the Department of Internal Affairs. But, about that next piece of information..." Winry hesitated, feeling unsettled about this next piece of information. "Edward had...bruises, all over his body."

Dizziness. Sickness. Denial. What? Ling spoke his million thoughts as a single word. "Seriously?"

"That's not just it, though." Ling praised choruses for Winry keeping herself together. The small whimpering sound throughout the back of her throat was heard very distinctively. Her determination spoke louder, though. Determination for what, Ling could guess easily. He knew Winry wanted to find out what really happened, because she just couldn't accept this. "There were markings around his neck, rope burns on his right ankle and left wrist, and on his left arm were multiple cuts."

It was here the dizziness struck back full force. "Winry," He spoke sternly. "I'm going to help you find out what happened."

"Y-you...but I thought you need to look for a Philosopher's Stone to become Emperor?" Winry questioned meekly.

Ling snorted, determination rising as fast as Winry's had. "You doubt me? I can easily do both. Besides, I have a theory that Ed and Al might have found a Philosopher's Stone, and that's why he has his body back."

Winry inhaled sharply. "Alright, then. I'll see you soon. I get the feeling I won't need to tell you where I'm staying though..."

Ling grinned, the first grin he's had in a while, and hung up the phone. He was going to find a Philosopher's Stone. He was going to become the next Emperor of Xing.

And while he was going to do all that, he was also going to use every trick he had in the book to find out what happened between the Elric Brothers...and what happened to his best friend.

Winry hung up the phone, a small smile plastered on her face. It warmed her heart to know that Ling had her back on this, and most likely Lan Fan and Fu did as well. Despite how much it hurt her heart to recount what had happened to Ling, she had to do it. She saw how Ling and Edward acted around each other, and she knew that like her, Edward considered Ling a best friend.

Winry didn't just think about Edward as a best friend, though. She thought of him as something more. Romance, she decided, was too old for her. And it was unnecessary for Edward, who wholeheartedly needed to concentrate on getting Al's body back. Of course, that was the exact reason why she kept her feelings to herself. She was hoping, however, that once Al had gotten his body back...she would be able to confess her feelings then.

Now, she couldn't. And she never would be able to.

Because Edward was gone. And she was going to find out how and why.

With that thought, she turned away from the phone and walked through the train station, wondering when she was going to get picked up when...

Winry's face lit up and she waved her arms in the air to attract the large man's attention. "Major Armstrong!"

Exposition Definition: "The part of a play or work of fiction in which the background to the main conflict is introduced"

Defined from online google dictionary.

A/N:

If anyone is wondering why everything is so confusing...well, you have a right to be confused.

This story is actually going to be different from the manga, so it won't follow the exact events from the story. The story of how Ling got to Amestris, how the Homunculi(if you noticed the "immortal monsters" bit) are involved, and what else is going on will be explained in due time. But until then, you'll have to try your best and figure out what happened along with the characters! Review what you'll think happen next, and/or what you think is really going on behind the scenes!

Until next time...Jewel, signing off! (Okay, that was fun...I don't know why I didn't "sign myself off" until now...)