SO! The long awaited chapter 6... two weeks I said, but I suck at time keeping. So hey. Anyway this is still some lead up, I'm personally not too proud of this chapter and the lead up is dull to write but I need to set up the story and can't really write long chapters, I find it easier breaking it up. Soon, I hope, they'll be back in space and knee deep in the action.

I literally can't hold in my excitement to introduce some characters, especially Mei and Ling. I have some OC's too, but they won't take up too much of the spotlight.

So I'll shut up with my rambles and leave you too read.

Thanks everyone :) enjoy.

I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Winry looked down at her dark wooden workbench thoughtfully, her face scrunched up in concentration as she toyed with some mechanical parts.

"This leg is going to be great." She murmured to herself proudly as she picked up a screwdriver and began to screw a large metal dish to the silver leg.

"Winry!" The croaky voice of her grandmother, Pinako, echoed through their house. "We have a customer at the door, get it could you?"

Winry sighed, but obliged all the same as she pulled lazily from her perch on a rickety wooden stool.

Pulling off her large, green, leather gloves, she wiped her face with the back of her hand and proceeded to the simple cream front door.

"Rockbell Automail how can I-" she paused as she opened it, her now shaking hand resting on the handle, frozen. "I- h-help you?"

"Hey Winry." Ed said nervously looking at her, his hand resting on his neck. "It's been awhile."

Al only waved, somewhat excited for what was about to happen.

As he expected, Winry threw her hand in her belt before pulling out a shining silver wrench, a murderous gleam in her usually beautiful, sky blue eyes.

Ed scarcely had time to scream as the weapon came down on his head before he collapsed in pain. "Shit!"

"Ed." Al scolded him before accepting Winry's sudden hug. "Hi, Winry!"

"You boys have a lot of explaining to do." She bit, pulling Ed up carelessly.

He groaned, hands on his head as Winry ushered them in.

"Hayate." Riza threw her bag onto the bed in her hotel room, Black Hayate barked in response. "Behave, I'm heading out."

He barked again, tail wagging as he slipping under the bed. Riza smirked before walking out and meeting her captain in the dimly lit hall.

"Alright, Elizabeth." He tested her code name before pulling something from his baggy white sleeve. Glasses. Bemused, he carefully placed them on her face. "Very nice."

She glared at him in annoyance before shaking her head, shining blonde hair falling from its half bun. "Fine, Jackson, let's go then."

He nodded, linking arms with her before they left the small, locally owned hotel casually.

"It's lovely out here." She commented, looking out to the large expanses of fresh, green grassland shaking delicately in the wind. "Reminds me of home."

He smiled grimly, thinking of her hometown now built on top of after they began to modernise the less fortunate cities and towns. "That place was beautiful."

"Yes." She hummed, turning to him as they continued their slow walk. "Once you've gotten promoted I'd like to move out here."

He snorted a laugh. "Well Elizabeth, lets hope I get that promotion soon, before these fields get demolished."

She nodded as they fell into a comfortable silence, both walking down a steep hill towards a small cluster of stone and wood houses and businesses.

Suddenly a loud beeping made Roy jump. In annoyance he pulled a small circular dish from his back pocket, he pressed in a small red button angrily.

"Don't break your communicator, Jackson." Riza scolded lightly, looking out to the view once again in awe.

"He found it." He mumbled as he ignored her jest, pressing afew choice buttons on his communicator.

Winry sighed, screwing a large bolt into Ed's arm. He looked away in annoyance. "Ed you moron. Stop breaking my handiwork!"

"Stop building crappy handiwork then." He spat back, mocking her in a squeaky voice.

Winry's hands stopped their work as her, now dark and murderous, eyes turned towards him. He gulped, raising his flesh hand in surrender.

"So Winry." Al said awkwardly, sitting on a stool in the corner. "What have you been doing these past few months."

She laughed bitterly, her hands deftly piecing Ed's arm back together again. "Oh you know, building automail, getting an education, worrying about you idiots!"

Suddenly she dropped her tools, standing up from her crouch. Ed cringed as tears filled her wide eyes.

Al noticed it too. "Winr-"

"No!" She yelled, grinding her teeth as the tears welled up. "Do you know how it feels when two people you care about so much just disappear without a word! Then you find out they've been gallivanting around hostile systems looking for fictional miracles and serial murders!"

Ed growled, meeting her gaze as he rose to his feet. "Hey! We only want to avenge our mother and fix our mistakes!"

"Edward!" She cried, grabbing his left arm. "Please, what happened was a horrible thing! But you don't have to go killing yourselves to prove nothing!"

"There is something to prove!" He countered, still glowering at her. "I will prove that I can fix my brother!"

"Ed.." She shook her head of sunny blonde hair. "Stop being so brash for two seconds."

He glared at her for a moment, insisting she continue.

She did, rubbing his arm comfortingly. "What happened was cruel and truly unforgiving, but please don't be so reckless or thoughtless."

He sighed, wiping a tear from his own eye. "I can't sit still when I can do something."

"Find a way to protect yourselves." She said, picking up all her tools again.

Al, who had sat awfully quietly the whole time listening too their bickering, shifted. "Brother, Mustang!"

"No way in hell." Ed growled, turning on his heel to death stare his brother.

"Who's Mustang?" Winry, looked up curiously.

Ed fake gagged, as Al answered her. "The military captain that saved us from Drachma's Redla-" his brother covered his mouth before smiling sheepishly to Winry who's eyes became dark again.

"Why the heck were you in Drachma Redlands! Is that how you got water damage in my automail and those bruises and cuts!" She began in a slow, dangerous voice that made Ed shiver. "You said you got them when you ran into a tree by mistake before falling into a lake. How did I believe that, you're an awful lier, moron!"

"Yeah okay our last ride abandoned us when we didn't have enough Cenz to pay them. Who cares!" He shook his head as if it meant nothing.

She sighed before smiling and finally laughing. The brothers openly stared as if she had gone mad. "Let's go, Granny might need help making the food."

With that she bolted up the stairs from her workbench in the basement.

Ed looked to Al in complete confusion.

"she's upset." Al informed him, standing up and gathering his things.

"Bull, that's so why she was laughing." Ed commented sarcastically.

"You really are hopeless." He sighed, smiling, as best he could, at Ed who still looked at him with mock malice. "Come on, let's go help Granny!"

"I'm not helping that shrivelled up prune of a women!" He bit, but followed his brother up the stairs all the same.

"Brother." Al looked to him seriously for a moment, stopping halfway up the creaky staircase. "If we want to find the star, we need to find some way back out their. We can't hitchhike again. We have no more Cenz."

"We can ask Winry and Granny." Ed decided, brushing it off and trying to push past his brother who still stood like a wall between him and the exit.

"No." He bit, leaning forward. "We should ask Captain Mustang!"

"But-"

"Ed, please. Winry wants us safe, the military can't let kids get hurt."

"He won't let us, we're not old enough."

"You're sixteen soon. Isn't that the age?"

Ed sighed, thinking. "Fine, Mustang doesn't follow rules anyway."

Al made a pleased sound as he hopped up the stairs cheerfully, as if the seriousness he had adopted simply melted away.

His brother growled, following behind as he dragged his feet. The metal one slamming loudly into the wooden floor.

"Can we use the phone granny!" Al called out, looking around for the short women.

A croaky voice met him in an authoritative, but loving way. "Yes yes."

Al smirked, taking the communication device and dialling in a number. "Hi, is there a Roy Mustang there?"

A timid voice returned, that of assumably a young girl. "Uhh, no, no one by the name of Mustang checked in.."

"Oh?" Ed walked over, listening in as Al replied.

"He said he would be staying at that hotel with his, uh, friend Riza Hawkeye and their dog." He said, the sound of clicking being heard on the other side.

"The only couple we have checked in with a dog is Mr and Mrs Orange. They're not in at the moment either."

Ed fought the urge to laugh, biting his lower lip in an attempt to stifle it.

Al hit him. "Please can they ring us back when they return?"

The women made a positive hum. "Of course."

Al bid his goodbye before letting it slip back down onto the bench. "Well, okay."

"Orange, huh?" Ed shook his head. "Damn that man is stupid."

"Dinner!" Pinako called out.

Ed grinned as he rubbed his stomach, not noticing the flash of disappointment across his brothers stoney features.

"I'll ask you again!" Mustang, was stood in an old library across town, yelled down towards the cowering man behind the desk. "Where is that file!"

"We d-don't have a file by that title sir!" He covered his bolding head.

"Bullshit, I know you do!" Roy growled, taking a knife from his pocket and pressing it into the man's cheek. He whimpered.

"Okay! A women took it weeks ago."

"Who!" He growled, baring his teeth as he pushed the blade against his cheek harder, a small trickle of blood running down his bony face and over his chin.

"I, she d-didn't give me a name! Only the order not to tell anyone she took I-it!" He cried. "Please, l-let me live!"

Fighting the urge to spit, Roy dropped the knife from the man's face before looking to Hawkeye who stood at the door keeping watch. "It was her."

She nodded, adjusting her glasses as they walked out and into the darkness and back to their hotel, where the timid brunette at the desk smiled at the pair.

"Mr and Mrs Orange, how was your evening?"

Roy smirked charmingly. "Lovely, thank you."

As the pair proceeded to their room on the second floor, the girl made a noise. "There was a phone call for the two of you whist you were gone, would you like to respond now?"

"Send me the number on my com." Roy held up his standard communicator, covering the military symbol printed in silver on the front with his glove clad thumb.

"Of course, have a good night sir." The girl fumbled as she pulled out the hotel's communicator.

Entering their room, both soldiers collapsed on the bed. Black Hayate jumping enthusiastically on Riza's stomach.

She smiled, petting the animal lovingly. "I'll walk you tomorrow, I promise."

"Change of plans, Hawkeye." Roy exclaimed, studying his communicator. "Maes found the file quicker than we thought, so we'll be leaving tomorrow afternoon. I need to figure out where she'd take that file."

"Very good, Sir." She shed her glasses before tying her hair back up and petting her dog again, whispering promise of a morning walk.

"Hello who is this?" Roy held his device up to his ear as someone responded. "I'm terribly sorry, Miss Pinako this must be a wrong number."

Pinako nodded at the device, about to hang up before Ed yelled and rounded the corner. Determination in his striking eyes. "Granny!"

"Oh micro bean, for you is it?" She cackled, a pipe resting on her lower lip.

With a growl, Ed murmured 'hag' before taking the rather old fashioned phone. "Hi."

"Ah." Roy grinned wolfishly. "Shortass, what can I do for you?"

"Stop calling me a short little grain of pathetic sand!" He snapped, making Roy roll his eyes.

"Spit it out, kid, I'm busy."

"Me and Al want to join your crew."

A moment passed before Roy burst into laughter making Ed extremely mad. "Edward, you're kidding."

"I'm not!" Ed shot back with a growl.

"How old are you anyway, you need to be sixteen to legally join the space military." Roy informed him coolly.

"Sixteen in two weeks." He offered vaguely attempting to recall his birthday. "Can't they let it slide?"

Roy snickered, saying more to himself. "Bradley probably wouldn't care, he loves a big ass army."

"So?" Ed probed.

With an over exaggerated sigh, Roy replied. "Fine, I'll see what I can do. Bradley probably won't mind with you, but Alphonse being like, what, thirteen, might be a hassle."

"Fourteen." Ed corrected bitterly.

Roy ignored him. "But I'll see what I can sort out."

"Do you promise." The teenager sourly mumbled.

"Yes, you have my word." Roy grinned to himself. "We're going back to Central tomorrow afternoon, our business finished earlier than we thought, so if you're coming don't be late. Consider bringing your mechanic too, they might be useful if all your gear is handmade."

The blonde shook his head, even if Roy couldn't see it. "No way, I don't want her getting hurt."

Roy laughed again as he prepared to hang up. "Alright half metal moron, see you tomorrow."