See disclaimer in Chapter One

The hospital building loomed over us, and I automatically shivered, remembering why we had returned to such a gloomy place. Both me and Al decided to check in on Winry before joining the Rush Valley manhunt to search for Envy. I exchanged glances with my little brother, who nodded in encouragement. I sighed and began walking towards Winry's safe haven, with Al falling in step behind me.

When we approached the door to Winry's room, there were voices coming from the other side, meaning that Winry had visitors. I knocked loudly before opening the door to enter, with Al clinking in behind me. I smiled when I saw that Teacher and Panako were visiting Winry, who was smiling and appeared to be deep in conversation with the both of them.

"...and then they asked me about it, and I just looked at them like, 'Are you nuts? No!' and they were so upset…" She happened to glance our way as we opened the door, and all three of them burst into hysterical laughter. "Haahahah! H-hey, guys! I- uh, well we were just t-talking about you, and…" Her face grew red, and she continued to laugh like she had never seen something as funny as me in her entire life.

My face flushed red with embarrassment. "Come ON Winry! I was seven!"

"And I was six!" Al quickly added.

All three of them looked at us, dumbfounded at our terrible excuses, before continuing to laugh even harder. I should've guessed that our stupid fight over who would marry Winry would come back and bite us in the ass eventually. But as I looked at Winry heartily laughing, probably for the first time in a while, I smiled. At this rate, I didn't care. As long as Winry was feeling better, I was happy. The calico cat jumped down from the bed and walked around my feet, sliding along my legs before rejoining Winry.

"Hey, Ed! Come on, Granny brought her stew over!" Her eyes shone, and I noticed three empty bowls sitting on the little table by Winry's bed, with a small stew pot placed next to them. Granny produced another bowl with a spoon, and Al slumped slightly.

"I wish I could remember what it smelled like," he mumbled. I looked at him, and jammed my right elbow into his side. "What was that for?" he asked.

"You're not gonna get all sad now, are you? We just got here! Winry's laughing and everything! I'll eat two helpings, one for me and one for you. How about it?"

He sighed, and nodded. "But you better eat mine first, brother."

"I don't know Al. Seeing as how I'm the oldest, I think I'm going to eat my bowl first," I smirked, with a mischievous tone in my voice.

Granny scowled. "You eat your brother's stew, Edward, or I'll make you drink all of the milk I brought for Amber!"

I jumped back, alarmed by the threat, but stopped and cocked my head to the side out of curiosity. "Amber?"

Winry lifted the calico cat, smiling. "That's her name now. Her eyes are almost like yours, so I named her after the color of her eyes. That way if you leave, I'll still have something to remind me of you two." She blushed slightly as she said this.

I blushed too, but only for a second. Then my thoughts rushed to the humiliation of being forced to drink cat-designated milk, of all things. It'd be even worse than any other kind of milk!

"I don't care if she is my eye-clone, I'm still not drinking milk!" I snatched the bowl from Granny and filled it to the brim with stew. "This one's for you, Alphonse," I said in a solemn voice, and began to eat voraciously.

"If you choke, we will laugh at you," informed Teacher. Granny shook her head, and Winry glared at her. Teacher saw their expressions and shrugged. "Or at least, I will."

I continued eating, realizing it had been a few days since I had a solid meal instead of a bunch of snacks. Al made a move to slap me on the back and get me to gag, but I ducked to the side and stared him down. Gulping down the last few spoonfuls, I grin at him. "Nice try, but I don't want to lose a single drop of your stew, Al. Choke me, and you choke yourself."

"Choke you, and I make you drink milk. You need it, brother."

My smile turned quickly into a frown. "No I don't! I don't need it, I don't want it, and you won't make me drink it!"

"You'll be a shrimp forever at this rate, Edward." scolded Granny.

"Shut up! I'm getting taller, you know!"

Winry looked at me like I had two heads. I stopped growling at Granny when she spoke, quietly and coolly. "Ed, do you know why I'm not in a full cast?"

Everyone in the room stopped and stared at her. "...What?" I asked, stunned.

"I was hit by a man twice my size with a blunt weapon. Repeatedly. For a long time." Her eyes closed, and beads of moisture formed at the edges of her eyes as she remembered the experience. She blinked them away, and continued bravely. "Most people still wouldn't be able to move, even after as long as I've had to heal. When you and Izumi had that argument a few days ago, and I walked out of the room, it was the first time I was able to stand comfortably. So, do you know why I'm in such good shape?" Her brow furrowed dangerously.

"Uh...not really, no…"

"Because I drink milk, Ed. I drink milk and eat well, and I'm very healthy. It's probably the only reason my skull didn't break when he knocked me out after… after he was done." Her fists clenched. "So go ahead. You can avoid milk for the rest of your life for all I care. But if you pick yet another fight you can't handle, and end up like this," she shouted, gesturing to the still-visible bruises on her face, neck and arms, "you'll know why!" She started to tear up, just a little, but didn't make a sound, sitting stone still and waiting for my response.

I stood up calmly, walked over to Granny, and held out a hand. "Give me one," I said curtly, expecting some kind of taunt or gloat. But she merely pulled a small bottle of milk out of a bag, handing it to me silently. I popped the top off of it, my face blank. Looking Winry right in the eyes, I raised the bottle as if I were proposing a toast. I proceeded to drain it, subduing my initial gag reflex and trying to ignore the taste.

When I was done, I looked at her again. She was just as shocked as everyone else. I put the bottle on the nightstand and crossed my arms in front of me. "Something as stupid as milk should never be a reason for you to cry," I intoned, daring her to challenge me again.

After a nervous pause, Al pretended to clear his nonexistent throat. "Ahem. So… uh, we've gotta go back to Rush Valley soon…"

Winry quickly shook herself out of her confused daze, asking, "Why Rush Valley? Don't you mean Central Command?"

I shook my head. "If we have to go to Central, it's already too late. Mustang and his men brought reinforcements to the military police in Rush Valley, due to their earlier inability to catch the guy who hurt you. What's worse, we have a good idea of who it is."

Winry paled slightly at the news, and suddenly found Amber to be the most interesting thing in the room. "R-really?" she whispered, hugging the cat in a tight embrace.

I felt Teacher glare in my direction, warning me that I should phrase my next words carefully, or I would face her wrath. I shivered, getting the sense that while me and Al were at Central, Teacher and Winry had bonded rather quickly.

"The man who did this to you," I said, looking at Al for support, "wasn't necessarily a man. We think...it was a homunculus."

Granny and Winry looked confused, and I realized they probably didn't know what we were talking about. I guess that's the downside of not telling them anything about what we do…

Al nudged my arm, and I glanced at him to see his eye lights flicking frantically. Before I could react, Teacher was standing right in front of me. Her eyes burned, and she had to open and close her mouth several times before she was able to ask, "How?"

Al looked at me nervously, and I nodded. "It'll take a while to explain," I said quietly, "but we'll try to give you as much as we can."

Winry studied us, as if she had trouble deciding if we were actually going to tell her the truth for once. I returned her gaze, standing confidently as Al and I explained what had been happening over the last few months. They all listened intently as we linked the homunculi to the Philosopher's stone, the fifth laboratory, and most importantly…

"That's what Mr. Hughes was researching when he was killed?!" Winry's hand flew to her mouth, and her eyes went wide. "You're telling me that the same people who killed Hughes...they planned on doing this to me?"

I grimaced, my fists clenching tightly as I tried to think of what to say. "...P...probably." I finally muttered, my shoulders slumping in defeat. "That's why we have to go as soon as possible. To them, you're just another target, a tool for warning us away." My face twisted with anger, and I snarled. "But they bit off more than they could chew this time! I swear, we will make them pay for what they did to you, because to us, you aren't a warning. You're family!"

"We only wanted to protect you from our mission, Winry. Neither of us ever wanted you to get hurt because of it. That's why we never told you what we were doing when Ed and I returned to Resembool for repairs." Al spoke up, his voice shaking in marked contrast to the statuesque stillness of his metal body. "But now it's too late for us to apologize to you. The best we can do is avenge the pain you feel." I looked at him, seeing yet another glimpse of the real strength my little brother carried. "They won't get away with it! Not one single blow! We'll make them pay for every bruise they gave you! We'll hit them right back, a hundred times over!"

Winry smiled, but her eyes were sad. "You two…" she mumbled, her voice breaking. "I don't know what's worse. The fact that you're starting to sound like soldiers, or the fact that I feel like you still left something out…"

I flinched inwardly, knowing full well that we didn't tell her that the homunculi are nearly unkillable. But Teacher stared straight at me and nodded her approval. The less she worries, the better, her eyes seemed to say.

I awkwardly laughed, and silently hoped that Granny didn't bring Winry's tool set to the hospital, because the last thing I needed was for Winry to throw her favorite wrench at my head for avoiding her accusation… which happened to be true. "You worry too much, Winry, you know that? Try to get some rest. We won't be gone for more than a few days, and besides... " I felt my cheeks flush a little, as I diverted my gaze to a nearby lamp. "You have Amber to keep you company while we're away."

I quickly looked to Al, who appeared to be shaking, as he attempted to hold in his laughter. I glared at him, knowing that familiar twinkle in his eye lights; he really wanted to say something, but chose not to, which could only mean I would have to put up with his teasing later. I groaned inwardly, realizing I was going to have to share a train ride with him to Rush Valley.

"Even now, you still have such stupid notions of how everyone else feels," Granny mumbled. "You aren't a cat, Ed. Al isn't either. Stop pretending that one cat will be enough to replace you both while you're away." She seemed to be speaking with more feeling behind it than usual, like our absence was hitting her just as hard. And we left her alone for a lot longer than Winry...

"Well, if I don't worry about you guys, who will?" Winry yawned. "It's my only job, besides fixing my precious automail that you always seem to break." She turned on her left side, curling up with her cat as she faced us.

I briefly smiled, unable to believe she could be so strong for us, while still being so hurt. "Come on, Al, let's go."

"Oh, by the way, both of you will come back in one piece, otherwise I'm going to be very unhappy with you!" Winry called after us.

I flinched, thinking briefly of the accuracy with which she was able to throw her tools.

"Make sure your cat drinks its stupid milk!" I teased.

"You're one to talk, Edward!" Winry shouted in return.

Al groaned as he shook his head. "Was that really necessary, brother?"

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. "I couldn't resist."

**FMAB**

After a long, arduous and annoying train ride, we arrived in Rush Valley to be greeted by Lieutenant Hawkeye at the station. "You're here earlier than we expected," she mused, and quickly turned around and began walking to a phone booth.

"Hey, wait a minute! If you weren't expecting us, then why are you waiting here for us?" I couldn't wrap my head around what reasons she would have for being here if she wasn't here to pick us up.

"That's simple. When it comes to Miss Rockbell, we never really know what to expect from you, so we prepare for anything." She didn't even turn her head as she said this.

"What the hell does that mean?!" I exclaimed. This time, she did turn slightly, and I noticed the hint of a smile on her face. My own face reddened, and I decided it would be best to not give her any more opportunities to make jabs at me. Her expression made it perfectly clear she was willing to take them if they presented themselves.

"Don't be offended, brother. After all, Mustang didn't know we would rejoin the manhunt so quickly," protested Al. "Honestly, even I thought we were going to be in Dublith for a few more days."

"The longer we spent in Dublith, the more time Envy would have had to get ready for us. Have you considered the fact that he might even know we're coming for him?"

"Well, when you put it that way, brother…" Al replied.

"Focus, you two. There's more important things to worry about." Hawkeye stopped in front of a phone and dialed the operator. "I'm looking to place a call at the local military outpost...Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye...Uncle-Sugar-Oliver-Eight-Zero-Zero...Colonel, the Elric brothers are here. They left two days before you had anticipated. Change your plans accordingly."

I was curious about what the Lieutenant meant by 'change your plans accordingly.' Did Mustang plan to execute something without us knowing about it? I scowled, only for a moment, as my thoughts drifted back to Al kicking my ass for losing my trust in the Colonel and his men so quickly. They only made the one mistake, and they couldn't have prevented it from happening. I swiftly shook away my curiosity before it could get the better of me, and refocused on the task at hand: hunting down the homunculus bastard called Envy.

"Okay, Elrics. If you're ready, we can leave immediately. Your presence at the early stages might just be more help than disruption, hard to believe as that is." Hawkeye turned toward us and put a hand casually on her gun holster. "We'll need to move quickly and without drawing attention. Envy could be anywhere."

I nodded silently, ignoring her subtle taunt. She smiled a little wider. "You actually managed to control your short-fused temper this time. Good."

I gritted my teeth, and took a deep breath, not wanting to bite at Hawkeye's bait, just in case Envy was actually nearby.

"Wow brother, you're full of surprises after all, aren't you?" Al jested.

"Shut up, Al." I hissed through my clenched teeth.

"Good idea," he mumbled as Hawkeye glared at the both of us. The tiny smile had completely evaporated.

"You obviously misunderstand the definition of 'not drawing attention'." she observed, her voice monotone.

We fell into an exhausted slump, giving up all hope of freedom and dutifully following Lieutenant Hawkeye out of the train station.

Please visit my friend and co-author, DarksteelRebelhawk, out on Wattpad! His stories are so amazing!

-warehouseluver13