Al woke up lying on a seat in a train compartment. He was right next to Tessa. There was a blanket over him, but Al was still unable to move. He could talk, though, until Tessa put her hand over his mouth.

"Hey, he's awake. Give me something to keep him quiet."

Because his head was facing the seat cushion, Al couldn't see who she was talking to, but he guessed it was the man from before. After a moment, Tessa stuffed something into his mouth and loosely tied a cloth over his face, blocking his vision.

"Shouldn't we have done what we did last time?"

"No, that's not possible. We have to make it look like we're taking care of a sleepy teenager."

"So then how will we get him out? I mean, he's bound to struggle when we make him walk."

"Oh, I don't think he'll do that."

"And why's that?"

"Because of his brother."

Al panicked. What had they done to Ed? Al tried to get up, but he only succeeded in falling to the floor of the room. Tessa laughed, stood up, and pulled Al into a sitting position. Then she pushed the cloth down so that Al could see.

"Nice try. Why don't you go back to sleep?"

Al glared, and kicked Tessa in the leg. That pissed her off. She punched Al in the side of the head and roughly dumped him back on the seat.

"I guess you're not going to listen to me anymore now that you know our plans for you. Hey, give me the chloroform. I'm knocking him out again."

Al watched with unease as Tessa approached him with a chloroform soaked rag. He tried to turn his head away, but she pulled on his hair and forced him to look straight at her.

"You're going to sleep. Now. And if you know what's good for you, you won't kick me again. Got it?"

Just then, there were footsteps outside. Tessa quickly pulled down the cloth covering Al's face, waved the rag in front of his nose, and laid him down on the seat, covering him with the blanket just as the door opened.

-------------------

Roy glanced at Al before turning his attention to the occupants of the train compartment. There was a woman, most likely Tessa, from how Ed had described her, and a man, who matched the description Ed had given of the one from earlier. Roy pulled a gloved hand from his pocket and held it out for both of them to see. He could feel the train slowing down as it pulled into a station.

"What are you doing with that boy?" he asked.

Tessa smirked. Obviously she wasn't going to try lying to Roy. "It's none of your business."

"Oh, really? Even though I'm in charge of his wellbeing?"

Tessa looked at the man, who stepped forward, drawing a gun. Roy smiled. This is exactly what he'd wanted them to do.

"You should be careful. Right outside in the hallway are several armed soldiers who are waiting for my order to shoot. There are also soldiers at the station, so going through the window would do you no good either."

"So you want us to surrender? Why would we do that?"

Roy was a tad surprised by this reaction, but he didn't show any emotion. Tessa, hidden from sight by the man, made her way over to Al and pulled out a transmutation circle.

"Now, if I use this circle, this boy will be killed. He's rather important to the military, isn't he?"

"You're going to kill someone you put a lot of effort into kidnapping?"

"We do have his brother, after all. Besides, isn't his brother more powerful?"

"How do you know that?"

"Because, why else would only one of them be a State Alchemist?"

Roy was worried. Tessa seemed very serious about killing Al.

"What do you want?" Roy asked.

Tessa walked toward Roy, turning her back on Al. "Just let us go, and don't follow us. Not much to ask, right?"

Roy took a moment to think. "What will you do with Alphonse?"

"We'll leave him here. What do you say?"

Roy hesitated. He had to think. Just then, he noticed something. Al wasn't asleep. He was awake, and if Roy gave him a chance, he could get himself away from Tessa. He took a step back, still not speaking.

"Well?"

"Give me a minute. I need to think."

"Fine."

Roy stared at the two, hoping that he could buy Al enough time to get away. Finally, when Al had broken free and moved to the window, Roy spoke again.

"I've made a decision," he said as Al silently opened the window.

"Oh, really?" Tessa asked. Al was halfway through.

"Yes, I have." Al was outside. "My answer is no."

"Is that so?" Tessa asked as she stepped back. She checked over her shoulder to see Al, but he wasn't there.

"Yes, that's how it is." There were gunmen at the window, all aiming for Tessa and the other man. "Now it's time for you to surrender."

The man dropped his gun. Tessa, on the other hand, lunged at Roy. Roy snapped his fingers as she came close. Immediately the transmutation circle she carried, along with her clothes, caught on fire. She dropped to the ground, screaming. The flames went away in an instant, leaving her on the floor in a pathetic state. Roy had succeeded.

-------------------

Ed sat in an alley across from Scar. He was beginning to feel very sick again. He even saw Shuichi dancing in a banana suit next to him, but he ignored that for the most part. There were a couple of occasions where he couldn't help laughing, which probably was why Scar hadn't said anything to him yet.

After a while, Ed decided to admit that he was hallucinating. When Scar realized that the Fullmetal Alchemist was spending his time watching some imaginary person dancing in a banana suit, there was a long, awkward silence. Ed was still trying to get rid of Shuichi, but it was hard.

Eventually, Scar walked up to Ed. Shuichi screamed and ran away, which solved the problem of Ed's hallucinations.

"Are you back to normal yet?" Scar asked, sounding rather impatient.

"What? Yeah, Shuichi ran off." Immediately, Ed wanted to start banging his head on the wall for saying that. It made him sound like a complete idiot.

"Good."

"So what do you want?"

"You've probably heard of the Crimson Alchemist, right?"

"What, that psycho? What about him?"

"Do you know anything about where he is now?"

"Well, last I heard, he was going to East City, so he should be somewhere around here, shouldn't he?"

"That's what I've heard."

"Why do you want to know about him?"

"He's the one who wiped out my family."

Ed was quiet for a moment. "So you want to kill him?"

"Yes. You're probably against it, but…"

"No, I'm not against it. I haven't heard anything good about him. He doesn't have the best personality either."

"You met him?"

"Yeah, I was stuck in a train compartment with him when they took me back to Central."

"Speaking of which, did you find your brother?"

"Yeah, I did. He has his normal body, too. The one he was born with."

"So he's not in that armor anymore?"

"No, but he's skinny as hell."

"Why's that?"

"Because his body was being starved."

They were quiet for a moment.

"So will you help me find Kimblee?"

Ed thought about it for a moment. "He's looking for Doctor Marcoh. If I let it slip that Marcoh's in this area, he'll probably come in this direction, right?"

"But why would he believe you?"

"I wouldn't outright say it, he'd find out by accident. This is only if I run into him, though. I'll probably see him, but if I don't…"

"I understand." Scar pulled Ed to his feet and they walked through the city toward Eastern Headquarters. "By the way, who was that guy?"

"He was supposed to bring me back somewhere I didn't want to be. Have you heard about the bodies they've been finding around the country? The ones that there's no hope of ever identifying?"

"What does that have to do with you?"

"I witnessed one of those murders, and they want me under their control. They'd kill me, but apparently I could be useful to them."

"That's what you get for being a State Alchemist."

"You don't have to remind me. I still have to find a way to get out of there without endangering Win…" Ed decided to shut up as he said that. He didn't want that subject to come up.

"They're threatening someone you know?"

"Pretty much."

They were quiet for a while. Scar was lost in thought, and Ed was watching Shuichi be a dork again. Finally, they came to a more crowded street, and Scar left Ed to walk to HQ by himself. Ed walked through the crowds to the gates. One of the soldiers out front recognized him and walked up to him.

"It's good you're here, we were afraid you had been captured again."

"No, not this time."

"You should report to Colonel Mustang right away."

"Where is he?"

"Hang on, I'll have someone take you up there."

As Ed waited for the soldier to find someone who wasn't too busy, he saw Kimblee walking toward him. Ed was somewhat happy. Now he wouldn't have to waste time looking for him.

Kimblee stopped right in front of Ed and looked down at him. Ed shifted uncomfortably as Kimblee stared at him.

"Um, do you want something?"

"I heard you got yourself in trouble again."

"Heh, yeah, that happens a lot."

"Seen Scar lately?"

Ed started at this question. This was his chance. "Well…"

"Did you?"

"Yeah, he was in the slums over that way."

"And he didn't go after you?"

"No, he didn't see me."

"Thanks for telling me. I was about to leave East City, but I think I'll stay for a while. Oh, and if you're lying, I won't be too happy."

"Why would I lie?"

"To protect Marcoh, maybe?"

"Well, Scar was alone when I saw him, so…"

"That doesn't mean anything. See you around."

Ed watched as Kimblee walked off. "I hope not," he muttered as someone walked up to him.

"Mr. Elric?"

"Yes?"

"Please come with me, Colonel Mustang wants to talk to you."

Ed followed the soldier to a small room in the main building. She opened the door and gestured for Ed to go inside.

-------------------

Roy took a moment to realize that Ed was in the room. He'd been rather preoccupied with a bunch of paperwork involving the case with Tessa. Finally, he looked up at Ed.

"We all thought you had been caught again."

"No, I had some help from someone."

"Who?"

"Dunno, they ran off after they helped me," Ed lied with absolutely no effort.

"Why would they do that?"

"Beats me. So did you catch her?"

"Yes. We were very lucky. The problem is, the higher-ups want you to return to Central immediately."

"Why?"

"Because you're an important witness in the case. Plus there's still a chance that someone could come after you."

"Makes sense. Where's Al?"

"He's nearby, getting medical treatment."

"What happened to him?"

"Nothing serious, he just has a few bruises, and one of the soldiers thought he was one of the enemy and gave him a concussion. He'll be fine, though."

"Why did they think that?"

"Because he was crawling out through a train window."

"Uh…"

"Basically, he was being used as a hostage, because Tessa thought that you had been captured, so she was willing to kill him. Luckily Al was awake, and he managed to sneak away from them. Through the window."

"How did she miss that?"

"I was distracting her. But you don't look too good, Fullmetal. Are you still sick?"

"Yeah, I started hallucinating again, too."

"Maybe you're just going insane?"

"Ha ha ha, Colonel."

"How's your leg doing?"

"It's fine. Looks a little weird, but it's healed."

"That's good. So, the two of you are going to Central tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes. It's the only way you won't have to be on the same train as Tessa."

"Is there anything else I need to know?"

"No. You should go to where your brother is. I'll go with you."

-------------------

Al looked up when he saw the Colonel walking toward him. He was incredibly relieved to see his brother trailing behind him, looking with a strange face at what Al could only hope was another hallucination. Either that, or Ed was developing a deep love for brick walls.

Ed sat down on a chair next to his brother as Roy talked to a medical person. Al heard the words 'going crazy,' and hoped that Roy was talking about Ed's hallucinations. Finally, someone came up to Ed and began to do medical-type stuff.

Once they had determined that Ed was still very sick, Al walked with his brother to the room they were staying in. Al didn't want to go back to Central, but they didn't have much of a choice. He sat on his bed while Ed pulled off his shoes.

"Hey, Al?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

"What is it, brother?"

Ed sat on the edge of his bed for a moment. "Well…"

"Come on, you can say it."

Ed fell back on the bed. "I met Scar again."

"You did?"

"Yeah, and he saved me from the guy who was chasing me."

"Why did he do that?"

"You know that one guy, Kimblee?"

"Yeah, I know who that is."

"Scar wanted me to help him find Kimblee."

"Why?"

"He said that Kimblee was responsible for killing the Ishbalans in his region."

"So he wanted you to help him find someone he wanted to kill?"

"Yeah."

"What did you say?"

"I agreed."

"Brother!"

"Al, listen. Kimblee's been looking for Scar, too. He actually asked me today if I'd seen Scar."

"So you told him where Scar was?"

"Well, yeah. That guy's creepy."

Al sighed. "Well, I guess you can't do anything about it now. Besides, it sounds like it would have led to them meeting eventually. Don't worry about it, brother." Al looked over at Ed, waiting for a reply, but Ed was asleep. Al went over and gently pulled a blanket over his brother. He waited for a minute before sitting back down on his bed. It was getting dark outside.