-1Disclaimers: I do not own FMA.

Summary: pokes nothing too bad, I promise

To the reviewers:

: Ah! I'm sorry! I somehow failed to notice that…Anyways, please excuse my atrocious grammar. My exams started when I wrote this story. Thanks for the reminder. tries to fix it

Walking around with all their guarded expressions,

Put on your mask and don't say a word,

Let me know about your genetic code, oh no,

Oh no no no no

"Ed, wake up!" Roy shook the teen. "Don't snooze on your first day of coming back!"

Edward woke up, grouchy, "Why'd you wake me up?!"

"If I didn't, then you'll be late and whine the whole day about how your morning was so horrible," the colonel simply replied.

Edward glanced at the alarm clock that stood on the desk beside him.

9:00 A.M.

"Oh shit!" he leaped off the bed and ran into the bathroom. Roy smirked, glad to see the other was up and running like his usual self, unlike yesterday.

Edward threw on his usual black shirt and pants and grabbed the red cloak as he rushed out the door. "Stupid colonel, can't even wake me up in time!" he mumbled as he headed towards the large building.

"Fullmetal! You're late!" Riza aimed her gun.

He jumped at the sudden appearance of Riza. "Don't shoot me! Shoot the stupid colonel for not setting my alarm for me!" Edward said.

"That is not a reason!"

"There there Riza, no need to get so violent," Roy came walking in smoothly, as if he had been there the whole time. His onyx eyes observed the fuming boy and tried not to chuckle. "The shrimp had a rough night yesterday, so I allowed him to sleep in," he said matter-of-factly.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT-" a hand silenced him by placing itself on his mouth. He heard Roy say good-bye to Riza and felt him drag him over to Roy's office. "What the hell do you think you were doing?!" Edward slammed his auto-mail hand on the desk.

"Quiet FullMetal. I'm trying to think," Roy massaged his temples, his eyes focused on the floor below him.

Edward looked at Roy with a curious expression. The colonel looked worried about something and he had never seen him like this before. Well…except for yesterday. "Are you okay Colonel?" he asked quietly.

The colonel glanced up at Ed with a pained look in his eyes, but it quickly went away. Roy had never told anyone about his problems, not even his best friend Hughes. He definitely wasn't going to say anything to Ed, not now, not ever. "No, nothing, just a bit tired," he replied hesitantly. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Ed nod, letting him know that the boy wasn't going to ask any more questions about what he was thinking.

"Do you have another assignment for me Colonel?" the Fullmetal inquired.

Roy sighed and shook his head, "You just recovered a while ago and you want another mission?"

"Exactly, a while ago. That's enough time for me to heal," Edward argued.

Knowing that the blonde wasn't going to let it go, Roy shook his head. "Fine, your mission is to take care of your brother."

There was a strange glint in Ed's golden eyes, but Roy didn't notice it.

"Is that all?" Edward asked, his gaze directed at the floor.

"Yes, that is all. Do you think you can handle that Fullmetal?" Roy smirked. He expected the other to start babbling how he wasn't a kid and all sorts, but he didn't expect him to glare at him with eyes that contained strong hatred and resentment. The last thing he saw of Edward before he stormed out the room was the back of his dark red cloak.

"Here I stand, helpless and left for dead…" (Breaking Benjamin: Dance with the Devil)

"Al, are you alive?"

Alphonse opened his eyes and stared at the bleached white ceiling above him. He didn't know where he was and why he was there. Finding the light too bright, Alphonse lifted his hand to block out the light and flinched when he felt a shock go through his right arm. Oh yeah, that was it. He wasn't made of metal anymore. So that's why he was here. Because of it.

"Al? Helloo?"

He blinked and turned his head to see Edward sitting beside him. "Oh hey bro," he greeted quietly before he started choking.

"Hey! Whoa!"

Al felt his brother lift him up and gently pat him on the back. "Thanks, I'm good," he managed to say after his coughing subsided.

Edward looked at his brother with concern. He didn't know if the younger Elric would be able to heal, since he was so used to being in a suit of metal. "Are you sure you're okay? Are you used to where you are now?" Ed asked.

Al blinked and stared at his brother. "What do you mean 'are you used to where you are now'?" he questioned.

"I mean are you okay in that body? You've been living in a suit of armor for several years. Isn't it weird having your soul moved to some other object?" Edward asked, not knowing how to phrase his question.

"I still don't get what you're saying."

"Never mind. It's nothing."

An awkward moment of silence passed by as Alphonse watched the ceiling once again. He felt Ed's golden eyes on him and didn't feel comfortable with them there. "Ed, can you stop staring at me?"

Edward frowned. "Why? I'm just trying to see if there's something wrong with you," he said.

"I'm perfectly fine."

"You don't look like it."

"What do you mean I don't look like it?"

"Well, your skin's all pale, you're skinny as hell and oh yeah, you're hooked to a bunch of machines that are trying to keep you alive."

Al turned so that he faced the wall opposite of his brother, exposing his back to him. "I said I'm fine, Ed," he sniffed.

Edward frowned as he gazed at Alphonse's back. "If something's wrong you can tell me, ya know," he whispered. His younger sibling was acting stranger, really strange. However, he thought that it was because he wasn't used to being in a normal body instead of a metal one. "Well…I'm going to go now," he said plainly.

"Fine."

Ed left the room quietly. He felt as if he didn't know his brother anymore. As if Alphonse was someone else. 'Maybe it's because of what happened last time,' he noted to himself. 'Yeah, that's probably it.'

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Blah, sorry if this chapter sucked. I don't know why, but I had this biggest author's block ever...(you can blame my English teacher with her freakin' random essays.) Please review either way and no flamers. Thanks!