Alphonse Elric sighed unhappily. The third morning was now coming and yet his nisan had not shown up.

"Otousan and Okaasan are both really worried. Otousan has actually stopped his research for the last few days to go looking for nisan. I'm even more worried, I mean, he is a bit sporadic but never to this extent." Alphonse said quietly as he stared out the window of his room.

The two story house the Elrics had lived in for many, many years seemed empty without the talkative, more outgoing son to fill it with noise. For Trisha Elric it was his antics that made her laugh and worry about her oldest son. For Holeheim Elric it was always a fun attempt to get Edward to follow in his footsteps as a alchemic researcher and also, to be the one that did the harder calculations that Al was not interested in. And then for Alphonse, Edward was his nisan, his beloved older brother who, even though he got the two in trouble most of the time, things couldn't be any other way to the boy.

"I miss him. He could be hurt or..! Eh!" Alphonse yelled out when an frightening idea came to his head.

The youngest of the Elrics tore out of his room and into the darkness that was still lingering in the house. He quickly moved into Edward's room and winced when Ed's door slammed against the wall in his haste.

Papers were scattered as he looked for the right item.

"I found it! The letter Nisan got last week. He was acting really strange about it, maybe this is why he's not around." Al exclaimed! He then sat on Edward's bed and turned on a nearby lamp. Pulling the letter out of the envelope, Alphonse read at a fevered pace.

Dear Edward Elric,

As of late it has become mandatory for me to be out of my office at Central. The immense effort of war has brought about a need for alchemist and we at the military would like to offer you a position if your willing to fight. Many have died in the past weeks so it has become necessary for drastic measures to be taken.

I know you might be surprised to hear this, but it seems that our meeting last Autumn was not only coincidental. I was only then allowing myself time for congratulation on a recent promotion to colonel. I did not want to keep you in the dark about my chosen profession but it was not useful at the moment for you to know. It was nice to chat with you and if you are willing to accept my offer then I will meet you.

In the next week I will be in Resembul for a project. There is a military office that is still functioning. I'll await your answer there.

Your friend,

Colonel Roy Mustang

Scar stood outside of the train station, trying to be as auspicious as possible. He was awaiting the short, yet helpful Edward who had volunteered to get info about the military's next raids. Scar was wondering when he could leave the town safely and Ed was wondering when he would next see the gray haired man.

"Looks like he wants to bolt at the first sign of trouble. Guess I better hurry this up a bit." Edward murmured as he walked back to the side of the station where Scar stood.

"You look nervous." He commented as he approached.

"Hmph. What did you find out?" Scar asked, annoyed that the boy was delaying his hopeful escape.

"Not much. People might like me but I'm not military. They weren't telling me a thing." Edward said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"It's been a while…" He started as he looked around the nearly empty station. Only a few stragglers were there so early in the morning and Edward was happy that his assumptions were correct with no one really around to see the Isbalan man.

The drab looking station was nothing compared to his trip to Central that had happened last year, Edward thought.

"Oh crap!" He yelled out, surprising a few bystanders and making Scar fix his attention on the boy once more.

"Wha-?" Scar started as he looked around, wondering how much attention the boy had gathered.

"I-I was supposed to meet this guy in a few days. Just remembered too! He's kind of nice…" Edward said with a small blush on his face. He really didn't like the stares people were giving him because of his outburst.

Scar sighed, and thought the boy really did need to go back to his normal life. Whatever that was…

He grabbed a fistful of cloth from the boy's now dirty red shirt, and he quickly led Edward out of the station. He could hear Edward's wining over the murmuring of discontented voices that tried to follow them out. A quick warning glare caught the people off guard. A man in a tan suit stumbled back and a woman in pink though better of coming to Edward's aid.

A few hours later the two sat back at the abandoned military hospital. Since dragging Edward back from the station Scar hadn't spoken two syllables to the now irate Elric.

Scar had quietly walked to the back of the building. His hands were nearly healed of the most painful of injuries, and he played with the thin cloth that now served as bandages for his wounds.

Loud footsteps reached his hearing, and then the closing of the creaking door made him aware of Edward leaving from the front.

Scar closed his eyes and counted to ten in his head. Moments passed but yet still, Edward didn't see fit to return inside.

For some reason this didn't bode well with Scar. He had lost many family, friends, even just acquaintances, from not trusting his instincts. Now, he felt something was amiss. It wasn't the normal small town affair that he was getting used to.

The arrival of the military convoy also didn't ease his worries.

"More-"

The door slowly opened and Edward's voice rang out.

"I got us some grub!" He yelled out.

Scar winced when the literal meaning set in.

"Not hungry." He said gruffly as Edward walked in the room.

"Ah! C'mon! It's food! Um, meat of some kind. I bought it at the market farmer. Not supposed to but…"

Scar raised an eyebrow in a mild form of disbelief.

"Not allowed to buy meat?" He asked as he reached out to grab the food.

Edward could clearly see he was quite amused.

A few minutes and an argument about alchemy later, Scar had finished a small fire that was made from the last few bandages and a lot of hand friction.

"How do we cook it? The guy said it was… um…"

"It's deer." Scar said shortly, as he speared it with a small stick and proceeded to roast it.

As they ate Scar decided enough was enough.

"I'm good as you can make me. Keep quiet about where I am and go home!" He said sternly.

Edward paused in mid bite. His eyes widening. "Wha-?"

"Go! I won't have the crime of kidnapping on my hands because of you!"

"But I-"

"Go." Scar stated, as he finished his food in one large bite and stood up. With long strides he reached the front door and flung it open. The darkness of the night greeted him and the breeze brushed against his face.

Edward shivered as the small fire flickered and lowered from the winds. His golden eyes stared into it, then he shook himself from his surprise.

He raised his face and stared into red eyes darkened by night and his ever present sunglasses. The white scar stood out brightly against his darker skin, and for once Edward had no doubts that it wasn't his real name.

Hands shaking in anger, Edward tore himself from the floor and marched out without a final word or passing glance to Scar.

Yellow fabric was pushed by the speed by which the eldest Elric ran out.

Quiet once again returned to the peace of the building's area, and after nearly ten minutes of staring after the boy Scar's hand clenched upon the door frame. Red eyes narrowed in determination, and wounds that had been a dull ache now hurt worst than before.