I said two weeks and I did update in two weeks!!! Woots for me!!! All right, The next one might take two to three weeks(wow I keep talking about the next chapters I'm planning on posting...oh wells) since I'm making sure that the story is going where I want it to and my head doesn't do anything funny...

Thanks for paying attention to these small babbles up here, now read.

I don't own anything save for the plot and Amber.

Chapter Eighteen
Oops!
Ed

After a while, Amber came back and sat down across from us. I decided to look out the window again since I'd lost my fight with Al earlier and wasn't feeling up to talking anymore. I watched Amber from the corner of my eye and saw her pull out a book from her bag alongside her glasses and start reading. It looked to be a book on alchemy but I couldn't tell which one...

"What are you reading?" Al asked.

"Something on Roy's alchemy..." she answered softly. "I'm trying to find the material the gloves are made of..."

"Going to get yourself a pair?" I asked.

"No," Amber replied while not bothering to look up. "I know it's some sort of ignition cloth but I want to find its components," she continued.

"Why's that?" Al asked.

"Trying to find a way to dismantle his gloves without using water or ice," Amber replied, yawning slightly.

"You tired?" I asked softly.

"A little, but I'll get some sleep when we get back...unless you stick me with the reports..." Amber replied, closing the book.

"No," I started. "We'll split them up..." I said without thinking.

"All right then," Amber said with a smile. "That sounds fair."

"Yeah," Al said while looking at each of us in turn. "So, how are you going to do it then?"

"I'll take Aleli and the first half of Rohdas," Amber said quickly.

"Then I'll take Jaen and the other half of Rohdas," I said in response. We both smiled at each other before nodding and returning our focus on something else. "How much longer?"

"About an hour..." Amber said softly as she pulled out something else from her bag and put her book away. We just sat there in silence, each of us thinking in our own worlds.

"Ugh…how much longer?" I asked after a decent while. I wanted to get out of the heap of metal. Amber sat up and looked at her pocket watch before looking up at me.

"Desparate to get off already? Only fifteen minutes have gone by since you asked last…" Amber teased, smirking.

"What? You lie!" I yelled.

"Nope, it's June…" she teased, sticking out her tongue at me. Why I oughta…

smack

"What did I tell you two?" Al started as I rubbed my head.

"Ow…not so hard you know…" Amber said as she did the same with her bruise.

"You're not going to stop fighting unless I do something about it…and as you can see, I meant what I said about hitting you if you ever started up anything…" Al warned, leaning back on his seat.

"I never thought you'd actually do it kid," Amber said, rubbing her head still. "I mean, you're a softie…but it seems you've got nerve…"

"Th-hanks…"

"Your welcome kiddo," Amber said with a grin before sticking out her tongue playfully at me. I knew then that she wasn't looking for a fight anymore…at least not for now.

"Are we there yet?" I asked, sighing as the train started up after a small stop. It had seemed like an eternity had passed since I last asked…I couldn't help myself…I just had to ask…I didn't want to look at my watch…

"You know as well as I do that we're still a good fifteen minutes due…" Amber said, closing her book and putting away her glasses once more. "So please shut up your food hole before I use your own body water to shut it up!"

smack

"You will so pay for that when you get your body back…" she mumbled as Al took his hand back. I laughed as I watched her rub the same spot she was hit earlier again and she just glared at me as she did that. "And I have something better for you…" she said, smirking. I stopped laughing and just looked at her. There's no way she'd have me do something for her…

"Right…try as you might…" I started, watching out for Al's hands. "But I'm sure that whatever you have planned for me won't embarrass me in any level…"

"That's what you think…" Amber said as the train began to slow down.

"FINALLY!" I yelled, peeking out the window. "Isn't that Havoc?" I asked, Amber pushing me out of the way and waving. "There is such a thing as manners…"

"As if you use yours to begin with…" Amber said as we both got smacked in the head once more.

"OW!" our voices yelled in unison. The train screeched into a halt, causing me to lose my balance and almost fell to the floor if it weren't for the hand that grabbed me and held me steady.

"Th-thanks," I stammered, surprised at Amber, who was a little surprised as well.

"It was nothing…" she said quickly, letting go of my arm and running off the train to meet Havoc.

"How was the place?" Havoc asked as Al and I came near.

"Very peaceful..." Amber replied from beside me.

"I liked it..." Al and I said at the same time.

"I'm happy for that," Amber said softly while slinging her bag on over her shoulder.

"Amber, Riza should be taking you dress shopping in a few days," Havoc started after a while. "And don't worry about the money, Armstrong's family will take care of it..."

"I-I couldn't..."

"They insist," Havoc interrupted. "Now just relax..."

"All right, I'll take it easy…" Amber said, sighing as we got into the car. I took the front seat while Al and Amber sat in the back, I didn't want to have Al hitting us if we started fighting in the car. It just wouldn't be fun…and then Mustang would hear about it and things could get worse…the ride was mostly except for the small talk Al had going on with Amber in the back. I decided to listen in after a while.

"Are you sure?" Al asked. Dang, I started paying attention too late!

"Yeah, I'm sure…thanks for the thought Al, it means a lot," she said. Oddly, I could tell she was smiling when she had said that. Which was weird…I normally didn't pay that much attention to her, except for our fights of course…

"You sure you don't want anything in particular for your birthday?" Al insisted. Oh…so that's what this is about…her birthday is this week or something…oh well…I don't know what she'd like so I'm not going to worry about a gift right now.

Amber

It was nice of Al to want to get me something…it really was, but he didn't have to and I've let him know that quite well. He can get me something if he really wants to…I just don't want to ask much from him…he's friendship is more than enough. I glanced at the back of Ed's head for a while, wondering what he was concentrating so hard on…sometimes I could never figure that boy out…and that worried me…yeah, it worried me, I'll admit it…but now aloud anyway…at least, not yet.

The car slowly came to a stop in front of the main building of Eastern HQ and I sighed in relief. It was nice to be back home. We got out of the car and I smiled at the sight of Riza standing outside with Hayate on a leash. Mustang was nowhere to be found but by the look on her face, I could tell she'd gotten him to do his work…at least, for today.

"Is he really working on them?" I asked as Ed pulled out my bag without me saying anything. "Thanks," I said before turning to the female.

"He should if he knows what's good for him…" Riza said, handing me the leash for the dog before going inside.

"I can imagine that…" I said with a small giggle, footsteps and mild clunking taking place behind me. Havoc ran off after checking the time, claiming that if he didn't show up at the office within the next thirty seconds, Riza would be having a fit with him being irresponsible as well.

"So, do we work on the papers after putting away our bags? Or do we wait until tomorrow?" Ed asked.

"Let's just take our bags in, we'll decide from there…" I said, noting that it was going to rain later in the day. Ed nodded before grabbing his bag and Al snatched mine before I could. I looked up at his armor and he shook his helmet.

"I'll do it," he said simply. "Just tell me where to go!" he added in a cheery voice, it was contagious since I was soon smiling again. We walked silently to the dorms, lack of better things to say.

"Is anyone going to be your escort to your party Amber?" Ed asked, making me glance at him in surprise as I opened the door to main dorm building with my key. I shook my head, blushing at the sudden thought of making him my date…although…I do owe him a bit of pain… I'm probably being a little harsh here but who cares?

"Yep," I said, smiling widely as we started up the stairs. Ed's footsteps stopped abruptly and I turned to smirk evilly at him. "You better pick me up on time or I'll be late to my own party, got it?" I said, dashing up the stairs. "Last floor, room 43!" I yelled for Al as I ran out of sight.

Ed

"What just happened?" I asked Al, who was laughing.

"Brother just got a date…" he said between laughs.

"Shut up!" I yelled, flailing my arms about as he laughed harder. I could color rise on my face and I quickly ran up to the dorm Al and I share before anyone found out about the matter. I tossed our bag to the nearest corner before lying down on the bed. It was all so weird…I felt happy that she had said it…even if it's just payback for what I did to her on the train.

"She got you good brother," Al said as he came in and sat down on the other bed. "So, are you going to fight about it? Because if you do, I'm making you go…"

"I'm going, don't worry…" I said as I sat up on the bed. I had made up my mind, I was going…it wasn't going to kill me anyway...right?

"Hey, I'm gonna grab lunch outside, want to come with?" called out Amber's voice on the other side of the door. I got up and opened the door, Al standing right behind me. "Well?"

"Sure," I said, a small smile gracing her features as we left the Eastern HQ.

"Looks like the shortie and the dolly came out to play after all Gluttony…" said a voice that I quickly recognized.

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT HE SATISFIES HIS THIRST WITH JUST A DROP OF WATER?" I yelled, the people surrounding us looking at me with wide eyes.

"She didn't say that…" Amber said from beside me, trying to figure out what was going on. "Who are you? What do you want with us?"

"We can't divulge that at the moment…" Lust said, sighing as she took her hand off Gluttony's shoulder. "However, we'd like all three of you to come quietly."

"What if I refuse?" Amber said, taking a small step back as Gluttony opened its mouth and approached us. "He hasn't had anything to eat recently, has he?" Amber asked, Lust smirking evilly as her gaze met mine. I clasped my hands together, ready to perform alchemy and as soon as Gluttony attacked, I defended…but something wasn't right…all I could see was black…

Amber

"ED!" I yelled out alongside Al as Ed disappeared into a black void that seemed to be Gluttony's mouth, increased tenfold. "What the hell was that?" I asked, confused as to what went wrong.

"No matter, we'll get him out when we're ready to continue on with our plans…I'll be back for you later child…" she added, walking away.

"Who was that?" I asked Al, knowing that he knew.

"Her name is Lust…she's a homunculus…much like the one that ate brother…" Al said, sadness evident in his tone.

"He didn't eat your brother Al," I said, standing in the same spot Ed had been in. "It's more like an alchemic reaction gone wrong…" I said, looking up at the sky. But why did it go wrong?

"You really think so?" he asked, hopeful.

"Yeah, I mean, it looked more like a dark portal than an actual mouth…didn't you see it?"

"I didn't get a good look at it…" he admitted.

"Oh well, nothing a good trip the library won't fix…but I need to eat first…I haven't had anything since this morning…" I said, dragging Al by the hand to a nearby restaurant where I got my food to go. I wonder how Ed's doing…I know he's not dead…at least, he won't die quietly…that's a given…

Ed

"This is quite the mess I got myself in…" I mumbled to myself as I tried to walk through some heavy water or something…I couldn't tell what it was…but I know that 'here' smells horrible…almost like decomposed flesh, organs and such. I glanced around me and couldn't see anything at all…it's way too dark here…

Another '...' ending! XD Next one, like I said earlier, should be up two to three weeks from now.

Thanks for reading!