*facepalms onto hungry lions mouth* I. Am. So. Sorry. Life is a bitch. And to all my subscribers and reviewers waiting faithfully, you guys are the best. I love you all. BUT enough ado~ And hopefully the next chappie will be far far quicker.

~Yin

~*Rock Lobster? Wtf?*~

After Ed was situated and had had the "grand tour" of the house, and Henry had explained the house rules, Ed retreated to his room (an unused guest room).

Henry was perplexed. Ed was a very interesting character. He wasn't sure what to make of him, which rarely happened. His story also made almost no sense. There were so many holes in it, even the worst shot ever could shoot it and make it through a hole. If he were an exchange student, what's his school? Where is his apartment? Where are his papers? Henry normally would've turned this kid into the police immediately, but he was strangely curious. Plus he did owe Max a favor.

Ed flopped down on the bed and lied down on the pillow. Today was mentally exhausting. And still so much to do. He sighed as he looked at the digital clock on the nightstand. It was only 11:39 A.M. He grabbed the German to English dictionary and began to read. Again.

At 11:57, Henry called Ed down for lunch. As Ed descended the stairs, he could smell grilled cheese sandwiches. He sat down at the table and Henry handed him his plate with on of the sandwiches on it.

These aren't half-bad, Ed thought as he took a bite into his sandwich. "T'ank you, it iz gut." Ed had decided to keep the accent up even though he could speak without one, just to downplay his genius. He didn't want to attract attention.

"Ah, no problem" Henry replied, honestly not expecting the – punk wasn't a good word – teen to speak, as he looked so deep in thought.

"Uh, do you t'ink dat perhaps you could help me get a job?" Ed said shyly, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

Henry smirked. "I know a place that's hiring."

Ed tapped his gloved hand against the counter, waiting for the idiot to make his order. That's right. The notorious Fullmetal Alchemist, Hero of the People, was taking orders at a local pizza place. And he hated it. Half the customers didn't shower, they were slow at ordering, and had the audacity to get impatient after only seven minutes of waiting. He had counted.

The other half were police officers, due to the fact that the pizza place, called Bob's Pizza, was right next to the Santa Barbra Police Department. Every time a cop walked in, he tensed slightly, remembering the Amestris Military, although from what he could tell, this government wasn't ruled by a psycho homunculus (but he couldn't be sure).

But he wasn't about to let his guard down.

He flipped through the newspaper, finding the crime section. The current case sounded way to much like Barry the Chopper for his own liking. Sure he was thankful for the Maria Ross fiasco, but he'd still rather not think about him.

The song changed from "Baby" by Justin Beiber to "Rock Lobster" by The B52's. This place is screwed up. Ed thought. If they just put on random music, they're gonna weird out customers, especially songs like 'Rock Lobster'.

At that exact moment, he heard someone say, "Gus! How did we not notice this place before? Listen, they're even playing Rock Lobster! How cool is that?" Ed twitched at the irony of what the man just said, until he looked at him. He looks like Henry kinda…Henry might've mentioned a son. But there is no way this goofball is related to "No-Nonsense" Henry. But then again there are many cases of sons having absolutely no resemblance to their sons. I can think of one…He twitched again.

"We'll get a large Hawaiian." Goofball said. "A pizza with Canadian bacon and pineapple – definitely a work of genius."

"Shawn, we got Hawaiian last time. It's my turn."

"Ah, but my dear Gus, you picked Chinese food last night. Not to mention we haven't had Hawaiian at this place yet. You know it's on my bucket list to try Hawaiian pizza at every place in Santa Barbara."

"Since when?"

"Now. Hawaiian, please."

Ed blinked. Goofball, now dubbed Shawn, and his friend, apparently named Gus, made him uncomfortable. He wished those two would leave quickly.

"Alright, t'at vould be $6.95." Ed paused as he took the credit card and swiped it. "Here's your receipt, ve'll call your number vhen your food is ready."

Shawn stole a quick look at the nametag. "Thank you, Ed."

"Gus, there was something weird about that guy." Shawn stated once they had found a table out of "Ed's" earshot.

"Besides his awesome German accent?" Gus said, scanning the stand up appetizer menu on their table. "There is no way that chocolate strawberry cheesecake can be good for you. I think I'll get a slice."

"Dude, look at the way he holds himself. His posture. He doesn't carry himself like an average teenager. His stance is so defensive. Plus he's left-handed; that just screams weird."

"Perhaps he had an abusive parent or something. And lots of people are left-handed Shawn."

"Name five."

"Umm, Paulina Lin, err…"

"Paulina? From middle school? Really?" Shawn cocked his eyebrow disbelievingly.

"Fine. He's weird. We've got bigger problems than some weird employee at a generic pizza parlor."

"Like the fact we have no cases?"

"Like the fact we have a foreign teenage girl in our office that doesn't speak English and is completely confused!"

"Oh yeah… Maybe we can have Ed help. His accent sounds similar to that chick's language. What was her name again?" Shawn suggest, then racking his head for the correct pronunciation of the foreign name.

"I'm not having some stranger come into my house and talk to some innocent girl! What if he ends up being a rapist or something? She's very beautiful after all." Gus protested as he fiddled with his water cup angrily, the thought of his daug – guest – being violated in anyway making him furious.

"Gus, you are not her dad. Relax. I'll keep tabs on 'Ed' to make sure he's safe to help us help her. Happy?"

"Very." Gus said finishing their conversation just in time to hear their order.

"Order 42!"

After Ed called their order out, the two descended upon him like a fat kid to a marshmallow.

"So Ed, you in school?" Gus said, trying to get some information out of the teen so obviously that Ed barely concealed his twitch of annoyance at the nosy man.

"Ja."

"Oh," Gus faltered slightly, not expecting such a simple answer.

Ed knew they would ask more if he didn't continue, so he said, "I'm an exchange student from Germany."

"Oh that's awesome. You staying in an apartment then or something?" Shawn said, getting a kick from Gus at his bluntness.

"Nein. I'm staying vith a friend of a friend." Edward was beginning to get really pissed at these creepy guys. Then it hit him. They were probably from the police station. Did they think he was a suspect in that Barry wannabe case? He immediately got defensive.

"Here's your pizza. Do you need anything else?" Ed looked directly into Shawn's calculative green eyes with his own piercing gold ones, daring him to challenge him. Shawn blinked at the sudden intensity, and it was just as it appeared it was gone. Shawn, knowing that this battle was lost, grabbed the pizza, paid and left with Gus.

"Shawn, care to tell me why you suddenly gave up? And I still wanted that cheesecake!" Gus was a little annoyed with Shawn, but knew he wouldn't do something like that without a reason.

"Did you see his eyes. They were pure gold. And did you see the way he looked at me? He figured something was going on and clammed up."

"So that's it?" Gus didn't get it.

"No. That's the beginning." Shawn's scheming eyes suddenly turned playful. "Common Gus, this'll be fun! Its time to–" go into stealth mode was what he was going to say when a familiar truck pulled into the parking lot.

"Dad?"

In a dark alley way, a young thin boy was hugging himself to get rid of the chill. He hid inside a bulky suit of armor that didn't nearly fit him, but it was a familiar setting. He wrapped his waist long golden hair around his body as he shivered, and a smile slipped across his face. He was cold. And he loved it. He would far rather be warm, but he had no clothes in the armor. He shivered again. He also wished that he didn't feel like shi- er, crap.

He felt hypersensitive. He could feel every flaw in the metal he was hiding in has he pressed himself against it, hoping to warm it like one would a blanket. He had a awful taste in his mouth too.

I wish Brother was here... The boy thought.
All of the sudden, a pair of footsteps could be heard along with voices in a language he didn't recognize. The blonde peaked his head into the helmet, and quickly ducked back inside when his eyes met a blinding light. The helmet was ripped of his head with a shout from a male voice and he looked up startled to see a gun pointing at his head.

"W-who ar-r-re y-you?" he flinched at his stuttering, but it was so cold. The gun was quickly taken away and the sound of a female voice quite obviously berating the male was heard. The source of the female voice peered in, her eyes softening the second she saw him. She asked him a question in the foreign language, which he ignored in shock.

"R-Riza? I-is that y-you?" he stammered. No, it wasn't, he noted. The eyes were darker, as was her hair. Her facial features were off too.

Juliet's heart broke the minute she saw the shivering boy, who obviously had the flu and was majorly malnourished. "Are you alright?" she asked softly, and saw the boys eyes widen as he asked her a question in what seemed to he German. The shocked slipped out of his eyes as realization came onto him with disappointment. He seemed to think she was someone else. This only furthered her resolve.

"Carlton give me your jacket." she said with no room for argument as she held out her hand.

"What, no! Why?" Lassie asked, grasping the jacket closer to him. "It was a gift!"

"Because there is a naked boy with a flu hiding in this armor who probably hasn't eaten for weeks!" she explained harshly. Lassie's eyes softened as he tossed the jacket to her. She turned back to the boy, all signs of anger gone.

She peered back down the suit of armor and handed the shivering boy the jacket. His face turned red as he remembered his apparel, or lack thereof. He wrapped the jacket around his bare body. Then he popped out the chest plate and crawled out of the armor.
Juliet couldn't help but notice the forlorn look in the child's eyes as he gazed upon the lifeless metal. "Come on," she urged quietly. "We'll take care of you." She held out her hand.

The boy weighed his options, and quickly decided that going with the Riza look-a-like was the best choice. He grasped her hand and followed her to a sleek blue car, unlike the few he had seen in central. He slid into the back seat, slightly wary of the barrier that made him realize this was a police car.

Juliet turned to see the uncomfortable boy pull on his seat belt, and smiled at him sweetly. She pointed to herself. "Juliet," she annunciated. She watched him blink as he realized she was telling him her name. She pointed to Lassiter, who was driving, and said with no little amusement, "Lassie." Carlton grumbled and wasted no time to correct her.

"Carlton." he said gruffly. The boy giggled and smiled and for the first time, Jules noticed that his eyes were a dark golden. I've never seen that eye color before... She mused.

The boy pointed to himself.

"Alphonse."