Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for Aaliyah.
East City*
"Right..." Ed muttered as Al said, "It does look like her..." they all looked from the picture to the cat the lady had as it sneezed. "She's a darling girl, isn't she?" the woman asked as Ally said, "You can say that again..." the cat then yawned as Ed, Ally, and Al turned to whisper."That's definitely not her!" Ed stated. "Yeah, I know." Al stated as Ed continued, "We can't afford to keep humoring some old lady and her stupid cat!" "Come on..." Al muttered as he grabbed the picture. "Where are you hiding?" All three asked.
May run through the streets with a shopping bag full of groceries as she headed to the train station.
-The Fuhrer's Son-
Train Station*
May run among the crowds of people that is until she passed two soldiers talking. She slowly began to walk as she listened closely. "We received new intel on Scar." "He's still running then? Will he ever just give up...?" Al May continued forward, she ended up running into someone. "Ah!" Shao May fell to the ground, as the groceries flew everywhere. "Oh, I'm so sorry dear." The old woman spoke. May went to pick up the food and she said, "No it was my fault, really." The old lady began to help May as she said, "That's an interesting outfit you're wearing...where are you from, dear?" May turned to the woman and smiled saying, "' Xing actually." The woman handed her the wrappedgoods as she asked, "Is that right? You here sightseeing? There isn't much too look at here in East City."
"No, I'm just here transferringtrains." May and the woman spoke as May said, "I'm headed North now." "The train boarding for North City is leaving right now." The manon the intercom spoke. "That's me! Thank you for all your help Mam!" May called as she ran off. "Take care dearie." The woman spoke as shewatched May walk up to a man wearing a cloak. She grabbed his hand and walked off as the panda followed. "Huh?" the woman stated asthe panda looked to her. The panda ran off as she said, "I've never seen a cat like that..."
Sewers/Night Time*
Scar walked with another person, hidden by cloak, in the sewers as he heard footsteps. The two quickly turned down a path as the soldiersappeared around the corner. "Which way did he go?" "I know I heard footsteps coming from that way!" a man's appearance could be seencomeing from the shadows. The men shined the light as it landed on the man. "Look! Over there!" The man, or Scar, used his alchemy todestroy the roof of the sewers as it came raining down. Before the path completely got blocked, Scar was seen running away with anotherman.
The Next Day/Central Command*
"He was seen with a middle aged man with black hair?" Kimblee asked as the soldier said, "Yeah, that's what the report said, sir." Kimbleethen walked over to the map and said, "...and this was yesterday." Kimblee placed his hand to the map and traced a path to the left as hereached the nearest city. "West huh?" "Several of our own people were injured trying to apprehend him." "Scar must be getting desperate...but that could help us..." Kimblee smirked, placing a finger to his chin, "He's leaving us a good trail." Kimblee then turned and placed his haton as he said, "Let's go."
Train Station/Central*
Kimblee stepped out of the car, heading up the stairs with four soldiers following. As he climbed up, Kimblee saw an old lady walking downwith flowers in her hand. As he reached the top, he stopped and looked to the woman saying, "Hm, a suspicious woman...but that isn't myjob." He smirked and continued into the building.
Graveyard*
Roy stood in front of Maes's grave, as he could see another funeral going on. The bells chimed as footsteps were heard. The old womanstopped next to Mustang as she said, "Looks like a funeral precession..." "Well, this is the place for it." Roy stated with a smile. "It's quitedepressing...when you get my age, you think of you in that box instead of watching it pass by." "Surely you can't worry too much aboutthat...you still look plenty young to me." Roy stated. The woman looked up at him, blowing a kiss as realization hit Roy.
"General Grumman,is that you?!" The old man laughed as he said, "The plan was to meet in front of General Hughes grave, wasn't it?" Roy turned away, tryingto hold in his laughter as Grumman continued, "I thought it must be serious for you to resort to this," Grumman placed the flowers onto thegrave, "So just to be safe. I wore a disguise." "Of course...now I see why you're so eccentric. That's some getup, sir." Mustang spoke throughhis laughter. "Eccentric? I guess I'll choose to take that as a compliment..." Grumman then looked to Roy and spoke with his real voice,"Now, what is it you need?"
Library*
"Alkahestry...maybe they have something here about it in the library?" Al stated as Ed said, "Yeah, if we can't find that bratty little girl thenthis is the next best thing..." "I hope we can at least find something..." Ally muttered as they walked into the building.
Graveyard*
"I see... the senior staff have turned, right? You've gained some information, only to lose too much in the process. With all the people youcan trust away from you, you won't get anywhere." "Yes, you've got it exactly, sir." Mustang stated as Grumman sighed. "Even Raven...nottoo long ago, I came to Central and he asked me something...something I found quite strange...he wanted to know if I was interested in acore of immortal soldiers." "Immortals?" Roy muttered as he thought, 'Did he mean Homunculi?' "The idea of immortality is simplyridiculous...I told him as much and ended the conversation." Grumman looked to Roy as he said, "Not too long after, I was transferred." "You mean you were demoted..." "You bet and since then, I've been stuck cleaning up the inglorious messes of the East."
"Speaking of messes, do you remember the difficulties we had in Liore? A false priest was scheming for power until the Fullmetal andFireworks alchemist put a stop to him." Roy stated as Grumman said, "Yes, I remember..." "Liore fell into Military hands, bringing it undercontrol." "Yes...then the forces from Central came in and the East forces were sent home. Were you aware of that?" "Yeah...and the peace inLiore was shattered...after the Central forces appeared." "What are they planning? What is it they intend to do and why can't they just wait?!It won't be long before I'm retired...couldn't they just wait?"
"Now I know that you're bluffing. I'm sorry but someone like you General...youdon't know how to sit by and watch. You can't do nothing, especially when all your men are veterans of the Ishval conflict." Grumman beganto laugh as he pulled his hat down saying. "I expected you to come crying to me. When you sent me that note, I expected you just wantedsome advice...but you're just trying to get me involved in this to, aren't you? You know what...it's working, that is since things are getting sointeresting in Central, just when I thought my ambition was dead, I'm getting fired up again."
"Careful...you don't want to mess up yourmake up, right Mam?" Roy asked with a smile. "Oh my! I know!" Grumman giggled in his elderly woman voice. "Do you have an openinglater, sir? Maybe we could grab a cup of tea later?" Roy asked starting to leave. "Sorry but no. I appreciate the invitation..." Grumman thenlooked to what Mustang was holding, only to see a picture of that panda from earlier.
Library*
Ed sat with a book in hand as an irritated look passed his features. Ally lied on the ground, her head in Ed's lap as her eyes were closed. Ed closed his book and placed it onto the pile of other books.
"No good?" Ally asked as Ed sighed. "You know, maybe if you helped, we couldget this done faster." "You know how I am with books... they put me to sleep." Ed got up, causing Ally's head to hit the ground. "Hey!" Ed picked up a stack of books and walked towards one of the shelves as Aaliyah got up and did the same.
"At this rate, we might as well go to Xing." Aaliyah stated as she placed a book back into place. "It'd be hard crossing the desert...sounds hot." Ed stated as Ally chuckled. "Afraid of a little heat?" Ed grabbed the girl by the waist as he said, "I seem to remember the first time that I wasn't alone in that pool of water we saw."
"Point taken." Ally stated as Ed pulled her closer. "You know...we never did get to finish what we started in the showers..." "Where should we pick up?" Ally asked as she turned around in his grasp. "How about here?" He asked, an inch before her lips. Before he placed his lips to hers, they saw a shadow looming over them. They looked up, only to have Armstrong looking down at them. The two fell to the ground, scared, as Alex said, "Ah ha...there you are Martin, Elric..." he then pushed the bookshelves apart, took a step forward and thenpushed it back. "I've found you."
"You?! Damn it Major! What do you want?!" Ed snapped. "Sh! This is a library; quiet." Armstrong whispered. Armstrong then leaned close to Ed and Ally and whispered, "I heard you were looking for a certain Xingese girl and a mysterious black cat..."
"Yeah but how do you know that?" Ally asked. "Colonel Mustang informed me. I'm running errands for him today. The word is, she's heading north. According to eye witness, she was spotted heading by train from East City very recently." "North huh? Now that's some information I can act on." Ed stated as Aliyah said, "We appreciate this, Major. Thank the Colonel for us." Aaliyah and Ed began to pick up the fallen books they had as Alex stopped them. "Wait a second...there's more."
He dug into his jacket and pulled out an envelope as he said, "Take this." "What is it?" Ed asked as he grabbed the envelope. "A letter of introduction although it may not be much use. First thing, see her." "Her who? Who do you mean?" Ally asked. "Even further than Northern Command, you'll find an officer nicknamed the 'Northern Wall of Briggs', who also defends our border:Major General Armstrong."
No POV*
Whistles sounded as Scar and the man ran from the officers. "Hurry," Scar pushed the man as they stopped, only to find officers in front ofthem as well. "There's no escape for you now, Scar!" Scar looked both ways before hearing the sound of a train. The men pointed their gunsas Scar stayed calm. The train soon came upon the bridge as the black smoke covered the two. When it cleared, the two were gone."Where'd they go?!" the soldiers joined as they looked to the train, spotting Scar on the roof. "Report to Command he jumped on a trainheaded for East City...damn."
Library*
"I can't find anything about Alchehistory..." Al sighed. He thought back to how May used her alchemy and said, "The way she used longrange alchemy was impressive... I wish we could use it. I should have asked her more about it at Dr. Knox's place..." a little boy walked by butstopped short when he saw who was sitting down at the table. "Ling did say it was specialized in the medical field." Al then felt a presence behind him and turned to find a little boy with a look of awe on his face. "You're wearing a full suit of armor...does that mean you're the Fullmetal Alchemist's brother?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah I am..." "Awesome!" the boy then had a fan boy moment as Al said, "Maybe you should be a bit quieter?" "I'm sorry..." the boy whispered as he leaned closer to Al and whispered, "So, what are you studying? Something cool?"
"It's called Alkahestry." "What's Alkahestry?" The boy asked. "It's alchemy from the country, Xing." "Oh...it's from Xing, huh? But yourbrother, friend and you are already talented alchemist and our country is a powerful alchemical source. Why would you look into somethingfrom a foreign country?" he asked.
'I can't tell him I'm trying to get my body back...or that we need to fight against the Homunculi...so what do I say?' Al thought as he said, "Well Alkahestry is supposed to have a lot of medical uses and I'm just seeing if its uses could be used to save lives~"
"Wow! That's just what I'd expect an Elric brother to say!" the boy fan boyed again. "Al!" Ally and Ed shouted as they ran up to Al. "Get ready we're leaving-"The two stopped as Al said, "Quiet! This is a library! So, where are we going?" "Don't worry about it. I'll tell you on the way. For now, let's just get going. First, we have to stop at the hotel and-"Ed then looked to the side and asked, "Hey, who's this kid?" "Mr. Armor called you brother...does that mean you're the Fullmetal alchemist?" "Yeah." Ed stated with a grin as the boy shouted, "Cool! You are a little alchemist just like everyone says!" Ed then got angry as he placed a hand tothe boys head saying, "What was that? Say it again...I'll send you flying...you hear me? You're little body will go out into space..." "That's true to! You hate being called small!"
Ed had now blew a fuse as Aaliyah began to laugh. The boy then glanced to her as he said, "If these are the Elric brothers..." he then gained hearts in his eyes as he said, "Then you must be Aaliyah Martin!" "That's me alright." She stated as the boy clung onto her. "You're even more beautiful in person!"
"First you call me small...then you try to still my girlfriend?!" Before Ed could make a move, guns were pointed at his head. Ed put his hands up as a guard said, "Step away from Master Selim." "No! Don't shoot him!" Selimcried as the men removed their guns. "Master Selim? Are you Fuhrer Bradley's son?" Aaliyah asked. "Yep! That's me!" the boy smiled.
(Fuhrer's House)
Ed, Aaliyah and Al sat in the Bradley's house as Al whispered, "How did this happen?" "Blame Ally...she had to fall for the little guy." Ed muttered as Ally said, "What can I say? The boy is so cute!" Ed began to fume again as Bradley's wife said, "I'm sorry...it's just that Selim has been intoyou guys for a long time; especially Aaliyah."
"Geez I haven't noticed..." Ed muttered as Ally elbowed him. "Selim, are you interested in alchemy?" Al asked. "Yes! My dream is to practice it and after that, become a State alchemist like Ed and Ally." Ed and Ally grinned at that as Selim continued, "Then I'll be able to help my Father out as well." Ed, Al and Ally looked to the boy with saddened expressions.
"Tell me Selim...do you get along with your Father? Do you like him?" "Yeah! Of course!" "What kind of a man is he?" Ed asked. "An amazing man! Hisjob is more demanding of anyone else's in the world! He spends all day, every day thinking of the people of this country!" Ally gripped Ed's hand tightly as a scowl was placed over her features. "Of course he does." Ed stated as Al said, "His duties must keep him busy all the time." Mrs. Bradley sighed as she said, "It's true...it's something he insist upon. He's determined to work himself ragged. At his age, I wish he'd takeit easier. It's nothing new...he's always devoted to his work. That's what he's good at. But where woman are concerned, he's a bit of an oaf.The first time we met, he made me so angry I actually slapped him...but it worked out for the best. He asked me out after that and our firstdate was amazing. Oh sorry...I guess I was babbling like a school girl."
A door then opened as everyone then turned to find Bradley entering. "Dad's home!" Selim stated happily. Ed, Al and Ally kept their gazes to the man, especially Ally. "Hi, dear." Selim ran up to Bradley and tackled him in a hug. "Hello Daddy!" "Hello there my little one!" "What areyou doing back home?" Mrs. Bradley asked. "I had some free time for a change and decided to come check up on my family." Bradly then looked to Ed and the others as he said, "I also happened to hear that the Fullmetal alchemist, Fireworks and his brother were visiting." "Hello sir." Ed stated as Al said, "Long time no see." Ally just kept her glance to the man as he chuckled and said, "Long time? I just saw you at the Command, right?"
~*3*~
"So, you ran into these two at the Library, Selim?" "Yep!" Bradley drank some of his tea as Ed, Ally and Al continued to stare. "Are you wondering why he doesn't look like us?" Bradley asked as Ed and Ally held a hand up saying, "No sir, never crossed our minds." "Well, it's because we aren't related by blood."
"We were unable to have children of our own, so we adopted Selim and he's our son now." Mrs.Bradley spoke. "I'm proud of my boy. He's going to be a proud, devoted son." Bradley stated as he rubbed Selim's head. "Cut it out already,Dad! You're embarrassing me!" "But it's the truth." The two then chuckled. Ed then looked to the two with a saddened expression as Bradley asked, "What's wrong, Elric?"
"Oh! It's just that we never see you outside of work!" Al stated as Ally said, "We never get to see this side of you." "I see...but as you can see, a man like me even has a family to go home to. I'm sure, it's quite different from yours." Those few words made the three gasp. Bradley then stood as Selim said, "Awe, your leaving already?" "Yes, you know I have duties to get back to, Selim."Bradley walked to the door as he said, "Please, make yourselves at home. Your welcome anytime, State alchemists." Ally's eyes became glossed over, almost as if tears would fall as she remembered Bradley's words. Bradley shut the door and told Riza, "Let's go."
~*3*~
"Please come back and visit soon!" Selim waved as the three were heading off. "We will! See you later!" Ed, Ally and Al waved. "It's sad...neither Selim nor Mrs. Bradley know what he is..." Al muttered as Ed pulled Kari into a running sprint shouting, "Come on! We're headed north! We'll find that little obnoxious brat and make her talk!" "Yeah!" Al stated, following after.
Train*
Scar sat with the cloaked man in an empty cart. He glanced over to find the man hugging himself for warmth. "We'll be there soon; getsome sleep." Scar stated as he closed his eyes.
Next Day*
Soldiers swarmed around the cart Scar was supposed to be in. The leader opened the door and rushed in, followed by the others as theysuddenly stopped, eyes wide. They looked around only to find the place empty.
~*3*~
"I see...he managed to escape us again..." Kimblee stated as he placed the phone on the receiver. "This is an accurate map of the West area,right?" Kimblee asked, walking over to the map on the wall. "Y-yes sir!" "This is the place where he was last sighted, right here...and West cityis located here. That means Scar and Marcoh disappeared somewhere between the two places." Kimblee looked to the map as he realizedsomething. "Trains slowdown around curves, how much speed do they lose? Is it possible the two jumped off?" "It'd be dangerous but yessir, it's possible." "You don't say...alright then, after jumping off, where would they go?" Kimblee stated as he looked up and down the map."North...or South?" He placed a hand to his chin as he smirked.
No POV*
Scar and the man ran through the secluded area of the woods, heading off to their destination.
{Ending song}