For the purpose of this story, I'm just going to say that traffic lights did exist back then. Whether it's true or not is questionable but there's one in this chapter.

-----------

"It's kind of hot today. What if we took them for ice cream?" Al suggested.

"I don't even know if Havoc likes ice cream..." Breda said, sounding slightly incredulous.

"Slushies then?"

"Oh, yeah he brings those into the office and gets everything sticky."

"OK. There's a slushy stand on Bridgewood near the Farmer's Market."

"Great."

"You do recall that last time you took me out to see Breda and Havoc, Havoc tried to shoot me, don't you?"

"Brother- SHIT!" Al slammed on the breaks and Ed's chest hit the dash with a bang.

"Ed! Are you OK? Oh my God," Al reached for his brother who was clutching at his chest, throwing up his hands in annoyance when several people began honking at him. He stomped on the gas and sped toward Bridgewood.

"Al, we need to hire a chauffeur," Ed groaned.

"Hey! You didn't see that light turn red either!"

"Yes I did! I didn't say anything because I assumed you'd seen it too!"

"Whatever. We haven't even payed for this car, Ed."

Both brothers were silent. The subject was a sore spot. They were hurting for money, but since Ed refused to find someone who could stay with him, Al couldn't get a job because he wouldn't leave Ed alone. No matter how hard he tried to get Ed to see the logic of finding some kind of caretaker though, Al couldn't convince Ed because the elder Elric thought he should be the one working and supporting his younger sibling.

"There he is, trigger happy bastard!" Ed exclaimed, pointing rudely at Jean sitting near the slushy cart.

"Yeah, I know. Now be quiet while I try to parallel park."

"No wheelchair, huh?" Jean eyed Ed and his living human crutch. Ed shook his head.

"No wheelchair."

"My treat," Heymans interrupted, "What flavor does everyone want?"

"Cherry, thank you," Al said politely.

"Lime."

"Lime."

Ed and Jean stared at each other.

"Peach."

"Raspberry."

Breda rolled his eyes. "You can both have lime. Nothing bad will come of it."

Jean nodded firmly as if he'd thought that all along and Ed rolled his eyes. Breda ordered a cherry, a pina colada and two limes.

"Hey, Lieutenant, look at those pocketknives. Let's go look," Al said once Ed was settled with his slushy on the bench, Jean sitting next to it.

"Sure," Breda quickly caught on and headed across the street with the younger Elric to look at a booth selling decorated pocketknives. As soon as they were gone, Ed rolled his eyes at Jean.

"They're leaving us alone again. So we can do 'impaired male bonding', " Ed snorted. Jean laughed, rather more loudly than Ed had been expecting.

"That's exactly what they're doing," he agreed with a smile, revealing a greenish tongue.

"What are they setting us up for anyway?"

"Oh. I thought you would have caught on," Jean said.

"What?" Ed looked at him pointedly.

"Oh, nothing," Jean said slyly.

"Oh come on you trigger happy nutcase!" Ed snapped

"Trigger happy nutcase? What?"

"Hey, I tell it like it is," Ed declared.

"Like hell," Jean retorted

"So are you going to tell me?"

"You're a blockhead, you know that? They're setting us playdates because we won't go to group therapy."

"... They're. Doing. What?" Ed looked furious. Jean snorted and Ed started to mutter under his breath.

"I'm going to kill you, oh dear brother of mine."

"Aw, come on. You need therapy of some kind, you little phsycho."

Ed's jaw dropped and he sputtered. Then a gleam came into his mischievous ochre eyes.

"Hey," he hissed," Let's ditch them!"

Jean blinked and then grinned. "Here, get on," he said..

"Whoa! I'm not riding in your lap," Ed told him.

"Well think of something else. And fast!"

"Hang on, let me put a thing on the back..." Ed put his hands together and after a moment of the bench, the sidewalk and Jean's wheelchair all buzzing with alchemical energy, a little place for Ed to sit appeared on the back of Jean's wheelchair.

"It'll be too heavy," Jean protested.

"Too bad, I can't put it any lower." Ed climbed from the bench onto the back of Jean's wheelchair.

"OK, now go!"

"Where to?" Jean started to turn the wheels, leaning forward to counter balance Ed's weight.

"I have no idea!"

"Well in that case, why don't we grab some beer?" Jean turned the corner and began to pick up speed.

"Wait, you're going too fast!" Ed started sliding off and he grabbed Jean's shoulder trying to stay on. Jean hit the brakes and the two blonds knocked heads.

"Oww," Jean turned to glare at Ed.

"Sorry," Ed blushed and bit the inside of his lip.

"Just don't do it again." Jean ruffled Ed's hair. Ed raised an eyebrow but Jean was already looking the other way as he wheeled into the liquor store he'd been looking for. He'd almost passed it, too. Ed scooted back onto his platform while they were going slowly.

"Hey, man," the hairy clerk in a gray T-shirt greeted Jean.

"Hey, what's up?" Jean responded, "Could you grab me a six-pack of Asahi?"

"Sure, sure. Who's your friend?" the man asked without looking particularly interested as he legged it over to the cooler.

"Old friend. Name's Ed."

"Nice to meet you," the man said to Ed, who just nodded in return. Jean payed for the beer, then wheeled out of the store.

"Now we just gotta find somewhere to relax," Jean thought aloud.

"I've never been to this part of town," Ed admitted. Or maybe he had, he thought privately, but he hadn't been paying attention. Al must have been here before and when did his darling brother go anywhere without taking him along?

"Then just hang on!" Jean put his arms into speeding down the street, taking a right turn without stopping from the left side of the street and continuing until he and Ed found themselves in a square with some trees growing in between the concrete slabs. Under two of the trees, people with instruments were singing and laughing.

Jean parked under the biggest tree so he and Ed could get in the shade of the tree without disturbing the musicians. He lit a cigarette, opened two of the beers and handed one to Ed, who accepted it with a mixture of indifference and mild apprehension. A strange mix, but Ed was unique.

"Never had one before?" Jean smirked as the jammers took up, "Ophelia."

"Nope." Ed smirked wryly and tasted it.

He was just getting to like it when Al and Breda charged onto the square. Even from a distance, they looked sweaty and out of breath. Ed and Jean smiled at each other, but as their pursuers drew closer and the livid expressions on their faces became clearer, the blonds glanced at each other again, this time with slight worry.

Even though the eye contact had served as a form of communication, Ed still wasn't at all prepared when Jean dashed his cigarette on the concrete, set his opened beer down-

and bolted.

Ed dropped his bottle and it splashed all over the front of him before smashing on the sidewalk as Ed grabbed the back of the wheelchair. He was sliding off and hanging on for dear life with his one good hand as Jean pushed on. Ed was amazed the man didn't burn his hands on the tires as he pushed them.

Al and Breda yelled at them, but Jean had decided on his course of action and wasn't about to change it. He and Ed flew down the street and were out of sight in a minute.

-------------

Special thanks to havocmangawip for critiquing and just being helpful in general, hope you like this chapter!

R&R everyone!