Hi there! 'Nother chappie, please review!

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"Whew..." Jean said appreciatively. "Now we're really in trouble." He looked back at Ed and Ed grinned at him.

"Definitely."

"Well..." Jean was at a loss. Where should they go now?

"Hey, let's visit the colonel," he suggested mischievously.

"Uh, I don't think so..." Ed said. Jean looked at him. "I don't think he'll be very happy to see me."

"Ed! Mustang was just as, if not more, worried about you than any of the rest of us," Jean was getting close to a scolding tone.

"Yeah, well when he found us, we kinda...had a disagreement," Ed told him diplomatically.

"Like what? You guys used to fight every time you saw each other but it didn't really stop you from meeting with him."

"Yeah but... Well first of all it's none of your business," he said indignantly, thinking the man was trying to get him to spill his secrets, "And second, it wasn't a fight. He's in denial and won't let us tell him what he deserves to know and before you ask, no I'm not telling you so you can tell him."

"You're a damn stubborn brat," Jean said irritably, having just had his hopes of discovering Ed's secret dashed to pieces.

"Well," he said, "Just don't mention whatever it is and I'm sure he'll love an excuse to take a little break from work."

It soothed Ed's nerves to glide through the city, seeing it as he once had on foot. He marked changes and familiarities about the streets, parks, shops and so forth and enjoyed the warm, breezy day.

In some part of his mind, he knew this was what he wanted when he woke Al up in the middle of the night. He wanted this peaceful opportunity for observation, not to be pulled and carried to a bench where he and Al could sit and watch the people go by. He wasn't interested in the people. He wanted to see something familiar, even if it wasn't the way he remembered it.

"Check this out," Jean said as he went past the front of the white military building and around the side. "The colonel put in a ramp to his office."

Ed gaped slightly. It looked like some kind of structural support for the building, not a walkway. It was barely wide enough for both wheels on the chair to fit and was extremely steep as it went to the second floor. At the top was a wooden door that looked like it didn't fit in its frame correctly and Ed wondered who had put it in.

Ed clutched the back of the chair as hard as he could with his one good arm and tucked his good leg under the platform to try and stay on. However, as Havoc began to wheel up, leaning forward as much as humanly possible, Ed found his foot pushed straight out as the angle of the ramp almost didn't accommodate his platform.

"You make things a lot harder," Jean grunted as they neared the door. Ed didn't reply. Jean stopped the chair to dig around in his pocket for the key, keeping on hand firmly depressing the brake. He found the key and leaned forward to unlock the door. Ed twisted around to see what had caused the subtle weight shift-

And the left front wheel scooted off the edge. After that, the whole chair followed with very little hesitation.

Luck was on the blonds' sides though, because at just the moment before the wheel had scooted off, Al had turned the doorknob from the inside and started to open the door so that he clapped his hands and was able to transmute some spongy dirt things to catch the two runaways. After a moment, he lowered both boys back onto the grass as Breda and Roy followed him out the door.

Jean and Ed were both breathing hard and shaking, Ed whimpering ever-so-softly. Neither tried to sit up when Al and Breda came to stand over them angrily, hands on hips.

Jean couldn't help but grin at Breda, while Ed looked helplessly up at Alphonse.

Roy was frowning, picking up Jean's wheelchair and attempting to set it to rights.

Jean cracked up and after staring at him for a moment, Ed did too. The both of them were soon rolling around on the ground holding their stomachs they were laughing so hard.

"Brother!" Al reprimanded Ed sharply. The blond took about as much notice of that as Jean took of Roy's and Heyman's disapproving glares.

"If I were any less patient with you, I'd leave you lying there," Al growled. "You deserve it."

That only made Ed laugh harder and he rolled around until he and Jean almost had their foreheads together. Breda rolled his eyes at their giggling (as it was becoming) and motioned to Al, saying, "Let's get a donut and come back later." Donuts were Heyman's coffee.

At first, even though a minute ago he'd been threatening to leave him, Al was startled and slightly repulsed at the idea. You couldn't just leave two giddy idiots lying on the grass next to a military building in broad daylight.

And yet, the more he thought about it, he realized Ed could do alchemy and therefore was not completely helpless and Jean probably had a gun and Ed was having fun and he really wanted a jelly donut right now...

"OK."

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"Well at least they're getting along," Breda was the first to break the blissful silence. Al almost snorted jelly out his nose.

"Getting along?" he choked, then started laughing. "They're partners in crime!"

"Do you think it's actually doing them any good? I mean, getting shot at and falling off ledges and ditching their chauffeurs doesn't exactly seem like a gentle alternative to group therapy."

"As far as my brother is concerned, anything that tires him out is a good thing. And I have to say, once he thinks he's got an accomplice, he's pretty quick to attach himself. I mean," Al blushed, "I mean he doesn't cling or anything, but that's who he goes to. It's kind of sad..." he said quietly, "I used to be his accomplice. I'm not even completely sure when that changed."

Breda reached out and gave Al and awkward, hesitant pat on the upper arm. He was, in fact, a fairly sensitive person to the feelings of others, he just wasn't good at showing it.

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"Why is that ramp so narrow? That's a terrible way to get up."

"Well, the colonel didn't want enemies to be able to use it to infiltrate headquarters, so he made it narrow and he keeps the door locked. There are only two keys."

"Haven't you ever fallen off before?"

"No! I only had trouble because of all the extra weight," he said, sounding slightly indignant.

"Sure." Ed gave Jean a total I-don't-believe-it smirk. Jean raised his eyebrows almost as if saying, 'You want to bet?'

"Hmph, kid, you don't know who you're dealing with."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Ed asked.

"I'll show you. Tuesday-I'll pick you up at your place."

Ed colored and shook his head.

"Why not?"

"Got an appointment."

"Dr. Yao?"

Ed nodded.

"Hmff..." There was no more to say.

"How could you act so childish?" Al shrieked louder in frustration. His brother dind't partiuarly seem to care how angry he was. "You scared the shit out of me, disappearing like that!"

"Hey," Ed said, tuning into the 'conversation,' "How did you guys know where we were going?"

"Breda said Havoc likes to come by the colonel's office and pester him or play pranks on him when he goes out to lunch."

Ed smiled laughingly. "I wondered why he'd want to visit the colonel on a nice day like this."

Al moaned and put a hand to his forehead. "Just think what might have happened if I hadn't been there!"

Ed at least had the decency to look ashamed for a few seconds.

"If you ever do that again, I'll lock you in your room for a week."

Ed gasped, as the threat was a truly terrible one as far as he was concerned.

"That's right," Al told him. "So promise me you won't run off on me again."

"It was just a one time thing, just for fun, Al. I won't do it again."

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Thanks for reading!! Any requests for the next chapter? I'm not quite sure what it's going to be next...