Ed was sprawled on the couch, snoring, while Al carefully unpacked their suitcases. To be honest, after hearing the news about the kidnappings and the possibility that someone was trying to make a philosopher's stone again, Al was scared. He had been hoping that now with the homunculus gone, and his body finally returned to him, he and Ed could try living a normal life, for once. But now there was another person seeking the power of the philosopher's stone, and using the lives of state alchemists to gain it! Al was scared, mostly for his brother. He glanced at Edward, seeing that once again, he had lifted his shirt up while sleeping, exposing his stomach. Al was afraid that someone might try to harm Ed, try to take his older brother away from him. Al was determined to not let that happen. He and Ed were going to stop this criminal.
It had been almost a week since Ed and Al had started on this case, and they had gotten absolutely nowhere. They had no leads, no evidence, nothing that could help them in uncovering who was behind this mess of the philosopher's stone. Ed couldn't stand sitting in the library, getting nowhere, any longer. He stood, not wanting to let his frustration out in the library. Al looked up from his notes, expecting an outburst. Ed sighed, running his hand through the bangs in his eyes.
"I'm gonna go get something to eat," Ed mumbled. "You want anything, Al?" Al shook his head. He still had a few more things he wanted to look into before calling it a day. Ed shrugged. He picked Ross to go with him this time, since he didn't really feel like having Brosh questioning him about their progress with the case (as if there was any progress). They made their way out of the library, stepping into the orange glow of evening light as the sun began to set. Ross followed Ed, scanning their surroundings every once in a while.
"I know a great cafe just around the corner that has some really good sandwiches," Ed stated, trying to ease the tension. Ross nodded, focused on keeping Ed safe. The last time she had let him out of her sight, he had nearly gotten himself killed overreacting to all the unrefined red stone in the 5th laboratory. Ed sighed, slumping his shoulders forward a bit. He really needed to catch this guy soon, he wasn't sure how long he would last being babysat by Ross and Brosh.
Ed turned the corner onto the small street where the cafe was located, scanning the area himself in case someone would try to ambush them in this semi-deserted street. He entered the cafe with Ross, ordering two sandwiches. He knew Al had said he didn't want anything, but once he got a whiff of this delicacy, Ed knew he would change his mind. He asked Ross if she wanted something, but she declined. Ed shrugged, picking up his order. They left the cafe, and Ross braved up to asking something she had on her mind since she'd seen Ed again.
"Ed, er, I mean, Sir, permission to speak!" Ross articulated. Ed laughed at her formality with him.
"Just Ed, please, and permission granted."
"Yes, Sir, I mean, Ed. There's something I've been wanting to ask you since you arrived at Central. I'm glad to see that Al finally got his body back, but what about you? Weren't you intent on retrieving your own arm and leg?" Ed's smiled faded from his face. He had been asked that by almost everyone he'd seen again upon coming to Central. He wouldn't mind having his own flesh arm and leg back, true, but the entirety of his journey had been to restore Al. He had never given himself the luxury of thinking about himself while searching for the philosopher's stone, he just wanted Al back to normal. He knew some people hadn't understood that, when he had tried to explain it to them, especially Al, but it was his own reasoning, and he understood it, and that's all that really mattered. Ed opened his mouth to explain all of that to Ross when a hand shot out of nowhere. It landed a swift blow to the back of Ross' head, effectively knocking her out. Ed jumped back, dropping his food to transmute the plate of his automail into a blade. Ed's eyes darted around wildly, searching for the source of the attack. He knew it was the same guy who was behind the recent kidnappings, so this was Ed's chance to end it all, here and now. He heard a groan and whirled around to find Ross rubbing her head. She turned towards Ed and her eyes widened in fear. Her hand flew to her gun, trying to remove it from it's holster.
"EDWARD! BEHIND YOU!" Ross screamed. Ed spun, but an arm wrapped around his throat, and another hand placed a damp cloth over his mouth and nose. Ed gagged at the smell. He tried squirming his way out but the attacker's grip was strong. Ed tried not to breathe, but he felt himself weaken. He recognized the smell, chloroform. He felt his fingers, trying to pry off the arm around his throat, loosen their grip. Ed's eyes rolled back as he fell into darkness.
Ross stared in horror when after a few moments of struggle in the attacker's grip, Ed collapsed on the floor, motionless. Ross felt a scream build in the back of her throat, but she suppressed it, taking out her gun and pointing it at the woman in front of her. The woman smiled, the cloth with chloroform still in one hand.
"We can't have you playing with that, now, can we?" She moved incredibly fast, kicking the gun out of Ross' hand and smothering her with the chloroform. Ross fought against it, she needed to protect Edward, but her body gave in. The last thing she remembered seeing was the woman hoisting Ed up onto her shoulder, smiling as she walked away with a new victim.