Disclaimer!- I do not own any part of FMA. I really hope you enjoy my chapter 3, and PLEASE PLEEEAAAASE, review so I know if i should continue, or if its a lost cause... anyway, thanks for reading!

"Hey, Lyra, are you there?" Allen! He must be taking the trash out again.

"Hey!" I scrambled for the door. "I'm here!" I stepped out and saw him standing next to the dumpster with two large bags in his hands.

"Can you help me here?" He had a helpless grin on his face.

"Yeah, sure." I lifted the lid and let him muscle the bags in. "How long do you work tonight?"

"Um, well it's 5:30 now, so I have 4 and 1/2 hours left." He said this while scratching his head in thought.

"Oh... that's quite a while..." I was disappointed, sometimes after his shift he'd sit and talk with me for a while before going home.

"Sorry..." He said sheepishly.

"It's okay. I'll find something to do."

"I'll be sure to bring as much food as I can for you, alright?"

"Alright, it's a promise!" I waved as he turned and walked back into the bar to continue his shift. Once he was out of sight I crawled back in my tent to rest before he came back. I had transmuted a decent pillow and blanket from leftover cloth and feathers that I had collected from various birds but mainly chickens from stands in the market. It took a while because the merchants always got suspicious when their birds went crazy when I was near them...

I laid down and felt Kida curl up next to me. It took me no time at all to drift into a dreamless sleep. When I woke up it was just finishing becoming dark. It must be at least 9:30. I sat up and waited. While I was waiting I overheard yelling coming from the bar. I couldn't make out the words but I could hear raised voices. It worried me, I hoped Allen wasn't in trouble. What if it was my fault? What if they noticed him smuggling out food? It wasn't long before I heard the side door open and I held my breath. I waited to hear his voice calling for me like he did most nights. There was only silence for a good time before softly I heard, "Lyra?" It was like he was afraid to see me. I slowly crept out of my home, but stayed in the shadows to see what was wrong. He was alone with a bag in his hands. It was like usual, he would be in the alley with food waiting for me to come out. So why was he so nervous?

"Is everything okay? Did something happen?" I stood and walked over to him.

"Uh, no, nothing's wrong." He looked away as he said this.

"I heard yelling, did you get in trouble?" His face got red and his eyes got wide.

"What did you hear?" He seemed distressed and I couldn't lie to him.

"Nothing, just loud voices. What's going on?"

He looked relieved. "Nothing, I was just clumsy and broke a plate, the boss was in a bad mood so he flipped." The way he said this line seemed very rehearsed... almost like he was acting. I was getting very concerned, but I couldn't bring myself to think he lied to me.

"Okay...Did you have any trouble getting the food out here?" I sat down on the ground outside my tent. I motioned for him to do the same.

He reluctantly sat down and glanced nervously at an open window in the bar. "No, I didn't have any trouble. They didn't see me grab it." His eyes returned to the window and stayed there. I glanced at it, but didn't see anything amiss with it. He handed me the bag of food. "Hey, do you think you could go somewhere with me tomorrow? I mean if you're not busy?" at this he turned away from the window to look at me. The way he said it seemed like he wanted me to, but his eyes seemed to tell a different tale. My curiosity clouded my judgement, though, and I replied.

"Sure, where we going?" His posture didn't change, but his eyes became hollow and dull.

"We're going to meet a friend of mine. You mighta heard of him, his name is Shou Tucker."

"Alright." I knew this was a lie. He had told me everything about him and he was as alone as I was. He had mentioned Tucker only once and that was in disgust saying, 'the sewing-life alchemist never should have been allowed into the military'. Something was very wrong.

"Well I'll come meet you here around noon." He stood and the window slammed shut. He glanced at it quickly before dropping a pen he had in his pocket then crouching to pick it up. "Why did you agree to this? They were listening. I'll sneak back in an hour." All this was said very quickly as he was standing back up. I looked at him with questions all over my face, but he just shook his head and walked away. I returned to my tent

That hour was the longest in my life. Kida could tell I was stressed and bumped into my hand several times trying to get my attention and be petted. That usually calmed me down, but not this time. I was so upset. I did something wrong. I shouldn't have agreed to go with him. Who could I ask for help? The Elric brothers? No. They have the exam in the morning. I don't have anyone else. I knew there was something wrong with that Tucker guy. What can I do? What if I just don't go? Maybe that will work...

I just sat trying to think of a way out of this mess that I walked into until Allen came back.

"Hey, Lyra, are you still awake?"

I flew out of my home and practically leapt into his arms.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry." I wailed, "I didn't know what was wrong and I just wanted to figure it out."

"Hey, it's okay. I'll figure something out. I promise you'll be safe." He had embraced me and was petting my hair trying to calm me. Usually I'm good at keeping myself together, but I made a big mistake here that made problems for the only person I considered family anymore.

"What's going on?" I said between sobs.

"They found out that I was stealing food. They said I had to make up for it. They watched me come out and talk to you so they knew you were here. They said i had to invite you to that man's house because he asked a favor and they owed him." He looked at me guiltily. "I'm sorry, it's my fault they found you."

I shook my head, I had calmed down enough to stop crying. "No, no worries. Why don't we just not go tomorrow?"

"They know you're here. They'll come get you."

"I can leave..." It hit me that then they would target him, "never mind. I can't."

"You can..." He wanted me safe, but he still feared for himself too. I couldn't do that to him.

"No, we'll go and figure it out. We'll find a way to go and come back safely."

"If you're sure." He knew I could do alchemy and greatly respected me for it, and he seemed to trust my ability to figure this out despite me being 6 years younger. "I have to get back to my apartment, but you be careful tonight and watch out for any weird people around here alright?"

I nodded and said, "No problem. Kida and I will take shifts on watching for creepers!" He shook his head and laughed at me before turning and leaving once again. I had no idea then that this was the last time I'd see him leave happy.

Hope you liked it! review please!