A/N: The story's actually moving along now yay! I plan on going back through and editing the story as a whole once it is completed. I may change things around, get rid of the teaser chapter, or move sections as I see fit to make the story flow better. Let me know if you have any suggestions or if I need to go back and edit better. Sometimes my brain and spell check take a vacation and typos slip through. As always, it's appreciated.

x x x x x

Mustang ducked out the door and the nurse came in to check Ed's vitals. After announcing he was getting back to normal, she left and he was left alone in the room. Ed more or less pouted for the ten minutes it took his brother to get back to him. As soon as Al entered the room, it was apparent that Mustang had left without saying to him. Al's eyes lit up upon seeing his older brother sitting up, very much awake, even if he did look a little upset.

"Brother! You're finally up!" Al smiled wide and crossed the room. One arm was up in a sling, so he used his good arm to move a chair next to the bed. Apart from the sling and a small cut on the young alchemist's cheek, there appeared to be nothing wrong with him.

"Sorry I wasn't here when you got up. I got hungry waiting. Winry should be here by tomorrow, too!" He was his usual, animated self.

"Yeah? Is that who took my arm?" Al nodded in response.

"It was banged up pretty bad. She took it back to Risembul to get some parts for it."

"Let's get out of here, then. Maybe we can meet her in Risembul." Al frowned at this and shook his head.

"No way. You're still hurt. The doctors won't let you out for a couple of days, at least."

"Oh, come on. You know how much I hate these places. Besides, once we're in Risembul, we can relax." For a moment, it looked like Al was considering the proposition. Then he shook his head again.

"There's no way you can get out right now. Even if you convinced the doctors to let you go, I think the General would kill you."

"Huh, what General?"

"General Mustang. He said that even though you were M.I.A. for a while, you're still in the military under his command." Ed started fuming. "And he said that he wanted you kept here until you can get around on your own."

"I can get around fine!" Ed protested, furious that the man that had pretended to be oh-so-worried about him was keeping him trapped in a hospital. Al looked skeptical.

"Even with the deep laceration in your side?" Ed looked down and saw a large white bandage covering his lower right torso and side. He sighed, knowing there was no way to get out of there immediately.

"You're lucky it didn't hit any organs. You should pay more attention to your injuries and not just rush out of the hospital before you're ready." Ed had stopped listening. He was back to sulking. Al decided it was best to change the subject.

"Are you hungry? I could grab you something and bring it up," he offered. Ed nodded.

"Yeah, thanks. I'm starving." Ed laid back down and started sorting things out in his head. He was still horribly confused over what exactly Mustang, the General, was attempting to do. On the bright side, he would see Winry again. She was almost always a Hell of a lot less perplexing than that man. Not too much later, Al returned with some food. Ed had become aware of how badly his stomach was gurgling and vaguely wondered how long he had been out for. It had been long enough for Al to be released and Winry to take his arm. He figured it didn't matter that much as long as he got out soon.