A/N: Sorry for the late-ish update. I meant to have it up a couple of days ago… but I've been sick all week. :( But I'm happy atm, cause I finally got to write a scene where Ed begins to act brotherly again! ;) Well, what are you waiting for? Get reading! :P

Chapter 12-

Edward didn't like following orders. It was bad enough when he actually wanted to do what he'd been told to do, but when someone told him to do something he didn't like then Ed would generally ignore them. This applied to everyone… including the clan's Elders. That was the reason why, the next night, Edward completely avoided the scout group and went up to the surface instead. He wanted to talk to Al.

Dusk had only just fallen when Edward arrived in the same room he'd been in yesterday. This time there was only one person in the room. Mustang was probably back at work already- his wounds were nothing compared to what they used to have to fight with in the Ishval Civil War, or so Hawkeye had told him.

"Brother?" Al said happily, sitting up in his infirmary bed. Apparently Al didn't think he'd see Edward tonight.

"Alphonse," Edward greeted. It was a very formal greeting, and Al realized something was wrong immediately. His brother was never that tense, especially with him.

"What is it?" Al stood, swaying ever so slightly, and made his way over to where Ed sat on a desk by the window. Al put a hand to his head as he went. Ed watched him cautiously. So he still didn't know…

"Nothing," sighed Ed, letting the matter slide for now. It would only upset the kid anyway. "Should you really be up?" he wondered out loud. Al didn't look very stable at the moment, but at least he wasn't deathly pale anymore.

"Ah, do I detect a note of concern, Brother? You're worried about me!" Al grinned, and received a 'don't-be-ridiculous' look in return. "The doctors are surprised I've healed this fast, actually. They're even saying it's a miracle. If nothing goes wrong, I can go home tomorrow morning." Al's smile didn't fade a bit, but he still hesitated before he spoke. "Do… you want to come with me?"

"Where?" Ed asked.

"Home. Winry's staying with me at the moment, and she'd be really happy to see you too!" Al grinned at him hopefully. Edward glanced sideways at him. Why the hell was this kid always so energetic and smiley? Was he always like this? Ed shook his head, and Al blinked.

"No." the voice Ed used had a tone of finality to it. Al's face fell abruptly, and to Ed's shock he felt a lance of pain hit his chest. Al glanced down at his feet, entirely missing Ed's pained look as he clutched his heart. What the hell… Ed glanced down at himself, but he wasn't wounded. And yet, his heart was really hurting him. It was a familiar pain… extremely familiar, as if he'd lived with it every single day for years.

"Oh… that's okay!" Al looked up again with a smile, but his tone completely contradicted his words. He sounded hurt, and Ed's pain increased. This was ridiculous! What was happening to him?

Al hoisted himself up onto the desk beside Ed with a grunt of effort. "The Colonel and the others told me about the Homunculi and their attack. Is everything okay with you, Brother? Where you live?" He looked over to Ed.

"Not yet," Ed said unthinkingly. He was deep in thought, trying to figure out why the pain was so familiar. There was nothing in his memories, but he'd expected that.

"Hey, Alphonse?"

"Hmm?" Al responded.

"Those military officers… Mustang, Hawkeye, Havoc… they can take care of themselves, right? I mean, they're good at handling panic-worthy, life-and-death situations." Ed had nearly figured the strange pain out- it was on the tip of his tongue-

"Of course, they're the best at what they do," Al sounded proud. Ed blinked, sitting up straight as he suddenly recalled why the pain was familiar. It was guilt. Humans got that when they felt bad about doing something horrible to someone or something else. But Ed didn't understand how this kid had managed to make a vampire feel guilty. The image of Al's excited expression falling floated into Ed's mind, but he ignored it.

"Why do you ask, Brother?" Al inquired curiously. Ed leaned back against the wall once again.

"Because they'll need to be where they're going," he said. Al was confused.

"…Where are they going?" he wondered.

"They're going where I go," Ed responded cryptically. Alphonse didn't understand why Edward was suddenly talking in riddles.

"Really?" Al blinked. Ed just shrugged. "Can I come too?"

His older brother stared at him. "What?"

Al gulped, taken aback by his sudden sharp tone. "Well, I just thought that if they're going with you, then I wanted to go as well. Like we always used to." Al knew Edward didn't remember the all times when they'd travelled on missions together, but he couldn't help mentioning it. He wanted things to go back to normal… well, normal for them, anyway.

"No way! It's too dangerous, and you're barely healed anyway. You can barely sit up without swaying around everywhere." It was true- Al's world wouldn't stay still, and it was difficult to balance properly.

"But Brother, if the others can go, I can too!"

"No! They're all older than you!"

"That didn't stop you when you were in their team!"

"Because I'm older than you as well!"

"That's not a reason!"

"It is a reason and you know it!"

"Well, it's not a good one!"

Their brotherly bickering continued for a while, and this was the scene that presented itself to Winry when she opened the door to Al's hospital room. She grinned happily at the sight of the two brothers being so normal.

"You two are going to wake up everyone in the infirmary if you keep this up," she commented as she stepped inside, sliding the door closed for good measure.

"How'd you get in, Winry? Visiting hours must be over by now," Al asked the blonde.

Winry grinned evilly. "Let's just say I've been learning some things from Miss Hawkeye." Al blinked and Ed raised an eyebrow.

Winry glanced over to the elder of the two, but Ed wasn't giving her that awfully cold, I-really-want-to-kill-you look he'd given her that day at the automail shop. Spending time with Al seemed to have thawed him out slightly, and he was far more relaxed than ever before. Or maybe it was because he wasn't out in the middle of the day… whatever, the point was he looked mildly approachable this time.

"Hey Ed," she smiled, wondering what his response would be like. For a moment, he just stared blankly at her.

Then something seemed to click. "Winry," he replied casually. Winry's eyes narrowed dangerously, and she slowly frowned, stalking towards him until they were face-to-face.

"Did you just forget my name?" she roared, twitching slightly. Al winced, hoping she didn't kill him or do anything serious. Edward stared at her, and she furiously stared back.

Eventually, he spoke. "We've met once before, haven't we?" It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact. "Thanks for the talk, Alphonse." He abruptly jumped of the desk, landing beside Winry, and began to walk away, out the door.

"H-hold on a second!" Winry spun to face him.

"Brother, where are you going?" Al also slipped off the desk.

He called over his shoulder, "to see Mustang, Hawkeye and Havoc." He left, vanishing through the door in an oddly human manner.

"Did I say something…?" Winry asked, confused. He clearly only left because she'd arrived, and Winry had absolutely no idea why.

"I don't know," Al replied. Gradually, a small smile appeared on his lips. "But I think… he might be getting better."

It was silent in both the inner and outer office that Colonel Mustang's team currently occupied. Mustang sat alone in his inner office, not really focused on anything much other than his thoughts. His wounds were annoying, but not anything near as serious as to impair his movements. Hawkeye, Havoc, Falman and Fuery were all sitting in the outer office, with one noticeable absence. Occasionally, the shuffling of papers broke the otherwise complete silence.

Thud. Mustang glanced up, startled, to find Edward had once again simply appeared in his office. He sighed wearily.

"Fullmetal?" he turned to the teen, who was currently staring at him. Silence again enveloped the room… that was, until Ed's staring began to annoy him. Mustang's weariness quickly turned into anger.

"What?" the Colonel frowned.

Fullmetal shrugged. "You need to come with me." This time, it was Mustang's turn stare.

"Hawkeye and Havoc need to come as well," Edward coolly added, not at all self-conscious under Mustang's sudden scrutiny. It swiftly became obvious that Fullmetal wasn't willing to tell him what was going on just yet.

The young Colonel thought for a moment. Fullmetal hadn't deceived them yet, and both times the officers had followed his word had turned out to be important circumstances that they never would have discovered, if not for Fullmetal.

"Alright," Mustang spoke eventually. "Let me get my team ready." Ed said nothing.

"Everyone," the Colonel ordered, opening the door to the outer office. Four sets of eyes looked up to him in response. "There's a situation."

"What kind?" Hawkeye stood up, quickly followed by the other three. Mustang looked over to Fullmetal, who joined him at the door frame.

"Diplomatic," he said shortly, making everyone pause. They didn't get many of those, but every military officer knew that a diplomatic meeting could easily turn into combat in an instant. It was important to be aware and armed in case of such a turn of events.

"How far away?" Falman wondered as everyone nodded a quick greeting to the teenager.

"With or without a speed limit?" Fullmetal queried. Havoc smirked slightly.

"The car, then," he said. Everyone agreed as they got ready to leave- weapons loaded, protective equipment found etc. Edward briefly wondered why they were all still working late at Military Headquarters, but dismissed the thought as unimportant.

"What are the dangers involved?" Hawkeye asked, holding a gun in each hand, considering whether it would be more appropriate to take to long-range shooter or the close-range pistol.

"Well, it's basically a gigantic underground maze filled with thousands of people who really want to kill you," Edward said sarcastically. Fuery winced at the image.

After a moment more of consideration, Hawkeye decided to take them both.