A/N: Not much to say, so I guess I'll get to it.

Chapter Two:

I sat in silence on the train ride to central, deep in thought, while Winry chatted quietly with Ed.

I've only been to Central twice, and both times I was the barer of bad news. I'd need to plan a vacation here one day, just to relax. Maybe visit Roy. Maybe even with Ed-

No, no, no, I thought to myself. You need to stop thinking like that. Especially when there's so much at stake.

I stood up to take a walk and clear my head.

"Where are you going?" Ed asked.

"On a walk," I said.

"To exactly where, might I ask?" Winry asked. Her tone was nice enough, but if looks could kill; however, the look immediately vanished when Ed looked at her.

"I just need some time to think," I said. Which was true. "About this whole Tanya business." Still somewhat true. Without another word, I quickly left, though I was unsure of where I was going to go.

I ended up in one of the cargo cars, and, leaning against the wall, I slid down to the floor.

"You okay?" Someone asked.

I looked up to see Al standing in front of me.

"Al?" I asked in surprise. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be back in Resembool with Pinako!"

"I wasn't about to sit around and do nothing," he said. "I'm young, but I'm still capable."

I sighed. "Ed won't be happy about this."

"I can make my own decisions," he said.

I gave another sigh. "Well, I guess he better find out now, rather than later." Standing up, I led Al back to where we were sitting.

"Back already?" Winry asked when she saw me.

I ignored her. "Ed, I have a surprise for you, and you won't be happy about it." I stepped aside to reveal Al.

"Al? I told you to stay with Pinako!" Ed cried out.

"I'm not helpless, brother," Al said. "I want to help you."

"It's too dangerous."

"It was dangerous back when you were a State Alchemist, too, and I still came along."

"Yeah, because you had a suit of armor for a body," Ed said, crossing his arms.

"It was still dangerous," Al defended. "There was always the risk of someone finding the blood seal and destroying it. Brother, please, I want to help you."

Ed sighed and rubbed his head.

"I think you should let him stay, Ed," I said.

"What?" Winry asked. "Are you trying to get him killed?"

"No, not at all," I said. "But after what Tanya did to him, he deserves the chance to fight. Plus, we'll keep an eye on him. We could always use extra help."

Ed looked at me, then at Al, and then at the floor. Finally, he looked up. "Fine, you can stay. But-" Ed was cut off by Al cheering and hugging him. Ed smiled, but quickly pushed him back, gripping his shoulders. "But, you have to promise me to be careful, okay? Try to stick with me, too."

"Okay, brother, I promise," Al said.

"Ed, are you stupid? He's just a kid!" Winry cried out.

"He looks like a kid," Ed corrected. "But you have to remember that, technically, he's only a year younger than me."

"I'd count that if he hadn't lost his memory when you restored him, Ed," Winry said.

"He's gotten really good at alchemy, though," Ed said. Winry opened her mouth to say more, but Ed stopped her. "Look, I know you're just looking out for him, but he's my brother, so it's my job to look out for him. He's staying."

Just then, the train started to slow down. "This is it," I said, mostly to myself. I looked around at everyone. "You all ready?" The nodded. "Then let's go to the Central HQ."

We headed off the train, and Ed lead us to the Central HQ.

We walked through the busy streets, and I had more time to take in the area this time. As I looked around, I saw a figure in a dark alley. I stopped and looked. It looked like it was looking right at me, and I thought I saw a grin, but a moment later, the figure vanished, and I was left staring at an empty alley.

"Hey, what are you doing? We don't have time for sightseeing," Winry called back to me.

I looked over to see them ahead of me, staring back.

"What's wrong?" Ed asked.

"Oh, nothing, I just thought… well, it's nothing," I said, quickly catching up to them. "Is there anything down there, Ed?"

"Down that alley? As far as I know, just an abandoned bar," Ed said. "I've been there once, but they ran out of business. Didn't get enough customers, I guess."

"I see." I glanced back at the alley before it disappeared from sight, seeing it still empty. I made a quick mental note of it's location, and I returned my focus to where we were heading.

In a matter of minutes, Central HQ came into view.

"Will we be able to get in?" I asked, remembering my difficulty seeing my brother last time.

"I hope so," Ed said. "I'm not a State Alchemist anymore, but I quit recently enough to still have a few last things to take care of here. If all else fails, we wait outside for Armstrong or Havoc or someone to leave or come in and we get them to get us in."

I nodded, and took a deep breath. I didn't know why, but I was nervous. Maybe it was the thought of facing Tanya again, maybe it was the idea of seeing my brother again, I wasn't sure, but I tried my best to clear my mind.

We entered through the main doors and walked up to the first receptionist.

She looked up. "Ah, Mr. Elric, it's nice to see you again."

"You, too," Ed said. "I'm here to see Brigadier General Mustang,"

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No, but I just have a few things to take care of with him. It's very urgent, I hope you understand. State Alchemist stuff, you know?"

She nodded, though she didn't look like she knew at all. "Go right ahead, then."

"Thanks." He turned and lead us down the hall, and we eventually came to a second receptionist.

"Mr. Elric, a pleasure to see you again." It was the same woman as last time, and after smiling at Ed, she gave me a dirty look. I stuck my tongue out at her. Returning her attention to Ed, she said, "Do you have an appointment?"

"Unfortunately, no," Ed said. "But I have some very important business to take care of with the Brigadier General, just some last minute State Alchemist stuff."

"I see, well, he's in a meeting with his team, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait," she said.

"Oh, if it's just his team, it's fine, I'm sure they all miss me," Ed said, and without another word, he went straight towards Roy's door.

"Mr. Elric, I must insist you wait, please!" She called after him. Ed pointedly ignored her, and the rest of us followed his lead.

"Ma'am, I must insist that you shut the hell up," I said to the receptionist with a smirk on my face, and I followed the group into the room.

"And because of that-" Roy was saying to his team, but he stopped when we came in. "Ed what are you doing here?" Then he saw me. "Tea?" He looked confused, but then worried when he saw the look on my face. "What's wrong?"

I opened my mouth, but stopped myself. How did I want to break this to him? What exactly was I going to say? It was this kind of stuff that I wanted to figure out on the train.

"There's a, uh, problem," I finally said. "Tanya, well, she wasn't working alone. In face, she wasn't even the master mind behind all this."

"What do you mean?" Roy asked.

"Well, I had a hunch; a bad feeling, so I went back to the cave, and I found this woman," I said. "She said that Tanya was supposed to get captured. That she was going to break out of jail here, and do… something. I'm not sure what, but it can't be good. Roy, we need to do something, and we need to do something soon."

He stood up immediately. "Let's start by checking her cell." He turned to his team. "This meeting will be postponed until further noticed."

He led us out, and as I past the receptionist, I stuck my tongue out at her.

A/N: I don't think it's too much of a cliff hanger, but I hope you liked it. Sorry if it took me a while, please review!