Chapter Nineteen - Fullmetal Who?

While on his quest for answers, Nick found himself in the city of Kai which was located in the west. He wasn't certain that this small town would be of any use in his research but he'd come across a lead as to the whereabouts of Hunter and he'd decided that it was worth at least checking out. Tracking down the State Alchemist Killer had became an obsession with the boy, second only to finding the homunculus that he was responsible for creating, and as a result he took all leads concerning the man seriously.

Always a magnet for trouble it wasn't long before the young State Alchemist was faced with a definite delima. Nick was walking toward the village, from the train station, when he was suddenly attacked by the very person he was looking for.

"So brat. Did you decide that you didn't get enough of a beating in East City?"

"Something like that," Nick said in an angry voice, clasping his hands together and transmuting a spear.

"You intend to fight." The man's voice was filled with disbelief as he gazed at the weapon that the boy was now holding in his hand.

Determination shone bright in the young boy's golden eyes as he gazed at his enemy. He would not back down, no matter the odds. "Yes I do."

"Foolish child. You truly deserve the fate that I have in mind for you."

And with that the fight commenced.

Nick was much better prepared for this fight and he managed to hold his own against his opponent for awhile. However he'd been involved in many battles as of late and he still hadn't fully recovered from them. He was tired and injured and neither of those things was good considering his opponent.

"Good job boy, but I'm afraid that your luck's about to run out."

The transmutation circles on the man's biceps began to glow.

"Oh crap!"

Nick knew what the glowing transmutation circles meant and he attempted to get out of the way of the impending blast. His anticipation of the attack gave him time to avoid the brunt of it but he was unable to avoid the debris thrown by the blast. A large rock caught him in the side of the head, causing his world to spin out of control.

"Uhn," Nick moaned, sinking to the ground.

"Now to finish the job."

Dazed by the pain in his head Nick was physically unable to do anything to protect himself from the mad man who called himself a champion of the people. Hunter began walking toward the boy, intent on doing away with him for good, when he heard the sound of people. And they were heading in his direction. It was impossible to tell just how many people were approaching and Hunter knew that he would be forced to withdrawn for now. He couldn't afford to be caught at least not before his mission was complete.

Hunter growled in frustration.

"You've been granted yet another reprieve boy. But your luck won't hold out forever."

And with that the man ran.

"Well what have we here?"

The man knelt down beside the unconscious boy, who was lying face down on the ground. The old man gently rolled the boy over onto his back and discovered to his great relief that the child was just unconscious. He gently shook the kid's shoulder. "Wake up son."

Nick remained motionless.

"Is he okay Tom?"

"I think so honey," the man said to his wife. "He's just unconscious. By the size of the bump on the side of his head I'd say he took a pretty strong blow to the head."

The man named Tom picked up the limp boy. "I think we should look after him until he regains consciousness. We'll decide to do with him after that."

The woman nodded and the couple headed toward their house

"What the heck?" Nick mumbled as he opened his eyes. Which turned out to not be such a hot idea since his head was throbbing and the sudden light made it ten times worse. The boy grimaced and grasped his head in his hands. The boy gazed around the room he was now lying in, having absolutely no idea where he was or how he had came to be here. The cause of his tremendous headache was also a mystery.

"So you're awake," Tom said as he entered the room where his young guest was lying. "Welcome back to the world of the living."

"Where am I?" Nick asked, his eyes shifting to the face of the man that he did not know.

"You're in Kai," Tom told him in a kind voice. "My wife Lily and I found you lying unconscious on the side of the road just outside of town while we were on our way to the train station. We brought you to our home so that you could recover. That was nearly three hours ago."

"Really?" Nick asked, confusion contained in his voice. "I wonder what happened."

"Don't you know?" Lily asked in a kind voice.

Nick shook his head, which he immediately regretted as his head began to pound even harder. It was like someone was playing a bass drum beside his brain and it was really annoying. Nick gripped his head and felt the large bump. "What in the world could have happened to me? And why don't I remember it?"

"Well I'm sure it'll come back to you," Tom said. "My name's Tom Holt and this is my wife Lily. What's your name?"

Nick stared at the man, a strange look on his face. It was a simple enough question and yet the boy found himself unable to give the man a reply. "I. . .I'm not exactly sure."

"Honey," Lily said. "This isn't good."

Tom gazed at the boy, a sympathetic look in his eyes. "Well I'm sure you're memory will come back to you in no time. In the meantime we'll have to find someone to take care of you."

"That won't be necessary," Nick said, feeling a sense of independence take over. He didn't need a baby-sitter. The boy didn't remember who he was or why he was here however he knew, without really knowing how he knew, that he could take care of himself. "I can take care of myself."

"Nonsense," Tom said. "I'll call Mr. Faulkner. He runs the local orphanage and I'm sure that he'll be more than happy to look after you until your parents can be located."

Too weak to protest further Nick lay back down on the bed and quietly awaited his fate.

Two hours later Nick found himself surrounded by a group of strange children and an oddly angry looking man who looked to be in his late forties. He was Mr. Faulkner, the man who ran the orphanage in Kai. The man had been nice enough while Tom and Lily Holt were there but as soon as they left his demeanor did an abrupt about face. His expression went from all smiles to an angry sneer.

"Just what I needed," Mr. Faulkner grumbled as though none of the children were even present. "Another noisy brat."

Nick stared at the man, who didn't really seem like the type of person who should be in charge of children.

"And this one doesn't even know his own name," Mr. Faulkner's rants continued. "That means I'm stuck with him indefinitely."

Nick stood with his hands in his pockets, not really paying any attention to Mr. Faulkner's rants. For some unknown reason the man's angry words had absolutely no affect on him.

"I must be used to it or something," Nick thought to himself. "That's a scary thought."

Mr. Faulkner's rants were put on hold when he spied a silver chain attached to Nick's belt. "What's that boy?"

Nick followed Mr. Faulkner's gaze and pulled the silver pocket watch from the depths of his pocket. He held it up and was surprised when Mr. Faulkner gasped at the sight of it.

"Where did you get that?!"

Nick shrugged, gazing at the watch which had the design of a chimera and a six pointed star on the top.

"Those watches are possessed only by State Alchemists. Did you steal it?"

"No," Nick said defiantly.

"How do you know? Have you regained your memories?"

Nick shook his head, wishing that he knew who he was but unable to grasp that information.

"Then how do you know that you didn't steal it?"

"I'm not a thief."

Mr. Faulkner walked over to the boy and grabbed the chain of the silver pocket watch. He jerked the watch out of the kid's hand and placed it in his own pocket. "I'll just hold onto this until we find out where you came from and what we are to do with you."

"Give that back!"

Mr. Faulkner's eyes widened. "Impudent whelp! How dare you use that tone with me." The man raised his hand and slapped Nick across the face. Nick was forced to take a step back to avoid being knocked down by the force of the blow but he continued to stare defiantly up at the man.

Mr. Faulkner raised his hand again, preparing to deal a second blow.

A young girl stepped forward and grabbed Nick by the arm. She pulled him back, into the group of children and away from their angry caretaker. Nick allowed himself to be pulled back by the girl, but his gaze remained defiant.

Mr. Faulkner decided to let the boy go. He turned and headed back inside the orphanage, leaving the group of children outside alone.

Once the man was gone the girl tuned to Nick. "You should watch your step around him. He's dangerous."

Nick shrugged. He wasn't afraid of that man. He wasn't sure why he felt that way but something inside him seemed to be telling him that he faced people a lot scarier than Mr. Faulkner on a daily basis.

"I'm Maiyumi," the girl told him. "What's your name?"

"I have no clue," Nick said.

"You don't even know your own name?" Maiyumi asked.

Nick shook his head. "I can't remember what it is. I've tried but I can't."

"I'm sorry," Maiyumi said. "So then you don't know why you were in possession of a State Alchemist's pocket watch?"

Once again, Nick shook his head. "No idea."

"Maybe your dad's a State Alchemist," Maiyumi suggested, hoping to cheer the boy up.

"It's a possibility I suppose," Nick said although he sounded doubtful. "However I'm less concerned with who I am and more concerned about how I'm gonna escape this place."

"Don't even try it," Maiyumi said, her voice filled with concern. "It's impossible to escape from this place and if you try you'll be sorry. Believe me, I've seen enough other children try it to know what I'm talking about. No one ever makes it and those who attempt it are severely punished. It's impossible."

"Impossible huh?" Nick said thoughtfully. Nothing was impossible, merely improbable and Nick wasn't one to give up on something just because someone told him that it was impossible. "No such thing. I'm going to escape, mark my words."

Maiyumi looked scared but she held her tongue. Maybe this strange youth really could pull off what no one else had ever been able to. There was something decidedly different about him, no doubt about it. He wasn't like the other kids his age. He had a maturity that the others didn't possess.

"He must have had a hard life," Maiyumi thought to herself as she stared at Nick. "I wonder what he must have endured to get that steely look in his golden eyes."

Nick had been in Kai for nearly a week and his head injury had fully healed during this span of time. Now he was plotting how he would escape from the orphanage from hell. He had no intention of staying until his memory returned but he knew that his escape must be well thought out. He knew that he couldn't go off half-cocked or else he would most surely be caught. His escape would be perfectly planned and once he was free and had his memory back he would be sure to tell someone what life at the orphanage was really like. About how Mr. Faulkner changed when there was no one around to monitor his behavior.

During his incarceration at the orphanage, Maiyumi became Nick's constant companion. She seemed to have made it her self appointed mission to keep Nick out of trouble. Not that Nick minded her company. The other children at the orphanage had little use for him and it was nice to have someone to talk to, since everyone would think he was even weirder if they saw him talking to himself.

Mr. Faulkner continued to disdain the very sight of the boy and Nick did absolutely nothing to improve the man's opinion of him. He flat out refused to suck up to the man like the other children did. Quite the opposite. Nick exchanged angry words with the man every time they were near one another, which only served to get him into trouble.

Meanwhile, in Central, Col. Havoc was sitting in his office, doing absolutely nothing except avoiding the stack of paperwork on his desk, when he heard a knock on the door. Overjoyed to have a legitimate reason not to do his job the colonel smiled broadly as his gaze shifted toward the door. "Come in."

The door opened and in walked Second Lieutenant Jason Griffon. "Sorry to interrupt you sir but this package just arrived and I wasn't sure what to do with it."

Col. Havoc rolled his eyes. Why did he always get the 'brilliant' subordinates? "You give it to the person it's addressed to."

"That's the problem sir," Lt. Griffon said, completely unphased by the sarcasm that had been barely hidden in his superior's words. "Whoever sent it apparently didn't know who they were sending it to. The address just says State Military, Central HQ."

"Give it to me," Col. Havoc said.

Lt. Griffon handed a small box to Col. Havoc.

"Kai," Col. Havoc mumbled to himself as he examined the package. "That's where Fullmetal was going."

His curiosity aroused, Col. Havoc opened the package. He gasped when he pulled out the box's contents. A silver pocket watch with the emblem of the State emblazoned on the front.

"Nick," Col. Havoc gasped as he gazed down at the watch lying in the palm of his hand. There could be no doubt which State Alchemist the watch belonged to. Nick was the only State Alchemist that couldn't be accounted for and Havoc was relatively sure that if the watch belonged to any of the other State Alchemists they would have reported it missing.

"Something bad's happened to him," Havoc thought to himself. "I know it."

Col. Havoc jumped to his feet.

"Lt. Griffon you're dismissed." Grabbing the box that the watch had been delivered in Havoc left his office and ran down the hall toward the Fuhrer's office. He knocked on the door, a little harder than he'd intended to.

"Enter," a voice called out from within.

Havoc opened the door and entered the Fuhrer's office. Mustang was sitting behind his desk and Col. Havoc quickly walked over to him.

"What's the problem Colonel Havoc?" Mustang asked as Havoc came to a stop in front of his desk.

"I'd like your permission to travel to Kai, sir."

"What's in Kai?" Mustang wanted to know.

"My subordinate." Havoc placed the box on Mustang's desk. "This came in today's mail and this was inside it."

Havoc held up the silver pocket watch.

"Who sent it?' Mustang asked.

Havoc shook his head, unable to answer that particular question. "I don't know who sent it but it's strange. They didn't even know who to send it to. It was simply addressed to Central HQ. Lt. Griffon brought it to me because he didn't know what to do with it. But I do know that Fullmetal was definitely on his way to Kai."

"And why was he headed there?"

"To do research," Col. Havoc replied. "At least that's what he told me."

"Let's test that theory shall we?" Mustang stood up and walked toward the door.

Havoc followed him.

Mustang led the way out of his office, with Havoc following close on his heels and the two officers proceeded to walk down the hall, toward the exit.

"Where are we going sir?"

Mustang didn't reply, he simply kept walking. Only when they were out in the courtyard, behind Central HQ did he stop. That's when Havoc noticed a young girl standing beside a fountain.

"Kaori."

The girl looked up. "Yea Dad?"

"Col. Havoc and I would like a word."

The girl nodded and walked over to the spot where the two military officers stood. The fact that her dad and the colonel wanted to talk to her was slightly confusing however she hid her confusion well as she came to stand in front of them. "So what did you wanna talk to me about?"

"Nicholas," Mustang replied.

Kaori was instantly nervous. "What about him?"

"Why exactly did he travel to Kai?"

"To do research," Kaori replied quickly, perhaps too quickly.

Mustang's eyes narrowed. "Yea, that's what he said as well but I don't buy it. I want to know the real reason behind Fullmetal's trip to Kai and you know what it is. I'm sure of it."

Kaori hesitated, unsure of what she should do.

"Come on Kaori," Havoc pleaded. "I need to know why he went there and I need to know now. I received a State Alchemist's pocket watch in the mail today, from Kai, and I have every reason to believe that the watch belongs to Nicholas. So if you know something, please tell me."

Kaori gasped, a horrified expression on her face.

"What is it Kaori?" Mustang prompted.

"Nick made me promise that I wouldn't say anything but if he's in trouble I can't keep that promise." Kaori's voice was soft and there were tears glistening in her eyes. "I didn't want him to go but there was no talking him out of it. He'd heard a rumor that Hunter, the State Alchemist Killer, grew up in Kai and that he might have family there and since it was the only lead he had he decided that it was worth checking into."

"Well Col. Havoc I think you'd better get two tickets on the next train bound for Kai. It seems we've once again got an AWOL State Alchemist to track down."

"Yes sir."

Having begun to spend the vast majority of their time together Nick and Maiyumi were sitting alone at a table in the orphanage cafeteria, talking quietly and minding their own business, when they were approached by an extremely angry looking Mr. Faulkner.

"I wonder what his problem is." Nick thought to himself as he calmly watched the man's approach.

Mr. Faulkner came to a stop beside the table where the two kids sat and he glared down at them menacingly.

Maiyumi cowered at the sight of him, as did most of the orphanage's long term residents, but Nick held his ground. He refused to be intimidated by that tyrant of a man.

"I know you did it," Mr. Faulkner hissed, glaring angrily at the boy.

"Did what?" Nick asked in a bored voice.

The boy's indifferent tone only served as fuel for the fire that was Mr. Faulkner's anger. "The watch is gone. And I know you took it."

An evil glint appeared in Nick's eyes. "Watch? What watch?"

Mr. Faulkner's face turned bright red. "The watch I confiscated from you the day you arrived here."

"Oh that watch," Nick said, maintaining his indifferent tone. "Haven't seen it. Sorry. You know you really should be more careful with things that don't belong to you."

"Why you little. . ."

Mr. Faulkner made a move to grab Nick by the collar of his shirt but the boy was too quick for him. Nick jumped from his chair and sidestepped out of the way of the man's grasp.

The boy's sudden (and completely unexpected) move caused Mr. Faulkner to lose his balance. The man stumbled and, unable to recover his balance, he fell to the floor face first.

Nick smirked as he watched the man struggle to get to his feet. "Pitiful."

His face now so red that it perfectly matched the color of Nick's coat, Mr. Faulkner took a few steps toward the boy. Nick stood watching the man's approach, completely un-phased.

"Ooh," Nick said with a smirk. "Terrifying."

"You'll regret defying me boy," Mr. Faulkner said in a low, threatening tone.

Maiyumi had, up until this point, been cowering in her chair but she knew from past experience that Nick had pushed Mr. Faulkner too far and would soon suffer for it. And all because of something that he hadn't even done.

"I can't let that happen," the girl thought to herself. "I won't let that happen."

Summoning up all of her courage, Maiyumi jumped to her feet. "He didn't take the watch!"

Mr. Faulkner turned his attention away from Nick and turned it toward the girl. "How do you know that girl?"

"Because I did."

Nick gasped, totally shocked by the girl's declaration. He'd known, of course, that he wasn't the one who'd swiped the watch but he hadn't expected the real culprit to be that young girl. She seemed much too timid and way to scared of Faulkner to risk doing something like that.

"YOU took it?" Mr. Faulkner asked incredulously.

Maiyumi nodded. "I'd planned to send the watch and a letter explaining the situation to the military but my work was interrupted so I only had time to stuff the watch in a box and address it to Central. I mailed it to the headquarters of the State Military, hoping that maybe one of them would recognize it and come to Kai. Then Nick could find out who he is and get out of this Hellhole."

"How dare you," Mr. Faulkner hissed.

The man took a few steps toward the girl. His hand shot up, preparing to strike the girl but suddenly the boy ran over and grabbed her by the hand.

"Come on stupid," Nick said, pulling the girl out of the way of the man's blow. "Don't just stand there and let

him hit you."

Maiyumi allowed Nick to pull her along and the two kids ran from the cafeteria.

"Come back here you little brats!" Mr. Faulkner yelled, giving chase.

"Yea right," Nick said as he pulled Maiyumi along behind him. "Like that's gonna happen. Honestly, has anyone ever been stupid enough to obey a command like that?"

The two kids managed to make it outside, and under normal circumstances Nick would have been able to escape but the girl that he was pulling along behind slowed him considerably. Mr. Faulkner caught up with the two kids near the western boundary of the orphanage property and he grabbed Maiyumi by the arm. He pulled her toward him and Nick was forced to release his grip on her other arm so that it wouldn't be jerked out of socket.

Maiyumi screamed.

"Let her go," Nick demanded.

Mr. Faulkner smirked. "Like I'm gonna take orders from a little kid."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!!"

Nick instinctively clasped his hands together and dropped to his knees. The boy placed his hands to the ground and watched as a staff rose from the ground, amidst a spray of blue sparks.

Nick grabbed the staff and pointed it at Mr. Faulkner. "Okay, let's try this again. Let the girl go."

Mr. Faulkner's eyes widened but he made an attempt to act brave. "You won't do anything to me. You don't have the guts."

Nick's eyes narrowed and he raised the staff a little higher.

Fortunately for Mr. Faulkner, he wouldn't have to find out whether or not Nick had the guts to do anything with the staff that he held.

"What's going on here?" a stern voice called out from a short distance away.

The group turned toward the sound of the voice and they saw two men walking toward them, dressed in military blue.

Nick's eyes widened as the two men approached. Then they quickly narrowed as his gaze focused on Mustang. Recognition hit him like a ton of bricks. That was a face that he would never forget, no matter how traumatic the head injury. "YOU!"

"What are you doing Fullmetal?" Mustang asked.

"Well I was about to kick this guy's ass until the two of you showed up."

"Causing trouble as usual huh Chief?" Col. Havoc said, shaking his head in disapproval and yet unable to disguise the slight note of relief in his voice. "So tell me. Why didn't you check in? And why did you mail your watch to Central?"

"I didn't," Nick said. "That girl over there did. And I didn't check in because I forgot that I had to?"

Havoc's jaw dropped. "You forgot you had to?"

Nick nodded.

"How can you forget something like that?" Havoc demanded. "After all the time you've spent away from Central please don't tell me that's the best excuse you could come up with."

"It's the truth," Nick asserted.

"And I reiterate, how can you forget something like that?"

Nick hesitated, not wanting to go into the details because they involved the State Alchemist killer. But thankfully he didn't have to. For once Mr. Faulkner proved himself useful.

"Uh pardon the interruption," Mr. Faulkner said, releasing his grip on Maiyumi's arm. "But I think you should be arresting that boy, not talking to him."

"And why would we do that?" Mustang asked.

"The boy attacked me," Mr. Faulkner said, casting a triumphant gaze in Nick's direction.

Col. Havoc turned to face Nick. "Is that true Fullmetal? Did you attack him?"

"No," Nick said, turning to glare at the man, whom he heartily disliked. "I never laid a finger on him. And even if I had, he struck me five minutes after we met so if anything happened after that he instigated it."

"I see," Mustang said. "So do you wish to press charges?"

"You bet I do," Mr. Faulkner said.

"Not you," Mustang said shortly, glaring at the man who was wasting his valuable time with his stupidity. "Him."

Mr. Faulkner's jaw dropped.

Nick held a thoughtful expression on his face for a few moments and then shook his head. "No. But you should find someone else to run the orphanage. This man has no business caring for children."

Mustang nodded and turned to Mr. Faulkner. "Consider yourself lucky that Nick doesn't want to press charges. It's a serious offense to attack a State Alchemist."

"S. . .State Alchemist?" Mr. Faulkner stammered. "Him?"

Nick nodded. "And speaking of, Col. Havoc do you have my watch?"

Havoc nodded and pulled the watch from his pocket. "Here you go Chief. Now try to keep track of it this time." Havoc tossed the watch to the boy, who caught it and clipped the chain back to his belt loop. Then he placed the watch back in his pocket.

Maiyumi was standing a few feet away from the group, looking stunned, when Nick walked over to her.

"Hello Maiyumi," Nick said with a smile. "I don't believe we've been properly introduced. I'm Nicholas Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist."

Maiyumi returned the boy's smile. "Pleased to meet you Nicholas. I'm glad you got your memories back."

"And it was all thanks to you. You took a big risk by helping me and I'm grateful. Is there anything I can do to repay you?"

Maiyumi shook her head. "No need. You've already done more than I could have hoped for. That is, if your military friends can really get rid of Faulkner like you asked them to."

"Oh I assure you, they can." Nick pointed at Mustang. "He may not look like it and he definitely doesn't act like it but this guy is the Fuhrer."

Maiyumi's eyes widened. "Fuhrer Mustang?"

Mustang nodded. "I can assure you that this man will trouble you no longer."

"Thank you sir."

Mustang smiled at the girl. "I think I'm the one who should be thanking you. Had it not been for you I would still be short one State Alchemist. Thank you."

Nick smirked. "Ahhh isn't that sweet? He really does care."

"Of course I care," Mustang said. "It would be a real pain in the ass to train a replacement for you."

"That was harsh," Nick said.

"Col. Havoc."

"Yes sir?"

"Stay here and keep an eye on things while I find someone around here that's fit to run the orphanage."

Col. Havoc saluted.

"You can't do this," Mr. Faulkner said angrily.

Mustang turned toward the man and smirked. "Think not? You have two choices. You can resign and leave of your own free will or I can have you arrested for assault on a State Alchemist. Your choice. However I can assure you that the accommodations in State Prison are worse than the ones you've forced upon these children. Much worse. So choose wisely."

Mr. Faulkner balled his fists and for a moment it looked as though he planned to fight Mustang. Then he abruptly lowered his hands, growled low in his throat and stalked off.

"Aw," Nick whined, a disappointed expression appearing on his face. "I was hoping he'd put up a fight. I wanted to see the Flame Alchemist in action."

"Behave yourself Fullmetal," Col. Havoc said reproachfully, although to be completely honest he'd wanted to see his commanding officer in action as well. It had been quite some time since Mustang had used his alchemy in battle.

"Alright Col. Havoc you're in charge until I return." And with that Mustang turned and walked away, leaving Col. Havoc with twenty-five children and Nick, who was worse than all the others combined.

"Alright kids," Col. Havoc said, turning to the children who'd all emerged from the orphanage cafeteria to see who their visitor was. "All I ask is that you don't burn the place down before Fuhrer Mustang comes back with Faulkner's replacement."

"Is that all?" Nick asked.

"You be quiet," Col. Havoc said, turning to glare at his young subordinate. "I can still have you court-martialed for going AWOL."

"But I wasn't AWOL," Nick pointed out. "You gave me permission to travel to Kai."

Col. Havoc nodded. "Okay, I'll give you that one. But I could court-martial you for lying to your superior."

"Huh?"

"I know that you came to Kai in search of the State Alchemist Killer or his relatives, not to do research as you claimed when you made your request for permission for this trip."

"Kaori," Nick said. "I can't believe she told you. I made her promise not to."

"You shouldn't blame her," Col. Havoc said. "We'd just received your pocket watch in the mail and she knew who you were after and she was worried. She thought she was doing you a favor."

"And in a way I suppose she was," Nick was forced to admit. "If Mustang hadn't showed up I might never have regained my memories. So I suppose I owe her one." Nick held a thoughtful expression on his face for a few moments. "Hey Colonel."

"What is it now Fullmetal?"

"Promise that you won't court-martial me and I'll tell you an interesting bit of information that I picked up before my unfortunate head injury and subsequent incarceration in this hellhole."

"And what might that be?" Col. Havoc asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Hunter does have some connection with this town," Nick informed his superior.

"And how exactly do you know this?"

"He was here," Nick said.

"You saw him?" Havoc asked.

Nick rubbed his head, where the rock had struck him. "Saw him, felt him. Oh yea, I got up close and personal."

"Tell me what happened," Col. Havoc ordered.

Nick took a deep breath.

"It was right after I got off the train," Nick said, concentrating on the memories that were still somewhat fuzzy. "I was walking down the road, toward the village, when he just showed up. He once again stated that he was determined to kill me and we fought. He used his alchemy, and although I managed to escape the brunt of the blast, I was struck in the head by a rock that was hurled by the force of the blast. The blow must have knocked me unconscious and when I awoke I was in the home of an elderly couple and I couldn't remember who I was or why I was in this town."

"So why didn't he finish you off while you were unconscious?"

"My guess is that Tom Holt and his wife came along before he had the chance," Nick said. "Hunter must have heard them and ran away."

Col. Havoc shook his head, staring in amazement at his young subordinate. "You really must have a lucky streak."

Nick rolled his eyes, thinking about all that he'd endured since he arrived in Kai. "Oh yea, I'm the luckiest person alive."

"One of them anyway," Col. Havoc said, choosing to ignore the sarcasm in the boy's voice. "Think about it kid. You've now survived two run-ins with the State Alchemist Killer."

"Have it your way," Nick said, choosing to give up the argument. Little did Havoc know he had survived more than two encounters with Hunter, however he wasn't about to tell that to his superior. That would be almost like asking to be court-martialed.

About an hour later Mustang returned to the orphanage, and he was followed by an older man. As the two approached, Nick recognized the man who was following Mustang. It was Tom Holt, the man who'd inadvertently saved him from Hunter's wrath. Nick was happy about the choice that Mustang had made. Holt had been kind to him and had probably saved his life so Nick knew that the man would take care of the orphans far better than that other jerk.

"Hello there young man," Mr. Holt said as he and Mustang came to a stop in front of Col. Havoc and Nick. "Never would have pictured you as a State Alchemist. But I'm happy that you've regained your memory."

"Thank you," Nick said quietly.

"Children," Mustang said, instantly gaining the attention of the group of children that were gathered outside the orphanage. "This is Mr. Holt and he has agreed to assume responsibility for the orphanage. I expect for you to show him the respect he's due."

"Yes sir," the group of children chorused.

"Very good," Mustang said. Then he turned back to Mr. Holt. "I'll come back in a few months to check up and see how things are going."

Mr. Holt nodded. "Thank you Fuhrer Mustang."

Mustang nodded and then turned to face his two subordinates. "Come on. Let's head back to Central."

Col. Havoc and Nick both nodded and turned to follow Mustang to the train station.

The group returned to Central and things returned to normal. Or at least as normal as it was possible for them to get.

A/N - and thus ends another chapter. Poor Nick, he has the same lousy luck that his father had. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and share your thoughts. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.