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Trackers

Chapter 2

With their stuff abandoned in their hotel room, Ed and Al were walking side by side down the sidewalk. They were only in Central one time before this, but that one time was well spent. Not only did they track their criminal down but they also memorized the layout of the city so they knew where everything was, including Central Headquarters. It was essential to their job to know the layout of the area they were in. If they didn't then they couldn't do their job right.

The Trackers are to track down whoever they are hired to look for. It can be a kid, a pet, a criminal, an escape convict, anyone really. Just name the right price for the job and they'll help. The right price means just that. It can't be nothing more or less than what the job calls for. If the job turns out harder than believed, the clients have to pay more. If it is easier, they pay less. It was only fair after all. The Trackers aren't crooks.

Trackers came into existence four years ago. They have never failed at a job. A phone number was all that anyone had of them. They would come to you after they got the call that someone had a job for them. That was all that anybody knew about them. No one knew how many Trackers there were. No one knew their names or ages, except for the clients because it is impossible to hide one's age. But the names were still hidden. Not even the clients get the names of the ones that they hire. It was most likely for security reasons. With no one knowing who they are then they can't be hunted down when not on the job for revenge. The only way for them to find them would be by their looks. Which was dangerous since no one else looked like them. Gold hair and eyes was an almost extinct look. Besides their father, they were the only ones with that hair and eye color. But luck was on their side since only the residents of their hometown knew where they lived, and Winry and her grandma are the only ones that know they are the Trackers. The only reason they know is so they can help create cover stories for them and the fact that they are practically family to them.

Pushing himself through the crowds, Ed noticed with annoyance that the sidewalk was crowded with more people than ever. He hated being in crowds. Crowds were the perfect way to pickpocket someone. And the only reason he knows that is because he's had it happen to him before. He's never done it himself. Al would be very upset with him if he did pickpocket someone. Behind him he heard Al sigh as he pushed more people out of his way.

When they reached Central Headquarters, Ed and Al stopped across the street from it. They weren't paranoid. They just wanted to make sure it was safe to be walking onto a military base. They tried to avoid the military because they didn't trust them. But the military looking to hire them was intriguing. Why would the strongest military in the world want to hire two outsiders?

Soldiers were here and there but it looked like most of the soldiers were inside. Two guards stood at the gate. It seemed like a normal day, but Ed and Al weren't sure. They didn't know what a normal day was like on a military base since they weren't military and avoided military bases like it was the plague.

"They don't know when we are supposed to arrive." Al murmured.

"Let's go." Ed said after a few more minutes of watching. "The guards saw us. We don't want them thinking we are scoping out the area because we are planning an attack on headquarters."

The guards tensed when the brothers caused the road and stopped in front of them. They were probably new soldiers. From their stripes and stars on their uniforms, it could be seen that they were Corporals.

"Hi!" Al greeted with a wave and friendly grin. He, unlike his brother, was kind and tried to treat people nicely all the time. There was only one major way to get on his bad side. And when that happened, well, he was as bad as his brother when he was called short.

"What do you kids want?" One of the Corporals asked suspiciously.

"We have a meeting with Colonel Mustang. I'm Fullmetal." Ed explained, pointing a thumb at himself.

The Corporals shared a doubtful look. "What does a Colonel want with a kid?"

"That is none of your business." Ed snapped in annoyance. "Just show us to his office."

"You go. I'll stay here." The second Corporal decided.

"What a joy." The first Corporal mumbled sarcastically. "Follow me and keep up. I'm not stopping for you."

Ed shoved his hands in his pockets as he followed the Corporal with a frown. "Don't you look down on us just because we're kids. We can take care of ourselves just fine."

"Brother, please." Al pleaded, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Stay calm."

"I am calm." Ed snapped, pushing Al's hand off his shoulder. He loved his brother dearly, but that calm attitude of his annoyed him sometimes. Couldn't Al just let him release his annoyance and anger once in a while?

Al narrowed his eyes in a bland, bored way. "You don't seem like it. Why is it always like this? When on the job you are completely calm, serious, and professional, but outside the job you are so easily angered, annoyed, and childish. Nothing wrong with childish though since we are still just kids."

Ed knocked Al on the head. "Don't call me a kid, Allie."

Growling under his breath, Al kicked his brother. "Don't call me Allie. It's Al or Alphonse." His brother knew that he hated being referred to as Allie. His brother always called him that as his way of calling him a girl. He knew that being called a girl made him furious like Ed got when called short.

"What's wrong, little Allie?" Ed asked in fake concern.

"I'm not a girl." Al hissed, anger flashing in his eyes.

"Stop being so sensitive." Ed mocked. That was a line he got from Al a lot when he heard anything related to the word small.

"At least I don't freak out when I hear anything remotely related to short, even when it has nothing to do with you." Al said sarcastically.

Ed wrapped his arm around Al's neck in a headlock. "Are you implying something, little brother?"

"Yeah." Al smirked, trying to push Ed's arm out of the way so he could breathe. "You're a tiny little pipsqueak who is beaten in height by midgets. You're so small that you need a ladder to get to the first step of a staircase."

"How can you be so evil, little bro?" Ed whined, falling to the floor, defeated.

"Come on, big bro." Al said while chuckling. "We're falling behind."

"Evil little brothers." Ed grumbled as the two ran to catch up to the Corporal.

The younger brother frowned at his brother as he pushed soldiers out of his way. He could at least apologize to them for pushing them. But he knew his brother would never apologize. It was like it wasn't in his system to apologize. Al sometimes wandered if his brother knew what apologizing was since he never did it.

When they finally caught up to the Corporal, they found him still walking forward. From what the boys could tell, he didn't even realize that they stopped walking to fool around. He probably didn't even turn around once so he could keep to his promise of not stopping for them if they got lost.

The boys followed him up one more flight of stairs, down a hall, and around a corner. As they traveled all over the base Ed found the place to be incredibly boring. Everything was much too orderly and controlled here. Of course that was the way it was supposed to be, but that didn't stop it from being boring as hell to him. This place needed some excitement.

"What is it, Corporal?" The only woman in the room said when they entered the room. She was a rather beautiful woman as Ed looked at her. Her blonde hair was fastened up in the back with a barrette that resembled a bird's tail. Her bangs fell from right to left on her forehead in a pattern that looked like a hawk's tail. Her brown eyes shined with the horrors that came with being in a war. She looked to be in her mid twenties. Her build was slender, but muscular and curvaceous at the same time.

As he looked around the room Edward saw a bunch of soldiers around, but only four of them really caught his attention. They were all males. The first had an unlit cigarette in his mouth. He had short blond hair with spiky bangs. His blue eyes shined a carefree spirit. He had his feet kicked up and resting on his desk. Sitting at a desk next to him was a stocky built man who had his orange hair in a shaggy crew cut. Across from the soldier with a cigarette was a man who looked to be slightly older than the others. He had black hair on the side of his head and grey hair that was spiky on the ends on top of his head. The last man was the smallest soldier there. He had spiky black hair. His black eyes that shined with kindness that reminded Ed of Al were hidden behind square glasses. What caught his attention was that they all seemed rather laid-back at the moment, like they were fooling around before he and Al came into the room.

The office itself was a mess, but looked to be designed in a simple manner. Desks were all around the room, pushed together to made tables. The desks were piled with papers. At each desk was a soldier who was reading the papers and signing them and passing them to their comrades. File cabinets were in the corners of the room. They looked to be over-flowing with papers. Someone should really organize those. The female who spoke was standing at a desk that was most likely hers. It was separate from the others and had a phone on it. The only other desk with a phone on it was at the head of the room, sitting in front of the windows. This desk was piled high with papers.

There was a man sitting behind the desk who looked exhausted or bored. It was hard to tell which it was. A pen was held lazily in his hand. If he was a girl, Ed might have found the man somewhat attractive. His piercing eyes were dark. Those eyes gave the very feeling of him looking into soul, like he knows everything about you. His black hair is worn casually unkempt with some of it falling over his eyes. The very picture of him irked Edward. If this was Mustang, his appearance matched his voice perfectly. Just from talking to him over the phone, Edward could tell that this man was a bastard.

The Corporal pointed over his shoulder at Ed and Al. "They insist that they have a meeting with Colonel Mustang, Lieutenant Hawkeye."

Hearing that statement brought Ed out of his observations of the room and the soldiers who caught his attention. Looking back at the woman, who was now known at Hawkeye, he saw her looking at him and his little brother confused. Of course she was confused. All their clients were confused when they first see them. Al comically joked all the time that he was surprised no one realized they were just kids when they heard their voices over the phone.

Edward wasn't the only one who was brought out of his thoughts at the Corporal's statement. The man behind the desk looked over at the brothers. "And why would I schedule a meeting with a couple of kids? This is the military. I don't have time to play with kids."

Edward and Alphonse looked at each other, each wearing a frown. They hated it when people doubted them just because of their age and size. Age and size had nothing to do with how skilled someone was. They were living proof of that. They taught themselves alchemy when they were barely four years old.

Ed raised his brow at his brother.

Al waved a hand at his brother. "I don't care. Just go ahead, big brother. I hate this too."

"You shouldn't doubt someone by appearance." Edward hissed as he turned back to Mustang.

"Oh? And why is that, kid?"

"You called me here, Mustang." Edward growled.

All the soldiers in the room looked from Edward to Mustang, fascinated by this development. It seems their day was going to get interesting.

Mustang raised a calm brow. "I did, did I? And why would I call you here? I don't see why I would schedule a meeting with a couple of kids."

Edward smirked. "Don't cha? I'm Fullmetal."

A/N: Please Review!