Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

A/N: Argh! I had this chapter done for months, but just forgot about all this! The only reason I found it now is because my brother reprogrammed my laptop today to make it faster and I had to back up all my files or I would have lost them all. Telling you right now, I would not have rewritten them if that happened. I would have just quit. He put all the Fullmetal Alchemist songs from both series on my laptop which I am listening to now which is why I looked at my FMA stories in the first place and found this.

Thanks for the reviews!

Trackers

Chapter 3

Mustang's pen dropped from his hand in shock. He, along with the rest of the soldiers in the room, stared at the brothers in silent disbelief. Even the lower ranking soldiers knew that the Fuhrer was planning to hire the Trackers for help with a case. The Fuhrer told them all because he was trying to find information on the Trackers. It turned out that a lot of them have heard of the Trackers, but like the rest of the country, they were curious of who the Trackers were and only knew the contact number.

Edward smirked in satisfaction at the shocked looks that the soldiers were giving them. He and Al always enjoyed those shocked looks that they got. They were always the same. Complete silence about what was said, followed by shock, then disbelief, and after they proved who they are, there was more disbelief and shock that was then followed by resignation.

"You're…..you're the Trackers?" Mustang asked slowly.

"That is what brother said, isn't it?" Al retorted, rolling his eyes at his brother. Even he could get fed up with people sometimes, especially people acting idiotic. It was clear as day to what his brother was implying.

Mustang glared at him annoyed. First the older had an attitude, now the younger. Why, oh why, did the Fuhrer want to hire outsiders? "For all I know, you two could have tapped into the conversation I was having with Fullmetal."

Ed sighed. "It is always like this. You must prove who you are. I don't believe kids could be the infamous Trackers!" He mocked.

"You can prove who we are this time, brother." Al said with a grin. "Just as long as it doesn't end up like that time in Aunis."

"LITTLE BROTHER!" Edward yelled, whipping around to glare at his younger brother. "We said we would never speak of that day again!"

Al chuckled.

"Or do I have to mention Ellie and Francis in New Optain?" Ed hissed.

Al blushed and closed his mouth with a huff. He crossed his arms and stubbornly looked away from his brother.

Grinning in success, Ed turned back to the baffled soldiers. "Outside now, Mustang, and I'll show you exactly what the Trackers are capable of."

"Oh," Al groaned as he gave up the stubborn act to look at his brother with a frown. "Don't tell me you're going….."

"Shut it, little bro. You'll ruin the surprise." Edward grunted as he whacked his brother in the head.

Grumbling, Al rubbed his head. He and his brother got along better than most brothers because of everything that's happened to them in their lives. But that doesn't mean that they don't argue or hit each other like normal siblings. They had their good and bad moments. In the bad moments they had to learn to act mature and fix those moments on their own since they didn't have any adult there to teach them.

"But brother, didn't you listen to Win? You're not re-" Al started but stopped when Ed glared at him.

"I am perfectly capable of telling what I am capable of. It's my body. I am fine and know what I am doing." Ed hissed.

Al frowned. "Fine, be an idiot. She was right. You are reckless."

"Now outside!" Ed ordered before turning on his heels and walking out of the room, ignoring what his brother said.

Looking around the parade grounds, Alphonse noticed that it looked like all the soldiers at Central Command were outside to watch the Trackers. They were only inside Mustang's office for about ten minutes. The fact that they were here traveled around the base faster than he thought would be possible. Even the Fuhrer was outside watching them. His brother was standing in the middle of the parade grounds with his arms crossed. He looked over at him and nodded his head. Al pulled his white gloves out of his pocket. Stitched in his gloves in red thread were transmutation circles. He pulled them on and clapped his hands before slamming them on the ground. Walls sprouted up out of the ground to keep the spectators back. If his brother was going to be reckless, he would protect the spectators from him.

Edward stood up straight with his arms at his sides when his brother created the walls. He let out a deep breath before looking over where Mustang was standing with the Fuhrer and Generals. A smirk crept onto his face. He was the epitome of calm and confident. "Mustang! You want proof that I am who I say I am. Come out here and face me."

Mustang raised a brow at him. "A spar?"

"Yes, with alchemy, weapons, hand-to-hand combat, anything you have at your disposal." Edward replied with a smirk.

Mustang smirked in reply. "Do you know my name, kid? It's the Flame Alchemist. Do you really want…"

"Sounds like you're chickening out." Edward yelled with a smirk.

Jeers came from the surrounding soldiers. They were laughing or shouting insults at Mustang. Some were ever yelling at Mustang to enter the ring and teach that brat a lesson. Mustang, himself, was frowning at Edward. This kid was definitely different. He sensed no fear from him. Well, he would just have to change that.

Mustang jumped over the wall that Al made and moved towards the center of the ring. "You have no idea of what you are getting yourself into."

"Neither do you." Edward replied with a smirk as he took his black gloves off. "You are underestimating me because of my age." He unclipped his jacket and pulled it off. "That will be your downfall." He rolled his gloves and jacket into a ball and tossed them at his little brother, who caught them.

Mustang noticed that there were several semi-thick steel bracelets on Edward's wrist. He narrowed his eyes. Why would the kid have steel bracelets? As far as he knew the kid didn't have any use for them. They would only weigh him down and make him slow. "Major Hughes, you will referee." Mustang yelled.

A tall man with a wide grin jumped over the wall and approached the two alchemists. He had a thin chinstrap of scruffy beard and spiky black hair, that was tinted green, which ended in a forelock. Rectangular spectacles framed his hazel eyes. "Get ready, you two!" He said cheerfully.

Edward stared in disbelief at him.

"Pay attention, brother!" Al yelled at him.

Edward snapped his eyes back to Mustang just in time to hear Hughes call, "Go!"

The younger alchemist dropped to the ground to let the fire that Mustang created with just a snap of his fingers race over his head. He watched the flames that roared over him in fascination. When it was gone, he stood up straight and looked over his shoulder at the scorched ground. "Wow. That is awesome." He whispered.

"Pay attention to the fight at hand." Mustang yelled, followed by another snap of the fingers.

"Shit." Ed mumbled as he propelled himself to the left to avoid the flames. He fell onto his left arm after propelling himself. He did a one handed backflip to land back on his feet.

"Can't you do any better than that? I thought the Trackers were supposed to be incredible fighters." Mustang mocked.

Eyes turning into a glare, Edward's hand dived into the back of his pants. His hand wrapped around the heavy metal that was there. "I'm only just beginning, Mustang. As I said before, don't underestimate me." He yelled as he pulled his silver and black gun out. Without even pausing to think or aim, Edward pulled the trigger five times. Each bullet zoomed past Mustang. Each of them cut a part of him, but didn't enter his body. "Don't think you're lucky. I have no desire to seriously hurt you. That's why the bullets only cut you."

Mustang touched his neck where one of the bullets cut him. If it had been just a little more to the left he would have been in serious trouble of bleeding to death. This kid did have skill with a gun if he could aim it that perfectly. He looked over his shoulder to see if the bullets hit anyone. What he found surprised him. The wall that was keeping the spectators back had gotten taller to protect the soldiers from the bullets. Looking around, he saw the younger brother with his hands on the ground. He had made the wall bigger to protect them. These boys were definitely something else.

Edward wasted no time in making his next attack. He charged at Mustang, gun still in hand but lowered. There was more than one way to use a gun. Mustang was watching Ed out of the corner of his eye. He turned back to the boy and snapped his fingers again, only to have Ed jump out of the way again. The small boy did a somersault on the ground after he jumped.

"You're like a monkey!" Mustang growled.

Ignoring the heckle, Edward pushed himself to his feet and glared at Mustang. His Flame alchemy was powerful and very hard to fight. He was a long range fighter, while he, Edward, was more adept at short range fighting. His gun was what he used to fight long distance, but that wouldn't help in a fight like this when he didn't want to hurt his target.

Mustang smirked at the irritated look that passed over Ed's face. He knew that the kid was getting mad that he couldn't get close to him. His opponents always got irritated with him. He was after all one of the strongest alchemists in the military, maybe the whole country.

Edward put his gun in safety mode and slid it back into the back of his pants. He saw the transmutation circles on Mustang's gloves. It was just like how he designed Al's gloves. They both had their transmutation circles on their gloves. Because of that, Ed knew how to beat the system from all his spars with Al.

"Giving up so easily?" One of the soldiers jeered at Ed.

From his position on the sides, Al sighed. Why couldn't these soldiers just shut up already? Sooner or later one of them was going to say something to really piss his brother off. Then all hell was going to break loose. Then they would most likely lose this job.

A smirk crept onto Ed's face. As soon as Mustang attacked next, it was all going to begin: His counteroffensive.

Snap!

Ed propelled himself to the right, somersaulted, then landed on his knees. His hand slipped into the boot of his left leg, grabbing the plastic that was inside there. As soon as he had it out, he pushed the switch on it. A silver blade slid out. He threw the blade into the air and caught it by the blade so he could throw it like a throwing knife at Mustang. The blade ripped through the transmutation circle on Mustang's glove before the soldier could think.

Mustang stepped back a step after the blade sliced through his gloves. He can honestly say (or think if you like) that he wasn't expecting that. When Ed said that they could use anything they had at their disposal, he didn't think that the kid would have all these weapons. After all, he was only a child. No child should have weapons like this.

With his right glove out of the way, Edward charged at Mustang again. He expected Mustang to have a transmutation circle on his other glove. After all, his brother did. And Mustang was a military man. He would need two in case something happen to his other one.

And there it was.

Mustang drew his left hand from his pocket and aimed it at Ed with his fingers ready to snap. He had to keep moving his hand around as Ed was zigzagging around the ground to keep Mustang from getting a good aim on him.

As he was watching the kid running around Mustang noticed that there was a pattern to how he was running. He went left then right then left and kept running in that direction for a few steps before turning right then going left again then running right for a few steps. All the while he was getting closer to Mustang. Smirking, Mustang predicted Ed's next steps before him and snapped at that spot just as Ed appeared there. This spot was only a few feet from him.

With wide eyes, Ed fell onto his side and rolled out of the way of the fire, but he wasn't fast enough. His right leg caught the flames. Hissing in pain, Ed patted the flames out, burning his hands in the process.

Al watched his brother with worry shining in his eyes. His brother never liked fire. He hated \it with a burning passion. So he couldn't understand how his brother could stand to fight someone who was a fire alchemy master. A frown came over his face when he saw his brother's leg catch on fire.

"Your brother must be strong to be able to last this long in a fight with Flame."

The younger brother looked up at the person that Mustang called Major Hughes for a moment before looking back at his brother to see him patting the flames out with his hands. "Strong and stubborn. Because of the life we've had, we both grew strong and stubborn."

"What do you mean?" Hughes asked interested.

Al shook his head. Hughes almost scowled at him. He couldn't just tell him a fact like that and not elaborate. Maybe he was just much too curious for his own good, but that was why he worked in the investigation department.

Edward pushed himself to his feet with a hiss. All his weight was on his left leg. That flame alchemy was real fire so it hurt a lot. It really did a number on his leg and hands. He looked over at his brother in the crowd to see him wearing a worried frown, which turned into confusion when his brother flashed him a grin. It only turned into complete bewilderment when Edward started laughing loudly.

Mustang lowered his hand when Edward started laughing. He raised a brow at him. "What is wrong with you? Are you insane? I just burnt you."

"N-no." Edward said through his laughter. "I…I just haven't had a fight like this in so long. I've missed it! You are definitely one of my strongest opponents ever. I love it!"

Mustang smirked. "I agree with you, kid. You are strong. There is no denying that."

Edward brought his hands together in front of him like he was clapping. "Time to get serious."

Mustang raised a brow.

Edward dropped his left hand onto the steel bracelets on his right arm. Blue light flashed around his arm. The steel bracelets melted to lock around his hand, wrist, and forearm. Following that, a blade sprouted from the metal. "I haven't used alchemy in so long! I've missed it! This is part of why I wanted to fight! I was hoping you would force me to use alchemy!"

Mustang stared in shock at Ed, at his words and action. "No transmutation circles." He whispered.

Al stared at his brother. How did he….his brother hasn't done alchemy since the accident and when he does use it, he doesn't even use a circle. When did his brother learn that?

Edward, ignoring the pain in it, slammed his right leg on the ground, forcing his weight on it. He charged at Mustang again, ready for Mustang's attack and ready to attack himself.

The Colonel wasted no time to raise his hand again and snap. And Edward wasted no time in dropping to the ground to let the fire soar over his head. He swung his left leg out in a half arc that knocked Mustang off his feet. Mustang landed on his butt next to Ed. The two glared at each other from their positions on the ground. Mustang raised his hand. Edward watched as his fingers started to move to snap. Edward flipped over Mustang to land on the other side of him to avoid the fire that Mustang created. He looked over his shoulder to see Mustang climbing to his feet.

Edward began to push himself to his feet, but froze halfway. A jolt of pain flashed through him, making his eyes widened. He fell back to his hands and knees. His breathing began to come in ragged breaths.

"Giving up already, brat?" Mustang jeered.

The older Elric brother swore under his breath and pushed himself to his feet. "Never. I never give up." He sneered, though without his usual venom that he used when he was in a fight. Instead, his breath was becoming rather heavy. He quickly spun on his heels, throwing his blade out at Mustang. The blade sliced at his stomach, creating a small cut, nothing too deep though. What followed was a kick by Ed's automail leg right where he cut the Colonel that sent Mustang flying back. When he hit the ground, he skidded a few feet.

"Damn." Edward muttered as he felt another jolt of pain flash through his leg. Black dots began to appear in his vision. "Maybe Win and Soul were right. I am reckless."

Mustang pushed himself to his feet. He looked back at Ed. The kid was still standing where he was when he kicked him.

Al dropped his brother's clothes on the ground and slammed his hands on the wall. He looked at his frozen brother with concern. "Brother, what is wrong with you?" He whispered.

Edward tilted his head so he could look at his brother. He and Hughes were looking at him in worry. Huh, even that Hughes guy was worried and they haven't even said one word to each other. Looking back down, Edward stared at his shaking legs. One was severely burnt; the other was sending jolts of pain to his leg and nerves. His whole body was trembling. And all because his legs were in great pain. How much longer could he stand up before collapsing?

Mustang raised his hand again and snapped. Edward raised his head to see more fire coming his way. Growling, Edward used his left leg to propel himself to the left to avoid the fire. He fell onto his side. His heavy breathes turned into coughs. Covering his mouth with his hand, Edward started hacking heavily. His eyes were closed tightly as his whole body trembled with the force of his coughs. It only took a few coughs before he felt something sticky and liquidly in his hand.

Al's eyes widened when he saw the blood flowing down his brother's arm. He flipped himself over the wall and ran over to his brother. "Mustang, the fight is off." He yelled as he ran towards his kneeling brother.

"What is going on?" Mustang called.

"Nothing for you to concern yourself with." Al growled as he skidded to a halt next to his brother. He knelt next to his brother and put a hand on his shoulder. "It's your automail, isn't it? Win was right. You weren't ready for this."

Ed raised his head to look at his brother. Blood was rolling down his chin. "I'm fine. It happens all the time."

"You need to stop pushing yourself." Al whispered. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Nodding his head, Ed changed his blade back into bracelets.

"You have to tell me how you do that later." Al said, as he pulled his brother to his feet. He threw one of his brother's arms over his shoulder and held it down at the wrist with his hand. His other arm was wrapped around Ed's waist.

The brothers slowly made their way over to where Hughes was. It was like they were taking baby steps because of the condition of Ed's legs. Ed's head was bowed with his bangs shielding his face.

"He needs to go to the hospital and get his wounds treated." Mustang growled at Al.

Both brothers froze in their steps, shoulders tensed at Mustang's words. Al looked over his shoulder at Mustang. "Sorry, we don't do hospitals. We take care of our wounds on our own. We'll be back tomorrow to talk with you."

"But what is wrong? I only burnt your brother's leg. That one attack can't be causing your brother to cough up blood." Mustang asked.

Al shifted his weight from foot to foot nervously. "It has nothing to do with your attacks. Brother was just reckless. He actually shouldn't be fighting right now. He was injured horribly about eleven months ago and he isn't completely healed from it right now. The fight agitated his wound."

Mustang scoffed. "What wound would still affect someone eleven months later and cause them to cough blood?"

Ed pushed himself off Al and turned around to face Mustang. He kept a hand on Al's shoulder to keep himself standing. He rubbed the blood off his chin with his wrist. "It's not so much the injury that is agitated." He grabbed his pant leg and pulled it up to reveal his automail leg. "I only just got automail eleven months ago. I can walk just fine, but apparently I'm not ready to fight with it."

"Obviously, automail rehabilitation takes three years."

Al looked over his shoulder at Hughes. He was approaching the brothers with Ed's jacket and gloves. "I told you before, Hughes. My brother is stubborn. His plan was to do rehabilitation in a year. But because of a job offer, our curiosity was perked and he decided to end his rehabilitation at eleven months."

"Whoops." Hughes muttered. "We had no idea that one of the Trackers was injured."

"Why do you think we've been declining jobs for eleven months?" Al asked in frustration. "Now, if you don't mind, I have to get my brother back to our hotel so he can rest. Because, honestly, if he stays on his feet much longer, he'll start throwing blood up, not just coughing it up."

"I would agree, but I've seen Mustang's flame alchemy in action before. Your brother really needs to go to the hospital and get his leg looked at. Those could be severe burns on his legs." Hughes replied with a frown.

"I already said, we don't do hospitals." Al growled.

"Why?" Mustang asked as he joined his friend and the two kids.

"Because they want all personal information about you. We don't give anyone information about ourselves." Alphonse growled.

Mustang nodded his head. He thinks he understood where the boys are coming from in that situation. "Then what about a military hospital? I can make it so you don't have to give any information about yourselves and that the doctors just treat you. I'll even pay to have your brother checked over. Agreed?"

Al looked over at his older brother with a thoughtful frown. When his brother was wounded, he trusted Al to make the decisions. When it was Al who was injured, he trusted Ed to make the decisions. When they were both injured, they had to put their pain filled brains together to make a decision. "Can I ask a favor?"

Blinking in surprise, Mustang nodded his head.

"If we do accept this job you have for us, will we be allowed to go to the military hospitals whenever we need and have no questions asked? Because to be honest, there are times when we get seriously injured and don't go to hospitals. In those times, we are practically dying in pain because most of the time we can't find private doctors to help us and have to do everything ourselves without any pain relievers." Al explained.

Before Mustang could reply, Hughes butted in. "That's dangerous. You're just kids. You shouldn't be treating yourselves. You cou-"

"Our childhood friend's parents were doctors so they had a lot of doctor books in their house. Brother and I read them out of boredom and learned how to treat our wounds. It isn't a problem. But it still hurts us since we don't have pain relievers." Al interrupted with a sigh. "And we can't very well buy some since no one would sell them to a couple of kids."

"Okay, I agree, but only while you are helping us with any jobs we have for you." Mustang said before pausing. "What do I call you? I know your brother by Fullmetal."

Al grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I forgot to give my name. What with all that has been going on today. I go by the name Soul Knight, just Soul for short. I'm Fullmetal's younger brother. Nice to meet you, Mustang."

Mustang nodded his head. "Lieutenant Hawkeye!"

Ed looked up through squinted eyes to see the pretty lady from Mustang's office approaching the group.

"Yes sir?" The lady, Hawkeye, asked with a quick salute.

"Go get a car ready. We're taking them to the military hospital." Mustang ordered.

"Of course, sir." Hawkeye said.

"Oh yeah." Al muttered. "Excuse me, Mr. Hughes. You might want to call the match to an end."

Hughes grinned. "Whoops, forgot about that." He raised his arm in the air. "Sorry, but the fight is over. Get out of here."

A/N: Please Review!