Hello again everyone and thanks for staying with me this far. I can't believe I've gotten to chapter 5 already! The funny part is, I'm actually writing it on a train! I just hope my trip is better than Charity's. Again, thanks to all the people who have reviewed. A special thanks to Sky65 who reviewed chapter four, here's the update you asked for. Again, don't forget to review. It's the big button at the bottom of this chapter, and it's gotten even easier with the new quick reply option so you don't even have to open another window. I love getting them so tell me what you think. Thanks again!

"Charity! Hurry up, the train's about to leave!" Winry's shout is emphasized by the train whistle signaling the final warning.

"One minute!" I shout back as I turn to look a Riza, Mustang, and Rebecca who are standing next to me on the platform. "Thanks again for all your help." I say as I shake Mustang's hand.

"It was our pleasure." He says seriously and nods his head.

"Anything to help out a family member" Riza says as she gives me a brief hug. "Be careful." She whispers seriously before letting me go.

"I'll miss you big sis! Come and see us again soon, okay?" Rebecca grins at me and I smile back.

I hold out my hand and give her a high-five. "Of course I will."

"Charity, the train is starting to pull out!" Sara yells out of one of the windows.

"Crap! I'm coming!" I spin on my heels and make a break for the open doorway that's currently inching forward. Stretching out my hand, I grab on to the railing and hoist myself inside, much to the disapproval of the conductor. I look back towards the platform where the people I just left are standing and give them a final wave before closing the door behind me.

I glance around the train car and feel a little bit dizzy with the sheer number of alchemy gates floating in the air. One for every person so there's about fifty of them (and one black hole) filling the small space. I've gotten better at dealing with the gates after spending the past few days around so many alchemists, but I can still feel the Truth watching everything from the other side. At least most of these gates are locked so the feeling isn't as strong. Fortunately for me, most people in Amestris are not alchemists and so they're gates are locked up. I just happened to end up with one of the few alchemist families. Lucky me, I guess. At least there is a bit of humor in all this. Occasionally I find myself dodging around or ducking under the gates even though they're intangible. It's gotten me a few strange looks from other people who probably think I'm crazy when I flinch and bend over as they walk past. It's sort of turned into my own private joke.

My own personal brand of craziness aside, the train looks pretty much how I expected it would based on photos I've seen of the inside. I've never been on a train before. I think to myself excitedly. Of course, it's nothing like the Amtrak trains back home from the twenty-first century, but it kind of resembles the old black and white photos of pre WWII trains. It's kind of narrow and there are benches on either side of the aisle along with luggage racks hanging from the ceiling much like a long distance traveling school bus. The only real difference between it and a school bus (besides more leg room and wider aisles) is that every other bench is facing the opposite direction to create compartments for people to sit in groups and talk. The windows are much larger too.

Glancing out the window, I watch us leave the platform behind and enter a tunnel that will take the train out of the station. It's dark for a moment, and then we burst into the light of the mid-afternoon sun. The buildings of Central Command are zipping by as we move along the track. We'll be out of the city soon. I feel excitement swelling inside me at the thought of seeing more of Amestris. To all those kids back home who brag about going on vacation to exotic countries, I've visited and entirely different dimension. I can definitely top anyone's travel story from now on, not that I would be believed…

"Hey Charity! Quit gawking and come over here, we need another player for Hearts." Joshua calls over to me, interrupting my thoughts.

I feel my face flush as I retort, "I'm not gawking! I've never been on a train before, so give me some slack!"

He looks at me with a bemused expression on his face. "So how did you get to Central? Didn't my dad and Uncle Al pick you up from the train station?"

Argh! This guy is too sharp! He catches every mistake I make! "I took a bus, and the bus stop happens to be next to the station, which is where they picked me up." I say flatly.

"That sounds like a long drive; I'd hate to be stuck in a bus that long." Sara says as she looks at me with pity.

"It was shorter than you'd think." I say as I walk down the aisle to the compartment where Joshua, Sara, and Yue are sitting. I grab the only available seat next to Sara, who's sitting next to the window, with Joshua across from me and Yue next to him.

"I'll deal this round." Joshua says as he starts shuffling a deck of cards with shrewd expertise. "You know the rules to this game, right?" He glances at me.

I know how to play Hearts back home, but maybe it isn't the same game here. I consider this as I come up with a reply. "I think so, but you may want to refresh my memory a bit in case you play it differently." I say.

"It's pretty simple." Sara says. She explains the rules while Joshua finishes dealing out cards. Much to my relief, it's exactly like Hearts back home, which is perfect since I'm pretty good at this game.

"Okay, now that we all know the rules, let's play." Joshua says.

It's obvious right off the bat that Joshua and I are the two best players. The first round we both score two points with Sara scoring thirteen and Yue scoring nine. As the rounds go by, Joshua and I are neck to neck for first place with Sara in a solid third place and Yue in last. My competitive streak really kicks in as Joshua takes first place by two points, beating my score of twenty, as we go into what I figure will be the last round.

"I'm not very good at this game." Yue sighs as she adds her score up to ninty-five.

"Don't sweat it Yue, I'm not doing so hot either, not like those two monsters over there." Sara laughs as she shuffles the cards, nodding her head towards me and Joshua as we look at each other pensively.

There is no way I am losing to this guy. I think as I examine my cards. All of them are pretty high numbers which isn't a good sign. I'm going to have to try and shoot the moon.* I have a pretty good chance of doing it, but if they catch on too early they have a chance to stop me.

"Alright, this round you pass to the right!" Sara says as she deals the last card to herself.

I hand three of my cards to Joshua as I grab three from Sara and we start the round. I play card after card as carefully and thoughtfully as I can. It looks like I'm actually going to do it! With three turns left, Sara realizes what I'm trying to do and sighs with resignation as she plays a card. The last turn is my play first and I lay down my last card, Jack of Spades. Sara and Yue follow with a numbered Heart, and I'm about to grin in triumph when Joshua sets down a King of Spades.

"Looks like I get two points this round." He says.

Nooooooooooooooo! I sob in my mind, but in real life I just groan and slam my head on the little pull-down table. I almost had it too! The next round goes by with me barely paying attention since I'm still nursing my wounded pride. The final score: Joshua with twenty-four points, me with forty-six points, Sara with seventy-two points, and Yue with one hundred-five points.

"Good game everyone." Yue says as she gives Joshua her cards so he can put them away.

"Anyone want to go another game?" Joshua asks while looking at the three of us. Sara groans and leans back in her seat.

"No way! I don't want to get smashed again thank you very much." She says.

"I think I want to take a break, I've never been out here and I've been missing so much scenery…" I say as I look out the window at the barren grassy flats of nowhere land. Inwardly, I'm still pouting while planning how to beat him next time around.

Joshua just looks out the window and replies, "Yep, lots of grass, weeds, and dirt out there, wouldn't want to miss that."

"I'm glad you understand." I say with a smile.

It's quiet for a while as we listen to Edward, Alphonse, Winry, and Mae in the compartment behind us talking about people I don't even know who live in Resembool. Finally, Sara stands up and stretches, letting out a sigh. "I have to use the restroom, I'll be back. Charity, do you want to come?" She asks.

"Umm, sure. I guess I do have to go too." I say as I stand up and walk into the aisle. She follows me out and then gestures down the hallway.

"It's this way." She says while walking towards the back of the train. We have to walk through a few cars (which is terrifying when crossing between cars) before we get to the restroom. There's only one available at the moment she goes in first. While I wait outside, I walk up and down the aisle to stretch my legs which are getting sore. I glance out the window at the mountains we've recently started moving through. The pine trees are pretty thick here it would be pretty easy to get lost if you were hiking… While looking out the window, I fail to notice the man walking down the aisle in the opposite direction and bump right into him. It feels like I just bumped into a solid wall, and when I look up, I see why. Standing at about six foot nine with a really muscular build, this guy reminds me of those men in Bowflex commercials.

"Oh! I am so sorry, sir! I didn't see you there!" I stammer out nervously.

"Don't worry about it. I wasn't really watching where I was going either." He laughs as he looks down at me with blue eyes. I place his age at mid-twenties.

He has a Russian sounding accent. How interesting, but he can't really be from Russia since it doesn't exist here. I wonder where he's from? I smile and say, "I guess we're both distracted then. I'm Charity, it's nice to meet you…"

"Viktor. My name is Viktor. Charity, that's a nice name." He shakes my hand and nods.

"My mom picked it out. She always wanted to name her daughter Charity so that's what my parents named me."

"Charity, it's your turn." Sara says as she walks down the hall towards Viktor and I.
"Who's this?" she asks once she spots him.

"Sara, this is Viktor. Viktor, Sara." I introduce them. "Now that you're introduced, I'm going to head for the restroom. I'll be right back." I walk down the hall into the restroom and close the door behind me.

When I walk out a few minutes later, Sara and Viktor are laughing about something. I smile as I walk up and say, "You can use it now Viktor, sorry for taking so long."

"Don't worry about it, I wasn't in a hurry." He says while he looks up and down the aisle casually.

"It was nice to meet you Viktor." Sara says once I catch up to her and we turn to start heading back to our car further up.

"Oh, the pleasure was all mine." He says behind us. Suddenly, I hear a loud thump and I turn in time to see Sara crumble to the ground unconscious.

"Wha….?" I start to say before I feel a hand grab me from behind and press a cloth to my face. I panic and try to spin out of my captors grip and lay a karate beat down on him, but my limbs go numb and then I black out.

That wasn't even a challenge. Viktor thought as he lifted the limp girl over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. They didn't even suspect a thing! I don't care how much we were paid to do this; I don't see any honor in kidnapping some teenager. Even if it's for the country. He looked at the other girl who was lying in the aisle. A little blood was leaking from her ear, but he figured she would be fine, he hadn't hit her that hard. Time to get going. Everyone's waiting for me. Oh, almost forgot to send the signal. He reached in his pocket and pressed a button. Without another thought, he turned and walked toward the back of the car where he pulled open the door and crossed a little bridge to the dining car.

"NOBODY MOVE!" Viktor heard the shout before he had reached to door. The shout was then accompanied by several gunshots and a terrified scream. Sounds like the guys are going overboard. He sighed and pushed the door aside, entering without hesitation.

The sight on the other side would have been terrifying if he had been a passenger, but he just felt disgust. Amestrians were cowering pathetically in their seats and bellow the dining tables as his fellow Hunters held them all at gunpoint. In the back, a conductor was clenching his leg where he had been shot when he tried to radio for help. It was hard to believe that these people were the same ones that had held such power over Drachma for so long. They were all so weak.

"So you got her alright? Great, now we can get off this damn train." Captain Slovik said to Viktor in their native language without taking his eyes off the crowd. "Start heading toward the back, we'll follow. Yuri and the rest should have the explosives ready to go by now. Everyone get ready to move out!"

Viktor crossed to the back under the fearful gazes of the Amestrians before opening the door and crossing to the final car of the train. This car was used for storage so they didn't have to worry about other people getting in the way. Once he had entered, he briefly looked around before he spotted Yuri. The old man was leaning against a barrel with a brooding look on his face. Next to him, a few other Hunters were smoking and talking excitedly. When he saw Viktor, Yuri stood up and gestured for the younger man to come in closer.

"Bring her over here and lay her down. No sense carrying her until this car comes to a stop." Yuri said as he pointed to a clear spot on the floor.

"She's actually not that heavy, but alright." Viktor said as he dumped the unconscious girl unceremoniously on the floor where she moaned a little before going silent.

Yuri frowned as he looked at her silent frame. "You could have set her down a bit gentler. She's not as sturdy as our usual targets. Keep that in mind."

Before Viktor had time to reply, Captain Slovik entered the car followed by the rest of the Hunters. "Yuri, the explosives are ready?" he said.

"Yep, all we have to do is light the fuse and this car will break off from the main train." Yuri replied.

"Excellent." Captain Slovik turned to look at some of the other Hunters. "You men, light the fuse and then come back here as fast as possible. I don't want to lose anyone in this phase of the plan." The other men saluted and exited the car, closing the door behind them. "Everyone else find something to hold onto, this is going to be a bumpy ride." He said before walking over to Yuri and Viktor.

"That plan was almost too easy." Yuri said. "Did they really leave so little protection around her?"

Captain Slovik shrugged as he reached in his pocket and started to fumble around with the contents. "I was expecting better security, but as long as we got the target, I don't really care. The tough part is far from being over since now we have to cross the border with her in tow." He seemed to have found what he'd been looking for as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs and tossed them to Viktor. "Put those on her. The Czar said they'll keep her under better control. Don't know what that's supposed to mean, but that's his business."

Viktor caught them and lifted them up to examine. They looked like any ordinary handcuffs except for the five red jewels embedded in the metal rings and spaced evenly apart. He'd never seen gemstones like that. He shrugged and opened up the handcuffs, fitting them snuggly around the girl's wrists. As he was finishing up, he heard the door to the car open and close quickly.

"EVERYONE GET READY! IT'S GONNA BLOW!" came a shout and Viktor braced for the impact, sheltering the captive from potentially falling objects with his own body.

BOOM!

The car shook and things fell off the shelves surrounding him. Viktor winced a bit as a

large can of pears hit him in the back. Then, Viktor could feel the car begin to lose momentum. As fast as it had happened, it was over.

"Good work everyone. That went off without a hitch." said Captain Slovik. He was standing at the door holding it open where Viktor could see the train pulling away from their car.

What's up with this? Those two take off and leave me here with Yue. Girls take forever in the bathroom... Joshua yawned as he leaned back in his seat.

"Josh, are we there yet?" Yue pouted as she hit her forehead against his shoulder.

"Yue, it's the same answer as the last few times you've asked, no, we're not there yet. The answer will be the same five minutes from now too. We get there when we get there."

"Train rides are so boring; I wish something interesting would happen. Let's play a game!"

"You already said you didn't want to play with my deck of cards."

"No! I don't want to play another card game. Let's play I Spy! I'll go first. I spy something… blue."

Joshua sighed and rested his head in his hand. He didn't really mind hanging out with Yue, but she was only eleven so they didn't really have much to talk about. Despite that, she always managed to drag him into whatever she wanted to do.

"The carpet." He said.

"Lucky guess, now it's your turn to spy something."

"I spy something…"

BOOM!

The whole car suddenly shuddered and swayed, knocking things off the shelves and making people who had been standing fall over.

"What the hell was that?" Ed was standing in his seat holding the luggage rack for support with one hand. In the other hand he was holding a bag that he had caught in midair before it had hit Winry.

"Everyone please remain seated, we are having technical difficulties. Please clear the aisles of belongings to allow our conductors and security officials to pass by safely. Thank you!" a voice over the intercom said.

"Technical difficulties?" Mae said as two security officers entered the car and started running for the back where they stood like guards.

"Joshua! Where are Sara and Charity!" Winry was looking at the two empty seats in panic.

"They went to the back to use the restroom…"

"… no serious gunshot injuries. The terrorists have managed to escape…" one of the security guards radios echoed into the stunned silence before he managed to turn it off.

"I told you to turn the volume down!" The other security guard whispered harshly at the first one. Sudden pandemonium broke out as the passengers began to panic. In all the chaos, Ed and Al had run to the back where the security guards were standing.

"Heh, technical difficulties my ass! Let us through, we can help." Ed said.

"Sir, please return to your seat." One of the security guards replied.

"You idiot! It's the Elric brothers, let them through." The other guard said as he stood aside and opened the door allowing Ed and Al through.

"Alphonse, I'm coming too! I can heal anyone who was injured." Mae said as she ran to catch up.

"Dad, wait up! I can help too!" Joshua said as he bounded out of his seat towards the closing door.

"Joshua! Stay here!" Winry shouted after him.

"Hold it there young man, you need to stay in your seat!" both security officers said as they tried to grab him. Joshua hunched down and slid through the door before it closed behind him. Sorry, but there's no way I'm just sitting and waiting around.

He caught up with the others in the next car.

"Joshua! What are you doing here?" Mae asked.

"Joshua!"Ed stopped and spun around to face his son. "What are you doing here! It's dangerous."

"Brother, we don't have time…" Al said.

"You guys go ahead, I'll be right behind you!" Ed nodded at Al before looking back to Joshua with a frown.

"We'll see you in a bit then, Ed. Come on Alphonse!" Mae shouted as she started running down the aisle again.

"Josh, you need to stay here. It's too dangerous for you to come."

"Dad, I want to help and Sara's down there…"

"I know that! Why do you think I'm going? That doesn't change the fact that you need to stay here though!"

"Why! Why do I need to stay here! You're always saying stuff like that, but then you tell us about all the crazy stuff you did when you were my age! You helped save this country from the military coup**! I'm not a kid Dad! I can stand on my own two feet, and I'm a pretty good alchemist myself! Mom always said I take after you, and I'll be damned if I have to sit and do nothing!" Joshua clenched his fists in frustration as he looked down at the floor to avoid Ed's eyes. I can't believe I just said that… There was silence for a moment.

"Well, if you feel that strongly about it, I can't really say 'no' can I? It would certainly make me a hypocrite." Ed sighed.

Joshua's eyes widened as he looked up at his dad in surprise. Ed had a grin on his face as he stretched out his hand to clap Joshua on the back. "Your mom is going to be pissed at me, but what the hell? Let's go!"

"He hasn't caught up yet…" Mae said as she ran down the aisle close behind Al.

"I'm sure he's on his way." Alphonse threw open the door to the next car where he saw a lot of people were gathered on the floor leaning over something.

"Please step back everyone, I'm trying to treat her, but she needs room…" a voice said from the middle of the crowd.

"It looks like someone is injured up ahead." Mae said before she leaped up to stand on the backs of the seats where she continued to run.

"Step aside please. I'm a doctor." She said to the crowd. The crowd started to part and she saw Sara lying on the floor, her head cradled in an emergency medic's lap.

"Sara!" Mae bent down hurriedly and drew her alkahestry circle on the floor with practiced hands. "Set her down and exit the circle please." Mae looked at the medic with a serious expression

The medic nodded and did as she was told. "Be careful, I think she has a cracked skull."

Mae just nodded as she pressed her hands to the circle. Blue light filled the room momentarily and then it was gone.

"Sara!" Alphonse had finally managed to push back the crowd enough to see his niece lying on the floor. He dashed over, followed closely behind by Ed and Joshua who had managed to catch up.

"She'll be fine." Mae said with a sigh of relief.

"WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON THOSE TERRORISTS…" Ed ranted while shaking his fists in the air.

"We moved her into this car from the one just behind it because we needed to keep the aisle clear so we could put out the fires. The washroom car has a supply of water to do that." the medic said loudly enough to be heard over Ed's swearing.

"She was in the washroom? Was there another girl with her?" Joshua asked.

The medic shook her hear. "I didn't see anyone else in that car."

"… THEY'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO SIT AGAIN!"

"….Dad?" Sara whispered as she opened her eyes.

Ed stopped abruptly and knelt down next to Sara his fierce expression replace with concern. "I'm here. Are you in any pain?" He said.

"Not really…"

"What happened?"

"Charity and I were in the bathroom car and… a man started talking to us. Afterwards, we started to head back… I got hit really hard in the back of the head. I saw the man knock Charity out and carry her towards… the back of the train before I passed out…" Sara's eyes widened as the memory came back clearer. "He had a Drachman accent! I didn't think anything of it before. I assumed he was an immigrant, but…" Sara's eyes started to tear up. "It's my fault she's gone!"

"No it's not. We'll get her back, don't worry about it." Al said.

Mae looked at the medic. "How many others are injured in the next few cars?"

"I heard the count was at twenty. The other medics are down there now."

"Can you bring the injured into this car to I can heal them?"

"No, to prevent further injury we're trying to keep people from moving between cars, especially the injured. This girl was an exception."
Mae nodded and looked at Joshua. "I need to you stay here and keep an eye on Sara. I can't stay here if I'm going to heal everyone else. Alphonse and your father..."

"No!" Sara interrupted. "I'll be fine now. You can leave me here. Go find Charity; she's the one who's really in trouble."

"Are you sure Sara?" Joshua said.

"Yeah. Just go, all of you." Sara looked at her older brother with determination and he nodded.

"All right." Joshua turned to follow everyone through the door to the next car. Everything had been happening so fast, that he didn't know what to think. Why did they kidnap Charity? Sure she's related to Riza and that makes her indirectly related to Mustang, but it's still pretty distant, right? Sara would have been just as good a target since our family is pretty close to the Mustangs and we're pretty well known ourselves, but they just left her behind. Wouldn't it have made more sense to take them both? Something else is going on here, and I'm going to find out!

"This is the last car!" Mae called out before going through a door. On the other side was sheer chaos. Tables had been overturned, spilling their contents all over the floor. People were huddled together nursing injuries or trying to put out lingering fires from the explosion earlier. A flustered looking security officer standing to the side directing the activity noticed them and walked over.

"You must be the Elric family. I'd heard you were on board. If you wouldn't mind, the blast from the bomb has made the back wall unstable, if you could repair it, I would be grateful."

"Of course." Al said as he clapped his hands together and touched the wall, repairing the damage.

"I'm going to take a look at the injured Alphonse." Mae said as she rushed over to the closest group of people.

"Tell us what happened." Ed said urgently.

"It was a group of Drachman men." A voice said from the corner nearby. Everyone turned to look at a conductor who was sitting in a nearby corner with a bandage around his leg.

"They didn't look suspicious so I didn't think anything of it. They'd all been sitting in the back. One of them had some sort of radio that started beeping and then all the others stood up and started shooting over the heads of the crowd. They ordered everyone to get down. A few headed back into the storage car, but most stayed here and kept everyone from leaving. I tried to grab my radio to call for backup, but I got shot in the leg and then they took it from me.

"Then the door opened and another one showed up with a girl flung over his shoulder. The men spoke in Drachman for a bit, and then they cleared the car. We sent for help as soon as they were gone, but then there was an explosion and the back car they'd been in had broken off. After that, it was all I could manage to keep order back here."

"Was the girl who was with them injured?" Alphonse asked.

"The hostage? She looked fine, but I didn't get a very good look. I don't know if she's still okay though."

Charity… so she's still with them. Joshua thought as he looked towards the back wall.

"Dammit!" Ed punched the wall while Mae and Al exchanged glances.

"How did they catch on so fast?" Al asked.

"We'll figure that out later. Right now we need to get her back before they get wherever they're going. Mustang trusted us with this." Ed stood up and looked as the security officer. "Stop the train."


* In Hearts shooting the moon means getting all the points in that round. When that happens, everyone else gets 26 points while the person who shot the moon gets 0. The lowest score wins so it's a difficult, but useful strategy to give other people points.

**Those familiar with the end of FMA will know that, to the main public, what happened on the Promised Day was covered up to a degree. The people were led to believe it was a military coup to overthrow Fuhrer etc. The Homunculus involvement was kept under wraps. To keep that knowledge from leaking, everyone that was involved directly hasn't told their kids about what really happened. This is why Joshua said coup. He has been taught what the general population knows to be a fact. In future chapters, this will become an issue.