Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is late, things got a bit crazy and I couldn't get it finished in time.

Her eyes followed the men as they moved in groups past her, though she wasn't really seeing any of them. Riza stood in the middle of Fenief three days after having split up from her Commanding officer. After she made it to the house she had hidden in, she had realized that Roy wasn't with her. It didn't take her long to figure out that he had probably grabbed Edward and had made it to a different house.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye!" The voice snapped her back to reality, as she saluted the man in front of her. "Lieutenant, you might want to see this…"

Riza followed the soldier into the alley, stopping in front of the hole in the wall, almost unnoticeable in the dark passage, despite it being noon. No doubt, this was where Roy had hidden with Fullmetal. Taking a deep breath, she ducked her head low as she stepped through the hole, squinting her eyes as she tried to adjust to the dark.

"Down here, Lieutenant…" Havoc's voice called her from what she assumed was a basement. Riza climbed the steps, her eyes scanning the room as she reached the bottom. A half-burnt candle stood next to a heap of bloody clothes. "Seems that Brigadier General brought the chief here. We found a bloody first aid kit, and a bullet."

"Mustang must have removed it from Fullmetal, and stitched him up…"

"Seems that way, Lieutenant. We also found some bloody handprints on a wardrobe upstairs. We're guessing Roy took some clean clothes for them." Lifting Roy's discarded pants, Riza nodded, figuring Havoc was right. "One of the dresses in the wardrobe also had some blood on it, but we figured that was just the General being his usual pervy self." Moving the cigarette in his mouth, he continued, "The question is, where they are now."

"Second Lieutenant Breda, bring me the map"

"Yes Sir!"

Hawkeye lay the map on the ground, her finger tapping Fenief as she scanned the area surrounding it. "Fullmetal had probably lost a lot of blood, judging from the sheer amount on the clothes, so… the General probably figured out he needed to get him to a hospital or clinic. The closest to us is Welosl and Rayerk." Her finger moved to Welosl, then to Rayerk, as she thought about which one they would have headed towards. With a sigh, she turned to Havoc. "Take Major Armstrong and a group of men, and head to Rayerk. We'll cover Welosl."

Today was the day that she'd be released. Roy would be lying if he said he wasn't excited. Just a few days ago Ed had been dead in his arms, and now she was not only alive and breathing, but she was going to return to being an almost uncontrollable force. It had always been a struggle to keep up with her in the past, always darting off into trouble, and somehow, the thought of her keeping him on his toes until they could leave the town, excited him in a way he's never been before.

Roy entered the house, mentally forcing his excitement down, his usual smirk plastered on his lips. He placed his hand on the handle of the door, but froze.

"…We're losing her!" It was Fu's voice.

No. This wasn't happening. Roy had seen her last night, and she was perfectly fine. In fact, she had even paced around the room, ranting about how she had been more than ready to leave the day before. So how could she be dying again? Roy couldn't move, his heart beating in his ears loudly as his hand stayed frozen on the handle of the door. Had he missed something? Was the damage done to her brain from not only the loss of blood, but being dead for so long, been more extensive than they had realized? Or had something else happened?

What was he going to do now? He had failed her again… Edward had died under his watch for the second time in a week. If Al didn't kill him, Roy would surely die from his guilt alone. As his mind hysterically searched for anything that he might have missed, a flicker of hope rose within him. Perhaps she was going to be alright. Ed had cheated death before, and he knew she was too stubborn to not do so again. The hope within him shattered as he heard Fu's voice again a few moments later, though.

"She's dead. Please make a note of the time, Lydia…"

Edward slipped her jacket over her shoulders, grateful for the comfort it brought, before braiding her hair, her fingers manipulating each strand with ease, the habit of doing it each day taking over. She had to admit, the auto-mail had made it a challenge in the beginning, strands sometimes getting caught in the metal bits and bends, but after years of practice, it had become a non-issue.

A smile crossed her face as she remembered when Al tried braiding it for her once, when she had just gotten her arm. He was so nervous, his big clunky hands fumbling with the strands. When he had finished, she had a tangled mess of hair, some parts not even braided, while others were knotted into weird angles. Of course, she acted like she liked it, and had worn it proudly that day. Getting it undone that night… now that was a different story entirely. It felt like her hair was going to be ripped from her skull with each brush stroke…

"Move!"

Edward stumbled away from the bed startled, as Fu and a group of men she didn't know, carried in a woman, placing her on the bed she was in less than ten minutes ago. The men left shortly after, and Edward couldn't stop staring at the woman, her breath caught on her lips. Fu moved frantically, Lydia handing him various tools, as he tried to stop the blood flow from the numerous cuts on her body.

"What happened?" The words slipped from her lips before she could stop herself, reminding them that she was still in the room. Fu barely glanced at her as he worked, his hands pressing against the cut against her neck.

"We don't know. Found her like this. You can't be here… We're losing her!" Fu exclaimed as his fingers pressed against her neck, noticing the pulse had faded. Lydia placed her hands on the woman's chest, starting the compressions as Fu grabbed a syringe, jabbing it into her arm. Fu dropped the syringe on the table next to the bed moments later, as he placed his fingers on her neck again, Lydia stopping the compressions, biting her lip in anticipation. Lydia moved her hands back seconds later, pressing against the woman's chest as she counted. Edward watched as Lydia continued the motion for a few more seconds, before dropping her arms, Fu having already removing his gloves, a grave look on his face.

"She's dead. Please make a note of the time, Lydia…"

The door flew open, making Edward jump with a start, her eyes locking with Onyx. Ed couldn't help but notice how pale his face was, his eyes akin to those of an animal caught in headlights.

"W-what…" He sputtered, his grip on the handle tightening until his knuckles were as pale as his face.

"They found her," Ed's gaze moved back to the woman on the bed before she continued, "like that. Don't know what happened to her."

Mustang stood in the doorway for a moment longer, before straightening himself, his face returning to normal, a soft sigh escaping his lips, moving closer to inspect the woman on the bed. "This is quite gruesome… Any idea who could have done this, Fu?" She couldn't help but look at him as he spoke. Was this really the same man who was as pale as a ghost seconds ago? Gone was the fear she had seen in his eyes, replaced in an instant by an authoritive soldier. Edward couldn't help but admire him, if only for a second.

"No idea. We haven't had any murders in this town in ten years, so," Fu lay a blanket over the woman's body, covering her face as well, before continuing, "I have no idea what to make of this."

"Do you have any form of police in the town?"

Even as he asked the question, Edward already knew the answer. If the town had any form of police or military, they would have been there to speak to her the moment she had regained consciousness, if only to figure out whom they were and what had happened.

"None. We're a small town, we have had no real need for anything like that."

"Guess I'll take charge of this case then." Roy's hand pressed Fu's shoulder reassuringly, before he turned to Ed. "You ready to go, Fullmetal?" He turned to Fu as she moved towards the door. "I'll come by to get any other information you can tell me, if you don't mind doing an autopsy on her?"

"Certainly, son. I'll get started on that as soon as I can. Come by tomorrow."

With a nod, they left the house, heading towards where they would be spending the next couple of nights. Despite it being afternoon, the town was rather quiet, a hand full of people on the street, the two of them included. Edward walked behind Mustang quietly, her thoughts still with the woman who had just died before her eyes. Who could have killed her, and why? The cuts on her body didn't seem like a normal killing, many of them similar to a torture case she had read about back in central. Perhaps the woman was tortured for information?

That couldn't be it, though. She looked like a normal woman, no special ties to any military or other type of organization. There was no way she would have any information that warranted such torture techniques. The only other explanation of her wounds made Ed visibly shiver.

"Fullmetal?" His voice made her jump, having forgotten he was even there.

"I couldn't help but notice…"

"She was tortured." Roy didn't wait for her to finish, it having been on his mind since they left the house as well. "It's probably the work of some psychopath who enjoys torturing women."

Another shiver shot up her spine. It really wasn't something she liked thinking about, if she was honest. Not because she herself was a woman, of course. What she didn't like about it was that there was actually someone in this small town, who could be anyone, that enjoyed torturing innocent women. Someone who actually found pleasure in bleeding women dry.

"I'll look into it more in the morning when Fu is done with the autopsy." He said, heading up a pathway.

Edward nodded silently, deciding there was probably no point until they had more information anyway. So she took in her surroundings instead, her eyes taking in every detail around her. The trees had no leaves left on them, the ground covered in different shades of red, yellow and brown, a sure sign that winter was just a few days away. Every house they passed seemed old, many of them having little or none of their original paint left. Many of them even had broken windows and missing tiles on the rooftops.

Ed couldn't help but notice the density of housing decreasing as they continued. Was the house they were going to stay in at the very edge of the town? Better question, she thought as she passed another worn down house, this one with no doors or windows, what was their house going to look like?

Ed stopped, her breath caught on her lips as her eyes finally stopped on a small cottage at the end of the road, woods on either side of it. This cottage was absolutely nothing like the rest of the town. Yes, it needed a paint job quite desperately, but all its windows were intact, a strong door visible even from where she stood. It was actually quite beautiful, she had to admit, even with the peeling paint.

Roy ran his hand through his hair as he stopped, waiting for her to catch up again. "Come on Fullmetal, you can admire my handy work later."

"Your handy work?" Ed asked as she fell in step next to him again.

With a shrug of his shoulders, he replied, his voice sounding almost bored to her. "I didn't like the idea of staying in a broken down shack, so I repaired as much as I could. It still needs some care, and a coat of paint wouldn't hurt it either, but it'll do for tonight."

"There's no real point in fixing it up, Mustang. We'll be out of here soon anyway, so we can just live with it for now, cant we?"

"Fu agreed to us living here with the condition that we fix it up before leaving." Roy's footsteps crunched with every move, the ground covered in dead leaves. "The house they had us in originally was in the middle of town, and I really wasn't in the mood for that."

Edward watched as he opened the door, his frame disappearing into the cottage as she followed. She had to agree with him, having seen the state of the houses in town. There was no way she would have stayed in any of them, regardless if it was a temporary stay or not. Even she had some standards.

"I found this place when I was scouting out the town, and after a short inspection, decided I'd rather shack up here. I take it you don't mind, Fullmetal?"

"I don't really care." She lied, shrugging her shoulders as she scanned the place. This place was no doubtedly infinitely better than any of the other houses in the town, and she was grateful that he had thought it a better idea to stay here than in the shit hole they were probably given at first.

The place was covered in a thick layer of dust, leaves having flown in through the previously broken windows. Ed wasn't usually that bothered about where she stayed, but for some unknown reason, she really wanted to clean the place up a bit. With one glance at the couch that stood in front of the empty fireplace, she knew she wouldn't have much of a choice anyway. Sitting on anything with that much dust on wasn't really an option.

Then again, she still couldn't understand why they didn't just head straight for Central. Ed knew she was perfectly fine to travel, and if they reached Fenief, they would probably even have a welcoming party, the military having no-doubtedly taken over the town by now. Why Mustang was following Fu's instructions was beyond her.

"In here, Fullmetal…"

Ed moved down the hallway, feet crunching and creaking with every step. The first room she reached was a bedroom, and judging from the military jacket sprawled across the bed, the room was already claimed.

"That one is mine…"

The tone of his voice made her clench her fist, already knowing that he had his usual smug look plastered across his face. Ed turned towards him, and her eyes scanned his frame as he leaned against the doorway across from her, with that smug expression on his face, just as she had guessed. Despite her best efforts, she had to admit, he was a handsome man, his shirt taught in the right places, framing his strong shoulders.

Pulling herself together before she could admire him any longer, she moved past him, concentrating rather hard on looking bored, despite the slight flutter in her chest as she brushed against him as he stood there. Her eyes scanned the room slowly, noticing every detail. The windows had a pair of curtains hanging in front of them, the material clean, obviously a new addition to the house. Standing next to the small bed, was a stand, a book placed on top of it.

Curious, Ed moved over to inspect the book, not a single trace of dust on it, or on anything in the room, she noted to herself quietly, stopping in front of it.

"Advanced Alchemic Theories…"

"I figured you'd need something to read." Roy shrugged, pulling her attention to him as he still stood in her doorway, his eyes focused on the book in her hand. "I found that in the library… I think it was a library…"

"Uh, thanks…" The day couldn't get any weirder if it tried. Was she actually thanking the bastard?

Roy shrugged, before moving into the hallway, waving his hand up as he spoke. "I'll go and find us something to eat for dinner."

"It's still afternoon…"

"It might take some time to find anything, I highly doubt they have a store in this town with ready-to-eat food."

She had to admit, Roy had a point. There would be no point in having a shop in such a quiet town. They probably grew their own food. Thinking back though, she recalled her dinner the previous night tasting very much like the rabbit she had caught with Al when they were travelling. Ed slipped out of her jacket, dropping it on the bed before heading into the living room again, having made up her mind about what to do next.

One glance around at the house, she decided it best not to try and form anything out of the materials in the house itself. It might look stable, but she really didn't want to test her luck, opting to head towards a small tree instead. Out of the corner of her eyes she could just make out his frame, as Roy moved back into the town, his hands in his pockets. Biting her lip, Ed moved closer to the smallest tree. With a swift motion, she clapped her palms together, before touching them to the base of the tree, watching as it turned into a few items, dropping to the ground as they finished forming.

The next thing she needed, Ed thought as she leaned the rake and broom against the wall, would be something to remove the layers of dust. Feet moving on instinct, she found herself holding Roy's jacket a moment later, a wicked grin across her face. He would be so pissed. Thinking about it, she dropped it back on his bed, before moving to the dresser against the wall. Mustang would be insufferable if she turned his jacket into curtains, and as much as she would love to torment him, she was stuck in the same house for the time being.

Opening the drawers, Ed yanked out the first couple of shirts, the fabric almost completely yellow from age, before slamming the drawers shut again. Moving outside again, she decided that ensuring they had dinner, was her first priority. Ed had no faith in Mustangs ability to bring them anything, so she would have to provide food instead. With a smooth movement, she turned the first shirt into two ropes, before heading into the nearby woods to set basic traps, hoping the rabbit she had last night wasn't the only one in these woods.

After having set the traps, she moved back to the house. Grabbing the bucket she had also fashioned from the tree before, Ed moved towards the kitchen, silently praying that the house had some sort of running water system. To her relief, the tap heaved and croaked as water sputtered out, filling the bucket half way. Turning back to the living room, she rolled up her shirt's sleeves, a determined look on her face as she dropped the second shirt into the water.

Roy ran his hand through his hair as he turned away from another house, empty handed. He had asked just about every person he could think of where to get food, and each person had looked at him confused in return. Onyx eyes scanned the street, trying to find any sign of where he should go next. If he didn't bring something back to Ed, not only would they go hungry tonight, but she would give him hell. And as much as he liked that she was alive and well, Roy really didn't feel like being on the receiving end of her yelling tonight.

The sky was a brilliant red hue, the sun hanging low on the horizon. With a defeated sigh, he shoved his hands into his pockets, as he turned down the street, heading towards Fu's place in a last ditch effort to procure some food. The doctor had been kind enough to feed both him and Ed this whole time, maybe he would be kind enough to help out again. After all, they were still here on his insistence, wouldn't it be stupid to let them starve? Roy turned again, heading towards the familiar building in the distance. The closer he got to the house, the more he became aware of the smell of iron in the air. Years of being around the smell, it didn't take him long to place it, his eyes scanning to roads searching for the red substance. Of course, there was no blood anywhere, but the chill ran down his back regardless. Roy came to a stop in front of the familiar black door, knocking three times before showing his hand through his black hair, dropping it to his side a second later, his eyes still scanning the road.

The door swung open, revealing a disheveled Fu. "Oh, it's you son. What can I do for you?"

"What happened?"

Fu scanned him up and down, before opening the door fully, letting him step inside. "That obvious, is it?" The door closed behind Roy, before Fu moved back into the room Ed had pre-occupied just that morning. "Another woman was brought in about half an hour ago. Same type of wounds as the first victim."

"Another one?" Roy's eyes scanned the bed, noticing the bloody sheet covering the body. The strong smell of blood made it very clear that she hadn't survived the attack. "Two kills in one day, that's a bit fast for a town that hasn't had a single murder in ten years, don't you think?"

"I agree. It's extremely unsettling. I'm going to start on the autopsy of the first woman in a couple of minutes, if you want to stick around for the results."

Roy turned towards Fu as he spoke. "No, I'll come back tomorrow for that. I can't do much at night anyway."

"So, what did you come here for, son?"

"I actually wanted to know where we're supposed to find food in this town."

Fu turned around, heading out of the room again, Roy following him, as the old man spoke. "That reminds me, I wanted to give you something. We grow our own food in this town, and catch whatever meat we need ourselves. Since your stay here is temporary, I'll give you whatever vegetables you need, but you're going to have to get your own meat like everyone else. There's an abundance of rabbit in these woods, and a small lake with plenty of fish to the east. Of course, there is more than rabbits in the woods, but most of us settle for the easy prey."

Roy took the basket from Fu as he handed it to him, filled to the brim with various veggies. "I appreciate it. We're going to leave as soon as Ed is ready to travel anyway, so we shouldn't need that much…"

"Actually, about that…" Fu scratched the back of his neck as he spoke, "I wanted to ask you and Ed to stay here until the murderer was caught."

"No." Roy didn't even hesitate to answer, having made up his mind earlier that day about the matter. "We need to get back to my team, and get Ed back to Central. We'll send a group here to take care of the murderer."

"We don't want the military in this town." Fu's face hardened, his eyes boring into Mustangs. "They kill without reason. If you don't want to help us after we saved your wife's life, then that's fine by me, just keep your military to yourself."

Roy stared at the man, shock plastered all over his face. "My... Edward isn't my wife, Fu. What made you think she's my wife?"

"You never left her side…"

A rumble escaped his lips as Roy let out a loud laugh. Ed, his wife? How ridiculous. Not only was she his subordinate, but she would surely kill him rather than marry him. Hell, before the ambush in Fenief, he wasn't even aware that she was a woman. The thought of being married to her…

"It doesn't matter what your relationship is to the girl," Fu carried on, his eyes still hard. "We don't want the military in our town."

Roy shook his head as he headed towards the door. He couldn't get his mind back on track, still thinking of Edward as his wife. "We'll discuss this again in the morning, then. Thank you for the food."

The door slammed shut behind Roy, leaving him stood in the road, as the last rays of light shone through the branches of the trees, the image of Edward in a white dress still playing in Roy's mind. He bit his lip, committing the image to his memory.

A/N: This chapter was hard to write for some reason, and I have to apologize if it's a bit boring. It's one of those chapters that's important to the story but so uneventful. The next one will be better I promise. And I'll try to post the next chapter on time this time. Remember to review and feel free to PM me with any questions or just to chat :3