"Any idea who it was?" Alphonse was sitting on the plush leather sofa in the Fuhrer's office, squeezed in between Armstrong and Izumi and too terrified of both to even hint that he might like more space.

"He seemed relatively hostile towards us, so for now we're assuming it's an associate of Father's. Though, like Father, he didn't actually hurt anyone. The thing we're most concerned about is that it appears he performs alchemy the same way Father and Hohenheim did – no circles, no clapping, nothing. So if they are allies and we end up facing them both at the same time, the odds won't be at all favourable for us."

Alphonse leaned forwards, cupping his chin in his hand. "As far as I'm aware, that's not a skill that can be learnt. It's possible he's another human philosopher's stone, though it's unlikely given that there haven't been reports of any mass losses of life." He glanced sideways at Roy. "Or have there?"

Roy frowned at him. "None in Amestris, none in Xing, and as far as I'm aware nothing anywhere else, either. The only anomalous events lately have all been here."

"It's troubling, for sure," Izumi said. "Are we any closer to figuring out how to actually fight him when the time comes?"

"Not unless anyone got their memories back."

"I've been looking into that, actually," Alphonse said. "Mei got me thinking about it. From what I've read, if an already powerful transmutation needs more energy it can take it from the surrounding environment. While they're not a physical thing memories are powerful, so it's possible that whatever Ed did took the ones we were making at that moment. It was a pretty big event by anyone's standards, so it stands to reason that the memories would have been very strong."

"Who's research is that?" Armstrong asked.

"It's a theory by Dr Nader from about 15 years ago. It was discredited because it wasn't provable due to the strength of transmutation required to achieve it, but it's the only explanation I can think of. His paper's available in the archives at Central University, it's interesting even if some of what he theorises seems impossible."

"At this point, I'm not above considering the impossible," Roy sighed.

"I should warn Winry, too." Alphonse manoeuvred himself off the sofa and unfolded his jacket. "Father knows how close she is to everything, if this other guy is on his side she could have two people after her."

"If you can think of anyone else who might be in the firing line, let them know too."

"Will do."

(-)

The streets of Central were busy and filled with the twitching liveliness of an unknown threat. As Alphonse walked, every conversation he heard was about the alchemic lights and the state's silence about it. Apparently none of the ministers had spoken about it, and Alphonse knew for a fact that Roy had sent a memo to all the soldiers instructing them to keep quiet. With each snippet of conversation he heard, he felt more and more like they should know. It's unfair to keep them in the dark, he thought. They could be in as much danger as we are.

He could see the sign for Winry's shop from halfway down the street – a figure made entirely of miniature automail dangling from the jutting beam and set to look as though it was beckoning people to the shop. The paint above the doorway was beginning to peel, but not enough that it needed redoing yet. When the bell tinkled as he opened the door, he heard the clatter of something dropping and Winry swearing. She came out into the front of the shop as Alphonse rested his forearms on the counter. He straightened up when he noticed the slightly red puffiness of her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just up all night. What about you? You never come here anymore." There were stripes of oil on her face and all the way up her arms, and her hair was tied in a bun apart from the oil-streaked strands at the front that always refused to stay tied. Her tape measure was hanging around her neck and she didn't have her gloves on.

"You don't have to do that anymore, you know. Pull all-nighters. It's not healthy."

"I know. This one's a rush job for a friend."

"Do I know them?"

Winry glanced towards the back of the shop and chewed on her lip for a moment. "No. You don't know them."

The silence stretched between them until Alphonse felt he had to physically break it by moving. He wandered over to the wall where Winry hung photographs of her best work for customers to look at. Right in the centre were photos of Edward's arm and leg. A small film of dust covered the glass. From here Alphonse could see part of the back of the shop; someone was on the small bed Winry had set up, but he could only see a leg.

"Is this about that Father guy being back?"

"Yeah, I… How did you know?"

"You haven't been in to say hi in a while, I thought it must have to be something serious."

"No, I mean how did you know he was back?"

Winry paused and grew visibly tense. "I saw Havoc a few days ago, he told me to look out."

"Someone else appeared last night, too. No-one got a good look at him, so I can't tell you who to watch out for, just… Be careful until this is over, yeah?"

Winry nodded. As Alphonse was heading for the door, she called him back. When he turned to look at her, she couldn't meet his gaze. Instead she was looking down and picking at her fingernails.

"What is it, Winry?"

"Even though we haven't seen each other in ages, are we still friends?"

"What? Of course."

"So you can still forgive me?"

"Should I need to?"

"You might."

"Then yes, I forgive you."

"You don't even know what for."

"I don't need to."

"You should decide that when you find out."

Alphonse paused with his hand on the door. "When I find out what?"

Winry shook her head and cleared her throat, glancing up to the ceiling and taking a deep breath before eventually looking at Alphonse. "Nothing. It's nothing. Just me being silly. Let me know if you get any news about Father."

"I will."

As the door swung shut behind him, Alphonse could have sworn he heard Winry cursing softly over the jingling of the bell. He glanced back for a second and saw he resting her hands on the counter with her head dipped low before she straightened up and returned to the back of the shop.

Let me know what you think!