Disclaimer- I do not own Bleach or Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter Twenty-Five - Ghosts of the Past

Captain Hitsugaya continued to lead the way through the Rukongai, searching for anything that would be considered out of the ordinary. The attack earlier had put the white haired youth on guard and his gaze constantly shifted about as he walked, having no desire to endure another ambush.

"That was incredibly careless of me," the boy thought to himself, growling low in his throat. He still couldn't believe that he had actually allowed those stupid hollow to get the drop on him.

It was unacceptable.

For his part Ed was preoccupied with thoughts of the voice that had called out to them during the battle. He still couldn't shake the feeling that he knew the owner of the voice but for the life of him the face of the person refused to appear in his mind's eye. However this fact didn't stop the blond youth from going over in his mind every person that he had angered in his life.

And as he did so Ed realized, for perhaps the first time, exactly how long that list was.

"Wow," he couldn't help but think to himself. "I managed to piss off a bunch of people. And any one of them could be the person who's now using these stupid Hollow chimera to wreak havoc on Soul Society."

"Hey Fullmetal…"

Ed's thoughts were interrupted and he turned to glare at Mustang. Thinking about his rather long list of enemies had done nothing to improve his mood and this did not make him conducive to listening to Colonel Sarcasm. "What?" he snapped, fire snapping in his golden eyes.

"You know this isn't completely your fault right?"

Now Ed was shocked by these words, to say the very least, and he actually gaped at the black haired man. It was strictly involuntary and the youth wished that he could have hidden his reaction but it simply wasn't possible. His incredulity went away almost instantly however; the moment that Mustang opened his mouth again.

"I mean it's mostly your fault but there have to be other contributing factors." There was a smug expression on the man's face that made Ed want to punch him in the nose.

"You're a bastard, you know that?"

Mustang merely smirked, completely unconcerned by Ed's words. After all it wasn't as though the kid had ever really been able to get to him by words alone. Usually it took words coupled together with actions to get a rise out of the colonel.

"Would the two of you shut up?" Hitsugaya growled, turning to glare at his two subordinates over his shoulder. "Once we get to the bottom of this situation the two of you can fight it out and resolve your differences. But for now try to concentrate on the task at hand."

Ed was more than a little annoyed at being ordered around like that but also realized that their mission was important. "Fine," he muttered to Hitsugaya before turning his attention back to Mustang. "But this isn't over."

Meanwhile Hughes was leading his group through a different section of the Rukongai. This group was much more peaceful than it's counterpart and each member was focused on finding the person who was behind the creation of the modified Hollow. Because the sooner they did so then the sooner they could get on with their lives… or afterlives.

"Is anyone else a bit unnerved by the fact that we haven't encountered anything?" Hughes asked as he and the others made their way down a barely visible path.

"Now that you mention it, it does seem a bit odd," Izumi said in a thoughtful voice. "They have to know that we're here and that we're looking for them so why haven't they done anything to stop us?"

"Maybe we're lower down on their list of priorities," Al suggested, thinking of his older brother and the group that he was traveling in. He didn't want to say it out loud but they seemed like the much more likely targets.

"I assure you that isn't the case at all…"

Al's gaze shifted around, searching for this voice that didn't belong to anyone in their group. He was instantly on guard and couldn't shake the feeling that he had heard this voice at some point in the past.

But when… and where?

Of course Al didn't have any time to contemplate the answer to either of these questions. Within seconds he and the others were surrounded by a group of the modified Hollow… and they did not look happy.

"Let's see how your group fairs against my pets…"

"Who are you?" Al demanded, drawing his zanpaktou and scanning the area in search of the owner of the voice. Because, although it seemed familiar, he couldn't place it. It was as though the memories were buried and refused to surface. "Show yourself."

"Not part of the plan… But rest assured that you'll see me soon enough. That is assuming you can pass this little test."

"Red Flame Cannon!" Holding up his hands Hughes launched a kidou attack at the nearest Hollow. The creature gave a cry of pain a second before it disintegrated into dust.

Al knew that he needed to help his teammates and the boy pushed his thoughts about the stranger to the back of his mind. There would be time to think about that once the enemies had been dealt with.

"Do you feel that?" Ed's gaze whipped around as he felt a sudden and familiar flair in reiatsu.

"I do," Hitsugaya said with a nod. The rise in reiatsu could only signify one thing and the young captain quickly sprang into motion. Turning he began to run in the direction that the reiatsu was radiating from. "We should go and help them."

Ed nodded and quickly fell into step behind the white haired captain. He wasn't normally one for following orders without protest but this situation was different. His brother, as well as his friends, was engaged in battle and Ed couldn't handle the thoughts of anything happening to them.

Hence his uncharacteristic obedience.

"I swear if anything happens to him…" Ed didn't allow himself to finish this thought as he and the others used their flash-step to travel toward the site of the battle. He forced himself to remember that Al was a trained Shinigami and that he was with Hughes, Matsumoto and their sensei. That should be more than enough power to deal with the measly Hollow that they had been fighting.

Hopefully that was all that they were facing off against.

A/N - I'm sorry that it took me so long to update this story! Please forgive! Hope that you enjoyed even though it was short.