The bench I sat on vibrated as the train traveled across the countryside. It was early in the evening and the sun cast an orange glow on everything its waning light touched, giving the nostalgic feeling of another day passed. I looked out the window at the passing farmland, my head resting on my hand against the window. My other hand was wrapped tightly in bandages and set in a sling over my chest. At every shiver the train made, the wrapped limb ached, making me feel slightly miserable.

Alphonse sat across from myself and Edward, and we were all silent in the otherwise empty train car. "It's like we have our very own private car," Al said, trying to break the awkward silence. I had not spoken much during the journey to the station, and Ed was equally as silent beside me. It appeared that he was looking internally, seriously contemplating something. I was just sulking. Still, Alphonse gave a valiant effort to drag us into conversation. "You know, I like traveling by train. It's fun to watch the countryside fly by–"

"Al," Ed interrupted his younger brother. "I have to do this now that the State has me collard, but you don't have to be here. Neither of you," he said, glancing in my direction as well. He was referring to his first mission issued to him by Mustang. He was to go inspect a mine in the small town of Youswell, the last town to the East. Apparently, that was a normal task for State Alchemists, since they all by principle had intimate knowledge of minerals. It was no big task for one such as Edward, and he said that Mustang had given it to him as an easy first mission to start out with as the newly dubbed 'Fullmental Alchemist', his new name given to him by the State.

"We're brothers," Al responded, "If we don't help each other, no one will. Those were your words, remember?"

Edward smiled slightly. "Right." He looked over to me, but I avoided his eyes. He frowned but did not say anything further.

My relationship with the brothers had been a bit…awkward since I woke up after Tucker had attacked me. It wasn't as if I was purposely trying to avoid them, it was just…

I woke in the hospital two days after the Tucker Incident, as I labeled it in my head. I had been dreaming of running through the dark, terrified of something that was chasing me. Grotesque animals snapped at my feet and growled out warnings as I ran past, but no matter how hard I tried, I was running as if through molasses in that frustrating way of dreams. Just as I rounded a corner, I was stopped by a menacing figure that loomed before me shrouded in shadow. He moved into the light, and I was faced with the form of Shou Tucker, but I could only see his soulless eyes. I sat up with a scream.

"Whoa, kid, calm down, your safe," a man's voice soothed. I breathed harshly as my eyes blurred into focus. The room I was in was painfully white and monitors beeped annoyingly in my ears. My arm was attached to an IV that dripped slowly at my bedside and my hand was wrapped tightly in gauze. I looked over at the man who had spoken and was surprised to find Havoc sitting at my bedside.

"Havoc…?"

"You are in Central Hospital. You've been asleep for two days."

I rested my head in my good hand, pushing back the memories of my dream and what had happened that night. "What happened after I…" I paused. My throat was really dry. Havoc handed me a cup of water and started explaining.

"After you ran off, Ed and Al returned to the Tucker Estate to find the man dead, his daughter trapped in a cage, and you missing. Edward went after you while Alphonse called Mustang for backup. When we got there, you were barely conscious. We transported you to the hospital immediately, and they had to perform surgery on your hand and give you a blood transfusion."

Oh God. I put my good hand over my face and bit my lip till I could taste blood. Nina. I had totally and completely forgotten about her. I left her in that godforsaken place alone.

Havoc answered my unspoken question quickly, catching the expression on my face. "Tucker's daughter was not harmed when we found her. She was taken in by the State until we can find her someplace to stay." Havoc looked at me seriously. "She will be fine. She's staying with Hughes at the moment, and she has been asking after you constantly. You can see her once you are released."

Slowly, I nodded and let my hand fall from my face. Poor little Nina. I really hoped the new orphan could forgive me for what I had done to her. I might have been terrified, but I left her alone to face that strange woman without any protection. But at least she hadn't been killed. She would live to see adulthood.

"What about my hand? Will I recover?" Phantom pain raced through my arm as I remembered the feeling of the knife tearing through my flesh. I had never experienced anything so painful and terrifying in my life. It was numbed now by strong medications no doubt, but the drugs did not block the memory. It had all almost ended for me. I would have been fused with that thing, and then…I shook aside the thought.

"You should be fine. Tucker was a lunatic, but he knew his stuff. The most you will have to suffer with is some slight nerve damage, but that should go away after about six months. You should be healed in about a few weeks."

I nodded, somewhat relieved. But still, something Tucker said nagged at the back of my mind. "Did the doctor say anything about…" I stopped myself. Tucker had said I wasn't human, but a creature that was the result of a human transmutation. Did that mean my anatomy was different from the humans of this world? A doctor would surely notice if that was the case. Like, I wouldn't be able to get a blood transfusion or something. I wanted to know, but…no, I didn't think I actually did. The thought that I might not even be human was deeply unsettling. "Never mind."

Havoc gave me a knowing look that I could not decipher. I avoided his gaze and swiftly changed the subject. "What about Ed, did he pass?" That's right. That was the whole reason we were in Central in the first place. With all that had happened, I had totally forgotten about the Exam. To pass the Exam and get our bodies back: that was what mattered.

Havoc gave me a charming grin. "Naturally. The kid blew everyone away."

I chuckled weakly. "That sounds like Ed."

Mustang chose that moment to enter the room, his handsome face serious. Havoc stood to solute him, but Mustang waved him aside and jerked his head towards the door. Before Havoc left, he placed his hand on my shoulder and gave me a comforting smile. He left me alone with the Colonel.

Mustang looked over to me with his black eyes, and I avoided his gaze. He sighed and filled Havoc's vacant chair. "How are you feeling?"

I shrugged, and then shook my head. I had no idea. "Numb."

Mustang snorted slightly. "That would be the drugs talking."

"Damn good stuff," I mumbled. Mustang's face turned grave.

"I need you to tell me what happened." I glanced over to the man thoughtfully. He was looking at me seriously, his arms resting on his legs and leaning forward. I wondered vaguely if I would have enjoyed his attentions at any other time. But right now…

"I don't want to talk about it." And I really didn't. Who would want to bring up such painful memories? It was too soon.

"It's somewhat important that we have the whole story," Mustang continued without missing a beat. "You were the only one there that really understood what was going on."

I shook my head and Mustang crossed his fingers in front of his face. "Fine, let me give you another reason. The higher ups have taken an interest in you because of this incident and whom you are related to. I've managed to stave them off so far, but unless I know what really happened, I can't give them a believable story. Do you really want them snooping around you and your brothers?"

I shot him a look out of the corner of my eye, furious. "Is that a threat?" I gritted out.

"A warning," he shot back. "The military doesn't give a damn about who it has to step over to get what it wants. Let me help you."

I frowned deeply in thought. I did not trust him. Still…he had a point. If the military was interested in me, then they could find out what Al and I really were, and that would be horrific. Slowly, I began to tell him my story, trusting for now that he would keep his word. I told him everything, but I left out what Tucker had told me. That I would keep to myself for now.

When I finished, Mustang finally spoke. "Why was Tucker interested in you in particular? You said he was going to use Nina."

"I don't know," I lied. "I guess I was just convenient."

"More convenient than a helpless child? I've seen you fight. You would have been a risk."

I flinched, but did not answer, and turned my head away. Mustang stood after a moment of uncomfortable staring. "We will look into who the woman was that interfered, as well as the man you met in the ally." He paused in the doorway and gave me an inscrutable look. "Get well." He left. I did not watch him leave. His gaze was unsettling, as if he knew more than he was letting on. I just couldn't tell what that man was thinking, and that scared me.

I was released that afternoon. Ed and Al were there to pick me up. I was greeted with a wide smile from Edward and a happy aura from Al. "You are finally awake! We were thinking you'd be a vegetable forever."

"Nah," I snarked back. "I just needed a kiss from a handsome prince to wake me."

"Oh," Ed said, narrowing his eyes, "and just who gave you this kiss of life hm?"

I placed my good hand on my face and took on a dreamy expression. "Oh, someone you know, someone really handsome."

"Pft." Ed snorted at my dreamy expression. "I hope you aren't talking about Havoc."

I wrapped my unbound arm around my torso and tilted my head up absurdly. "Oh Havoc!" The boys chuckled at my antics. Edward placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's good to have you back."

"We were worried about you," Al said. He pulled something out from behind his back. It was my green coat. My eyes widened in surprise. I thought it had been destroyed. "I saved it before they could throw it out. I fixed it with Alchemy," Al said, handing it over. I took it from him with a slight smile, careful not to touch him. I pulled it on, feeling a sense of welcoming normalcy wash over me. Well, as normal as my life could be right now.

Al stepped forward and tried to brush his hand over my covered arm to establish our connection, a habit we had formed, but I flinched back. Al's hand hung in the air, and he looked hurt. "Sorry," I mumbled. "I just…"

"It's ok," Al said, dropping his hand. "I understand."

"Thanks Al," I smiled gratefully.

After that, Ed received his first mission from Mustang. We had to leave for the small town of Youswell. I was a little grateful that I did not have to face Nina just yet. I don't think I could have handled it. I was absurdly weak at the moment, and it frustrated me.

Night fell, and the train rattled on beneath us. Edward was softly snoring from the booth on the other side of the aisle where he had moved so he could lay down on the bench. We would be arriving at Youswell the evening of the next day. My body ached just thinking about it. These benches were ridiculously hard.

"Are you in pain?" Alphonse stared at me from the opposite bench, his armor glowing slightly in the moonlight. I glanced over at him and shrugged, not quite meeting his eyes. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I had not told Ed and Al what happened that night. Mustang had forced me to talk, but I still would rather not think about it at all. Everything Tucker had told me weighed heavily on my mind, and I knew I needed to tell the brothers, but just not yet. I shook my head and Al sighed. "I'm here when you are ready to talk."

I smiled softly at the moon. "I know."

0–0–0

"There it is!" Al exclaimed. Sure enough, a small town in the distance finally revealed itself over the rolling hills of the countryside. Edward and I gave simultaneous groans of relief. Finally! I didn't know what was going to kill me first, the boredom or the hard train bench. Ed stood up and stretched, rubbing his own sore bottom.

"About time," he exclaimed. "I don't think I'm ever going to like traveling by train." We got off the train in the late afternoon and got our first good look at Youswell.

In short, we weren't impressed. "Gese, I thought this was supposed to be a coal mining town, not a ghost town," Ed grouched. The streets were nearly empty in the waning afternoon, and those that were around were sitting on the dirt roads between the houses forlornly. The town was filled with old buildings that looked like they had not been maintained in a long while, and the people looked just as run down. I could almost imagine a ball of tumbleweed bouncing down the silent road.

"They must be going through a rough time," I suggested. "Maybe the coal mine has run out, and that's why we've been sent to inspect it."

"Yeah, maybe," Ed said, looking around in disappointment. He had been looking forward to a nice warm bed after spending the night on that rough train. "Let's just get this over with quickly so we can move on –"

Ed was interrupted as a beam of wood hit him on the back of the head. He stumbled forward with a surprised grunt and I quickly stepped back as the young man who had been carrying the large piece of wood spun around, nearly beaning me as well. "Oh, sorry," a young boy about our age with short brown hair and bright eyes apologized carelessly. "Oh, wait are you tourists?" He suddenly bent down into Ed's face with a bright expression. Ed leaned back in surprise, his hand still massaging the back of his head. "Are you here to visit? Do you have a place to stay?"

"Hell of a welcoming committee," Ed grumbled irritably.

The kid stood up and waved to a large man across the street. "Dad, look! Big spenders!"

"Big spenders," Al asked, bewildered.

"Hey, what do you know!" the man the boy had addressed took off a mining helmet. He was built, his body cut into hard lines of a man used to hard labor. "My name is Holling, and I own the local inn around here. We'll take good care of ya."

We all glanced at each other uncertainly, but followed the two exuberant men into town.

The inn was situated at the edge of the mining village. It was a small establishment of two stories and the first floor consisted of a bar and a dining area. It was building was made entirely of wood, and it reminded me pleasantly of the Plaid Skirt. The bar area was filled with a group of large men, probably miners, who all raised their glasses of ale to us in welcome.

"Hey, it's been a long time since we've had tourists," one man shouted exuberantly. I had to wonder just how boring this small town had to be if our arrival was the most interesting thing that had happened to these people in a while.

"So, what do you think?" Holling asked, carrying two glasses of ale. "It's not much, but since the mine's wages are so low, this little place helps us keep two irons in the fire."

"So that will be a room for three for a night," a homely looking lass asked us. Alphonse nodded. "And what are your rates?"

Holling gave us a devious grin. "Well, it ain't cheap."

Ed scoffed. "Don't worry, we can handle it. Despite our appearances, we actually have plenty of cash."

"Three hundred thousand," Hollings said, holding up three fingers.

Our jaws dropped. "What," Ed shouted, "are you going to put gold bars on our pillows or something?!"

"Seriously, are we staying at an inn or buying a car!" I shouted.

"Well boys, this is the best inn in town," Holling said, putting his hands on his hips playfully.

"Not to mention the only inn," his son said, mirroring his pose. "We don't get tourists too often, so we have to milk you guys for all you are worth!"

We sidled over to the corner, and Ed pulled out his wallet. There were a few hundred bills in it but it wasn't nearly enough. Ed groaned. "Damnit, we spent all of our money shopping with Winry. This won't even cover half!"

"Wait, Winry came by?"

"Yeah, while you were still asleep," Al said. I pouted. It had been a really long time since I had seen her and she comes by when I'm sleeping! How inconsiderate.

"Well," Ed said, slipping his wallet into his pocket, "I guess it's time for plan B."

0–0–0

A flash of light filled the room as Edward fixed a tool one of the miners had brought him across the way. I was behind the bar with a crowd of my own admirers as I made them all my specialty drinks, courtesy of my job at the Plaid Skirt.

"Ahaha, who's next," Ed shouted from across the room. I shook my head at his antics and concentrated on my own payment. The selection of liquors was slim, but they had plenty of other ingredients around to add to my recipes.

"Wow," a man in front of me gulped a drink I had made for him in appreciation; "I haven't had a drink this good in ages!"

I flipped my hair over my shoulder arrogantly and continued to deftly make drinks with my one good hand. I was lucky the one that had been injured was my left, because otherwise I would have been useless. "Of course! I learned from the best."

Another man to my right groaned in delight. "These are amazing. What do we have to do to get you to live here forever?"

"Sorry," I winked playfully, "you're not my type." The man spluttered his friends guffawed and slapped him on the back.

Something slammed on the other side of the room, making me jump and almost drop the knife I was using to slice up some olives. The room became dead silent, the drop in sound startling after listening to the rowdy atmosphere for a while. Everyone turned around to see Ed backing up slightly from Holling, who had his hands down on the table firmly and glared at Ed fiercely. "Did you say inspection? Are you with the State?"

"Well, yeah, I'm a State Alchemist. Pretty cool right?" Ed chuckled nervously. Holling apparently didn't think that was funny, because he grabbed Edward by the scruff of his neck and threw the protesting blond out of the inn.

"We don't serve your kind here!" He shouted as he threw Ed's suitcase after him and slammed the door in his face, cutting off Ed's curse.

The large man shot Al and me a look, and I tensed as suddenly hostile gazes were directed at us. "What about you two, are you with the State as well?" Hesitantly, Al and I glanced at each other before shaking our heads. Holling nodded and stormed out of the room in anger. After a moment of tense silence, everyone around us relaxed and continued their conversations, although the atmosphere was slightly more subdued than before.

I leaned forward and grabbed the attention of the men sitting in front of me. "Why does Holling hate the military so much?" I asked.

"Everyone around here does," the large man said gruffly. "The military is the reason this town is in such dire straights. The man in charge of this sector, Yoki, is a greedy son of a bitch who lowered our wages and raised the taxes so high none of us could possibly pay it. No one in the military cares about anyone but their own damn selves." He stared at his empty glass gravely before suddenly perking up. "So, tell us about this master of yours who taught you how to make such good drinks." He held up his empty glass in demands of another, and everyone else was suddenly crowded in, waiting for my answer. I chuckled nervously and obliged. I shot a glance at the door every once in a while in worry for Ed. It looked like this wouldn't be such an easy mission after all.

Hi guys! Here's the next chapter for all you lovely readers out there, just like I promised. We are finally past most of the angsty stuff from the last story arc, so hopefully we can get some action before it gets all dark again. And yup, Alex has still not talked to the boys about what happened, but he'll get around to it. I wanted to get this story moving a bit before I had to stop and do a bunch of explaining again. It'll get cleared up soon before they get to Liore. We won't see Nina for a while, but don't worry, she'll be fine.

Please review, my lovelies! I worked really hard on this chapter and I deserve some cookies! Next chapter: Alex and Al have their first fight, and a bunch of sleazy bribing goes down. See you next time!