A/N: So, I think that I'm going to make the interrogation scene short and sweet (hopefully); so I can manage to get a move on, towards the more important things. I am fully aware that the first part will probably end up as more filler, since I pretty much suck at these kind of scenes. *goes towards the corner and begins moping* T.T

*As a note: Since Ed would already have enough issues (seriously), Truth has decided to be nice for once and give him some extra information about the world, but also an identity.

Last time: Ed meets Morgan and Spence after he's thrown into the other side of the gate and tries to save a little girl from the same fate as Nina. The team is confused and somewhat frustrated when they decide it's time to get more answers from Ed, knowing he is smart and apparently looking for exits just in case.

Tangune: Oh, don't worry. I have plans. XD

Foxchick1: It's coming, trust me.

Guest: I'm glad. I know that this chapter won't be as totally exciting as the next or previous, merely because it has to set things up...but if only they hadn't tried to outsmart an Elric. Too bad! (insert singsong voice here)

Hotch frowned minutely at that, and turned towards Gideon. They both knew what that meant, and it wasn't necessarily a good thing.

He has experience in interrogation techniques, and he also seems intelligent and very aware of his surroundings. This could be a good thing if they played their cards right, or an incredibly bad thing if things went south.

"Hotch, let me and Reid go in." Gideon told him, surprising him, to say the least. He wasn't necessarily okay with that. "You can observe from the side, while Reid translates. You saw him earlier."

Hotch acquiesced, knowing exactly what he was saying. As all three of them entered, one thought kept bugging him.

He was checking for multiple exits.

Chapter 2: The Interrogation Gets Some Answers, and Yet None

Just as they were settling in, Garcia rushed in with a file that obviously contained what little they could actually find on Ed. It had been quite frustrating, challenging and not at all satisfying. She could tell by the looks on their faces that even they were surprised at the meager findings. She sensed that there would be some serious discussions in the near future.

Ed looked at everyone's positions in the room, taking in what he knew wasn't going to be "just a few questions", as Spence had insisted it was going to be. No, this was an interrogation. Spencer was here as an interpreter, as Ed had barely had a chance to look at his book for translations. The one on the wall seemed to be just observing, but ready to step in at a moments notice. If he had to venture a guess, he would say that he was their leader. He wasn't smug like Mustang came off as most of the time, but he seemed to have the same kind of disposition. Glancing at the one who was reading the file, he narrowed his eyes for a mere moment. He seemed to be digesting every word in the file, as if trying to memorize the contents. This man was no fool, that was for sure and had obviously done his fair share of investigations and questioning. Giving a subtle look at all of them, he figured that aside from maybe Reid they had probably done plenty of interrogating. For some reason, he knew Reid was more like Alphonse; he came across as unassuming and shy, but very smart at the same time. He could trust Reid, if only for the fact that his personality reminded him so much of his brother. The other two were his superiors, if what Reid had told him was correct. Well, Ed wasn't about to let them turn the tables on him and make him look guilty. The husband, boyfriend, or one seen fleeing the scene was always the most suspicious, he knew from experience. Even if he was only trying to help, he had been seen with blood on his hands of one of the victims by a witness. It was time for him to try and gain an upper hand before they tried to play all of this against him, even if they were playing the innocent "we only have a few questions to ask". From his time in the military, he'd found some phrases like that were usually followed by jail time. Turning towards Reid, he chose not to bother with his broken English that he could manage on purpose.

"Are you sure that I can trust them? Asking a few questions means I'm a suspect, doesn't it?"

Reid looked at him, somewhat shocked at his questions and tried to come up with a response. Ha! First point goes to Elric!

"Why shouldn't you trust them, Ed? I told you they just wanted to go over what you told me."

Ed looked back at him with what he hoped was more of a neutral look on his face. He was well aware that these people were experts at reading every type of body language. Everything he did and said could and probably would be used against him in some way. He noticed the Mustang counterpart in the corner shift a bit, as if to prove his point.

"I don't even know their names or anything about them. Why would I trust them?" Ed countered, being careful not to raise his voice or do anything suspicious. He knew they wouldn't like him only talking to Reid and undoubtedly finding that weird; but the only movements he would make was to barely move his hand and raise one of his eyebrows.

Reid inwardly sighed, knowing that Ed was right. He felt more than saw Hotch looking at him, and knew Gideon was reading the file but paying attention to the conversation nonetheless. Of course, he knew what Ed was trying to do at this point and he had been doing a very good job at it. He probably figured that this was an interrogation and was trying to gain the upper hand before he got backed into a corner. It was an excellent strategy and if he were to be honest, it scared him a bit. They hadn't been in the room for five minutes and Ed had managed to start the conversation, if only to avoid being caught in some trap; he instead had lead them into one.

"Why trust me, then?"

Ed looked at him and had for a minute, seen his brother smiling next to him as if they were one and the same. He gave him a small smile, catching the others a little off guard for a moment looked down at the table before responding in a quieter voice.

"It's quite simple, really. You remind me a lot of my brother. The way you act and treat people is a lot like he does. I know that if he were here with me, he'd say something like: "They helped you, so why not help them too, brother?" Ed finished, slumping. 'Why was Al like his inner conscience these days?' He was going to be forced into helping them, even if it was because he knew that it was something Al would want him to do.

Reid was surprised at both his response and his sudden difference in body language. He thought it had a lot to do with him talking about his brother. It always seemed to have him clam up suddenly or change what he was saying. It was truly mysterious, to be sure; however, it wasn't what they had to focus on at the moment.

"If you trust me, then trust me when I tell you that these two are good men. Hotch is behind me, and he can be a little...stern or stoic at times, but he'll be there if you need him. That is Gideon in front of you. I like to play chess with him a lot; its quite challenging. He's very smart and a good teacher." Reid told him, introducing them as both had also looked at him when their names were mentioned.

Ed nodded, giving them both a quick glance and smiling somewhat sad and bittersweet at Reid at their descriptions. They sounded a lot like Mustang and Hughes, for some reason.

"Yeah, they remind me of a couple of people I once knew."

Reid looked confused at Ed's expression, but knew not to question it. The way he said it in past tense with that sad smile made him not want to say anything else unless it was brought up again. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Ed.

"Should we get started, then? I know you didn't do anything wrong and I'll try my best to step in if they get too riled up, but I doubt that would happen."

Ed nodded, trying not to give him a smirk. He really was so much like Al, believing in him and wanting to stop trouble all the time. Smiling, he looked at everyone in turn; including Morgan, who was still watching. He knew Morgan wouldn't be able to resist, so he did something that he knew would make Al mumble and probably facepalm.

"Hello Morgan! I knew you'd come and watch the fun!"

Reid tried to hold back his laughter as he heard the thump, which meant that his friend probably hit the window with his head and stared at Ed. Meanwhile, Ed couldn't hold back the smirk at the priceless reaction of the both of them.

XD-Ed is awesome-XD-XD-XD-Criminal Minds-FMA-

Gideon had finished reading a while ago, but had been trying to pay attention to the conversation going on around him in vain. He knew that Ed spoke what sounded like German; but the last he'd heard, Reid had given him one of those translators German to English dictionaries. He was very aware that the man sitting in front of him was far from stupid and could have probably memorized a good portion of it by now. It was obvious that he had Reid going in some kind of circle as they had talked for quite a while before him apparently agreeing to something. It seemed as if this would not be the easiest one to question, but they had no choice but to do their best. The way he had been trying to analyze them from the moment they came into the room showed his intelligence and an ability to think ahead. He saw Reid looking a lot calmer than usual, which he thought was probably because of something that had been said as they both settled in. Reid nodded at him, giving him a silent signal that they were ready to begin.

Gideon studied Ed for a moment before looking at the first page of the file, which he knew was unnecessary. While he did that, Ed was left to wonder where all of that information came from and what was there. He could read English easily enough, but he hadn't been here long enough to have a file that big; even if it wasn't that large. He knew the only explanation was Truth and that he had no choice but to go along with whatever was there...mostly.

(So, as Ed has been trying to study, he'll understand most of the questions that are asked. However, since I don't want to write everything in English twice, I'm thinking one in English and one from translate or something for when Ed doesn't understand. If he responds in German, it'll be in German and I'll try to summarize so I don't have to do footnotes...I guess? Again, I almost always write all of this on the fly. I haven't done rough drafts in a good while. XD)

"It says here that you're from a small town called Risembool in the southeast region of Germany. You barely speak the language here, so are you here on business or to stay?"

Ed looked confused. He could usually make out what people said in English, more or less; but that question was very long and seemed all mushed together. He looked at Reid, silently asking what he said.

"Hier steht, dass Sie aus einer kleinen Stadt namens Risembool im Südosten Deutschlands stammen. Sie sprechen hier kaum die Sprache, sind also geschäftlich hier oder um zu bleiben."

Ed thought about it, but tried not to think too long; just so they wouldn't think that he was trying to make things up. Well, he kind of was, but that wasn't the point.

"Ich bin alleine hier und wurde von meinem Bruder getrennt. Ich suche ihn, also könnte man sagen, dass ich geschäftlich hier bin."

Reid's eyes widened a little, before looking at Gideon. "He said that he's here looking for his brother, so he guesses that would be business."

"Why were you in that neighborhood so late at night? It seems strange that you just happen to be there just after they were attacked." Gideon said.

Ed caught most of what the man had said, and tried using some of the context clues to figure it out. There was one word he couldn't remember seeing in the dictionary. Turning to Reid, he thought he may have heard something like it before.

"Was bedeutet Nachbarschaft?"

Reid nodded, understanding the confusion.

"Es ist wie in einer Gegend. Warum bist du in dieser Gegend herumgelaufen?"

Why was he in the area? Oh yeah, because Truth had basically dumped him there. How could he spin that one? They wouldn't believe him basically being dumped there...mostly.

"I was...uh, im Grunde ..dort abgeladen. I remember being hurt and lost...not knowing where help was. I heard the dog cry out and forgot injuries to try and help. I guess it didn't help, because das kleine Mädchen still died." Ed remembered, thinking of Nina and how that ended so tragically.

Gideon was confused somewhat and looked at Reid. He understood most of it, but Ed was going back and forth between the two languages and only making some sense. He understood that Ed was hurt and lost, heard the dogm and tried to help. The witness said he saw Ed with a very injured little girl in his arms, which probably meant that was who he was talking about when he said they died. Reid cleared his throat and sadly repeated the parts that were in German.

"He said he was dumped there and that he tried to help the little girl."

Gideon now almost regretted asking the question, seeing Ed look so sad and dejected. Deciding to move on, he wanted to get the blacked out parts of his file which not even Garcia could manage to get past. It was too strange, and the only parts of that they could manage to figure out had to do with the German embassy and the military. They had a few names, but no contacts or any other leads past that. It did, however, explain how he was so adept at examining his surroundings and managing to direct interrogations. They had no way to contact his parents and it would be unnecessary as you could get into the military at 17 in Germany.

"It says here that you were part of the military over in Germany. Are you transferring over here or were you allowed to leave?" Gideon asked, trying to figure out how long the kid was staying.

Ed glanced at Reid, starting to feel tired. Trying to translate in his head was getting pretty tiresome, and he was fairly close to speaking nothing but German to save any energy he actually had left.

"Hier steht, dass Sie Teil des Militärs in Deutschland waren. Wechseln Sie hierher oder durften Sie gehen?" Reid interpreted, starting to pick up on the wariness that Ed was starting to show. It had happened before, when Ed was starting to get tired and just not wanting to bother trying to figure out the English anymore.

Ed tapped his finger on his chin, having really not thought on it before. It was true that as a state alchemist in the military he carried the rank of a Major. His main goal was always Alphonse and nothing else, and Mustang had always known that from the very beginning. He supposed that "transferring" here wouldn't be too bad in the meantime, and they could help him in his search. He knew that Reid would, at the very least; but finding a place to stay could be challenging at any rate.

"Ich war Major im Militär, und mein Vorgesetzter ließ mich gehen, um nach meinem Bruder zu suchen. Er erwartet mich nicht so bald wieder." Ed said, knowing it sounded like the both of them had made some shady deal from the start. It wasn't his problem. "Ich habe ein Problem. Ich war gerade erst hier und es gab keinen Ort, an dem ich leben konnte."

Reid blinked a few times, before repeating what Ed had said with a non-believing tone. His boss just...let him go?

"He said he was a Major in the military, and his superior let him leave to look for his brother. He is not expecting him back anytime soon. He also said that there weren't any living arrangements or anything made for him, so I guess they just left him on his own after putting him on a plane or something."

Gideon looked at both Reid and Ed, not quite believing what he had just heard. The kid in front of him was both lucky and extremely unlucky at the same time. His boss had let him go look for his brother, but at the same time left him with no means to take care of himself.

"Ich habe eine Idee, Ed. Vielleicht könnten Morgan oder ich Sie bei uns haben. Ich meine, Sie haben gesehen, wie der Hauptverdächtige von der Szene geflohen ist." Reid told Ed, not quite sure if it would qualify, but it surely had to be a better option than living on the streets.

It was true, though, Ed thought. He didn't have a place to stay or any resources to find his brother. And though his pride demanded he just find a way to do it himself; logic said there wasn't another way, and that he should try and help them if they wanted it. Stupid Al voice again. He nodded absentmindedly, agreeing to Reid's...proposition.

"Das klingt gut. Wenn Sie jemals meine Hilfe brauchen, habe ich bereits Fälle bearbeitet."

Reid nodded, thanking Ed silently. They might just need that help and it was obvious that Ed was smart and knew how to make connections. Having worked in the military, he would definitely have seen his fair share of cases.

"Ed told me that he would like to help with any case we need, since he's staying for a while, more or less. He also said that he wants to live with possibly Morgan or myself, probably since he trusts us more than the rest of you."

Gideon looked at Ed and considered the possibilities, thinking that even if it was only for a while it would be good to have some extra help. Plus, he'd never seen Reid so open and not as awkward as he usually is. He looked at Hotch and knew that he wouldn't be so quick to agree, as he tended to be someone who would be on a slightly more...paranoid side. He just was one that would keep a close eye on someone until he trusted them. Ed's background and military ground were practically spotless, so he saw no reason to say no. Plus, he knew that Hotch would keep a close eye on him regardless. He nodded in silent agreement with both of them, but would leave it up to Reid and Morgan in the end. The kid seemed decent enough.

"If we need any help on the case, we'll ask; but you should know that when you're here you should stay by one of us at all times until a probationary period is over. Talk it over with those two and decide who you're staying with." Gideon said, standing up and leaving with Hotch.

Ed looked at Reid for an explanation, which was repeated in German and nodded. He'd try and earn his keep, while looking for Al whenever he could. If what Reid said was true, these people were decent and were just trying to help others.

"Ich denke, ich werde hier sein, um zu helfen. Was kann ich sonst noch tun?"

Reid thought about it a bit and figured there was nothing else that could be done for the day. They might as well just think on it some more tomorrow, both the case and anything else. It was time to go home for the day and just rest and relax for the night, if nothing else.

"Wir gehen erstmal nach Hause und sorgen uns morgen darum. Noch etwas?"

Ed frowned, hoping to get on the case that had killed the little girl who reminded him too much of Nina. Of course, he was also tired and at the mercy of whatever they basically needed him for; so he was forced to acquiesce for the moment. He supposed that staying at Reid's house would be the most logical, since he spoke the most German, next to Morgan.

"Gehen wir zu dir nach hause?" Ed asked, having a feeling he'd end up falling asleep in the car. He'd rather just know where they were going ahead of time, but it seemed like they were going directly to Reid's place anyway.

"Wir gehen zu meinem Haus." Reid told him, basically just confirming what Ed already knew. To Reid's house it .

A/N: Alright, seeing as I'm getting towards 3700+ words, I'm calling it quits for the day. However!

Now that we have established our lovely Ed getting passed what he so hates to do (AKA controlling his emotions, not that it matters sometimes), we have him past the interrogation and onto helping. Truth truly covered [it's] bases there, making sure there were no holes in the plans for Ed. Even poor Ed was surprised. o_O

Next chapter: We'll be moving on in the case "The Fox", while Reid and Ed more or less move in together. Reid comes to realize that Ed has nothing but the clothes on his back and foreign money. TTFN!