A/N Chapter 11! Nothing really to say here, but if you live in America, and are 18, don't forget to vote tomorrow! :) Thanks to all the support this story has gotten, and please enjoy this chapter!

Wow, as I reread that it sounds like this is the last chapter! Don't worry, many more to come!

Ed opened the door to their room. His feet were dragging. The only thing he wanted to do was fall down in his bed and sleep for weeks. (Well, and beat Colonel Bastard to a pulp, but that went without saying.) He ran his hand around the back of the couch and was about to collapse onto it, but suddenly he stopped as he saw that Winry was huddled on it. "Winry?" he asked, wondering for a brief moment why she was in his and Al's room instead of her own. Then he saw the newspaper clutched in her hands. Dark spots that splotched the ink told him of the tears that when he looked up, he saw were still running down her cheeks. He backed up a few steps.

Al came in behind Ed. In a few seconds he came to the realization that Ed had. "W-Winry?" he asked.

Winry turned, as if seeing them for the first time. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked quietly. Her voice soft, like her grief had shrunken it.

Ed looked away, ashamed. "We just found out. We had-" he gulped a little to keep his own tears away before continuing. "We had to see if it was true."

Winry looked at him, tears shining in her eyes. "Is it? Is Mr. Hughes- is he really dead?"

Again, Ed looked away, he couldn't look at her eyes.

Winry looked down at the paper. "I know her."

Ed looked at Al, to see if he had understood what Winry said.

Al gave a small shrug showing that he had no idea.

"What?"

"That lady in the paper. The one-" Winry gasped, fighting back down a sob. "Who it says killed Mr. Hughes," she finished quietly.

Ed started, surprised. How had Winry known Lieutenant Hawkeye?

"When that colonel came to our house after you two… tried to bring back your mother, she was with him."

Again, a surprised expression found its way to Ed's face. He had forgotten that the lieutenant had been there that day.

"She- she talked to me. I asked why she was in the military. She said she didn't like it, but there was someone she had to protect."

Ed looked at the ground angrily. He had a sneaking suspicion of who that person had been. It made him sick to his stomach as he thought again of the charred corpse. How had the colonel done that to her?

"She was so nice to me!" Winry ran her fingers along of the picture of Lieutenant Hawkeye. "She looks the same as she did then. Except her hair's longer."

Despite everything, that brought a small smile to Ed's face. He reached his metal arm out and gently pulled Winry into a loose embrace. "It's okay," he whispered softly into her hair.

Silent sobs raked her back, making it jerk up and down. "Ed, how could she do something like that? Mr. Hughes was… why would anyone want to kill him? How could anyone bring themselves to kill him?"

Ed looked down at her. He really didn't want to tell her what had happened, but if he didn't now, she would just see in it the paper tomorrow. It would hurt less coming from a friend. Or so he hoped. "Winry, there's something I have to tell you…" he said voice trembling slightly.

She looked up, her face fearful. Undoubtedly wondering what he could possibly say.

"The lieutenant… She's dead. Mustang killed her when she escaped from prison." He couldn't look at Winry.

"What?" Winry cried, pushing herself out of Ed's grasp. She looked at him, but when he still refused to meet her gaze, she turned to Al, only to find that he too had his head turned away. "But… but…"

"I'm sorry," Ed said, tightly.

"Did she really kill him then?" Winry asked, eyes wide.

"I don't know. I don't know! I don't know anything!" Ed said furiously, punching the wall forcefully with his metal hand. "I'm useless," he cried softly, falling back down onto the couch.

Winry came over to him. This time it was her who laid her arm across his shoulders. "Ed," she started. That's not true-" her speech was cut short as a figure appeared in the window.

Immediately, Ed jumped up and put himself between it and Winry. He raised his hands, getting ready to clap. As soon as he saw who it was though, his arms collapsed back to his sides.

"Ling?" Al asked incredulously. None of them had seen him since they had all made it to Central, besides those few seconds when he was running beside the Lieutenant.

"What're you doing here?" Ed asked, annoyed.

"And why did you come through the window?" Al added.

Ling smiled, the wide grin seeming to enlarge his face. "I had to. I'm a wanted criminal! I'm an illegal alien, plus I escaped from prison!"

Al muttered something about him being way too smug about his criminal record.

"How did you know where we were staying?" Winry asked, stepping out from behind Ed's protective stance.

"He's a State Alchemist. I figured he'd be staying at a military hotel. I just had to check them all 'till I found you guys!"

Ed rolled his eyes. "Is there something you want?"

Instead of answering, Ling just smiled bigger. "I've heard all about your adventures from Barry the Chopper"

Both Elric brothers' eyes widened at that name.

"It's quite a mess you've gotten yourselves into!" Ling stated cheerfully.

Ed started towards him angrily, but Al held him back.

"Wait, big brother! He was with Barry and the Lieutenant! He might know something!"

Ed grudgingly sat back down. "Fine, but he better start talking."

Ling stretched leisurely on the window sill. "All righty, then. The first thing you need to know is that Lieutenant Hawkeye isn't dead."

Ed, Al, and Winry all started at the young Xingese man in disbelief. "Wh-what?" Al asked.

"That's impossible!" Ed saw. "I saw-" he glanced quickly at Winry. "I saw her corpse," he finished quieter. "The coroner confirmed that it was her."

Ling shrugged. "That Colonel Mustang is a very clever man."

"You mean… he didn't kill her?" Ed asked.

"Nope, she's very much alive. I saw her myself."

Al sat down heavily on the couch next to Ed. "What happened?"

Ling gave them a brief but accurate rundown of everything that had occurred.

Al and Ed stared, mouths hanging open. Neither of them could speak. Shock was written across every feature in their faces. Finally, Ed found his voice. "That bastard!" he said angrily, clearly referring to the colonel.

"Brother," Al said half-heartedly. He seemed to be a little annoyed at the colonel as well, but his irritation was more reserved.

"Yes," Ling said, giving Ed a hard stare. "Colonel Mustang most likely saved the life of his subordinate. It was an admirable course of action. He did his duty of protecting those of a lower rank than himself."

Ed looked at Ling. There was a slight tremor in his voice, as if his words meant something to him personally, but his stoic expression gave no hint to what it may be. Ed shrugged. Whatever. "I'm not mad at him for faking Lieutenant Hawkeye's death, I'm mad at him for not telling me what he was doing!" he explained.

"You're unpredictable," Ling stated unapologetically. "I'm not even supposed to be telling you this now."

Ed glared at him. "Then why are you here?" he asked irritably.

A sour expression crossed Ling's face, a rarity for the Xingese Prince. "Part of my deal with Barry the Chopper was that he would tell me the secrets to his immortality."

Ed, Al, and Winry all stared at him, clearly not understanding. Ed cast a sideways glance at Winry. He coughed discreetly. "Um… Winry… could you…?" he trailed off.

Winry glared furiously at him but got up. "Fine. I'll be in my room." She said stonily. "Try not to get yourselves killed," she added, voice softening slightly. She left the room.

"Al, you don't need to eat, or sleep, or drink! You don't age!" Ling said, addressing the suit of armor.

Al's eyes darkened. "That's not immortality."

Ling's eyes narrowed, matching Al's coolness. "It's the closest I've found so far. I've got my entire clan to worry about. I'm not letting anything get away. Consider all the information I've given you a gift. I hope that you'll repay with some information of your own."

Ed and Al stared, not knowing what to say. "We'll… we'll think about it," Ed answered finally.

Ling nodded and bowed to both of them. "I thank you."

The two brothers watched as he threw himself out the window. Al started forward suddenly, but Ed didn't have it in him to be concerned. "I'm going to bed Al. It's been a long day."

The next morning, Colonel Mustang again went to the archive rooms in attempt to get Sheska to let him in. Initially, he hadn't been planning on returning after the last time, however, the new threat posed to his Lieutenant pushed him over the edge. To his surprise, this time Sheska let him in without so much as a protest. From the terrified squeak she gave as soon as she saw him, he figured she must have heard what happened. Well, who said being feared wasn't useful?

Now if I could just figure out what to research! He thought. The last time he had been there, he had focused his efforts primarily on things that he knew, like Barry the Chopper and all the experiments at the Fifth Laboratory. Unfortunately, he had only come up with dead ends. He needed a new front to research. What Ed told him came drifting back… homunculi… Was it possible? Could all of this have something to do with Homunculi? Well even if does, I'm sure as hell not going to find it here, he thought, annoyed. Still, having no better leads, he took a crack at it. As expected, he came up with nothing substantial. There were rumors that homunculi were somehow connected to the Philosopher's Stone. The rumors were far from clear, though. And even if they were true, they would do nothing to help the Lieutenant.

I better leave before another officer catches me here, he decided. Roughly, he stood up and stretched. Time to get back to the office.

As he walked around the bustling hallways, an idea suddenly came to him. If everything that had happened was as connected as it appeared to be, Hughes' death, military experiments, Lieutenant Hawkeye's situation, these people were unthinkably powerful, and the only link he had to them was Barry the Chopper. They had to know at this point that he was on to them; it was the only logical reason they had framed Hawkeye. They would no doubt have realized what a loose end Barry was. With all the commotion the former murderer had caused when rescuing the lieutenant, someone would've had to have gotten a good look at his face. After all, he was pretty unforgettable. With all the military connections these people had they almost definitely knew that it was Barry who had led the prison break. They would realize how dangerous Barry could be if left to his own devices, and would most likely be sending someone to 'collect' the variable. It's what Mustang would do in their position.

He mentally kicked himself for not thinking of it before. It would be a problem whether he had noticed it or not. Now he just hoped that he had time to twist the situation to his advantage. If he acted quickly, he might make it. This could be the break that they were waiting. It looked like it was time to pick up his old sport.

A/N So that pesky newspaper resurfaces! Wow it's ruining everyone's life! Anyway, the first day in this story is finally over! (Seriously, 10 chapters all within 24 hours, I must have been feeling very ambitious!)

Please take the time to leave me a review, they're greatly appreciated!