A/N: Hey, Ace here! The fact that you actually are reading this is astounding! And I'd like to thank you! Seeing as this is my first fanfic (though not my first story, but I still have a lot to learn about writing), I would appreciate no flames. Pls. Buuuuuut, I would very much appreciate constructive criticism! Are the characters too OOC? Is there anything I can do to improve this story? Let me know!

This story takes place two years-ish before the Promised Day, and obviously it follows the FMAB plotline. And it's slightly based off "C'mon" by Panic! At the Disco.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Fullmetal Alchemist characters. If I did, Al would already have his body back, a certain character would still be alive, and all my favorite characters would be trapped in a very large house. But alas, this wonderful story belongs to the equally wonderful Hiromu Arakawa.

Edward Elric stormed angrily down the halls of Central HQ towards the office that belonged to Colonel Roy Mustang. Another false lead, and Ed was getting sick of it. Two years! Two long years of constant searching. He'd hope Alphonse would've had his body back by now. But, no, it had been years of traipsing off to one end of Amestris to the other.

"Brother, I think you should slow down," a surprisingly young voice rang out from the large suit of armor following the eldest Elric.

No response, but the unbalanced footsteps that echoed through the room audibly slowed down a bit.

Colonel Roy Mustang was, once again, procrastinating on paperwork when an auto mail foot kicked opened his door for the umpteenth time.

"You're late," he droned.

"Oh, shut up!" Ed snapped, slamming the latest file report on the Colonel's desk. "Here's your dumb report!"

"Brother...," Al murmured, worried.

Edward spared a glance at his brother and shrugged, while the younger Elric just sighed resignedly.

"It's sloppy, Fullmetal," Mustang declared, if only to spite the boy.

"Aw, screw you and your stupid report," retorted Ed. "Do you have a new mission yet?"

Despite being a womanizing jerk, at least in Edward's eyes, Mustang could hear the underlying message the boy was relaying. So who was he to deny it?

"Yes," the older man finally responded. "A city called Newcrest is rumored to have a witch among them. A large flash of red electricity can be seen often from a large warehouse on the outskirts of the town."

A twin pair of golden orbs widen slightly at the last statement. A vicious grin spread over the teen's face. "Newcrest, eh?"

The Colonel smirked knowingly. "Yea, I've heard it's only a two day train ride there and the locals are very friendly. Many of them actually are military."

"Huh, well, I suppose I'll go check it out. Thanks, Colonel Bastard."

"No problem, shorty."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT?!"

"That'd be you, Fullmetal."

"Brother, let's just head to the library," Al said, trying to calm his older brother's temper.

"Yeah, sure, Al," Ed growled, giving Mustang the stink eye. We're not done, it said.

Anytime, the Colonel's eyes replied.

"Perhaps you could stop arguing with Edward, sir, and get your paperwork finished, you could probably think about fighting with Ed again," Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye reprimanded, a large stack of paperwork sitting firmly in her arms.

"Have fun, Colonel!" Ed sang before running out of the office alongside Al.

"Why that little..." Mustang leapt out of his chair, about to chase after the shrimp who was-

Click.

"Sir, I would like to think it wise if you sat down and completed your paperwork before you go galavanting off with Edward."

The Colonel immediately sat down and begin scribbling his signature. "O-of course, Hawkeye."

The Lieutenant then left, knowing that the Colonel would go back to his predictable routine not ten minutes from now. The blonde woman sighed, why did she put up with this man again? She was his protector- and if worse came to worse, his killer. It was her task to do as her job implied. Protect.

Protect the only person who she trust enough to share her father's research.

Protect him from himself, even if it means putting a bullet through his heart.

Protect the reason she was still following the steps of life today.

Riza Hawkeye allowed a ghost of a smile to don her face as she eyed the rest of the team, assuring herself that they were doing their job rather than betting about the most obscure things. Today was a wonderful day, she thought.

Edward chased after his younger brother as they headed towards the place that was practically the brothers' second home.

"Al, wait up!" He called after the quickly disappearing form of his sibling who stopped after hearing his brother's cry.

"Woops, sorry, Brother," he said, embarrassed, when the eldest Elric finally caught up with him.. It was easy to forget another's limitation when you're a suit of armor that survives on nothing, Alphonse reasoned [1].

"Don't worry about it," Ed said. In his eyes, Al could do almost no wrong. After all, it was all his fault that the young boy was stuck in a suit of armor in the first place. It was his fault. If he hadn't suggested that they bring back their deceased mother, that vintage armor wouldn't be Al's body now. It should be him in that suit of armor. It should've been him.

Shaking his head as if to rid his mind of such thoughts, Ed led the way into the First Branch of the National Central Library. In that branch, mainly military reports adorned the shelves of the library. And the reports on Newcrest were in said library. Yes, today was going to be a good day, Ed smiled wanly.

BAM!

The clanking of armor slamming into a human body reverberated loudly in the large, barren, warehouse.

"Watch out, Al!" Edward shouted as he battled one of the dealers that had hidden themselves away in the building.

Alphonse immediately twisted around and knocked out a tall, scrawny man with a hit to the temple with his leather gauntlet. "Thanks, Brother!" Then the young Elric turned back to his original opponent: a man dressed in heavy, steel armor with a large broadsword.

The man swung his sword in a large arc, causing Al to jump back to avoid the cut. The tip of the blade passed dangerously close to the point where Alphonse's head and body separated. But as the broadsword came around a second time, the empty suit of armor grabbed it, bringing the assailant to a halt. Then to bring the attacks to a complete stop, Al knocked out this man with a swift hit to his metallic helmet.

Over on the other side of the room, Edward was on the offensive. A kick here. A flip there. A metal fist to the head with an elbow to the gut. A drove a men surrounded Ed. Though Al was positive that Ed could take them, so he turned his attention towards taking care of the large barrels of drugs.

After dumping the drums' contents in the sewage water, Al switched his gazed back towards where his brother was easily taking care of the men who worked in this facility. It was almost unnerving, Alphonse pondered, how simple this mission in Newcrest was. They'd come here in hopes of finding a Philosopher's Stone, but, instead, the brothers had just found drug dealers, who liked to play with fire.

Hundreds of kilometers away, a woman stood in the middle of a large, complex transmutation circle. Her palms faced downward, a small, blood red Philosopher's Stone sitting comfortably at her feet. Long, blonde hair whipped violently around her person as the breeze grew larger and more vicious. The clothes of a gypsy covered her body, the wind twisting the clothing every which way. The full moon shone down, lighting up the starry sky.

Red sparks of lightning raced gleefully to all corners of Amestris erasing her nemesis from the memories of all that once knew him.

The woman grinned. Yes, good, make him suffer. Wonderful, she laughed, everything was going exactly as she planned.

Edward groggily forced himself out of bed as the morning sun passed through the hotel window and burned his eyelids.

"A-Al?"

No answer.

Getting up out of bed, Ed scanned the room for a familiar suit of armor. "Alphonse?" He repeated. "Alphooonnnseeee!" Panic began to claw at Edward's mind. Where was his brother? What happened to his little brother?!

Running carelessly down the wooden stairs, he went up to the woman currently running the hotel. "Ma'am, have you seen a large suit of armor?"

A thoughtful look donned her features. "I believe so. He told me he was heading back to Central when I asked where he was headed. Such a young boy too. I wonder why he wore such bulky armor," she said, almost like an afterthought.

Thanking the stout woman, Ed headed back to his room to grab his suitcase. Then, without a single hesitation the boy boarded a train and returned to Central in hopes of finding his brother.

Roy Mustang watched in confusion as a young girl with blonde hair tied up in a braid came up to him, slamming her hands on his desk, scattering his paperwork everywhere. Lieutenant Hawkeye was out delivering paperwork and the rest of the crew was out grabbing lunch.

"Mustang! Mustang! Do you know what happened to Alphonse?" The boy, as Mustang could now see, had stunning gold eyes.

A small frown curved the older man's mouth. "I believe the correct form of address is Colonel Mustang."

"You've never cared before, Colonel Bastard."

"I can have you court-martial if you refuse to address me properly," Mustang smirked, believing that he had won.

"Again, you've never, ever, ever, cared before about what I called you, so why start now? You know you can't stop me," the child retorted, though this time a small crease of confusion flashed over his face before he quickly hid the emotion behind a mask.

There was something...familiar about the boy standing before him. It was right there, but the knowledge was out of Mustang's reach.

"But, how could have I "cared before" when you burst into my office like you own the place, and I have never seen you before in my life?"

"W-wait," the blond took a step back. "You've never met me before?" His eyes widen in surprise and fear. "M-Mustang, is this a joke? T-this isn't funny, you know. I just wanted to know where Al was, that's all..."

The boy was scared, Mustang saw. He legitimately believed he knew Mustang. And he was still babbling, the name "Al" and "Alphonse" coming up multiple times.

"Who's Alphonse?" The Colonel dared to ask.

"My younger brother," came the absent reply. "He's a suit of armor."

Mustang raised a skeptical eyebrow at this claim. "He's a suit of armor, you say?"

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"I don't think I understand. Is he a suit of armor or is he wearing a suit of armor? There's a difference, you know."

The boy's golden orbs pierced into Mustang's soul as they narrowed, a dangerous gleam entering his eyes. "If you don't remember, I won't tell you," he finally answered, then turned around and left the room, not bothering to close the door.

Edward walked down one of the many streets of Central, deep in thought. If Mustang didn't remember him, what's to say that the others don't either? And where was Alphonse? Even odder yet, no one has even spared him a second glance. Normally, people would turn, point, and say something along the lines of, "Hey, look, it's the Fullmetal Alchemist, the Hero of the People!"

"What's going?" Ed muttered to himself. "Why has everyone forgotten me? And for God's sake, where is Al?"

When the thirteen year old finally got back to the room he was staying at, the news of what he had learn today hit him full on. His breath hitched in his throat. He couldn't breathe. But no, Edward wouldn't allow himself to cry. Because Al was still out there somewhere in this large city and as long as Alphonse couldn't cry, Ed would not let himself cry.

Ed flopped down on his bed, thoughts bouncing back and forth, from one idea to the next. Theory after theory. This wasn't like an alchemical equation. No, this was something bigger.

He had no idea how close to the truth he was.

A/N: What do you think? Let me know!

1: I know that Al is living off the nutrients and such that Edward is providing. I've seen the anime, so please, don't go yelling at me that I'm incorrect. Remember, this takes two-ish years before the Promised Days

And I do plan on making these chapters a bit longer. I just needed some backstory (which I don't like writing usually) first.

Thanks for reading and have a good day! ~ Ace