Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or FMA:B.

Her arms were crossed as she assessed him with a disbelieving once over. The pale pink cardigan made a scratching sound as she went to fix her glasses, tiny wired things, over her eyes once more. "So this is him?" she asked disdainfully, speaking as though he was some sort of filth stuck on the bottom of her shoe.

"Yes," Hawkeye replied. It was just as curt - just as disparaging as the headmistress. "I know he does seem young, but Edward here is an extremely brilliant boy. It would be unfair of you to discredit his importance so soon after you met him."

The tension was palpable. It felt like a chill had crept into the room, possessing its occupants. The icy glares coming from both women said as much. From the corner of his eye, Ed could tell that the man beside him felt the same, shifting ever so subtly to ease their discomfort.

Lady Abigail Blanchard hadn't been hard to spot in a crowd. Her posture was upright and stiff, and her face was constantly pinched in the same way that a frown was formed when you bit into a sour fruit. With Lieutenant Hawkeye's keen eye, they had tracked her down in less than a minute after arriving on campus. When they spoke to her they realized her voice was shrill and entirely unpleasant, grinding out a biting, "What do you want" at the sight of their military blues.

As it turned out, she would be playing one of the key roles in their private investigation, a missing persons case in the isolated town of Crosshurst. In the two minutes that he had been in her presence, he'd established that 1) her mannerisms were not at all misrepresenting of her scalding personality, and 2) that she had no respect for anyone associated with the military.

Naturally, when she scoffed at Hawkeye's insistence of his competency, he'd jumped to defend himself, only withholding his brilliant vocabulary, because of his fear of the gun tucked under the lieutenant's belt.

"I don't want him," Blanchard said, "send another." The blond boy bristled at that. She had no right to assume he couldn't do his job just because he was a child. The click of a gun stopped him from ranting a second time as Hawkeye tried once more to convince the woman.

Only, this time she unabashedly fondled the gun in her grip, smiling slightly as she said, "If you want me to report to my superiors that yet again you've sent another group back to headquarters, that they weren't inconspicuous enough, then I'll have to mention your reluctance to them as well. Unfortunately, that can be seen as trying to hinder the investigation, and you'll be listed under the list of suspects. All, of which, have been sent to Eastern Command to be questioned and detained. I assure you, it is in your best interest to accept our offer."

The prickly woman scowled, but seemed chastised for the moment. "Fine," she accused, "but he'll have to be on his best behavior. He's not allowed to fraternize with any of the girls. I won't stand for it. And another thing, I want that Mustang fellow to stay away. Goodness knows I've had enough of him without him actually being here."

Ed responded with a huge, "I'm not a pervert you bitch!" while at the same time Hawkeye more eloquently said, "I can't promise that m'am."

For his rebuttal, the Fullmetal Alchemist earned a sharp flick to his neck, courtesy of Jean Havoc, but Ed ignored that in favor of giving the lieutenant with a look that screamed, 'what the hell, Hawkeye?' instead.

"I apologize Edward, I didn't mean to insinuate that you would do you such things," translation, if you try there will be three bullet holes in you before you so much as blink, "I only meant that I am required to report to the colonial everyday on new findings with the mission and if he deems it necessary to oversee it himself, then he will."

Blanchard rolled her eyes. "You people in the military always think you have the power to do whatever you want. All that does is start riots. I'm warning you that your involvement will only be the catalyst for chaos. We already have our local investigators on it, what more can you people do?"

"Infiltration, subterfuge, you name it," Havoc said, butting into the conversation as some sort of saving grace. The deadly stare down ceased for a moment.

The headmistress sighed. "Don't make me regret this. There's a good reason why you're unwelcome around here." Turning to address Ed, she said, "Now, if you're planning on enrolling in this school you'll be in need of a uniform. I'll have to find you the smallest size we've got."

"Small!" Ed visibly fumed. "I'm not small! You are freakishly tall. Girls aren't supposed to be built that way. What happened, did your mom marry a giant?" There was a low whistle behind him; it was the kind used when everyone knew you'd messed up...bad.

Blanchard's eyes narrowed, and her mouth flattened into a straight line. Sharply turning to the only other female in the room, she said, "I don't know how you've been disciplined in the military, Elizabeth, but you should remember that from where we're from a mouth like that should be washed out with soap. While he's enrolled in my school, he will follow my rules or else he will be given demerits and he will be sent to my office. I doubt he'll be able to follow his orders from there."

Feeling the glares of the older men and women around him Ed shrunk a little. "I apologize for Edward's behavior, it won't happen again," Hawkeye said.

"Well see to it. Now, if you have any more questions you better come to me alone. Don't offend me with this joke you call an entourage," she sniffed haughtily. "I'll have someone drop his uniform off at your residence."

"Wow, she was a real class bitch, wasn't she?" Ed laughed at Havoc's remark. He didn't understand what made her qualified to run a school. At least Teacher didn't treat him like an invalid when she knocked him down a peg. She always treated him like an adult. Though, Teacher might murder him if he did ever tell her about his mission. She hated the military too. A small shudder passed through his body.

From the driver's seat of the car Hawkeye chided, "Havoc, that was an entirely unprofessional remark. Please refrain from using it ever again." The man looked down scolded. "However, I can say that those words aren't entirely wrong in describing her."

"Aww, Hawkeye, you do care!"

Ed smiled at their interactions, deciding to rest his cheek on the window and listen half-heartedly while the second lieutenant moved on to jovially chat about past lady-lovers. Somewhere around the time where Havoc was describing a 'blonde bombshell with legs for days' Ed drifted off.

He was awoken by the soft mutterings of his name. Blinking his eyes open he saw Havoc's face. Not wanting to feel babied he complained, "I could've hurt you, you know." The man smiled. "Seriously, a few weeks ago I woke up in a local hospital and ended up punching the man checking my bandages. I broke his nose."

Jean frowned at that, but otherwise didn't look remorseful. "Come on, we're here. We should get inside."

Sitting up he noticed the darkness outside of the car glass. "How long was I out?"

"Maybe an hour, two at most." Upon seeing Ed's inquisitive gaze, Jean added, "You were pretty conked out. We felt like you needed the rest."

Ed jumped up, "Two hours!"

Startled, Havoc asked, "W-what? Is something wrong?" Two hours means…

He raced around the car and flipped open the trunk, searching for the bags. "The bags! Where are the bags?"

The older man looked scared. "The first lieutenant brought them up already… Why, what's so important?"

"The food!"

"The food?"

"Earlier in town, when we were given time to shop for necessities, I went to this odd looking restaurant. They were selling weird buns with chunks of meat on it and I ordered some. It was really good, so I bought another for dinner. But, they're only supposed to be good hot… what?"

Havoc was chortoling. The man's arms were crossing across his midsection to ease his laughter.

"What's so funny," Ed repeated.

The laughter slowed a little, but didn't stop. "Ahhhh, nothing, just…" more giggles. "When we were carrying your stuff to the house we saw red staining your bag. Thought someone had died or something. But then I smelled your bag, and realized it was just food. Your sloppy joe is dead though, sorry Boss."

"Sloppy joe?"

"It's the food you were eating," he clarified. " Hawkeye was upset though. It messed with her clothes. I didn't even know she had anything that wasn't in blue. Well, anyways, all you need to know is that your joe was thrown away, and the first lieutenant is washing our clothes. Oh, and, she might be pissed, so you know, be careful."

Ed gave the man a weird side-eyed stare before making his way up the porch. The house was plain enough, with white-painted walls and a square frame. Ed tested the knob to find it unlocked. He entered, wary of the blonde lady that could be lurking inside. Across the floor, there was dust scattered and fallen cobwebs. The furniture was stained and ripped in some places. There was a stark contrast between the inside and outside. Making his way upstairs, he found Hawkeye leaning out a window, presumably hanging clothes out the window.

"Hey, lieutenant, need a hand?" he offered.

"I'm good Edward." That's good. Maybe she wasn't mad. "Though the house is in a bit of a rough shape. Maybe you could help with that?" Or not. The boy gulped, realizing he had his work cut out for him.

"Sure," he said, not wanting to disappoint Hawkeye. He started with the furniture, wanting a clean place to rest in case the alchemy took more out of him than it should. By the time he was done with that, Havoc had already come in and started putting groceries away. He'd joined the man after a little, upon the request to inspect the cabinet to make sure it wouldn't break. During his inspection he noticed small disruptions in the wood.

"Huh," he said.

"What?" the other man asked.

"Well, these markings," Ed pointed to the underside of the hanging cabinets, where the disruptions were, "It's definite signs of a transmutation. It seems like whoever used to live here was an alchemist."

Havoc scoffed, "And he couldn't have been generous enough to clean up the place before he left?"

Ed silently agreed. The place was a wreck. Usually missions coincided with nice inns to make up for the fact that the job was less than enjoyable. "How much did you spend on this place anyways? It doesn't look worth 10,000 cenz."

"Well, it was on the market for pretty cheap, and it made sense with our stories, I guess."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, a store clerk and a handyman don't exactly bring in a lot of money"

"Then maybe you should have chosen to be a doctor."

"Come on Ed, you know that our training in the military didn't leave us much time to study anything else. We can't pull off a skilled profession of that caliber."

Edward snorted. "When then, it would of been cooler if you'd both been handymen. You can't just leave Hawkeye to do all the hard work."

Havoc sputtered.

"What's this we're talking about," a feminine voice cut in. Is Havoc not pulling his weight?"

"Lies! That's all lies!"

Ed turned around to see East City's resident sniper sporting a soft smile, looking to be in a considerably light mood considering his little food spill earlier.

"Well, since you gentlemen seem to be settling in nicely, I think it's time we finalized our story. Let's sit down somewhere."

The two boys trailed her, making their way to the newly repaired couch. Ed plopped down, cross-legged and shifted to get more comfortable. "So, what persona are we playing? Am I gonna be an allstar sports captain, or maybe that loner tough-guy that's always brooding in a corner?"

"I don't think you're quite tall enough to fit into either of those roles Boss," Havoc quipped.

Expectedly, Edward let out a loud scream in response. "WHO YOU CALLIN' SO SHORT THAT HE CAN'T WEAR A DOLL'S CLOTHING!"

"Honestly Boss, you make it too easy."

The loading of a gun caught their attention. In the background, Ed could hear Havoc complaining. "Seriously Hawkeye, do you always carry that with you?"

Calmed down (or maybe worked up, but for a different reason), Ed followed with, "So what's it gonna be?"

Sighing Hawkeye, said, "For now we just want to keep a low profile. We're settling in and we don't need another reason to stand out. Unfortunately, Ed, your arm will do that. I propose that we say it's from an accident you had helping me repair a car. A rusted piece fell off and cut you. In order to stave off the infection we had it amputated."

"What? That's so lame!"

"Yeah, Hawkeye, I thought that Roy said we would just say that it was from the Eastern Rebellion. The truth ain't that bad"

"If we said that, it'd only draw more attention to us." It was true. People were attracted to stories of violence like a moth to a flame. But Ed couldn't let people go around thinking that he'd lost his arm due to some silly mishap.

"Hey, lieutenant, if people ask, can I say that I got it from a car accident?"

"I know where you're going with this."

"Just hear me out, either way we word it, the story's still a car accident. Like, the metal falling, still a car accident. But this is just… way cooler."

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine, as long as we don't elaborate." Ed pumped out his fists.

"Hey, Hawkeye," Jean said. "What about Ed's leg? The likelihood of him losing that in 'the car accident,'" here he used air quotes, "is really low."

"Luckily for us, the school Ed will be attending is a stickler for dress code. Ed will be forced to wear pants at all times."

"I guess that works."

"As far as family relations go-"

"You'll be my aunt and the second lieutenant will be my uncle. You two are married and are looking over me while my mom is deported in Drachma. Mustang wouldn't let me leave without hounding that in me."

"Good. Me and havoc are going to be working around town, trying to figure out all we can about the missing kids. I'm working night shifts to keep a look out during late hours so I'll need some time to rest before we go out for the day. This means that there is a certain time frame where you are not, under any circumstances to leave the house."

"But-" Ed argued.

"No." She looked at him and made sure he met her brown eyes. Slowly, as if to enunciate each word, she said, "The targeted group is from 10 to 19, you're more at risk than either of us Fullmetal."

It was for that reason that Mustang had to fight tooth and nail to get Alphonse to stay away. His little brother tried every argument he could think of to get him out of the mission, and when that clearly worked, he tried to enlist himself into the mission as well. It was only with the addition of Havoc to the original two-man team that Alphonse seemed to calm down. At least with Havoc, there'd be someone around at all times. Except for at school, Ed was completely guarded. And yet, Ed still couldn't shake the feeling that his brother hadn't stowed away on the train ride to Crosshurst.

Defeatedly, he agreed. "Ok… It just doesn't really make sense for me to be here if I can't be out there questioning people all the time, which isn't really possible if my aunt is trailing me 24/7. I can protect myself, you know."

"We know, Ed," Havoc said, "but think of it this way, going out there and acting all suspicious won't exactly help us. A little kid asking strangers about missing children isn't exactly normal. It isn't the same as at a school."

"LITTLE?! WHO ARE YA CALLING LIT-" A resounding smack echoed across the room, and Edward's neck was beet-red (that was only a small exaggeration).

"It's time for you to go to bed. We're walking around town tomorrow, getting to know the place."

Rubbing his neck angrily, Ed stalked up to his room. "You didn't have to hit that hard," he muttered.

It was midday by the time that Edward got to go explore Crosshurst with Hawkeye trailing dutifully behind him. Havoc had already gone off the meet with his manager in a department store downtown - Charlie's Goodwares or something. Hawkeye, ever efficient, had somehow performed a job after he'd fallen asleep and they were currently having ice cream cones bought with that money while they walked along the street. Well, Hawkeye was having an ice cream cone. Ed had transmuted his ice cream cone into a cup to catch any runaway drizzles of the frozen treat. Hawkeye's glare at that almost made him piss his pants.

They made their way around a corner when the lieutenant grabbed his arm softly. She had her arm stretched out, pointed at something in the distance. Ed craned his neck to see. In a clearing there was a group of three boys playing a rudimentary game of hitting a wooden wheel with a stick. Hawkeye told him to introduce himself to them.

"No way," he whispered. "If they're playing like that then how old can they be? Plus, look at their size. I don't think I'll look like anything but some creep if I walk up to them."

He looked up at Hawkeye to see her eyebrow lifted in amusement, as if to say, 'look who's talking'.

Feeling his face flush, he quickly replied, "Shut up!" and turned back to the kids. To his dismay one was approaching him. As the boy drew nearer, Ed could make out blue eyes hiding behind dirty blond hair, and brown suspenders holding up stained paints. Blue eyes was smiling, looking directly at him.

Eventually, they were close enough to shake hands, and the stranger held out his for Ed to take. He raised his right arm instinctively, but stopped halfway and raised the other out of habit. The automail was gleaming in the sun, and surely noticeable, but the other boy didn't comment on it. Instead he said, "Hey! I'm Genima, but people call me Genny." He pronounced it strangely, sounding out Ga-en-eee. It didn't sound like any name Ed had heard in his travels, but he hadn't exactly been this far north either.

"Me and my friends saw you staring at us. You're new here, probably. People don't like staring around here. They say it's rude. But we don't mind. You can play with us if you'd like. The tall one is named Richie. You can't see from here but he's like, six feet. He helps his dad lift lumber for winter and stuff though so maybe that's why" Oh god, he talked a lot. "Then the one in the blue shirt is Matthew. He's gonna be a poet one day. But he doesn't let us read what he writes. He's real sensitive about it. So you probably shouldn't ask. Oh wait, I never asked your name, sorry. What's your name?"

"...Edward," he said, "but I prefer it if people call me Ed." He really only liked it when Alphonse called him by his full name. It felt like a special term of endearment that only his brother could use, even if other people tried to.

"Ok Ed, come and join us." He grasped Ed's arm, jerking him forward. Looking back at Hawkeye, he saw her nod in approval before he left, her arm waving towards an empty table by a delhi store. At this he allowed his body to be yanked forward.

"Hey Matthew! Richie! Wait up! This is Ed!"

If you see any mistakes, feel free to call me out on it. Hope you enjoyed!