A/N: Geez, what can I say? This story...well, it's a long story. I can't count how many times I've changed it, but I'm pretty sure it's more than ten. I decided I wasn't ever going to be completely satisfied with it, so I'm putting up what I have. It's a work in progress but I pretty much have my mind set on how it's going to be like. It's a three part story this is the first chapter of the first installment. Inspired by my friend Quanar who shouted. "No! It can't end there they have to go home!" at the end of the movie. Please feel free to read, review, and give feedback.

Edit: Something was wrong with the space bar on my school computer. I have fixed what mistakes I could see. I apologize for any inconvinience.

Disclaimer: No matter how much I want to pretend Ed is mine, I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Republic of Weimar 1924

Energy is constant and can neither be created nor destroyed.

Click, clack. Tap, tap, tap.

The rain was coming down hard against the ceiling and it was not surprising that a crack the width of a hairline was becoming visible along the white chipped paint.

Driip. A single water droplet fell free and golden eyes caught sight of it as it and made a path down the wall leaving a gray streak in it's wake. More followed and the steady click tap tap was becoming more rhythmic.The young man decided to ignore the annoyance. Clapping his hands would do nothing more than annoy the neighbors in the hotel room next door, after all. Things were different now. He was lying on a four poster bed in a hotel room in a city that he couldn't pronounce the name of. His younger brother Alphonse was staring at the crack widen on the cieling with a far away look on his face.

Sighing, Edward Elric tried to concentrate on the book in his hand, attempting to shut down the sound of the rain, of the other guests in the rooms adjacent to his and Al's and the cars in the street.

"This is the first law of thermodynamics.

"I sure hope the ceiling can hold,"his brother commented absently.

"It should." Ed replied despite the pounding of the rain and discouraging sound of creaking.

When applied to chemistry it explains the nature of chemical reaction which involves the breaking and forming of chemical bonds thus the release and absorption of energy.

"Maybe we should have have picked a better place to stay?" Al suggested.

Edward put the book down onto his lap. This wasn't a special case, almost all the inns in the area had fallen in disrepair. The whole country had if he thought about it figuratively speaking. The country buzzed with the expectation of war and everywhere they had traveled they had seen poverty and suffering. The Papiermark's value dropped lower and lower as the days passed and since the government decided to solve the economic conditions by keeping prices sky high it was little wonder that even hotel owners couldn't keep enough in their pocket to fix a leaky roof.

"It's just a crack in the roof Al. Not like any of the other dumps around here will be any different."

And with the amount of money the so called good hotels charged...

"We're probably much better off here."

He glanced up at the ceiling and regretted it when cold drop of water hit his face and slid down his nose. He shook his face and rolled over to the other side of the bed nearest the wall trying the book again.

The amount of energy that is used to initiate the forward reaction is equal to that of the energy needed to reverse it.

Equivalence, huh? His whole life seemed to revolve around that word.

Tap, tap, tap, tap whoosh. Whatever had been holding the rain water out gave way and the blonde found himself rolling off the bed in order to avoid getting soaked.

"Damn it!" He glared at the ceiling. From his position on the floor he could see that what had started out as a harmless ceiling crack was now a decent size hole, about the size of a coin.

"Are you okay, Brother?" Alphonse said getting up from his four poster and walking over to him.

"Just great," he grit out. He got up at ran a hand through his hair which was wet despite his best attempts to avoid the jettison of water.

He looked down at his book, Chemical reactions: Theory and Practice and was relieved to see it was safe and dry.

"I'm not getting any reading done tonight ," he concluded as he stood up and shook the water out of his hair.

He set the book on the bedside table far away from the steady stream of water that was slowly flowing down and took his towel from of the chair next to the bed, and proceeded to towel dry vigorously.

"What?" he said through the white fabric. What the heck was Al glaring at him for?

" You haven't moved all day Brother your nose's been buried in that book!"

That was true but it had been torturous considering all the distractions he had barely gotten up to the sixth chapter, which was only half of what he had resolved to read.

He put the towel down and his eyes caught a dark spot on his sheets, increasing in size as about three day's worth of collected rain continued to trickle down from the ceiling. He needed to do something about that.

Thinking quickly he got up and pushed the bed as far to the wall as he could. A metal waste basket that stood at the right side of his bed, and he moved to the spot where the water was collecting.

The thick "plunk plunk plunk" sound echoed into the silence of the room. "Now I'm definitely not going to get any reading done."

"Geez Brother," Al said as he put on his shoes and laced them. "I don't see why you're forcing yourself to study so much. You're an expert in alchemy as it is, and chemistry is just the continuation of alchemy in this world, after all."

"I know I know. I'm done."

Al was right he was being a bit obsessive over something he should know by heart. Besides he was sure he'd finish chapter six by tomorrow if he didn't let all these distractions get to him. He picked up the book from the dresser and flipped to where he left off, folding the corner of the page. It wasn't like he hadn't seen this stuff before anyway. In fact this page talked entirely about the well known mechanisms of chemical reactions. He just needed to go over the details of determining the order and then--

"Brother!" Al's voice sounded angry and he looked up to see his annoyed expression. What the heck was he yelling at him for now?

"You just said you weren't going to do any more reading for today!"

Oh yeah. He put the book down again. "Sorry Al, I just feel like I need to study as much as I can."

He looked past the window at the darkening street.

"I didn't even get to chapter seven, what with all the distractions and the rain."

"I know you're studying to get into university, but you can't expect to pass by wearing yourself out before the entrance exam," Al reminded him.

Ed got up and stretched out his tense muscles. He had been reading for awhile and his neck was pretty stiff. "I have a week until I take it and I still haven't finished any of the books I borrowed."

"You'll do fine, Brother." the younger Elric smiled, always positive. He glanced out the window. "Seems like the rain is letting up. What do you say we get some dinner?"

"You read my mind." He was pretty hungry in fact, now that he thought of it, he was starving.He reached under the bed for his brown boots and tugged them on, not bothering with the laces."I'm so hungry I could eat a mountain of weisswurst."

Al laughed as he threw on his coat. "I wouldn't put it past you."

Ed grabbed his coat and stared at the waste basket next to his bed still slowly filling up with water. They should probably get that taken care of.

The two Elric's walked out into a deserted hallway. Just as well, it was due to the noisy guests that he didn't get as much reading done and he was sure he'd end up snapping at them if he they had the pleasure of meeting.

In the lobby they met the hotel owner Mr. Weissman and informed him of the problem with the ceiling. He apologized and promised immediate repair. When that was said and done they continued on their way down the wet streets looking for any place that sold anything remotely edible.

Ed's mind kept lingering back to the material he had read and he tried to clear it. He was a genius after all formulas and chemical reactions were second nature to him. "After the a State Alchemist Exam, Gottingen will be a piece of cake," he mused.

Al stopped and looked at him. It was a weird look, a look of surprise. "You're still thinking of that? You're really intent on getting in, Brother."

The way he said it, his tone held a hint of disbelief or mocking even. Hadn't he explained this to him about a hundred times by now?

"Of course Al, it's our ticket to hunting down the Uranium bomb," he said it as it was the most obvious thing in the world.

And it was. He had the whole thing worked out. In this world they didn't have any connections to the military or a huge research fund in the bank to help them out. They had been traveling for about five months now and it seemed that everywhere they went they were seen as teens who had nothing better to do that ask nosy questions. They couldn't get anywhere in their research if they didn't have credentials to back them up.They didn't have time to tour all over Germany with a dangerous weapon in the hands of people who only seemed to be interested in starting war.

He would either have to join the army or get involved in the science field somehow. Now that he had restored his brother's body he didn't want to have anything to do with military.That's why he had decided he would just take do things the traditional way and go to college, geta degree and find a way to get a job at a research facility. This epiphany had come to him during a particularly long cart ride between Nuremburg and Wurzburg.

Fritz Liang hadtold him that thebomb was thought to have been moved to a research facility inthe north for more research and possible replication.A research facility that dealt with things like top secret weapons. Well maybe he would eventually have to deal with the military but it wasn't going to be like back in Amestris. He would never be a human weapon again.

"Is it?" Al's words cut into his thoughts again and the hollow tone of his voice alarmed him. They had walked only half a block, but his brother had halted in the middle of the road.

Ed sighed, and decided to explain it one more time.

"The reason we haven't had any luck finding anything on the uranium bomb," he lowered his as they walked out into the street. The last thing they needed was to be overheard and arrested for plotting to blow something up. This world was indeed strange. "...is because we haven't been looking in the right place. There is no way information on the thing would be kept out in the open. In order for us to gain access to it we'll need credentials, I don't have a silver watch to get into any building I need to anymore. So I'm getting the next best thing a degree in science and hopefully with that I can get access to the research we need. That filmmaker said that they moved it to a research facility up north. Gottingen is up north so I figured we'd kill two birds with one stone."

They crossed the street and headed to a well lit tavern in the middle of a what looked like a beer hall and a cheap inn. "It'll work I know it."

Al hadn't said anything during his little explanation and despite the darkness he could see his brother looked disappointed. Or maybe it was the lighting. "Brother I've been thinking..." he started.

Ed mentally groaned. He could recall almost every conversation that started with those words. It had always led to an argument of some sort.

"I know you are set on going after this bomb, but--"

His eyes were shining in the dim street lamp glow and he could see that Al seemed reluctant to continue, as if...as if he knew this was going to piss him off. And it was probably going to.

"You really think we'll be able to find it by the time some madman decides to replicate it?" Ed sighed. Yes this was definitely not something he felt like discussing now.

"Al..."

Al continued locking his amber eyes with Ed's gold ones. "The only lead we have is that the thing was that is was moved somewhere up north. Four years andfive months have already passed since Hucthkisson went through the gate.Who knows if by now, someone has figured out a way to make more? Do you really expect to be able to destroy every weapon they decided to make? And even if we do find it, Brother, how are we going to get rid of it without taking half the country with us?"

Al ran a ran through his soaked hair sending drops of water in every direction. Ed just watched him, not knowing what to say as he rambled on. He was obviously uneasy about the whole topic but it was something they had to do. Al knew that.

"We have to think this through entirely, Brother. What if we go rushing in and people get hurt? I don't know it sounded like a good idea earlier but--"

The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Had Al been thinking this way the whole time? Had he been feeling like he was being dragged in one of his big brother's crazy schemes that would lead to nowhere?

A bit of a weird feeling, like sad anger coursed through Edward and he fought to keep his voice steady as he spoke. "So then, what do you suggest we do?"

The gate was closed. They had made sure of that, as complicated as the math had been he knew it was irreversible.

"It's not like we can just turn around and go back to Amestris." He refrained from saying the word home because he knew that the other world would never be that again. This was home now.

Al looked stricken at his words, but remained silent, his eyes cast downward.

"I don't see you coming up with any suggestions," he said acidly.The one who had been by his side in the flesh for five months now and hadn't told himwhat he felt about all this, until now.

Maybe he was right, a little voice whispered at the back of his mind. Maybe they were really going after a lost cause. He shook his head as if he was shaking water out of his ears. No he wouldn't admit that ever. Even if it was true.

"It's not like that, Brother." it sounded sort of apologetic. "I didn't mean it...like that."

His brother seemed hurt by his outburst, so he softened his expression and his words "If you want to give on looking for the bomb say it Al, because I don't want to force you to go along with something you don't agree with."

Al probably wasn't entirely sure what he wanted. All these experiences, losing his memories, and regaining them and going to a foreign world, he probably didn't know how to handle it all. Or maybe he was just as afraid as he was, that all this was--

"Don't worry, If there isn't a way I'll make one," he said it more to himself than to Alphonse, who looked at him confused. "No matter what we'll find it."

There was no way,and he would never think for a second that this was all in vain.

That they had made a mistake.

His metal arm suddenly ached with the cold and he realized they were standing in the middle of a deserted street and it was pouring. "Let's figure all this out after we have eaten some nice hot food, okay?" he grinned.

Al's expression seemed less depressed and he gave him a little smile. "Oh so now you want food, after you've spent the day with your face in a book." He took a few steps towards the tavern and stopped laughing a bit. "You really haven't changed, Brother."

Ed followed his brother and impatiently bounced on his heels. "Hurry up and open the door I'm freezing!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The place wasn't as crowded as they'd thought it be on a Saturday night, and it only took them a few minutes to get a table. Somewhere on the far side of the room someone was playing on an old piano, which considerably livened the mood of the place.

The waitress was a pretty brunette who kept winking at them and Ed felt a slight flush climb up his face every time she passed their table. Why did girls find the need to flirt with guys who were apparently out of their league?

Most of these pretty girls ended up with tough good looking guys named "Hans" who would cheat on them with women named "Grete", only to repeat the cycle again with the next guy. Yet, they would smile politely at the smart guys like him, and would flirt like there was no tomorrow, but nothing so much as date would come from it. It was all a mind game. Not that he really cared, he just noticed these things, a lot more than most people anyway.

Al, however, seemed to think the waitress was interested because he kept running a hand through his short dirty blond hair, adjusting the collar of his shirt, with a sheepish smile on his face every time she passed by.

"We picked a nice place out," he said distractedly turning in his chair to see where the brunette had gone. Ed raised an eyebrow and tried not to crack up from behind his menu. Al always had had a weird taste in women.

Nonetheless he seemed a lot happier now and Ed liked to see him smiling. Which is why he had nearly flipped out when he saw him so depressed just minutes ago. He had looked like he was in so much pain. At least it hadn't turned into a full fledged argument.

"Yeah. You don't see women like that back in Central, huh Al?" he teased him.

The younger blonde blushed an interesting shade of scarlet before hiding behind his menu. "I don't know what you're talking about. Their food seems pretty good though," It was such a thin cover up that Ed cracked up earning himself an amber colored glare.

"What can I get for you two?" came a sweet voice and Ed could swear the glare melted off Al's face as quickly as it had come.

He smiled brilliantly at the waitress. "This looks pretty good," he said as he pointed something out on the menu his German skills were a still a bit underdeveloped.

Ed ordered what he always ordered, weisswurst with a side of roast potatoes, and some saukraut. He did his best not to blush when the waitress winked and walked off to get them their order.

"Well, well" His brother's playful smile become wide as he jeered at his brother, "you're sure it's not too hot in here, you're face is bit red."

"Shut up." He felt the heated color take over his skin even as he growled the words.

Thankfully Al changed the subject. "So we head out tomorrow right, Brother?"

He raised an eyebrow. Funny how the younger Elric could go from "this is a stupid idea" to "okay let's get this plan under way." in a matter of minutes.

"Yep," he replied. He didn't want to start another almost argument.

"I'm guessing it'll take us a few days to get there, Gottingen is pretty far north."

The older Elric eased his guard a little. "But it's our best lead so far. Liang told me, that one that physicists in that picture, lived in Gottingen. There's no doubt in my mind we'll find something there. If anything we'll get a clue on where to look."

"Things are so different from the way there were in Amestris, huh Brother?" the solemn look was back on his face. "Over there we had enough clearance to get anything accomplished. And here..."

"We're just two kids trying to avoid disaster." Ed finished. "Hard to believe we took so much for granted..." he trailed off.

Despite the fact he had only joined to find a way to restore Al's body being in the military had had it's advantages. That damn dog tag of his, had gotten him out of a lot of tight spots.

"We did." Al's fingers lazily traced circles in the polished wood. His amber eyes held a hint of sadness. Before either of the brothers could he could say anything however, the waitress returned with their orders snapping him out of it.

"Haven't seen you two around here? You travelers?" She said as she handed them their plates.

"You could say that," Ed said. Then a thought occurred to him. "We're headed up north actually. Would you happen to know the fastest way to get to Lower Saxony from here?"

The waitress thought a moment. "Train, I suppose. But it'll take a few days. There's a station not to far from here."

She gave them directions and they thanked her and preceded to eat dinner. Al was strangely quiet the whole time. Even after the check was paid and they gathered their things did he remain silent. Edward didn't press the issue. Al was probably thinking about Amestris. He had obviously spent more time there than Ed had, and Al was the type of person who could get attached to things. It was his nature.

"Let's go," he urged gently and the faraway look in the younger Elric's eyes slowly dissipated.

"Yeah."

The two blondes walked out of the warmth of the tavern and back into the wet cold night. Ed could tell it had rained during the while they had been eating. There we now several puddles of water, about three inches apart glistening in the glow of the street lamp.

"I wonder if we'll get to meet any of them on this side too." Al asked absently. So he was thinking of home.

"Maybe. I've only seen a few people that actually look like our friends from the other world."

"It's kind of strange if you think about it. But it wouldn't be so bad seeing a familiar face. I wonder if we'll see someone like Scieska, for instance."

"Scieska was special. "Ed explained. "Even if we did meet someone like her here I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have that crazy ability of hers to memorize everything she read."

"We'll we've met a few already," Al pointed out. "Who knows maybe we might run into Mustang or something."

"I really don't think we'll meet anyone like the bastard here." Ed said knowing that there was a chance the Mustang here would probably have already been killed in the wars that had been plaguing this country. A weird cold feeling went down his back at the thought.

"Heh. For a moment I actually thought I missed the jerk."

"Don't you though?"

Edward contemplated that. As of recently he hadn't really thought about the fact that he couldn't go ever again. It was just something he chose to accept without questioning how it made him feel.

"To be honest I never thought of it before," he answered finally. He was also much happier not thinking about it.

Al was looking at him with a look he couldn't decipher. It was a look of concern which was ridiculous because he wasn't the one who had suffered so much only to lose his memories and regain them in a world he didn't know.

Edward tried not to make a big deal of it, he didn't want to talk about the other world with his brother, especially if it upset him. After a few seconds of silence though he relented.

"Al I know it must be hard for you, being away from home. If there was a way to open that gate up again, without the repercussions it had in the past I would do it in a second; for your sake."

He hoped his thinly masked apology didn't sound so obviously like--well, an apology. Al would probably not accept it either way. Or rather he wouldn't let him apologize at all. But he felt he had to somehow. His head hurt.

They were almost to the hotel now despite the fact that Ed was dragging his feet. A sudden heavy feeling had come over him. He hoped the younger blonde wouldn't notice.

He didn't. "I couldn't go back without you, Brother. Which is why I came in the first place."

Yeah a choice that he probably regretted. What could was it to Al if he had his memories if he had to leave the world he knew and loved in order to gain them. Was that supposed to be equivalent exchange? Because it was more like a rip off.

The night air had a cold bite to it, and he silently winced at the slight pain in his metal joints. Cold weather and automail didn't mix. "I don't know Al. I just can't help but think that you coming here was--"

Al cut him off. "No." He turned and gave him a stern look. "You need to stop thinking that way. I don't regret anything. It was my choice to come here and help you close the gate, after all. But what I'm worried about is you, Brother. You're always blaming yourself and trying to fix things. Things that may not even be fixable. And that's okay. It's okay if you can't fix everything brother."

Ed straightened and his eyes widened at his words. He almost stepped into a puddle as he came to a halt. What was he getting at? "Al I--"

Al ignored him but his words were softer. "You're so stubborn. You're always about worrying me. It should be the other way around. You've lost a lot as well and yet you act like nothing is the matter."

Ed let out a sigh. That was why he was upset? "There's no use in wallowing over something I have no control over Al. I learned that a long time ago. He grinned "Besides it doesn't bother me as much with you here. Seeing you safe, that was my only concern."

Al gave him a little smile and they started walking again. Or at least they would have if something hadn't bolted out of nowhere in the next second and knocked the Fullmetal Alchemist flat on his face.

"Brother!"

Argh. The first thing he had felt was the slight uneasiness in his chest as he tried to regain the wind that had been knocked out of him. His non automail knee was stinging as were as the palms of his hands flat on the ground. For a split second wondered if maybe he had been struck by a car, but remembered they had been on the sidewalk just as quickly. The anger came even quicker.

"HEY WHAT THE HELL JUST--" he trailed off when his eyes interlocked with another set. The greenest eyes he had ever seen, and for a second he forgot he was lying on the wet ground.

A hand reached out and he felt himself being helped up. His eyes danced wildly around but all he see was Al--and in his peripheral vision black raven hair.

He whirled to see a running girl already on the next block. So it was a hit and run was it. "Couldn't kill you to say excuse me!" he shouted at her.

"Sorry didn't see you there!" She called back, not even caring to turn around.

And then the world stopped. The cold turned to heat and the pain he had felt quickly numbed into nothingness. She. Had. Some. Nerve.

"WHO YOU CALLING SO SMALL YOU CAN"T SEE THEM WITH THE NAKED EYE?" he hissed, flaying his arms wildly. What was she doing running anyway? He hoped she would fall flat on her face just so she could see how it felt!

"Brother relax she didn't say any of that." Al said looking off in the direction that girl had run. "Who was that anyway?"

The former state alchemist just shook his head and rubbed the dirt off his face.

"There! She went that way! After her!" His ears had barely registered the shouted words before a group of about five to six men ran past him and Al in the same direction his attacker had disappeared. A glint of silver in one of their pockets caught his eye. Putting two and two together he gave his younger brother a meaningful look.

"Al I want you to go back to the hotel." There was no way he was going to get Al involved in something like this.

"What? Ed--"

"Listen to me! Try to see if you can find help. If I'm not back in an hour, then just forget about me. You have enough money to get out of here."

"No! Brother! Wait!"

Without a second thought he took in a sprint after the men. He didn't turn around but hoped Al had followed his orders.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Despite their initial hurry the men were particularly slow head been following them for about five minutes and they hadn't even spanned five or six blocks. They were also apparently morons, and didn't even notice as they stopped that he had stopped a few feet away, concealed by a dark alley.

"Are you sure you saw her go this way boss?" One particularly whiny voice spoke out. "It'll be our heads if we can't find her."

"I know that Kreig." Another voice much deeper. "Just keep your eyes peeled. There's not much places a gypsy can go in this city after' ll."

"That woman's cost us time and money several times. Why don't you say we put her out of her misery," One of the other men spoke up.

Boss man grunted. "We have to find her first, don't we?"

A shuffle of footsteps then a gasp. "I think I see 'er!"

A pause, and more footsteps. "Yea I definitely seen 'er! She went that way!"

Edward had barely looked out from behind his hiding spot before he saw their retreating backs.

Come back here you no good wench!"

They were on the move again but apparently they didn't see anything else because they stopped a few yards away. Damn he'd never figured henchmen could be so incompetent at chasing someone down. Well maybe it was a good thing.

"Boss!" The thinnest of the group suddenly gasped.

"WHAT? You see the girl?"

"No."

"Then--" The skinny man pointed at something

It took Ed a minute to realize what they were pointing at; and only a second to throw himself to the ground as he dodged the bullet. Damn they may have been incompetent, but they were sure were fast.

He ducked, rolled and flipped as another close call zipped past his ear.

More shots rang out and he was finding his acrobatics a lot harder due to the wet ground. His backwards flip had almost caused him to land on his head, but it was definitely better than getting shot.

Al better have found some sort of back up.

Finally the last shot rang out and he felt himself, almost slumped to the ground in the effort to dodge to the right. He leaned against the brick wall of the alley way. trying to catch his breath.

The men didn't seem to know what to make of him and the boss looked him up and down with narrow eyes before speaking. "Who the hell are you?"

"He just dodged all of our bullets boss!" came an awed voice from the back of the group.

Ed smirked. He couldn't help but wish alchemy worked in this world so he could make quick work of these clowns. But the diversion had surely given the girl time to escape. If he remembered correctly this street when all the way to the train station on the other side of town.

Feeling his energy return slightly he stood up straight. If he could stare them down long enough he might confused them long enough to escape.

"Asked you are question runt!" He grit his teeth. Well that just wasn't very nice.

"Hey boss I seen her again I'm sure of it! She's headed toward the old church."

Oh man they also had the attention spans of five year olds.

Bossman wasn't as stupid as the others. "Good I'll go get her myself. The rest of you, guard the kid."

Ed only caught a glimpse of the man's broad back before six or eight arms were pushing him to the ground. He winced as his recently injured, flesh knee made contact with the pavement. His pants soaked through with cold muddy water.

So the bastards wanted a fight.

"Tie his hands behind his back. When we get the order we can blow his brains out." Some idiot had dropped his pocket knife and it was lying an inch away from his right arm. Perfect.

"I don't think so," he said through grit teeth. They didn't even notice as his automail fingers wrapped around the silver handle. "You guys are really pissing me off."

Without a second to waste he kicked his legs upward, the momentum causing a few of the men to let go and knocking them into one another. He sprung to his feet and flipped backward while kicking out in a wide arc, hitting one of them squarely in the jaw. The guy went down like a bag of flour.

He didn't have to time to celebrate as the other three advanced on him mid flip. And he had to flip the other way to avoid being slammed into the wall to the left of him.

Once he had regained his balance he was up and two of the men were coming at him silver gleaming weapons pointed at him. With the knife still in his right hand he lunged at the smallest of the lot. He hadn't used any blades in combat in so long that he actually felt a strange nostalgia as he disarmed and disengaged the man and his partner watching them crawl away on the floor as they lost their weapons. He had been anticipating the attack from behind and switched the knife to his left hand as he back fisted the last one the group in the face, feeling the way way his chin bounced off the automail as his body slipped to the floor.

"And here I was thinking I might need back up."

He slowly straightened and shook the sweat from his eyes. Trying to listen for any additional footsteps. There was nothing but the silence. His right knee stung almost pitifully as he left the alley in the pursuit of the last henchmen. Damn girl, once he got her out of harm's way she owed him a huge apology.

Sigh My computer still isn't working, so I relented and transcribed as much as I could from the chapters in my notebook working in my school's computer lab. Let me know if there are mistakes. I'm sure there are.

It's a good start, I think. The second chapter will be up next week.

K.S.