OK, so, I've rewritten the whole story, and this is chapter one, I'm finishing up the other chapters, so until then, this is what you get. I've changed a few things around, but, here is a basic overlay of current events.

Roy is still Colonel, Ed's Lt. Colonel, Al is Major, and everyone else is still in their canon rank. Fuhrer Bradley is still in command, but there is no grand plan to kill the country. The Dante plot still happened, but Bradley was not a Homunculi. Think out the details yourself.

Now, the original plot of the story was Al died, Ed made a deal with Truth, got death alchemy, the art of killing from a distance, maybe enlisting Homunculi powers. Ed and Riza in a relationship, that's not really going to change.

Here's what in fact is happening. Al get's kidnapped, Ed makes his deal, maybe a bit differently, and goes on his murderous rampage. Al lives, and for protection, and fulfilling a debt Bradley owes, Ed's being sent for Harry's protection. Al's going with him, but only because Ed and Al have some wanted bounty set by underground people who don't like the 'Hero of the people' act. That's also why their going. For the most part, Al's going to be bedridden for a while, refusing magical cures because of the lack of belief that this can ignore the laws of equivalency, and because teacher instilled never to treat a wound with anything other than natural means of cure, besides bandages, and necessary medical stuff.

He'll start to play a roll later, but we might have resentment. I've decided to forgo an Ed/Riza relationship to the extent it was, but it's still there. And I have to agree with a reviewer, I later thought it was a bad part.

Moving on, let's get the ball rolling.

On with the story.

Edward Elric.

He and his brother were the last of the family line, and furthermore, the last of an advanced civilization that died a long time ago. His mother died of sickness and grief, while their 'father' abandoned them, leaving them to fend for themselves.

Right now, he was racing along the street, intent on finding his brother.

Alphonse had been kidnapped a week ago, being held hostage for ransom. The ransom was the Fullmetal Alchemist, or his corpse.

Ed, turning a corner, was in front of a giant warehouse where Al was supposedly being held. He ran up to a side wall and clapped his hands, pressing them to it. He started to pull a Scar, stopping at the second step of alchemy, blowing it up and leaving a very large hole.

"AL! WHERE ARE YOU?" screamed Ed, racing into the building.

"BROTHER!" shouted a voice, slightly hoarse from screaming.

Ed followed the source of the voice, arriving in a large room. At the end, was his brother. The sight that was there made Ed's blood run cold, while at the same time, threaten to burn his flesh.

Al was lying at the far end of the room, lying in a puddle of blood. The blood was flowing slightly from his stump of a left arm.

Those bastards cut his arm off. I'll kill them. That was the only thought that ran through Ed's mind as he ran towards his brother.

As he got to the center of the room, black and purple light lit up the room. Ed stared in horror as he realized he ran right into the middle of a transmutation circle, drawn on the grey floor with slightly darker chalk. The low light of the large room made the circle invisible unless you were looking for it.

As the light filled the room, Al stared in horror through his hazy vision as the black hands grabbed his brother and pulled his screaming form into the giant eye beneath him.

Al stared, seeing the light disappear and the figures of the people who had captured him and cut his arm off stepped out from behind boxes.

"Well then, I guess that means we've killed him, hey boys?" exclaimed the leader, earning a few cheers from his comrades.

Ed found himself standing in the white void, the great set of grey doors floating impassively before him.

"Edward, so good of you to come." Ed turned around and saw the figure of Truth. "Truth, can't say I'm pleased to see you," was the terse reply from the blond. Truth frowned.

"Well, I'm sad to say this isn't your time to die, in fact, you weren't supposed to be here for another long while, but, it does give me a chance to give you a choice."

"What kind of choice?"

"Easy, either the gate steals you, you brother probably dies, world mourns, then I pull you out when I need you. Or, you work for me. You get to go back, save your brother, punish those who hurt him, yada yada, but, when I speak to you, you have to listen to me."

Ed was wary. He knew Truth could be deceitful, manipulating people to the extent that it made Mustang make novices look like pros at manipulating.

"What's the catch?" asked Ed, glaring at the smoky figure.

"No catch." Truth snapped his 'fingers,' causing the gate to open, black hands spilling out for him. Ed screamed profanities, but mostly because they always felt weird. He would do as Truth wanted, as long as his brother was safe.

The leader of the group, a tall figure in a black trench coat, walked towards Al. "Well, I guess we'll just have to mop up loose ends then, can't have you knowing what I look like, can I?" he asked, an evil grin on his face. Al tried to back up, but the blood loss made him dizzy, causing him to slump back down. The leader kept grinning while he pulled out a knife.

Purple light filled the room, bathing the figures of the occupants of the room in the black and purple glow.

The black hands rose out of the ground, carrying a figure in a red coat. They deposited him on his feet before retracting into the earth.

"Well, I guess that plan didn't work so well, did it? Guess we'll just have to kill him the old fashioned way, huh boys?" laughed the leader, earning evil chuckles from the thugs.

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint, but I won't be the one dying today." The voice that came from Edward was chilling to the bone, promising death. Before any of the thugs could speak, smoky tentrils extended from Ed's feet, slowly making their way for each person.

By this point Al was unconscious, the blood loss weakening his body, so he didn't see what was happening.

Colonel Roy Mustang was outside the warehouse, a squad of men behind him. Hey had the exits covered and were preparing to storm the building.

"Sir, it's confirmed that Fullmetal and Soul are inside the building, possibly held hostage." Roy turned to the young sergeant. "Good, make sure everything is covered before we storm." The soldier was about to salute when screaming was heard from the building. It was screams of fear, ones that sent chills through the ranks of men.

One saw movement from behind glass on the third floor. "Movement third floor, center window!" shouted a soldier. The men trained their guns, failing to block out the screams. The object turned out to be a man. Before an order was given, the man launched himself out of the window, intent on getting away from the building.

The soldiers were about to react when a smoky hand flew out of the broken window and grabbed the man in mid air, pulling him back in.

The 30 or so soldiers paled, seeing the look of fear on the man's face, right before he disappeared.

Shortly, the screaming stopped, leaving an eerie silence in the air. "Movement! Front door!" shouted another man, everyone training guns on the door.

Out walked Ed, carrying Al sans left arm, his red coat wrapped around the stump to avoid any bleeding.

3 hours later

Ed sat in the hospital waiting room, waiting for news on his brother. Mustang decided he should ask what happened.

"Edward? Can you hear me?" To his credit, Ed acknowledged Roy's presence, but not much else.

"Ed, what happened? All we heard and saw was screaming and a black hand. What happened in there?"

"Don't tell him anything, lie." Ed didn't jump at the voice of Truth, instead doing as it told.

"I can't remember, I remember blowing the wall open, then walking out with Al in my arms, but that's it." Roy frowned. He suspected Ed of knowing what happened, but maybe it was like when he transmuted his mother, some things should be left unsaid to everyone.

"Well, if that's the case, then I hope you remember what happened soon." The meaning was clear. When you feel like talking about it, come to me.

A messenger ran up to the Colonel, bursting through the entrance. "Colonel, message from the Fuhrer!" the man saluted while handing Mustang the letter. Roy took it and dismissed the private, reading the letter.

Concern spread across his face, turning into shock. "Bastard, what's wrong?" asked Ed somewhat distantly.

"The Fuhrer has discovered some startling information, it would appear you and your brother have a bounty on your heads."

Ed looked up in amusement. "It can't be that much." Roy handed him the paper. "Jeez, I didn't know there could be that many zeros in a number," he muttered, shocked at the number.

"Yes, well, this has caused the Fuhrer to want to speak to you and Soul about the matter, apparently he has arranged some protection and a mission. He's coming by later today when Soul is out of recovery." At that moment, a nurse walked out of the emergency treatment and called a name. "Edward Elric?" she asked, looking around. Ed jumped up.

"Yeh, that's me."

"Please come with me, you brother is asking for you," was all she said. Roy was about to follow, but she stepped in front of him and gave him a glare. "Only family members may see him right now, he's very weak."

"I'm his superior officer-"

"I don't care if you're the damn Fuhrer, you can't see him, only family." Roy backed up, slightly scared.

Ed followed the nurse, who was giving the Colonel evil glares.

The nurse led Ed down the hall, through a door, up a set of stairs, and down another hall before coming to a door with 4 guards, two beside the door, with another two across the hall facing the door. Ed was a bit confused at the amount of protection Al had.

"He's in here, I'll be back later." She opened the door for Ed, where a pale but grinning Al lay. "Brother!" he breathed, still suffering from blood loss despite the blood transfusion happening.

"Hey Al, how you doing?" asked Ed, walking over and sitting down in a chair next to the bed. To this, Al weakly pointed to his left arm, or lack of. Ed cringed, remembering.

"Does it hurt?" asked Ed, slightly worried.

"Not that much, they gave me some pain medication, so it doesn't hurt that bad. But I suppose you know the feeling, right?" he joked. Ed smiled. If Al was making jokes about his arm, then he had to be feeling well.

"Bah, don't you worry, when you're well enough to travel, we'll head over to Risembool and get you set up with a Rockball arm, just like me!" exclaimed Ed, raising his right arm. Al was going to respond when The door opened, revealing the figure of Fuhrer Bradley.

"Sir!" saluted Ed, standing up.

"At ease Fullmetal, you don't need to salute after an ordeal like that. I'm actually here on business."

"Oh yeh, Mustang said you wanted to combine protection and a mission because of those bounties on our heads." At this, Al stared at Ed and Bradley, curious at what they meant.

"Oh, Yes, Soul, you didn't know. We just found out there is a price on your heads in the underground community. It's a fairly large number." Al looked to Ed, who nodded slowly.

"For this reason, I've decided to call in a favour from a friend who owes me, and he said he had a job that you could do Fullmetal."

"And what sort of job?" asked Ed, intrigued.

"It's mostly just guard duty of a person of interest. You'll be masquerading as an exchange student at a school, protecting a student who is less than loved by some people. Your job is to protect him, make sure he's safe for a year. That's it. Soul will accompany you, but will be in their hospital. When he deems it ok, we can send your automail mechanic to fit you out. This school just so happens to not exist on any map. That's you assignment, it will be about a year long." Ed and Al looked at each other.

"I think that's a good idea. What do you think Brother?" Ed was thinking. "Do you think we could talk to a school representative?"

Bradley smiled. "I thought you would say that, so I invited my friend here to explain. Do understand, you will be going anyways, but it's your choice to accept the job." Ed nodded, and quite possibly the strangest man walked in.

He had half moon spectacles, a tall pointed hat, a beard that went down to his waist, and was clothed in starry blue robes.

"Is that a quilt?" asked Al, earning a couple of suppressed laughs from Ed and Bradley.

"No, it's robes, a regular clothing for magical people." Ed stopped laughing. Al didn't laugh.

"Magic? As in, wave a stick about and pull a rabbit out of a hat?" asked Ed, giving a disbelieving look. The old man smiled, pulled out a stick, and waved it while muttering some language.

The chair floated.

"Ah... Magic." Ed and Al stared at the chair. "And you want us to stay at our school? For safety?" asked Ed, sceptically.

"Yes, and just for reference, my name is Albus Dumbledore. I'm the headmaster of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wiziardry."

"Alright, I guess we don't have a choice. I'll take the assignment just for something to do. Don't expect me to play along with the whole magic exists thing though, that will take some convincing." Bradley nodded. "Ok then, now, I've called your automail mechanic so she can assess your condition. It would be good to get you back into work," he said, that ever cheerful smile on his face.

[A.N.] there you have it, chapter 1 redone! Hey, I rhymed, self five! Anywho, as you can see, there's a few changes, mostly being Al lived, but he needs an arm. Haha! I never liked that part. I hope you enjoy the story, and there will be a rewrite possibly every other day, but there will be about a week where nothing will happen with my account in about 4 days, family vacation.

Hope you all are having a good summer, and props to my Ukranian reader!