I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist

Chapter 4

The rays from the rising sun began chasing away the last of the darkness that lingered from the night. Although the sun was bright and warm, there was a slight chill in the air. There the hell is he? Ed thought.

The previous day, despite Ed's constant begging and pleading, the damn colonel still refused to let Ed go after the Glacier Alchemist, so Ed decided to go alone.

He should be around here. Ed thought. He had spoken to many people during his hunt and several people say that they saw an older man with graying brown hair and a cream coat walking around the rundown part of Central.

As the sun rose higher and the risk of being seen increased, Ed thought it would be best to give up and head back to HQ.

Ed headed back but on his way he began to hear sirens and soon the entire rundown part of Central was flooded with Military Police. Quickening his pace Ed ducked into alleys until the old building gave way to newer ones, showing that he was in the modern part of Central.

Ed shoved his hands into his pocket's and began walking towards HQ, trying to think of an excuse to as why he was gone for so long.

"Fullmetal! Where have you been!" Ed turned and saw Roy angrily marching toward him, his strides long and his dark eyes narrowed.

"I was out for a walk," Ed said. It was a bad excuse but at least it was more believable than some of the other excuses he thought of.

"Don't pay dumb with me!" Roy shouted, grabbing Ed buy the collar of his coat.

"I don't know what-"

"Shut up!" Roy shouted, anger taking over his voice. "You were looking for him, weren't you!"

"I told you, I was just taking a walk," Ed replied. How did the colonel find out?

"When people go for walks, they don't leave under the cover of night," Roy shouted, his voice shook with the great amount of anger that was contained in it.

Ed didn't know how to respond to that, The anger in Roy's eyes made Ed feel nervous. Ed had never seen Roy this mad before. Many times in the past Ed had seen Roy get mad, but not this much.

"Colonel, I promise you that I wasn't looking for that Alchemist," Ed lied.

Roy's grip of Ed's coat went slack and Ed took a few steps back, not wanting anger Roy anymore than he already was. "I still don't believe you," Roy said, turning away. "Come with me."

Ed released a nervous breath before following Roy down the hallway and eventually into his empty office. Ed stood there for a second before as Roy walked over and sat in his desk.

"What are you standing there for?" Roy said, slight irritation mixing with the anger that still remained his voice. "Sit."

Ed sat down on one of the familiar leather couches as he did every time he came to the office. Ed looked over at Roy and noticed that the fire in his eyes had calmed.

"I know you were lying," Roy said calmly.

Ed stared at the older man for a moment. Should I tell him? No, he'll incinerate me. "You're right, I was looking for Daniel Tucker last night."

Why did I just tell him? Ed thought to himself.

Ed notice Roy stiffen but then almost as soon as he did he relaxed and said in a calm voice, "Why did you disobey direct orders?"

"I couldn't let him get away, I need to pay him back for what he did," Ed said through gritted teeth. What the hell. Why did I tell Mustang that again?

Roy shook his head roughly. "I can't let you do that Fullmetal."

"Why not?" Ed demanded.

Roy began to give Ed his answer to the question. Ed yawned and his eyelids felt heavy. For several nights now, Ed roamed the streets of central for any sign or clue to where Daniel Tucker was, and because of that he had only slept for a few short hours in the morning after he had gotten back. Without meaning to, Ed's eyes closed and a minute later he was gently snoring on Roy's couch.

***

"And that's why you cant go after Daniel Tucker," Roy finished telling the story.

A gentle snoring sound could be heard echoing around the small room. Roy looked over at Ed and saw his eyes closed, and his head propped up against his hand. "Hey, Fullmetal," Roy asked.

No answer.

Roy stood up and walked over to where Ed was lying. He gently shook his shoulder. "Fullmetal, wake up."

"Stop it," Ed groaned tiredly.

Roy let out an irritated sigh. "Fullmetal, get up."

Ed opened his eyes and looked tiredly up at Roy. "What?"

"You're drooling on my couch," Roy informed, pointing to a spot of drool on the black leather.

Ed glanced down before wiping it away with his sleeve. He sat up straight and blinked away the harsh light of the room.

"Are you okay?" Roy asked, slight concern for the boy beginning to show in his voice as well as his eyes.

Ed stared up at him blankly before nodding curtly and standing up. Ed stretched and yawned loudly. "I'm gonna go now," Ed said walking towards the door.

"Fullmetal wait," Roy called. Edward stopped and turned around to look at him. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired," Ed insisted.

Roy didn't say anything more as Ed tiredly walked out of the office, probably to his dorm room Something's wrong with Fullmetal, Roy thought; the slightest worry growing larger as he tried to think of a reason.

***

Ed gazed around his dorm room. His heart sank when he saw the mess. Books were piled high on a small table pushed against the far wall, the small kitchen at least looked half decent, a few dishes were on the counter but that would be easy to clean.

Deciding that he was too tired to do any clean, Ed flopped down in his bed. What the hell did I do? Ed thought, his face red with embarrassment.

It wasn't like Ed wanted to fall asleep of Roy's couch, he only meant to rest his eyes for a second but it ended with him drooling all over he colonels damn couch.

Ed closed his eyes again, exhaustion taking it's toll. Although harsh sunlight spilled through the window and onto his face, he still fell into a restless sleep.

***

The familiar dark room closed in on Ed as he, once again, sat helplessly in the middle of the transmutation circle. The cries of cat's could be heard echoing around the room. Just as before, the transmutation circle began to glow dimly until the entire room was bathed in it's dark purple glow.

Ed felt the dozens of cats merging into him. 'Is this part pf step 2?' Ed thought as unbearable pain spread out through his body. The light gradually dimmed and then finally stopped altogether.

"Well, looks like you survived this experiment as well," The now familiar voice of Daniel Tucker stated proudly.

Ed glared up at Tucker, the intense pain clouded his vision and made it hard for him to think straight. "Shut up," Ed growled, although his voice came in a pained tone.

"Why do you have to be suck a bad boy?" Tucker said innocently, spraying Edward in the face with the cold water and motioning for his men to take Ed away.

***

Ed sat bolt upright in his bed. Cold sweat poured from his forehead and his breathing heavy. Ed tried to forget the painful experience that he was forced to relive repeatedly in his dreams.

Ed glanced over at the window. The sun was still up but it was slowly setting, casting long golden rays over Central City. Why am I forced to keep seeing that same scene? Ed thought. Ever since he had escaped from that lab he had been having horrible dreams about what had happened when he had been there. That's also one reason why he had barley been getting any sleep, the nightmares kept him awake all night long.

Ed fell back down into his bed and pulled his blanket over his head to block out the light. Although he had been sleeping for several hours now, he still felt tired. His eye lids were heavy but he was forcing himself to stay awake so he didn't have another nightmare.

Eventually giving up on sleep, Ed stood up and walked over to a small table stacked high with books. Grabbing one off the top of the stack, Ed opened it and began to read. Soon an interesting page caught his eye. How is this possible? Ed thought, his heart racing.

Ed mentally noted the page number, grabbed his coat and ran from the room. He headed to Roy's office, deciding that he should show the colonel what he found. Ed threw open the door and startled Fuery, causing him to drop everything he was holding.

"Fullmetal, this is a surprise," Roy said from where he sat at his desk. "Why are you here?"

"Shut up and look at this." Ed shoved his book in front of Roy. "Flip to page 53."

Roy gave Ed a questioning look before flipping to the page Ed had indicated. "Fullmetal, I don't see anything important here." Roy closed the book and handed it back to Ed.

Ed flipped through the pages and pointed at the last paragraph at the bottom of the page. "There."

Roy still looked confused at the book. "I still don't see anything important."

Ed looked at the book himself and began to read out loud. "Daniel Tucker, a highly skilled state alchemist who specialized in cold climates and chimeras. Date of birth: October 28th 1811," Ed read.

"But that's impossible," Roy said. "The all of the military records say the he's was 46."

Ed nodded, "That's what I didn't understand at first, but look at this picture." Ed pointed to an photo of Daniel that was taken right before he committed those crimes. "Look at his ring."

Roy looked closely and his eyes widened. "Wait, is that?"

Ed nodded stiffly. "Now it makes sense why he looks so young, despite being 103 years old. This man is in possession the Philosophers Stone."

Roy looked closer at the photo. "But how did he get one?" He asked aloud.

Ed shrugged. "Beats me, but if he possess a Philosopher's Stone than he's really dangerous."

Roy looked up from the photograph and stared at Ed, concern and worry showing in his dark eyes. "Fullmetal, you can't go after him," he said. "Now that we know how dangerous he is, we can't take any chances."

Ed didn't know how to answer, he was unusually tired and exhausted. "Why?"

Roy took in a shallow breath. "I can't let anything happen to you. Understand?"

Ed nodded, still not understanding why the colonel was concerned for his well being. "I understand, but colonel." Ed paused, not knowing what else to say. Instead Ed took his book from Roy's hands and walked out of the office.

Ed kept the book clutched tightly in his hands, as if something would happen to it. Originally Ed was planning to head to his dorm room to get some long needed sleep, but instead he made a detour to the library.

The same question kept replaying itself over again in Eds mind. How did he get a Philosopher's Stone? Ed kept pushing the thought to the back of his mind as he continued walking. Soon after he left Central HQ behind a light rain began to pour. Ed shoved his book under his red coat to protect it from the worst of the rain. A few minutes later the library came into sight and also by that time the rain had gotten worse, Ed was now soaked with water, luckily his book made it.

Ed walked through the doors and the librarian, an old scrawny woman with graying hair pulled tightly into a bun, looked at him suspiciously as if wondering why a short kid with cat ears walked into a library in the middle of the night. "How may I help you?"

Ed took a moment to think. "I'm looking for the military records department."

"Sorry," The librarian apologized. "I cannot allow unauthorized individuals to go there."

Ed let out a mental sigh and them pulled out his silver pocket watch. "I'm a state alchemist."

The librarian continued to look at him suspiciously but let him go anyway. Soon Ed was sitting on the ground, a mountain of books surrounding him on all sides. This is it, Ed thought, relief washing over him.

"Uh, excuse me sir," A young man said nervously. "The library's closing."

Ed looked up from his book and glanced at a nearby clock. "Damn it," Ed muttered as he quickly began throwing the books back onto the shelves and running out the door, and out onto the dark streets.

Mustang's gonna kill me if he finds out how long I've been out, Ed thought with a burst of panic. He didn't feel like being burnt to a crisp at the moment. Ed began to run as fast as he could back to HQ. Though he would never mention this to anyone, the reason that he was running wasn't because of Mustang, it was because he was actually scared of Daniel Tucker.

Ed finally reached Central HQ dripping wet from the relentless rain. He headed back to his dorm room, hopefully to catch up on some lost sleep. Ed silently walked through the halls, trying his best not to be seen or heard. At long last he reached the door to his room and he tiredly walked into the dark room, not even bothering to change his drenched clothes before falling onto his bed. Within minutes snores could be heard, signaling that he was asleep.