Hey everyone! Here's another chappie for you! Be glad that you didn't have to wait as long for this one. All the sudden, my muse is coming back to life! Ooo, Cadbury Eggs! /munching on CE's./

Also, I've started watching the new FMA series Brotherhood. SO FREAKING EPIC! Anyway,

Hello. I'm a disclaimer thingy. My pathetic little existence is to tell you that The Vampire Alchemist does not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Van Helsing, however badly she may wish for ownership.

Update 7/30/10: Okay, I am really, REALLY sorry that I haven't updated in so long. This morning, I was re-reading through this story, and I discovered that I hate this chapter. I made Van Helsing kick back into Edward WAY too soon, so here, I have edited it for the Betterment of the Plot.

CHAPTER 4

Trust

"Are you sure it was a good idea to bring him, Van Helsing?" Carl asked.

Alphonse looked to Edward – Van Helsing - who was grinning in that shark-like manner that he remembered so well. Countless men and women in Central and East City had come to know that that grin meant Destruction with a side of Human Wreckage. But Al knew that it didn't really mean that so much as a sense of mischief.

"Yeah, he won't run away." Van Helsing turned to Alphonse, and said, "Promise not to run away?"

Al sighed, exasperated. "I promise."

Van Helsing smiled back at the monk. "You see? He's curious." (1)

"He might run away when we're not looking and report back to the military."

"No, he won't."

"How do you know that about a boy who you just met hours ago as he tried to arrest you? We could've just gave him a wad of money and left him at the train station."

"Because, Carl, it's called Self-Preservation. If we left him at the train station, he definitely would've gone running back to Central, and you could've explained to Father Cornello why I all the sudden ended up in jail. This way, you wave a gun in their face and add just a hint of threat, and their own self preservation kicks in."

"Imagine that." Carl rubbed at his eyes, a migraine starting to form in his head from the day's events. "It's also called Reckless Behavior, and if he's really Alphonse Elric, and if he's telling the truth, then both of you have it in spades." Here, Carl turned to Al, "Now correct me if I'm wrong, Alphonse, but doesn't Elric Recklessness override self preservation?"

Alphonse sighed heavily. "Sad, but true." He said.

"And, how would you know that, Carl?" Van Helsing snapped. "This is the first time you've ever been out of the abbey."

"I read, Van Helsing. I've read enough about the Fullmetal Alchemist, and I've been around you long enough to know that there's a distinct possibility that you and he are one and the same."

Looking at the scene before him, Alphonse felt that it was strangely reminiscent of Edward and Mustang's bickering, only this time, there weren't any erupting flames or flying rubble. Understandable, given their circumstance, but Carl proved to be a formidable opponent, wise in the ways of sarcasm and wits. At first glance, Al would've said that Carl wouldn't stand a chance against his brother, and it was possible that when they first met, the monk hadn't. Perhaps after 6 years, Carl developed immunity or had built up a verbal arsenal to match that of Ed's.

"Do I know you?" Edward asked. "You look so familiar."

Alphonse didn't know what to do. If he told Ed that he, Alphonse, was his younger brother, he might not believe him and shoot him on the spot. On the other hand, it would probably help trigger Ed's memory, and then Al would be able to know what happened all those years ago.

And so, Alphonse, ever the positive thinker, decided.

"Yes. You do know me."

There was an awkward silence.

"Keep talking." Edward pushed, fingering the shotgun.

"You're my older brother." At least, that was what Al meant to say, but it came out more like, "Yougrhemolzerbhromlher."

Ed's face was clearly un-amused. Maybe he got cases like this on a regular basis. But now that Al had confirmed that they knew each other, he pressed on before he lost his nerve.

"I mean…um…you're…" Alphonse sighed, braced himself for whatever reaction that was coming, and said,

"You're my older brother."

There was an awkward silence again, before Edward cracked up.

"HA! That's a good one!" Alphonse had been rehearsing some speech for when Ed threatened him, or probably stood in shocked silence, but he hadn't been expecting this reaction.

"Older brother…never heard that one before." He turned away from Al as his laughter died down. Anything that Al had prepared to say was thrown out the window when he blurted,

"No, it's the truth! Please, Ed! Believe me!"

The elder Elric froze, and turned back to Al.

"What did you just call me?" he asked, curiously.

"Ed. That's your name; Edward. I'm your younger brother, Alphonse, and I've been searching for you for 6 years."

The three men sat in silence.

"He might be telling the truth." The monk finally said.

"He might." Edward growled. "Alright, Alphonse." He said, lowering the gun and leaning in towards Al's face.

"If you're really my brother, then answer me this: The only thing I can remember from my past is a dark room. There's smoke everywhere and in the middle of the room is a living corpse that's drowning in its own blood. What is it and when did this happen?"

Al's breath hitched. He knew exactly what Ed was talking about. What a horrible thing; to only remember the greatest sin they committed.

"Our mother, Trisha, died when I was 8 and you were 9. You're remembering the homunculus we created a year later, when we tried to bring mom back. You lost your arm and leg that night."

Edward's face remained un-readable – strange; Al had always been able to read him like a book - but Al could see him rubbing his automail fingers together; a thing he used to do when he was troubled. He apparently still did it.

The monk looked absolutely shocked.

"Human Transmutation?" he whispered. "That's impossible. No one can survive that."

He glared at the monk, but he apparently didn't intimidate him. Al could never pull off Ed's positively livid glare that could scare anyone, even Hughes, half to death.

"Obviously, you can survive it, otherwise, Ed and I wouldn't be standing here in front of you, and the Fullmetal Alchemist never would've existed."

Silence reigned once again for several moments. Ed sighed, picking up his few belongings, re-tying his scarf around his neck and placing various weapons back into their proper places on his belt.

"Carl, pack up." He said shortly. "You," he turned to Al, hauling him to his feet. "Get your things together."

"Y-you're not gonna shoot me?" Al said, inwardly feeling relieved. "You believe me?"

"I'm cutting you a deal." Edward said, grinning that Ed-like grin that Al knew so well. "You come along with us; keep the military out of this, and I won't shoot you. If I feel like you're going to bolt for it or if I think you're going to sell us out, then you'd better watch your back." He hefted his gun on his shoulder as if for emphasis.

Al gulped. He'd forgotten how menacing his brother could be, and he had to say, it was a force you didn't want working against you. "But you do believe me, don't you Ed?"

"Don't call me that." He snapped. Al flinched and Edward sighed, visibly calming himself down. "I don't know if I should believe you or not, so for now, don't call me Ed or Edward."

Al nodded hesitantly. "G-got it, Brother."

"Don't call me that, either!"

Short, I know but hey, at least it's an improvement from what it used to be.

Review, my little pretties, review!