Chapter One – Roy's Secret

This is my first FMA fanfic, yay for me. I'm still pretty new to the series so if I put something in it that's wrong, please correct me so I don't make that mistake again. Complements appreciated:)

Chapter One – Roy's Secret

"Bring it on, runt!"

"Who the hell are you calling a runt?" Ed yelled at his opponent. Rage took hold of him as he clapped his hands together without thinking. Blue light erupted from them and sped towards the target at a blinding rate. The intruder was knocked off his feet and launched into the wall behind.

The man grunted as he hit the brick wall with the force of a truck. After the dust cleared he wheezed and managed to gasp, "Bastard."

"Yeah, keep talking, it's not like you're any threat now!" Ed retorted. "C'mon Al, time to report back now."

"Right," Al nodded. He watched the whole time, but ready to step in at any time if his brother needed any back-up. Al needed the judgment to know when Ed was in over his head since his brother wouldn't ever ask for help on his own. The two brothers then made their way back to the train station ready to head back to military headquarters.

"Well, Elric, like usual, you managed to screw things up. But nevertheless, still caught your guy. However, there's nothing left for you two to do at the time, I will contact you if anything comes up," Colonel Mustang told Ed.

"Thanks Roy, time to hit the books again with more research, my quest never ends, or seems to get closer," Ed grinned. He got up and headed towards the door. Approaching the door he heard Roy mutter, "You and me both." Ed was actually kind of shocked that Roy hadn't scolded him for not calling him 'Colonel' and just let him leave like how he did. Ed made his way to the break room.

For some odd reason he heard barking on the other side and pushed open the door with a confused look on his face. In the room Major Hughes was on the floor playing with a puppy. It wasn't that big. It had gray and white fur and blue eyes. Hughes looked up upon Ed's entrance.

"Oh, hi Ed," He greeted. Major Maes Hughes was a middle aged man with short hair, glasses, and an obsession over his three-year-old daughter.

"Hey, whose puppy is that?" Ed asked, pointing to the object in question.

"Nobody's yet. I'm trying to bum him off. I found him this morning and since it was raining I didn't just want to leave him out there all on his own."

"But, pets aren't allowed in the sleeping quarters," Ed told him.

"I know, that's why I was going to ask Roy about him," Hughes explained.

"Well, if I were you I'd try a bit later, he seems a bit depressed right now," Ed told the major.

"Roy's always depressed, he just never shows it. He's too much of a hard-ass for that kind of weakness, I wonder what's come up about it," Hughes said, standing up after giving the puppy one final pat.

"About what?" Ed pressed.

"Ask him about it, I'm not the right person to tell you," Hughes told him.

"Aww, c'mon, I won't tell, please?" Ed begged.

"No." Came the answer.

Ed had a feeling that Maes wasn't going to give in, so he quit begging. He had never actually seen him mad and he didn't want to start now.

Ed took the major's advice and went to Roy's office. He knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Roy asked on the other side.

"It's Ed. Can I come in?" Ed asked.

"If you must."

Ed opened the door and closed it behind him.

"What do you want?" Roy asked in an annoyed voice.

"What's bothering you?" Ed asked, getting straight to the point.

Roy looked dazed for a few moments and smoothly replied.

"Nothing's bothering me Ed, why do you ask? It's not like it affects you anyways."

"Nevermind, forget I asked," Ed said, reopening the door to leave. Ed took a final look at the Colonel and saw nothing more unusual. He went through the doorway and left.

Roy sighed and collapsed in his swivel chair. 'How could I tell Ed? It's none of his business anyway.' Roy rested his head in his hands and stared at his desk. There was a newspaper lying there and he read the fatal article again. 'How could she go farther? That's the wrong way. She needs to come closer. I'll never find her this way.'

"So, what'd he say on the subject?" Maes asked.

"Nothing, he just said that he wasn't being bothered by anything and wanted to know why I asked, that was pretty much it," Ed said.

"I'm not surprised," Agent Hawkeye put in, "It took me years to get it out of him, and by that point I had already figured out that it was about a girl, whoops!" She grinned.

"A girl?" Ed asked, confused, "I thought that he never had a girlfriend?"

"Oh, trust me, it's not an ex or anything like that, but you know, we've already said too much, time to get back to work," Hughes announced.

Riza nodded. The two left and Ed was alone with his musings.

"Well brother, what did he say?" Al asked when Ed emerged from the building.

"He said that like usual he managed to mutilate everything yet still get our guy," Ed smiled.

"Oh, well, if that was all he said than why did you take so long in there?" Al asked.

"Something came up. Well, sorta… Roy's hiding something and Riza and Maes know about it but neither of the three will tell me," Ed confessed.

"I wouldn't try to push it brother. This is Roy we're talking about. Trust me, if you keep bothering him than you'll never find out. Give it time, maybe he'll tell you sooner or later," Al advised.

"More than likely it'll be later," Ed said, leading Al down the street, "All I knows is that it's about a girl that's not and ex, that's what Riza let slip," Ed smirked.

"Just be careful about it Ed," Al told him.

"Don't worry, I will be," Ed responded.

This seemed to satisfy Al.

There was a commotion up ahead and Ed and Al ran ahead to help. It looked like a bunch of older teens were ganging up on this other teen that looked a lot younger. As they got closer they could tell that it was girl.

"Yay, gangs…" Ed said sarcastically.

"Well, we have to help that poor girl, I mean; I don't think she's from around here or something…" Al said.

The shouts became more prominent and they could plainly see that this girl was a fighter and wasn't going down easily. Shouts of:

"C'mon!"

And;

"Kick her ass, man!"

Were more or less the main conversation.

"Just try it," The girl growled. She had black hair and short bangs that sorta flipped up a bit before coming down. The tips of her hair were dyed blue and stuck out greatly. Her eyes were brown and full of fire and the moment. She was rather small and you could easily tell she had a thing for dice. There were dice everywhere. On her earrings, her necklace, even hanging off her belt loops and sleeves. Yep, obsessed.

She was also backed against a wall and her situation didn't look too promising at the moment. There was a half circle of about six tough guys surrounding her and they looked as though they wanted blood. And, they were going to see it; however, it was going to be their own.

But alas, only one of the guys was actually fighting her. The other five were mainly for back up, either that or the cheering squad.

"Are you sure that she needs help?" Ed asked jokingly.

Al gave him a look that said, 'c'mon, I know you're better than that.'

"Alright, alright, sheesh." Ed sauntered over to the group.

They all looked up immediately. The girl took this opportunity to jump the one that was her opponent. He yelled out in surprise and tried to throw her off. She hung on pretty tight but eventually lost her grip and was sent into the wall. Ed cringed and clapped his hands together, preparing to launch an alchemic attack at the. He jumped to the side to avoid the girl and sent it at them. He bowled down about half of them then took out the other half while Al went to the girl.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked.

"I'm Al, that's my brother Ed," He introduced.

"You don't look alike," She stated flatly.

"It's a long story."

"It always is."

"Well, that was easy," Ed stated.

The girl stood up, using the wall as a support.

"Thanks, but I didn't need any help," She growled.

"Yeah, I'm sure, you couldn't even get up on your own, let alone fight those guys," Ed snorted.

The girl glared at him, knowing it was true.

"I have my ways," She replied after a while.

"Oh come on, everybody needs help sometimes, it takes even more guts to swallow your pride and admit it, even if it gives people the wrong first impression of you," Al offered.

"What are you? A counselor?" She shot back.

"No, but even so, that's one thing I've learned from fighting alongside of Ed," Al told her.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Too bad I barely have any pride left, there's not that much for me to swallow anyhow," She said.

"Than why don't you just admit that you needed our help?" Ed pressed.

"Why don't you make me and maybe I will?" She growled.

"But, then it's still up to you. That made no sense…" Al stated.

"Don't you think that I know that?" she questioned.

"Where do you live anyways?" Ed asked, changing the subject.

"Wherever, I don't really have a home anymore, not for a long time," she said, her eyes sparkling with pain.

Ed and Al looked at each other. Ed then made eye contact again with the girl.

"Who are you?"

"My name's Max, that's all I know," She told him.

"But, isn't Max a boy name?" Al asked.

"Shut it Al, it's probably short for something," Ed told him.

"If it is, than I don't know what for," Max said, "I've pretty much shut out my entire life. I forgot about the past and I don't want to remember it." She looked away.

"So, you don't even know who you are or what happened to you?" Al asked in disbelief.

"All I can remember about my life before the streets is fire. And a lot of smoke. Pain worse than anything physical I could encounter and betrayal. I don't remember who it was or what they did, but it hurt," Max's eyes shone with water as she had to look away and found a spot on the ground to focus on.

"That sounds familiar," Ed said after a while, "We burned our house to the ground in a futile attempt to erase any memories that went with it. Our mother died when we were young and our father died sometime before then. So, we've pretty much been on our own too."

"Heh, us orphans have to stick together than I guess?" Max's smirked.

"Yeah, we're too young for this," Al put in.

After sometime of walking around with no destiny, the three were pretty good friends.

"So, both of you are in the military?" Max asked.

"No, just Ed," Al answered.

"Sounds awesome," Max stated, "What all do you do in the military?"

"Pretty much solve problems and fight people, I only joined it so I could get access to their library," Ed told her.

"You like books?" Max asked.

"Well, as you can see, Al's just a metal suit with a soul attached and two of my limbs are auto-mail. We're looking for something called the Philosopher's Stone. It breaks the rules of alchemy and we could get everything back. We haven't gotten anywhere near it however," Ed explained.

"That's why you need the library, research! Got it!" Max said.

"Yes, but we seem to get even farther with every lead, do you know anything about it Max?" Al asked.

"No, if I did I would tell you, believe me I would," Max said.

"It's okay; I didn't really expect you to know anything about it. Most people haven't even heard about it," Ed told her.

"I'm really sorry, I wish I could be more of a help to you guys after you helped me out and everything," Max said softly.

"Don't worry about it! We're usually the ones in debt! We're just thankful not to have to owe anybody anything!" Ed laughed.

Max laughed softly too. "Must be nice. Changes are cool. All I've got is monotony. Fight here, walk there, pretty much stays the same. You two are the biggest thing to have happened to me at the time. It's nice to finally have friends." She said, looking up at the clear blue sky.

Ed and Al just kind of looked at her. Then they looked at each other and shrugged. They then had nothing better to do so they headed back to the headquarters. Max followed them; not knowing where this place was and not having anything better to do.

"We'll show you around, it's not really that impressive of a building but this is the only way you'll be able to have a private tour," Ed told her.

Max just nodded and concentrated on not tripping over her feet again. Which she had already done ten minutes before seeings how her shoes were four sizes too big for her.

The trio walked up the steps and into the building. Max looked around in awe at the place as she walked closely behind Ed and Al.

"Hey Ed!" She heard someone yell.

The three turned to see Maes. Max looked him up and down and decided that he wouldn't be a threat. Ed and Al seemed relaxed around him. Still, she was pretty shy when it came to meeting new people. Come to think of it, Ed and Al didn't make her nervous and that was pretty unusual.

"Hey Hughes, did you ask Roy about the puppy yet?" Ed asked.

"No, I've had a lot of stuff to do with Riza. He should still be in the room, but he might not be. That dog is an escape artist I tell you." Hughes scratched his head, "If I don't ask Roy about him, he'll find out about him himself for sure."

"Well, you better tell him, if he finds him wandering around the building he'll throw him out for sure," Ed told him.

"At least it's not raining anymore," Max put, overcoming her shyness.

Maes noticed Max for the first time.

"Who's this Ed? A girlfriend?" Hughes joked.

"No," Ed said sternly; glaring at Maes.

"I've never had a boyfriend!" Max told him, "Except," She paused to think, "Maybe I did…. I can't remember," She concluded.

"You can't remember anything," Ed joked with her.

"I know, it's hard enough as it is!" Max exclaimed.

"I didn't even know you had any friends that were girls," Hughes mused aloud.

"We just met her awhile ago," Al explained.

"Ah, that explains it," Hughes grinned.

At that moment the Colonel strode down the stairs with the gray and white puppy in his hands. He paused at the last step and looked at the group. He held up the puppy by the scruff of his neck and asked flatly:

"Where did this riffraff come from?"

"Sorry sir, I found him this morning and I didn't want to leave him in the rain all day," Hughes apologized.

Roy walked to Maes and shoved the dog in his arms.

"Keep it out of my sight, until you put it back," Roy growled.

"But sir, I was hoping that you would take him," Hughes pleaded.

"Why would I want that fur ball in my quarters?" Roy asked him.

"Because dogs are the most loyal of all household pets," Max offered.

Roy looked at her.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked.

"She's my friend," Ed told him.

"Why is she here Elric?" Roy demanded.

"Because there was nothing else to do so I thought I would show her around sir," Ed explained.

Roy studied Max.

"What's you name?" He asked her.

"Max…uh, sir," She said.

"What's your last name?"

"I don't know sir."

"How can you not know your last name?"

"I haven't used it in so long I forgot it…"

Ed snorted nearby. This seemed to make Roy angry. Or perhaps he was already angry from something else.

"This isn't a field trip Elric, get her out of here and come into my office immediately," He ordered.

Roy then nodded at Hughes whose eyes widened and he mouthed, 'are you sure?' and Roy nodded again. He then glared at Ed, his brother, and Max and went back up the stairs.

Ed looked over at Maes.

"What was that all about?" He asked.

"Nothing, just follow his orders, Ed," Hughes told him.

Ed figured something big must have happened back there as Hughes didn't usually seem so uptight. He led Max and Al to the door.

"Sorry about the Colonel, Max. He's been acting really strange lately…" Ed told her.

Max shrugged, "That's okay; I'm used to getting chased away from places."

"I'm not chasing you awa-" Ed started.

"I know."

"I'll catch up with you later, I'd better go see what Roy wants," Ed said, turning to go up the stairs Roy had used earlier.

"Roy?" Max asked.

"Yeah, Colonel Roy Mustang. He's sort of like Ed's boss. He's the head of the building," Al explained.

'So that was it,' Max thought to herself.

Ed cautiously opened the door to Roy's office. Roy was standing and looking out of his window.

"You can sit down," The Colonel offered.

Ed stood for a few seconds; then slowly eased himself into the nearby chair.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Ed asked.

Roy seemed at a loss of words for a moment, and than began:

"You've found something that I haven't. Something that I never thought I would when I read the papers this morning."

Ed sat there in the chair, confused, "What are you talking about sir?"

"Max…," Roy sighed, "She's my sister."

Ed was now dumbfounded. This would explain about this morning. And all the hits that were being dropped throughout the day.

"Your…. Sister? But you were so stern with her earlier," Ed reminded him.

"I know. I was just being colonel. She doesn't know. She can't remember anything. I would blame her for that," Roy said.

"About what?" Ed pressed on.

"You need to read the papers Elric," Roy told him.

Ed looked at the newspaper on Roy's desk. There was the headline towards the bottom that looked like it was it: Orphan Teen Spotted; May be Cause of 5-Year-Old Mystery. Ed read on. The article explained about a huge fire five years ago that destroyed three houses but only killed two people. As he got more in depth of the story he found out that the killed people were a couple with an eight year old daughter. All the clues led to the girl and she was captured and put in an orphanage until she was old enough to go to juvenile hall. But she ran away when she was twelve and hasn't been seen since.

"That was Max?" Ed asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Max obviously wanted to block all of that out and that is where I can't blame her. She went through some horrible stuff and also can't remember me as well. Something could trigger the memory to come back however but I don't know if she will be okay afterwards," Roy turned around and sat in his chair, "When I received the news of my parents and what was going to happen to Max I got scared. I barely knew Max when we were young but I knew that it was her instantly. She's one of the only girls I know with the name 'Max.' Ed, take care of my sister for me," Roy pleaded.

Ed nodded. "Yeah, she's a pretty cool girl."

"Just, don't tell her. I will later," Roy ordered.

"I understand" Ed acknowledged.

Well, that was chapter one. This is pretty good so far I think. Review and let me know what you think!

Kriss