Genre: Drama/Action/Romance

Rating: 15+

Pairings: Ed/Envy, Wrath/Al plus some het (!) Roy/Riza and Scar/Lust

Disclaimer: All things FMA do not belong to me

Warnings: None, I think...

Summary: There weren't many in the city who didn't know the two prevailing gangs of Central- they owned enough of the place for their names to plastered all over- but the powerful hold many secrets and this is the kind that won't stay under wraps for long. Unfortunately Ed is about to find himself deeply involved in the mess and without any guarantee of survival he may find himself relying on the one person he always swore to hate.

“Well there’s Roy’s old banger,” Breda pointed out as the group neared the warehouse. Ed snickered; Roy’s ‘old banger’ was actually his pride and joy- an old Ford Mustang.

“Lazy bugger,” Havoc grumbled under his breath, “and he’s brought a girl with him.”

“Huh? Oh yeah,” Breda said as he squinted into the car, “they’re kissing,” he noted blandly.

“How does he do it?” Havoc moaned unhappily, slumping into the first stages of his depressive state. Considering that he did so whenever Roy just generally had any luck with women it was miracle that Havoc spent any time out of the state at all.

Ed considered the intimate couple for a minute, a small frown adorning his young features, “Wait a minute…” he said, “…Wasn’t the Colonel supposed to be picking up the Lieutenant before he came here?” Ed asked suspiciously.

Havoc started out of his depression and he stared at Ed with wide eyes, “You’re right! He must have ditched her for some broad!” he exclaimed.

“That idiot!” Breda continued, “She’s gonna kill him!” The rest of the group nodded their agreement.

“I don’t know about you guys but I don’t wanna be around when she gets here,” Ed admitted.

“Err… brother. I think she’s already here,” Al’s words sent a shock of panic through the hardened teenagers and their heads swivelled in all directions as they tried to spot the furious beast they expected to see coming towards them.

“Where? Where is she? Damn it, I need a place to hide!” The older Elric whimpered unabashedly and ducked behind his younger brother.

Al ignored him and replied “she’s there,” his hand rose to point at the car in front of them.

The rest of the group followed his direction and, true enough, there was the Lieutenant sliding swiftly out of the passenger side of Roy’s car. One hand smoothed out her tartan school skirt whilst the other made vain attempts to push the free tendrils of her hair back into its clip. A self-satisfied smirk lay comfortably over kiss-swollen lips.

“Wow… you mean he wasn’t lying?” Falman asked curiously.

“What!” Havoc exclaimed, his fourth after-school cigarette hitting the pavement, “How does he do that?” Ed patted him on the back sympathetically.

There was an awkward silence within the group before Roy finally exited his car, although Roy didn’t contribute much to the conversation either- possibly due to the dazed look in his eyes and the goofy grin stretched across his mouth. No wonder Riza had looked so pleased with herself.

Ed snickered, “so the great Roy Mustang finally met his match,” he proclaimed.

“Yes, he does look a little dazed doesn’t he?” Russell added, grinning evilly.

“Well I suppose his womanising reign had to come to an end eventually,” Breda added mock-solemnly.

“It was a good reign wasn’t it?” Falman continued, a rare wicked grin slipping across his face, “it began in middle school you know? And now 6 years and 253 women later it finally comes to an end.” Ed decided at this point that Falman’s memory stretched far across the borders of formidable, deep into the land of just downright scary.

“Just think Havoc- he’ll never be able to steal another woman again,” Russell remarked slyly. The man, who had been a state of lamentation once again, slowly lifted his eyes to stare at him.

“Oh yes, after all if he tried it with anyone else, Lieutenant would have his head…s,” Breda snickered at his childish pun.

Ed looked away to grin cheekily at his superior- he did not look impressed.

“Fight. Now,” Roy barked, clearly not amused. His annoyance, however, did not dampen the spirits of his men, who walked their way into the warehouse with snickers and giggles.

The building was empty of everything except a few pieces of permanent machinery and old boxes of scrap that had never made it to the skip. Pulling up some of these old boxes to use as seats the group circled itself in the corner furthest from the door to wait for their rivals.

“So Al, this is your first fight isn’t it? Feeling scared?” Breda asked.

“No,” Al replied.

“No?” Breda asked with a raised eyebrow.

Al shrugged, “they can’t use weapons and we don’t fight to kill. It’s fairly civilised as far as gang fights go.”

“Yeah, but you can’t use alchemy either.” Havoc told him.

“I know.” Havoc and Breda sent him an uncertain look before looking at each other and shrugging.

“What about you Ed?” Havoc inquired, “You worried for your baby brother?”

“Yeah, I’m surprised you even let him come here,” Russell added.

“Nope,” Ed replied, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

“You neither?” Havoc asked with surprise.

“Nope. I know what he can do,” Ed replied before grinning. “Of course he’s not as skilled as me.”

Al snorted, “How many times have you managed to beat me brother?” he asked.

“Well- there was that time with the bunk beds…”

“That was five years ago,” Al deadpanned.

The others in the group laughed, “Well I suppose that’s what happens when the little brother outgrows the older,” Russell teased cheekily.

“WHO ARE CALING SO SHORT HIS OWN BABY BROTHER HAS TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO STEP ON HIM?” The hot-headed teen shouted, jumping to his feet.

“Calm down O’chibi-san, the fight hasn’t stared yet,” a feminine voice drawled.

“Envy,” Roy greeted with a callous tone.

Envy was unbothered by the cold welcome and retorted with a wide smirk, “Oh- it’s the flaming pony.” Roy twitched.

Ed glared at the androgynous boy, “Don’t push it bastard,” he growled in warning.

“Why? What are you gonna do O’chibi-san?” Envy mocked.

“Stop calling me short!” Ed shouted, he attempted to leap forward but Russell held the back of his shirt.

“Save it for the fight.” Russell told him before Lust sashayed into the room, still managing to look like sex on legs even in the school PE tracksuit. Behind her trailed Gluttony, Wrath and seven others.

“Causing trouble Envy?” she asked softly.

“Of course not, I was just saying hello to Edo-kun,” Envy replied, a hand placed cockily on his hip. Ed glared at him.

“I see,” Lust turned away from her brother and looked towards Roy; she gave him an indulgent smile, “Hello Roy.”

“Lust.” Roy responded, “Aren’t you going to introduce your friends?” he asked, gesturing towards the seven following the Homunculi. His tone was light, but guarded.

“Well if I must.” She replied uncaringly, “These are some of our Chimera friends, friends these are some of the Alchemists.”

“How impersonal,” Roy noted his stoic features betraying some dark amusement.

“What are names in battle?” Lust rejoined with a teasing smirk.

“Tru-”

“-Are we gonna do this or what?” Wrath demanded loudly, breaking through the pre-match banter.

“Wait Wrath, we’ve got a little problem first.” Envy informed him before turning back to the alchemists, “you’re one man short. Did Fletcher not pass your little Alchemist test?” he mocked maliciously.

“That’s none of your business,” Russell glared back.

“Oh?” Envy posed the question with gleeful enjoyment. “So that’s a no then?”

“He’s not made to fight,” Roy replied before Russell could be drawn any further into Envy’s game.

“A softie? Shame- but I’ve still got Alphonse to play with,” Envy smirked as he looked to the youngest.

“You’re fighting me,” Ed informed him coldly.

“Oh?” Envy turned wide eyes to the smaller boy, “but I don’t want to.”

“Tough,” Ed crossed his arms stubbornly.

Envy looked blackly amused as he sauntered over,” And why should I listen to you…” he drawled before coming to a stop and leaning in closer “…O’chibi-san?” Ed punched him in the face and Envy reeled back, clutching his cheek.

“That’s the third time you’ve called me short,” Ed replied furiously, keeping his fists raised.

Envy seethed and copied Ed’s stance with angry, jerking motions, “Fine, if it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’ll get, you little shit,” he spat.

“Four!” the blond howled and flung a fist again. This time Envy dodged, and he jerked to the left, pulling his leg round with the same movement. His shin connected solidly with Ed’s ribs, sending the alchemist wheezing backwards.

Ed and Envy circled each other warily as they regained their breath. Ed spared a quick glance towards his brother, who had just landed a strong kick to Wrath’s midriff, before returning to the task at hand. Envy tried to take advantage of his momentary distraction, but Ed had expected it. He blocked the other’s fist and aimed a kick to Envy’s side. Envy deflected with an arm before trying to land a punch on Ed’s face. The alchemist leapt back, forcing Envy to adopt a crouch to maintain balance.

Ed wiped away the sweat already trickling down his forehead before running at Envy with his fist drawn back. Envy didn’t bother to escape; instead he leaned back onto his hands and used the benefit of his long legs to throw a foot into Ed’s chin.

Ed’s head flew back and the rest of him followed. He stumbled and fell onto the floor, biting into his tongue deep enough to bleed. Hissing in pain he glared balefully at his assailant before spitting the small amount of blood in his mouth on the floor.

The rivals pushed themselves back up and readied themselves to continue their fight but it was cut short by the high-pitched, childish voice of Gluttony.

“Lust! Police!” the Homunculus yelled in a panicked tone. The effect was instantaneous: the fighters scrambled away from each other like they’d been burned.

“Shit,” Roy cursed,” someone at school must have overheard and called the cops!” He concluded angrily as he stared out of the large open door at the car approaching quietly.

“Probably Yoki, the little fucker. I’m gonna teach him about interfering in things that haven’t got anything to do him!” Envy snarled.

“What’s done is done Envy,” Lust replied, “we’ve got more important things to worry about than snits,” the two siblings’ eyes met and apparently Lust words meant more to Envy than they did to the rest of the room because the androgynous adolescent calmed, strangely fast, and nodded, “now, what are we gonna do about that?” Lust continued; she pointed outside.

“Can’t run, can’t hide, no-one’s bruising too badly yet,” Roy replied objectively, “we’ll just make it look like we’re doing a bit of negotiation.”

“We should sit,” Riza cut in briskly, “if we’re going to say we were talking we should at least play the part.” The other three came to a silent agreement and the four of them drew up seats.

Edwatched them glare at each other for a few seconds before moving over to where Al was standing instead. “You alright?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Al answered, “he got me pretty hard in the ribs but it’s just bruised. You?”

“I’m good. I think I’ll have a wonderful bruise on my chin,” he admitted ruefully, “and I nearly bit my tongue off. But I’m pretty much fine.”

“Good,” Al replied with a smile. Russell appeared next to them, a purple, swollen lump forming over his right eye.

“Nice,” Ed drawled appraisingly.

“You should see the other guy,” Russell replied smartly. He let himself collapse on a box beside the two brothers with a sigh, but jumped up almost immediately at the sound of a car drawing up in front of the warehouse. A car door slammed and the sticky step of new rubber soles pacing across concrete reached the ears of those inside the barn. The group of teenagers watch as the old double door was pulled open with distrustful, unhappy faces, but the two police officers that appeared didn’t seem to notice the hostile atmosphere.

“I’m PC Ross, this is PC Brosh. We’ve had a call about a gang fight.” The female officer told them, her tone light but arrogant.

“Well I’m sure you can see that there’s no fight here, officer.” Roy replied, smiling charismatically, “we’re just talking.” The officer looked unconvinced.

“Somehow I’m not buying it,” she replied unceremoniously, “You know, you guys are lucky it was us that took this call.”

“Ah, second lieutenant Maria Ross isn’t it?” Roy asked, “I’ve seen you at Headquarters- you look very good in blue,” he added with a charming grin.

“And you’re Colonel Roy Mustang I presume?” she answered, unperturbed at the handsome eighteen-year-old’s flirting.

“You’re still playing that Military game?” Envy interrupted mockingly, causing the party to turn and stare at him, “you Alchemists really are ridiculous.” He sneered.

“Well that’s nothing we didn’t already know.” Lust drawled disinterestedly, “Let’s go- there’s no work left to do here anymore.”

“Hn,” Envy granted the opposite party a final sneer before leading the way out of the building.

“You don’t look so good yourself you know.” Russell stated, looking back at Ed.

“Huh?” Ed turned to look at the taller blond with a frown.

“Your chin. It’s turned a funny sort of blue colour.” Russell clarified, he gestured vaguely to his own chin as he stared at the bruise.

Ed frowned and brought up a hand to poke at his jaw. He winced, “Ow.”

“Well don’t poke it then brother.” Al chided, batting the other’s probing fingers away from the bruise.

“I was just assessing the damage,” Ed defended, “talking of which, let me see your ribs.”

“No,” Al replied, shying away.

“Yes,” Ed stepped after him.

“No brother you’re too rough,” Al exclaimed ducking behind Russell who started to laugh loudly.

“Oh God, that sounded wrong.” He gasped out. The two brothers stopped their antics to stare at him.

“You are so sick Tringham,” Ed told him seriously, his face pulled in disgust.

“What’s this about Ed being rough?” Breda asked from across the room group, his eyes laughing as much as those around him.

Ed spun round to face them, “You’re all sick!” he exclaimed appalled, “I’m leaving and I’m taking my little brother away from you perverts.” He grabbed Al’s arm and dragged him out of the door.

“Don’t be too harsh with him Ed- he’s only small!” Russell shouted after him.

“SICK!” Ed’s voice echoed back and the group erupted in laughter behind him.

“Brother…” Al started as his brother continued to mumble to himself about his sick friends, “…Can you give me my arm back?”

“No.” Ed replied stubbornly and continued to drag Al behind him.

Al frowned but then smiled sweetly, “You know, that’s kinda suspicious, not giving me my arm back. Maybe you just want to keep it to yourself?”

Ed dropped the arm like it was toxic and stared at his brother in horror, “AL! How can you even say something like that?”

Al laughed at him, “Because I know it’s not true,” he replied, and laughed again at his brother’s pained expression.

“That doesn’t make it any better,” the blond whined back crossing his arms in a huff.

Al rolled his eyes, “come on, I’ll race you back to the house?” he offered.

Ed considered him a moment before shooting down the street, “see ya, sucker!” he turned his head to flash a grin and ran headlong into a man walking round the corner. The two of them crashed to the floor and the man’s laptop case flew out his hand and smacked into a lamppost with a sickening crack. The owner stared in dismay.

“Oh crap!” Ed exclaimed, “Sorry, old man. Here, let me fix it for you- I’m an alchemist!” Ed had already clapped his hands together and advanced before his victim could say anything.

The laptop-owner just gawked at the light glowing around his case, still only halfway to realising what had just happened.

“There you go, all sorted.” Ed smiled toothily as the light disappeared. He held out his hand to help the man up.

“An alchemist?” a deep voice asked from beside them.

Ed spun to face a tall man with dark skin and a scar crossed beneath his sunglasses, “Yeah, why?” he asked warily.

“Do you know of Zolf J. Kimberley, the Crimson Alchemist?” the stranger asked. He was leaning against the wall somewhat lazily, his hands buried in his pockets, but he still cut an imposing figure.

“The one who was involved with the Ishvalans?” Ed asked. Al came up behind him and looked at the stranger curiously.

“Do you know where he is?” the scarred man continued.

“No. After he killed a civilian he was thrown out. No-one really knows what happened to him after that, although it’s been said he joined with the Homunculi. Why, what did you want with him?”

“I want to repay him for something,” the man replied darkly, his face turned to stare down the street, though Ed got the feeling that it wasn’t bricks and mortar that he was seeing.

Ed frowned and scratched his right shoulder absently, “… right. Well if I hear anything…” he made to move away but hesitated, “wait- what’s the name?”

“I don’t have one,” the stranger answered before he pushed away from the wall and walked back the way the boys had come from. Ed and Al watched him go before looking at each other with identical expressions of confusion.

“Do you reckon he’s a little… you know?” Ed circled a finger round his temple and made a face.

“Brother! Don’t been mean!” Al replied, he shook his head and tugged at Ed’s sleeve “come on; let’s go home before Mum worries.”

“Yeah, ‘kay. Still racing?” Al grinned and set off running. “Oi!” Ed shouted after him before giving chase.

The forgotten laptop-owner stared after them and then back at his bag, before musing aloud, “Who’d have though a ten-year-old could be an Alchemist?”

“WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT?”

“BROTHER WE HAVE TO GO HOME!”

“NOT TIL I’VE TAUGHT THIS GUY A LESSON!”

“BROTHER!”

Chapter 1- Thursday

“Ok class, we’ve got about 3 minutes left- I want you all to complete the question on the board,” Miss Higgins instructed with a voice like a drill sergeant. Edward joined the groan which broke out around Central High’s Class 2A and he looked unhappily at the slide that had been projected on the whiteboard.

‘Calculate the empirical formula of a compound containing calcium and oxygen when oxygen is 16.6 percent’. Ed’s immediate grievances were lost at the words and he felt a chuckle rise to his throat as pulled out a particularly useful bit of information from the depths of his memory. Cheerfully he wrote out the chemical formula for quicklime- one of those lovely, quintessential alchemy elements.

The blond to his right eyed him warily, “what’s so funny?”

“Nothing Russell,” Ed replied innocently, finishing the curl of his ‘O’ with a small flourish and pocketing his pen smoothly.

Russell glared and his eyes lowered to Ed’s paper. “Hey!” He exclaimed, “How can you have done it already?”

“It’s just skill,” Ed sighed, leaning back and buffing his nails on his black school shirt.

“Sure it i… wait a minute…” Russell blinked, “That’s… you’re supposed to work it out, you little cheat!”

“WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO LITTLE HE’D BE CRUSHED BY ONE OF HIS OWN BRAIN CELLS?” Ed roared.

“ELRIC! DETENTION!” the teacher screamed back, but was drowned out by the lunch bell and the subsequent stampeding students. Ed, bag and folder beneath his arm, jumped into the crowd and ducked through the door before the angry woman could call him back.

In record time the two second years made it to the heavily packed lunchroom and immediately they made a beeline for a table to the far right. Ed wrestled his folder into his bag, and ignored the glares burning into his back as they crossed the room.

At a table made for eight, nine sat in a misshapen circle and two chairs were waiting empty. Ed gladly occupied the seat next to Alphonse and Russell took the chair two seats up, next to his own brother.

“Hello people,” Ed greeted with the air of someone quite satisfied with themselves.

“What are you so happy about?” Roy Mustang asked suspiciously before sipping from a cherry-red can.

“Nothing,” Ed answered, digging through his backpack for lunch.

“He just escaped another detention Colonel,” Russell provided, although it was slightly muffled as somehow he was already halfway through a sandwich.

“Do I need to ask?” Roy asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“Just the usual Colonel” Russell replied cheerfully, Roy sighed.

“Hey Al did I…” Ed stared down at the box that had been slid across the table.

“You forgot it this morning,” Al told him.

“I love you little brother,” Ed informed him with a grin, quickly prying open his large bento box to devour the contents. Al ignored the gorging beside him and turned to his right, leaving Ed to frown at the roughly-shorn hair at the back of his head.

“Have we got Maths next?” Al asked his neighbour.

“Yep,” Fletcher Tringham replied, “I think we’ve got a supply today though…”

“A supply?” Jean Havoc asked, turning away from the homework tutoring he was receiving from Kain Fuery, “Is it that really hot one? The one with all the” Havoc made an hourglass gesture with his hands, “curves?”

“I don’t know,” Fletcher replied, eyeing the man warily.

“Ooo, I know the one you mean!” Heymans Breda exclaimed, “The blonde one who always wears skirts and heels,”

“Oh Miss Kelly!” Roy supplied helpfully, “yes she is a beautiful example of the female specimen,” he proclaimed dreamily.

“HEY! HOW COME YOU KNOW HER FIRST NAME?” Havoc lamented loudly.

Roy leaned back in a quixotic pose, “Oh, we went to a nice little Italian restaurant a few weeks ba…”

“WHAT!” Several voices crushed over his sentence.

As the group around him got drawn into the discussion, Fuery make the mistake of starting a conversation with the person on his left.

“So err… Major. Are you well?” he asked the imposing man politely.

The major turned his head towards the smaller boy slowly and Fuery realised that somehow he’d made another conversational mishap, “Am I well Sergeant?” the major boomed, “Do my beautiful muscles not sing with perfect health?” ‘Major’ Alex Armstrong demanded, his shirt landing on the head of some poor girl sitting innocently behind him. “Listen to their healthy swell! Listen!” The muscled teen pushed his arm so far into the bespectacled boy’s face it pushed against his nose, and flexed it expertly. The man positively sparkled. 

Ed sighed and looked away from the frighteningly common spectacle to survey the crowds. The population of Central’s dining hall seemed quite content to stare at the half-naked teen: they were no doubt enjoying the lunchtime entertainment; however on the opposite side of the room there was someone who didn’t consider themselves a part of such a common population: Envy Homunculus.

The purple-eyed teen was grinning at Ed across the sea of students and when Ed caught his gaze he gave a mock-salute. Ed glared back and raised a single middle finger in response, carefully maintaining a countenance which screamed ‘I hate you’ at every angle.

Unfortunately this only seemed to amuse the other further.

Ed scowled and looked pointedly back at his friends where Roy caught his gaze.

“I think the Homunculi are going to propose a fight,” Roy noted from across the table. The words caused an inactivity to spread amongst the group; they stopped heckling, muscle-flexing, retreating so far back that they were almost lying on Havoc’s lap and whatever other activities the group had been involved in. Instead they turned their heads to face Roy, and the dining hall population, sensing that the entertainment was over, returned to its meals. 

Edward nodded in agreement, “We’re not even two days into the year, I think it’s a record,” he added.

Roy smirked, “well then; we should beat them to it. Havoc, Breda, suggest the old light warehouse on Gaol Street.”

“Yes Sir!” The two third years responded sharply and jumped to their feet smartly. An undercurrent of whispers erupted beneath the room’s conversations as the population realised that its entertainment hadn’t quite reached the ending they thought it had. Ed listened absently to their excited hisses as he watched his friends converse quietly with the four siblings sitting in the far left corner.

Lust Homunculus leant across the table to make some reply. Her school shirt was mostly unbuttoned- displaying an ample cleavage below a circular tattoo- and her black hair fell elegantly around her face. The two messengers appeared to stammer and Lust laughed at their embarrassment, before stating something quite firmly. Beside her Envy observed with unbridled amusement and Wrath pushed his bento box towards Gluttony. Ed hypothesised that the latter was probably to stop the obese teen from actually trying to eat the table he’d been gnawing on.

“Brother,” Ed looked back at Al, who was still staring across at the table.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t think Wrath even touched that bento box,” he sounded a little worried and Ed had to roll his eyes. Leave it to his brother to get concerned over an enemy.

“Sure he did, he pushed it across the table to give it to Gluttony.” He sassed, aiming to divert his brother’s attention from his distress. It didn’t quite work.

“Brother you know what I mean!” Al replied with some annoyance.

“He probably just saw Gluttony eating- that’s enough to put anyone off their food,” Ed said flippantly.

Ed knew Al couldn’t deny the truth; after all, he had pushed his own dinner away at the sight of Gluttony’s demolishment of food. “Yeah,” Al looked down at his hands.

“Oi, cheer up. Mum said she was cooking miso ramen tonight!” Ed told him, nudging the younger boy in the side.

“That’s good,” Al replied, his eyes brightening some. Ed smiled affectionately and absently pondered on how much of moron his brother was before Havoc and Breda returned.

“Well?” Roy inquired patiently; his empty can still grasped between his fingers.

“They agreed for tonight after school,” Havoc reported, sitting back down in front of his homework.

Roy opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted before the words even made it out of his mouth, “and how are you planning on explaining this to Father, Colonel?” Riza Hawkeye asked calmly, her hair was pulled gently into a clip but some how it didn’t manage to soften the disapproving features of her face. “You know fighting is prohibited without a reason.”

“Now, now, what hot-blooded young man needs a reason to fight?” Roy responded exaggeratedly, his hands spreading outwards.

Riza turned away from him, “One that might just lose his position, Colonel” she replied, her tone deceptively light. She bit delicately into the apple piece she’d just expertly sliced.

“Relax… I’ll just say they started it,” Roy responded flippantly, leaning back in his seat. Riza stared at him for moment before she turned away and proceeded to ignore him, “Riza? Riza come on… they’d only come up with a reason anyway- and isn’t it better to fight on our own turf?”

“It’s Lieutenant,” Riza informed Roy coldly, still demolishing her apple in small, efficient bites.

“Bu… but… I can’t change it now!” the young colonel exclaimed hopelessly.

“I’m well aware of that,” Riza’s expression didn’t change.

“Come on Riz… forgive me?”

“Lieutenant.” Riza repeated smartly.

“Come on- please? I’m sorry. I’ll… I’ll do all my paperwork on Saturday!” Roy pleaded, Riza observed him for a second before sighing.

“Wait for me after Maths, you can drive me down,” she told him.

“I knew you couldn’t stay mad at me for long,” Roy crowed triumphantly. He seemed to miss the smirk that flickered over the young woman’s face. Ed didn’t, and found that he was slightly worried at her ability to wrap the colonel round her finger without the man realising it at all.

“I’ve got to go, I promised to meet Winry at one,” Riza informed her superior. She kissed the man on the cheek and left. Silence followed her departure as the whole table stared at their colonel and Roy pressed a hand to his cheek dotingly.

“…what just happened?” Havoc asked blankly. No-one answered him, but instead waited for Roy’s response who, unfortunately, was too busy sighing to notice.

Eventually Vato Falman reached past Breda to smack the back of Roy’s head. “Oi, answer the question,” he said briskly.

“Huh, what?” Roy’s head darted round in various directions, catching the gazes of his friends, “what question?”

“The question where we all wanna know what the hell just happened,” Ed supplied, still surprised.

“She kissed me,” Roy replied, grinning like he’d just won the lottery.

“Yeah but why?” Havoc retorted.

“Oh yeah, you guys don’t know,” suddenly Roy became very smug and pressed the tips of fingers together smoothly. Ed briefly speculated where the can had disappeared to.

“There’s no way she agreed to date you!” Havoc exclaimed disbelieving. He was backed by murmurs of agreement from the table’s occupants.

“…Wait,” the colonel blinked, “…none of you thinks I could date Riza?” Roy asked, equally disbelieving.

“Nope,” Breda replied brusquely.

“Sorry sir…” Fuery trailed off with an apologetic smile.

“My guess was it was a dare… or a bet,” Falman concluded.

“More likely a bet,” Havoc replied, nodding sagely, “Lieutenant wouldn’t do something like that for nothing,” Roy stared round at his friends in shock, “hey anyone for a game of footie?” Havoc continued, looking away from the colonel and round at the others.

“Yeah I’m game,” Falman replied, standing as Havoc retrieved the ball at his feet.

“I’d never refuse a chance to train my beautiful physique,” Armstrong declared, still yet to return his school shirt to its rightful place.

“Nothing else to do,” Russell admitted.

“Could do with the exercise,” Breda conceded.

Fuery gave a small shrug and a smile, “I guess so,”

“I will, you coming Al?” Ed added his bit.

“Mmm, I will if Fletcher will,”

“I’ll come.”

The group of boys quickly packed away their lunch boxes, shouldered their bags and trudged out of the hall leaving a stunned Roy behind. “Hey! Wait a minute, you damn subordinates! Have you no faith in me at all?”

(F)(U)(L)(L)(M)(E)(T)(A)(L)

Medical Approach to Abnormality- Studies
(Szasz)- doesn't take into account social class or environment
Gottesman and Shield- If the first twin has schizophrenia then there is a 50% of the second twin having it in monozygotic twins and only 10% in dizygotic twins

Psychosurgery- Studies
Baer et al- followed 18 people how had cingulotomies for OCD and found better functioning and less depression

Evaluation of the Medical Approach
+ There is a clear treatment for each disorder, doesn't lump it under one term
- Szasz
+ Gottesman and Shield
- Ignores emotional and cognitive factors as well as the influence of traumatic events

Evaluation of Psychosurgery
+ Gives a hope to those where nothing else, e.g drugs or therapy, has worked
+ Modern surgery techniques mean more defined damage and less side effects
- Still a risk of serious side-effects e.g. paralysis, impaired learning and emotional blunting
- There is always the risk that it won't work at all

Pirates Attack Second Cargo Ship

  A Hong Kong cargo ship has been attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden near the Yemen coast- the second incident in many days.

The vessel Delight, loaded with 36,000 tonnes of wheat, was bound for Iran's Bandar Abbas port when it was hijacked, said the official Xinhua news agency.

According to China's maritime search and rescue centre, there were 25 crew members on board.

None of them were from Hong Kong or the Chinese mainland.

Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang said: "We are aware of a piracy incident and will deal with it".

It comes after pirates in the area hijacked a Saudi supertanker with a $100m oil cargo on Sunday.

The captured Sirius Star, with a full load of two million barrels of oil, is currently anchored off the notorious pirate port of Harardhere on the Somali coast.

The Sirius Star, which is the size of three football fields and 3 times the weight of a US aircraft carrier, is the largest ship ever siezed by pirates.

It was the furthest point out to sea that Somali bandits  struck.

This year, Somali pirates have attacked 90 ships, more than double the number in 2007, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

Pirates are still holding 16 ships and more than 250 sailors.