Chapter One: New Arrival, Old Friend

Disclaimer: I don't own 'Fullmetal Alchemist', and Jackie Havoc is Bax Embre's OC.

Author's Note: This fanfiction is, once again, based off a role-play with Bax Embre, so please excuse the AU and OOC.

The train was awfully quiet as Ashlynn Mustang looked out the window, watching the rolling countryside pass. She sighed and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. She pulled out a letter from her jacket and scanned over her uncle's words. He invited her to come and live with him in Central, since her parents had died, and she had nowhere else to go.

"Attention, all passengers. Resembool Station coming up in five minutes."

Ash tucked the letter back into her jacket and looked out the window again. Resembool…It's been too long…

Ash stood outside of Automail Rockbell for a few moments before knocking. Winry Rockbell opened the door and beamed.

"Ash! Come on in!"

"Hey, Winry," she replied with a smile as she followed the blond into the house.

Ash noticed a young woman in her mid-twenties standing by the couch. Her bright yellow-orange hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, a set of messy bangs hiding her face. The bright orange coat she wore was reminiscent of a tiger, and her stance made her seem like someone that shouldn't be messed with.

Winry turned to Ash. "I have to take care of her first. I'll be right down. Jackie?"

The woman turned away from the window, green eyes sparkling, and followed Winry upstairs. Ash looked around and sat down on the couch to wait.

"OW!"

Ash jumped in surprise and looked up at the ceiling as three more ows followed the first. She heard footsteps, and looked over to see Winry coming back down the stairs, clapping her hands together.

"Okay, Ash, your turn. Hold out your arm."

Ash stood up, shrugging off her jacket. She took off her shirt, leaving only a camisole so that Winry could inspect her automail arm.

"It seems to be in working order, but it's been awhile since you stopped by…Hold out your other arm."

Ash did as she was told, and Winry tsked.

"I thought so…You need an adjustment. You've grown out since I last saw you."

"All right," Ash said, fighting a grimace.

Winry detached the automail and left the room. Ash sighed and flopped down on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. After a while, she heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs again. She sat up, noticing the same woman walking heavily down the stairs. She now wore only a tank top and shorts, her four automail limbs shining in the sunlight. Ash's eyes widened as she watched the woman head towards the kitchen.

"Milk. Now," the woman demanded, before she turned to go back upstairs with a full glass of milk, her recently fierce expression softened as she began to hum happily to herself.

One of Ash's eyebrows rose in confusion, lots of questions now aroused by this newcomer.

Later that evening, Winry returned with Ash's newly adjusted automail arm. She attached the limb, and looked up at the black-haired girl.

"I'm going to reconnect the nerves now."

Ash nodded and gritted her teeth, letting out a painful groan when she felt the all-too-familiar shock of the reconnection. Once her nerves had stopped tingling, she slowly clenched and unclenched her hand, getting used to the new limb.

"So, who's the other customer?" Ash asked curiously.

"Well, I think she's a State Alchemist, because she has a pocketwatch, but it looks really old, so it might just be an heirloom or something."

Ash nodded, and Winry continued.

"Granny is actually the one that found her twenty years ago and gave her the automail. I don't really know much about her, but she comes in once and a while for check-ups and replacements."

Ash nodded again and stood up. She put her shirt back on and slipped into her jacket before bending down to pick up her suitcase. "Thanks, Winry. Sorry to be going so soon, but I gotta go. I'll be back for a visit soon."

"Wait, Ash!" Winry called, following her to the door. "Could you wait until tomorrow, when she leaves?"

"Why?"

"Please? I don't want to be left alone with her!"

Ash nodded slowly, though she was more than a little confused. "Sure thing."

"Thank you," Winry sighed gratefully. "Besides, the next train out of here comes tomorrow."

"You've got a point," Ash laughed.

The next morning, Winry stood in the doorway, waving goodbye to Ash and the woman as the two set down the dirt path. Ash was beginning to understand why Winry was so freaked out by her—it was getting to the point where Ash wouldn't have been surprised if the woman started skipping down the road in time with the song she hummed.

The two arrived at the train station, boarding the one bound for Central. The woman followed Ash and sat down across from her. Ash fidgeted a little before looking out the window. Not long after the train pulled out of the station, the woman turned in her seat so that she was lying on the floor with her feet propped up on the seat. Ash tried to ignore her unexpected companion, hoping that they would reach Central soon.

The train ride proved to be awkward, since neither Ash nor the woman made any attempt at conversation. When the train pulled into Central Station, Ash was relieved to get off. Pulling out her uncle's letter, she headed out for headquarters. She glanced at the directions her uncle had written, but she felt like she was being followed. When she peeked over her shoulder, she noticed an all-too-familiar orange jacket not far behind her. She sighed and looked down at the paper, hoping the woman would go away.

Ash stopped at a street corner, glancing down at the directions again. She looked up, frowning, before looking over her shoulder again. The woman was still following her. She shook her head, and continued on.

Finally, she reached a huge walled complex. She went in, glancing over her shoulder once again. The woman had finally disappeared. Ash sighed and relief and entered the building. At the front desk, she asked for Colonel Roy Mustang, and set off towards her uncle's office.

She took a deep breath and knocked before peeking her head inside. "Uncle Roy?"

Roy Mustang looked up, then jumped slightly in surprise. "Ash? I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow…"

"Sorry…Do you want me to come back later, or…?"

"No, no, it's fine." Roy gestured to one of the couches before his desk. "Sit down, and we'll go home just as soon as I let everyone know you're here."

Ash sat down. "Thanks for letting me stay with you, Uncle."

He nodded and returned to his work. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Roy said before looking up from the paperwork before him. This time, he actually yelped and almost fell out of his seat.

"Hey, Roy." It was the same woman from the Rockbells'. She smiled and waved.

"J-Jackie! Where have you been the last twenty years?"

"Oh, here and there," Jackie replied nonchalantly. "I just wanted to stop by and say hello." She smiled again. "Bye!" She left, closing the door behind her.

Ash looked from her uncle to the door, wondering what had just happened.

Roy sighed and flopped down into his chair, rubbing his temples. "What's Jean going to say?"

That night, Ash stood by the front door as Roy's subordinates arrived to meet her. Roy introduced her to all of them. She smiled shyly, and greeted them.

"This is Warrant Officer Vato Falman…Second Lieutenant Heymans Breda…Master Sergeant Kain Fuery…Second Lieutenant Jean Havoc…First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye…and Edward and Alphonse Elric…Hey, Lieutenant, no smoking in my house."

Ash quickly warmed up to everyone. She mingled around the room, getting to know everyone, since she'd be working under her uncle.

"So, what sort of alchemy do you specialize in?" Alphonse asked curiously.

"Water alchemy," Ash replied, brushing her hair out of her face.

Everyone in the room, aside from Roy, laughed.

"Poor Colonel…His own niece could render him useless…" Jean chuckled.

Ash laughed as her uncle smacked the back of Jean's head. She really liked being here…

"So, Jean, how's your sister?" Roy asked.

Jean scowled. "How would I know, sir? I haven't seen either of them in almost twenty years!" He stood up and stomped outside.

"Oh…" Roy murmured.

Not long after, he told everyone that they should head home, since they still had to go to work the next day.

After everyone had left, Ash looked at her uncle. "What's this about not seeing Jackie for twenty years?"

Roy sighed. "Twenty years ago, Jackie and her twin sister, Lily, passed their alchemy exams, the youngest to do so. The records show Fullmetal as pulling off that record, but the Havoc twins beat him by five years. The night they passed their exams, the two were kidnapped, and no one's heard from them since…until today. But I guess Jackie hasn't gone to see Jean, yet…" He sighed again. "Let's head to bed."

Ash stared out the window absent-mindedly. I should be studying…she thought, dancing out into the hallway. She saw a familiar looking ponytail bob past. She stood and followed Jackie, noticing that she stopped outside one of the offices, peeking into the door with a serene smile.

"What are you doing?" Ash asked, causing Jackie to jump and look around wildly.

"Oh, it's you," Jackie sighed in relief.

"Why don't you just go in there and say 'hi'?"

Jackie sighed. "That's easier said than done."

"Why?"

"You can't exactly go up to your brother and say, 'Hey, I haven't seen you in twenty years! I've gone through hell and back to get to this point, and our sister might be dead…But it's great to see you!'" With that, Jackie turned on her heel and walked off down the hallway.