Chapter one
An Experiment Gone Wrong
"All right, done," I said, quietly, placing the chalk on the ground and wiping the dust off my nose. I quickly glanced through the window and, seeing that it was dark, breathed a sigh of relief. My brother would be gone by now, out on his date that he had been talking about for the past week.
I took one last look at the two circles that were intertwined, and then pulled on my gloves and stuffed my watch into my pocket. I hesitated, only slightly, before placing my hands on the circles, watching them glow brightly at my presence.
The eerie light circled, forming around me and the items in the middle of the transmutation circles. I looked away from the transmutation, momentarily, when I heard a door slam downstairs.
"Ava! I'm home!" The voice of my brother rang loud and clear through the house, but I ignored it and turned back to the experiment.
Something had gone wrong, however. The items in the middle of the circle and merged together, and created one new item. I stared and shock and began to remove my hands. Before I could, though, the new item flew at me and hit me with full force, sending me back into a wall.
My head hit the wooden wall with a loud "crack." I could feel myself loosing consciousness. The alchemy light had gone out, sending the attic and me into complete darkness.
"Ava? Are you in there? Please answer me, Ava," My brother called out. I couldn't move; couldn't make a noise. The door opened and I saw the familiar blonde hair peek through. He saw me and was automatically by my side.
"Ava, can you hear me?" I nodded, once, though it hurt like hell to do so. "Good. Stay with me, Ava. I'm going to get you to a hospital. Stay with me." I just groaned and my eyes closed.
The last thing I heard was the frantic yelling of my brother's voice, pleading with me to stay there, to not loose consciousness.
But, I failed.
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When I next awoke, I found myself lying in a bed, surrounded by white. White sheets, white blankets, white walls, white everything. A hospital.
I groaned and tried to sit up, only to have to turn over and immediately throw up.
When I was done showing everyone what I had eaten for breakfast the past 3 days, hands helped me sit up the rest of the way. Red hair and bright blue eyes swarmed into my vision.
"Adron?" I asked, my voice scratchy from disuse. The man smiled in relief and sat back in his chair.
"For a second there, I thought you might not remember me," He said. I grinned.
"I would never be able to forget you."
"I should hope not. Now just hold on a sec and I'll go call the doctor." He walked over to the door and poked his head out, calling to one of the nurses.
"How long was I out?" I asked when Adron had sat back down.
"Almost 2 weeks," was his immediate answer. I stared at him in shock.
"Are you serious?" He nodded and I groaned, putting my head into my hands. "Mustang is so going to kill me."
Adron laughed. "You mean the Flame Alchemist?" I looked up at him in shock.
"You've met?"
"Well, yeah. And he's not exactly someone who no one would know, either. Hero of the Eastern Rebellion, right?"
"Yeah, I guess. But when did you meet?"
"Well, besides the fact that he used to baby-sit me when I was growing up-"
"Hold on. What?"
"Ava," He groaned. "It's not that hard to understand. He baby-sat me when my parents were gone. Okay?"
"And you could never find it in you to tell me this before," I asked, my arms crossed over my chest. He shrugged.
"Didn't really think it was important. Anyway-"
"Not important! How is it not important that my best friend and superior officer know each other?" He rolled his eyes.
"Calm down, Ava. You might go into another coma."
"Somehow I doubt it," I scoffed.
"Anyway, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted," He sent me a look, but I ignored it, making a motion with my hand, signaling him to continue. "Roy also came by the hospital every once in a while to 'see how his favorite subordinate was doing', as he put it." I laughed and Adron looked mildly amused.
"Did he say anything about work?"
"I think he mentioned that he put you on sick leave or something." I nodded.
"Great. Thanks Adron."
"No problem," He said, nodding. A doctor walked in just then and Adron stood up.
"I think that maybe you should stay in here for this, son," The doctor said, stopping Adron in his tracks. He sent me a guilty look and sat back down. I raised an eyebrow and he whispered, "I told him I was your boyfriend."
I stifled a giggle at the thought of Adron and I going out. He just rolled his eyes and the doctor pulled up a chair next to me with a folder of papers.
"Well, everything seems to be fine with you, Miss. Havoc. There will be some bruises where you hit your head, but those will clear up, so no worries there."
But, if there were no worries, than why did the doctor seem so…worried?
"Is something wrong, doctor?"
"Well, it seems that your experiment on creating human life through alchemy did not fail, Major."
I blinked. "But of course it did! I didn't see any baby before I blacked out. And my body swallowed all…the…materials…oh." Adron took my hand as I stared at the doctor, wide eyed.
"I'm pregnant." I whispered. He nodded.
"'Fraid so, Major Havoc."
"Um…doctor? Is there anyway to find out who's baby it is? I mean, it wasn't really conceived in the normal way, so is the only parent me? Is there no father?"
The doctor peered at me over his glasses.
"Now, I'm no alchemist, Major, but I do know the main points. I'm guessing that you had to use DNA, or something of the sort, for this baby to be created, right? Well then, I'm guessing, only guessing mind you, that if you used two people's DNA, those two people would be the parents." My eyes widened and I looked down, blushing. Adron gently squeezed my hand.
"So, Major Havoc, would you mind telling us who the father is? Or would you rather keep it a secret for a while?"
"Secret," I mumbled.
"Very well. I shall inform the Lieutenant of your condition-"
"Jean?" I asked in shock. "Jean is here?" The doctor nodded. I hesitated before saying, "Do you think that- well, would it be possible to not tell him about me being pregnant?"
"Keeping things from your family, eh? All right, I'll keep your secret, Major. But only because I like you." He winked, then was out the door.
Adron watched him leave and when the door closed behind him, he rounded on me.
"So, who's the father, Ava?" He asked, his eyes sparkling. I blushed and shook my head. "Is it Breda? Falman? Fuery?" I sent him a look of disgust and he laughed, loudly. "Oh! Wait, no! I know, it's Edward!"
Rolling my eyes, I said, "And where would I happen to find DNA of Edward? He left, remember? So did Al, so it's obviously not him, either."
"You're right…so, who's the father?" I only sent him a look saying, "Keep guessing."
"Me?"
"I would never trust you to be a father, Adron. You'd probably kill the poor kid."
Adron smirked. "Yeah, probably true. Well, who else is there? Archer?"
"After what he did to Mustang? No way."
"That was Archer?" Adron asked, and I nodded. "Figures. I always knew there was something wrong about that guy. Anyway, is it…" He sent me a sly look before continuing. "Roy Mustang?"
I blushed bright red and Adron jumped up. "You used Mustang?!"
Slowly, I nodded. "Come on, Adron. I didn't really think it would work. After all, it never had before. And, as much as I hate to admit it, I do trust him."
Adron sighed and sat back down. "I guess your right. And he is good with kids. Both Elysia and I are proof of that."
I raised an eyebrow and opened my mouth to make a comment, but the door opened and Jean stood there. He hugged me tightly.
"Oh God, Ava. I thought you died. What were you thinking using forbidden alchemy?" I sighed, breathing in his scent and ignoring the fact that he was being totally out of character.
"I'm sorry, Brother. I wasn't really thinking."
"Yeah, I realized that." He pulled away then and shook hands with Adron.
"Thanks for looking after her, captain," He said, using the name he had given Adron.
"No problem, Jean. Just make sure you get more rest next time." Then, leaning over to me, Adron whispered, "He wouldn't leave at all. Had to threaten him just to sleep, and then had to threaten him more just to sleep somewhere more comfortable than this room." I smiled at him, gratefully, and then watched while both him and Jean walked out of the room so I could change into my regular clothes, privately.