A/N: Another FMA fanfic with my second favorite fem character. Enjoy!
I am...dreaming again...no…not that dream again…no…
"Hawkeye! Wake up!" Roy said to his daydreaming assistant.
Hawkeye was startled. "Huh? Oh…Sorry, sir." She apologized quietly.
"Are you alright? You seem rather…distracted…" Roy asked concerned.
"No…It's nothing sir, sorry sir…" Hawkeye resumed her tasks at hand. She grabbed a stack of papers that needed to be filed.
Roy watched her go out the door with concern, but assumed she would be okay. She's a tough girl. But still, she never lets something bother her this much.
Hawkeye flopped in on her bed as she returned home. Her puppy, Black Hayate, hopped on her bed and licked her face.
"Get off the bed, Hayate." She said, her face still buried in the pillow and blankets. She made no move to push the puppy off the bed as he curled up by her arm.
Hawkeye felt tired all of a sudden. She positioned herself to sleep on the bed around the puppy.
It's that dream again...no…Leave me alone! Please…no!
Riza woke up in a cold sweat. Hayate looked at her with concern and took two steps towards her on the bed. She was still in her military uniform, it was disheveled and her hair was half falling down. She sighed and pet Hayate a little. Then she got up quietly and proceeded to get ready for bed.
She took a long hot shower. Riza examined her body. She keeps it hidden for various reasons. A body most women would kill to have and she keeps it hidden under that military uniform. Riza looked to the one reason that she keeps her body mostly covered.
"Listen, rookie, you need to get your fighting stance right. Now try again.."
Whump! Her opponent kicked her sending her backwards.
"Ow….dammit!" The young Hawkeye yelled at the opponent grabbing her chestt. She growled and then leapt at the opponent with a fire burning inside her. She threw the opponent hard on the ground. Riza panted with the fury gone.
"Good, Hawkeye…" The sensei told her and patted her on the shoulder.
Riza walked out of the shower with her body wrapped in a towel. She fed Hayate and then changed into her pajamas. Riza sat on her window sill and let the fresh air blow against her. She slipped back into her memories…
"Good, Rookie, you're getting good at this." He patted an older Hawkeye at the military dojo on the back. "At this rate, you will become the new sensei for this dojo. You will be the new officer of martial arts. I am very proud of my best pupil."
Hawkeye was just as proud of herself. She beamed at her sensei's praise. She went to go teach her public class.
That was the fateful night…
Hayate startled Riza out of her memories with a bark. He needed to go outside. She let him out the back. She decided to go to bed and try to sleep away her memories.
"Good morning, Hawkeye." Roy greeted her as she walked into his office.
"Hey," She said distracted.
"Hawkeye, are you okay?" Roy asked. "You haven't been yourself lately."
"Yes, sir. I'll be okay." She replied and began writing on reports.
He gave up trying to see if she was okay. Roy knew it would be hopeless.
Later that day, Hawkeye went to the shooting range. She felt the need to keep her sharp shooting skills sharp.
She emptied a clip then pulled in her target and was examining it.
"Hey, Hawkeye, some of us are going to go spar in the gym. Care to join?" Havoc asked.
She froze at the thought of her old martial arts history. Then swallowed and said, "No, perhaps later. Thanks." Hawkeye said not making eye contact.
Her hands ached. Riza overdid it at the shooting gallery. Her pistol was still warm in its leather holster. Her hands ached though for another reason. She ached to close her fists and punch again. She sighed as she gave in and went downstairs to her basement.
Riza flipped on the light. In her basement, she built her own dojo. She went to her closet and changed into her old gi. She kept it white and crisp. Her old dojo's badge still was on her breast. The patches on her sleeve indicated her mastery of weaponry.
Riza warmed up first by doing some punching and kicking routines on a dummy. Then she went to her weaponry closet. She had every weapon in karate, while experienced in all of them; she was best at the bo-staff.
She got it out. Already the touch of the wood brought back old memories. She twirled it around a little to warm up. She then proceeded to do an assault of twirling dances on the dummy.
During her routine she slipped back into more memories. Memories of that fateful day. Riza assaulted the dummy harder.
"Listen, Rookie," her sensei still called her. "There's been a new development for the martial arts. I am too old to participate in it. You, however, are a prime participant for it. Please, would you participate?"
Hawkeye was surprised. She was on the brink of getting the dojo from the aging sensei. What else could he possibly need her for? But she agreed anyways, "I suppose I could do it? What is it?"
"You are now an emerging kung fu student. Your mastery is exceptional, you are a perfect subject. Please meet me at this location tomorrow night at about 9 o'clock." The sensei handed her a map.
"But sensei what…" Hawkeye began to ask but the sensei turned his back and started leaving. The old guy was becoming hard of hearing. She sighed.
Hawkeye returned to the location.
"Good you came," came a voice that wasn't her sensei's.
"Huh? Who are you?" Riza asked, getting defensive.
"Calm down, we're here about the procedure you agreed to."
"Procedure? I barely agreed to anything!"
"Too bad, you're too perfect to pass up."
Riza caught the guy that was sneaking up behind her and jammed the bottom her palm into his chin. She was too slow to stop the gun cocking she heard from the guy speaking to her.
"Now, shall we get on with it?" He said with a wicked grin.
"Riza sighed. Everything her sensei taught her, and not one of them could stop a gun from blasting her away. She surrendered her weapons, her hands.
They handcuffed her and put her in a car.
Riza yelled and beat the dummy again. She panted and swung again. The bo-staff cut through the dummy slicing it in half. The flood of memories was unavoidable now.
They reached a building within the security of the military base. They removed her from the car and escorted her into the small building.
"Here you are miss," he said with a sadistic grin.
They escorted her into a room she had never seen before. It looked like a lab she had been in before, but different somehow. The only science in the military used was alchemy, this was somehow different.
"Take a rest milady." He said.
Hawkeye's worst fears were beginning to come true. She struggled against the bonds.
"No fear, my dear, we're not doing anything to you. You are now a test subject. You are a perfect martial arts student for this. First mark her."
The lesser removed her shirt and coat. They kept her restrained her tightly as they began tattooing her whole back.
Hawkeye cried out in pain.
"This pain is nothing." The official leading the whole operation said.
They finished the tattoo. They smeared her afflicted skin with calming lotion and then flipped her harshly over to her back and restrained her.
She was failing to hold back the tears that were already streaming down her face. She gritted her teeth in a snarl.
"Yes, she will be perfect. Begin the procedure."
They brought in other men. They wore sterile gloves like a doctor and brought in a vaccine.
"What the hell are you doing to me?" Hawkeye asked.
"Just stay calm and still or else it will hurt worse." The doctor said.
She grabbed Hawkeye's arm and tied a rubber strip around it to make her veins stand out. The doctor stuck it in, and Hawkeye bit her lip. She had always hated getting shots.
They pushed the serum into her arm. The other people standing around her began drawing a transmutation circle around the table. The serum was fully in her. The doctor removed the rubber strip and stepped back. The alchemists activated the circle.
The pain finally struck Hawkeye and she screamed out in pain. Her hand cracked and became larger. Her manicured nails became long white claws. The transformation continued down her arm. Hawkeye's wrists and arms became more muscular and pulled the restraints to their limit.
Riza cried out again. Her face began to change. Her canines grew out predominantly and her ears began to point. Her other arm began to grow and her claws grew out.
"Cut the bonds." The officer ordered.
They reluctantly followed orders.
Hawkeye fell to her hands and knees. The transformation spread down her back. The marking contorted with her expanding muscles. Vertebrae grew and became bunched. Through her black boots, clawed digit grade feet burst the seams.
Golden blonde fur began spreading across her back and the marking stretched out into black stripes across her back. Stripes formed on her arms, legs, neck and back. Her ears had black fur on them and moved to the top of her head through her light blonde hair. Hawkeye's light blonde bangs still hung over her face. Her eyes remained the red amber color. Her face grew out into a short feline muzzle. White fur began to grow down her chin, and it continued growing down her underside and the undersides of her arms and down her legs.
A long, striped tail grew out from the seat of her pants.
Her palms were white. They were the only thing she saw as she brought her hand-paws to her face. They were blurry, but she saw the white fur and the black pads on her hands and fingertips. Hawkeye was exhausted and then blacked out.
Hawkeye came back from the horrid memories. She was in a full sweat and had beaten the dummy into a stuffing mass. Her palms were sweaty, and she relaxed her grip. The bo-staff slipped out of her hand and clattered to the floor. She brought her bruised, sore and raw hands up to her face. As she thought about those memories of her transformation, her claws grew out again and the wounds on her hands healed.
Tears formed in Riza's eyes and she shut the memories away again. She clenched her clawed hand into a fist. The claws pierced the skin. Her hand began to bleed. She relaxed it at the pain, but hung her head low. She began to sob quietly to herself.