This story is getting revamped, I do it a weird way. Not chapter by chapter I pick one at random and fix it up so the last chapter could be fixed but chapter two won't be. That's how it works. So just hang in there and in a week or two hopefully the entire story will be fixed and I can finally take it off hiatus.

The Exam

Mia Loup was a young adult at the age of twenty three, she was a typical gril you would think just by a glance. Dirty blond hair, long bangs, green eyes with a not so innocent appeal to them, average height and weight... However, you would not see this at a first glance but of the more unusual things about her was that her right arm was automail, she lost the flesh and bone when she was at the tender age of seven, and by the time she was fifteen saved up enough from doing odd jobs to get the automail. With a little help from friends and family, they weren't exactly the most wealthy family on the block.

Mia was a casual type person, she wasn't one for grand parties or fancy dinners. She believed in living life to its fullest everyday and that's what she did. Until she joined the Investigations Department of the military. Her job tended to suck up all her free time, but being the stable hard worker she was her work was done quickly and her free time came back full blast. She was a fan of the night life, though that had to be toned down since she was no longer a reckless teenager. Life was going alright for her now, or... almost.

She stumbled down the hallway of her home in search of her best friends room, Laura Kami, who she shared the place with. She met Laura in the library two years ago, and upon finding they both were studying alchemy they teamed up. Laura was the same age as Mia but they shared little in common, she was short, almost a full head shorter then Mia and had deep chocolate, innocent eyes accompanied with brown hair and neat, thick bangs. She held much more class then her friend and wasn't as prone to partying or reckless behavior. The one thign they did share in common though was that she too was an alchemist but did not work for the military as of yet, she would be taking the exam with her friend too that day.

Mia walked over to the door of Laura's room and knocked once with her automail arm, causing a loud bang, she was surprised she didn't splinter the door. "Laura get your ass up!" She called into the room.

She listened intently, there was a low, muffled moan from inside the room.

"C'mon get up or I'm gonna be late and you'll have no time to study." She complained.

Mia heard the bed squeak as Laura got up, there was some shuffling sounds and the door opened to reveal a sleepy Laura with some serious bed head. "Study?" She asked.

She almost fell over from her complete lack of realization. "We're taking the written exam today to become state alchemists and I am not gonna miss it because you like to sleep in!" She cried out raising up to her full height above Laura.

"Oh crap that's today!" Now she was fully awake.

"Yes now get ready." Mia said as she shut the door in Laura's face, she then walked off to the bathroom rubbing her eyes behind her glasses.

Laura rolled her eyes at her friend when Mia closed the door and walked over to her dresser to change. She picked out a tan top and light blue pants and put her hair up into a clip and slipping on some sandals. It was a simple outfit, but she was a simple person. Laura stumbled out of the room, not entirely up yet, and walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth, there was a humidity in the room, Mia must have had the hot water running when she was in here earlier. She was out of the bathroom in no time since she knew there was no time to fool around. Upon reaching the kitchen she saw Mia sitting at the table with half of her uniform on, she had her coat slung over the back of the chair, showing that she wore the form fitting black shirt underneath. Her hair was up in a bun with short strands falling into her face, her hair was a bit difficult.

"Hey, Mi." Laura said gettnig her coffee from the pot Mia made.

"Hi." After a small silence Mia spoke up again with a small smirk playing at her lips. "You do realize that after you become state alchemist you will have to start calling me Captain right?"

"Is that a fact?" Laura asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yes it is, and it soon it just might be Major. I am quite good at what I do."

Laura had to agreet to that, despite her childish behavior she was a hard worker. "Your good but you just got promoted; I doubt they would promote you again that fast."

"Ye of little faith." Mia said shaking her finger. "You get ready for the exam I gotta go to work." She got up and pulled her coat on.

"You just talked to the guy's down at central right?"

"Yeah why?" Mia asked.

"Well I was wondering if you got any further with that guy, Scar was it?"

She nodded. "Well that's what we call him, don't know his name. But no, we have nothing all we know is that he's targeting alchemists and anybody who gets in his way."

"Oh."

There was a pause and before Mia walked out the door to head to work she looked back. "You do still wanna take the test right?"

"Hell yeah!" She cried out. "I was studying for this thing for months I am not gonna forget about it now just because some crazed lunatic likes to kill state alchemists, if he tried to kill me I'll slug him."

"Let me know how that works out, I gotta go now, I'll see ya in a couple of hours okay?" Mia said grinning slightly.

"Bye."

For the next several hours while Mia was at work Laura brushed up on her skills for the exam. She practiced drawing her transmutation circle, refined her skill and got herself warmed up for the real deal. And then, when the clock on the wall struck twelve she took a deep breath and leaft the house to take her exam.

She walked down the street, playing with a loose string on her shirt, she had to admit she was nervous, but she had been studying for years. This was the beginning of the rest of her life. Finally she saw HQ in the distance and found herself picking up the pace, when she reached the gate she gave out her pass to the man to go and take the test and went in. Right away she saw Mia waiting for her by the doors with her arms crossed.

"'Bout time you showed, was wondering if you chickened out." She pushed herself off the column she was leaning on.

"Not a chance. You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, Colonel Mustang let me study all day." Mia said.

"When this is all over I'm gonna have to meet all your little military friends."

"Well... Roy, he uh, love the man but he's a killer boss. Not like back in the day." She said refecting on the pas before the military and before alchemy.

"That reminds me, you're gonna have to move here then right?"

"Yup, gotta say goodbye to the investigations department and say hello to being a state alchemist. Gonna miss all my friends in that department though."

"I haven't met any of your friends. Hell I've never even met your 'brother'!" She made sure to use the air quotes.

"My fake brother and you will… He comes here often." Mia said. "And you'll be hanging out here more seeing as you'll be becoming a state alchemist." She said smiling broadly.

"Hopefully." Laura said.

"Once again… Ye of little faith." Mia said smirking.

Laura rolled her eyes.

"Well here we are." Mia opened two doors, on the other side was a huge room, it was practically empty. There were a few men on one side, the examiners she assumed and on the other side were a few people mingling with one another.

"This is it?" Laura asked. "Well… I thought there would be more people."

"Me too, they must be scared about that Scar guy. Don't wanna be the next victim."

"Well then, lucky for us! Less competition!" Laura said smiling.

Mia and Laura walked into the room where the rest of the people were sitting around talking. There were several military officials there for supervision. One of the tallest military men spotted them, the one with the cigarette in his mouth, walked over to Mia, grinning.

"Hey Loup." He said very casually.

"Oh hey Havoc." Mia said. "Got stuck watching a bunch of people take a test huh?"

"Yeah, I swear Mustang has it in for me… Hello, who is your pretty little friend here?" Havoc said smiling at Laura as he took notice to her hovering behind Mia.

"She is Laura and no Havoc I don't think so, off limits, definatly not." She said pointing to Laura and hsaking her head making him give her a mock saddened look. "Come on Lar lets get ready."

They walked over to a table and sat down. "Who was he?" Laura asked when they were a good distance away.

"Jean Havoc, he's a Second Lieutenant. Be smart stay away… If you make it, he'll hit on you every day until he is positive there is no chance."

"Oh."

They took their seats and were passed out a packet of papers, this was certainly a long test. Laura was gaping at it, Mia on the other hand knew what to expect from word of mouth from other alchemists. After a minute or so when everyone was situated Havoc walked up to the front where everyone could see him and took in a deep breath before speaking.

"Okay take the damn test and don't cheat or else I don't know, I will do something and you won't like it... maybe I'll shoot you. Who knows." He said with a shrug setting a timer and placing it down on the table.

"Wow real convincing." Laura murmured.

The testing was long, an hour and a half to be exact. Mia and laura were both done with fifteen minutes to spare and they spent the rest of their time after their tests were taken away taking a silent conversation. The buzzer did eventually go off and everyone stood, a couple people weren't done yet and they smacked themselves before handing their papers in.

"Well I think I did quite well." Laura said meeting Mia by the door.

"Me too, I'm just glad Roy let me study today… If he hadn't I'd be stuck on a few."

"Roy? I thought he was your boss?" Laura asked.

"He is, but I've know him for years, before the military… Almost like an annoying, bossy, brother person." Mia said smiling slightly.

"You have a lot of not family here." Laura said.

"Well the military is my family." Mia said. "Don't think I've ever really had one."

"Of course you have, don't be stupid… You have me, your fake brother and apparently every single person in the military. I'm just surprised I've never met them." Laura said.

"You will, you will, eventually. I mean you did just move here, You wereoff in the east for a while, that was tough gotta tell you. Now come on, we better go, its getting late."

Hey people hope you like this chapter, it's my first attempt at a FMA fanfic. More people will be coming in the next chapter I promise. Review please. Next chapter will come soon, and I'll probably update due to reviews either that or Laura says I have to.