OI!~ Alice here.

Wow, my very first fanfiction! It's like, my first child or something~ * Becomes teary eyed * I always knew it would be a Fullmetal alchemist… ANYWAYS! Envy, state the disclaimer while I gracefully bake brownies while balancing on my head!

Envy:…

Alice: Just do it or I'll ship you with Hoho. And we all know how disturbing that pairing is.

Envy: * sigh * Alice doesn't own Fullmetal Pipsqueak.

Ed: WHY YOU-

Envy: I mean Alchemist. But she does own Marin…and that's about it.

Alice: AND SO IT BEGINS!

Everyone else: * Facepalm *

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I don't want to hand this in. I don't want to go inside. I don't want to see his stupid smirk. I don't want to have to explain to him what I saw – who I never intended to see… But worst of all…I don't want to have to knock on the door.

Maybe standing there for 10 minutes was a bad idea. Staring at the polished wood frame, the scene behind it clear as daylight in her mind… He would be sitting at his desk, eyes narrowed, pompous grin.

I don't want to go in, I don't want to go in, I don't want to go in.

Knuckles raised, hovering inches away from the door, the young alchemist groaned internally.

I'll just give it tomorrow, I thought, squeezing my eyes shut. I'll just give it tomorrow and maybe he won't even be in his office so I won't have to deal with-

The door opened with a whoosh, startling me.

"Oh," said the colonel, a little surprised. "Marin. I wasn't expecting…weren't you…?"

"Yes," I huffed, gathering the courage internally, and shielding the anti social like fear on my face with a bit of a serious tone. "I know was supposed to get back tomorrow from Persterone, but, some things came up…that's what I came here to talk to you about…and hand in my…report…colonel, were you…sleeping?" He looked at me through bleary eyes, and his hair was a little ruffled. Standing up straighter, he looked down at me.

"No." My face deadpanned. Oh. So that's how it's gonna be.

He looked at his watch, and grumbled, "Alright, let's just get this over with. I have a council meeting at-"

"Yea, yea, I'll make it quick so you can go on your date with your skank." Ha. That's more like it, I thought, following him into the office and sitting on the couch.

Roy glared daggers at me. I guess he figured whatever I had been rattled by was gone.

"That wasn't very funny."

"Didn't expect it to be – I'm not a funny person."

"You're not very good at telling jokes."

"Like I said. I'm not a funny person."

"Well maybe I should just have your name changed to 'the thickheaded alchemist.' I'm sure a lot of people would have some funny stuff to say about that," he said, gritting his teeth.

"And I should tell your little bodyguard about your date tonight that conflicts with your paperwork-I'm sure she'll have some funny stuff to say about that. With her gun."

"Dammit Marin! For once in your life, respect your superiors!" He snapped.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that when my superior is being a dumbass?!"

He glared at me, and we stared each other down. Something flickered in his eyes.

No. Don't look at me like that. Don't do this again.

He looked away. "Whatever. Just give me the report," he said in a steely voice, crossing his arms and putting his feet up on his desk.

You can't even look me in the eye anymore. You can't even begin to see what you've done to me, I had said to him. That day.

I disgust myself.

"No, wait," I found myself saying. His eyes darted over to me.

"I…I'm sorry," I sighed. "You're right." There was a long silence. He turned over and studied me critically. Then his eyebrows raised and he stood up.

"That wasn't just a burglary case in Persterone, was it?" He asked.

I tilted my head back on the couch, closed my eyes, and said, "No. No, it wasn't."

I looked up. "How is Hawkeye, anyways?"

A big red and black boot slammed the door open, causing them both to look over with a bit of a startled expression.

He stood in the doorway, red jacket and all. I knew this one. Edgar or Edmund or…Edward. He had his hands on his hips and a wicked grin on his face. "Hello Colonel Jerkwad!" He said proudly. A huge metallic figure peeked into the room in a timid fashion.

"Alphonse. Fullmetal," the Colonel acknowledged. "You're looking especially cheerful today."

"The Brigadier General wants you in the conference room. Something about being late for a council meeting?" I raised my eyebrows. Huh. Imagine that. There really was a meeting.

Mustang looked at his watch again, and then up at the one on the wall. "Don't I have 10 minutes?" He murmured to himself.

"The throbbing vein on the Brigadier General's forehead says otherwise," the boy in the doorway said happily. Uttering a particularly nasty curse, Roy glowered over at me, and shot me a look that said 'if you even think about leaving the room I will barbeque your organs from the inside out.' I raised my hands and smirked in defeat, and he stormed out of the room without giving the blonde a second glance. Edward, seemingly having momentarily forgotten my existence, pumped his fist in the air. The metal one wore a look of concern. "That was almost too easy," the shorter one laughed, jumping over the desk and clapping his hands together on to the file cabinet. A blue light filled the room for a split second, and the cabinet opened. He chuckled, rubbing his hands together, and said "Now Al, if we're to find it we should divide and co-"

"Oi," I said. They both looked over at me. "You're the one they call Fullmetal," I said, eyeing him. He didn't say anything. I took on a serious air and mentioned in a low voice, "How do you know that I won't right you up for breaking, entering, and lying to a superior officer?" They were both quiet. I broke into a grin. "Hah! You thought that I was serious," I laughed. The larger figure sighed in relief, and Edward looked me over skeptically. He gave me a judging look and said, "How do you know that I won't write you up for assist?" he asked. I smiled, jumping over the desk.

"Any opportunity to screw over Mustang is a nice job for me," I said.

"Eh? What's your grievance with the Colonel?"

"Um, Ed? The file? We only have about 10 minutes before he gets there and realizes that we…erm…lied to him. And he'll come back tired. And angry."

"We sent him to the room on the other side of the building," Ed snickered to himself.

"Brother."

"Right," Edward said. "Al, you watch the door." And he dove into the files.

Al looked over at me, and said, "I'm Alphonse, and this is my older brother-"

"Edward. I know." There was a silence.

"Soooo…what are we lookin' for?"

"The file on the Tourniquet Alchemist," Ed said, without glancing up. I raised my eyebrows, and an amused grin spread on to my face.

"Oooh, what about her?" I asked.

"Apparently she's studied some techniques from Xing that might aide in our…investigation. She was gratified as a state alchemist at 15."

"Oh dear, so young," I sighed with sympathy.

"We've never met her before, but we're hoping she'll help us."

"She sounds like a real character."

"Yeah. We hear she got her name because she takes the nerves and veins of people's appendages and constricts them with the surrounding muscle until…" He trailed off. "Apparently the military uses her for torturing purposes."

My face darkened, and I said in a lower voice, "That sounds horrible."

"We know, but even if she is a grim character, we still need her help. People say she's antisocial, but we can break her. Right Al?" Ed laughed, elbowing his brother. I pursed my lips.

"Heh heh, y-yeah," Al mumbled, glancing at the door nervously. Breaking into a cheerful smile, I looked at them, and said, "Well, good luck." I started towards the door. "And tell me if you find her," I mentioned, walking out.

"Well, that was weird," Ed murmured, staring at the door after it had closed. "She never told us her name."

"Brother," Al said, file in hand.

"What? Did you find it?" Ed jumped up, attempting to peek over Al's shoulder. There, in the open folder, was a picture of a pale girl whose dark hair fell down to her shoulders. She looked a little thin, and her eyes were green and grim. Her ears were a little too big for her head. Next to it was a name: Acker, Marin, Tourniquet Alchemist. There was a silenced, and they both slowly looked up at the door that had closed.

"That girl was…" And the footsteps in the hall grew farther away until they vanished.

*Short chapter is short * * Sorry* Well, to tell you the truth, I'm really sick of seeing people reduced to BEGGING for reviews. So I'm not going to! HAH!

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* Whispers * Please review. O-O