Disclaimer: I don't own FullMetal Alchemist, nor any of the characters in the fic. BUT! I DO pwn Nikki... So there!

2 months later...

Colonel Roy Mustang was sitting at his desk with his elbows propped up on the surface, fingers laced and pressed gently against his lips. Slowly, he let out a long sigh and half-opened his dark eyes. He sniffed and lowered his hands staring at another member of the military who sat across from him, arms folded.

This man had dark hair also, though his was slightly more messy than Mustang's. Before his brown eyes were a pair of rectangle glasses. He sighed as well and ran a hand over the stubble on his face unconsciously, before leaning forward, resting his hands on his thighs.

"So, Roy..? What now?"

Roy closed his eyes, seeming utterly disgusted with himself. "...Unbelievable... Something like that... Going on under my own nose... It's ridiculous Maes... How can I expect to gain respect with an alchemist like that ruining my chances of promotion!"

"Calm down... Anyway, you did all you could. Tucker is dead and so is that thing... But your promotion should be the least of your worries right now... What're we supposed to do with his older daughter? It's been two months and she's still living in that house..."

"I know that." responded Mustang through gritted teeth. "I'm doing all I can right now."

"Well, there's nothing left to do there, either. The General wants to reposes the house."

"What!"

"Well..." Maes said slowly. "It was the military who supplied Shou with the house in the first place... For his chimera experiment a year ago... Remember?"

"Of course I do!" Roy shouted irritably.

"Alright, alright." Maes held up his hands defensively. "Don't shout... I'm being civilized here, there's no reason why you shouldn't be..."

Mustang sighed and leaned back in his chair. "So then... Where is she?"

"Who?" Maes blinked, looking slightly bewildered.

"Nikki... The Tucker girl..."

"Oh... Well,-" Maes pushed his glasses up onto his face. "- she's right outside... Just sitting there in the hall on the bench with Major Armstrong and First Lt. Hawkeye."

"...Has she said anything...?"

"No..." Maes shook his head slightly. "Nothing... Actually... I haven't heard her talk at all since-"

Maes and Roy looked over their shoulders as the door to the room creaked open. A woman, perhaps Roy's age was standing there, holding a clipboard against her chest. She had blonde hair fixed on the back of her head with a straight, green clip and bright chestnut eyes.

"Colonel..." She nodded towards Roy. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes..." The woman nodded again, this time towards Maes.

Roy blinked slightly and nodded back. "Lieutenant."

Maes grinned and raised a hand. "Hey, Riza!"

Riza Hawkeye raised an eyebrow slowly and then sighed. "Colonel, the Major and I were talking and we thought that, with the situation at hand, perhaps Central could spare a room in the dorms for Nikki." Roy and Maes looked at her curiously before she continued. "Well... Since Ed doesn't care to use the rooms we keep for himself and Alphonse, perhaps we can give Nikki one of the two rooms and, if need be, leave the second for the Elric brothers."

The Colonel looked at her slowly before smiling. "That's actually a good idea... Very well... But we have to go through procedure... I just hope she can muster up enough courage to speak..." Roy stood up and walked out of the office, following Riza, Maes at his heels.

Outside the office, on bench against the outside wall to Mustang's office, sat Nikki and, beside her, a rather large man also clothed in the military uniform.

Quickly, the man stood and slapped his feet together, saluting the Colonel and Lt. Colonel. He stood about 6'3'' and had bright blue eyes. Despite the fact that his muscle tone made him look incredibly intimidating, he was actually a pretty nice guy. His bright eyes said nothing less... Well... His eyes, and the single lock of blonde hair that protruded from his forehead and curled at the end.

Roy nodded towards Major Alex Armstrong and he instantly lowered his arm, relaxing himself. He then looked down, almost hopelessly at Nikki, who never even glanced up.

She sat with her back against the bench and her hands on her knees. Her bright purple eyes were downcast and she let out a small sigh every so often.

Hawkeye, Armstrong, and Mustang all exchanged glances and sighed. Then, without warning, Maes squatted beside the bench, laying his forearm on the arm rest of the bench. "Hi," he said with a grin.

Nikki glanced up, barely even lifting her head before staring blankly down at the ground once more. At least she had shown him that she acknowledged him.

"I'm Maes... Maes Hughes. Your name's Nikki right?" His question was returned by with the slightest of nods, so he continued; "Well, Nikki... Is it alright if Colonel Mustang here takes you inside the office-" he patted the wall beside him "-and asks you a few questions? You see, we'd like to let you live here in the dorms... The state isn't too happy about you owning a house..." Maes frowned ever so slightly.

Nikki blinked slowly and looked up, finally lifting her head. She must have had it bowed for quite some time, as it cracked softly upon inclining it. With a heavy sigh through her nose, she nodded a few times.

Maes grinned and stood, hands on his waist. "Great!" He waited for her to stand before resting his hands on her shoulders and leading her gently inside Roy's office, meanwhile, ignoring the stunned looks on the other three personnel's' faces. However, Mustang and Hawkeye quickly followed the two inside, leaving Major Armstrong to go on about his daily duties.

Nikki looked around wearily, sitting in the chair Maes had been sitting in just minutes beforehand. Roy sat at his desk with Maes and Riza on either side, Riza's clipboard and pen at the ready.

Mustang looked at her slowly. "...Nikki, we just need some personal information so that we can submit the application for you to live here... Is that alright?"

Slowly, Nikki bobbed her head.

"Alright... First of all... How old are you?"

"...Eleven." As Nikki spoke, even through her soft tone, her voice cracked. She listened to the sound of Riza's pen scratching before her.

"...What's your full name?"

"...Nicolea Cecile Tucker..."

"What was your father's name?"

Nikki winced. "Shou Tucker..."

"And your mother's name?"

Nikki raised an eyebrow slowly. "...My mother?" she asked rather hesitantly.

"..Yes, that's right."

Nikki bit down on her lip and thought for a moment. She looked up, seeming incredibly shocked at herself. "...I... I don't know."

The three adults blinked slowly and exchanged odd glances. Roy looked at her again. "Nikki, I know it's not easy answering some of these questions but this is serious. It determines where you end up now... Please don't li-"

"But I'm not lying... I... I really can't remember, sir..." Nikki's voice softened again and she gazed towards her right.

Mustang sighed. "Alright... How about another question, then...? Hm..." Mustang scratched the back of his head, eyes closed. "How long have you lived in your previous home?"

Nikki blinked and lowered her eyebrows, hardly believing she couldn't remember this either. "...I'm... Not sure..."

Mustang blinked and studied her for a moment... She was fidgeting... And sweating, but only slightly. "Nikki..." Mustang said sternly, even more so then he had when asking the first question. "...What did you receive for your eleventh birthday?"

She blinked. "A locket from my sister." Nikki wondered for a moment what on earth that had to do with her gaining a room in the dorms.

"And your tenth?"

"I-...I--..." Nikki stuttered hopelessly, praying that a gift, any gift from her birthday last year would fall from her lips; it never did.

"How old were you when your mother died?" Mustang's voice had grown more violent-like and he had both hands planted on the surface of his desk, now on his feet.

"...I-..."

Maes blinked; he was going too far. "Colonel..."

"What did your father make in order to gain his house!"

Nikki was now trembling. Never in her life (that she could remember, anyway) had she been yelled at or forcefully talked to.

"Colonel Mustang." Maes repeated with a sternness in his voice now as well.

"When did your mother supposedly 'leave you'!"

"ROY!" Maes had a firm grip on the fabric of his comrade's coat.

Roy finally looked back, looking a bit surprised that he had stood at all and, even more surprised to see Hughes glaring at him with an extreme anger. His dark eyes traveled to Riza who had stopped writing and was sweating some from his outburst. Finally, he looked at Nikki, who was trembling violently by now, clearly scared out of her wits. Her face was pale and she couldn't seem to get a hold of herself or stop the tears from trailing down her face.

He sighed and his eyes softened. Calmly, Roy walked over to her and rested a hand carefully on her leg. "Nikki... I think it's time you tell us exactly what you've been doing the past two months..."

Nikki looked at him, seeming to have calmed in unison with Roy. She swallowed and narrowed her eyes in a shameful manner, looking away and down towards the ground her fists clenched beside her thighs on the cushion of the seat...

30 minutes later, outside of Cl. Roy Mustang's office..

After what seemed like an eternity of loud yells coming from behind the door of Colonel Roy Mustang's office, it seemed things had finally calmed down. Not to mention, the one responsible for most of the yelling had left and was now sitting down beside Nikki on the bench outside.

Maes Hughes sighed and crossed his legs, pushing his glasses up onto the brim of his nose with his index finger. As he folded his arms over his chest he exhaled once more. "So..."

Nikki said nothing. She felt guilty. She committed such a horrible sin- such a crime against alchemy- it had almost been unbearable for her to contain. In a way, she was glad to have told someone, perhaps not the way she would have preferred, but she got it out and that's what was most important.

Maes cast his eyes down at her. "...Wh-?"

"You want to know why I did it, don't you..?" This fell from her lips shakily before she even had time to swallow her words.

Maes nodded. "Mm.."

Heaving a sigh that was perhaps louder than she had spoken at all that day, she turned her eyes up to him and then glanced sideways to stare at the floor, leaning her back against the bench. Nikki couldn't deny it... She hadn't sat up straight at all that day and, truth be told, her back was beginning to ache terribly.

Mustang let a long, irritable sigh slip from his nostrils. His dark eyes were closed and his gloved hands were folded, pressed against his mouth gently. On his face, there was a look between pity, understanding and, if nothing else, just plain pissed off. "Ridiculous.." he muttered to himself.

Hawkeye looked at him from her place on the other side of the room. "What is, sir?"

"All of this," he said, waving one hand to back up his statement. "It's not right... How can all this be happening! The worst part was that until she found a new guardian, I was assigned to the job; and look what happened! Ridiculous!" he repeated.

"There's no need to shout, Colonel. I know how you feel, I'm upset as well... However," Hawkeye said a bit more sternly, "we have to make things appear business as usual... If we don't, someone will-"

"No one's going to find out Lt. The only ones who are to know about this are Hughes, Nikki, you and I... Is that understood?"

Without a word of objection, Hawkeye nodded. In all honesty, she had no reason to object to Roy's decision. She knew that at times he could be a bit... Out there... And alone, very alone... But other times, such as now, showed why he had been made Colonel. "Yes sir..."

Maes leaned forward slightly, his eyes focused on the young girl who sat beside him. He wasn't mad at her... He couldn't be, though he wasn't sure why. He knew very well what she had done, though no matter how bad it was impossible for him to not only pity her loss... But, somehow, respect her.

"...Well... I-...I just wanted my sister back... She was all the family I ever really had... As you can guess, I don't even remember my mom... And I knew that my dad wasn't much of a father figure. Ever since my eleventh birthday (being as far back as Nikki can remember) all he's done is study... Or spend time down in the library or in the lab beside his bedroom. I didn't want to go to that school because I knew that leaving Nina there might cause problems... But when I got her letters, I knew it was alright there... But just to make sure, I came home whenever possible... She was happy so I stopped worrying... But... I guess I did the wrong thing choosing to do that..."

Maes's eyes softened and the corners of his lips twitched upward into a small smile. "You're a very responsible big sister, you know... I'm sure Nina wouldn't blame you," he said, in attempts to reassure her. "I don't think there was anything wrong with what you did when I hear why... You just wanted to try again... To fix your mistakes... That's it, isn't it..?"

Nikki bobbed her head gently, her cheeks trembling and streaked with tears for the second time today. Her eyes were hidden; cast in shadow by the cords of chestnut hair hanging over her face.

Maes smiled wider and rested a hand on her shoulder with a firm, yet caring grip to it. "It's alright..."

Turning her head up towards him, she stared at him in disbelief with watery, blood-shot eyes; the colour of which looked a darker purple now that they were set against something other than white.

"Lieutenant Colonel..." Hawkeye was standing in the open doorway of Mustang's office, a piece of folded paper clutched in her hand.

Nikki and Maes both looked up at her and blinked.

"...Excuse me, but Colonel Mustang wanted me to give you this..." She approached him, her hand holding the note extended. "He wants you to brief the Elric brothers on their next assignment..."

Maes took the paper and removed his hand from Nikki's shoulder, causing her to frown slightly, though to no one's knowledge; except, perhaps, Riza's.

"Hm... Do I have to do it now?" He asked, looking up at her.

Riza quickly pulled her chocolate brown eyes from Nikki and looked at Maes, nodding. "To my knowledge, at least."

With a heavy sigh, Maes put his hands on his knees and stood up. He nodded a farewell to Riza and, a few steps from the bench, turned and waved to Nikki. His wave was acknowledged with a faint smile.

When Hughes had disappeared around a corner at the end of the hall, Riza looked at Nikki who jumped at her sudden gaze. "The Colonel has a room for you." She smiled and walked the opposite way down the hall. Turning her head, she looked at Nikki. "Come on."

Nikki slowly stood up and walked after her, knees buckling a little. However, she quickly caught up with the First Lieutenant.

The two walked down several flights of steps and finally through the large doors leading outside to a grassy yard cut in half by a dirt path. The green only stretched about 30 feet before meeting the bases of two warehouses marked 1 and 2. She followed Hawkeye down the path, past the grass, past the first two warehouses and many more marked with the numbers 1-12.

Riza took a right turn and Nikki followed meekly. She yawned loudly, her eyes watering a bit. They itched and stung with a tired feeling that she had had for quite some time. Actually, she couldn't quite remember the last time she got more than a couple hours sleep. Every time she drifted off, she was awaken by dreams that brought back memories too recent to even be forgotten yet. Normally it wouldn't bother her, as the memories themselves visited the corridors of her mind constantly but the more she slept and the more times she dreamed, the more vivid and sharper the images and memories came.

Riza glanced sideways to look at her, though kept her head straight. "..Tired?"

Nikki blinked and turned her head away, frowning. "..A little.." she muttered.

Riza scoffed softly, almost in an amused sort of way. "Well, the beds in the dorms are comfortable... I'm sure you'll sleep well from now on."

So far, Nikki had agreed with whatever the military had told her... This might've been the first time she rolled her eyes in disbelief.

A/N: And so concludes Chapter 2! Hazaa! Oh, the accomplishments of me! I feel so proud! lol