During my time in Rush Valley, I had a lot of time to think about the Cullens.

I eventually grew to hate them. For everything.

Except one of them.

Rosalie Hale.

She never liked me. She disagreed with me. She thought I was stupid for throwing away my mortality. At the time, I was too delusional to take in what she was saying. I thought she was the stupid one. We agreed to disagree.

She was right, though. I realize that now. I felt sorry for her, too.

I grew to grudgingly like her.

Then I sort of respected her.

Then I admired her.

Finally, the admiration turned into a strange attraction.

That, of course, didn't happen all at once. It transpired over several months of thought.

I still wanted to punch myself in the face for it.

And I still didn't know what was going on with my mother that no one would tell me. It was driving me insane and made me move up the date for my surgery.

"Whatever," was Winry's response. "You're ready and willing. More pain, more gain, more money for me."

"That's kind of blunt."

She turned around from her work to look at me.

"I can tell you're strong, and you like to show it. You wouldn't even use a wheelchair when Ed offered you one."

I glanced at my crutches.

"As for being blunt, I'm like that sometimes."

She shrugged and returned to tinkering with her work. I rolled my eyes and hobbled off outside where my weight bench was waiting.

The survey was awful. It was intense pain nonstop for hours on end. I didn't let myself scream. I was stronger than that. An occasional grunt or moan was acceptable, but no outright screams. I walked hand in hand with the pain until it was over. We were friends by the end of it all.

Rehabilitation was painful too.

I didn't give in to the pain there either. I was used to it by then. I had faith that I could take a bullet and only shed a tear or two at this point.

It took five months for rehab. Two more than I'd said.

In total, I'd been in Rush Valley for half a year.

"Ugh, I need to get out of here," I mumbled.

Al was long gone. He'd left 3 months ago. Military vacations weren't that long. He had a duty to do. Sort of. Not really, but he was still restless and didn't like to sit in one place for long. Ed had outgrown that urge, but his little brother was still up and running.

In my downtime, I'd ordered a new uniform, as my old one was long lost in Charlie Swan's house. Hell, that wasn't even a full uniform. Anyways, they'd sent me a new one. I'd ordered a size up from my current measurements since I knew I'd gain muscle mass if I kept up my current training regimen. It fit a bit loosely, but I was still pretty lean. Not as muscular as I had been in the past. In a few more months it would be a perfect fit.

"Well well, don't you look sharp?"

"Can it, Ed."

I finished tucking my pants into my boots and tapped my right foot on the floor.

"Right as rain! You're a lifesaver, Winry," I commented.

"No problem! I'm happy to help!"

It was a sturdy, cold-climate model that you wouldn't find anywhere else. Best of all, I got the military discount and a bit of a discount because I was a close friend. Still, I paid her extra because I really needed to walk on my own and she gave me a way to do that. I wasn't cold-hearted.

"Well, back to climbing the ranks!"

"Surpass that bastard Mustang for me, m'kay?" Ed called.

I laughed.

"You'll be calling me Fuhrer Hawkeye soon enough!"

The couple grinned widely.

"Say hi to Al, okay?"

"Sure thing! Bye!"

"Come back soon! DON'T FORGET TO DO YOUR MAINTENANCE!"

"YEAH, WHATEVER!" I yelled, already walking down the busy street to the train station.

Behind me, I heard them talking for a brief minute.

"She's just like you, Ed."

"Yeah. Sort of."

"Speaking of maintenance..."

"Oh no you don't! WINRY! PUT THE WRENCH DOWN!"

I laughed loudly and kept walking.

Before I could go to Briggs proper, I had to pick up transfer documents and such from Central.

Colonel Armstrong was waiting at the train station for me.

"ISABELLA!"

"I see you, Colonel," I grunted.

We chatted avidly on the way to HQ. Mustang and mom were waiting for us upon arrival. They saluted; we gave them one in return.

"Welcome back, Colonels," Mustang said with a ridiculous grin on his face.

I looked at him dumbly.

"General, what the...?"

He looked like he was restraining himself from laughter.

"I believe your story now," he almost giggled.

"Wha...?"

Of course, all my questions were answered once we entered his office.

"BELLAAAAAAAA!"

I was instantly tackled by a tiny flying blur accompanied by a bigger flying blur, both gray-ish in color. When I managed to shake them off, I looked up and my jaw went slack.

The freaking Cullens.

How in god's name did they get here?

"They showed up a week or so after you left for Rush Valley. Signed up for military training. Two of them are certified State Alchemists," explained Roy.

"Buh... Buh... Whaaaat?"

"I think she might be going into shock, sir," suggested Alex.

I growled.

"I'm going to KILL ALL OF YOU MORONS!"

I pulled my arm back to punch something, but Mustang grabbed it.

"As much as I'd like to see you rip these guys limb from limb, I don't want you tearing up my office... until I'm promoted and I get a better one. Then you could have a wild party in here and set off fireworks and I wouldn't give a damn," he said. "Until then, check yourself before you wreck yourself and my office."

I groaned and wrestled my arm away from him.

"What are you leeches doing here?" I said, taking a bit of slang from Jacob's book.

"We studied that circle you made forever," said Alice. "Finally, Edward touched it with both hands and there was this bright blight and we all got sucked in."

"But they didn't pay a toll...?" I wondered aloud.

"Apparently not," confirmed Mustang, shrugging. "We searched them up and down for removal, but, no dice."

"So who got State Alchemist certifications?" I asked curiously.

"Edward Cullen, The Diamond Skin Alchemist, and Rosalie Hale, the Iceblood Alchemist," he stated.

I looked at the seven of them, standing in Amestrian military uniforms, fresh and crisp looking even now. It made me want to throw up.

Except Rosalie.

My eyes lingered on her a bit too long. She noticed it and gave me a piercing look. Our eye contact was interrupted by Alice.

"Bella, why did you leave? Everything was perfe-"

"You will address me as Colonel, Colonel Hawkeye, or ma'am. Nothing less, nothing more," I said sharply. Then I addressed Mustang. "They're of lesser rank, right?"

"Fresh out of the academy."

"Wonderful. Postings?"

"Carlisle, Jasper, Alice, and Esme are posted at Central HQ, and Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie are due for Fort Briggs. There's a bit of a need for State Alchemists up there. That's part of why you were posted there."

"Lemme guess: I won't find out the other part till I get there, right?"

He grinned.

"Yep."

I sighed out of frustration. What in the Fuhrer's name were they hiding?

"Oh, the ones being sent to Briggs are your personal men. That's why they haven't been shipped out yet."

Oh boy.

"General, may we step into my office?" I asked sweetly.

"But your office is all the way-" he started to protest.

"I know."

"Um, okay. Hawkeye?"

"Coming, sir."

"Colonel Armstrong, stay here and watch these guys," he ordered.

"Yes sir!"

We walked halfway across HQ and settled into my much smaller office.

"Vampires have superb hearing. Stepping outside wouldn't have given us any privacy," I explained.

They nodded. I sighed.

"How did they get here?" I asked.

"They showed up at night, like you," Roy began to explain. "They were a bit disoriented, though, and one of the few MPs out at that time brought them in for questioning. They were telling the officer that they were looking for an 'Isabella Swan'. Your alias in that world, I assume?"

I nodded.

"I happened to be walking by with your mother," Mustang paused to motion at her. "and one of them-Alice, I think-pointed at her and said 'She looks a lot like her!' Remembering your descriptions, I took over the questioning. They revealed themselves to indeed be the Cullens you spoke of. Then I told them you were in the military, and they stopped me there and asked for applications. When I said you were a State Alchemist, the two I mentioned asked about alchemy and started down that path. The other five went off to cadet school while the other two stayed here to study alchemy. I still didn't believe the whole sparkling thing until I forced the Edward kid outside one sunny day."

He stopped to laugh.

"Funny how he's got the same name as Ed but he sparkles like a fairy princess!"

I shuddered when I realized that I once found that attractive.

"He's got a bit of Ed's personality, though. Hotheaded. Plotting. Determined."

Yikes. Determined.

"He was always talking about winning you back."

I could see my mother stiffen a little at that comment.

"Oh, don't worry. He won't be 'winning me back'. I have no desire to associate myself with him any longer," I said reassuringly.

"I didn't tell them that Hawkeye was your mother."

"Good. I'll break that to them myself."

I crossed my arms and sat like that for a moment.

"Alright, let's head back."

After another trip across HQ, we were back at Mustang's office. Upon entering it, it appeared that Alex and Emmett were in a competition of muscle.

"I would join, but I'm not quite in top shape yet," I said, waving them off. "So, you think you have what it takes to be in the military? This isn't fun and games, you know. War is serious."

I felt a bit inappropriate giving this lecture to Jasper, but the others needed it.

"Yes! But Bel- Colonel Hawkeye, we want some answers too," said Alice.

"Then ask some questions."

"I thought your last name was Swan."

"That's not a question, 2nd Lieutenant Alice."

"Ahem," she started again. "Isn't your last name Swan?"

"No. My full name is Isabella Bullet Hawkeye," I said, practically making my middle name inaudible.

My middle name was a source of pride and embarrassment. My mother was hardly an adult when I was born. She was probably thinking something along the lines of "Guns are neat. Bullet would be a cool middle name!" when she filled out the birth certificate. However, it did earn me the nickname "Bullet" (and other variations like "Bullet Punch", "Speeding Bullet", etc) which was pretty cool.

It sort of made filling out applications a pain in the ass. Winry and Ed laughed for hours when I filled out the form for my auto-mail surgery.

I know mom probably thought it was a little silly now too, but she still grinned like a madman whenever I had to say it. I could see her smiling out of the corner of my eye right now, in fact. The Cullens were abuzz, murmuring "Did she say her middle name was Bullet?" in an incredulous manner.

"Who's your mother?"

Of course Esme would ask that.

"Me," came my mom's stern reply.

"You?" Edward half screamed. "The demon sharpshooter lady?"

I glared at him darkly.

"What? She shot me in the back of the head! With a sniper rifle! You know what a punch those things pack?"

"Yes," I hissed. "I was helping resolve a conflict in Pendleton when I was shot in the leg with one. It hurt like hell, but I got it out. At least it didn't actually hurt you."

I realized that scar was no longer there since Truth had taken that part of my leg. I looked at it sadly.

"Um, where have you been?" asked Emmett. "You were out of town when we got here."

"Rush Valley."

"Doing what?"

"Getting this."

I removed my right boot and pulled my pants leg up. They gasped.

"It's just auto-mail, gosh. Don't have a cow."

"B-b-but! Your leg!"

"Yeah, Truth took it when I went through the gate. Big whoop."

I put my shoe back on and made sure my pants were tucked in correctly. When I righted myself, the barrage of questions continued.

"Who's your dad?"

I winced, knowing mom would be having some horrible flashbacks now.

"No one," I mumbled.

They looked at me and each other. No doubt Edward was reading my mother's mind. After a moment he flinched and started whispering inaudibly to his family. When they were done, he looked back at me.

"Sorry," he murmured.

"Sorry isn't a question. Are you done?"

"No, no. Why did you join the military?"

"It's been my dream since I was a child. I was inspired by my mother and her colleagues."

"Were you born here?"

"Obviously."

"What kind of alchemy do you use?"

"I'm The Raging Bullet Alchemist. I specialize in a combination of weapon alchemy and the Armstrong technique."

Jasper made the deadly mistake of asking the question "What's the Armstrong technique?"

"ALLOW ME TO DEMONSTRATE, FAIR MAN!"

"Not in my office, Colonel Armstrong!"

A drop of sweat rolled down my forehead.

"Well, uh, it's alchemy with a lot of punching and sharp shit coming out of the ground and stuff. Like alchemy made for combat. You use gauntlets like these to do it."

I unhitched the gauntlets from my belt and held them up for a moment.

"Mine are a bit different from his since I altered my technique."

After that, they stood silent for a while. I could see them squirming to figure out what to ask. Finally, Edward stepped up.

"Are you still going to marry me?"

There was a deadly silence in the air, and it lingered far longer than it should have. After much deliberation, I gave him my answer.

"Not in a million years, asshole. And don't worry about changing me. Immortality is for fools, and I'm not one."

I spat at the floor in front of him and walked out, slamming the door behind me. I could hear him cursing and rampaging back inside, but I didn't care. He's like a damn baby. One time he doesn't get what he wants and he's throwing a temper tantrum.

I heard Mustang come out behind me.

"Have them ready to ship out to Briggs tomorrow morning. Early. I can't wait to get out of here."

"Should I remove Edward from your squad?" he asked hesitantly.

"No. I'm going to make him suffer."

"Alright then," he said, and turned back to his office.

I put my head in my hands. I was getting a headache, and I felt like ripping my heart out with my bare hands.

This was going to be one hell of ride.