The next morning, Maggie was found on line for breakfast in the mess hall. As she absentmindedly grabbed a tray and shuffled slowly toward the food, she mentally prepared herself the conversation she was going to have within the next few minutes. She spent much longer than she would have liked last night mulling over how she definitely came off as some unregulated, snot-nosed brat.
Maggie grabbed a bowl of oatmeal and put it on her tray. 'I need to apologize to him,' she decided, 'Easier said than done, though.' Without built-up anger to fuel her, she was not half as confrontational as she was the previous day. She especially didn't enjoy admitting she was in the wrong. It made her stomach squirm.
She glanced behind her into the unusually crowded room filled with blue uniforms and silver pocket watches. She could easily pick out the Fullmetal Alchemist, though. His gold hair and red coat were hard to miss in the sea of blue.
Maggie took the last small bowl of blueberries before she flashed the lady at the cash register her state alchemist watch and then slipped it back into her skirt pocket. Being a state alchemist did have its perks; putting the large income aside, it was super convenient to not have to carry cash around.
After a sigh, she made her way to Fullmetal's table. There he was, sitting with a huge armored person, whom Maggie assumed to be his famous brother. He was intently reading a book while eating a large plate of sausage and eggs.
"Can I sit here, please?" She asked.
He looked up from his book, and narrowed his eyes a bit, as if her question bothered him. Maggie's breath hitched in her throat for a second; his eyes were so gold. They didn't seem human. "I guess so," he replied with a shrug, "there's not much I can do to stop you." He took a large bite out of his eggs and kept on reading. His brother seemed to be uncomfortable, as he was shifting in his chair.
Maggie kept a small smile on her lips as she set her tray down and sat in front of him. She poured her blueberries in her oatmeal and took a bite. 'Someone's not bitter at all,' she she thought dryly, 'Well, I better apologize now. Otherwise, I'll never get to it.'
"Can you two just hear me out for two minutes?" She asked. "Please?" She added as an afterthought. Their attention was drawn to her once more. She looked down at her lap. "First off, I'm sorry about the way I acted yesterday. I was rude, and I didn't exactly give you any reason to like me, much less let me travel with you." She paused and looked up at the boys in front; they seemed to be considering her words. "I was caught up in my anger, and the way I acted was really immature. I promise I don't explode like that on a regular basis," She joked.
"But yeah, like the Colonel said, I need to go with you guys. It's for reasons that I don't feel comfortable talking about, but I'm sure it's the same for you, considering what you're searching for…" Her gaze hardened as she looked directly into Fullmetal's eyes. "I'm good at what I do. I definitely won't mess things up. Or be a 'burden' as you so deftly put it," she made air quotes with her fingers.
The younger brother looked down at the older, who looked like he was thinking about what Maggie said. "I'm sure you're very talented, miss. But we've been put in very dangerous situations and we don't want another person to have to go through what we do," the armored boy explained. Fullmetal nodded his head slightly. "It's not that you'd necessarily be a burden, we just can't afford protecting you at the same time as gathering information."
Maggie was thankful that she was busy focusing on what she was going to say to persuade the pair in front of her, because she was not expecting to hear a voice of a child come out of the large suit of armor.
She snorted and crossed her arms, trying to play it cool. "Thanks for worrying," she said. The two boys looked at each other. "But it's really unnecessary. I've been trained my whole life for a situation like this, and I'm not going to let it slip away because you guys are afraid I'll fall to pieces at the sight of a little danger." She took another bite of her meal.
After a few seconds of silence, the older boy sighed. "I guess I have no choice," he said. "After all, you already were assigned to come with us." His cold demeanor seemed to melt away slightly, and Maggie had a feeling that her speech worked.
"Really brother?" Fullmetal nodded once. "I'm Alphonse Elric, by the way," he told Maggie.
She grinned, genuinely this time. "My name is Maggie Cooper, also known as the Aqua Alchemist. Nice to meet you both!"
"I'm Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, as you already know," the older brother told her.
A thought occurred to her. "Aren't you having your assessment today, Edward?" She took another bite.
He visibly flinched for a second, and then grinned. "I'm going to kick that lazy colonel's ass all the way to Xing." He chuckled evilly. Maggie inwardly laughed. At least she wasn't the only one who harbored darker thoughts towards the Colonel.
"Brother, don't go around telling people that!" Alphonse scolded, looking nervously at Maggie. He was surprised to find her smiling like a cat, and leaning in toward his brother in a conspirative way.
"Heh, so you don't like him much either?" She questioned.
"Are you kidding? He goes out of his way to make me miserable!" He ranted. "Which is why I'm going to show him up in front of the whole Eastern Headquarters."
Maggie almost laughed in disbelief, but she held it in. She didn't think that she wanted to get on Edward's bad side. After all, he did have a reputation of being strong. Alphonse was laughing nervously at the antics of his big brother, who was starting to get the attention of other officers around them. 'They're funny,' Maggie thought. 'I hope Edward get's a good match out of Mustang. He sure as hell could use a little exercise instead of sitting at his desk all day.'
"By the way Edward, what are you reading?"
He glanced down at the forgotten open book in front of his plate. He glanced at Alphonse before responding, "It's a book about famous state alchemists."
That wasn't an answer she expected. "Well that sounds horrible," she bluntly stated. "And why exactly are you reading it?"
He regarded her question carefully for a moment before answering in a lower voice, "We got a tip from someone that a man named Tim Marcoh researched the Philosopher's Stone. We haven't been able to find anything about him yet, except that he was in the Ishbalan War and ran off."
Maggie 'hmmmed', realizing that this Marchoh guy is who Second Lieutenant Hawkeye and the others were talking about last night. Edward must think that Colonel Mustang is hiding something from him. She was impressed by his cunning; she wouldn't have thought to challenge Mustang in battle for information. "Then it's definitely a good idea to try to get information out of Mustang. Is that what you get if you beat him?"
Edward nodded. "That and-"
"Meow."
Edward stared at his brother. "Really Al? You still have the cat?"
"Brother, it was cold last night! I couldn't let it go; it would be cruel!" Alphonse protested.
Edward sighed. "Don't get too attached to that thing. You're going to have to give it up today regardless."
All of a sudden, Maggie felt like she was intruding on a personal discussion. She coughed uncomfortably.
Fortunately, the same officer she saw talking to Colonel Mustang last night approached the table. "Yo! Ed, are you ready for the assessment?" Upon closer inspection, the man had black hair with an almost-green sheen to it, and small hazel eyes covered by reading glasses.
Edward looked up at the familiar face. "Of course, Maj-I mean, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes!" He quickly corrected himself. "I've wanted an excuse to punch the colonel in the face for a while now!" He grinned childishly at the Lieutenant Colonel.
The man laughed. "I'm sure you have, Ed." He looked at Alphonse and said, "Don't let your brother do something too reckless, I'm sure Roy would have a fit if the parade grounds were completely destroyed." He winked at him.
"U-uh, yessir!" Alphonse stuttered.
Maggie smiled at their friendly banter. It seemed that the brothers didn't completely keep to themselves.
"Ah, and who's this?"
"I'm Maggie Cooper, sir," she said.
Lieutenant Colonel Hughes's eyes widened slightly. "The new state alchemist?" She nodded. Her chest swelled with pride at the thought that someone know of her. The major smiled and said, "Maes Hughes. Pleased to meet you! And this is..." he paused to get something out of his pocket. "MY BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER ELYSIA!"
A picture of a cute toddler with green eyes and pigtails was thrusted in her face. Nearly falling off the bench in surprise, she managed to say, "W-wow! She sure is a cutie." She giggled nervously.
Hughes's eyes flashed. "Well of course she is! After all, she looks just like my darling Gracia!" He seemed to wiggle in the air as he mooned over his family. There was no denying that this man was kind of weird, but Maggie sensed that he was a good person. She glanced over at Edward and Alphonse, who were paler than normal. They were probably subjected to this much more often than she was.
The Lieutenant Colonel stopped and cleared his throat, resuming his official demeanor. "What I came here to say was good luck, Ed, and to be at the parade grounds in an hour."
"Alright. Thanks," Edward said dismissively.
Lieutenant Colonel Hughes nodded and walked away, leaving the three teens sitting alone again. After a few moments went by Maggie said, "Well, he seems...interesting, for lack of a better word."
The brothers both sighed. "He's a very nice man. He took watched over us in central while brother got his state alchemist qualification. But he can be very...enthusiastic about his wife and daughter," Alphonse commented thoughtfully. Edward nodded grimly.
Maggie laughed. "Well I'm going to go back to my room to get Mimi and then I'll head over to the parade grounds." She stood up and took her now empty bowl into her hands. "I'm expecting a complete domination, Edward," she told him, only half-joking.
His determined eyes told her he got the message, and she walked away from the Elric brothers, feeling better about everything than she had an hour earlier.
The brothers could easily see that Maggie was adamant about joining up with them. One look in her dark eyes and they could tell that she meant exactly what she said. As the small girl walked away from them, Edward put his head in his hand and laughed almost harshly. "Damn. I didn't expect her to persuade us like that."
"Brother, I don't want anyone to get hurt. We could have died back in Magwar's mansion if it weren't for the Tringam brothers. But...if she says that she needs the Philosopher's Stone, who are we to decide if she can come with us or not? We warned her, she knows the risks," Alphonse reasoned.
"You're right, Al. But still…" The words didn't need to be said. They both didn't want another episode like Nina's, or Rose's. Shaking himself of those kinds of thoughts, he stood up and stretched. "Let's go spar outside so I can loosen up before I beat the colonel into the ground."
"Uh, okay!" Al's big body stood up as well, pushing the table away slightly, and he followed his brother out of the mess hall. He looked at Ed who appeared confident as ever as he walked with a swagger, but he could tell that his mind was elsewhere. Al could always read his brother like a book, and right now he was more troubled than he let on.
