A/N: Hey! I didn't want to update this story unless I updated my other fanfic. So yeah, if you were waiting sorry. Anyway, I hope this chapter is better than the last because I tried to be more descriptive.

CHAPTER 2—Introducing a New Twist . . . and a New Assignment:

Naminé and Isabelle were walking down the hallway. As their feet clicked on the tiled floor, their voices carried down the hallways. The two women had no boundaries. Most of the officesthat they passed on the way were empty. This was because the people were eating lunch in the cafeteria. No doubt Kimblee and Romberg were in there by now or at least heading there. Naminé had been making attempts to avoid the place. She had been successful the last two days. Today she was not so lucky. Isabelle had dragged her along and with no outdoor rendezvous, the Lightning Alchemist had no choice.

"So you haven't seen the cafeteria yet?" Isabelle asked Naminé. She was a little surprised because this was Naminé's third day at Southern HQ. Surely the woman had gotten some tour of the headquarters.

"I've been eating out in town," Naminé explained.

Isabelle grinned. "Did Kimblee or Romberg tell you that the food here are poison?"

Naminé shook her head. "I've been ignoring them," she simply stated. They rounded the corner and Naminé nearly bumped into Romberg. The three of them paused for a moment, waiting for the surprise to wear off.

"Hey Naminé," Romberg finally greeted. Already, he could sense the waves of hostility coming off the alchemist.

After shooting him a glare, Naminé pushed pass him. "I had enough of your cheesy pick-up lines."

Isabelle raised an eyebrow, taking a step toward Naminé . "What cheesy pick-up lines?"

"Well," Naminé started. She folded her arms and sighed. "I rather not say. Just know that it was very perverted." The woman couldn't say it because it was one of those bad pick-up lines that would leave a nasty taste in her mouth. Mel had always shared the lines that men had tried on her but Naminé had never expected to her them directed at herself. It was irritating. Kimblee had yet to try anything like that. Over the last couple of days, all he had done was call her a bitch and she had called him a psycho right back.

Romberg wrapped his arm around her waist, bringing her closer to his body. "Come on, I worked hard on that one. Don't be like this."

Naminé glared at him and muttered, "Get your hands off me."

Romberg refused to let go of her waist."Why do you have to play hard-to-get? I know that you think I'm irresistible."

Naminé clapped her hands, activating the alchemic tattoo on her back. "The day I go out with you is when elephants fall out of the sky." She placed her hands on his chest. Suddenly a harmless jolt ran through Romberg's body and he quickly jerked away from her. Before he could say anything, she was walking down the hallway alone. Apparently, she didn't want any company at the moment.

Isabelle folded her arms and turned toward Romberg. "Would it kill you to be a gentleman?"

"What's the point if I know she's going to crack and finally sleep with me?"

The blonde chuckled at his moment of stupidity, finding it a bit entertaining. "You really think that's going to happen?"

The man frowned. "Of course. Why wouldn't it?"

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Moron," she said. With that, she left.

Naminé was leaning against the wall, staring at the rows of tables filled with soldiers. So this is the cafeteria, she thought. Her blue eyes landed on the food line. It was still long and she thought that she would wait it out. Still, that wasn't her prime concern. She needed a place to sit. However, she didn't know many of the soldiers inside the vast room and couldn't randomly sit with any of them. So she remained in the back, trying to decide what to do.

"What happened this time? You're lost?"

Naminé looked to her right and saw Kimblee staring at her, amusement in his golden eyes. She looked away, wondering what he wanted now. "Is there a reason that you're bothering me?"

Kimblee walked over and leaned against the wall as well. He wasn't going to touch her; it was clear that it wasn't working in Romberg's favor. He would employ a different strategy, one that would be foolproof. After some consideration, he glanced at her. He saw she had a suspicious look on her face. "I see you're still bitch," he said nonchalantly.

Naminé thought about his words. "It's a turn off for you? Because if it is, you can leave me alone now. I'm like this all the time."

Kimblee smirked. "It's not . . . Only because you're just too beautiful to let go, babe."

She looked at him in surprise, a slight blush appearing on her face. Naminé hadn't expected that out of him. She thought he would say something more perverted. Maybe that was why she hadn't complained when he had called her 'babe'. The compliment had threw her in a loop. Quickly, she looked away. "Really?" Naminé asked, not even bothering to mask the disbelief she felt.

Kimblee raised an eyebrow, confused that she was blushing for no reason. Then it hit him. The girl probably never had a boyfriend before so the slightest compliment had made her feel giddy. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he tilted her head by the chin and gazed into her blue eyes. "I mean it."

Her heart thudded in her chest, making her ribs ache. Naminé was confused by what was happening. Something was wrong with her, wrong with this picture. Kimblee couldn't be her Prince Charming. He just couldn't. He was vulgar and rude and possibly pyschotic. Yet she couldn't pull away from him. The woman was mesmerized by something she had never noticed about him before. The color of his eyes, the shape of his jaw, the appealing texture of his lips. She could feel her face getting redder and redder by the second.

"Naminé , I wanted to ask you for a while now: do you want to go out with me?" Kimblee asked, sensing she was so close to caving in and he closer to winning his little competition.

"Uh, I," Naminé started, not sure what to say. Did he always looked this good? She suddenly asked herself. Maybe he did but I never noticed . . . I should answer him now, right? Should I say no? Yes? A pat on the ass snapped her out of her thoughts. Naminé turned abruptly and saw Romberg staring at them. "I thought I told you not to touch me," Naminé said.

"I wanted to say sorry for before," Romberg said with a grin. "And for now. Look, I should have more respect for you. And I'll never grope you again. Promise."

Naminé opened her mouth to say something but stopped. She then looked back at Kimblee. She had almost forgotten about the competition. To think that she had actually considered a date with Kimblee - the idea was upsetting. She was angry at herself for being so stupid, angry at the Crimson Alchemist for playing her emotions. Kimblee opened his mouth to say something but she shook her head and quickly headed for the exit, her hunger forgotten.

Kimblee stared at Naminé's retreating back before turning around. He gritted his teeth as Romberg smirked at him. That fucking bastard, he thought.

Romberg shrugged. "What can I say? I really want to win our bet."

"You won't get her to sleep with you."

Romberg sighed. "That's why I want to change the rules. Instead of being it being whoever sleeps with her first, it should be whoever goes on a date with her first. How about that?"

Kimblee thought about it. He was certain that she would crack eventually and say yes to him. She had almost done so a few minutes ago. He smirked. "Fine."

"They're such assholes," Naminé told Vi and Mel. It had took her ten minutes to explain what had transpired not too long ago to her childhood friends. Naminé had realized that she was hungry but had refused to go back to the cafeteria. Despite her original thoughts, she decided that eating out would be the best option. She went to a café not too far from Southern Headquarters. Ironically, she had ran into the very same friends that said they couldn't be there. According to them, they had a change of plans.

Mel and Vi were Naminé's childhood friends. Mel had orange hair with bangs that covered her forehead. She was wearing a blue miniskirt and white tank top. She had on long black boots and to match, a black scarf around her neck. Vi was half Ishbalan so she had the traditional red eyes. To not attract too much attention, she wore tinted sunglasses. She also had light brown skin and long dark hair. She had on long black pants and a red t-shirt.

Mel took a sip of her drink before saying anything. "Are you sure?" Mel was a redhead and the more fashionable of the three. With a blue miniskirt and white tank top on, she was the most fashionably dressed or so the woman would like to think. She fiddled with the black scarf around her neck to adjust it a bit. Then she crossed her legs to show off her knee-high boots. She took another drink. "They could be nice people underneath."

Vi raised an eyebrow at Mel. "They're groping her, flirting with her and using her for their personal gains. Why aren't they jerks?" Although Vi was half Ishbalan, her Ishbalan traits were more prominent. Although the weather didn't really called for it, she was wearing sunglasses today to hide her red irises. She leaned back into her chair and ran a hand through her long dark hair as she stared at her pizza slice. She had been learning a lot from medical school. Pizza was nowhere close to healthy but she had ordered it instead of the salad. She felt guilty that she was cheating on her diet. Still, she took a bite anyway, savoring its deliciousness.

"All that matters is whether they're cute guys," Mel explained. "I mean, you can easily change a man's perspective on things."

Naminé sighed and took a bite from her deli sandwich. "You don't know them. One's a pervert with no shame. The other is some psychotic bomb-happy lunatic."

"But are they cute?" Mel asked, leaning forward.

"I'm not answering that."

"You have to."

Naminé rolled her eyes and gave the idea some consideration. " . . . I guess so."

"You guess?" Mel asked. "What was wrong? The room was dark or something?"

"She just doesn't want to admit anything to herself," Vi explained. "Almost like a state of denial."

"If she refuses to tell me," Mel said, "I'll just have to see these two guys myself."

"You don't want to meet them," Naminé stated. "Trust me."

Mel smiled. "Heh. I think I do."

After finishing their lunches, they got up and threw out their mess. Vi reached the garbage can first and threw out the empty cups. While Naminé was throwing out the wrappers and Mel was putting the trays away, Vi started to gather her belongings. "I got to go back to the college before I'm late for my class," she announced. "I'll see you two later."

"Bye," Mel chirped as she gather up her things as well. She looked at Naminé. "You're going now?"

"Uh huh. I have to go back to HQ. My break is almost over."

Mel sighed. She had went to college before but had dropped out. She had considered getting a job but due to her family financial circumstances, it wasn't necessary. Sometimes she wished that she hadn't bonded with such ordinary friends. It forced her to hang out alone during the day. "I guess I'll go shopping," she said with a small smile. "Bye."

"Bye, Mel."

Naminé returned to Southern HQ. She was in disbelief. Mel had claimed that all that mattered about men was how handsome they were. Naminé wasn't an expert on boyfriends considering the fact that she never had one but she knew that how handsome a man was was hardly enough to determine if he was dateable. As experience as Mel was, sometimes the alchemist thought that her friend was shallow. She rounded a corner and stopped. Down the hallway, Kimblee was talking to a giggling woman. Feeling a bit apprehensive, she approached the two.

Kimblee looked up, a bit surprised to see the Lightning Alchemist. "Hey, babe."

"Hi," the unknown woman greeted, stiffling her giggles. She had brown eyes and long lashes. Her long brown hair was loose and curly. She was wearing the blue military skirt and high heels.

"Hey," Naminé muttered. Her blue eyes kept traveling from the woman to Kimblee and back again, trying to understand what was going on.

"This is Sonia," Kimblee finally introduced. "Sonia, this is Naminé."

"Nice to finally meet the girl Romberg's been talking about," Sonia said.

"Nice to meet you, too," Naminé replied but the look in her eyes said otherwise. Her blue eyes landed on Kimblee. That player, Naminé thought bitterly as she glared at Kimblee. If he thought he was going to ask me out while he had a girlfriend, he has a lot to learn. That freakin' two-timing—

"The way Romberg talks about you," Sonia began, examining the brunette with a slight distaste, "I thought you would be . . . like a whore or something." She stared at Kimblee and noticed that he was looking at the female alchemist for whatever reasons. Her nostrils flared a bit before she looked back at the other woman.

"Really?" Naminé asked, her eyebrow raised.

Sonia nodded. "But you don't look like one. I only thought so because most of the girls Romberg goes out with are sluts. I just find it hard to believe that Romberg actually wants a decent woman. Maybe you keep those sort of activities behind closed doors?"

"Of course not," Naminé stated, putting on a fake smile. There was only one thing that was stopping her from attacking Sonia and that was Kimblee because he might interfere. If she had known Kimblee a bit better, she would have known that he wouldn't.

"Naminé!" Surprised to hear her name, Naminé turned around.

Romberg was rushing down the hallway. When he finally reached them, he put his hands on his knees and took a few seconds to catch his breath. Then he stood up straight and ran a hand through his mahogany hair. He saw the look in Naminé's eyes and raised his hands in a no-offense way. "Relax," he said. "I'm not going to touch you this time. I swear."

Sonia smiled. "I thought she wasn't your girlfriend."

"She isn't," Romberg replied. He quickly diverted his attention to Naminé. "Gran just gave me an assignment. We're going to work together."

"That's nice," Sonia said and tug Kimblee's arm. She was eager to leave. She hadn't appreciated Kimblee's excitement - a term loosely used - when the other woman had come. He had almost forgotten all about her existence and she hated when the spotlight was off her. The woman looked up at the Crimson Alchemist and smiled coyly. Slowly, she traced imaginary swirls on his arm. "We'll leave you two alone now," Sonia told the other two without passing a fleeting glance in their direction. She was about to pull Kimblee away but Romberg stopped her.

"He has to do the assignment as well," Romberg said.

Kimblee raised an eyebrow. "You don't say?"

"What do we have to do?" Naminé asked, smirking at Sonia. At the moment, Sonia wasn't her favorite person and if taking Kimblee away would upset her, the Lightning Alchemist would willingly rub salt into the wounds.

"We have to go to some warehouse. Gran believes there are me thugs involve in illegal activities. We're suppose to take care of it tomorrow afternoon."

Naminé glanced at Romberg and then at Kimblee. Her first assignment in the military was to handle some thugs. Alone. With the two of them. She never thought that the world could hate her so much.

A/N: Well, we finally meet Sonia. If you have no clue what I'm talking about: Romberg mentions in her in Chapter 5 of my other story but she never makes an appearance. The warehouse was mentioned in Chapter 11 when Corruption negotiates with Naminé via phone. Anyway, thanks to XcrimsonXFlameXAlchemistX, IceChick495, and Kimimaros-Angel for reviewing. That's it for now. Till later.