*~William Bentham~*

It was a new day at my new job as a state alchemist. I gotta say, the admission test was hard, but the people in the force are harder. Not to say that they aren't good at what they do, of course. As soon as I was given the OK, everything else passed by in a blur. I was assigned a codename and stationed right here in Central, then told to come into work early the next morning.

At least, I told myself, it's in Central. I've got family here, generations of 'em. Mother, Father, Aunts, Uncles, Grandma, Grandpa; just about everyone lives here. So I'm content. Plus, the money is good enough to pay for things that I wouldn't be able to afford otherwise, like a brand-new house. A house for me and the girl of my dreams, Mary. We wouldn't have to worry about money now, and as soon as we're all set, I plan on marrying her.

I shook my head to try and clear it of those kinds of daydreamy, warm, fuzzy thoughts as I pulled on my uniform and combed my hair into regulation. First day on the job as a state alchemist; can't be late, and certainly can't afford thoughts that'll distract me.

"Make an appearance, Bentham," I told the 'me' in the mirror sternly, "That's the best you can do right now."

Few minutes more, and out the door I went, climbing into my old car and heading down to my post. It was a fairly quiet part of northwestern Central, a small neighborhood with hardly a complaint. The people there were nice, and I was relieved that I wouldn't have one of the hard jobs right off the bat, like the Ishvalan extermination.

As soon as I arrived, I could tell something was off. What was with the crowd? There were bunches of concerned citizens crowding around an alleyway, their faces masks of horror and worry. I pulled up carefully and stepped out, easily finding my next in command.

"Sir!" I said, saluting him, "Bentham, reporting for duty."

He returned it tiredly, replying, "At ease, soldier."

I relaxed slightly, then nodded towards the crowd. "If I may ask, sir, what's going on here?"

Lieutenant Kapp sighed and shook his head, running a hand through his graying hair.

"We're not really sure. Some think it might be a murder, others say it was a burglary gone wrong…" He peered at me nearsightedly, then walked closer and put an arm around my shoulders, turning me away from the sight. "Look," he breathed quietly, "You're a newbie, right, Bernard?"

"Ah, Bentham, sir," I corrected politely, trying to see past him, "And yes, sir."

"You don't need to be seeing things like this. Go home, take the day off. You don't need to be ruined so early in the game." He said, his tone serious and his eyes searching mine for compliance.

I stood up straighter, my arms at my sides stiffly. "With all due respect, sir, I can't shy away from my duties, especially on the first day. If I'm going to be in the military, I will see some disturbing things, it's only a matter of time and it doesn't matter if I see them now or later."

He watched me for a moment, then nodded solemnly and turned back around, releasing my shoulders from his grip.

"Then brace yourself, soldier," he said, waving his arm to indicate that I should see it for myself.

As I stepped forward, the first thing I noticed was the blood. There was tons of the stuff, pooling around on the ground in the alley and leaving a red smear on the wall of the building on the right. The smell, metallic and sharp, pierced my nose and I had to resist the urge to grimace and pull my shirt up over my nose. I knew I was being tested, that I had to stand tall and take it.

The next thing I saw was a girl, lying in the middle of the pool, facedown and with her head inclined towards me slightly, as though she'd watched her attacker run away from the scene. At first, I was filled with the irrational fear that it might be Mary, but was relieved when I realized that her hair was straight and blonde, not the curly red mane of my beloved.

I bent down near the poor sight, saddened by the fact that she was so young. Probably only fifteen, maybe, a scant six years from my own age. Way too young to have her life ended so quickly and brutally.

"What happened to you?" I mumbled to the corpse. I reached over to brush a stray strand of hair out of her glazed eyes. "What did you see?"

Suddenly, I felt as though my gut was gripped by an icy hand as her eyes, supposed to be dead and lifeless, blinked and then focused on me.

I scrambled upwards, trying to get away from the not-dead girl, and I think I might have said a few curses as I did so. Kapp was saying something to me, his hand on my shoulder, but none of it registered. My eyes were locked on the girl's, trying to tell myself that it was an illusion, that none of it was real, maybe I didn't get enough sleep last night, and that the dead couldn't come back.

But even as I told myself all of that, the girl blinked again and moved her arms underneath her, pushing herself up to a sitting position, her expression shocked. From behind my ear, I could hear the unmistakable sound of someone loading a gun.

"Get up, soldier!" Kapp's voice came through my fog of thoughts, "She might be the murderer!"

I fumbled for my gun and managed to stand up shakily. There was no way. She couldn't be alive….but she couldn't have been dead either, could she have? She was cold and she wasn't breathing not two minutes ago. How could she possibly be up? Especially if that blood was hers. No one could survive that much blood loss.

"I…I…." she whispered, her voice hoarse and her eyes wide and disbelieving. She held her bloodstained hands up to her face as if she didn't think they should be there. "I'm alive? Why-"

"Get down on the ground!" Kapp barked. "You're coming into custody for speculation of assault or murder! Come quietly and everything will be alright."

It was as if she hadn't heard him. "Envy." She murmured. "He-but…but I…"

She blinked a few times, then looked up at us. She sat there for what seemed like forever, staring at us. She must've seen our uniforms and recognized them, because she stood up shakily, favoring her left leg, which had been twisted underneath her. She held up her hands in a signal of surrender and focused on Kapp.

"I want to speak to Colonel Mustang," she said clearly. "And I want to speak to him now."

"You'll do no such thing until we ask you a few questions, young lady." Kapp replied, his face hardened and his gun trained on her. "Who's blood is that?"

She shrugged, her hands still up. She was drenched in it, and made for quite a gruesome sight, with her hair plastered to her face and her clothes stained. "Mine, I guess. I was dead just a minute ago."

"Tell the truth!" Kapp thundered.

"That is the truth!" she huffed, annoyed. "Everyone here thinks I'm crazy. Well, you know what? I don't care anymore. I need to go see Roy and maybe talk him into getting Ed to transmute me back to my world."

"Ed?" I found myself asking, forgetting my place as backup for Kapp. I wasn't really supposed to be talking at all. "You mean Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

She snorted. "Duh. Who else would I be talking about? I doubt there's another 'Ed' in this entire universe."

Well, now. That was…weird. Come to think of it, she was certainly different. Maybe it was the way she carried herself, or the clothes she was wearing, but she didn't look like she belonged here. And what was that about no other 'Ed's? Of course there were other people named Ed. Edward was a very popular name nowadays. None came to mind, but I was sure there were others. Didn't she say something about 'her world', too? I was curious, but still a bit wary of her, since she was supposed to be dead, and I'd heard too many stories about zombies and such.

"Bentham," Kapp snapped sharply.

"Sir?"

"Take her into custody. Don't let her out of your sight." He commanded.

"Yes, sir." I turned to the girl and jerked my head over to my car. "This way, miss."

"Can I have a bath first, at least?" she asked, grimacing at the blood on her arms as she walked towards the car. She didn't even glance at the gun I had pointed at her, but instead was worried about having a bath? "This is disgusting."

I opened the back door for her, and then let myself into the driver's seat. William Bentham, I thought to myself, first day on the job and you're already working with crazies. Congratulations, and welcome to the military.

A/N: I really like William. I mean, he's another OC, but he's someone that you wouldn't think of to be in the FMA world. He's just your average joe, trying to save up enough money to make his girl happy. He's normal enough to just blend into the story, as though he was there all along, but just never was introduced.