Wow. This is a big fishy here. My longest one yet. I think I'm about to get emotional here (I'm an overly emotional person). First up we have (Merrick) give a little monologue about what it's like to be inside his head for a half a second. Then we've got a nice hunk o plot for everyone out there. Is this chapter rushed, do you think? I keep getting this internal spidey-sense that I'm doing something wrong here :) .

Thank you for the review LilyKit! :) :) :)


He couldn't actually believe it had worked. Obviously he had already known she would have been smitten with him at first sight (he was ever so very devilishly handsome, was he not?), but to fall for the trap?! If only her comrade hadn't bust in, then she would have sunk inescapably into his deep eyes. He knew he had made an impact on her, and it was only a matter of time before she turned her back on her Amestrian friends and came back to Iriale with them. She was even attractive when you got past that frown that was glued to her face. Maybe it was destiny they had met- but that didn't matter. What mattered was the package had been delivered. It was only a matter of time now. Then she would be all h-theirs. Theirs.


She didn't look at Breda on the drive back to HQ. She kept the envelope hidden inside her jacket, and couldn't get the series of events that had just occurred out of her brain. She had to tell Roy as soon as possible.

"You Okay?" Breda's voice broke through the questions in her mind and for a second she turned and looked at him.

"Yes. Thank you. I'm okay." But she knew her expression looked lost, and she wasn't quite sure if that wasn't entirely right. Nothing seemed clear, and when he had touched her arm- she had remembered something. She searched her mind, what was it….what was it!? It had meant so much to her in the second she had it in her mind. If only- she jumped as the car came to a stop.

"Here we are Lieutenant. By the way, did you get his name?"

"Hmm? No . No, I didn't ask." She replied disinterested.

"Thank you, Breda" she remembered, turning to him with a small smile

"Anytime, now let's see what Mustang's up too." He shrugged and smiled back.

For whatever reason, having the old comrade's smile made her feel better. Like this whole situation hadn't put her out of place. She shivered, but she wasn't cold.

They arrived in the office, only to find it clear.

"The colonel must have had a meeting. As for Fuery and Falman, I think, must have gone out to work on that cult suicide that happened last week, they must have work to do with the investigative department." She deducted.

She pretended to glance at the clock on the wall and smiled reassuringly at Breda "Well, it looks like it's yours and Havoc's lunch breaks. Better get going, eh?"

"You…sure you are okay Lieutenant?" Breda glanced anxiously in her direction

"I'm fine." She responded trying to sound more confident. She was itching to get a look at that file. Alone.

"If…you say so." Breda smiled and walked out the door, about to enjoy his favorite time of the day with not a worry on his mind.

After he had closed the door behind him, she waited about a minute. Then she took the envelope out. The thick paper had a quality about it that seemed unique to other materials she had seen. She sat there staring at it.

Finally suspense won out, and she flipped it over examining the seal that held it shut. It was what looked like a dragon, it's wings spread out, facing forward. On each wing there were two symbols, and above the dragon's head the word 'Eternal' was embossed in neat script on the red wax. She opened one of her drawers and quickly found the necessary letter-opener. She carefully removed the seal by slipping the knife under the hard red wax and working her way through. After that was dealt with, she laid the seal aside, and opened the envelope, distributing the contents across her desk. She couldn't believe her eyes. Impossible.

Her birth certificate.

An adoption certificate.

Military records, military reports…

She flipped one open and skimmed through it, her heart ramming her chest like it might burst out. She caught only bits and phrases; she flipped through page after page, word after word engraving itself into her mind, scarring her subconscious. This had to be a lie.

"Unknown child who possesses unnatural abilities…"

"This cannot be alchemy but a divine measure all-together…"

"Subject is dangerous, must be terminated and never released into general population…"

"Not of this world…"

"The perfect weapon…"

"We have decided to give the subject, 65784 (deemed 'Riza' by the fellow researchers) into the parental custody of one Berthold Hawkeye, where he will observe and record his findings on the afore-mentioned subject while working under the guise of continuing his already finished flame alchemy. He will receive, in full payment, no less than 100,000 Cenz for his troubles, as well as recognition in the scientific community."

She couldn't stop. Every sentence cut a little part of her heart out (it was all a lie, a lie)but it was the last file that if it that would have been possible, would have ripped her soul out of her. It was titled "File 14" and was dated just a little over two years ago. None of it made any sense!

It had a description of her home, Black Hayate, what she wore, and other personal details that disturbed her. The report was written by some other researcher, Hillton, was his name, but the report also had to be signed by a supervisor. Someone who had known about the experiment. Who approved of the researcher's own findings. And lo, and behold, there at the bottom of the page, in messy scrawl was a name.

And that name was Roy Mustang.

The document was obviously a fake. But that didn't explain why she wanted to hurl it at the wall in a hurricane of fury and scream till her lungs ached from pain. For the first time in her life, Riza Hawkeye wanted to BREAK something.

But instead she placed everything back into the envelope. Nicely and neatly. Every paper in the exact same order it was put in, and after that, she affixed the seal in the exact position it had been in. She placed the envelope on Mustangs desk with an attached not that said:

"Dear Colonel, this was given to me by our new information 'source'. I have not had a chance to overview its contents yet, contact me if you find anything of significance."

Now she was lying to him?! But she had to know. It couldn't be real. She knew that. Then why was she doing this? How had a single pile of paperwork made her suspicious of the one person who had always understood her? Mustang would never have allowed the situation to have been reversed (If it had to do with paperwork he would never have been in the situation to begin with). He would never give up on her. She would do the same. No matter what…evidence presented itself.

And yet, on her desk, she saw on her desk a single scrap of paper that she had missed when she had restored the envelope.

"Damn." She whispered bitterly.

Too late now.

She picked it up and raised her eyebrows at its contents.

8:00

Under the south lamppost at 15th Avenue

Come Alone

I Know you Want Answers

She would be there. This time, no matter how risky, she'd go alone.

It was time for the truth.

Her life had changed in the span of five hours.


Wanna see more? Have a looksee when I upload the next chapter! Why does she even believe whats in that envelope? Why isn't there more royai? Why is Merrick obsessed with our favorite sharp shooter? Like I said...in the next one.

Thanks for reading. ;)