Life Lesson #4
Always tell the truth…or as much of it as you can
(-Ana-)
For the love of God, please shut up, Ana begged in the safety of her mind. Don't get her wrong, Hughes was one of her favorite characters- er, people- from the show. Now, if the guy would just stop asking her every question known to man then she'd be a happy camper and wouldn't have to shove her sock down his throat...because she would. She really would.
"So you're here in Central alone?"
"Yep."
"And do your parents know this?"
"Nope."
"Where are they?"
"Back home."
"Where's home?"
"A small town called Sibley."
"Where's that?"
"Way too far away for my liking."
"And the alchemy related stuff?" This was a question he kept coming back to. And to be honest, Ana's resolve was wavering. She'd love nothing more right now than to spill her guts and not think twice about the consequences, except Hughes would probably take her to the loony bin. However, Ana's plan was to go home, right? The truth, or most of it at least, would have to come out really soon. Ed and Al couldn't send her home if they didn't know where 'home' was.
"Why does this have to be so difficult?" Ana moaned, suddenly finding herself banging her head on the wall of the hallway they were walking through. She frowned at the paint on the wall, a light color that didn't know whether it wanted to be gray or blue. Regardless, it was hideous.
Hughes slid right up next to her, "It's not that difficult. All you have to do is tell me all of your life's secrets."
"You make it sound so easy."
"Now why wouldn't it be? Unless…," he leaned his back against the wall, crossed his arms, and looked down at Ana, his glasses doing that weird shine thing where his eyes were hidden, "you really do have something to hide."
Ana stopped banging her head on the wall. It occurred to her that asking for Hughes's help may not have been the best of ideas. She had forgotten how smart the man could be.
"I'll take that as a yes," Hughes hummed. "Now, what I want to know is why you would lie about something as simple as knowing me? And why would you be forthcoming with information such as your name but not why you need to see the Elric brothers?"
In hindsight, a proper plan beyond the simple task of finding Ed and Al would have been a good idea. Now she stood here, uncertain of what she'd say to them, to Mustang, to Hughes, to freaking fictional characters who weren't supposed to be real but were. It struck her again how unbelievable, yet undeniably real this place was. It was in her face and ever since she acknowledged it, she couldn't look away. It made her question what else was real, if the contents of the anime had already taken place or would in the near future. Or was she trapped in the middle of this story?
What am I even doing here, she asked herself. Why me? Why now?
"Ana?" Hughes asked her, more gently this time. He must have noticed her impending depression. It skirted on the edge, threatening to drag her down with razor sharp teeth and claws and devour her whole. It wouldn't take much for Ana to be a blubbering, crying mess.
Ana shook herself, pulling away from that direction. She thought fiercely, Ain't nobody got time for that!
She turned to Hughes, holding herself haughtily and ready to tell him that it was classified information or some other bogus crap.
Then she saw the genuine worry in his green eyes, the downright fatherly concern he felt for her and had no qualms in displaying for her to see.
Ana deflated faster than a popped balloon. Shivering with insecurity, Ana averted her eyes to the ground, "I never asked for this."
"Asked for what?" he questioned, encouraging her by laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. It made Ana fiercely yearn for her own dad, to curl up in his protective embrace and cry.
Ana bit her lip, refusing to cry even when her voice sounded close to breaking, "For this! To be here. I just wanna go home." She hated how much like a child she sounded, but she couldn't stop the flow of words. "All I want is to go home, and that's the truest thing I could tell you."
Hughes began to rub soothing circles in her back, bending slightly to hear her words that had become softer with emotion, "Then why are you here? Why don't you go home?"
"Because I can't. That's why I need to see Ed and Al. There's no way I could go home without their help. They're…they're the only ones who would believe me and help me get back."
"That hurts. You don't think I'd help you?" Hughes pouted, trying to make her smile.
Ana gave a small, hysterical giggle, "You're a nice guy Hughes, but…" Damn, how could she explain it right?
"This is the 'alchemy related stuff', I take it?"
"Yeah. I'm not one hundred percent positive, but I'm pretty sure that alchemy would be the only way for me to get back home. And I'll tell you why, but I'd rather wait to where I can tell Ed and Al at the same time too. I'm not sure how much sense it'd make to you. It doesn't make much sense to even me."
"Oh, so now you're trying to bribe me," Hughes grinned.
"I wouldn't call it bribing. More like you help me and then I'll stop being all suspicious and tell it to you straight."
"Good, because you do realize how suspicious you sound right now, don't you?"
Ana shrugged, "If that's what it takes for me to get the hell outta dodge, then I'm cool with that. Besides, this conversation wouldn't go so well in the middle of the hallway. I don't want the wrong person to hear me and try to kidnap or kill me." Imagine what would happen if someone overheard her talking about the Homunculi or human transmutation? Or if she admitted to knowing that the Fuhrer was a homunculus? That would not go well, not that she intended telling them those important facts if they didn't know them already. Wasn't there some rules for going to the past where you weren't supposed to change important events because it could make things worse? That's what Ana was going by for this situation, although she was not averse to doing whatever it took to get back home.
Taken aback, Hughes's gaze sharpened, "You know information that could warrant such a reaction?"
Ana grimaced, "Let's just say that I know a lot more than your name, Hughes." Oh great, now he was looking at her like she was an unstable person with a gun. "What? What? Don't give me that look. It's not like I asked for this! It's not my fault! I'm the victim here. I'm just a random fourteen-year-old half Mexican child that life decided to screw over. Now if you'll excuse me I've got major important stuff to do."
Then she resumed her earlier head-banging session, this time with more vigor.
Hughes scratched at his head, "Oh boy, I can already tell you're gonna be a handful."
"I'm not that bad of a person," Ana sulked. "Okay, I might have tossed my cat in a pool one time, but that's not so bad." She paused to see Hughes giving her a bewildered stare. "What? The cat was looking at me the wrong way. What else was I supposed to do?"
The dark haired man shook his head with a chuckle. Then he grabbed her wrist and began marching down the hallway, "Come on. Let's go see Roy so we can get to the bottom of this."
Ana blinked as she let herself be dragged along. Then she smiled, "You know Hughes, for a fictional character you're pretty awesome."
He sent her an odd glance over his shoulder, "…should I take that as a compliment?"
"Yes, yes you should. Ana the Great has just called you awesome. You should count yourself lucky."
Hughes snorted, "Aren't you a cocky one? Something tells me that you'll get along swell with Roy."
Several turns and many halls later…
"So this is where the office was hiding," Ana accused as they came upon the right door.
Hughes hid a smile of amusement, "As far as I know, offices don't hide."
"From me they do," she replied dryly. They were on the third floor now, meaning Ana could pat herself on the back for assuming right in that it wouldn't be on the first floor… And against her better judgment, she had detoured down to the first floor to make sure she hadn't missed it. That was when she had found the cafeteria. Remind her to never cross a cafeteria lady again. Not one that wields rolling pins of justice. She nearly died. And over a burrito!
Hughes entered the room, Ana following close behind. She surveyed the new area, finding familiar faces made real right before her eyes. All the members of Mustang's team were present, save for Mustang himself. She guessed that he had an interior office, probably that closed door right over there. Should she storm the front gate or take a more subtle approach? Doors were optional anyway. Windows were much more fun. Imagine his reaction to her popping in from the window… Oh crap, third story office. And she had forgotten her grappling hook at home. Darn.
"That's her!"
"Huh?" Ana tuned back into the present. Havoc stood behind a desk, pointing a finger at Ana. Everyone else remained seated at their respective desks, their eyes trained on Ana as well. Their stares made her uneasy…
"See, I told you it was true," Havoc told his coworkers victoriously.
"What are they talking about?" Hughes asked her.
She shrugged, "Beats me."
Falman stood, his narrow eyes giving her the once over, "You're the bathroom girl?"
"…if I say yes, do I get a cookie?"
He frowned, "No…"
"Hell, I'll give you a cookie just to prove my point," Havoc said in exasperation.
"Yay!" Ana cried in joy, running to hug the blonde man.
He stared down in surprise at the young girl who had her arms wrapped around his torso. "Um, I didn't say hugs were included, but okay," he awkwardly patted her head.
And then she realized what she was doing.
She was hugging...a person who might as well be a stranger…and she had done the same thing to Hughes…
I'm turning into one of them…a hugger.
No, that couldn't be it. She chalked it up to the fact that these were some of her favorite, lovable characters- er, people. And one of them had promised her a cookie. A cookie. Hugs were mandatory.
Reassured, Ana pulled back and smiled up at Havoc who seemed a bit lost on what to do next.
Fuery came to stand next to them, glancing between the two while talking to Havoc, "Sorry we didn't believe you. You have to admit, it was a pretty odd rumor."
"And it is Havoc who's telling us," Breda remarked.
Offended, Havoc chewed on his cigarette grumpily, "What's that supposed to mean, Breda? I wasn't the only one who saw her. Everyone else has been seeing her too."
"Except us. And how do we know this isn't just a random girl you're claiming to be her? She didn't say anything when she walked in like they've been saying she does."
"I'm so confused," Ana muttered from the sidelines, watching them go back and forth. She had the sneaking suspicion they were talking about her. Now if only she knew what they meant.
"I can help you there," Hughes smiled, patting her shoulder. "They're talking about the legendary bathroom girl and from what I can tell no one believed Havoc when he said he saw her, or you rather."
Hawkeye, who had been silent during the entire exchange, entered the conversation, "Where did you find today's rumor, Lieutenant Colonel?"
"I didn't! She found me! I was in the break room when she came in looking for the bathroom."
"See!" Havoc hissed at his fellow soldiers, pointing at Ana again.
"We can't ignore the evidence," said Falman.
"Guess we believe you," Breda shrugged.
A little slow to catch on, Ana asked, "People have been talking about me?"
Hughes chuckled, "You've been making a scene throughout headquarters. Of course people are talking about you."
A slow grin enveloped her face, "Sweet baby Jesus, I'm famous." Then she turned to Havoc and held out her hand expectantly, "I'd like my cookie now please."
"What, you think I carry cookies on my person?"
"Why not. I carry rocks on mine," she replied, pulling out Michelangelo and holding him up for everyone to see.
For a moment, they all stared.
"…why does that rock have a face on it?" Fuery finally asked, weirded out.
"To give him more character," Ana nodded solemnly.
"…did you just refer to the rock as a 'he'?" Havoc asked.
"Yeah! He's my pet rock, Michelangelo."
"…that's creepy."
"Your face is creepy."
Laughter filled the room at Havoc's expense. Before Havoc could get too grumpy about it, Hughes declared that it was time to pay a visit to the colonel. The others didn't pay much attention to the man as he and Ana approached the interior office's door. Their jaws did drop however when Hughes slammed the door open and shouted loudly, "Roy! I found your long lost daughter!"
Inside the room at his desk, Mustang coughed in alarm from the drink of coffee he had just taken. Ana didn't know whether it was because Hughes had startled him or what the man had said to make Mustang choke. Probably both.
"My what?!" Mustang sputtered.
Going with the flow, Ana declared loudly, "Father Roy!" The man had yet to regain his composure when Ana ran in and glomped him. The force of her tackle hug sent the desk chair rolling rapidly across the room where it toppled over when it hit the wall, sending both passengers onto the floor in a graceless heap as they both gave manly shrieks of manliness. And the sad part was that Ana was pretty sure her shriek sounded manlier.
Vision swimming, Ana thought, Maybe I should have thought that through. Saying the landing had been rough would be an understatement. Luckily Mustang softened the fall. Oh yeah, she was still laying on him. Man did he look pissed. Damn, did he have his handy dandy gloves on? Please tell her barbequed Ana was not on the menu.
With exaggerated calm, Mustang lifted the teenager off of himself until they were both standing. Ana held her breath, waiting for him to say something. The colonel's dark gaze went from Ana to the broken remains of his desk chair.
"…you killed my chair," Mustang observed, his tone clipped.
Ana nodded gravely, "It was a sacrifice I was willing to make."
"Enlighten me as to why you tackled me," he demanded in a low voice that left no room for argument.
Ana cocked her head to the side, staring at the dead chair thoughtfully, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
A blood vessel throbbed in Mustang's forehead. He sent a glare over Ana's shoulder. She turned to see Hughes trying desperately to smother his snickers while Mustang's team was gawking in the doorway at them. Well, except for Hawkeye. She stood there, watching them all with the smallest of smiles on her face. Either she found this situation somewhat funny or she had already devised twenty ways on how to kill every person in the room.
"The bathroom girl is your daughter?" Breda asked skeptically.
"You're really a father? That's great, Colonel!" Fuery complimented.
"If you've got a kid then why do you keep stealing all of my girlfriends?" Havoc cried.
"Can't steal what you never had," Breda laughed. "Besides, didn't you hear the Lieutenant Colonel? It's his long lost daughter. He didn't know he was a dad."
"Considering the amount of women the colonel dates, it was bound to result in a child," Falman observed.
Mustang couldn't take anymore, "Would you idiots shut up! I am not a father! Don't you think I would have known if I was?"
"Not necessarily," Ana refuted. Getting really into the joke, she explained to their audience in a dramatic tone, "It was a dreary day in the year 1899 when a young Roy Mustang happened upon an out of the way house. He took shelter there from the pouring rain and soon after, him and the young lady of the house shared a passionate night. He left, never to be seen again. That lady was my mother and nine months later she pooped me out."
Breda snorted, "Kid, you don't poop babies out. You birth them."
Ana shrugged, "Same difference. Giving birth is like trying to poop out one big turd."
"…did you just compare yourself to fickle matter?" Falman asked, his face pinched in slight disgust.
"Wait, let me back up," Ana said, trying to change what she said.
"Enough," Mustang commanded. "For the last time, I am not a father. I am however a very busy man so if none of you have any urgent business with me then I'm afraid you'll have to leave. Now."
"Come on Roy, don't be that way," Hughes grinned. "That's the most fun I've had all week!" Mustang looked ready to bite Hughes's head off, so he quickly added, "And I actually do have some urgent business to discuss with you. It seems like you'll have to put up with me a little longer."
Mustang frowned, eyeing his friend with more attention now. Hughes gave a subtle jerk of the head in Ana's direction. The colonel glanced down at Ana and she smiled up at him with a wave. A gloved hand came up to pinch the bridge of his nose, "Very well. The rest of you get back to work."
Against their protests, Hawkeye shut the door to give them some privacy. That left the three of them in peace.
Without a proper seat, Mustang made do with the desk itself. He perched on the end, facing the both of them, and launched straight to the point, "Who is this girl really? And don't give me that story about how she's my long lost daughter."
Hughes's lips twitched and Ana outright smiled. He gestured for her to introduce herself so she did, "My name's Ana Lopez."
"And your purpose here?"
To become a Pokémon master. Duh. "To find Ed and Al."
His brows furrowed slightly, "Fullmetal?"
Ana nodded, flopping on the couch. This could take a while. Might as well make herself comfy.
"Ana says she needs their help," Hughes explained for her. He told Mustang the snippets of details Ana had revealed during their conversation in the hall. It took only a couple of minutes; just enough time for Ana's mind to wander. She considered how she would go about telling all these charact- damn it, people about…certain things. She'd have to tell them she was from the other side of the gate, and that she had no idea how she came to be here. She might need proof that she came from the other side (again, assuming that the worlds were really separated in that way). But simply knowing about the gate might be enough. Barely anyone knew about the gate unless they did human transmutation, right? Oh, and she'd have to explain how she knew them. No way would they believe that they were all just an anime/manga from her world. She'd have to come up with a good lie. Funny how she had to come up with a lie because they would never believe the truth. The truth really was stranger than fiction.
Lack of any sound drew Ana's attention back to the soldiers. They were staring at her as if they were picking her apart in their minds.
"What?" Ana asked, blinking up at them in a clueless manner. Maybe she should have been paying attention…
"This information that's apparently worth killing over…" Mustang began, practically stroking his chin. Oh wait, he was stroking his chin. She imagined his thoughts being,"Do I need a shave? Damn, forgot I was wearing gloves. I can't tell."
"Um…" Focus Ana. He's saying stuff, stuff you need to hear. It sounds important. Holy crap, did that bird just do a peck-by? That poor squirrel- Right, gotta listen. Stop looking out the window.
"How do I know you're not bluffing?"
"…what?" Ana asked, not sure she was following. The man's demeanor had changed. It was weird…like he was a cat playing with its food? Nah, that wasn't the right description. The bottom line was that something fishy was up with him.
"You could know nothing at all. After all, who would freely admit to such a thing?"
"Me. If you haven't noticed I'm not the brightest Crayola in the pack. I tend to go with the flow without thinking too much."
Mustang looked her over as if sizing her up, "What is it then? Military secrets? Do you plan to blackmail to get what you want?"
Blackmail? That escalated quickly.
"Whoa, just whoa," Ana said, holding up her hands in a non-threatening way. "I'm not here to do anything like that. I just want to get home and Ed and Al are the only ones who can help me."
"Why them? You mentioned that you needed alchemy to return home. Did it occur to you that I could assist you?"
Ana gave him a deadpan stare, "Yeah, but would you?"
"That depends," he quipped. "I don't know why you would need alchemy to return home, but I am a talented alchemist in my own right. Give me more details on your situation and I might be able to do something for you." Oh, he was oozing confidence.
Ana rolled her eyes, "Thanks, but no thanks. You couldn't help me. I told you, only Ed and Al can."
"Why them?" Hughes asked, echoing Mustang's earlier question.
"Because they've done human transmutation."
Their reactions were instantaneous. They became rigid, their gazes hardening defensively. Both of them straightened and appeared to be five seconds away from going for their respective weapons. Mustang stood tall while Hughes subtly maneuvered himself between the door and Ana, taking away her only escape.
What did I say? They look like they're gonna slice my throat and burn me alive. I only said Ed and Al did human transmutation! What's the big deal? It's not like it's some big…secret…oh shit, yeah it is. And I'm an outsider who happens to know about it. Me and my big fat mouth. They're gonna murder me!
"How did you learn of this?" Mustang asked in a low, cold voice. "Who else knows this?"
Ana took back what she thought earlier. Now things had escalated quickly.
More than a little intimidated, Ana answered honestly, "No one! Well, except you guys and the Rockbells. If anyone else knows, it's not because of me."
"It seems you do know too much for your own good," he observed. "Now answer my other question."
"Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me. Ed and Al might not even believe me, but I'd still like them to be here to back up what I say."
"You're persistent, aren't you. Have you realized the predicament you're in? What makes you think I won't make you tell me? Or that I'll let you leave? I can't allow dangerous information about my subordinate to be leaked like that."
If anything, Mustang was protective and loyal to his team. It'd be suicide to make the wrong move. Ana had to be careful. He'd already threatened her, and although Hughes's face turned grim at the idea of forcing a young girl, he had yet to say anything against it. But…this was Mustang and Hughes! They were the awesome good guys!
"But you're the good guys," Ana said as if that explained everything.
An odd expression flitted across Mustang's features, but his cold mask stayed in place, "For people you don't know, you have a high opinion of us."
At this point, Ana just wanted to throw her hands up in surrender and shout, "Jesus take the wheel!" Because by now she had already crashed the car twenty times over. That wouldn't get her anywhere though so she tried to say what best came to mind, "But I do know you guys. That's the problem! But it's not like I'm going to go running up and down the streets screaming about everything I know. I'm not stupid. That'd just cause unnecessary trouble for everyone and I don't want that. That's why I came to you guys. I knew you could help me and that I could trust you. And before you ask again, no, I can't tell you how I know until I see Al and Ed. But once they're here I promise to tell all of you everything."
The men were quiet for a time, considering her words carefully. Mustang's gaze flicked to Hughes and Hughes shrugged.
"Maybe we should cut her some slack," the bespectacled man suggested. "She is just a girl."
"Fullmetal is just a boy and look at how much trouble he gets into on a daily basis," Mustang countered.
Taking that into consideration, Hughes eyed Ana for several moments. Hands on hips, he stated, "You lied to me earlier, about meeting the Elrics."
"Oh…," Ana muttered. He'd seen through that too? She needed to work on her acting skills.
Mustang jumped on board with Hughes's thinking, "Even if Edward and Alphonse were here, how do we know anything you say won't be lies?"
Ana thought for many seconds on what to say to get them to believe her. At this point they were going in an endless circle of mistrust. That wouldn't do at all. With a sigh, Ana opted for the truth, "I only said that so you wouldn't ask questions and so I could make it here. I told the Rockbells the same thing."
"…you've met them?" Mustang asked carefully.
"Yeah, I was in Resembool a couple of days ago. Why?"
"You could be lying about this as well."
This time, Ana did throw up her arms, "For gosh sakes, why would I lie about that? Call them if you want but they can tell you that I was there. I stopped in Resembool first to check if Ed and Al were there but I forgot they don't go back home often. Winry and Pinako were asking questions too so I needed a backstory and told them I knew the guys and was looking for them. Winry pretty much believed me…but now that I think about it Pinako didn't seem fully convinced."
"Smart woman," he mused, causing Ana to scowl. "I'll take you up on that offer." Before Ana could ask, "What offer?" Mustang had poked his head out the door to ask Hawkeye to get him…some file or other. She got that for him, he thanked her and closed the door, and then he returned to his desk. In no time at all he had found what he needed and began messing around with a bulky object on the desk... Holy hell, that was a phone! An old timey, ugly ass phone!
These poor deprived nineteenth hundreds people. They needed to hurry up and invent better technology.
"Good afternoon, Miss Rockbell," Mustang greeted into the receiver, all the while watching Ana to see her reaction, no doubt waiting for the moment she would begin sweating in apprehension.
Oh, that's what he meant. He didn't waste any time, that's for sure. The Flame Alchemist sat there talking to one of the Rockbell women, his lips itching to twist into a smug smile when he revealed all of Ana's dastardly lies. Good thing she had been telling the truth. The one wearing the smug smile would be her.
Mustang stated his name, and once the pleasantries were aside he got down to business, "I'm calling to inquire about a girl named Ana Lopez. She claims she was there in Resembool a couple of days ago."
Ana sighed heavily, flopping back to lie on the couch. Her head hung from the couch arm, giving her a view of an upside down Hughes.
"You don't seem nervous at all," Hughes commented, his voice kept quiet on account of Mustang being on the phone.
She shrugged, her new position on the couch making it awkward, "There's no reason to be. I already told ya'll everything I can for now. Wait…yeah, I think I've told you everything. I don't see why you guys can't just call Ed and Al already. Why do ya'll have to make things harder than they should be?"
Hughes came to lean on the back of the couch, no longer blocking a path to the door. This didn't mean he hadn't let his guard down. No, he could very easily stop Ana if she bolted. So easily in fact that the idea of making a run for it had never crossed her mind. Even if she could…where would she go?
"Roy's been looking out for those boys for years now, whether they know it at times or not. He's just being careful. He'll do everything he can to keep them from getting hurt." He turned his gaze from Mustang onto her, pinning her in place, "And so will I."
Her lips twitched upward, "Alright. I can respect that." Settling more comfortably on the couch, she watched and waited for Mustang to finish his pointless phone call.
"Thank you. Have a pleasant evening," the man spoke into the phone and hung it up. His gaze had not once let up on Ana during the entire call. "Tell me more about Arcadia."
Okay, maybe not so pointless after all. In her defense though, she had forgotten to mention Arcadia. It wasn't like it was a big deal, unlike how Mustang viewed it. He was looking at her like he had won the freaking lottery.
"I knew I was forgetting something," she mumbled loudly, sitting up on the couch. "Nothing happened for the most part. It's just the place I woke up."
"Woke up?" Hughes repeated while Mustang's eyes narrowed.
"Yeah. One minute I was home, or I think I was at home, and then the next thing I know I'm waking up in the mine. I thought I was kidnapped at first, but no one was around. And who just kidnaps young girls and dumps them in mines?" Not to mention that they'd have to jump through worlds. That didn't explain why they kidnapped her. Or…maybe they didn't take only her… What if there were others and they had been left in other places?
Or Ana would like to think so. It would mean that she wasn't so alone, being the only outsider in a foreign world.
"You think you were at home?" Hughes caught that important bit.
"That's the weirdest part, I don't remember. I've tried to remember the last thing I was doing, if I had been home or if I had went to school or something else, but no matter how hard I try to remember, it's all a blur. All I know is that I somehow got from Sibley to Arcadia about a week ago, which should be impossible."
"Why would that be impossible?" Mustang pressed, seeking to gain more details, anything he could use against Ana. He was just so gung-ho to make Ana be the bad guy. He needed to calm his tits.
"If you let me talk to Ed and Al I can tell you," Ana bargained, causing his expression to harden. He obviously didn't like her trying to make a deal with him, the stupid control freak.
This wouldn't do at all. Ana needed friends, not enemies. She began again in a more agreeable tone, "Please Mustang. I don't have anyone else I can go to. I need to get home. My parents are probably worried about me." She even tried giving him her best puppy dog eyes. They probably wouldn't work against someone like him but they couldn't hurt.
Contemplation pinched Mustang's features. Shoulders taut, he sent furtive glances to Hughes. Ana didn't know what message Hughes sent, her attention focused solely on the man who decided her fate. It was her turn for the intense stare down.
"I'll contact Fullmetal," he at long last decided. "I'll discuss the situation with him and let you know. If we're all in agreement, then you can have your meeting. However, you will tell me what I want to know then." He sounded so cool and collected now that he was completely in control of the situation. Ana couldn't care less that he had the upper hand. He had more or less agreed and that was something worth dancing for.
"Sweet buttery Jesus!" Ana shouted with all of the enthusiasm of a fourteen-year-old girl, jumping up to do the cabbage patch. "Thank you, Father Roy!"
His eye twitched, "Don't start that again." Straightening his posture, he added, "Also, you'll be under the watch of me and my men at all times. Is that clear?" He was waiting, practically smirking, for Ana's excitement to die down at the news. This had to put a dent in Ana's evil plans of mass destruction.
Nope. Her jovial attitude could not be tamed. "Okey dokey!"
Mustang's face fell, a frown forming, "Are you that confident?"
"Confident in what?" she asked without stopping her cabbage patch, not catching on to his question in her happy state. His eyes assessed her, looking for something unknown to Ana. She brushed it off and spun around to the door to strike a pose with her pointer finger raised skyward. "With that taken care of, now I can force Havoc to make good on his cookie promise."
Ana sauntered over to the door, noting how Hughes moved to follow after her. They were serious about that 'keeping her under watch' thing, not that Ana minded. Ed and Al would (hopefully!) be there soon, and Ana didn't have much to hide anyway. Being watched over by some cool charact- son of a bitch, people would be no problem! She was here, things were falling into place, and maybe, just maybe, life didn't hate her as much as she thought.
The moment Ana's fingertips brushed the doorknob, the door came flying open, hitting her square in the face with a resounding thud. The force sent her to the floor where she landed roughly on her rump. The flaring pain in her nose and forehead had her clutching her face, tiny whimpers escaping her clenched teeth.
I should have knocked on some motherfucking wood. Life, you bastard, I don't know what I did to you before to make you hate me so, but I will give you many more reasons. Mark my words, I will find you and I will cut you, I will make you bleed, I will rip out your intestines and strangle you with them and then I'll stab your eyes out with a spork and-
"Oi, Colonel! I'm back," a familiar voice announced, causing Ana's murderous thoughts to come to a halt. Her tear filled eyes of pain squinted up to see a flurry of red, black, and gold enter the room. The person had not seen Ana sprawled on the floor behind the door, nor Hughes who had jumped back by the wall in surprise when the door had been rudely kicked open. He continued forward, stopping by the coffee table to face Mustang and he still had not noticed Ana on the floor…in pain…with a broken face…
Mustang bowed his head, covering his face with a gloved hand because his plan had been completely ruined. "Why Fullmetal? Why?"
Yeah, I just left it off there. Yeah, you have permission to brutally maim me. But be warned, I have a sadistic fourteen year old half Mexican sister who knows karate!
This would have been updated so much sooner, but Mustang is such a pain to write! It's so hard to get into his mind! Ugh! *bangs head on wall repeatedly* Despite that, I think this chapter was done well. I tried to make things hard on Ana and not just have her come in and say, "I need to see Ed and Al," and then Mustang do his gay hand wave thing and be like, "Okay!" Most OC stories have where the OC gets together splendidly with the FMA crew. That'll happen...sort of...but not for awhile. It'll be a rocky road.
I'll go ahead and tell you guys now that I'm basing most of this off of Brotherhood with only some minor things from the original anime, like Hughes having met Ed and Al when Ed first joined the military instead of in Brotherhood where he meets them right before they go to Liore. I'd tell you guys where in the show this story takes place but you'll find out anyway pretty soon. So never fear my furry friends!
Ana and I would like to thank all the readers and reviewers! I swear, she's even more giddy than I am when she's reading the reviews. Keep showing the love to keep me motivated! Seriously, I could use something to sing about because I've been having a bad few days. My internet is down (so I'm at my dad's) and I was almost raped in my sleep the other night by a freaky rat/roach chimera! It crawled into bed with me and TOUCHED me. So glad I'm not at my house right now. Speaking of rape, someone pointed out how in the last chapter Ana made a comment about how she would rape the Naruto characters and they said it could offend some people. I understand that rape is a sensitive topic, I completely agree, but that's just how Ana talks. She in no way seriously means she's gonna rape someone. It's like her way of saying someone is hot. Eh, she'll probably have to explain to Ed and Al about this more anyway. That'll be priceless.