She sat there, staring at her hands.
The clouds drifted across the cold night sky, lazily without a care in the world. The moon and stars were out tonight as well…it all seemed so peaceful…
She found her mind wandering across the gaps of her memory, silently digging up things she wished to forget…
She had caused so much destruction…so many people had died because of her; so many people had gotten hurt because of her actions…
If all she did was cause pain, what was the point in her existing?
Slowly, she looked over her shoulder.
"What is it?" she asked Alphonse Elric, who stood behind her.
The grey-eyed boy seemed unsure of himself, and wary of her. He probably still didn't trust the Homunculus.
"Did…Did you and Nii-san really…?" stammered Alphonse, looking pointedly at his feet.
She nodded.
"Oh…" was all he said, as the younger Elric turned around to leave.
"Alphonse…" she said suddenly, causing him to stop in his tracks, "Do I…Do I look like a monster to you?" she asked softly.
The sandy-haired fifteen-year old stared at her. Why was she asking him? He stared at the girl he had come to know as Alric, Nii-san's friend and savior…and a Homunculus.
Slowly, he shook his head.
"Why is that?" she asked, looking him straight in the eye, "I'm a created human…I wasn't meant to exist, and Abomination to the natural world…"
The girl's cloudy golden eyes moved off of him, to stare at the floor.
"What do you see in me that's human?" she added softly.
"You act on your emotions…"
"Everything acts on the instinct to live…" she laughed sadly, "Even a Homunculus..." she whispered.
Alphonse stared at her. To him right now….she looked like a girl, lost and confused…trying to find her reason and place in the world.
She doesn't know what she is, why she is here…or if anyone needs her to exist…
"You're human…" said Alphonse slowly, "you're human, Alric…because you can cry…"
Edward felt very, very annoyed. He was stuck in a room, with Ling, the Colonel, and four other men, all of whom, were all grinning like idiots, and chuckling to themselves.
"Would all of you morons stop laughing to yourselves?!?" roared Edward. If they weren't on his side, they'd probably all be dead by now…
"Never knew you had it in you Boss," said Havok, lighting himself another cigarette, while chuckling.
"SHUT UP!!" yelled the Fullmetal Alchemist, looking very undignified, "AND DON'T CALL ME SHORT!!!" he roared.
"Edward…don't tell me that you seriously…" stammered, Ling, trying not to laugh. But that being completely against his nature, he compensated for it with an enormous grin on his face.
"Shut up!" growled Edward, turning bright red, "It's none of your business!" he said, throwing a file folder at the grinning Xing prince's head.
"So…what are we going to do about her?" asked Falman, "it's not like we can all just forget the fact that she was one of the enemy…"
"Alric is human," growled the Fullmetal Alchemist, glaring at everyone in the room.
"Despite the circumstances of her creation, she's human through and through," declared the 16 year old golden haired teenager.
Colonel Mustang just stared at the boy for a moment. Time really did go by quickly. He could easily bring back to mind the image of an 11 year old boy, with a bloody leg and arm stump sitting in a wheelchair. Edward's grown up…he thought sadly, looking at the golden-haired young man in front of him now.
"Enough," he said finally, "What we need to worry about now, is what Alric said about us having only a year before Amestris is wiped off the map…" he turned towards the still fuming Fullmetal Alchemist, "Edward, do you have any idea what it could be?" he said, as coolly as he could.
Edward looked at him for a moment, before sighing heavily.
"No. All Alric knows is that something catastrophic will happen to Amestris within the next few years, involving multiple wars…" he looked at everyone in the eye sadly, "You have to understand where she's coming from. She didn't care about what the general human population thought. She had no one before, and these people had her believing that she wasn't alone in the world. That was enough for her…" he glanced towards the window.
"Alric once told me…that being alone… is the most painful thing in the world…knowing that no one wants you, or needs you to exist…that whether you live or die doesn't matter to anyone…"
An uneasy silence filled the room.
"Well…on that happy note…" said Ling grinning foolishly, "What now?"
Winry got off at the station, looking for a familiar face. It had been two months since she had seen the brothers, and this would be the first time she saw their apartment. She couldn't help but smile. For once, she was coming to visit them, without an enormous toolbox to fix Ed's arm. She had brought some wrenches anyway, just in case they needed something to be fixed…
Let's see...they said that they might not be able to pick me up, and that they'd send someone to get me…
She hoped it wouldn't be Major Armstrong again. She had been stuck listening to the major talk about his family for an hour before she had gotten to see Alphonse. Then again, she hoped it would be someone who could carry all the luggage she'd brought.
"Ms. Rockbell," said a vaguely familiar voice. She turned around to see the girl Alric, dressed in the military blue, standing behind her. Winry couldn't help but stare at the girl. She looked so much like Ed…even her golden eyes were similar to her childhood friend's. But there was something…strange about her.
"Oh! Alric," said Winry, slightly dismayed.
"Where's Ed and Al?" she asked the Scarlet Alchemist.
"Alphonse is doing State assessments, and the idiot… I mean Edward," she corrected herself, "is arguing with the bastard. The colonel, and Ling," she managed to finally say.
Winry looked at her surprised. She sounded a lot like Ed just now.
"I've been around him for more than a year. It's natural for some of his manners to rub off on me," said Alric, as if reading her mind, "And I can't read minds either. The question is written quite clearly over your face," continued the other girl, indicating for Winry to move ahead of her.
"There's a car waiting for us," explained Alric, "I've already secured your luggage, and if we leave immediately, we can pick Alphonse up from Headquarters."
Winry's eyes widened. Last time it had taken an hour to find all her belongings…
"How…?"
"I'm fast," was the joking reply.
As they reached the car, Winry saw that it was true. All her luggage was in, and on the car. But there seemed to be something missing.
"Who drove the car?" she asked.
"I did," answered the golden eyed girl, opening the door for Winry.
"Are you even old enough?"
"Quite. In fact, I exceed the legal driving age by 200 years," said Alric with a straight face.
Winry giggled.
"I guess you do have a sense of humour!" chuckled the sixteen year old automail mechanic.
Edward sat there. Bored.
He could sense the gloom hovering above everyone's heads. For once, the normally overly exuberant and energetic Prince of Xing looked slightly tired. They'd been arguing for hours, and presently no one had anything left to say.
Then Alric came in.
"So…any progress?" she asked. The looks that the others shot at her, told her enough.
"I don't see what your problem is," sighed the Homunculus girl, sitting down, "It's a simple enough plan," she said, looking around at everyone.
"We tried this before…it didn't work," muttered the Colonel.
Alric shot him a glare of her own.
"I didn't come here for sarcasm," she growled, "You need to know what's going on, so capture one of them, and ask!" she said exasperatedly.
"Last time, none of them came, and Al, Winry and I almost died," explained Edward, patiently.
"Winry? Why was she there?" asked Alric, surprised.
"She, uh…Followed us…" said Edward nervously.
The look on Alric's face showed quite clearly, that she was not amused at all…
"You said that Ling would catch the Homunculi before they got involved in your fight against this serial killer, Scar," said Alric, looking thoughtful.
Ling nodded.
"That's when we discovered that the Fuhrer was a Homunculus," said Mustang.
"He was probably the only one in the area…I doubt the others could mobilize themselves that quickly…" said Alric dismissively. "This time, however, there's more than one of them here."
"How do you know that?"
"I detected one while I was driving Winry to your place," she told Edward, "From what I remember, it was probably either Envy or Pride," she said half to herself.
"So the odds of us catching one are greatly increased?" said Ling, smiling hugely.
"Yep. Most likely, one of them is assigned to tailing you guys, because you know a lot, and you're precious lives…"
"So we distract Bradley, and catch the other one!" said Edward, sitting up straighter.
"Problem is…we don't know where Scar is…" said the Colonel, looking at some papers.
Alric smiled.
"I've already taken care of all that…Scar's definitely here in Central,"
Ed clearly recognized the look on her face that said: 'Don't ask.'
"Alright then…" said the Fullmetal Alchemist, stretching.
"Time to go make an idiot of myself…" he sighed, pulling on his signature red jacket.
"Actually…Ms. Rockbell, is quite eager to see you…" said Alric, rolling her eyes, "It'll take some time to organize everything, so you should head back to your place…"
Edward stared in shock at Alric. Was she actually saying this?!?
"Don't look at me as if I'm crazy, GO!" she growled at him, "And you guys!" she shot, glaring at the other men in the room, "Don't even think of laughing," she growled menacingly, before leaving the room.
After Ed left, Ling turned to Mustang.
"Are all the women in Amestris like this?"
"No," sighed Mustang, "Ironic that the only people Edward is truly afraid of…are all women…"
"Same goes for you," said Havok, smirking at the Colonel.
Roy Mustang twitched, and shot his Second-Lieutenant a glare, much to the amusement of everyone in the room…then Hawkeye walked in.
Okay. So almost nothing productive happens in this chapter...but I can guaratnee shouting matches in the next one!
