I realized I keep forgetting to do the disclaimer, so this goes for all the chapters I forgot, okay?

Disclaimer: The FullMetal Alchemist storyline and all characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa. Only Selena and Ishmael are mine.

They're okay… They're okay… Bradley's just an old man… They can handle him...!

I forced myself to think stuff like that and made my way towards the room Greed was fighting Edward in. When I got there, I looked down a t several soldiers, unnoticed. One was trying to contain a struggling Edward, who was covered in blood and insisting he didn't need to be rescued, and others were scanning the area with guns at the ready. Greed was nowhere to be seen.

I hurried to get outside, knowing the homunculus could take care of himself, and looked out over the surrounding area. The Devil's Nest was blocked off on all sides, swarming with MPS. I swore under my breath and transmuted a bridge out of the roof, wide enough to make it to the next building but thin enough to go unseen by the military police below. After I darted across and transmuted it back, I snuck down a fire escape and wandered purposefully around to look for anyone else who might have gotten out, checking the sewer drains especially. Anybody who used the emergency exit would end up in the sewers, I knew.

I must have spent thirty minutes waiting and watching to no avail, and the sun was already high in the sky, noontime. Its decent to the west would soon begin, and I hoped by the time it ended, the survivors would all be outside, safe. I prayed that wouldn't mean just me.

The sun was setting by the time the MPS cleared out. From where I'd hidden, I was able to see soldiers carrying out bodies covered in sheets, spotted with crimson smudges. The solemn procession shook me to the core; I don't know whether it was the stillness of the figures or their numbers that affected me more. Whatever it was, I couldn't move or look away, even when no more were brought out. Only when I caught sight of the Fuhrer President was I able to pry my eyes away and run, afraid that the man would somehow sense my presence with some sort of inhuman perception.

With nowhere else to go, I headed from this butcher shop to the Curtis's.

The streetlights were turning on as I trudged down the roads, moths fluttering to them like cinders blown by the wind. The lights in the houses were on, the ones in the shops turned off. Except the one coming into view.

A hulking shape sat under the porch light, one I'd grown accustomed to seeing in Greed's back room, and another smaller shape was bent over a chest plate. They both looked up at the sound of my footsteps. Al stood up.

"Selena?"

"Hey, Al." I waved. Stopping a few yards away. Ed stared at me warily.

"What are you doing here?"

"What, no `congratulations on being alive'?"

They exchanged looks uneasily.

"So," I began, letting out a slow breath, "do you know if anyone else happened to get out?"

Neither answered, and Al lowered his eyes to the ground.

"…I…Martel was…"

I followed his gaze to his chest plate and a cleaning rag in Ed's hand, dyed a dirty red color. My stomach twisted.

"How did she…?"

"The Fuhrer President. She was still in my armor, but he…"

I nodded, biting my lip.

"Anyone else?"

Al hesitated.

"Selena, you shouldn't be hearing this—"

"Who else is dead, Al?" I demanded forcefully.

"Dorchet and Loa… I didn't see anyone else die…"

I smiled bitterly.

"That idiot. He said they could make it on their own…"

"Selena—"

"What about Greed? Where is he?" I asked Edward.

"He ran off in the middle of our fight."

"I saw him fighting the President," Al put in. "Right after Dorchet and Loa…" He trailed off.

"Weird, Bradley didn't look injured at all when I saw him," I noted. "Did Greed ditch him too?"

"Um…" Al fidgeted. "Selena, when I saw him, the President was winning."

I stared at him in disbelief.

"No way. That old guy with the eye patch was beating Greed?!"

"Yeah."

"There's no way in hell! What happened to him?"

"I'm not really sure… Greed was down when I last saw him, but I blacked out before it was over."

"How could you black out? You just fell down and went to sleep? With that body?!"

"N-no, I—I got my memory back, and then—"

"How?"

"…When he stabbed M—Greed…the shock…"

"How ironic," I muttered. "So what you're saying is everyone's dead and Greed is nowhere to be found."

"Wait, Selena…"

"Goddammit, Al, what am I supposed to do now?"

"Selena, listen—"

"No, you listen!" I shouted at him. "Because you got yourself kidnapped and your genius brother here is a freaking state alchemist, the Devil's Nest is covered with the blood of everyone I knew, and your little military buddies are busy cleaning up the mess! Because you had the worst possible timing to remember how your soul was transmuted, he had to be a stubborn ass! If it weren't for you, the military would have no fucking clue that their little—their little mistakes were hiding out here!"

I whipped around and ran, ignoring the brothers shouting after me. Blinded by tears and anger, I kept running down streets and alleyways until I couldn't run anymore. Finally, I sat down and leaned against the wall, buried my face in my arms, and cried. I wore myself out after the longest time, and then lay down on the ground with my hood up, panting lightly. Something bumped my leg and a cat walked up to me. It mewled and let me stroke its head.

"Stray cat?" I assumed, my voice hoarse from crying. It curled up in the crook of my arm. "So am I."

Exhausted, I fell asleep.

Morning light shone over me and through the cracks in my eyelids to wake me up. Grunting sleepily, I nestled my face deeper into the covers to block out the sun's rays.

Wait… Bedsheets?

My eyes shot open and I sat up. The cat was still there, squinting up at me inquiringly as I took in the unfamiliar surroundings. I was in a real bed, something I hadn't experienced in years, and the small bedroom was neat and tidy. The window that the sun shone through was partway open, allowing a slight breeze to come through. It was comfortable and reminded me of Ishmael's home.

"Where am I?" I wondered, petting the cat. It stood up and stretched, letting out a yawn, and began grooming its brown and white splotched fur. Glancing at my hands, I realized my gloves and jacket were gone. Panic arose in my stomach until I caught sight of my jacket hanging from the bedpost, gloves sticking out of the pocket. My shoes were also by the bed, I noticed.

The door opened, and to my surprise, Izumi Curtis walked in.

"You're awake?"

"Ms. Izumi? What are you—what am I doing here?"

"Ed and Al told me that you had survived and were out there," she smiled gently. "We went looking for you and found you out cold in an alley with this one." She motioned to the cat in my lap. I stroked it fondly, smiling as it purred.

"Um… Selena?"I glanced up and discovered Al standing timidly in the doorway, his brother a couple steps behind him. "Are you okay?"

"Oh… Yeah." I nodded apologetically, remembering my little outburst the previous night. Izumi pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat down.

"You don't have any parents or guardians, Selena?"

"No."

"No money or anything to get by?"

"Well, I do have an inheritance from Ishmael."

"`Ishmael'?"

"My teacher. He looked after me a few years ago."

"I see… What exactly is this inheritance he left you?"

"Some money, books on alchemy… Basically everything he had left. Oh, and the house. But I…I don't want to stay there."

She nodded understandingly.

"Well, I've been using it over the years to buy clothes and stuff."

"I guess that bastard Greed wouldn't be providing for his pawns," Edward sighed.

"I am not his pawn," I growled. "And he offered to pay me if I worked for him, but I turned him down."

"He wasn't providing for you at all?" Alphonse sounded doubtful.

"Not really what you might call providing, but kinda, yeah."

"`Kinda'?" Izumi asked.

"I slept on his roof--or in the air vent on bad days… He said I could sleep inside, but I'm a little stubborn, I guess."

Edward snorted, earning a glare from me.

"Selena, why don't you stay here for a while?" Izumi suggested. "At least until you can get back on your feet."

"What? Seriously? But—"

"You really should," Al encouraged me. "Teacher is really nice, and we're staying here for a while, too."

"Are you sure?" I asked her cautiously.

"Of course."

I looked thoughtfully at the cat as though for a second opinion and smiled.

"Okay, maybe for a little while. Until I figure something else out."

She smiled.

"Good. I'll go get you something to eat."

I slid off the bed as she left the room and put my jacket on.

"Uh, Selena, I thought I should apologize…" Al started.

"No, you shouldn't," I interrupted. "It's not your fault. I'm sorry I yelled at you last night."

He seemed taken aback.

"Oh… That's okay…"

If armor could smile, he did it.

"Don't you owe someone else an apology?" Ed prompted.

"You don't get and apology," I scoffed.

"What? Why not?"

"Because you called me `little girl' when we first met. You're nothing like Al. Shorty."

"Who are you calling shorty?! I'm taller than you!"

"No you aren't!"

"Yes I am!"

"Oh, yeah? Let's find out, then!"

We stood back to back after I kicked him in the shin to make him take off his elevator shoes, and Al measured.

"Big brother is about a quarter inch taller," he concluded meekly, as though afraid to hear our responses.

"I told you!" Ed gloated happily. I shoved him.

"Yeah, but you're a year older than me, and a guy! Shorty!"

We kept arguing until Izumi came and told us to shut up, and then we glared at eachother behind her back. It was like Dorchet all over again.

Dorchet, who was gone forever now…

As well as everyone else…

Ed might seem mean, but he just doesn't know how to deal with her. Same thing for Selena, so they end up fighting. It's easier for them both to interact that way. It's like that saying, "opposites attract," so similar people must repel.
Wait, are they similar...? I guess they kind of are...

Anyway, they should get nicer once they get to know eachother. But not that much. :D In other words, poor Al has to play the bridge.