Sheska tried to go about her duties the same way she usually did. She found books, filed cases, and did what she normally did. Angela was out for the day, so no one really noticed the odd lack of absentmindedness in her actions. When lunchtime arrived, she walked down to the mess hall. When she passed through the entryway, she saw Ed waiting for her grinning. She blinked and he was gone. It had only been her imagination.

I keep thinking about him, she thought. But why? I'm the one who broke it off. He should be looking for someone closer to his age, not someone like me. She passed Hawkeye in the hall and was passing the bathroom when someone grabbed her. She was thrown into a bathroom stall and was quickly surrounded by Edward Elric's fan club.

Yes, Edward had a fan club, a quite extensive one that extended through all the military ranks and different departments. Of course, none of them would admit they were his fan girls, but some of the younger girls were occasionally caught swooning over a snapshot of him or walking past his office just to get a glimpse. When the rumor that Edward was dating Sheska had spread, the girls had begun planning this attack on the unfortunate bookworm. The fact that she'd dumped him had only added fuel to the fire. Now she was backed up against the wall between the partition and the toilet with malignant eyes skewering her.

Their leader stepped forward. She was an older woman, a Major, and she towered over Sheska. "I hope you understand what you've done, Miss Sheska."

She flattened herself against the wall. "Actually, I don't. Could you explain it to me?"

The woman gestured behind her where several younger recruits were crowded, glaring at her with slightly moist eyes. "You broke the hearts of all these girls by forcing the Fullmetal Alchemist to date you. We might have accepted it had you continued to make him laugh and smile, as we so adore, but now that you've cut ties with him, we will not forgive you." The cougar and fierce kittens moved in on their target.

Riza had noticed that Sheska was acting strange when she passed the girl in the hall. She looked over her shoulder to wonder, just in time to see the girl get yanked into the women's lavatory. She ran back and opened the door a crack. Once she heard the words 'broke the hearts' and 'Fullmetal Alchemist', she had a pretty good idea of what was going on. Riza ran to get Edward.

That's why, when the Major started closing in on her prey, Edward grabbed her by the back of her collar and flung her out of the stall and into the opposite wall with a resounding thud. The second in command of the fan club, one of the older privates, yelled, "Why are you defending her? She broke your heart!"

He glowered at them. "Circumstances broke my heart, not her. There is nothing about her that could break my heart. That's why I fell in love with her in the first place!"

A younger girl shouted, "But why her?"

His eyes narrowed and the girl shrank back from her crush. "Because, unlike you, she liked me BEFORE I grew up. And if you ever touch her again I swear Armstrong's hugs will feel like gentle caresses compared to what I'll do." He grabbed Sheska's hand and let her out of the opponent's camp.

She pulled her hand away once they'd left the bathroom. She asked him, "Why did you help me?"

He shrugged. "Just because you don't like me doesn't mean I have to stop caring about you." And he left her standing in the hallway with an incredibly guilty look on her face.

Riza had watched the whole scene play out and had reported back to the rest of the crew who were still plotting the revelation to Sheska. Jean was currently giggling at how cute Ed must have looked and Fuery couldn't stop blushing for the blonde's sake. Falman was the first one to say something coherent. "Well, this makes things easier."

"Indeed," Roy added. "Now that he's made such a clear declaration, her attraction towards him should be even stronger. We also don't have to worry about her safety with Ed's threat still hanging in the air."

The others nodded. Even if Edward hadn't noticed the girls gathering around him, they had, and had wondered how long it would take them to attack the man's girlfriend. Their hastily drawn-up bodyguard schedule was no longer necessary.

"What do you have so far?" asked Riza.

The smoker scratched his head. "Not much. The ideal situation would be to set off one of Ed's panic attacks and then have to explain what caused it. That would bring out the whole story without Edward doing anything but going unconscious."

"No way." Edward said from the doorway. He brushed off their surprised expressions. Honestly, if they were going to talk where anyone could walk in on them, they ran the risk of being overheard. It was a marvel it hadn't happened already."Do have any idea how awful those things are? But I could fake one. It'd have the same effect for the plan, although some of the unconscious bits would be missing like my heart rate going up." He rubbed his chin. "Still, that's probably the best idea. How do you guys want to set it up?"

The rest of the hour went by quickly as they smoothed out the details. Investigations would be the best place since Sheska would be close enough to see the mock attack happen. Edward would come up with the excuse that he needed some particular research book and follow Sheska as she went to find it. Mustang said Ed could probably talk himself out of any awkward situation, so they didn't have to worry about Sheska running away.

Then one of the gang would pass nearby and say they were looking for an example of uranium used in combat. That would be the mock trigger to set Ed off. That, they all knew, was probably the most dangerous part of the plan. If Edward didn't know the remark was coming or if it hit too close to home, he might have an attack for real. They spent a full fifteen minutes just planning out the timing and wording for that into something Ed could fight against. It helped that he came up with the version they finally decided to use.

The person who'd made the remark would get him to the hospital and make sure Sheska followed. There, the girl would have to take over and ask what had happened. From there, it was easy to tell her everything. They'd asked Edward how much he would want the bookworm to know. His answer had surprised them.

"All of it. If I'm going to be honest with her, I'm going to be honest with her all the way. It's the only way to make her believe me." They nodded and wrapped up their plotting session for the day. Tomorrow the plan would go into effect. And they all hoped it worked.

I do believe a fan club could happen on government soil. Mustang pretty much has one already, so of course I gave Edward one.

Thanks to my readers and reviewers!

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