Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.

"Ahh, at least I get to rest while they're still investigating." I said, staring up at my ceiling. I was laying in my bed, pondering stuff.
"Shela is going to get her stuff, so the window is unlocked..." I said, glancing over at my window before looking back at the ceiling.
"The North, huh." I said, sighing, "Now that I lost all of my excess body fat, the winter is gonna be flipping cold... Aw damnit! But wait... I'm probably going to get lost at some point... Kimblee will kill me..." I shuddered at the thought, before resuming my thinking. "Wait, I'm forgetting something... Oh." I said, closing my eyes. Now I remember. Ed and Al were also going to be there. I tried to block out the memories that had rushed forward from thinking of them.
Smiling, laughing, getting angry, fighting. All of those memories hurt me, a lot, but I still treasured them, because I treasured those brothers more than anything. I still treasure them, and, no matter how hard I try, I will never be able to forget them. This is why I never wanted to fall in love in the first place. When everything falls, it breaks. I guess I was never meant to be a lover. I guess that's also why I'm so weak.
I am defenseless in the place it hurt most.
The heart.
Unconsciously, tears pooled in my good eye. They ran down the side of my face, stinging my eye. My heartbeat was loud and slow, although I was surprised it was beating at all, after all of my emotional abuse.
"I only have to be strong." I said, ignoring my tears, "That's it. It'll all be over soon. Maybe I could die in the process." I smiled bitterly at the thought.
Courageous. Strong. Brave. I've been called all those things, but no one knew.
"Never afraid, huh?" I said, chuckling sadly. "More like too pathetic to care about the risking my stupid life. Nothing to loose?" I laughed out loud, a pained, strained sound that hurt my throat. "Nothing left now." I let my hand fall on my forehead, shading my eyes.
What had I really been to them? A tool? But Ed and Al... Had always been so... Nice... And Ed almost...
That made my heart ache increase to the point where it felt like it burned in my chest. Ed...
"I will fulfill my promise." I sniffed, "To Hughes, and to Ed." I choked back a sob.
"I will try."

A little while later, as I had started to calm down, there was a knock at my bedroom door.
"Yeah?" I asked, frantically wiping my face to make sure there were no tear stains remaining. Gracia cracked open the door to peek in at me.
"Someone is here to see you." She said simply. My blood froze as I calculated all possible people that would want to see me.
"Who is it?" I asked cautiously, swinging my feet off the bed and standing up, striding over to the door.
"One of Mustang's subordinates." She reassured me. I breathed a sigh of relief. It couldn't be... Them...
I walked out of my room, through the kitchen and living room and to the open door.
"Oh, hello Riza." I said, slightly surprised. Hawkeye saluted me, and I saluted back.
"How are you?" She asked gently. I knew she was referring to my eye.
"Whether or not it's permanent they haven't figured out yet." I said, "But, for now I'm stuck like this. How have you been, with your reassignment and all?"
"It's been... Fine." She sighed. I patted her shoulder.
"The Fuhrer... I'd feel upset too." I said, looking up at her. "So, why'd you stop by?"
"I have something for you from the senior staff." She said, handing me an envelope. I took it, and tore it open, pulling out a folded sheet. My eyes scanned through it, and I looked back at Hawkeye.
"From the senior staff?" I mumbled, looking back at the paper, "But of course..."
"Is it a transfer?" Hawkeye asked. I shook my head.
"No, it's a mission, but... I'll be away for a while." I said, gaining eye contact. "Can you do me a favor?"
"What is it?" Hawkeye asked.
"Please make sure the half-brained pyro Colonel doesn't get ahead of himself and do something foolish." I said, smiling sadly, "I won't be here to protect his narcissistic ass, so would you please?" Hawkeye looked surprised at my request, but nodded.
"Of course." She said, making me sigh in relief.
"Good... Riza?" I asked, and she nodded, showing she was paying attention, "Should I report to the Colonel about this mission?"
"I think that'd be best." She advised. I nodded, thinking deeply.
"Are you going back to Command?" I asked.
"Yes. Would you like to come with me?" She said, making me nod furiously before going over to where my boots had been put and slipping them on.
I clicked the heels of my boots, making blades pop out of the bottom of the toe of my boots. Hawkeye sweat dropped as I clicked my heels again, making my blades retract back into the shoe.
I snatched my jacket from a nearby closet, pulling it on as I walked to the door.
"All set." I said. And so, Hawkeye and I left, walking out of the building and weaving through the crowded streets until we reached the Command Center.
"I have other things I need to take care of. Tell the Colonel I said hi." Hawkeye said once we had entered. She saluted me, and I saluted back.
"I guess this is goodbye, then. Keep your eyes open." I said, smiling slightly. She smiled back.
"Take care of yourself, Lynette." She said, and, with the wave of a hand, she left. I waved back slightly, and when she was out of sight, I sighed, turning to the front desk.
"Oh, you must be new." I said, approaching the desk. The usual middle-aged woman, who I had gotten to chat with a bit, was replaced by a more youthful woman, maybe in her twenties. She had soft, wavy short brown hair, and tranquil gray eyes.
"Yes." She said stiffly. I smiled.
"Well, I'm Major Lynette La'va, State alchemist. What's your name?" I asked. She looked somewhat uncomfortable, probably because of my intimidating appearance, but I shook it off.
"I'm Michelle, nice to meet you." She said, still cautious. She stared at my scarred eye, making me notice why she was so on edge. I sighed, rolling my eyes.
"Scary, aren't I?" I laughed, making Michelle blush in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry." She said. I flapped a hand at her.
"It's fine. It's nice to meet you too, Michelle. Good luck with working the desk." I said, glancing around for a moment before whispering to Michelle, "You might wanna watch out, though. There are some real weirdos in the military, even more so than me. But you didn't hear it from me." I winked, making Michelle grin.
"Thanks for the advice." She chuckled.
"Can I ask you to tell Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang that I'm coming in?" I asked. Michelle nodded, and I waved to her as I strode over to the entrance hallway.
I navigated my way through the hallways, luckily only getting lost once before I finally stumbled on the right door to Mustang's office.
I knocked loudly on the door. I know, I would usually burst in the room, but... I don't know, I haven't felt cheerful enough lately to be able to joke around.
"Come in!" Mustang's voice called. I opened the door, striding in and shutting the door behind me before walking over to Mustang's desk. His new subordinates where in the room, all looking at me suspiciously. But with one venomous glare from me, they decided their paperwork was much more interesting.
"Lynette." Mustang said in shock, "Are you alright?" He noticed my scars then.
"I'm fine." I shook off his concern, then pointed to my good eye, "I still got one left. Good enough."
"I heard about the explosion, but I didn't know it would effect you this much." He said. I rolled my eyes.
"I'm fine, really. The doctors haven't ascertained permanent blindness, so as long as it heals I'm alright. Besides, I have other pressing matters to discuss." I said, my face completely serious. Mustang raised an eyebrow.
"Such as?" He inquired. I pulled out my envelope and gave it to him. He took out the paper and quickly scanned through it before looking up at me.
"You're going to..." He trailed off, obviously in even mode shock. I nodded soberly.
"Yes, it is an order from the senior staff, after all." I said, "I will be traveling with Solf J. Kimblee and a squad of men assigned to him while searching for the infamous 'Scar'. I came here for two reasons." I continued, "One, to get your permission to leave Central on the Senior Staff's orders."
Mustang nodded.
"You have my permission." Mustang said, "Although you didn't need to ask if they were orders from the senior staff." I sighed.
"Alright. Just checking in. And, last of all, I would like a small favor." I said, and before he could interrupt, I continued, "I would like you to keep an eye on Gracia and Elicia while I'm gone. I don't want anything to happen to them, after all." I think Mustang got my hint, and he nodded, but grinned.
"Now you owe me even more." He chuckled, making me laugh slightly.
"I still owe you a lunch, so I guess I'll owe you another one." I laughed. Mustang nodded, amused.
"You do." Mustang said, making me snort.
"Don't puff up your ego why more than this, or I think you'll become too much for those poor guys." I said, pointing to my fellow subordinates. Mustang rolled his eyes.
"How long do you think the mission will last?" Mustang asked. I shrugged.
"A few weeks, probably a month at the most. I'll try to get back here as soon as I can." I reassured him.
"Well, you better get going. You still have to pack, right?" Mustang shooed me away. Waving, I strode out of the room, a little bounce in my step.
Maybe, if Mustang and Hawkeye still support me...
There may still be hope for me after all.

Hi guys! AUTHOR LADY APOLOGIZES FOR NOT UPDATING! I'm running two other new fanfictions on a different site so I'm really busy, especially with school and everything...
Anyway, how's the story? I know some of you took to Shela's presence as a cliché, and I'm sorry you think that way because Shela is going to have a fair amount of appearances for a while. Those who like Shela, awesome!
The issue with Lynette and the brothers... I'm still thinking about how to resolve it... But I have the basic idea.
I'm sorry, I may not be able to update as often, because between school, fan fictions, and now, I am worrying over one of my favorite singing groups disbanding! So much stuff, and it might take longer for me to write chapters, but I will, I promise! Thanks!
My lovely readers, please review~
Thanks!