Falman is literally such a cutie, I can't with him. Obviously, this isn't a Falman/OC story, but that doesn't mean I can't have a smidgen bit of love for him thrown in there. He's so overlooked anyway. But yeah, this is a lot of information about Linor and I tried to make it as realistic sounding as possible, but big chunks of information is hard to make into a normal conversation; I hope it's not too cringey.

The large group was gathered in the Colonel's office, Mustang explaining the Civil War to Edward and Alphonse who were completely in the dark about Ishvalans and their past. Linor sat on the couch with Havoc and Breda though she shoved herself as far away from them as she could. Her arms wrapped defensively around her abdomen, feeling stray eyes look her way every now and again, making her want nothing more than to shove her shades back on her face and hide.

"In a sense, his revenge is justified," Roy muttered at the end of his history lesson, getting a scowl from Edward.

"No way! There's no justification for taking revenge on people who had nothing to do with it." Ed explained, his eyes burning with anger. Listening to the ire in Ed's voice made Linor flinch slightly. For the last three years of their acquaintanceship, Linor had yet to tell Edward about her heritage- the boys had inquired about her unusual choice of sunglasses once before, but when she brushed it off as just a preference, they hadn't really asked about it again. With his introduction to Ishvalans being a bad one, she knew he felt betrayed.

"Still, he's coming at us with full force. We can't let ourselves be killed for his cause." Roy warned with a pause. When Linor looked up at him, she saw his gaze directly on her. "Next time, there will be no more talk." A resounding 'yes, sir' echoed the room and Linor looked down. She could hear Hughes talking to Ed about their next move, but she wasn't really paying attention. She kept thinking about the elephant in the room and how Roy was going to bring it up. "Well, you boys better start preparing for your trip then, we have some more business we have to discuss." The room went silent and Linor could feel Edward staring at her, though she didn't look up to meet his gaze. "Breda, Havoc, would you mind helping Alphonse? I need Major Armstrong here." Agreeing in their usual formalities, the two stood and heaved the shattered metal heap out of the room. Ed kept his stare lingering on Linor a little while longer before leaving with them silently. When the click of the door sounded, all attention was on Linor and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. As if no one knew exactly what to say, a short silence followed the departure of the boys before Linor decided to speak up.

"So, what do you want to know?" She asked quietly, addressing Hughes and Armstrong, her uncovered gaze avoiding them at all costs.

"I guess we should start with, 'Why did you join the military?'" Hughes started, leaning forward in his seat and resting his elbows on his thighs. Taking a deep breath, Linor straightened her back- she had a feeling this was going to be a long conversation.

"To help my people," Linor began, "The military has influence, State Alchemists have influence. If I could be an Ishvalan authority, maybe one-day people will see we aren't bad."

"And how do you suppose you'll do that without telling people you're Ishvalan?" Furrowing her brows, Linor finally looked up at Hughes.

"I have to get there first." She replied, "I need people to trust me." Linor drifted to look at Roy who sat at his desk silently as if encouraging her to continue. "I need to make a real name for myself before I let it out."

"How many people know?"

"Well, everyone at Eastern Command- I couldn't really hide it for very long." Finally releasing her defensive hold on her abdomen, Linor rested her arm on the side of the couch. "Fuhrer Bradley, obviously." She added, "Not many else aside from that. I don't see the reason why anyone outside of the Eastern Command needs to know." Looking Hughes straight in the eye, Linor gave him a serious look. "If you knew, would you have honestly let me work with you on the Scar case?" Hughes looked taken back, but he broke the eye contact sheepishly and shamefully. "I already get shit here in the East, I don't need it from the rest of the military."

"I know you said you wanted to help your people," Armstrong said, now getting the attention from the room. "But what encouraged you to join? Surely you lived through the War, do you not feel resentment towards us?" Pursing her lips, Linor looked down.

"What would that accomplish?" She asked earnestly, "Sure I was angry at one point, but what would anger and resentment have done to help my people?" Narrowing her eyes thoughtfully, Linor sighed. "I might be branded as a heretic and traitor now, but what I'm doing, I'm doing for the good of all future Ishvalans." Her answer seemed to have struck a chord with Alex and Hughes as they were silent; Falman, Riza, and Fuery keeping silent as well but holding their attention on the conversation even though they already knew Linor's story. Soon recovering, the questions continued from Hughes.

"So, are you… half Ishvalan?" He asked a bit warily, hoping he didn't come off as a total ass, his attention shifting from her face to her hair. Seeing his gaze, Linor ran her hand over a large strand of loose, black tresses.

"No, but my natural hair color makes it harder to fit in." Linor saw Hughes shift a bit, as if uncomfortable or afraid to ask any more questions. "You can continue." She assured, noticing that he still hesitated a bit, but continued anyway.

"So, then your name…?" He trailed off, referring to her Amestrian-friendly name.

"Changed," She quickly replied, feeling a bit more comfortable now that the two Central officers weren't yelling in her face about her ethnicity. "Any more questions?" She asked as earnestly as possible, not wanting to sound rude about them putting her through the wringer- she wanted to trust them, confide in them, she rarely had anyone outside of Mustang's group that she could. After a pause, Alex stepped forward a bit.

"My apologies if this comes off as impolite, but how did you get admitted into the military." Linor let out a small chuckle and looked over at Roy.

"Not easily, let me tell you." She began, giving the Flame Alchemist a small smile. "I owe Colonel Mustang over there a lot." Obviously surprised at how helpful the cold man seemed to be lately, Hughes and Armstrong gave him a questionable look. "If it weren't for him and his silver-tongue, they would have turned me away without a second thought."

"He was present during your exam?" Hughes asked astounded.

"He was the one who recommended me," Linor replied with a breathy laugh. Pouting his lips, Hughes mumbled something under his breath akin to 'he never tells me anything'. "The Colonel and I crossed paths several years ago in Aquroya. I was training there, and he convinced me to become a State Alchemist." The two alchemist locked eyes and the corner or Roy's lips quirked into a half smile.

"So then, let's talk about your alchemy," Hughes prodded, folding his hands together and resting his stubbly chin on them. "I know this is off topic, but I'm quite curious. You seemed to be pretty skeptical about your abilities before Major Armstrong jumped in." A bit more comfortable with the change of topic, Linor cracked a small, grateful smile.

"Yes, my alchemy is a bit… environmentally reliant." She admitted, fiddling with the glasses she had at some point taken out of her uniform pocket. "I'm a sound alchemist, you see. I deconstruct water molecules and use the singular atoms to produce heat and generate pressure. Then I manipulate that pressure and use sound vibrations to amplify them and create shockwaves." Realizing the non-alchemy savvy soldiers didn't understand most of what she had said, Linor scratched the back of her head with a bit of a sheepish smile. "I need loud noises to make a bigger boom, otherwise I'm not much help." Rubbing her hands together, Linor looked down to her custom transmutation circle on her wristband. "I'm working on it though," She muttered.

"Well," Hughes said seriously, standing from the couch he sat on. An emotionless expression sat on his face and Linor worried the conversation didn't go as well as she had thought. Her palms began to sweat, but a goofy smile soon broke out on his face and he reached out a hand. "You won't have to worry; your secret is safe with us." He promised, his trick causing a grin to pull at Linor's lips.

"Thank you," She whispered gratefully, taking his hand and shaking it.

"Thank you for sharing, I know it probably wasn't easy. I didn't want to run you through the wringer like that, but with this new information about Scar…" Linor held up a hand to stop him, a smile on her face.

"Don't worry about it, I understand." Standing up herself, Linor finally put her glasses back on. "I appreciate the open-mindedness, maybe one day the rest of Amestris will be as understanding." Moving to shake hands with Armstrong, Linor gave the big man a cheeky smile. When he returned both the gestures, she shifted her gaze to Roy. "I should really be heading out now, Colonel. It's late and I have a lot of paperwork to finish tomorrow."

"Of course, have a good night, Major Ziegler." Roy replied with a nod. Linor bowed to Mustang and gave the rest of those in the room a wave.

"Good night all, sorry for taking up your time." A hand gently rested on Linor's shoulder before she could leave and she looked up to a concerned Falman.

"Be careful out there, Major." The Warrant Officer warned, "Scar is still roaming around, and he knows who you are- there's a big target on your head now." Covering his hand with her own, Linor gave him a comforting grin.

"Thank you, Falman, I'll be careful." She reassured, feeling his hand slide off her shoulder as she left.