Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist except Trey.
Trey held out two arms. Scar pulled his hand away as he examined Trey's arms.
"No, the markings are different. My brother gave me this."
Scar was momentarily confused and lost. He said suddenly, "How did you get this? Are you Ishbalan?" Trey was backing down a couple of steps. She said uneasily, "It's nothing..." Scar grabbed her close and peered into her red eyes. He exclaimed, "You were at the Ishbal war! Tell me!" Trey managed to say, "I was only a kid..."
"Fire!"
Scar dropped her and fell back fast. Hawkeye let out a stream of bullets from her gun.
"No!"
Trey clapped her hands on the floor creating a thick sheet of ice that absorbed the bullets. Mustang yelled incredulously, "What are you doing?" He sheltered his gloved hand and snapped furiously. The ice wall melted in an instant, but Scar was already gone. Mustang threw up his hands in frustration. He was about to yell. Trey turned and gazed up at him, her eyes with a passion he didn't see for such a long time. It was almost as if they were at the Ishbalan battlefields again... Mustang could not fathom that notion.
"Colonel, you'd agree with me... you protect your own soldiers, so I must do the same."
Mustang pointed at the place where Scar was before he ran. He replied with a hint of anger, "He is a murderer. He killed Brigadier General Grans." Trey's eyes narrowed. She said nothing. Mustang continued, "And you let a killer loose in the streets! Now that he knows you're here, you need more protection and security. You're not even a member of the military, so I'm not even sure-"
"What does it mean to you?"
Mustang's head up bobbed back confused.
"Why does it matter so much if I live or die?"
Mustang sighed. He had forgotten he was dealing with a teenager. He replied gently, "Because nobody deserves to die." Trey smirked a little, not satisfied with that answer. She sat down on the stoop in front of Hawkeye's apartment. The drizzling rain hit her lightly, but with no doubt it was getting heavier. She looked away. Her voice was sad and bitter, filled with voices of thousands of children crying out all encased in one girl.
"I was born and raised in a small Ishbalan village. I was there when the military soldiers came in with big guns... they killed my parents, man. Right in front of my eyes, I saw everything."
Trey paused before continuing. Her face was drenched with rain.
"They tried to kill me too, but they couldn't. My best buddy Min Jeon - you know, the First Lieutenant - he saved my back out there using the forbidden alchemy. But the hell did it matter? He was an atheist... he wasn't... he wasn't Ishbalan like me. So, he took me away and hid me."
Trey's head ducked under a little as one hand rubbed her forehead in vigorously in frustration.
"They killed everyone."
Mustang said nothing.
"I was the only one who survived."
Hawkeye, generally not prone to emotions or dramatic stories, placed one hand over her gaping mouth. The rain came harder now. Trey moved her arms back until her elbows touched the steps above her. She leaned back and let the rain soak into her. Only in that moment, did she look so peaceful and calm. She tilted her head back and chuckled despite her grim past.
"The only one."
Trey smiled at the rain and closed her eyes, basking in the rain and savoring the moment. Mustang was quiet then. Realizing the significance of the story of her life, he shook his head a little. He was drenched now. He said to Hawkeye, "Don't let her run away again." A white flake dropped on his head. Hawkeye eyed it suspiciously. Catching her glance, Mustang looked up and pulled the flake off.
"Snow?"
With his nimble fingers, he crushed it. He grumbled, "Great. First rain, now snow. What next?" He shivered. He wrapped his arms around himself and took a step forward. Hawkeye called after him, "Sir! What about Scar? He's still out there!" Mustang groaned. He replied, "I can take care of myself, Lieutenant Hawkeye, thank you." Hawkeye said sternly in a voice Mustang expected, "Sir, my job is to protect you. Allowing you to wander the streets while a deranged murderer is out loose-" She cut a quick glance at Trey who wasn't listening. She had fallen asleep on the steps. Hawkeye lowered her voice and said, "I cannot possibly permit you to go home tonight." Mustang smirked.
"Then what do you propose we do?"
Dry sarcasm mixed in with a rhetorical question. It was an obvious answer, so Hawkeye didn't answer, and Mustang didn't argue. As the snow fell lightly and the dirty puddles of water were covered with a blanket of powdery snow, Mustang trudged his way over to where Trey was laying. He picked her up without difficulty or even so much as a grunt of displeasure. Go to sleep and forget, dear child. No doubt she will dream of a world where she no longer had to mask her fears.