Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.

I stepped cautiously in the room, spotting Father, who got up to face me. I froze as he approached me.
"Lynette, right?" He asked curiously. Confused at his easy attitude, I sweat dropped.
"Yes, sir." I said cautiously. He put his hands on both sides of my face and examined me, turning my head left, then right. I resisted the urge to sweat drop hugely.
"That's funny. Your from the other side of the gate, right? You don't look any different from the humans over here." Father said, releasing me. I stared at him with a blank expression, remembering how he acted when he first met Ed and Al. I remember thinking, Sucks for them, hahaha! But now, all I was thinking, why me? But he does look a lot like Ed's father... Haha, poor Ed!
"Well all humans share similar characteristics. I am not an alien species." I stated bluntly to Fathers surprise.
"That is true." He said, "But I was told you wanted to meet me. Why?"
"I want to ask you a question." I said in a small voice. I was feeling very intimidated right now. I mean, even Father acted non-hostile toward me, I still don't know what he's thinking. This part wasn't in anime, so I don't know what happens.
"Yes?" This time he looked serious. I resisted the urge to shudder.
"Do you know of any person throughout the history of Amestris that has successfully transferred through the Gate with a philosopher stone?" I asked. This wasn't part of the original anime because I was here for myself, and no one else. I was here to get some clues on how I got here.
Father blinked.
"I have no knowledge of anyone successfully passing through the Gate except you." At those words I inwardly cursed. But then I had another idea.
"In the War of Extermination with Ishbal, did anyone sneak off alive with a philosopher stone besides Dr. Marcoh and the Crimson alchemist Kimblee?" I asked hesitantly. I didn't want to reveal I knew too much for a twelve year old.
"There actually was one other person," Father said, "She was a human sacrifice until she suddenly disappeared. She was actually quite insane." I was onto something big here. I could feel it in my bones.
"What was her name?" I asked urgently.
"Her name was Colette Shiran, and he was one of the head scientists working on the philosopher stone project." Father said. I nodded, the wheels in my brain spinning rapidly.
"That's all the information I need. Thank you." I said absently. Father looked straight at me.
"Why did you save the Lieutenant Colonel from Envy?" He asked curiously. I looked at him through narrowed eyes.
"He's like family to me." I had to bite back the vicious retort to that question. I actually didn't really like talking about Hughes. It made me feel pressured. Suddenly Father got serious again, his narrowed yellow eyes boring through my brown ones.
"It's nice to have you as an ally, Lynette." He said. I looked back at him sharply. A dangerous aura prodded my senses.
"You might regret underestimating me. Even though I'm a human, I know more than you think, much more than you do." I said, turning on my heel and starting to walk back to the door. I turned my head so Father could see my smirk.
"Bye bye, new boss man." I waved behind me as I walked out of the door, closing it behind me with the help of Envy.
"You got guts, ice brat," He mused. I looked at him as my knees faltered under me.
"You kidding? I was scared as hell!" I said, shakily getting up as Envy laughed.
"That was a cocky move." Envy said, slinging me over his shoulder. I huffed and let him carry me.
"I think you should get a teddy bear, as a replacement for me, because I'm not always gonna let you carry me like this." I said with a sigh.
"So why are you letting me carry you now?"
"I'm too lazy to walk."
"... That sounds so much like you."
"Damn straight!" I exclaimed as we reached the manhole. Light from the stars streamed down into the sewer, slightly illuminating it. And from where I was, that hole looked very, very far up.
"Uh... Envy, how are we going to get back up?" I asked, pointing out the obvious distance between us. I turned my head to look at Envy, who had his trademark smirk on his face.
"We're gonna jump, of course." Envy said, bending his knees to get more force. My eyes widened and I frantically tried to escape his grip.
"HOOOLLLYYY SHIIIIIIT!" I screamed as we launched up, flying fast through the air. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, but we went without hitting anything.
I slowly opened my eyes to see we had landed fine. I let out a whoosh of air in relief, well, before Envy decided to mess with me. He took me off his shoulder and lifted me over the manhole.
"You wouldn't dare." I snarled. I was actually scared to death, but I didn't want him to know that. His grin widened as he lowered me into the manhole, leaving me to hang by my fingers.
"YOU BASTARD HELP ME UP RIGHT NOW!" I squealed in distress. My hands were slick with sweat as I felt myself start to slip.
"HELP ME YOU SON OF A BITCH!" I yelled. But Envy was just laughing his ass off, so I had to take action.
I was both not strong enough and too lazy to lift myself up, so I let go with one hand. I panted as I swung myself up, latching my loose hand farther up on the ground, digging my elbow into the edge of the hole. With that, I wiggled up until both elbows dug into solid ground. Then I groaned.
"Help me~ I'm too lazy to get up any more~" I whined as Envy laughed even more. I hung there for a few more moments before getting pissed off.
I carefully clapped my hands together and put them on the ground, making a giant hand that squished Envy under it. I cackled as I used another hand to boost myself up, brushing myself off and smiling victoriously.
"SMASH!" I cheered as I had the hand come down on Envy again. I cackled evilly as I ran away, out of sight from Envy.
But there was a problem. It was very, very dark. I could barely find my way around. So, of course, I made myself useful. I stumbled on a piece of firewood, and I snatched it up.
I then kneeled on the ground, spit on the ground, and started to gather all the water together at rapid speed. I quickly froze it, using the excess energy and materials to quickly light the edge of the wood on fire to make a torch. I did the same thing I did for my State exam, except on a smaller scale. The wood was reasonably heavy and big, which means it'd take longer to burn. Perfect torch.

~

After wandering for around an hour, I found my way back home.
When I entered, I found Gracia and Elicia were still sleeping. I quietly made my way into my room, and plopped down on my bed.
"I wonder," I whispered to myself, "When Ed and Al are coming back with Winry." My heart sank a bit. This was the time Ed and Winry would start falling for each other. When that thought came into my mind, my chest physically hurt. I rolled over and buried my face in my pillow. Geez, no wonder Envy and I get along so well...
I was steadily loosing my cool. After being away from home for so long, and in a dangerous environment where I had to stay on my toes, it was stressful. I was slowly breaking down. Jealousy, stress, anxiety, worry, and fatigue were all wearing down my tolerance.
I asked for this. It was only now I realized what Mustang meant when he said the military is like hell. I curled up and pulled my blankets over me, hugging my pillow.
The sick feeling was back again. I couldn't talk to anyone about it. No one, not even Ed. I had to keep it to myself. I had to hold it in, no matter how much I wanted to protect everyone, no matter how much I wanted to stop this. But I was not going to falter. It was time for me to be strong, to carry everyone's fates on my shoulders. I was going to save as many lives as I could without interrupting the plot line. No matter the consequences.
No matter how much I wanted to go home.
I wasn't going to give up now.
That was the last thought before I drifted off to sleep.

I woke up early the next morning, around nine o'clock. Well, early for me, anyway.
Gracia was up in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes. Breakfast was on the counter, but I drifted over to Gracia first.
"Morning, sleepy. Breakfast is on the counter," she said cheerfully. I gave her a small hug.
"Morning!" I said, quickly darting over to the counter and loading up a plate of waffles and sausages. The heavenly smell wafted into my nose, and I looked over at Gracia, who was smiling at me.
"Looks delicious, as always!" I said, "Where's Elicia?"
"She's playing in the livingroom," Gracia said, turning back to her dishes. I nodded and went into their small dining room to eat breakfast, which was much better than any waffles I've ever tasted.
I went back in the kitchen to rinse my plate off, and Gracia moved over a bit to give me some room.
"Have you heard any word about the Elric brothers?" I asked, scrubbing the maple syrup off my plate as I ran it under the sink. Gracia shook her head.
"No, but their friend Winry stayed over the first time you got in the hospital." Gracia said. I got some dish soap on the sponge I was using as I cleaned the plate thoroughly.
"Oh yeah, I met her while I was in the hospital." I said.
"Really? Isn't she sweet?"
"She's really nice."
"She bonded well with Elicia while she was here," Gracia laughed. I felt a twinge of jealously but I laughed it off.
"Of course, Elicia must've been lonely while I was gone, so that's awesome Winry kept her company," I said. But inside I was burning with jealousy. Winry was already stealing Ed from me, did she need to steal Elicia too? I was with Elicia for longer, too! But I guess it was because I was a glitch. She was meant to be there, I wasn't. So why did it hurt so much?
I put away my cleaned plate and silverware and went into the living room to play with Elicia.
We played around for a while, had lunch, then played more until there was a knock on the door. Straight away Elicia bounced up and eagerly rushed to answer the door. I knew who it was.
"Gracia!" I yelled to her, "Can you get that? I'm busy!" I dashed down the hall, hiding myself in the shadows of a broom closet close enough to hear people talking in the living room.
I peeked from the shadows to see Winry go with Gracia to the livingroom. There, Gracia explained what happened, with Elicia crying on Winry's lap.
Tears rolled down my own cheeks. They weren't tears of sorrow. They were tears of hatred. Hating myself because I was jealous of Winry. Hating myself for not being able to fit in a family as well as her. Hating myself for not being able to empathize as much as her. Hating myself because of my rules.
And hating myself because I couldn't be a part of that family.

Soon there was someone else at the door. Gracia left to get it while Winry was still on the couch, holding a sleeping Elicia.
There was a pang in my heart. I knew who it was. I couldn't run or else I would get seen. But I wasn't sure I could handle the pain that would follow.
Just then, Ed and Al walked in the room followed by Gracia. And there, I had to stand, watching them. I held a hand tight over my mouth my chest tightened, and my old wounds stung like hell. But I quieted myself. I needed to be a ninja right now. First blend in with the darkness. I stilled my body. Second, erase your breath. I started taking silent, small breaths. Third, observe.
"Winry," Ed said, stepping forward. Winry raised her head to look at them.
"Um, Mrs. Gracia?" Ed asked, turning his head to look at Gracia, "I'm sorry but there's something I need to talk to you about... If I may."
"About Maes?" Gracia said. I nearly coughed. I hadn't heard that geezer's first name in a while. I kinda missed it, but with everyone thinking he was dead, I had to let that name be a big shock to me. But now, I was feeling better. Thinking of that old geezer, he'd probably argue with me about being called a geezer, teasing me about my crush on Ed, and being friendly. The one person who made me feel like I actually belonged was now thousands of miles east from here. But at least he was safe.
"That's right," Ed said, then turned to Winry, "You too, Winry." Now that my mood was lighter after remembering Hughes and I's banter, I viewed the situation in a whole different way. Of course, I was still jealous, but now it was a more childish kind of jealousy. I didn't want my play toy taken away by Winry!
I had spaced out for a bit, but soon snapped my attention back into the conversation. Everyone was sitting down now, and Gracia was holding the sleeping Elicia.
"So Maes learned things about the philosopher stone that someone didn't want him to know," Gracia said. Wow, I had been spaced out for a while.
"His death was a message, a warning to you from whoever did it, to back off from all this." She continued.
"Yeah," Ed said guiltily, "We basically dragged him into it." He let his head down so he was looking straight as his lap. "I'm sorry." Ed said. His arms shook as his head bowed down. "So sorry," he said weakly as his breath shook.
"That would be just like him," Gracia said in her normal voice, "Dying while trying to help somebody else." Everyone looked at Gracia.
"My husband, he always was a busybody and a meddler, and it got him into trouble. A lot. But you know, I don't think he had regrets. Not any, not even in his dying moments, Edward." Ed's face hardened at Gracia's words.
"But we..." He trailed off, his eyes downcast. Gracia looked at him sharply.
"Don't tell me you're going to give up," Gracia said with an edge to her voice. Ed glanced up at her and met her gaze.
"You can't let what happened defeat you. If you do, that means my husband died in vain." Gracia's face melted into a small smile.
"Even if the philosopher stone is a dead end," she continued, "There might be some other way." Ed turned his face up and blinked.
"Maybe... I guess..." He said in a soft tone.
"You boys have to keep moving forward. Any way you can." Gracia said.

~

Once the Elric brothers and Winry had closed the door, I drifted out of the shadows and sat by Gracia. Tears blurred her eyes as she looked at me. She leaned on my shoulder and started to cry, but her sobs woke Elicia, who looked at her mother in distress.
"Mommy?" She said, "Mommy, please for cry."
I was sure Ed heard that.
She begged, crawling on my lap and holding her mothers hand. I wrapped either arm around them both, and stayed there until Elicia had fallen asleep on my lap. Gracia was sniffling but quieted down, and soon she was asleep, too.
I stared at the wall, feeling them breath gently as Gracia and Elicia slept. The sun was setting. I remembered watching this episode in brotherhood. Another pang of jealousy stabbed my heart.
Right now, Ed was probably comforting Winry. Growing closer. Falling in love with her. But, I thought, even without Ed, I could continue on with my life. It's just that if it doesn't work out, my heart will be too shattered to love again. That'll make me focus more on work, make me more progressive. Make me the person I wished I could be all along.
But why do I choose to hurt myself like this, to chase after something next to impossible, just to make myself productive? Just to make myself durable and untrusting? Just to make myself forget socialization?

Just to make myself perfect?

Hey guys! OHH GOOD CHAPPIE~ Also, for those of you in the U.S., happy Veteran's day! I know it was yesterday but I was in a parade today, so I consider it today!
Anyway, the story is a bit weird. Lynette is getting mixed up with her emotions. Love is blooming~ She will realize it soon, that's it's not just a crush, but love~
OH! And I give credit to the soul alchemist 15 for helping me with the idea by suggesting another OC! Colette is going to be a very big part... Hehehehe... MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
So, how's it going so far? It may be straying from the intended humor, so now, I'M BRINGING OUT THE HEAVY GUNS! FULLY LOADED! Questions, comments, concerns?
My lovely readers, please review~
Thanks!