Chapter 3: A Hard Decision

"Major General Armstrong?!"

A pair of cold blue eyes, partially covered by a thick lock of sleek blonde hair framing an aristocratic, elegantly beautiful face, glinted sharply as they settled on Al and Edeline's gobsmacked expressions.

For a minute, none of the occupants in the room seemed to remember how to use their voice and continued to stare as Olivier Mira Armstrong, the only female General in the Amestris military, let out a derisive scoff and strode briskly into the room. A petite, Xingese woman, also in the Amestris military uniform, with her black hair pulled up into a neat, tight bun, walked into the room after her. Judging from the clipboard in the Xingese woman's arms, Ed could only assume that she had to be Olivier's personal assistant, and her suspicions were confirmed when the Xingese woman looked up and leveled her stern glare at Havoc and Hawkeye.

"An officer is approaching! Show some respect!" She barked loudly, and almost instantly, both Hawkeye and Havoc snapped to their senses and they stood up, immediately giving the General a formal salute.

"Lieutenant General Armstrong!"

"At ease." Olivier greeted tersely, the stern expression on her face never changing as she reached them.

When she saw the way Ed and Al were gaping back and forth between her and her unfamiliar companion, she arched a slim eyebrow and gestured carelessly over her shoulder at the other woman. "This is Major Jiang Lee, my personal assistant. Don't let her petite demeanor fool you." Olivier told them, smirking. "She's a combat specialist highly trained in both Amestrian and Xingese martial arts. Major Lee, I'm sure you're familiar with Edeline and Alphonse Elric. Edeline is the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Nice to meet you." Al greeted the Xingese woman with a nervous smile.

"Er, yeah. Same." Ed grunted when Al had nudged her sharply in the ribs.

Major Lee answered them with a brief nod before narrowing her eyes and giving the two siblings a sharp look.

"While I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, I am also obliged to correct you. Please address my Commanding Officer by her proper title next time as Lieutenant General." She told them sternly.

Olivier ignored the way Ed gaped at her in shock and sat down onto the couch, shoving Havoc aside and taking his seat across from Edeline. Major Lee stood completely still behind her, clipboard and pen ready in her hand.

"Now that introductions are over, I'll get straight to why I'm here, Fullmetal. I have here with me—"

Pausing, Olivier glanced at Lee from the corner of her eye and held out a perfectly manicured hand hand, waiting until she was handed a long, brown folder before she turned to Ed again and laid the folder down carefully on the table in front of them.

"—a special decree signed by Fuhrer Grumman, with specific instructions detailing my reassignment back to Central Headquarters. I've been assigned as head of Military Affairs and Regulation." She deadpanned.

Hawkeye, who Ed had noticed looked particularly annoyed at Olivier's untimely interruption, opened her mouth to protest but at the icy blue glare that Olivier shot her, the sniper instantly snapped her mouth shut and shrank back in her seat. In spite of herself, Ed couldn't help hiding a smirk. She should have known that if there was any officer that Riza Hawkeye was actually terrified of, it had to be Lieutenant General Olivier Mira Armstrong, the Ice Queen of Briggs.

"That's…er…great, General." Al answered politely, though he still looked completely confused.

"Lieutenant Colonel Miles, my second-in-command, will remain in Briggs to oversee our northern defenses. As it isn't easy to train new soldiers for an assignment in Briggs, most of my men will be staying there as well." Olivier continued coolly, leaning back against the couch and ignoring the way Havoc and Hawkeye were exchanging uneasy frowns behind her.

"Yeah…so?" Ed asked bluntly, her face beginning to crease into a scowl of annoyance. "I don't see why any of that has got anythin' to do with me or why you're here, Lieutenant General." She pointed out.

"It means, Fullmetal—" Olivier's eyes narrowed at Edeline's rude remark but she cast a quelling glare at Major Lee when it looked as though the Xingese woman was ready to slice Ed's head off for her blatant insubordination. "—that I now find myself needing new subordinates for my new team in Central. Competent subordinates. People I can trust." She drawled.

"I see." Ed blinked at her, shifting uneasily in her seat.

"The Fuhrer has already given me the prerogative of choosing who I want under me, and I have already handpicked every single one." Olivier continued.

Al noticed the way Hawkeye and Havoc were beginning to stiffen with realization at Olivier's words.

"I've selected five highly qualified officers, all of whom are to be reporting directly to me. Major Lee is one of them, as well as three men who I personally chose to bring with me from Briggs."

"Lieutenant General, I have to interrupt—" Hawkeye tried to speak up again but this time, Major Lee was the one who glared at her, silencing the blonde sniper with a single raise of her hand. Eyes blazing with indignation, Hawkeye's jaw dropped open when Olivier pointedly ignored her and continued as though she hadn't spoken.

"I have only one slot left, which the Fuhrer insists that I use to recruit myself a new State Alchemist." Olivier finally turned to level Edeline with her sharp, piercing gaze. When the younger blonde stiffened in her seat and scowled back stubbornly at her, Olivier's full, pink lips began to curl upwards into a small, amused smirk.

"Fullmetal, do you really not see where I'm going with this?" She drawled.

"Of course I do! You have got to be shittin' me!" Ed blurted out as she suddenly shot out of her seat, golden eyes flashing dangerously as she groaned and alternated her glare back and forth between Olivier and Hawkeye.

"Do either of you even realize that I am not an Alchemist anymore? What if I told you that I don't want to go back to the military?"

"Nee-chan." Al, obviously the calmer and more levelheaded of the two siblings, stood up after his sister and reached out, placing a hand over her shoulder to calm her down. "I know this is all unexpected but I think you should calm down. Let's listen to them so that we can consider your options carefully." He told her.

"My options? That should be fucking obvious, shouldn't it?" Ed scoffed but allowed him to drag her back into her seat. "From everything I've just been told, they're giving me two. I can either re-join Mustang's team, which is why they're here—" She cast a pointed look at Hawkeye. "—or I work under the Lieutenant General. " She finished, flicking her gaze cautiously over at Olivier. "Either way, they're trying to draft me back into the military."

"It would appear so." At Ed's words, Olivier shared a look with Major Lee before she cast her bored gaze at Hawkeye in acknowledgment. "Though I should have anticipated that Mustang would try to recruit you given everything that's been happening." She remarked.

Ed's eyes immediately narrowed at the Lieutenant General's words.

"Given everything that's been happening?" Her anger dissipated slightly as she sat back down, crossing her automail leg over her normal one and leaning back against the couch.

Reading his sister's thoughts, Al cast Olivier a wary look.

"What do you mean, Lieutenant General?"

Hearing Alphonse's question, Olivier stared intently at the two Elric siblings in front of her – particularly Edeline.

Ed was gritting her teeth in growing impatience but surprisingly, she was able to meet Olivier's gaze, much to the latter's reluctant amusement. As far as Olivier knew, there were only two people in the military whom she knew could withstand the force of her stare – the first was her second-in-command, Lieutenant Colonel Miles, and while the second was her personal assistant, Major Jiang Lee. The fact that this 19 year-old girl was able to look Olivier directly in the eye without falter said a lot about Ed's self-confidence.

And as much as Olivier didn't want to admit it, she was impressed.

Resisting another urge to smirk at the blonde alchemist, Olivier swept back a stray lock of hair from where it was partially covering her left eye and shifted her attention to Alphonse.

"The answer to your question, Alphonse, is precisely why I'm here." She drawled, glancing over her shoulder at Lee again and waiting until her assistant placed another folder into her outstretched hand.

"Now, first things first." Olivier stilled and looked up, slanting her blue eyes slowly until she was glaring at Havoc and Hawkeye's tense forms beside her. "Major Hawkeye. Major Havoc." Her full, pink lips curled into an amused smirk. "This is a confidential matter that's to be kept strictly within my jurisdiction. I don't need any of Mustang's men listening to this, so if you could excuse us, Majors, I'd like to have a word with the Elric siblings in private."

"Lieutenant General, respectfully, I must protest." Hawkeye's left eye twitched and she began to protest as Lee turned to her, gesturing impatiently for her to get up from her seat. "Brigadier General Mustang also sent us here with specific instructions concerning the Fullmetal Alchemist. And if I'm following your conversation correctly—"

"We got here first!" Havoc blurted out in a shrill voice as Lee yanked him out of his seat and began shoving him towards the door. "Wow, for a small woman, you're pretty strong—hey! You can't just kick us out! The Chief will have our heads if we don't bring the Boss back to Central with us—"

"Excuse us." Lee cut him off abruptly, ignoring his protests as she pushed him out of the room.

When he tried to run back in, Lee shoved Hawkeye out of the living room toward him, causing Havoc to curse as he and Hawkeye collided painfully against each other. Before either of them could say anything else, Lee slammed the door shut, leaving only herself, Olivier, and the Elric siblings in the room. Flashing a self-satisfied smirk with her Commanding Officer, she nodded and then, still facing Olivier, positioned herself in front of the door to prevent Hawkeye and Havoc from running back in.

"Now then…Where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?" Olivier deadpanned as she turned back to sifting through the folder in her hands, completely oblivious to the nervous sweat drops on Edeline and Al's faces. "You should know that aside from being the new head of Military Affairs, the Fuhrer has also tasked me with the important job of investigating the recent series of disappearances that took place in the last few weeks. The missing persons were all high-ranking military officers." She explained.

"How is that relevant as to why you and General Mustang want my sister to re-enlist?" Al asked, nonplussed.

Olivier cast a quick glance at him, amused at his impressive deduction skills, but she continued anyway.

"None of the victims' bodies were found. Now, the only reason we've been able to confirm that they've been murdered and not simply missing is because—" Olivier lowered her voice and glanced warily at the doors again, as though to ascertain for herself that neither Hawkeye nor Havoc could hear her. "—last week, the Fuhrer received something in the mail."

"Which was?" Ed prompted, her eyebrows fused together in question.

"—ashes. The murderer sent us the burnt ashes of all three of the victims' bodies." Olivier answered flatly, causing both Elric siblings to pale in realization. "More importantly, when I requested Dr. Marcoh to analyze the contents of the ashes, do you know what we found?"

Olivier didn't bother waiting for them to answer before she continued.

"Lingering remnants of flame alchemy." She intoned bluntly, instantly causing all of the blood to drain from Edeline's face. "There were traces of it in all of the ashes that were sent to the Fuhrer."

"Th—that's bullshit!" Ed suddenly exploded, her eyes blazing with anger. "There's no fucking way it was Mustang! He would never do such a thing!"

"I think nee-chan's right." Al added weakly as he glanced back and forth between Olivier and Ed with a stricken look on his face. "We've known the General for years, he'd never kill anyone. Someone must be setting him up. It's the only logical explanation."

"As far as all official records go, after Berthold Hawkeye died, Roy Mustang became the only living Flame Alchemist in Amestris. Maybe even the only remaining Flame Alchemist in existence." Olivier drawled, leveling them with a pointed look. "So unfortunately, as the case currently stands, he is my only suspect."

"Who else knows about this?" Ed asked sharply.

"Why do you think I kicked out Hawkeye and Havoc?" Olivier's lips twisted into a slight smirk. "The records of our investigation are highly confidential, so no one other than the Fuhrer and myself knows that Mustang is my prime suspect. But that is precisely why I need your help, Fullmetal." She gave her a sharp, pointed look. "I need a brilliant, trustworthy alchemist who can look deeper into this matter and find me other leads."

"Aren't you and General Mustang rivals for the position of Fuhrer?" Al asked rather bluntly, giving her a suspicious look. "Why are you even helping him?" He pointed out.

"I'm not." Olivier answered flatly as she blinked and answered him with an impassive, albeit slightly affronted look. "I'm just making sure that I do a good job and cover all possible leads. It's what any good leader and future Fuhrer would do." She scoffed arrogantly.

Ed arched an eyebrow at that and shared a knowing look with Al, who rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure it is." Reading his sister's thoughts, Al gave Olivier an amused look. "Could it be possible, Lieutenant General, that the reason you want nee-chan's help in all this is because you also think that Brigadier General Mustang is innocent?"

"Mustang happens to be my number one rival for Fuhrer." Olivier gave them both a look that suggested that she was extremely offended before she sneered and flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "So believe it or not, as much as I absolutely detest his guts, I do think rather highly of him." She retorted, scoffing derisively. "I know the man's an incompetent, emotional idiot, but I also know that he would never be as stupid or as sloppy as to purposely incriminate himself like this. Which is exactly why I'm bringing you in, Fullmetal. You can help me clear your old mentor's name."

With that, Olivier finally turned back to Ed and leveled her with a firm, steady gaze.

"Will you come back with me as my State Alchemist?"

Ed stared at the female General in stunned dismay for a few seconds, a million scenarios running through her head as her mind tried to process all of the information she had just taken in. Beside her, Al was frowning at her with a clear warning look in his eyes, and for the life of her, Ed knew exactly what her brother was thinking.

This can't just be a coincidence.

"I would help…but I'm not an alchemist anymore, Lieutenant General." Ed spoke cautiously, careful to avoid meeting Olivier's sharp gaze as she swallowed and fixed her gaze at a spot on the table in front of her. "After the Promised Day…To get back Al's body from the other side, I had to give up my gate. I can't do alchemy anymore. You know that." She reminded her quietly.

To Edeline's confusion, instead of answering, Olivier flicked her blue eyes to Lee again.

The Xingese woman seemed to straighten and gave her Commanding Officer a questioning look. When Olivier's eyes narrowed and she nodded, Lee moved to stand in directly in front of Ed and raised her hand directly above the top of the blonde alchemist's head.

"Hey! What are you—" Ed scowled and moved to stand up but Lee just shoved her back down into her seat.

"Fullmetal, I believe there's something I forgot to tell you about my assistant, Major Lee." Olivier began, watching as the tattooed aray on Lee's palm began to glow a faint, golden color. "She studied alkahestry in Xing for a few years before she came to Amestris. Her specific field of concentration is alchemy of spiritual energy and life force. It's used mostly for medicinal purposes, but do you know what else she uses it for?" Olivier paused when both Elrics paled at her words.

"Alchemic energy." Al whispered out loud in stunned realization, watching in awe as the array on Lee's palm seemed to glow even brighter the closer she brought her hand down to Edeline's head.

"Precisely." Olivier answered, turning to give a sputtering Edeline a triumphant smirk.

"In other words, Fullmetal, my subordinate here can detect alchemists. Think of her as an alchemist radar if you will. And guess what?" Her eyes narrowed when she noticed the way Ed was fidgeting guiltily and seemed unable to meet her eyes. "For someone who claims that she can no longer do alchemy, Major Lee tells me that she's been able to sense your alchemic energy ever since we entered this house." She sneered.

"She's wrong!" Ed suddenly blurted out, causing Olivier to stiffen in surprise at her sharp reaction.

"My gate is gone, I can't do alchemy anymore! I—it's impossible, it's just not possible! There's no fucking way that—"

"Nee-chan…" Al interrupted in a quiet voice, drawing Ed's attention to the worried look on his face. "Weren't you just telling me the other day how you've been feeling…off…for a few weeks now? Like there was some kind of energy growing inside you?" He waited until he held her gaze long enough to see the same realization that was in his older sibling's identical golden eyes. "Is it possible that your gate is starting to re-open?" He whispered.

"NO!"

Al jumped at the sharpness of Ed's tone and watched helplessly as she she shot up from her seat and began pacing the length of the room.

She hadn't wanted to believe it at the time, but it had only been a few weeks ago since Ed had felt something that she never thought she would feel again since the Promised Day. It was the feeling of a sudden surge of raw power coursing through her veins. And having studied alchemy since she was 6 years old, Ed knew exactly what it was.

There was no mistaking it.

It was the return of her gate.

Ed was terrified when she first realized it, and even Al didn't want to believe her when she had first told him. She had tried to ignore the feeling as much as she could, stamping down that familiar, tempting urge to clap her hands, lay her palms flat on the ground and perform any kind of transmutation. She never gave in to that urge, however, especially since she was terrified of what it could mean.

If there was one basic rule that alchemists knew by heart, it was the rule of equivalent exchange.

Unless you had a philosopher's stone, there was no such thing as a gratuitous transmutation. And Ed really did not want to find out what she had, without her knowledge, supposedly given up for her gate to return to her.

"Fuck this, it's just not possible!" Ed blurted out again, nearly hyperventilating as she stood in front of the couch and yanked furiously at her hair. "Yes, I've been feeling off for weeks but there's just no fucking way my gate's been re-opened, because then that wouldn't be equivalent exchange! And I didn't give up anything, Al! I swear, I didn't!" Ed rambled incoherently, more to herself than to anyone else in the room.

"Get a hold of yourself, Fullmetal." Olivier's sharp, authoritative voice broke through Ed's incoherent monologue as the blonde General glanced at Lee again, signalling for the other woman to lower her glowing hand and return to her position by the door. After Al managed to yank Edeline back into her seat, Olivier leaned back against the couch and crossed one leg patiently over the other. "Now that we've established that you can, in fact, still do alchemy, will you consider joining my team and helping me?"

"No." Ed growled loudly.

"And why is that?"

"Because it's wrong, damn it!" Edeline exclaimed furiously, shaking her head. "Like I just said, I gave up my gate 3 years ago in exchange for Al's body! My gate should be gone! That's the whole idea behind equivalent exchange!" She reasoned desperately.

"And yet, Major Lee has just shown you that your gate is, in fact, open." Olivier pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest in growing impatience.

"No, you don't understand! If my gate has re-opened, then that means that something is wrong! Something's fucked up. The alchemic equation is unbalanced!" Ed declared in a shrill voice.

"Meaning?" Olivier arched a single eyebrow at her in boredom.

"It means, General, that if I use alchemy again, something is definitely going to come back and bite me in the ass!" Ed shouted angrily at her.

"Fullmetal, I am not an alchemist. I don't understand you're saying, nor do I have the time to have this argument with you." Olivier retorted, flipping her long hair over her shoulder again and rolling her eyes at Ed's screaming fit. "I was going to hold this discussion off until after you've agreed to go back with us but since you're obviously making it hard for us to convince you, I might as well show you this now." She reached into the folder in her hand and pulled out a single sheet of paper.

When Ed shakily sank back down onto her seat, Olivier handed it to her, waiting patiently until the younger woman finished reading its contents. As he read silently over his sister's shoulder, Al's eyes widened and he stared at Olivier in surprise.

"Lieutenant Colonel?" He blinked in awe, glancing at Ed's confused frown.

"The fuck—?" Ed croaked out.

"If you agree to come back with me now and re-qualify as a State Alchemist, both Fuhrer Grumman and I have agreed to up your rank to Lieutenant Colonel." Olivier explained, her lips twitching into a smug smile when she saw the way Ed's eyes widened at her words. "You'll be given your own office, as well as assigned an assistant of your own. As part of my team, I'll not only be giving you full reigns over the investigation concerning Mustang but you'll also be in charge of overseeing all disciplinary cases concerning all State Alchemists and presenting them accordingly to me at the first instance, and then to the Fuhrer." She explained.

"Wow. That's…wow." Al breathed out loud, blinking in astonishment.

Seeing his reaction, Olivier couldn't help chuckling slightly and giving him an amused smile. "You're very welcome to join my team too, Alphonse. I could always use another brilliant State Alchemist to—" She offered but even before she finished her sentence, Al was already shaking his head and giving her a sheepish smile.

"No offense General, but joining the military has never really been my calling. That was always more of nee-chan's thing. Besides—" Al laughed nervously and scratched at the back of his head. "Mei will be coming to visit in the next few months and she'll kill me if I enlist." He shuddered at the thought.

"I see." Olivier merely blinked, undaunted by the rejection. "Well, like I said, you'd be more than welcome to join us."

"This is all a little…overwhelming." Ed admitted weakly, drawing Olivier's attention back to her as she stared at the sheet of paper in her hand. "General, I was just a Major when I left the military three years ago, and even then, I never handled anything like this. This sounds like a lot of work and responsibility—"

"Something I think you're ready to handle." Olivier told her firmly, not even batting an eyelash.

"You're a strong, intelligent young woman, Fullmetal. The youngest State Alchemist to ever enlist and the heroine of Amestris. Not to mention the only other woman to make it out of the Briggs alive. I see quite a bit of myself in you, actually." She smirked slightly at that, no doubt recalling the time when she and Edeline first met. "Besides, you needn't worry. I'll be the one mentoring you from now on. Not that idiot Mustang. You'll be fine." Olivier answered haughtily, waving her concern away. "Of course, again, to be clear, all of this is still under the assumption that you re-qualify as a State Alchemist, obviously, because otherwise, how will you able to oversee the cases of other State Alchemists if you aren't one." She drawled.

"I've never held an actual office function before as a Major. Fucking hell, I've never even had a subordinate under me before! And besides, how do you expect me to re-qualify as a State Alchemist again? I haven't performed any kind of transmutation in years. Frankly, I don't even know if I can." Ed admitted, glaring pointedly at her.

"You're supposedly some kind of child prodigy, aren't you? It says so in your record. All you need to do is pass the written examination." Olivier answered easily.

"That won't be a problem. Nee-chan is an alchemy genius! She topped the written exam when she first took it." Al declared proudly, wincing slightly when Ed growled at him in warning and kicked him in the shin.

"Then I'm sure you can pass one stupid little test." Olivier cut Edeline off before she could say anything else and drawled out in a bored voice. "There's no need for you to take the interview or practical exam. You are the Fullmetal Alchemist after all, and the Fuhrer still remembers how you 'saved Amestris three years ago'." She scoffed and waved the concern away impatiently.

"That's great." Ed retorted sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "But that still doesn't adress the fact that I don't want to do any actual alchemy. Now if you can guarantee that I won't have to, then maybe I'll consider your offer—"

"Fullmetal, this is getting ridiculous—"

"No alchemy, General."

"Fine." Olivier finally let out an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "No alchemy, unless the severity of the situation demands otherwise." She offered impatiently.

"Ugh. Damn it all."

"Am I to take that as a yes?" Olivier inquired.

"I haven't agreed to join yet." Ed scowled at her but said nothing else as she leaned back against her seat and crossed her arms over her chest in thought. Beside her, Al nudged her sharply and she grunted in acknowledgment before he leaned to the side and whispered something into her ear so that Olivier couldn't hear.

"Nee-chan, you promised that you weren't going to go back to the military." He reminded her quietly, and in spite of herself, Edeline felt a little guilty when she heard the disappointed tone in her brother's voice. "You remember how dangerous everything was back then, please don't tell me you're seriously considering re-enlistment. Winry's going to kill you."

"I know, Al. But…if what the General is saying is true and Mustang is their only suspect for all those disapearances, then I have to go back and help him any way I can. I can't just sit back and do nothing. We owe him that much." Ed whispered back, her features creased into a worried frown.

"Well then, if that's the case, if you're going to go back to the military anyway, isn't it better for you to join General Mustang's team? Remember Hawkeye and Havoc are still outside, waiting to see if you'll agree to come back with them. He was the one who first recruited you as a State Alchemist, after all. He might be offended if you agree to work under General Armstrong." Al reasoned.

"Ah shit." Ed cursed again and glanced briefly at Al in realization before she turned her gaze back to Olivier and gave the female General an apologetic look. "General, I'm sorry but I have to decline your offer. Major Hawkeye and Major Havoc were just telling me about how—"

"If you're declining because you think you'd rather join Mustang's team than mine, then I suggest you think about your decision more logically, Fullmetal." Olivier cut her off sharply, looking decidedly bored again as she glanced down and inspected her nails. "Assuming this murderer exists – if he's really out to frame Mustang, then I have no doubt that he will be constantly monitoring Mustang's team. Joining my team instead will at least afford you some discretion in your investigation." She pointed out.

"She's right, Nee-chan." Al agreed reluctantly, a contemplative look on his face. "If there is someone back in Central who wants to blame General Mustang for those murders, he'll be watching him and his team very closely. You might be of more help to the General if you investigate this without his knowledge and outside of his team."

"Ugh. Damn it." As the soundness of her brother's logic withstood her mind's relentless scrutiny, Ed slowly began to realize what she had to do next and she groaned, her shoulders slumping as she covered her face with her hands in misery. Watching her reaction, the bland expression on Olivier's face finally lit up and almost immediately, a small, self-satisfied smirk began to form itself on her elegant, aristocratic features.

"Shall I have Major Lee draft up your re-enlistment papers then, Lieutenant Colonel?" She drawled.

Ed lifted her face from her hands and stared up at her new Commanding Officer with a meek, imploring look.

"Only if you're the one who goes out there to face the wrath of Riza Hawkeye." She whimpered pathetically.

It had taken a lot of convincing, and rather hysterical apologies and whimpers on Ed's part, but they had somehow managed to explain the situation to Jean and Riza – mainly about how Edeline had agreed to re-enlist but instead of being under Mustang, she would now be under the direct command of Lieutenant General Armstrong.

Riza had been infuriated, to say the very least, and had gone as far as pulling her gun out at Major Lee but she had backed off when Olivier had retaliated by unsheathing her sword and pointing it at the other blonde, leveling the sniper with her famous ice glare and ordering her to stand down.

Almost instantly, Hawkeye had backed off and once Ed finished signing her re-enlistment papers, Olivier and Major Lee finally left, leaving Ed and Alphonse staring at Jean and Riza in awkward silence.

They hadnt told them the real reason why Ed had taken the position – how her being under Olivier's command instead of Mustang's would make it much easier for Ed to track down the real culprit behind all the flame alchemy murders but somehow, Al knew that Riza had managed to figure out Ed's motivations anyway because since Olivier had left, she hadnt pushed the issue any further.

Instead, she had given Edeline a small, knowing smile and tucked her gun back inside its holster.

Since it was evening by the time Olivier and Lee had left, Winry – who had arrived in the afternoon shortly after Ed's private talk with Olivier – invited both Jean and Riza to stay for dinner and spend the night before they returned to Central the next morning. When Jean accepted rather enthusiastically, smiling at Winry as though she had just told him that he'd won the lottery, Riza had been forced to agree and so Winry had set them up in the two spare bedrooms upstairs.

Dinner had been an enjoyable, and surprisingly peaceful, affair.

Knowing his older sister, Al had fully expected another night of having to endure being in the middle of Winry and Ed's famous screaming matches but thankfully, having guests over seemed to deter the two hot-headed blondes from their usual shenanigans. They spent most of the meal catching up with each other, with Jean sharing stories about what their team had been up to in the past three years and how much Central has changed since then. Riza was, as expected, quiet throughout most of the evening, but when Al had finally stood up to collect the empty plates, she had stood up with him and offered to help him wash the dishes.

When she didn't seem to want to take no for an answer, Al sighed and allowed the blonde sniper to follow him into the kitchen. He paused by the doorway and watched as Riza helped him bring the rest of the empty dinner plates carefully to the sink.

"He's going to be disappointed, you know."

Looking up in surprise at the way her voice had broken the comfortable silence between them, Al looked up from where he had begun washing a few of their cutlery and gave her a confused look.

"What do you mean, Major?" He asked curiously.

"The General." Riza clarified, chuckling quietly under her breath as she used a small washcloth to dry the newly washed plate Al had given her. "He'll be sorely disappointed to know that your sister won't be joining his team again when she gets back."

"I'm sure he will be." Al smiled slightly at that, remembering fondly how the former Colonel, despite his seemingly cool demeanor to other people, had always been rather sensitive and clingy when it came to his team. "Given how much of a drama queen he was back then, I can only imagine the tantrum he's going to throw in his office when he finds out." He kidded.

"He'll be heartbroken." Riza winced in agreement at Al's words, amused that the 18-year-old still remembered his former Colonel so well. "Your sister was always his favorite subordinate. He still brags about Edeline all the time to the other officers. He calls her his little protégé." She rolled her eyes and gave him a wry smirk.

Al grinned proudly at that, his eyes bright with laughter as he handed her another newly washed plate. "She'll probably never admit it, but nee-chan really looks up to him. They had a lot of screaming matches back then but even then, she never really went against his orders. She really trusted him." He told her, glancing at her over his shoulder to give Riza a reassuring smile. "So even if she'll be working for General Armstrong now, I have no doubt that nee-chan will remain fiercely loyal to General Mustang above all else."

"I know." Riza answered, returning his smile. "Everything else aside, I'm sure that Roy will just be glad that she's coming back. Now, if only we could get you to return to Central with her." She kidded lightly.

"Me? Oh no." Al laughed at the idea and made a face. "I've had my share of the military, Major. Unlike my sister, I like living a quiet and peaceful life." He told her.

"After everything you've been though, I don't blame you." Riza agreed as she reached for another dirty dish.

She looked as though she was just about to ask him something else when they were both interrupted by the sound of the door swing open behind them and they both turned around, watching as Jean peered his head into the room.

"Sorry to interrupt. Hey Al?"

Al paused and glanced over his shoulder at the blonde man.

"Do you mind if I use your phone? I have to call my girlfriend back home in Central. Otherwise, I think she's really going to break up with me this time." Jean winced as the words left his mouth, shaking his head and giving Al a sheepish smile. "It won't take long, I promise. I just have to tell her that I'll be coming back home tomorrow."

"Sure, Major. Take all the time you need." Al smirked at him but nodded and waved his concern away. "The phone's out in the garage, just ask Winry where it is."

"Thanks! I owe you, Al!" Jean grinned at him before he winked at the glare Riza gave him and left, closing the door shut quietly behind him. As soon as they wer alone, Al risked a quick glance over at Hawkeye again and he was surprised to see the blonde Lieutenant sigh softly to herself, a strange frown lingering on her face as she stared at the door Jean had closed in heated silence.

"Major Hawkeye? Are you okay…?" Al asked, studying her wistful expression.

When she noticed the way Al was looking at her in concern, Riza instantly colored and she coughed hastily before shaking her head and turning her attention back to the dishes in front of her. "I—I'm fine, Al. I was just… I was thinking about all of the work that's waiting for me when I get back." She answered hastily, avoiding his eyes.

Al raised an eyebrow in suspicion at that but he decided not to push the subject. He knew from personal experience that bothering Riza Hawkeye when she didn't want to talk about something never tended to end well.

"So…Al. I never got the chance to ask her over dinner but I have to now since I know the General will when I get back. How is Ed? I mean, how has she really been? How was her stay in Xing?" Riza asked, obviously trying to change the subject but Al didn't really mind.

"Pretty well, from what she told me." Al answered as he reached for more dirty utensils and submerged them in the sink. "To be honest, I actually think she would have stayed there longer if Ling hadn't scared her off when he suddenly proposed marriage to her out of nowhere and all but hey, at least she's back home—"

"Ling…proposed to her?" Riza had stopped what she was doing and was now staring at Al with one of her chestnut eyes bigger than the other. "Prince Ling as in…the new Emperor? That boy who had the homunculus Greed inside him?!"

"Yeah, that's the one." Al laughed at the stunned expression on her face. "He and nee-chan began dating shortly after she and I left Central to go back to Resembool. They made a pretty good couple, actually. And I know nee-chan really liked him, despite how she was always saying that he was just an annoying alien."

"I…see." Riza answered, obviously still in shock over the news. "So if she liked him and he proposed to her, then why did Ed run away?"

"She wasn't ready yet." Al answered easily, not even missing a beat. "Ever since our father left our mom, nee-chan's always been afraid of ending up the same way. She acts tough all the time but she's terrified of commitment." He told her as he wiped his hands on the towel. "Personally, I think she made the right choice when she left. She's way too young to get married." He declared protectively.

"The Emperor didn't go after her when she left?" Riza asked curiously as she set her own towel down and leaned back against the sink.

"His advisers wouldn't let him leave. Responsibilities of the throne and all that." Al shrugged and made a face. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if proposing marriage to my sister was his advisers' idea, not Ling's. Nee-chan said that all of them had been pressuring Ling to take a wife ever since he turned eighteen."

"I…see." Riza said again, unable to think of anything else to say.

"They're still friends though, so I guess my sister's moved on. And from what I heard last from Mei, Ling was recently engaged to this nice Xingese girl from a noble family." Al told her.

"That's good to hear." Riza managed a small smile and nodded in understanding. "It's a shame though. Now that I think about it, they do make a rather good couple." She chuckled at the thought, in spite of herself.

"Yes, they did." Al smiled sadly. "They might have been too young to get married but a part of me wished that Ling had gone after her. I think she really cared about him. I don't like seeing her hurt." He said softly.

He decided to keep to himself the fact that when Ed had first come home from Xing, she had locked herself up in her room for several days, refusing to eat anything or talk to anyone. Until one morning, while Al and Winry were downstairs eating breakfast, Ed had come clambering down the stairs, freshly showered and dressed, plopped down into the seat in front of them and began eating breakfast as though nothing had happened.

Al had known better than to pry, but thankfully enough, Ed pretty much returned to her normal self after that and the three of them hadn't spoken about Ling ever since. Despite her dismissive behavior towards what happened though, Al knew for a fact that his sister had loved Ling.

He only wished there was something he could do to help them get back together.

"Don't blame yourself." Recognizing the guilt in his expression, Riza gave him a fond smile and reached out to give his blonde hair an affectionate ruffle. "If it's meant to work out between Ling and your sister, then it will. If he wants her, then he'll go after her on his own time. It's as simple as that."

Al sighed loudly at that, shaking his head to clear his thoughts away and grumbling under his breath.

"Love is weird."

To his surprise, Riza laughed at his disgruntled expression – her stoic features uncharacteristically softening into an amused smile. "Yes, it is." She agreed, still chuckling as she took in his baffled expression.

"And the more you grow older, the weirder it gets, I'm afraid." She said ruefully.

"Ugh. Why can't it be more like alchemy? Simple and logical." Al complained again, still grumbling to himself.

"Don't take it all so seriously. You're both still young, you have a lot of time before you think about settling down." Riza said as she finally placed the last clean dish back into its proper compartment before she straightened and gave him a pointed look. "I mean, look at me. I'm turning thirty next year and I still don't have any plans of settling down." She said wryly.

"But you want to right? Someday?" Al asked curiously, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

Riza sighed softly at that and, to Al's surprise, her chestnut eyes slowly drifted away from his until she was staring quietly at the kitchen doors again, a strange, contemplative expression on her face.

"Yes. Someday."

Notes: Oh my, so many mismatched, unhappy couples right now, I certainly have my work cut out for me! Next chapter will feature Ed's POV as she hops on a train back to Central. And maybe an angry Roy confronting Olivier about Ed ;)