A/N: Hey Iron Rose here. (Obviously.) Anyway I'm starting something new here….a chapter song. Well it's not really new, but I haven't done it before.

Song: Conquistador - 30 Seconds to Mars

Enjoy!


Jack was excited. And confidant. And nervous. But mostly confidant. He and Savon had worked all week on his alchemy. Jack was ready for anything they could throw at him.

"Jack? Jack. Jack! You awake in there?" Ana waved her hand in front of his face. Savon snickered as Jack shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Huh?" he asked.

"You gotta go. The test is starting," she reminded him.

"Right. See ya," Jack said as he ran off towards the meeting room they were testing in.

Naomi sighed. She was getting bored with all this alchemy nonsense. Naomi gasped and then saluted when she saw Fuhrer Mustang approach.

"At ease, soldier," he said when he arrived. He nodded a greeting to Savon and Ana. "Hello son. Iron Rose."

"Hi, Dad," Savon replied, not meeting Mustang's eyes.

"What are you doing here, Fuhrer?" Ana demanded.

"I'm here to see the results of that flame alchemist you brought in."

"Oh right," said Ana. The whole group fell into an awkward silence. Then Ana had a terrible idea.

"Hey Fuhrer….." she said coyly. "You wanna make a bet?"

"A bet?"

"Yeah if Jack passes I get to pick his code name."

Mustang raised his eyebrows. "You realize that I determine whether he passes or not."

Ana decided to ignore this fact. "Yeah. So do we have a deal?"

"Sure. Why not?" Mustang replied.


Jack's confidence evaporated the moment he opened the test booklet. It had questions like:*

How many liters of water does the human body contain?

At what temperature does steel melt?

How much iron would come from a 2 kilograms of iron ore with 20% copper, 14% nickel, 3% arsenic and 48% chromium?

List 3 items that could be made out of 2 meters of fabric.

This was going to take a while.


"Ugh! What's taking him so long?" Ana complained.

"Not everyone is as good at tests as you are Ana," Naomi retorted.

"What do you mean?" asked Savon.

"Miss Ana Edwards here completed the written portion of the exam in the shortest time ever. The test is designed to take an average of two hours-"

"And he's been in there for two and a half!" Ana interrupted.

"Anyway," she sent a glare at Ana. "She completed the test in a record hour and seventeen minutes. And got every answer right. Command thought she cheated."

"You DID?"

"No I didn't cheat! But tests have always been easy," she said dismissively. "In grade school I failed half the assignments but still passed most of the classes 'cause I always aced the exams. And I didn't get ALL the answers right. Whoever grades it docked me half a point on 28. For a spelling mistake. Pig."

Naomi rolled her eyes.

At that point, Jack stepped out of the room, panting heavily. He staggered across the marble hallway over to his friends. Once he got there, he fell into a heap on the floor.

"My fake fests," he mumbled into the floor.

"What?" asked Ana, confused.

Jack lifted his face off the floor and said, "I hate tests."

Ana burst out laughing.


Ana, Naomi, and Savon stood at the edge of the roped off area where Jack was taking his combat test.

Jack walked out on to the field. The horn that signified the beginning of the fight went off. Jack charged at his opponent. Ana saw a small flash of red then a huge flame burst from Jack's hand.

"Ana," Naomi nudged Ana's arm, trying to get her attention. "Ana. Ana!"

"What?!" Ana asked annoyed.

"Look at Jack. His eyes- There's something wrong."

Ana looked out at the field. She squinted at Jack. Naomi was right. There was something off about Jack's body language. It looked as if…

"Jack's going to kill him," Ana realized. She ducked under the rope separating the spectators from the fight and ran at Jack.

"ANA!" Naomi and Savon screamed.

Jack's opponent laid on the grass, unconscious. He stood over the figure, about to turn the man to ash, when Ana ran into him. Her momentum sent them both flying to the side of the field.

"Naomi! Savon!" Ana shouted. She pointed at the unconscious man. "Get him out of here!"

Once they had reached the man and dragged him away, she turned her attention back to Jack. Just in time too. Jack regained his senses after the fall and sent a large fireball towards Ana's head. She rolled out of the way but the flames caught the edge of her shirt. She kept rolling and got the fire out, but still got a few burns in the process.

Ana stood up shakily. She did not understand why Jack was acting like this. He never went berserk during his practices with Savon.

What made this different? Ana thought. The opponent? No, he was gone. The location? Probably not. Jack had been here dozens of times already. The crowd?

Ana lost her train of thought as another stream of fire flew passed her face. She charged Jack, knocking him over once more. But Jack was better prepared this time. He threw her off and sent another blast of fire at her. Ana clapped and a wall blocked the flames. The crowd cheered in excitement and Jack's expression turned even darker.

They began to fight hand to hand. Jack had the obvious advantage. He was twice as strong as Ana, but he did not have the expertise she did. He was limited to punches and small kicks whereas she had a full arsenal of martial arts.

As the fight continued, the crowd grew louder. As the crowd grew louder, Jack's moves became more and more deadly. Finally, Ana had enough. She clapped and a giant wall surrounded the combat field. The noise of the crowd was instantly deafened.

Jack stopped moving. The furious expression on his face disappeared. Ana sighed in relief, then promptly collapsed as all the adrenaline poured out of her.

"Ana?" Jack asked, totally lost. "Ana!" He ran to her in a panic. She groaned as he picked her up. Oh my god, did I do this? he thought as he looked over her battle wounds. Jack looked up at the seamless wall surrounding them. Ana needed medical help; he knew how painful burns could be.

Jack placed Ana gently on the ground in order to draw a basic transmutation circle. When he pressed his hands to it, a large chunk of wall exploded.

By this point the crowd was completely silent and confused. As Jack stepped out of the wall, carrying Ana once more, Naomi and Savon came running up to him.

"What happened?" asked Naomi sternly.

"I'm not sure," answered Jack.

"You're NOT SURE!" Savon shouted. "You almost-"

Naomi slapped her hand over Savon's mouth. "There's no need to tell the world."

"Guys," said Jack, reclaiming their attention. "Ana needs a doctor."

"Medic!" shouted Naomi.

"No," Ana mumbled. "Mustang. I need to talk to Mustang."

Just then two medics came running up with a stretcher. Jack set Ana down on it. She groaned as she settled onto the new surface. The medics took her way to a hospital where they could treat her.

Jack was at a loss. He had almost killed the person who saved him. His face was contorted in a mix of confusion and worry. "What did I do?" Jack whispered to himself.

Unfortunately, Naomi heard him. "Don't worry. Okay? Ana heals fast, remember? She'll be better in no time."


Ana was lying facedown in a hospital bed when Naomi, Savon, and Jack came into the hospital room. They had just finished talking to the nurse about Ana's injuries. The young alchemist had several second degree burns on her back and arms. She was to be let out in three days but she was not allowed to do any vigorous movement for the next week. Ana was, of course, incredibly unhappy about this.

"Naomi! You gotta get me out of here!" Ana cried dramatically.

"No," Naomi responded without emotion.

"But they tried to make me drink…." she paused for dramatic effect. "Milk."

"No."

"Ugh." Ana flopped back down on the bed, then yelped in pain. "That was a bad idea," she squeaked.

Naomi chuckled. Savon came over and helped Ana sit back up. They all waited there for an awkward moment, then Savon said,

"Sooo, Jack's test got put on hold…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Ana.

"Basically, the Fuhrer is stopping the test until Jack has proven he isn't a threat to society," Naomi explained.

Ana looked to Jack for confirmation. When he rolled his eyes and nodded, she said, "So I still need to talk to Mustang. Naomi, Savon, go find him."

Once they were gone, Ana turned to Jack, "It's not your fault you know."

"Don't give me that," Jack growled. "I almost killed someone. I hurt you. What if-"

"Listen to me," Ana said calmly. "These things…. They happen. A lot. People get hurt all the time. It's the reason we have hospitals. But I don't want you giving up because of this."

"It's just… The arena… It reminded me of something I'd rather forget," Jack said softly.

"You'll be fine, Jack. Whatever happened in the past, can't hurt you here."

"I guess."

"If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here. Okay?"

"Got it," Jack responded.

"Good. Now where's Mustang?" Ana demanded. The abrupt change in topic almost gave Jack whiplash. Fortunately, the door opened and Mustang walked in. He nodded his greeting to Ana and Jack.

"Jack, could you give us a minute?" asked Ana.

"Uh, sure," he said. Jack quickly walked out, closing the door behind him. Outside he found Naomi and Savon with their ears pressed against the wall.

"What are-"

"Shhh," hissed Naomi. "We're trying to hear what they're saying."

Jack shrugged and pressed his own ear to the door. The conversation went on for the next couple minutes, but the three could only make out words like "Jack", "alchemy", "Oh, come on, Mustang", and "That's Fuhrer to you, young lady".

When the door opened again, it upset Jack's balance and he fell face forward at Mustang's feet.

Mustang looked down at the teen as Jack picked himself off the ground. "You know, eavesdropping is not a trustworthy quality."

"So I've been told," Jack said sourly.

"Anyway, you have passed your State Alchemist Qualification."

"I did….? Wait. I did. YES!" Jack shouted.

A nearby nurse shushed him. "Young man," she reprimanded. "This is a hospital. People are sleeping."

Jack at least had the courtesy to look abashed.

"Just come in," ordered Mustang. "We'll finish this inside."

The three teens walked into Ana's room. Naomi sat down on the edge of the bed. Savon and Mustang took the two arm chairs and Jack leaned against the wall with the door. A huge grin split Ana's face when she saw Jack.

Mustang took a deep breath and began. "Jack Slate, I'm going to present you with a State licence. However, there are conditions that have to be observed. Because of your actions taken during the test, there will be limits placed on the power you hold as a State Alchemist. You will not receive the military rank or authority and all your work must be supervised by Iron Rose. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," said Jack.


Ana got out of the hospital five days ago and was already walking around, contrary to the doctor's orders, but her friends had stopped trying to fight her a long time ago. The group was in Mustang's office finalizing Jack's State licence.

"Ana, what his code name going to be?" asked Mustang. To be honest, he was dreading the next words he was about to hear.

"I was thinking along the lines of 'Demon Fire'," she proclaimed proudly.

Jack blanched at the possible code name. "Hell no."

"Oh come on. It's sooo cool."

"It's sooo cliche," commented Savon.

"Well if you have a better idea," Ana said sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact I do," said Mustang with a cocky grin. "How about the 'Flame Alchemist the Second'. You know, after me."

Savon face palmed.

Jack hit his head against the desk as he cried, "C'mon people. You have to be able to come up with stuff better than that."

"I have an idea," said Naomi quietly. "How about 'Helios'?"

Everyone was silent for a moment. Then Jack said, "That's perfect."

Ana pouted, "My name was cooler."


* These questions are entirely made up. I don't know the answers or if they have answers or if they're even solvable. If any math geniuses want to take a shot at them feel free. I take chemistry this year so if they're wrong I'll fix them later….