Over the next few weeks, Alice had many visitors. The children from the orphanage were allowed to see her in light of her severe battering, officers came to congratulate her on her heroism, and even Colonel Mustang dropped in a few times, always asking for more detail on the incident she had just escaped. Jonathan left after the day she woke up, and she felt deeply sad to see him go; she worried how he'd handle everything he'd lost. When the doctors were finally able to remove the bandages over her left eye, Alice was crushed to discover that her vision had been almost completely destroyed by the knife wound. All she could see now were dim shadows: a constant reminder of the creature who almost destroyed her. They held a mirror up to her for inspection, and a long almost-healed scar marred her face from her eyebrow to the middle of her cheek. She traced it absently with her forefinger, chuckling darkly at petty school memories.
"I suppose they'd be happy now," she whispered quietly. "Now that no one could possibly find me pretty anymore." She waved the doctors away; as soon as they were gone, she let herself cry over the loss of her eye and of the small piece of herself that cared whether or not someone would one day find her worth looking at.
By the time Alice was released, fall was in full force. Mustang had told her she was required to wear her military uniform while in Central, and she was grateful for the heavy material and long sleeves. The wind was chilly, even in the sunlight that was pouring over the streets of the city. She meandered through Central, stopping to shop a bit with the money she earned from ending the disturbing events in Arrancarre. Her brother's shirt was soaked with blood, and she'd not been able to get most of it out. It now sat folded neatly near her pillow, a memorial to him of sorts. She'd need to get some thread as well, as she was almost out. She stopped by the sewing shop to pick a few colors to match the shirts she'd had to pick up.
"Cutting slits in all of my clothes is going to get tiring," she mumbled to herself, annoyed. "But, it has to be done." She sighed and brought her purchases to the clerk at the back of the store. The bell above the door dinged, and a cold breeze blew through the shop, rustling the fabrics on display. Alice didn't turn, but collected her supplies and headed for the door. There were two men on one side of the store, pretending to examine a bolt of cream silk, but their eyes were trained on Alice as she brushed past them towards the door. She was halfway up the block when the left the store and began to trail her. She didn't notice as she checked a few other shops along the road, stopping now and again to pick up some small thing she needed. As the sun began to set, she started to make her way back toward the inn laden with bags. The footsteps behind her grew closer, and she dared a glance behind her, startled by the sudden pursuers. The two men from the sewing shop were trailing her at a short distance, their eyes boring into her as she walked. She glanced sideways as she walked, desperately trying to find some route of escape. From an alley up ahead of her, three more men waltzed out as if they'd been waiting for her. The tallest, a lean man with dirty blonde hair, nodded at an unseen sign and sauntered towards Alice.
"What's your hurry, cutie?" He sneered at her. Alice dared not glance up at him, lest he take her fear for interest. She could only see him clearly with her right eye, the left showed her only drifting shadows. "C'mon, why not play with us?"
"Get away from me," she tried, weakly. Her arms were full, but she readied herself to drop everything in order to bring her hands together. The bags rustled with the shaking of her body and she feared she'd be too panicked to transmute. "Get away from me, you filthy bastard." She said, stronger this time.
"Don't be like that, girly," he cooed. "We just wanna play… It's been a while, and so long since we had such a nice kitten such as yourself…" He trailed his finger across the lapel of her uniform, dropping down to fondle the silver watch chain in her breast pocket. She dropped everything from her arms and slammed her hands together, and slapped them down onto the pavement. A shower of spiked cobblestone pieces shot up from the street toward the blonde man, missing him by inches. Before she could get another strike on him, the men from the store had grabbed her around the waist and throat, hauling her into the alley. Alice tried to scream, but her air was being cut off by the muscular arm pushing into her windpipe. She struggled and kicked, but vicious blows landed on her arms and legs, bruising her and re-breaking her barely healed wrist. She was thrown to the ground and two of the five men held her arms, one of them pushing her head into the cobblestones. In a daze, Alice lay still for a moment trying to think past the throbbing in her temples. "I'll take the liberty of going first, gents." The blonde man kneeled to the ground and leaned over Alice. "First I'll wreck that pretty little face of yours," he laughed, drawing a knife across Alice's unscarred cheek, "and then I'll take this pretty little body of yours." He licked her ear and she shivered in disgust, struggling to escape the man's weight on her legs and back. He hiked her skirt over her hips and sneered. "It's your fault after all, wearing this uniform and taunting us." Alice started screaming as the man took her, but he only laughed. "That's it, kitten, keep screaming. It only makes it better." When he'd finished, he stood up and kicked Alice. "Next?"