Chapter Three:

Living Arrangements

Second Lieutenant Havoc watched Annora in interest from his spot on a chair right across the hall from Annora's holding cell. The teenager had been cursing up a storm when Ed and Al had brought her in, only to quiet down once she had been put in the cell. Havoc rolled his eyes as he lit a cigarette: Mustang had given him orders to watch the girl until he had time to question her, meaning that Havoc was probably going to be there all night. The man let out an aggravated groan as he slumped down in his chair; he had to cancel another date with his girlfriend for this?! The second lieutenant sighed mentally; this kid had to have done something really bad to deserve this.

'She's dressed kind of weird though,' he realized as he studied the sixteen-year old closely. Annora had taken off her jacket and sweater, laying them down at the end of her cot as she removed her tennis shoes and set them down on the floor next to her backpack. She was now seated cross-legged on her bed with a thick textbook opened up and resting on her legs with a piece of paper placed in the book, writing and occasionally pulling out some black object that she would punch the keys on before writing down the information.

(AN: That black object that Havoc is seeing is a graphing calculator. Annora has one in her backpack all the time just for everyday use and homework purposes. It's so much easier to have it there than at home; you don't need to borrow someone else's when you need to use one.)

It was only when she sat up straight that Havoc got a clear view of what Annora was wearing. It turned out to be a black t-shirt with the phrase "You say 'psycho' like it's a bad thing" printed on it in bold white lettering with a royal blue long-sleeved shirt on underneath, and a pair of plain denim blue jeans. The teenager didn't notice Havoc's silent examination, seeing as she was engrossed in her writing. The second lieutenant had continued to smoke his cigarette, when Annora let out a satisfied 'Ah-ha!'.

"Finally!" she exclaimed as she threw the book and pencil down on her bed. "Burn in hell, you sadistic little bastard!"

Havoc cocked an eyebrow in question as he stared at her. "Hey, kid. Why the hell are you talking to a book?"

Annora made a strangled noise of surprise and jumped slightly at the sound of the man's voice; she had forgotten that anyone was watching her.

"Ummm… it's my math homework," she explained, slightly embarrassed that someone had witnessed her little outburst. Surprisingly, Havoc nodded in understanding.

"I remember those days all too well," he admitted as he blew out a puff of cigarette smoke. "They stunk."

"Tell me about it."

Havoc stood up and stretched out his arms before he strode over to the metal bars that formed the front of Annora's cell.

"What kind of problems are you working on?" he asked as he held out his large, calloused hand. Annora looked over at the sandy-haired man for a few moments before she handed her math book and the completed problems through the cell bars. Jean Havoc opened up the thick textbook, and almost swallowed his cigarette in surprise when he caught sight of the complex geometry problems in the book and the solutions worked out on the notebook paper. He silently handed the book back to Annora.

"Damn, what're they teaching you kids in school these days?"

"How to construct atomic bombs and other weapons of mass destruction," she replied with a perfectly straight face. Havoc automatically did a double take.

"What?!"

Annora looked back at him and gave the older man a teasing grin. "I was just kidding. We pretty much learn the same stuff, except that some teachers teach it to us a little earlier."

Havoc let out a sigh of relief as he sat back down. "That's good. The Chief would've had a fit if you had said something like that to him." He paused for a second before he looked over at her seriously. "You've never blown something up before, have you?"

"The last time I did something like that, I was ten years old and my brother had decided to use some of his fireworks to blow up a couple of marshmallow bunnies after Easter."

Havoc's eyebrows shot up into his hairline when he heard this. "Why?"

"Because he convinced me that it would be funny."

"Oh." Havoc looked at her thoughtfully for a few moments before he asked. "Was it funny?"

Annora gave a small grin of amusement at this. "Sort of. My dad came out back right after the firecrackers had gone off and saw little bits of blow up marshmallow bunny all over the place and told us to clean it up. It turns out that he had been watching us through the back window the whole time and just about died laughing when he saw Ethan just standing there, covered in 'Peep guts', as he dubbed it."

"Who's Ethan?"

"My brother. I was the smart one; I ran when he lit the firecracker fuse, but he just stood there while the marshmallow rabbits blew up, so consequently, he got hit with the melted debris."

Havoc actually laughed at this description. "Sounds pretty wild. I know I did some pretty strange things when I was a kid, but I never did anything like that."

"Yeah, both of my parents keep saying it's a wonder that Ethan and I both lived long enough to become teenagers. My dad used to always say that Ethan would never make it to eighteen, but he's almost twenty now, so I guess he's lucky."

The second lieutenant nodded in agreement as Annora turned around and was just about to sit back down on her cot when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror over the sink. The sixteen-year old's eyes widened marginally in shock before she strode over and stared at her reflection intently. She still looked the same, at least in the fact that she still had her regular hair and eye color, along with her normal skin tone, but she looked like a character straight out of one of Katie's manga books. To put it roughly, she looked like she had been animated!

Annora looked at her reflection thoughtfully for a few moments, wondering why she hadn't noticed it before. She then let out a sigh, turned around, walked back to her cot, and sat down.

"Oh, this is going to be a long night," she groaned.

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Colonel Roy Mustang sweated nervously as he applied his signature to yet another form from the almost infinite stack that lay on his desk, all under the watchful eye of Riza Hawkeye. The woman had her handgun out and cocked as she supervised her commanding officer.

"This really isn't necessary," Mustang muttered as he placed yet another signed form on the slowly growing pile of completed paperwork. Hawkeye raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Then why is it that the paperwork I gave you yesterday was never completed?" she asked. "Not to mention why is there an unusually large amount of ash in the trashcan under your desk?"

Mustang chose not to answer that question; it would only incriminate him further.

It was at this point that Maes Hughes walked in with a thick manila folder in hand and a cheery grin on his face.

"Good afternoon, Colonel!" he greeted Mustang as he handed the younger man the folder. Mustang glared at the forms venomously and wished vehemently that he had his ignition-cloth gloves on. Hawkeye gave him a warning look as the familiar expression of 'I'm going to incinerate something' appeared on Mustang's face. Hughes didn't seem to notice this as he continued to talk.

"Fullmetal and his brother have already recorded what happened to them, so all you have to do is interrogate the girl and find out where she got that book before you fill out what happened with you, and you're done!"

"Does that include personal injury, Hughes?" Mustang asked dryly. The lieutenant colonel shook his head.

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Interrogate?" Hawkeye asked quietly as she fixed her steely gaze on Mustang, a hint of caution in her voice. "What girl?"

The Flame Alchemist didn't even look up from the report, even though he recognized the thinly veiled warning. "Fullmetal and his brother found a girl being chased by the homunculus that we brought in. She not only ran away from Fullmetal, but she also assaulted me and had a rather disturbing book in her possession; so I need to interrogate her and find out where she obtained that book."

"Didn't she say where it came from when you asked her about it the first time?"

"She said it belonged to a friend, who loaned it to her. She also claims that she hasn't even read the book before, so she didn't know what was in it. I think she's lying just to stay out of trouble, personally."

Mustang jumped about a foot in the air when Hawkeye fired a shot by his head into the wall just as he began to get out of his chair.

"I'll go talk to her, sir," the blond-haired woman stated. "You have paperwork that you still need to finish."

"But-"

"But what, sir?" Hawkeye fixed her commanding officer with an intense stare. Colonel Mustang swallowed nervously before he spoke.

"It's just that… well, the girl may be a homunculus, and she's got a fouler mouth than Fullmetal."

The woman raised an eyebrow at this bit of information before she turned around and walked out of Mustang's office, shutting the door behind her. Hughes stared at the door for a few moments while Mustang let out a sigh of relief.

"So," the older man began, pulling some color photos out of his jacket pocket. "Want to see some pictures of my daughter, Elysia?"

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Annora had finished all of her homework in the time that she had been in the cell; needless to say, she was bored. As a result of this, she had pulled out her sketchbook and started to draw. She had just started to lightly sketch the outline of a fox, when Havoc jumped out of his seat and saluted to whoever had just walked up to the holding cell.

'Looks like the arrogant pyro wants to have a few words with me, huh?' she thought as she continued to work on her drawing. 'Well he's going to have to do something other than be an ass, 'cause I'm not going to tell him anything!'

The teenager didn't even look up from her drawing as Havoc greeted the person.

"First Lieutenant, Ma'am! What brings you here?"

'Ma'am?' Annora wondered idly as she looked up. She was surprised to see Hawkeye looking at her intently before she turned around to face Havoc again.

"I'm questioning the girl in Colonel Mustang's place. Would you please let her out so I may take her to the interrogation room?"

Annora went pale at the phrase 'interrogation room'. Images of a dank, musty room filled with torture devices came to mind. Her hands unconsciously began to shake before she gripped the legs of her jeans in an effort to stop the tremors.

The teenager took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, which helped to calm her down a bit. The sound of her cell door being unlocked caught her attention.

"Come on, it won't take much time," Havoc pointed out as he held the metal barred door open. Annora looked up as she shoved her feet into her sneakers and pulled on her sweater before she stood up and walked over to the door. She clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging into the palms of her hands as she struggled to remain calm. Hawkeye noticed this as she placed a hand on the teenager's shoulder and gently steered her down the hallway. When they stopped in front of the door to the interrogation room, Annora seemed ready to bolt down the hallway.

"I'm just going to ask some questions, that's all," Hawkeye said calmly as she opened the door and escorted Annora inside. After closing the door behind her, the older woman went over and sat down in one of the wooden chairs, indicating that Annora should do the same. The sixteen-year old slid down onto the hard wooden seat and fixed her eyes on the woman sitting directly across from her, with a pen and paper out for note taking. Hawkeye looked at the girl and gave a faint smile.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to shoot you," she pointed out, noticing the teen's pale face. Annora relaxed, slightly.

Hawkeye noticed this, but didn't say anything about it.

"So," she began, making an effort not to scare the teenager any more that she had already. "Would you please tell me your full name?"

"Annora Thomas."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen. I just had my birthday last month."

Hawkeye nodded as she wrote down the information that Annora had given her. So her suspicions were correct; this girl was barely even old enough to take the State Alchemist exam, much less know how much trouble she was in.

"What's your date of birth?"

"November 16th, 1990."

The lieutenant stopped writing and looked up from her paper slowly to stare at the teenager intently. Annora fidgeted in her seat slightly; Hawkeye's gaze was unnerving her a bit. The woman let out a slow breath as she set down her pen.

"Annora, that can't be the year that you were born. The year right now is 1915."

The teenager went a nasty shade of white at this information as she gripped the wooden armrests of her chair in fright, her chocolate eyes wide.

"No," she whispered, so soft that Hawkeye didn't hear her.

"You're sixteen, correct?" Hawkeye asked as she looked at the shocked teen. Annora nodded silently, her mind elsewhere as she struggled to figure out what was going on. The lieutenant looked thoughtful for a few moments as she did some mental calculations.

"That would mean that you were born in 1899," she muttered more to herself than Annora. The older woman wrote the date down on the paper before she looked over at Annora again.

"So, how long have you been in Central?"

Annora blinked in surprise at the question. "Wait, where? I'm from Flagstaff; I don't even know where Central would be, much less have ever visited it."

Riza Hawkeye stopped writing for the second time. "Flag…staff? And where is that located?"

"Umm… Arizona," the teenager pointed out, only to be rewarded with a blank look from the lieutenant. "You know the state, Arizona."

"And where is that?"

"In the United States."

"Which is…?"

"Right below the country Canada and above Mexico, on the continent of North America."

No response.

Annora didn't know whether to scream with frustration, or start to worry. Fortunately, Hawkeye prevented her from panicking by asking another question.

"Do you have any family that you can contact, to tell them where you are?"

The teenager gave a small frown and shook her head slowly.

"No, not really. Both my parents are away on business," she explained softly. "And I can't really get a hold of my brother."

"Why not?"

"Because he's over fighting in Iraq, and he doesn't really have any way of coming to get me if I do contact him."

"So your brother is in the military? How old is he and what is his rank?" Hawkeye asked.

Annora paused for a second and raised her eyebrows in confusion. The lieutenant caught her unasked question and began to explain.

"You see, if your brother's in the military, it'll be fairly simple to contact him."

"Oh…" realization dawned upon the teenager and she relaxed slightly. "His mane's Ethan, he's almost twenty, and the last time I checked… he had the rank of Private."

Hawkeye gave an encouraging smile as she recorded the information that the sixteen-year old had given her.

"Well, I think that's about it," she remarked calmly as she stood up and pushed in her chair. "By the way, could you point out those places that you mentioned earlier on a map? I'm curious to see where they're located; I've never heard of them before."

Annora froze halfway through the process of pushing her own chair in, and then gave a wry grin.

"I have a couple of maps in my history book. When you take me back, I'll show them to you."

Riza nodded as she once again escorted the girl back to her holding cell.

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A triumphant smirk crossed Roy Mustang's face as he applied his signature to the last form on his desk. He was done; now he could leave his office with a free conscience. The black-haired man stretched his arms out behind him and let out a jaw cracking yawn just as Hawkeye came in and threw a folder onto his desk.

"Having fun, sir?" she asked curtly. The twenty-nine-year old almost fell out of his chair in surprise.

"Lieu-Lieutenant!" he gasped out, eyes wide in shock. "What are you doing here?!"

"I'm delivering the record of my interrogation, sir."

"Oh." Mustang all but mentally slapped himself for his stupidity. "So, what did you find out?"

"Permission to speak freely, sir."

"Permission granted."

Hawkeye took a deep breath before she launched into her report.

"From what I have gathered, the girl, whose name happens to be Annora, has absolutely no idea as to where she is. She has never even heard of Central before, much less been here. Needless to say, all she wants to do is go home."

"Then why did she attack me?" Mustang prodded. Hawkeye glared at him, her brown eyes blazing from anger.

"She was scared out of her mind, sir," the woman stated coldly. "When I asked her, she said that she had never heard of alchemy before today. So, had I been in her place, I would have done the same thing."

The mental image of Hawkeye aiming a gun at him sprang unbidden into Mustang's mind, causing him to flinch while the blood drained from his face. Hawkeye spun around smartly on her heel and stalked out of the office, slamming the door shut behind her. The mighty Flame Alchemist let out a sigh of relief as he sank down into his chair.

"What'd I do?" he muttered as he set about reviewing the file.

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Annora lay on the cot, the sheets over her as she drifted between the realm of sleep and wakefulness. It had been several hours since she had talked with Hawkeye, and Havoc had brought her dinner not long after that, saying that she had to be hungry after all the pacing she had done. The older man was currently asleep in his chair, snoring lightly.

Havoc had been told to stay overnight to watch Annora, meaning that he would get next to no sleep. The Lieutenant jerked awake with a start as he almost fell out of his chair, then groaned and slapped himself to wake up thoroughly.

"I need some coffee," he muttered groggily as he stood up and stretched before walking down the hallway. Unknown to him, a figure watched him intently from the shadows before it slid off in the direction of the holding cells.

A harsh 'clang' shook Annora awake just as she had fallen asleep. The teenager immediately shot up into a sitting position and scanned the dark cell uneasily before she checked her watch. It showed that it was well after midnight.

"Who's there?" she called out as she shifted the sheets off her and slid her feet into her shoes. The hair along the back of her neck stood straight up as a chilling laugh rang out from the wall opposite to her. With a malevolent smirk etched onto his features, Envy stepped out from the shadows into the dim pool of light cast by one of the lamps down the hall. Horror washed over the sixteen-year old as her sleep-laden mind realized what was happening.

Envy was in the same cell as her.

'Oh shit.'

"You're going to pay for what you did to me today, brat!" the homunculus growled, pale violet eyes flashing as he strode towards the teenager. Annora stood up and glared at him.

"Well sorry, but I'm a little short on cash right now. Will you take an I.O.U.?"

Envy lunged forward and grabbed the front of her shirt.

"I don't think so," he hissed. Annora paled slightly just an idea came to her.

'Three Stooges, don't fail me now,' she prayed mentally as she reached out and poked Envy in the eyes with her index and middle finger. The homunculus let out an agonized howl as he released her to clutch at his eyes. Annora seized her chance and ran over to the barred wall of her cell.

"ESCAPED PRISONER!" she roared out at the top of her lungs. "ESCAPED PRISONER!! ESCAPED PRISON-"

A strong hand wrapped itself around her throat, immediately cutting her off.

"No one's coming, girl!" Envy spat as he slammed her into the wall above the sink, shattering the mirror with the back of Annora's head. A small whimper of pain escaped her lips as she frantically dug her nails deep into her attacker's wrist in an attempt to get him to release her. The homunculus only smirked in response as the small wounds healed almost instantly.

"You might as well accept it," he gloated. "No one's going to save you."

The sound of pounding feet echoed down the corridor, signaling that Envy's statement was entirely untrue. The homunculus turned around slightly to gage how far away the people running towards the holding cells were, just as a large fragment of mirror in the sink caught Annora's attention. Not wasting a single moment, she reached down, grabbed it, and swiftly thrust it into Envy's forearm. The homunculus let out a howl of pain, accompanied by a series of elaborate curses as he released the teenager.

Annora stumbled forward and fell to her knees with a hand over her throat as she sucked in life-giving oxygen, her entire body shaking as coughs wracked her thin frame. The sound of roughly a dozen pistols being cocked caught her attention, and the sixteen-year old looked up in time to see several military issued gun muzzles all pointed in her direction. With a yelp, Annora curled up in a small ball with her hands over her head just as all of the guns fired in an echoing symphony.

BAM BA-BAM BLAM BAM!

Several of the slugs found their mark, plowing into Envy's flesh. One bullet even buried itself deep within the homunculi's forehead, plowing through flesh and bone to come to rest deep within soft brain tissue. The shape shifter slumped backwards for a moment, then straightened up with a flurry of blue sparks dancing over his skin where gaping wounds had been only moments beforehand, and then transformed into an owl and flew out the tiny barred window leading out into the courtyard.

Half of the military personnel leveled their firearms at the fleeing avian's feathery butt while the rest simply stared at it in shock, only to have Hawkeye signal for them to stop.

"Cease fire, it's gone," she ordered as she holstered her own pistol before looking over at Jean Havoc, who happened to be among the people that had responded to Annora's alarm. "Havoc, the key."

The man handed her the key to the cell door and stepped back respectfully as the First Lieutenant opened the door. Without a moment's hesitation, she strode over to Annora and knelt by the traumatized teenager. Hawkeye gently placed her hand on Annora's back, which caused her to look up at the woman. The lieutenant's eyes narrowed when she caught sight of the rapidly darkening bruises on the girl's throat.

"Are you alright?" she asked quietly. Annora nodded silently, then winced and put her hand to the back of her head where it had collided with the mirror. Hawkeye frowned as she gently pulled the teenager's hand away from the back of her head; not surprisingly, it came away bloody. Now, whether the blood was from the cut on her hand left behind by the fragment of mirror that she had used to defend herself, or from a wound on the back of her head, no one could tell.

"We really need to get you patched up," Hawkeye remarked quietly, then turned around and addressed Havoc, who was right behind her, accompanied by Roy Mustang.

"She needs to be taken to the hospital wing, immediately."

Havoc came forward and gently helped Annora to her feet. The teenager gave a wane smile as she indicated that she could walk on her own, only to almost fall flat on her face when she tried to take a step. Fortunately, Havoc caught her before she could hit the floor.

"Woah, looks like that blow to the head affected your balance," he pointed out. Annora made a face and muttered an obscenity under her breath in reference as to what species Envy's parents might have been. Havoc looked over at Hawkeye, who nodded in approval, before he picked up Annora, who let out a yelp of surprise, and headed to the hospital wing.

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"Damn it, Colonel Bastard, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" Edward raged as he kicked open the door to the medical ward. "It's after one o'clock in the fucking morning, and you call us in here?! Don't you know that most people are sleeping right now?!"

Annora jumped about a foot in the air in surprise, only to have Hawkeye force her back down onto the cot that she had been sitting on so the woman could finish removing shards of the mirror from her hand.

"Hold still," she reprimand gently as she pulled out yet another fragment of glass from the cut on the teenager's palm using metal tweezers. "I'll be finished soon."

"I hope so," Annora muttered, wincing as the first lieutenant accidentally poked a sore spot before removing the final shard of glass. The teenager was forced to bite her lip as Hawkeye poured antiseptic onto the wound before she started to wrap up the cut with a length of gauze. Once this action was completed, the older woman began to clean out the cut on Annora's cheek that she had received from a piece of flying mirror when the back of her head had been slammed into it.

Colonel Mustang paid no attention to these actions while he looked at the irate teenage alchemist. He merely raised an eyebrow as he leaned up against one of the beds in the room and allowed a small smirk to creep across his face.

"Since when have you ever been normal, Fullmetal?"

Alphonse hastily covered his brother's mouth before a stream of obscenities could emerge.

Annora rolled her eyes in irritation as she shifted the ice pack that she held in her left hand to another spot on the back of her head. Hawkeye had already examined the spot where her head had gone through the mirror, and had told the teenager that there wasn't a cut, but only a large bump. Hence the ice pack. Alphonse caught sight of her movements and turned around to look at her.

"What happened to you?" he asked. The sixteen-year old shrugged and gave a wry grin before she responded.

"I got the back of my head slammed into a mirror. Needless to say it hurts, a lot."

"How'd you manage that one?" Ed asked in a slightly sarcastic tone. "Did you trip over your feet or something?"

"The individual called Envy escaped and attacked her," Mustang interjected before Annora could reply with a biting comeback. "Which also happens to be why I called you here, Fullmetal: I'm assigning you to bodyguard duty."

"Who do we have to guard, Colonel?" Al asked politely. A knowing smirk crept across the Flame Alchemist's face as he delivered the final blow.

"You're to watch over this girl until we get this whole mess cleaned up."

"WHAT?!" Ed and Annora both shrieked, their eyes widening in disbelief.

"You mean that I'm going to have to watch this psycho?!" Ed yelped in outrage. "No fucking way! You're out of your mind!"

"Who're you calling a psycho, you shrimp?" Annora shot back, glaring at the shorter boy. "You're the one that needs to take a chill pill!"

"What did you just call me?!"

"You heard me, shorty!"

"Who're you calling a runt so tiny that he can ride an ant with room to spare?!"

"I didn't say that, you moron! You did!"

"That's what they all say!"

"Bite me then, if you can reach that high!"

"WHAT?!"

Mustang watched the shouting match between the two teenagers in amusement while Alphonse just looked on in confusion.

"Brother…"

The two teenagers just ignored him. The Colonel smirked as he decided to further irritate the boy.

"Hey, Fullmetal. Stop arguing with your girlfriend and get to work on your assignment."

Alphonse had to grab Ed in mid-leap before he could go after Mustang and commit murder. While the possessed suit of armor was struggling to restrain his older brother, a full ice pack suddenly flew out of nowhere and smacked the Flame Alchemist full in the face, leaving a bright red mark behind. All eyes slid over to Annora, who was giving Mustang a look that could kill.

"Asshole," she spat, mahogany eyes narrowed dangerously.

Roy Mustang rubbed at the spot where the ice pack had hit him as he scowled at the sixteen-year old.

"That's the second time that you've assaulted me, girl," he pointed out in a clipped tone. Annora just rolled her eyes in response.

"Yeah, well that's the second time you've acted like a moron."

Ed snickered at this; it looked like the Colonel was going to have to deal with another person that didn't respect him.

Mustang let out an aggravated sigh and massaged the bridge of his nose. "As I was about to say before I was so rudely interrupted, Fullmetal, you need to take the girl to your lodgings seeing as we obviously can't keep her here and keep her safe."

"Hey, I have a name, Sergeant Dumbass!" Annora gritted out, her eyes blazing. "It's Annora. An. Nor. A. Three syllables, not that hard to remember."

The Flame Alchemist twitched visibly as he fought to retain his calm. "Girl, if you wish to insult me, then at least address me by my proper title, which happens to be Colonel."

Annora chose not to dignify that statement with a response. Once Mustang was satisfied that the teenager wasn't going to interrupt him again, he continued.

"Make sure that she isn't seen entering your house."

Edward arched an eyebrow in surprise when he realized what the Colonel was saying. Alphonse also realized what Mustang was hinting at, and began to unbuckle his breastplate.

"So, how're you going to manage that?" Annora asked as she focused her attention on Mustang. The man allowed a knowing smile to creep across his face as Ed answered the girl's question.

"Easy, Al will tale you," the teenage alchemist responded nonchalantly as he jerked a gloved thumb in the direction of his brother. Annora raised her eyebrows skeptically at this.

"Umm, no offense or anything, but I don't think that two people can exactly fit in that thing," she pointed out hesitantly.

"Well… technically, there'll only be one person in here," Alphonse said as he removed his breastplate and pulled aside the chain mail to reveal his empty interior. Annora looked over at him and almost fell off the cot that she was sitting on in shock.

"Ah…ah…" she gasped out as the blood drained from her face. "What… what in the hell…?"

Before anyone could say anything, her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she collapsed back on the cot in a dead faint. Ed blinked in surprise at this.

"Well, that's one reaction that we've never had before," he muttered as he walked over and picked up Annora's limp form. "Although, I guess there's only so much that you can take in a day."

"That's funny, I would never have pinned her for the fainting type," Mustang muttered quietly. "From this afternoon's little display, I would have to say that she's incredibly strong-willed."

Alphonse shook his metal head as Ed gently placed the girl inside him and buckled up his breastplate.

"That may be, but my body is hardly normal. I don't blame her for reacting in the way that she did," he pointed out softly. Ed looked over at his younger brother with a pained expression in his eyes before he redirected his attention to Mustang.

"Anything else you need us to do, Colonel?" he asked sarcastically. Fortunately, Hawkeye intervened before things could get nasty.

"Havoc will be accompanying you to your lodgings with the girl's personal items; I told him to retrieve Annora's belongings when the Colonel announced his intentions to me before you and your brother arrived."

It was at that point that the sandy-haired man strolled through the door to the infirmary with a lit cigarette stuck in the corner of his mouth, looking decidedly exhausted. "I've got the kid's stuff and I'm ready to go, Hawkeye," he announced. Ed looked over at him and shook his head.

"Nah, the less people that come with us, the better. I'll just carry it myself."

Havoc let out a sigh of relief as the teenage State Alchemist took letterman's jacket and backpack from him; now he could go home and get some sleep for a change. Ed glanced over at his brother, who nodded, indicating that he was ready to leave.

"C'mon Al, let's go."

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Annora let out a low groan as she slowly slipped back into consciousness. She was dimly aware of the fact that she was on a couch… was it her couch? Was she home, safe and sound, where al that had happened was just a dream? The sixteen-year old slowly relaxed as she realized that someone was watching her. There was only one person that she knew that could possibly be there watching over her. And for once, she was glad that he was so damn overprotective.

"Ughh… Ethan, I had the worst nightmare," she muttered groggily. "I ended up in one of Katie's weird books, got arrested by these wierdos, and there was this big empty suit of armor…"

"Umm… I don't know who Ethan is, but I'm not him," someone said nervously. Annora's eyes shot open, and the fog clouding her mind cleared instantly as she found herself face to face with Alphonse Elric.

"Yahh!" she yelped as she attempted to scoot backwards away from the possessed suit of armor. Unfortunately, all the frightened teenager managed to do was smack her back painfully against the back of the couch.

"Alright already, stop freaking out. He's not going to hurt you or anything," Ed muttered irritably as he leaned up against the wall opposite from where Annora was currently seated. Annora's eyes narrowed dangerously and a few moments later, the State Alchemist was smacked upside the head by an accurately thrown couch pillow.

"Stop throwing crap at people!" he shouted angrily. "What are you, insane?!"

"No," Annora shot back. "Are you?"

Edward smacked his forehead with his left hand and let out an aggravated groan.

"Oh, I am going to kill that bastard Colonel for this."

"Hey, no offense, but I'm not too happy about this either," Annora pointed out. Alphonse just shook his head and let out a world weary sigh.

"It's not just that. It's also the fact that Brother hates Colonel Mustang with a passion," he explained.

"Oh." Annora looked thoughtful for a few moments. "Is that why you called him 'Colonel Bastard' when you came into the room back at the military office?"

"Damn straight."

'What I can't understand is why am I even here in the first place?' the sixteen-year old wondered as she stared down at her hands, which lay folded in her lap. 'It just doesn't make sense.'

"Hey, you." Ed looked over at Annora, who stared back at him steadily. "Where am I exactly? When the woman questioned me earlier, she asked me how long I had been in Central, so I know that much. But still, I don't really have a solid explanation as to where I am."

The teenage alchemist gave her a strange look as he gave her his reply.

"You're at our apartment in Central, which is not too far from military headquarters. The city of Central is the capital of the country of Amestris. Anyways, enough with the geography lesson. You're going to have to stay here for tonight; Colonel Bastard's orders."

Annora rolled her eyes in response as she covered up her shock at Ed's answer. "Oh joy."

"Excuse me, but I'm not exactly thrilled about this either," Ed muttered rebelliously. "I didn't ask to play babysitter to some girl that has a lousy sense of direction."

"No shit, Sherlock," Annora growled, her chocolate eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Hey, who asked you?!"

"You did, you moron!"

Alphonse watched nervously as Annora and Ed both stood up, walked over to each other and got in the other's face as they continued to argue.

"I'm a moron?! The only person that's a moron is the one that named you! What the hell kind of name is Annora anyway?!"

"You keep your mouth off my mother! And it's an Irish name, dumbass! It stands for 'honor' in Gaelic!"

"I'm not a dumbass, you psycho!"

"Oh wow, you sure could've fooled me! Then what are you, a Hobbit?!"

Ed looked at her and blinked several times in surprise, a look of comic bewilderment on his face.

"What the hell is a Hobbit?" he asked. The only response that he received was Annora laughing hysterically. A vein began to throb on the teenage alchemist's forehead as he glared at the girl.

"What?!" he demanded angrily. "What's so damn funny?!"

Annora looked at him and burst out laughing again, tears streaming from her eyes as she clutched her aching ribs.

"How -gasp- can you not know what a -giggle- Hobbit is?"

Ed only scowled in reply.

Al looked rapidly between the two teenagers and decided that it was a good time to put a stop to the argument.

"Umm… Brother, it's late and we all have a busy day ahead of us in the morning. So why don't we all go to bed and get some sleep?" he pointed out.

Ed looked thoughtful for a few moments before he shrugged noncommittally.

"Yeah Al, I guess we should all get some sleep."

"But Brother, where is Annora going to sleep?"

The Fullmetal Alchemist's eyes widened marginally in surprise as he froze in his tracks. He hadn't thought of that.

"Umm…" he began nervously, only to have Al interrupt.

"Brother, she could use my bed for tonight," he offered. Annora waved off the offer.

"No thanks, I'll just use the couch since it's only going to be for tonight. Besides, I'm not going to kick you out of your bed just because your commanding officer pushed me on you."

Ed looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. "Sounds good to me. But are you sure though?"

"Yeah, pretty sure."

"Brother, that's not polite!" Al interjected.

"Hey, she just said so herself that it was okay!"

"That still doesn't change the fact that it's rude!"

Annora just rolled her eyes upwards in exasperation. "Look, I just want to go to sleep, not argue about where I'm gonna sleep for a few hours for one night!"

Al started to protest, only to have Ed race upstairs.

"I'll get her some blankets!" he called back over his shoulder. Al sweatdropped as he stared at the doorway that his older brother had gone through.

"He's just trying to avoid the topic," he muttered as he went up the stairs after Ed. Annora's eyebrow's shot up into her hairline as she stared at the stairs in disbelief. This was sure turning out to be one weird day. Her mental musings were interrupted by Ed's return with a few blankets and a pillow.

"Here, you can use these for tonight," he said in a neutral tone as he held out the bedding to her.

"Thank you."

Ed made a sarcastic noise in the back of his throat in response. Annora shook her head and sighed.

"Geez, what's your problem?" she muttered. "It's not like I asked for this to happen."

No response.

"Alright then, if you want to be an ass, go ahead."

The teenager looked back at her and scowled. Annora raised an eyebrow in response as she spread one of the blankets out on the couch.

"Look, you're not the one that's stuck in a city that you've never even heard of with people that you don't know. It's not like I even want to be here, so could you please stop acting like I killed someone?"

"Then why don't you stop whining?" Ed shot back acidly. "They're your problems, so why don't you take care of them?"

Annora's eyes widened before she let out a weary sigh.

"Thanks for the advice, I'll keep that in mind," she responded neutrally, throwing the pillow down onto the couch with visible anger. Without waiting for a response, the sixteen-year old sat down, pulled off her shoes, and lay down, pulling the other blanket over her.

The teenager was sound asleep within moments.

With an unreadable expression in his golden eyes, the Fullmetal Alchemist watched Annora for a few moments before he turned around and walked up the stairs to the room that he shared with Al. The second he opened the door, Al's fist crashed down on his head.

"Brother, you're an idiot," he stated simply before he turned around and lay down on his bed with his back to his brother. Ed stared at the suit of armor that housed his brother's soul in shock for several long moments before he sat down on his own bed. Why did he always manage to royally screw things up?

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Okay, so here's the third chapter. I'm sorry that it took a while, but I was really busy. School and everything else just have this habit of piling up on you when you're trying to write. -.-; I try to update once a week at the most, but the funny thing with life is that you never know what's gonna happen, so there might be a slightly sporadic updating schedule.

Anyways, on to better, less depressing news: I now have fourteen reviews! (Does the happy dance) That's the most I've ever gotten on a story! Thank you so much for your opinions!

Reviews

Liah Cauthin: I'm so sorry that your sister doesn't share your love of that series. I've had a similar experience with that, and I know how vexating it can be. What I do is just try not to talk about it, that way I don't get that much grief from my sibling.

Siacatmesecat: I try not to create any Mary-Sues', they just depress me. Yeah, I know I'm mean to Dante, but I have a problem with someone that steals other people's bodies just because they don't want to die. XP Anyways, there will be a lot more Envy bashing throughout my story, and more trash can puns. Oh, feel free to send me bashing ideas too; I don't think my mind is depraved enough to make the palm tree suffer as much as I want him to. My friend and I came up with the idea for the story together, but I'm the only one that has an account on FanFiction, and I'm the one that writes the story.

richard9311: Glad you like it!

Lightning Dragon Alchemist: Thank you so much! I'm glad that you think so highly of my story!

TwoCrazyGirls: Yeah, I know I'm crazy, but still, it's funny that you're more insane than I am. Thanks for the review!

SamuraiRin63: I'm not small; baka-chan. (Pulls out Colonel Mustang's ignition cloth gloves from jacket pocket and puts them on. Smirks evilly.) You better start running; I'll give you a five second head start, just to be nice.

Mustang: Hey, those are mine!

Jay: Wow, I didn't know that someone had actually had a conversation similar to that. O.O I just kind of made it up, based on my first reaction when I saw Envy. But thank you, I'm glad that you liked it.

Black Blood Alchemist: I'm glad that you liked my comments about Envy. There's no need to hypnotize me into writing more, I love to write so much that when I'm stressed out, I start writing.

Thank you all so very much! See you next chapter!