SCARLETT

"Do you know why there was tension between the two countries?" she asked.

"Ishval protested Alchemy, saying it went against God." Mustang answered.

"And then there was the military's occupation of Ishval, which they also protested." Edward added.

"Hmm. True. But... Also, a young Ishvalan girl went missing, and when she was last seen, it was with an Amestrian soldier." she said, closing her eyes and standing up. Her hand went to the base of her skull. "I was walking past, and he stopped me. We talked for a while. He seemed nice, compared to what I'd always been told. But as I went to walk away, he whacked me upside the head. I can still remember that pain." she grimaced.

"What happened?" Al asked curiously.

"I guess it was a week after, but I woke up in a small, locked room. I was all alone. I didn't know what the heck was going on. I fell into a fitful sleep that night.

"When I woke up, I realized I had a large scar running down my chest. I didn't know how or why it was there. I was absolutely terrified. The same thing kept happening, over and over. As years passed, older scars vanished, and newer ones took their place. Then... They stopped..."

"Stopped?" Ed asked, confused.

"I'd made it a habit to see where my new scars were. But that one morning... There were no new ones. Zip. Nada. Zero. All of my scars were fading away and no new ones were coming. I was so terrified, I didn't sleep. I just sat vigil, registering everything around me, but not fully in the world.

"Finally, I actually woke up. I was almost relieved. But when I went to check for new scars..." She held up her hand. "I saw the black lace-work covering my body, almost hiding the scars that followed the patterns of my bones. For the first time since I entered that place, I screamed.

"After that day, I became driven by fear. I went slightly insane, fear-driven into it. I had short lapses of sanity, and during one of them, the door was thrown open and two people in military uniforms stormed in. I was roughly grabbed and dragged to a much larger room. It was full of people wearing lab-coats. At that moment, my fear faded and I locked eyes with one of them.

"He was middle-aged and had black hair, but his eyes were what caught my attention. Looking at me, it looked like he wanted to cry. Before I could catch much more, I was shoved into a large trans-mutation circle on the floor. In the center was a huge chunk of metal. I was... attracted to it, in a way. It was, in it's own rough, crude manner, beautiful. It was silver, smooth, yet dull and rough. Then the circle was activated." Against her own will, she shuddered.

"Is it possible for you to describe what being mixed with the stuff was like?" Armstrong asked.

"Can I describe it? Well... It was like I was falling through blue space. Falling forever through nothingness. My tattoos were glowing, matching the hue of the space I was plummeting through. Then, looking down, I saw ground. A smooth, silver, metallic surface, rushing up to meet me. I saw my reflection in it... Only I wasn't me.

"I was wild, standing surrounded by soldiers in some snowy landscape. I had... knives coming out of my left knuckles and a large blade out of my right elbow. My tattoos were glowing in there too, and then... The wild me looked up at me.

"After that, it was like a truck hit me. I was back in the room, screaming about how it hurt like hell and swearing like no tomorrow. The metal was nowhere to be seen and the scientists were applauding. I sought out the one scientist and again locked eyes with him. He was crying then,silent tears streaming down his face.

"After that day, there was more human interaction between them and me. I often saw the black-haired scientist during my endurance tests. But once a week, they'd run a physical on me, and he'd be doing it. On that day, I was allowed to ask one question that they'd answer."

"Did you ever learn your location?" Mustang asked.

"Yeah. They said it was a military-supported lab in Central. They called it Lab Five." she answered simply, nodding her head.

"Lab Five?" they all cried.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Uhh... I just got out of the hospital from my little excursion to that place. It was shut down a while back, and Al and I went to check it out... And while we were there, the building... Kinda collapsed!" Edward said, flustered.

"Shut down? Good. Destroyed? Even better." she said in satisfaction.

"What about the scientist?" asked Armstrong, apparently eager to change the subject.

"He was very kind and gentle. He actually helped me to escape. He slipped me something that would put me in a mini-coma and appear dead. When I was found 'dead' I was taken to a morgue of sorts. The doctor came in and woke me up. After that, I slipped out of the ventilation shaft. Ever since then, I've been living in the streets, trying to find someone I know."

"What do you mean?" asked Al.

"There're survivors all over the country. I've seen them. I know some of them, but so far, I haven't found any of my family or either of my friends."

"What ever became of the man who helped you escape?" Ed asked curiously.

"Oh. I don't really know. I heard rumor that he deserted."

"What was his name?"

"Tim Marcoh, the Crystal Alchemist."

EDWARD

She knew Doctor Marcoh!

That was the only thing running through his head. Scarlett knew and was friends with Marcoh. "He... He's doing fine. We saw him a short while back." he told her.

"Great! I'm glad to know he's alright!" she smiled.

He decided to change the subject. "Well, maybe if we were to examine your tattoos, we could figure out what they were originally for and why they did this to you!" he said.

"That's a good idea." agreed the colonel.

"Yeah! Maybe it has something to do with why you had that vision when you were made into a Chimera!" Al nodded enthusiastically.

Before he could speak again, he got something heavy in the back of his skull. As he fell down, he saw Al and Mustang also fall to the floor. "What the hell was that for?" he yelled angrily, whipping around to face Scarlett. But he flinched away directly after saying that.

She was really angry. Not just boiling or fuming, she was barely restraining herself from blowing her top! "What was that for? What was that for? Are you guys even aware of what you're saying? You're talking about looking at my tattoos, which, hell-freaking-o! They're all over my body! How the hell do you intend to look at them, you friggin' pervert!" she yelled.

He blushed, opening up the encyclopedia she'd thrown at him and burying his face in it.

How would they? They weren't about to get her to strip and show them...

"I... have an idea..." Al said timidly. "What about Hawkeye and Winry?" he suggested.

"That might work..." Mustang groaned, sitting up as he picked the dictionary Scarlett had nailed him with up.

"Who and who now?" Scarlett asked, all of her former anger now gone.

"Hawkeye is Mustang's lieutenant, and Winry is my mechanic. They could record the arrays so we could all look at them..." he said cautiously, observing how there were many good projectiles surrounding her.

"Fine, I guess." she huffed.

"Heh, great! Me and Al'll go get 'em!" he laughed nervously, running out.

When they came back with Hawkeye and Winry in tow, they found Mustang trying to keep himself far away from Scarlett, rubbing his wrist. "Watch it, she bites." he grumbled.

"If you weren't being so pushy, I wouldn't have bitten you!" Scarlett yelled, her past fury returning.

"You shouldn't be so violent! If you are, how will you ever find true happiness?" Armstrong boomed.

"In violence. Some say it isn't the answer, but it can be a pretty darn fun alternative." Scarlett huffed, ignoring him.

SCARLETT

She felt a knot in her right arm forming.

"Don't worry, we're almost done." Winry must've seen the impatience on her face.

"Good. I have a billion aches from standing like this for so long!" she sighed.

"Hmph, I know how you feel." Riza chuckled.

Finally, they finished. Sighing, she got redressed and followed the two into Mustang's office.

"There, see, that wasn't so bad was it?" Edward smirked. A glare sent his direction made him quickly avert his gaze, humming softly.

"Yeah, you better look away." she growled.

"Why is it that you were quiet, timid, and a good girl before, but you're now so violent?" Mustang sighed.

"Those who don't know me think me quiet; Those who do, wish I was." she told him, sitting down cross-legged on the floor again. "And if you guys start to get perverted again, I'll just punch you, and it'll hurt a lot more than a dictionary or an encyclopedia!" she warned, clenching her fist.

"We've been discussing the matter of where to keep you, and-" Mustang started.

The door slammed open, smacking her in the back of the head. "Yowch! Right in the spot where it failed to get super-strong!" she yelped, jumping up.

"Hughes! What are you doing here?" Mustang yelled at the same time.

"I was ordered to come see how this interrogation of yours is progressing! So, how goes it?" the man in the door said loudly and cheerily.

"A pain in the neck. For both him and me." she answered, wondering if maybe she could nail him with a book as well.

Why do they all flock to each other?

She looked at them curiously. The newcomer, Hughes, was shoving pictures into Ed, Al, Winry and Mustang's faces. Riza and Armstrong, apparently expecting that, had left. Mustang was blowing a fuse, Ed and Al were still subject to the pictures, and Winry was coming over to her.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Ed and Al say you were combined with a really rare metal..." Winry was nervous, she could tell.

"That's right, you're an auto-mail engineer! Of course you're going to be curious. Well, I asked where a few of the titanium deposits are, and they said there were a few in Rush Valley." she said, answering the unspoken question.

"Really? Wow! And Ed and Al were just about to take me there!" Winry squealed.

Suddenly, a photo of a little girl was thrust in her face. "Look, isn't she just the cutest?" Hughes cooed.

"Uhh, sure..." she said, a little lost for words.

"Would you like to see more pictures?"

"Maybe later!" she answered quickly. She leaned around him to look at Roy. "You were saying something about where you're going to keep me?"

"Yes. We can't think of anywhere that would be secure-"

"That's cold. You barely know me and you already accuse me of being a run-away." She could practically feel the icicles dripping off of her words.

"Well, we don't know you that well, so for all we know, you are." Edward pointed out.

"Shut up unless you want another book lodged in your skull and a fist in your gut." she warned.

"She can stay with me! She won't run, will you?" Hughes volunteered quickly and cheerfully.

"Uh, wait-!" they all cried, but Hughes was already dragging her away.

Crap.

That was the one thing running through her head.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

She just hoped that nothing bad would happen. She wasn't going to hurt anyone unless they were wrong-doers, but what if something happened and...

What if she had no choice but to hurt someone?