"I think I'll move out here when I finish school," Selim said dully as he stared out the train window at the familiar, golden desert stretching away into the horizon.

In the seat across from him, Mandy glanced up, surprised. "Finally stopped moping?" she asked dryly, raising one eyebrow at him. Selim frowned, but couldn't find the motivation to even look over at her. He'd been silent since the guards had come to escort them to the train that would take them back to Amestris. They'd been traveling since before morning, and he'd only been able to really relax after the sun had risen.

That had been hours ago and his lingering unease had long since morphed into a tense boredom, but he couldn't bring himself to sleep. Bored or not, he still felt restless and on edge for a reason he couldn't place, and he hated it.

Bringing his thoughts back to the matter at hand, he sighed and conceded his companion's point. Maybe he was moping, but he did happen to have a pretty good reason. It didn't help that his fears had been confirmed; that his father had been a monster. At least he'd gotten the answer he'd gone searching for (albeit from the most unlikely place imaginable, not that he was complaining about that).

Sinking down a little further into his seat, he found his thoughts straying back to his mother. Perhaps she'd tell him the truth now; tell him everything about his parents and his heritage. After all, he still had questions. If his father had been a homunculus, what about his mother? And what exactly did that make him?

A condescending chuckle trickled through the back of his mind. Selim ignored it, but the realization that the voice was gaining strength again did nothing to help calm his unease. Of course, there wasn't a whole lot he could do about it either. The voice had to be something he inherited from his father, just like the ability to manipulate shadows. It made sense.

"Hey…" He heard Mandy speak up again, breaking through his thoughts. "Are you okay? I mean, you're alright now that we're not in that cell, right?"

"For the last time, I'm fine," Selim responded, snapping a little more than he'd meant to.

"Well excuse me for caring," Mandy muttered, going back to her journal. "All you did before was nod like some sort of zombie whenever I asked a question. What was I supposed to think?"

"That I can handle myself," the other teen muttered.

Mandy paused and raised her gaze to him solemnly. "You know, there's no shame in needing help, and especially not in asking for it."

Selim scoffed. "Then why do I hate myself every time I have to?"

"Because you're a very proud person."

Yeah, that fell under the category of 'last thing he wanted to hear'. "Thanks a lot."

"It's not necessarily a bad thing," she continued, flipping a page in the diary over and focusing on it again. "Not necessarily a good thing either. It just…is."

"Isn't pride one of the worst sins or something?" Selim murmured, wondering how she could hear him over the clacking of the train. At least this time he wasn't stuck in some freezing or over-heated baggage car. It suddenly occurred to him that luggage car or not, he'd been confined to one train or another for most of the last week. The realization suddenly made the train's interior feel smaller, and he sunk even lower into his seat.

Mandy didn't notice, still focusing on her writing. She did, however, answer his question. "I guess so. I've heard of the seven deadly sins: Pride, wrath, um…sloth, envy, lust…uh…I forget the other two."

"Gluttony and greed," Selim finished for her, almost without thinking.

She paused for a moment, but seemed to dismiss whatever had come to her mind with a shrug. "Right. Thing is, everyone's guilty of one those at some time in their life. Having a tendency towards one doesn't necessarily make you a horrible person, but only as long as you don't let it rule your life. You don't. You're a proud person, yet you ask for help." She looked up as a genuine smile crossed her face. "In my opinion that makes you strong."

Tell that to the creepy voice in my head, Selim thought and turned to gaze back out the window. He'd sunk low enough in his seat the he could barely see over the window's edge, but he didn't move.

"I don't feel strong."

"Very few people who are truly strong feel it."

It was his turn to raise an eyebrow at her. "That sounded awfully deep for you."

She shrugged and smiled, catching his somewhat lighter tone. "It was something my mother used to say. One of the few things I remember about her."

He appreciated the sentiment but hated the sadness he heard in her voice. He didn't want his own peace of mind to come at someone else's expense. Besides, he disagreed. How could anyone be strong if they didn't feel it?

Stifling a groan, he brought his hands up to massage the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache beginning to build, which didn't help his mood. After a moment, he went to drag his hand through his hair only to realize he didn't have much. This time he managed a scowl and glanced over at Mandy again.

"Why did they have to cut my hair?"

"Oh yeah," she said, brightening. Selim wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. Mandy may be annoying, but he preferred her exuberance over her sadness. Both of them didn't have to wallow in despair. "They did that because you wouldn't wake up when they came to get us in the desert. The rescue team wanted to check for head injuries, and it was all I could do to keep them from completely shaving your head bald, although that would have been entertaining." She snickered.

Selim's frown only deepened, but otherwise he ignored the comment.

"Apparently," Mandy continued, "they didn't find anything but your tattoo." At that, she rolled her eyes. "Honestly, who gets a tattoo under their hair? Some sort of rebellious phase that you wanted to hide from your mother?"

Selim's breath caught in his throat. "Tattoo?" he asked quietly.

"Well yeah," she said. "You have a little dragon flying in a circle. There's something else inside of it, but it's hard to see with what's left of your hair in the way. I think it's a star of some sort. Am I right?"

The sick feeling gained intensity to a point of almost being painful. "Mandy…I've never gotten a tattoo."

She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Well you have one."

Selim paused for a moment before carefully asking his next question. "Do you have a mirror?"

Mandy blinked. "Yeah, why?"

"I'd like to see it."

"Seriously? Well I only have one. I doubt that will be of much use. It's right on the top of your head." She tapped the crown of her head with a finger to illustrate her point.

Selim glanced down the aisle. "There's a bathroom on the train."

Mandy cocked her head, then shrugged. "Alright. Let me find it first." She began to search through her many pockets while trying to locate the object. Honestly, Selim didn't realize so many could be on one coat. It took her a moment to find the mirror, and when she did, she handed it over to him without saying anything else before going back to her notebook.

"Thanks," Selim said as he stood up. She waved her hand in dismissal. "Bathroom," he muttered to the guards. One of them followed him silently, stopping outside the door as he walked in and slid it shut behind him.

Grunge and rust had built from years of use around the mirror's edge, making the middle the only place clean enough to view anything clearly. Selim couldn't help but be a little disgusted. At least the rest of the bathroom looked clean.

Taking a deep breath, he raised the mirror in his hand and began to scan the top of his head for that tattoo. It took him a moment, but after some searching, he managed to find it. He couldn't see all of it from the angle he had the mirror at, but he could tell what it was immediately.

An oroboros; a serpent eating its tail.

The possibility had always been there—had always existed—but he hadn't really believed it. After all, the knowledge brought up more questions than answers. Problem was, now he knew the truth.

Clemin had been right.

Selim was a homunculus.

xXx

He didn't really know what to do with the knowledge of his true nature. He sat where he'd practically collapsed on the toilet seat in the bathroom for almost half an hour before he could gather his wits enough to return to Mandy.

He walked to the front of the car in a daze, Xingese guard in tow. His mind wouldn't stop racing madly despite the still growing pain that throbbed dully through his head. So he was a homunculus, just like his father. Did that mean his mother was a homunculus too? Or had he been created the same as his 'father'? Was he actually acting on an alchemist's behalf? Could he do that and not know it? How had he come into being? Did his mother (his adopted mother) know? Probably. That would definitely explain why she hadn't told him anything before; why she had insisted he drop it. But still…

The questions didn't stop, continuing to dash through his mind. Had he originally been human because he could change and grow? Or did he get that from his biological mother? Did that mean he really did have a philosopher's stone somewhere in his body? He got hurt and healed just like everyone else, but was he harder to kill? Why didn't everything fit?

Now he felt anxious—almost eager—to return home, sniper or not. He had to ask his mother, demand to know all the answers. He hoped she'd tell him, now that he knew, but he had his doubts. Would she answer his questions?

On top of that, how was he supposed to act now? He was an artificial being. Did that make him a monster? He hoped not. He didn't feel like a monster. He didn't really feel any different at all. Then again, did murderers and psychotic killers feel different from the normal, common masses?

Finally figured it out, have you?

Selim started and froze in the middle of the train's aisle, eyes wide in horror. After a moment, he allowed himself to take a deep, calming breath and continued to his seat. So the voice had returned. He'd almost hoped that it had been gone permanently.

"What, did you fall in?" Mandy snickered at her own joke as he approached her. "You were gone a pretty long time."

He ignored her comment, mind on other things as he handed the mirror back to her. "Thanks," he said.

"No problem," she returned with a smile and shoved the mirror back into one of her pockets. "Guess it took you a while to find it."

"Yeah," Selim nodded dully.

"Do you remember where you got it now?"

"No," Selim muttered. "It's something I've had my whole life."

"Oh?"

"Something my father gave me," he added.

Mandy's eyes widened, all joking aside. "Really?"

"Apparently."

She wanted to ask more questions, he could tell, but she thankfully caught that he didn't want to talk about it, and for once respected that with change of subject. "Hey, we just passed the border of Amestris. We'll be coming up on our first stop soon. It's an Ishbalan trading town."

Selim frowned, thinking back to their trip out of the country, grateful for the distraction. "I don't remember stopping there before."

Mandy shrugged. "Neither do I. Maybe they didn't stop on their way to Xing, it's not a very big place yet. We're only going to stop to refuel now and pick up a few people."

"Oh."

"And guess who I found in the other car," her grin turned into a haughty smirk.

Selim turned his head to focus on her. "Who?"

"Two people who didn't have their papers on them."

He blinked. "Marlin and Bonnie?"

"Yup. They're not happy about it either."

"Don't blame them."

"At least they're not being turned over to the police," Mandy pointed out.

"Good," Selim said, mildly surprised to find that he meant it.

Apparently Mandy caught it too. "You do remember that they're the ones that kidnapped you, right? They started this whole trip."

Selim felt the anger and annoyance behind her sentence, but couldn't catch onto it himself. In his opinion they'd been caught up in this whole thing just as badly as he had. They weren't really evil people as far as he'd seen, so he couldn't really blame them. No, in his mind Clemin held all the responsibility.

He allowed a small, vindictive smile to grace his lips as he thought of what he wanted to do to the man when he found him.

"Okay, that's a little creepy," Mandy's comment had him looking blankly back at her.

"Huh?"

"You looked like you were about to kill someone."

The smile returned, much stronger. "Kill? I'm not going to be that nice."

She blinked at him, her expression suddenly serious. "No, seriously. Don't do that. It really looks creepy. Not cute at all."

That last sentence sounded a bit forced, and brought another realization to Selim's acknowledgement: Mandy hadn't called him 'sweetie' or 'cutie' or anything like that since they'd gotten to Xing. Actually, now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember her doing so since they'd hitched a ride on the train. Despite her words about enjoying trying to annoy him, he wondered if she'd taken his confession about her abrasive personality to heart.

Just about then, the train lurched slightly as it began to slow down. So they'd reached the trading town? He wondered if it had a name.

"So," Selim said, face expressionless again as he turned to look out at the landscape. In his absence the sand had grown rockier and gained some sparse vegetation. "These guys aren't going to let us off until East City, right?" he thumbed in the general direction of the body guards.

Mandy fidgeted. "Uh, about that. You know those friends I called back in Xing? Well, the Emperor agreed to let me meet them at the trading post. They'll be waiting for us. This train may head back from there or we could be taking it all the way to East City. I don't know."

"Whatever," Selim muttered. "Friends of your fathers?" he asked, not really caring or concentrating on the question. It took him a moment to realize he'd asked a similar question before, when he'd been trapped in the dark room. He shuddered at the memory and focused on his companion's answer as a distraction.

"Not really," Mandy muttered. "Look, there's something I have to tell you before we get there."

He sighed and turned to look at her. "What is it?"

"Well," she started, but hesitated as if she didn't quite know what to say next.

Selim opened his mouth to tell her to spit it out (he wasn't in the mood to be patient, what with his recent discoveries and headache now in full force) when the door at the far end of the cabin burst open and two Xingese men came rushing in.

The Xingese guards already in the car protested in their own language. One of the men yelled out a hurried conversation before nodding to his fellow guard and retreating the way they'd come, leaving the two guards who had been sitting across the aisle from Mandy and Selim blinking after them.

"What's going on?" Mandy asked worriedly.

"Other prisoners make trouble," one of them said in a heavy accent.

"Those two," the dark-haired girl growled, standing up. Cautiously, Selim followed her lead. He didn't really want to be left alone to his thoughts at the moment. He'd had enough thinking about his current…circumstances. "Let me see what I can do," she muttered.

"No, you stay," the guard said as he stood, trying to block her path.

"Oh for—look, we're not really prisoners, and we know those people. We can help."

The man shook his head. "You stay."

Mandy glared at him for several seconds before turning back to her seat and practically collapsed onto it with a huff. "Fine. You guys have fun trying to contain those two."

Selim had to admit she had a point. He doubted anyone could hold Bonnie and Marlin for long if the two bounty hunters didn't want to be held. Actually, now that he thought about it, both Selim and Mandy had the power to escape if they wanted to as well.

He filed that thought away for possible later use and sank back onto his own cushioned bench and focused on Mandy again.

"So, you were—"

Just then the door slammed open. Much to the surprise of everyone in the car, Marlin came storming through.

"Marlin?" Selim asked. "What's wrong?"

The large man flashed a smile at Selim before turning to the two guards, both of whom stood quickly and fell into defensive stances.

"We don't want any trouble," he said calmly, his voice dead serious. "We just want off before the station."

"Why?" Mandy asked.

Marlin shrugged. "Don't want to be turned in."

Mandy raised one eyebrow. "Wait, are you saying you actually have warrants out for your arrest?"

The older man shrugged. "Don't know and we're not about to stick around and find out." With that, he yelled over his shoulder. "You coming, Bonnie?"

"Yes," a voice from behind him answered. Not seconds later, the woman in question slipped through the door. She glanced over at Selim and Mandy for a moment and nodded politely, but that was the extent of her friendliness.

"Ready when you are," she said to the large man. He nodded and tromped to the back. The two guards watched them go warily but did nothing to stop them otherwise.

"Are you just going to let them walk away?" Mandy asked them curiously.

"Not Xing here. They leave. We watch you, not them," the second guard said, speaking for the first time.

"In other words, you don't care," Selim clarified wryly.

The first guard shrugged and the second remained silent. The door slid shut after the two bounty hunters and Selim had to admit, he felt sorry to see them go.

"I'll be right back," he told Mandy as he stood up and turned to follow them.

Guard number one protested in Xingese before Mandy could say anything, but Selim ignored him. He managed to reach the door and yank it open before the man could grab him. Not caring whether the guy would follow him or not, Selim leapt over the coupling and rushed into the next empty car just in time to see Marlin wrench open the door on the opposite side.

"Hey," he called out. They paused and turned toward him. "I'm sorry it didn't work out. At Xing, I mean. And I wanted to say thanks…" a sharp pang shot through his forehead, causing him to twitch slightly, but he continued anyway. "Thanks for letting me tag along, and for the warning about the sniper."

Marlin grinned. "You're alright, kid. Good luck to you."

Bonnie also flashed a smile at him. He hadn't seen her do that since the first time he'd met her just after he'd been kidnapped. Had that really only been a week before?

"The same to you," he responded with a smile of his own. "Be careful."

Marlin snorted, still smiling as he turned around and raised his hand in farewell. "When aren't we?"

Selim chuckled and shook his head fondly then winced at the pain that shot through it again. He wasn't about to acknowledge their question with an answer. Then they closed the door. Selim sighed and glanced outside only to realize the train was going slowly enough that they'd probably already hopped off and had begun to sneak into the town somehow. He stood there for a moment, just watching the sagebrush crawl by. It didn't take long for the locomotive to finally come to a complete stop.

He turned towards his rather unhappy guard, who had shut both doors in his wake, and cocked his head. "Alright, I'm coming," Selim said as he walked past him and began to lead their short trek back to the front of the next car; except, when he opened the door, expecting to see Mandy and the second guard, no one was there.

"Where did they go?" Selim asked his guard who shrugged.

The door on the opposite side of the compartment had been left open ever so slightly, so Selim shrugged and walked down the still aisle. He opened the door and stepped over the coupling to the second almost-closed door, but paused at the voice he heard inside.

Even at rest trains weren't exactly the quietest invention, but after listening to the clacking and rumbling of full speed for the last several hours, Selim could easily pick out words on the other side. He paused, unable to help himself from listening.

"…so sir. He seems to be able to control shadows somewhat, but nothing else." Selim blinked. That was Mandy. What was she doing, telling someone about his powers? He felt a stab of betrayal accompanied by another sharp throb in his head. It was getting hard to think through the pain. Stupid headache. He rarely got them at all. The last few days must have been harder on him than he'd realized.

"Are you sure, Major?" A second, much deeper but strangely familiar voice answered. "We have to be absolutely positive." Major? Mandy was a major? State alchemists automatically had a rank of major. He blinked, shocked. Mandy was a state alchemist? How could he have missed that?

You're pathetic, the voice in his head cackled in answer to his question. Selim ignored it, continuing to focus on the conversation.

"He hasn't mentioned anything else, sir. I've been watching for signs. He doesn't know. Actually, he believes his father was a homunculus."

That almost stopped Selim's heart. She'd known. She'd known about him. For a moment his train of thought seemed to freeze on that realization. She was a state alchemist, and she'd known about his true nature. One of the few people he'd bothered to put his trust in and she'd been omitting the truth about—if not outright lying to—him the whole time. A deep anger began to swirl at the back of his mind, accompanied by a gleeful laugh. He didn't care.

A prod at his back from the Xingese guard broke through his thoughts. The man obviously wanted Selim to keep moving, but he wasn't about to head into the car now. It only took a thought (and a momentary stabbing pain from his scar) to call his shadow and restrain the foreigner before he could so much as take a breath to yell for help.

"His father was a homunculus," the man's voice said.

"And his mother?" Mandy asked.

"He didn't have a mother. Homunculi don't work like that."

A pause as a third voice called out. "This one is alive too, sir! It seems there were no casualties."

"Good," the first unknown voice replied. "And find out who those two were. If they were able to take out this many Xingese guards, they're not people to be taken lightly."

"Sir!"

"So…," he heard Mandy say softly, "you're not going to kill him?"

Selim's jaw dropped. There had been at least the possibility of the government (if Mandy was indeed working for the military) killing him and his supposed 'friend' hadn't even deigned to give him a warning? With friends like that, who needed enemies?

We don't need anyone.

"If what you say is true, then no," the man replied.

Another pause fell over them, and then a third unknown voice broke it. "We are ready to head back to East City on your command, sir!"

Their stop had been too fast to refuel. Yet another lie adding to the icy anger twisting in his gut. It took him a moment to recognize and acknowledge that his temper seemed different this time—deeper somehow. Despite this, he felt so calm, even with the nigh-unto-migraine on top of everything else. This fury was cold and calculating, and would probably scare him more than his normal smoldering temper at any other time. He'd gone beyond caring though, stuck somewhere in the betrayal and shock that had come with the overheard conversation.

Do you see now? The voice asked Selim. Do you understand why we can never trust humans?

"Where is he?" the second voice asked before Selim could respond.

"With a Xingese guard in another car, sir."

"Well, let's go find him, shall we?"

"Sir!"

Selim glanced at the man still tied up in his shadows and made a split second decision. He didn't want them to know he'd been eavesdropping. He'd have more cards to play that way. Jumping back through the open door behind him (vaguely wondering why the guard hadn't bothered to close it this time), he threw himself on the seat. His shadows carried the man just behind him, still struggling to move and yell out.

Selim couldn't have that.

With a twitch and another grimace at the pain that went with it, he called the shadow to hit the man in the back of the head, hard. He crumpled in the center of the aisle as the shadows vanished. Selim went to kneel down next to him just as the door opened revealing Mandy followed by a man dressed in full military uniform and the second Xingese guard.

Selim knew the stranger instantly, despite the fact that they'd never met: Major General Roy Mustang; the Flame Alchemist. Even studying about him as a child in school, Selim had never cared for the man. Something about the military leader and his slightly filmy eyes had always rubbed him wrong, and he could never figure out why. Now, as those eyes found him, Selim's distaste for the man blossomed almost instantly, morphing from a passive dislike into an utter loathing.

It took him a moment to realize just what he was feeling. It confused him because he'd seemed to reach a whole new level of emotion for only the smallest reasons. Yes he'd overheard Mandy and this man discussing his very existence, but most of his anger was directed at his supposed friend, not Mustang. It didn't make sense. He simply hated this man, for no reason.

The voice in his head didn't seem to like him any better as it remained silent, but Selim could feel the seething hatred pouring from the other entity. Maybe that was why Selim suddenly despised him so much?

"Selim, what happened?" Mandy asked worriedly, rushing over to his side, focusing on the unconscious guard while the second guard leapt over the seats to kneel next to the man. He shot an accusing glance at Selim, but didn't say anything.

Meanwhile, Selim focused on Mandy's question. He was actually surprised he could think up a lie as quickly as he did. "Marlin. I guess he thought this guy was going to try to stop him after all. I'm pretty sure he just knocked him out, though."

"And you dragged him back here?" Mandy asked, checking the man over and relieved when she found his vital signs.

Selim shrugged. "Tried to."

"Why didn't he attack you too?" Mustang asked in a calm voice. Selim could see through it somehow. He felt like he was being interrogated by those seemingly dull eyes that hid an otherwise sharp intellect.

"I wasn't the one dodging around the cabin yelling at the top of my lungs in another language," Selim responded dryly, and probably a little more coldly than he'd originally meant.

He deserves worse.

Selim didn't respond, instead turning back to Mandy and the unconscious guard. He'd have to figure out what to do with the guy before he woke up and told them everything.

"They were about to get off," Mandy was saying, motioning for Selim to help lift the man into a nearby seat. He did so mainly to occupy his hands before he wrapped them around someone's throat. The thought slipped over his mind before he could stop it, and the voice latched onto it.

You could just kill them and be done with it, it urged. Selim paused. If you did, I would consider coexistence. I could stop the pain…

Shut up, Selim retorted, but without his usual ferocity, focusing on getting the guard situated. Before he could do so, though, the second guard scooped the guy up.

"We leave now."

"Thank you for your services," Mustang said gracefully, stepping to the side and letting them pass. "Please give my regards to Emperor Yao."

The man grunted something in return and swept off the train. Selim couldn't help but be relieved. Now he didn't have to worry about the guard waking up and telling them what he'd overheard. He might still find a way to contact someone once they woke up though…

If the being in his head had had eyes, he would have rolled them disdainfully. You really should listen to me and just killed them all, but it doesn't matter anyway.

And why is that?

Because… now Selim could feel a sort of triumphant cockiness. You cannot withstand me forever.

I can try.

Why should you? To protect those pathetic, weak creatures that have only lied to you so constantly? Who would do anything to keep that truth from you because of their fear? Their innate, subconscious knowledge that we are a superior being.

Stop it! Selim responded angrily, I may not be human, but I'm nothing like you!

The voice laughed. Do you really believe that?

"Selim?" Mandy's voice broke through his thoughts. Selim blinked and turned his attention on her. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah," he muttered. "I have a headache. That's all."

"You don't look very well," she insisted.

"It's a really bad headache, alright?" he snapped, almost instantly regretting his words when her eyes gained just a touch of wary hurting. Then he didn't want to feel sorry for her; for his back-stabbing 'friend'. Then he realized what that sounded like and had to sigh. "Sorry, Mandy."

"It's alright," she said, smiling reassuringly. "We've had a pretty long day. Now, remember what I was going to tell you earlier?" Selim blinked. Would she tell him now? Had she been about to do so earlier? That would negate all of his previous thought process and just about everything the voice said if she just—

"Well, I'm a State Alchemist."

He waited for more, but nothing came. That's what she'd been about to tell him? Well that news had been a bit of a surprise, but seriously, that was all? He felt a pang of disappointment dash through him.

"You are?" he managed.

"Yeah," she said, rubbing the back of her head self consciously. "This is Major General Roy Mustang. Those 'friends' I called were the military. I must admit I didn't expect General Mustang to be the person meeting us here." Selim could practically see the stars of hero worship in her eyes as she glanced up at the taller man, and felt his stomach roll with disgust. Who would look up to this…human?

Selim paused, wondering where that thought had come from. He may not care for the Major General, but Mustang was a very prestigious figure of the government and an excellent alchemist from what Selim knew.

"General," Selim said, forcing himself to be polite. "My name is—"

"Selim Baker. Yes, we know," the General said. "I have personally come to escort you back to Central. Your mother was an old friend of mine, and she called in a favor to me."

Selim wanted to scream at the man, but wouldn't even allow a himself to show a disappointed shake of his head. That had been why his mother had been so upset about his questions. If he found out the truth, they would kill him. He couldn't let them know that he knew now. Just more secrets and lies.

The very thought seemed to sap every last drop of motivation from his soul. He suddenly just felt so tired of everything…of the whole situation. Still, he stood, falling back on the manners that had been ingrained into him since he could remember.

"It is an honor to meet you, sir," he said. "And I appreciate your offer to my mother. Please tell me, is she well?"

"Worried about you," Mustang said, nodding. "But otherwise she remains in good health."

The slightest weight lifted off of Selim's mind, and he let out a breath. They stood in silence for a few moments after that, with the General finally breaking it.

"I will inform the head engineer that we will leave immediately. Major, stay with Mr. Baker here. I will return shortly."

"Sir!" Mandy said, clicking her heels together in attention.

The General closed the door, and Mandy practically fell onto her seat.

"Please tell me that wasn't a dream," she said in a breathy voice. "Please tell me that that was Major General Mustang, one of the greatest alchemists who ever lived, and that he actually spoke to me, and that it wasn't a dream!"

Selim blinked at her, uncomfortable with the attention she was giving the man he seemed to instinctively hate. "Hero worship much?" he asked dryly.

His comment seemed to snap her out of her daze, but not out of fan-girl mode, "Are you kidding? He almost single handedly saved the country and everyone knows he's going to be the next Fuhrer when Fuhrer Armstrong retires! What's not to admire? Besides, he ages so well." With that she giggled; a sound Selim hadn't heard in days. He immediately wished that the 'pleasure' had been indefinitely postponed.

Finally he shook his head, deciding to avoid the subject completely for now. He really didn't want to talk about the Major General. Sighing and wishing his lingering mental fatigue away, he lowered himself onto his own seat.

"A State Alchemist?" Selim asked, raising an eyebrow.

Mandy blushed. "Well, it was the only way my father would allow me to leave the house besides marriage."

"Marriage?"

She shook her head bitterly. "He comes from an old family. I was supposed to be betrothed to…oh, I lose track. I chased off a good half dozen suitors before they finally accepted me as a State Alchemist."

"You'd rather become a dog of the military?" Selim asked.

She scowled at his terminology, but didn't comment on it. Instead she answered the question, glancing out the window sadly. "I felt I was giving up less freedom this way. I prefer the military over high society any day."

The image of Mandy trying to act proper almost brought a smile back to Selim's face. Almost. Between her fairly modern clothing that didn't seem like anything rich or extravagant and her frizzy, usually unkempt hair, she didn't strike him as someone who would like the etiquette and rules usually enforced by the higher class. Selim himself had mostly been spared that kind of stifling atmosphere, as had Johan, but they were exceptions, not the general rule. At the moment, he couldn't be more thankful, lies or not. The idea of having to practically sell your soul to gain a little freedom…

He didn't know why that train of thought made him feel so uncomfortable all of a sudden.

Another pang of pain raced through his head and he lifted a hand to massage his scar. The voice that had continued to lurk at the back of his mind snickered cruelly.

The car below them suddenly lurched forward. Selim glanced out the window to see the terrain begin to pass slowly by.

"So why were you getting a job as an alchemist when I met you?" he asked, moving from her appearance and supposed place in society to what she'd told him about the alchemist job; the reason they'd met to begin with because she would not have otherwise been on the train with Bonnie and Marlin.

"Oh, that," she said with a wave of her hand. "You see, I was supposed to go under cover. The military had gotten a tip that alchemists and people who were taking those jobs had been disappearing, and so I was supposed to try and infiltrate. It was perfect too! No one would expect me to be a spy, right?"

"No," Selim admitted bitterly. She didn't look or act anything like the State Alchemists he'd met or heard about.

She must have caught the note of his voice because she did manage to look sheepish. "Well I was on the lookout for suspicious people, and was on the train that those two took. I didn't really start to get apprehensive until they left for the baggage car and Bonnie came back without Marlin. I decided to check it out. That's when I found you. My station had gotten the missing flyer just before I left, so I figured that I could help you out and get back to my original assignment before—"

"Major," Mustang interrupted as he entered the car again. "Is it common practice for you to inform civilians of military intelligence? A good deal of information related to that subject is classified."

Mandy blushed bright red and shut her mouth with an audible 'clop'. Selim found himself torn between amusement and annoyance.

Without much ado, the General took a seat next to Mandy who looked like she might faint, whether from embarrassment or excitement, Selim didn't know. He realized that he really didn't want to either.

They sat in an awkward silence for several minutes as the train finally gained full speed. Mandy was too overcome to make conversation, it seemed (the one time he wouldn't have minded it, Selim realized bitterly) and the other teen found the idea of initiating a conversation with this man more than a little detestable.

Finally, after a good quarter of an hour of nothing but the clacking and rumbling of the train, the General cleared his throat.

"Major Parkins, please elaborate on your experiences in Xing."

Selim silently scoffed at that. Typical general. He couldn't let his stupid façade down for a moment to show any real personal interest or concern. Heaven help all that would break loose if he supposedly did. Selim didn't like the sarcastic tone his thoughts had taken, but he still couldn't muster the motivation to really care.

Mandy blinked up at him for a moment before nodding curtly. "Sir! There isn't a whole lot to tell. Once the rescue party finally showed up in the desert, we were taken by train to the boarder. Once there, a royal escort waited to take Selim and myself to the palace, supposedly to honor us for our deeds."

"Yes, I heard about that," Mustang said, eyeing Selim with an expression that seemed both distrustful and thoughtful at the same time. "You went into an extremely dangerous area to save a man's life, correct?"

Selim stiffened slightly. "Yes sir," he said, forcing himself to be calm.

"Why?"

Why did everyone find that so difficult to believe? Selim scowled mentally but kept his face neutral. "I wasn't about to let anyone die if I could help," Selim muttered.

"Ah, yes. I have heard that you have some special abilities? Could you describe them to me?

Selim shot a glare at Mandy, who seemed to find the carpet on the floor suddenly fascinating. Then he figured that he wouldn't be telling them anything they didn't already know, so he addressed the larger alchemist. "It deals with the shadows, sir. I can make them move, but I can't control them well."

"How long have you been able to use these 'shadows'," Mustang asked, bringing a hand to his chin and stroking it thoughtfully with one white-gloved hand. The movement seemed more threatening than it should have.

"Not long, sir. Just a few days."

"Have you used them before that?" he asked.

Selim wanted to look away, but he refused to allow himself to do so. "Yes, sir. When I felt my life was in danger, the shadows reacted. It only happened once."

The dark-haired man nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer. "So when you rescued that man, did you use your 'shadows' then?"

It really bothered him that Mustang kept referring to his shadows in quotation, as if it were some childish label and Selim wasn't intelligent enough to know its real name or intent. "Yes, sir," he answered through gritted teeth.

"You were with another man, correct?" Mustang asked, looking thoroughly interested. "Did he question you?"

Selim shook his head. "No. I passed it off as circle-less transmutation." He dropped the 'sir' completely; something Mustang obviously picked up on as the suspicion that had temporarily been replaced by curiosity abruptly returned.

"I helped circulate that rumor," Mandy spoke up. "So people wouldn't panic. I know a lot of high-ranked alchemists who can do so, you yourself being one of them, sir, and gave such examples to anyone who questioned. It worked rather well." She paused and fidgeted, looking uncomfortable. "Um…sir," she said slowly, "is it…I mean would it be possible for me to learn how to do that, sir?"

"No," Mustang answered sharply, and just a little too quickly, startling both Mandy and Selim. "That isn't something you can simply learn."

His eyes narrowed almost threateningly at Selim. It was such a familiar expression that it seemed to bring back a de ja vous. The homunculus' eyes widened as an image flashed through his mind.

xXx

"I'd hoped we could avoid this," Selim heard himself say to Mustang who had been quite literally pinned down in the human transmutation circle by none other than Fuehrer Bradley. "But we're out of options. There's no time left."

Mustang blanched, gaining a fearful, desperate gleam in his eyes as he glanced between Selim and older man who held a sword in either hand, stabbed right through the Colonal's palms to hold him in place.

"We will force you to open the gate," Bradley said, his voice devoid of emotion.

xXx

His brain practically exploded in pain for a moment before the sensation backed off, allowing Selim to realize he'd yelled out.

"Selim?" Mandy asked. "What's wrong?"

"It…really hurts," he managed, somehow unable to stop his mind from going over the scene again. The man with the swords had been Fuhrer Bradley, Selim was sure of it. So just what…?

He could feel a smug triumph from the other presence in his head.

It is finally time.

"Sir, isn't there something we can do? Some pain killers?"

"Not until we reach East City," he heard Mustang say. Even in his pain, Selim caught the suspicion and wariness in his voice.

Selim shoved his apprehension at the man's callousness aside in favor of concentrating on the other being in his head. No! he protested. Leave me alone!

There is nothing you can do, weakling. The voice responded coldly.

Selim felt the other push somehow, and then, as if he'd passed through a barrier, scenes and images invaded his mind, and all he could do was scream.

A/N: Okay, see you later! *dashes away with suitcase in hand, fully expecting chainsaws for that cliffhanger* Well, it's not as bad as it could be...*ducks tomatoes* Alright, alright!

Since chapter 10, I've loved writing these chapters, even if they've been very difficult for me to write. Next chapter's one of my favorite favorites, if that makes sense. ;)

Please review!