Hi Hi! so happy to finally be back! This chapter took a bit longer than I was expecting it to, I actually started it before I even posted the latest chapter, but due to recent life events, I ended up taking longer to finish this bad boy! And wouldn't you know it this chapter is a whopping 14k words! So feel free to eat up my hard work! :)

TW/CW: depictions of sexual harassment & swearing! You have been warned!


"WHAATTTT!? The library…it's just GONE!?" Edward squawked, mouth agape as his eyes wandered over the fuming pyre of rubble that once stood as Central Library's first branch.

"This can't be…" Alphonse breathed, flabbergasted. I could feel my chest tighten as the smog continued to bellow despite the many tireless hours of the fire department reeling in the roaring fire from the night before.

"What the hell happened here…?" I couldn't take my eyes off of it. Our huge lead, just gone? Just like that? Edward stepped up to the yellow tape closing off the destruction from the rest of the street. He stooped down, reaching for an almost completely unrecognizable book. The charred material crumbled in his palm, the blackened paper disintegrating in front of his eyes.

"Damnit all, it's just a pile of ashes…" He muttered disheartened, and my shoulders fell. 'Now what are we gonna do?'

"Brother…" Alphonse whimpered from my side, our spirits falling somberly. Footsteps marched along the stone street behind us, coming to a halt with a snap of their heels as two officers approached us. With hands raised to their temples, the two saluted the four of us as they addressed the Major at our side.

"Major Armstrong sir, you have been requested to appear back at HQ immediately. We've been sent to take over the supervision duties of Mr. Edward Elric and his brother as well as their companion upon your arrival." I turned over my shoulder, taking in the two of them as they stood there. One a male with fair skin and sandy hair stood as straight as a board with a bright smile. I could practically feel the nerves flitting off of him, but shielding the nervousness was a bout of excitement. He reminded me vaguely of an excitable puppy. Another officer, a woman stood even straighter than he did. She had pale skin and chopped dark brown hair over a soft face with deep blue eyes. Despite her serious demeanor, her eyes were quite calming, I'd even say they were beautiful.

"Very well then, I'll leave you to it." Armstrong saluted the subordinates swiftly, icy eyes regarding the pair affirmingly.

"What the hell? I thought dragging around a babysitter was done and over with, this is getting old!" Edward moaned, grasping at his hair as he lamented the new bodyguards. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him.

"Sorry Edward, it is not up to me," Armstrong responded apologetically, his kind exterior extending toward the three of us and I looked upon the officers with curiosity. 'What could we need more bodyguards for?' As if seeming to read my thoughts, the female officer interjected with a flick of her eyes in our direction.

"Scar has been spotted in Central and you were specifically targeted two weeks ago. It is in your best interest to be under strict protection while you're staying here." She expressed, eyes flitting over to Edward as she addressed him. My stomach dropped swiftly as her words echoed in my ears. 'Scar is here…?' I couldn't help but be reminded of the conversation Alphonse and I had had back at the Rockbells a few nights ago.

"-The way she was deconstructed matches the same alchemy Scar's been using to kill people."

I was truly in danger so long as he was alive.

It felt as though no matter where we turned, he would continue to be close by. It seemed there wasn't much choice in the matter, we'd just have to accept any amount of protection we could get, 'Even if it means having more guards breathing down our necks…'

Returning to the matter at hand, I shook the feeling of unease that seemed to permeate around me as I regarded Edward from my side.

"She's got a point Ed, we were like flopping salmon when we last fought Scar, I don't wanna be down for the count a second time." I tried to remain as unbothered as possible, but it was becoming increasingly hard to ignore the distress I felt anytime I so much as heard the name. I'd continued to have relentless nightmares of that man, but even so, there was no way I could bother them with that information. They've already comforted me enough, I wouldn't be babied.

"I agree with Em on this one Brother, It couldn't hurt." Alphonse chimed in, causing Edward to give both of us an annoyed expression. He eyed us as he considered our input, before sighing exasperatedly.

"Whatever, just don't slow me down," He stalked off after that, red coattails snapping behind him as he was chased down by the male officer babbling about something. I watched as he left with a raised brow. 'Does he know where he's going?' Alphonse cleared his nonexistent throat as he readdressed the remaining officer.

"I'm sorry about my brother, he's like that with everyone." He said apologetically on behalf of his brother, bowing to her swiftly and her eyes drifted over to me as she considered the two of us. I gave her an apologetic smile.

"Try to be patient with him, he'll come around," I said, following after Alphonse as the armor began to trail behind where his brother had stomped off, the officer falling into step behind quietly.

After a rather interesting event of cramming the five of us into the back compartment of a black cab, it was a considerable amount of time where no one said anything, until Ross -as I had come to learn- gently brought up the revival of the Library's mysterious fire with Edward, resulting in her reviewing what she knew about it.

"This might not be a total loss, we know of a file clerk who was associated with the library and possibly was well-versed in the books there. The only issue is, she wasn't working there at the time of the fire." Ross leaned into her seat across from the three of us inside the car as it bumped and sputtered along the road, the gentle hum of the engine engulfing the otherwise quiet car ride.

"That's awfully helpful…" Edward grumbled with a fold of his arms over his chest, eyes glued outside the window from my right. I bit my cheek as I tried not to shift around too much in my seat, getting the short end of the stick in the seating arrangement. 'How did I end up in the middle?'

"Is something wrong?" Alphonse prompted a little concerned, red eyes drifted toward the other officer Brosh as the man paled realizing he'd been discovered staring.

"Oh um, it's nothing. Although if you don't mind me asking, what's with the metal suit?" He pried curiously, his rather disarming face reminding me once again of a puppy. Was it the roundness or the eyes? I couldn't be sure. Anxiety bubbled up inside my stomach and I turned to look at the brothers, all three of us damp under the collar as we considered how to explain Alphonse's armor.

"It's a hobby!"

"It's for training!"

Our voices clashed as they rang through the cramped compartment of the vehicle, the brother's explanation being quite different from my own. I realized I had in fact been the outlier in this and my eyes snapped over at Edward as he drilled a searing glare at me. 'Fuck.'

"It's both, I really like armor," Alphonse supplied, his tone smooth as he proceeded to cover both of our asses rather easily. I exhaled slowly as the elder Elric retracted his glare, the lie salvaged thanks to Alphonse's quick thinking. However, it seemed it wasn't quite quick enough as the two officers gave each other a strange look, one leaning over to whisper to the other. I could feel the painful trill that crept up my spine at the tension and I hastily snapped my attention to the window just on the other side of Alphonse, pretending to admire the view.

"So, nice view huh guys?" I asked shakily, trying to seem convincing but failing miserably as I was sure my face was riddled with anxiety.

"Oh yeah, it's beautiful," Alphonse replied, gazing at the passing streets and shops of Central as it droned on from outside the car.

"Lovely," Edward added, sounding even less convincing than me as his anger seemed to be slow to dissipate. I shook out the collar of my hoodie as I tried to cool down from the rising heat inside the backseat.


It was several more uncomfortable minutes sitting in the backseat of the cab when we finally arrived at a relatively simple apartment complex deep within the city. Climbing up a few grueling steps, we all crammed ourselves onto a concrete porch as Sargent Brosh took it upon himself to rap on the wooden door standing before us. Minutes passed without an answer and the officer continued to knock, growing more impatient with each pass. Finally, he sighed defeated.

"Guess she's not home." The man shrugged, deeming the situation a lost cause without any extra effort. Edward peered to the best of his ability into the window beside the door, eyes squinted as he tried to see past the glare from the sun cast on the glass. It was several quiet moments as his eyes scanned the inside of the apartment before he pulled away from the window, reaching for the door handle.

"Looks like I'm going in," He announced, grasping the handle and attempting to open it. Ross gasped from his side.

"You can't do that!" She hissed just as the door popped open. Considering it official trespassing, Edward opened the door slowly and craned his neck to get a look inside. Standing behind him, I stretched as tall as I could to see over his head.

Books as far as the eye could see lined the walls and floors, covering every possible surface inside the house. It was complete chaos!

"Wow, that's a lot of books.." I commented, marveling at the sheer amount of them. 'How could anyone possibly collect this many books, let alone keep all of them inside there?'

"Somebody actually lives in that?" Brosh mumbled surprised, completely taken aback by the rather strange-looking apartment. Admittedly despite the rudeness, I couldn't help but wonder the same thing, not that I'd be quite so vocal about it however.

"Excuse me, Miss Sheska! You home?" Edward called out, stepping into the jungle of tombs as he traversed the narrow pathways left unlittered about the room. I followed along after him, Alphonse and the officers close behind as we carefully scoured the many mountains of books around us.

"I don't think anyone's in here," Alphonse commented slowly, apprehensive in his movements as the pathways began to thin considerably. One good tab from his shoulders and an entire book avalanche would occur. As we continued to navigate the strange apartment, I could almost swear I heard a sound coming from a particularly large pile of scrolls and books toward the middle of the room. I stilled for a moment as I tried to tune in to whatever it was I was hearing.

"Help!"

"Please help me!"

All eyes drew together as we all stared at one another, and then chaos ensued.

"Where the hell could she be?" Edward shouted anxiously, furiously grasping and flinging any book he could get his hands on as he desperately tried to widdle down the massive book pile we all began tearing into.

"She's gotta be in here somewhere!" Alphonse cried, tossing one book after another as he joined in the fray.

"Just keep digging!" I barked at them as I did my best to dig into the pile as well, my one arm hardly putting a dent into the mountain of literary works all clustered together.

Several minutes passed as we all scrambled to uncover whatever poor soul had become trapped under the mass, only being set back momentarily when a neighboring tower of books fell on top of us as a result of the panic. Once everything had settled, the final book was tiredly stacked along with the numerous others below it as I tried to inhale a deep breath from all the stress. 'So much for getting any sort of break, just one crazy situation after another it seems.'

"Thank you all so much for getting me out from under all those books, I really appreciate it. I guess I really could die with my head stuck in a book…" The young woman who'd been trapped moments prior said gratefully, now freshly rescued thanks to our added efforts. She had short brown hair atop a round face with large doe-like eyes that sat comfortably behind a pair of rounded glasses. Had it not been for the second panic attack this week, I may have thought she was kind of cute.

"Skeska, you used to work in Central Library's first branch isn't that right?" Edward asked, gold eyes flicking across the girl's features as he tried to catch his breath.

"That's right, unfortunately, I was caught reading more of the books than I was organizing them and I was let go. I really needed that job too, my mother's sick and I was using the money to pay for her medical bills. Guess it's what I get for 'lackluster performance'..." Sheska lamented with a drop of her head, her thin shoulders sagging at the mention of her previous failure.

"I'm sorry to hear that, let me just cut to the chase. Did you happen to see any books written by Tim Marcoh while you were working there?" Edward continued, completely bypassing the notion of good manners. 'Someone's in a hurry.'

"Tim Marcoh?" She repeated the name curiously, large eyes lifting along with her head to regard the boy in front of her.

"Yeah, it would probably have been some kind of research book with handwritten notes. It's really important." Edward pressed, and the young woman considered him for a moment as the name flitted through the air.

"Research notes…Tim Marcoh…" Sheska raised a finger to her lip as her eyes drifted about the room in thought, searching her mind for the name as it lightly dripped from her tongue. We all waited with bated breath as she sat there, sifting through her memories thoughtfully.

"Oh yes, I remember now! It was a leather-bound research volume with handwritten notes in plenty of detail!" Sheska relayed delightedly, hands clasped together as she smiled at us. My heart picked up in my chest as Edward continued.

"And you're absolutely certain it was by Tim Marcoh?" He asked, growing excited as well. Skeska's eyes glossed over with fondness as she reminisced on the book's last location.

"Absolutely, I remember all the books, especially the ones in the back." She responded, and our hearts fell.

"In the back…?" Edward asked slowly, dropping his head as the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. I faired no better. "Then it was in the fire…There's no way we'll get to read it now…" Edward mumbled disheartened, once again another roadblock coming in to muddle our path.

"Damn…" I muttered with a heavy sigh, shoulders slumping in defeat. Sheska regarded the three of us with a concerned look.

"Did you want to read them? Is that the problem?" Sheska asked confused.

Edward sighed, getting to his feet and the rest of us did the same, it seemed pointless to stick around any longer.

"Yeah, but it's not much use now, thanks anyway," Edward waved her off as he made his way back toward the door, I raised a look at Alphonse but the armor didn't make any motion to respond.

"I remember every word in great detail, would that help at all?" Sheska spoke up suddenly, and the room grew quiet as all three of our brain cells seemed to process what she just said.

"HUH!?" We all shouted as we rounded back to face her, curious eyes growing wide as we all waited for her to elaborate. She laughed awkwardly at the staring eyes.

"I have a photographic memory you see, so I can remember any book I've ever read perfectly. I could…recreate them for you if you'd like." She said, wringing her hands tightly as everyone in the room regarded her with awed expressions.

"You can really do that?" I asked slowly, in complete astonishment at this rather unassuming young woman. She seemed no different from any other book lover, and yet, she claimed to have quite a curious ability. She nodded quickly.

"Yes, I haven't done it in quite some time, so it might take a while to complete, but I'm sure I could do it for you." She responded, her face flushed red at the onslaught of attention she was receiving. The three of us grinned like total idiots.

"Wow! Thanks, bookworm! You're my hero!" Edward sang as Alphonse and I whooped and laughed with excitement, our enthusiasm returned once more. Poor Sheska looked like she was gonna crumble to the floor, but she wore a bright smile despite it all.

With that cleared out of the way, there was only one thing left to do.

Wait.

"You ready?" Alphonse asked, hands out in front of him as he took up a defensive stance. I gulped down the dryness in my throat as I froze a few paces away.

"I don't know if I can do this…" I admitted, feeling my neck and ears grow tacky from sweat, and it wasn't from the sun. In the past few weeks since we arrived in Central, I had taken a lot of time picking apart the encounter we had with Scar over a month ago, realizing rather easily that I wasn't a good fighter. Now, this of course wasn't entirely my fault, I'd never been taught how to defend myself throughout the course of my relatively short existence. After all, it seemed the lab's goal was to keep us incompetent. However, after the miserable failure with Scar…and Mugear , I realized now that needed to change. I could not allow myself to be the weak link in the group. Not anymore.

So, in order to spend our time waiting for Sheska to replicate Marcoh's research, I had -rather awkwardly- asked Edward and Alphonse to teach me a little bit of what they knew, noting how experienced they seemed to be in the subject. It took some convincing at first, the boys feeling unsure how well they could fair as teachers, but after some time, and a few choice words during a heart-to-heart, they agreed. That and getting my arm out of a sling of course.

It was actually pretty surprising the speed at which my arm recovered. I was strongly encouraged not to move it around as much, but over the few weeks since we arrived in Central, it seemed to make an impressive recovery. It still caused me pain, and I tried my best to learn what I could without relying on it too much, but now, after countless hours of relentless practice and strength training, I hardly ever used the sling anymore. It felt somewhat exhilarating to see my progress so far, but even so, I'd still have doubts about my abilities from time to time. I never was one for perfection after all.

"Don't worry, just remember what we taught you. You've got this Em," Alphonse responded easily, giving me a swift nod of his helmet, though, it did little to ease my nerves. Alphonse had become quite the teacher. He was attentive, and patient, which I responded well to…Edward however, was a little harder to adjust to at first. He was good at instructing, for all intents and purposes, but he was hard to please.

During the first week of trying out this unprofessional means of being a teacher and student, I made a rather tactless comment about our height difference… that didn't go over so well. Things only seemed to get more and more constrained when he'd relentlessly drill me on the same technique, and I just couldn't grasp it no matter how many attempts I made to do so. Over time, however, we learned how to listen to each other, and I found myself surprisingly enjoying sparing with him. As with most other things, we'd challenge each other, throwing taunts and a whole slew of other jests at each other's expense as a means to drive one other further. Push harder, as I liked to think of it. It was enjoyable.

This time, however, I was up against Alphonse, and he was an entirely different opponent. I had spared with him in the past of course, but it was always handled as a teaching opportunity, and he'd always tell me how to counteract his moves. This was different. I was on my own now, I had to use my judgment, and the abilities from what I'd learned without guidance, there wasn't going to be any sort of coddling anymore.

I was used to using certain assets of my body's size and strength to my advantage, as the boys had taught me, but those didn't quite apply here. Alphonse was much larger than me, I couldn't beat him by throwing my weight around. I had to be fast and light on my feet. Something I struggled with considering my larger size. Even so, Edward had taken the time to teach me how to combat an opponent with more mass than me, as he had to apply to himself often, and Alphonse had done the same, teaching me ways to fair against someone much smaller than myself. They truly were the perfect blend of both sides. Now, with that added knowledge, it was time to put those lessons to the test.

Taking a deep breath to quell the anxiety fluttering inside my stomach, I spared a look over to my side, Edward standing a few feet away to observe the fight. He stood with his arms crossed over his chest with an encouraging smirk back in my direction. He nodded, assuring me and I took another deep breath. 'Come on Em, you got this…don't be nervous..'

Bracing my feet below me, I pushed forward, rushing toward his middle with as much speed as I could gain from the short distance. He seemed prepared as he spread his feet farther apart, readying for my incoming attack. He swung a heavy metal arm down to cut off my built-up momentum, but I was also prepared for that. Sucking in a sharp breath, I twisted my body past his arm, narrowly swinging my body closer to his as I snuck around his side, body dangerously close to his back. He gasped as he tried to spin his body around, but I wouldn't slow down now. Following his path of movement, I managed to stay behind him, rendering his line of sight useless as I kept as close to him as I dared. Being smaller than him did seem to have its advantages. Or at least it did.

Speaking too soon, Alphonse braced himself and thrust his shoulder backward to try and knock me back. I stumbled backward caught off guard for a moment as I tried to think of what to do next. Speed was my leverage over him, but with his quick thinking, my stumbling feet could be my downfall. Taking advantage of my failure to recover, he rushed me, like a battering ram, all seven feet of him dashed to take me down, and I managed to regain momentum with a twist of my body again, spinning out of his reach as I tried to remain close to his body.

In theory, If I could keep myself in his blind spot, I could use that weakness to gain an edge. But it was proving much more complicated than it originally seemed. I thought I had gained the upper hand with my continued dancing around him, but that proved flawed when the large armor reached around behind him, snatching my left wrist before swinging me around gruffly. I gasped as Alphonse brought me back to his front. 'Fuck!' I peered into his eyes as he lifted me off the ground, ready to claim victory. I couldn't let it end here, could I? As Alphonse held me, I was reminded of Scar, and my eyes drew to the arm holding me captive. I had bit him, trying to tear it free of his body. Could I pull that off somehow?

Figuring it worse not to try, I swung my leg around to the best of my ability and squeezed my thighs as tightly as I could clinging onto the arm I had secured myself to. Holding on as tight as I able, I twisted my body harshly and used gravity to wrench the appendage free. A loud pop sounded through the armor, and I fell to the ground, one metal arm falling along with me as my back collided with the dirt floor below. I snapped my eyes shut as the very air seemed to be sucked out of my lungs, like a vacuum. I gasped as I tried desperately to swallow any amount of air that could be afforded to me, but it seemed very little oxygen could return to my lungs as I laid there. Alphonse and Edward were by my side in an instant.

"Em? Are you okay?" Alphonse asked, concern wafting off of his armor and straight through my nose like a gust of wind. Unfortunately, it wasn't the kind I was looking for and the smell only seemed to muddle up my attempts at gulping in air even more.

"Y-yep…just fine…" I managed out, groaning as I rolled onto my side, sucking in long slow breaths to the best of my ability. The last thing I needed was to asphyxiate on my first official sparing match with Alphonse. That would be humiliating.

"Just take a few deep breaths. Did you hit your head?" Edward asked from above me, kneeling to get a read on my condition. I laughed but it came out strangled through coughs as my lungs didn't take too kindly to the added abuse.

"N-No I think I'm good," Frankly I couldn't tell whether or not I did actually hit my head as the dizziness I felt could be from a number of different things, the smell of their combined emotions being one of them. After a few minutes of catching my breath, I sat up, blearily taking in my surroundings as my head swam momentarily.

"Ugghh…" I groaned, ignoring the gentle retrieve of Alphonse's metal arm from my grasp, which I hadn't remembered I'd been cradling in my attempts to recover from the fall.

"I can't believe you ripped my arm off…" Alphonse commented a little beside himself, he did sound somewhat amused however as he tried to analyze the damage done to the arm.

"Yeah sorry, I wasn't sure what else to do…" I admitted a little embarrassed, giving Alphonse an apologetic smile.

"You'll be able to reattach it right?" I asked concerned, giving the steal appendage a look over as Alphonse finagled it back into place, securing the leather strap with a satisfying snap!

"Yeah, it's no big deal. See? No harm done." He said, rolling the shoulder to test its placement. He seemed less upset than before, and for that I was grateful.

"I have to say, that was some pretty quick thinking. Completely reckless and I definitely wouldn't recommend it in a real fight without knowing how to recover from it." Edward commented from my side, offering his account of the fight. I raised a brow at him as he proceeded to assess me. 'I didn't know I was being graded…'

"But," He continued noticing the look and he gave me a smile. "Overall I'd say you did pretty well considering how new you are to all of this." He finished and I flushed at the compliment, returning his smile with a small one of my own.

"Well, I can't take all the credit, I do have pretty great teachers," I said, looking between the two of them. And there it was again, that lopsided grin Edward always wore when something genuinely pleased him, or when he was embarrassed. I found myself wanting more of it.

I cleared my mind of those thoughts as the boys helped me to my feet, having to repeatedly assure them I was fine on my own as we exited the gated training area, and back to our hotel for the evening. The day had drawn on plenty long enough for me, and I was looking forward to a quick bath and a night spent laying on another temporary mattress.


"Here you go! The complete step-by-step instructions for Marcoh's fabulous one thousand recipes for making magic in the kitchen!" Sheska announced delightedly, hand stretched out over the table in the middle of the room as she presented the various journals she'd been painstakingly writing out for close to a month now. We all gawked in astonishment at the sheer amount of them.

Numerous stacks of paper-bound journals and handwritten notes cluttered the table space and we all just stared, jaws lost to the floor somewhere . The boys stepped up to the table like bees to honey as they enthusiastically flipped through the materials, Brosh carefully picked up a random journal and absently skimmed the first few words at the top of the page.

"Are you positive you didn't get the wrong author?" The man questioned in a low whisper to the girl beside him, to which Sheksa scoffed, clearly offended.

"Not a chance! My memory is flawless I recreated every word verbatim!" She voiced in her defense, huffing at the man's audacity. I stuck my nose out as I tried to get a read for the contents of the page over Edward's shoulder. Sure enough, the page had in fact been a collection of various recipes for baked goods and another assortment of culinary experiments. "Huh…?'

"Sheska, you're absolutely sure these notes are exactly how Marcoh wrote them?" Edward inquired, never taking his eyes off the book in his hand as he continued to absorb the information along the page, flipping to the next at such a speed it made my eyes ache.

"Oh yes, I'm absolutely sure of it!" Sheska declared clearly, hands clasped in front of her as the timid young lady tried to defend her work. The boy stopped his quick scanning over the paper as he flipped it back to its cover, lifting his gaze to smile at her.

"Sheska, that really is a remarkable talent. You're a lifesaver." Edward complimented, before hastily reaching inside his coat and pulling out a pocketbook of some kind. He flipped open the booklet and scribbled a code and a curious amount of zeros before tearing it free of its confines, and handing it to Lieutenant Ross accompanied by his state-issued pocket watch.

"Lieutenant, take this and make sure she's compensated." He said, before making his way back to the table to start collecting a few of the stacks of journals. Quickly Alphonse and I followed suit, pulling together as many as I dared carry before collecting them all into my arms to the best of my ability. 'My shoulder's gonna hate me later…' It was only after I'd shuffled several into my open arms had I realized I ended up with a much bigger stack than Edward had. 'How did I end up being the pack mule?'

"Take that to the State alchemist's treasury, you'll see a figure there. Give them my watch for proof and extract that amount out of my research budget." Edward continued as he strode off to the front door, hardly looking behind him as he called over his shoulder back to the women standing in the room.

"Wha- but-" Ross tried but the boy was already almost out the door, Alphonse close behind when Edward stuck his head hastily back through the doorway.

"Thanks for everything Sheska, bye now!" He called, and then, he was gone, making his way down the porch steps and out onto the street. I darted my eyes between the two officers and Sheska as we proceeded to stand there without a word.

"Um, goodbye," I said shuffling a bit awkwardly as I tried to remain polite. It seemed I was the only one whose manners looked to be intact. I stepped across the room and out onto the porch, scrambling to catch up to the brothers without dropping any of the papers that had been hastily gathered into my arms. There had to be at least a hundred or so of these, I wasn't entirely sure how we expected to carry them all.

Brosh raced down the stairs behind us, scrambling to quickly open the car door. Alphonse shuffled into the car without much complaint. I shot Edward a glare.

"I am not sitting in the middle again," I huffed, and the boy stood there for a moment as if he considered saying something. I hardened my stare and he paled slightly before scooting inside the back of the cab before me.

"Okay okay I'm going," He grumbled as he settled into the seat. He'd soon come to find out why I had made that choice as I slinked in beside him. He made a disgruntled noise as I pushed him further into Alphonse's side while I tried to wiggle myself in.

"What the hell Em? You tryna squish me?" He growled which produced a snort from me.

"Now you know why I didn't wanna be in the middle," I commented, and the boy glowered at me, but I wasn't about to let that stop me from securing my spot. He rolled his eyes at me and I stuck my tongue out playfully in return which caused him to steam further. He opened his mouth to say more when Lieutenant Ross climbed into the seat across from us, Brosh comfortably nestled into his spot beside her. Her cool eyes flitted between the three of us as she sat down.

"Where exactly do you plan on going now, Sir?" She asked, arms folded over her chest as the engine of the car roared to life, the cab driver shifting the car into gear to start driving down the street.

"We're gonna hold up in the main Central Library for now, they have the best materials for this sort of work," Edward stated plainly, hands coming to rest on top of the small stack nestled across his lap as the car began to move. My heart lept slightly as the car slowly rolled forward and I had to hold my stack a bit straighter lest it fall all over the place.

"Forgive me Sir, but I don't think that's a good idea," Ross said. "A library was Scar's last mark, it would be nearly impossible to protect the three of you in such a public venue."

"Figuring out a way to do your job is your problem Lieutenant Ross, not mine," Edward said swiftly, gold eyes regarding the woman cooly. A painful chill crept up my spine at the tension.

"Please try to understand, this is an incredible lead, we have to follow it," Alphonse said slowly, and the car grew deathly quiet. I wanted so desperately to melt into the seat below me… if only it were possible . Ross said nothing as the streets of Central rolled on around us, but I could tell she wasn't submitting because she wanted to. In the end, Edward did outrank her, which I still had a hard time wrapping my mind around, it seemed she did as well. I could only hope tensions wouldn't continue to rise, and no hard feelings could be left to fester.


After another incredibly uncomfortable car ride -the cramped space not being the only contributor-, we started the arduous task of camping out inside a private study room within the Central Library. At first, Edward and Alphonse seemed confident this would only take a couple of hours, a few days at the most, however, it was starting to seem a little more difficult than that.

A heavy groan sounded from across the room and I set down the book I'd been attempting to entertain myself with.

"Damn, I thought this was gonna be no sweat. Mark some things here, add a few columns, no problem." Edward moaned, face pressed into the table as he slumped over it. I raised a brow at him.

"Not going so well?" I asked, eyes flitting between him and his brother as the armor's helmet tilted toward the floor, sighing quietly.

"No…If we could just ask Marcoh then maybe-" Alphonse started but was swiftly cut off by Edward as the boy remained rooted to the table.

"Marcoh's in protective custody Al, besides we need to keep this away from the Military. We have no way of knowing what could be hiding inside this research," I set my book down slowly, closing it against my lap as I considered him.

"Could the truth really be that serious?" I asked, concerned about what we could really be getting ourselves into. I had considered the Philosopher's Stone was no ordinary object, that was clear just by the amount of trouble we seemed to keep finding ourselves in, but I'd hardly considered if what the boys uncovered could pose a threat in the hands of the military. Then again, there were a lot of things about the military already that proved they weren't the best at keeping their hands clean.

"The Philosopher's Stone is an incredibly powerful artifact, anything with that sort of reputation wouldn't be conceivable without some sort of serious risk. Have you not been paying attention to anything we've been saying?" Edward asked incredulously, raising his head off the table to regard me and I frowned at him.

"Of course I have! You guys just use big words that don't make any sense to me! Besides, my brains fried from boredom," I snapped in my defense, pursing my lips and the blonde rolled his eyes with a scoff.

"We told you to go back to the hotel hours ago Em, you should have known you'd get bored," Alphonse replied, rummaging through the various papers scattered about the table in front of him and I huffed.

"No way, then I'd just be by myself, that's hardly any more entertaining than this," I complained, to which the boys sighed in response, clearly exhausted from their devoted efforts to cracking this for the past couple of hours.

"Besides," I added as my eyes drifted to Edward as he stretched over the back of his chair with a yawn, " I thought this would only take a couple of hours, at this rate it's gonna be a couple of days, " Edward shot me a squint of his eyes as if he couldn't believe what I was saying.

"What the hell did you expect this to be? It's research, it takes a minute to figure this kind of shit out." He replied dismissively as he leaned back in his chair, flicking a pencil between his teeth as he ruminated to himself. I eyed him for a moment.

"Last time I checked you're the one who said it would be 'no sweat' ," I said with a click of my tongue, referring to his previous statement. The boy gave me a sideways glance but said nothing as he continued to bob the pencil in his mouth. I wasn't sure if I wanted to laugh or slap him.

"Hey hey! Well if it isn't my favorite trio!" A hearty voice called and a sudden warmth flitted through the air as one familiar officer swept into the room gleefully.

"Hughes, it's good to see you." Alphonse greeted, spirits lifting instantly at the sight of the man. Lt. Colonel Hughes gave Alphonse a light wave of his hand as he stepped up to the table with a bright smile. Taking a moment to exchange pleasantries with the younger brother, the man shifted his attention over to Edward as his smile curled into a smirk.

"What gives Ed? I told you to let me know when you got back into Central," Hughes expressed, hand coming to rest atop the desk as he leaned forward, brow quirked curiously at the boy to which the blonde simply raised a brow in return with a smirk of his own.

"Easy for you to say, you could have come visit anytime what have you been up to?" He asked easily, pulling away from the back of the chair to lay his arms on the table, pencil flicked limply in between his fingers.

"What can I say? I've been busy. These damn Scar sightings have got us all chasing our tails. My department's been stretched thin, haven't had the time." Hughes supplied with a shrug of his shoulders, regarding the boys with a playful air. Edward gave the man a curious look.

"You mean it's really gotten that bad?" He asked concerned and I sat up from my spot on the couch beside the furthest wall, attention solely on the man in the middle of the room. 'Scar again…' The man rubbed the back of his neck regretfully.

"Unfortunately yes, due to the library burning down, I've had my men scrambling to make up for the documents we lost in the fire the last couple of weeks." Hughes expressed and Edward flitted his gaze between Alphonse and me as he considered the man's words.

"You don't say…" I looked dumbly between the brothers and the officer as I tried to get a read on him. 'What's that look for?'

"Excuse me, Lt. Colonel," A voice raised through the quiet air as Lieutenant Ross stepped into the room, hand shot up to her temple as she addressed her superior officer, "I cannot recommend these three stay here in this library any longer, So long as Scar is at large they are all in jeopardy, and I cannot ensure their safety. They should return to the Command Center now," She said, tone stiff as she held a professional air about her. Hughes turned over his shoulder as he regarded her and Edward rose from his chair, exasperated.

"What the hell Ross? I told you to stay outta my way!" He growled, eyes shooting straight at the woman from across the room. She didn't budge. Hughes stood there for a moment as he considered the two of them, before bobbing his head at the request.

"She's got a point Ed, it's not exactly safe here." The man said, regarding the boy again and Edward shot the man a fretful look.

"Don't say that," He protested, and the two exchanged looks as Edward silently pleaded with him to reconsider. The man sighed.

"Frankly, this isn't really my jurisdiction. Have you considered taking it up with Armstrong?" He inquired and the whole room erupted as both Ross and Edward spoke over each other in desperation not to get the Major involved.

"No please-!"

"You really don't have to do that-!"

"-anybody but Armstrong-!"

They cried. It seemed his particular flavor of exuberance was well-known and less than favorable for more than just Edward. I couldn't really blame them, the man had good intentions, but he was a lot. Ross cleared her throat as she tried to regain her professional composure, excusing her outburst.

"Help us out Hughes we're close now I can feel it, I'm begging" Edward whispered tersely, hand beside his mouth as his eyes regarded the man pleadingly. Hughes folded his arms with a conflicted sigh.

"If I had it my way I'd send extra troops here to help to lend some protection, but between following leads on Scar, and dealing with the lack of case files… my people are just too preoccupied right now." He lamented, giving the three of us an apologetic look. Edward flicked his gaze between his brother and me again as he absorbed the information, his expression clear the cogs were turning. I regarded the look with a small smile as I finally caught onto what it was he was thinking, and it seemed Alphonse was under the same impression as well. Edward returned his gaze to the Lt. Colonel with a meddlesome smirk.

"I might know a way to remedy that"


"HUH!? You mean you want me?" Sheska squeaked, finger pressed against her chest as her big doe-like eyes blew wide at the group of us piled into her living room. Hughes regarded the young woman with a smile.

"Of course, If you can do what these three really claim you can do then you'd be an incredible asset to my team." He replied, hands at his sides and the girl drifted her gaze to the side.

"Well, I did read the Military's criminal case files while I was working in the library…" She admitted slowly as she thought back and the cheerful man boomed.

"Fantastic! You're hired! And don't even worry about the pay, I'll keep you covered." Hughes grinned brightly at the woman and Sheska beamed.

"Wow, t-thank you so much! Really!" The girl looked like she was gonna cry and the officer waved her off with a laugh.

"Don't sweat it."

Edward raised a mischievous brow from beside the man as he quietly preened. Hughes couldn't help but chuckle in response.

"Wow Ed what do you know? I guess I have a couple of extra soldiers freed up to help with guard duty at the library." He said, giving the boy a knowing look to which he sheepishly scratched his head.

"Really? Thanks pal I had no idea that could be a possible outcome," Edward feigned innocence about as easily as he did breathing and everyone rolled their eyes as the officer regarded him further.

"Yeah right," He said with a sarcastic laugh but continued to smile regardless. Hughes truly was a good man, and I was pleased to know him.

"Well, now that that's settled I suppose it's about time to head home for the night," Hughes paused for a moment as he considered his company, and with a returned smile he added, "Say, why don't you three come over for dinner? I'm sure Gracia would love to have the company." The man offered and I felt my heart flutter at the chance to finally meet his family.

He'd been so kind to us every time we saw him, it would be wonderful to get to know the daughter he was always speaking of.

"That's a great idea," Alphonse replied, excitement apparent in the armor's voice. Edward was harder to convince.

"What? Al, we don't have time for dinner, we've got shit to do," Edward growled, gold eyes flicking up to regard his younger brother sharply.

"Brother, we've been decoding all day, it's not going anywhere. We can pick it up again first thing in the morning, right, Lt. Ross?" Alphonse asked, turning his attention onto the officer who'd been rather quiet up until now. She lifted her gaze to the armor as she responded.

"Of course. We can pick you up and bring you to the library early tomorrow morning if you'd like." She offered, and Brosh was quick to agree with a nod in our direction. Definitely a puppy.

"What the hell are you saying, Al? We're so close! We can't slow down now!" Edward argued at his brother and the armor reeled slightly at the elder Elric's tone. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh come on Ed, take a break. You're gonna make yourself sick if you keep going at this rate, "I said. "Besides, Hughes is a nice guy, I'd like to meet his family." I turned my gaze over to Hughes who responded in kind with a gentle smile.

"Take a load off Ed, I promise we won't stop you from hitting the books again tomorrow." The man added, green eyes flitting to the teenager who continued to simmer at the growing coercion. Gold eyes trailed the many faces in the room as he gave each of us a deliberate look, before finally caving with a sigh.

"Ah hell…alright." He said, and everyone whooped and cheered at the teen's compliance, much to Edward's embarrassment. And with that, we were finally on our way to the Hughes Residence. I found myself strangely excited, but also nervous. What am I supposed to say? What if I come off weird? This man had become someone I put in such high regard as it is, I'd be absolutely horrified if I couldn't make a good first impression.

It was about a twenty-minute drive or so when we arrived at the Hughes family home. The ride along the way was filled with laughter and good conversation as the world passed by from the outside. My eyes were glued to the passing streets as familiar sights triggered memories of the last time I was in Central. I still couldn't believe it had been months since then, it sometimes felt like it was yesterday. Despite being in Central for close to a month, it still didn't quite feel real. I found myself waking up in our hotel room and still thinking we were in the East. I continued to be in for quite a surprise when I'd pull back the curtains and see the various sights of Central City instead. However, this wasn't such a terrible thing. It was nice to be around somewhere that felt familiar, even if it didn't always mean a good one.

Rolling to a stop, the car pulled up along the street in front of a rather interesting-looking home. It was a two-story house consisting of yellow bricks aligning the front, a long stretch of brown tiling making up the roof, and two brick chimneys jutting from the top. The yard was lovely with rows of bushes and other greenery surrounding the perimeter of the house. The property was sealed off by a sage green wall with a metal gate to access the yard from the street. Beyond the gate cleared a path made of brick as it slithered and winded up toward a simple porch that proceeded to a dark red door. 'What is with these houses and their weird color schemes?'

Piling out of the car -insisting Edward be shoved in the middle once again- Hughes led us swiftly across the threshold of the gated property and up the porch where he unlocked the door and stepped inside. Immediately the man was rushed by the small body of a child no older than three as the toddler collided with the man's legs. She squealed as her father bundled her up in his arms and proceeded to bombard her with kisses and affection. However, as all toddlers were, her attention was quickly grabbed by something else as her eyes fell directly on the boys who stood close to the doorway. The child wiggled out of her father's arms and he allowed his daughter to race over to Alphonse's legs as the girl wrapped herself around them with a delighted giggle.

"Big Brother!" The girl called, thrilled to see the metal boy once again.

"Hi Elicia, how are you? It's been a while huh?" Alphonse replied, smoothing his palm over the girl's head as she lifted her enormous green eyes to regard him.

"Too long!" She shouted, much to everyone's amusement. And then her eyes traveled to Edward, and as if the girl couldn't possibly get more expressive, she leaped toward him and Edward gasped as he reached for the girl, bundling her up in his arms much to his surprise. The child giggled endlessly as the boy cradled her.

"Whoa! Elicia, you got big while we were gone." Edward said, giving her a wide grin as she reached to pat the top of his head.

"Yeah! Someday I might be taller than you!" She commented, another round of giggles escaping her as Edward pouted.

"Hey give me some credit! I'm still growing!" The boy groaned helplessly with a smile as the girl continued to laugh in his arms. I'd almost forgotten how different Edward and Alphonse seemed when they were around her. Only ever seeing them talk to her on the phone, it was completely different in person, and I found myself immensely surprised at their tenderness. Especially Edward, I found it quite charming.

"Who's that Little Big Brother?" Elica asked, her pudgy finger rising to point in my direction and I realized she was asking about me.

"That's Em. She's family," Edward supplied with a smile, gold eyes turning to regard me and I felt my cheeks flush. Even though it had been several weeks since we departed from Resembool, I was still growing accustomed to being referred to as family. It felt… delightful

"Nice to meet you Elicia" I greeted the girl with a small wave while silently hoping the girl wouldn't try to jump into my arms as well. I wasn't sure I was ready for that yet. Elicia scrunched up her face in curiosity as her eyes trailed up my face and toward my hairline. She raised a tiny brow at me.

"Your hair is funny. Don't you ever brush it?" I hardly had time to catch my dropping jaw as it careened for the floor. I wasn't the only one. All breaths stilled as no one knew how to answer the savage little girl. She continued to stare at me confused. 'That's it…I'm gonna melt into the floor…'

"Now Elicia, what have I told you about being rude to quests." A feminine voice flitted across the quiet air as a beautiful woman strode into the doorway, regarding the child with the tail-tale look of a disapproving mother.

"Sorry Mommy." Elicia apologized with a flush of embarrassment as she was chided.

"Why don't you help Daddy set up the table? He could use your help." Her mother eyed the girl with a gentle smile and the girl lit up again as she replied to her.

"Okay, Mommy!" Edward set the wiggling child back onto her feet and she excitedly waddled off back into the house after her father who'd long since disappeared further into the home without any of us noticing. Her mother watched her go before returning her gaze to the three of us with a gentle sigh.

"I'm so sorry about that. We're teaching her, but you know how toddlers are." She offered in reparation, and the boys simply hummed amused. I hardly knew much about toddlers, this being one of the few I'd ever met other than a couple of curious hands grasping at my fur when I was on the streets months ago. Regardless I tried to put the mother at ease with a simple smile.

"It's no problem. At least she's honest." I surmised with a light laugh and the woman smiled in kind.

"Something like that. Well, please come on in, no need to stay outside." She said, ushering us inside with a wave of her hand as she pulled the door open wide for all of us to pile in. The three of us stepped inside like a procession as we made our way into the living room. It was nice, cream-colored walls adorned with picture frames of faces belonging to extended and close family members and an assortment of baby pictures that were no doubt taken by Hughes himself. It had all the furnishings of an open room that faced the gently crackling fireplace as the flames licked and flickered toward the surface. We were offered to take a seat as she finished preparing dinner, striding off to accompany her daughter and husband in the kitchen, and just as I sat down, a contented sigh rang through the room.

"It's been a long time since we were here last, huh Brother?" Alphonse asked quietly, red eyes drifting along the familiar items and nicknacks aligning the shelf above the fireplace. Edward hummed from his rented spot on the sofa.

"Yeah, I almost forgot what it looked like." He remarked softly, a gentle smile playing on his lips as he regarded the room. I allowed my mind to wander as I trailed my gaze across the various pictures around the space. Many smiling faces were captured in time as happiness was forever printed as a keepsake. Their family was actually bigger than I imagined. Parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, etc. were all depicted frozen in time inside their frames. Their smiles seemed to engrain inside my brain. I'd seen a smile like that somewhere.

'Deep blue eyes and ash blonde hair. A calming smile full of warmth and security…'

"What's wrong big sis, something the matter?" A small voice asked from somewhere in front of me and I was snapped free of my thoughts as I looked down slightly to regard Elica whose big round eyes were filled with worry.

"What? No sorry, nothing's wrong. I was just thinking is all." I offered a bit belatedly as I tried to recenter myself from my past train of thought, the girl tilted her head with curiosity.

"Did you lose something?" I sat with that for a moment as I pondered her words. 'What a strange thing to say…'

"Maybe, I'm not sure anymore," I said slowly, my mind trailing back to the memory, but it seemed almost hazy now. 'Why did I keep forgetting that face? It's only been a couple of months…'

"Anytime I lose something, I just retrace my steps!" Elicia exclaimed, trying her best to offer me a helpful suggestion and my brows perked at the statement.

"That's…actually really smart of you Elicia, thank you," I said, stretching out a hand to pat her soft head gently. The girl giggled openly with a wide smile. I vaguely wondered what it was like to be this young, to retain an innocence that made you so open to others. It was kind of refreshing.

"You're welcome," She offered cheerfully. The girl looked like she was going to say more when the gentle voice of her mother flitted from the dining table in the other room. At the call of her mother, Elicia raced to the table to take her seat, eager to have her dinner. I shared an amused laugh with the boys as Edward and I rose from the sofa and headed toward the table.

Alphonse walked ahead as Edward stopped us for a moment and I raised a brow at him.

"Everything okay?" He asked, gold eyes regarding me quietly and I nodded my head simply in return.

"Yeah, I just felt a weird case of deja vu. I'm sure it'll come to me later." I answered and his gaze lingered slightly as he considered me for a moment.

"Well, if you're sure." He said slowly, and I gave him a reassuring smile. The boy returned it with one of his own before a rather exuberant little girl insisted he sit beside her at the dinner table, to which he obliged with a laugh and a shake of his head.

I watched him go, pacing my way over to the table rather slowly as I just quietly observed everyone. The room hadn't a single negative word or feeling in the air as everyone smiled and playfully teased one another. From an outsider's perspective, it looked just like what a family should be.

Deeming it a little too long to stand and awkwardly stare, I took the remaining chair beside Alphonse, taking great pleasure in watching as Edward continued to oblige the small child as she proceeded to regale him with the events of her day and how her mother and she had gone grocery shopping hours before.

It was quite strange to see just how much attention and effort the two boys were putting into her. Even the Rockbell family dog didn't receive such treatment. Dogs, and kids are practically the same thing aren't they? Admittedly I realized the irony in that statement, but even so, I found it odd, but not bothersome.

And then of course like most things, that tiny little voice whispered in my mind.

'Nina…' And then, regardless of its legitimacy or otherwise, I realized something. Was it just me…or was it possible the boys were given a second chance with this girl? One they could not have with Nina. Based on what little I could pry off the boys, she seemed to be right about the same age as her…

Now I was just getting morbid, what a terrible way to spend a nice dinner with the family I'd been so eager to meet. I mentally berated myself and shook the thoughts clear of my mind, they could be sifted through later. I returned my attention to the table and simply enjoyed the company around me as the brothers and the little family continued to chatter away as if no time had passed at all. It was probably just me.


It had been another rather eventful month in Central since the boys finally gained access to Marcoh's notes, devoting as much of their time and energies as possible to cracking it open. In that amount of time, I'd spent the vast majority of it residing in the Hughes family home, playing with Elicia, and getting to know Mrs. Hughes. It was wonderful having the freedom to enjoy my time with them, and I'd found myself growing quite attached over the past few weeks since our first dinner together. One that would predate many to come afterward. I spent many nights sleeping over there as well, Mr. Hughes insisting I'd be better off just staying the night under his roof where he could ensure my safety after several late hours entertaining his daughter. I didn't mind, in fact, it was quite the opposite. I felt rather at ease sleeping in the guest bedroom upstairs, it certainly beat spending the night in a hotel room with two boys all the time. It was incredibly quiet, however, and was regretfully a perfect environment to nurture my recurring nightmares.

It was odd, ever since Xenotime when I was exposed to the red water, my strange deja vu had surprisingly subsided exponentially, it almost seemed like I wouldn't have to suffer their occurrences anymore. That was until I entered Central again. It was slow at first, merely a few glimpses of faint visions I couldn't fully discern popping up inside my mind every once in a while. And then, it evolved into random bouts of being lost in thought when I smelled something weirdly familiar or heard a sound I'd thought maybe I'd heard before.

The nightmares, however, were the worst part. Flashes of incomplete pictures and memories that I wasn't even entirely sure were memories plagued my restless mind during hours I should have been comfortably asleep. Despite their likeness, they felt just as real and just as terrifying. I had unfortunately experienced one particular nightmare that resulted in me waking the whole house with my screams. I felt absolutely awful. I resorted to spending a few nights in the hotel after that; I didn't even bother mentioning it to the boys. They were stressed out enough as it was.

Between Edward staying up for countless hours beyond what would be considered healthy, to Alphonse practically becoming a zombie just in an attempt to advance through the pages as quickly as possible, the two seemed to be running on empty as is. So, I'd keep this to myself, it was the least I could do. There was no sense in weighing them down by worrying about me when their current task was too important. They had to succeed. I knew they needed the win, we all did.

With all that being said, I also had taken up a small amount of baking in my time spent with Mrs. Hughes and Elicia. A particular product of such hard efforts was delicately cradled in my hand as I carried a bag of freshly baked cookies made by yours truly a couple of hours prior. I had asked Mrs. Hughes to teach me how to bake at first as a random bout of curiosity, hardly taking it all too seriously. In the end, I'd found myself thoroughly enjoying the process of baking, and it certainly didn't hurt I couldn't turn down the indulgence of my efforts. I wasn't the only one, Edward had taken a liking to Mrs. Hughes' cooking, and as a result, was a constant taste tester whenever I produced anything in the kitchen -with supervision of course. Just because I could follow a recipe doesn't mean I was great at handling kitchen appliances; that was a story for another day.

I carried the bag of delicate confections with care as I made my way up the Central Library stairs. It was late, and hardly anyone was around, but even so, I'd spent the last several hours entertaining and obliging a certain little girl and was seeking a much quieter sort of company. After all, someone had to remind those two to take a break every so often. It was almost comical how hard it was to pry them free of their current hyperfixation, but I figured: who better to be up for the task?

Climbing up the stairs, I made my way to the dimly lit hallway that harbored the room the boys were staying in. My stride was steady as the familiar walls rolled past me, that was until a pair of slightly unfamiliar guards stood in close proximity to the doorway I was trying to reach.

I'd seen them a few times before, but typically they were on the other side of the hallway, keeping guard of the opposite entrance while Sargent Brosh and Lieutenant Ross typically surveyed this end. Perhaps they were on a break? Frankly, they needed it, the boys were practically making them statues with the many hours the poor officers had to endure sitting posted outside. Deeming it simple enough, I strode past them toward the doorway when I slowed at the notice of their insistent stares. They weren't just insistent…they were almost perverted . Raised brows and lightly curled lips conveyed smug looks as they watched me pass them. I felt, uneasy.

Due to the nature of my uneasiness, it only served to reason I'd stumble over my own two left feet, resulting in me clumsily dropping the bag of sweets I'd brought along with me. 'Fucking figures,'

Ignoring their rather lousy attempts to stifle their snickers, I bent down to retrieve the fallen bag of goods when a peculiar sound emanated from one of the guards behind me; the slow tune of a whistle as it was blown in my direction. I froze momentarily as I tried to process what I had heard. I straightened up slowly a moment later and turned my gaze toward them.

"Damn girl, why don't you go ahead and do that again so I can get a better look?" The one said, his smirk widening consideringly, and I felt my heart quicken inside my chest.

"W-What..?" I stalled for a moment, apprehensive if what I had heard had been correct.

"You heard him." The other said cockily," Get on the ground," He ticked his head to the side, gesturing to the floor like some sick physical representation of what he'd said. The two glanced between one another as their snickers flitted through the air and I felt my stomach drop to the floor swiftly at that moment. 'What…what's happening?'

"We heard through the grapevine you're some kind of dog, so why don't you get on the floor and bark like you want it?" The man continued, his eyes piercing me with a lustful eagerness I'd never seen before. My chest tightened as a lump began to swell inside my throat, their laughter echoing through the hallway as I stood there painfully still. With no idea what else to do, I spun around quickly and darted into the reading room beside me. Slamming the doors shut, I lost myself in trying to control the ragged breaths that began to tear through me.

'What the hell was that? What's going on with me?'

Voices sounded from farther inside the room, but all I could hear was the sick replaying of the voices inside my head.

"-bark like you want it,"

"Em? Em, what's going on? You hurt?" The faint sound of Edward's voice called with alarm as his body appeared in front of my vision, but my view was tunneling as my breaths became harsher and more constrained, my diaphragm proceeding to fall farther and farther into my stomach.

'Like you want it," My mind reeled and I collapsed onto the floor, back flush with the doors behind me as tears welled up and streamed down my face. I was beginning to lose my grip on my emotions once again.

"Em, talk to us," Alphonse pleaded gently from my side, and I was reminded of that day when I'd witnessed Brigadier General Grand's brains be melted down to nothing but a grey matter and blood slushie. Alphonse's voice seemed to pull me away from the darkness for just a moment, and I tried to speak between the constrained breaths.

"I..I...Those guards out there…I just dropped my bag and and t-they…" I swallowed down the rising lump that persisted to house itself inside my throat but was struggling immensely to keep myself under control. "Why, why, why?'

"What? What did they do?" Edward pressed, his anxiety rising and I could feel my stomach lurching at the smell. The jolt of my upper arms from him cementing his hands on them seemed to pull me away momentarily and I tried to look him in the eye. Concern, worry, and a small flitter of fear. I was scaring him, scaring them due to my sudden behavior this late at night. That only caused me to feel even more guilty and my vision became blurry from continuous tears.

"T-They…They said…they…" I tried again but the emotions were just too intense; their emotions only seemed to make things worse and I couldn't stop the sob that escaped my lips.

"Em, I need you to breathe, I can't understand what you're saying," Edward replied, his voice growing slightly desperate as he tried to ease my downward spiral. Sucking in a deep breath, I dropped my head.

"...They whistled at me… ", My body continued to ferociously shake despite the silence that stilled the air around us. The truth had spilled out like a bucket of ice and the boys were agonizingly quiet.

"I bent down to grab it and they whistled at me…And they said to do it again to… get a better look, " The mere words stung my ears as I repeated them, and my stomach lurched once again as I relived it over and over again inside my head. A breath hitched from in front of me as the grip on my arms tightened and I lifted my gaze to regard the brothers again. Inside Edward's eyes was no longer fear, but a fierce look of fury as he gently released me, and silently stood.

Without another word, the elder Elric stepped swiftly out of the room leaving my space to be welcomingly invaded by Alphonse's armor as the boy gently rested his leather hands on my arms where his brother's had been. He sat there gravely silent as I continued to sniffle and shake.


Edward barreled outside the library doors into the hallway like a raging bull, head snapping from one way to the other as his eyes scanned for the men previously stationed outside his study room. The hallway was deathly quiet, filled only with the faint sounds of leather boots as two officers came into view down the hall from the stairway below. Lieutenant Ross's brows rose as the two of them came to step up to the steaming boy.

"Sir? What's going on? Is something wrong?" The woman asked concerned, immediately growing fearful that something may have happened and Edward regarded her with a glower.

"There were two men stationed out here, did you see where they went?" He asked, his tone indicative of his growing fury, and the two officers blanched at the teen's rather intense behavior.

"They were just covering us while we went on a coffee break, they're off for the night." Brosh supplied from her side, collar becoming rather tacky from sweat at the boy's intense glare.

"Did something happen?" Brosh inquired, his worry only seeming to rise and Edward faltered in his fiery tirade to regard them. The two officers gave him a look of confusion and worry, and rather reluctantly, he realized it may be best not to escalate the situation, despite how much he may have wanted to originally.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," Edward replied, allowing his anger to simmer deep inside his chest as the officers continued to regard him with uneasiness. The faint sound of sobbing continued unabated behind the door and Edward's heart sank. There wasn't much he could do about the conveniently off-duty officers now, but this at least he could do; he had to.

Pulling in a deep breath through his nose, Edward steeled his resolve and pushed himself back into the room.


Despite my many attempts to get myself under control, it seemed futile as every moment I was able to gain a lungful of air, it was swiftly knocked out of me again with a rush of tears. God how I hated feeling like this, I must have looked pitiful as hell. I felt pitiful as hell. The vibrating of my aching heart seemed to no longer be the only vibration in the room as Alphonse's armor shook lightly. I lifted my gaze to look up at him and saw nothing from behind the usually brightly lit eye holes of his helmet. A strong scent flitted through the air, and my heart jumped. He wasn't shaking out of fear, it was anger.

Alphonse hardly ever got angry, especially this kind of angry. Even still, he remained deathly quiet as he delicately held me at his side. I wished I could know what he was thinking, but a part of me was almost afraid to ask. Quietly reentering the room, Edward stepped up in front of me before kneeling again to meet me at eye level. He gave me a tight-lipped look.

"Em, I think it would be best for you to go back to the Hughes', and get some rest. Al and I are gonna be here for a couple more hours." My heart picked up inside my chest again at the suggestion and I shook my head fiercly.

"N-No, I wanna stay here, with you guys. I already came all this way…" I sounded truly pathetic, and I hated the sound of my own voice, but the desperation I felt, I wasn't sure what else to do. Edward regarded me with that sad puppy look he always gave me when he wasn't sure how to respond. When he felt like he couldn't help the way he wished he could.

"Gracia, stays up late when you leave the house, right?" He asked gently, gold eyes unwavering as they remained in contact with mine. I sniffled with a nod in response.

"Well, you wouldn't wanna leave her there all by herself, right?" I knew what this was: he was trying to make it seem like going home would be for Mrs. Hughes's sake, but I knew better than that. It wasn't so she wouldn't be lonely, it was so I wouldn't be. This way, I wouldn't be a burden to them. I knew that wasn't what he was insinuating, but I couldn't ignore the thought that occurred to me regardless. Realizing there was no point in arguing, I shook my head in agreement and wiped my nose clean against the sleeve of my hoodie as my eyes dried somewhat. Seeing this, Edward pulled away from me momentarily as he shrugged his red coat free of his shoulders, swinging it around to gently drape it over mine. I tilted my head up at him surprised as the boy simply gave me a small smile.

"Alright, let's get you home." He said, and I nodded slowly, gripping the red cloth tightly in my hands as I wrapped my arms around myself. Rising to my feet, I gave Alphonse a parting glance as I was gently guided back out of the study room and into the hallway where Brosh and Ross stood with uneasy looks on their faces. I was sure I looked like hell.

"Is everything alright?" Brosh asked apprehensively, his puppy-like eyes scanning me slowly.

"It will be." Edward said, "Get her a cab to take her back to the Hughes residence. And don't let her go alone," Edward eased me further into the hall as he gently deposited me into the officer's hands, and Ross shot him a sharp look.

"Forgive me sir, but I don't see how that's possible; we both need to remain here to ensure you two are under protection. "She said sternly, "We can't both be at two places at once, and one of us leaving here would put you in jeopardy." Edward turned to face her as he'd begun to reenter the room; he shot her just as stern of a look as he regarded her.

"As I've said before Lieutenant: figuring out how to do your job is your problem," He responded icily, dismissing her with a glare.

"Ed, please, I'll be okay by myself, honest. I'm fine now." I said, trying to ease the tension and he gave me a swift glance, before returning his eyes to the officers adressing him.

"Just make sure she gets home safe." And then he was gone behind the door, the click of the closure ringing dully through the hallway.

"Damn, for a kid he's kinda scary," Brosh muttered uncomfortably as Ross turned her eyes back onto him.

"Brosh, you think you can handle being here by yourself for a minute?" She said, "I gotta take care of this." The woman gestured with a nod in my direction; I felt my body deflate. 'I guess I really am an inconvenience…'

"Uh yeah, I'll be fine, but you sure you're okay to go by yourself?" Brosh asked unsure, and the woman simply nodded.

"This will only take a few minutes, I'll be back soon." With that, the two officers nodded to one another before Ross gently guided me down the hallway, departing the research wing silently.

The officer accompanied me up to the front of the library where a personal cab service for military personnel rolled up along the curbside for us. The woman opened the door to the backseat soon after its arrival and I slipped quietly into the darkness inside. Once the two of us were seated, the car sputtered as it rolled on its way again.

The car was uncomfortably silent for several minutes until Ross raised her voice from across from me.

"So, would you care to explain what happened?" She asked, her tone smooth as she tried to pry me to answer with a gentle look. I eyed her for a moment, apprehensive if I should answer or not.

"The two guards posted in the hall while you were gone…they…said some awful things to me…" I responded slowly, head bowed as I continued to cling to the coat draped carefully over my person.

"Can I ask what?" She prompted and I sighed.

"...I dropped my bag in the hallway…they whistled at me…and told me they wanted a better look…" Even after a second time saying it, it didn't feel any less foul. My tongue burned with the taste of the filthy words as they continued to linger.

She said nothing for a long moment before she muttered to herself as if forgetting I could hear her.

"Those pigs…" I drifted my gaze elsewhere as I tried to shove the events away.

"You need to tell Lt. Colonel Hughes about this; I'm sure he'd like to know what his soldiers have been saying." She said, "He could take care of this for you."

"No...It's fine; It doesn't matter anyway," I replied, it didn't seem worth it to add more insult to injury by making this situation worse than it already was. It was hardly likely they'd suffer any consequences anyway.

"Em, you don't have to remain silent just to keep the peace. Those are some of the Lt Colonels' own men. If you reported it, he would do something about it." Ross urged, her blue eyes trailing my face as she tried to rouse a different answer from me. She didn't receive it as I turned my attention out the window. I wouldn't be able to process this now, not like this.

"Just think about it, okay? I'm here for you." She said, and my ears perked at the last half of her sentence. "I'm here for you,"

"Thanks…" I replied quietly, regarding her with a small smile. She returned it with her own.

"Of course."


Pulling up to the Hughes family home, Ross was the first to exit the cab as she drew the car door open for me, and I stepped out into the cool autumn night. Central had finally dropped its leaves and cooled down after what seemed like forever, and I was sure winter would be here in a matter of weeks. It seemed even autumn could fall short at times. I would have laughed at that had the circumstances been different.

Stepping up to the door, I knocked and counted to three before letting myself in, the rule being established a few weeks ago after countless late nights visiting the boys before coming back here over the alternative of sleeping in the hotel. I hardly spared Ross a glance as the woman bade me goodnight before returning to the cap that would take her back to the Central Library. I returned my attention to the living room as I shut the front door and kicked off my shoes.

"You're back earlier than expected; everything alright?" A gentle voice called from further into the room, and I belatedly realized I wasn't alone as my eyes picked up to see Mrs. Hughes as she rested comfortably on the sofa beside the fireplace. The crackling of the fire was alluring as it bathed everything in its warmth and glow.

Seeing her there, so open and inviting, I felt myself crumble as I stood in the doorway. I began to cry again, like a small child and the mother's eyes widened in shock.

"Sit down and tell me what happened," She urged, patting the cushion beside her and I maneuvered across the room to sit at her side. I continued to cry despite how desperately I wished not to, reliving the trauma all over again as I expressed to her in detail what happened. I told her everything, even the parts I left out telling the boys and Lieutenant Ross. Mrs. Hughes was quiet as she held space for me to finish, and when I managed to get enough air in my lungs to calm down some, she finally spoke.

"Have you told Maes about this?" I shook my head with a sniffle.

"I…I didn't have the time; besides, I wouldn't want to bother him…" I admitted, graciously accepting a tissue when she offered it to me and I softly blew into it, ridding myself of the snot built up inside my sinuses. She regarded me with a soft look of concern.

"Maes would want you to tell him. If he thought you didn't feel safe enough to come to him with anything, well, he'd feel awful, " She said gently, "He cares very much about you, and the boys too." I tore my gaze from her.

"I just…I don't don't want to cause problems…" I dropped my eyes to my lap as I mindlessly picked at the dry pieces of tissue in my hand. The woman continued.

"Maes would do anything he could to ensure you three are taken care of. That's just the kind of man he is. He wouldn't consider this a burden, " She said, resting a gentle hand on my own as they paused from fidgeting, "You are valid, Emelia, and we are here for you. Okay?" Her voice rang with the sort of kindness only a mother could possess as her eyes regarded me gently. No, It was more than that. There was a sense of love in those eyes; I wanted to deny it.

"Thank you, Mrs. Hughes," I responded slowly and the woman's smile grew warmer as she lightly shook her head.

"You've lived with us for weeks now. Just call me Gracia." She said and I felt my heart melt once again at the pureness of these people's hearts. Mr. Hughes, Gracia, Edward, and Alphonse… They all showed me insurmountable kindness when I hardly even deserved it. I was nothing more than vermin to be poked and prodded with needles in a cold lab that would never see the sun rays of daylight. But here…I meant something to someone. I was dare I say… loved.

"Thanks, Gracia…" I tried again and the mother pulled me in close to her chest, her warmth reaching me deeper than any fire ever could. Slowly, I leaned into the embrace and returned it with my own.


Wow, what a chapter huh? There's so much that was covered in this chapter I don't hardly have anything to say haha. I would like to point out for any of you who were upset about the whole guard's situation, it is an unfortunate fact that an overwhelming majority of women in the US/across the entire world experience some form of sexual assault/harassment at least once in their lives, I felt my character should be no exception. While unpleasant, I felt it necessary to give Emelia a challenge that is rather relatable even if it's in an uncomfortable fashion, but in doing so, I've also created a support system for her that frankly, many of us do not possess in our own real lives. So hopefully, this will be a healing thing for some and a lovely dose of drama for others.

Next chapter we will be deviating from cannon somewhat which will be yummy, and a big secret (for some) will finally be revealed! See ya!