Chapter 6: Meeting Edward

"Dr. Forger, you look terrible."

Lloyd looked over at Lieutenant Strauss, and tried to set up a comforting smile to the older woman. It was technically only his second week, and he was supposedly coming off a weekend, but in reality, he honestly felt more relaxed here in the hospital than he did in his rooms. He rubbed the back of his head, and let out a small laugh.

"I just had a rough weekend," he said, though in reality it came out far more like a groan, "My daughter arrived last week, and she's having trouble adjusting to our new life here."

That was an understatement. The success that Anya had initially shown in reading appeared to have been some sort of mirage. She certainly could read, about as one could expect of a six year old, but the near genius level of intelligence was no where in sight. It was an issue he had been forced to deal with throughout the week since he had adopted her. He had brought all the necessary materials and tutoring tools to prepare the girl for joining the special classes of Selim Bradley, but she had shown almost no aptitude for it. She consistently got most of those practice tests wrong, and instead of focusing on the books in front of her, she would usually just stop reading after a while, and just stare out the window.

She did seem to do better on everything when he was specifically watching over her, but he that wasn't going to work. He didn't think that stress was what was causing her to do better on the tests, but rather simply having him there. He needed her to improve working on these things, and he couldn't just have her promise to study while he was at work. She was six after all, and she would likely just goof off or get distracted.

There were times he got so frustrated, he contemplated going back and trying to get a second child from the orphanage. This was obviously an impossibility, he was already known, the papers that declared Anya to be his legitimate daughter had already been snuck and filed into the official census records in East City's main building, and the land lord already recognized the girl. But there were moments where it entered his mind. And worst of all, Anya could almost seem to sense when he was thinking this, and would begin to tear up, and promised to work hard enough, and beg not to be sent back. For all his experience on the lines of Cresta had hardened his heart...that still managed to make him feel like crap.

So after an exhausting weekend of attempting to tutor her himself, and making only the faintest of progress, (For what it was worth, she did actually seem to have a knack for basic algebra for some reason), he needed to keep a closer eye on her this week if only so he could enforce her training, and build on what was necessary for Stryx. As well as hopefully have a distraction so he would not be as harsh with the young girl, who after all, was only six.

"Papa and I studied a lot," he heard the little voice of the girl declare next to him. Suddenly, the older woman in front of him looked over, and noticed the pink haired girl. A second later, her hand fell over he chest, and she smiled warmly at the young girl.

"Papa?" she said, before looking up at Lloyd in a knowing way, "Well, I'm glad to finally meet you. I'm Marsha Strauss."

"I'm Anya Forger," the young girl declared, holding out her hand, which the older woman reached out, and shook in a slightly exaggerated manner. Lloyd let out a smiled at that and a small laugh. At least, for whatever her faults, his daughter seemed to have the child like ability to cause older women to let their guard down. Would help keep the Lieutenant from being too investigative into his history. It took him a few seconds to suddenly recognize a frown develop on the older woman's face, and her eyes looked sadly down on Anya.

"I'm so sorry to hear about your mother Anya," she said with a restrained but kind voice. A panic began to develop inside Lloyd as he realized he might have brought the girl to his office too soon, "Losing her when you barely knew her."

'CRAP!' Twilight screamed, realizing he hadn't fully disclosed the cover story to Anya, 'I haven't told her what to say when talking about her mother. She knows my wife died, but nothing else! I haven't told her to cry about it, to mention the sickness a few years ago, or even to mention that she doesn't remember a lot other than her pretty singing voice. Just enough to build a tragic picture.'

Lloyd was about to interject, when suddenly, he saw Anya begin to shake a bit. For a moment, he wasn't sure what was happening, but then he heard a gasp from the girl, and then a bit of a cry. Lloyd got a good look at her face, and saw tears begin to well up on the sides of her eyes, and then flow down her cheeks. Almost immediately, Marsha's hand went to her mouth, covering a small gasp of shock.

"mama," Anya just barely allowed a gasp. Quickly, the older woman threw her arms around the girl, and held her in her arms. The girl began to let out a few strange gasps, all the while pushing out the water works. Most of the staff around the hall turned their attention to the trio, and for a moment, Twilight felt a bit of worry from the idea that he was getting too much notice, but then he saw an opportunity. He coughed, and then said, while loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I...I try to not bring up her mother too much. It was very hard on a girl so young," many of the orderlies and nurses nodded at that, a few staring down at the bawling girl. Inwardly, Twilight took in their sympathy, and was happy to have another reason to talk less about his past. He then looked back at his "daughter" and the officer, and considered the next move.

'Hopefully, she stops pretty soon,' he considered, 'Nothing too abrupt,' and as if as magic, the girl began to stop crying. He then placed a hand on her head, and helped Strauss up off the floor.

"I'm sorry about that," he then motion his head towards his office, "I think it would be better for the two of us to get to my office. We'll be in there all day, you know?"

"Of course," it was only now, that Lloyd noticed that the Lieutenant had tears around the bottom of her eyes as well, "What ever you need. You have one preliminary evaluation today, but otherwise, it will just be normal file management."

"Will get ready for it," Lloyed nodded, though Twilight grimaced. These were the evaluations of the State Alchemists he had been given as his main assignments. They were to be psychological support for some of the Military's most important assets, and to test and root out any sort of dangerous behavior before it could balloon into a disaster like with the rather infamous pair of Kimblee and McDougal. He inwardly groaned at the thought of being in a room with one of these monsters, but steeled himself. It was for the mission.

'I wonder how Anya was able to pull off that performance,' Twilight considered, beginning to move down the hallway towards his office, his little daughter holding his hand as the walked towards their haven, 'Perhaps she has experienced some kind of loss before? She is an orphan after all.'

"Oh, do be careful Lloyd," he heard Marsha shout down the hall, "This Alchemist you are meeting has something of a temper. Avoid triggering him however, and you should be fine."

"Oh," Lloyd replied back, "What should I avoid?"

"Well...Don't mention his height."

Edward groaned as he saw a young girl sitting at a side table, a massive book in front of her. He'd already had to deal with Nina Tucker and her massive mountain sized dog yesterday, and seeing this other little girl just reminded him that he was wasting his time in this hospital instead of doing more research in Shou Tucker's library.

'I don't have time for this,' he seethed inwardly, 'I should be studying with Alphonse right now, not wasting time on a "Mental Health" evaluation,' he thought of all the more useful work that his little brother was doing in that library, while he was stuck here, 'Stupid McDougal.'

Edward Elric had actually been partially responsible for helping bring the Ice using Alchemist down during his terrorist attack in Central. It had been a bit of a shock to discover that one of his fellow State Alchemists had gone rouge, but he thought it wasn't too strange. To have it change policy so every State Alchemist had to get a psychological evaluation before their license could be renewed. His renewal wasn't for a few months, but the Colonel had decided that he had wanted to have Ed go in to meet the doctor right now.

"I don't want some quack to run his weird mental experiments on me first. Better send you in, Fullmetal, so I can make sure it's safe."

'Stupid Mustang,' Ed gelt his teeth grind. He looked over at the main desk, and saw that this Dr. Forger was currently looking at him expectantly. He was about the same height as mustang, maybe a bit shorter, with blonde hair, green eyes, and a soft smile. His outfit, in contrast with every other person he'd seen in this hospital, was not the usual Military Blues. Rather, it was a green coat over a plain white button down shirt, and a bright red tie. On some level, Ed appreciated that he wasn't the only one breaking protocol a bit with his choice of attire. Still, wouldn't be good to let his guard down. His Master's warnings about the military and Mustang's flippant description of this sort of science as "Quackery" didn't set him in too accommodating a mood.

"Greetings Major Elric," the doctor spoke in a calm voice, all the while matching Ed's Golden eyes with his own green pair, "My name is Dr. Lloyd Forger, I hope you are looking forward to our discussion today."

"Maj-wait," Ed held up his hands, "Please don't use my rank. It makes me a bit uncomfortable," Ed could almost feel the glare of his Master Izumi Curtis from across the hundreds of miles to here from Dublith, "I really don't consider myself so much a soldier," and then Ed felt a slight bolt of embarrassment as Lloyd blinked at him from behind the pile of documents.

"Really now," the Doctor raised his hand to his chin, and began to rub it, all the while looking over a set of documents that Ed guessed was his profile. He then gave a glance that Ed guessed was studying him more closely, "That's interesting. Why would you join the military if you don't consider yourself a soldier. That seems a bit necessary to the position, wouldn't you think?"

"Well yeah," Ed let out a strained laugh, "Kind of is."

'Damnit, this is going to suck,' Ed felt a sinking feeling. He considered exactly how much this Doctor might know about his past. It wasn't like he knew exactly what had cost he and Alphonse so much four years earlier. The human transmutation in an attempt to bring their mother back to life. He was sure his mother's death was in his file, and they would have to dig up that old wound, and then he would ask some crap about some kind of trauma, and how that relates to what he's doing. Heck, even saying he didn't want to be a soldier was probably pushing it, since it showed that he was using the military more than serving in it, 'And who knows who this jerk is reporting to.'

"Well, we can get to that topic later," Lloyd cut Ed's train of thought off, causing his head to suddenly fall down to look at his lap. He hadn't been expecting to get out of that topic quite so easily, "We will have several more appointments to go into actual issues for discussion. We're just here for a half hour introduction, to set up some expectations for how our meetings will go. You are so young, getting to pick your brain in our later discussions should be illuminating."

'Well, that went from helpful to creepy in fifteen seconds,' Ed felt sweat develop on his head from the end of that statement, 'Pick my brain, make it sound more like I'm some kind of lab rat to you, jerk!'

"Afterall, our later sessions will be private," the doctor waved his hand towards the desk to his right, "Since this is a preliminary meeting, I thought it okay to bring my daughter to work today. She isn't in school yet, so she is trying to study for the exam right now. It isn't for a while, but it is important to be prepared."

'Isn't that a bit too big a book for a girl that age,' Ed asked in a bit of shock, 'Just what kind of crazy school is this that makes a girl that young study so much.'

"Do four year olds usually have to take entrance exams?"

"Actually, she's six," the Doctor countered quickly, before adding off handedly, "She's just a bit short for her age."

...

'Calm down, he called her short, not you,' Ed was able to quickly tap down on the developing anger in his belly. No use to blow up on this doctor, especially if he was going to have to have several more meetings with him. Finally, the little girl turned around, and looked at Ed. It was only now, that Ed realized, her eyes were only half open. Had she been asleep this whole time, 'I thought I slept too much,' He considered, before suddenly realizing that the little girl was staring at him. For a moment, he was confused, but then he realized what was about to happen.

'Oh no,' he began to panic inside his mind, trying to brace himself against his spring loaded temper. He couldn't afford to have a blow up now, especially when Alphonse wasn't here to restrain him from causing some kind of real damage. He might actually hurt this girl if he got too angry, 'Please don't call me short. Please don't call me short. Please don't call me short.'

"Tall."

The little girl's voice hung in the air for a second. If Ed was able to pay attention to anything but that word for a moment, he would have seen sweat develop in several large droplets on Lloyd's forehead, and a look of pure shock at the brazenness of the lie that his daughter had uttered. It was so false, that the whole world seemed to bend on such an incorrect statement being said.

But you see, that wasn't what was important at the moment.

A second later, Anya Forger was swept up in a massive hug. The little girl was swung around for a moment, all the while Edward let out a victorious chant.

"TALL! TALL! TALL!"

Ed then snapped his attention back to the doctor, who was staring dumbly at the sight before him.

"You sir, have raised a genius."

Anya just blinked dumbly from within Edward's hug.

'Well, that was certainly an event,' Lloyd closed the file that contained the information on the Fullmetal Alchemist. The young man had just left, and had departed to return to his research at Shou Tucker's, the Sewing Life Alchemist, house. His younger brother was apparently there while Ed was here having his appointment. Lloyd furrowed his brow, trying to piece everything he could together.

He had actually met the young alchemist on the train into East City during the Blue Group attack. While he had remained inside the last train car while Edward had pushed down to free them from the separatists, Lloyd had taken time to take in the young man. What he had been able to gather during that few moments was that he was a cocksure young man who had enough skill to defeat an entire train full of terrorists. The experience had left him with the distinct impression that the boy was actually some kind of super soldier. The profile he had gotten later had seemed to corroborate that. No living parents, brought into the state military at a young age, exceedingly talented. All of those pointed to a weapon of war in human flesh, what many observers of the Ishvalan conflict had called, "Persons of Mass Destruction".

And yet the young man he had met was almost too normal.

More driven than usual? Yes.

Smarter than usual? Obviously.

Talented? Undeniably.

And yet, he didn't seem too different from most teenage boys his age. He talked about his younger brother with a great deal of affection, probably more than most young men his age. But that made sense, considering they were likely the only family they had left. He also did seem to have friends back home, and even seemed to have some kind of friendship with Colonel Mustang, despite his denial too it. Honestly, Lloyd Forger would probably have written him off as normal, just a bit of a sad back story.

Twilight didn't. Twilight could see that Ed was not only reluctant to talk about his dead parents, he absolutely stonewalled any avenue to that topic of conversation. It wasn't just normal trauma there, but some kind of horrific scar. He also avoided giving Lloyd much information on anything revolving around his home town of Resembool besides having "friends" there. Nothing specific, not even addresses, like he was trying to hide the people there. Even his brother, who was in the same city Lloyd and Ed were currently sitting in, was mostly just talked about as his brother. No real personal details other than a shared interest in alchemy.

'He clearly doesn't want to talk about anything that might give too much personal information away,' Twilight considered, rubbing his chin, 'Almost like he doesn't trust the military at al-'

"Sniff"

Twilight stopped thinking, and Lloyd looked over at Anya. She was still sitting at her chair, where Edward had deposited her after the small dance he had taken her on. She was staring at the book, but on the page she was working on, was some drying droplets that had splashed along the pages. Twilight looked, and saw the trails of dried tears on the girls face.

'Is...is she sad because she can't get the answers?'

"Edward's...edward is very sad Papa."

Lloyed stared at his daughter for a moment, before nodding. Despite everything, he could also tell that there was a bit of sadness about the boy he had been working with. Slowly, he pulled his daughter into a hug, to let her try and get a hold over herself.

'It's strange,' Twilight considered, 'She seems to oscillate between being mildly unintelligent to very perceptive,' he felt her shake a little more, and pulled her more deeply into the hug, 'What a strange little child you are, Anya.'

"Oh my," Twilight almost jumped, but held on to Anya to keep his reflexes from overreacting to the sudden voice, "I am so sorry. I did not mean to interrupt you."

Lloyd turned, and saw a young woman standing in the door way. She was in her late twenties, wearing the standard Military Blues, though for some reason she had a mini-skirt instead of pants. Her face was framed with long black bangs that flowed out of a bun on her head, and in that frame was a pair of red eyes and a mouth that was currently shaking in embarrassment. Lloyd held up one of his free hands, and shook it at her.

"It's okay, I'm not too busy," he said quickly. The young woman nodded, before grabbing from beneath her arm a set of files. She walked over, and handed it to him, all the while he watched her closely.

'I've been able to tell every single person whose passed by my door today,' Twilight considered the young woman carefully, wondering just who she might be, 'But this woman got into my room without alerting me to her presence. It's been years since any one was able to slip past my senses so easily,' he looked her over, all the while keep himself in a position to fall back to his desk and retrieve his gun if necessary, while at the same time taking the file from her hand, 'just who is this woman?'

"I work at Colonel Mustang's office," she stood straight up as she said this, the exchange of the documents just having occurred, "I was sent here to deliver you documents for tomorrow's meeting. These are on the background of Shou Tucker, the Sewing Life Alchemist," she nodded at him, giving a strange slight bow.

'Shou Tucker,' Edward Elric had mentioned the older man. The only man to make a Chimera that could talk. The story that Twilight had heard unnerved the spy a bit, but he'd deal with that in the future. Right now, he had to deal with this woman.

"Thank you...," Lloyd left a pause in the air. A second later, the woman recognized the social cue, and then almost completely bowed again.

"I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself," she said quickly, before raising up, and looking him dead in the eye. Twilight in the back of his mind noticed this, if only because it was so rare for a woman to actually be his same height.

"I am Yor Briar. I am sorry again for the intrusion."

"It is no problem," Lloyd nodded at her. Yor nodded back, and then twisted on her heels, and quickly walked through the door. A second later, her presence was once again gone. For a moment, he tried to keep his senses up, to see if he could still find her, but she had already disappeared.

'This mission just keeps getting stranger and stranger,' Twilight just shook his head.

"She seemed nice, huh Papa?"

Lloyd looked down at the young girl sitting in his arms. Her face still had tear stains, but they were mostly dry. And she almost seemed to be following something down the hallway a bit. As though she, unlike him, could still sense the strange woman. Of course, this was nonsense, so Lloyd Forger nodded at that, and gave out a small smile.

"Yes, I suppose she did seem nice."