We were dead once

by Siera_Knightwalker

Summary:

Ellen Ackner is many things- a liar, alchemist, war hero, murderer, savior, traitor, teacher, and last but not the least, a reincarnate.
But one thing she absolutely wasn't, was a nobody.

 

Which of course, means that the best way to hide herself, is to pretend to be one.

Notes:

• Inspired by Fugazi by Yuukinoyuki

Chapter 1: War

Ellen Ackner was a child when she realized that she was reborn. She was also a child when she realized it would have been better to say fucking dead instead.

Needless to say, the whole world was set upon proving her first thought about her reincarnation right.

---

Ellen Ackner loved and hated Alchemy.

The best and worst things in her life had happened because of it, and yet she could never quite let go of it. There were reasons for that, of course. First would be that the military would never actually let her go. Second would be the same as every other half decent alchemists around, because alchemy was fucking convienient. Third reason would be the same as every other good alchemists around, because alchemy was in her blood, in her veins. It was as much a part of her as her own limbs. She couldn't cut off a limb just because it made life hard for her sometimes, now could she?

The worst night of her life was something she would never forget. The flames that consumed the wood of her house, the smell of her mother’s flesh burning, the screams her mother tried to stifle. She was lucky.

She had decoded an alchemical circle from her neighbour’s research and burnt her own house down. Her mother had nearly died, and she had been lucky . Her father had turned tail and abandoned her in the hands of the military, who were only too happy to take her away- another skilled alchemist to add to their hoard.

It was only later that she realized what kind of a hellhole her life had turned into.

Being an alchemist was amazing, learning new things, finding out new things was amazing. The military invested so much in the research department, and she had loved finding out more new things about alchemy. She had been the first to find out how to selectively alter the chemical composition of an object.

For example, you couldn’t quite make wood, put a block of metal, then create wood again. You would have had to create different circles to make wood first, then metal, and then wood again. She had taken inspiration from old man Hawkeye, who probably hated her for it. It wouldn’t be the first time, after all. How else had she managed to burn her house down, if not by stealing and decoding his notes?

Somehow she hadn’t quite thought about how her inventions could be used when her country was always in the middle of war. How it could create shrapnel grenades, how it could weaken any enemy bases as long as someone drew it. How deserts were already prone to sand sinkholes and that she could use this to induce it. She wouldn’t say a lot of these ideas weren’t her suggestion.

But it started simply. What could she do with this? She found out that she could change the composition of the middle of a structure. She could weaken a wall by changing the composition of it to, say, glass. She realized that as long as she wanted, she could create something much much smaller from something bigger. She could create diamond from sand, and if she did it deep enough, she could create a fucking sinkhole because suddenly all the sand bellow her was gone .

Obviously, she was fucking terrified of telling them what she was actually creating. She kept her circles weird and complicated after she first slipped and told them how to create shrapnel grenades. She hadn’t even realized that people would actually use it. That she had invented it.

She had just been naive. Her past life had been so peaceful. Okay, so she had died in a plane crash, not that peaceful, I guess, but it happens right? There was a risk of death when crossing the street. It was comparatively less risky to use a plane than trains anyway.

So her death had been very panicked and she barely remembered it from the sheer amount of fear she had been feeling about then, but she hadn’t quite understood what being born in a war-torn country meant. Not really.

Like, her world has nuclear weapons, and it was used as a deterrent. People didn’t actually use these weapons, you know? But no, there were places where war still happened, didn’t it? It's just, people didn’t really care. She hadn’t really done anything about it. She was just a random person in a random country, living her life. There were so many bad things happening around her, what was one more?

It was only when she came to this world, when she saw everything happening in front of her eyes that she realized how messed up her seemingly peaceful world had been. She had puked the first time she had seen dead bodies as far as her eyes could reach.

She hadn’t been able to stop imagining the same thing happening somewhere in her world while she was going about her day, ordering takeout and having movie nights with her friends. She had known it happened, and she hadn’t done anything. She had read about it and while she had been indignant, she hadn’t done anything.

And this was even worse.

She had been pulled into the military, she had researched things that could be used as weapons for this country. When she had gone to places treating all these war-induced injuries, she had heard the term ‘the walking dead’ being used for the people with shrapnels stuck inside their bodies. It would have been amusing at any other point in her life.

Like ‘the walking dead’? How much more cliche could you get?

But the thing was, there was no time to consider it a cliche. People were dying in front of her because of a weapon she created. There was nothing to do aside from surgery, and in a war torn land, with barely any medication- painkillers, antibiotics, sedatives- without enough materials like bandages, without enough beds, without enough space or equipment for operating theaters.

It was a nightmare.

The entire thing was a nightmare.

And then she had to wake up the next day and go kill some more people again.

Her only saving grace was probably the few times she was put in the same camp as Riza. Riza was a calming presence for her. She couldn’t count the amount of times she had fallen asleep right beside her- probably the only time she actually slept properly. 

It was what got her introduced to both Roy Mustang and Maes Hughes. She tended to keep to herself in the war, leaving to help with supplying the frontline doctors as much as possible, giving them a pre-warning sometimes to evacuate an area before it was hit because she knew from them that it was full of civilians.

It was probably a bit traitorous to do something like that, to tell the people which places the soldiers were going to attack next, but she couldn’t do it every time. But the few times she had made her feel so relieved that she couldn’t help herself.

She didn’t want this war to keep going, but she also didn’t want every Ishvalan massacred. She didn’t want more people to die. But it just kept going on and on and on.

When she had finally been rotated out , she almost couldn’t handle it. She couldn’t sit in Central or any other city and wait for this war to end.

Normally, the military kept a stringent eye on the State Alchemists, but she must have been a sucker for pain because after she healed up and felt like she could pretend to function in normal society, she stated ‘research’ as a cause and went off to the countryside for a ‘break’.

Resembool was the place she chose.

She didn’t actually end up there though. She went to see the place then sneaked back to the border. The doctors she had seen needed all the help they could get, after all, and she wouldn’t sit at home while there was a war going on outside.

Not again.

Even though the place was a warzone, even though people who recognised her were terrified of her, even though she barely had enough to eat , it was probably one of the most fulfilling times of her life.

She was always scared of being recognised and being called a traitor and shot dead, but even then. Even then. She used her title to interfere if the soldiers stopped cargo with medical supplies. She was fucking terrified, but she still sent away shifts of on-duty soldiers so the Ishvalan refugees could sneak into Amestris.

They’d know already, wouldn’t they? How many times was too much? 4? 5? Did the soldiers report that a State Alchemist chased them away?

She was fucking terrified, so she created bombs, she pretended like her experiments were about new weapons. She didn’t really submit anything, but after a few times she had realized that they would catch on. So she had to double down.

She pretended to be a warmonger. That she wanted these people dead, that she was a racist and nationalist and hated Ishvalans when all she wanted to do was tell her government to stop, please, please stop. But who listened to one person? So she didn’t.

She didn’t know what happened to those Ishvalans who made it into Amestris. She didn’t know if they even knew who got them out. She would rather they didn’t. She would rather no one ever knew. Then she would be safe.

Honestly, she was so grateful that she seemed like such a one-trick pony aside from her sense of innovation. Her large-scale alchemy didn’t even seem as impressive as Roy’s flames. Hers was large-scale destruction, yes, but she still had much more survivors than Roy did. Though if they wanted a city buried in the sand, she was the one called, not him. He was just a weapon to kill people, she was the one who killed ideals.

How could the Ishvalans get back their home, if there was no home to get back?

It seemed impressive, but she couldn’t do it in the same scale in anyplace aside from a fucking desert. And she was sick and tired of being in the desert. Going back had been a relief, right up until she walked back under her own power of course. But it was different, here, she was actually helping .

The Rockbells lived in Resembool, which was why she had put in her new location as Resembool. It would give her another excuse. As many excuses as she could muster to save her life, if the military ever got a clue about what she was doing.

She heard about the official ending of the war when she was shooing away yet another set of soldiers and she felt a bone deep relief even as she snorted in disagreement. After less than 10 minutes when the refugees were on their way, she made another random depression, imitated an explosion and then called the soldiers back with a fake irritation about another failure.

And when she finally went to her bed that night, she cried and cried until she got a fever, and then cried some more.

---

When she went to Resembool, she found out that the Rockwell's were dead. She was almost chased out until she sat down and explained to the old lady how she knew them, and what she had done with them.

She knew it was risky, but she felt like she had to. She didn't want to disrespect them, nor did she want to be kicked out like that. She was a silent shadow at their funeral and she left just as silently.

Good people rarely lived long, she knew that. Specially people who put themselves in harm's way for someone else, they lived even shorter. It wasn't that she hadn't seen the death of people she knew, but it hit different when she had respected them so much. She hadn't known the Rockbells had a daughter, but she bet the Ishvalans who were treated by them did.

She wondered if the one who killed them knew too, or if they had been so blind with hatred that they hadn't cared.

Humans were trash. They were such terrible creatures. But in the end, she was human too. She killed Ishvalans in one breath and then turned around to help them in the next. She didn't have any right to swear revenge or anything stupid like that.

In the end, she stayed a grand total of 3 days in Resembool and returned to Central City with a smile to receive her commendation for her service to her nation. Then she went to the nearest pub and got completely and utterly plastered.

She woke up the next morning half naked at some random hotel with someone in the shower. She didn't care who it was. She got dressed and left before they could come out.

She settled down in Central and started working for Central University, available only to those who were contracted to the military somehow of course, and she started teaching.

She didn't want to be dragged into war again, so she pretended to research. She hadn't actually planned to have a breakthrough, so it was surprising when she finally found out what it was that had intrigued her so much about alchemy.

Alchemy was a strange thing. It wasn't in her old world, but it was here in this one. She had liked chemistry in her school, but she hadn't pursued it as a career. She had gone into tech instead.

Now alchemy was interesting because it had to do with atomic and electron rearrangement, along with energy. The alchemist provided energy which disrupted the bonds between chemicals, electrons or atoms leading to a result they wanted.

The alchemic circle was basically the written format of what they wanted. More specifically, it was an instruction about what the energy provided was supposed to do in relation to the object involved.

The energy was taken from the tectonic plates and the ability to use the energy was due to something that every alchemist in this world had. She could essentially use the energy to create the bonds she wanted. She was essentially using molecular fusion and fission while guiding the extra energy somewhere else after the reaction was done to prevent an explosion.

It was where she had gone wrong as a child. She had created a blast and been knocked back, instead setting fire inside her house because of her recklessness. This was the first thing that was taught to an alchemist- an alchemical circle was the most essential part of the array. The energy needed to be pulled from and released back into the earth- it was circuit.

It was also when she realised that she had stumbled into something very very very dangerous.

Humans were a part of the circuit, and they had the ability to pick up evergy from anything and use it. Why did they have to use tectonic plates for it? Why didn't they use, say, a human to power it?

She could almost imagine a power plant with hundreds or thousands of humans stuck in rows and rows of glass capsules, their energy being sucked out to power arrays. She shook it away.

Just because it might be possible didn't mean it was efficient! Not only would it mean using people as consumable goods, but how long would an alchemical circle even be powered for? It was much more efficient to use solar energy.

Heck, if the efficiency of living beings was so high, then it was possible to use plants or animals to power it. Why not that?

But she knew that the moment the thought had come into her head on this line of track, that she had to destroy her research on this. All of it.

She didn't know if she thought this because she was from another world, or if others had thought this too, but she didn't want to take the chance. This was something she didn't want to be involved in causing, okay?

No matter what, she was just some random professor who failed almost every single one of her experiments, who was still hyped over this one weapon she accidentally stumbled across, who thought too much about her random sand to diamond to sand alchemy circle.

She wasn't someone who could find out things like this. But still…she hesitated. Then she rewrote her notes in one book coded to hell and back, but written in English, coded over it again, half in Mandarin and half in Spanish (because she didn't know enough in Mandarin to do it completely in that language), with book references she doubted people here would understand.

She was relatively sure that no one would be able to tell. She hoped so, at least. And then, because she was both stupid and paranoid, she tattooed a circle with energy symbols on the inside of her wrist, and then covered it with a wristband with her stupid condensing array in it.

She would be able to use it if she needed it, but god did she hope she never did. But in the end, she didn't want to be another Rockbell, and that made the decision much simpler.

She wouldn't go down without a fight. She wouldn't let anyone kill her for their own purpose or convenience. She wasn't just another body to be counted, not like she had been in her last life.

She was going to be someone. She was going to be someone, even if it killed her.

Just not quite yet, and certainly not for this.

Chapter 2: The Inquisition

Notes:

Unedited and not quite sure how this turned out.

“What are you doing?” asked oblivious student B. Student A hit him over the head.

“Don't you know it's rude to ask an alchemist that?” Student A scolded. He turned and apologized to Ellen. “Sorry, teach. We'll get out now.” Then they left.

Ellen raised a hand silently, still completely engrossed in the research she was doing. The two students’ voices faded into a background noise as they conducted experiments that she had written down for them.

Alchemy research was very odd. Some of the very well used subjects had multiple books on them while others barely had anything. There was so much to know about biological alchemy, but when you go into atmospheric alchemy? Nope, zilch, nada.

No wonder old man Hawkeye had been so pissed at her for reading through his notes. Though, to be honest, she wasn't the best at chemical reactions.

If her first foray into alchemy had been someone other than his research notes, she probably wouldn't have cared as much about it as she did. Chemical reactions needed a sterilized environment. She didn't even know how hard it must be to induce a simple hydrogen-oxygen combustion when combined with the amount of atmospheric gases mixed in.

How do you even sterilize an environment when the environment was the air? God fucking knows, that's for sure. God, old man Hawkeye and Mustang, that is.

Though the old man died so only one person living in this world did, actually.

If the people of this country weren't such warmongers, the alchemical research would have gone so much farther. But in a place like this, who would ever give up their life saving alchemy? Who would tell the world about their secret weapon? They'd rather tell only their family members or take it to their grave to spite their enemy.

It made sense, but she couldn't help but find it to be such a shame. So much lost potential.

With alchemy, the world should have been a much better place than it was. Instead, it was a war torn place with every country breaking from the inside out due to their own issues.

Amestris at least didn't have as much internal division, if only because they had fucking scary laws in place to prevent it. The government could just kill people for research anytime, oh yes, she had read up on the laws about it. It was such a suspicious loophole that she couldn't help but want to poke into it.

Thankfully State Alchemists could still be tried for anything like that. But still, the fact that if there was anything like that, the Fuhrer would just go free didn't sit well with her. There was no system of defiance or free will. This kind of country would only have one ending- coup d'état.

If she ended up in the middle of the uprising, well, she had better survive with her magical girl powers. Though it wasn’t like she would be going to anyone with her energy conversion theories anytime soon.

Unfortunately, for people whose research could be easily broken down for the masses, it was much harder to maintain their State Alchemist title. Unlike Mustang or Armstrong, she didn’t have anyone handing over their life’s work so she could go be a State Alchemist. She had to find out for herself which one of her theories worked, and which didn’t. It was actually not as hard as she pretended to be, because she had seen the end results of most of her theories in her world. Things that these people couldn’t have imagined in their lives, like planes or the atom bomb.

Honestly, they should be glad she wasn’t a warmonger.

That said, after her time in Resembool, she had cobbled together research about the diamond conversion she had kept hidden. After the energy conversion circle, diamond didn’t really seem like that big a deal.

It had allowed her to get to her professor position and she had gotten mostly out of practical experimentation to sit in the sidelines all the while holding onto her pretty State Alchemist title. She found that it was a goddamn relief to be able to just do whatever she wanted. As someone who served in the War, people didn’t really want to kick her out, so she was happy to find a middle ground which kept all sides happy- she got to do her research and they got to hold onto another dog of the military.

That said…

“Riza!” she called out loudly, the wide smile on her face feeling almost foreign. Riza Hawkeye and Roy Mustang paused. She jogged over to them, snapping a quick salute to the two.

“It’s good to see the two of you in Central,” she said, looking over the two. “Would you like to go for some lunch?” She asked, tilting her head towards a nearby restaurant.

“Major, you know I would never refuse you-” Roy started, an almost sleazy grin on his face.

“What are you doing?” She interrupted, horrified. She inched away from the man, shooting suspicious looks at Riza. Riza’s lip twitched as Roy blinked innocently offended.

“Major, I am not doing anything but relaying my feelings,” Roy said, looking almost earnest. “I simply have some other place to be, or I would have never refused the offer of a lady as lovely as you.” She shuddered in response.

“Did I hit my head?” She asked, blinking a few times at the man. Then she looked at Riza, “did he hit his head?”

“No,” Riza responded calmly. “It seems he has forgotten how out of touch you always are with the ongoings of the military.”

“I would never, Lieutenant,” Roy Mustang said, sounding more sincere now. “Not if I like my head attached to my shoulder.”

This time it was her turn to hide a smile. She could never quite tell if the man actually liked living or if he was being forced to live because Riza would kill him if he didn’t.

“Hughes must have invited you over to see baby Elicia,” she smiled more genuinely at the thought of the child. “It is quite nice to play with her actually. You should both go and spend an hour or two listening to his sermons.”

“You have seen Elicia?” Roy asked, an expression of surprise flickering over his face. She tilted her head, slightly confused.

“Yes? Their daughter really is very sweet. The only thing preventing that child from being spoilt is probably the fact that Gracia is an amazing mother and Maes always listens to Gracia,” she shook her head fondly. “You both should drop by Central more often, I’d introduce some of my students to the two of you as well. I know one of them would be very interested in talking to the leading figure in atmospheric alchemy,” she smiled at Roy.

“Yes, of course,” Roy accepted the invite gracefully, a more politician smile coming up on his face. He was trying to figure out if this was why she had stopped them. She smiled placidly.

“It was nice meeting the two of you. I’ll get going before one of my students blow up something they weren’t supposed to,” she raised a hand to bid them a quick goodbye.

“Wait, this student of yours,” Roy asked, slightly confused, “What does he specialize in?”

Ellen gave him a quick, sly smile; like a cat that caught the canary.

“Oh, he’s actually interested in aeronautics. He wanted to make flight possible, and he’s been making some decent progress in his research,” she looked at him through her lashes. “I simply thought it would be nice to discuss some things over at a dinner party. I can invite the Hughes over as well. Would you be free the day after tomorrow?”

“We planned to leave on tomorrow but we can push things back for an old friend,” Roy smiled, looking both sleazy and like a politician at the same time. Ellen simply smiled.

“Perfect,” she said. “I’ll send the specifics over to the Hughes’ then. See you both then.”

The two silently watched as she walked back across the street and away.

“Sir?” Riza asked. The smile on Roy’s face had dropped as soon as she had turned away into an almost frightening neutral expression.

“I never knew she was so shrewd,” he murmured to himself. “Did she ever seem like that kind of a person during the war?” he asked Riza.

Riza tilted her head to one side.

“No, sir,” she responded. “There were mixed rumors about her helping out the doctors on the front lines and also about her indiscriminately killing Ishvalans. But whenever I saw her, she just seemed very frightened to me.”

“Hm,” Roy responded silently, before continuing his walk. She had just pulled at least three layers of deception in that conversation alone. It didn’t seem very urgent but she had practically implied handing over her best student to him , to further his goals, just so he would show up.

The woman he had seen and met during the war had always been half a breeze away from dissipating into thin air. Riza was right in that she had always seemed terribly afraid the entire time, and who wouldn’t have been? But the woman he had seen now looked much different from that one. In the last few years, a lot of things must have changed for her to come over looking like that.

He resolved to ask Hughes when they met, considering he had let her go near his precious pride and joy. He would have some answers for him.

Hours later, when the true story about her time in Ishval spilled from Hughes’ mouth, he wasn’t sure if he felt more or less conflicted about the woman.

Either way, he had no reason to refuse the free gift or connection that she was offering. If another Edward Elric was about to fall into his hands, who was he to refuse it?

---

Ellen's house was quaint and elegant, with rich wooden lining and soft creams decorating it. Gracia brought an apple pie, smiling at the two students who hovered over the guests as Ellen went to place it in her kitchen.

“You two must be the students she talked about,” Maes said, escorting his wife to the couch. The two students shared a look.

“Yes, I am Arvin Ascher,” the taller one introduced himself, “she often just refers to me as Student or Intern A.” Gracia politely coughed a laugh into her handkerchief. “He’s Brail Baer, so he’s B.”

“Very innovative, I know,” Brail rolled his eyes.

“I heard that!” Ellen yelled from her kitchen.

“You were meant to!” Brail yelled back. Arvin shared a commiserating grin with Maes and Gracia.

“Serve the guests the tea, will you?” Brail sighed heavily as he walked to the kitchen, and Ellen came out with a smug smile.

“When will the other two arrive, you think?” She asked, sitting down across from the Hughes. Brail set tea down for everyone, slumping into his seat like an irritable teenager. Ellen ignored it, sipping her tea quietly.

“Shouldn’t be too long. Roy’s always busy when he comes to Central,” Maes joked, then coughed awkwardly when he got three blank stares. He cleared his throat, pretending he hadn’t said that.

“Elicia was asking after you again today,” Gracia said, her smile as warm as ever, “She loved her trip to the park with aunty Ellen last weekend.” Ellen blushed, pleased at being called out.

“Elicia is always a delight to see. We did have lots of fun at the park. She liked being able to run around as much as she wanted, though I had to save her a few times from eating the sand,” Ellen laughed. Arvin raised a brow at that, and Brail hit his arm till he fixed his expression.

“Kids, set the table, will you?” Ellen asked, looking sharply at her two students who were gossiping with Maes and making faces at the way Ellen and Gracia were talking.

“Yes, sir!” The two snapped to attention, before Brail snickered then ran away before Ellen could do more than raise an eyebrow.

“You’re practically raising two children of your own,” Gracia laughed. Ellen shook her head.

“No, no. A and B are both pretty self-sufficient. They are good at following instructions and I rarely have to clean up after them now,” Ellen said a little absent-mindedly as she set the cups to the side. “They know there is a lot about alchemy that they don't know, so they don’t take stupid risks.” She smiled at Gracia.

“No matter how sweet Elicia might be, she’s still quite messy, and I don't see that changing for a while,” she shrugged apologetically at the two. Maes laughed in response.

“Elicia is our angel,” he said, wrapping his arm around Gracia’s waist and looking at her with a lovesick look. “After all, my beautiful wife gave birth to her after months of hard work.” He winked at his wife, and Gracia blushed. Ellen interrupted with a laugh before they got any cheesier.

“I remember her pregnancy, Maes,” she reminded, “Elicia was a tough delivery, but she was an adorable baby. She’s still adorable,” she spoke quickly before Maes could say it. “But she was even more adorable when she didn’t have the ability to speak.”

Brail snorted, entering the room with utensils.

“If teacher could stay a loner her entire life, she’d probably be the happiest,” he added when everyone looked at him.

“I would not,” Ellen protested. “I like people plenty.”

“Oh yeah?” Brail asked, challengingly, “Something tells me that this is everyone you are on friendly terms with.”

“There are more, Brail,” Ellen rolled her eyes.

At that very moment, there were two quick taps at her door and Arvin abandoned his duty to open it. Riza and Roy entered, handing over their coats to be hung before entering the dining room.

Brail raised a very obvious brow at her silently saying, ‘and now?’

Ellen ignored him blatantly because both of them knew the answer to that and she wasn’t going to be mocked in front of her own guests so easily.

“Apologies for the delay,” Roy said smoothly, “I was interrupted by Lieutenant General Raven on my way here.” Ellen froze for a split second before smiling normally.

“Did you arrive here from Central Command?” she asked.

“We had to drop by Central for a little while,” Roy said, his smiling face meeting hers. They stared at each other for a tensed moment before she gave in, turning towards the dining table.

“Dinner is ready. Gracia brought her famous apple pie so, keep space for dessert as well,” she added. She hustled everyone to the table, but everyone could feel the sudden tension that descended in the room.

After everyone was served and had a bite to eat, Ellen turned to Roy again.

“Colonel Roy Mustang, this is the student I talked to you about, Arvin Ascher. He has been researching into aeronautics and he seemed quite interested about speaking to the foremost expert in atmospheric alchemy,” she turned to Arvin with a smile. Arvin looked at Ellen with heart eyes.

“Teacher! So you do love me!” Arvin placed a hand on his chest earnestly, before turning towards Roy with an almost hungry look. “I’ve been wanting to ask about the alchemy side of things for a while now. According to the Helen’s Triad, the composition of-” Ellen tuned out Arvin, turning to Riza.

“I heard that you recently recruited a young alchemist into your team, Fullmetal, I believe?” she inquired.

“Yes,” Riza replied stoically. Ellen blinked at the stout answer, turning her eyes to the Hughes.

“Have the two of you met him yet?” She asked.

“Not yet,” Maes replied, “He only came to Central to give the State Alchemist exam before returning back to Resembool. I heard he broke the record for-”

“I’m sorry,” she interrupted, suddenly frowning, “did you say Resembool?”

Roy broke away from his conversation to shoot Maes a suspicious glance, before returning back into it.

“Ah, yes,” Maes replied. “You were in Resembool for a while, weren’t you?” Ellen looked at the other man before smiling again.

“Yes, I knew the Rockbells,” she said, her smile humorless. “They were excellent doctors who died due to the Ishvalans. Is there anything you wanted to talk about in there, Maes?”

Maes placed his spoon down with a quiet click.

“Yes, actually,” he replied back. “I want to know what you want to talk about by inviting us over like this, Ellen.”

Her two students paused, looking at Ellen. She sighed.

“Was I that obvious?” She asked.

“Teacher, you’ve literally never invited us for dinner before,” Brial pointed out.

“The amount of times you’ve called me by my name this evening has been giving me chills. You’re not dying, are you?” Arvin continued.

“Not to mention, you literally set fire to the research you spent an entire year on,” Brial said.

“Shh!” Ellen hushed him, “that was different but equally secret matter!”

“God, B. Don’t you ever learn?” Arvin switched sides with the beat of his heart, scolding his fellow student. Brial looked at him, offended.

“What did I do? I thought we were just pointing out her recent suspicious behaviour!” He defended. Ellen sighed, putting her head in her palm.

“Oh my god, stop making teacher look so suspicious, stupid!” Arvin slapped him over the head.

“Don’t get physical with me!” Brial complained.

“Come on, we’ve put enough on teacher already. Let’s give her space before we accidentally say something else even more suspicious,” Arvin pulled Brial out of his seat.

“Like that tat- ow!” Brial yelped loudly. Ellen sighed even harder into her palm.

“Yes, like that!” Arvin hissed, attempting to be quiet as he dragged Brial out.

After the two left the house, Ellen waited a full two minutes to raise her face up from her arms, looking embarrassed.

“This was not how I planned this evening would go,” she finally got out.

“Yes, that’s what happens when you have children,” Gracia laughed. Ellen sighed, rolling her neck back before sighing.

“Can we finish eating first? I really did put in work to make all this, you know?” She asked, to which everyone looked at her silently. “No one is dying or getting hurt. There is no emergency that I know of. It is a simple inquiry that might or might not be mildly treasonous, that’s all.”

“Mildly treasonous?” Maes asked. “Can treason be mild?”

“I don’t know, Maes. Depends on what you know about me being in Resembool,” she snarked back. Maes sat back, folding his arms seriously. He opened his mouth to start when Gracia shoved a spoon full of food in his mouth. He choked, swinging his arms dramatically as Gracia smiled at him.

“How about we listen to Ellen and finish her lovely dinner first? Will your students be alright? They didn’t have much,” Gracia asked Maes politely, not letting him answer, before turning to Ellen.

“They’ll wander back soon enough,” Ellen waved her hand lazily. “They’re used to making do on nights I get stuck on some research or the other.” Her eyes drifted to Riza and Roy. “What about you two? The dinner not delicious enough for you?” She asked. Riza coughed awkwardly.

“No, it’s wonderful,” Roy complimented her, sounding weirdly genuine.

“You can give your thanks to Arvin when you see him again then,” she replied back to him. He blinked, taken by surprise.

“Just because I said I put in work to make this doesn’t mean these recipes were mine. He’s actually the cook out of the three of us,” she shrugged good naturedly.

“I’ll be more prepared to share my gratitude next time then,” Roy replied back smoothly.

Then they shared a slightly more quiet dinner, talking about non-treasonous normal work things. After they were done, Gracia was the first get up from the table, picking up her utensils.

“Oh, please don’t, Gracia,” Ellen tried to take over, but Gracia stopped her with a firm hand.

“I know that there’s something you want to talk about, and I am also aware that I am a civilian who has no right or need to know such things. I only ask that if there’s anything that will put my husband at risk, that you tell me. Do you understand?” Gracia asked. There was a hard look in her eyes as she said it, and Ellen felt a little sad, remembering that Gracia had just gotten Maes back from the Ishvalan War.

“Yes, of course, Gracia,” she put a hand on her forearm before letting her duck away into the kitchen. Then she turned towards the other three before tilting her head towards her study.

She closed the door after the other three entered the room. She laid a hand on the door, and a visible alchemical discharge put the other three on alert. She turned around to see three wary looks.

“Relax, I’m just making sure we get our privacy,” she said, stepping onto the carpet laid out across the entire room. Another alchemic discharge crackled the edge of her carpet. She glanced up, almost amused at the suspicious glances she was receiving.

“Seriously, relax. I’m just a paranoid motherfucker,” she gave them an amused smile. “Please don’t shoot me for that, Riza.”

“I won’t,” Riza deadpanned, clicking her safety on and putting her gun- that she hadn’t even noticed- away.

“Well, I’ll get down to it then,” she said, before dropping her smile and leaning on her desk. She gestured for everyone to take a seat. After a while, she started.

“What do you know about what I was doing during the Ishval Civil War?” she asked.

“Is this a test?” Roy asked, placing his elbows on his knees and sitting forward.

“Yes,” she replied dispassionately. Then she turned to Maes, “What was I doing during the Ishval Civil War?”

“You helped the doctors,” he said, “Delivered supplies, protected cargo and supply trains.”

“And?” she asked. Maes’ eyes hooded.

“You snuck in Ishvalan refugees through the border patrol,” he stated.

“Good,” she said, smiling, “And?” Maes hesitated.

“You did more?” Riza raised a brow at her, surprised.

“You…helped them,” Maes said slowly, surprising even himself. Roy’s head snapped towards Ellen, and she met their gazes and nodded.

“I helped the civilians escape places we would attack, and I also learnt about places we never attacked becoming barren land as well,” she attached.

“What are you saying?” Riza frowned. Ellen took a deep breath.

“I think weredoinghumanexperimentation-”

“Huh?” the three said simultaneously.

Ellen opened an eye to peek at the three.

“I know its a bit of a stretch, but recently my research kind of went in a weird direction and I realized that it’s possible to use human beings as a source of energy and then I realized there were no laws preventing the government from doing anything like that, and then I realized that there was something odd about the way everyone happened in Ishval. There was this one city that we didn’t destroy but they also didn’t evacuate and everyone kind of just left it alone because of course it’s a war, people disappear all the time. But the thing is, what better than a war to do things like that? And it’s even legal! Wow!” She exclaimed, then broke off into nervous giggles.

Then she stopped rambling to slump back into her table, and wait for the reaction. Roy stood up first, walking slowly to the other side of the room, before walking back towards her, a serious expression on his face.

“Do you have any proof?” He asked seriously. She straightened up, before shaking her head.

“I don’t,” she said, frustrated. “I never thought about it before. I wouldn’t have thought about it before if not for-” she shook her head.

“If not for what?” Maes asked when Roy did not. She shook her head.

“Just- my research,” she sighed. “Don’t worry, I burnt it too.”

“Too?” This time Roy asked her. He stood in front of her, a frown between his brow.

“Don’t you know better than to ask an alchemist her secrets, Colonel?” she asked, a familiar smirk coming on her lips.

“Not if it sounds like potentially illegal research, Major,” Roy shot back. Ellen’s smirk deepened into a teasing smile.

“My research is the least illegal thing about me, sir,” she flirted back, before remembering herself, and clearing her throat, finishing awkwardly with, “And I’m not exactly committing any taboos here, so…”

It’s not a taboo if no one has thought it up yet, she completed in her head.

“Hm,” Roy said, “And yet I remain unconvinced for some reason, Major.”

“Asking about my research notes before the first date? Sir, I’m shocked you dared to even consider such a thing,” she replied cheekily.

“I don’t suppose I’ll be able to get my hands on them anytime soon,” Roy sighed, disappointedly.

“No,” she affirmed, “Sorry to burst your bubble.”

“No you aren’t,” Roy refuted.

“No, I am not,” she agreed.

There was a click of the safety of a gun being clicked off, and the two stood to attention at once.

“If the two of you are quite done…” Riza trailed away with a warning tone. Ellen restrained the urge to say ‘sir, yes sir’ at her with difficulty.

“Aren’t you worried he’ll spill your secrets to the government for a promotion?” Maes asked, looking quite amused as he followed the two’s conversation with his eyes.

“I mean,” she smirked, “he can try.”

“I’ll have you know, that it isn’t a matter of trying-” Roy started.

“Uh-huh, keep telling yourself that, Mustang,” she interrupted, tickled at being able to get the last word.

“Honestly,” Riza shook her head in bemusement. “If the government is in on something like that, there must be evidence left somewhere.”

“I think I’m worried that there is something,” Ellen replied grimly. “Because what I can’t figure out is how to confront the government without preparing a goddamn coup d’etat.”

She was too worried to notice the eyebrow Roy raised, or the look the three of them shared. Too worried to notice the slight shake of Roy’s head that settled the other two.

“We can figure it out after we search for some evidence,” Maes said. Riza put her gun back in its place. Ellen raised her head and shrugged.

“I won’t be of much help there, but if there’s anything I can do, feel free to tell me,” Ellen ended up with.

“How about lending Arvin-”

“No,” she ended the conversation there. “I won’t lend you my students in any manner. I was lying at that time, sorry. But you’re free to attempt to change his mind.”

Roy smirked, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Try your best,” she said, waving a hand mockingly.

And with that the dinner party/operation treasonous plan discussion finished.

At least on Ellen’s end.

Chapter 3: When in doubt, go for the throat

Roy and Riza returned back to East City soon after, and Ellen went back to her old life of managing her two students and occasionally dropping by to see Gracia and Elicia.

One of the first things she had discovered that helped her recover from the effects of war was children. They were so oblivious and innocent, wholly unaware of the shadows in the dark that lingered even in daylight. Taking in her two students had been a coincidence, and they had persisted when she turned out to be a treasure trove on knowledge.

It wasn’t that she was a great alchemist, but her general knowledge of the workings of the world was far better than any other living being’s. Or maybe there were others like her and she would never know. She was honestly quite fine with that. Research and work was her life.

She traveled the country at times, going to North or East City to have a change of pace, but she always came back to Central. For all that Amestris could have some rotten people at the top, the management of the city was excellent. The citizens were safe, aside from a few outliers, and the government employees enjoyed a lot of resources for a lot less.

They were just harsh on traitors. Like her.

Honestly, she didn’t mind letting them know about it. Yes, she was still afraid, but just because she was afraid, didn’t make the people she helped any less afraid than her. This was the same. Although she wasn’t quite sure she could trust those three, she had always felt a connection to Riza and it made her think that it would be fine to tell them. She knew they didn’t quite trust her either, and that was fine. It was normal.

She had seen them during the war too. She knew that Roy took a while to get used to eating meat after he first learnt how humans smell after being burnt alive, that even after, it sometimes made him gag unknowingly. She knew that Riza was overly dependent on her gun, and on Roy. She needed to feel safe and very few things could make a girl feel safe in the middle of a war. A gun and a companion was all she had.

She knew they weren’t dating. They couldn’t afford to. The two were just similar on such a deep level, and equally dependent on the other. No matter what you said about it, feelings were an obstruction. It hindered your view and was largely unproductive.

It was why she still didn’t know who she had lost her virginity to. People said that you always grew overly attached when you had sex. She hadn’t wanted to, and so she left.

Her students had been right in that regard. She had attachment issues. She didn’t dislike people, but she didn’t like to feel beholden to them. She had entrusted so much to the other three, and now a part of her mind kept thinking about if they had found anything and whether or not they would choose to tell her. She didn’t like it, but there was not much else she could do about that.

Her link to the military, for all that she had served, was done when she had chosen her new career. She was a Major in name alone now. She had always liked it that way. She preferred to work alone, and clearly the military liked it too, so she was left alone.

Time passed by slowly and quickly at the same time. The hubdub of Amestris picked up pace, chaos and incidents increasing slowly until she was reading something or the other in the news everyday. Fights with the border countries kept dragging on, deaths blooding the edges of Amestris and she grew more uneasy the more she heard about them, until finally she packed her bags and went to her next war zone- Fortset.

Fortset was a city under Aerugo until it was forcefully annexed by Amestris under some bullshit excuse. The people of the city didn’t like either side because both sides caused conflict, but it was currently occupied by Amestris. She took trains to reach the city, and wasn't at all surprised by the state of South City when she finally reached it.

It had started to look worn down around the edges, even though the city was still bustling as a famous tourist attraction. After all, the Southern headquarters was using all its strength to stop Aerugo from pushing back at them, and there was news that Aerugo had sent in a peace treaty.

It was odd though, because Central believed that Aerugo was just determined to reverse the tide and kill them all. Aerugo had helped arm the Ishvalans during the war, which had turned sentiments against them. It was obvious that the government was precluding that to refuse the peace treaty.

They occasionally sent just enough people to prevent Aerugo from crossing the border, and Fortset became a city bathed in blood. There were bodies being moved and the push and pull of fighting set a gloom over the entire area.

She had to go through a strict check just to enter Fortset and a Lieutenant greeted her only minutes after setting foot in the city.

“Major!” The man saluted.

“At ease,” she waved a hand casually. “I was just taking a break and decided to see if there was anything I could do for our brave soldiers in the South. I won’t be here long, but if there is any need for me, feel free to call on me.”

“Yes, Major. Thank you, Major!” The lieutenant saluted. “Colonel Nohl wished to know if you would like to share a meal with him, ma’am!”

“Lunch will work,” she agreed easily. The lieutenant then escorted her to a hotel before leaving her alone.

Ellen set to work. She checked her room for listening devices and was actually surprised when she found some. She left it alone as she went out to check out the general state of Fortset. It was in a much worse state than South City had been. At least there she had seen a facsimile of normality, but she could smell the gunpowder even from her room.

Outside, the few citizens that were still there looked wary and afraid, flinching at loud noises, running away from Amestrian soldiers, bowing their heads and living like they were dead. Fortset was being tortured to death. Not even an instant annihilation like she had learnt to do in Ishval.

Like a frog in water, Fortset was being boiled alive, unaware. Soldiers from both sides kept joining the fight, and yet not enough soldiers to destroy the other side. They would push into Aerugo’s borders before being pushed back into Fortset or near it, before trying to push again. People’s lives were being consumed like the ammo of a gun.

War was a terrible thing. And being in Fortset made her realize it again.

The lieutenant came again to pick her up for the appointed lunch.

“Colonel Bertha Nohl,” the Colonel introduced herself.

“Major Ellen Ackner,” she shook the other woman's hand.

“It's a pleasure to see a State Alchemist wander into my corner of the country, Major,” she smiled, gesturing for her to take a seat.

“The pleasure is all mine, though I wish the state of your people had been in a better state than now,” she replied back, setting her napkin on her lap politely.

“Please,” Colonel Nohl indicated to the table of food already set for her. Ellen paused, smiling awkwardly for a moment.

“Would you mind if I checked something, Colonel? I find that I have become quite paranoid after Ishval. Please consider it as the eccentricity of a State Alchemist,” she said taking out a handkerchief of her own from her pocket. It was etched with an alchemical circle.

“Not at all, Major, so long as you don't mind explaining what it is that your alchemy does,” Colonel Nohl said.

“Yes, of course,” Ellen agreed. “It tells me the composition of food. Unfortunately, anything more complicated would require a far better array than this one.”

“Please go ahead,” Colonel Nohl said, watching curiously as the circle lit up and Ellen closed her eyes for a moment.

As far as Ellen was concerned, she found this to be the mythical non-science part of alchemy. The ability to sense and create something from etchings of a circle.

“We can eat now,” Ellen said, putting her handkerchief away. They started with quiet agreement.

“I heard that you were a professor at the Central University,” Colonel Nohl started, “Mind telling me what such an accomplished alchemist is doing at a city in a constant state of War?” Ellen blinked at the sudden blunt question 

“I really am here to take a break, and while I was distracting myself, I thought I could help out my country a little. I served during the Ishval War and it was truly scarring,” Ellen explained, letting her eyes go a little distant. “So many soldiers were lost to the Ishvalans.”

There was a sudden spark of understanding in Colonel Nohl's eyes, before she grew sympathetic.

“Yes, truly. The Ishvalans must have been a curse on us all. They popped up in South City from nowhere. We haven't had the time to eliminate them all yet. My apologies in allowing such a large matter to pass,” she patted Ellen's hand on the table with a kind smile. “If you are willing to help us, after this war is over, I will try my best to eliminate them as much as possible.”

Ellen allowed her smile to widen, blinking up at Colonel Nohl with gratitude.

“You will have my thanks, Colonel,” then she hesitated, “Although, I do have a better idea of what to do about them.” She gave the other woman a sly smile. “If the Colonel is willing, I would rather you allow the Ishvalans to live in the slums of this city. No one looks twice at the slums, after all. If they disappeared or not, if they even existed or not, would not matter to the Colonel's city then.”

Colonel Nohl's eyes sharpened at her words. She wiped her mouth and took a sip of tea.

“And what would the Major be willing to give me in exchange?” She asked. Her voice was soft, but sharp.

Ah, her intuition said, she's done this before.

Suspicion confirmed, Ellen smiled, neatly folding up her napkin and placing it on the table.

“How about I show the Colonel why I am a renowned State Alchemist?” She asked. Colonel Nohl subconsciously leaned forward, her eyes sparkling with delight.

“I'm listening.”

---

Ellen took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Then she took the next step across the border to Aerugo.

---

“Amestris,” a man's deep voice interrupted her silent musings. Ellen looked up at the man with a grim look on her face.

“No,” she said, looking up. Her eyes glinted red. She took off the shawl covering her hair, slowing off the thick fall of silver hair.

“I've come to help you fight Amestris,” she said.

The man swallowed.

“Ishval.”

Chapter 4: Liars don't have the best endings

“Why have you come to Aerugo, Ishvalan?” The man hissed. “Aerugo has already made its stand very clear. We will not take in Ishvalan refugees!”

“Not even if it will help solve your problems?” She asked calmly. The man stepped into his tent properly.

“Listen here, Ishvalan. Your faith has already been destroyed. Our country is still fighting. What can you offer us when you won't practice alchemy? When your characteristics are this obvious?” He sneered at her obvious white hair and red eyes.

“People,” she replied back, “your economy is the best amongst these nations. Aerugo is far richer than Amestris! But this war…” she said slyly, “this is making you turn away from agriculture and making you throw money into warfare. And even if you're aware of it, you can't stop because Amestris overpowers your technological advancement, their alchemists are better than yours and they even have more people than you. Just the Southern City is holding off your entire nation. They even have energy to fight with the other countries,” she drew the picture for the nervous commander. Then she tapped her nail on the table.

“But I have a way,” she said smiling, “you can sneak in the rest of the Ishvalan refugees from Amestris and put them to work in the fields. As long as we don't starve to death, we will work for you gratefully. As long as you fight against Amestris, we will support you and never betray you. There is no one we hate more than Amestris, not even Aerugo,” she said confidently.

“If you don't allow Ishvalans to fight in the front lines, no one will know you are hiding us. Amestris Central Military won't attack you so easily. Hide us,” she said, standing up, “and we will help you.”

After a long moment, the commander sank down into a seat. Then he spoke.

“How do you know the Central Military won't attack us?” He said in a grave voice.

“Because I have infiltrated it,” she whispered to him. His eyes shot up to look at her. She smiled at him, before taking out her State Alchemist watch and throwing it at him.

“I recently gave the exam and passed. My father discovered an alchemical circle that allows me to temporarily hide my appearance,” she gave him a bitter smile. “There is nothing I won't do to save my people. Please take in the Ishvalans.”

The commander nodded, then he hesitated again.

“How are you here? Is this a trick from Amestris? How can they allow you to cross the border so easily?” He gave her a hard stare, but his hand did not reach for his gun.

“I tricked the Colonel by telling her that I like killing Ishvalans. In return for giving them to me, she wants me to destroy your main camp,” she told him bluntly.

This time the man shot to his feet, his expression turning hostile as he trained her gun to her head.

“Show me your hands, alchemist!” He ordered. Her eyes fluttered shut, feeling the touch of a gun at her temple, then she gave the man a calm look despite the fast beating of her heart.

“I don't mean to actually kill everyone here, commander,” she deadpanned. “I still want to save my people from Amestris.”

“That does not change the fact that you are a human weapon in the middle of enemy territory! If we use you as leverage, we can push into the heart of South City in one go!” he explained.

“And then what?” She asked quietly. “Central will just let you go?”

She slapped the gun away, bringing up her palm to hit the man's chin then grabbing the gun and dismantling it in less than 2 seconds. The man glared at her, holding onto his chin.

Before he could yell, she dropped the gun, raised her hands and walked back by two steps.

“My life is worth nothing to Amestris,” she told him bitterly. “They have more State Alchemists than I have fingers or toes. One won't be a big loss to them. If you don't accept, I will return to think of another way to save my people. If you do, just tell me now and save my time.”

She tilted her chin up and looked at him with teary eyes. Her lips set into a line of stubborn determination.

“You-” the man gaped. Then he sighed deeply.

“I will speak to the Prince. I have no authority to accept your request.”

“Thank you, that's all I can ask for,” Ellen gave him a teary and yet grateful smile. The man massaged his chin, looking away.

“Don't be grateful, girl. I have no plans to evacuate this area,” he snorted. Ellen smirked at him.

“Don't worry, old man. I've already got that covered,” she lifted up the tent's flap to show off the sudden cries that echoed throughout the camp. “I hope you'll keep your promise!” She said, throwing the shawl over her head and ducking out.

“You!!” The old man yelled, then ran out after her.

Outside a huge slow sinkhole appeared in the middle of camp, the bell tolled for enemy attack and the soldiers hurried awake, gathering their things to escape from their camp.

Far away, Colonel Nohl smiled at the sound of distant explosions and slowly sipped her tea with a smug expression.

---

When Ellen returned back to the Amestris camp near Fortset, she was immediately led to Colonel Nohl. She looked up from the map she was looking over and waved her generals away.

“State Alchemists certainly are good,” she admitted. “I have no idea how you sneaked through their detection.”

“I have my ways,” Ellen shrugged. Colonel Nohl clapped her shoulder.

“Maybe you are just special. How about I request your reassignment to South City?” She asked.

“I don't like to fight all the time, Colonel,” Ellen smiled at her. “I enjoy researching and teaching at Central.”

“Yes…” her voice faded a little,” Yes, I heard that you do, Major.” She sat down behind her desk as she looked assessingly at Ellen.

“Your CO is General Raven, is he not?” Ellen gave her a slightly confused look.

“Yes,” she nodded. “He has been my CO the entirety of my military career.”

“Oh?” She asked, leadingly. “You served under him for a long time. Tell me, does he allow you to spread your wings properly?”

“I served under General Raven during the Ishval War. He has always been very appreciative of my innovation. He saw my talent for what it was, and was kind enough to let me stay a part of the military after the Ishval Civil War, and I decided to pursue research and teaching instead,” she shrugged.

“General Raven is certainly lucky to have a subordinate as talented as you under him,” she said, smiling pleased.

“Thank you, Colonel,” she gave her a sheepish smile. “He was the first to recognise me for my talent after I passed the State Alchemist program. I haven't managed to converse with him much, but I have always been grateful for his help.”

“Hmm,” Colonel Nohl tapped her finger to her chin. Ellen waited patiently for her decision.

She hadn't imagined she would be grilled about General Raven so much, but it oddly seemed like she was pleased to hear that she had a high opinion of him so she had gone a little over the top about flattering him.

To be honest, if it was anyone normal in her place, they would have been grateful to General Raven too. He had always treated her and his other subordinates well.

She wasn't even lying about not talking to the man much. He had taken her in after she had created a transmutation circle for the State Alchemist test, and approved of her continued desire to research new things.

He, as it happened, was also the one who pushed her to spread the shrapnel grenade, and who always pushed her to work on more weapons. But when she had backed down, talking about leaving the military, he had given in, and seemed so genuinely disappointed that she had stayed on his team.

She hadn't truly minded actually. A part of her had wanted to be there if there was another war. She wanted to be used as a weapon for her military. From Ishval, she had seen how hard it was for non-military personelle- alchemist or not- to get in and out. Only if she was a part of the military, would she be allowed to interfere with their actions.

But General Raven, for all that he seemed like a kind man, sent shivers down her spine in a very creepy way. She hadn't asked to transfer though, because he was still better than some of the others.

At least she knew that he wouldn't throw away his mask of gentility unless she did something really drastic. As it happens, she enjoyed the resources given by the military and she took the few jobs he sent to her, and didn't seek to move up the ladder.

He was happy enough to allow her to do whatever she wished, and she was grateful for that.

While she didn't quite want to imply him for her work here, she had this eerie feeling that she was being caught in a pincer strike. It wasn't possible that General Raven knew something about this, right?

“I see, Major,” Colonel Nohl gave a pleased smile, “The only two you are close to are your two students, are they not?”

“I imagine so,” Ellen answered easily. “They are quite talented in their areas of research.”

Which translates to no, not really. They are simply talents I don’t want to let go of.

Colonel Nohl's lips ticked up.

“Professor,” she started, “you are certainly quite interesting. Should we talk more after this battle?”

“Of course, Colonel Nohl,” she shook the other's hand, “It would be my pleasure.”

She was shooed away as the Amestrian soldiers set upon the scattered Aerugan soldiers. She calmly went back to her hotel, checked on the listening devices that were still there, and took a bath. Then she read a book.

 

After a few more days, Colonel Nohl barged into her room, while she looked like the picture of relaxed. She looked up at the slightly dirtied Colonel and then she stood up and offered the woman a salute.

“Major,” Colonel Nohl said, her eyes going over a set of books she had acquired from South City’s Library.

“Colonel,” she greeted back. “I hope you don't mind that I have taken the liberty to read some books from your library.”

“No, of course not,” Colonel Nohl said as she sat on the chair across from Ellen. “Please sit.”

Ellen sat. She closed her book and put it aside.

“Would you like some tea?” She asked and when the Colonel nodded, she served her tea.

“I believe the battle is over?” She asked peacefully, like this conversation did not matter to her at all, like she might not have killed a large number of people with this one act.

“Yes,” Colonel Nohl looked satisfied, and something in her stomach dropped.

“They were already retreating, so we didn't get as much, but they have retreated far enough that we have earned ourselves quite a lot of time.”

She almost let out a relieved sigh, catching it in time to replace it with a confused look.

“I’m sorry, time?” She asked. Colonel Nohl sipped her tea in companionship silence before she placed it down.

“Yes,” she answered, a slight frown on her face. “We were told not to push too far into Aerugo, instead keeping the conflict near our border to preserve our men. Our best hospitals are only a small distance away, after all. The General said that it would be in our best interest to capture Aerugo in one go after they have exhausted their fighting strength.”

Colonel Nohl snorted.

“These Aerugans only know how to farm. They are already so far behind us! What does it matter if we exhaust them or not? We can just use Alchemists like you to capture the entire nation!” She slammed her palm on the table.

Ellen smiled placidly as the Colonel calmed down.

“As the Colonel has seen,” she said, pouring more tea to refill her cup, “different State Alchemists specialize in different fields. I might not be the Flame Alchemist, but I can sink a city far easier than he can kill all the people in it.”

Colonel Nohl looked up smiling.

“Truly, you were a blessing. General Raven certainly chose correctly,” she said gratefully, “I will complete my end of the bargain as well. But you should request a change of location. You are being wasted in Central.”

Ellen smiled gratefully.

“Thank you, Colonel Nohl. Please feel free to ask for my assistance if they get too close again. I will do it for the same price as before,” she and the Colonel shared a smile.

The Colonel stood up, and they shook hands.

“Will you be returning soon?” She asked.

“Yes, I do believe I should return back to Central,” she sighed, displeased, “It was a pleasure to be here. Truly, I enjoyed being able to let loose after a while. The Colonel has my gratitude.”

Colonel Nohl looked even more pleased at that.

“It was my pleasure, Major. I hope you can return in a few months again. You can check out the merchandise by then. I'll make sure to put in a little extra,” she winked.

“My thanks again, Colonel,” she said wryly.

“No need for that. You serve our nation with pride,” she patted her shoulder. “Now, if you ever need to request a change in scenery, I believe my commanding officer is quite friendly with your commanding officer. I'm sure he'll be willing to spare his talented alchemist for this job. I will make sure to put a good word in for your help this time. You can just tell me if you start finding Central a little stiff for you, hmm?”

“I keep finding things to be grateful about, Colonel,” they shared a laugh. “But I am enjoying my research for now. If I change my mind, you will definitely find my letter at your desk.”

“Then, this will be our goodbye for now,” Colonel Nohl said. She got up and went to the door. Her soldiers saluted her as she left the room and she smiled and nodded as she finally left Ellen alone.

Or as alone as she could be with the listening devices still there.

“What a good woman,” she said to the listening devices, then she went to pack up her bags.

She was done with staying in Fortset. It was either the constant smell of death or the realization pinching in her heart that was starting to make her nauseous.

Neither of them was conducive to her continued stay in Fortset.

Chapter 5: The Suspicions that keep on coming

Ellen had barely even reached her home in Central when she got a call to report to General Raven in his office at Central Headquarters.

“Major Ellen Ackner reporting for duty, sir!” She snapped off a salute, and stood at attention while waiting for her CO to acknowledge her.

He let her sweat for a few nerve wracking moments before he waved a hand casually.

“It's a pleasure to see you again, Major Ackner,” General Raven smiled kindly. He set his pen down and got up.

“Please, sit,” he gestured to the couch and sat in a separate armchair. “I must apologize for calling you right after you reached Central, but I received news that you were fighting for the country in your free time.”

“Yes, General. I apologize for not informing my commanding officer beforehand,” she said regretfully. “I had not realized the state of South City before and when I reached there, I felt inclined to do something. Thankfully, Colonel Nohl was exceedingly kind and welcoming to me. She allowed me to overstep myself, and I implore you to not blame her.”

“Hmm, it is true that the two of you have overstepped,” General Raven agreed, “however, I know that this comes from a place of duty to our country. Your service is greatly appreciated. However, if you wish to fight on the front lines, I can reassign you to another place. Or…would you prefer to hunt down the 

Ishvalans in our country and protect our peace instead?”

While it sounded nice enough, it was actually a threat. She had been the one to ask to be stationed in Central, and she didn't actually want to be reassigned. This was him saying that she wasn't indispensable, no matter her talents. She could be shipped off to the front lines anytime he wished for it.

Not to mention the comment about Ishvalans. He already knew what she had asked in exchange for fighting for Colonel Nohl, but he wasn't planning to say it directly. No, he wanted to see what she would actually do.

Or maybe, he wanted to see if she would follow through.

“No, no,” she immediately shook her head. “ I apologize for taking action without consulting the General!”

General Raven laughed.

“Relax, Major. If you are unwilling, I won't force you. It was a gift considering your passion for fighting for our country,” he said cheerfully. “You have served under me for so long. I have never forced such a decision on any of my subordinates, Major.”

Ellen clenched her teeth, and bowed her head submissively.

“Of course. General Raven has always been kind to someone like me,” she looked up with a sheepish smile. “I am always sorry for causing these kinds of problems for the General.”

“Dont worry too much. These old bones can still work hard,” he laughed. “But please do remember to warn me when you leave Central again. After all, I don't want to be surprised when another General asks me about the location of my subordinate.”

Ellen smiling apologetically.

“I will, General. Thank you for overlooking my missteps,” she saluted earnestly.

“As you were, Major. You must be tired, so head on back,” General Raven said. She turned, closed the door and made her way back home.

She didn't stop for food, or inform anyone of her return. Instead she went back home, locked all her doors and windows and collapsed on her bed.

Talking to Colonel Nohl had been less terrifying than talking to her commander. He was so much closer, he knew so much more. He could upturn her life with a single command and she could do nothing about it.

And she was starting to think that this was bigger than just someone doing human experiments. It wasn't like they were researching nerve gasses or they had created a secretive medical division for human experiments. This felt more terrifying than something like that.

Or maybe she was just going crazy.

She had no specific clues about what the heck was going on. She didn't know anything for certain. But she felt like she had almost stepped on a landmine with Fortset, and for some reason, that landmine hadn't gone off thanks to General Raven.

But instead of making her happy or grateful, it chilled her to the bones instead. There had to be something wrong. There had to be. She wasn't just being paranoid.

Thankfully, she had already prepared for this eventuality. When she opened her eyes the next morning, she was as calm as always. She went about her day normally. She gave a lecture about molecular formation in gemstones- basics from her previous life rediscovered with alchemy- which was the reason she had chosen to return the day before.

She ate lunch, and her two students came over to bother her. After telling them to focus on their own work, she ended her day and went to see Gracia and Elicia to refresh herself.

 

Gracia was as welcoming as always, accepting the immediate hug she chose to engulf Gracia with. Elicia giggled as she littered her face with kisses, baby talking to her.

After she settled Elicia back in her seat, she followed Gracia to the kitchen and proceeded to help her out to cut the extra vegetables, because she was planning to eat with them as well.

Gracia, as always took to it kindly, and gently prodded her to correct her technique for different vegetables or telling her to set down her sugar and get the salt at the bottom rack please.

In the end, the result was not too far from what Gracia normally cooked and the two of them relaxed while watching Elicia eat in her usual messy manner.

Gracia was probably her closest friend, which was funny, because she was only introduced to her because she was her childhood friend's commander's best friend's wife. With such a distant connection, it would have been lucky if they recognised the other in passing.

But since the day she had met Gracia, she had been by her side- through her marriage, her pregnancy and now in caring for her daughter. She loved going out with Gracia and hearing all about how jealous Maes got when he heard she went out with his wife and daughter.

It was infinitely funny.

That said, she didn't impose on their family time as much. She knew they didn't mind, and Maes was always up to talking about his family to someone who appreciated them, but she almost felt uncomfortable at the homeliness of their dinners.

Here were two people who loved each other, making a life together. Here was practically everything she wanted to protect. Here was what she was probably going to destroy.

Her parents had been something like this too. Not in her first life, but here, in Amestris. And she had been a stupid kid playing with things she didn't know and she had destroyed that.

Being abandoned by them had been the worst thing. Nothing had hurt more than being told that she was being shipped off to Central Academy and that she would never see her parents again.

In the end though, she couldn't change the past any more than she could travel to her previous world. In the end, this family would be all she got to taste the sweetness of home from.

“I think this is going to get dangerous, Gracia,” she said abruptly. Gracia paused from wiping Elicia's face, before continuing on. Waiting.

But she couldn't say anything more. She didn't know anything more.

When Gracia turned to look at her, she shrugged and Gracia sighed, worry filling her eyes.

“Be careful,” she said quietly.

Ellen didn't force a smile, playing with a ball of yarn. Since she couldn't promise anything for anyone, she just stayed silent.

Maes came home and had his daily reunion with his wife and daughter. They ate a meal together, Maes poking fun at Elicia who became more irritable by the second before hiding behind Ellen.

Finally, when Gracia took Elicia to her room to sleep, Maes tilted his head towards his study and she followed him in.

“So, did you find anything out?” She asked immediately after she entered. Maes sat down, sighing heavily.

“What do you think I would have found out, Ellen?” He asked, taking off his glasses to rub his nose.

“I don't know,” she sat down. “Can we not play mind games today, Maes? I'll tell you what I know so just tell me whatever you figured out.”

Maes wore his glasses and sighed.

“All right,” he agreed. “There were 4 doctors who entered Ishval with the help of the military but did not take part in helping the Amestrian soldiers or remnants of Ishval. Three of them are dead. The last one is Doctor Marco and he's missing, as far as the military is concerned.”

He put a picture of a middle aged man on the desk.

“Apparently, he was seen with a few high ranking officers, and whatever he was doing research on in Central before that was shut down. There were some suspicious activities before he fled so I've been planning to check them out soon.”

“Aside from that, I've found that some State Alchemists get specially selected for specific tasks by the high ranking officers and they often end up suspiciously dead or turn traitor.”

“You,” the man dropped his hand heavily, staring at Ellen, “were very very close to being added on the list after your activities in the South. Apparently, Fuhrer King Bradley spoke for you.”

“Hah,” a soft puff of laughter escaped her. She covered her face with her cold hands. “What is happening?” She asked, no one in particular. Maes didn't answer either, letting her have a quiet moment to have her nervous breakdown, before she wiped her face and looked up at him.

“”Fortset was really really strange,” she started. “It's a war, of course. But Amestris kept engaging and disengaging, near our borders. The only place they didn't give up was Fortset. They seemed determined to soak the blood of the entire war there. Apparently, Colonel Nohl got the order from her CO to maintain the war front in Fortset. And also apparently, her general knew my CO quite well.”

“I got called in immediately after I arrived, and-” she took a deep breath, “-he knew I asked to kill or experiment on Ishvalan refugees and he let me go .”

“Wait, you did what?” Maes interrupted, surprised with a hint of wariness. She gritted her teeth for one moment, before she burst out.

“Honestly! You act like I enjoy killing people! You're best friends with the Flame Alchemist! Get off your high horse!” she stood up, almost yelling before she covered her mouth and turned around, trying to breathe.

Breathe, girl, breathe.

The funniest thing was that there was no one around to tell her this, so she had to tell herself. She had promised herself to keep it together.

“I don't know how you of all people started believing those rumors from Ishval. Just because I didn't immediately quit like everyone else, or join Roy's group of buddies, doesn't mean I don't have a heart,” she glared at Maes who suddenly looked apologetic.

“I don't believe them, Ellen,” he reassured. “I know that you didn't. We all remember how terrified you were during the war.”

He stood up as well and gently eased her back onto the couch. Then he knelt in front of her.

“Do you want me to get you something? Tea? Coffe? Hot chocolate?” He teased. She shoved his shoulder, a small smile appearing on her lips.

One of the things she used to bemoan about during the war to Riza was hot chocolate. She had gone through her most intense chocolate craving phase back then, her favorite comfort food in a time of literal war.

Then her smile faded.

“I just want to save those people, Maes,” then she broke out into a humorless laugh. “Heck, why do you think I brought you guys in this thing anyway? Just so Roy and Riza could shout their support from East City?”

Maes blinked surprised.

“Me?” He asked.

“Yes, Mr intelligence officer,” she rolled her eyes. “The one person you wouldn't hesitate to risk your life for was Roy, and you were also the only person who I knew wasn't involved in this. Those other two were too far to be of any actual help,” she scoffed.

Maes raised his eyebrows as she talked before he covered his mouth and burst into laughter.

“What's so funny?” She frowned, confused.

“Oh,” he wiped a tear, before looking at her and laughing even louder. “Oh, I can't believe…”

He kept laughing without saying a single word. Needless to say, she was extremely confused. What part of anything she said, aka risking their life for some random conspiracy theory, made him think it was funny?

Of course, it was better for her if he didn't hold her outburst against her, but now that her panic was draining away, she felt a little flustered at just telling him that she needed him to risk military action to get information

Maes was sort of a friend, after all.

That said…if he didn't stop laughing, she was going to start getting pissed off. Maes didn't stop. He was practically rolling on the floor with laughter when Gracia knocked on the door asking if everything was okay.

“Love,” he called out to her, “Come here.”

Ellen watched as Gracia walked up to her husband, bewildered, who caught her by her waist, hugging and practically swinging her around.

Gracia started smiling, confused, and shot Ellen the same confused look over Maes’ shoulder. Maes hit his face in his wife's shoulder giggling like a schoolgirl.

“Ellen-” he gasped out after he had stopped laughing so much, “my dear, my love, I never thought I would ever find someone else like Roy in my life,” he told Gracia.

Unseen by him, Ellen bristled at the words. Gracia patted his chest, still looking slightly confused.

“You won't believe-” he broke himself off, turning to face Ellen, his face still bright with laughter.

“You did it to save them, right? In the South?” He asked. She flattened her lips into a line before nodding silently. His lips twitched, as if resisting the urge to laugh.

“How did I end up like this, Gracia? To have two of them as my friends,” Maes shook his head, still smiling wide.

Gracia put a hand on his cheek, smiling gently, even if she didn't know what he was talking about.

“My husband is a very lucky man, Mr Hughes. I don't doubt that,” she said, smiling up at him with all the love in the world.

“Gracia…” Maes started, focus shifting away from whatever he was laughing about to his wife.

“Okay! I'm leaving!” Ellen shot up, interrupting before the scene became even more lovey dovey.

Gracia cleared her throat while Maes kept smiling at his wife like a lovesick fool.

Her heart warmed a little at the sight, even as she teased the two of them before running away.

Really, she couldn't stand being with them in a room. They always acted like newlyweds on their honeymoon. It would be infuriating if it wasn't so goddamn sweet.

Notes:

Not too happy with this chapter, but oh well! I always wanted to see more of Gracia in stories so I made them friends!

Excuse any OCness, cause I haven't watched fmab in ages aside from random clips.

Chapter 6: It's a count down

In the end, with half a lead and a whole ton of attention on her, Ellen kept a low profile. While she wouldn't quite say that the General had scared her off, it wouldn't be too far off the mark either.

So she lived quietly.

The General sent her on a goose chase for a couple of killer brothers who called themselves 'Slicer’ brothers, and after confirming their crime and capturing them, she was allowed to go off to South City again.

She took her time getting there.

First she went to Resembool to check out her 'empty’ house, and asked Pinako about if the Rockbells had ever met a Dr Marco while they were at Ishval. She also met their daughter, Winry, who kept complaining about the military and some stupid boys, which she found hilarious and she talked about her students while Winry talked about her childhood friends.

She talked to Winry about her parents’ work in Ishval, about how she had respected them for it and the number of lives they had saved. She seemed quite sad about it, but proud too.

It was understandable. Any child being left alone by their parents had to go through a very difficult time. Winry handled automails, unlike her parents, but her kindness was the same as theirs.

She liked Winry in the end. Then she left for East City.

She was a little worried about being followed to South City, so she took breaks and wandered. East City was a pretty easy option considering it had the only other person she liked aside from Gracia.

Of course, when she suddenly appeared at their office and greeted Riza, everyone was quite confused, asking her about who she was, how'd she get there, how'd she know Riza.

Then Roy peaked out of his office and greeted her with his smug face and she wished she could throw the nearest set of files at his face before her mood went down.

“Ellen, did you come to have lunch with me today?” Roy asked, knowing fully well her answer was a 'no’. She still obliged his need to be rejected by actually saying it.

“No, I'm here for Riza,” she said bluntly. Roy's smile widened.

“How could you forget to invite me? After all, haven't we three shared so many days and nights together already?” he said, a hand over his chest. She rolled her eyes.

“Sure did, Roy. We're still going,” she said pettily. Someone had an overdramatic sob before dropping to their chair. Sure enough, people under Roy tended to be dramatic huh?

Roy grabbed his coat, walking towards the two of them. She scoffed, but didn't say anything as he joined them.

“I know a great place during the lunchtime rush,” Roy said. Ellen clung to Riza's elbow on her other side.

“I bet you do,” she replied back. “I can't believe I didn't know you had such a womanizing personality?” She said, sounding both conflicted and confused.

“Is it that strange?” Roy asked with an edge of teasing.

“Yes,” she insisted. “Don't you find it strange, Riza?”

“Not as much as you're thinking,” Riza replied. “He's always been rather strange.” Ellen almost didn't have time to cover her mouth before the unexpected giggle left her.

“Am I being laughed at by my subordinates, Lieutenant?” Roy asked Riza, amused.

“Absolutely, sir,” Riza stated bluntly, not even changing her expression. Ellen took a look at Roy's face and started laughing.

“Are you guys a comedy duo or something?” She asked, surprised, still laughing.

“No, it's a coping mechanism,” Riza said, sighing. Ellen started laughing again.

“Well said!” She snickered, “Colonel definitely isn't someone we should be inflicting on other people. I'm sorry you have to go through this, Riza,” she patted her arm reassuringly.

“And yet, the lieutenant is still as dedicated as ever to her job,” Roy popped in.

“What can I say, sir? It's known that when you feed strays, they'll keep coming back for more,” Riza sassed stoically. Ellen almost stuffed her hand into her mouth to stop laughing uproariously.

“I can't believe I'm being abandoned like a stay alley cat you just implied I was. I have to say, it feels rather…”

She peeked over to Roy to ascertain he wasn't actually feeling bad.

“-great!” He ended. She looked away, rolling her eyes, “Does this mean that the lieutenant is willing to give me a break while the Major is in the city?”

“Not at all, sir,” Riza deadpanned. Roy slumped dramatically disappointed.

“Are you really trying to run away from your work, Colonel Mustang? My my, I didn't expect this from you. Should I tell Elicia her favorite uncle slacks off at work?” She teased.

“I don't see how that would even be necessary. Not to mention,” he glanced over at her, smirking, “she won't believe you!”

“Elicia always believes me,” she said. Elicia didn't. She was in her 'no’ phase where she had to refute everything everyone said. “And it's not just her. My terrible two-” she let out a fake cough, “-I mean, my two students look up to you too. How disappointing for them.”

“Are you blackmailing me with kids’ expectations for me to make me do my work on time?” Roy sussed her out.

“It seems to me like it's working,” she smirked back. “After all, Colonel Mustang really can't stand to disappoint expectations, can he?”

“It seems to me like the Major is forgetting who she's talking to,” He said, almost amused.

“Not at all. I am well aware of the Colonel's capabilities, that's all,” she said.

“I believe I have been observed for a while without noticing it,” Roy glanced at her, a smug look on his face. “I am flattered by your attention, Major Ackner.”

“I observed Riza far more than I did you, Colonel,” she tightened her grip on Riza, and Riza hid a smile.

“I believe the Colonel has forgotten himself in his self importance, Major,” Riza cut in supportively, sounding visibly amused.

“That remains to be seen, Lieutenant,” Roy sassed back immediately.

She switched from Riza's side to his and patted his shoulder mockingly. Honestly, she had no idea how the man had such deceptively strong muscles.

“There, there,” she told him. “I don't doubt your sincerity towards your work, Colonel. I am certain it is impressive. I'm sure the kids won't be disappointed in one of the foremost alchemists of this time,” she said half joking half sincerely.

“Thank you for your vote of confidence, Major,” Roy glanced at her for a long moment before smiling, settling down.

“My pleasure, Colonel,” she smiled back.

Subconsciously, she had put her hand at the crook of his elbow, like she did with Riza and Gracia, and very naturally, they kept walking just like that.

The three had a comfortable lunch together. Riza and Roy sassing at each other, Roy and her turning their words back to trap the other, and mostly just talking about mundane things.

It was nostalgic, but in a good way. War hadn't been a good place to get to know people, but these two were the few people who had survived intact. They subtly exchanged some information within their casual speak, of course. How she wasn't allowed to leave Central without permission, a little of her incident in the South and exactly how much they had been caught up on by Hughes.

But within all that, she enjoyed the break. She would have to continue to South soon, but she was glad to be able to spare a little bit of time in the East.

Having said that, she was introduced to the rest of Roy's team, all of whom she greeted rather cheerfully. They seemed to be interested in digging into her and she not so subtly dumped it on Roy, because god knew Riza had enough to handle already.

Well, they seemed afraid of asking Riza too, so their captain truly did seem like the better option. Regardless, Ellen was quite free in East City, so she did linger a lot around them.

Sadly, the only time Riza herself let her be was when they didn't have much work, because inevitably, people would start talking to her about something and everyone in the office would get distracted.

Roy only goaded this on, happy to not be doing any work, but whenever Riza decided everyone was being too unproductive, she would be inevitably kicked out.

She bribed out some good food spots from Roy after bargaining with her friendship powers over Riza, and whenever she was tired of the library and touring, she would relax at one of those places. Just as she had been promised, they had good food and an even better view.

She wasn't surprised to find Roy meeting her more often than Riza. Riza was inherently a private person and Roy wanted to keep an eye out for whatever she might be planning. He probably wasn't pleased at her for using Hughes through him.

But he didn't say anything about it, keeping a pleasant conversation going whenever they met. In fact, he was always a little too charming, pulling out her chair, listening to her talk about her kids, her alchemy, even willingly answering questions she asked as long as it wasn't about anything they shouldn't be discussing in public spaces.

It was suspicious, but she could do with a friendly face, so she didn't rat him out just yet. Maybe he just wanted to judge her himself, and if so, she didn't mind it.

“Hiding away from Riza again?” She asked when she found Roy in the archives during his work hours. She hip checked a box that had almost been pulled all the way out before making her way to him.

Roy was standing in one side huddling with a bunch of papers on the table. He raised his head when she spoke and it was only then that she noticed that he was wearing his white alchemy gloves inscribed with his transmutation circle.

“Gotta say, this isn't your worst choice of hiding places,” she said naturally, making her way to the desk. Roy shifted away, letting her look through the papers on it.

It was pages upon pages of extermination orders on rogue State Alchemists, all signed by Fuhrer Bradley.

“What can I say? She doesn't look for me in places where I would have to do even more work,” Roy replied back lightly. He took a couple pages out, laying them all down in front of her, one by one.

At first, she wasn't quite sure what she was looking at, but then horror filled her when she realized what she was looking at. Seeing her go silent, he continued the conversation on his own.

“Though I never expected you to find me here either. I must admit Major, I'm quite surprised,” Roy admitted.

Ellen yanked her eyes away from the confirmation of deaths of various State Alchemists who had left the military after the Ishval Civil War, and she stared up at him with dark eyes.

“I was too, Colonel,” she said, her voice wavering only slightly. “It's a pleasant surprise to see you so surrounded by paperwork.”

“Not at all,” Roy said bitterly, “Unfortunately, it comes with the job.”

His eyes were as dark as hers, and she tilted her head towards the shelves. He glanced towards the copier and she nodded in agreement.

“If you're expecting any mercy just because you left to do other work, I hope you know who you're talking to,” she said, a smile in her voice.

“Major, believe me when I tell you that there's nothing I'd like more than to forget about it,” Roy said lowly. She raised an eyebrow at him but he set the copier to work, covering up noises of their conversation.

He had her return the pages in its correct files and when she came back, he had already tucked the copied pages in such a way that she had absolutely no idea where he hid it. He offered her an enigmatic smile.

“I believe that Lieutenant Hawkeye will be expecting you soon, Colonel,” she said teasingly, giving him a thumbs up after circling him once.

“I believe so,” he said, sounding exhausted. “What can I offer Major Ackner to convince the Lieutenant to overlook this little sojourn of ours?”

“Don't pull me in this!” She immediately defected to the enemy camp. “I only came to look for you on the Lieutenant's behalf. I never agreed to help you avoid her ire.”

“Major…” he said pitifully. She patted his arm amusedly, then pulled her hard away when it lingered a moment longer than necessary on those hard muscles.

“I'll take it as your lunch today, Colonel,” she offered a middle ground, and Roy sighed relieved at having found an ally.

They reached the room and she could see Riza narrow her eyes at the two.

“He already said that he finished the draft, Riza,” she said. He did no such thing, of course. Riza narrowed his eyes at Roy, lightly gripping at her strapped gun.

“Did he,” she deadpanned suspiciously.

“Yup,” she answered for him. “I'll be going now!” She waved at everyone cheerfully, winking at a dead faced Roy before practically skipping out.

No matter if Roy told Riza she lied or not, she would definitely make him sit and finish the work by today. She left the Headquarters happy at having made more work for Roy again.

 

Chapter 7: Till we all go up in flames

Summary:

Introducing the Elric brothers

“I have never met someone as dedicated to making my life complicated as you,” Roy said, sighing with world weary exhaustion when he found her sitting at his doorstep.

“Don't exaggerate,” she laughed, “It's just boring grunt work, not mentally stimulating politics or alchemy.”

He unlocked the door and invited her in politely. She accepted.

“I would almost prefer it to be,” Roy murmured under his breath as he left her at the living room.

“You’re welcome,” she called out to his retreating back, a little mockingly.

Then they politely sat down with a cup of tea in hand and discussed what she had come by for- the consequences of what Roy had found out. State Alchemists from the Ishval Civil War had been killed after severing ties with the military. She had even recognized some of the faces there, and it was nauseating to find out the military might be involved in their deaths.

Many of them died due to ‘researching alchemy’ or going against the military for reasons unknown. There were even many who were missing, assumed to be dead or 'wandering’ in a foreign country.

It was the last bit that told her that not even going to the other countries was safe. She had done the right thing not exposing herself in Aerugo. She had been more worried about validity then, but security leeks could easily cause her death. She stifled the small shudder of fear that ran down her spine.

“I don't see a way to find any proper evidence. Seems to me that anyone who was involved has already been killed off,” Ellen said finally.

“If we could trace all the deaths back to someone-” -someone not the Fuhrer , Roy left unsaid.

To get the Fuhrer, they would need far more than circumstantial evidence.

“Witness?” She asked.

“He did mention someone,” Roy completed the thought. Dr Marco , she thought immediately. “I'll ask around,” Roy said.

“So in the end, we've just got more conspiracy theories,” she concluded wryly.

“If anything, this is confirming your suspicions,” Roy pointed out.

“I didn't actually want it to be true,” she tipped her head back, frustrated. Roy looked into his lit fireplace, giving her a moment to get herself together.

“There will be something for us to find, one way or another,” Roy said grimly. She looked at him for one long moment before giving him a bitter smile. Then her smile widened, fake and humorless.

“All right then,” she said standing up. “I'll be leaving at dawn so I'll take my leave.”

“As you will, Major,” Roy nodded curtly, eyes drifting back to the table they had been ransacking their brains on.

“Have a good evening, Colonel,” she said, exiting the room and getting her coat. The reason neither of them talked about either of their plans was so they weren't at risk of exposing the other. She didn't tell him what she planned to do, and he didn't tell her either.

If they found something, they could exchange information again. Until then, they needed to hunt for something more than circumstantial evidence.

Roy's eyes drifted towards the door as Ellen closed it with a soft click, but he didn't move from his position. Slowly, he took out a notebook noting the important points down in code before burning the papers he had copied.

He watched as the flames flickered down and then sighed deeply, wondering just how deep the rot had spread.

 

Ellen completed her task in the South, negotiating with Aerugo herself and then sending the captured Ishvalans off with the help of Aerugo informants in their military.

There were so many Ishvalans that even she was surprised. But there were perks of negotiating with Aerugo. While they ‘knew’ she was an Ishvalan State Alchemist, she also had better leverage against Aerugo than Amestris.

Aerugo was rich, but Amestris was the most developed country in regards to military and technology. And Amestris basically never traded with other countries, choosing instead, to wage war.

Amestris was extremely hard to deal with. Heck, she had to worry about her own life if she made a single misstep. Compared to that, Aerugo was in too weak of a position to take advantage. They lacked people, weapons, alchemical knowledge and money couldn't get them any of it because the only place that could provide them any of it was Amestris.

She was giving them people and some general alchemical knowledge. In response, if they didn't treat her people properly, she would not be opposed to creating problems for them either.

Aerugo had no idea that Amestris didn't even plan to completely invade their territory. While she wasn't sure of it, it could help decrease casualties on both sides and prevent Aerugo from breaking down internally for a while.

She didn't trust the country, but for the people who looked at her so pitifully, if she could just assure them of their safety- she would be happy with just that.

The Ishvalans had been hard to secure, being so many. So she hadn't bothered. She had hand-picked some soldiers and brought everyone to the middle of the desert. Then she had induced a breakout. A sandstorm and her classic alchemy later, she had run off the Ishvalans directly towards the Aerugo border.

To prevent suspicions, she had used Aerugo to bring some dead bodies and blown them up nearby. Then she'd started using their blood to draw circles to stop people from double checking the surroundings.

It was honestly, quite disgusting. But she created and released research based on blood as an alchemical ingredient after she went back. She also stayed in Central city obediently for a while more, until they could stop following her practically everywhere.

It was bothersome, mostly because she didn't really have any of ‘her’ people in the military. Unlike Roy who raised his rank and had people politically supporting him inside the military, she didn't even have that. So she couldn't retaliate in any sort of political or diplomatic sense.

Well, she could always expose her new stalkers but she was worried about the kind of minefield that would open. She didn't want anyone to start using underhanded techniques. Unlike what she had said to Colonel Nohl, she actually did like her silly students.

So she sneaked in bits and pieces of advice to her students and watched them scream in despair as they had to start another aspect of their research from the beginning. She was tempted to tell them that physics could give them flight much easier than any transmutation circle, but honestly, it was a little intriguing and funny to watch them flounder about it.

She wasn't a genius in alchemy. She just knew a little more about the world of physics than they did. This world hadn't even discovered the noble gases because they had such little tendency to react with other particles. Their information about electron formation of elements was lacking even if they did have some information.

There was such an intense lack of information that it made her heart ache sometimes. But then again, they could do crazy things with alchemy. The Steel Alchemist was practically a master blacksmith and it didn't take him hours of hard work to create cold weapons.

Roy could create fire, any time, any place. In fact even his 'weakness’ was shallow. If he had a lighter or even a single spark in his vicinity, he could create flame even on a rainy day. It spoke about how effective he had been, that even after years of being at war, the only weakness they had found was the fact that he couldn't use his gloves to instantly create fire when it rained.

Alchemy was different.

It gave an easy way out, yes. Like repairing or creating a building, or object, but it also did new things. It gave an actual value to human life- which was crazy when she thought about it, but miraculous too. Every time she saw Roy's alchemy, she was forced to admit how magical this world was.

Honestly, she wouldn't have accepted either of her students if they hadn't shown her something new. The two of them were geniuses. She hadn't been kidding when she told Roy that they could discover flight. They would probably discover something that she never could. They would take the knowledge she gave them and create something wonderful and awe striking.

Her cute little intern A was crazy brilliant. It was one of the reasons why she had wanted to introduce him to Roy. Even though she had no idea about the principles of his flame alchemy, she could make a few guesses, but it would be even better if he could point her poor student in the right direction.

That said, she wasn't expecting a knock on her door on a particularly rainy day and opening it to see a drenched blonde teenager and his younger brother who was a suit of armor.

“Are you the Support Alchemist, Ellen Ackner?” The wet bedraggled kid asked bluntly the moment she opened the door.

“Brother!” The suit of armor spoke up scandalized. “I'm sorry for my brother. Colonel Mustang told us that you could be of help in our research, so we came from East City. We're really sorry if we came at an inconvenient time.”

She opened the door wider, tilting her head inwards.

“Come in then,” she said, sighing. She didn't know why she had expected a note or message before, but it was probably revenge for the amount of times she had messed with Roy.

The two walked in awkwardly and she took out two towels and threw it at the two. Gently, of course.

“Dry off first,” she said. “Do the two of you have a place to stay here?”

“We were planning to stay in the military barracks,” the blonde kid said.

“Well, feel free to crash at the empty bedroom. My students sometimes sleep there though, so don't go through any of their research,” she warned.

The two of them obediently nodded.

She made tea in the kitchen while the two brothers started a whispered conversation amidst drying off. She placed a cup in front of both of them before sitting back and taking a sip from her own mug.

The two sat awkwardly.

“So, did he tell you to give me a message or anything?” She asked first.

“Oh, yeah,” the blonde kid said. He handed over a crumpled note and she opened it to see:

Edward and Alphonse Elric

signed: Roy Mustang

Her brow twitched with irritation.

“Wow, he's kind of irritating, isn't he?” She said, aggressively taking another sip of her tea. The blonde kid snorted.

“You're telling me,” he said, leaning back more comfortably. She winced in sympathy.

“Well, working under him can't be easy,” she agreed. “So, what do you two want?”

“Um,” the suit of armor vibrated, “We were hoping that you could point us in the right direction.”

“We heard that there is something called a philosopher's stone, and according to everything we've come across, you're the leading expert when it comes to stones of any kind,” the one she supposed was Edward said with a serious look.

“Yeah, plus the Colonel told us to go to you when we told him about it. Though he seemed to be laughing about something…” the kid trailed off uncertainty.

“He’s just making fun of us for looking for a mythical stone that's not supposed to exist,” Edward scoffed, the disdain in his voice was clear.

“No,” she said clearly. “He wouldn't do that. He was laughing because he wanted me to look after the two of you and he found it amusing to throw problems at my face.”

Edward's face crumpled into a state of expressing even more disdain, irritation and confusion.

“It's probably because I like to do the same to him. Though I've not yet actually thrown human-shaped problems at him, just yet,” she added before they could say anything.

The pair and she looked at each other for one silent minute, before she burst into laughter and Edward cracked a grin.

“Come on, you two,” she said, getting up. She led the two to her library. Most of her important research was written in otherworldly language with extreme codes and even the least coded journals were at least written in two different languages with their shorthands that didn't even exist in this world.

That said, she had the detailed secret research hidden away. Maybe the most they could find in her library would be references to something in her research in another language that they wouldn't be able to read.

“Read whatever, if you come across something too hard to read, then it probably wasn't for your eyes anyway,” she said, shrugging easily. “If you have any questions you can ask me. I'm guessing you've already read some if not all of my published works, so I'd suggest you start from the left end and make your way across. I've made some notes in some books, if you're curious about it, I'll translate it later. You can make your food from whatever is in the kitchen. Don't set anything on fire.”

Then she nodded to herself and turned to leave.

“Wait!” The one in armor called out to her as the other brother started to take out random books from her shelf.

“Yes?” She asked, turning around politely.

“Um, is it alright for us to stay here like this? And if we accidentally crack any of your code…” the kid asked, looking a little flustered. She laughed.

“It's okay, you're Roy's subordinates anyway. If you mess up, it'll be his responsibility to make it up to me,” she grinned mischievously. “In fact, it'll be funnier if you do. So go ahead.”

Edward dropped a ton of books on the floor and sat down in front of it with a surprisingly eager look.

“Go through these, Al,” he said, nudging a pile towards his brother, meanwhile completely ignoring her. Alphonse thanked her politely before diving into the pile of books just as eagerly.

She smiled to herself before leaving the two of them quietly. The two of them loved alchemy just as much as her two students did. It was surprisingly sweet to watch.

She turned around to finish the rest of her day in peace, to the sound of quiet voices and rustling paper.

Notes:

I'd like to remind you that this would be barely months after Edward burnt his house down.