Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Crimson Romance ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

A Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood Fanfiction

After bouncing from one city to the next, following after Scar's trail, Solf had seen that his target had jumped off the train to head toward a mountain area. With him and his crew they saw that there were transmutation marks on the rocks around the place that had been closed down. The reason was due to rock and mud slides.  He went back to the office provided to figure whether Scar had went north or south.

On a hunch, Solf had assumed he went north. Before leaving West City, he made sure that Maria and himself had winter attire to wear while heading to the icy north toward Fort Briggs.

“We're taking separate trains because I want you to be safe while traveling, Maria.”

“So we're really heading north? The heavy clothes and the coats?”

“Yes. I'll be facing Scar while you go ahead of us.”

“Do please be careful.”

“Once I'm at Fort Briggs, I will be making calls to summon you from North City. I'm pretty sure General Armstrong won't allow you in without me being there.”

“Okay.”

“Your train will be leaving momentarily.” He tipped his hat her way, “I'll be seeing you soon.”

“Are you sure you'll be okay?”

“It'll be fine, don't worry.”


Having closed the train door behind him, Scar turned around to sitting with his companion. The reason they had called him Scar was because of the X-marked shape on his face. A literal scar. It was deathly cold outside. It would only get colder the farther north they'd go. He'd told his companion this, saying that the colder it would have gotten the less likely he'd be able to sleep.

It was safe for now, or was it? That was when he'd heard a noise outside. An extra train? Running toward the door, she pulled it open, seeing the light of a train on the side tracks following them. He shielded his eyes from it with his arm then took a better look. It was another military train. This was the time to act.


“I'm jumping over to that train now, so match it's speed.” Was what the man in the white suit had ordered. He was hanging out the side door of the main car of the train that was following Scar. With his elbow pointed outward, he used his hand to hold onto his hat.

Doing as told, the driver caught up with the other moving vehicle and Solf jumped over. He'd landed in a crouch onto an open part of the train cars. Still holding his hat, he looked upward. This was the time to act.

He lifted his arm up to motion for the train to return to its normal duties. The train beside them slowed down, losing speed.

The bright light illuminated his back as he stood up and walked firmly toward the entrance of the train car before him. His jacket and hair blew around in the wind rather strongly. He could feel the icy, cold wind sting his skin. He didn't care about that now, though. He was bundled up enough to keep him from freezing or getting frost bit. Even with his hands uncovered, that would be fine, seeing as there's going to be the adrenaline of a fight about to happen. His blood would be pumping hard enough to keep him warm, so that was of no worry for him.

It'd been a second or so since he'd slid the door open. There were shadows, the only light coming in was from the open door on the side of the car. Even then, there was hardly any light.

“Doctor Marcoh!” Solf said, walking toward the shorter, hooded man that was loitering around. “I'm here to apprehend you. You can't run anymore.”

With the way he talked, it seemed he was rather entertained by the situation at hand. Either that, or he was proud that he had found at least one of the targets he was after, “Surely, you're not alone. Where's your friend Scar?”

The alchemist pinched his fingers on the back of the man's hood, pulling it off of him.

“It's time to give up. Sorry, but you're not going anywhere. You're mine now.”

The shorter had turned around after his face had been exposed. Solf looked him over, a sort of annoyed and surprised look on his face. The man looked rather pathetic, shivering from the cold with practically frozen snot coming out of his nose. He was shaking more out of fear for the alchemist.

“Who are you?” Solf's eyes flattened.

A man of a bigger, maybe wider stature than Kimblee, swung himself in through the door, separating the two. He swung his fists Solf's way, and also attempted to round-house kick him but missed. The alchemist jumped back, holding his hat on his head.

“Ah, Scar. So good to see you.”

They stood a few feet from each other, just still for a moment, when the full moonlight from outside illuminated their faces and forms. There was a look of recognition on each of their faces, both their eyes widening at the surprise.

The events of what had happened at Ishval rang true and clear in Scar's memory.

Out of rage, the Ishvalan blew up the train car, leaving his companion to desire escape. The weak man managed to walk away from them, hoping to jump off the train and realized that he couldn't and survive.

The Crimson Alchemist crouched there, trying to keep his own balance from the explosion. With a smile, he stood up before his opponent.

“So, you're Solf J. Kimblee, are you? Known as the Crimson Alchemist?” There was a scowl on the Ishvalan's lips, “Tell me, do you remember my face?”

“Indeed, I remember your face. It's hard to forget. You were in the Kanda district of Ishval, were you? I remember you being surrounded by your family, is that right? I remember a man who looked just like you, except he wore glasses. Though, it's hard to see a family resemblance when you're losing tons of blood and screaming in agony. He died from an injury to his left side, I do believe.”

Again, Scar attempted to use the alchemy of his arm to subdue Kimblee, but the alchemist successfully dodged each punch, jumping back and forth, of course. There was another explosion that blew the top off of another car.

This could be really bad. Solf thought to himself, I just got out of prison and I'm still rusty. But he's been fighting since the war. Physically, I'm at a disadvantage.

 He let go of his hat and it went flying away. And all this man knows how to do, is destroy.


Without a second to think on how to avoid this attack, Scar had plunged a sharp edged pole into Solf's abdomen, ironically, on his left side. How suiting, seeing as when he'd murdered Scar's brother, he'd inflicted nearly the exact same kind of wound.

“Gaugh!” It shoved the Crimson Alchemist in the door of the car behind him. He slid down the wall of it, sitting there, hunched over from the injury.

“Good to know you remember my brother,” Scar said, moving his fingers about to crack the bones, “I'll give you a moment to pray before I kill you.”

“It's humiliating,” Kimblee said, coughing, “To have failed to kill the same Ishvalan twice.”

Then, with a sick smile, Solf clapped his hands together and placed them below him, using an explosion to separate the two cars and to leave Scar's car to stop.

“I'll take care of you next time, Ishvalan!”



“Dammit, I can't see. What on earth was that sound?” One of the drivers asked, looking out the window. There was a moment of silence as he watched the train turn on the tracks. It had revealed that part of the cars were missing. “We lost the rear cars!”

“What the hell are we supposed to do? The military ordered us not to stop the train for anything!”

“But we have to! If this train derails then it's on our heads!” Thus, the older man pushed for the brakes. When it squealed to a stop, they jumped out with lamps to go see what had happened. There, they saw blood trickling on the ground. Lifting the light up, they'd noticed Kimblee there, half-dead.

“S-Sir! What happened? Hello? Sir?”

With a growl, Kimblee looked up at him as best as he could, having been hunched over. He grabbed the man's collar and said to him coldly, “What are you doing?! Who said you were allowed to stop this train? Keep the train going – we're heading NORTH!”

“But sir –“

Before he could speak again, Solf starting coughing again. He spit up quite a bit of blood. Looking down at his bloodied his hand, he knew.

“Ah yes, death, it's closing in..  Those who forge death and destruction are followed by such. Because that.. Because that is what it means..” Again, coughing of blood. After the last cough, he wasn't sure of his sentence. He'd told himself this a thousand times and now the words would not come out as he'd planned them. He questioned himself, “..Is that what it truly means to be alive – to just ..die?”

His eyes softened up a bit as he was nearly unconsciousness.


I want to see you again,  He mouthed, but unable to get the words out, If only for one last time..


Before he passed out, he could see Maria standing in a kitchen. She'd set their tray down on the table. She was pouring him a cup of tea. He'd watched her, wearing her coral coloured A-line dress with the white apron. Her dark hair was pinned up on top of her head. That was how he wanted to end his life. Not with tea or even a break from all the chaos... But he wanted to spend it.. Wanted to spend it with..


That last thought was blurred by black. It was how he imagined it. Death. To be purely black with no thoughts, not actions, no words.. Just nothing for eternity.


.o.o.o.


Standing at the nurse's station, Maria asked, “What room is Solf J. Kimblee in?”

“The doctor said no visitors for him at this time. The only people allowed in are those in the military.”

“But he told you guys to call me here from North City. There has to be a way for me to see him.”

“I'm sorry, Miss.”

With a grumble, Maria sat down in the waiting room. There had to be a way she could get in to see him. They were done with surgery a long time ago. She couldn't believe that he'd gotten himself into this kind of mess.

Her eyes strayed up as the nurses bustled around with paperwork and phone calls. They were close to a shift change, seeing as the clock said it was nearly 11 o'clock at night. She knew that she wouldn't have much luck with the next wave of nurses. There was no way she'd be able to knock one of the nurses out in private and steal their uniform. That would be out of the question. Knowing her, she'd cause a lot of racket and blow her cover.

That was when she noticed the chalk board behind the nurse's desk. Solf's room was 103 and his nurse was Tabatha Ryan. His doctor was.. Some odd name she couldn't pronounce in her head let alone want to.

Alright, then, she thought to herself, I'll just have to go in without an escort.



 Seeing as they were busy with a shift change, Maria took advantage of this and walked right into the hall to the patients' room. Two nurses noticed her walking by, with a tray of supplies.

“Hey, you're not supposed to be back here!”

The Mexicana shoved her way through, causing the tray of tools to go flying. There was a loud noise, similar to pots clanging together as she ran past them. She opened the door to the room she wanted and walked in. It was dark in the room. She was almost sure that she'd gotten the wrong room.

“..Solf?” If it were his room, as she'd thought, he might be sleeping.

“Maria, is that you?” A small voice asked in the darkness.

“I'm sorry ma'am, you're not supposed to be back here!” One of the nurses pulled on one of her arms.

“No, no!” Solf said clearly. That was when the nurse stopped, “She can stay here, it's fine. Let her in.”

“Who is she to you? The only people that can visit are family and military staff. I didn't think you had any family, Mr. Kimblee.”

He had to think for a quick second before answering. Maria certainly didn't have any bright ideas at this time.

“She's my fiancee. Let her in.”

Fiancee?! The look on Maria's face was the same as the nurses.

“I certainly didn't see a ring on her finger,” The nurse was brighter than she let on.

“I haven't gotten her a ring yet, seeing as we've been so busy with the assignment.”

“Very well, then, Mr. Kimblee. This will be noted in your chart.”

“Now, please,” He continued, “Let us alone for a while.”

“We'll be back making rounds.” Was the last thing the nurse said before her and her colleague left.

The Mexicana slid into the room, slowly. She was feeling around for furniture. Very little of the moonlight was shining in, being blocked by the curtains for the most part. She felt her way around the bed and pulled up a chair to sit next to him.

“You can turn on a light, you know.” His voice beamed out of the dark, “There's a lamp next to my bed.”

“Oh, okay.” She reached over to the stand and turned on the lamp. The light wasn't as bright as it was out in the hallway but she liked it that way. All those lights beaming into her eyes. It was just plain annoying.  She was glad, though, that she could see his face. Now that they were close, she could tell him what she really thought.

Her hands reached for him, taking his shoulders. She caressed him over the bed clothes, her hands tracing down his arms then back up to his chest. She had balled up her fists and gently pounded on his chest.

“You idiot!” The was a tear in her voice. His brows rose at this reaction.

“You could have been killed out there! You know that you just got out of prison and that it would have been harder for you to fight than he!”

The light began to dance over her eyes as they watered up. She gave a frown that showed her gritting her teeth. “If anything ever happened to you, I don't know what I'd do!”

“That's correct. Who would help you get back to California?” Solf looked away, a little shamefully.

“That's not what this is about!” She cried, his eyes zipping back to hers. “Solf, you're such a good friend. I really care about you! I don't know what I would ever do without you. It's like you're the missing piece of the puzzle of my life. I couldn't get this close with Patrick. You wanna know why?”

“Why?”

“Because Patrick.. He didn't want to get this close to me. He didn't want to disappoint me.”

“Why is that?”'

“....” There was a second of silence, as she rested her chin against her chest, looking down, her balled up fists still on his chest. “Because Patrick was gay.”

“Gay?” He didn't understand what she meant by that.

“Solf, he's homosexual. He wouldn't dare lure me in just to hurt me. He isn't insincere like that.”

“What does this have to do with me?”

“I don't know!” The tears started coming. She sobbed, her voice cracking as she spoke, “There's
something different about you, Solf. And just now, you saved my ass again by making me a relative.”

“I didn't make you a relative.” He frowned, staring up at her from where he was.

“Then what was that?” She gestured for the door.

“I made you my fiancee.”

“You're still an idiot! You should have asked for help, for back up. Someone to take your place, anything!”

“This is my job, I have to do this. Now tell me about this difference between myself and you in comparison to Patrick.” He wanted to lure her in, to see if she felt about him the way he thought she did. It would be a nice thing if she did. He'd act differently around her, maybe a little less professional. He wasn't sure, though. They'd have to keep any kind of relationship like that a secret, away from Father and the homunculi. Which, probably wouldn't work out, seeing as his comment was duly noted in his file.

With a sigh, he reached up for her and pushed her hair out of her face. Within his palm, he could feel the moisture on her darkly tanned cheek. His thumb managed to push some of the tears away, below her eye.

“Is this even appropriate?” She sniffled, “I mean, you're my boss and all. Shouldn't we keep things –“

“Professional?”

“Yes. 221;

“Don't you remember what I said on the train a while back? Professional in public and personal in private.”

“So, this is okay?” She placed a hand over his, holding it against her face. She sat down. Her fingers curled between his, pulling his hand away. She held it with both of her hands in her lap. Looking down, her shoulders throbbed with the sobbing but her entire body shook with emotion.

“Yes, it's okay.”

It was strange to look at his hand lying between hers. His skin was such much paler than hers. Never before had he thought about it but her dark skin made her beautiful. And she was beautiful. He wanted to tell her so but wasn't sure if it would give her the right idea about them. He wanted them to be close; wanted them to intimate. Though, he didn't want to press in too earnestly, lest he be left disappointed himself and that he would scare her off.

“What do you think of me?” He managed to ask, his eyes going back up to hers.

“I think that you just make a lot of bad choices. I mean, if you're going to kill all those people with no remorse then there has to be something wrong with you –“

“Well yeah, wrong with me.”

“In a sense that you've never had anything emotionally constructive. Everything you do is destructive and I believe that everything good that happens to you that you purposely sabotage. It's almost like you feel like you don't deserve any better so you go on with enjoying something opposite than your nature.”

“So you think that my blood lust isn't natural?”

“Of course not.”

“You sure do think very positively of me. You could very well be the next on my killing list. Would you still trust me then?”

“Yes, I do. Because I know that you wouldn't lift a finger to hurt me.”

“How do you know this?”

“Because you're different when you're around me.”

“Would you still love me?” It was the perfect question to goad her into telling him what he wanted.

“Love you? Of course I would love you, goofy. You're my friend.” She said. And as usual, he would read between the lines.

“So, we're just friends?” He asked, teasingly.

“You never stated that you wanted anything else.” She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead.

“Give me a real kiss.” He smiled.

“A real kiss?” Maria blinked.

“Right here.” He used the pad of his finger to pat his lips. Her brows pressed together.

 Oh God, she thought to herself, He wants me to kiss him! How should I react? Is it a test? Is he playing with me? Does he really want a kiss or is he teasing me?

“Are you teasing me?” She scowled.

“No, no. I'm serious.”

“You're serious?”
“I'm serious.”

“No way, really?”

“Either you're going to kiss me or you're not.”

“Okay, fine.” Her own lips started to tremble as she leaned over him. This was just like Middle School again. She closed her eyes really tightly. This was just her preparing herself in case it wasn't a nice experience.

Quickly, she pecked his lips. She could feel him raising his own against hers.

“Aw. Next time give me a real kiss.”

“How about we wait a little bit before we kiss again?”

“If you want.” There was a smirk on his face. He'd gotten his answer.

“You'd better get to sleep soon, Solf. It's going to be a long day tomorrow.”

“Any day in the hospital is long, Maria.”

She was being shy and he knew it. Everything was working out according to plan. The entire fiancee thing was not only his quick thinking but he planned on making it a reality. It would probably take a while for him to heal up so that was a good excuse to spend more time with the Chicana.

Then he noted, “If you want to sleep in here, we can ask a nurse to bring in a cot.”

“Okay, then. I'll go flag down a nurse then.”

Getting a cot was not a problem at all, seeing as a lot of the injured folk there hadn't had any family to visit and no military staff would ever stay an entire evening with a patient.

Maria fluffed up her pillow as Solf spoke to her once more, “It's hard to sleep in hospitals.”

“Don't they have a radio in here or something?”

“No, they don't.”

“Would you sleep better with music?”

“I probably would, but there's no hope of that.”

“You can always listen to my MP3 player.”

“Em Pee what?” He blinked.

“Hold on a sec..” Picking up her purse, she dug through it. Dropping the purse onto the floor, she held up the instrument of her plans. “This is an MP3 player.”

“How can something that small play music? We're going to need a radio or a record player.”

“Just watch.” She placed the ear buds in his ears and turned it on. From there, she lowered the volume.

“Augh, what is this noise?” He asked, having a high tempo Avril Lavigne song blast through his ears.

“Sorry about that. Here, I'll play something quiet for you.” That was when she started going through her albums. That was when she came across Benny Mardones. With a smile, she pressed the button to choose repeat all and shuffle.  “Hold onto this while it plays. Make sure this little wire doesn't get unplugged from the player, okay?”

“Okay..” It was strange, the music he was hearing, but it somehow kept him calm and peaceful.

She hopped onto her cot and turned off the lamp.

“Night, Solfie.” She said, curling up under the covers.

“..Good night, Maria.”

Never again did he want to see her cry over him like that. Never again did he want to break her heart. She seemed to need him more than he thought she did. It seemed something a little unselfish for her to say that she cared about him as an individual regardless of whether she got back to California or not. In the dark, he could feel something growing in his chest. Was this pain? Was it happiness?


*I can tell you're falling for me
Falling for the same old lines
I could write a book about it
How love can be so unkind


No one had ever loved him like that. Maybe his parents did, but he couldn't remember. He'd nearly forgotten what his mother looked like. He looked a lot like his father, though. But typical of most fathers, his had a mustache. A really thin mustache.


Just like all the stories
I've read in the past
Just like a dream that slowly dies
They say that a true love lasts forever
It's a lie


In that moment he realized that no one had ever cried for him before. His brows shook somewhat, thinking about this. There was a wave of emotion that came over him. There was suddenly an ache in his heart over what he'd done to Maria. Usually, though, he'd be too desensitized to this sort of thing. Normally, he wouldn't care about what he'd done to others but because of how close he'd gotten to the Mexicana, he felt guilt. That was why he didn't let anybody in. He'd not had anyone close to him. Never had he gotten chummy with his supposed military comrades. Solf had a block on his heart that no one could ever penetrate. At least, not until Maria showed up.


How could you love me?
When everybody else whoever loved me
Turned out to be wrong to be
In love with someone like me

Love is more than just emotion
Love is more than just devotion
It could break your heart to stay
Baby, you'd better think about it
And if you can live without it
Turn and walk away


He dared not use that word to express how he felt about her. In his left hand he held the small square device. Something he would just simply call Maria's Little Music Box. The song currently playing was all too true about what he was going through.


Just like all the stories
I've read in the past
Just like a dream that slowly dies
They say that a true love lasts forever
It's a lie

How could you love me?
When everybody else whoever loved me
Ended up a tragedy
Loving someone like me


Every time he had any liaisons with other women, nothing ever turned up with it. He wouldn't have marked them off as romantic encounters, seeing that he was just releasing a physical need rather than an emotional one.  Every one that he would bed he made sure he'd never see again. He knew that if he got close to someone, he would severely hurt them either physically or metaphorically. Solf had brought about enough emotional tragedies.


How could you love me? ( Love me )
( Love me )
When everyone
( Love me )
Everyone, baby
( Love me )
They could write a million lies
About the times with me, yeah


That was when he started thinking about every moment he'd shared with Maria. From bumping into each other at the train station – to the water closet on the train – to Pottstown – West City – Central – The Fuhrer's house...


As close as the cot was to his bed, he could feel her move her arm over to his bed. She grabbed onto his hand and held it. The only way he could ever explain to himself why anyone would ever be this way toward him was that Maria must have truly loved him.

( Love me )
( Love me )
When everyone..
( Love me )
Everyone baby,
Ended up a tragedy
Loving someone like me

How could you love me?
Turned out to be wrong to be
In love with someone like me
( Love me )
( Love me )
When everyone..
( Love me )
Ended up a tragedy
Loving someone like me


He scrunched up his face and slowly opened a single eye. The noise of the curtains being pulled apart woke him somewhat but the light that shined in on him was the literal the eye opener. There was a small groan before he yawned.

“Good morning, Solf.” Maria said cheerfully. Upon hearing the squeals from the wheels of the cart just outside the room, the Mexicana opened the door for the nurse to push in his breakfast. Which wasn't much, just a glass of orange juice.

“The doctor said only fluids for the next couple of days. You'll get solid foods when he okays it.”

The expression on Mr. Kimblee's face was clearly, Dammit.

“Well, it's better than nothing. He could have given you water. You know how boring that would have been?”

He groaned a bit. “I suppose.”

Maria pulled the cart around to the side of his bed, then helped him sit up.

“Oh look, they even gave you a straw.”

“Whoopee.” He replied sarcastically, cringing in pain. The Chicana plopped the straw into his glass and held it up for him. He held onto the other side, though could barely grasp it. He sipped through the straw then let go, sliding back down. It was just too much to sit up.

He sighed, raising his brows. “I suppose that isn't going to work.”

“I guess not.” Maria frowned, setting the glass down.

There was a knock at the door. A dark skinned man, with silver hair tied up into a high pony-tail and the usual military blues on, entered the room. He'd worn sunglasses with blinders on the sides. He stood on the opposing side of the bed as Maria. Upon seeing her, the man smiled. His grin dropped though, as he looked down at Kimblee with all seriousness.

“I'm sorry to see you in this state, Kimblee. However, I have come to tell you that while you are incapacitated that we at Fort Briggs will take over the investigation regarding Scar.”

“Look, you guys just stay out of this.”

“Who is this man, Mr. Kimblee?” Maria asked.

“You can refer to me as Major Miles, Miss.” He'd bent down to get face to face with the Crimson Alchemist, removing his sunglasses to reveal beautiful, bright ruby eyes. “And if you cop an attitude with me again, Kimblee, you'll have a reason to stay in the hospital.”

Solf's eyes narrowed somewhat as the Major stood back up. Replacing the shades on his face, he smiled at Maria. And before fully covering his eyes, he winked at her. The Mexicana jumped, a little surprised.

“Get well soon.” He wished the Alchemist before fully covering his eyes and leaving the room.



There was a dull groan before Solf commented, “Hmm. Another Ishvalan. What a strange day this is becoming.”

“Do you want more of your juice?” Maria asked.

“No, I'm fine. That was hell sitting up. I don't think I want to do it again until I heal up more.”

“Okay. Can I have your juice, then?”

“Sure, I don't care.”

Her tummy rumbled as she picked up the glass and slurped down what was left of the orange substance. There was another knock at the door. Her eyes that were on the glass, perked up to see who was there. Two men entered, one looking rather professional and the other a little ragged and shorter than the former.

Immediately, Solf gave the look of having already known who the taller was.

“Ah, Kimblee. So good to see you.” The other spoke up.

“I'm sure you're not worried about me, General Raven. Rather these.” The alchemist pulled out two red stones from beneath the covers. Maria eyed them, her expression going back and forth between the men. She had no idea what the jewels were for.

“Who's the Ishvalan?” General Raven asked, his eyes going back and forth between Solf and Maria between tiny slits for eyes.

 “Dammit, I'm not Ishvalan!” Maria jumped out of her seat in her own defense.

“Calm down, Maria. He means no harm to you. Now sit. Sit.” Solf took a hold of her arm and she slowly sat. Then he continued, “This is my Personal Assistant, Maria Sanchez. Maria, this is General Raven and.. I don't know who the other man is.”

“This is the man who is going to be working on you today, Kimblee.” General Raven informed.

“You can jus' call me da Doctor wiff da Gold Toof.” The man behind him remarked, having what Maria thought of as a very deep southern accent from the bayous of Louisiana.

“Gold Tooth?” Maria asked.

“Gold Toof.” He corrected her.

“Toof?”

“Toof.”

 220;Toof?”

“Naw don't make me whoop dat ass, girl.”

Maria swiftly shut her mouth after that.

“We'll be healin' dem wounds naw, Mistuh Kimblay. Naw han' me da stones and we'll get started.”

“It would be nice if we gave them a little privacy, Miss Sanchez. Let's go out into the hall and talk a bit.” General Raven took note that she was hungry by hearing her stomach growling from across the room. “You might want to get something to eat as well.”

Maria nodded, still stunned that the doctor had threatened her into saying his name incorrectly on purpose.



.o.o.o.

“So, how did you and Kimblee meet, Miss Sanchez?” General Raven asked while Maria sipped at her cup of coffee. Did they always have to ask that question? People always ask those opening questions in order to lead ways to other questions. Questions she didn't want to answer.

“We bumped into each other at the train station.” She said flatly, taking another sip regardless of the steam in her face.

“How long have you known each other?”

Maria sighed behind the cup.

“Personal Assistant, huh? On the file it says you're his fiancee, Miss Sanchez.”

The Chicana coughed into her cup, causing some of the coffee to splash around, being surprised at how observant the general was. Shit. How do I get out of this?

“Uh.. Uh..” She set the cup down and turned away from him, storming off, waving her arm around behind her frantically. “I'd better go check on him!”

“But Miss Sanchez they might not be do--” The general brought his hand up, in an attempt to stop at her at a distance but failed. She pushed the door open without a knock or a single warning. The doctor was on one side of the room, straightening up papers in his hands on the night stand. Next to the bed she saw Solf topless, pulling on his pants, having his boxers completely exposed.

He looked up to see her. When their eyes had met, she turned beet red and slammed the door shut.

How obnoxious! She thought to herself as she stiffly went back to her coffee and General Raven.

“Like what you see?” The general chuckled to himself as she hid, red as ever, behind her cup. Loudly, she slurped it down in hopes of distracting herself from what she had witnessed.

What made her a bit happier, though, was that she saw that he'd no longer had any bandages and that his wound had been completely healed. That was all a girl could ask for, wasn't it? He was in perfect health. That's what mattered.

At least he's okay.. Her eyes softened a bit as she looked into her blurry reflection in the light brown drink.


.o.o.o.


Yep, Maria thought to herself, We're lost.


It had been the fifth time they'd went down this hallway. The Doctor had left on his own accord and the three that were left – General Raven, Maria and Solf – were roaming the halls, trying to figure out how to get to where the General Armstrong's office was.

“It's been so long since I've been here. All these halls look the same.” The general sighed.

“Shouldn't we phone for help or something?” Solf grumbled from beneath his hat.

“They make these halls to be used, ya know!” Maria said, managing to put a positive spin on things.

That was when they'd noticed the Major that had come to visit them in the hospital. Major Miles, was it? That and he had the Elric boys with him, each of them tied up. She wondered what was going on that they needed to do that. This was where she drew a blank. She hadn't read very far into the manga and she watched very little of the show with Patrick. Why couldn't she have been an otaku like Pat? If she knew everything about the series then she would be able to get things rolling faster and be the ultimate hero in the end who saved everyone's ass. That was probably what her friend wanted to do initially, to get ego points and hopefully win over the heart of the Great Jean Havoc.

Would a canonical Jean been won over, though? It was hard enough for Pat to find a guy who wanted to commit to him in their world. How was he going to get it here? The only homosexual she could name off at hand was Winry's teacher in Rush Valley. Pat would have run away from that faster than a...

“General Raven.” The groups stopped to meet.

“Hello, Major Miles.” With his arms confidently behind him and his back straight up, the general continued. “I have a few guests with me. Please meet Solf J. Kimblee and Miss Maria Sanchez.”

The Ishvalan nodded at them, taking a note on how the Crimson Alchemist healed so quickly. It was suspicious.

“Nice to meet you, Major Miles.” Solf practically hissed from under his hat, revealing his eyes.

“I am here with the Elric brothers.”

“Oh, you mean Edward Elric and his brother?” Kimblee looked up at the suit of armour standing there, bound by rope. “No wonder they call you the Fullmetal --”

Then everyone pointed at the shorter blonde and Maria said, “I'm sorry Mr. Kimblee, but this one is the Fullmetal Alchemist.” With no mention or insult to the young boy's height.

Her boss looked across his shoulder at her, “And how would you know this?”

“When I was babysitting Bradley-cito, we went to the library and bumped into them there.”

“Yeah, I remember that!” Alphonse, the tall armour, said cheerfully.

“Thank you so much for fixing the radio for me. That was really nice of you.”

“No problem. What are you doing here at Fort Briggs, Miss Sanchez?” The younger boy kept prying.

“Mr. Kimblee is my boss, if you must know. I'm his Personal Assistant.”

Then General Raven coughed, clearing his throat, “Ahem, fiancee.”

If a look could kill, Maria's glare at the back of his head would have blown his brains out. Then her gaze went back to Alphonse, her eyes smiling but face showing nervousness. “It's.. It's a long story.”

“Oh neat! You're getting married? That is so awesome, congratulations! Where are you going to have the wedding? Are you going to have a traditional wedding or..” Alphonse would have continued with the questioning if it weren't for his older brother, Edward, who bumped him into the side gesturing for him to stop.

“I think we should be on our way.” Major Miles said after the awkward moment of silence.

“Major, could you show Solf and his.. Personal Assistant around the place? That is, when you're done with the Elrics.”

“No problem, Sir.”


.o.o.o.


With the brothers in their respective cells in who knows where in the giant fortress(because Maria doesn't have a good memory and can't remember where everything is in Fort Briggs because it's so damned big!), Maria and her boss followed Major Miles around the place. It was much bigger than she had originally thought. She shuddered, hugging the coat that Solf had bought her closer to her body.
Goodness! It's even colder up north in Amestris than it is in New York! She'd remembered seeing the snow packed up taller than cars in New York. Everything would have been closed down with as much snow and as cold as it was here. But no, this military was full of very tough men and woman and something like this would not call for a shut down. That was how bad ass they were.  And man, did she respect them. However, she wasn't sure how long she, herself, would be able to stand this cold without developing hypothermia, pneumonia or worse.

“Are you really that cold, Maria?” Solf asked, knocking her out of her thoughts. “You're shuddering like mad. I think we need to get you a thicker coat.”

“Eh-eh..Anything. I don't think this is going w-w-work. I hope Scar goes back to Central or something so we can trap him. I don't want to stay here that long.”

“We have to be where we're assigned. I can't make those kind of choices for us.”

“I guess as long as I'm with you, it's all good.”

“Good.”

“So, Miss Maria,” Miles started as they took a break from the tour, “Where are you from?”

“I'm from Cali--” She about answered him as Kimblee nudged her in the side.

“She's a foreigner.” Solf corrected her.

“I can tell. She has a slight accent behind her voice. What's your first language?”

“Spanish.” She replied, seeing as it wouldn't have been giving out too much information.

“Never heard of it.” The Major's nose twitched slightly.

“Neither have I.” Solf agreed. Maria sighed. When was he going to take her seriously?

“Whatever happened to General Raven?” Maria managed to ask, watching as the soldiers pushed a giant looking creature back into a tunnel it had come out of. It was a very scary thing to see. When the Mexicana asked about the general, she could see through the corner of her eye Kimblee smirking.

“Well, with him out of the way, I'll be free to take over this operation and do things how I see fit.” The Alchemist pushed himself away from the landing and walked back into the hallway.

“How can you stand that guy?” Miles had asked the Chicana before they followed him back in.

“He's my friend.” Maria said with a pout. Why couldn't people see Solf the way she did?

“How could you be friends with him? He's a psychopath. A lot of the stuff he says doesn't even make any sense.”

“Well..”

“On top of that, you're his fiancee. You'd have to love him to be around him for that long.”

Great, now people were believing that they were actually going to get married. Which made her a bit bashful and maybe a little proud but they were giving everyone the wrong impression about them. Didn't Solf want them to be low-profile to begin with?

“We're not really engaged.” Maria explained, “It was something he told the nurses so I could stay with him in his hospital room. They said that only military staff and family could come in. So he made up the story that I was his fiancee to have them let me stay.”

“Which I kind of figured,” In a gentlemanly fashion, the Major took her left hand into his. She blushed, looking up at him. He gazed at her hand. Was he going to kiss it? “I kind of figured because you weren't wearing a ring.”


Oh great, She thought, Mixed messages. Perfect.


“Would you like to have a drink sometime?” Oh fucking great. He was asking her out on a date. And how convenient. Everyone falling in love with Maria just to make her adventure on looking for a way back to California a little more complicated. Damn complications and damn stereotypes and damn you Author for creating a love triangle between Solf, Maria and Miles.

“Um, Fernando,” Maria said, having already given him a nickname, “But I'm fixing Mr. Kimblee his dinner tonight. Oh! And I'll be fixing his dinner tomorrow night, too. And the next night. And the next night. On until infinity. Thanks for your interest. I'm gonna check on Mr. Kimblee like NOW.”

She waddled out the door and into the hallway. The Major sighed. They always go for the dangerous types.



“Kimblee and his Assistant are here, Sir.”

“That's strange, I thought Kimblee was in prison. I wonder how he managed to get out.” The General said, sitting down at her desk with a single leg propped up on the other and a sheathed sword over them. Her silky blonde tresses fell over her shoulders and back, while a bang flowed over her eye.

“His Assistant seems strange, Sir.”

“Strange, hmm?”

“We believe that she's a foreigner.”

“A foreigner, huh? Must be a spy. Bring her to me immediately.”

“Yes sir.”


.o.o.o.


Maria thought it must be a big deal if the grand General of the fort had invited her into his office. The Mexicana wasn't sure what she'd say to him but decided that it would be a lot more respectful if she were quiet. Walking closely behind her, Solf followed.

They'd entered the office. There was no way. When she saw the other woman stand up, she froze her in spot. She knew that a general had to be strong and stiff and bad but never had she imagined that the actual general was female. An Ice Queen.

“Your name.” General Armstrong asked in a very stern voice.

“Ma-Maria Sanchez.” The Mexicana stuttered.

“I've never heard of the name Sanchez. Where do you come from?”

“Um..” She looked over her shoulder at Solf as if looking for approval.

“Nevermind him. Answer my question!”

“I can't answer you, I'm sorry.”

“Please don't be so harsh on her,” Kimblee took a step ahead of Maria, “She's may be a foreigner but she has amnesia. She has no idea where she comes from or how to get back there. That is why I hired her as my Assistant.”

“No, that's a lie!” Maria said in her defense.

“Two different stories? You'd better give me the truth and now.”

“Don't say anything, Maria.”

“But if I tell her the truth, she might be able to help me get home.”

“Take Kimblee out of our presence. I wish to speak with the woman alone.”


And of course, having her boss escorted out of the room, she told General Armstrong the honest truth about everything that was happening. Well, except for the intimate parts between her and Solf. Those kind of things weren't necessary in her attempt to travel home.

“I have no idea whether I believe you or not. It's quite an extraordinary story.” The deep voice of the General echoed in Maria's head. “Coming from the future from another dimension is very very unbelievable story. I believe the likes of you would have a better chance of getting the information you want from the Elric boys, seeing as they were involved in those kinds of things.”

“You think so?”

“Yes, I believe so. But as payment, you have to get them to open up to me about their secret circumstances. Got it?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good. When you are ready, Major Miles will take you to see the Elrics.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Now go.”

Author's Note: The song that Solf listens to in the hospital is called “How Could You Love Me” and is performed by Benny Mardones. I believe you can find it on YouTube or any other streaming video provider. If you want to buy the record or CD I suggest his self-titled album Benny Mardones. Read and Review! (:
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