"And look, Dinah! Gracia got a huge haircut, seven whole inches off! Doesn't the shorter style compliment her beautiful face?"

With an overenthusiastic Maes Hughes rambling on in front of her it was hard to get a word in edge-wise, and as soon as she opened her mouth to agree at the picture he pushed in her face he pressed on.

"Of course, my Gracia looks beautiful with any hairstyle! She could wear a dress made of burlap and I'd still take her out to dinner."

"Hughes," Mustang called out warningly, tapping a finger on the table. "If you don't leave the girl be we'll be sitting here waiting for her to order all day."

"Fine, fine. But one day you'll be hearing about Dinah's beau and you'll have nobody to turn to for advice except me."

The redhead let out a choke as Mustang's brow twitched, a vein in his head growing by the second.

"Over my dead body," He hissed.

Dinah looked back down at the menu, trying to ease the flush she could feel creeping up her neck. "I'd feel sorry for the guy who had to meet with him to get to me," She admitted.

The restaurant they were at was nice, though she lamented that it was getting too chilly to eat outside in the sunshine. Hughes dropped by as often as he could, when he wasn't weighed down with work or his wife, and took a train to East Central to visit his friend. As overwhelming as his antics could be, Dinah appreciated his company.

She was also grateful to Mustang for letting her share his time with Hughes. Maybe it was the long-established fact that her caretaker wanted to teach her the ways of military politicking, but whatever the reason the more time she spent listening to the two men talk the more insight it gleaned into just how exhausting Mustang's goal was.

"Speaking of," Hughes began, his tone shifting. "I wouldn't walk alone after dark if I were you. There's been another body found in Central."

The pasta Dinah had been looking over with marinara didn't sound so appealing anymore.

"A body or parts of a body?" She asked, looking down as Mustang caught her eye and sent a look.

"There's no use being coy with you, Dinah," Hughes admitted. "Still, don't go out alone."

"She doesn't get out of the house much as it is," Mustang grunted, and Dinah rolled her eyes at him.

She did leave...sometimes. Even if it was just to get groceries or buy new alchemy books or head off with him to headquarters. She had everything she needed in her home with Mustang. She spent time with Hawkeye, too.

The waitress came by for the second time, and Dinah gave her order, sitting back and listening to the two men talk in front of her while she sipped her tea.

It was September, and next month, soon, Ed would be taking the State Alchemist Certification Exam. There was no way in hell she'd be able to watch that, but she'd get a detailed account out of Mustang, that was for sure.

If she could just get ingratiated with the brothers then she had access to certain events, and potentially prevent them from happening altogether. Shou Tucker's horrific acts were her first goal.

She could make some excuse about wanting to learn more about his research, maybe-

"Dinah?"

Broken out of her reverie she looked up to find that not only were their plates empty, but Mustang had already gotten the check and laid the appropriate bills down in the folder.

"Sorry, was spacing out," She admitted, waving her hands at Hughes' concerned expression.

After reassuring the two that she was fine and they should head home, they departed.

Dinah sighed and leaned back against her bedpillows, rubbing her palms into her eyes until spots appeared before them. Hughes and Mustang had convened out in the living room, a bottle of whiskey shared between them as they talked about who knew what.

It had been a whim, but she had spent the last few hours pouring over certain books Mustang owned, thoroughly unimpressed with the lack of information she was gleaning from them.

It had started with an innocent enough question: was it possible to use alchemy to close up wounds and heal broken bones?

She knew it was; memories from a lifetime ago revealed that somewhere along the line Ed did seal up a wound in his gut. And that alchemist Marco healed people in that village he was hiding away in.

The theory behind healing a broken bone was simple enough to her; you would deconstruct the parts of the bone near the break and then reconstruct them into one whole unit. That act of healing was probably the most simple of them all, only knowing the chemical makeup of bone. When you started talking about ruptured organs or internal bleeding, that was infinitely more complicated.

Still, if the act of alchemy was comprehension, deconstruction, and reconstruction then in order to heal various wounds on the body you would need to understand to an almost perfect degree what made up the parts you were trying to heal, specifically. If it was something more than a cut or broken bones, you would need materials to make up for what wasn't there to fill in the gap.

Dinah wished there was more information in Amestris about Alkahestry. She knew it used the flow of chi in the body to accelerate the cells, but she had no idea about the principles or anything behind it, and she couldn't find anything to even hint at it.

She let out a frustrated yell, throwing the book she was holding onto the floor.

For all the wonders of alchemy in this world, it was made even more glaringly obvious the focus was for battle and military conquest with the lack of information she found.

With a glance at the clock she sat up, collecting the books that were strewn about and closing one of her journals. It was late, and as she tread through the house she made note of the fact that Hughes had finally left and Mustang had turned into bed. With a blanket draped across her shoulders Dinah made her rounds, checking to make sure that every window and door was locked tight.

Biological alchemy was interesting, and maybe if she posed the idea of it in a practical, medicinal way, Mustang would allow her to see Shou Tucker for herself.

As she walked through the kitchen and opened the cupboards, she poured herself a glass of water, feeling the pressure build behind her eyes and radiate towards the back of her skull. This body was such a pain sometimes, and she watched the strange static and amoebas in the corner of her vision, frowning.

She swallowed the medicine and took a deep breath, pressing her hands along the ceramic of the sink and staring into the depths of the drain.

Ed was strong because he was a jack of all trades when it came to alchemy, never specializing in one specific type. Trying to understand and devour as much as she could about everything was something Dinah would need to do in order to hold her own against what was up ahead.

(If she didn't get in the way-)

A loud noise broke her away from her thoughts, and Dinah looked up into the darkness of her home, wrapping the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

Her steps took her to Mustang's room, and she cracked open the door, noting that in his inebriated state he had forgotten to turn out the lamp on his desk. Her caretaker was wrapped tightly in his bedding, shuddered gasps and sobs emanating from the sheets.

Another night terror.

Gently Dinah sat herself on the edge of the bed, pressing a hand onto where she assumed his shoulder was. Immediately his own hand withdrew from the blankets, gripping her wrist with extreme force. His nails dug into her flesh, blood quickly beading to the surface, and Dinah swallowed thickly.

"Roy, wake up," She whispered, keeping her distance.

It did something, because she felt him twitch on the bed. He could hear her, at the very least.

"You're home. It's September twenty-fourth, and tonight we went out to dinner with Hughes. You pointed out that the waitress was flirting with you. This morning I made us breakfast, omelets. You ate it even though it had mushrooms in it. "

Another twitch, and Mustang's breathing sped up even more, quickly becoming even more uneven than before.

"You're safe, Roy. We're home." Dinah said, trying to avoid mentioning Ishval for fear of how he reacted last time.

She could feel the tremors relax, the shaking of the bedframe cease as Mustang slackened, sinking back into his mattress. He finally released his grip on Dinah's wrist, slowly turning to face the girl before him. His eyes were turned to the floor, and she could see the red rimming them where there were no doubt tears moment ago.

It was easy to forget that for all his bravado and power, Mustang was human.

Though the night terrors were fleeting and far between, they still served as a strong reminder of that.

"Are you back?" She softly asked, trying to keep her blood from dripping onto the linen.

A moment passed before Mustang responded, draping an arm over his eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Pushing herself up off the bed, Dinah grabbed the empty glass on the bedside, turning off the light and closing the blinds.

"It's fine, don't worry. Try and get some sleep, I'll get you some water."

The silence once again encompassed the house as Dinah headed to the bathroom, taking out the medical kit and dabbing antiseptic onto her new wounds. After the dressings were tightly wrapped she filled the glass and headed back into Mustang's room, a soft smile gracing her lips as she took in his sleeping face.

She set the water on the table and quietly padded out, returning to her own bedroom and laying down on the covers.

Massaging her temples Dinah let out a deep sigh, turning to stare out the window into the night.

"Dinah! Bringing the Colonel lunch again?"

The redhead gave a wide grin to the soldier before her, inwardly cursing for not remembering his name. She had seen him quite a few times near the reception desk. Raymond? Roan? She hastily scribbled her name onto the sign-in sheet.

"Yes, honestly I think if I don't he won't eat until supper."

"Did he tell you the State Alchemist Exams were today? You should've seen it; a kid about your age."

"Actually that's part of the reason I'm here," Dinah responded, waggling her brows conspiratorially as she made her way towards where Mustang's office was. "See you later Roger!"

The man waved goodbye, chuckling to himself as she sped off.

If she hadn't been so anxious she might have paid better attention to where she was going, and as she rounded a corner she collided with something. Hard.

"Ow! Watch where you're-"

The roast chicken was untouched, still wrapped tightly in tin foil from where it lay on the ground beside her, and Dinah was thankful she hadn't brought soup as she originally planned, her mind immediately blanking out as she took in the figure before her.

Golden eyes stared at her, wide, and she felt like her mouth was entirely too dry at the moment.

"Sorry," She forced out, jumping up and patting the dirt away from her skirt as she held out a hand. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

It took a moment for Ed to take her hand, slowly standing on his elevator shoes and taking in the girl before him, a covered plate resting in her palms.

They would have been the same height, if not for the shoes. He sported the usual all-black attire, save for his red cloak, and though she couldn't see the flamel on the back she knew it was there.

It was intimidating standing before Edward Elric in the flesh.

"You... you were in Resembool."

Dinah gave him a small smile, trying not to fidget under the intensity of his gaze. "Yeah."

"You're not another State Alchemist," Ed voiced, eyebrows knit together. "What're you, Mustang's daughter?"

"No, not really. He took me in when I was young. I'm just here bringing him lunch." She held up the plate as if to emphasize her point.

She had come here specifically for the chance to meet Ed, but now the moment felt so awkward...

"It was nice to see you again," Dinah began, slowly moving backwards down the hallway. "My name's Dinah, by the way. Congratulations on passing the exam!"

Leaving Ed to stand bewildered she made her way down to Mustang's office, hurriedly greeting those she passed by.

That meeting definitely wasn't what she'd had in mind, but with a start she realized that she really didn't have any idea of what she would say if she did bump into Ed. She had come here blindly hoping for the chance to meet him, to really meet him this time, and now she felt like she had made an ass of herself.

She knocked on the door to Mustang's office, groaning internally as she entered the room and laid down the meal on his desk.

"You just missed Edward Elric, or should I say, the Fullmetal Alchemist."

Dinah collapsed into one of the chairs, resting her cheek on her palm. "I ran into him a moment ago. Literally."

An amused expression took over Mustang's features, and he began digging into the chicken before him voraciously, continuing between bites.

"He made a spear without the use of a transmutation circle and pointed it at the Fuhrer."

"That's bold," Dinah admitted, raising her brows and watching him devour the meal in record time.

With a sigh Mustang sat back in his chair, wiping his mouth and staring at the plate before him with a melancholy look on his face.

"They're looking for the Philosopher's Stone, and I may have told them about a priest in Liore with unusual powers."

As expected, yes.

"I need you to do something for me."

Dinah's heart leapt in her chest, her back straightening as she laid her hands in her lap.

This was what she had been waiting for, right? An opportunity to do something, to ingratiate herself with the brothers and their quest? A chance to make a change, maybe turn things in a better direction?

"I need you to head to Liore, keep an eye on them for me."

"Why? Isn't he a State Alchemist now?"

Mustang steepled his fingers together, staring out the window. "He'll have to send in a written report on his findings. I would feel better if I heard it directly from you as well. Besides," He continued, adopting a teasing tone of voice. "You barely get out, it would be good for you to see some of Amestris."

Dinah rolled her eyes.

"Sure, sure. Whatever you need. If I come back and you've wasted away from malnutrition though don't come crying to me."

Finally.

Note:

Not entirely happy with this chapter. Meh.

Mustang has a lot of ulterior motives, and although her going to Liore seems a little too easy right now I promise we'll get to that later on too.

One thing I really appreciate about FMA (especially 2003's version) is that it touches on trauma a lot, which makes sense considering how fucked the Ishval War must've been. Not to mention the amount of trauma Ed and Al have been through what with transmuting their mother. I find it hard to believe Mustang doesn't have buckets of trauma from what he's been through.

As always, thank you to all followers, favorites, and lurkers. I didn't really expect this to get so many follows with only two chapters, so honestly, thank you so much. Y'all humble me. Much love to pigs103 for the review.