Heart of a SIN - FMA Envy Fanfic [Edited]

35 - Unexpected Reunion

This chapter is dedicated to ashley_collins!!

Happy reading!

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Arisa pov:

Lt. Ashford flinched in his seat when I got up from my seat. Picking up the huge stack of paperwork that I had completed, I stepped to Col. Archer's desk and placed it in front of him.

"I'm done," I said curtly.

The colonel didn't even look up and acknowledge what I said before pushing another huge pile of papers for me to go through. My brow twitched and I could feel my temper slowly rise. I was really at my wits end of going on with this silent-treatment punishment of his.

"Col. Archer, may I take the liberty to ask you why I am being cooped up in this office for the past two weeks? Ever since I returned from Risembool, you've had me do nothing but paperwork. It's almost as if you don't want me to go on any missions." I tried not to sound like I was annoyed but I'm sure anyone could tell how I was feeling just from the pressure of the air around me.

The colonel met my gaze, his cold, steely eyes narrow. "I'm quite sure you know the reason yourself, Arisa."

I suppressed the intense desire to grab him by the collar and threaten to punch him black and blue. Taking a deep breath to keep my cool, I said, "I'm afraid I don't know the reason, Colonel. So would you mind enlightening me?"

He narrowed his eyes further then dropped the papers in his hand onto his desk with a sigh. Crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat, he said, "You don't know? Honestly, Arisa, I expected you were more aware than this. After all, you are so good at collecting information and figuring out situations. I wouldn't be surprised even if you have secret information on me."

"Are you accusing me of stalking you, Colonel?" I asked in a low challenging tone.

"Who knows? With your skills, anything is possible," he said, maintaining eye-contact calmly. It made me clench my jaw tight enough to hear the gritting of my teeth.

"Alright, enough beating around the bush. What is your point?" I snapped, venom lacing my voice.

"When I sent you to find Scar, you said you interrogated the Ishval civilians and they told you he had already left to find the Fullmetal. You in turn, asked the military camp in Liore of the latter's whereabouts and went to Risembool without informing me. Firstly, Scar doesn't know the Fullmetal's hometown and, secondly, you were there for nearly three days. It's suspicious."

His words had me stare at him dumbly for a moment before bursting into chuckles. He didn't seem to like that I was finding this situation funny.

"Honestly, Colonel, how do you know if Scar knows Edward's hometown or not? Surely he couldn't have told you that, unless you're somehow in contact with him." My words had him clenching his jaw and frowning deeper. I added, "Oh, I'm not saying that you are. But I think it's better to take precautions when you know of something instead of regretting not doing anything later. And that doesn't mean I'm doing anything suspicious."

It was a moment before he spoke, looking to the papers on his desk, "As much as I find your skills appreciable, you are just a subordinate. Taking action without my permission is not allowed. Furthermore, you are just a child. You should learn to be obedient to your elders. On that note, you are not allowed to leave Central on any mission, official or personal, without my consent and without one of the lieutenants accompanying you. I will not see past any misconduct like how you forced Lt. Ashford to leave you on your own like last time."