Alphonse Elric sat on the chair, wondering if he looked very strange to anyone passing by. A huge suit of armour bent over a tiny table, with a glass of milk sitting in front of it. Yeah, probably. He had changed his armour over the years. Blades on his forearms and spiked gauntlets portrayed a vicious man inside.

He stared at the milk, trying to remember. What had milk tasted like? Had it been good? Ed had always refused to drink it because of where it came from, but he had never complained about the taste. For a moment Al thought about simply pouring the milk down his mouthpiece, but that wouldn't do him any good. He wouldn't be able to taste it, and it would probably wreck the inside of his armour.

"Well, well. There's a face I never thought I'd see. Imagine running into Alphonse Elric here." Alphonse recognized the voice immediately. He turned his head sharply to look at it's source.

"Kimbly."

The state alchemist smiled at being recognized. "It's been so very long, hasn't it, Al? I can still remember when you and your brother were searching for the Philosopher's Stone. Didn't I give you one? What did you do with it?"

"Fuck off." Al spat.

"Oh yes, I remember now. You used it to kill Wrath, didn't you? That was quite a genius move, you know. If you can only get one hit off against a homunculus, it's good to make it count." Kimbly was still smiling.

"Too bad you weren't there." Al said in a very dry tone. "Weren't you getting your ass handed to you by Scar? Again?"

The smile faded noticeably. "Yes, well, from the man who destroyed Gluttony twice, I think I really came out all right."

"From what I hear, you've got prosthetics inside your body from your waist to your skull. Not really all right." Al replied.

"And you went and hid your automail engineer after the final battle. It would have been nice to see her again. Wherever did you put her, by the way?"

Al said nothing.

"Well, I guess you wouldn't tell me no matter how I asked. But that doesn't matter. I'm not interested in her. In fact, it's not an accident that I ran into you here at all." Kimbly was smiling again.

"Can you see the shock on my face?" Al asked.

"Of course not. Armour doesn't make expressions. I'll assume that the comment was meant to be sarcastic." Kimbly said brutally. Al clenched his fist, and the glass of milk broke in his hand.

"Oh, have I struck a cord? It's really too bad, too. None of the Homunculus' guards have survived this long. Mustang tells me that you're only around because you're too stubborn to die. But I'm sure that it's only a matter of time."

Al stood up and placed his hand against a column that was holding up the roof outside the cafe. "Kimbly, what do you think would happen if I turned this column into a super magnet? Do you think all those pieces of metal in your body would come flying out? I sure hope so, because I'd love to see it."

Kimbly grimaced. "You think I came alone? Kill me and you'll be dead in two seconds."

Al stared at him. "Have you forgotten, Kimbly? I'm the invincible alchemist. Your guards can't kill me."

"Mustang needs you." Kimbly said, suddenly getting to the point.

"Of course he does. But what the hell makes you think that I'll help him?" Al shot back.

"Your brother isn't as far gone os you might think, Alphonse. He can be brought back."

Al took two huge steps towards Kimbly, then grabbed his head with his massive hand. "Give me one reason not to crush your skull right now."

Kimbly pointed to his left. Al followed his gaze to a man standing at the edge of the terrace, smiling at him. "May I introduce Major General Maes Hughes."

Hughes walked up to the pair. "Hey, Al. It's been a while, huh?"

Al turned back to Kimbly. "You broke the rules. You can't do this."

Kimbly shrugged. "You broke them. We just succeeded where you failed."

"And who had to pay the price? Who had to die so that this thing could live?" Al demanded.

"Thing? That's not a very nice way to talk about a friend." Hughes injected as he walked towards them.

"The price was paid when we created the stone. Some fool, criminal, or enemy sacrificed to bring back Maes Hughes? I think even the laws can be a little uneven sometimes." Kimbly said.

"It's really me, Al. I'm Maes Hughes. I've got a beautiful daughter, and a wonderful wife, and a president that I can back and support."

Al swung his arm out, and cut Hughes' head off with the blade on his arm.

"Maes Hughes is dead. Tell the president that his fantasies are pathetic and immature." Al said coldly.

Kimbly whistled as he looked at the headless body. "Damn. You really are heartless." He turned back to Al. "I guess that this means you won't open the portal for Mustang?"

Al grabbed Kimbly by the throat and lifted him into the air. "You go and tell your President Mustang that I will never help him, and if he ever bothers me or any of my friends again, I will come back to Central and kill him."

Kimbly struggled to breathe. "You really think you can kill the president?"

Al let him drop and turned away. "I know I can. I saw Hawkeye's back before she was murdered. I know his weakness. He knows I know."

Kimbly stood up and glared at Al as he walked away. "Don't bother looking for me." Al said. "I won't let you find me again." Before Kimbly could do anything, Al clapped his hands and disappeared. For a long time, Kimbly stood there, Hughes headless body laying on the round beside him.

"Well, that was a fucking waste of time." he said as he shook his head. "I told Mustang he would say no, but Mustang was sure that he wouldn't let the chance to revive his brother go. I told him the boy isn't so naive anymore, but no, President Mustang knows best."

"As a matter of fact, Alphonse was going to deny you even before he knew what you wanted."

Kimbly shivered. He knew that voice well. Too well. He turned around to face Scar.

"He saw you only as a personal favour to me. I am here to finish what you started in that war."

Kimbly tried to defend himself, but Scar was too fast. Before he could bring is hands together, Scar grabbed each of his wrists. They exploded in a bloody mess, and Kimbly yelled as he fell to his knees.

Scar grabbed his head, and Kimbly looked up at him. And then he screamed.

Al heard the scream, even as far away as he was. His debt to Scar for getting Winry to a safe place was now fulfilled. Al would have done it anyway, just to know that Kimbly was dead and Mustang was sent a very specific message. Al though for a moment of going back to ask Scar where he had hidden Winry and the others, but it was better that he didn't have that knowledge. If he somehow slipped, let anyone else know where they were, he would never forgive himself. He sighed. He didn't have time to visit just now, anyway. He had business in the North.