Laura: Yo, FMA fans!

Ed: Hey guys.

Laura: This is my second FMA fanfic; my first was 'Heart of Metal,' which was a one-shot.

Ed: But this is going to be a 'proper' story this time.

Laura: …what do you mean, 'proper?'

Ed: Well, I just…this isn't a one-shot, right?

Laura: (glares) Are you saying my other fanfic wasn't a proper story?

Roy: Now you've done it, Fullmetal.

Ed: (sweatdrop) No, I just thought, ah, umm…stop glaring at me!

Laura: (anger mark)

Roy: Okay, let's start before this gets ugly. Here's the prologue, staring yours truly – me!

Ed: Hey, why does Colonel Bastard get this whole prologue to himself?

Laura: Quiet you, before I rent out my anger. Enjoy!


Prologue

Riza Hawkeye knocked on the Lt. Colonel's door. There was no reply from inside, so she opened the door and looked inside. The office was empty, so she sighed and walked in, closing the door behind her. Briefly, she looked over the notes on his desk for a clue to where he might have gone. She saw unfinished paperwork littered over the surface, so she brushed those aside and looked deeper. Finally she found what she was looking for; a commissioned order from one of the higher ups. Riza quickly skimmed over it. It was an order issued 'Lt. Colonel and State Alchemist Roy Mustang' from the Fuhrer himself, telling him to investigate a matter at Lab. 5. 'So that's where he is,' she thought. Riza sighed again, putting down the order and looking over the letter in her other hand that was addressed the Lt. Colonel. The address was written messily, as if a small child had written it, and it was addressed to 'Mr. Roy Mustang,' – not 'Lt. Colonel' or 'State Alchemist' Roy Mustang. She flipped the envelope over, and in tiny writing at the bottom was written 'Elric Residence.'

Riza rubbed the back of her neck, feeling her cold skin. Her extremely short hair didn't cover it, so her neck tended to get rather cold during the night. 'Maybe I should grow it more,' Riza thought, letting her hand drop. 'Although it might be harder to manage…'

Suddenly the phone on the Lt. Colonel's desk rang, drawing the woman out of her thoughts. It rang once more, and she answered it. "Hello, Lt. Colonel Mustang's office," she said into the receiver. "The Lt. Colonel isn't here at the moment, can I help you wi-"

"Riza!!" a voice on the other end of the line called. "Riza, it's me, Hughes!"

"Hughes?" Riza answered, blinking. "What are you doing calling at this hour of the night? If you're here to rant on about your wife Gracia's pregnancy, then I swear-"

"Riza, there's an emergency," Hughes cut in. Riza noticed he sounded out of breath. "One of the laboratories is on fire. We need you to come and help."

"Laboratories?" Riza repeated warily, her eyes quickly flicking to the order on the desk and back. "Which one?" she demanded.

"Lab. 5," Hughes answered. "We need you down here no-"

Riza didn't bother to listen to the rest of Hughes' order, and she slammed down the phone and ran out of the office as fast as she could. 'Oh god,' she thought desperately, 'please, let him be all right, please…'

Soon she reached the laboratory, which was completely ablaze. Military personnel swarmed everywhere, helping people into ambulances and trying to douse the flames. But most of them were running in and out of the facility, trying to find and rescue the people trapped inside. Riza looked around, but she couldn't see Lt. Colonel Mustang anywhere. Her stomach sank down to her feet, and dread filled her.

"Riza!"

Riza turned around, and she saluted as Hughes ran up to her. "Good, you're here," he said, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Where's the Lt. Colonel?" she asked, trying to keep her voice level. Hughes let out a small groan.

"That's what we need you here for," he said. "He's alright," he quickly reassured Riza, seeing the look on her face. "To an extent."

"An extent?" she asked.

"Yeah," Hughes answered, looking troubled. "He's out of the building and all, and he seems to be suffering only minor cuts and bruises. But he's acting like he's in an extreme amount of pain."

"What?" Riza asked. "Where his he?"

Hughes jabbed his thumb in a direction behind him. "There's another thing," he added. "He's saying, or rather, screaming that he needs to see you right away. He's in a right mental mess." Hughes looked pretty concerned. "We need you to see him now if he's to calm down."

Riza nodded, and Hughes turned around to lead the way. They weaved around men in military uniforms and people on stretchers until an ambulance came into view. Riza took in a sharp breath as she saw the Lt. Colonel, lying on a stretcher and moaning loudly. Riza ran past Hughes and stopped by the stretcher. 'What happened to you…' she thought fearfully. Hughes was right – there weren't many injuries on the man, but he was moaning and twitching as though he were suffering a great deal. She placed her hand cautiously on his, and his eyes snapped open. He looked over to her, and he clenched her hand. "Riza…" he whispered, and she had to fight to stop herself from crying. Instead she held his hand and said softly, "I'm here, Lt. Colonel. It's all right, you can calm down. Everything's going to be okay."

"No, Riza!!" he yelled, making her, the officers and the medics jump. He looked horrified, and he was staring at her desperately. Riza had never seen Mustang so broken and helpless, and it disturbed her a great deal.

"Riza, you have to stop him!" he said to her, his voice breaking. His grip on her hand tightened, and he was drenched in sweat. "Riza, there's another me!" he whispered to her terrifyingly. "Stop him, stop them! Before there's too many…" He trailed off into a groan, and his eyes squeezed shut as he seemed to endure more pain. Riza bit her lip. "It's alright, Mustang," she said quietly. The Lt. Colonel's eyes opened as she said his name. "It's alright," Riza repeated. "We'll find them. Don't worry, we will. We'll stop them for you."

Mustang stared at her, and Riza thought he might shout again. But he eventually nodded, and his head dropped down as he finally passed out. His hand went limp and released hers, and the medics pushed the stretcher into the ambulance. "Oh Mustang…" Riza whispered as the ambulance's doors closed. She felt Hughes walk up and stand beside her. "I hope he'll be alright," she said to him. Hughes gave her a small smile. "Don't worry," he told her, "he's a strong man. He'll recover soon, just wait and see."

Riza nodded, but as the ambulance drove away, she still wasn't comforted. 'What on earth happened to him?'


Ed: Geez Laura, this is the longest prologue I've ever seen.

Laura: What? I like to write.

Roy: Why did you go and make me look insane?! I thought me starring in this would make me look good!

Ed: Ha ha!

Laura: It's part of the story! Don't worry, hopefully you'll straighten out by the next chapter.

Roy: Hopefully?!

Laura: Kay guys, join us back here soon!

Ed: Ha ha…Colonel Bastard really did look insane! Ha ha!

Roy: Shut up!