A/N: Um... I have no excuses for not updating for almost a year, but I did hit a writer's block and school didn't do anything to help lol.. But on the bright side, I managed to free some time by dropping my most hated class (PHYSICS YOU SUCK) and decided to blow the dust off this story to see if I can further improve it. Only problem was because so much time had passed, I forgot my initial ideas so I had to quickly sum up some new ones lol, but all is well now! Anyway... enjoy the read!

P.S, I still don't have a beta and I haven't written anything english related for about a year now, so excuse me for any noob mistakes that I will most likely have! I tried to self edit as best I could, let me know you spot any! Also, constructive criticism is gladly accepted, as well as reviews! =]

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, especially the timeline that this story is based in!


Two weeks and one day later…

Date: August 27th, 1939

Location: London, Great Britain


A middle aged man dressed in a black trench coat and a matching beret is seen walking down the streets of London, his right arm suspiciously tucked away inside the left pectoral pocket of his coat. Any average person who sees this man may think that one, he might be anti-social, or two, that he might be completely off of his rocker; wearing all black during the hot fall months, or a mixture of both. While he was waiting to cross the busy streets, his eyes began to dart right and left to make sure that he wasn't followed. Thankfully this didn't raise any suspicion due to the square-framed sunglasses shielding his wandering pupils. The mere thought of the enemy planning on stealing his information causes him to clutch the brown envelope in his hand that much harder. The people waiting around him would occasionally steal glances at him in disgust as they take a few steps away from him like they were going to catch some vicious disease; however, he pays no heed to this type of behavior, especially with them not knowing what he knows and what is about to happen. The streetlight flickers, signaling that it is time for them pass and the officer in the middle of the street gives them the 'ok' to cross, but stops the man in the middle of the intersection as if to tell him what all of the civilians around him had already been thinking. Instead, the officer took out his whistle and jerked his thumb to the nearby phone booth. Exchanging head nods, the officer put his whistle back into his mouth to resume his duty, while the man proceeds towards the phone booth, cautiously looking over his shoulder in another paranoid attempt to look for curious eyes.

Once inside the phone booth the man looks at the dust covered phone and began trailing his fingers up the wires to make sure that it wasn't cut. In the back of the telephone the man pulls out an unmarked white envelope with some gibberish written on it. The contents of the envelope consisted of two shiny coins: a sixpence and a florin. Knowing that this was more than enough to operate a public phone he put the money in the coin slot, and pulled out the just as dusty phonebook. The man quickly pulled out the brown envelope and slipped into the cracks of the phonebook in case he was to be ambushed from behind, and began to input the digits of the phone number using the rotary panel. After two rings, the man put the book down on the little table jutted out beneath the phone and began tapping his finger impatiently as the ringing kept on going with no sign of anyone picking up on the other end.

"Come on, damn it… pick up already!" the man growled through clenched teeth, and just as he was about to hang up and try again, a voice was heard through the receiving end.

"Hi, Albert's butcher shop where the best meat is just a cleaver away!" the worker at the shop enthusiastically claimed. "How can I help you?"

Perking up at the sound of someone else on the line, he quickly collected himself and cleared his throat.

"Ahem, hello there, I'm wondering when Albert will be coming in today?" the man waited for a few seconds while the person on the other end began rustling through papers, "it's ok if you don't know. I mean there is just something that I borrowed 15 days ago that I need to give back"

"Oh! Well why didn't you say so earlier?" the receptionist asked cheerfully, "If you may hang up and wait a few seconds, I will get him to call you back."

"Sounds perfect," the man said "please tell him not to be late."

"Will do!"

The sound of clicks and a dial tone set the clock in motion as the man put the rusty phone back onto the receiver. It seemed like hours have gone by when really, it's only been a few minutes but nonetheless, Albert was late as usual. Finding this to be a perfect opportunity to reminisce, the man sighed while he leaned his back against the glass wall, rethinking this entire assignment. Unconsciously he pulled out a photo, one that he always pulls out when things began to get heavy in hopes that it would calm him down some. Even after all of the time he's been here, the smiling woman and little girl smiling back at him still brought a smile to his face as well as bittersweet memories.

I don't think I will ever be able to return to you two… the man sulked, and as tears were about to accumulate in his hazel irises the ringing of the phone jerked him out of his stupor. Taking off his rectangular sunglasses to rub away the unwanted liquid, he took a couple deep breathes to make sure that his voice would not shake when he picked up the phone.

"About time you called me back" the man answered with his usual calm tone back in place as he put his glasses back on, pushing them upward with his middle finger. "I was beginning to think that you forgot about me."

A deep but rough laugh could be heard through the receiver, "Sorry about that, it's a bit hectic at the shop right now," the English accent could easily be distinguished through the ocean of background noises. "So you said you had something that belonged to me?"

Remembering the brown envelope that he had carefully tucked away in the old phone book, he quickly pulled it out and glared at it, "Yes, I have it with me right now…" he swiftly began to go through the pages of the phone book until he came across one particular address. "A gift from your wife Roseanne"

"Oh? From my lovely Roseanne you say?"

"Yeah, she's quite worried about you at the shop" the man quickly remarked as he scribbled down the address. "Said she didn't want you to overwork yourself…" he quickly sneezed twice into the phone with no attempt to cover it with his hand "Excuse me, it's really dusty in here,"

"That's quite alright" the British man replied, coughing twice into the receiver "but pardon me, it seems as though all of this yelling is making my throat sore. By the way how is my Roseanne doing?"

"Really great actually. Especially since Roseanne is mainly hanging around people near where you are."

Another deep throated laughter could be heard as the background noises seemed to have dissipated. "Really now? Close to the shop then?" the man could hear the grunt on the other end as he assumed that Albert sat down somewhere, his office probably. "Is she nice to the people up here? Don't want her ruining my business" Albert ended with a deep chuckle. The man hesitated to answer as he heard Albert shuffling through papers, and continued once the unwanted noise disappeared.

"She is a sweetheart Al." the man said with a smile on his face, almost as if he could feel the embarrassment radiating from Albert.

"Well then that is a surprise!" Albert said with another chuckle, "it seems as though she is sweet to everyone but me!"

The remark caused the man to laugh as he thought of an idea to continue embarrassing Albert.

"Be grateful man, otherwise the innkeeper will nab your gorgeous woman."

"Hey hey, no need to involve other men who might be interested." Albert said as he continued to laugh at the jokes and sarcasm that were being thrown around, "I might just have to deal with them later" he snickered as he continued to work jot down some information while juggling the phone with his shoulder.

"Not tonight." The man said with a long sigh but with the toothy grin still plastered on his face, "you're overreacting."

"Am not," Albert said with a hint of immaturity, "I just love my wife is all."

Laughing once again, the man decided to let it go, "The innkeeper's actually nabbing Miss Veronica who's across the diner on East Avenue" he reassured, and hearing a sigh of relief showed that he had done good.

"That is good news, glad to hear that he is also doing well." Albert shifted in his chair and ran his hand through what little hair he had left on his head. "Do you think Veronica will go for it?"

"It's probable," the man answered, his smirk still in place of the deep frown he held before Albert called and sighed, "he overextends his luck when attempting to negotiate the diner prices." The man finished with another series of sneezes following an apology and blame to the floating dust in here*.

"All to impress a little girl eh?" Albert inquired as he dropped the pen to cover up another coughing fit.

A few minutes of silence had gone by before Albert conjured up any words to tell the man. "Listen, I'm getting kind of tired of talking on the phone…" the man could almost feel Albert's face darken as he reread the information he just transcribed, "how about we meet in person so that you can return my property?"

"Of course" was all the man could say as they both hung up without so much as a goodbye. He placed the phone back where it belonged and once again leaned against the door of the phone booth. Things can only get worse from here on out. He thought to himself as a quick rumbling sent him back to reality.

The telephone stand twisted in a 180 degree turn and sank into the bottom of the floor, disappearing from sight. A center console with multiple buttons and LEDs took its place, its flashing and ringing telling the man to press the green button that was on the top right corner**. While the man had done this a million times since his recruitment, he still feels a mixture of vertigo, unease and excitement caused by the adrenaline whenever he pushes that button. The floor around him lit up, the white lights converging to where he was standing and in a blinding second, the floor collapsed into a tunnel-like fashion and began racing towards the center of the Earth.

Outside, the police officer that was making sure that traffic didn't turn into some crazy accident noticed that the red phone booth that the man in the trench was now vacant of life. Good thing I kept everyone from entering that part of the street he mused as he reached for the hidden microphone hidden in his right sleeve. Spitting out his whistle, he held his sleeve close to his mouth and spoke in a low voice as if someone was already around to try and eavesdrop on his conversation

"The weirdo's here" he whispered, "tell everyone to prepare for the worst. With him returning so soon it can't be good." After another moment, the police officer put his sleeve down and shoved his whistle back into his mouth to continue directing traffic as if nothing had happened at all.


The glass doors of his vehicle slid open, the hydraulics hissing as they ground to a halt, revealing a dark corridor with only dim rectangular lights lined up at the bottom of the walls illuminating the area. The doors quickly slid shut as soon as he stepped out and the capsule shot back up towards the surface, the resulting gale sending shivers throughout the man's body. Looking back towards the dwindling sight of the capsule, the man began to tread his way towards the seemingly endless corridor until he came across a pair of large metallic doors. Almost instinctively, the man took his right glove and placed his hand on the scanner located right next to the impenetrable doors. The scanner beeped twice and a green light flickered, triggering the locking mechanism of the doors to begin moving. The man stood back, awed at the infinite numbers of gears, hydraulics and rods that made up the doors lock to completely retract. The doors shook the area as they were slowly opened and a blue light filled his vision as he laid eyes on a site that he called home before he was assigned to his reconnaissance mission. The movement of the doors alerted everyone of his presence as they ceased their current activities to gaze at the man dressed in black. Everyone stared at the odd fellow, and the man only stared back at the crowd, wondering if they thought that he was an enemy spy.

Well… not quite the welcome I was expecting… The man thought to himself as he glided down the steps, not making eye contact with those around him. But I guess that is what happens when you're gone for a few years.

The stabs of cold eyes continued to pierce the man's being as he walked past the workers until a soft voice spoke up, "Hello? Excuse me, sir?" the fact that someone was actually addressing him as 'sir' caught him off-guard. The man stood still as he debated whether or not he should respond to the attention or continue walking around the base until he ran into Albert. However, being referred to as an officer brought back some memories which helped decide for him as he turned around and let out an exasperated sigh but was stopped mid-exhale as he took in the young woman standing in front of him.

"Yeah, what is it? And please don't call me 'sir'," the man remarked with a tone that came out harsher than he had intended to. "You make it sound like I'm some high ranking officer when really; I'm just a field agent." He took off his glasses and began to clean them with the cloth that he pulled out of his trench coat pocket.

"Sorry sir… uh I mean… well… everyone here is kind of wondering if you're some enemy spy, but then I asked myself, why would an enemy spy come through the front doors?" the young woman said as she looked the man up and down, wondering why he decided to wear the all black attire when everyone else around him is wearing a dark maroon.

"Heh, yeah well…" the man started as he made eye contact with the young lady. I knew it, everyone here did think I was some enemy spy or something. He thought to himself as he let out another sigh and continued his response, "I'm kind of in a hurry and I really need to talk to Albert"

"Oh! So you were the man that called earlier saying you had something that belonged to him?" the young woman eyes brightened as if she had just made a friend with a total stranger.

"Oh? The receptionist?" the man questioned the lady. After her nod of confirmation he continued to ask, "Yes, well it's nice to finally see you in person but do you know where I can find him?" the man's tone had long since softened as a result of his initial rude remark to the young lady, "it's ok if you don't know though, I can always walk around until I find him" however, unbeknownst to her his real intention was to walk around and see what everyone else is up to. It was of the utmost importance for him to find out if they were up to par on what is going on with the rest of the world.

"Why yes I know where you can find him!" the young lady chirped happily. The plan to see what is going on went down the drain as he smiled reluctantly to honor her enthusiasm.

"That sounds great! Please take me to him," the man asked politely as she quickly turned a 180 and began leading him down another corridor, one not as creepy as the one prior to entering the base. She must have no idea what is really going on then, he pondered to himself as he quickly followed her, less she lose him in the crowd of people who returned to their work.

The walk was quiet, so the man figured he needed to strike a conversation to cease this awkward silence. "Are you new here?" he asked as he maintained eye contact with the brunette hair that was swinging side to side in front of him.

"Why yes, I am" the young lady answered as they continued to walk at a slower pace. "I just transferred a few weeks ago…" she suddenly stopped which cause the man to almost run into her but good thing he stopped in time. However, he stared at her dumbfounded as she stood there with a bright smile on her face and her right hand extended, "My name is Grace!" she announced happily, "what's yours?"

My name…? the man asked himself as he looked up towards the ceiling as if to sort out the different memories to dig out his name. As a matter of fact, he had gone through so many identities and aliases in the time he had been away that he almost forgot which one was his true name.

"Heh, well funny you should ask," the man admitted to Grace as he shook her hand but didn't let go, "I've actually gone through so many different names to avoid being caught that I kind of forgot which one was the real one…" he finished off as he let go of her hand and went to scratch the back of his head, at the same time while letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Oh…?" Grace's voice sounded puzzled, her head cocked to one side with her right index finger near her mouth as if she was contemplating on whether or not she continue talking to this weirdo. But instead of turning tail and running, she just smiled at the man, "Then what was your most recent alias?" she asked him, "I can call you that if you'd prefer."

"Of course, but do you mind if we continue walking? It's kind of urgent that I meet with Albert" the man after noticing that they spent quite a bit of time trying to introduce each other.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Grace clapped her hands together and began to bow apologetically. After her episode, she straightened out her blouse and skirt, cleared her throat and with a forward gesture with her arm, the two continued on their way. With a nod, the man continued walking and silence once again fell amongst the two.

Stopping in front of a set of double doors, Grace turned to face the man who is examining the material that made up the window and cleared her throat which got the man's attention.

"Well, here we are!" she beamed, presenting that door like a school project. "I do hope everything is alright."

"Hopefully, it will be" the man replied "thanks for taking me here Grace." He took out his hand and she received it without hesitation. As they began to part ways, the man called out after Grace who turned with her smile still in place.

"If we do meet again, my name is Mark Harrison" the man said as he twisted the doorknob and pushed the double doors aside, leaving Grace with a curious look on her face.


Albert's office was dark with only an orb of light coming from a desk lamp on the corner of his workspace, his lamp casting shadows to the rest of the room.

"Kind of a depressing scene here ain't it Al?" Mark said to the man who has just now lifted his head from his desk. "Jeez, man you alright?" Mark asked, after witnessing the lack of sleep in the man's facial features and the beard already revealing itself.

After a few attempts to slap himself awake, Albert finally managed to speak a few words to Mark. "Haven't had much sleep because of what's been going on," he told him.

"I bet, I haven't been sleeping much either but then again after what I went through I'm surprised I'm able to sleep at all.' Mark replied, pulling out a chair and deflating in it. With his eyes closed, Mark's memories flooded his mind of all the scenarios that he had to endure to retrieve this type of information. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he pushed his glasses upward and leaned forward on his chair so that he could put his elbows on the table.

"I can't imagine what you had to go through to get this" Albert finally said, his voice low and his face dark. "I haven't told anyone else yet." Though the news should've shocked and angered Mark, it was expected as this type of news was like dropping a bomb on an entire nation.

"They need to know soon, so that they can begin preparing" Mark whispered back, his forehead resting on his folded hands, "we're going to need all of the help we can get.. Maybe the American's ca-"

"No!" Albert quickly cut him off, "they have declared a state of neutrality and I doubt that the American people would want to be involved with another one of our affairs." Albert took a deep breath and leaned back on his chair, twirling his pen and staring at a single sheet of paper lying in between the two men.

"There must be a way to receive aid without the entire nation becoming involved!" Mark frantically stated slapping both of his hands on the table and standing up to face Albert, "Maybe it can be a business venture or something! Anything! Cause we sure as hell need something!"

Entering a state of deep thought, Albert began running through the available options that they have that might help them without publically calling for the Americans for help.

"Making it seem like a business venture to promote economic growth might work, but it will take a whole lot of convincing to get Roosevelt to try and persuade his people to agree on it." Albert finally said after a few moments of silence.

"Just try and get it done," Mark said as he circled around the desk to put his arm on Albert's shoulder, the past few days of stress and contemplation clearly presenting itself in the form of the man in front of him. "Try and get to Roosevelt using that Churchill character; heard he's pretty popular now and may even seize a position up in parliament."

"What do you mean?" Albert inquired, turning to face Mark and asking him to sit back down to get into the details.

"I mean… the current Prime Minister isn't doing a very great job, or maybe he is but I can care less about him, but this guy, Winston Churchill, is as active as one can get when it comes to freedom and if we can get him to become Prime Minister before this whole situation grows out of control we can squash it before it even begins." The speech drained a lot more out of Mark than he had intended, but it needed to get out there… and he wasn't even finished yet. "Churchill can definitely get through to Roosevelt and strengthen our alliance in case things do take a turn for the worse." After saying that Mark returned to his chair, having the blacks of Albert's eyes trail him back to his seat.

The look on Albert's face was a mixture of astonishment and disbelief. Is this really the guy that I recruited all those years ago? Mark, seated in front of him had grown in both stature and wisdom. "I'll see what I can do," Albert told him "I can make some calls and pull some strings but if the encryption is accurate then we either need some sort of time stopping device or we're royally fucked."

"Agreed," Mark nodded at Albert's logic, his right hand on his chin trying to simulate both the worse and best case scenarios. But after a couple of runs, Mark realized that this wasn't the only information that he wanted to relay, "but boss…" Mark sat up straight and leaned forward, putting the palms of his hands together with his thumbs pointed upward.

"What is it Mark?"

"I got more bad news, news that I'm afraid I can't send through via encrypted message or telephone call"

The atmosphere in the room must've dropped, as well as the temperature as their surroundings became isolated and cold. A shiver went down Albert's spine as he leaned forward on his arm chair to try and understand every single world perfectly so that he won't have to ask for repetition. "Spit it out" he demanded.

"Well… you know Stalin and his Soviet Union?"

"What about him?"

"Well, several of my guys that managed to infiltrate Moscow had reported back that he just allied himself with that cryptic narcissist and is plotting something even I can't get a hold of."

Silence blanketed the room, the humming from the desk lamp providing the only source of audio entertainment as the news sank in. The shadows created by the lamp continued to cover the men's facial expressions as they continue their otherworldly conversation.

"That's a very bold piece of information Mark, do you have any evidence to validate that your intel wasn't warped?" Albert quietly asked as the situation could go from bad to worse if this information is indeed true

"I'm positive chief, my guys were in there like hawks, and I also wouldn't put it past Stalin to pull something like this either" Mark replied, his eyes glowing in the darkness like he had just acquired some feline characteristics.

"Then for what it's worth, I'll take your word for it and assume that the alliance between them formal and active, but are you sure that this has something to do with the message you sent me Mark?"

"Definitely. That over enthusiastic bastard wouldn't pull such a move if he didn't have someone with a strong militaristic presence to back him up."

"I see," was all Albert could say as he laid back on his chair to absorb the sudden flow of bad news. He placed his hand on his chin and was about to enter some realm of soul searching when he suddenly realized the item that Mark had borrowed and is supposed to be returning. "Mark, you did remember to return what you borrowed right?"

"Hm?" Marked mumbled as he sat back up, realizing that the brown envelope was still in his trench coat pocket. "Ah yes of course I remember!" he reached for the parchment and threw the contents on the table, watching as it slid across and stopped right in front of Albert.

As Albert carefully opened the envelope, a letter and a picture of what seemed like three kids leaving a home glided out. "Hm? Is this picture of some significance?" Albert inquired as he studied every feature the surveillance photo had to offer before his eyes laid on Mark, seeking answers.

"I'm afraid so…" Mark replied stood up with a grim look on his face and began pacing around the room. Seeing Mark as nervous as he was, Albert waited until they made eye contact once again and raised an eyebrow, prompting him to continue. "Remember the two boys I've told you about whose presence can alter the course of this world?" Mark resumed.

"Yeah I do remember you telling me, almost as much as you telling me about the family that you were forced to leave behind"

The mention of family elicited a few coughs of embarrassment from Mark as he continued his explanation. "Well… my family aside, those two boys were spotted near the German border and since then I've had my best agents keeping their eyes on them to see what they were up to. It seemed that they decided to head east and began living with the girl in the picture." The seriousness in the Mark's tone and his stone facial expression almost meant as if this conversation was really going to determine the fate of the world.

"So…" was all Albert was able to say at first "you're telling me that the Elric brothers, the alchemical geniuses from your world is alive and well, here in this world?"

Sweat began to bead around Albert's forehead at the hesitant nod from Mark, "and what of the girl?"

"Her name is Wendy and she is the counterpart to the brothers' childhood friend back where I'm from" Mark replied as he sat back down in the chair across from Albert. "I've also been having my men keep an eye on her in case the Jerries had some plan to kidnap her to incite the brothers to act" he added.

"That is some major intel you've gathered throughout the years Mark, and now here's the essential question" Albert whispered as he continued to stare at the picture of Wendy and the two boys in the background, "how should we proceed to act now? If what you say is accurate and to the dot, then we probably don't have much time until they make their move which would more or less result in the death or capture of these three children." Hands folded with his elbows on the desk, Al rested his forehead as he tried to come up with some light-bulb moment that would ease the severity of the situation.

"Easy" Mark scoffed, "we find them and get them back into safe borders as fast as heavenly possible, I know that they need the brothers alive and that they are willing to use Wendy as collateral if they have to" he once again stood up and leaned against the nearest wall, the shadow engulfing his upper torso.

"However, I don't know what the eastern bastards are planning to do with them, but I'm not waiting to find out." He unfolded his arms and began dragging his feet to the door, with his hand on the doorknob he turned his head back and uttered,

"That picture was taken some time ago, so their current location is bordering invalid, and because we have this type of information we need to assume that the Krauts do as well, the more we wait the higher the chance of this world plunging into Hell"

"I see," was all Al could mutter, "I'll do what I can." He put the photo in a folder and instead stared at a half sheet of paper. Without looking at Mark he asked "by the way Mark,"

"Hm?"

"How did you manage to acquire all this information anyway and still be alive?" his hands shaking due to anxiety for his answers.

"Heh" Mark answered, his hand still on the doorknob, "Let's just say that I had to dig long and hard until I discovered the Truth." He opened the doorknob and assimilated with the shadows that made up the doorway.

"The Truth huh?" Albert quietly mumbled to himself. Now all alone to battle the darkness that is his office, he quickly stood up after finally absorbing this dire information. "I need to break the news to the entire Ministry of Defense. Parliament is definitely not going to like this!" and with that he bolted out the door, the wind from his sudden movement deciding to take the half sheet of paper with him.

The message, whose final resting place is now in the middle of the floor in Albert's office is what gave the initial spark:

'Germany is going to invade Poland.'


* - So, I tried doing a coded message of the initial conversation between Al and Mark and tried making it sound as fluid and natural as possible.. it kind of worked I guess? Haha but yeah, for those who wanted to know, after the two sneezes is where the message starts and if you take the first letter of every second word, it'll form the real message Mark was trying to relay to Albert. Again I tried..

** - So yes this sounds completely futuristic and does not comply with the time period and most of you will be like 'uhhh wtf?'. But let me elaborate: there was a lot of technological advances because of this war and not all of it was even known to the public, sooooooo thanks to my skeptical and conspiracy-making side, I believe this type of thing could have actually existed lol.. maybe the underground base was a long shot but still this is why I like fanfiction =]. And plus Great Britain was extremely known for their agents, double agents and espionage activities =D.

Hope you guys like it, and I know that I said this last time but I will once again try to update more frequently!... I really hope lol.