Berlin, Germany November 24th, 1923

Ed, Al and Lily sat at a table in the bar where they could see Hans and he could see them if he knew what to look for. They waited until the bartender, Marcus, started closing up. That was when she walked in. She had long brown hair and dusky skin. She sat at the table with Hans. Her back was to Ed, but he knew her anyway. He would know her anywhere.

"Noah," Ed whispered her name. He couldn't believe she was there. If he'd had time to think about it, it would have made sense. She had tried to use him to take her through the gate. She had also seen him come back with Al. He hadn't really thought about her since they parted just outside of Berlin a couple of weeks ago.

Things seemed to be going well. Hans was playing his part as he should. He looked nervous but not too much so. He was supposed to give his contact an edited version of events but Ed knew their cover was blown the minute that Noah touched Hans on the hand.

Noah stiffened up and stood up abruptly from her chair. She whirled around to face the table in the shadows where Ed, Al and Lily were sitting. She took one small step towards them, her hands clasped in front of her heart.

"Edward? Alphonse? If you're still there, please come out of the darkness. I've been looking for you. I can help you. You know I can Ed. You know about my gift," Said Noah.

Ed stood up and walked around the table towards where Noah stood. They stood several feet apart and all of the emotions that Ed was feeling flew across his face. He thought that he'd forgiven her, but something about seeing her again just ripped the wounds wide open inside of him.

"Yeah, I know about your gift. I know how you used it, and me, to help the Thule Society to try to conquer my world. I know you wanted someplace to belong so badly that you didn't care who got hurt just as long as you got what you wanted in the end," Said Ed.

Noah cringed at his angry words and the hurt look on Ed's face. She tried to reach out to him, but he did not reach back to her. In fact, he took a step back from her outstretched hand.

"I thought you had forgiven me Ed. I thought you understood that I was truly sorry for what happened. I was trying to find you because I can help you find Fritz Lang. I know that you're looking for him," Said Noah.

"And how did you know that? Did I tell you? No," Said Ed.

"No, you didn't. But you were thinking about it when you helped me into the back of that truck. I couldn't help it Ed. I thought I could resist. I thought I could just let you go. But the more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that an apology would never be enough to make up for what I did. I don't think anything would ever be enough to make up for all the people who must have been hurt or killed by that madwoman. So I tried to find you. I want to help you. I need to help you. Please Ed. Please let me atone in some small way for the damage I've caused," Said Noah.

Noah was on the verge of tears when Al got up from the table and stood beside his brother. He wanted to comfort Noah, but he remembered all the destruction that the people from Germany had caused to his native land and all of the people who were killed and he held himself back. He had an easier time forgiving people than his brother Ed, but this was a hard thing for the both of them to deal with.

"You have to understand Noah; it's hard to be here. Everything here is strange and the people we knew back home are completely different here," Said Al.

Tears welled up in Noah's eyes. She turned her head away to try to get her emotions under control. This was not going the way she had hoped it would.

"I know a little about how you feel Al. It may not seem like it, but I do. So I'm going to tell you where you can find Fritz Lang with no expectations. I hope someday that you'll be able to forgive me for what I have done. You can find him staying at a run down hotel called The Bell Hotel," Said Noah.

Ed stood a moment, looking at Noah like he wanted to see inside of her, before walking past her. Al looked over at Lily, who had remained sitting at the table, watching this very odd exchange going on in front of her. It seemed so intensely personal that being in the audience was like being a bit of a voyeur. She stood up and followed Al out past Noah. Al kept walking so he could catch up with Ed.

Noah reached out and latched onto Lily's hand. They froze together for just a moment before Noah dropped Lily's hand. She gave Lily a watery little smile like she'd gotten a particularly nice present for no particular reason.

"You can help them, but it can't go to England. It can't. It has to be destroyed. It's pure evil and no good can ever come of it," Said Noah.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean. I'll try to help them if I can because they're good and it's the right thing to do," Said Lily.

Lily started to walk away from Noah. She made it a few steps before she stopped and looked behind her. Noah was simply standing there, staring at Lily.

"There's something about those two. I can't quite put my finger on it. I think you know what it is. If you have any knowledge that could help me help them, come by my shop, Franz Haberdashery, later tonight and we'll talk," Said Lily.

Lily turned around and walked out of the bar. She, Ed and Al walked back towards Lily's shop. They'd gone a couple of blocks when Al stopped in his tracks.

"What are we going to do now Brother?" Asked Al.

"Now we go find Fritz," Ed turned his attention to Lily. "Thank you for helping us Lily, but I have a feeling that things are going to get very dangerous from here on out and I wouldn't want you to get hurt. You should probably go home and forget you ever met us."

Lily laughed, charming and carefree. She smiled at Ed and hooked her arm through his. She beckoned Al with her free arm and did the same to him when he got close enough to her.

"We three are going to be like peas in a pod until we figure out your little mystery. You're not getting rid of me that easily Ed, not that easily at all. Besides, I'm sure the safest place of all is where you both can protect me should the need arise. Now, since I'm fairly sure neither one of you know where The Bell Hotel is, and I do, that you still need me. And Ed, I know how to take care of myself so you needn't worry about that on my account. So let's go," Said Lily.

Lily started walking and Ed and Al had no choice but to follow her. Since they were already in a part of town close to The Bell Hotel, they didn't have far to travel. Once they arrived at The Bell Hotel, Ed approached the desk clerk to find out which room Fritz Lang was staying in at the hotel.

"We don't have anyone named Fritz Lang here. Sorry. I can't help you," Said the desk clerk.

"What about the name Mabuse? He might have used that instead," Said Ed.

The desk clerk scratched his balding head a little bit and leaned back in his chair. His paunch was covered by a stained shirt that might have been white once upon a time, but you really couldn't tell anymore.

"That name might sound familiar, but I might need a little something to jog my memory. It isn't so great you know," Said the desk clerk.

The desk clerk leered at Lily who was standing behind Ed and Al. Ed's face grew still before he leaped over the hotel's front desk and grabbed the clerk by the front of his shirt. There was a sort of madness in Ed's eyes that he got when he felt people were jerking his chain a little too much and the desk clerk got the full brunt of it.

"You're going to tell me which room he's in right now and in return I'll restrain myself from teaching you a lesson in manners. I don't think you'd like me to do that very much," Said Ed.

"Brother! Stop that!" Said Al.

"No Al. I'm tired of people jerking me around here just because they can. It isn't right," Said Ed.

"I know Brother, but this isn't the right way to do things. Remember what I said?" Said Al.

Ed didn't respond. He just looked the desk clerk in the eyes to let the clerk know that he meant business. He wasn't going to relent until he got what he wanted. He didn't particularly like who he seemed to be becoming, but time was a factor now and in his haste, he was using some tactics that he didn't particularly like.

"The guy you want is in room number 308. There's a spare key on the wall over there," Said the desk clerk.

Lily went around the counter and took the key to room number 308 off of the wall and returned to her place at Al's side. Ed eased up on the desk clerk and walked around the desk away from him. Inside he felt queasy, like he'd eaten some bad food. He kept having to resort to the wrong sort of violence. He knew Al was right, but he didn't see any faster way to get things done in the crazy world they now had to call home.

"I suggest that you forget we were ever here," Said Lily.

The three of them walked over to the staircase across the room from the front desk and started climbing single file up the creaky wooden stairs. There was a faded and grimy green runner of carpet down the middle of the stairs and old dusty paintings of life at sea along the walls of the staircase.

"This place must have been nice once," Said Al.

"Yeah, but not anymore and not for a long time I think. I wonder why Fritz would be in a place like this," Said Ed.

In the middle of the brothers Lily walked absorbed in her own thoughts. There was something important she needed to remember, but it seemed always out of reach. If she could only remember, then it would stop plaguing her thoughts. It was something that had happened to her when she was a very young girl, but the details refused to make themselves known.

"This is the sort of place you go to when you want to hide from people. If the Thule Society is after him, he might have gone into hiding to keep out of their clutches. Of course if they want him bad enough, hiding here won't be enough. He'll have to leave the country. Let's just hope we've found him in time," Said Lily.

They reached the top of the stairs and walked down the hall until they came to room number 308. Lily handed Ed the key and stepped away from the door. Ed slid the key into the lock, turned it carefully and opened the door a little ways.

"Fritz? It's Ed. I'm coming in now so don't be afraid."

Ed crept into the hotel room which was a small room, shabby and run down. There appeared to be a small washroom off to the side of the main chamber. Ed found Fritz Lang sitting in a chair by the window. He was just looking out of the slim view he had where the curtains had parted. It seemed like he wanted to see but not be seen.

"Ed? Is that really you? I'd heard you were pretty successful in stopping the ruckus out at Karl Haushofer's villa." Fritz's voice was quiet, as if he feared that speaking too loud would attract unwanted attention. There was a sort of furtiveness about him that hadn't been there before. He had the look of a rabbit being hunted by a fox.

"Yeah, there was something going on out there and you got me there just in time. I didn't prevent them from doing something really awful, but I hope I kept the damage from being too bad," Said Ed.

Ed stepped further into the room and Al walked in behind him, followed by Lily who shut the door after them. Fritz seemed to calm down a little bit now that he was safely enclosed in his hidey hole. He came out of his shell just enough to notice the two other people in the room.

"Who are these people?" Asked Fritz.

"This is my brother Alphonse, and this is Lily. Listen Fritz, do you remember the photograph you showed me that day on the set of your motion picture?" Asked Ed.

"Why yes, I do. I have it with me as a matter of fact. I wanted to keep it as a reminder of the danger of the times," Said Fritz.

Al thought that Fritz didn't look like he really needed a reminder. Fritz pulled out a billfold from his suit jacket pocket and extracted the photograph from inside of it. Ed reached out his hand and Fritz gave him the photograph a little reluctantly. The photograph showed five smiling men clustered around a round metal object that Ed knew was a uranium bomb. It was the same one that had traveled through the gate several years ago.

When Fritz had first shown him the photograph, he'd told Ed that the weapon was capable of destruction so massive that it was almost inconceivable and that it was made using science not conceived in this world. Ed thought about telling him the truth of the situation he and Al were in, but his encounter with Noah and the Thule Society had soured him on taking that kind of risk.

Ed handed the photograph to Al so he could see it. "Take a look at this Al. Does it look familiar to you?"

"It's the device that Huskinsen invented alright," Said Al.

"Yup. Fritz, we have to find this thing and destroy it for the good of the world. Do you know anything about the men in this photograph?" Asked Ed.

Fritz reached over to the bedside table where there was a short glass and a bottle of amber liquid. He poured himself a generous portion of the potent smelling alcohol and stared at it for a moment before taking a sip from the glass. The bottle looked about half empty and there was no telling how long Fritz had had it with him.

"I don't know very much Ed. I do know that they are a group of German scientists recruited by the Thule Society to study the device. They were supposed to try to figure out how it works and how to duplicate that device. They wanted me to help fund their efforts but I refused. Just the thought of that device in their hands makes my blood run as cold as the grave. I found out about the incident at the villa in bits and pieces, and when they found out my part in its failure, they came after me. This time they weren't after money, they were after blood," Said Fritz.

"What about your wife? Wasn't she a fanatical Nazi supporter?" Asked Ed.

"She still is. I sent her to England though after the danger became clear. I don't want them to hurt her just to get to me. As soon as I can find safe passage I shall join her over there. Perhaps I shall still go on to America like I talked about. Staying in Germany doesn't seem to be an option for me anymore," Said Fritz.

Lily stepped forward and took the photograph from Al to study it. Her eyes lit up like a fire was burning within them. She was very close to something important now, so close she could almost feel it like she felt the photograph.

"Where were they working at, the men in the photograph?" Asked Al.

Fritz took another sip of his drink. He had a far away look on his face as if he could see across the miles to where the bomb was being held. He let out a weary sigh.

"I don't know where they had it at. They wouldn't tell me. But that man there, the one to the left of the device, is named Johan Strauss and I encountered him in Munich once about a week and a half ago. If he's still a part of the team, they're probably there in Munich. It makes sense because it's close to the villa where they were doing their other work. They'd most likely want to keep things close in order to keep an eye on things," Said Fritz.

Fritz pointed out one of the men in the photograph to Ed and Al after Lily handed it back to them. She was very excited that they were making such rapid progress towards something that felt very important. This was going to be easier than she had hoped.

Al felt a little bit sorry for Fritz. He seemed like a very lonely man. If he had been reduced to hiding out in a place like this then he must really be scared of the people who were after him. Al began to wonder just how dangerous the Thule Society really was as a whole. He knew that the woman who had come through the gate, Dietlinde Eckart, had been very dangerous and quite a bit mad with power. But part of him hoped that she was the worst one of the bunch. They'd been able to defeat her and thwart her plans and if she was the worst they would encounter, then things weren't so bad. It looked like that hope may have been misplaced.

"What exactly is the device that is in the picture? I know it's some sort of weapon just by everyone's reactions, but what exactly does it do?" Asked Lily.

Her question froze the men in the room. Fritz had assumed that she knew what it was and Ed and Al had forgotten to tell her what it was that they needed to find Fritz for. Now they were all wondering what they should tell her and how much she could handle or even be trusted with. What did they even know about her anyway?

Fritz decided to stay out of it. His part was done and now he felt that he was free to run away to England or even America if he wanted to. There he could make his motion pictures in peace without fear of the Nazis and the Thule Society.

Al looked over at Ed. He wanted to ask what they were going to do. Ed was always the leader in their adventures together. But Ed was thinking too hard and didn't take the lead. Al sighed. He should be used to doing things on his own because of the two years that he and Ed had been apart, but it was still difficult to take the initiative when they were together. Old patterns were hard to break and he wasn't even sure he wanted to break them at all.

"The devise in the photograph is called a uranium bomb. It's capable of more destructive power than any other weapon ever seen in this world. Brother and I are on a mission to find it and destroy it. It should never have been created and it's kind of our fault that it's here at all so it's our responsibility to destroy it," Said Al.

"What do you mean when you say it's your fault that it's here? You didn't invent it," Said Lily.

"No, we didn't invent it, but we didn't prevent it from coming here either. We had the chance, but it was too late. We thought it was destroyed and that the threat was gone, but we were wrong. That was years ago and now we have to fix our mistake before more people are hurt over it or before it's used," Said Al.

"Al, how could you, either of you, have prevented a weapon like this from getting out into the world? You two must have been just boys, children, if it's been here for so long. It shouldn't have been your responsibility to stop this weapon," Said Lily.

She reached out her hand to Al and clasped his hand. It dawned on her that the burden that these young men had taken on was perhaps too much for them to bear alone. She knew she didn't have all the information she really needed about them and this situation, but they seemed to know the danger that they were in and still they went bravely on doing what they felt to be right.

A change came over her that seemed as natural as the progress of the season or the path of the stars in the heavens. She knew then what she had to do. She vowed to herself that she would be no less brave than these two young men. She only hoped that it wasn't too late. But she didn't want an audience for her confession and revelation. The fewer people who knew her secret, the safer everyone would be. She let go of Al's hand and gathered her wits about her.

"Perhaps we should go now. We'll need a good night's sleep before heading out to Munich in the morning," Said Lily.

"You don't need to come with us Lily, if you don't want to. Just because you know what we're doing doesn't mean you have to take on the danger that we're probably going to be facing," Said Ed.

"Remember Ed, we three are peas in a pod now. We're inseparable," Said Lily.

Ed didn't want to put Lily in any more danger. She said she could take care of herself, but his growing feelings for her made him want to protect her and keep her safely out of harm's way. Her tenaciousness reminded him a little bit of Winry and that thought made him terribly homesick.