A/N: Next chapter and the finally of Liz's intro arc! It ended up being a four parter, longer than I expected. But here it comes to an end and we move onto Central! Tell me what you think and ENJOY the chapter!

Chapter 4: In the General's Basement

I'd like to say my skills for sneaking around came from honest means but I don't think there are any honest means to learn sneaking around. My stature makes me suited to creeping about, a fact I would never admit. But I'd had practice such creeping with one of my close friend's when I was little, and later when I resorted to stealing in order to fill my stomach.

I also didn't have metal limbs prone to creaking, a fact which I was keenly reminded of with every step we took through the darkness of the General's garden.

"Can't you keep it down a bit more?" I hissed.

"Al can't help his body." Ed muttered, his eyes shifting around, searching for an unwanted flashlight.

"It creaks no matter how lightly I step. I'm sorry." All murmured.

"Its fine." I sighed. "Trespassing just makes me antsy, that's all."

"Well, following you is making me antsy." Ed said. "Where are we going?"

"The library was near the back right side of the house." I said. "Ella didn't tell me where the basement was, but it seems most practical to put it near the library. In case he needs research materials. So we're starting there."

We reached the wall of the house. Ed felt along the side, tapping at the stone. "Alright, you're sure the library is through here?"

"Positive." I replied. "I checked before I left."

"Okay." He clapped his hands together and opened a door in the wall of the house. The alchemic light flashed dangerously bright and I heard a voice from the other side of the house.

"Someone's here!"

"Dammit, more thieves?"

"Come on!" Ed pulled Al and I through the door and closed it behind us. He quickly made it disappear, leaving us alone in the darkness of the General's library.

"You were right, Liz." Al said, looking around.

"I usually am." I smirked.

"Don't get cocky until the job is done." Ed countered.

"You're not really one to talk, brother—"

"Never mind." Ed waved his hand dismissively. "Alright then, we're into the library. So what's the plan now?"

"Um…" I ran a hand through my hair. "Go basement searching?"

"You have no idea where it is, do you?"

"I already told you that. I just think it must be in the vicinity of the library."

"Its not like we have a lot of time. The longer we stay here, the more likely someone is to—"

"Hello?" a voice said.

In a flash, Ed, Al and I had jumped behind a book case, before the shadow creeping into the room could see us. But when the figure spoke again, I quickly felt stupid for our paranoia.

"Hello? I heard voices? Is that you Grandfather?"

It was Ella. The little girl must have snuck downstairs to steal cookies like she told me she sometimes did. It was possible she would be able to help us find the basement. I just had to get her to trust us.

Which of course meant not letting her see Ed and Al. The giant suit of armor, while harmless, looked exceptionally intimidating. And Ed… well, he just wasn't generally child friendly. Too temperamental. He was just a bad role model and I didn't want to expose the innocent young Ella to that.

I turned to Ed and Al, holding a finger up to my lips. I hoped the motion and the deadly glare I sent them conveyed my message but I didn't wait to see if it did before I stepped out from behind the book case.

"Hey Ella, it's just me." I said, plastering a friendly smile on my face.

"Liz." Ella smiled though confusion marred the usual cheerful expression. "What are you doing her in the middle of the night? You're not supposed to be here, are you?"

"No but I… I came to help your grandfather." I said. I winced at the lie. I could deceive and manipulate bad people to my heart's content without a twinge of guilt. I didn't have many qualms about manipulating most adults in general, especially those who looked down on me. But I hate pulling the strings of a little kid who didn't know any better.

"Help? Why does grandfather need helping?" Ella asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Because there are some bad people looking for him." I said, casting a sideways glance at the bookshelf where I could see Ed and Al staring out at me. "Bad people with superiority complexes that make them easily angry over stupid things." Ed seemed to blow a blood vessel and Al grabbed him to hold him back.

"Bad people? Why would they do that?" Ella asked.

"Something to do with his research. But I came to warn him." I said. "Do you know where he is?"

"He's in his basement." Ella shifted from foot to foot.

Bingo.

"Could you take me there, Ella." I asked.

She bit her lip. "I'm… not supposed to go in the basement."

"I know, you don't have to." I assured her. "You just have to show me where, okay? You don't have to go any further than that." I looked at her seriously. "I'm trying to help your grandfather, Ella. So I need to see him."

After a pause, Ella nodded. "Okay… okay I can show you."

She started to move deeper into the library and I moved to follow. I heard the clink of Al's armor and I turned back to glare at the boys who seemed to have started following. Wait, I mouthed at them. Ed did not seem to like this but I, curiously enough, did not seem to care. I followed after Ella as she lead me toward the back of the library.

We came to a dusty old bookshelf, the very final one in the room. Ella tugged on my sleeve. "Lift me up." I did and she reached out her little hands and grabbed ahold of a black book with gold trim around the edges. I worried for a minute that she just wanted to show me more pretty pictures, but when she tugged on the book, that theory went out the window. I heard the creak of wood shifting and looked down to see a panel in the floor sliding back to reveal stairs leading down into darkness.

"Its down there." Ella pointed. She backed away slightly from the mouth of the attic as if it might swallow her up. "But I can't go any further."

"You don't have to. Thank you, Ella." I said. "You should run on back to bed now."

"Will grandfather be okay?" she asked, looking up at me with wide eyes.

Not wanting to lie, I merely sighed. "I sure hope so, kiddo."

I didn't wait for Ed and Al to rejoin me. I knew they'd be close behind and I wanted to see if I could talk to General Raiven first. Also, if sneaking was required, I didn't want Al's creaks to get us caught. The kid couldn't help it, but that didn't make him any quieter.

The stairs descended a long way down and even after I reached the bottom, I had to go down a long, dark hall, lit with dim electric lights, before I could reach a large door at the end. But the door was missing one key element: a handle.

"Hmm." I pressed my hand against the place where the handle should be. No handle would make it difficult for anyone to get in. Unless it had an inner mechanism triggered by electricity. I clapped my hands together and pressed them against the door, sending a small bolt through the steel. To my delight, something within the door clicked and it swung open.

"Energy alchemy sure does come in handy sometimes." I muttered under my breath, flexing my hands as I stepped into the room. I smirked to think how lost the brothers would be without me here. It gave me pride to know that the great Fullmetal alchemist might have to rely on me, a nobody alchemist from the East.

I'd have to bother him about it later. See how hard he hit the ceiling when I did.

The room was dimly lit and I didn't see the general in the vicinity. There were rows of blocks on either side of the room. No. Not blocks. When my vision adjusted I saw they were beds.

Why beds? Unless they ran a creepy underground hotel I didn't know about, why have all these beds down here?

I wandered over to one bed and ran my hand along the sides. They were simple steel beds with no sheets, the kind of beds you'd find in a prison. But most disturbing were the leather straps. Two on each side and one at the front. Like restraints for the arms, legs and head.

My heart dropped into my stomach. Why would the General have beds with restraints in his basement? There was no innocent way to see this. These beds were made to hold down people like smaller contraptions were meant to hold down rats for experiments.

I grinded my teeth together, my fists clenching. I was about to run back up and tell Ed and Al when I heard a muffled noise at the other end of the room. I naturally followed the noise instead of going for back up.

Like we discussed earlier, I don't know when to quit when I'm ahead.

On a raised platform in the back of the basement, behind a curtain, I could see the silhouette of another bed, lit by a much brighter light. And though I could only see its shadow, I knew this one was occupied. I could tell from the muffled cries and the shifting of the silhouette.

Without a second thought, I hurried over and threw back the curtain. My eyes met with that of a terrified young man. He was bound and gagged but at the position his hands were angled, I could see the circles drawn onto his palms. They were the same ones on my gloves. My transmutation circles.

"Hold on." I whispered. "Hold on, I'll get you out of here."

The man gave a muffled cry and seemed to shake his head.

"Just stay still." I tugged at his bindings. "Damn these are tight."

"MMMPH!" The man said emphatically. His gaze drifted behind me and I froze as I saw another shadow spilling across the bed. One much taller than mine.

"Your research really is amazing, Elizabeth." General Raiven murmured. "Not long ago, I couldn't get these subjects to last for more than a day. And even then, their vitality had significantly decreased. This one keeps going strong. Your research is perfect."

I whirled around, my eyes narrowed. "I like to think so. At least I didn't have to test it on humans to perfect it."

"I really wished you hadn't stumbled onto this little mess." Raiven shook his head. He didn't look like the kind, grandfatherly man I had talked to only days before. His gaze was hollow and his voice flat. And yet there was a gleam in his eye. A gleam of hope. He had his answer right in front of him now.

"I'll bet you did." I said.

"All alchemy requires sacrifice to make progress. It's the law of equivalent exchange" Raiven said. "And with a dangerous area of alchemy such as ours, more sacrifice is required."

"That sacrifice isn't worth human lives." I snapped. "It's not worth kidnapping innocent people for your schemes just so you can climb back to the top. The state will never renew your certification when they find out!"

"They won't need to find out." Raiven said. "You've given me a perfect cover story."

"You won't be able to pull that off." I said. "That's my research. I know it better than anyone. I have the reports memorized. I could recite them all word for word to the military."

"Which is of course why I can't allow you to leave alive." Raiven said.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." I muttered. I started to raise my gloves but he glanced behind me. I didn't have time to turn before I heard the click of the gun. My hands froze before they could touch.

"Lower your hands, Elizabeth." The voice of Hannah Raiven came from over my shoulder.

"So you're part of this too?" I whispered. "The woman… the woman they talked about in the article was you." Sweat broke out on my brow and I started concentrating. Without clapping my hands together, the transmutation would be slower. But my hands were close enough to still absorb energy in the room and there was a lot of it. I just needed to stall. "You gather materials for your father, huh? Human materials I guess."

"Correct." Hannah said. "I may not know alchemy but I can do other things. We need this house. We need his certification. Or we end up on the streets. All of our money comes from the state. I just want what's best for my daughter."

"Ella is a nice girl." I said, flexing my fingers. "What's best for her is to not be brought up by murderers."

"She's not your daughter. I'll make that decision." Hannah replied.

"Kill her, Hannah, but not here." Raiven said. "Move her away from the subject. I don't want blood getting everywhere."

"Kind of hard to avoid a mess when a bullet is involved." A familiar and unusually welcome voice came from the shadows of the basement. "But thanks for stating your plan for the record. It'll make explaining things to the higher-ups a lot easier."

"Who the hell are you?" Raiven shouted into the darkness.

"I'm the state alchemist assigned to investigate you. Edward Elric," Edward Elric stepped into the light. "The Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Another kid with big dreams and too much luck." Raiven sneered.

"My title didn't come from luck, pal, it was earned." Ed said. "And I'll show you exactly how if you don't step away from Liz."

"Father?" Hannah looked to her father, eyes wide. They couldn't just kill a state alchemist and not be investigated. They could kill me because no one knew my name or would miss me if I was gone. Edward Elric? That was a whole different story.

"Don't move your gun." Raiven said. "If you want her to live, you'll leave this place."

"Right, so you're alright with me going straight back to my superiors and confirming their suspicions." Ed said. "Seriously, what was the plan there? You haven't looked very far ahead, General."

"Yeah." I said. "Even if you did use my research to get in, they'd just expect more progress. You'd be right back to square one."

"I didn't just plan to use your research." Raiven said. "Your research is a front. A logical explanation behind a much more powerful source." His hand shifted in his pocket again, but I wasn't about to give him time to find a transmutation circle. I dropped low, kicking Hannah's feet out from under and aimed a bolt of energy at Raiven. It would only stun him. I wouldn't stoop to murder like him.

But, to my surprise, he turned, hand out, and absorbed the shock right into his palm. He had no transmutation circle or anything. Just smooth flesh. And yet the energy went right into his body without a medium.

"The hell?" Ed blinked. "Alchemy without cost. But that can only mean." His mouth stretched into a grin. "What's in your pocket, General Raiven? Your more powerful source? Does this source happen to be… a philosopher's stone?"

Raiven grinned as well. "Smart boy." He drew his hand out of his pocket, carrying between his thumb and forefinger a small red stone, only a little bigger than a marble.

"A philosopher's stone?" my eyes widened. "You have… a philosopher's stone?"

"A generous gift from someone who saw potential in my brand of alchemy." Raiven grinned. "I can absorb and direct energy without cost, using this. Expel unlimited amounts. Its even more powerful than what is allowed by your little theory." Raiven looked at me. "But your theory is enough to act as a blanket while I use the philosopher's stone to achieve real superiority." Alchemic light flashed around him. "With this, I can absorb enough in seconds to kill a man in one strike. Would you like to see?"

Hannah stepped back from her father and I let out a hiss. "He's absorbing a lot of energy. Too much. He could bring the ceiling down."

"Then we have to stop him!" Ed said.

"We can't! With that much energy, he'll shock us if we get too close." I said.

Ed grinned. "Good thing one of us can. Now Al!"

From the shadows behind the general, a familiar suit of armor lunged, wrapping his arms tight around the General, hard enough to push his arms to his side and startle him into releasing the stone.

"I suddenly love your shock resistant, creaky body, Al." I said.

"It'll take more than that." Raiven growled. "To stop me." He twisted his hand, aiming to toward Edward. My eyes widened. "Look out!" I ran toward the blonde boy, skidding in front of him just as Raiven released the bolt.

"Oh no you don't." I raised my palm, catching the energy in the center of my circle. I didn't have much time to transmute but it was enough. The bolt flowed into my glove, filling my body with energy. A dangerous amount. But that was what my second circle was for. "You forget my research. I know how to use it just as well as you. I wrote the damn thing." I breathed deeply and kept concentration, letting the energy follow a path through my body and dispel gently through my other glove, so as to decrease the power of the electricity. Then, when it had been reduced to a manageable level, I shot it back in the general's direction. "So STAY down!"

With Al's arms around him, he couldn't do anything. The bolt knocked him unconscious. Al dropped him to the ground. "He's out brother."

"Good." Ed said. He glanced at me. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." I replied, though it gave me great pride to hear those words from his mouth.

"Brother!" Al called. "The stone."

"Ah. Right!" Ed scrambled over to where the stone had fallen but instead of the bright red object it had been moments ago, the stone had cracked and dulled. He skidded to a stop. "No. No, not again."

The stone didn't listen to him. It just evaporated into thin air, as if it had never been there at all.

"Another fake." Ed muttered, placing a hand to his forehead. "Another… god dammit."

"Father?" Hannah shifted from where she sat on the ground. Her hand inched toward her gun.

"I wouldn't" Al said. "You should stay still. There will be some people here soon who want to see you."

By people he of course meant the military police, which showed up soon after the action in the basement subsided. The house became a flurry of questions and activity. Everything moved about in a blur.

I remember the thing that stuck out most in my mind was Ella crying for her mother and grandfather.

That and the knife of guilt that tore through my chest when I heard it.

Why did it have to come to this?

"Ella has an aunt and uncle not far away." Alphonse said quietly. "They'll be taking care of her now. I asked."

"Great. We uprooted an innocent little girl from her family." I muttered, staring down at my knees. We were sitting on bench at Central train station. The next train to Central was due in five minutes. In one hand I clutched a ticket. The other rested on my suitcase sitting next to me on the bench. My research sat within it.

I had my research, but not what I had wanted. Not a recommendation to take the state alchemist exam. Instead I'd picked up a whopping pile of guilt.

"What, you think we should have let Raiven continue his sick research?" Ed asked. "Using human lives to fuel his goals?"

"No." I murmured. "No, of course I don't. I just wish the whole thing didn't happen."

"Me too." Ed said. "First I thought it was busy work. Then it turned into a lead and then another dud. Another false trail to the philosopher's stone. Every time we get close, it punches me in the gut."

"Who the hell cares about the stupid stone?" I snapped, getting to my feet. "The stone is nothing! Its just another tool. Lives were ruined by this, don't you care about that at all?"

Wind whipped through the train station, stirring up Ed and I's jackets. He stared at me, his eyes wide for a moment. Then they narrowed again, back into his usual, annoying expression. "You wouldn't understand."

Without another word, he turned and strode away, moving closer to the platform.

"Well, if that stupid stone is worth more to you than human lives, I don't want to understand." I called after him. "Dammit." I whirled and kicked the bench with my foot, which proved not the best idea as I stubbed the hell out of my toe.

"Please, try to understand," Al said quietly from behind me. "Brother does care about the human lives. He cares more than he lets on. But we've seen a lot of horrible things since we began our search." He stood. "You asked us if there was something we are obsessed with. And there is. Its finding the philosopher's stone. And it's not for the glory like you might think."

I looked up at him. "Then what is it for?"

"To regain what we've lost." Al said.

I looked from him to his brother, standing on the platform, his back to us. He didn't glance back. I could picture him staring resolutely forward. He had the gaze of someone who had an important goal in mind. It was a feeling I understood well. Too well.

"Al," I turned back to him. "I… never asked you why you wear that suit of armor all the time."

Before Al could answer, if he planned to answer at all, the train whistle sounded nearby. I turned to see the train pulling into the station.

"We'd better go." Al said, picking up his suitcase and moving toward the platform.

"Yeah." I said, picking up my own suitcase. "Guess so."

The brothers were a riddle, as was their quest for the philosopher's stone. Frankly, it wasn't any of my business. My business was still the same. I would become a state alchemist even if I had to get a recommendation from the Fuhrer himself.

My first chance of hope was gone, but I didn't plan on stopping now. Because that's what an obsession is. It doesn't just drive you forward. It obliterates the concept of failure completely from your mind.

Obsession can be useful that way. Useful and dangerous. But either way, I understood.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! In the next installment, Liz heads to Central to see if she can still take her test even without Raiven's help. Remember to review and tell me what you think!