Author's Note: Hope you guys enjoy and Please REVEIW! I wish FMA was real because life is not as simple as equivalent exchange or giving someone 85% of your life (Winry reference). Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW!

Escapes and Encounters

A bullet hole through the window revealed that Mustang had been shot in the head. But there was something off about the angle of the hole. If he'd been sitting in his chair, or even standing, the bullet wouldn't have entered at such a low angle. If it did, it would've hit him in the hip or the leg at least, but definitely not the head.

I wasn't going to say anything though. Riza was crying and shaking non-stop, and mom and Gracia were having a hard time calming her down.

"What are you looking at?" Dad asked, coming to stand by me. I gulped, wondering if I should lie or tell the truth. So I told the partial truth, which is always safer than flat-out lying.

"Um, the bullet hole in the window." I said slowly.

Dad looked at it for a moment, then looked back at Mustang lying on the ground, then looked back at the hole. The same realization must have dawned on him, because I heard him mutter, "Even if he was crouching on the floor, it wouldn't have hit him in the head."

For a moment, I got anxious because I thought that they had overheard us, but they didn't hear a word. Dad put a finger to his mouth like he was shushing me, "We'll talk about this later." But little did I know that later wouldn't come for us, and that this would be the last time for a long time that I'd see my dad.

Suddenly, the airships circling Central headquarters lowered their platforms. I'd never seen such an ominous sight in my life. As soon as the platforms were lowered, men in black medieval armor disembarked. The cold, black metal glinted eerily in the sunlight. They maintained straight, perfect rows, swiftly covering the grounds like a methodical hoard of ants until the headquarters was completely surrounded by them.

"What are you guys standing around for?" I recognized the voice. It was Jean Havoc by the door.

He froze when he saw Mustang lying cold on the floor. The cigarette at his mouth fell and landed on the floor with a silent thud. He bit her lip, and his eyes looked wet and glassy, but he remained serious.

"Breda and Fuery are loading people up onto airships headed north. You guys better come too." He said.

Evacuating? Again? How many times were we going to run? "Doesn't the military have anything to fight them off with?" I yelled.

Havoc cocked an eyebrow at me and picked up his fallen cigarette gingerly, "You've got spirit kid. But if you haven't noticed, no one can perform alchemy and we're seriously outnumbered. Now let's go."

We all gathered together and were about to leave when those men in strange armor appeared at the other end of the hall and called out to us. Havoc was about to stop and fight but dad got between him and the oncoming force, "Havoc, see that my family gets to safety."

Dad was always like that—the heroic type. He had to carry his burdens alone and sacrifice for other people. He always took care of mom, and Ed and I, before ever giving a damn about himself. But at that moment, I hated and loved that part of him at the same time. Loved it because he always wanted the best for us, but hated it because he was sacrificing himself for others, without any thought as to how we might feel about it. So of course, I was naturally opposed to this.

"We're not leaving you here!" Mom and I said at the same time. The armored men were quickly approaching.

Dad took one last look at us, his gold eyes unwavering with almost fearless determination. "Go with Havoc. Don't worry about me. I love you both. Always remember that."

And with that, he showed his back to us. Havoc pulled us along and I felt my feet unwillingly follow the others. I forced myself to look forward but no matter how much I tried to stifle the tears they blurred my vision anyway.

We ran forever it seemed through a winding maze of hallways. Gunshots and explosions sounded in the distance. They seemed to be everywhere, surrounding us. Run, run, run, I kept repeating the words in my head, trying to get the image of the armored men out of my mind.

As we rounded the corner, we ran into Ed and Tim. Havoc almost shot them thinking they were the enemy. All of us screamed.

Ed cringed away from the barrel of the gun pointed at his head, "Yo man, we're not the enemy. Put that thing down." Havoc let out a deep breath and lowered it, the gun trembling nervously in his hand. I had to catch my breath too. I thought Ed was a goner.

Havoc gestured for us to follow once more and said the airships yards weren't far away. Ed and Tim flanked to my right and left as we were running. I didn't like the expression on Tim's face at all. His bronze complexion had a sallow tone to it. He was pale…like he'd seen something horrible. Ed too, had a dark look to him. What had they seen when they went to check on the Fuhrer? What was happening to this country?

At last, we reached the airship yards. Some had already taken off into the cloudy, gray sky. A barricade of Central soldiers were protecting the airship yards as people boarded the ships. And like Havoc had said, Breda and Fuery were hard at work getting people together in an orderly fashion.

We found a nearby airship. The platform was large and the airship was equally huge, towering us by at least 50 feet. Havoc gestured to walk up the platform and into the ship.

Elicia ran inside, her long brown hair and white dress blowing in the breeze. She was nothing like the little girl I'd seen in the picture. She was mature and beautiful. I wondered if I had changed at all from when I was little. Maybe not. I still cried too much.

I used to think that I could never live up to my dad's legacy, and that his legacy was the problem. Everyone expected so much from me…my teachers, my friends. I used to wish that I could change my last name, it had too many expectations attached to it.

But the strange part is that, even though I wished I could change it, I wanted to be just as great an alchemist as my father was. My father…the one who had sacrificed his great alchemy for his brother's life. And now he was sacrificing himself for us again.

As I stood on that platform I felt ashamed. I felt like I could've done more to protect our family. I would never be able to live up to him because I was selfish. I had been so selfish. And now, I was losing him. We were all losing him. I wished that I could rewind time and fight alongside him.

I felt Ed nudge my shoulder, "Sis, what's wrong? And where's dad? Did he say he was coming back soon, 'cause we're leaving."

A shiver ran down my spine, "I don't know, Ed. He told us to go with Havoc while he fought off some guys." Ed was standing behind me, but I didn't want to turn to look at him.

Suddenly, two strong hands gripped my shoulders and turned me around. It was Tim. He didn't say anything. He just looked at me with those sorrowful red eyes of his, his mouth set in a hard line across his face. Was it because he had lost his father too, or was it his understanding look that made me want to cry?

He pulled me into a hug. Ed hugged us too, wrapping his arms around Tim and I, and before I knew it, Mom, Elicia, and Gracia had gathered around too. I wasn't even sure if we'd make it out alive. But having everyone there made me feel safer somehow.

I heard someone clear their throat in the distance. It was Havoc. "This is very touching and all, but we've got to get to hell out of here!" He yelled, pointing at the black ships about to hover over us.

We all ran inside the airship. The platform closed and we entered the main deck, a large space with square windows to look outside. The ship felt shaky as it ascended. I looked outside to see the headquarters shrinking from view and I felt a frantic feeling in my gut. Dad was still there. Somewhere. The booming sound of turbines and the ship quickly accelerating into the clouds disrupted my thoughts.

Ed turned to me with a serious expression on his face, "No matter what happens Liz, we stick together. You got that?" He put his hand out.

Tim smirked and put his hand on Ed's, "Yeah, and I'll keep your crazy brother in line so he doesn't do anything stupid. Like that time you fell in the punch bowl and peed in it."

Ed looked at him with a mix of shock and total annoyance, "I never peed in it! That was just a rumor!"

But Tim kept rubbing it in, "Either way, it was pretty funny." It was hard trying not to laugh. I didn't want to upset Ed, but seeing them like that made me feel happy. They'll never know how grateful I was for it.

I put my hand on theirs, "Ok guys, enough of the jokes. Ed's right. From now on, we all stick together. Wherever one goes, the other follows."

They stopped their childish poking and pushing and looked up at me. Ed grinned cheerily and gave me a thumbs up. Tim kept looking at me like he wanted to say something, but it didn't quite come out. I heard him mutter something unintelligible.

Ed got a devilish smile on his face. He slung his arm around my shoulder like he was about to let me in on something...

"Hey Liz, want to know what's really funny? Tim has a secret he doesn't want you to know. And I'll let you in on it." His voice was all sing-song. Tim's face got all red—a tone that surprisingly matched his eyes—and he stared at Ed threateningly.

"Ed, if you say one word I'll kill you!" He yelled, but Ed merely smirked at him. What was this secret Ed was going on about?

Ed put his lips to my ear. Tim's eyes widened as he whispered, "Tim's got a crush on-"

But Ed didn't even have a chance to finish because Tim put him in a headlock and dragged him off to the corner. All I heard was Ed yelling, "Ok! Ok! I'll keep your secret if you stop choking me!"

A loud announcement sounded throughout the entire ship:

"We're heading for Briggs, up North. General Armstrong is unfortunately not with us, as she is leading the troops in Central. But General Miles is filling in for now. No airships are following us. We're safe for now."

A collective sigh of relief could be heard throughout the crowd. Even Havoc, who seemed to be the most on-edge, breathed a sigh of relief. I almost jumped when I saw mom standing next to me. She'd been so quiet. I hadn't even realized that she was there. The expression on her face was grim and blonde tendrils escaped her messy bun. Looking at her made me realize that I wasn't the only nervous wreck. But nevertheless, she smiled warmly.

"He valued our lives above his own. It's not easy, but we have to be patient. No matter what, your has dad always comes back. Have faith in him." She patted me on the back.

Gracia called out—something about Riza—and she ran off to help. Next thing I knew, Gracia, mom, and Elicia were helping Riza to the upstairs level where there were beds and cabins.

In the largest Cretian airship back at Central...

"The only reason why we're keeping you alive is because you know how this nation is run. You know how the people of this country are, and what they respond to…" King Alexander of Creta sat in his high throne with a bored expression on his face. The pitiful form of the handcuffed man below him was held down by two guards.

He could kill him so easily if he wanted to. It would've been a pleasure to see his bloody entrails spilled across the floor. The only reason why the man wasn't dead was because his son had spoken logic into him. The only logical person in the family he supposed. He definitely DID NOT get that trait from him.

The King was a tall, handsome man of 50 years old. His shoulders were broad and the silky lion-skin cape he wore showed this off very well. His long red hair was in a braid that went down to his waist, and he had pale skin. He was a man of lean build, with a ruggedly handsome face—perplexing violet eyes that were thoughtful and wicked, a thin nose, a small mouth, and a pointy chin.

When he was younger, some had said that he could pull off being a girl. But he had grown to be as majestic and handsome as a statesman, the man everyone had wanted him to be, but he was also 10X more dangerous and destroyed everything he touched. Only his son could reign him in…sometimes.

The man looked up—Roy Mustang looked up. He was still breathing heavy. When he awoke, the guards had beat him up. His face was scarred with scratches and it felt like a rib or two was broken, but he didn't complain. In fact, he hadn't said a word. He wasn't about to lose face now. He still had a duty to his country, whether he was a captive or not...

All he remembered was being in his office when he saw the Cretian ships enclosing around the city. He had phoned Riza in her office, and was about to run out to meet her and check on the Fuhrer, when there was a flash of light.

When the light faded, a beautiful, slender woman stood before him. She had long black hair and facial features nearly identical to Lust...at least, she looked like Lust, but with subtle differences—flatter chest, blue eyes, and skin way paler than the Lust he'd known. He almost froze at the sight of her, thinking that Lust had really come back to life, when he noticed the Cretian seal of two dragons embroidered into the chest part of her long, black strapless gown.

"I've always wanted to meet the famed hero of Ishval." Her seductive voice gave him the chills, and not in a good way.

Mustang was about to snap flames at her when he felt his arm go stiff as if by some magic. His whole body went stiff. He couldn't move a muscle and struggling was futile. The Sorceress smiled darkly, and walked a circle around him like she was surveying her prey.

"What's your name witch?" Mustang said through gritted teeth.

"That's so rude. I'm offended you would call me such a thing. For a minute, I was finding you quite the handsome man. I'm jealous that the King wants you all to himself." She said in mock disappointment.

"Who are you?" Mustang demanded again.

He was trying to get flames to come out of his hand but nothing happened. He should be able to do alchemy no matter what. The Sorceress caught sight of his confused expression and laughed.

"Your idiotic alchemy won't work. I've disabled it. Look outside love." She turned Mustang around to see the blue transmutation circle hovering above Central, its blue light washing over the city. How in the world had she managed to disable alchemy?

"And it's not just you dear, so don't think you're special. No one can perform alchemy." She said with finality, and turned him back around to face her. Mustang felt a knot of fear growing in his stomach. What would happen to his men and to Central? He needed answers.

"I'll ask again. Who are you? And what are you planning to do with my country?" He asked, seriously.

This time the woman didn't laugh. She stared at him with a serious gaze of her own. "People call me 'The Sorceress.' And your country is no longer your concern. The King will decide what happens to this country from now on."

And with those words, he suddenly felt a fierce pain in his gut. As his vision blurred, he looked down in slow motion to see that the Sorceress had punched him. But it wasn't just that. A black aura was radiating from her fist. His whole body felt groggy and slowed on impact, like his life force was being drained.

Before he blacked out, he heard her say, "The energy inside you…it's not like the other alchemists I've drained. It's invigorating, your life force…you've used the philosopher's stone, haven't you?"

And now he was prostrated before the King, in that strange hell-hole of a place, trying to grasp every detail around him.

He was on an airship, in a vast room that was a mixture of a throne room and a pilot's deck. The King sat in his silver high chair, flanked by his son, Prince Kane on the right, and the Sorceress on the left. Mustang himself was prostrated on a long red carpet, like the kind you see in leading up to the throne in fairytales. On the other side of the room were the pilots and controls.

Prince Kane, a handsome young man of 18 who had short red hair but looked like a miniature of his father, stepped before Mustang. His eyes had slightly more compassion in them, "Both you and the Fuhrer are our prisoners. Answer our questions and we won't harm you. Oh yes, and don't think about escaping. Everyone thinks you're dead anyway."

Mustang felt relieved. The Fuhrer was still alive. But him, dead? He wasn't dead. As if to answer his question, the Sorceress sauntered over to Mustang and gently lifted his chin to meet her gaze. Tendrils of her black hair hit his face.

"You should've seen the expression on your girl friend's face. She wouldn't let go of your dead body for nothin'. Your friends had to drag her away. It was truly pathetic. You humans are such fools." Her voice was low and seductive. But the pain Mustang felt just then was far worse than a few broken ribs.

The King laughed, "While I love seeing emotional pain, are you sure we can't torture this one?"

"Not yet father. Unless of course, he doesn't give us the vital information regarding the stone." The Prince answered.

Roy's eyes widened. The stone? That's right, the Sorceress had mentioned it earlier... He figured he'd wait. They weren't going to kill him after all. Maybe he still had time to figure out their plan. And there were far worse things to think about. Riza thought he was dead. His heart throbbed in his chest, probably the way Riza had felt when she laid eyes on the cadaver she mistook to be him.

The Sorceress smirked when she saw the fire in his eyes. She loved fire. It was her favorite element to use. The urge to suck his life force was overwhelming, but she resisted it. To her surprise, Mustang remained quiet.

"You have nothing to say? Don't worry, I made sure the cadaver looked and sounded exactly like you. I even said, "I love you" to make it real enough." The Sorceress said.

Mustang spit in her face and she backed away in repulsion. Prince Kane gestured for the guards to take him away. As he was being dragged to the stairs to that led to the lower prison level, he overheard them.

"Bring in the next prisoner." The Prince called out to the departing guards.

They walked down the narrow aisle, a jail cell on each side. It was dark and the air was damp. Each cell was the size of a large cubicle, containing a miserable prisoner clothed in cloth rags. Some looked back at Mustang meanly, while others slept or cowered in the shadows in fear. Steam came out of multiple vents. It filled the air with a sulfurous-smelling vapor that clung to everything and filled the cells with mist. The guards opened a nearby room that looked like a janitor's closet and forced him to undress. The blue uniform and all of its badges of honor were stripped, and replaced with a thin white tunic that reached his knees and dirty, white pants.

A prison cell was opened and the guards threw him in carelessly. Roy landed headfirst into a stagnant puddle on the floor and the guards laughed. As he found his place on a thin mattress of straw, he looked up to see a face he thought he'd never see.

"Is this good times or what?" Edward Elric said with a small smile. He sat in the corner of the cell, almost near the mattress. He also wore the same rags.

Mustang's face lit up, but Ed gave him a warning look not to say to much. Mustang smirked, "Yeah. Life's just peachy. But I guess I've been through worse."

"I know exactly how you feel." Ed replied. The two gave a knowing, secret smile to one another. The guard rolled his eyes and snatched Ed by the collar. Mustang got up to help him, but Ed waved his hand to stop.

"Yur the next pris'ner the Prince be wantin' to see." The guard said, handcuffing Ed and leading him out of the cell.

"Why does the Prince want to see me? And please, speak English this time." Ed said.

"Did me ears deceive me, or tort' he gettin' frisky?" The crony guard snickered to the other guard.

Ed looked at them both like they were idiots. How the hell had he gotten into this mess? Oh right, the Cretian punks had called reinforcements and overtaken him.

"The King call fer yur exper' opinion. 'Cause yur the exper' on the philosophs' stone."

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