Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.

The Führer's Prison

It was midnight on an overcast and mildly cool evening with almost a promise of rain in the near future. Out the window the black silhouettes of trees swayed in something slightly stronger than a breeze. The Führer's Gala was set to begin later that day and Riza lay awake, as she'd done most of the night, in hers and Maria's hiding place just outside Central City. Staring at the ceiling, numerous thoughts passed through her head regarding the task set them that day.

She contemplated Roy and how they'd not seen each other for a few weeks; not since he had to return to his life to keep up appearances. Riza found herself missing him, which was a relatively new experience for her. If she closed her eyes, she could feel his lips on hers, hear his laugh, feel the warmth of his arms wrapped around her. And those thoughts made her unconsciously bite the inside of her lip in a very unladylike manner. Still, if all went well today they would not see each other, and his true allegiance would not be revealed until they were prepared (if it was not already known).

Her attention then turned to her grandfather who was waiting for them to bring Lady Mustang to his estate. Unlike governors of the regions within Amestris, the attendance at the Gala of the governors of the annexed countries was less expected. Anyway, Grumman's views were well-known and his appearance would have actually been a surprise. The only reason he'd not yet been assassinated was the threat of a Cretan revolt. However, soon enough Bradley would send her father in to decimate Creta like he did Ishval. They were running out of time.

Riza figured that the only reason she was still alive, aside from those times they failed to assassinate her of course, was because she left and never went back. Until now.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and exhaled slowly, forcing the thoughts back. Riza had to calm her mind, be the assassin that found the weakness and exploited it without remorse, who analyzed the situation objectively and acted decisively. Today she could not afford to be worrying about her grandfather, or thinking about the handsome Roy Mustang.

There was a soft knock on the door and she looked over as it opened to see Maria tread quietly into the room. The brunette was ready, armed, and probably had not slept much either.

"It's time?" Riza asked, meeting her friend's eyes.

"Yes." Maria nodded almost undetectably.

She sat up, turned to swing her legs over the side of the bed, and stood in one continuous motion. Fully clothed in black, she was also already armed, with knives secreted away in numerous locations on her body.

"Let's go then." Riza led the way out of the room and down to the basement where they opened a trap door in the floor that led to an underground tunnel. She descended the cold metal ladder and dropped down onto the stone walkway, Maria following closely behind after securing the door. They walked in the direction of the underground prison, a stone wall to their left, and water flowing on their right. "I forgot the smell down here," the blonde quietly said.

Maria chuckled softly. "That's hard to do."

After travelling down some stairs, they reached a heavy door set on iron hinges and Riza carefully picked the lock, opening the door cautiously. Closing it, she locked it behind her to cover their tracks and they followed a narrow hallway. It was pitch black, so they each had one hand along the wall, following a mental map to a certain room in this area no longer in use.

Suddenly, her hand trailing along the wall felt nothing: that was one hallway. The wall disappeared two additional times and Riza stopped, saying, "This is it." They turned down another hall and walked until they could see the faintest beam of light falling before them. They stood facing each other, one woman on each side of the trap door alchemized in the ceiling above them. Maria's face was just distinguishable in the gloom, and it looked much like she imagined hers did: calm, emotionless, ready.

She nodded and then gave Maria a leg-up so the woman could both reach the door and be steady enough to open it. The brunette flipped the door open quietly and pulled herself up and into the room above them. Riza glanced from the opening above her to the hallway around her, judging the height of the ceiling. Shaking her body loose, she placed herself directly below the small doorway, bent her knees, and swung her arms back for momentum. Exploding upward, she grasped the edge of the opening with her hands and allowed herself to swing slightly forward and back. On the second swing back, she used the motion to pull her body upward, bringing her left knee up to rest on the floor next to her left hand and then pulling her right leg up as well.

She stood and Maria closed the small door behind them, covering it back up with straw that was strewn on the floor. They were in a cell in sub-basement six. A practically insignificant amount of torchlight poured in through the small barred window set into the heavy door. They made sure to keep to the shadows and spoke little, aware that they had several hours to wait until they were to meet Havoc and Fuery.

At relatively regular intervals, a guard or two would walk by on a patrol and the women kept track of time based on those rounds. Riza and Maria could hear the men chatting unconcernedly, clearly not expecting any of the prisoners to be going anywhere. Though six was the lowest basement, it often had the most lax security because it was assumed to already be the most secure. Few knew that there were other portions of the prison, sewers, and tunnels that ran below this floor.

At one point, she could hear trays of food being slid into the other cells and then one popped into theirs. Once the men were gone, they both reached toward the tray and split the food, unappetizing though it was. It would do neither of them any good to sit in this cell for hours with little movement and no food.

Finally, the patrols became less frequent, signally that security personnel were being pulled in order to protect, or perhaps keep in line, the important people attending the Gala. Riza glanced at Maria, who nodded that she was ready and aware of the time. Unlocking the door from the inside, they quietly opened it, slipped out, and locked it behind them, returning her pin to her hair for safe keeping.

They strode casually yet purposefully to the door leading to the stairs that would take them to the upper floors. Heads held high, they chatted as they walked, behaving as if they belonged there. For the time being at least, they could not afford anyone questioning their presence or Bradley and Hawkeye would be tipped off.

The stairwells and halls were brightly lit with torches, and despite the continual movement of guards contained a slight note of mustiness. The stench of prisoners not permitted to bathe, and who frequently urinated and defecated in their cells, was rank. Riza briefly wondered how she had been able to walk these halls at all, but did her best to appear unperturbed by the smell.

They saw surprisingly few guards until they arrived around the corner from the door to the dark cells. This particular entrance was always locked and kept guarded by two men. Riza stood next to Maria, their backs to the wall, and waited for Havoc and Fuery to meet them in this predetermined location. Finally, to her right, she heard footsteps and looked up, a hand reaching for her knives. She recognized the two men, though they had pilfered a couple guard uniforms to infiltrate the prison and blend in; they all exchanged nods of greeting.

She nodded at Maria who turned the corner and walked up to the two men outside the dark cells, one of whom angrily told her, "You are not permitted to enter, assassin, you know that."

Laughing lightly, the smirk audible in her voice, she replied, "I am now." Maria quickly crashed the men's heads together, knocking them out, and they crumpled to the floor.

Riza ran around the corner, grabbed one guard's keyring, and unlocked the door as swiftly as she was able. Fuery and Havoc helped to move the downed guards out of the way and kept an eye out for more. They opened the door and quickly walked inside, watching as the inner guard turned toward the commotion.

From behind her came the sound of the other guards' prone forms being dragged in and the door being shut and locked. Riza slid one of her knives out of its sheath as she spun and kicked the guard in the gut, forcing him back against the wall. Before he could move, she had a hand on his chest holding him in place and a blade at his throat. His breath quickened in fear and his eyes widened as he realized who exactly was holding a knife at his neck.

"You…you're…"

"Where's Lady Mustang?" Her voice was calm and firm as steel. Riza's eyes bored into his, her face an impassive mask, making it clear that she was perfectly willing and able to kill him. The man continued to look at her, and silence reigned as her companions waited.

"P-please…I…I…don't know. They d-don't tell us. I…"

She interrupted him, "You hear things. You know. I will not ask again," and pushed her knife just a touch further.

The man raised a tentative, rather shaky hand and pointed down the hall stretching to her right. He cleared his throat and his eyes darted again to the weapon there. "Cell…seven."

In response, Riza removed the blade from his throat and flipped it against her forearm. She brought her arm across her body, and whipped her hand back toward his head, contacting the side of his skull with the pommel of her knife to knock him out. The man slumped to the floor and Havoc pulled him over to join his fellow unconscious guards.

She glanced at her group and then started down the hallway, Maria right next to her and the men close behind. They reached the cell, unlocked the door, and drew their weapons; they could not be sure of precisely what might be behind door number seven. The guard could have lied, or Lady Mustang could have lost her mind entirely and might decide to attack thinking they're guards. Riza cautiously opened the door and let it swing outward.

"Lady Mustang?" she inquired, searching the gloom of the cell for a body, the torch behind them providing insufficient light.

Suddenly there was a rustle on the far, right-hand corner of the tiny room and someone stood. The individual had a slightly larger build than Riza had expected, and was taking slow steps toward the now open door. A rather gruff voice said, "Well, it's about damn time that boy got me out of here."

Finally, a head poked out and a tall, broad-shouldered woman appeared wearing the remnants of what must have been an exquisite and luxurious dress. The woman's eyes found her own and then moved to everyone else in turn, coming to rest on Havoc, who was likely the only individual she recognized. "Havoc, isn't it?" He nodded in reply. "Where's Roy?"

"He's at the Gala to allay suspicions, my lady," Havoc said.

"We're friends of his," Riza said with the slight shrug of one shoulder. She walked around the woman to close the cell door and lock it to make the escaped fugitive at least a smidgen less obvious.

"Indeed? I know who you are, girl. Look a bit like your father, don't you?" Lady Mustang stood with her arm around Havoc's shoulders, who was helping support her.

Riza stiffened barely perceptibly at those words as she finished toying with the lock. She then rose, stuck that ever useful pin back in her hair, and turned saying, "I assure you, I'm slightly less homicidal."

Lady Mustang chuckled and said, "I can see why my Roy-boy would like you."

The blonde let an amused smile slip onto her face, having never heard Lord Mustang referred to as 'Roy-boy.' A sudden banging could be heard coming from the direction of the door they used to gain entry to this floor of cells. The smile fell from her lips and she met Maria's eyes, who then took up the rear of the group. Riza led them down the hall, further away from the entry door, hoping they would find another exit. Every other floor in the damn prison had more than one entry point, and she was betting that this one did as well.

They passed more hallways, and she realized there were far more cells on this floor than she'd thought. There was no telling who else might be held there, invisible to the rest of the world. How many deaths or disappearances had been the work of Bradley?

As they ran, Havoc and Lady Mustang were close behind her, and she heard the steps coming down the hall on her right just in time to push them back toward Maria. Not a moment later, Riza was shoved forcefully against the wall to her left and her shoulder smacked on the unforgiving stone. The knife in her hand clattered to the floor and she reached for another but a large hand was already gripping her neck, lifting her off the ground, pressing her back against the wall. The clash of steel came from nearby as her friends were also engaged in combat; this man was clearly not alone. Wonderful.

Unable to get any air, she closed her eyes for a second, forcibly calming her heart and respiration rates to conserve oxygen and promote rational thought. Her awareness expanded and everything seemed to slow down: she felt the rough skin of the hand clenched around her neck, the blood pulsing through the forearm that her own hands grasped for support, the man's other arm reaching for a weapon, swords clanging to her right, the soft sound of Maria's knife burrowing into some unfortunate man's flesh.

In barely a heartbeat, Riza erupted into action. Her left hand rose to the man's fingers and grabbed two of them, bending them backwards until they popped. His grip loosened and he tried to pull his arm away while bringing a knife around with his other, but she did not give him the chance. She quickly lifted her legs, placing her right leg on his shoulder with her foot behind his neck and crossing her left leg over it, throwing him off balance. As they fell, she braced his shoulder with her lower legs and jerked his arm, dislocating the joint entirely.

They landed on the floor, the guard shouting in pain as Riza rolled away and pulled a throwing knife from its sheath on her arm, rising to her knees to whip it down the hallway. The knife buried itself in the back of one of the guards attacking Fuery and the man fell. She jumped to her feet and ran down the hall, retrieving the recently used knife.

After a step another knife flew from her hand, this one slipping between two of one soldier's ribs to puncture a lung. Another man turned, alerted to her presence when his comrade fell, and started his approach. They locked eyes and he was bringing his sword arm down for an attack. No weapon in her hand, she quickened her pace, bringing herself inside his wingspan and blocking his arm with hers. Landing a jab on his solar plexus, she gripped his wrist and twisted hard until there was a loud crack and his sword clattered to the floor. She kneed him in the groin and threw him headfirst against the wall where he fell and lay still.

She drew a knife and flipped it in her left hand so she was holding it by the blade, throwing it at the last man fighting Maria. It sliced through the arm poised to attack her friend which distracted him sufficiently for the brunette to finish him off. The two women shared another look and Riza went about repossessing her knives before approaching Lady Mustang, Fuery, and Havoc.

"Everyone alright?" Her gaze flicked over her companions looking for any injuries: everyone seemed to still be in one piece. A series of breathless nods from her group was the only response.

Maria came up beside her. "So much for getting in and out with as little bloodshed as possible."

"We knew it might happen. We have to get out of here." Riza led them further down the hallway and they found a platform set back into the wall connected to a system of ropes and chains. It appeared that it was able to be moved upward and downward to different floors of the prison. She looked at Maria. "I'm thinking this connects directly with the waterway below so they can bring prisoners to and from this floor without being seen."

They glanced up as the sound of footsteps and the clank of armor and weapons reached them. Maria wryly said, "I'm thinking it's our only option at the moment."

Riza nodded, throwing open the gates blocking the elevator. "Everybody in…Fuery, can you figure out how to work this?"

"Yes…wow, this is fascinating. Look at this, it…" Sir Kain Fuery was extremely intelligent and had a tendency to become very interested in the inner workings of any device. Normally, this did not bother her, and she actually found it entertaining. Now, however…

"Fuery, you know I like you, but right now I don't need an explanation. Just get us out of here." She tore her eyes from the hallway for the briefest of instants to see that he understood.

"Yes, Lady." Fuery nodded, pulled on a lever, and the platform began to descend just in time because soldiers were now visible at the end of the hall. Fortunately, after a few seconds, they were out of site.

They passed other floors and saw no guards. If they were lucky, word had not spread quickly enough that they were using the platform. After only three floors, they were surrounded by stone and the wooden structure of the moving platform.

"This is quite the rescue, young lady. At least I hope it's a rescue," Lady Mustang was leaning against the lone wooden wall, watching Riza and catching her breath. She was apparently a touch out of shape after having spent the last few years locked in an underground cell.

She gave a small smile in response and said, "It is.," as she drew one of her knives. To everyone else she added, "Draw your weapons. Who knows what's waiting for us at the bottom." After another thought, she said, "Remember, this is exit plan C. We are to meet Alex in the forest outside Central. Is anyone at all uncertain of what they must do?" Everyone shook their heads. "Good."

"I can hear rushing water. I think we're almost there," Maria said as she came to stand next to Riza at the front of the platform. They looked down and suddenly their feet were bathed in more torchlight. As the opening widened, they saw that they had in fact found the waterway below the Führer's compound. A well-lit open space stretched before them and eventually narrowed into a tunnel that she knew ran out in the direction of the forest. The tunnel was stone and had a walkway on each side with rapidly flowing water filling the middle. There was one small bridge to her right which connected this large room with the walkway on the other side of the manmade river.

She could see the spikes of a large wrought-iron gate, which could presumably cut off access, hanging from the ceiling partway down the tunnel. Several halls and doors branched off from the open room before them and the tunnel beyond. Cautiously, they exited the platform and began to quickly make their way toward the tunnel. Then, the sound they'd been dreading came from a nearby stairwell: the sound of soldiers, approaching, with weapons.

"Run!" Riza shouted and the entire group broke into a sprint. She dropped back to make sure Lady Mustang would make it, letting Maria take the lead down the left-hand walkway of the tunnel. They heard a series of loud clanks and the iron gate up ahead began to descend. The group pushed harder, running as fast as they could. Maria ducked under the gate, followed by Fuery, then Havoc, then Lady Mustang, and finally herself. The gate met the floor with a loud thud that reverberated off the stone and caused the ground to vibrate.

They continued their run toward the narrower tunnel that branched off this one, the tunnel that would take them to safety. They were nearly there when, to her dismay, the loud clanks sounded again. With a short pause to look back her fear was confirmed: they were, of course, raising the gate to come after them. She turned her head and made eye contact with Maria, who had also stopped. Her friend's wide eyes told her she knew what the blonde planned, and her nod told her she understood. Riza then looked to Fuery and Havoc, saying, "You get Lady Mustang to grandfather, do you understand?" Both men nodded, looks of resigned determination on their faces, knowing better than to argue with her.

With no more hesitation, Riza turned and sprinted back in the direction of the rising gate. Using her momentum she dropped down and slid under it, rotating and coming up in a crouch. Throwing the knife in her left hand she sliced the only rope available, hoping it would be enough to slow the gate's progress. It was a wrought-iron gate, after all, and mostly chains were involved in raising and lowering it. Fortunately, cutting the rope damaged the system enough to cause the gate to fall back to the ground with another thud.

Still in a crouch, she stabbed the nearest soldier in the thigh and spun away. Rising fully, another knife flew into the eye of an advancing soldier. Drawing two more of her many weapons, she parried another soldier's attack with her left, pushed it aside, and stabbed him in the stomach. Turning, she whipped a blade at an enemy, and another body fell. Riza dropped low, swept a man's feet aside, and put her knife in his chest when he crashed to the floor. Picking up his sword with her right, she pulled the dagger from his chest with her left.

Again standing, she met another guard's attack, parrying and moving sideways until there was an opening. The swords clanged but she almost did not hear it, lost in her absorption, in her fight to stay alive. Just a few more between you and freedom, just a few more…

She ran him through with the sword and turned to push another aside and deftly slice at its owner's neck with her knife. To her it felt as though it went on forever, but it was likely no more than several minutes of rapid fighting. Scanning the area, there was finally no one else with a sword poised to slice her in two. Still slightly numb, she quickly retrieved a few of her knives and made to leave before more soldiers arrived. Distances ran through her mind, and how if she was fast enough she could catch up to her group.

Riza was a mere ten yards from the mouth of a recognizable tunnel when she felt a familiar vibration in the air around her which stopped her in her tracks. To most it would be hardly noticeable, but it had been done to her numerous times before to teach her what it felt like. A chill of terror crawled up her spine and her eyes widened. She set her jaw and dropped the two knives she held to the stone floor, a sharp crack sounding. The atoms and molecules around her hummed and her eyes looked almost longingly at the dark tunnel before her as the hairs on her neck and arms stood on end. She tried to regulate her breathing so she would not pass out and raised her hands slightly in defeat.

In order to stop staring ridiculously at a tunnel opening, she closed her eyes and a tear tracked down her cheek. There was only one man in the world she'd ever feared, and at this moment he had her completely surrounded by a high concentration of oxygen, in a room filled with torches.

"Well, well, well," Lord Hawkeye said as he strolled closer, his voice flowing over her like ice water. "There's that daughter of mine. Have you missed me?"

AN: Hello everyone! Thank you for reading, I hope you liked the chapter, and have a good one! :)