Woo, finally I managed to get this finished! I hope it's not too bad. Thanks to The Layman for lending me a few thermite grenades, they worked wonders :) I'm so glad this has been completed though. Takes a whole load off my mind. I think the Plot Fairy ran away with me near the end of this chapter so I apologise in advance. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.

Abyss

I had no idea where we were when we came to the end of the tunnel. Roy and Ed stopped dead in their tracks as they looked around the large empty space. It was gloomy yet spacious with a stair way leading down to something at the bottom. My instant thought was that we'd been tricked again.

"What is this place?" Ed asked, "Someone must have seen this before now."

"I'm not so sure," Breda muttered, "It doesn't look like it's been touched in ages."

"Which way?" Roy asked. Ed looked around once more before pointing to our left. We followed him in silence, not daring to talk just in case we missed something. My eyes were constantly scanning the area for signs of movement but there wasn't any. Suddenly Ed stopped.

"What's wrong, Fullmetal?" Roy barked. Ed opened his mouth a few times and pointed further down the corridor. Roy glanced over the teen's head and instantly recoiled.

"So, you finally made it down here?" It was the Fuhrer, I was certain of it.

"What are you doing down here, sir?" Breda asked, "It's dangerous."

"You helped two fugitives escape, I'd say you were the one in danger," the Fuhrer said slowly. He looked straight at me and smiled. "Mrs Mustang. How are you doing?"

Roy stepped in front of me as if the Fuhrer's gaze could kill me. The Fuhrer let out a sigh.

"I gather you want to know the whole story? Am I right?" the Fuhrer asked.

"What are you hiding?" Ed yelled. The Fuhrer chuckled.

"I'll tell you everything, if you can stop me," the Fuhrer explained. He drew his sword from his belt and held it out. It was an invitation to all of us to attack him. I took a step backwards as Roy gently pushed me. He wasn't stupid enough to go head to head with the Fuhrer, neither was Breda. Ed, however, was already running towards the Fuhrer with his bladed arm raised in an aggressive way.

"Fullmetal!" Roy shouted in anger. Ed didn't hear him. Soon the Fuhrer and Ed were in a hand to hand fight. All I could do was sit back and watch. Roy was growing agitated the longer the fight went on. Ed was holding up pretty well to say he was up against a master swords man.

Suddenly, the Fuhrer swung his sword and caught Ed's automail. The mechanism stopped working instantly. The Fuhrer looked at me once again before sprinting towards me. Roy snapped his fingers causing a wall of fire to appear a few feet in front of us. The Fuhrer leapt through the flames as if it was nothing. His one eye was open wide with a look of pure hatred in it.

For the next couple of seconds I didn't have control of my body. It worked on its own. One hand dropped to my holster and drew out my gun. I held the gun in both hands at eye level. Then my fingers pulled the trigger.

The Fuhrer stumbled and fell to my right. He tried to get up, using his sword for leverage. I turned towards him and shot again, then again a few seconds later.

"Riza!" Roy yelled, rushing to my side in a matter of seconds. I was still looking at the Fuhrer as Roy's hand gripped my arms. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I replied as if nothing had happened. It was as if I had suddenly slipped into soldier mode. I blinked a few times as I looked up into Roy's eyes.

"Breda, go and help Fullmetal," Roy told Breda. Breda hurried off towards where Ed was sat. Roy crouched down and rolled the Fuhrer onto his side. The man was still smiling at us even though he was bleeding.

"I didn't see that coming," he remarked, "I never thought you would be able to stop me, Riza Hawkeye."

"Where is our son!" Roy yelled.

"You think that he is your son?" the Fuhrer asked, "After his creation was my plan? He is my child. I couldn't leave it up to chance."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, crouching down beside Roy.

"Did your father ever tell you why he hated you so much?" the Fuhrer asked, "And the military? Well, I know why. It was because of you and the military that your mother died."

I glanced at Roy, who gave me the same look back. This was awfully cliché for the dying bad guy to say. We turned back to the Fuhrer as he coughed loudly. Blood had begun to dribble out of the corner of his mouth.

"I told you father to create a child that could be used in my master's plans. A child born of alchemy and by passing all laws of nature," the Fuhrer said, "We took your mother and locked her away just after you were born. You were half of the materials your father could use. The next stage was to convince your father to take on students so that he could find the other half of the materials he would need. It was only chance that he chose Mustang who came to be the Flame Alchemist.

"Your father spent the rest of his life formulating the transmutation of a human baby with no flaws. He would only get one chance to try it. But Mustang left to join the military, meaning that his transmutation could never be tried. That didn't stop your father from trying to find another way. We told him as soon as he was successful, we would release his wife. He would never stop trying.

"Then he died and all hope of the perfect child was gone completely. Then you, Miss Riza Hawkeye, joined the Military and I made sure that you and Mustang would be in stressful conditions with each other, but you stayed professional, didn't you? Humans. They never do what you expect them to do.

"Years later I get the report that I have been anticipating all these years. A report by a doctor, saying that his patient was pregnant without intercourse. It all seemed to fall together but after each victory you two seemed to counteract it. Your grandfather was saved from the firing squad which meant I still had to play nice with him. You married which meant I had to give the child back because that was the law. Then I tried to kill off your friend in a fake trial with a few others, but she somehow managed to survive and become a thorn in my side."

He coughed once more.

"That's all very nice to know," Roy said rather sarcastically, "But you forgot to tell me where my son is!"

"He's with my master," the Fuhrer replied. Roy stood up but I remained on the floor beside the Fuhrer.

"My mother's alive?" I asked. Roy looked at me in surprise. Slowly the Fuhrer nodded. "Where is she?"

"I have no idea," he replied, "She disappeared a few years ago. She managed to escape."

"So you've being planning this since I was born? Why? What for?" I asked, feeling anger brew in my stomach.

"My master wants something so bad," the Fuhrer said, "He'll use any means to get it."

"Riza," Roy said, tapping me on the shoulder, "We need to find Kit."

I nodded. I carefully stood up, keeping a watchful eye on the Fuhrer. We walked towards Ed and Breda.

"Ed, you should stay here," Roy told the teen, "You're useless with an arm like that."

Ed grumbled something under his breath. Roy smirked and looked at Breda.

"Riza and I will go on ahead," he explained, "You stay here just in case Havoc and Tserkov come through. Make sure he stays here."

Roy pointed at the Fuhrer.

"We'll be in touch," Roy told Breda and Ed before pulling me along the path. I walked in silence for the most of the walking. I was still pretty surprised to hear my mother was alive, somewhere. I glanced at Roy once or twice but his face seemed set. I knew he was right, Kit was the more important issue here. I looked ahead sharply, seeing something out of the corner of my eye. Roy hadn't seen it so I held up my hand to warn him. He looked around.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"We're being watched," I replied.

"By who?" Roy asked, looking around.

"I'm not sure," I told him, "Just keep an eye out."

We walked in silence once again as we reached a tunnel. The tunnel became darker and gloomier the further we walked. At the other side of the tunnel there was another large space. Something moved up ahead. We were instantly ready for an attack but to our relief it was Al, Scar, Fuery and Falman. They looked as relieved to see us as we did them. Al noticed at once that Ed wasn't with us.

"Where's brother?" he asked worriedly.

"He got a little carried away and broke his automail," Roy replied.

"Brother," Al moaned in response. Scar stepped forwards.

"We ran into another Homunculus back there," Scar told us.

"We bumped into Fuhrer King Bradley," Roy told Scar, "He kept saying something about a master or something."

"So did that guy we killed," Falman replied. I looked around for a second before walking a few paces. Everything seemed weird. The air was electrified. Something was up ahead but I wasn't sure what it was. I took a few more steps while the men were talking. I raised my gun as I heard a noise. It took me a few seconds to recognise what it was. It was Kit's crying. I bit my lip, resisting the urge to go and run to the source of the noise but my feet had other plans. They were slowly drifting towards Kit's cries.

I forgot what I was doing, what had happened in the past few hours. I ran to that noise, unable to fight the maternal instinct in my mind. I was quiet, stealthy like I had been trained in the military. I can to a large archway. Kit was just beyond it, I could feel it. I looked round for another way in. There wasn't any. I had to take this slow and steady. My emotions had to be relaxed and calm, my mind sharp. I walked soundlessly through the arch way. I ducked behind something just in case there was anything there. Nothing moved. I guessed no one was there. I crept behind the various objects that where round the room. There were barrels, odd bits of machinery and boxes. What were they doing here? I noticed someone stood in the centre of the room. It was a man with blonde hair. His hair was long and he had a thick beard. He was walking round in a circle.

"Gluttony and Wrath have failed," he muttered, "Those stupid humans are closing in on us."

"They'll stop at nothing to get their son," a voice from the shadows said. There was no one else in the room so who could it be? I looked around once again. The voice wasn't coming from the shadows; it was the shadows talking. I gripped my gun tighter. I shouldn't have run off but now there was nowhere to go. I was certain they knew I was here.

"Humans are like that," the man said, "They hide. They fight. They lose."

I was suddenly hoisted into the air. The shadows had grabbed me. I squirmed as the shadow's grip tightened around my waist. The blonde man was staring at me with a blank expression on his face.

"I found her," the shadow said.

"Well done, Pride," the man said, "I see Hawkeye's daughter has joined us at last. I have no doubt you are here for your son."

I couldn't speak. I was being squeezed so hard I couldn't even breathe let alone speak or think. Pride, the shadow, suddenly let me fall. I dropped onto the hard floor in front of the man. I looked up at him as I rubbed my waist.

"Who are you?" I managed to ask.

"I am father," he replied, "I created the homunculus."

"Why do you want my son?" I asked, getting to my knees.

"He is not your son, he is mine," 'Father' replied, "I was the one to make sure he was born. I helped your father develop the transmutation circle. I was the one to get your father to take in an apprentice. I was the one to ensure his creation. He is my son."

"You're not his father," I growled. Father stopped and glared at me.

"You speak with such defiance," he said, "Humans often do that."

"His father is Roy Mustang," I told him, "His mother is me, Riza Hawkeye."

"I never doubted you were his mother," Father said, "You were a good carrier for him. Wrath chose well when he chose you."

"Should I take that as a compliment?" I asked.

"I am in need of your assistance," Father said, ignoring me, "The boy doesn't seem to want to co-operate. I often find that children respond to those they see as parents. You will tell him what to do."

"What if I decline?" I asked.

"Then I will kill you," Father replied.

"Then you'll never get what you want," I told him, "If you kill me, Kit won't ever do anything for you."

"She does have a point, Father," the shadows said. I looked round cautiously.

"Bring the child," Father ordered. In a split second, Kit rose out of the shadows and was stood in front of me. He looked at me.

"Mummy!" he cried, hugging me. I pulled him into a tight embrace, like it had been years since I had last seen him. "Mummy."

"It's OK, Kit," I said soothingly, "I'm here now. Everything's going to be OK."

"Mummy, man scares me," Kit cried into my shoulder, "He mean."

"I know, Kit, I know," I said, stroking Kit's back. He was safe in my arms. He was alive. I hugged him tightly. I never wanted to let go. Father watched us, blank expression and un-interest in his eyes.

"Make him open the gate," Father told me. The gate? What in the world did he mean by that? "Make him open the gate."

"What gate?" I asked.

"The gate," Father told me, "The gate that hides the Truth."

I blinked a few times. I had no clue to what he meant. I wondered if it was something to do with alchemy but I never learnt anything to do with alchemy so what could I do about the gate? Obviously it was important to Father but I had never heard of it before now. I hugged Kit closer to me.

"You do not know what the gate is?" Father asked.

"No," I replied.

"Alchemists wish to see the gate and the truth," Father explained, "It holds all knowledge."

"I'm not an alchemist," I told Father. I sudden memory hit me. My father had never allowed me to learn alchemy for one reason: Things you do not know can't hurt you. He had told me that whenever I asked him about alchemy. Did my father do that to protect me? If I had learnt alchemy I would have learnt about the gate then I would have no excuse to tell Father now. Father was staring down at me.

"Pathetic," Father snapped. Kit was suddenly taken from my arms by the shadow. He screamed for me, tears falling down his cheeks. Father created a gun from the ground and pointed it at my head. He looked round at Kit. "If you do not open the gate then I will kill your mother."

"He doesn't know what the gate is," I yelled.

"Open the gate," Father ordered, "Or your mother dies."

"He doesn't understand," I told Father. Kit continued to cry and get to me but the shadow had a firm grip around him. Father looked back at me and put his finger on the trigger. I tried to move but I was anchored to the floor by the shadow. I saw the light reflect off the barrel. For one moment, just one, I prayed this wasn't the end.

But there was no way out of this.

Click... Bang.