By fate or providence 1st Lieutenant Jean Havoc ended up sharing the champagne he brought to celebrate Roy and Riza's impending engagement with Yue-Yan Han. The two of them sat on the steps to the the palace proper passing the bottle back and forth.

He could get another one.

"I just love Rebecca so much. I don't know how I got so lucky," Havoc told the young woman sitting next to him.

The interpreter burst into tears.

"No one is in love with me," she sobbed.

"Hey, don't cry! Someone will fall in love with you! If someone can fall in love with me, someone will definitely fall in love with you!"

The girl sniffled and wiped the tears from beneath her oversized spectacles.

"You really think so?" Yue-Yan hiccuped.

"Look how cute you are! With your glasses and your pretty eyes and you're-" Jean gestured vaguely at her. "If I weren't a happily married man I would be hitting on you right now."

"That's so nice," she handed the bottle to him. "You're so nice, Mr. Havoc."

Jean gave her a gentle pat on the back.

"Sure thing, doll."

"Lieutenant Havoc!" Hawkeye hurried up the walkway with the hem of her sapphire evening gown hitched up.

The 1st Lieutenant sat up straight and saluted, "Sir!"

"We're needed. Grab your loadout and…" The Hawk's Eye fixed him with a deadly stare, "Lieutenant Havoc how drunk are you?"

"Ma'am, I will be honest with you. I am plastered."

Captain Hawkeye's sharp gaze shifted to the weepy woman beside him.

"Did you also get Miss Han drunk?"

"Hey now," Jean raised his hands in surrender, lifting a finger from the neck of the champagne bottle to point at Yue-Yan, "I didn't make her do anything."

"Sober up, Lieutenant," Captain Hawkeye ordered.

The Hawk's Eye ran up the steps between the two of them. Yue-Yan and Jean watched her go over their shoulders then looked at one another.

"What happened?" The interpreter inquired.

"Ya got me." Havoc handed her the bottle of champagne as he got up, "Here. Don't drink too much." The 1st Lieutenant patted her on the head and headed inside to change into his uniform. Yue-Yan took a drink from the bottle and smoothed her ruffled hair.

"Okay."


"Your Majesty!"

General Mustang walked with purpose to the bar where Emperor Ling Yao sat with the blonde cabaret singer. The emperor cast a look over his shoulder at him. Mustang bowed by way of apology to the buxom woman currently holding Ling Yao's attention.

"Forgive me madam, I'm afraid I must steal His Highness away from you. Sire, a moment of your time if you will," Mustang gestured with his head.

"Of course, General," the emperor rose from his seat. Before departing he took the woman's hand and kissed the back of it. "Thank you for the advice, Madame Rousseau. I will take it to heart."

The singer favored him with an affection look.

"Bonne chance."

Ling Yao stepped away to converse in with Roy Mustang in private.

"Is something the matter?"

"I spied a pillar of smoke outside your walls. I'm certain it was from a smoke grenade. White phosphorus munitions to be specific. They're highly flammable and known to cause fires in enclosed spaces," General Mustang informed him promptly.

The emperor snapped his fingers.

Two additional guards joined them from the sidelines.

"Tingzhe summon Commander Liu. Make sure to inform her it's on business. I will await her in my study. Bolin see that troops are dispatched into the city, and ensure the fire brigade is alerted to the potential threat."

"Yes sire," the two said in unison.

The pair of guards departed post haste.


Tingzhe couldn't find Commander Liu for the life of him.

He checked her room in the servants' wing, the training hall, His Imperial Majesty's private training hall, Commander Liu's infrequently used office. The guard commander's mask and armor remained on the stand in her room. Tingzhe stopped by both the blacksmith shop and the stables to see if she was there with Shu and Jin playing daihinmin.

The bodyguard couldn't detect even a trace of her qi signature. Either Commander Liu had masked her presence or she'd left the palace grounds. The former seemed far more likely than the later. Tingzhe couldn't imagine his commander quitting the palace with all the activity going on.

Even if Commander Liu and Emperor Yao were having a row she wouldn't go far. On the rare occasion the guard commander became cross with her charge she did not allow her mood to interfere with His Highness's safety and protection. Tingzhe couldn't imagine her playing gargoyle in an evening gown and heels.

All the same he checked the rooftops.

Though the fireworks had ended Tingzhe tasted gunpowder on the air. The column of smoke in the distance seemed a portent of ominous events. Tingzhe wondered if perhaps she had ventured into the city for some reason. If Commander Liu herself had dispensed a smoke grenade.

It seemed unlikely.

Wasting no time Tingzhe hurried across the rooftops. He trusted the sturdy boots on his feet as he hopped the distance between buildings. Not far from the stables he caught the faint flicker of her familiar qi. The bodyguard stepped off the roof and landed in a crouch. Tingzhe closed his eyes and focused on his sense of qi.

Tingzhe opened his eyes.

"There you are," he whispered.

Ice and snow crunched beneath his boots as he sprinted toward her. It didn't occur to Tingzhe that the faint flicker of Commander Liu could be the result of anything other than her own efforts to mask her presence. Commander Liu was the strongest of them. Lan Fan Liu had nerves of steel long before she had an arm made of the substance.

When he found her freezing form in between two buildings he felt his heart stop. Lan Fan Liu looked like broken doll. Tingzhe shook himself out of his shock. He dropped to his knees beside her.

"Commander!"

She didn't stir at the sound of his voice, nor when he shook her shoulder. Her eyelashes were frosted, skin as white as snow, lips as blue as berries. Lan Fan Liu wasn't breathing. If he didn't move fast the flicker he felt would snuff out like a candle burned too low.

Tingzhe hooked one arm beneath her knees and the other behind her back. He got one foot up under him. It took considerable effort to scoop her up into his arms. Her automail dangled like a lifeless thing. The phrase 'dead weight' flitted through his mind. He banished the thought as quickly as it came.

"Hold on!"


Madeleine entered her room quietly in case Margot had already gone to bed. Beneath the door adjoining their rooms she saw the faint glow of lamplight. The singer eased the door open to peek inside. There she spied her lover sitting on the floor with her back against the dresser. A stranger slept in Margot's bed. Madeleine was unsurprised by the young man's presence. The singer saw the automail doctor rush to his aid from her elevated position on stage.

Margot's ashen appearance caused her concern.

"Ma cherie," Madeleine intoned. She swept across the room to her side. Margot put up no resistance as Madeleine pulled her into an embrace. "The fireworks?"

Margot nodded in affirmation. Her tense form became pliant in Madeleine's arms. The former combat medic closed her eyes as the singer rocked her like a child. Madeleine placed a kiss on the top of her head then rested her cheek against against it.

Madeleine held her until Margot pulled away.

"Je suis d'accord," Margot declared.

Maddy swept Margot's curls to the side and kissed her forehead.

"D'accord."


Tingzhe took Lan Fan straight to the royal alkahestris's rooms. Unable to open the door with his commander in his arms he knocked on it with the toe of his boot. His hold on her started to slip. The bodyguard hoisted her back up into his arms. Lan Fan's head lolled against his neck and shoulder. The bodyguard kicked the door again.

"Master Hsu!"

Carrying Commander Liu felt more akin to transporting an ice sculpture. Tingzhe no longer sensed any life within her. She wasn't breathing but maybe it wasn't too late. It couldn't be too late. That Commander Liu should be felled by an accident was incomprehensible. He couldn't bare to return to the emperor with news of her demise.

The emperor would go mad with grief.

Tingzhe raised his foot to kick the door again just as Master Hsu opened it. The royal alkahestris wore sleeping robes and appeared half asleep. Master Hsu looked quite startled by the sight of them.

"Good heavens!"

"She's not breathing," Tingzhe exclaimed.

Master Hsu opened the door wide to permit Tingzhe's entrance.

"Bring her in at once. Lay her there on the table," the alkahestris instructed.

The bodyguard hurried into his office. He laid the commander's body on the exam table with care. The alkahestris pressed his gnarled fingers to her throat. The intense look on the old man's face fed Tingzhe's worst fear.

"Tell me what has happened."

"I found her in an alleyway. The ground there had iced over. I think she slipped and hit her head. You must help her!"

"Help her I shall but you can do no more for her. Fetch the automail doctor for me at once and no other!" The alkahestris ordered.

"What about His Majesty?"

"Do not make me repeat myself boy!" barked Master Hsu.

The bodyguard rushed from the room.


Madeleine answered the knock at Margot's door.

"I'm here for the automail doctor," the bodyguard stated.

"Is something the matter?" Madeleine's concern showed on her face.

"Commander Liu has sustained an injury," he elaborated.

"Margot!"

"I heard!" Margot Fontaine replied.

The automail doctor slung her toolkit over her back and grabbed her medical bag. Margot stepped into the hallway to follow the bodyguard.

"Wake the prince at three, five, and seven. Make sure his pupils are even and he can follow commands," instructed Margot.

Madeleine pressed an urgent kiss to Margot's cheek.

"Take care of our girl."


By the time Margot arrived at the alkahestris's office Tingzhe had her filled in on the situation. The automail surgeon didn't waste anytime. Margot Fontaine dropped the toolkit onto the other exam table in room and flung it open.

"What's her temperature?"

"I'm afraid I've summoned you here in vain. The automail has caused hypothermia. Her heart has stopped. She hasn't drawn breath since Tingzhe brought her in," Master Hsu regretted.

"I didn't ask you if she was breathing," she snapped.

Margot approached Lan Fan's beside with a spanner. The engineer proceeded to uncouple her automail arm. The redhead removed the appendage in rapid time and moved it off the table.

"I asked you for her temperature. Hypothermia is the best thing she's got going for her if she has a cracked skull. Now take her goddamn temperature or get the hell out of the way so I can do it!"

Master Hsu fetched a mercury thermometer from a drawer. He stuck it under Lan Fan's tongue and watched the second hand on the clock hanging on the wall. While the alkahestris took her temperature the automail surgeon cut off her snow soaked dress.

"Is there anything I can do?" Tingzhe asked from the corner where he'd tucked himself out of the way.

"I need warm blankets. Lots of warm blankets and keep them coming. Find me someone with O negative blood while you're at it."

"Yes, ma'am!" Tingzhe departed at once.

The alkahestris removed the thermometer from Lan Fan's mouth.

"Fifty-five degrees fahrenheit," he read.

"Excellent," Margot stated.

"I don't see how it possibly could be."

"You're not dead, until you're warm and dead. I can work with Stage 4 hypothermia. If you have saline start warming it up. We're going to need it."