Disclaimer: Still don't own FMA. Only own my own OCs.


Fifty-Four

Envy put down the receiver and scowled. The men next to her paid her deceptive appearance no mind as they shouted at one another, panicking. The Fuhrer's wife was missing, it was the middle of the night—it was coming close to morning—the Fuhrer was out in the East, should he be contacted, was there a state of emergency going on—

These idiots, she wanted to hiss. They were disgusting, worrying so much about such trivial things, like their lives actually mattered when they were so short, when they were going to die tomorrow. Your lives are nothing more than energy to be consumed by Father.

The thought of the original homunculus enraged Envy further. She had meant to stay and listen to the radio for anything that might come in about the Elrics, but she abruptly stood and left the office; if someone noticed, she didn't care.

The halls of Central Headquarters suddenly felt claustrophobic. Envy hurried down the corridors, turning this way and that, nearly crashing into the janitors preparing for the morning. One of them asked her something in a tone she didn't understand, but she quickened her pace. Her head started to pound relentlessly.

She stopped in an empty hallway, forced to lean against the wall. Her legs threatened to buckle at any moment. She gripped her short, disguised hair, and felt parts growing between her fingers. Red electricity crackled from her body.

"Let...me out!" Delilah cried—

—and Envy, with a grunt, squashed the sounds in her soul.

"Go away," she rasped, frightened and trembling. She stumbled forward, then leaned against the window. For a moment, the outside world caught her attention.

The night sky was beginning to lighten.

Terror turned her blood to ice. There's no time, she thought. No time to escape Amestris, no time to kill this… No time to run away from the Elrics… No time…

The grey outside kept becoming brighter. Envy watched helplessly, unaware that not seconds were passing by, but minutes and minutes and minutes, and she could not move.

Finally, a speck of light appeared on the edge of the horizon.

"Dawn…"

The faint voice sounded in her head as she mouthed the word. Instantly she jerked violently, frightened by its reappearance, and pushed the sound away. Before it could somehow return, she hurried on. All thoughts of fighting the enemy one-on-one had been purged from her mind. She needed a place to hide.

()()()()()

"…Dr. Marcoh?" May asked meekly. The entire time they had ridden in the car so far, she hadn't spoken.

The doctor was looking out the window at the passing plains. "Yes?" His voice was slightly broken. No one commented.

"…The sun is up," May said at last.

"The day has begun," Scar noted gruffly from the front seat.

Marcoh finally looked to see that May was right. The sky was lightening, and now that they were out of the woods, the tip of the sun was visible on the very edge of the horizon.

"Pretty, I'm sure," Yoki muttered nervously from the driver's seat. He didn't stray his eyes from the road, and his hands clutched the steering wheel in a death grip. Occasionally he would glance into the rearview mirror, checking to see if the car's trunk would pop open to reveal Kimblee, whom was trussed up inside.

"It is," May said. She looked uncertainly at Marcoh. "Right?"

He didn't answer. Nothing was pretty anymore.

He pretended not to see the tears lining May's eyes and turned toward his window once again.

Marcoh reached his hand into his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the Stone. He was old, and he'd seen far, far more than his share of death. His thoughts were no strangers to the idea of human transmutation, but never had he seriously considered the idea. He had to force himself to think of the Elrics to remember how futile it was. Even with a Philosopher's Stone…

He remembered his daughter's struggles and hardships, the depression it had all put her in. She was good, he thought. His thumb rubbed the glossy surface of the Stone. Even if she couldn't see that.

()()()()()

As they walked, Alphonse watched the sun creep over the edge of the land and begin its crawl through the sky. Beside him, Edward watched as well; the light glanced off his golden eyes. Any earlier sadness in his expression had been forced away, leaving a hard determination in its wake.

Any talking in the large group was quiet and among a select few. There was not much to say, anyway. Much of the travel through the woods was single-file; once out in the plains, they spread out but kept close to the copses of trees. The journey left a lot of room for thought, but Alphonse didn't think about too many things.

Namely, all he thought of was that the day had finally come.

()()()()()

Riza knelt in the bushes. The overhanging branches kept the morning sun from hitting her eyes. She kept her gaze on the guards outside the Third Lab, and her ears alert for anyone that could be approaching from behind.

Roughly fifteen minutes ago, she had parted ways with the rest of Team Mustang and their hostage. Mrs. Bradley's anxiety had increased exponentially when she had begun to leave, but at that point, Rebecca Catalina had driven up with supplies and reinforcements for the Mustang crew; Rebecca may not have been Riza's first choice to comfort the woman, but Maria Ross, at least, was.

Breda and Fuery were, of course, not at all keen on Riza leaving by herself. But then she'd threatened to shoot them, and they stayed behind. She'd caught sight of a couple tears leaking from Breda's determined eyes.

A rustling noise caught her attention, and Riza glanced over her shoulder to see a small group emerge: Scar, Dr. Marcoh, the young Xingese girl May, and a nervous-looking tagalong man. Riza nodded, and they joined her in watching the guards.

"Where are Edward and Alphonse?" she asked.

"Walking," Scar answered. He didn't seem intimidated by the fact Riza had several guns on her person, despite the fact that she had once grazed his head with a bullet. He briefly explained the situation with Kimblee (when they'd left him, Scar had taken the wheel and had done such a bad parking job that the trunk was pressed up against a brick wall).

"They'll probably all make good time," Riza said. They couldn't afford not to.

She gave the tagalong a cursory glance. "This isn't a good place for you. You should go find shelter." She glanced at the old man. "You, too."

Marcoh shook his head. He was staring at the Third Lab. It was hard to tell with his scarred face, but he seemed to be glaring. "I'm not going to be a coward anymore.

The utter resolve in his tone struck a chord in Riza. Not so much in the tagalong, who said, "I'll be the coward, then. I should have waited in the car."

"But Mr. Yoki," May said, "Kimblee's in the car." The man paled.

"Yoki?" Riza looked him over once more, vaguely remembering that there was a warrant out for his arrest. "Didn't you work in Youswell?"

"Why, yes—"

"Lieutenant Hawkeye?"

Out of the woods appeared Alphonse, who was surprisingly quite silent. Behind him came Edward, a man who appeared to be their father, four muscular men, and Lan Fan. They all struck Riza as a fighting force.

Riza looked back at Yoki. "You'd better get going."

The man nodded nervously, then looked at the group. Finally, he stuttered out, "Good luck." Then, he turned and hurried off.

May almost started after him. "I hope he stays safe…."

Scar put a hand on her shoulder. "He's a rat. They always survive." Somehow the comment wasn't rude or malicious.

"All right, everyone," Riza said, motioning to draw everyone together, but she signaled for Lan Fan to keep an eye on the Third Laboratory. "We all have our missions. But I'll need a small group to go with me to rescue Colonel Mustang while the other two groups split up under the Lab."

"I'll go," Scar said. "I know where they held Marcoh. That might be the only holding cell."

"Then I'll go as well," Marcoh offered.

Riza held back a grimace. "No offense, Doctor, but I need a fast team." The man paused, but nodded in understanding.

Alphonse volunteered. "The entrance down near there is sealed, but I know where it is."

Edward looked stricken, and Riza tried to allay his fears, but didn't speak directly to him. "Good. We'll be a strong, fast team with just the three of us." She looked to the majority of the group. "You guys might need all the strength you have. That door they have down there just screams 'front entrance,' right?"

Edward didn't look very consoled. He shifted, like he couldn't make up his mind whether or not to speak. Riza almost didn't want to split them up, but Edward was a fantastic alchemist, and she didn't want the main group to be without his skills.

"Edward," she said, and he turned his gold eyes to her. She looked him dead-on. "I want you to lead the rest. Split into two groups like we planned, but don't get in over your head. Today's not the day for dying needlessly."

The teenager's—no, young man's—features set into a determined frown. He nodded. "Tell Colonel Bastard I said 'hi.'"

Riza chuckled, then stood. "Scar, Alphonse, let's go."

They stood as well, and quiet choruses of "goodbyes" and "good lucks" passed between them all.

And deep down, Riza was afraid that those would be the last words spoken amongst one another.

A handful of soldiers occupied the alleyway that Al led them to. Riza began to formulate a plan for incapacitating them, but Alphonse held out a hand.

"We might be able to use alchemy to open another way in," he whispered. Riza and Scar nodded, and the woman kept a trained eye on the soldiers while the Ishvalan watched their immediate surroundings.

Alphonse conducted a couple small tests, using alchemy to open cens-sized holes in the pavement. Once he found an area that led straight into the sewers, he looked at his teammates.

"I'll jump down first so I can close it behind us. It might be a long drop, and there could be chimeras down there, so be careful."

Riza nodded and slowly backed away from the building corner, keeping her ears alert. Alphonse opened up a hole, and the light and sound caused a few confused voices to rise from the troops. The large thud that accompanied Al's landing turned their confusion into alarm.

The sniper cast a warning shot into the alley wall to stall them, then leapt into the hole, Scar following closely. The fall was longer than she'd thought, and her legs felt jarred and weakened upon impact. She remained upright, but stumbled a moment and became disoriented when Al clapped his hands and closed the opening.

Silence and darkness encompassed them.

Slowly, Riza's eyes adjusted to the lack of light. They stood on a concrete walkway that followed the river of sewage. Riza grimaced at the smell, but focused on her other senses. She thought she heard something slither overhead.

"…We go left," Al said finally. Riza glanced at him and saw that he was looking at the ceiling, too.

"We should hurry," Scar said, already taking swift yet cautious steps away toward the left. "The area I went to when I found Marcoh didn't have any chimeras."

"Right." Riza hurried after him, and Alphonse took up the rear. After a few moments they passed a set of stairs leading up into the wall, and the boy gasped.

Riza halted and turned around. Alphonse had already stopped.

"S-sorry," he said quietly. "The last time I was here wasn't a good day."

She recalled what Edward had told her the night he had returned her gun, and she tried to give Al a reassuring smile. She couldn't hide the crinkle of sadness from showing in her eyes, though.

A loud growl ripped through the air, and Scar let out a pained shout. Riza whipped around in time to see a burst of light and blood as the Ishvalan put a hand to the chimera's head. Another form rushed from the shadows, and Riza shot it between its eyes. It fell into the water, slumped and lifeless.

All at once, the unnatural creatures emerged from the shadows; something reminiscent of an alligator surfaced in the sewage. Alphonse clapped his hands and sent shards of concrete flying at the ones approaching to the right. Scar growled like an animal himself and destroyed anything that came too close from the inside out. Riza wasted no time and shot the thing in the water, and then the chimeras on the other side of the passageway. She had to reload her pistol, but the action was smooth and effortless.

The battle—slaughter, more like—only lasted a minute or two. One last chimera was felled by a bullet, and unnatural silence fell upon them. The trio looked around warily; when nothing happened, Riza holstered her gun and approached Scar. Blood was seeping through the arm of his jacket.

"Is it a bad puncture wound?" she asked.

The Ishvalan was already taking off his coat and inspecting the bite. "It's mostly a graze."

"Here," Alphonse said, coming up beside him. "I…know a healing circle."

Scar gave some sort of grunt in assent and lifted his arm toward the boy. Al hesitated, but clapped and put his hand against Scar. The wound slowly closed, leaving no trace aside from the already-shed blood. The Ishvalan nodded in thanks and put the coat back on.

"Be careful," Al warned. "I've never done this before."

Riza wanted to comment, to somehow comfort the boy, but the sound of footsteps reached her ears. She grabbed her gun and aimed it down the corridor. At the end of the hallway stood a figure that even her eyes couldn't make out in the dim light.

The shadow didn't move.

Even though they were in enemy territory, Riza didn't want to take the chance that the figure belonged to a citizen looking for refuge from the aboveground fighting. She took several cautious steps forward, aiming at the person's leg.

"Who are you?" she called, her voice echoing in the dank passageway.

The figure stood frozen for a moment longer, then darted down another hall. As it moved, red electricity crackled from its body, lighting its face as it morphed into something four-legged.

"Envy!" Alphonse yelled, immediately rushing after the figure.

"Alphonse!" Riza called after him; when he didn't stop, she gritted her teeth and hurried after, Scar at her heels.

Ahead of them, Alphonse turned down the corridor after the homunculus. Riza lost sight of him for about ten seconds; when they caught up to him, he had stopped at a fork in the passageway. He frantically looked back and forth between the corridors, at a loss for which to choose.

"Alphonse," Riza said sternly. She tried to rein in her anger, but it cascaded out of her mouth, fueled by her worry. "You can't just run off like that! You could have gotten hurt, and we can't have that today. People are counting on you. I'm counting on you."

The boy seemed to flinch. He looked at Riza and said nothing, but his eyes were narrowed slightly. She couldn't tell if he was angered or worried.

She softened, but only slightly. "I know you want to go after them, but you'll have to do that after we rescue the Colonel."

For a moment, he did nothing. Then, he looked away. "You're right."

Scar ignored this exchange—or just didn't comment—and pointed down the passageway that continued straight instead of going left. "That leads to the holding cell I found Marcoh in."

He led the way.

()()()()()

Kimblee was sweating profusely in the confined of the trunk. He grimaced as he shimmied his bound hands. I'll have to buy a new suit….

Finally, his palms came together. His grimace turned to a grin.

The rope came apart almost like an explosion. He put his hands on the trunk lid and braced himself before a loud squealing assailed his ears as the lid was blown off. The twisted metal clanged as it hit the pavement of the alley.

"Well," he grumbled, somehow smoothly. He emerged from the trunk and stretched his body. Then he touched the scar on his blood-encrusted face. "That was uncomfortable."

()()()()()

May was the one who got them inside the Third Lab. She'd run up to the guards, shouting for help, and when they'd turned to her in concern, she'd jabbed them at certain pressure points. They fell like swatted flies.

After locking the men in one of the lab rooms, the group made its way deeper into the building. Edward was a little unnerved that there wasn't anyone in the building; he had to keep reminding himself that Central was probably in a state of emergency.

When they came to the alchemical-sealed wall, Ed clapped his hands and formed a doorway that led to the stairs. The group carefully descended them; the further they went, the cooler it became.

When they came to a hallway that led off to the left and right, they halted.

"How're we splitting up, guys?" he asked, folding his arms.

"I'll go with the young lady here," Hohenheim said immediately, indicating Lan Fan. He nodded to Marcoh and May. "If you'll come along, we'll have a good blend of alchemy and your fighting skills."

A vein twitched in Edward's forehead, but he managed to hold back an outburst. If his father hadn't added in the old man, he would have labeled the bearded bastard a pervert.

The teenager sighed and scratched the back of his head. "I guess then it's me and the chimera gang."

"We have names, you know," Darius said.

"Yeah, okay Mr. Gorilla."

"Hey!"

"Is this agreeable for everyone?" Hohenheim asked pleasantly.

Despite Darius's grumbles, no one had any complaints. There was a moment of awkward silence, and then Ed took in a breath. Somehow it made him seem even taller than he was already becoming.

"Don't die, everyone."

Nods went around the group. His words weren't light, but they brought smiles to a few. One of them was Hohenheim.

"Aye, aye, sir," Heinkel said somewhat sarcastically, but Edward didn't doubt the loyalty the man had. They'd traveled together with Darius and Greed for months, after all.

Ed placed his hands on his hips, moving his red cloak out of the way a little. "Okay, then. My group will go left; Hohenheim's will go right. Good luck, everyone."

For just a moment, his eyes drifted over May and Lan Fan. Then Marcoh. Then his father.

He gestured to the chimeras, then started walking down the corridor.


Great news: I graduate this Sunday. (Actually it's more scary than anything but I'm ready to leave this dumb school (but not my friends and fave teachers).)

Bad news: Last week I had to put down my cat. I'll miss her a lot; she was great. :/ Wish I could get another, but I'll be at school, so...

In any case, I'm kinda planning a Fire Emblem: Awakening fic (dunno if I'll really get into it, but I'm pretty inspired for it now). I have a poll on my profile about names for f!MU.

Thanks, guys! I love you!