"Iris! Iris wait!" Alphonse called from the hallway to her, his metal feet clunking under him as he chased after her. But she was already long gone; she sprinted into the streets of Central, her impulse driving her all the way to the command center, where she was sure to find Roy. He had just been there; he could tell her everything.

'Or could he?' Her feet slowed to a stop at the thought.

'All this time... He didn't even tell me that Maes...'

Biting her lip, she willed herself to stop shaking. She just wanted to collapse. This was all too much. All this loss, all of this pain; was it bound to get even worse?

'You know what?

'Fuck this.'

She curled her fists together and headed towards the command center.

"Someone is going to answer me," she muttered, "even if I have to pry the words from their throat."

•••

The First Lieutenant didn't think her morning would start off so abruptly, yet here she was, stepping into the Colonel's office to see an enraged Iris leaning over Kain Fuery's work desk.

"Where is he?" Iris growled at the Sergeant, her hands spread over his desk with a menacing glare. "The bastard, tell me where he is!"

"Hey what's up? Are you looking for Mustang, Iris?" Second Lieutenant Havoc asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. She immediately turned and removed his hand from her at the contact.

"Who else?!" She burst out. "Tell me, now!"

"He's out," Hawkeye answered curtly. "He's looking for Maria Ross. She escaped from prison after proof of murdering Brigadier General Maes Hughes."

Her words sent the alchemist's blood boiling underneath her skin.

"I want to apologize on behalf of the Colonel," she continued, her usual stoic demeanor washed away and replaced with sincerity and regret. "But while it was wrong of him to lie about something so tragic, he had his reasons to do so, and this is one of them."

"Are you trying to justify him lying to me about Maes' death?!"

"Of course not. But he knew you would become irrational and overreact."

"Overreact?!" she burst.

"You are simply proving my point, Iris. Calm down."

"This isn't fair, Lieutenant!"

"Iris!" Ed and Al came through the office doors in front of the scene. Edward pulled at her elbow and made her look at him.

"You have got to stop running away like that!"

She said nothing, just gave a glare and jerked her arm away. The short alchemist scowled but pulled his attention away from her to the Lieutenant.

"Is it true, Lieutenant? Was it really Maria Ross who..."

"All the evidence is towards her. She's a convict now."

Edward put his hand over his face. He just couldn't believe it. He didn't know what action to take.

An appearance at the door turned their focus. The military man saluted quickly, stating his name, then quickly started reporting.

"We have intel that the convict of Brigadier General Hughes' murder Second Lieutenant Maria Ross has escaped from prison. She has a foreigner and violent accomplice in tow. If she is caught and resists, the order is shoot to kill."

Edward's jaw tightened, and Iris clenched her fists.

"Affirmative," Hawkeye confirmed, saluting back to him. "Thank you, soldier."

He nodded, then exit the room as quickly as he came.

"I'm going out there," Iris declared more as a thought to herself than to others and wasted no time.

"Wait," Al called, "we're going with you." She looked back at them to see the determination in their faces. They nodded, but she looked straight forward again.

Walking away and slipping on her alchemic gloves, she muttered, just loud enough for them to hear, "Don't get in my way."

•••

The dark streets of Central were no longer a maze for Iris. She had a good memory of its layout, and soon enough she found herself in the alley behind the prison that had been broken out of. Military men surrounded the area, but she paid no mind to them, and they did the same.

"Where do you think she could have gone?" Al asked from behind, but Iris gave no answer, looking around corners of streets.

"I don't know. Iris?"

No response.

"Iris."

Nothing.

Edward gave a heavy sigh of frustration and grabbed her by the shoulder, spinning her around to face him and Al.

"When does this whole charade end, Iris?! Huh? Because I'm getting tired of it!"

"What are you talking about?" she spat, raising her eyebrows.

"You know damn well what I mean, this whole act. You're purposely not being cooperative, you run off every time you don't want to deal with something, you don't seem to give a shit. I know that lately it's been bad, but that doesn't give you an excuse to be like this!"

She pushed herself back so that she was no longer in Ed's grip. "It's not like I want to be like this! Did I ask for my sister to become a homunculus? No! Did I ask for Nina and Alexander to die? No! Did I ask for Maes to be killed? No! No, I didn't! What am I supposed to do?!"

"Let us help you, Iris," Al chimed in, his voice a soothing tone. "You're not alone in this! We're here, too."

The alchemist could only shake her head. "You don't get it. I don't want to lose any more people. I can't go through that again."

"We've lost people, too," Edward mumbled, looking into her eyes in an effort to help. Her eyes softened and she looked to the ground in conflict. Lately, she never knew what to do. The three remained in silence in the alleyway, until clunky footsteps echoed and bounced off the ground and the walls, along with two more sets of them. When they looked from where they came from, they immediately went into action.

"Barry the Chopper!"

"Ross!"

"Ling...?"

"Hey, guys, what's going on!" Ling greeted with a chipper tone, grinning.

"What are you doing here?" Al asked him, but he just waved his hand.

"Long story, I'll explain later."

The other four gave no attention to that conversation, and instead, Barry pointed down the alleyway to Maria Ross.

"You have to leave now! If the military police catch you, they'll put holes through you!"

The Second Lieutenant looked conflicted, scanning the faces of the three alchemists she helped during the Fifth Laboratory case. Then, she ran.

"Lieutenant Ross, wait!" Ed called, but to no avail.

Iris however, ran straight after her. It was her. She was the killer until proven otherwise, no matter who she was.

"Get back here!" Ross didn't look back.

They ran and ran, until finally, the lieutenant skidded to a stop, Iris just behind her.

"Second Lieutenant Maria Ross, you have twenty seconds to try and convince me that you had no part in killing Maes Hughes. Ross, answer me. Now!"

She gave no answer, only looked at what was before her. Iris realized...

The Colonel.

"You're Maria Ross," he spoke swiftly. According to everyone else but us, you're dead."

"Huh?" she said, confused.

"Roy, I have some questions for you, you fucking-"

"Not now, Iris."

"What do you mean, 'not now,'?! You-!"

"I said, not now!" he shouted, and Iris withdrew. "Both of you, in there at once!"

He pointed to the seemingly normal dumpster next to them in the alley.

"What are you trying to pull?!"

"We don't have the time for this! Get in, now!"

Maria did everything she was told and went in without hesitation, but Iris resisted.

"I won't! Not until you tell me everything!"

"I can't right now! Get in or I'll make you!"

She remained where she stood, and the Colonel had no choice but to carry her up and over the side of it.

"Roy!" she screamed, but a hand went over her mouth. The lid closed shut with force, and Iris bit the hand that covered her lips. Seeing who it was, she drew back.

"Jean?"

"Sshh," Havoc said, holding his injured hand close to him. "Let's just get out of here first, okay? I'll explain after."

The three escaped through a hole in the dumpster and the wall, then closed it with a cinderblock. The tunnel was dark, but the faces of all three of them were still identifiable.

"Where are we?" Ross asked.

"More importantly, where are we going?" Iris pressed with impatience.

"I'll answer everything later. For now, follow me."

He began to move forward, and both followed, albeit with reluctance.

Outside the tunnel, the sight of a burning body lit up the alleyway.