A/N: I don't own any Fullmetal Alchemist Characters. Nor the concept of transmutations circles and alchemy. Now, to the story and beyond!

"Sgt. Maury?" The golden-haired child hiccuped. Brigadier Gen. Mustang's eyebrows knitted together. He took a deep breath.

"Who's Sgt. Maury?" He asked slowly. The golden-haired girl rubbed her eyes and blinked, gulping for breath. A moment or two passed, with the child clearly taking in Mustang's appearance.

"I'm so sorry, sir. I thought you were her." The child hung her head in shame. Still clutching her sister's hand, she wiped away the last of her tears with her filthy, bloodstained undershirt. It looks more like a prison jumpsuit, thought Mustang, but he didn't say anything.

Edward turned to the golden-haired girl. Somehow, this scene seemed all too familiar to him.

"This is some pretty advanced alchemy," Ed stared up at the burned, blackened ceiling. "What… exactly did you do? I don't recognize this symbol here." He pointed to a double helix shape.

Milana hiccuped, tears spilling down her face as she clutched her dead sister's hand tighter. "I… I don't know…"

-o-0-o-

"Halt! Put your hands up!" The Night Watchman shouted. Hm, so they were going for a capture-not-kill stance. Interesting.

The night watchman walked closer, his shoes clacking on the cobblestone plaza. River's breath felt short; they were 2,340 meters above sea level, after all.

'I'll get him while you all run.' Millicent Gloster signed and ran towards the night watchman, then giving him a kick to the stomach and a punch to the face. Then there was a loud snap. The night watchman's body thudded softly. "Go, go, go!" Gloster whispered urgently.

River could hear her own footsteps pound softly across the cobblestone square, towards the tall wall that separated them from freedom. She jumped on Leona Martin's shoulders and scaled the wall easily, looked beyond it, and paled. There was a reason that wall was there. Her ears twitched towards the source of several more pairs of footsteps in the distance, echoing off the walls of the compound. Quickly. Havilland was hoisted up by River. She stood at the base of the wall, where a narrow path provided a little foothold. Then Tacey Junkers and Robert Hawker. By this time, footsteps were quickly nearing their area. Dianna Voss struggled to make it up the wall. They had about ten seconds. Gloster was hauled up. Five seconds.

"They're getting away!" a deep, baritone voice shouted.

Leona Martin was halfway up the wall, only held up by the team. Her feet scrambled to get traction on the wall. The team kept pulling. Something in Havilland's wrist popped. She hissed, her face ashen.

Suddenly, Martin's grip slacked. It was over.

"What of the others?" the deep voice asked.

"They are as good as dead. Nobody can survive the climb down."a reedy voice responded pompously.

River looked around. Junkers had tears in her eyes, As did Havilland and Gloster. River narrowed her eyes. They'd show them just how wrong they were.

-o-0-o-

"I… I don't know…" Milana hiccupped. It sounded like a petty excuse, but the truth was, she really didn't know. What she did know was that those people had killed her sister. White-hot rage spread through her body.