Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or Legend of Korra

Edward

They were each given poles with metal spikes and sent outside onto a catwalk with instructions to knock the icicles from the catwalk above. Ed didn't want to admit he was too short to reach most of the ice, even with his pole. But he still tried valiantly, stretching as best as he could. Al was having no trouble, seeing as how he was at least seven feet tall. Ayana just stood there watching Ed struggle with an amused smile on her face.

"Are you just going to stand there and laugh at me?" He shot at her in annoyance. "Maybe you could try helping?"

He'd expected his accusing words to piss her off, but instead her smile just got bigger. Wordlessly, she leaned her pole against a nearby wall, raised her arms, and bent all the icicles down in one smooth motion. Her eyes shined with amusement as Al raised his hands and cheered.

Ed didn't find it funny; why did she wait so long to do that? She'd let him make himself look like idiot, flailing his pole like that. He muttered under his breath, irritated. "Damn showoff."

"What was that? I couldn't quite hear you. I thought I heard you say you'd rather knock them all down yourself." She taunted in a playful voice. "I could easily put them back up there, you know."

"Ayana?" They all turned toward the voice and were surprised to see Falman approaching. He was also holding an ice-knocker pole. "I knew it! No one else could pull the stunt you just did. Thanks, you've saved me a lot of trouble!"

"Warrant Officer Falman!" Ed greeted him, glad to have a distraction from Ayana making fun of his height. "I thought you were at the Northern Command Center?"

"I was, but I got promoted and sent up here. I'm a Second Lieutenant now!" He answered proudly as he pointed at the new stars on his uniform.

"Congratulations!" The three of them chorused together.

Falman smiled. "Well, since we're finished up here, in record time I might add, do you want a tour of the fort? I'd be happy to show you around."

"Sure, sounds great!" Ed answered. He tossed his pole on the catwalk and followed Falman as he led the way back inside the fort. Ed held the door for Al and Ayana, and she playfully elbowed him as she passed. She still had a smirk on her face. He found himself having a hard time staying annoyed with her.

Falman led them throughout the fort, showing them the different areas. Eventually they made it to the lower levels, which he explained were a research and development area for weapons. There were tanks lined up in in various stages of completion, and a large assortment of weapons and ammunition were stacked neatly on shelves along the walls. They walked through an open archway and descended down into another room. This one was filled with pipes, valves, and fans.

"This is the life of the fort, and the lowest level. Everything important runs through here. Even if the fort up above was attacked or destroyed, all the major functions would still be operational here." Falman explained.

They observed some mechanics gathered around a pipe, and they seemed to be troubleshooting something. As they watched, a large crack formed in the floor, and it felt like the entire fort shook as the concrete collapsed and created a giant sinkhole.

As the dust settled, a large form crawled out of the hole and slowly moved out of the dusty haze. He was huge and muscular, with black hair similar to Envy's, but shorter. He wore no shirt, and exposed on his shoulder was an ouroboros tattoo.

"A homunculus." Ayana growled.

"How did they find us here?" Ed exclaimed. "We're not doing anything wrong." The creature was gazing at them with bored look on his face. "Hey! Did your Father send you here?" He shouted at it, but it only answered with a blank stare.

"We're just here trying to find a way to get our bodies back, that's all!" Al added.

"Who are you? Why should I care? What a bother…" The homunculus drawled. He wandered aimlessly around the room, mumbling about how annoying this situation was.

A gunshot landed by Ed's feet, and he danced backwards in surprise. "What the hell?"

"You are spies from Drachma!" Buccaneer stood on a catwalk above, pointing his pistol at them.

"No, we're not!" Ed yelled back.

"Then why were you talking to that thing like you knew it?" Buccaneer accused.

"I swear, we don't know him!" Ed shouted back. Al cried a warning as the homunculus threw a large broken pipe at them, and they all jumped out of the way safely. The Briggs soldiers began firing their weapons, but the monster continued to amble around, completely oblivious to the bullets. Somehow, he wandered onto a cargo lift and activated it, and it took him up to the research and development level.

"We need to get up there!" Ed yelled as he bolted for the staircase. Falman, Al and Ayana followed close behind. They could hear loud gunshots from above, and it even sounded like there were cannons going off. Topping the staircase, they took in the mayhem and jumped into action.

The monster was throwing a large container at some soldiers. Ed and Al clapped together and transmuted a wall from the ground, shielding the men from the attack. Ayana ran towards the homunculus, throwing fire and air to draw its attention away from the soldiers.

Ed spotted the General standing in the top hatch of a tank and hurried over to her. "It doesn't matter how many times you kill it, it won't die!"

"How do you know that? I'm sick of you playing games with me!" She snarled at him. "You will answer all my questions! Are you a Drachman spy?"

"No!" Ed answered immediately.

"Is that thing a Drachman spy?"

"No!"

A blast of fire distracted the General for a moment; she looked over at the monster, watching it try and fail to hit Ayana as she nimbly avoided its lazy attacks. "Does it know you?"

"No, apparently not!"

"What is that thing?" With each question, the irritation in her voice had increased. Now, she was practically screaming at him.

Ed hesitated. He couldn't answer this one, Winry's life was at stake. If he told the General about the homunculi, Bradley was sure to kill her. "I can't answer."

"Who does that thing answer to?"

"I can't answer that!"

The General scowled at him angrily. "Why can't you answer?" She growled dangerously.

Ed glared back. He replied confidently and firmly. "I can't answer."

General Armstrong turned to look back at the monster again with a calculating look in her eyes. "Whose side are you on? Are you with us?"

"I'm not with him, I don't want to see anyone here get hurt!" Ed answered, frustrated with her questions.

"Then tell me what that thing is made of." Armstrong seemed to have given up on figuring out all the answers for now. For the time being, she was focused on subduing it.

"It's body composition and elements are most likely similar to a human." Ed answered.

She watched the monster, thinking, as it shouted angrily at Ayana, "What a pain!"

Armstrong seemed to finally figure out her strategy. "Buccaneer! Get some tank fuel! We're going to douse it!" Ed was about to protest but she cut him off, "I understand that we can't kill it, our only hope is to stop or delay it. We're going to hit it with something even stronger than fire, which everyone can witness is not enough."

She didn't say it accusingly, but Ed still felt like it was a jab at Ayana's efforts. She was doing the best she could with what she had, and it was keeping the soldiers alive. Armstrong really should be more grateful.

Suddenly Buccaneer swiped Ed up under his arm. "Give me a hand, alchemist. You, too!" He commanded, addressing Al and Falman, who both squeaked affirmatively.

"What? We can't just…." Ed bit his tongue when Buccaneer pointed a gun at his head.

"You were forced to help us. You don't have a problem with that, right?" He smirked and dragged him over to some storage tanks. Al and Falman followed grudgingly. He handed them all small gas tanks and used the larger storage tank to fill them, then instructed them to take the full canisters up the stairs to Gate Eight. Ed didn't protest. He wasn't sure what Armstrong was planning, but hopefully it worked.

Buccaneer positioned them in hiding spots near Gate Eight, by the elevator. They waited in silence, listening to the muted sounds of fighting and explosions below. After several minutes, the elevator door opened and the homunculus walked out. He gazed around at his new surroundings, looking confused.

"What a bother," he moaned again. The elevator door closed behind him.

Buccaneer rushed out of hiding, grabbed the homunculus, and flipped him over to land on his back. "Now! Douse it!" He shouted, and together Ed, Al, and Falman emptied their gas cans onto the monster's body. It stood up, sniffing the fuel on his arm and grumbling.

"Now what?" Ed wondered aloud. That had done absolutely nothing.

The door dinged behind him, and he spun to look. The elevator slid open, revealing General Armstrong standing in an intimidating posture and Ayana in front of her. Her eyes were glowing with the Avatar State, and as she lifted her arm, Ed dove out of the way.

His ears rang with the crack of thunder, and he watched, astonished, as a thick bolt of lightning shot from her fingertips. It hit the homunculus in the chest with enough force to send him flying down the hallway, through the door, and straight over the railing of the wall outside.

Ed's eyes were spotting from the bright light; he blinked multiple times trying to clear them. He saw everyone else run to the railing and stare down at the ground several stories below. He followed them and looked down to see the monster lying in the snow, his body very quickly freezing over. The tank fuel was evaporating, sucking his body heat away and freezing him to his very core.

They hadn't killed it, but at least they'd stopped it. And they'd prevented it from hurting anyone.

Buccaneer caught him off guard by scooping him under his arm again.

"Hey!" Ed protested. He swung his limbs, trying to break free. "Put me down!"

"You were forced to help us! You like that story, right? Besides, I'm not letting you leave until you tell me what that thing is." General Armstrong decreed severely.

Buccaneer glanced over at Ayana. "I'd rather not manhandle you, young lady. If you promise to behave yourself, I'll let you walk."

She nodded, looking slightly frightened at the word 'manhandle'. Al followed as well, and together they were all taken down to the brig and locked in a cell.

Ayana

The cots in the prison were uncomfortable. Ayana slept poorly with the cold draft seeping straight through her blankets, which she thought were too thin. Who even uses thin blankets in a winter environment? Why even bother buying them? They should only stock thick, fluffy blankets. But they probably did it on purpose, just to make their prisoners miserable.

She phased in and out of sleep as she struggled to stay warm. She heated herself using her father's firebending trick, but she'd just wake up freezing again not long after. The wooden shackles on her wrists made it difficult to get comfortable, and it didn't take her long to decide to deal with them by exhaling a stream of fire to burn the wood in half. It was still uncomfortable but at least her hands weren't forced together. She was able to sleep a little bit easier after that.

Finally, morning came, and she heard Ed sit up in his cot and talk to Al. She sat up, too, and didn't bother to stifle a wide yawn. "I hope you slept better than I did."

"Doubtful." Ed responded. "I was freezing all night. These blankets suck." He lifted them up in his hand and glared at them disapprovingly. She noticed he was still cuffed, as was Al.

She pointed at the wooden shackles. "Want me to burn those apart for you?"

"Yes, please!" They both held their wrists to her, and she whipped up some fire and burnt the wood in half. "Thanks!"

They heard a door open down the hall and footsteps approaching. A group of soldiers appeared in front of their cell.

"Hey, you guys are awake! We wanted to come down and say thanks for helping out with that monster yesterday. You guys saved our buddies lives down there." One of the soldiers said. All the others nodded, agreeing with his words.

Ed looked taken aback. "You're welcome. You guys really stick together up here, huh? I'm impressed."

"Yeah, we have to. We're all like family to each other." The soldier responded. "The General sent a search party into the hole that monster came from. They should be back in a few hours. Hopefully they find something."

Another soldier spoke up, "Anyway, we should get back to our posts, but we wanted to come thank you. Take care!" They all waved as they walked back down the hall.

"That was nice of them." Ayana noted. "Seems they have a strong-knit community here."

"Yeah." Al agreed. "Hopefully they come back and tell us what they find in the hole."

There was nothing to do but wait and hope that someone came to tell them what they found. They entertained themselves by having a transmuting vs. bending competition, using water as the substance of choice. They created small ice statues, each one more complex than the last, until Ayana declared alchemy the winner. While she could bend it and create shapes, she couldn't get anywhere close to the intricate details that Ed and Al could. Al's transmuted model of Central Command, detailed all the way down to the doorknobs, had been the winner.

Finally, Buccaneer showed up and announced that the General wanted to see them. They followed him down to the lowest point in the fort, to the hole that the homunculus had come through. He ordered them into it, and they all climbed down carefully.

Ayana peered down the massive tunnel. It was huge; the walls and ceiling were circular in shape, and the tunnel seemed to curve gently as its length disappeared into darkness. General Armstrong and Falman were waiting for them with some horses. They mounted up, and together, the group rode down the tunnel.

After a while, the General announced, "This should be far enough. Everyone, dismount."

Ayana brought her horse to a stop and slid out of the saddle, then joined the group as they circled up. The General eyed the three of them, then began speaking. Her tone was firm, but without anger.

"We are safely away from any prying eyes or ears. It is safe here for you to tell me everything. And I mean everything. Yesterday I asked you about that monster; do you remember what you said? 'I can't answer.' Even as a hint, that was a dangerous thing to do. At great peril to yourself, you defied me. I think there's something you're trying to hide, and you're willing to risk your lives to protect it. Or maybe to protect someone else. Don't lie to me this time, I want the truth. All of it."

Ayana waited for the brothers to speak. The General was clearly addressing them, not her, so she'd let them do the talking.

Ed made the decision to trust Armstrong. "We need your help, General." And he relayed their entire story. The homunculi, Father, the Philosopher's Stone, the hostages, and the Fuhrer's true identity. Everything.

Armstrong took it all in stride as she sat on a wooden crate, pondering all the information. She looked sharply at Ayana. "What about you? I want to know your story, too."

Ayana answered truthfully. "Most of it is the same as what you just heard. The biggest difference is that I'm from another world, and don't know how I wound up here. But I know that, for whatever reason, I'm important to that Father guy. The homunculi need me alive for whatever they're planning."

The General's reaction was a small one; just a slight enlargement of her eyes. "Another world? Is that what gives you your unique powers?" Ayana nodded. Armstrong was quiet for a moment, then addressed Ed and Al again. "The question now is what do we do next. I would like to know what you alchemists make of this tunnel."

The brothers looked around, examining it. "Well, I think if you followed it, you would find it doesn't originate in Drachma. This is just a guess, but chances are its dug in the shape of a giant circle." Ed theorized.

"Why?" Buccaneer asked.

"It's got to do with alchemy. In alchemy, a circle is used to control power. Hmm." He thought for a minute, then exclaimed suddenly, "General, do you have a map of Amestris?"

Rummaging in her saddlebag, the General produced a map and handed it to Ed, who stretched it out in front of him on the ground. He circled something on it. "Lieutenant Falman, can you list all the major historical events that were accompanied by bloodshed?"

Falman gasped. "Bloodshed?" He walked over to kneel across from Ed and examined the map.

Ayana wandered behind him and saw Ed had circled Ishval. Falman began listing off the major events throughout Amestrian history, and Ed circled them on the map accordingly.

When Falman had finished, Ed connected the circles on the map and everyone gazed, bewildered, at the transmutation circle that the circled locations created. It looked like the one Ayana remembered seeing on the floor at the Fifth Lab. Her heart sank as she realized what this meant.

"How is this possible?" Buccaneer asked, awestruck.

"If they make a Philosopher's Stone with something this huge…." Ayana trailed off, not liking where all this was headed. The entire Amestrian population, murdered to make a Stone….

"Each incident, the military was involved!" Falman exclaimed. "Each one was an insurrection, or a coups d'état, even way back at the beginning!"

"We started out as a small country, but kept expanding as we took over neighboring territories. That was all to create this circle?" Armstrong growled. "Does that mean this country was founded just for this very purpose? And look!" She pointed angrily at the map, where it showed Fort Briggs. "As far as I can tell, there's only one place left to complete the circle, and that's right here in Briggs! What dirty plans do those bastards in Central have for my fort?" She shouted passionately.

They heard a horses' hooves echoing in the tunnel and watched as another soldier appeared. Reigning his mount as he approached, he called, "General! You're needed back at the fort! Lieutenant General Raven is here to see you!"

General Armstrong stood sharply. "Well. It looks like our time's already up."

"Wait, General." Ed exclaimed. His eyes were lit up in inspiration. "Do you think you could con some information out of him?"