"Are you sure that's what they were talking about?" a voice said. Shyanna kept still, eyes closed, and tried to remember what had happened.

"I'm positive," another voice said, this one slightly familiar. 'Roy was trying to get me to tell the Elrics,' she thought. 'And I stormed out…that's right!'

Shyanna slowly opened her eyes, groaning from the bump on the back of her head. Three people looked over at her from where they had been conversing.

"Well, well. Our little Lieutenant is awake now," said the first one. A woman with long dark hair stood off to the side, along with a man with long green hair, much like a palm tree. The third was a short, fat man who was drooling slightly.

"What do you want?" Shyanna asked bitterly, "No wait, don't answer that. I'm not telling you anything, Lust."

"Oh you know about me, do you?" she said in her soft voice. Shyanna nodded. She was bound to a chair, gun and cards gone. 'Roy's probably worried sick, his lackey is missing.' She thought. Shyanna pulled up the sleeve covering her automail and touched her finger to a small transmutation circle scratched into the metal. After a little flash, Shyanna was sawing away at her bonds, not noticing the Homunculi watching her amused.

She leaped out of her chair towards what appeared to be the only exit. In a flash, Envy flipped over her head and blocked the way.

"Now, now Lieutenant, we're not through with you," he said smirking, much like Roy did. Shyanna made a move to dodge around him, and he swung at her. She dodged it, ducking down to uppercut and received a hard knee in the stomach. She flew backward onto the hard ground.

---------------

"Where the hell is she?" Mustang yelled, sitting in Shyanna's room with Ed and Al. Ed shrugged and muttered something about being hungry.

"I'm gonna go look for her," Roy said getting up. 'I can't let her get away. She just got back.' He thought.

Shyanna winced as she sat up, clutching her stomach. As soon as she was up, she was knocked back down with a hit to the head, then kicked in the ribs.

"Feel like talking now?" Envy said looking down at her.

"Damn homunculi," she muttered slowly sitting back up. Her free hand slowly went down to the top of her boot feeling around for her knife. 'Damn! They got that too!'

"Oh, are you missing something?" he taunted, while Shyanna backed up to lean against a wall.

"I'm…not…saying…anything," she panted.

"Really?" Envy kicked her in the side of the head and Shyanna flew sideways and landed sprawled out on the floor. Her normal deck of cards fell out of her pocket.

"I didn't want to resort to this," Shyanna waved her hand over the cards and they flew through the air. She leaned against the wall, standing up and held out her hand in front of her. Five cards rotated around her outstretched human hand, glowing until they turned to daggers. The three homunculi backed up, eyes wide.

"What the hell?" Envy yelled. Lust giggled once she got over the shock.

"You can't kill us, lieutenant," she said. It was Shyanna's turn to laugh.

"Oh I know," she said as five more cards rotated around her hand and turned into daggers. "But I can hold you off."

She threw the daggers at them, pinning their clothes to the wall, much as she had back at central. Shyanna turned and ran towards the door.

"Oh no you don't!" Lust cried as her finger lengthened, Envy and Gluttony trying to get loose. Her finger got Shyanna's leg. She cried out and fell to the ground. Pushing herself up, she looked around. Spotting her gun, knives, and cards on a table she grabbed them and ran out the door. Limping badly, she walked down the street, clutching her stomach where it was starting to bruise.

A car drove by her as it started to rain. It braked suddenly and Roy got out and ran over to her.

"Where have you…" he started but stopped seeing her all beat up. "Shyanna, what happened?"

She let her knees give in and collapsed onto the ground. Mustang was by her side in a second as she muttered, "Homun…culi."

And once again, everything went dark.

Shyanna woke up in the hospital in Central. It hurt to move. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see Ed sitting beside her bed.

"Hi Ed, I would've expected Havoc to be here more then you," she said smiling weakly. "So how long has it been?"

"You've only been out a bit more than a day," he said. Shyanna smiled again and tried to sit up, but some of her ribs were broken so it hurt. Ed helped her sit up and lean against some pillows. "Mustang was really worried when you didn't come back."

"I think he was just mad that I actually ran out on him. It's his fault I left and got all beat up like this though," she said watching the ceiling.

"What did he say to make you run off like that?" he asked. Shyanna closed her eyes.

"That's between me and him. Besides, I'm surprised you're not more interested in why I was kidnapped by the Homunculi," she said.

"That was actually my next question. You're pretty smart," Ed smiled at her.

"She always has been," a voice said from the door. Shyanna's eyes snapped open as Ed turned his head.

"Oh hi Roy!" she said, somewhat happily. He walked over to her bed and looked down at Ed. Getting the message, Ed got up and left.

"Ed, make sure Havoc isn't listening at the door please!" Shyanna called after him. She turned to Mustang, who had taken Ed's seat. "You're mad at me aren't you?"

"Well yes and no," he said. "I'm mad that you ran off, but I know why you did."

"Of course you do. You know perfectly well it's my job to keep quiet and you wanted me to spill. I only told you because you had me backed into a corner," she said casually.

"So did the Homunculi," he said watching her.

"Not as bad as you think."

"You're much worse off now then you were then."

"That's just a matter of opinion now isn't it?" Shyanna yawned. "I should be okay by tomorrow anyway. But I know you didn't come here to take a trip down memory lane. You would like a full account of my abduction, would you not?"

Mustang smiled, "You know too much for your own good, you know that right?"

She grinned back. "It's simple really. Envy knocked me out as I walked past an alley, when I woke up they tried to get me to talk, I wouldn't, Envy kicked the crap out of me, I got passed them and ran out."

"How'd you get away?" he asked.

"That's a lot more complicated."

"And that's the part of the story I don't know," he said smirking. 'Damn it all!' she thought.

"I…well…" Shyanna sighed. "Come on Roy, give me a break for once, will you?"

"Fine, but come by my office later, okay?" he stood up and left without waiting for an answer. Seeing him leave, Ed came back in.

"You're not going to question me too are you?" she said reaching over to her bag and pulling out her diary.

"Actually…" Shyanna shot him a death glare. "You see, Shyanna, I was listening at the door back in Lenona…"

"YOU WHAT!" Shyanna yelled at him and threw the glass next to her bed at him. "GET OUT! YOU ARE SO DEAD WHEN ROY FINDS OUT!"

She stood up and got back into her uniform. It still hurt to move but she would manage. After quickly brushing her hair, Shyanna walked slowly to Mustang's office. She knocked and when he called to her to come in she burst through the door. The pain in her ribs worsened and she sat down panting.

"Are you aware that Ed was listening to our conversation back in Lenona?" she said, clutching her ribs.

"Actually, I told him to listen…"

"YOU WHAT!"

"I knew you wouldn't say anything to him.."

"You…you set me up…"

"Shyanna…"

"I thought I could trust you!" tears now streaming down her face, Shyanna turned away from him. Riza walked in while Shyanna was wiping the tears from her face, even though they kept coming.

"What's going on in here?" she asked looking around at them. Shyanna sobbing on the couch and Mustang just was watching her. "What's wrong, Shy?"

"Leave us Hawkeye," Mustang said simply. She nodded and left. Shyanna got up to leave after her, but someone grabbed her wrist. "It's time you told the truth, Shyanna."

"Let me go."

"You're just going to run off again."

"What do you care?"

"I do care." Shyanna wrenched her arm out of his grip and turned to face him.

"You sold me out, Roy! You know I can't say anything! You know it's my duty to keep my mouth shut! And what do you do? You set me up! And now look what has happened! The Elrics keep trying to question me and the Homunculi are looking for me too! Next thing you know and you'll have sold me out to the higher ups here!" she walked back over to the couch she had been sitting on and plopped down on it. She didn't notice Ed walk into the room.

"Umm…What's going on?" he asked. Shyanna just sat on the couch, silently crying her eyes out. Mustang sighed and sat back down at the desk. He gestured for Ed to sit down too. She bit her lip, knowing what was coming.

"Shyanna, you are going to tell us the truth and you are going to tell us now damn it!" Roy slammed his fist down on the desk.

"I…I can't…"

"You can and you will."

She didn't say anything. Roy sighed. He was about to say something else when Shyanna spoke up.

"Ed, my…town, Eristine, nearly everyone there researches the philosophers stone," she said quietly. His eyes widened. "First, I'll tell you what Roy already knows. We all know about it, every single one of us. It's mostly the men that research it now. We used to have a bunch of Red stones lying about but we were polluting ourselves like Xenotime. One family in Eristine is in charge of guarding the town against intruders who want the stone for themselves. My father was the only man not researching the stone. He was guarding it. When I turned ten years old, my father died from exposure to the red water. Being an only child the duty was passed to me. I was already pretty good at alchemy and fighting so all I had to do was keep an eye on the outside. Then came April the seventh of the year when I turned sixteen. Somehow info had gotten out on our little town and the military came to call, lead by none other than Roy Mustang," Shyanna stopped talking for a minute as the image crossed her mind.

"She fought good," Mustang said quietly, "But,"

"But not good enough," she finished. "He had me backed into a corner, all my resources gone. I was out of bullets, cards, and time. When he attacked again I could only hold it of with my arm," She held up her automail arm. "You can imagine how that went. My whole sleeve caught fire. I thought for sure that I was finished. I was so disappointed in myself for failing my entire town. Then, he spared me. I still remember sitting against that cold wall and holding onto what was left of my arm, waiting for the final blow. Next thing I knew, the man who had just taken my arm and almost my life, was helping me up off the ground. Roy called off his troops and left, taking me with him. I lived by myself in Central until I was old enough to take the exam. He was the only one who knew about anything that happened. I trusted him except for the fact that he blackmailed me every chance he got. Then about a year ago I got a letter. From home. My mother had died and they had no one else to do my job. My town needed me. So, I asked for a week long vacation and took off back to Eristine. I only spent about a month there. By the time I got there, one of the other men had taken over protection. So I decided to travel. Roy is smart, I knew he would figure out he didn't know everything plus I was tired of having to do all his work. I went far west and decided to check up on things here nine months after I left. Not wanting to reveal myself, I used my knowledge of the security to break in and check. They didn't have me marked dead yet, that was all I wanted to see but on my way out I was caught. The guard got me by my hair and the ribbon I used to tie it back. He must have got a good look at it before I snatched it back and ran. Then three months later I helped catch that crook."

"And that's the part that Roy knows, right?" Ed said. Shyanna nodded and wiped her eyes.

"And now what he doesn't know. Everyone in my town, we all possess some sort of special power. It must've been from all the red water and fake stones that we got exposed to. I almost never use mine." She took her normal cards out of her pocket and walked over setting them on the desk. Looking down at the ground, she waved her hand in a large sweeping motion over the cards and they flew into the air, swirling around her body. Sticking her hand out in front of her, most of the cards returned to the desk in a neat pile, while only five of them remained, rotating like they had when she escaped the homunculi. With a soft glow they turned to daggers and she muttered, "This is how I escaped the Homunculi."

"But that's not all you don't know. Each and every person from Eristine has an incomplete philosophers stone."

"Where's yours?" Ed asked. Shyanna pulled the blue ribbon off her wrist and held it up. Both Roy and Ed looked at it confused. She took a normal card of the top of the deck. The card glowed and floated up over her outstretched hand. With her other hand, Shyanna dropped the ribbon into the glow and the card began to rotate rapidly. In a flash the ribbon and the card disappeared, leaving what looked like a small red bubble lying in the palm of her hand. Ed reached out to touch it, but Shyanna closed her hand around it.

"Are you satisfied now?" she shot at Mustang, tears welling up in her eyes. "I've spilled everything I can, and much more than I should have!"

"I don't think you're done," he said calmly. Shyanna fell to her knees.

"Fine, we have it. Okay! We have the stone! But no one can have it! Those arrogant bastards only did it to prove they could!" Shyanna turned the stone back into a ribbon and tied in back on her wrist. She stood up shakily, while Ed stared at her and Mustang sat there a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Take me to Eristine," Ed said quietly. Shyanna shook her head.

"I can't. I know how much you want it, how far you've gone to get it but I can't. For all I know, they've destroyed it by now. All I know is that they had it when I left. My people are smart enough to know not to keep it around," she turned to leave. "I'll be at my desk."

Shyanna left Roy's office, no longer crying walking slowly down the hall. When she entered the office, Riza and Havoc were conversing quietly.

"I'm okay guys, Roy just knows how to get to me. Like how he can make Ed explode."

"I don't know, you looked pretty bad when I came in," Riza looked concerned, so did Havoc.

"I'm fine really!" Shyanna smiled and sat down at her desk. "You guys shouldn't worry about me so much! I escaped the Homunculi didn't I?"

They stared and she realized her mistake. 'Me and my big mouth.'

"You guys didn't know? Ah crap!"

She got up from her desk and walked out. Shyanna walked right out of headquarters. 'This is getting insane,' she thought 'I've only been back a few days.'

She headed to a small bar on the edge of town. Being the middle of the day, she was the only one there besides the bartender. She ordered a drink and while he got it, the bartender eyed her uniform. "You sure you should be drinking during hours?"

"I don't care anymore," she said quietly when he handed her her drink. She sat there wondering if anyone was gonna come looking for her, not really caring at the same time. Shyanna sat there for hours, and kept drinking. Finally, she decided to leave, but at this point she could barely walk straight. She walked in the general direction of HQ while the sky got darker. When she got closer, someone in a military uniform ran towards her. 'Just my luck,' she thought recognizing the figure as Mustang. She zigzagged along the road, ignoring him.

"Where the hell have you been?" he said, grabbing her arm to help her walk. She jerked her arm out of his grip.

"Spare me the lecture," she said, slurring her words.

"God Shyanna! What'd you go and get drunk for?"

"Leave me alone, bastard."

"Lieutenant…"

"Don't give me that crap."

"Come on let's get you inside."

"Roy, I'm fine. Watch," Shyanna closed her eyes and the ribbon on her wrist glowed. "See?"

She was no longer slurring her words and when she walked, she walked straight. He walked beside her, keeping an eye out for any signs of drunkenness. They got back to headquarters without any mishaps but, Shyanna couldn't get away before Mustang pulled her into his office again.

"I'm really starting to hate this place," she muttered, sitting down in front of his desk.

"I shouldn't have to treat you like a child. Fullmetal acts older than you," Roy sighed and sat down at his desk. "You've got to stop doing stuff like this, Shyanna."

"I honestly don't care anymore," she said stubbornly. "I should still be in Eristine, doing my job."

"That's not your job anymore, doing what I tell you to do is," Roy got up in her face to emphasize his point. Shyanna looked down at the ground, eyes threatening to tear up again.

"I'm sorry, Roy, I really am," she said quietly. "You're putting me under so much stress right now, I've never had to tell anyone before. And now the Homunculi know about me too…"

Mustang knelt down to her level and set his hand on hers. She looked up to find his eyes gazing into hers.

"Don't you realize yet that I'm trying to help you?" he said softly. "I have been since I brought you here from Eristine. It's just easier if I know everything."

Shyanna looked away from him, eyes glassy. "What makes you think I need help?"

"Something I saw in your eyes that April seventh," he said simply.

Shyanna just sat there, staring at her hands. It had been a long time since anyone had spoke to her like that, even while she was living in Eristine. The townspeople had always just seen her as their shield, and if something went wrong she was blamed. Like when information had leaked out on the little town. According to them, it had been Shyanna's fault, just like the military coming. Is that what Mustang was talking about?

A few minutes later, she left his office, making her way back to her own office. Shyanna wasn't surprised to find Havoc and Hawkeye conversing quietly when she entered the room.

"Why is it whenever I come in, you guys are talking about me?" she said jokingly sitting down.

"Because every time before you show up, you give us reason to. Like this time you ran off in the middle of a work day," Havoc said matter of factly.

"Like I seem to say so often, I had my reasons," Shyanna said pulling out her deck of cards. "I think I'll play some nice head clearing Solitaire."

"Why do you need to clear your head, Shy?" Riza asked her.

"Oh, just everything that has happened in the past few days that's all."

"Did you really get caught by the Homunculi?" Shyanna looked up from her game.

"Yeah, why?"

"It was just unexpected."

"You'd be surprised at how many unexpected things happen to me," Shyanna said, thinking of what Roy had said to her.