A/N Well, here's chapter two, and I must say that I'm very appreciative to at least have 2 review, I hope to get more soon! (BTW, review responses are at the bottom) I am revising- if only just a little- all of my chapters, be sure to skim through them so that you can catch what I've added- only if you want to of course.
Kara stared blankly out the window as the train left Central; she hadn't meant to leave, not so soon anyway. What if it happened while she was gone? Kara would never forgive herself if Hughes died. "Why are you so quiet, Kara?" Alphonse, Ed's younger brother asked.
Kara smiled softly, "I guess I just don't have much to say today, besides I'm tired today." Her gaze rested upon the hills, carved into the earth, that rolled by as the train moved swiftly, unhindered along the track.
"Well, maybe you should just take a nap like big brother." Al said, indicating the lightly snoring boy beside him, "after all, in order to gain strength and clear focus, one must be well rested."
Kara shivered and frowned as she looked at the also napping Winry, "I can't go to sleep, Al." She murmured, her forehead creasing slightly in discomfort and annoyance.
"Why not?" He shifted forward and looked at her, "You've been awake rather often lately, what's troubling you?"
"It's just that… I've had horrible nightmares lately, Al." Kara waved her hand, indicating that the discussion should end, but Al wasn't willing to leave it at that.
"What kind of nightmares?" He asked.
"The homunculus." She whispered so softly that Al couldn't hear her, "they plague my dreams, now drop the matter."
"Alright!" Al gasped, "don't take it out on me, Ed would kill you if he found out that you dismembered me, willingly or unwillingly."
"Oh! Sorry Al… I didn't mean… I mean that-" Kara stuttered, releasing the power once more tothe air, apologizing several more times before she seemed satisfied that she had been forgiven.
"I know, but you can't go getting upset when there's metal nearby." Al said, laughing lightly, "You could end up derailing the train."
"Al! That's not funny!" Kara's face paled considerably, "What if that had really happened? Would you... would you laugh then, when you emmerge, alone,uninjured?"
"No, it's not." The boy said soberly, "I'm sorry."
"Sh, we'll end up waking up the others." Kara put her fingers to her lips to indicate silence as she drifted back into her own muddled and deep thoughts.
She sat there for what seemed like hours before her eyes began to drift shut, flashes of a corpse came to her mind and she felt her body paralyze with fear as the homunculus turned towards her, not seeing her as he moved through her body and down the street, "Hughes!" She screamed, kneeling by his side, "Why did they come after you? Why you damn it!" Her eyes turned to the disappearing form of Envy, "I'll kill you for this you bastard! I'll kill you!"
"Kara!" A voice pierced through the black void as a date showed up in her mind, a date that caused her heart to race. "Kara, wake up"
She now recognized the voice as that of Ed, shaking her violently as the other passengers in the car stared at her as though she were crazy. "Ed, what's wrong?" She croaked through her oddly hoarse throat.
"What's wrong! What's wrong! You were screaming like there was no tomorrow, what's wrong with you?" Ed said in exasperation, "the other passengers seem to feel that you have lost your mind, and I'm half inclined to agree." His voice softened, "What's wrong?"
"I-I'm sorry Ed." She whispered before leaping through the closed window, feeling the glass tear into her tender flesh, merely adding to her collection of wounds.
She stood dizzily, cut and bruised, on the tracks and began to run for all that she was worth, she had to save him and only had a few hours in which to do so, lest she fail in her mission and be forever haunted by his face, as she was by that of her parents. Kara wheezed heavily as she ran throughout the day, sweat glistened on her face and caused her hair to stick to her neck, cheeks, and forehead.
"Hold on just a little longer, please Hughes, just hold on!" She exclaimed wildly, putting on an extra burst of speed as she hit the outskirts of town, and made her way towards the military base.
Her legs became jelly-like and her vision began to swim as she finally found the phone booth, only to find her dream becoming a strange, twisted reality. "Hughes!" She shrieked as the gun was pointed at him.
Anxiously she ran and shoved him hard, too late as the bullet grazed the top of his head deeply and bounced off of the telephone booth and into the night. The older man collapsed before her, hitting his head off of the concrete, hard, and Kara felt the tears well up in her eyes as Envy turned to leave, a triumphant smirk upon his face, "You bastard!" Kara shouted, feeling her power surge as the street lights exploded around them, "Why the hell did you have to do it, why!"
"He simply knew too much." Envy smirked at her teary eyes as her eyebrows knitted together in fury a strange and frightening look upon her face.
"Knew too much! He didn't know anything!" A ghost of a smile graced her lips.
"Of course, I do however." Her voice was deadly soft, and her eyes glinted with a strange, determined light.
Envy glanced her over, "Liar." He said at last and turned again, "I haven't the time for this foolishness."
"I don't lie!" Kara's voice grew louder, "It's about the President, isn't it? He's one of you, and seeking out the Philosopher's stone for his own twisted purposes."
Envy turned back to her, "and when did you figure this out?" He asked curiously, for the last he knew... she had known nothing, in fact she had been as clueless as the full metal pipsqueak.
"Back when the dreams started." She said thoughtlessly damn… that's the second time she'd done that, revealed a secret that was meant only to be known to her, lest it be twisted to some dark purposes… baka.
Envy smirked and took on the image of Hughes, nearly causing Kara to collapse with grief, "And what dreams would those be, child?"
"None of your damned business." Kara turned her face away defiantly as he moved closer to her and grasped her chin, wrenching it in his direction.
"Can you see the future or something?" He scoffed disbelievingly.
"Do you think that I can see the future?" Kara asked playfully, her eyes dancing as she yanked his hand from beneath her chin and stood straighter, "That's like asking if I believe in the homunculi..." The latter was said in the same soft voice that she had used with Alphonse earlier that afternoon.
He stroked his chin thoughtfully, "I don't know... but maybe father does, I can't have you out here predicting what I'm about to do, it would be... troublesome to say in the least."
With that he grabbed her wrist tightly and began to drag her down the street, even as she struggled to pull away. As they moved street lamps shattered, the steel holding them twisting towards the struggling duo as they moved. Envy stopped only when Lust strolled angrily towards them, "What's going on, Envy? Did you kill him? And why are you with this girl, isn't she one of the sacrifices?"
Envy rolled his eyes, "he is dead, and… this girl is a threat, she nearly saved that foolish bastard, but I want father to see her… she just might be able to see into the future… maybe that could be twisted to our advantage."
Lust glared hard at Kara before consenting to Envy's wishes. "Maybe, however, merely walking her isn't a good idea." She said pointedly, indicating the broken lamps, "She could lead the military to us, and that would be very troublesome indeed."
"You're right!" Envy gasped as though only just realizing it.
His smirk was the last thing that the horror-filled eyes of Kara saw before a brilliant pain lanced out in the back of her skull and the darkness claimed her.
Early the next morning
The man awoke with a splitting headache and several deep gashes upon his head. He stood dizzily, looking around and wondering where he was. What had happened? He stumbled towards a lit building, leaning heavily on the structure of the door frame, breathing heavily, and watching in shock as several droplets of crimson splashed upon the glass strewn concrete.
"Hello?" he called woozily, "Is anybody there?"
A young, mousey woman came to the door, "Why Lieutenant Hughes-" She gasped, taking in his battered appearance, "your wife has been so worried, she called at least a dozen timeslast night to see if you were still here, where were you?"
"Hughes?" He said wonderingly as the image of a woman with short blond hair shoved itself into his mind, "Who's that?"
"Oh, ha-ha, very funny." She said softly, and yet wide-eyed, "What happened to you by the way lieutenant?" She asked, taking in his battered appearance with shock.
The man swooned as he stood straighter, nearly collapsing as blood ran into his burning eyes, "Who are you?" He asked.
"I-it's Scieszka." The girl replied shakily, stepping forward, "Somebody help! Lieutenant Hughes is injured!" Her voice was shrill with worry as the man swayed before her, a look of utter confusion uponhis bloody face.
Instantly there were several lower class soldiers helping to support the man, they soon had him in the infirmary, where he was bandaged and allowed to sleep on a comfortable bed. His dreams were haunted by the face of a strange girl, shoving him to the ground, and then- everything was blank.
When he awoke the next morning, there was a man seated beside his bed, dressed in a blue uniform. He appeared to be habitually messing with his gloves, gloves that had a symbol on the back, "Hughes!" The man gasped in relief, seeing that he had awoken.
"Who are you?" The bedridden man croaked, "why does everyone keep calling me Hughes?"
The other man's face fell as he realized that he had been told the truth, his friend, the man that had promised to be by his side when he himself was in need, and to help him get to the top, had amnesia. "Hughes, it's Mustang." He said, managing to keep his voice from cracking, "Who did this to you? Tell me!"
The man called Hughes looked troubled for the moment, and then the image of a girl appeared in his head, "It was a girl… she was young, perhaps 15 at the most. She had dark- black- hair that was tied up and blue eyes with a white ring around them." He had described the girl perfectly, and could see that in the way that Mustang's jaw dropped.
"But- why would Kara hurt you? She cares about you." He seemed shocked before the anger took hold, "I can't believe that she did that, I will find her and make her pay for what she did to you, Hughes, I swear it."
A/N Well, another chapter, I hope that you liked it, and I hope to get more reviews shortly!
Chapter 3: Kara's escape… encounters of the bad kind…
Kara manages to get away from the two homunculus, but who better to run into than Roy Mustang and Scar themselves? Will Kara be able to survive? Find out next time!
LadyRiona: Thanks for pointing that out to me… I had thought that I seeded all that out, but I guess not… anyway, I hope to hear from you again!
Jackie(Ed's secret lover): Thanks for reviewing, I'm glad that in my revision there was another and I hope that you continue to read my work.