Chapter Seven: A Rose by Any Other Name

Tears stained the floor as the young girl fell limp, shackled by her wrists to the cold, stone wall. Her wrists had been rubbed raw by the harsh, metal shackles, but she could barely feel them anymore. Dried blood stained her palms, dribbled down from terrible gashes in each of her fingers. Several gashes ran down her arms, lashed and torn by her cruel captor's malice. And still, she couldn't feel it. The pain hurt worse in other places, places that had been shown no sign of mercy. And inside, she knew the truth. No matter how she prayed, come what may, she would always hurt like this. Scars such as hers would never heal.

The room was as cold and silent as a damp cavern in the middle of the night. A concrete basement beneath a massive headquarters, with few accommodations. The woman never left the shackles against the wall, where the only light that ever touched her face was that of the candle on the far wall, next to the thick, iron door. There was a chest against the wall to her left, one that she had learned to fear for the horrors her captors took from that to use against her. To the right, an old coal stove sat in the corner, and she knew its ravages only too well. The iron heated inside its furnace had left many scars on her bare, vulnerable flesh.

As she sobbed silently in the cold, dark room, three figures stood powerfully over her. Their faces were burned onto her memory, etched into the cold, dark places of her worst fears. In the center stood their leader, their master. All three were dressed in the same blue suits, the attire she had come to associate with the evil military of the State. But the man in the center was different. He had golden stripes running down his shoulders, she supposed as a sign of his power over the dogs at his side. His short, silver hair showed evidence that it may once have been brown, having not yet gone completely to gray, and his face showed the ravages of age. But she didn't care. He was a monster, a horrible devil sent to destroy her. He was evil.

She feared him most, for he had power. But he was not the one she hated. Her hatred burned strongest for the man to his left. She could see his face in her mind every time she closed her eyes. His long, light brown hair that caressed his shoulders like a woman's, those green eyes that sparkled with malice every time he looked at her. The sparkling golden ring on his left hand, with the strange circle carved into it. That sadistic laugh, that grin on his face...she could live a thousand years and never forget that evil creature with the familiar silver pocketwatch on its chain.

"General, with all due respect, don't you think she's had enough?" The third one spoke. The woman didn't see much of this third person, a young woman with short, silver hair and sparkling, hazel eyes. Her uniform was special, though the woman wasn't sure what it was. There was a red heart sewn into the breast of her uniform, and she was sure it meant something. She just didn't know the meaning behind it. She came in every so often, to treat her wounds. She never said much, and did her work fast. Whenever she was close, the woman could see something that looked like hate burning in her eyes, though she could never understand it. What had she done to earn this woman's malice?

The strong man in the center sighed, leaning forward to get a closer look at the woman's young, battered form. "We've only just started with her. She's going to tell us everything she knows, if she ever wants to leave this place. Don't concern yourself with her, Lieutenant. She's just an animal." The woman snarled, but it was a vain effort. She knew there was nothing she could do in these shackles that held her.

"But, sir, what if she–" The lady on the left was cut off abruptly by the general's voice.

"I told you not to concern yourself. Now, aren't there people in the higher floors that need your attention? We still have wounded from the front lines, and they're not going to get any better without their medic, are they?" The general's voice was direct and commanding. But the woman didn't care too much for his voice, but for his words. Fear gripped her heart when she realized what he was doing. He was sending the lieutenant out of the room. He didn't want her to see what was about to happen, and that thought terrified the young woman more than anything in the world.

Surprise crossed the young lieutenant's face when she heard the command, but she knew better than to question the general. "Yes, sir," she saluted, before she backed out the door. She passed one last glance towards the woman in chains, and the woman thought for a moment that she could see pity in the lieutenant's eyes, before the cold, iron door slammed shut. And now, she was terrified. She was alone with the two men before her, and she knew what that meant.

Fear gripped her heart as the man on the right moved, grasping her hair thickly in his clenched, violent hand, and pressing his face only inches from her own. "Now, let's try this again," the man snarled, and she hated that sadistic grin on his face. "You're going to talk to us, sweet pet, and you're going to tell us everything you know." The woman snarled in defiance, but she had little strength left to put behind it.

"Go to Hell," she cursed at him, but all she received in return was a crack to her face by the man's left fist. She felt his knuckles strike her face, felt her head jerk to the side by the force of the impact, and as she gathered her strength to tilt her head back, she tasted blood dripping into her mouth. It only took her a second to realize; the man's ring had cut open her cheek.

"What do you want from me," she sobbed, as she gathered her strength to move. The man had let go of her hair, and now stood powerfully over her limp, broken form. "Why are you doing this to me?"

The general's eyes leveled down on her, and she could feel his cold, steely gaze piercing her soul. "You know what I want. Where has the ringleader gone, woman? Where is Cornello?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" she exploded, with what little strength she had. "I already told you, I don't know. How many times are you going to ask me that? I...I don't know..." As her tears dripped softly down her face, she felt her hope begin to fade. They were going to beat her until she gave them an answer that she didn't have. She would never leave this place.

"Thorne, again," the general commanded, and the man with the ring grinned. The woman could see him moving closer, see him towering over her, and panic gripped her heart. She kicked at him, shoving both her bare legs at him in a desperate terror, screeching at him to get away, but her effort was useless. She was pulled off balance when he gripped her left leg, clutching it in both of his arms and pressing her shin against his chest.

"Last chance, little girl," the evil man, Thorne, snarled at her. His right hand crossed gently up her shin, while his left ensnared and caressed the outside of her thigh. She didn't know what he was up to, but it frightened her.

"Where is Cornello?" the general demanded. "Where is he hiding? Talk."

"I..." The woman stared into the dark, malicious eyes of the ringed man, and she was afraid of what he would do as he grasped her leg in his arms. "Please...please, stop, I...I don't know...I'd tell you if I did but I don't, please, just let me go..." her soft voice pleaded, begged the men for mercy. "Please...please, don't hurt me...please..."

Her cracked, broken words fell on dead ears. At the end of her rope, she begged them for mercy, and it hurt everything inside her to do. She could feel her own pride slipping away, stripped from her by these evil men. She felt ashamed with herself, that she had been reduced to this, but in her terror, it was all she had left. Groveling, begging, was the only option left to her. But this, too, meant nothing to them. All the general wanted was an answer she couldn't give. And so, she heard his voice, his evil, twisted voice commanding the sadistic creature gripping her leg. "Break it."

"NO! PLEASE!" She pleaded, tears streaming down her eyes, but it was no use. She felt Thorne pushing her shin up, felt his arm holding her thigh firm as he pressed her knee backwards. She begged, she pleaded, but all she got in return was more pain. Her screams could be heard echoing down the halls, her agony casting its shadow for all to hear. To this day, it was still uncertain which had been louder: the agonized scream, or the sickening crack that had followed it.

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"Rose?" The young woman writhed in the soft bed in the basement of the Rockbell house. Her soft, tender skin shook with a furor, and Winry could see a cold sweat on her pained face. "Rose, wake up." Winry's hands gripped Rose's shoulders, gently shaking her. "It's okay, Rose, it's just a nightmare. You have to wake up." She could see the horror on Rose's face, the way her lips were curled in an expression of pure terror. She couldn't imagine what could be going on in Rose's dream, but right now, she didn't care. "Come on, wake up!"

"No...please...please, don't...don't...stop, please...stop...STOP! P-PLEASE, NO!" Rose shot straight up, her eyes bursting open from the terror of the nightmare. Her breath came out in heavy gasps as she struggled to regain her sense of where she was, and before she'd even managed to compose herself, she was crying. Tears flowed down her cheeks, and she pulled her legs up to her chest so she could bury her face in them.

"Rose?" Winry's voice was soft and quiet. Whatever it was Rose had dreamt, it had to have been intense to have this kind of reaction from her. "Are you okay?" Her hand gently reached out to touch Rose's shoulder, trying to comfort the crying mess, but she soon found Rose pulling away from her touch, sobbing to herself and shuddering at the slightest contact.

"Rose...listen, I'm here, okay?" Winry sat down softly on the bed beside Rose, with a warm, comforting smile. "I don't know what happened in your dream, but it was just a dream, okay? Just a dream." Her arms wrapped around Rose carefully, trying to comfort her as she would a wounded child. After a minute, Rose uncurled herself and returned Winry's embrace, crying softly on her shoulder.

It was several minutes before Rose finally managed to compose herself again. Crying softly in Winry's arms, she had finally managed to pull herself back together. "I...I'm sorry..." she muttered out through broken whispers. "...I don't know what came over me."

"Hey, it's okay," Winry smiled. "We all have our nightmares, right?" Rose pulled herself back off Winry, lifting her right hand and wiping the tears out of her eyes as she listened to her speak. "I know I've had my share of pretty bad ones, especially when Ed leaves on these stupid trips of his. Hey..." she wondered, "is that what it was? You dreamt that something bad was happening to Ed, huh?"

"Something like that," Rose muttered silently, and Winry couldn't help but notice how the pink-banged girl couldn't so much as look her in the eye.

Winry smiled, deciding to let it drop for now. She was even more confused than ever about Rose, but now was not the time to be pressuring her for anything. She decided instead to focus on the stranger question, as she looked around the basement bedroom. "Um...if it's okay to ask, why were you sleeping in Ed's bed?"

As her tears began to slowly dry, Rose struggled to push forward a smile. "I just...well, Al was playing with Pinako, and I just...well, I wanted to take a nap someplace quiet. I figured Edward's room had pretty good walls, so I ducked down here." It was true, for the most part. However, what she wasn't telling Winry was that she was also curious about just how it would feel to sleep down here. She had dozed off picturing how it would feel to lay there with Ed's strong arms around her.

It was a fantasy, she knew, but she wasn't sure just how much she cared that it was only a fantasy. He had only been gone for two or three days now, but to her, it felt like he'd been gone for ages. She wasn't the best liar, though, and Winry could read her like an automail manual. "You miss him, don't you?" There was a quiet sadness in the blonde girl's eyes as she spoke, and all Rose could do was nod her head. "Yeah...the thing about Ed is, he doesn't stay in one place for too long. I sometimes wonder if it's a matter of fear. Ed's lost everything he's ever had. I think he believes that disaster if following him, and if he stays too long in one place or near one person, they'll be the next victims. Or something like that. It's hard to explain, but...I've known Ed and Al...um...Ed's brother, not little Al...my whole life. But ever since their mom died, Ed's been...well...he believes he doesn't have a home, and I don't think he ever intends to find one."

Rose blinked her eyes in confusion. "But why wouldn't he...I mean...I heard about their house. But what about us?" She sounded hurt, and Winry guessed that after that nightmare she'd been having, this probably wasn't the time to lower the boom on that one. But at this point, there wasn't much choice.

Winry sighed, knowing there wasn't really anything else she could go into. Rose sounded hurt, and even though she didn't know what the nightmare had been, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor girl. And inside, a part of her hated Rose for not letting her hate her. She was just so difficult not to like. "I'm sure he'll come back," she sighed. "Eventually, he always does. But...Ed doesn't really see the people around him. He has trouble keeping us in sight."

"Yeah..." Rose lamented. "I...I've noticed." She closed her eyes, and Winry could see that there were still tears threatening to fall in them. Leaning forward, she pulled Rose into a tight hug, with her hands softly rubbing the broken girl's back.

Winry held that hug for only a few seconds, before she pulled back. With a smile, she climbed to her feet, starting back towards the door. "I'm going to head back upstairs and cook lunch. You just...I don't know. Get some rest, or something. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Yeah," Rose smiled, though the effort was fairly weak. "Rest...okay." Laying her head back down on Edward's pillow, she found her mind beginning to wander. Where was the man who had captured her affections? Where was he while she lay here, haunted by the shadows of her past?

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"Sir?" As the train thundered on its tracks, Ed heard the voice of one of his lieutenants. He sat in his small, private compartment in the train, partially marveling at the luxury of the car as his eyes stared out the window at the passing landscape.

"Come on in, Lieutenant," Ed called through the door. He wasn't surprised to see Lieutenant Erwin Panzlef on the other side, once the door opened. "Sit down. East City's still a couple days away."

Panzlef took a seat opposite Ed in the private car, but noticing his distracted gaze, he decided to start the conversation. "Sir, these...creatures...we're supposed to be finding. Any idea what they're like? I mean, I've never really seen a chimera before. I've heard the stories, but–"

"Stories mean nothing," Ed remarked. "They're never true to the real thing. No, believe me, this is going to be different than whatever you've heard. I can't tell you anything that will prepare you for what lies ahead, because I don't know what it will be. I've seen everything from a lion with a crocodile rear end, to a woman who could bend and distort her body like a snake. There's no way of knowing what's waiting for us in East City, so don't worry so much about it."

Lieutenant Panzlef sighed. "Yes, sir."

With that, Ed turned his attention back towards the land passing by outside. As he gazed up at the sky, he wondered if somewhere, Rose and Winry were looking up at this same sky. Why was he here? Why wasn't he back in Rizenpool with the girls? Simple. Because he was needed here, because this was where they needed him to be. That was the easy answer, the easy explanation. But he couldn't help but wonder; was it the truth? Or was he here because he was afraid of them? Because he was afraid of what getting too close to one of the girls might mean?

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Deep underneath East City, in a complex of concrete and machine, a beast man paced irately back and forth. Cages lined the walls of the room, and he could hear the snarls and roars of the beasts he'd made within. His claws clicked against the concrete floor as he paced, his agitation beginning to rise. Finally, at last, he heard the voice of a messenger in the doorway on the far wall, between the cages.

"I got the call," the woman grinned. "And don't worry, she's okay." As she stepped into the light, the beast man could see her for all her glory. A woman, with long, black hair that went down her back, and pale flesh. He knew her well enough by this point, the woman they called Greed, and it made him smile to hear her voice. If she was here, that meant she'd heard from...

"She wants you to get your beasts ready," the woman ushered. "It seems the State has found out about our little project here. They're sending someone to stop it, someone that wants to take her from you. She needs you to protect her, and you know what that means. A few days from now, a train will be arriving at the station. Make sure that none of the State's men who depart that train are left alive by the next morning, or we could have a problem on our hands."

"...is she okay?" The beast man's voice was little more than a whisper, as he pulled his dark, brown trenchcoat tighter over his body. "What of my...is she safe?"

"Don't worry," Greed assured him. "She'll be just fine, as long as you do what she requires of you. Stop the men before they can find her, before they can hurt her. She'll be here in a few days as well, she's hiding on the same train as them, but she's a good little hider. She knows what she's doing, so don't worry. She'll be just fine."

"Good," the beast man whispered. "She needs me...she needs my beasts, right? She needs them..."

"This may be hard on you," Greed comforted. "One of these people, you know personally. But remember why you're doing this, and you'll do fine. Use your beasts. Kill them all. For her."

"Yes," the creature whispered to himself. "For her. I'll do it for her, and then she'll be safe. And then she'll be here, my little one." Greed noticed him ranting. He did this all the time, she had come to realize, and it always amused her to see him go off. "For my little...I'll do it for you, my little one. My Nina."