Author's Note

...it's been a while.

This is more of an in-between chapter, but I do already have the next one written out, and the one after that is also currently in the works. You definitely won't see another over-a-year between updates again!

If you've stuck around this long, thank you!

For all their pride and pomp, the homunculi had a tendency of being predictable. Once Anna left, Ed and Al almost immediately ducked into an alleyway and opened up Edwa's notebook; the small map he'd drawn there wasn't the best, but it was good enough. The most obvious choice for a hideout would probably be old warehouses in the industrial neighborhood; ideally abandoned, but government buildings that have fallen into disuse might work. Maybe. Once they agreed on which locations were the most likely suspects, the next step was to split up.

While Ed wandered on the east side of town, Al headed west. Both had a hastily-drawn picture of Edward with notes about his hair, coat, and a brief description of Enton. They respectively went about asking if anyone had seen either of them—something significantly more awkward for Ed given as he was... essentially asking if anyone had seen him walk by in the past hour or two. It effectively made him look a little bit insane.

Alphonse was the one who got the best lead; a homeless man had happened to see a blonde boy dragging a younger one by the arm, and he distinctly remembered "a shock of red and gold like I've never seen". A quick transmutation and flare later and Al saw his brother's responding flare not too long after.

Naturally, Alphonse went on ahead.

The warehouse seemed to have been out of use for a few years. Maybe some kind of furniture workshop; though sparse, there was still what looked like sawdust scattered around. There was a heavy chain, broken, at the double doors. They were still opened just a sliver. Peeking through, Alphonse couldn't make out much. Nearly all the high set windows had been boarded. The only source of light seemed to be the doorway he was standing in, one or two broken windows, and a convenient break in a wall on the wall opposite the doors.

Even in a pinch, this warehouse had a decent amount of escape routes to work with. Bearing that in mind, Alphonse began to pull a door open. The hinges groaned loudly, and almost covered the muffled, panic cry from inside.

Al froze; there was definitely someone in there, as he'd expected, but the way the sound was muffled... there was some shuffling, the distinct sound of something being kicked across the floor, and then nothing again.

Taking a few steps back, Al looked for the broken windows. There was one off to his right, a few metres away. He looked at the doors one more time, before approaching the wall beneath the window and making quick work to trace a transmutation circle.

Using the handholds he'd created, Alphonse scaled the wall as quietly as he could manage. Once he was about an arm's length from the broken window, he carefully took his helmet off, considered his actions for a second—honestly what in the name of literally anything was he doing—before raising it to the window to attempt to get a good look inside without sacrificing his safety too much.

Enton was at the far back of the warehouse, near what seemed to be an open door in the floor leading to a basement. Both Lust and Gluttony were there; Lust looking as bored as she ever did. The other homunculus kept on muttering, too low for Al to hear anything. Lust kept scoffing. Enton looked very distinctly unconscious.

Alphonse brought his helmet back to his shoulders and stayed still for a few seconds. There wasn't much he was comfortable doing without his brother there to back him up. Making a rush for Enton didn't seem wise; he wasn't sure he'd be able to contend with two homunculi rushing at him all while keeping someone else safe. He could probably try and smoke them out… or at least create some kind of airborne cover. That would be his—his and Edward's—best bet.

Nodding to himself, Al decided that getting Enton away was the most important thing, for now. They'd be able to ask him to clarify things, and at the very least hear what he knows.

Slowly, Alphonse made his way back down the wall, again trying his best to quiet himself. He sat down with his back against the wall and started vaguely drawing in the dirt. Just loose shapes to represent the warehouse, some squiggles here and there to indicate the homunculi and Enton, and a few other lines to try and visualize the plan he'd conceived.

It wasn't long before Edward slinked up the side of the building, arriving from the back. He took a quick look at the doodles his younger brother had drawn, frowned, and added a few more of his own. Use a smoke bomb, have Alphonse swoop in and grab Enton—chair, binds and all—while Ed acted as a decoy to catch Lust and Gluttony's attention.

Naturally, as these things go, nothing went according to plan and everything went sideways.

As soon as the smoke bomb erupted, it was a frenzied free-for-all. Gluttony immediately threw himself at the assumed origin of the smoke bomb; launched himself clean through a wall. Al barely managed to dodge and slipped into the building. He trusted his brother was fine for now. Edward was still loud and boisterous. He was alright.

But as Al continued to make his way through the smoke without spotting a chair, he became increasingly nervous. Lust hadn't said anything to anyone else, had she? There was a lingering thought that popped up, unbidden: what if this had been a trap?

Alphonse turned around just in time to dodge a piece of—was that concrete? Flying right at his head. Another piece of something whizzed by off to his left. He didn't question it. Was about to dash to the far wall and make it out through a broken window when he caught movement just outside, near a stack of broken crates. That vaguely looked like…

"Brother!" Alphonse called, doing his best—and most likely miserably failing—to hide the panic in his voice. "He's not here! We have to go!"

"I know that!" Edward grit out, narrowly dodging another bit of flying concrete.

His brother's hands being tied, Alphonse rushed to the stack of crates and grabbed one as high up as he could manage. What or whoever was hiding there probably wouldn't be exposed unless they were standing at seven feet tall.

Chalk long gone and probably ground to dust under someone's foot, Al did his best to carve a quick transmutation circle into one of the wood slats of the crate. It was… shoddy, at best, and probably incomplete. But just then, that's exactly what he needed. Calling out a heads up to his other brother, Alphonse chucked the wooden crate in the direction of the tallest person inside the warehouse. It didn't quite reach its mark, which was fine; the crate burst into a cloud of dust. Edward quickly made his way out of the cloud, and with the help of an old nail he'd grabbed off the ground, struck it against his automail.

The entire cloud of wooden dust instantly lit up. Alphonse quickly shielded his older brother from the blast. He had just enough time to see a shadow rushing from its hiding spot behind the stack of crate and rush off…. Was that east?

"Al, c'mon! Lemme go!" Edward squirmed, nearly landing face-first into the ground when his younger brother released him with a quiet apology. No time wasted, both brothers bolted from the scene. While Ed had gone to the left, Alphosne quickly pulled him and headed in the opposite direction.

"The hell are we going this way for?"

"I think…" Al started, keeping both eyes fixed firmly ahead. "I think I saw Anna run this way. It didn't look like she just—"

"Wait," Edward stopped dead in his tracks, grabbing onto his brother's arm. "Anna. You saw Anna? Why didn't you—"

"Brother, we don't have time for this right now! Let's just try to catch up to her!"

With a grunt and a roll of stiff shoulders, Edward reluctantly resumed his race, brother close behind.

Having shorter legs and an assumed significant lack of running for her life, catching up to Anna had been relatively easy. For some reason, Alphonse always pulled Edward into cover whenever she stopped for breath, look around, or to pull out the map she'd had stashed in her shoulder bag. Ed had only tried to ask why they were hiding once, but once a large metal hand had slapped itself down on his whole face, he figured it was a question better answered later. So for about twenty minutes, the Elric brothers tailed Anna, growing more and more confused with every back alley and obscured path she ran down.

Eventually, the lot of them ended up in what would eventually be the back garden of what… seemed to be a hospital? Both brothers swapped confused looks, but trudged on nonetheless.

As quietly as she could manage, Anna pulled open a heady wooden door, its windows still only wooden planks. Thankfully, because of the recent installation, the hinges remained quiet. She visibly grit her teeth against the effort and with the fear or loud sound. But quiet as a mouse, she was inside the building, and away from prying eyes.

"Now are you going to tell me why we followed her here like damn thieves?" Edward asked, seething and impatiently tapping his foot on the ground.

"She was heading the opposite way from the inn, I just…" Alphonse made a show of scratching the back of his head. "I guess I assumed she knew where she was going and had an idea."

"We're gonna need to talk about that later," the eldest ground out, looking past his brother at the back entrance to the building. Turning back to Al, he asked, "Do you have a plan for this? At all?"

"Nope."

Ed brought a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Okay, alright. Fine. Okay, let's just—If Enton's in there, let's just get both him and Anna out in one piece and think about the rest later."

Alphonse nodded. As they approached the back entrance, there was a loud, rumbling sound from beneath their feet. Without so much as a second thought, both brothers rushed inside the building, figuring that making sound wasn't much of a problem anymore.