III

~The weather set the mood a little too perfectly for today. The past few days had been warm with lots of sunshine. There might have been a couple of clouds in the sky, but never seemed threatening. However, today; today was different. The once bright blue sky was now covered in sorrowful grey clouds, and the rain wasn't letting up anytime soon. Maybe it was because my very own little ray of sunshine was taken, permanently from this world.

It was quite early in the morning when Mustang received the phone call. The phone had rung several times before Mustang stumbled down the stairs answering it, waking me up in the process. Mustang's voice was booming through the hallway. He sounded like he was still trying to figure out if he was awake or still asleep. Suddenly he went quiet, and a moment later he had hung up the phone after saying he'd be right there. That was enough to get my heavy body out of bed and stumble across the floor and out my bedroom door. I shuffled halfway down the stairs, to ask who would call at such an hour. He just stood there, looking at the phone. My instincts kicked in and my heart sank to my stomach, making me wake up completely. I didn't know exactly what was said in that conversation, but I knew it wasn't good.

"Is everything alright?" I had to get Mustang out of his deep thought. He looked up at me for a few moments before picking up the phone, dialing another number.

"You need to get dress. We have business to take care of at the Tucker's residence." His voice tenses. It only made my heart sink further down. Tucker? What business did we have with him, and why did it have Mustang so intense? "Sorry to wake you, but it's urgent." Mustang's voice now brought me back from my deep thoughts. "How fast can you get here?" He didn't like the answer. "I'll give Havoc a call but meet us there." He then hung up the phone and immediately dialed Havoc's number. He must have called Hawkeye first. He glanced up at me again seeming irritated that I was still there. "We leave in 10 minutes. Make sure you're ready before then." I hesitated before making my way back to my room. The more the question dragged out, the less I wanted to know.

I was ready in 8 minutes, full uniform and what little make up I could manage. I always had a hard time right when I woke up with makeup. My eyes always seemed to water too much for the eyeliner. That, and I didn't really want to get "dolled" up this early in the morning. I stood by the door and fidgeted with a corner of yesterday's paper that was sitting on the entrance table. Mustang was finally making his way down and went straight to the door. I followed staying tight on his heels. Havoc was outside in the car, he looked as tired as I felt. I crawled in the passenger seat, while Mustang took the back. Havoc sheepishly put the car in gear and drove off.

I could hear my heart in my ears as the question continued to linger in the air. I didn't stick around to hear the conversation on the phone with Havoc, so I didn't know if he knew more than me. The other question I had was to myself. Did I want to find out and prepare myself, or walk into the Tucker's home without knowing?

"What's going on Colonel?" I thought the best thing would be to prepare myself, but what I didn't know, was that there would be no preparing for what was about to come.

"Shou Tucker, and his daughter Nina, were pronounced dead later last night." I don't know what happened. It was like someone pressed the mute button to my world. I couldn't hear what Mustang was saying next, I couldn't feel myself start to shake. All I could do was continue to look straight out, onto the road as it went by. Next thing I knew, we were in front of Tucker's house. I could finally feel my body shaking uncontrollably. I wasn't ready for this. I wasn't ready to see Nina, my beautiful Nina, covered in murderous blood. I had no choice. Once I opened the door and stepped outside, my shaking was gone.

"What happened?" My voice was steadier than I imagined. However, it took everything in me not to fall to my knees. I didn't know what was worse. All the blood everyone was trying to cover up with a tarp, or the fact that, what was lying on the ground, wasn't Nina. Perhaps I should say, it used to be her and from what I could tell, her dog Alexander. Now they were forged together, sharing one body.

Why would someone do this to such a sweet girl? For once I knew the answer to my question. Shou Tucker. My heart felt no sorrow for the mangled man who laid next to his once precious daughter. Only hatred. He was lucky someone else got a hold of him before I did. That's when I directed my gaze to Mustang. "Did you know about this?" He knew I was referring to Nina being turned into a Chimera. "Is that why you were out so late?" I remember the look of exhaustion on his face when he had come home last night. He instantly put his hand up before I could ask him any questions and went straight to bed.

"I was going to keep it quiet until they got Tucker to a "safe" location. Didn't need you zapping him to death before his trail." He acted so calm, almost cold like. Then again, we were all acting this way. Luckily, this wasn't my first experience death. They threw the tarp back over Tucker and Nina, but still weren't able to cover up all the blood. I couldn't be in the room anymore. I was starting to feel nauseous, and a bit dizzy. I didn't even excuse myself when I left.

Now I stood in the door frame of the main entrance watching the pour down, trying to grasp everything. Would I be able to grasp what I've just witnessed? Nina was gone. In all forms, she was gone. My world seemed so much duller, so much darker. Perhaps it was hard to except because it wasn't her actual body lying there on the floor. How was I supposed to look at this? Maybe like how Alphonse is? Different host for a body but the soul still remained. Was it Nina's soul, or was it Alexander's? They said she could talk. That she still sounded like Nina. I felt so conflicted. I wanted to punch something. Even better, I wanted to zap something. The weather was perfect for it.

I felt someone's hand tap my shoulder. I opened my eyes, that I didn't know were clenched shut and lifted my head up. I saw the back of Hawkeye walking up the stairs that led to the room where the bodies lay. My stomach was only getting worse by the minute. I looked back out to the rain hoping the sound would relax me. The only thing that started to relax me, was a certain smell. Havoc now stood by me in the doorway grabbing his lighter and a cigarette. Normally, I know my heart would have skipped, but it was too broken now to feel anything.

"It doesn't seem to want to let up." He said as he looked up at the clouds. I didn't say anything. There was nothing else to say. Mustang must have ordered him to come check on me.

"How much longer?" I never knew what it was about his smell, but it always helped me calm down. I was grateful he was here next to me, but all I wanted now was to get away from this house.

"Here." He held his cigarette in front of me. I looked at it, then at him, a bit confused. "It'll help the nerves, maybe even help your stomach." Leave it to him to know.

"I'm good. Thanks though." I looked back outside to the grey world while he brought his cigarette back to his lips. We stood there in silence for a while before he broke it.

"It's really messed up." I looked back at him, noticing that he was shaking. "That poor girl." That's all he said before his voice gave out. I was starting to feel relieved that Mustang had ordered him out here. However, I didn't know how to handle this situation. I've never seen Havoc like this. I've never seen him look so...disturbed.

"Havoc..." I didn't know what to say, what to do. The man in front of me was slowly breaking down, and I didn't know how to help. He looked at me with shaky eyes, and I stared back, feeling even more helpless.

"We're heading back to headquarters." Mustang walked between us, breaking the connection.

"What's going on?" I was back on Mustang's heels.

"We've done all we could here. Now we need to get back so Hughes and Armstrong can tell us all they know about the murderer." I stopped to look back at the house once more, fully knowing that I would never come by here again. "Let's move Lovington." I followed Mustang's orders and headed for the car again.

We were all back at Central, including Lieutenant Colonel Hughes and Major Armstrong. They had found a quiet hallway to discuss further with Hawkeye and Mustang. Everyone else made their way in finding something to do. I decided to get everyone coffee, again. I didn't know what else there was to do. There was probably a ton of things piling up on the Colonel's desk, but paperwork wasn't going to keep my mind from wandering. It might help for a while, but sooner or later it would drift back to Nina. Instead, my mind drift to Edward and Alphonse. How they had just met Nina, and how close they already were with her. That was Nina though. She had such a bright smile and warm heart. It just reeled you in and you never wanted to let go.

I was done pouring the first batch of coffee. I was able to fit two handles for each hand, making me able to deliver four at a time. I figured I'd give Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Major and Hawkeye the first batch. I made my way back to the hallway they were located. I stopped just before I got to the corner, listening on the conversation.

"That shows you how dangerous this guy is." Lieutenant Colonel Hughes paused for a second before continuing. "You should increase your escort and lay low for a while; nobody will blame you. You should also increase Abby's escort for her own safety." There was concern in his voice. I always enjoyed Lieutenant Colonel Hughes company. He was one of the few people who actually wanted to know how you were doing. That is, if you were in his tight circle of friends. Which living in the same house as Roy Mustang, his best friend, I was definitely in that tight circle. "Please, I'm asking as your friend. You, Tucker, and Abby are the only State Alchemist of note in this area, right?" Lieutenant Colonel Hughes' question didn't even linger for a second.

"Oh no!" I heard Mustang jump up from his seat. The mugs I held in my hands slipped from my grip when I realized why Mustang was running down the hall. Edward.

Five minutes haven't even gone by before everyone was back outside, frantically looking for the Elric brothers. They were just outside, letting the rain wash away their gloom. However, they were nowhere in sight now. All that was there was some broken up concrete. We all made our way to the stairs that would lead us to the street, just to find one side destroyed. We all moved to the second set of stairs and tried our best to hurry down them without slipping. When we all made it down, we saw that even the streets were a mess, but at least they had left us a nice trial to follow.

"Damn it! Why didn't I think of them sooner?" Mustang cursed himself out loud as we all fumbled our way to the vehicles.

"Try not to blame yourself so much Colonel." Hawkeye tried reasoning with him. Mustang had ordered more back up and they were to follow tightly behind us. We all pushed our way in one vehicle. Mustang, Hawkeye and Fuery took the back with some room for comfort. Havoc took the driver's seat, while I slid in right next to him, and Breda following behind me. Unfortunately, there was not so much room for comfort in the front seat. With Havoc having a built physic and Breda having a bigger build, I had to choose who I was going to be pressed up on. In a normal circumstance I'd be blushing from head to toe being so close to Havoc. My face was practically pressed in his neck. This wasn't a normal circumstance though. Before I even had time to think where my face was, Havoc had stepped on the gas, and he stepped hard. I held on to his uniform tightly and said a few prayers as he made corners without slowing down. I checked behind me, to see if the other parties were keeping up with us. Poor Fuery wasn't handling the corners so well. He was basically becoming one with the door.

"Keep your eyes out for them." Mustang ordered. The boy's trial was thinning out, making it harder to see which way they headed. Just then, I saw them.

"There!" I frantically pointed out Havoc's window. Havoc jerked the car around the corner and had the car slide to a stop, blocking the street with what he could. We all jumped out while the other personnel also had their vehicles blocking the street. We all filed in a line as Mustang fired his gun into the air to stop the man from touching Edward's head.

"That's enough, you won't be killing anyone else today, Scar." This was the man. He's the one who took my Nina away. He was a tall man. Reminded me a lot of Earl from the bar, only more, built. He could probably crush my head with just his hands alone. As Mustang continued to talk to this man, Scar, my attention slowly went to Edward, who was lying on the street. His auto-mail arm was shattered into pieces. Was this the doing of the murderer in front of us? Just then Mustang handed his gun to Hawkeye. "You guys stay out of it." He ordered while walking towards Scar.

"Colonel Mustang, sir?" There was a slight panic in Hawkeye's voice. What was he doing?

"Colonel Mustang? So, this is the Flame Alchemist" Scar talked like he knew the name well. Given any other day, I would've told the murderer to beg for mercy, but the rain was still pouring heavily. "Volunteering yourself to receive judgement? This is truly an auspicious day!" Scar now started making his way to Mustang, at a more, exciting pace. That didn't stop Mustang.

"So, you know who I am, and you still want to challenge me? Bad decision." What was he doing? Luckily, just as Scar went for the killing blow, and Mustang snapped his fingers to find nothing, Hawkeye tripped Mustang out of the way. It was truly a beautiful maneuver. She started unloading her clips on Scar, as he skillfully dodges them.

"Hey Hawkeye, what the hell did you do that for?!" Mustang was still sitting on the ground, furious.

"You know as well as I do, you're useless on rainy days. Please stay back sir." Ouch. Mustang's ego definitely went down the gutter with the rain.

"Oh yah, I forgot. It's kinda hard to get a spark going when it's raining, huh?" Havoc wasn't helping. It also probably wasn't the best to tell our target that our typical Ace is now a Joker. That also goes for me, of course, but it doesn't seem he knows who I am, yet. Scar was about to take another go at us, threatening that he would destroy anyone who interfered with his "mission". I couldn't help but smirk when I saw who had crept up behind him.

"I'd like to see you try it!" Major Armstrong gave a nice hard swing at Scar, who was once again too quick. Major Armstrong only met concrete with his fist. It seemed Havoc and I thought of the same thing. It was the perfect opportunity to retrieve Edward. We both made our way over to him and sat him up straight as Major Armstrong showed off his beautiful art in alchemy. The Major's rants always seemed to humor me. Sooner or later, his uniform jacket would be coming off as well.

"Edward, where's Alphonse?" I brought my attention back to the, what seemed now, very fragile boy.

"He's over there." He pointed into the ally. I was shocked to see the younger brother in worse shape than Edward. "Who is he?" Edward asked Havoc.

"That's the same man who murdered Mr. Tucker and his daughter." Edward seemed shocked by the answer. How I wish it weren't raining. I could really take my anger out on the right person. Major Armstrong was indeed lucky. The Major was tearing up the streets with spikes in an attempt to wound Scar. "Major watch what you're doing! We don't want to destroy the city, do we?" Havoc was getting a bit angry with the Major's technique.

"What do you mean?" Major Armstrong was offended by Havoc's protest.

"Here it comes." I said under my breath. The uniform top came off, and the rant began. I couldn't help but face palm and shake my head.

"Do we have to strip?" Hawkeye wasn't at all impressed.

"Are you surprised? He's clearly insane." Havoc wasn't anymore enthused than Hawkeye.

"The girl there," Right in the middle of Armstrong's rant, Scar had cut him off. His gaze was now on me. "She is Abby Lovington, known as the Spark Alchemist." Shit. "She too must not be able to use her blasphemous alchemy in the rain." Double shit! Before anyone could say anything more, Scar bolted his way to me. I stumbled for my gun, but knew it was too late for self-protection. I had to pray Major Armstrong was fast enough for my life. Scar closed his way, while the Major was just processing what had happened. I saw Mustang out the corner of my eye yell. Funny how I saw it, and not heard it. Just then someone had blocked my view and started firing shot after shot to draw Scar back towards the ally. That scent again. I finally let go of the breath I didn't even realize I was holding.

"You ok?" Havoc asked looking over his shoulder.

"I am now." I gave him a shaky smile. That's when Major Armstrong continued where he was cut off, like nothing had happened. He pointed out what was right in front of us too. Scar was an alchemist. Major and Scar went back to trying to take each other out. I could tell Scar was having some difficulty with the Major. He was even back up into a corner.

"I have you now Scar!" Major sounded so excited. Just as he was coming down for what we all thought was the final blow; Scar saw the one spot to take down Major Armstrong. Lucky for us, the Major was quicker than he looked. Hawkeye was set up perfectly and actually hit Scar with shot.

"You get him?" Mustang seemed excited thinking what we all were thinking.

"He's too fast. I only grazed him with one shot." She sounded a bit disappointed. I think we all were. That's when the puzzle came together. The reason Scar, the alchemist, was killing State Alchemist. Tan skin, snow white hair, and red eyes. Ishvalan. Mustang and Major Armstrong seemed bothered by this fact. Of course, it had to do with their time in the Ishvalan War. Scar seemed to be second guessing his ability to the amount of firearm that was now aimed at him.

"You might as well give up Scar. You're not getting away..." Before Mustang could finish the sentence, Scar placed his hand on the ground and there was a bright light along with an explosion. He escaped through the sewers. "Stay put." Mustang ordered everyone.

"Sir, you don't have to tell me twice." Havoc joked. I for one felt relieved. We were all safe once again, for now. Out of nowhere Lieutenant Colonel Hughes arrived at the scene. Mustang was pissed that he didn't show up for back up. Not that I blamed the Lieutenant Colonel. He had a wife and daughter to think of. No reason for him to be getting involved any more than he needs to.

"Oh no, Alphonse!" Before I could help Edward up, he was bolting towards his brother, who ended up punching him, twice. Next thing I knew, the sun was coming out from behind the cloud. That's when I noticed the rain had finally stopped. I stared up at the sky, at the sun. It all seemed beautiful. Like no matter what, there is always light in darkness.

It was getting late, but I was still at the bar. I wasn't going to go home to an empty house with just me and my thoughts. Not after today. I was only going to have one drink, to get rid of the sting, but one just wasn't enough. Before I knew it, I was very courageously flirting with my favorite bartender, Earl.

"Did I e-ever tell you...that you're my favorite?" If you call slurring and doing my best to stay in my seat, flirting.

"You're favorite "what", exactly?" Earl seemed to be enjoying himself though.

"My favorite bartender of course!" I was a bit offended by his question. What else could I possibly mean?

"Well, no offense, but have you ever experienced any other bartenders?" What was he trying to get at?

"Well, no? Why would I want to go experience another bartender… when you're my favorite?" He laughed at that. He had a nice laugh.

"If it's any difference, you're my favorite customer." He gave me a wink with his knee buckling smile.

"You're sexy." I swore I said it to myself, but judging by his face, I actually said it out loud.

"Looks like someone's having fun." For once, I didn't smell him before I saw him. Then again, the few others smoking in here helped mask his scent. I looked over my shoulder to see Havoc standing just a few inches away. I gave him a drunken smile and spun around on my bar stool. "Yah, I think she'll be having water for what little time she'll be spending here." Havoc pushed my drink back at Earl.

"You sir…are a party...pooper!" I attempted to spin around on my stool again, but Havoc grabbed the seat before I could take off. He was standing a bit too close, just hovering over me. His smell was intoxicating. Was that my favorite cologne of his that I smelt along with the typically secondhand smoke?

"And you, ma'am, are drunk." He gave me one of those disapproving looks.

"She's been drinking water the past two drinks now." I heard Earl whisper to Havoc.

"And he's...a traitor!" I pointed an accusing finger at Earl. He only smirked.

"How many drinks has she had?" I started counting on my hand, not realizing the question was aimed at Earl.

"I've had 5!" I was so proud of myself. Normally my limit is 2, but I was feeling good with 5.

"Minus the 2 waters." Earl defended when Havoc gave him a look.

"Party poopers!" I shouted in the practically dead bar.

"Ok, come on. Let's get you home." Havoc grabbed my arm and started to lift me up.

"No!" I shoved him back. No way in hell was I going home to the quiet, empty house. I know Mustang has a lot on his plate, and that always means he'll be living at the office.

"Abby, you need to go home." Havoc had his authority voice. It only made me giggle.

"Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be off flirting with some pretty girl?" That was meant to hurt him. If it actually did, I wouldn't know.

"Colonel sent me to look for you. I've been looking for hours." He explained.

"Well congratulation! You found me. Now, you can go." I faced myself back to Earl to order an actual drink, and this time, I would pay attention to the taste.

"And you're coming with me." Havoc attempted to grab me again, but I swung my arm out from his grip, almost causing me to fall backwards. Luckily, he was fast enough to grab hold of my forearm before I toppled over.

"I'm not going home!" I shouted at him.

"Yes you are." He became sterner and tightened his grip slightly.

"Just leave me alone. I was doing perfectly fine until you came." I was starting to get emotional. Damn it.

"No, you were getting yourself wasted. Now you're coming home whether I have to throw you over my shoulders-" Before he could finish his sentence, I yelled louder.

"I'm not going home to that God damn house! Not after today. Don't make me go there by myself, Jean. Please? I can't..." I felt his grip loosen as the first bunch of tears fell down my cheek. "Nina..." That's all I could say before my voice gave out. Next thing I knew, my nose was completely consumed by cigarette and cologne. Havoc had embraced me, covering my face with his body. I hated him for it because that only made me want to cry more.

I was doing so good until he came along. I was getting by just fine with accepting the fact that a precious little girl was now dead. I continued to cry my heart out in the middle of the bar, in Havoc's chest and he let me. He let me cry until all he heard was soft sobs.

He then scooped me up from the chair and continued to carry me out of the bar. I wrapped my arms around his neck for support, no longer having the strength to argue. Even in my drunken state, I was thanking God that I had worn shorts and not the sun dress I had been dying to wear since I bought it.

"I'll be back to pay the tab, Earl." Havoc said before exiting. I hate him. ~

End of Chapter 3!

Hey everyone! Sorry it took me forever for an update...I just moved to a new town, and just now set up my internet. Also, sorry for such a long chapter. I'm not sure if you prefer long or short, but I just kept typing till I ran out of stuff haha Well either way, I hope you enjoy! I'll make sure the next update doesn't take as long! :D

Thanks for reading!