Izumi set the freshly refilled cup of tea on the table in front of Rose, "It's a pity they made the Major uproot like that just to go chasing something that isn't there." she said, sitting down in an armchair at the end of the coffee table. Winry looked at Rose with concern, "Are you all right, Rose? You haven't said anything since you got here…" she said gently.

Rose looked up and smiled weakly, "I'm allright, really… I'm just a little tired is all. Al, did you find anything useful in the library?" she said, changing the subject quickly.

"oh! That's right," Winry said, looking towards Al, who was now in the kitchen, cleaning up. "now that the press is all shaken up, there's probably going to be an increase of security in government buildings." Al sighed heavily, "yeah, it'll probably be a while before I can get back in there with just Major Armstrong's permission." he put the tea bags and kettle back in their proper places and came to sit with the other three, "I guess I'll go looking for people who can tell me about those four years with brother again." he said, sitting down next to Winry.

"well, you have most of it, don't you?" Izumi asked.

"I'm still missing two big chunks of it," Al said, "the encounters we had with Scar before he was in Lior, and the Homunculus, Greed; all possible witnesses Roy and the others can name are dead… so I'll just have to find the people he didn't think of!" Al said with a determination that was reminiscent of his brother.

"… but how're you going to find them if Roy and everyone else can't?" Winry pointed out. Al's newfound confidince vanished, "I was hoping you wouldn't say that…" he said miserably.

"well, you'd best find a way, Alphonse," Izumi said sternly, "nobody's going to just come crashing through your door and whisk you away to a solution." Al sighed, "I know…" there was a pause, "does anyone else hear that?"

The soft padding of many feet was rapidly getting faster and louder.

Suddenly something threw the door open with a loud crash, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! FORTHELOVEAGODPLEASETELLMEYOUREINHERE!!!!" (translation, "for the love of god, please tell me you're in here") screamed second lieutenant Havoc, followed by Furey, Breda, and Falman. The other four blinked confusedly at the man. When Havoc realized that Al was there; he sprinted over, threw the boy over his shoulder and sprinted away again, all the while all of the men were chattering something along the lines of, "pleasealyouvegottacomeseethisyouretheonlyonewhowouldknowwhattomakeofthis, IT'S SCARY!!!!"

(translation: "please, Al, you've gotta come see this, you're the only one who would know what to make of this, IT'S SCARY!") and then were gone.

"well… that was eerily ironic…" Izumi said after a long moment.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Al looked up at the massive building and blinked, "now… you guys say you saw what in there?"

"we aren't exactly sure but…" Furey paused and looked uneasily at his comrades, "it might be somebody who can tell you about Greed"

"might be?!?!" Havoc exclaimed, "it couldn't be anyone else! You all saw the markings on it's hands!"

Al blinked and looked at Havoc, "markings-?"

"it was dark, we could've just been seeing things." Falman pointed out, not hearing Al.

"what're you guys talking abou-?"

"Look, man, I know what I saw, and I'd recognize those arrays from anywhere!" Havoc snapped

"what array-"

"you were more intoxicated than all three of us put together!" Breda yelled

"can't we just stop fighting, get this over with, and go home?" Furey pleaded.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!?!??!" Al finally had to yell to make himself heard over the squabbling men.

They all stopped arguing and looked at him, then looked at the ground uneasily… then at each other. For a split second Al saw a silent conversation flick between them and a moment of realization before-

"not it." Breda said, followed by Furey and Falman

"notit"

"NOTIT!"

"Not-…DAMMIT!" Havoc swore as he realized that he was, in fact "it". "c'mon, Al. It'd be easier just to show you." Havoc said as he took the lantern begrudgingly from Breda and began walking towards the massive, ruined building. Al looked back at the others then ran off to follow Havoc.

OoOoOoOoOo

Finally Al and Havoc turned a hallway and Havoc stopped moving. Al looked at him, "what is it?"

"this is as far as I go, my friend." Havoc said, handing the lantern to Al.

"what!?!?" Al exclaimed. This place was scary enough even with a sharp-eyed soldier as an escort, all on his own, Al was almost positive he was going to get lost or eaten by something. "I can't go on my own! I don't know which room!"

"it's that one," Havoc said, pointing to the only room with a slight orangeish glow shining through the doorway, "eighth one down on the left, you can make it. I'll just be standing right here."

"it's only a few more feet, just come with!" Al pleaded.

"uh… I… I can't" Havoc stammered, looking away from Al.

"why not?!?!?" Al asked, beginning to panic.

"because he's afraid…" a voice echoed from down the hall. Both Al and Havoc almost stopped breathing and slowly turned to look at the glow. A shadow passed through it. "that's why you won't come… right, Havoc?"

Neither Al nor Havoc made a sound.

"sigh well, fine, don't answer me then… but I must ask, who's your little friend? It's been a while since I've seen a kid around here, maybe he has the courage to come look at me."

Al looked at Havoc. Havoc nodded and pulled a pistol from his belt, "go ahead" he whispered so quietly that Al could barely hear him, "I've got your back." Al swallowed hard and nodded shakily before walking uneasily towards the room. After a few steps, Havoc followed, making sure to keep in the same footfall as Al, so that whatever was in that room couldn't hear that there were two people coming.

The shadow obstructed the light's path again but this time stayed for a moment longer before moving, and allowing the light to shine, uninterrupted once more. Al had reached the fourth door… the fifth… sixth…

"for Christ's sake, boy, move faster! The audience is getting bored!" the voice yelled, exasperated. Al stopped and looked back at havoc for advise on what to do, Havoc shrugged as a message saying, 'whatever, why not?' and so Al nodded and began to move at a faster pace than the hesitant crawl he had been sustaining.

…seventh, and finally, he stood in the wake of the eighth doorway. Havoc stood on guard just behind the doorframe, ready to attack if he had to. Al swallowed again and walked into the middle of the room and looked around. He noticed the same things Havoc had; the rusty bed in the corner, the unlabeled jars, the gaping hole in the wall that let light from the setting sun flood the room, washing all it's contents in orange. Sitting on the ledge of the crumbled wall were a dozen or so rats… all looking at him intently, but none of them seemed big enough to have emitted the voice that had been speaking to Al… as a matter of fact, Al saw nothing in the room that looked like it was capable of human speech.

"Hello?" he called hesitantly to the empty room.

Nothing.

"uhm… I'm here… me… the one you were telling to hurry up… anybody?"

No response.

Al waited a moment longer then sighed in defeat and turned to walk away when,

"So you want to know about Greed huh?"

Al screamed and jumped about three feet in the air before whipping his head to the corner from whence the voice had come.

There, beside the rusted, moth-eaten bed, a dark figure rose from the shadows. It was huge, as it stood, long limbs separated themselves from a very tall body, yellow eyes reflected the light from the floor back through the darkness the creature stood in. Black lips parted into a toothy grin on it's massive head. Al could faintly see gray patches at the ends of it's arms but other than that, the rest of the creature's body faded into the darkness.

"y…yes… d-do you know a-anything about him?" Al stammered. This thing easily stood two feet above his head, there wasn't enough room for Al to use his usual alchemical attacks and in hand-to-hand combat, there was a giant disadvantage on Al's part. This thing could rip his head off.

A long and menacing laugh echoed from the creature's throat as it threw it's head back and expressed it's amusement at the question that had been asked, "do I know anything about him'? boy, I know all there is to know about Greed. The question is;" Al saw that the beast had legs now as it began to take steps toward him, out of the shadows and into the sunlight…

Finally, Al began to see the thing in entirety and wished it had stayed out of the light. A hand with long fingers was covered in black fur and sharp, three-inch talons grew from it's fingers. It grasped the edge of the opening and began to pull the rest of the body out of the shadows. Long, white whiskers emerged along with a thick black muzzle containing rows and rows of long, sharp teeth that gleamed in the dimming sunlight. It was followed by round, Amber eyes that shone brightly through silken, jet-black hair that hung limp in it's face and down to it's chest. Pointed ears stuck out on either side of it's head, pointing back like the horns of some sleek-headed imp. It's face, Al realized, was that of a giant rat but it's body was that of a lean but muscular man, except for the legs, which had one too many joints and walked only on the ends of the feet, like a dog or some other beast… yet it still had feet not paws. And finally, a long, gray tail (easily as long as the thing was tall) whipped along behind it as it walked. It wore what looked like some tattered, old prisoner's uniform. The top half was too ripped up to stay on and just hung about it's waist by the belt

It looked Al in the eyes and spoke to him, it was even stranger to see the very obviously inhuman lips form very intelligible human words, "why are you interested in knowing about a thing that's been dead for so long… and… why should I help you?" it was advancing toward him. Al was terrified but couldn't move nor make a sound.

Before he knew it, his face was inches from the beast's nose, he could feel it's hot breath breaking on his face and could see the ridges in it's gleaming white teeth. It's whiskers twitched forward, dancing on his skin.

"what's in it for me?"

OoOoOoOoOo

Winry, Izumi, and Rose were still up and about. Izumi sat on the couch, reading the newspaper and sipping the last contents of the teapot that night. Rose was in the other part of the room, putting Daniel to bed. Winry sat by the window, staring wistfully out it. Al had been gone for quite a while now, an hour or so? More? Winry was beginning to get worried. "I wonder where Al is" she murmured mostly to herself.

"there's no need to worry about him," Izumi said from behind her newspaper, "even if he was totally incapable of taking care of himself, he has four full-grown soldiers with him, dear, he's perfectly safe."

I hope so… she thought silently to herself.

Rose walked back into the kitchen area and put Daniel's bottle back in the refrigerator. "you finally get him to sleep?" Winry asked, taking her attention away from the window. "yeah…" Rose said, "he wanted to stay up until Al came back but after a while he got too tired and passed out." she looked like she was about ready for a nap herself. She walked over to the window and looked out as well, "any sign of Al yet? Daniel's gonna be mad if Al shows up right after I told him to go to sleep because he'd be home too late." Winry laughed a little, "nah, no sign of him yet."

"oh good, I won't have to listen to 'I told you so's all day tomorrow." Rose said with a good-natured smile.

She stared out the window a while longer, 'It's not fair…' she thought, 'No matter what, Daniel always finds himself waiting for someone… at least Al will actually come back to play…' she hadn't noticed it, but her expression was fading to show the unhappiness she had been hiding all night. Winry noticed, "Rose? What's wrong?" she asked kindly

"huh? Oh! Nothing, I guess I'm just a little tired is all, it's been a long day." Rose said quickly, forcing a smile onto her face.

"you're lying," Izumi said flatly, not even looking up from her paper, "I can see it in your face."

Rose sighed and let the forced smile slip off her face, she should've known there was no way to fool Izumi.

"get yourself a cup of tea and sit down," Izumi said, folding the newspaper up and setting it down beside her, "they say if you talk about what ails you, it'll go away faster"

Rose sighed and did as she was told, she had grown rather close to Izumi and Winry in the past year, she knew it was useless to try and change the subject now… but they HAD let it go once today so juuuuust maybe…

"well… really, it's nothing you guys should have to worry yourselves about…" Rose said quietly.

"look, it's no use resisting, whatever bothers you bothers us, so you might as well tell us and get it over with." Winry said, smiling as she sat down next to her on the couch.

"it's just…" she began, staring into her tea cup, "there's no way… Scar could've done it, why is that woman so insistent upon making it look like he did?" Rose looked up to Izumi, "do you think he did it, Ms. Curtis?"

Izumi sighed, leaned back, and took a sip of her tea, "well, while I don't always see things the same way Major Mustang does," she began, "I do have to agree with him on this, there's absolutely no way Scar could have been responsible for those murders. There's no way he got out of Lior alive… but perhaps that's the very reason this woman is pushing it so much." she leaned forward and set her mug down on the table, "think about it, the story is so unlikely and controversial that the press is bound to just devour it… and she'll be right in the center of attention…"

"but… what if… he did get out of Lior?" Rose asked, with just a hint of hope in her voice, "what if he did get out and is still alive somewhere? He still couldn't have done it right? It wasn't his usual pattern."

"people are just flesh to murderers," Izumi said curtly, "it doesn't matter who that person was to the rest of the world, to a murderer they're just prey. If there was any way that man was still alive, it would take a divine statement to convince me that he had no part in that girl's death." Rose looked down, crestfallen. suddenly Izumi realized that Rose was not looking for a suspect, she was only trying to defend what little honor Scar had left. She'd forgotten that Rose had actually known him. "or… I don't know. I've never met the man, so I suppose I really can't judge his character." she added quickly.

"it's all right, Ms. Curtis…" Rose said quietly, "you're probably right… maybe it's better that he's gone."

Winry had been trying to place what was wrong for a long time but now it registered. A part of Rose wanted him to be back… but the other part knew that meant he was out killing again. Winry sighed, Rose's dreams were like a genie's wish, no matter how good her intentions are, something bad is always attached. She helped a prophet spread his word, only to find out that he was a farce; she brought peace to her town, only to find that it brought more death; she wanted just one man to have survived the Lior incident, but that would only mean that he was a killer once more.

There was a long silence. Nobody said a word, for there was nothing to say. For once, neither Winry or Izumi could offer words of comfort that were not false.

The silence was cut abruptly by a loud siren, police wistles rang shrilly. "what the?" Winry got up and looked out the window again, there were police cars speeding toward them…

OoOoOoOo

Havoc was now sitting against to door frame, his legs had gotten tired of standing. Al had been talking to the rat/man/whatever for some time now, trying to convince it to tell him about the Homunculus, Greed… Havoc had stopped trying to comprehend it all a long time ago.

"so, you see, I have to re-learn everything I forgot if I'm ever going to figure out how my story came to that conclusion… and it's the only way I would be able to figure out how to fix that ending…" Al said, finally coming to the end of his story. It must've been a long story, Al hadn't noticed, but at some point it had gotten dark enough that he actually needed to light the lantern Havoc had given him.

The rat/man creature had said nothing the whole time Al had been talking but had listened intently… now… it still said nothing. It sat on it's heels on the ledge of the opening and was now absent-mindedly stroking a rat at it's side, lulling it to sleep.

Al waited for a response for about thirty seconds before asking timidly, "well?"

The rat spoke but did not look up, "well' what?"

"will you tell me what you know now?" Al asked hopefully.

"It's a heartwarming story, kid, but I still see no profit in it for me." the creature said without hesitation.

"WHAT?!?!?" Al yelled, "but…but…if you weren't going to help me, then why'd you listen to my story? Why didn't you tell me before I got started????" talking that much had actually fatigued him a little.

"for Christ sake, kid, calm down! I didn't say I wouldn't tell you, I just said that I haven't heard any talk of payment yet." the creature said coolly, as it hopped down from the ledge "you're an alchemist, you should know how it goes: nothing is free, if you want my information, you've got to be able to give me something for it."

"anything, I'll give you anything you want if you'd just tell me." Al pleaded, "anything that might give me a clue as to where brother is!"

The creature crossed it's arms and clicked it's tongue, shaking it's head, "that's a very unwise thing to say to something like me, my friend. You don't know what I'll ask for… it might be something you don't really want to lose."

"what could you possibly take from me that's more important than my brother?" Al asked with uncharacteristic boldness.

"lots of things…" the creature said, walking towards Alphonse "the world, your soul," it leaned in and whispered in Al's ear, "the life of your little friend who's waiting just outside that door, thinking I didn't hear him walking in your footsteps… or maybe your other three buddies at the gate who're waiting for you? They'd never see me coming…"

Al took a sharp breath, how did it hear Havoc following him? Al, himself, had had to look back to make sure Havoc was still behind him. Al looked up to the creature in horror, "you… you wouldn't… you CAN'T!" he yelled hoarsely.

"AND WHY NOT?" the best bellowed back, the old, manic smile curling on it's face, "why can't I? It's Equivalent Exchange, I give you the information to gain one life, why shouldn't you give up another?"

"BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT MINE TO GIVE!" Al yelled back. The Creature's smile vanished and it looked a little taken aback. "Their lives don't belong to me so I refuse to gamble with them! If you want payment you'll just have to settle with what I have to offer…" Al said with a surprisingly threatening look in his eyes.

The creature did nothing but stare at this courageous (if slightly stupid) little boy who had just decided to stand up to a being that could rip him apart… this boy was insulting! Insane! Asinine! Over-confident! … Impressive… The determined face Al was wearing was beginning to fade as he realized just how stupid it had been to yell at this thing.

"I like you kid, what's your name?" the creature asked.

"Alphonse Elric" Al answered, hesitantly… what did it just say?

"Al… phonse…" The creature repeated, "Alphonse Elric? The little brother of Edward Elric, The Full Metal Alchemist???" it asked, beginning to speak slightly faster.

"y… yes…" Al was getting more nervous now.

"…"

There was another long pause while the creature stared into space. Nothing moved. Until the beast smiled again, "well, mister Elric, I've changed my mind, I think I will help you." it said as it began moving around the room, grabbing a small, cloth bag and beginning to throw things in it.

"you mean you'll tell me about Greed?" Al asked happily.

"that, and more." The creature said, as it tied the cloth bag firmly closed "I'll do anything and everything in my power to bring your brother back."

"you mean it?" Al exclaimed ecstatically.

"yep, but just one more thing I need to know…" it said, throwing a hooded robe around it's shoulders, "where are you living now?"

"eh… what?" Al asked, confused. That question had just dropped out of the sky.

"where are you living now?" the creature repeated.

"uh… military dorms?" Al lied, not really wanting to give away his fixed location to this thing he had just met.

"bullshit, if you're going to lie, at least do it well." the creature responded instantly.

"uh…uh…" Al stammered, what was it planning?

"I bet you're staying with that teacher of yours, she lives in that butcher place in dublith. "Happy Meats" right?"

"HOW DID YOU FIGG- I mean-"

"good, now that we're all on the same page, I'll see you there." The creature said then sprinted for the opening and leaped.

"WAIT!" Al yelled, running after it, but it was too late. The creature had disappeared into the night.

Al looked over the side of the ledge, but saw only darkness. He sighed miserably, 'now I'm in trouble,' Al thought 'Teacher's not going to like the idea of a seven-foot rat in her shop' Havoc came out from behind the door and looked as well, "where'd it go?".

Suddenly it's massive head sprang up from the darkness and it latched onto the ledge again, "yes?" it asked, slightly annoyed.

Al and Havoc both screamed and jumped back, "WHAT THE HELL!?!?!?!" Havoc yelled.

"you told me to wait. I am waiting. What do you want?" the creature snapped.

"uh…ah…" Al thought hard for what he wanted to know the most, "who are you?" Al spat out finally.

The creature smiled, "The name's Zolf J. Kimbly, kid. But most people just call me 'Crimson'… don't forget it this time." with that, the creature sprang away from the side of the wall, leaving his palms open so Al could catch a glimpse of two light gray transmutation circles etched on his black palms, one containing the crescent moon, the other, the new moon. Then he was gone

OoOoOoOo

As Al and Havoc had come back to the entrance, Furey Falman, and Breda bombarded them with questions… all of which, Havoc was happy to enthusiastically answer in Al's stead; "I TOLD YOU IT WAS HIM!"

"what??? That psycho's really back out there!?!?!" Furey panicked, "we have to tell someone!"

"NO!" Al yelled, "if anybody finds out, they'll go off looking for him! I need him to help me find brother!"

"but, how do you expect him to help you, Al? he doesn't know where Ed is either." Havoc pointed out. "I know but…" Al murmured, "I appreciate Rose and Winry's help and everything but… just teacher alone isn't enough to crack the code… maybe if we had three alchemists working on the problem at once, we might be able to figure it out!"

The other four couldn't argue his logic. "please you guys, promise me you won't tell anybody, PROMISE!" Al pleaded.

The four men looked at each other then shrugged and agreed… "thanks you guys… really…" Al said, gratefully.

Breda smiled, "no problem, just remember…"

"you owe us" they all said in unison before turning around and leaving Al to walk the last block or so to the hotel.

OoOoOoOo

Once Al finally made it, he found himself, once again, greeted by police sirens and mobs of reporters. Only now there were also spotlights zooming around, looking for someone. "oh great, now what's happened?" he muttered to himself, it couldn't possibly be Kimbly already, could it?

He didn't have long before someone came up to him and thrust a suitcase into his arms, his suitcase, he soon realized. "come , Al, we're leaving" said the curt voice of Izumi. Followed by a sleepy, "Awl?" he looked and saw Daniel, half-asleep in Rose's arms, "Awl? Awe you back yet?" the toddler said sleepily, still not quite mastering the correct pronunciation of Al's name… or of the letter "R".

"yeah, I'm back… Teacher, what's going on?" Al said.

"someone was trying to break into the hotel…" Izumi said solemnly, "it's not-" she was interrupted as the spotlight apparently caught something and the crowd began to scream;

"look!"

"There! They're right there!"

Al looked up and, sure enough, a person crawled out of a window, leaped to another window ledge and scurried up to the top of the building and began sprinting along the rooftops. They were moving so fast that the spot lighters had to struggle to keep the light on them… whoever they were.

It was impossible to see the real fine details but Al could make out blurs of color. The intruder was dressed entirely in black, their skin was a sandy-brown, unnaturally white hair whipped at their face. Other than that, the only thing Al could see was that this person was beginning to beat the spotlight. They were bobbing in and out between the bright light and the pitch-black shadows.

A reporter was talking rapidly into a microphone, recording every detail he could make out of this intruder. Which were not more than Al could say… that is until

"The perpetrator is running south-southeast, almost right alongside the police squad! It seems almost as if he's taunting us! There is police fire but it seems that not one bullet has even GRAZED this criminal! By God, folks, I think we have a real problem on our hands! Never in my twenty years of reporting have I ever seen anything like this! Rumors say that we just might be looking at the prime suspect of the recent killing spree!" it was beginning to annoy Al that the reporter was talking about it like it was a horse race or some kind of sporting event.

"wait, what's this?" the reporter said abruptly looking over toward the group of police cars. Estele was standing atop one of them and was taking aim with a small pistol, the crowd was suddenly silent.

"It seems that General Ana Estele is going to try to take the culprit out on her own! This is either the biggest display of bravery or stupidity I have ever seen!"

Estele cocked her gun and was about to pull the trigger when the culprit suddenly disappeared from sight.

"OH! But it looks like we won't get to find out as the culprit has actually OUTRUN the spotlight!"

Estele's expression soured, and she lowered her gun while she continued to glare at the spot where the figure had disappeared

"I guess this is just one bad guy that she'll just have to let get away…"

There was a moment where everyone began to resume chattering as normal when suddenly Estele's arm sprang up and fired her gun without warning. Following immediately after, the spotlight caught the hunched-over body, revealing it to be nursing a bleeding leg, it's back turned to the crowd.

"NO WAY! The General has fired her gun, in the dark and actually hit the suspect in the leg! This is truly unbelievable!" the reporter screamed into his microphone, "now the suspect is looking around to se- WAIT! What is he doing??? The suspect has just thrown an unidentified object at the general!"

Sure enough, what looked like a rock whipped through the air and struck Estele directly in the forehead, knocking her off the police car. There was a collective gasp and even the spot lighters became distracted and took their eyes off their target, at which point said target bolted.

"the suspect is moving again!"

Now that they were injured, the person couldn't run as fast as before, and apparently knew it. And so, without warning, they veered to the side, and leaped. Time seemed to slow, and, for a split second, one could catch just barely a glimpse of the suspect's face, and would instantly notice.

"…red eyes…" was all the reporter could say… and for once, he was speechless. As was the entire crowd… they had all seen it, their worst nightmares were confirmed, "l…ladies and gentlemen…" the reporter stuttered, "the killer… is Ishbalan…"

Nobody moved, even Daniel was dead silent. Izumi was the only one who seemed capable of movement for she broke Al from his stupor and tugged on his arm, "that is why we are leaving," she whispered hastily, "it's not safe here…" she then did the same to Rose and Winry and then the four of them ran off toward the train station. When Al looked back he saw that Estele was back atop the car and glaring at the building again, totally ignoring the reporters that had swarmed around her… but that didn't last long, she turned and began shouting answers to the mob like it was a public speech. Only the one reporter had not moved from his spot, Al heard him murmor,

"God have mercy on us all…"