I'm back and ready to go!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday. Canada Day for those in Canada, Independence Day for us in America, and Pancake Day(God Forbid my friend not remind me on a daily basis) for everybody! I had an awesome Fourth of July, save for the all-nighter I pulled editing pictures. And SeishunCon was a lot of fun, too. More fun than I hoped.

The Lovely Daaaarlings!

IceFire Dragon Alchemist73: Of course it is! Haha xD

AirMage99: Hehe, she has. It took her long enough!

Dragon of Twilight: It's in her blood to do something stupid.

Yumixjaganshi: One of her many schemes is going to get her in trouble. As usual.
Lawlz, thanks. I try.

Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD: Haha, indeed!
Here's your next chapter. xD

Fmagurl123: She is! Finally! Aw, I'm glad you like the humor in it all, as well as their little moment.

Katsekala: Finally! It only took thirty some chapters. And of course she is. xP

Kyte: Aww! I'm surprised you liked it enough to read the entire thing in a day. I hope this chapter's epic, but it's up for everyone else to decide on that. And thank you, I'm glad you enjoy Riley, and can relate to her. I worked hard on her personality.

Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha…

This chapter kind of rushed right on through to the next chapter, but I wrote what I wanted to write.

I don't own FullMetal Alchemist, but I own Riley.

Chapter Thirty-Eight:
Death.

I stalked down the halls, looking through every inch of every room I passed with one goal in mind.

Kimblee.

The fact that bastard was in the same building as me kept eating away at me. It had already been a day since Ed left, and Hannah thought him being gone was what was bothering me. So when I told her I needed some fresh air, she didn't even protest. My anger was getting the best of me and if I wanted to be sane when we left, I had to do something.

"KIMBLEE!" My blood froze at the scream and I felt my entire body stiffen. That was Marta's voice. With excitement for finding Kimblee and fear for Marta's wellbeing, I took off in the direction of the voice.

Turning a corner, I saw what was going on. Marta had wrapped her arms around Kimblee in order to constrain him, holding a knife at his throat as he held it further from him. Al stood back in surprise. Knowing Kimblee wouldn't be held long, I realized that was my chance. I ran forward, Kimblee and Marta my destination, but a large hand quickly gripped my arms, yanking me back into the metal body of Al. "Ah, damn it Al, let me go!" I shouted, struggling to get out of his grasp.

In any other situation, I would have felt bad for Al. He had to keep Marta and I both in check and we're both too passionate about Kimblee's death to just give up. But Al only ignored me as he looked back to the other two. "Kimblee… What are you doing here?" He asked in shock.

With the same egotistical smirk I hated, he answered Al calmly. "That's a pretty ridiculous question, considering I am a State Alchemist again," He said as Marta's hand shook against his own.

"You ratted us all out, you piece of garbage!" Marta hissed with sever distaste, "Now you have to pay!"

Kimblee only continued to smirk as he looked from her to Al. "Come on, Alphonse… You're not going to let her kill me," He said smoothly.

The step back Al took showed he was startled by the question. I glared at the ground as I answered for him. "No, he won't." Kimblee smirked, but I wasn't anywhere near as amused as he was. "That's my job," I growled out before spinning on my heel. The back of my foot slid behind the side of Al's leg and within a second, he was tripped high into the air.

I ran at Kimblee, but Al was quick to get back to his feet. Just as I was in reaching distance of Kimblee, Al slid in front of me as he pulled Marta away. My forehead smacked into the back of Al and I stumbled to the ground as Al struggled with Marta. "What the hell, Al?" I shouted angrily, glaring up at him. He stepped back some, trying to keep distance between Kimblee and Marta, when I noticed Kimblee grab the officer that was with him.

No…

"W-What are you doing?" Al stuttered out, seeing this as well.

Kimblee didn't bother looking back at us. "Relax, Kid. I'm only doing what's necessary," He replied before tossing the officer toward us. Marta, blinded by anger, ran forward to attack Kimblee yet again but bumped into the officer, whose skin was going a deathly gray.

No.

"Marta, no!" Al shouted as he ran forward to stop her. Time seemed to slow down as I watched Al near the walking bomb. "No matter what. Just take care of Al for me," Went through my head.

No!

Out of instinct, I ran forward to stop them both. Kimblee turned to walk away, and the officer exploded. Just before my sight was blinded, I could see Al reach Marta. Then the shockwave and the heat shoved into me and I braced myself as I flew backwards.

When I slammed onto the ground, on my injured arm no less, the pain was too much to get up. I let out a few small yelps as I tried catching my breath and held my arm. Turning back to the hall, I didn't see Marta or Al anywhere. Kimblee, on the other hand, stood ten feet away from me, scowling down onto the ground below. That must have been where they were. I tried to stand back up, but with every bit of added pressure on my shoulder, it felt like one more piece of muscle tissue, bone and artery was being ripped apart. Kimblee jumped down onto the ground below and my anger raised. He didn't forget I was there. He just dismissed me. Like I was already out.

No way in hell was I out.

Slowly, I rolled on my left side and used every limb but my right arm to help myself stand. I gritted my teeth as I finally stood, glaring ahead at the ground where I could now see Kimblee. He was walking toward Al. Every step he took, my pain began to dull. So, I took a few steps toward the edge, trying to gain my strength back.

Kimblee hit his leg onto Al's body as he scowled out, "You had to go and ruin it."

He rolled Al off of Marta, who was knocked out. Al jumped up in a position to fight as he exclaimed, "You stay away from Marta or else!"

"Heh… And by Marta, I take it you mean this reptile," Kimblee retorted, looking down at the woman casually.

Al's anger was beginning to raise, also. "She's a human being!" He protested. At this point, I began to run to the edge and jumped off. The momentum had my feet hit the ground hard, but it only gave me quicker speed when I charged at Kimblee's back.

Quick to reply, Kimblee glanced back to him. "That's not what I heard. I heard she's a Chimera… An artificial human… Like you," He finished, smirking.

Not even a second after his mouth shut, my shoulder had slammed into his back and I wrapped my arm around it, planning on taking him down just as hard as I was taken down earlier. He yelped slightly as we were both flung forward. When we landed, my shoulder pushed him further and harder down and I used it as a catapult to roll forward, away from him. Turning back around, I glared down at him and spat out, "Don't ever talk to him that way, you backstabbing bastard!"

Climbing to his feet, Kimblee only chuckled. "I thought you were dead, Kid. Guess I underestimated you," He stated, dusting his shoulders off. My eyesight began to shake and I cussed myself out for it. How could I let the pain get the better of me now? I wouldn't. My right knee shook slightly and I stumbled down a bit but quickly caught myself. Unfortunately, Kimblee noticed this all too clearly. Chuckling more, he smirked widely, "Or maybe I didn't."

Before I could attack, Al had. It was surprising to see, but I wasn't going to stop him. Not at all.

The two fought quickly, Al throwing fast swings and kicks. Kimblee managed to dodge, but at the same time he didn't manage to get any hits in either. He continued stepping back, when his boot got caught on a crack. This time it was my turn to smirk as Al quickly drew a transmutation circle and sent pillars of stone at Kimblee. Kimblee caught himself and dodged them all. "Thanks for giving me what I needed, moron," He said arrogantly as he placed his hand on the pillar.

My hopes were almost crushed, but then I saw Al.

He shaped and sculpted an entire stone wall around Kimblee. A second or two passed, and an explosion was heard inside the cage, a side of the wall blown outward. I held my breath, hoping to God that Kimblee was dead. But when I saw the hand come out and grasp the wall, I knew it would take a lot more than his own power. He limped out and a grin came to my face when I saw the shape he was in. For the first time, we had the advantage.

When we heard footsteps, my hopes really were crushed. Damn it all! We looked to the doorway of the building and spotted several soldiers running toward us, guns ready. Mustang was in the middle and while I was happy it wasn't Archer, I still knew he was beyond pissed.

Particularly at Kimblee and me. And just the thought of someone being angry at the both of us was sickening. Let alone that someone being Mustang.

Hurriedly making his way to Kimblee, Mustang glared down at him. "The Elric brothers and Mauler are under my jurisdiction. If you have a problem with them, you take it up with me and put it in writing. Is that understood?" He spat out, not bothering to show any sort of respect to the lowlife that lay before him.

Kimblee smirked. Again. "Sure, just keep the scrap of metal away from me," He retorted.

Pissed, I started for him again. "How dare you talk about him lik-" I yelped in pain when Mustang grabbed my arm to hold me back. His grip on my arm flinched when he noticed the pain, but he still held on. He knew that if he even let me go for a second, I'd kill Kimblee.

And he was right.

. . .

"What were you thinking, Riley?"

I didn't reply. I only glared at the covers on the hospital bed I sat in. Mustang stood at the end of the bed, looking down at me in disappointment. It was hard enough dealing with that look, but having to sit there and listen to his lecture was even worse. Mustang glanced to Riza, who stood at the doorway. She nodded and opened the door. I glanced over to watch her leave, and saw Hannah and Al staring into the room with worry. Al was off the hook – his reasons were for self-defense. But Mustang knew me enough to know mine weren't.

Once the door was softly and quietly shut, Mustang relaxed slightly. Sighing, he slipped his hands out of his pockets and sat down on the edge of the bed. I watched him for a few minutes and bit my lip. I knew he was trying to figure out what to say. Not as a Superior Officer but as someone who had been taking care of me for as long as he, and Maes, had.

So I spoke up for him. "I know I was in the wrong, Mustang…," I grumbled out. He blinked in surprise at the sudden broken silence and looked over at me. "I know I should give up before this gets worse… And I know I'm risking Hannah and Al's life." Falling silent, my good hand clenched the covers. "…But I can't act like nothing happened knowing what that bastard's getting away with."

Mustang didn't reply at first. I continued to frown as I thought over what all had happened. Shaking his head, Mustang placed a hand on my shoulder, causing me to look up at him. "Don't worry about that. You need your rest right now. I'm not going to let Kimblee do anything to you, or Al or Hannah. Trust me."

"…" Quietly, I nodded. He squeezed my shoulder gently as he stood from the bed. He walked to the door as I laid down, when I remembered something. "Mustang." When he stopped, I sighed, "Can you not tell Ed about this?"

He grinned slightly, "I had already decided it was best we didn't. We don't need another hothead running around the halls looking for Kimblee." I smirked slightly at his lighthearted tone as he left the room. Once he left, Al and Hannah ran inside, bombarding me with questions about what happened.

. . .

"Come on, then, wake up. You can't sleep forever," Came a soothing voice.

The tanned man flinched slightly, moving a bit. His red eyes slowly opened to see a woman sitting beside him. With light blonde hair reaching her shoulders and bright blue eyes, she smiled softly down at the man on the makeshift bed. "Where am I…?" He groaned out after remembering what had happened. His brother, the Elder, that military man… The black-haired savior.

She brushed bangs from his still healing face as she said, "You're safe, don't worry. The Elder is too. We won't let them get to you." He continued looking at the woman, trying to remember everything. The last thing he saw was her face. Even though she wasn't one of his people, she was beautiful. But wasn't she with that man? Where was he? When he finally voiced his question, her eyes glazed over as her smile shook. "He's gone," Was her only reply. Despite the tears threatening to show, her voice was still as calming as it was before. "He died just before I brought you here."

"You mean he was killed," He bitterly responded, glaring at the ceiling. The woman was silent, but she nodded slightly. "What is your name?" He asked, turning to look back at her when he realized he didn't know. He only knew she wasn't Ishbalin, which meant she had to be part of the Rebellion Army. Those who had done so much for his people.

The woman quickly blinked away her pain and began to replace the wet cloth on his forehead. She moved to reply, when an explosion happened outside the tent they were in. Claire's eyes immediately hardened as she turned to look outside. "They found us sooner than I thought." The man began to stand, but she placed her hand firmly on his shoulder. "Stay."

He blinked at the sudden change in tone. In mere seconds, her voice became hard and firm; that of a demanding mother's. He slowly lay back down, and she smiled at him, placing a hand on his cheek. Almost as though she knew what would happen once she left, she looked him in the eye. "Don't leave this tent until someone comes inside to get you, alright?" He was about to protest, but she smiled, pushing his head back down to the pillow. "You're safe. I promise."

"I still don't know you," He murmured out.

Smiling still, she replied, "My name is Clairessant Mauler." And with that said, she removed her hand from his cheek and quickly left, grabbing her weapons as she did. He stared at the entrance of the tent in tense silence, waiting for the woman who healed him from death.

She never came back.

Gasping, I sat up but quickly winced, grabbing my right shoulder in pain. "Mom…," I mumbled under my breath. Was that how it had happened? My father was killed and my mother, being the protective woman she was, made her first priority Scar's safety?

But why was I dreaming about that? Was something going on in Lior? Worried more than ever, I turned my gaze to the window, afraid of all the possibilities. It was only a matter of time until Ed came back. If he came back.

. . .

Sighing, I pulled my good arm away from Hannah's grasp and shook my head. Ever since that morning, she had been escorting me all over the place, saying, 'You need your physical exercise too!' I was fine with being able to walk around finally, but I didn't need someone to hold me by the arm. "Hannah, I know you're worried and thank you for that, but I can still walk!" I whined, shaking my arm out.

Frowning, she held her hands out as though she'd catch me if I fell(Which we both know would only take us both to the ground). "I just want to be sure, Riley."

I nodded at her as we turned to walk outside. "I know, but I don't have a broken leg, I have a screwed…" Hannah's brows furrowed when she saw my eyes widen. She turned to look with me and let out a loud gasp.

About fifty feet from us, Al was on his knees, sobbing. But what really grabbed our attention wasn't his shaking shoulders, but the blood that spilled all around his body from the cracks of his metal armor. "…Al," I moved to say, but no words came out. Rushing past Hannah, bumping into her shoulder, I ran toward him. "AL!"

Reaching him, I stumbled to my knees in front of him, ignoring the fact I was sitting in blood. "Al! What happened?" I shouted. He didn't respond so I looked to his armor. It was all coming from his stomach area. I moved to the grab the latch and open it, but when his hand pushed mine away, I looked back up to him. "Al, you either tell me or I see for myself! What happened?" Hannah watched from the sidelines as I continued shouting at Al, trying to get him to stop pushing me away. Finally, he snapped.

"Marta's dead!"

. . .

Mustang and his unit had come to investigate Marta's body, along with Armstrong. Just before the officers had arrived, Al told us what Marta had told him. He told us the Furher, a homunculus, killed her and he told us he planned on killing Ed. I left shortly after. Hannah had run off, feeling sick to her stomach when she saw Marta, so I left after her. I finally found her in our bedroom's bathroom, sitting against the tub beside the toilet.

Sighing, I walked over and sat on the edge of the tub. "I'm sorry you had to see her like that," I mumbled out.

Hannah wrapped her arms around her knees, laying her chin on her arms. "…It's… No, it isn't okay," She shook her head before looking up at me with tears in her eyes, "Riley, what's going on? I know I haven't been able to understand much of anything lately but I do know something bad's happening. What exactly is it, Riley? I need to know before I make the decision to keep tagging along with you guys. I'm not as strong as you all are!"

At first, I said nothing. When I finally figured out what I'd say, I sighed. "…I'm still not sure. Scar wants to make the Philosopher's Stone in Lior, but now… Now after what Al told me, I'm not so sure Scar's what I'm worried about."

"…," Hannah nodded, looking back to the ground. "I just… I don't know anymore. I want to go back home, but I don't want to just leave you behind. And I know there's no way in hell you'd even think of coming home with me, what with Ed."

I almost fell into the tub. "What about Ed?" I exclaimed, looking down at her in surprise.

Looking up at me, she nodded innocently. "What, you thought I was oblivious to it? Riley, I knew you loved him before you knew," She said simply, as though talking about the weather.

And just like that, my face was as red as a tomato. "I-I wouldn't use that word! That's too strong a-" When she glared at me, I paused and sighed. Plopping down onto the floor beside her, I scowled. "I don't know what I feel. I mean… I think Nicole may have been right, yes. But it doesn't matter anyway."

"Why not?" She asked, confused as she sat up, subject completely changed now.

Sighing, I shook my head, "Because I'm not going to endanger Ed and Al's lives just because I may have feelings."

Hannah rolled her eyes, standing up as she grabbed my good hand. "Whatever, Riley. Let's go," She said, pulling me out the door.

We left the bedroom, both of us feeling slightly better. Not to mention preoccupied. When we turned down another hall, we saw Al running toward us. Hannah waved at him as he reached us. "We're going to find Ed!" He said.

A smile landed on both of our faces. "Really? You mean I get to get out of this place?" I exclaimed in excitement. Al nodded before explaining about a letter Ed sent to Mustang. Apparently Scar wasn't going to use the people of Lior, but the military. Then Al told me about how he told them about what it took to make a stone, and Riza gave him Ed's pocket watch which was left here. I nodded, listening to it all before turning to Hannah. "…So, are you going to come with us?"

Hannah was quiet for a few minutes, looking between Al and me. Smiling nervously, she rubbed the back of her head. "If Riza doesn't mind lending me a gun, then I will," She replied. I grinned and she walked past us to go talk to Riza while Al and I went to get our things.

Al grabbed my wrist and began to lead me back to the room, and I shouted loudly. Remembering the injury, he quickly let go of me and spun around to watch me kneel over, gripping my arm. "R-Riley! I'm sorry, I forgot!"

Through gritted teeth, I tried to grin as I said, "Don't worry about it."

"…" He sighed, lowering his arms as he turned serious. "Maybe you should stay here. If Brother finds out about your arm, he'll get mad at the both of us, not to mention the Colonel."

Bitterly laughing, I shook my head as I tried to sooth my arm. "Al, he's always mad at the Colonel and he wouldn't get mad at you at all. Besides you know as well as I do that if you leave me here, I'll just do worse to my arm than I would if I go with you," I replied. He said nothing, knowing I was right.

We both headed back to the room where Al insisted on carrying Hannah's bag and my camera(Which turned out to be the only thing I had left to carry. My pajamas and such were in Hannah's bag and everything else was stashed on my person). After a bit of fussing over it, Al won and I realized how lucky I was that I only had to fight Ed on a regular basis, not his brother.

Once all was ready, we headed off as quick as we could. And as much as I thought I had gone through every scenario possible, I wouldn't realize how far off I really was.

. . .

Finally.

We had reached Lior. The kid who took Ed's letter to Mustang had led us three back here. On the way I had been using my sulfur in ways I'd never done before. My shoulder was going to be my downfall if it didn't improve even in the slightest, so I began using my sulfur in different ways on my arm as I remembered things Marcoh taught me, which turned out to do nothing but strengthen the movement by a bit. It still hurt like hell, pressure or not. But I couldn't let Al and Hannah know that. And Al wouldn't know it even if I wanted to tell him. Why?

Because Hannah and I were lost. Yep.

Apparently I had taken a wrong turn because I was so consumed with fixing my arm, and Hannah was behind me so she followed. Next thing we knew, Al and that Kid were nowhere to be seen. Hell, no one was anywhere to be seen.

"I can't believe you got us lost!" Hannah shouted angrily.

I was walking far ahead of her, afraid she would decide to use Riza's gun for other purposes than self-defense. "I already said I was sorry! You weren't looking either, though!" I retorted, only to regret it when I saw Hannah pointing the gun at me. My eyes widened. "H-Hannah, come on, don't be so ir-" She shot the gun off and I yelped, covering my head. When I heard the bullet fly past me, I looked back to see a gunshot wound in the head of a Chimera. My eyes narrowed, "Who brought those things here?"

Hearing an explosion several yards away, the question was pretty much answered. Knowing those explosions by now, I ran toward them. "Come on, Hannah!" Whether she followed or not, I didn't care. All I knew was that I had a pyromaniac to finish off.

We reached an intersection of Lior to see Kimblee shove into Al's back, as I had done to him just the day before. He pushed Al into Scar, who I had just noticed was there. Scar dodged out of the way, only to have Kimblee raise his hand, clamping down on Scar's wrist. At first, I froze. This was just like then… When my parents died for that scarred man.

I wasn't going to waste that.

Running, I leapt forward and grabbed Kimblee's wrist, twisting back so I could slam my foot into his face. It was quick enough to surprise him, as he landed on his back a few feet away from us. Glaring down at him, I didn't bother to stop my hands from heating up. "Stay away from him," I hissed at him as he began to sit up.

He smirked, laughing a bit as he said, "Well this is a repeat, isn't it? A Mauler brat protecting useless creatures. And just like your pathetic father, you're too late." My shoulders tense and I glanced over my shoulder. Scar's left hand was pretty much black. It was just as he had said.

I was too late.

My hands shaking, I glared down at Kimblee. He noticed this and began smirking more. "You ready to fight like you actually mean it, Kid?" He asked. Taunting me, like always.

But this time I wouldn't have it. Running forward, I held nothing back as I punched him. He fell backwards, but I grabbed his collar before he could land. I began pulling him back up, and he grabbed my wrist. Kicking it off, I smashed it into the ground with my foot. I was in rage, and I didn't care who was around to see it. After all the trouble he's put us through, and all the pain he caused me, it was time he felt that.

He yelled a bit as I twisted my foot deeper into his wrist. Tired of just laying there, he reached toward my leg, but his wrist was only met with my right hand. "Don't think about it. See… You create explosions with the elements from people," I paused to bear down harder on his wrists and I smirked down at him, "But I have an unlimited stash of sulfur, and every bit of it's just waiting to blow your head off."

Finally, he managed to kick me in the stomach, throwing me off him. I used my hands to flip myself back to my feet before I hit the ground, and ignored the pain that shot through my right arm. We both ran at each other and I dodge his swing at my head. Grabbing his wrist, I elbowed him in the face as I mumbled about doing it for Marta. I then elbowed him again and heard a crack from his nose. "That was for Greed," I growled out before he grabbed my right arm and twisted it behind my back. I gritted my teeth as he twisted it to its limits. But I wouldn't yell. I wouldn't let him know he caused even more pain.

Glancing to the side, I spotted Scar running over, missing the left arm. I could only guess he destroyed it to last longer in this fight. The look of anger on his face matched how I felt. We both looked each other in the eyes and I knew what he was thinking. We both wanted Kimblee dead. As sick as I may have sounded, I did. We both lost too much because of him.

Silently, I nodded at Scar. Once he was close enough, I dug my heel into Kimblee's shoe and caused him to loosen his grip just enough so I could spin around. Facing him, I slammed my leg into his stomach. He flew back towards Scar, whose arm lit up as he neared Kimblee's back. Scar's arm shoved through Kimblee, blood gushing outward as Kimblee fell to the ground, lifeless.

Zolf J. Kimblee was finally dead.

I allowed myself to plop onto my butt, panting slightly. I didn't bother wiping Kimblee's blood from my face. My right arm felt utterly destroyed, even if it wasn't, and I was too emotionally and physically exhausted. Not to mention relieved. I kept repeating the line over and over, that he was dead. And every single time, it just made me feel better. No more worrying about that bastard being loose. He never would be again.

Hannah and Al ran to my side. Bending down, Hannah began to make sure the blood was, for the most part, Kimblee's. Al was asking if my arm was okay, but I ignored it as I looked up to Scar. "…Thank you," I mouthed to him weakly.

"I could say the same to you," Was his simply reply. I chuckled, having a sarcastic retort in my mind ("You could, but you won't.") but not having the energy to actually word it out.

Scar turned to leave, and Al looked over at him. "Scar…"

He didn't bother sparing us another glance as he said, "I'm going to go do what you and your brother cannot." Al was already standing as Hannah began to help me up. Hearing rocks move, Scar's eyes widened as he spun back around. Just from his reaction, I knew what it had to be.

But no… He's dead…

Terror filled me I spun around as well, almost tripping Hannah up as Kimblee latched on to Al.

He's… Alive?

He grabbed Ed's pocket watch and threw it at Scar. Scar quickly raised his arms to block it, and the pocket watch fought against him. It opened and red stones back to fall out of it. Mine and Al's eyes widened at this; What was that there for? The stones dissolved into Scar's arm and Al voiced what I was wondering. "Come on, Al… Don't think I wouldn't have something under my sleeve," He said, smirking up at Al as he held on tightly. "You'll be the best bomb yet. I can feel it already," He said obsessively. Hannah and I watched in fear.

"No matter what. Just take care of Al for me."

I was already too weak to stand, how was I supposed to get there in time? No, I couldn't just give up like that. Unwrapping my arm from Hannah's neck, I began to push past my limits to get to Al and Kimblee. I had to protect him, even if it meant my own life. But that wouldn't happen anytime soon, because I was too slow. In a mere second, Al was transmuted. I couldn't feel myself breath as I watched the scene in front of me. Even so, I was still able to scream.

"AL!"

Be Responsible. Don't Flame and Drive! Rawr.