Alee was jarred from tumultuous, haunting dreams by the phone ringing. Still fuzzy from sleep, she answered in a daze.

"Alee?"

It was Riza. What on earth was she calling for?

"Sorry for waking you so early, sir, but you need to get dressed now and come to Tucker's house." Her sharp voice was still calm and crisp as always, but there was something unsettling about it.

"Why? What's wrong?" Alee asked, immediately alert.

"Tucker and the chimera have been murdered."

A kind of chill swept through her body and she shuddered. Who would do something like that? The house was surrounded. By armed guards, no less! Were they all dead too? The murderer had to be crazy, or had to be multiple people, or it had to be an inside job…. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

When her cab pulled up to Tucker's manor, it was swarming with soldiers. Sheets covered two bodies on the ground outside the gate, stretchers beside them, waiting to be loaded. Blood ran thickly into the sewers. The place was a mess.

Alee hurried inside, hoping it would be better there. Inside, there was no rain to wash the muck down the sewers. Here, bodies lay in glistening pools, blood congealing over everything nearby…

Before it could register, she took the stairs two at a time, skidding to a halt in front of Tucker's room where sheets covered two more bodies. Here, blood spattered the walls and bathed the room in a foul faintly iron stench. Alee wrinkled her nose and tried to suppress the flashbacks the smell stirred in her mind.

Still more soldiers lingered in the room, at least five, scouring the room for evidence. In the center was undoubtedly the bodies of Tucker and the chimera. Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes crouched by one body while Major Alexander Armstrong stood nearby, his hands clasped behind him. Roy stood with Riza across the room, looking out the window; his hands gripped the sill with white knuckles.

Alee swallowed her dread, clicked her boots together, and snapped off a crisp salute. "Lieutenant Colonel Justicar, reporting, sir."

Roy turned to her, the relief showing on his face. "At ease," he sighed. "I'm glad you're here, Lieutenant. Maybe with your background, you could shed some light on this."

Alee nodded, not caring to know what "background" which he referred to, and turned to Hughes and the sheets.

He greeted her genially, his spectacled face stretching into a wide, bright grin. He was the only man Alee knew who could brighten a whole room— even one as dismal and blood-spattered as this— with a smile. "Good morning, Lieutenant Colonel Justicar," he said warmly. "You get lovelier every time I see you—though not as lovely as my own Gracia, of course…"

"Morning Lieutenant Colonel Hughes." Alee practically found herself laughing despite their surroundings. "Morning, Alexander."

"Hrm, uhm, good morning, Alee," Alexander managed through his thick, blonde, exquisitely curled mustache. He blushed, ran a hand over his clean shaven head, and studied the ground like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Unlike the mutual understanding with Roy, Alee knew she had crushed Alexander by leaving him after only a few months. She couldn't explain to him her reasons and now they were strained but cordial.

As she approached the sheets apprehensively, Hughes turned and attacked Roy. "Man, we didn't come all the way out here from Central to do an autopsy."

Roy grimaced and ran a hand through his hair, saying through gritted teeth, "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, you don't need to remind us of our mistake. Please, just take a look…"

"If this guy really used his own wife as an experiment," Hughes said as Alee crouched down beside him and he raised the sheet, "it must have been divine justice."

Alee couldn't agree more, though she didn't say so. She was secretly glad Tucker had been killed though she wished that she could have had the pleasure.

Peeking under the sheet with Hughes and Alexander, she had to stifle a gasp. The amount of blood soaking into the carpet was obscene. Chunks of flesh and bits of bone were scattered here and there. The Tucker's skull was half missing, almost completely obliterated, but something about it stirred recognition deep inside her. She tried to focus on the edges, she tried to find other missing body parts to confirm her suspicions—

—the sheet dropped back into place. "Eww… Just as I thought," Hughes sighed, standing up. "Did the guards outside die the same way?" he asked Roy, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his hands.

"That's right," Roy replied evenly, crossing his arms."They were in pieces—or getting that way—as if they were blown apart from the inside."

Hughes and Alexander exchanged a meaningful glance. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Major Armstrong?"

"Yes," Alexander replied. "There's no doubt about it. It's him.."

"Him?" Alee asked quizzically, momentarily distracted from racing thoughts.

"He's a serial killer who has only been targeting alchemists with a state license. We've been investigating him in Central City," Hughes said seriously. "He's been nicknamed, 'Scar.'"

"'Scar?'" Roy repeated skeptically.

"We don't know his name, so that's what we call him," Hughes said with a shrug.

"Not only his background a mystery," Alexander added, "but we don't even know what kind of weapon he uses or what his intentions are. It seems like he's everywhere. The only information we've received about him is that he has a large x-shaped scar on his forehead."

Alee looked back at Tucker's body, her brain struggling to make connections. There was something painfully familiar about all of it. Then it clicked. "His weapon, if I had to guess, I'd bet anything it's alchemy."

Hughes and Alexander stared at her, unconvinced. "He uses alchemy to kill alchemists? A little counterintuitive, don'chya think?" Hughes sighed.

"It looks to me like destruction level alchemy," Alee said firmly. "You wanted my opinion, there it is. Don't you think I've spent enough time with that Crimson Lotus monster to know destruction when I see it?" Alee scowled, challenging each of them in turn. They shifted uncomfortably and cast down their eyes, an unpleasant silence settling over them. The past couple days were dredging up unwelcome memories everywhere and she wasn't appreciating it. First her brother, then her fiancé. She tried and failed to shake the awful memories: his eyes, his smirk, his cruelty…

Finally Hughes nodded. "Maybe… There's no way to know for sure until we apprehend him. This year alone he's killed five alchemists in Central. In the country, he's killed a total of ten."

Roy frowned and murmured, "Yes, we've heard the rumors out here in the East as well."

"We have? You didn't think it would be a good idea to inform me?" Alee demanded of him.

"I didn't want to worry you," he shrugged.

"Well you should be worried, both of you," Hughes snapped. "Just between you and me, I heard that he even killed old man Grand."

"What?" Alee exclaimed. Grand? How could Basque Grand be dead? Impossible!

"Brigadier General Grand, the Iron-Blooded Alchemist?" Roy cried. "He's a military martial arts expert!"

"It might sound crazy," Hughes scowled, "but believe it or not, a guy this tough is roaming the city. Let me give you two some advice: double the security staff and lay low for a while. I'm asking you this as a friend."

Hughes' words sunk in slowly. A madman was now running around East City, a state alchemist killer, no doubt with Roy and herself as prime targets. Alee was used to people hating her—sometimes, she hated herself just as much—but someone trying to kill her? That was different. If this Scar guy did ever come to try, he'd be in for a rude awakening. The Winter is bitter and ruthless and powerful.

A new thought occurred to her. "Hughes," Alee gasped. "Isaac. He's been missing. Is he… Has he..?"

She didn't like how Hughes turned away from her.

"No…"

"I'm so sorry, Alee," Hughes mumbled, taking off his glasses to wipe them distractedly. He still didn't look at her. "We didn't want you to find out this way. We discovered his body in the middle of a street on the outskirts of Central. By the looks of things though, he put up a good fight."

Alee stood in stunned silence, blinking away tears. After all the searching… It never occurred to her to look at obituaries. Why should she? Isaac was strong and capable and, deranged as he was by the end, very intelligent. To think he was dead… How long had he been dead and she'd never even known it? How long ago was his funeral and no one had even informed her? Now all she had left were his last moments on the phone, all conspiracies and wild messages.

"I'm very sorry," Hughes said sincerely, laying a hand on her arm. "But he wouldn't want you to suffer the same fate, so you have got to listen to me. The only well-known alchemists out in these parts are you, Mustang, and Tucker, right? With what happened to Tucker, you guys really can't let your guard down—"

"Oh no…" Roy hissed suddenly, looking around. "You!" he shouted, pointing at a soldier, "Confirm whether the Elric brothers are still at their lodgings. On the double!"

"Huh? Hey! What is it?" Hughes cried.

Alee's heart plummeted. The Elric brothers; were they wandering around? With a killer on the loose? They were only children!

"Oh, Colonel, I spoke to them as I was leaving HQ," piped Riza. "They were walking down Main Street."

"At a time like this!" Roy groaned. "Bring the cars around! All spare hands, report to the Main Street area!" He hurried from the room with Riza and Alexander, Hughes and Alee trailing behind.

Alee hoped against hope they would find Ed and Al first….