It was the perfect place to meet. It was off the beaten track but still close to keep an ear out for news of the Amestrian military's movement. It was also the last place the Crimson Alchemist, Zolf J. Kimblee had been seen before leading a Drachman attack against Briggs nearly twenty years ago. There were only a few people who knew it was also the very same place where Kimbley brought a building down on the Fullmetal Alchemist and two chimeras.

The two men who had agreed to rendezvous there were unaware of the significance. It was chosen because of its proximity to the Drachman border and the myriads of abandoned mine tunnels that twisted and turned down below, creating a maze of confusion but provided plenty of escape routes if needed.

To keep from arousing suspicion Grumman used the always reliable excuse of an old, retired man wanting a little adventure and thought checking out the abandoned mine settlement would be fun. But he wasn't there for fun and games.

"I wondered why you wanted to meet up later than we planned," he growled as he approached the younger, blond man who stood smirking at him.

Russell Tringum laughed as he leaned casually against a large freight truck. "It's just a little detour."

"This was not as we planned it," Grumman said angrily, his eyes flashing. They were hidden behind his think glasses that it made it difficult for Russell to take him seriously and thought the old man just looked comical.

"It doesn't disrupt the original plans," Russell said with a shrug, dismissing the retired General's anger. "I was hoping you'd be sniffing around Mustang when he got word. Tell me, how did General Elric," he said with disgust, "take the news?"

"You've got his attention, that's for sure. You're lucky you've been able to get this far."

"We're almost to the border. There's nothing to worry about."

"Don't be so cocky that things have gone smoothly so far. The Fullmetal Alchemist's brother will be tagging along. Two alchemists following your trail will not make this as easy as you think."

Russell's smirk just got worse. "I know. I was hoping for that. It'll make what I've got planned even more interesting than they already are."

"I can see you wanting to get revenge. Why drag them along?" Grumman nodded toward the truck. "You should have just killed them and be done with your revenge."

"But that's no fun and it would defeat the purpose."

"And what would that be?"

"To destroy him and those around them. If I just killed them they wouldn't suffer; only Ed would and I want them all to suffer. I want the ones Ed loves the most; the ones that are the most innocent to see the worse that is out there. He was always trying to protect people from the horrors in the world. I want him to know he failed."

Grumman sighed, shaking his head. "Fine, fine. We all get our revenge in our own way. Though I don't know why you just didn't tell me."

"That was entertainment value for me as well. You don't get to call all the shots."

Grumman glared at him. "So you're one step closer to stabbing me in the back."

"I'm saving that for later," Russell said with a twisted grin.

"Or maybe you don't have the guts," Grumman challenged. "You were sentimental enough to look up that boy's mother after all these years and all you can do is abduct people; perhaps I made the wrong choice…"

"Shut up!" Russell shouted angrily as he pushed himself away from the truck. "We don't have time for your bull shit. We need to get moving."

"Lead the way," Grumman smirked. "I mean, it that's alright with you. You do want to call some of the shots, right?"

Russell turned away from the old man and stalked over to the cab of the truck with Grumman following along at an easy pace. Both men settled in and as Russell started the engine he could feel a low rumbling laugh from within.

The old man is right. You don't have the guts.

'Shut up', Russell thought to the creature stirring inside.

Look, just let me drive for a bit. We'll put that old man in his place.

'No. Not yet.'

Well, you better hurry up. I'm starting to get bored.

Russell ignored the threatening tone as he put the truck into gear.


She groaned and shifted, her entire body ached and she felt weak. As Elysia came to those quick seconds before everything went black came rushing in at once...

"No," she had whispered, finally able to take another step back. But she bumped into something. When she turned there was a rather large, intimidating man there blocking her way. She tried to run but was grabbed by her arm. Something went over her mouth then everything around her faded into black...

As she blinked to get her eyes working again she hoped it had all been a bad dream. But she knew she wasn't that lucky before she her eyes adjusted. When they did, the blue skies and green trees of the park were replaced by dark metal walls lit by a muted, red glow from a corner that was out of her line of sight. She tried to lift herself up and groaned again giving up when a splitting headache hit her. She covered her eyes when everything began to spin. She wondered how long she had been out and realized it must have been a long time when her stomach growled.

"You alright?" A voice that sounded somewhat familiar asked.

Forgetting her aching head Elysia sat up, startled. Right there, kneeling in front of her was a young man with gold eyes and hair. Without thinking she instinctively reached out to hug him and cried out, "Edward!"

Immediate she knew she was wrong. Her Edward wouldn't have stiffened when she hugged him; he would have put his arms around her in return. Her Edward wasn't this soft either. She let go just as quickly as she grabbed him and shrank back, "You're not, Edward," she said looking the young man over.

Elysia thought she was having heart palpitations, the beats were off, they sped up they slowed down, she felt like she could hardly breathe. Everything began to spin again and the headache got worse from her sudden movement. But she forced herself to focus. This young man - no, still a boy who looked to be several years younger than her - looked exactly like Edward. Even if she was out of sorts and confused she could still put two and two together. She had often joked with Edward that he probably had a love child or two scattered around Amestris when she would tease him about his bachelorhood days. But she always figured if there were, they would have turned up a long time ago and never thought it a possibility; it was always a fun joke to irritate Edward. But there was no doubt in her mind that before her, this young man was Edward's son.

"No, I'm not," he confirmed looking scared, nervous, unsure. "I'm Richard."

"Uh, hi," Elysia said feeling exactly as Richard looked and not entirely sure whether to address the elephant in the room or just ignore it for now. Ignore it, she decided and went with introductions which generally are a good place to start. "I'm Elysia." Simple introductions for now.

"Hi, Elysia," Richard said with a small, lopsided smile that reminded her so much of Edward it was uncanny.

Elysia had a dozen questions but held her tongue. They could all wait. Besides, there was something more important she needed to know before she got carried away with interrogating the poor boy.

"Where are we?" He didn't feel threatening; he actually looked scared - if not more scared - than Elysia was feeling, so she was sure he had nothing to do with her waking up in a dark somewhere.

"A truck," he said looking around. "I woke up once while we were moving. I don't know how long ago that was. We've been stopped here for a while now."

Elysia stood up and wobbled, feeling weak and dizzy. Richard reached out to steady her. When the dizzy spell passed she looked around.

They were surrounded by four, battered, metal walls. The dim light came from a lantern in the corner. Near it there was someone else lying stretched out.

"Who's that?" She asked.

"I don't know," Richard said worriedly. "I couldn't wake him. He's bleeding. It looks as if he's been hit on the head pretty hard."

"He's alive?"

"Yeah, but barely... I think. I'm not a doctor but I compared his pulse with mine and it's really slow and his breathing is shallow. I wrapped his head to try and stop the bleeding."

Elysia walked over to the man lying prone and kneeled next to him. It was just as Richard said and the man was also very pale and cold. A plaid cloth, ripped into a long strip was wrapped around his head. There was a pile of the same material next to him. When Elysia looked back at Richard she noticed he was only wearing a white undershirt, jeans and shoes. She sighed and leaned back on her heals wondering what to do but knew there wasn't much that could be done if they were trapped with no supplies or a way out. She looked around but there wasn't much to look at.

They were inside a truck no doubt. Not a very clean one and they were only given a limited amount of space and there were no openings that Elysia could see. She stood up and ran her hands along, walking slowly, trying to find a way out through the dim light.

"It's completely sealed," Richard said, sounding dejected. Apparently he had done the same thing.

Elysia could feel the panic start to set in. What was going to happen to them? Why were they even there? Were they hostages? If so, she wondered if they would give them something to eat. The hunger pains were more pronounced now. Weakness and hopelessness began to overwhelm her. She kicked something that felt like a water jug that then hit against a bucket. She turned and leaned against the side of the truck and slid down. She tried not to let fear grab hold of her. She took several deep breaths but when she thought of Edward and her daughter she couldn't hold back the tears. She wiped them away angrily not wanting to be the poor damsel in distress but knew she was. She already found herself counting on Edward to burst in any moment to get her out. But something told her that wasn't likely to happen anytime soon. Then she remembered something.

She stood up quickly, ignoring the spinning sensation. "We have to get out of here," she choked. "That man... Russell... he had something on his hand..."

"Had what?" Richard asked worriedly, watching her as she began to search the walls once again.

"A mark," Elysia said panicked as she felt along the sides of the truck high and low. "They should have been destroyed but it was on his hand." She was babbling but she was scared. She had finally gotten all the stories out of Edward; everything he had seen the homunculi do, how they were defeated. Ever since they were involved with the death of her father it was an obsession to know and understand them. She wasn't able to understand their motives but she knew what they were capable of... killing without remorse. She was reassured they were no more; Edward had promised. Perhaps he doesn't know, she thought as she continued looking for some way out. Or maybe it was just a tattoo, like Edward's... but who else would know about those things and be twisted enough to get a tattoo like that?! But she knew deep down it was all too real. That man, Russell, was a homunculus.

"What are you talking about? What should have been destroyed?" She was making Richard panic now.

"We just need to get out of here!" Elysia said the tears freely flowing.

As she tried to move around an engine roared to life and the truck lurched, tossing Elysia to the ground. She sat up and drew her knees toward her chest. Richard was right, there was no way out. Wherever they were going was taking her further away from Edward and her daughter. All she could do for the moment was not panic, hope to see her family again and wait for an opportunity to somehow get out of this.