Chapter 3 – What Now?

Winry, Elsie and Wrath sat around the kitchen table in the lamplight. The dishes from supper had already been cleared away. The blond mechanic's elbows were on the table as she rested her head in her hands.

"You're telling me Dante took over Al somehow and opened the gate?" her voice was hollow. Elsie's expression was grim as she watched her friend across the table.

"We still don't know what she was trying to accomplish. It's been a week now and nothing has come of it except Al's comatose state," Wrath replied, his gaze unreadable. There was silence for a moment before Winry sighed, raising her head.

"So what now?" she asked. Wrath shrugged

"Now we wait. There isn't anything else we can do until Dante shows her hand. It's difficult to guess what exactly she was trying to accomplish. Or if she even succeeded for that matter," He pointed out. Winry chewed her lip anxiously, lost in thought. Elsie's gaze moved to rest on the dark haired man.

"So when are you going to explain what you've been up to for the last two years? You were in Aerugo weren't you?" she asked, green eyes studying him intently. Wrath opened his mouth to respond when AJ strolled into the room. The gazes of the three adults moved to him guardedly. It was an unspoken rule that the second generation was kept sheltered from the grittiest details of the past. If it wasn't a need-to-know piece of information then it was probably better left unsaid. As the kids had gotten older and more prying their parents had been forced to share more details with them, but there were still topics that were considered taboo among the two families.

"Have Adele and Mina come back yet?" the brown haired mechanic asked. Winry frowned.

"I don't think so," she replied.

"They shouldn't be out this late without letting us know where they've gone," Elsie said, tone mildly concerned. AJ nodded, turning to leave.

"I'll go look for them," he sounded resigned.

"I'll go with you," Wrath said, standing and following the younger man swiftly from the room. Elsie blinked, staring after them.

"Why does he keep avoiding the question when I ask him where he's been?" she asked, puzzled. Winry shook her head.

"Who knows. I'm sure he has his reasons," she replied tiredly. Elsie sighed.

"I'll have to pin him down about it at some point. In any case, you need to sleep now," she fixed her blonde friend with a pointed look. Winry smiled wryly.

"Come help me tidy up the shop first. It's getting too cluttered to work efficiently. Then I promise I'll sleep," she replied, rising to her feet and making for the shop before her friend could object. Elsie shook her head, faintly amused.

"Alright," her tone was resigned as she rose to follow after her.

The two men walked briskly down the road, a golden glow from the lantern in AJ's hand lighting their path.

"Any idea where they might have gone?" Wrath asked. AJ was silent for a moment.

"Well," he spoke finally, "There is one spot they took me to last week. We should check there first. After that we'll have to wing it," his tone wasn't overly thrilled as he strode forward to take the lead. They continued walking till they came to a fork in the road, at which point they turned left. A short time later they turned off the road and struck out across a large field. Wrath squinted into the shadows around them, straining to make out the vague silhouettes outside their ring of lamplight. He was able to make out an odd shape ahead of them which, as they drew nearer to it, he made out to be a large, fallen tree. There was something lying next to it in the grass. A moment later AJ let out a gasp.

"Mina!" he cried, springing forward towards her crumpled form. Wrath's heart froze up in his chest as he spotted the unmoving body of his niece. A number of thoughts darted through his mind as a feeling of dread gripped him. They had assumed Dante would target the Elric brothers, Envy, Elsie and/or himself. But perhaps that hadn't been her intent at all. Going after their children was an even more effective, easier route to take. And it was just the sort of thing someone like Dante would do. But what exactly had taken place here?

"Mina, talk to me," AJ had dropped to his knees beside the girl, carefully turning her over onto her back. She let out a soft groan and her eyelids fluttered. Wrath felt some of the tension inside of him release. At least she wasn't dead. Still, technically Al wasn't dead either… He crouched down on the other side of his niece, noting the unfocused nature of her gaze as her eyes opened fully and she stared up at AJ. Well, unlike Alphonse she was at least conscious. That had to be a good sign. "What happened? Are you alright?" AJ demanded anxiously, still gripping her shoulders. Wrath's gaze moved over the dark haired girl critically looking for any injuries. She didn't appear to be hurt. In fact, she didn't even appear to have been in a struggle. No dirt, mussed hair or torn clothes. Even the ground in the immediate vicinity seemed unmarked by signs of a fight, although it was difficult to tell in the flickering light from the lamp.

"They took her," Elmina's voice was hoarsely distraught.

"Adele?" AJ questioned intently. The dark haired girl nodded slightly.

"They said they took her to Central…" her voice trailed off to a mumble and she blinked groggily.

"Who?" AJ demanded. She shook her head slowly and her eyes slid shut once more. "Mina?" he questioned uneasily. He received no response. She appeared to have lost consciousness. The brown haired mechanic glanced at Wrath, "What should we do?" he asked. The older man frowned.

"We need to get her back to the house. We aren't going to be able to track down who did this tonight," he replied grimly.

"Why not?" AJ's tone was sharp, his anxiety for his younger sister obvious.

"It's dark, for one, and I don't see any signs of people leaving the area. If they took Adele captive you'd think there would have been at least some sign of a struggle, but there isn't. I don´t know what we're dealing with here. I can't track something if there's no trail and I don't know what I'm looking for. We need more information," Wrath's tone was blunt. AJ grimaced, clearly realizing his point.

"Alright, let's get her home," he agreed tensely. Wrath began to reach for his niece but was blocked by the younger man who beat him to it. AJ gathered the dark haired girl into his arms carefully, worry written all over his features as he stared down at her. Wrath raised an eyebrow. As his younger sister's best and lifelong friend, AJ's concern for her was normal; although the unnecessary protectiveness was interesting... The mechanic rose smoothly to his feet. The slight girl in his arms wasn't much of a burden, despite being almost entirely wiry muscle and bone. Wrath picked up the lantern that the younger man had set aside and together they set off back towards the shop.

When Elmina awoke, confusion flooded through her groggy mind. She found herself staring up at the ceiling of Adele's room. She was lying in her cot next to Adele's bed and she was still in her everyday clothes. But she had no memory of how she had gotten there. Maybe Adele had… Her eyes widened and her mind froze as her gaze came to rest on her friend's empty bed. The knowledge crashed over her like a ton of bricks. Adele was gone. She'd been kidnapped.

"Adele!" she sat bolt upright with a rush of panic.

"Mina," a voice startled her, drawing her attention to her dark haired uncle who was seated in a chair opposite her. Wrath opened his mouth to continue but she cut him off.

"We need to go! We have to get her back! They took her and I don't know why, but we've got to—" she was beginning to scramble out of her cot with an uncharacteristic edge of hysteria growing in her voice before Wrath cut in.

"Mina," his voice had taken on a commanding tone, "Calm down," he ordered sternly. The girl's jaw snapped shut and she ceased her attempt to rise. There were two people in the world she obeyed unquestioningly when they used that tone. One was her father, and the other was her dark haired uncle. She let out a shaky breath, staring down at the bed sheets. There was a desperate panicky part of her that wanted to scream in frustration and break down crying. This was all her fault. How could she have let this happen? Adele had needed her and she'd been utterly useless. The thought of what those people might be doing to her at that very moment terrified her.

Just then the door burst open and Elsie strode in with Winry and AJ hot on her heels. Elmina met her mother's green eyed gaze, seeing a mixture of worry and relief there. The curly haired woman approached the cot, leaning over to brush wild bangs out of her daughter's eyes and rest a hand on the girl's forehead, checking her temperature as she looked her over critically.

"What happened?" Elsie asked, her tone gentle but firm.

"They took Adele," Elmina's throat was tight.

"Who is they?" AJ demanded, coming to stand next to Elsie. An uncharacteristic frown creased his brow and he appeared exhausted. Elmina noted distractedly that he looked worse than earlier. Judging by the late morning light streaming in through the window, she'd been unconscious for the entire night. But given the circumstances she doubted anyone else had gotten much sleep, if any. She shook her head.

"They weren't human," she swallowed hard, forcing the lump in the throat away as she turned her thoughts toward the mysterious attackers of the night before. Elsie's expression went blank while alarm flashed across Winry's features. The blond woman rested a hand on the back of Wrath's chair, gripping it tightly. Wrath narrowed his eyes at his niece.

"How do you know?" he demanded. Elmina shuddered slightly.

"Trust me, if you'd seen this guy you'd understand," her tone was slightly disturbed. "I mean he had pointy teeth and slit pupils for one thing," she said. Winry drew in a sharp breath while Elsie's eyes widened in shock and she grew pale. Wrath's expression went from startled to grim.

"Did he have a tattoo that you could see?" He asked. Elmina hesitated, somewhat taken off guard by the seemingly random nature of the question.

"You mean like an Ouroboros…?" she asked. It was the only thing that seemed to even remotely fit the context, given that tattoos weren't usually a common topic in either household. She was familiar with what the design looked like, and she'd overheard vague references to people with tattoos like that, but she wasn't sure what that had to do with the current situation. Wrath nodded. She frowned in puzzlement. "Not that I noticed," she replied uncertainly.

"How many were there?" AJ asked.

"I think there were just two of them. But I only got a look at one of them. He kept me busy while the other one took Adele," she explained.

"What did he look like?" her mother asked, tone strained with concern.

"Well, he had really long red hair and red eyes," Elmina replied, picturing the lithe figure in her mind's eye. She doubted she'd be forgetting that face anytime soon.

"Red eyes, not purple?" Elsie's eyebrows raised in surprise. Her daughter frowned in puzzlement.

"They were definitely red," she stated flatly. Her mother and Wrath shared a slightly puzzled look.

"What else did you notice about him?" Wrath returned his gaze to her.

"His clothes were a little weird. I mean he was wearing long pants and a crop top," she replied, clearly finding this odd. Wrath's expression went blank.

"A crop top?" he asked. His tone was wavering on the edge of an emotion she couldn't quite place. Her mother sighed softly.

"Never trust men in crop tops," the dark haired woman muttered under her breath. Wrath's lip twitched.

"At least he wasn't wearing a skirt," he pointed out dryly. Elmina stared at them blankly, not following the direction the conversation had taken. AJ was giving the two of them an odd look as well. Wrath shook his head, expression growing grave once more.

"You say he kept you busy? I didn't see any signs of a fight in the area," he pointed out. Elmina's jaw clenched.

"That's because there wasn't one," she replied through gritted teeth. "He had some weird power. He didn't even have to get close to me to use it. It was like he lit my blood on fire. There was so much energy burning in me I thought I was going to explode. I couldn't do a damn thing because I couldn't even move," her hands clenched into fists on the bed spread in frustration. Elsie blinked, expression wavering slightly. Wrath raised an eyebrow at the dark haired woman.

"What is it?" he asked. Elsie frowned for a moment.

"I…its nothing," she shook her head, although her tone was a little uncertain.

"You said they took her to Central?" AJ asked, a slightly impatient edge to his voice, "How do you know?"

"Because that's what he told me. He said if I wanted to find her she'd be waiting in Central," Elmina replied tensely. Another silence followed. Finally the brown haired mechanic shook his head.

"It doesn't make any sense. Why take Adele and leave Mina?" his tone was frustrated.

"Probably so I could come back and tell you where they'd taken her," Elmina muttered.

"Yeah, but why? What are they trying to accomplish by doing this? If Dante wants revenge why not just kill the two of you?" he demanded. His words seemed harsh, but he sounded more puzzled than anything. Winry's expression deteriorated alarmingly at her son's words. Elsie rested a hand on her friend's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"If they're going to the trouble of taking her hostage then they don't have any reason to hurt her," she pointed out gently.

"How do you know about Dante wanting revenge?" Wrath said, his eyes narrowing at AJ.

"I overheard the three of you talking last night," the brown haired teen replied frankly, "But it's not exactly surprising. I figured it all must have had something to do with your past." At this Wrath grimaced.

"Well for now we can't assume anything. It's more than likely this is somehow Dante's doing, but we don't know if the kidnappers are acting under her direct orders. They may have ulterior motives we aren't aware of," he pointed out.

"But what could they possibly accomplish by this?" Winry demanded guardedly. Wrath shook his head.

"We have no way of knowing at the moment, but I suspect we'll find out in Central," his tone was grim. At that moment they heard the sound of the front door slamming.

"I'm home!" A voice called. "Where is everyone?" AJ's eyes widened.

"Sara," he breathed. Winry inhaled sharply.

"She's here?" she demanded disbelievingly, "Of all the times for her to show up…" she actually sounded rather annoyed, expression unenthused.

"But it's a good thing," Elmina protested. "She can help us look,"

"If she'd been here in the first place this might not have happened," Winry replied sharply, turning and heading out of the room. Elmina stared after her with a mixed expression feeling as if she'd just been slapped. AJ gave her an apologetic look.

"Mom's just overstressed. Don't take it personally," he advised, before turning and following after his mother. Elmina frowned, gazing down at her clenched fists.

"This is my fault," she whispered, nails biting into her palms.

"Don't blame yourself," Wrath's tone made her glance up at him, "Up against something Dante dragged up, Sara wouldn't have been able to fend it off any better than you," his tone was firm, although his gaze was distant as he mulled over old memories. Elmina shook her head. She didn't know much about the specifics of what he was referring to. But regardless, she should have been able to do something! What was the point of training to fight when she couldn't even protect her best friend when she needed it most?

"Do you feel up to going out to see her?" Elsie asked. Elmina swallowed, feeling an unpleasant sinking feeling in her stomach. She wasn't looking forward to explaining to the older girl that she'd allowed her baby sister to be kidnapped. With a grimace she slid her legs out of bed.

"Let's go," she replied grimly.

-Author's Note-

Another short chapter mainly consisting of chitchat. There are a bunch of comments I'd love to make, but I don't want to give anything away so you'll just have to keep reading and find things out as you go. Is everything making sense so far? Anything confusing the hell out of you? You'll be meeting two more OCs in the next chapter: Sara Elric and Titus Mustang. Something to look forward to…or dread, depending on whether or not you're finding my OCs boring… *sweat drop*