(Still, November 6th, 1958)

Winry knew it was getting bad when both she and Riza started stumbling regularly. Fumble-footed and exhausted, they both hit the snow a couple of times before they simply had to stop and rest. They found a rock outcropping that blocked the wind and, on the lee side, was devoid of snow. In that small space they rested though they did not sit on the cold stone. It would just suck more heat out of them.

"How's your ankle?" Winry asked when she'd had a chance to catch her breath in the almost-warmth of their nook. Riza had twisted it a couple of spills back and had been limping for over a mile at least.

"Almost numb enough not to hurt like hell," Riza replied with a reassuring smile that was half grimace. "We should keep moving. We can't be too far away."

"That's what we said three miles ago," Winry replied. "And five." And however many more. She just couldn't trudge much further. Riza couldn't either, not on that ankle.

"So we keep moving and it keeps getting closer," Riza argued. "We can't stay here."

"It's warmer here," Winry argued briefly, trying to will her mind to think clearly. It was much more dulled and numbed with cold and exhaustion than she was used to dealing with and it was aggravating.

"Marginally," Riza agreed regretfully. "But not enough."

"I'm not going to die out here in the snow," Winry exclaimed, trying very hard to hold back the tears that threatened to overwhelm her eyes. Frozen cheeks were not something she particularly cared to experience. "I'm tougher than that. We're tougher than that."

Riza looked into her eyes as they clung to each other for warmth and support. "Sometimes tough isn't enough, Winry."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Don't tell me you're giving up!"

"I didn't say that," Riza shook her head. "But there's little more we can do. We can wait it out here until morning, or we can keep going and hope that town isn't much further. At least this is a known quantity."

Winry hated to admit it but Riza had a point. She didn't want to stop; didn't want to wonder, to sit in fear with nothing to keep her body occupied. "I'm scared, Riza," she finally admitted softly.

Riza gave her a squeeze. "So am I."

The bitter wind whipped around them, howling through cracks in the rocks and making an eerie call that sounded like a wolf's howl. Winry shivered. She hadn't even thought about wild animals. What if it wasn't the wind at all? In all her life, Winry had never feared the outdoors. It was a new and terrifying experience.

Sounds seemed magnified or engulfed in the winds and swallowed. For a moment, she laughed to herself, the last blast almost sounded like a car motor!

Riza jerked a moment later, eyes widening as she looked up over Winry's shoulder. "Lights!"

Winry's head turned around so sharply her neck ached. On the road, up the hillside a few turns distant, she saw briefly vehicle headlights on one of the mountain turns before it vanished again. "What if it's more of that alchemist's men?" she asked.

"Better captivity than death," was Riza's objective response.

Winry couldn't argue with that. As the car got closer they stepped out from behind their rock and into view, almost immediately blinded by the lights. The vehicle – a large truck it seemed- skidded to a stop. It looked a lot like the one Winry and Riza had been taken out of only a few hours before. Winry froze. "Maybe this was a bad idea," she whispered as the driver's door opened and someone shouted something at them in Drachman.

"Winry?" The voice that followed was so familiar Winry was almost sure she was hallucinating. But it was followed by another door thrown violently open and a silhouette against the lights ran towards them – the bulky coat unfamiliar, but the tail of hair streaming behind a sight she couldn't forget in a million years. She stood frozen, trembling, overcome until suddenly arms were tightly around her and Winry found her face crushed up against the thick warmth of Edward's winter coat. "Winry, thank god!" His voice penetrated the fog of fear in her mind even as the warmth was a shock against her numb body. "I thought I'd lost you," he whispered, voice heavy with emotion, rough as he spoke. "I've been so scared and worried and…" he trailed off, standing up straight enough to look her in the face. "Are you all right, sweetheart?"

The tender concern on his bedraggled face was all it took; Winry broke down in sobs, falling against him and crushing him tight in her own grasp – at least as best she could manage. "Ed…Ed…" Around her she heard Riza and Roy's exclamations of relief and reunion, more doors opening and closing, but all she could make herself care about for the moment was that she was safe; safe in Edward's arms where the cold, the snow, the wilds, their former captors… no one could touch her here.

"Shhh," Ed gathered her close with surprisingly gentleness. "You're frozen! Let's get you in the truck. Roy's already got Riza there. We'll get you warmed up and you can rest. I can't believe you're all the way out here like this. How did you escape? What… listen to me," he shook his head and actually chuckled, "Babbling like an idiot." Gently he guided her towards the headlights.

There was something critical, something she needed to tell them urgently.

It was Alphonse who voiced the question that neither Edward nor Roy had dared to ask yet. There was quiet dread in his voice as Ed helped Winry up into the truck next to Riza, who was snuggled up against Roy's side. "Winry, Riza… where's Elicia?"

Winry's throat closed up as she looked into her dear friend and brother's anguished face where he sat, up front with the Drachmans and Tore. "They… they still have her," she admitted, feeling ashamed all at once at their failure to save Elicia.

"They separated us," Riza picked up solemnly. "From what we overheard, they consider us too old for experiments. They were going to ransom us back, but they took Elicia hours ago. There was no way to follow them. I'm sorry, Alphonse."

Al's expression fell even further than Winry thought possible and her heart ached. "I'm so sorry, Al." Tears were still falling down her cheeks. "We did what we could."

"I'm sure you did," Al replied, turning back around. All Winry could see were his slumped shoulders as he responded with firm determination. "We'll get her back."

"Of course we will," Ed replied softly.

::For now,:: the Major spoke up tentatively. ::I suggest we return to the last town. They have a small hotel. More of a country inn really. The ladies need rest and likely medical attention. We should continue in daylight.::

Winry could tell all three men wanted to argue. She did too! But common sense won out. Surprisingly, it was Ed who caved first.

"You're right," Ed sighed.

"What!" Al exclaimed, turning around again sharply. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying he's got a point," Ed snapped back. "We're all dead on our feet and wrung out. If we got in a fight right now who knows what a mess we'd make of things, and Winry and Riza need care."

"What about Elicia?" Al objected.

"We'll get her," Ed promised. "We all love Elicia, but we've got to take care of the people we can." His arm was firmly around Winry's shoulders as he spoke.

Winry could see Al's torn feelings plainly in his face. Of course he cared about Winry and Riza, but Elicia was his wife and she was counting on all of them. "Fine," was his only reply before he turned away once more.

That decided, the truck turned around and the driver headed towards the town Winry and Riza had been fighting so hard to reach.

The warmth of the truck was like returning to life. Winry barely felt the blanket wrapped around her at first, or Ed's arm, until the heat started to seep back into her body. Then, for a bit, everything burned once more as feeling returned, especially her feet and hands and face. She began to shiver again as her body reacted. Her head fell against Ed's shoulder and her eyes drooped closed. She thought she heard Roy offering Riza a cup of coffee or soup, but before she could decide which she had heard Winry had fallen into exhausted sleep.


It only took twenty minutes to drive back to the little village they had so recently left. Edward might have felt guilt about the Drachman officers shaking the inn's management out of bed and getting them rooms, but really he could not have cared less, not with Winry passed out asleep in his arms. He carried her upstairs, still wrapped in the blanket from the truck, to the little room they had for the night. Or morning rather, it was almost four.

Tore watched Winry with a look that showed clearly his own concern, but stayed quiet until they were all in the room, which had two beds. "Is she okay?" he asked softly as Ed lay Winry down on the larger bed.

"She's still awfully cold," Ed answered honestly as he began to unwrap the blanket from around her. "But she should be all right now." He didn't voice his concerns. What he really wanted was to get her in a warm bath, but she was far too tired. That would wait until she woke again, but as he got down to her clothes, he could feel how cold she still was. She shivered even in the warm air of the room. It was an immense relief to find, as he took off her boots and soaked socks, that her feet were not frostbitten. Her fingers weren't either, if only barely.

There was a knock at the door, and a moment later Alphonse entered. Ed looked up at his brother. "The Lieutenant went to wake a doctor," Al informed them. How's Winry?"

"Cold," Ed replied. "But no frostbite. Tore, do you have the bag?" Emergency supplies had included things like warm clothes, and Ed was fairly certain he's stuck one of Winry's warm nightgowns in there.

"Yeah," Tore set it down next to the bed.

"Thanks." He opened it and pulled out the long, blue flannel nightgown. Then he stopped. "Could you guys give us a couple of minutes?" He didn't think Winry would really want to know she'd been stripped down in front of Al or Tore!
"But-" Tore's objection was cut off by Al's hand on his shoulder.

"We'll bring the doctor," Al replied with a short nod, then steered Tore out of the room.

When they were gone Ed finished undressing Winry and tucked her under the covers. The doctor would want to do a full examination, so there was no point in dressing her just yet, but he wanted her to be warm. Gently, Ed rubbed her hands and feet to encourage circulation and warm the skin. The blue tinge faded from her lips and color returned to her cheeks.

By the time the doctor arrived she no longer looked half frozen. He examined the bruises on Winry's body, and the bump on her head as well as her extremities. Ed's heart was clenched in his chest as he waited for a final verdict.

::She will be fine with rest,:: the doctor finally said, standing. ::I will see to the other lady now.::

A wash of relief flowed through Ed. ::Thank you, doctor.::

Ed got Winry into her warm pajamas and tucked her in again. He knew the best way to warm her, but that was not best done in company.

Tore and Al came back in when the doctor left, the mild relief in Al's expression telling Ed that the doctor had also told them that Winry would be all right. Though from the haggardness of Al's face Ed wasn't sure how well his brother was holding up. "You okay?" Ed asked.

"Not really," Al admitted honestly, shrugging slightly. "Riza told Roy what happened and what they heard. Roy wants to go straight out to that shack and see if the guy is still there."

"You should both go," Ed replied without a moment's hesitation. "I'll stay and watch the girls. But get some sleep first, okay? If you can."

"Not likely," Al snorted half-heartedly. "Not until we find Elicia."

"We will," Ed replied. He was worried about her too. "But it's better to go into battle fresh right?"

Al looked at him for a moment then shook his head. "I know it's bad when you're the voice of reason. I'm in the next room if you need me."

"Thanks, Al," Ed smiled gently as his brother headed back out of the room and closed the door. "So, Tore, how…" Ed turned his head and stopped. The boy had passed out on his bed, clearly exhausted since he'd only managed to take off his shoes.

Ed stood up and put a blanket over the kid. He had to admit, he was impressed with how well Tore was holding up with all this, especially given the boy's revelation that his mother and uncle might have ended up with the alchemists. He had to know what that could mean, but he had been much more serious and cooperative the last couple of days than he usually was. Ed knew that Tore was rather strongly attached to Winry and Elicia too; missing his own mother didn't mean he pulled away from warm caring women who wanted him around.

It was all catching up with him. As Ed stood there he became aware of every ache, from the one in his head to the one in his stomach now that it was unknotting. His legs were heavy and he needed sleep too. Ed went back to the bed, stripped down to nothing but his shorts, and curled up next to Winry, sharing what body heat he had to help keep her warm.

Instinctively, Winry snuggled into him and Ed wrapped his arm around her, though he did his best to keep the auto-mail out of the way until it warmed up too. Cold metal was not a comfortable bed partner! "That's it, beautiful," he whispered, kissing her forehead gently as he closed his eyes. "You're safe now. I've got you." And I'm never going to let you go again.


Sunlight streaming through the windows, bright-glaring off the snow outside, woke Winry. She blinked in the bright light and rolled over. It took her a moment to figure out where she was. She remembered snow, cold, and finally the events of the night before as sore muscles ached. At that her eyes went open wide. "Edward?"

"I'm here," Ed chuckled and she relaxed, reassured. She heard him standing up, and a moment later he sat down on the edge of the bed and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. He was fully dressed. "How do you feel?"

"Sore," Winry replied, but she couldn't help smiling. She squeezed back. "It feels good to be warm. What time is it?"

"Almost noon," Ed answered. "You've been asleep for seven hours."

Winry groaned as she made herself sit up. It didn't feel like seven hours. Usually she felt more rested. As soon as she was upright she grabbed Ed in a much-needed hug. "Thank goodness you found us. How's Riza?"

"Resting," Ed replied, his strong arms encircling her. "Though she's up. Other than the cold, the worst injury between the two of you is her twisted ankle." He chuckled. "She told us what happened. You two are ingenious aren't you?"

"Don't sound so surprised," Winry smirked. "All we did was slip the ropes, unlock a door, kill the guard, and trudge through the snow for hours."

"Sounds pretty heroic to me," Ed countered, and Winry was surprised that he sounded dead serious.

"We didn't get Elicia," Winry pointed out, her guilt returning as she thought about her friend and how utterly helpless she and Riza had been to do anything about it.

"Roy and Al left two hours ago to find where they were keeping you," Ed replied. "Hopefully they'll be back soon and maybe we'll have a better lead as to where they've taken her."

"I hope so," Winry agreed. "But what do we do until then?"

Ed sat back just a little, his expression one of surprising patience. "Rest, recuperate; we're trying to figure out a way to get you and Riza back to Petrayevka without turning around completely."

"No," Winry pushed herself upright and shook her head. "Forget it, Ed. We're coming with you. Or at least, I am. I'm not leaving Elicia in those bastards' hands a minute longer than necessary. We should have been able to do something."

She expected more argument, but other than a resigned sigh, Ed smiled. "That's what I expected you to say. Riza's already voiced her own objections."

The response caught her off guard. "That's it?" Winry replied, puzzled.

"If the doctor hadn't said you were both going to be fine I'd be arguing a lot harder," Ed admitted. "But we've got time, and I'd be an idiot to try and argue the two of you into staying behind when we could really use your help."

"You mean that?" Had someone messed with Ed's brain?

Ed nodded. "I do. Besides," he flashed her a grin, "I'm not about to let you out of my sight."

Winry giggled. "My hero," she teased.

"I'm not sure I deserve that title for sitting in the back of a truck for hours, but I'll take it," Ed chuckled. "So, are you hungry; thirsty?"

"Both," Winry replied. The gnawing pain in her middle wasn't a bruise after all. "But what I really want is a hot bath! Tell me this place has a tub."

"They do," Ed said. "This town doesn't see too much in the way of guests this time of year, so we have the place almost to ourselves. You want the bath or food first?"

"Bath," Winry replied. Hungry as she was she wanted to feel that heat all the way through her and to get clean. Lying in an old rusted truck and the cell floor did not lend towards feeling clean.

"I'll get one drawn for you then," Ed promised, kissing her briefly. It was warm, sweet, familiar. Today everything he did seemed special. Winry supposed it was just how relieved she was to be alive. The world seemed new and bright and Ed's assurances restored her confidence. They'd rescue Elicia and stop whoever was experimenting on human subjects. No one could stop Edward when he set his mind to a task. With Ed, Al, Roy, and the rest of them on it, how could they fail?


By the time Roy and Alphonse returned, Riza and Winry had been up for over an hour, bathed, and eaten. They were sitting in the little hotel's sitting room – it really was more of a bed and breakfast layout, since the place was an old rambling farmhouse style building – sipping steaming hot tea when the boys came back through the door.

"Where are the Lieutenant and the Major?" Riza asked Roy as he came straight to her, hugging her tightly the way he had last night. She set her cup down and returned it.

"Taking care of our informant," Roy smirked, his eye sparkling as he sat down on the couch next to her. "That coward of yours was still there when we arrived. He surrendered almost without a fight. Too bad too, Alphonse was ready to do some damage."

"Al?" Winry looked up at him curiously.

"Oh it was beautiful," Roy chuckled. "He threatened to level the place. Too bad the guy gave up so easily. It might have been interesting to watch."

Al shrugged, leaning against the wall. "Wouldn't have been much to see," was all he said in response.

"So what did the little snitch have to say?" Ed asked. He was sitting with Winry on the other couch, arm around her shoulders.

Roy seemed smugly pleased with the situation this morning. Riza took that as a good sign. "Well he confirmed they had no idea who they grabbed until yesterday morning when the papers came out. It's all over the press in Petrayevka and the surrounding area. Parashkin is the name of the guy who's got Elicia. He works for the head alchemist it seems, a man named Tamirov. Our snitch has no idea where the alchemical laboratory is exactly, but he told us where to go when the road splits for the next couple of towns. He hasn't been much further than that. Normally he meets up with Parashkin further on it seems."

"It's a place to start," Riza replied, picking her cup back up and sipping. "Any information brings us closer to finding them."

"So when do we leave?" Tore piped up.

"This afternoon," Al replied immediately and no one contradicted him. Even leaving late in the day and driving through the night, none of them wanted to delay the search for Elicia and her captors any longer. Not knowing what lay at the end if they didn't find her.

"Then we should pack up and get going," Winry said, finishing her tea and standing. Unsurprisingly, Ed stood with her and followed Winry upstairs.

Tore watched them for a moment, then stood up and followed.

Al looked lost for a moment, then scowled and went back outside, leaving Riza and Roy alone for the moment.

"How's your ankle?" Roy asked softly as he helped her up.

"Not too bad," Riza replied, smiling. "It's well bound. I can walk on it. The rope burns hurt worse honestly." Those on her – and on Winry – had been cleaned and bandaged.

"I wish there was more I could do," Roy replied, his left hand caressing the side of her face.

"All you can is certainly enough," Riza pointed out. It wasn't as if he could do more, however much Roy always wanted to.

Roy shook his head. "I wish I agreed with you, but sometimes everything isn't enough. I don't intend for this to be one of those times."

At least they agreed on that. "Neither do I."

Roy watched her a moment, his eye looking her over as if he was still reassuring himself that Riza was really there, not some figment of his imagination. Then he clutched her tightly to him. "My Riza, how I've missed you." His voice choked up and he kissed her.

Riza returned it, letting the action speak for her how deeply she loved him and how much she still trusted in his abilities. Some men needed to be heroes. Riza was happy to let Roy be hers anytime.

November 7th, 1958

Elicia could remember little of the last several days, however many it had been. She had completely lost track. All she knew was a blur of discomfort, movement, and confusion occasionally punctuated by attempts to come fully into lucidity. Cold; she was aware of the cold and the jerking motions of a vehicle that stopped every now and then. She would try and hear the voices when they came to her, but they were not in a language she understood. What language was it? She tried to place it, and knew she should know what it was, but thoughts slipped through her grasp like flower petals on the wind.

Day, night, there was no distinction. Memories and dreams flitted and skipped and refused to stay held long enough for her to examine them. Every time she started to find consciousness something was stuffed under her nose with an awful pungent scent and she descended once more into darkness.

So it was quite a shock to come fully awake at last, lying unbound on a flat hard metal slab. Elicia slowly opened her eyes and in the dim light saw only a stone ceiling and part of a wall. Where she was she had no idea, but with consciousness the aches and the cold became more acute. She hurt! Slowly she sat up, the world whirling briefly and making her dizzy as she reached upright. Elicia leaned against the wall.

When her vision cleared, Elicia found herself in a small cell – or so she guessed by the bars at one end – that looked like little more than a cave though the stones were blocks, so it was a real room. The slab was a bed of sorts. There was a bed pan in one corner. Other than that the room was devoid of items.

She was alone.

Panic welled up inside her with alarming speed. Where were Winry and Riza? Were they even alive? When had they been separated? She remembered nothing and that was perhaps the most frightening part of it all. "Winry?" she spoke out softly. "Riza?" If they were within ear shot surely they would answer. Wouldn't they all be kept in the same prison? But there was no answer.

Why was there a cell this well appointed anyway? Elicia wondered if they were political prisoners or being kept for some other reason. That made the most sense.

She'd couldn't panic…she couldn't! Her mind screamed that this couldn't be happening, but she knew better. Breathing deeply, heart pounding in her chest, she stood to check the door—

--and nearly tripped as she discovered she wasn't as unbound as she thought. Her legs were chained together and then chained to the wall. The rough stone beneath her smacked her face and stars erupted. "Owww…." She couldn't help whimpering.

::I would recommend moving slowly,:: someone spoke in Drachman beyond the door. Or at least, that's what Elicia thought he said. Her Drachman was sketchier than anyone else's except maybe Tore's.

Elicia pushed herself up and looked out the door. A rough looking character in thick leather glowered in through the bars. "Where am I?" she asked. Her whole head in agony she couldn't remember more than a scattering of anything in Drachman at all, let alone anything useful.

::Stupid girl.:: She understood his next comment well enough. ::You're wanted.::

"By whom?" She couldn't tell if he understood her. What the hell was going on here?!

She watched as he opened the door and stepped inside. If she was patient, if she waited until he unlocked her legs – he would have to if she was going to walk anywhere outside of this cell – maybe she could make a break for it.

Her stomach sank as two more men entered with him and grabbed her bodily, hauling her to her feet. Elicia hissed in pain and they smirked and laughed. I sound like such a wuss. She was tougher than this! She wasn't going to show them fear. Glaring, she struggled and, when one of them was careless, she bit down on the closest thing available…his hand!

A moment later something heavy smacked into her skull and Elicia barely registered the pain before everything simply blacked out.


"I can't believe this," Alphonse snapped, banging his fist irritably against the inside of the truck door. "How many delays can there be?"

"Calm down," Winry reached up from the back and patted him on the shoulder. "We'll get going again before long."

Al didn't feel reassured or soothed, but he stopped growling. He didn't mean to be so short with everyone, but this was Elicia who was missing and on her way into the clutches of alchemists who were rumored to be doing human experimentation! Al knew what that meant; even if they didn't go in for full human transmutation, that meant chimeras and who knew what other atrocities. The idea of Elicia being used like that…. he began to shake with rage just considering it! Staying calm was a lost cause. "I hope so," he replied softly.

They had driven through the night, into the next day, passing through several small villages and finally in the early afternoon hit another town. The problem was they were now past the snitch's directions, and from here they would have to start deducing which way the vehicle carrying Elicia had gone.

The snitch had been left in police custody to be taken back to Petrayevka for further questioning by the military. Even though Al knew he had no other information he would have liked to try wringing it out of him. Al realized that it wasn't a reasonable thought, but it made him feel oddly better. While he was normally much calmer and centered this was harder than he had expected. Al hadn't realized how dependent on Elicia's presence he had become after the Aerugo War. They had always been close, but he had relied on her heavily in the aftermath, when the things he had done had plagued him with guilt. Elicia had been the strong one; telling him it was all right, listening to his fears and troubles, soothing them away; always there.

Without her Al felt unstable, like his world had no anchor, no balance point. It made it difficult to concentrate, to think straight, to keep calm the way he normally did. Al didn't remember having these kinds of problems dealing on his own before. Still, he put it down to the simple fact that she was his wife, he loved her, and she was counting on him to rescue her!

That was what made delays so aggravating. They were stuck trying to get information from the local townsfolk, who all seemed utterly disinclined to be helpful. Roy, Ed, and the two Drachmans were doing most of the information hunting. Al had been relegated to remain in the car with Tore and the girls for protection if it became necessary.

He knew they weren't inclined to trust his judgment as much right now. Given how tough a time he was having controlling his temper, Al didn't really blame them. Still, he knew that if they didn't get information soon they would be stuck here for another night. It would be foolish to go on further without any idea where they were going and what they were getting into, especially after traveling for almost another twenty hours straight.

So Al sat and fidgeted and waited. If they didn't save Elicia he would never be able to live with himself.


Elicia wondered if her head would ever stop hurting. This time when she came to she felt the cold metal beneath her more directly. It took her a moment to realize that she was naked and – when she tried to budge – strapped down flat! Her eyes popped open as she registered that there were noises this time. Humming… grumblings. This wasn't the cell. All she could see was more ceiling. She doubted she was alone. "Who's there?" she asked.

"Who do you think?" The accent was thick, but at least the male voice spoke Amestrian. It was cool, amused, and utterly unfamiliar. There was a quality about it that creeped Elicia out.

She swallowed. "Tamirov," she hazarded a guess but tried to sound confident. For the life of her she couldn't even remember where she had heard the word in all the blur, but it was better than nothing.

"Very good, little lady," the man chuckled, and suddenly he was above her, leaning over very close. Elicia tried to pull back, but couldn't move to do so. Tamirov was an average sized man, with thinning brown hair and a slightly receded hairline, thin metal-rimmed glasses, and pale green eyes that might have been pleasant except for the slightly manic look in them. He looked somewhere between her age and Alphonse's. "You are quite clever…. Elicia Elric is it? Yes, you are the youngest. I do read the papers," he smirked. "You're such a lucky woman, do you know that?"

"Funny," Elicia scowled. "I don't feel like it." No fear, show no fear.

"You should be honored." Tamirov stood up a little straighter. "You're going to be part of a grand experiment to improve the future." He gestured broadly and Elicia found that if she lifted her head she could see around the room.

What she saw filled her with horror. Elicia had never seen one before, but there was no mistaking the mangled beasts in the cages along the walls for anything else. The grumblings she had heard were animal noises; chimeras! Worse too… some that looked like they had once been human, but not like the ones Alphonse and Edward had told her about. The poor creatures were clearly failed experiments. Was that her fate? "You disgust me," she replied, spitting at his face.

Tamirov removed the saliva from his cheek with one gloved hand. He wore a lab coat – stained with fluids Elicia did not want defined - and gloves. Very mad scientist, but logical given this seemed to be his lab. "Feisty. Funny, from reports I always figured Alphonse Elric for one who would prefer the quiet and sedate type. No matter," he smiled magnanimously. "You've kept yourself wonderfully, my dear. You're a perfect specimen to try my latest compounds on."

He reached out to take a hold of her face. Elicia jerked sideways and snapped at him with her teeth as well. Tamirov jerked his hand back. "Stay away from me!" she shouted, trying to sound fierce, not terrified. "Where are the others?"

"Gone," Tamirov replied, still unruffled. He shrugged. "Don't expect to see them again. They were too old to survive my experiments."

Too… was he saying they… no! Winry? Riza! Elicia felt tears budding and then falling down her cheeks. It was no use, she couldn't hold them all in. "You bastard!" she shouted, struggling to get up. She had to get out of here!

"Well I am that all right." Tamirov's smile turned a little more maniacal, hungrier as he looked her over. Elicia remembered then that she was completely naked aside from her bindings. Those eyes on her body made her feel dirty, even though he hadn't so much as touched her. "How about you find out just how much? You'll learn to hold still." He picked up a small whip and stalked towards her. "Cooperate, lovely, and you won't suffer."

"Not a chance!" Elicia countered. She knew where that lay. She could see it in the cages. She would not be a chimera!

"I was almost hoping you'd say that," Tamirov's hands – ungloved now – rested firmly on her hip bones. Elicia flinched but couldn't get away. Her skin crawled at his touch. "I love it when my subjects struggle. It gives me an excuse to… tame them."

Elicia heard a sound then she didn't like at all. It sounded like something zipping. A scream ripped from her throat. "Leave me alone!"