Chapter 19: Into the Depths

The air in Roy's office was tense as Ed and Al sat waiting to leave. Al kept a wary eye on an irritated Ed as the others looked between each other nervously. They really didn't want to be there when Roy returned.

He had apparently been given an early morning assignment from the assembly to do before he left, so Riza and he had taken off before Ed and Al arrived.

"Do either of you want anything while you're waiting?" Fuery asked tentatively.

"We're fine." Ed said tensely, causing Fuery and the others to back off.

"Calm down, Ed. General Mustang is relied on heavily by the assembly. It's only natural that they'd give him things to do before he left. After all, who knows how long we'll be gone for?"

"Don't worry, Al. I'm fine." Ed said with a slightly calmer voice than before.

Havoc sighed as he lugged in some luggage. He was dressed in civilian clothes to make it easier to blend in and disappear when they got to the train station. "Damnit, must she pack everything?" He grumbled as he sat the luggage beside the door.

"What's wrong, Captain?" Falman asked seriously.

Breda and Fuery couldn't help but chuckle as Havoc looked at Falman.

"Thanks to that early morning assignment, I got stuck bringing everyone's luggage up to the office."

"Oh, I see. Would you like some help?" Falman asked.

Havoc shook his head. "Nah, its fine. Don't worry about it."

Ed and Al knew why Havoc refused Falman's offer of help.

With Falman's mental prowess, he would have immediately guessed that the weight of the luggage wasn't due to clothes. The mission would have been compromised if they had to explain why Riza was bringing guns and ammunition, which could have easily been obtained at Southern Headquarters.

Havoc left to retrieve Roy's luggage.

There was a crunching noise that made everyone jump as Ed's automail crushed the arm of the chair he was sitting in. Although his expression was calm, it was obvious that Ed was getting very angry with Roy's absence.

Breda, Falman and Fuery all looked at each other nervously, wishing to leave as soon as Roy allowed them. They never liked being caught in the middle of Ed's anger towards Roy and secretly wished he would stop antagonising Ed.

After several more nervous minutes, a civilian clothed Roy returned with Riza and a basket full of apples. "Sorry it took so long, but we decided to pick up some breakfast along the way." He said casually, ignoring Ed and Al as he passed a few apples to everyone before taking one for himself. "You can all go out for breakfast. We'll be gone by the time you return, so don't bother seeing us off." He said.

Breda, Falman and Fuery jumped up immediately, thanking Roy before scrambling out of the office.

Roy watched as they ran out of Headquarters, hoping to get as far away as possible before the building came down around their heads. He sighed in relief as soon as they were out of sight. "All right." He smirked at Ed. "That was a good act you put on, Fullmetal. I'm impressed."

"Since you decided to take off before we arrived, against the pre-arrangement, it really wasn't all that hard to get pissed off at you." Ed said. His voice and expression were surprisingly calm for somebody who had only moments ago looked like he was going to beat Roy to within an inch of his life.

Al sighed in relief, glad to know he was only acting.

"Seriously, though, Riza… how much do you have in those suitcases of yours?" Havoc asked, glancing warily at them.

"Considering we don't know what we're up against, probably not enough." Riza said worriedly.

"Don't worry. You and Havoc have enough between your four suitcases, plus mine has some too. I know better than to rely wholly on my Alchemy, although I do have several backup gloves just in case." Roy said as he double checked his suitcase.

Ed and Al sighed. Their suitcases were empty, since their Alchemy was more reliable than the General's.

"Yours are empty, right?" Roy asked suddenly. Ed and Al nodded. Roy smiled in amusement. "I should have known."

"Sir, if we want to make it look believable, we should get going soon. The train heading south will be leaving shortly." Riza said, checking her watch.

"All right, let's go." Everyone nodded as they followed Roy out, carrying their luggage carefully to make it look like it was a mid-term mission south.

Ed and Al walked slightly behind Roy and his officers. "He's nervous." Ed said worriedly.

Al glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

"He's wearing his gloves even before we reach the train station." He said, nodding towards a hint of white that was visible from his pocket.

Al frowned. "Does he think somebody's already onto us?"

"Probably… We'll just have to keep our guard up."

Al nodded gravely as they made their way into the train station.

Since the platform in the train station was highly packed; they were able to slip away unnoticed.

Hidden down an alley near the station, Roy, Riza and Havoc strapped their suitcases to their backs for easier movement.

Ed and Al abandoned theirs, knowing they would be more of a hindrance than anything.

"All right… Alphonse!" Roy snapped.

Al looked at Roy in surprise. "Yes, sir?"

"Wrath showed you every exit in and out of the underground city, right?"

Al nodded in understanding. "Yes sir, and there should be one near here."

"Lead the way."

Al nodded and carefully walked out of the alley, making sure nobody noticed them as they blended into the crowded Central street.

They slipped inside an empty building and headed for the basement, taking great care in destroying any trail they created. No chances were being taken. They didn't want to be caught by surprise.

Al pointed to a stone slab with a strange engraving on it. "That's it. This will take us right down to the city."

"Excellent work, Alphonse." Roy said as Al inscribed a transmutation circle onto the stone. With a blue glow, the transmutation circle was activated and the stone melted away, revealing a cavern with a long and winding stairway.

"It's been repaired…" Ed observed gravely.

"I'm not surprised…" Roy said as he brought out two unlit torches. "We may give ourselves away, but it's safer than falling down one of these flights of stairs." He explained, snapping his fingers and igniting the torches.

Ed nodded as he took one of the torches and began walking down the stairs with Al close behind.

Riza and Havoc followed behind Roy as he carried the other torch. "The stairs would have been the first thing the team would have repaired, in case they needed to get out fast." Roy explained quietly.

"How many people were on this team and what did they do?" Ed asked just as quietly.

"I think the team was made up of twenty five people: fifteen alchemists, and ten scientists. All were fully trained for combat situations as a precaution." Roy glanced at Riza, who nodded.

"That's correct, General. They knew your warnings were founded from personal experience, so they trained all twenty five people, but obviously they ran into a situation they couldn't handle…"

"Tsk. They should have listened to him altogether and not sent in a team at all." Ed growled in irritation.

Talk vanished as they continued downwards, the dark staircase seeming to be infinite in length.

Finally, a light became visible some ways down and everyone picked up their pace. Their eyes narrowed as they tried to adjust to the natural light that streamed in to the cavern.

Roy put out both torches and threw them aside. "Once we're down there, we'll split up and search. Will you two be all right on your own?" Roy asked the brothers worriedly.

Ed nodded. "We'll be fine…" He looked out over the city.

What hadn't been destroyed by Wrath and Gluttony's fight or the invading armies looked to be crumbling from the destabilized ground the opening of the Gate had created. However, in several places, it looked as though somebody had tried to repair certain buildings. The one place that looked the worse for wear was the opera house where Ed had sacrificed himself to bring Al back to life and ended up in the alternate world.

"Be careful, with all those buildings, anything could be lurking around here." Ed warned.

Roy and the others nodded, already on the alert for movement.

Suddenly, a loud screech sounded from above them as a strange bat-like creature dove at them.

Roy reacted immediately by snapping his fingers.

The bat-like creature exploded and fell to the ground, burning up before it hit.

"So much for the quiet approach…" Ed grumbled as he rubbed his ear, which was hurting from the close proximity of the explosion.

"They knew we were coming…" Al observed warily.

Riza nodded as she set down one of her suitcases. Havoc quickly followed as they opened the suitcases to reveal several different guns with several rounds of ammunition for each weapon.

Ed and Al could only stare in surprise at the suitcases.

"Their other suitcases contain only ammunition." Roy explained with a bemused expression as Havoc and Riza loaded their first guns, double and triple checking them to ensure they wouldn't jam in the middle of a heated fight.

"Come on, we'd better move before more of those things come at us." Havoc said warily as he slung the suitcase onto his back.

"That was a chimera, wasn't it, Edward?" Riza asked grimly.

Ed could only nod as they picked up the pace to get to the cover of the city.

Once they reached the city, they hid in a secure building to make final arrangements.

"If either group runs into trouble, the other will try to get to them as soon as possible." Roy said as they crouched around in a corner where all of the entrances were visible to them.

"What sort of signal should we use?" Al asked.

Riza quickly answered that question by bringing out a flare gun and holding it out to them.

"Only one? What happens if General Mustang isn't able to get off a shot?" Ed asked. He ignored the glare Roy was giving him.

"We have one, don't worry." Riza assured him as he took the flare gun and passed it to Al.

"I have a feeling I'll be the one targeted the most. Keep it handy."

Al nodded. "All right… is that all?"

"If we're finished, and nobody runs into any trouble, we'll meet back here in four hours." Roy snapped.

Ed knew he was looking out for their safety, so he remained silent and nodded with the rest.

"Good luck."

"Be careful."

"Everyone promise now that we'll make it out of here alive." Everyone looked at Ed in surprise. He was the last one they expected to make such a statement.

"Only as long as you intend to make it out alive with us." Roy said.

The challenging smirk on Roy's face caused one to appear on Ed's.

"I intend to, General. You'd better make it out of here too; I've still got a lot of ass kicking to deliver to you."

Roy nodded. Al, Riza and Havoc nodded in silent promise.

"Let's go…" Ed said grimly as they stood.

"Remember: four hours if you don't run into trouble." Roy reminded the brothers as they began walking out of the building.

"You too…" Ed replied before he and Al headed for the centre of the city.