June 14th, 1963

Edward remembered the town he was in as that town where Tore almost got killed. Tivoli; it was just a little north of here that he had visited that little farmhouse and brought Tore home two and a half years ago. Now though, it had an entirely different feel. For one thing, it was nearly eighty percent empty. There were few people left; men of all ages – from teenagers to scruffy old grandpas – with guns, and a few bravely stubborn women who flat out refused to go. The two trucks full of State Alchemists had been given an armed welcome and only allowed to enter once they proved they weren't Drachmans. Fortunately that wasn't too difficult. Ed himself was very easy to distinguish. How many sixty-plus year old blonde guys ran around with two auto-mail limbs claiming to be State Alchemists anymore who could actually do that level of alchemy?

"We're looking for the Drachmans," he explained that evening to the men currently in charge. "There's plenty of soldiers coming up just a couple of days behind us to help but right now we need to barricade as many towns as possible and find a way to stall them until we can make them sorry they decided to be unfriendly neighbors." It had taken them a couple of days to get up this far and so far they had seen nothing but a few people still fleeing southward.

"Well best we can tell they're camped up about a day north of Porto," Dan Riggers, a thick-set but muscular miner commented over a steaming cup of coffee. "So not even two days from here. Those of us that're left have been shoring up."

"You can't beat them alone," Ed pointed out, taking a sip from his own mug. "The best you can hope for is they occupy the place quietly or march on by. After all, they're here to stay if they can manage it. It doesn't do them any good if they destroy everything."

Riggers looked grim. So did the other couple of men with him. Ed had only brought four alchemists to the meeting; himself included. He'd brought Fletcher Tringham from his unit, and Lyssandra Fines had brought Cal Fischer. An interesting choice until Ed remembered that Cal was from up this way originally. That was probably part of why Breda had sent Lyssandra's unit specifically. "We're not going to just sit by and let them take over," the other man grumbled.

"And I'm not asking you to," Ed pointed out patiently. "Anyone who wants to fight is welcome if you can shoot and take orders. Anyone who doesn't want to kill will be helpful support. No one wants you to lie down and let the Drachmans walk all over you. Just please don't make yourselves targets unnecessarily. Before we leave tomorrow, we'll make sure to help shore up your defenses. We can strengthen the walls and make them taller, and thicker, and set up some other defensive strategies."

"In one day?" Vaughn, another swarthy mountain man, asked skeptically.

Ed chuckled. "Hey, this is what alchemy's good for. After all, what good is a tool if you don't use it in a way that actually benefits people?"

Riggers snorted, but looked at him contemplatively. "Alchemy for the people. I've heard it for years, but never seen much of it. We'll take your offer with gratitude and I look forward to seeing just what you're capable of."

Ed was used to rural folk – especially mountain people – being isolationist and wary about strangers. He didn't mind at all really. The offer was, for one of them, as much as saying the alchemists were invited guests or old friends in other places. He grinned and offered a hand to shake on it. "Then you and your men are in for a treat."

Riggers nodded, and shook back with a thick, hearty grip. "Any other questions you've got for us?"

"Did anyone make it here from further north?" Edward asked. "Porto or Koldspur or anywhere?"

"A few," Riggers replied with a nod. "We've got them safely tucked away in an inn in the middle of the city until we can get them transported out of here. Once the soldiers arrive, they should be safe enough, but it's mostly women and children so we haven't tried sending them on their way on their own."

Ed turned to Lyssandra and Cal. "Fischer, I'd like you to go talk to the refugees."

Cal looked surprised. "Me, Fullmetal?"

"You used to live up here," Ed nodded. "I'm counting on the fact you might know some of them and they might feel more comfortable talking about the situation with someone more familiar."

"Somehow I doubt it," Cal snorted softly. He didn't look pleased with the assignment. "I wasn't popular when I left."

"I'm not popular with a lot of people," Ed shrugged. "Sorry, but it needs to be you. Besides, they might have word on your family." He had heard about Cal's concerns for his mother. He hated to play that card, but he also knew that it was true.

"I'll do it," Cal replied though it was clear he knew he didn't really have a choice. "I'll take Shock and we'll see them this evening."

"Good." Ed nodded and turned back to the locals. He'd consider making it up to Whitewater later. "Now, let's talk about your current defenses…"

Cal wondered through the end of the dinner meeting if Fullmetal just wanted to torture him for some reason, but finally dismissed the idea. As soon as he was free he headed out to find Tore. At least he would have some company while he talked to terrified locals about the invading Drachman army and tried to get them to say something useful.

"The refugees are staying at the Stone Dog Inn," one of the young men in town, a kid of maybe fourteen by the name of Thadeus, said as he escorted them to the place. He barely looked old enough to be chasing girls, but he walked around with a rifle like he knew how to shoot with it, and he probably did. Cal would bet the kid had been hunting since he was old enough to hold the weapon and point it. "There's only about fifteen of them, including kids. They're all in the downstairs rooms in case the Drachmans show up and we get in a fire fight."

Not that it would do them much good, Cal thought, but then he supposed that was what happened when non-military trained minds tried to work out the problem. And it wasn't a terrible plan. "Well hopefully we can get them out of here when there are more men," Cal replied noncommittally.

The Inn was a fairly small place, with rooms above and below; the cheaper being below though it was clear that no one was currently paying for their lodging. Thadeus led them to the stairs. "They dine and spend most of the evenings in the downstairs common area," he told them, opening the door. "All is well," he called down.

"There're Amestrian soldiers here now! And more coming," he trotted down the stairs.

Cal glanced at Tore. "This should be interesting."

"You're the one who dragged me along," the younger man smirked impishly. "Lead the way."

Cal sighed and followed the boy downstairs. There were lamps down the hall, but people crowded into the entrance making it impossible for him to get a good look at them. The hall itself was not well lit.

In the dim light, one of the women hurried towards them. "Thank goodness you're here!" The plump blonde woman seemed relieved by the sight of men in uniform. She had short overly-styled curly hair and an outfit that would have been considered only a couple of years out of fashion in Central; and attractive if it weren't a couple of sizes too small. There was simply no comparison. "Will we be able to get out, officers? We-" she stopped cold as she came into the light, eyes going wide. "I…. who are you?"

Cal blinked, and his blood ran momentarily cold. No, there was no way this was… but those eyes. He forced his voice to calm. "The Whitewater Alchemist, Lieutenant Colonel Calvin Fischer, Amestris Central Command."

The look on Valeria's face was priceless. It had to be her; though this dumpy woman looked nearly ten years older than him now. Valeria had nothing on Alyse. At least my taste has improved. Behind her, with the crowd, he saw kids that were almost certainly hers; all blonde, and the three girls were her spitting image, haunting out of his childhood. Time had not been kind to her and, to his own surprise, he felt very little. He didn't know her anymore. He hadn't spoken to her in almost twenty years, more than half his lifetime. It wasn't even painful to see, except that he pitied her now. "Calvin… it is you!" Her eyes lit up then and brimmed with tears. Before he could respond, she threw herself into his arms sobbing horribly. "Thank heavens!"

What the hell? "Where's your husband?"

That had clearly not been the response she was expecting. Sniffling, Valeria looked up at him with an indignant sniff through teary eyes. "Dead last year. Andy got drunk and fell down a mine shaft."

"Wait… you married Andy Keller?" Cal was dumbfounded. After all that high-talk her parents had about a good match and money and Valeria's arguing that his ideas were unrealistic, she had married Andy? The guy might have been good looking, but he had the common sense of a brick; a drunk brick. He was a control freak to boot and an ass-hole. Of course, given his family owned the biggest sheep farm in the area, he supposed to her family it might have seemed acceptable over a grocer. Too bad the guy in question was more like Cal's father than Cal was.

"Does it matter?" Valeria pouted slightly. It wasn't cute the way Cal remembered. "He's gone and we've been hiding here for days and I'm so scared!"

Cal pushed her back firmly but gently. "I'm not here to be your hero, Val. I got over you a long time ago." It was the most liberating, if strange, feeling to realize the simple truth in that statement.

Valeria's expression faded, the hope drifting on a look of shock. "So what are you going to do?"

Cal shrugged. "I'm a State Alchemist. I'll go stop the Drachmans so you can go home again." Sure it sounded simple when he put it that way, but that was what he was here to do after all. "It's my job."

"Of course." Valeria stepped back, wiping her eyes on a handkerchief. "Your job. Why else would you be here."

"Why indeed," Cal repeated flatly. His teen angst ex-girlfriend was not his primary concern. "Val, is my mother here?"

She looked briefly affronted again, then shook her head. "No, she's not. She refused to leave; said she was too old and she'd slow people down."

"And you left her?" Anger strong enough he surprised even himself weighed heavily in his words. He reined himself in when the others looked nervous. "I'm sorry… it…it's not your fault." He moved forward then, towards the other women and the children, who backed away to let him pass. Cal schooled his voice to reasonable and polite; his most gentlemanly and apologetic. "Good evening everyone. I'm sorry we have to interrupt you at supper. The military has sent us ahead to locate and detain the Drachmans, and there's a division of soldiers coming behind us to fight them back, but we could use any information you may have about the situation. Anything you know or may have heard or seen. I know it's difficult to talk about, but please, be brave."

He had always been told he was good with people, especially women. In this case, it seemed immediately true. Cal was amazed at how quickly a couple of the women – both older than him by a good ten years – came forward to tell him of what they had seen north of Koldspur. They had come from Rockford, a town just as small and remote, about a day's travel past Koldspur. When the Drachmans arrived they had demanded the town surrender at once or people would die. One man had tried to resist and been shot dead on the spot with no further warning. No one else had dared refuse, though many had fled in the night. The occupation had then moved on. They could only assume there were still Drachmans in the towns, because no one could get word through to them.

"That, or they're all dead," one gray-haired grandmother added with a soft tremble at the end of her tale.

By then, Cal and Tore were both sitting in chairs pulled away from the table, listening to the reports. Cal did his best to record everything to memory. Tore had brought out a small notebook from somewhere – probably one of the kid's sketchbooks - and scribbled details down frantically.

"That would work against what they want," Cal assured the woman. "They want to own Amestris, not move everyone down here. They'd want people to farm and mine so they don't have to do it all themselves. I'm sure anyone who's cooperated is fine." Okay, so he was mostly sure of that. General Olivia Armstrong and her staff had been slaughtered as soon as the Drachmans got their hands on them. But then, after the hell that particular Armstrong had given them over the years and how formidable she was, Cal figured that had probably been the smartest thing the Drachmans could have done logistically to cement their hold on Briggs for the time being. "Thank you for speaking with me."

It was a long, late evening. Many of the refugees headed to bed when he finished talking to them. Finally, Cal stood and had to stretch. He glanced at the clock. Shit, they'd been at this for four hours! "Damn," he turned to Tore. "Not much to go on is it?"

"It's better than what we had," Tore shrugged, looking down at his notes. "I bet Fullmetal and Emerald and General Breda can make a lot more out of this than we can. It'll probably tell them something about how the Drachmans are manning the cities and what we'll need to do to uproot them. That kind of thing. How many troops maybe, and the supplies they'd be needing. Logistics stuff, you know?"

"I do," Cal grinned. "You're pretty sharp."

"Wow, you finally noticed," Tore laughed, sticking the book back in his pocket. "Getting slow in your old age?"

Cal gave him a half-kidding shove. "Watch it or I'll go back to calling you kid. Come on, let's go get a drink." He turned, and froze when he realized they weren't alone. "Val… did you… want something?" What was she still doing here

Valeria frowned. "Don't you want to ask me any questions, Lieutenant Colonel?"

Cal sighed. "Honestly, I think we've got everything we need, Mrs. Keller." Formality was easier. Their drama was long past. He didn't even find her attractive now. But he wasn't mad at her. The reality wasn't worth the anguish the memory stirred. That was gone. It was kind of liberating actually.

"So that's it then?" Again, she looked hurt. When had he found this spoiled brat alluring? Or had she been this bad then? No, scratch that, of course she had. He'd seen it when she refused to stand with him; to be with him. She'd never tried when things got difficult.

"That's it," Cal nodded. "I've got my work to do, and you have your children to take care of and get out of here when the time comes. Those four were yours right? The three girls and the boy."

"Yes… " Valeria gave him a startled look. "How…did you know?"

Cal smirked. "I'm pretty observant. The girls look just like you at their ages. It would be pretty hard to miss that face. It was lovely."

"Was?" Anger flashed in those eyes, a temperamental flame. "Well you've certainly gotten rude, Calvin Fischer."

There we go. I'm Calvin now. Finally, she was getting the point. Cal shrugged. "And you've gotten fat. I guess these things happen with age. We can't all go gracefully I suppose." He shrugged, refusing to be baited into this anymore. He wasn't going to lose it now. "Come on, Tore. I'd like that drink now." He moved forward with a deliberate pace, despite the fact Valeria was standing almost in the doorway. When he didn't slow his stride, she hesitated, then moved aside at the last minute.

"How dare you treat me like this!" A high-pitched squeak finally came from her throat.

How dare….. Keep going, Fischer. She's doing what she's always done. She's playing you like she plays every- awww…screw it! Cal spun on his heel. His tone was cold, matter-of-fact, but controlled; his locked his fury down as best he could, and hoped it held. "How dare I what, be the only person to tell you the truth? The only person who ever gave you true intentions? Come on, Valeria. You can't tell me you married Andy because you loved him. He was a self-absorbed abusive prick. I bet he beat you the way my Dad liked to get into it. Did all your cute little tricks work on him too? Were you two happy? Is that why Andy fell down a mineshaft? You said he was drunk. How often was he sober? What did he offer you that I didn't? Or was it because you were afraid to face the real world? Cause you know, there's a lot of it out there beyond these hills, and it's a really great place. Did you marry Andy because you missed out on the glamorous life you really thought you wanted? You know, I don't really want you to answer any of those questions," he ran right over her when her mouth opened. Her eyes had gone very wide.

"I just want you to listen to me for a minute. When we were kids I really thought you were everything. I figured we could stand up to anything, even your parents. But you wouldn't do it. When I tried to stand by you, you told me it was unrealistic to want to go do anything real with my life. I said I was going to be a State Alchemist. I said I was going to do something worthwhile. I did everything I ever promised anyone, including telling my Dad he was an ass and I was getting the hell out because I wasn't going to be controlled and beaten until I couldn't think of anything meaningful. I spent years feeling hurt and betrayed by everything that happened, but you know what I realized today… I don't anymore. I don't hate you, Valeria. I don't hate you, and I don't miss you. I might even owe you thanks someday for pissing me off and making me miserable enough to leave. But I'll have to think on that one. I still don't know how my life will end. Possibly in the next few days in these god-forsaken hills I hate so much protecting you and your little brood. Not because I care, but because you live here and it's your right. You're a person, and that's all you have to be to matter at least that much."
He sighed, his throat gone even dryer. "There, you wanted to talk. I guess it's only fair for you to say anything back you've wanted to for the past eighteen years."

Valeria's mouth still hung open, fish-like. She snapped it shut. "You're right… I guess that's it. Though you should know… I married Andy because I thought he cared too. My parents still didn't like him much, but by then they figured he was the best I could do and they didn't bother him." She shook her head, but in that moment,

Cal knew it was possibly the most honest she had been about it in years, if ever. If nothing else, she had never been particularly duplicitous. "I do regret my mistakes, however shallow you think I might be." She finally looked up at him. "You know… you haven't changed much."

Cal shrugged, a little uncomfortable with that statement. "Thanks… I think."

Valeria turned and headed into the hallway ahead of him. "Good night, Whitewater Alchemist." Then she ducked down the side hallway and was gone.

Cal stood there for several minutes, still trying to process the conversation, when a hand landed on his shoulder. He jumped slightly before he realized it was just Tore. "You didn't hear that."

"Hear what?" Tore smiled then shrugged. "So, what about that drink?"

Drink, right. Cal nodded. "Let's go." He could definitely use one.

Edward definitely preferred tenting with Fletcher over the younger guys in his unit. Finn and Lordes were still pretty much the swinging singles they had been when they invited Ed to Dirk Chambers' bachelor party several years back, though Ed tried not to remember that night. He was still ashamed of it. Fortunately neither of the guys seemed inclined to bring it up. Ed was fairly certain they had been smart enough to put it together with Winry's leaving him back then. They were good alchemists though, and reliable officers. That was why he had picked them. Torv was also good, but more mature. He had been in Sara's class and passed the Exam the same year. He was married; no kids yet.

Fletcher was mellower than the rest, and he didn't care about leave and getting drunk and telling stories until four in the morning given the option. Though he did enjoy exchanging family stories over a cup of tea or coffee. He also seemed to be, oddly enough, thriving so far in the military environment.

Perhaps Ed shouldn't have been so surprised, but given Fletcher's amiable and gentle nature, he'd been concerned the same way he knew Russell was. He was beginning to think Fletcher had been underestimated. He was always calm, even in a firefight, and his skills as a botanical alchemists were definitely under-estimated.

"So what do you think?" Ed asked Fletcher's opinion as they sat in the sitting room of one of the other inns in town that was still open. The owner, a hefty gray-haired gentleman named Ray, had offered the alchemists rooms at half the usual going rate. Ed had agreed. It wasn't like the military couldn't afford it, and it was better for custom and for working with the locals.

Fletcher sipped his cup of tea thoughtfully. "I think if Drachma's that close, we'd be better off using the town as our line of defense. It has internal water, food supplies to the south, and there's only one pass through the mountains north of Porto right? So they'll have to come this way down the road."

Ed nodded and drank his own tea. "That's my thought. I'd rather get them caught in the pass, but I doubt we can get there in time." He hated that fact, but it was better than nothing. "Once the soldiers get here, we can move around behind enemy lines and see where things stand."

Fletcher blinked, startled. "We're going behind the Drachmans?"

Now was as good a time as any to tell him. At least Fletcher wouldn't tell anyone else until Edward did. "Once we have the Drachmans held in place, yes. We'll go in, see how heavily they're occupying the cities, and see if there's any way to undermine them from the other side as well. Maybe rescue any prisoners. But only once things are entrenched here and we've got more back-up." Including another couple of units of alchemists preferably. Ed was definitely up for reconnaissance, but not at the risk of the line.

"Right." Fletcher nodded agreement, but he looked uneasy as he finished his cup of tea.

"Something bothering you?" Ed asked.

Fletcher shrugged, smiling wryly. "It's just, so far I don't feel like I've been of much use to you."

To this point, Ed had only used Fletcher's abilities defensively, but that was because that was what they were best used for. They could block the enemy, shove them back. Nothing that would kill, but could be just as distracting to an enemy attempting to fight as a unit. "Don't mistake lack of firepower with usefulness," he grinned.

"You've been great, and you're about to be utterly invaluable. I mean, look at where we are. What's this countryside absolutely covered with?"

A look of realization came over Fletcher's round face. "Trees and plants."

"The Drachmans are coming at us through a forest," Ed nodded. "You'll be a war hero by the end of this yet."

At that, Fletcher laughed loud and hard. "I can just see you explaining that to Elisa later," he grinned. "She'll never believe me. Heck, she barely believes my letters when I tell her I've lost weight."

"Wives never believe that kind of thing," Ed snickered. "Not until they see it with their own eyes." He believed it, but then, he saw Fletcher every day. While he was hardly lean, he had visibly dropped quite a few pounds in the last few months; thirty easy. "Maybe someone around here has one of those automatic developing cameras and we can send her evidence."

"Now there's an idea," Fletcher grinned. ""Maybe then she'll believe me when I tell her you keep running me ragged."

"To be honest, that hasn't been hard." Ed had never heard a complaint out of Fletcher for all the grueling physical training he'd been put through from day one. "You're a less noisy student about it than Breda ever was, and you're also better at keeping yourself to it." He shrugged. "You're certainly not lagging behind."

"I'm glad to hear it." There was definite relief on his face. "I came out here to help. The last thing I want to be is a hindrance."

"Don't worry about it," Ed replied. "I really don't see that ever being a problem."

"For a minute I really thought you were going to let it go," Tore laughed, where he was sprawled on the bed on the far side of the room he and Cal were sharing. "But you just couldn't, could you?"

"You mean like you haven't since we left?" Cal snorted, though in the lamp light Tore could see Cal with a bemused grin on his face. He couldn't be that annoyed. Of course, he'd also had at least three beers since then, so it could be that.

"Well how often does a guy get to see a buddy give his ex the harsh reality she so deserved years ago huh?" Tore asked. He had been almost as stunned as Cal to find the infamous Valeria here. He felt sorry for Cal though; running into her without any warning.

To his surprise, Cal didn't laugh in reply. He shrugged. "The world did that. I probably shouldn't have lost my cool like that, but so much of that I've wanted to say for years."

"Did it feel good?" Tore asked.

A small smirk quirked Cal's lips. "Yeah, I have to admit it did. Still, I feel sorry for her. I got almost everything I wanted, and she got almost everything she wanted. I'm pretty sure I got the better deal."

Maybe he had a point. From what Tore had heard, Valeria seemed to be victim to so much of what he had noticed about the small towns. Not that she was an innocent, but her own little world was so small she was stuck in it. "Seems like it," he agreed a little more somberly. "So… you're really over her then. Took you long enough."

"To realize it anyway," Cal snorted. "I've known for a long time I wouldn't have taken her back if she begged. I just never figured on talking to her again. Really, she's not even half as fabulous as I remember. Now she's as beaten down as my mother used to be. It's just… sad."

"Yeah, when you put it that way." Tore closed his eyes, enjoying the mild buzz and the soft bed. "She must've been a looker once though."

"She was," Cal replied, not wistfully, but his tone was softer. "I guess it really just shows how much some things have changed, and some haven't."

"Sounds like at least for you, it was for the better." From what Tore could see anyway. "So, does this mean you might take a girl seriously now?"

"You haven't let that go either," Cal groaned, and Tore barely had warning before a pillow slammed into his face from across the room. "What is it with you and serious anyway? You're young enough; have fun!"

Cause that worked so well for you. Not that it was entirely bad advice; or really bad at all. Tore had really enjoyed his time with Angela, even if he did miss her a little. But this was how it had to be. That was okay though. He might find another girl whose time he enjoyed just as much. He'd certainly dated prolifically enough before.
Getting caught up pining for a girl was a good way to get himself hurt. Ethan had suffered for years before he hooked up with Lia. Cal had been burned, and he was still messed up almost two decades later! "I have been," he chuckled. "You're the one who hooked me up with Angela."

"See, I know what I'm talking about," Cal snickered. "There are plenty of great girls out there who won't break your heart and enjoy a good time."

Tore took that moment to ask a question of Cal he hadn't before. He knew Fullmetal's take, in a roundabout way, and Ethan's, and a bunch of other guy's. "So how do you know when you find the one you want to keep?"

There was a pause long enough that he wondered if Cal had dozed off. Glancing over he realized the other guy was still staring at the ceiling. Finally, he spoke up softly. "She's the one you'd die if you left her behind, no matter how much it hurts to stay."