Chapter 11

Lust pushed Flynn down the dark hall ahead of her, attempting to knock her down on the floor. The evil woman shoved her, then pulled back on the chains that were still wrapped around her wrists.

"Move, you disgusting cow!" Lust bellowed like a sinister shrew.

"Bitch!" Flynn screamed, digging in her heels and pulling on the chains. She giggled with malicious delight when Lust lost her footing and fell on her behind. A scream tore from her throat when a stabbing white hot pain shot through her shoulder and sent bolts of pain like electrical shocks through her body. The area began to throb as she looked down to see what appeared to be a black knife through her shoulder. She could not move because she was literally nailed to the wall with Lust's finger that had transformed into a long sharp blade.

"Enough! Ridiculous human," she snapped, withdrawing the blade and smiling spitefully as the redhead dropped to the floor.

Flynn wanted to scream in pain because the wound burned like fire. Blood ran down her chest and back, making her shirt stick to her body. She lay on the floor as if she were unconscious, feeling Lust pulling on the chains. She decided the damn woman could just drag her if she was so inclined.

"Worthless piece of trash," the homunculus grumbled, dragging her along.

Flynn looked around as the hallway widened into a drab gray room with big fans on the walls and destroyed equipment lying in ruins on the concrete floor. The florescent lights blinked on and off overhead, making the shadows in the room dance ominously on the walls. She had absolutely no idea where they were.

"Stop right there!" a male voice yelled and the loud click of a gun being readied echoed through the room. "It's you! You're one of those…those things?"

Flynn heard the pitiful question asked from a man full of disappointment and recognized Havoc's voice. She listened to Lust's bitchy affirmation before deciding to stand up. She rolled over onto her stomach which sent a wave of pain through her body from her shoulder. She grunted as she got up on all fours, then struggled to rise to her feet.

"Flynn!" Mustang and Havoc both cried out when she unsteadily stood up with the chains around her wrists.

"Isn't this interesting?" Lust asked, pulling the bleeding woman in front of her and against her body. "Seems both of you boys know this terribly irritating redhead."

Flynn glanced at their shocked, ashen faces then stared at the ground. She could not handle seeing their horror struck expressions and now Lust was using her as a shield rendering them powerless. She felt something graze her side sending a blazing pain through her as it shot past her. A warm wetness trickled down her ribs and her skin began to tingle and burn. She heard a grunt from Havoc, watching with growing horror and panic as he fell to his knees with five long black blades through his midsection.

"NO!" she and Mustang both yelled when they realized Lust had stabbed him right through his abdomen.

Flynn stared in overwhelming terror as Lust retracted the blades and Havoc lifelessly fell to the floor on his face. She was dumbstruck with fear and disgust; fear for Havoc and disgust for Lust. She struggled to free herself as her eyes turned to Mustang who raised his hand, but he could not incinerate the woman because she was in the way.

"There's not a thing you can do Flame Alchemist or you will kill her too," Lust murmured, kissing Flynn on the cheek. "My hero. You have saved me from the famous Flamer."

Under different circumstances, Flynn would have laughed at the double entendre that successfully attacked Mustang's sexuality and alchemic talent in one fell swoop. She watched in disbelief as the woman shot out two of the blades across the back of Mustang's hands, shredding his ignition gloves. She screamed when a blade penetrated her shoulder from the back and reached all the way to Mustang, slicing open a huge gash in his side. Everything in her vision swam and she felt dizzy. Another scream was torn from her throat by the dreadful sight of him falling in the same ghastly fashion that Havoc had.

"Come on, move!" Lust bellowed at Flynn, prodding her past the two men who if they weren't already dead, they were well on their way to dying.

Flynn allowed herself to be shoved along for a few yards until the shock wore off, then the anger exploded inside of her with a fury that even took her by surprise. She balled her fists together, shaking the mass of chains as far down onto her hands from her wrists as possible. She took a deep breath, turning quickly and throwing her hands upward as hard as she could. The strange but effective weapon slammed into Lust's cheek, throwing her against the wall. A smile of savage satisfaction spread across Flynn's face as the woman cried out on impact and slid down the wall to the floor.

"That's it. I'm killing you right now!," Lust yelled, attempting to stand to her feet. She received a well-placed kick from a high heel shoe right in the abdomen that pushed her back down on the floor.

"Not without a fight you're not. It's my fault two of the men I care most about in this world are dead. If you're going to kill me, I'm not going down easy. I might even take you with me!" Flynn screamed, kicking the other woman ruthlessly in the face.

"OH! My beautiful face!" she screamed, covering the nasty, jagged tear on her cheek with her hand. Blood gushed through her fingers and what was left of her beautiful face twisted with rage. She grabbed her opponent's ankle before she could land another kick with those damned high heeled shoes, jerking her down to the ground.

Flynn attempted to wriggle out of the vise like grip of the hand around her ankle. She tried to crawl away but the grip only tightened. Searing rivulets of scorching pain snaked up her leg as Lust continued to squeeze. It felt as if her bones were being ground together. A terrible sound, like a twig being snapped in half, assaulted her ears before she felt the agony of her ankle being crushed. She screamed as stars exploded in her vision and the edges of everything became black and blurry. She would have welcomed fainting to find relief from the misery of her wounds especially the broken ankle.

"Stop!" Mustang yelled, appearing at the end of the hall.

"What the hell?" Lust asked, dragging herself to her feet. "What are you going to do Flamer? I destroyed the source of your power."

Flynn pulled herself across the floor to get as far away from her as possible. She did not want to be in his way of killing that bitch this time. Even in the dim light she could see the transmutation circle he had carved on the back of his hand, and he held Havoc's lighter in his other hand.

"Flynn, close your eyes. You don't want to see this," he warned her as he flipped open the lighter.

Flynn turned toward the wall she had crawled to, closing her eyes tightly and covering her ears with her hands. She could still hear the disturbing screams of the dying woman as Mustang cremated her on her feet. Nothing could save her from the horrid, disgusting smell of roasted flesh that filled her nostrils. Tears ran down her face while the tortured screams continued as Lust endured a macabre and slow death. Even though she no longer heard the bone-chilling screams, she was too afraid to move. She felt a strong pair of hands on her shoulders, and she screamed. Her attempt to get away from the person was sad and pathetic at best considering her broken ankle.

"Honey, it's me! It's okay!" Roy yelled, holding her to his chest to calm her down.

Flynn looked at the wound on his side that was no longer bleeding but was red and raw looking from being burned. "Oh, my god! What did you do?"

"I cauterized the wound to stop the bleeding. I'll be okay. What about you? How badly are you hurt?" he asked, peeling back the bloody shirt to check to two puncture wounds on her shoulder. He opened the lighter, holding it near the wounds that still poured blood. "Flynn, this is going to hurt like hell, but I have to do it. Hopefully you'll pass out pretty soon."

Flynn nodded and closed her eyes. She was glad her hands were still in the chains to hold them down. A low whooshing sound filled her ears then a stinging pain in her shoulder grew to a mind numbing torment as he burned the open wounds on her shoulder to stop the bleeding. She leaned forward with his gentle urging so he could take care of the backside of the puncture wounds as well. She resisted the impulse to gag as the smell of her own torched flesh violated her nose.

"Are you still with me?" he asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. Oh, dear god! Can you punch or me something, please? I can't stand the pain," she sobbed as the torture continued.

"You're tougher than I thought you'd be," he said, carefully pushing her against the wall. "Wait here. I'm going to see about Havoc. Someone should be coming for us soon."

Flynn leaned her head back, allowing the tears to flow freely down her face. It hurt and it hurt badly to say the least.

"Flynn!" Ed yelled.

"What are you doing here?" she asked weakly. She opened her eyes and everything danced in her vision making her feel sick.

"I'm supposed to be here. What are you doing here?"

"Getting the crap beat out of me. Ow!" she yelled when he hugged her. "I love you, Ed but please don't touch me."

"Al, can you take her out of here?" Ed asked, pushing her sweat and blood soaked hair out of her face.

"I'm sorry if this hurts. I'll do my best not to hurt you," Al assured her with his typical kindness.

"It's all right. I know you wouldn't do it on purpose, Al," she replied, lifting up her arms so he could get his arms around her body easier.

"I'll get those off of you when I get you out of here," he said referring to the chains around her wrists.

"Thank you. I'm glad someone finally noticed," she sighed, laying her hot face against the cool armor. Right now she was really glad he was a suit of armor so he could carry her, and the metal was cool. At long last, she fainted from the loss of blood and the physical pain.

When Flynn woke up she was in a pristine, white hospital room. She smiled when she realized she was not alone; Ed was lying in the bed next to her and Al was sitting in a chair beside the bed.

"Hi," Al whispered when he saw her eyes open. "How do you feel?"

"I'm not sure yet. Ask me again when the painkillers wear off," she whispered back so she would not wake Ed. She lay her head on his chest, snuggling into him to go back to sleep.

"Hey!" Roy whispered, touching her back.

"Are you all right?" she asked him as he walked around the bed so she could see him. She smiled when he touched her face.

"I'm fine," he replied, hoping against hope she would not ask her next question.

"What about Havoc?" Apprehension plagued her as tension entered the room in a palpable almost visible form.

"He's alive," Roy answered cryptically.

"And…?" she prodded, lifting her head as he took a deep shaky breath.

"He's paralyzed from the waist down. Lust cut his spinal cord when she stabbed him," he replied, talking fast.

"Oh," was all Flynn could say. She stared blankly at the ceiling as her mind processed the information.

"We're not going to give up on him. He can fight this. He can – " Roy rushed on and he wasn't sure if he was trying to convince her or himself.

"Yes, yes, he will be fine. One way or another." She curled into Ed, twisting fistfuls of his shirt in her hands. She felt him move as she sobbed into his chest.

"What's wrong? Are you hurting somewhere?" he inquired sleepily, stroking her hair.

"Yes, yes, I am," she whispered, clinging to him as she cried.

"I'll call the nurse. Maybe they can get you something. Just hang on, okay?" Ed was on the verge of panic as he pushed her away and was about to climb out of the bed.

Mustang grabbed his shoulders easing him back down onto the bed beside Flynn. "Calm down, kid. She doesn't mean physical pain. Just hold her while she cries," he said calmly, patting the nervous blond on the shoulder before he walked out.

"Flynn, what is it?" Ed inquired, kissing her cheek. He listened as well as he possibly could while she sobbed out the story of the break up then finding Havoc at the bar with Lust. She even told him about the incident with Mustang in Hughes' office and her conflicted feelings about him. He had never in his life so profoundly regretted asking a simple question as he did at this moment. He held her and patted her back while speaking softly into her ear until she quit crying.

"Thank you, Edward. I'm sorry. I know I said a lot of things I'm sure you did not want to hear," she said, laying her head on his chest as he stared up at the ceiling.

'You're damn right about that, sister,' he wanted to say but decided not to. Instead he kept quiet and distractedly played with one of her curls, twisting it around his finger.

"Brother, she's asleep," Al informed him a few minutes later.

What now? Too many people were being scarred for life not just physically but mentally from all this crap: the results of nothing more than an insatiable desire for power and maybe immortality for a few individuals. The boundless avarice of a small group was destroying large numbers of the whole population and specifically far too many members within this particular band of friends.