EDWARD

"She came through!"

It was several weeks later. And they'd just gotten the call that Scarlett was out of the tunnels and in Liore!

"Alright!" he cheered. He threw on his coat, ready to go look for the slum where Scar, Winry and the others were hiding out.

WINRY

"Look!" she cried.

"Here they come!" May squealed.

"At last..." Marcoh sighed.

Ed charged right up to her. "You okay? Nobody attacked you or anything?"

"Ed, we're fine! Nothing happened while we were here... But I take it Scarlett made it to Liore?"

"Yeah! Now we're on our way out to meet her!"

SCARLETT

She stood, facing the golden-haired man. He looked curiously back at her and Envy. She twirled one finger in the air, then pointed. "Ed and Al's father, no?"

"Correct." the man answered. "But who are you? In the company of a Homunculus, and knowing who my sons are?"

"I'm Scarlett. The Ishvalan once bent on protecting the military and Amestris. Now just Amestris." she answered. Envy was cowering behind her, so she reached back and pulled him forward. "And this... He now works for me on the condition that i don't kill him." she said. He was trembling, so as a gesture of pity, she gave his shoulder a small pat.

"I see. So, what work exactly are you doing here in Liore?"

"Wrecked the circle that the country rests on. It'll take them quite a bit to fix what we did. I'd say at least half a year." she smirked.

"If Father finds out one of his precious children aided the destruction of his circle, he won't be pleased." the man remarked, addressing Envy.

The Homunculus nodded, trembling harder. "She said she'd protect me..."

"So long as you behave, that's the deal here."

"So, just how are you one to be feared, a terror to steer clear of?"

"Yeah, Bradley's just saying that because I killed Kimblee and I'm pretending to have killed General Raven. But other than that, it's because of..." She held up one arm and let the blade rip out. "I'm a Chimera, combined with the rarest metal known to man, titanium. I'm the closest one can get to superhuman. Now then, what's your name again? Hohenheim? I believe I heard Ed call you that."

"That is accurate." he nodded.

"I can tell a lot of things about something just by looking. It can get overwhelming at times, so I wear thick sunglasses that also conceal my lineage. I heal faster than any other actual living thing, and my entire body is one big transmutation circle. I'm stronger than any other human opponent, and it takes more than even bullets to affect me." she murmured, tying up her hair. "I thought I'd never be able to reconnect with actual people. Even those who think they know the real me have only just scratched the surface. Your sons..."

She paused as a gust of wind blew some dust past them.

"... They make a serious impression on people that is hard to get rid of."

EDWARD

They came into the town and asked around. Quickly enough, they located Scarlett's location.

She glanced up at them from beneath the tree she was sitting under before her gaze going right back up. "Glad ya made it." she said.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"You little twerp!"

They turned to see...

Scarlett?

She stood bristling beside Hohenheim, glaring at the one beneath the tree. "Drop the act pal. Do it now or you're dead!" she spat, striding up to the one beneath the tree.

"Scarlett...?" Al asked in confusion as Envy dropped her face.

"He's now working under me. We made that agreement in my tunnel... But I'm considering killing him now!"

"No..." Envy pleaded.

"Lucky you I'm so generous, worm." Scarlett hissed, shoving him. She then turned to them and smiled. "Nice to see you all made it! How'd it go?"

"A few bumps, but we're all okay!" he smiled back.

Scarlett lost her smile. "But despite my screwing up the tunnels, they'll still try to fix it in time. Because Hohenheim is here, we've been discussing fall-back plans. The best one we can think of is to spirit one of you away."

"Huh?" Winry asked, voicing all their confusion.

"I know a place, at the border of Ishval, where you'd be safe. No one else but me and Scar know where it is."

"You can't be serious. It's not that safe, Yuuki!" Scar butted in.

"It's the safest one that's out of the country!" she objected. "It's the only solution if the tunnels are fixed!"

"What?" asked May.

"A series of catacombs and caves in the desert, just outside the country's border. We played there often when we were little. But it's prone to cave-ins and occasional earthquakes." Scar explained.

"But think about it... They have no power over their little sacrifices if they're out of the country." Scarlett said. "Isn't that so?" she asked, turning to Envy. The Homunculus nodded frantically, his eyes full of fear.

"She's right, Edward. If one of us were to be out of the country, they couldn't complete their trans-mutation." Hohenheim sighed.

He whirled around to face his father. "Then you go! I'm not leaving!" he snarled.

"Actually, the best option would be Mrs. Curtis."

"What?" he asked, confused.

"According to a little birdie, there are already plans to abduct your teacher and take her to Central until the Promised Day. Even since Hohenheim reduced her spells, she's relatively weaker than you would be, easier to wear down... The best thing to do is to escort her to the catacombs. As well as..."

"What now?" Al asked.

"We'd be better off taking two of you... And you or your brother is the next."

IZUMI

The phone rang, and she quickly answered. "Curtis residence."

"Izumi. This is Scarlett."

Her eyes widened a fraction. "How can I help you?"

"I'm coming to Dublith with Edward and... a friend. You're on the list of sacrifices that Ed told you about, and someone's being sent to fetch you. I'm going to escort you and Edward to a place where you'll be safe and out of the country."

"What?!"

"I know... But it's what's right, safe, and they'll be short three pawns in their little game." Scarlett said quickly, her voice apologetic. "But listen... Do you remember Greed?"

"The Homunculus that kidnapped Alphonse?"

"Yeah... He was resurrected for one thing, and for another, there are more Homunculi. They're the ones that're pulling these strings, the ones that need sacrifices. My friend is a Homunculus I just beat into cooperating, and he's the one that informed me about the plans to take you."

"How do you know that he isn't lying?" she asked suspiciously.

"Good point... Hold please, I'll be right back."

She waited, hearing Scarlett ask someone to hold the phone, then loud screams.

'Don't kill me?' She's threatening to kill the Homunculus in order to get the truth?

"Shut up and start talking!"

She knew that was Scarlett's voice, but who was she talking to?

"I swear! It's true! I'm not lying! Please don't kill me!" came terrified sobs of someone she didn't know.

"Since when does one trust the word of a Homunculus?" Scarlett snarled. "If you're lying, I'm gonna kill you, Envy!"

"It-it's true! Don't kill me! Please! I'm not lying!"

"You hear that? Sorry little cross-dressing bastard says it's the truth, and if he is lying, I've beat him up enough that one blow should kill him..." Scarlett said, addressing her.

"Yes, I heard. He must be telling the truth... But tell me who's coming for me?"

"Well? Who is it?" Scarlett asked the unlucky Homunculus from her end.

"W-Wrath, I think..."

"You think or you know?"

"I don't know for sure! I was supposed to after eliminating you!"

"Failed that part badly, didn't he?" she chuckled.

"Yeah, the bastard sure did. But if it is Wrath, he can predict your moves. Your best hope is to blind him and run if he gets there before we do."

"Okay. I'll meet you at the old place where we faced Greed. Three days?" she confirmed.

"Yup. Seeya."

EDWARD

"My head still hurts." he grumbled.

"Well sorry." Scarlett said, no apologetic emotion in her voice what-so-ever.

"I still don't get why you knocked me out... Wait, everyone else was in on you doing that, weren't they?!" he accused.

"Nope." Scarlett answered, but he could tell she was lying. "Now quit whining and come on. Pick up the pace, we need to get there fast!"

He groaned, but obeyed her. Envy also sped up a tad. They were almost to the Nest when they were stopped.

"I see you're working with the enemy now, Envy."

"W-Wrath!" Envy squeaked. "I-I don't have any choice!"

"And why not?" the Fuhrer asked.

"Because otherwise I'll kill him. Sorry, but he's mine now. And if needed, I'll put you under my control as well, you one-eyed fucker." Scarlett hissed.

"I'd like to see you try..." Wrath said, drawing his sword. Scarlett's tattoos flared, and he hurled himself away, Envy doing the same a second before every blade Scarlett had emerging.

"You're gonna need more than that little toy to put a dent in me, worm."

"Crap... Scarlett, is this gonna be all-out?" he worried.

"Yeah, looks like it. Envy, you take him to meet Izumi. Edward, at any sign of him trying to turn traitor, go ahead and cut him to ribbons." Scarlett ordered.

"Yes, ma'am!" they both said, running on past the two as they started to fight.

"I'm gonna do as she said, Envy. Any sign of you trying to betray us..." He trailed off, trans-muting his auto-mail into a blade.

"I'm not..."

"Edward!"

"Teacher! Scarlett's engaging Wrath!" he cried.

"Should we help her?"

"No, you'd only be in the way! She'll be better off alone!" Envy said quickly.

"I take it this is Envy, the Homunculus Scarlett controls?" Izumi asked, turning stoney eyes to Envy.

"Yeah. If he misbehaves, we have permission to kill him." he nodded. "C'mon! We can at least watch from the sidelines!"