The more Selim thought about getting to Johan, the more he disliked the situation he'd found himself in…which said wholly too little to fully encompass the magnitude of his rapidly growing contempt. Quite simply, no matter how he changed their original plan, he knew that what they'd enacted for the hostages on the third floor would not work for the hostages on the fifth floor. There were just too many guards. Not to mention he knew Clemin and the higher-ups were there too and Clemin at least would be much harder to fool or trick than his lackeys on the lower floor had been.

On a similar note, he had to admit that he was also looking for a way to take Clemin out at the same time he rescued Johan. Kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. But his priority (albeit barely) was to talk to Johan first. He still needed to know...Johan's actions seemed to make even less sense now than they had before.

Maybe his mind was having difficulty processing everything because of his depleted energy. He'd sent his shadows to search for more food with little success. What his shadows did find helped immensely, but how quickly his energy had drained was a cause for concern. Still, he could be grateful that he hadn't been coerced into helping the hostages actually escape or in assisting Bonnie, Marlin and Janet with binding the hands and feet of the unconscious guards. Instead, the others had been happy to leave him to rest and think about Johan and what exactly he would ask the boy.

Coming up with questions was surprisingly difficult. The reason as to why he'd even gone through all this trouble to confront his (former?) friend had never been concrete. He just didn't know why Johan had done what he'd done, and even now he could not even begin to figure it out. What had been the boy's reasons? Of course, maybe Selim had just been dealing with a stupid human who didn't know any better…. But Johan wasn't a stupid sheep like the rest of the masses of humanity tended to be. He was lazy, perhaps, but not as mentally challenged as most of the people Selim had been unfortunate enough to meet. No matter how Selim tried, he just couldn't seem to put his former friend into the same category he'd put other humans into for centuries…and worse, he could not figure out why.

His shadows found another forgotten meal on the floor above them and they attacked it with relish. He felt the energy boost almost immediately and nodded in satisfaction. It wasn't a lot, but he'd take what he could get. Apparently his body could turn a lot more into food than he'd originally thought. It was a strange concept and he couldn't help but wonder why his body was working in such a way now as he didn't remember it ever having done so as Pride. Perhaps he'd simply adapted out of necessity? He'd only had the energy of one soul (at most) to rely on in the last fifteen years after all, and after having his stone drained…well, he had to get the energy to maintain his body from somewhere.

"Hey," Marlin's voice drew him out of his thoughts and he glanced up to look up at the man. Behind him, Selim could see Bonnie jogging down the empty hall towards them. "We got everyone out. Took us a while, but we did it."

"Good," Selim said, unconcerned that his voice sounded so uncaring.

"I talked some of the others into helping Janet with Barton," Bonnie said, mainly to Marlin. Selim couldn't be more relieved that he wouldn't ever have to see the frustrating brat again. At least Mandy had been tolerable.

"I can't believe that went as well as it did," Marlin said with a chuckle. Then he turned to Selim. "Alright, so what do we do about the fifth floor?"

The homunculus levered himself to his feet. "'We' do nothing," he said as he stood. "I'll go take care of this myself." He walked past them and down towards the room at the end of the hall where he'd already carved a hole in the ceiling. Consequently, he didn't see the other two frown.

"We're coming with you," Marlin protested, falling into step behind the homunculus.

"No. This is my problem and I'll take care of it," Selim insisted.

"And what, pray tell, are you planning to do?" Bonnie asked heatedly.

Selim slowed for the barest second but continued on without answering or even looking back in acknowledgement. They hadn't missed his hesitation.

"You don't even have a plan, do you?" Marlin accused.

"I'll figure something out," Selim insisted through clenched teeth. They were starting to get on his nerves again.

"Well there's no reason for us to not come with you!" Marlin persisted.

Selim's hands balled into fists. "No!"

"Why not?" Marlin asked angrily.

They reached the door to the rooms they'd used to infiltrate the floor and Selim turned to glare at them. "Why do you want to come? You originally came here to help your 'friend'," he practically sneered at the word, "get her brother. That goal has been accomplished. You no longer have any reason to be here."

"You're a 'friend' too," Bonnie said with a roll of her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Selim froze half-way through the door to the room. Friends? They considered him their friend? What a strange friendship...and yet something inside him greatly appreciated their acknowledgement and leapt for joy. He ruthlessly squashed it. The homunculus, Pride, had no friends. Especially not human friends.

"Do you often make friends with your kidnappees?"

"Selim," Marlin started, his voice weary but determined.

Selim cut him off. "Or monsters? Or in this case, both?"

"No," Bonnie said with a soft snort. "We don't. Consider yourself lucky."

He didn't smile. He didn't. At least he would never admit it aloud. "Lucky? To be cared for by a lowly being such as yourself?"

"Come off it," Bonnie said, and he could just imagine her rolling her eyes. "So you're not human. We get it. Doesn't mean you can't appreciate a decent relationship." He could hear the underlying accusation of 'you do care, no matter what you say'.

"Doesn't it?" Selim found himself saying softly.

After several more silent moments, he finished pushing into the room. Some of the still conscious FFO members that they'd bound had tried to free themselves, judging from their differing positions and the way they froze when Selim walked in. None had succeeded in more than knocking a few tables over though. Selim frowned at them, then turned to glance at Marlin over his shoulder.

"Why didn't you render them unconscious?"

Marlin shifted uncomfortably. "It's a bit dangerous, my method of knocking people out. It isn't likely to seriously hurt someone, but it is possible."

Selim raised an eyebrow. "And yet you used your method on Janet's brother."

The older man frowned. "Well, how else would you propose getting him out of here without a struggle?"

Selim nodded. "I agree. I simply feel that we may benefit from doing the same to these people as well."

Marlin seemed uncomfortable for a moment before he sighed and nodded. "Right. Come on, Bonnie. I might need a bit of help."

The Ishvalan didn't look too happy, but she did as he'd asked. Meanwhile, Selim considered his options again. Even with Bonnie and Marlin he couldn't come up with a decent way to rescue Johan quietly, not without the rest of the FFO getting spooked and checking in only to realize that they'd already been compromised. Then reinforcements would come and it would probably only be a matter of time before someone started shooting…. Yes, he knew humans all too well to think any such attempt would end well.

So if he couldn't do it quietly…. He paused for a moment to chuckle dryly as he asked himself what the old Edward Elric would have done. Or perhaps Greed. Yes, that stung his pride less. He would consider employing tactics that Greed (either one of them) would have approved of.

So his goal at the moment would be to get people out safely. If he got everyone out, he wouldn't have to worry so much about Johan in general and there wouldn't be as many distractions. He could already hear his friend demanding that they couldn't leave without the other hostages and insisting on resolving that problem before he answered any of Selim's questions.

Just fabulous. The last thing he wanted to do was turn into some sort of human-loving superhero, which is what it seemed would happen if he continued to rescue all of these lowlifes. Still, he could see how rescuing everyone would make his future problems, especially with the military, significantly less inconvenient.

So, how could he create a pathway everyone could follow from the fifth floor, through levels that they didn't really have time to clear (he figured they might have time to empty one floor, but he didn't want to take any more chances that might allow their infiltration to be discovered) to the first floor?

An idea began to form in his mind…one that he did not like in the least. It was far too flamboyant and blunt for his liking, but if it worked…

If it worked indeed, he thought glumly to himself as he turned to check on Bonnie and Marlin's progress. They had succeeded in knocking most of the people out, although a few had been left awake. Either that or the pair hadn't gotten to them yet.

"I have an idea," he said, not liking how uneasy he sounded. "Allow me to explain…"

xXx

Janet had been charged with watching the hostages leave and keeping them quiet. It hadn't been easy. Between the fear and tension of the situation it was a minor miracle that the escapees had been as calm as they had been.

She stood in a relaxed, composed stance while glaring at people to hopefully remind them to keep quiet. Part of her still wasn't happy that she was doing this and felt like she was betraying her friends and family. Uncertainly, she glanced behind her at the prone form of her brother, who Marlin had laid down on the floor by the wall. Would he ever forgive her? He could be so mule-headed sometimes…

Shaking that train of thought from her head, she turned back to the people that made up the last group of escapees. Bonnie had gotten a few level headed people to help keep an eye on each room (and make sure they stayed quiet) as well as a few others to look out for the guards that roamed the first floor. Even trying to stay quiet, a large group of people naturally made a fair amount of noise, so they'd had to wait for the guards to get far enough away before she would let the people into and down the hall that would lead to the basement door.

Despite the general restlessness of the group, they'd managed to do it; they'd kept the general masses quiet enough to get everyone down to the basement, where Bonnie had propped open the door that would lead to the secret tunnel. They made sure to let the people know that one of the two tunnels would lead to certain death as it had FFO members at the other end, and thus they needed to listen carefully and find the correct passage.

Well, it had worked, and now everyone had gotten to the hotel basement and almost everyone had gone into the tunnel that would lead them out.

They only had a few people left actually, and everyone had made fairly steady progression…except for now, she suddenly realized. Why wasn't the line moving? It had taken her a few moments to realize that the row of former hostages was currently at a stand still.

"What's going on?" she asked someone near the front of the line. It was an older gentleman who did not look too happy about going into the tunnel.

"How am I supposed to know?" he snapped back.

Janet frowned at him for a moment before turning and stalking up to the front of the line. "What's going on?" she asked again, this time to the person just inside the lip of the tunnel, a larger woman if Janet saw correctly.

"Just a sec," the woman said. Apparently people further up the line were talking.

Janet was about to call down (as quietly as she could ) to see what the hold-up was when she noticed that the person in front of the woman had begun to move again, albeit slowly. It was a young man. He turned and whispered to the large woman. "Some military men found the secret entrance. They're going to try and get through to here without making us all back out." Even though Janet knew she technically had no problem with the military now she still felt herself blanch.

"That's going to be a tight squeeze," the woman muttered uneasily as the information was passed back.

The other man moved in such a way that suggested a shrug, although Janet couldn't see well enough to tell for sure. "Yeah, but it's that or—" he cut off as a crackling of light sparked from somewhere down the tunnel. Janet felt her stomach begin to churn. Not just soldiers, but alchemists. Oh, this was so not good…except it was supposed to be…and…aarg, this was gettingconfusing!

The line began to move again and it only took a few minutes to get the last person into the tunnel. Once the last person was climbing in, Janet hurried back to her brother and grabbed his hands, only then realizing that the people who had helped her with her brother before had left her here to make her own way. How fabulously wonderful of them. How was she even supposed to drag her brother down a tunnel by herself?

She managed to get to the lip of the entrance and then turned to peer down the darkened corridor. She could see movement further down, but wasn't sure if it was the military coming towards her, or the last of the hostages heading away. Nervously, she looked around for something that would help her with her brother, but she couldn't see much of anything that would even remotely be of service. She needed something with wheels, a dolly or the bottom of a cart…but there was nothing even close that wasn't already in use.

Figuring she was pretty well screwed anyway, she approached a large stack of old crates and boxes piled high with everything from old lamps to stacks of paper and had begun to move them off of the large cart they were on (one that probably wouldn't even fit, but it was the smallest one that she could see) when a deep voice caused her to jump and gasp.

"Can we be of assistance?"

She whipped around to see a man in a blue, military uniform (obviously an officer) crawl out of the tunnel, only to step aside as more soldiers followed. She gulped and glanced down at Barton, who lay at the man's feet, and then back up at the man, but didn't dare say anything.

Thankfully, the officer seemed to figure out her problem, for he gestured to one of the other soldiers crawling out of the entrance. The girl couldn't have been older than Janet, with dark, curly hair pulled back into a short ponytail. She snapped to attention as soon as her feet hit the ground and turned her undivided attention to the officer.

The man didn't waste any time. "Transmute a rolling board of some sort for the casualty over there," he told her. She nodded in answer and he turned back to Janet. "Does he need medical attention?"

Janet shook her head nervously. "No, he's just knocked out."

The officer nodded and turned back to his subordinate, who had pulled out a piece of chalk. "Have someone escort her back and then come follow us. We're going to scout around and try to move up to the top levels. Be careful and avoid patrols if you can. If you can't, take them out quietly. We still have hostages."

The girl nodded sharply and knelt down to begin her circle.

"Is there anyone else?" the man asked Janet again.

Janet shook her head, figuring that honesty would be the best policy. The way this man carried himself and the way the others just automatically deferred to him made her really not want to be on his bad side. "Just the group of people on the fifth floor. We got everyone else out."

The man paused and studied her as if he really saw her for the first time. "And who is 'we'?"

Janet bit her lip, the nervousness causing an unpleasant feeling in her stomach. "Um, we…uh…used to belong…to the FFO," she muttered. Then, seeing his dark eyes narrow, hurriedly continued. "But then we heard what they were doing and we didn't like the new leader and so we decided to…not help him?" she finished lamely. After a few seconds of silence, she sighed. "We didn't want people to get hurt…not like this."

The man still didn't look impressed. "Stick around for questioning."

Janet frowned, finding his order extremely unfair. They'd come to help after all! And this was how he repaid her? Typical Amestrian leadership. The man turned to the rest of his people before walking past Janet, dismissing her completely. She glared after him as his men followed, trying not to seethe. She had a temper, but she really needed to keep her wits about her if she wanted to make sure Barton would be alright.

The basement emptied, leaving Janet, the alchemist, the other officer and a prone Barton on the floor. Janet just stood there, watching the alchemist work with grinding teeth. The girl had finished with most of the circle and was moving onto the details when she glanced up at Janet and saw the angry expression on her face.

"Why did you join the FFO?" she asked, surprising Janet. Her voice didn't hold any accusation whatsoever. She seemed genuinely curious.

"Huh?"

"The FFO," the girl repeated. "Why did you join them?"

Janet felt her features tense. "I'm from Liore. The military killed my parents. We wanted revenge."

"We?" she asked. Janet glanced over at Barton again and the alchemist seemed to understand.

"Ah. I see." After a moment she seemed to pause. "The people in charge of the government now…they're not like that."

Janet watched the other girl for a few minutes before deflating. "Yeah, I know. Just found out that I was working for one of the men who ordered…." She faded off, not really wanting to talk about it. "I still don't believe in an uncorrupt government."

The girl finished her transmutation circle and looked around for raw material to use. She and the other soldier, who didn't seem to want to say anything, carried some old scrap metal and pipes from one of the corners to the chalk circle. It only took a few moments after that to transmute the metal into little more than a board with wheels and a handle on one side.

"That should do it. You can push or pull him down the tunnel." Janet nodded, feeling far more grateful towards the girl than she had felt towards just about anyone else who had been in the basement with her. "Lieutenant…?" the alchemist faded off with a pointed look at the man who had stayed behind.

"Mishen, sir," the other officer said.

The girl nodded. "Lieutenant Mishen will help you take him back to headquarters. They can look over him there and make sure he'll be alright. He'll also look after you until General Mustang has a chance to question you. Since you helped everyone out and all, I'm pretty sure they'll go easy on you. You'll probably be released by the end of the day."

That did make Janet feel marginally better, although she was worried as to what would happen when Barton woke up. He wouldn't be happy, that was for sure.

"Thanks," she said to the girl, trying not to sound too clipped. She wheeled the cart over to Barton and had the soldier hold the cart still while she dragged her brother onto it.

"Here," the alchemist said, removing a paper from her pocket and putting it on the ground. A few bright flashes of alchemy later and a ramp had risen from the floor.

"Thanks," Janet said again, her tone slightly warmer, and wheeled her brother onto the ramp. The soldier then held him in place while Janet crawled backwards into the tunnel and reached for the handle of the cart. It didn't take long to maneuver Barton into the corridor and begin the long trip of crawling down the tunnel.

"Hey," the alchemist (Janet still didn't know her name) said before they'd gotten very far. "You said you just found out about the guy in charge of the FFO, right? About how he was involved in all of those wars and what not?"

Janet couldn't help another scowl. "Yes."

"How did you find out?"

Her scowl gained a troubled edge. Great. How was she supposed to explain Selim? If she told the truth, she'd sound completely insane. Still, she wasn't all that great at making up excuses on the fly, so she worried her lip, trying to figure out what she could say that would sound believable.

"There was a kid who helped us…he…." She paused, trying to figure out how to word this. "He wasn't part of the FFO, but he…well, he knew things and can do things and…what he said made sense."

The alchemist's face went strangely blank. Janet could see, even in the darkness, that what she'd said meant something to the other girl.

"Did he have a target shape on his forehead? One that looked like a tattoo?"

Janet blinked in surprise. "Yes. You know Selim?"

"Sir!" Mishin said worriedly, whipping around to face the alchemist.

"I'll let General Mustang know when I see him," she said slowly. "You just follow your orders."

"Yes, sir," Mishin acknowledged, although he seemed uneasy.

"Do you know why Selim was here?" Mandy asked, a strange tone in her voice.

"Yeah. He was rescuing a friend."

She could have sworn the girls eyes almost popped out of her head. "He what?!"

Well, that she could understand. "Yeah, he's not really the type, is he?"

The alchemist still seemed shocked. "No…. No he isn't. What…?"

"Sir, we should get going," Mishin said, seeming to snap the girl out of her reverie.

"Right. Be careful and good luck," the alchemist said and turned to leave.

"Oh," Janet said before she could go very far. "There were people guarding the basement, but we just knocked them out. They aren't tied up though, and if they wake up…"

"I'll take care of it," the girl said. "Thanks!"

"Come on," Janet muttered as she slid down the tunnel. "Let's get out of here."

The soldier nodded and began pushing slowly. Janet kept the cart straight while the soldier pushed and they made quiet progress down the tunnel towards freedom.

xXx

Thanks so much to Shade40 for beta reading this!

ALSO! This story now has a TVTropes page! Thanks to my wonderful readers for doing this and I would ask everyone to head over there and make it better! :D We can always use more tropes! tvtropes (dotorgslash) pmwiki /pmwiki. php/ Fanfic/ AnythingButNormal (without spaces) *is very excited* You guys rock!