(Age 16)
Elizabeth neared the corner, thankful that Winry fell asleep before night fall. She'd gotten near a research facility, but she had no idea where she was or where the others were. As she began to turn it, hollow footsteps clobbered closer to her. She rushed around the corner to see a suit of armor that was not her brother. It had a skull for a head and fur around a one-shouldered leather tunic. It reminded her of the armor that Alphonse had described to her, the transmuted convict that had fought with him and made him believe that he was artificially created.
The blundering fool was cackling in a crazed frenzy, chasing after something that had already entered the facility. She froze in surprise as he turned into the occupied building through the front gate without hesitation. He didn't care that people were in there that might try and capture him.
Elizabeth hesitated at the gate, wondering if she should pursue the murderer or Mustang's Unit. "Damn it." She swore, knowing that she might be able to help keep the casualty rate much lower here than with the others. She poked her head in the gate and saw that the coast was clear.
Just as she was about to dart to the front door, a vaguely familiar voice asked, "What the hell are you doing here?!" Elizabeth jumped in fear, whipping around to find a masked man.
He had on a black shirt that went down to his elbows, black fingerless gloves, black pants, and a ski mask-Black, with only . She couldn't place his name, but a slight breeze brought by the smell of his cologne mixed with the smoke of his cigarettes by her face just in time. "Jean?" she breathed, more than relieved to see him.
"That guy was Barry the Chopper." He seethed, his voice slightly muffled as he was still wearing the mask, "He's a serial killer who would have sliced through you without a second thought. Watch your back, Damn it." He turned away from her, letting Mustang pass him to rush through the door of the facility. Not sure of what they were doing, Elizabeth followed in suit.
She glanced at Havoc, but his eyes were trained on the path before them. Even Mustang was more serious than normal, and Riza wasn't letting him out of her sight. Elizabeth focused on their path as well, sensing the seriousness of the situation. She ran along with them, sticking to the back of the small group.
When they entered the building, Roy lead the pack, with Jean and Riza right behind him, closely followed by the two Elrics. Frazzled and skittish scientists were trying to gather papers and other dropped items that had been knocked over during Barry's Rampage.
The three officers with firearms un-holstered their guns and had them ready to fire. Roy put on a voice of authority as he frightened many of them even more by shouting, "A wanted killer has entered the building!" The five entering seemed to march in sync to the onlookers as their aura of power and authority pulsed with each step, "All staff evacuate immediately!"
The head security officer on duty tried to keep pace with the group, saluting as he addressed the Colonel, "What's the matter?"
Mustang didn't even turn to face the older man, replying with urgency, "The homicidal maniac that attacked the West Detention Center has broken through your perimeter." The security officer began to lose pace, "I'll take care of the criminal, security officers, block all entrances and exits!"
As the head officer fell behind the group, he called, "Yes, Sir!" before running off to call the order. A few more officers caught up momentarily to ask Roy, "Should we call for reinforcements, Colonel?"
"I already have!" He called impatiently, still keeping his seemingly impossible pace to the security officers, "I want you to do as you were ordered!" he snapped angrily. The officers fell away as their superior did, to follow Mustang's orders without question.
Quietly, Alphonse inquired, "When did you make the call?" Elizabeth listened as well, as she hadn't been with them as long.
She was deprived of any kind of information of what happened prior to her joining the group as he replied deadpanned, "I lied."
The five fanned out, looking for a way underground. Riza found the stairs to the basement and motioned for the others to follow her, gun ready to fire. The group turned a few corners, almost passing a pad-locked chain link fence. Havoc, still masked, noticed the gate chained shut as they were passing.
"Colonel!" He called quietly, pointing to the dark area where the chain link gate was. Mustang glanced at Alphonse, nodding his head purposefully.
"Yes, sir." Alphonse replied in a whisper. He clapped without a sound and illuminated the entire hall with the soft blue glow of transmutation. The silence of the group was only broken by the sound of the lock falling on the concrete.
They pressed onward, through the gate and into a slightly curved hall that went off into darkness in both the left and right directions. "Which way would Barry have gone?" The colonel thought aloud.
Riza lowered her gun, but didn't holster it as she offered, "Should we split up into two groups?" She glanced at Al, "I'll go with Alphonse to the left."
Mustang nodded, but Havoc asked, "Shouldn't Elizabeth go with you two as well?" Elizabeth thanked god for the darkness, so Jean couldn't see her anger and disappointment. Alphonse shook his head, almost in annoyance.
"No. I want her with you two." He spoke up, "No offense, but I want Elizabeth to be as safe as possible. Miss Riza is a great fighter, but she is coming into a place with alchemists, and I could be disabled very easily to anyone that knows how to. You two are the better option. Please take her with you."
Elizabeth smiled at her brother with love, knowing how much he wanted to protect her. Mustang nodded, "Alright. Now, don't pursue too far. Retreat once you've gathered a reasonable amount of information." He looked at Riza directly when he ordered this, worry ingrained into his voice.
Hawkeye's expression softened as she promised to him she'd be safe in the most reliable way she knew possible, "Yes sir."
The three that went to the right began periodically searching the rooms they encountered. The first few held nothing, and they were getting restless from the silence resonating through the halls. A huff of frustration echoed as Havoc peeled off his warm mask.
"The atmosphere here is brutal." He commented uneasily, "It's like a prison." Elizabeth felt the unsettling presence as well, but couldn't bring herself to comment on it like Havoc had. Mustang remained silent as well despite the atmosphere, entering the next room gingerly. Jean and Elizabeth followed in suit, Jean with his gun raised and Elizabeth with her automail arm sharped and ready. "It seems quite old," Jean said, entering slowly next the Mustang, "Like an abandoned Lab room."
The room was in a perpetual state of dismay, from overturned tables covered in dust and aged chemicals to the broken tubes and cylinders lying next to their rusted holders. Among the strewn papers, thick pipes, and cracked fixtures, Mustang scowled at a crimson stain near one of the tables, "But I doubt any experiments were ethical."
The three froze as a sultry laugh penetrated the darkness. "Not only did they fail to kill you," A woman's voice rolled out, feigning disappointment. The two men reared up their weapons, waiting for a threat, or at least a target, "But they allowed this intrusion, too." The woman behind the voice stepped out of the darkness. She was very tall compared to Elizabeth, falling only a few inches shorter than Jean. She wore black heeled boots that clicked softly among the rubble and a tight black dress that fell below her knees but revealed much of her cleavage. Her long dark locks fell to her lower back. On the center of her chest was the same tattoo donned by Greed. "Looks like we underestimated you."
Jean looked at her suspiciously, not sure of what he was witnessing. The woman continued with a false hurt in her voice, "How horrible. You stood me up to come to a place like this. And I was wondering where you were off to." She smiled at the realization slowly creeping onto his face, "I missed you, Jean." Elizabeth's gaze ripped away from her and landed on him, unbelieving.
"S-Solaris?" He cried, unbelieving as well. "What are you doing here?!" He lowered his gun instinctively.
Mustang gave the woman no such courtesy as he kept his fingers at the ready to snap, "You know her?!" he snapped angrily, looking at the lieutenant, but keeping Solaris well in his vision.
Elizabeth's arms had drooped slightly, "S-solaris?" She looked at Jean, her eyes wavering on him, "Your Solaris?" He grimaced as he reluctantly nodded.
Solaris laughed as if she were watching children, "Yes, I'm dating Jean." She glanced at Elizabeth smugly, knowing all about the girl.
Roy raised his firearm, pointing at Solaris, "Hey, that's an Ouroboro's tattoo." The woman raised her hand to the tattoo, like someone being complemented on a necklace.
Jean grimaced again, ashamed that his own girlfriend had been someone trying to kill the Elrics and he didn't even know it. "Yeah." He admitted, "I'm just learning about it as well."
"Well," Mustang drawled, eyeing Solaris's chest. Elizabeth followed his gaze and widened her eyes at what was coming, "I see why you were deceived by her. "You must love big-breasted women."
Elizabeth scoffed in disbelief. They were discussing their sexual preferences in front of a homunculus. "Men." She spat angrily.
Roy ignored the girl's annoyance and jealousy as he continued to the more important issue, "Did you tell her anything at all?"
Jean shifted uneasily, "Nothing about work." He replied loyally, having already known not to talk about anything remotely confidential. "I'm not an idiot," he added, "I know how to separate my professional and private life." Elizabeth scoffed, earning herself a glare from Jean.
"Solaris, right?" Mustang asked, pointing his gun at her once more, almost forgetting it wasn't an extension of his hand.
Laughing to herself, 'Solaris' looked down and replied with a smile, "An alias."
He paid her comment no mind as he asked, "Did you know Maes Hughes?"
The smile crept back on 'Solaris's lips as she said, "I sure did. A very sharp man indeed. My only regret," she cut her eyes at Roy, "was not finishing him off myself." Elizabeth gasped, learning of Hughes' death in such a calloused way, but it was drowned out by the ringing of a bullet being fired.
'Solaris' was shot in her thigh by Roy's firearm. Though he didn't flinch at the wound inflicted, his two comrades did. "Fall on your knees." He seethed, his hair falling in his face and taking on a tone that scared even Havoc. "Confess everything you know."
Jean looked like he was going to have a panic attack as his girlfriend stood defiantly against the colonel, "I don't think so," She remarked, lacking any pain as a red, alchemy-like light darted around her gunshot wound to heal it, "You won't be able to make me kneel." Mustang fired two more rounds, one through her tattoo and the other between her eyes, making her fall. Jean's breath quickened and Elizabeth's stopped as 'Solaris' stopped herself from falling backwards and stood straight again, blood flowing from both wounds. "How merciless." She taunted, licking blood that had rolled from her forehead to the corner of her mouth, "Truly the hero of Ishvalle."
Amazed-in a bad way-of her healing, Jean muttered out, "A homunculus?" He was strained and being pushed to his limits. He had known about his bad luck with women, but this was in a whole new league for him.
"My, my," 'Solaris' patronized gently, "You certainly investigated extensively, Jean." Elizabeth hated the way she said his name, Jean this, Jean that. The woman continued, unknowing of Beth's hatred of her, "I'll show you something as a reward for your hard work." She slung her hand out to the side, her fingers extending a ridiculous length like spiked claws. She brought the claws to her chest and tore into her own body to reveal a system of veins and tubes leading to a red stone in the center. "Can you see it?" she asked, grinning as she slowly let her chest heal back up, "It's the philosopher's stone. The legendary amplifier."
Elizabeth stepped forward, "Artificially created humans, with a stone as their life force. You don't have your own life force, so you have to create stones from human lives to live off of like a parasite!" she snapped, Mustang less than a step behind her with gun cocked. Jean still didn't have his gun pointed at the woman.
"How rude." 'Solaris' scolded, flipping her hair away from her chest and fluttering her eyes shut nonchalantly, "Our appearance is much like your own, and we have the same five senses, the same emotions, and affections for our creators, our 'parents'." She snapped her eyes open and stared at Jean, "We are human."
Jean was still unable to speak, and his attention was captured by Mustang's voice, "Revealing secrets so easily. You don't intend for us to leave here alive, do you?"
"The existence of Homunculus is the top secret." Elizabeth thought aloud, "So beyond here must be even more so, for her to be here, guarding it." Mustang nodded in agreement.
"And we're going to see what'd hidden, Homunculus." Mustang spat the word, degrading the woman before him.
As Jean was still fumbling with his firearm because of this woman, something in Elizabeth snapped. "God damn it, Jean!" she faced him, thoroughly fed up with his inability to function around 'Solaris', "She doesn't care about you at all. She's not human and she's going to fucking kill all of us." He didn't budge, so she pushed even father, "You're supposed to be my body guard, right?" she snapped, "Are you just going to watch in a fucking love-sick stare as she kills me with those god-forsaken nails?"
Jean snapped out of his blunder as he yelled at her, "Damn it, Beth!" He faced her angrily, "Don't talk about dying around me, you know damn good and well I won't let anything hurt you!" Elizabeth felt a smile creep on her face, but it was short lived.
'Solaris' extended her nails and stepped forward, "Very touching," She swiped at the three of them, "Now die." Jean went to the right, Roy, his cheek grazed and now bleeding, to the left, and Elizabeth dropped right where she was, shielding herself with her automail arm. It proved to be a bad decision as the nails sliced into the metal.
Mustang tried firing, but was out of ammo. "Havoc! Back me up!" he called, slipping on a glove. Jean aimed his own gun at his now ex-girlfriend. She curled her lip into a sneer as she sliced the water line above them, drenching the two men in water.
Elizabeth attacked from the side, just as the homunculus said, "Your trick's not good with a wet igniter glove, is it colone-" Beth's sharpened automail sliced into 'Solaris''s neck, splattering the girl in blood. The would-be murderer shook slightly, not used to the blood of another being on her.
"Run, while she's healing!" she cried, darting with the two men out the door. Roy was on one side of the doorway, Elizabeth and Jean on the other.
Jean was suddenly very talkative, demanding, "What now!? If we don't kill her soon, she's going to torture us to death!" His head drifted dangerously close to the doorway, which would have made an easy target for 'Solaris'. Elizabeth snatched him back without a word.
Roy readjusted his glove, muttering angrily, "Boy, am I underrated. If anything, this situation is actually favorable. Water means hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen mixed with oxygen is extremely flammable."
Elizabeth smirked, catching his drift, "And Miss 'Solaris' is in an enclosed space." Mustang nodded and bent down to the ground, where the water was slowly flooding out of the room. He transmuted the liquid into a gas and looked expectantly at the lieutenant.
"Yes, sir." Havoc agreed with a smirk to match Elizabeth's. He took out his cigarette lighter and flicked it open. It was an older model, so it lit as it opened. He chucked the whole thing into the room, right above 'Solaris''s head. Elizabeth pulled him down to the ground, where the sat as the flames of the lighter hit the gases and exploded around the homunculus. The two across from Mustang jumped violently from the explosion, whereas he remained calm and composed.
He chuckled at their responses, "Broken Flame, this is my field."
They treaded lightly on their way back in, the room scorched to hell and back. Jean slipped a cigarette in his lips and managed to find the remains of his lighter, "Damn, look what happened to my light." He tried flicking it to light it, "Shit, it won't light." he glanced at the Flame Alchemist, "Colonel, can you..." His eyes caught the reflection of light off of the water droplets still on his dripping wet clothes, "Never mind."
"Don't treat me like a wet match!" The colonel snapped. They sobered as they took in the sight of the soot, burns, and bits of explosion left in the room.
Through the now somber atmosphere, Elizabeth asked, "Was she burnt to death?"
Mustang hesitated, "Well, she was either blown to pieces," He paused and felt around his lips and face with his ungloved fingers, "No, she was definitely burned to death."
Havoc looked up from his investigating, interested, "How can you tell?"
Roy seemed to momentarily lapse into a war-memory as he replied in a daze, "When the body is burned, lipids disperse in the air. If you're near one that's been roasted recently, the area on your face around your lips become sticky from greasy fat."
Elizabeth subconsciously touched around her lips to find that there was indeed a sticky residue on her face. Her eyes softened as she walked to the colonel's side and placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry you have to relive this because of our meddling." she apologized.
He shook her hand off, "This needs to be fixed, regardless of who began the investigation. There was something seriously wrong, and there still is." He turned around, "Now, the corpse is still nearby, and her regenerative power can't be taken lightly. Stay on guard, you two."
Jean watched as Elizabeth gingerly stepped over what looked to be the remains of a hand. His eyes widened as he saw the red glow of her regeneration. Without a single thought or hesitation, Jean jumped over the pipe that separated he and Elizabeth and landed above the hand she was stepping over, shoving her into a charred table a few feet away. With only a split second to spare, he tried to move as well, but two of 'Solaris''s unnatural nails shot up into his midsection and out his back. Elizabeth pushed herself off of the table and cried, "Jean!" as Roy shouted out, "Havoc!"
His cigarette dropped and blood seeped out of his lips. The nails retracted as the homunculus put her energy into regenerating, making Havoc fall from the lack of support. Elizabeth pushed herself to move faster, trying to catch him. She only managed cushion his fall slightly, holding his head in her lap. "Damn it," Jean choked out, "My luck with women really sucks."
Elizabeth began taking his shirt off, despite his flimsy objections to her stripping him. She tried to help stop the bleeding, looking frantically for the lighter he had picked up that could only produce a spark.
"It's hopeless," she could hear from that bitch, "He won't survive." She taunted, the sound of her regenerating still resonating through Elizabeth's ears.
"You're wrong." Mustang argued back, taking Jean's gun and shooting 'Solaris' in the chest.
She laughed at him, "I still have many more lives!" Mustand knocked her over and dove a hand into her chest, right where the stone lay.
"There's a way to save him right here." He snarled, just as Elizabeth found the burnt up lighter on Havoc's person. He had stopped resisting, instead only wanting to touch Elizabeth's face.
Mustang ripped the stone from the homunculus's chest and declared, "I'm using this amplifier to treat my subordinate!" He rushed to where Havoc lay in Elizabeth's lap, "Havoc, hold on! Medical alchemy isn't my specialty, but with the stone..."
The stone between Roy's fingers pulsed and glowed red, the homunculus starting to form from it like a seed. "Isn't it rude to stick your hands between a lady's breasts?" 'Solaris' chided, half-formed form the stone. Mustang cried out in frustration and fear. The woman just laughed at the chaos around her and took her newly formed hand to extend her nails once more. This time they buried themselves into the side of the one holding her stone, Mustang.
She chuckled sadistically at the Colonel's pain, "Didn't I tell you? The stone is my center." She pushed him against a wall, "Our existence is closer to the 'Truth' than you humans. In other words, we're the newly evolved form of mankind." She retracted her hand and dropped him like he was as good s dead.
"No you're not!" Elizabeth cried, cradling Jean desperately, "You don't love. You don't care. You have no sense of fear, of loyalty, or regret, or pain, or connection. You are individuals, and mankind is never alone. You are always alone, but humans always have someone willing to band with them for the common good." Tears flowed as she flicked the lighter, trying to make a spark, "You're not." She cried, "You're not!"
"Now, now." 'Solaris' muttered, "I already had to leave one sacrifice for dead, but I have a feeling they've left you in the dark on a lot of things, haven't they, little Bethie?" She patronized, "I think I can leave you alive, you are a precious sacrifice, after all." She sighed and turned away from the girl cradling the man and the man trying to get up still, "There are more intruders, I should go and dispose of them as well."
"Damn you!" Mustang choked out at her, clutching the wounds inflicted on him.
She turned a cold stare on him, "Watch your officer slowly turn cold in your alchemist's arms before your very eyes, when you can do nothing, and die along with him."
She turned and left to Mustang's cries for Havoc, "Lieutenant! Havoc? Havoc, wake up! Answer me, damn it! Don't die!"
Elizabeth fumbled with the lighter more above Havoc's naked, bloodied chest. She finally created a spark and used it to transmute enough air to heat up the blade on her automail arm to cauterize Jean's wounds. She slowly pressed the red-hot blade against his smeared abdomen, biting her lip until it bled because of the sickening sizzling sound and smell of flesh. The only consolation she received was the groan of excruciating pain reverberating through her lap, reassuring her that Jean was still alive. She turned him over onto his side to patch up his back in the same way, the comforting noises of pain still there. Jean then fell limp in her lap, making Elizabeth's head stop for a beat. Only the steady movement of his chest made it pump again. He had passed out from the pain.
Pale and nearly sick, Elizabeth turned to the still conscious colonel and heated her blade up, "Your turn." she pulled away his shirt, thankful that his wound was much easier to access, and cauterized it the same way she'd done Jean's, even turning him over to finish the back. The moment she stopped burning his skin, Mustang tried to stand.
"Colonel!" Elizabeth cried, about to tell him not to move too quickly. Then she remembered what 'Solaris' had said about the other intruders, Riza and Alphonse, and forced an encouraging smile that turned out more like a grimace, "Be careful." she looked back down at Jean and stroked his hair gently, "And char that bitch to hell for me." she seethed, angry tears spilling over.
Mustang gave her a curt nod, not knowing how to deal with a situation like this, "Take care of my subordinate." He turned to leave, but stopped at the doorway. "Toss me that lighter, will ya?" He groaned in pain at the thought of walking more. Elizabeth tossed it gently to him, thankful that he caught it. He almost started walking again, but stopped one last time to say, "You're good for him. I know he'll pull through for you."
With another grunt of pain, Mustang began making his way towards Riza and Alphonse as fast as he could, with a mixture of walking and running.
Still in the charred lab room, Jean was drifting in and out of consciousness. Elizabeth forced herself to stay awake by busying herself with patching up her scraped up forearm from when Jean shoved her out of the way. Even painfully picking out bits and pieces of broken glass, she couldn't help but smile because he'd saved her. And then the tears flowed again. He was laying here, in pain and she was unable to help him anymore because he'd saved her.
"Jean." She whispered to him, not realizing that he was slowly drifting into consciousness as she spoke, "Jean, I love you so much. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for every time I cussed at you, and I yelled at you. I'm sorry for getting mad and getting jealous. I'm sorry for ever thinking that you were horrible and didn't care about me. I'm so sorry, please don't die. I need you." She hugged him tightly, "Jean, I need you so much. Please don't leave me."
Tears continued to streak down her face as silent, delicate sobs racked her frame. "I'm sorry." She mumbled, trying to wipe away her tears with her fist. A larger hand came up to meet her small hand and enveloped it, pulling it away and revealing her face. "Jean?" she asked, "Jean, just rest. Help is coming as soon as possible." He remained silent for a few moments as he wiped away her tears and held her left hand. She could see the pain from the burns and the stab in his eyes, no matter how hard he tried to cover it up.
Finally, once all the tears were wiped away, Jean whispered, "Don't cry because of me. I don't want to hurt you, Beth, I love you, too." Elizabeth found herself laying next to Jean in the rubble, stroking his hair and hugging his neck, trying desperately to do the one thing he asked her not to do-Cry.
Against his neck, she whispered, "I know. Just don't die. I don't know what I'd do without you." Jean's eyes drooped in weariness and Elizabeth felt his tension from the stress of staying awake so long. "Let me get some of this rubble away from us. You stay laying down and get some rest."
As she began to clear away debris, Jean replied, "That won't be too hard." Elizabeth thought he was just joking until he added, "Beth, I can't feel my legs." She felt the color drain from her face as she tried not to falter. She continued cleaning until there was a cleared spot around where the two of them could lay. "Lay with me, Beth." Jean pleaded in a breath, too tired to speak any louder.
She laid next to him, her head on his shoulder an her arm around his chest. "Maybe the hospital can help you." She offered, feeling his hand squeeze her shoulder reassuringly.
"Maybe." He replied, kissing her forehead before closing his eyelids. Elizabeth snuggled up to him, but couldn't sleep like the injured man could. She was blaming herself. If she'd seen the threat, he wouldn't have had to save her. If she'd been quicker to heal him, or better, or if he hadn't seen the threat, she'd be the one paralyzed, not him. Anything.
Her eyes fogged up slightly, thinking, at least he's alive, before surrendering to sleep as well.