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A Little Light of Love	By : squallstorm Category: Fullmetal Alchemist > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 7987 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
Disclaimer:
I do NOT own Fullmetal Alchemist or its characters.....I'm just
playing with them.

Author's
note:

Thanks
to ZaKai for reading through this chapter and finding all my many,
many mistakes.

Chapter
17

Al
took the steps two at a time. His hand gripped the railing to pull
himself up just as fast as his legs were pumping. The Seniore was
moving surprisingly well considering all the punishment he'd received
so far. Forcing his legs to move ever faster though they burned, Al
slowly drew closer to the fleeing man. Reaching out his hand, he was
just able to grope at the hem of the man's jacket. Growling, Al
pushed his body to the limit and stretched, but his fingertips failed
to close on anything but air.

Huffing
with excretion, the Seniore looked back and, seeing his danger,
kicked out blindly, clipping Al along the side of his chest. Al
could only fumble to hold onto the railing as he was pushed away and
slid backwards down the stairs before he stopped himself. The sound
of the Seniore's laughter echoed, making Al grimace and push his
tried body even harder as he launched after him once more.

This
time as he closed in, Al waited for the Seniore to set foot on the
landing, where he tackled the back of the man's knees, sending him
heavily face down into the grated platform. They lay there for a
moment, both of them unmoving.

Untangling
himself from the man's legs, Al spared the Seniore a glance, and
smirked. With his hands locked behind his back, the Seniore hadn't
been able to break his fall, and Al couldn't find it in him to care
that he was bleeding anew. He frowned then, wondering when he'd
become so cold-hearted. He never used to be like this, but then this
man did
do something very vile to his brother in front of everyone.

Groaning,
the Seniore rolled onto his side and spat out a gob of blood. Al
stared down his nose at the man, waiting to see if he'd try anything
else.

“That
was quite cruel of you,” the Seniore said, running his vile
tongue over his bloody lips. “Look at me!”

“Cruel?”
questioned Al. “I don't think it was at all. It was just what
you deserved, as far as I'm concerned.”

“Oh
good, you got him,” huffed Ed as he stepped onto the landing.
He bent forward over his knees and sucked the air into his lungs
greedily.

“You
okay?” Al inquired. He didn't remove his gaze from the Seniore
sitting across from him.

“Fine,”
said Ed, smiling wanly at Al's profile, and straightening.

- - - -

Roy tried his best to
keep up with Edward as they hurriedly climbed the stairs after
Alphonse, but he wasn't physically able to do it. Blood loss and
fatigue were conspiring against him, and he quickly fell behind.
Gripping the railing with his good hand, he steadied himself while a
bout of dizziness made his head swim.

“Are
you going to use it?”
Noa asked, supporting him on his right side by the small of his back.

“'It'?”
Roy asked, instantly alert and wary.

“You're
better off to use 'it' now while Edward can't see you do it,”
remarked Noa, glancing up the flights of stairs at the brothers.

“What
are you talking about?” He narrowed his eyes at her.

Noa raised her hand just
under Roy's nose and snapped her fingers. Frowning at the woman, Roy
wondered if maybe she used her abilities against him as well. His
grandfather would often snap his fingers with a flourish just before
lighting the camp fire. Roy had been so envious of his grandfather.

“I
don't know what you're talking about,” he hedged, watching her
carefully.

Raising a graceful
eyebrow at him, Noa turned and looked down at the machines below
them. “There,” she said, pointing to the row of oil
drums mid-way across the room on the floor below. “Use them to
start it.” Silence met this, and Noa turned back to meet Roy's
appraising study of her. “This can only be done by you.”

Snorting at her, Roy
looked down at the barrels, then back at Noa. She seemed to be very
different from a few moments ago. She seemed cockier, more forceful,
more like....Ed. Roy looked up the stairs. A few flights up, out of
ear shot, Ed was talking with his brother while standing guard over
the Seniore. Ed on the other hand seemed to be more reserved and
quiet, more like Noa.

“Did
you guys switch personalities or something?” he wondered aloud
while watching Ed.

“I
admit to feeling...empowered, but I don't think I switched with
Edward,” said Noa, nodding at her choice of words. Roy brought
his gaze back down, and studied the woman beside him. “Your
people seem to think it's not something to be ashamed of, why do
you?” inquired Noa.

“My
people...?” Roy frowned at her. “What do you know about
it?” he asked, anger seeping into his voice. “You don't
know anything about me!” he growled, suddenly angry. Energy
snapped between them, making Noa step back to the other side of the
steps in order to retain her footing. Roy's hair ruffled slightly in
an unnatural breeze, and he glared hard at Noa.

“Use
it!” Noa snapped back. Her face contorted with anger in answer
to Roy's.

Roy breathed hard,
trying to reign in his chaotic emotions. If he lost control
now...well, that couldn't happen. No matter what, he had to retain
control over his emotions. His good hand clenched with his effort to
forcibly cool his anger, taking deep breaths.

“You
are no more a 'freak', then I am,” whispered Noa, her face
softening. She raised her hand as if she wanted to touch his arm.

“Don't,”
Roy warned. Noa's hand fell back to her side to be scooped up by
Isabella who was watching him in awe. The strange breeze that only
moved Roy's hair died down and left the air feeling heavy with unshed
energy. Closing his eyes, Roy leaned back into the railing, and took
a steadying breath. “Go, I'll follow in a minute,” he
said, waving the woman up the stairs.

Nodding her acceptance,
Noa tugged Isabella after her as she climbed the stairs.

Roy inhaled and held it,
waiting for the burn that came as the need to take the next breath
grew. Finally, he released it with a soft hiss and opened his eyes.
The barrels that Noa had shown him seemed to monopolize his vision.
Biting the nail on his thumb in thought, he took another slow breath,
making everything fade as he started to go deeper into his trancelike
meditation.

Taking another breath,
Roy reached across his body and unhooked the small metal plate that
he took with him everywhere, and placed it on the left side of his
belt. Shaking his head, Roy closed his eyes again and struck his
thumb along the plate making a spark drop from the flint in the
middle, down to the steps.

His grandfather would be
mad at him. He hadn't practiced like he'd promised before he'd left
his grandfather to go with his mother to the city. He should have
never let the spark get that far. Rubbing his hand across his lips,
and then through his hair, pushing the black tangled mess off his
forehead, Roy took another breath.

When he struck again, he
was able to catch the spark in the palm of his hand, and bring it up
to his eye level. It hovered just above the middle of his palm,
slowly dying. Tilting his head to the side as he watched the spark,
Roy willed it to spring forth and live. With a little flicker, the
spark flared into a small blue flame.

Sighing, Roy smiled
serenely at the fire. He might be out of practice but it looked like
he still could bend it to his will. Coaxing the flame into a more
robust ball of fire, Roy shot a cautionary glance up the stairs to
find that he was, thankfully, being ignored for the moment. Letting
his hand drop away, Roy turned and started his climb up the stairs to
join the others. At the landing, he covertly looked over his
shoulder to watch the slow progress of the ball as it crossed the
room, heading towards the barrels.

Even if he wasn't as
good as his grandfather at conjuring flame from nothing, he could do
wonders as long as he had a spark to work with. As long as he held
his temper, he was just fine.

- - - -

“Good,
you've caught him,” Roy said, when he finally re-joined the
group pulling himself up the last step, wearily. He scanned the
assembled people.

Noa and Isabella were
standing close by; Noa meeting his gaze levelly, something he
wouldn't have attributed to her in the past, so he figured it had to
do with whatever she did to Ed, and Isabella looking behind her to
the floor below.

Al was restraining the
Seniore with a grip on his upper arm; his gun drawn, and pointed at
the man. He also met Roy's appraisal with a level gaze, although Roy
was sure that he hadn't heard the last of the mistrust issue. The
Seniore leered at him. His blood caked face made wet again by the
fresh blood slowly oozing from his nose.

And Ed? He was standing
on the other side of the Seniore, slightly apart, closer to Roy. His
hair was a tangled mess, lying down his back. He was dirty, ragged,
and tired looking. But when their eyes met—Roy swallowed
unconsciously—it was as if none of that bothered him. He
almost radiated light, and Roy became uneasy with the thought that it
was due to him alone.

“So,
Al...where do we go from here? Do you follow me? Or...?”
asked Roy, trailing off. Although he was addressing the younger
brother, Roy had yet to break eye contact with Ed. Those golden eyes
were drawing him in. He thought that maybe he could look into those
eyes forever.

“I'll
follow you,” said Al, his voice even and steady. He didn't
like it, but for now he'd follow his brother's instincts on this man.
If nothing else, he trusted his brother.

Roy dragged his eyes
away with a supreme act of will. “Good.”

“Noa,
Noa, look!” exclaimed Isabella, pointing at the floor below.

“Just
ignore it,” Noa quietly whispered back.

Roy shifted his weight.
“Let's get out of here. I'm ready to call it a day.”
Roy got nods all around, except for the Seniore, who was giving him a
sour glare. “Okay, then. Here's how it'll go in case we're
stopped. I was attacked by the Seniore here, who obviously wounded
me—an officer of the 'German' army,” said Roy, pointing
at his shoulder, and smiling sardonically at Al's shuttered
expression. “I took him prisoner, and along with you, my other
prisoners, are making our way to the control room—which I saw
on my way in and happens to be near the exit. Okay?”

“That's
sounds fine,” Ed said pushing off the railing.

“Noa!
Look a'it!” Isabella said, tugging on the woman's arm, and
pointing.

“Okay
then, Al, you keep that gun on the Seniore, but keep it hidden. Noa
and Isabella I want you two back with me, and Ed could you take
point?”

“Sure,”
Ed agreed. He took a step towards the second last set of stairs, and
then halted at Roy's touch on his arm. Looking up, Ed stared into
his questioning eyes, with a silent question of his own.

Roy flicked from one
side of Ed's face to the other, looking for any sign of the old Ed.
He was there, he knew it, but...he didn't like the quiet Ed, and it
worried him that he cared one way or the other. The fact the Ed
allowed Roy the chance to study him just proved that he wasn't
behaving normal right now.

“Oh,
don't start that again,” huffed the Seniore. Not only was HIS
blond looking at the dark-haired man like HE looked at the blond, but
now the dark-haired man was looking at HIS blond in almost the same
way—if not a bit less intense. It really pissed him off, and
he hoped to provoke another altercation.

“Oh—shut
up!” Al said in annoyance.

“You!
Shut up!” Roy said in exasperation, almost at the same time as
Al. He could see Ed quirk his eyebrow at him in the corner of his
vision. “Let's go.” Roy reluctantly released his hold,
and nodded everyone up the stairs, pointedly not meeting Ed's glance.

Eager to leave this
place, they quickly climbed the remaining flights of stairs; waiting
for Roy when he needed a breather. Isabella kept looking down at the
floor below, and at times would ask Noa to look. This,
unfortunately, made Ed and Al curious.

When
they stopped on the last few steps before the exit, and turned to
look down, Roy thought that maybe he shouldn't mess around anymore.
Before they could turn all the way around, Roy was already willing
the small ball of flame forward. With
a loud, ringing explosion, half of the lower floor erupted into
flames. The wash of heat flew over their faces, knocking them back
plunging the room into darkness, but for the flames.

“Holy...shit,”
Ed breathed, his eyes wide in shock.

“Wha—”
wondered Al. “How did—”

“That's
not going to go unnoticed. Move!” barked Roy, shoving Noa to
her feet. Secondary explosions started going off like fire crackers,
each one seemingly louder then the last. Ed ran for the door while
Al pushed the Seniore up the stairs before him. Roy's tried body was
pushed to its max, but he was running on adrenaline now and it didn't
seem to bother him as much. Noa pulled Isabella up the last steps
and swung her up into her arms. The small girl twisted her head
around looking back at the destruction behind them.

Once they were back in
the hall, Ed looked nervously around, wondering at the lack of
soldiers, but glad as well. The corridors were almost pitch black,
with only the small emergency lighting the ends of the halls. “It'll
look strange for us to be here,” Ed said. He checked both
directions again, but it was difficult to make out much in this
gloom.

“Quickly
then,” Roy said, shooing them down the hall. Ducking down an
adjoining hallway, Roy paused at the corner and listened. Why wasn't
anyone coming to investigate? The floor rumbled with another
secondary explosion making fine dust fall from the ceiling.

“I
don't like this,” Al hissed, throwing glances all around them
in agitation.

“What's
going on?” Ed wondered, bumping into Roy's good shoulder. He
leaned forward to look around Roy's body and the corner, but Roy
waved him off.

“No
one seems to be coming,” said Roy, frowning. Now he almost
wished to see soldiers running down the hall, only so he could rid
himself of this feeling of foreboding. He searched the darkness for
any sign of movement, and shook his head at the lack there of. How
could they not come and investigate. They needed the power on in
order to run the base...so, where were they?

“Some
detachment, you had waiting for us,” said Ed, smirking at the
Seniore in victory. “Seems you lied.” Not that he
doubted it in the least, but it was still nice to gloat just the
same.

“Did
I? We'll see about that,” said the Seniore, eying the blond
hungrily. He slowly let his eyes travel down Ed's front, pausing at
his groin and then lazily lifted his eyes back up to the blond's
face.

Roy did a double take as
he watched how the Seniore was looking at Ed. Releasing a tense
breath, his eyes narrowed. He was starting to understand why Ed was
so angry with this man. He was beginning to understand what this man
had done, and he could feel his own anger spike. How could he have
missed it for so long? Hadn't Ed hinted at this, and then the way Al
had been so angry. He thought it was a bit strange. So, Ed was
what? Raped? Almost raped? In front of his brother? But this
wasn't the time for this. He'd stirred the base up now. They needed
to get to the entrance as quickly as possible.

“Which
way do we go for the entrance,” Roy asked through gritted
teeth, trying not to burn the Seniore right now. He could feel the
flames in the room below burn hotter in response to his increasing
anger and he directed his fury there as an outlet for now. They
didn't have time.

The ground shook with
the aftershocks, making the ceiling crack alarmingly. A fine thread
of sand started to spill through the newly torn concrete. Ed threw a
worried look at the integrity of the structure before prying his eyes
away and meeting Roy's gaze.

“That
way,” the Seniore said, nodding to the left. A little too
quickly and easily. Ed didn't buy it. But they had a card left to
play still.

“Noa.”
Ed waved her over. Not for one second trusting what came out of
that man's mouth, Ed would have Noa use her abilities to see if the
man was telling them the truth, and if she found the location on her
own, then they wouldn't have to rely on the bastard at all.

Dropping Isabella's
hand, Noa approached the man warily. As she approached, he spat at
her feet a bright glob of blood. Pausing, Noa looked down at her
feet, and then blankly back at the Seniore. Stepping over the blood,
she reached out and gently touched his cheek in a soft caress. If
she had done this before what she had done to Ed, she would have been
a bundle of nerves. But now thanks to that, she was calm.

Surprisingly, she didn't
have to look far for the information she wanted. “I got it.
It's this way,” she said, letting her hand fall away from the
Seniore's cheek and pointing with the other down the hall they were
in. Not in the direction the Seniore had indicated.

“Witch!
You filthy whore. What did you do?” demanded the Seniore,
glaring at Noa.

“Let's
hurry,” begged Al, shoving the Seniore in that direction
effectively cutting off any further comments. Noa scooped up
Isabella's hand and hurried after Al.

“Ed,”
mumbled Roy, catching the blond's attention before he could get too
far. “After this is over, you're telling me what happened.
All of it.”

Ed
looked back at Roy, puzzled as to what he meant. He lifted an
eyebrow in a silent question.

Roy
held up his index finger and shook it at him. “I mean it.
Everything,” said Roy, his voice becoming hard and stern. Ed
continued to look at him perplexed and a little bit alarmed. “Come
on, we're falling behind.” Roy strode down the hall with more
energy then he really had; his long strides quickly covering the
distance gained by Noa and Al.

“Er—wait!”
Ed hissed at him, trotting alongside him as he kept pace. “What'd
you mean?”

“This
way,” Noa said, squinting through the dark around the next
corner for soldiers before moving down the new corridor. The
prospect of getting out of here added urgency to her footsteps.

“Roy!”
Ed complained, getting peeved.

“You
got point—get into position and send Noa back here,”
ordered Roy.

- - - -

“I
want emergency power back on within fifteen minutes. You, I want a
progress report on the status of the bomb, and make preparations to
move it if it's undamaged,” barked Schreck pointing at one of
the soldiers in the room awaiting orders. Grit fell from the ceiling
as the base rumbled with half-heard, half-felt explosions.

Schreck turned away from
the interior of the room and looked out into the main chamber. “Make
plans to abandon the base. I want all research removed—I don't
want anyone finding out what we've been up to.”

“Yessir!”
chorused the waiting soldiers.

The men left to carry
out their orders, leaving Schreck to look down on the destruction
that was once their main chamber. All their hard work to expand and
deepen the vault like room was collapsing around them. Not only had
most of the scaffolding come crashing down but now with those
explosions rocking the base, the ceiling was starting to fall.

Schreck
closed his eyes in silent resignation. If he survived the meeting
with the Führer,
and still had a career in the German army, he was going to make sure
that everyone knew how dedicated he really was. This just happened
to be an anomaly on an otherwise spotless term of service. He opened
his eyes to watch another part of the ceiling beak away and crash
into the floor with a loud crack. Shifting his gaze beyond the ruin,
he watched as a small team of engineers pulled and lugged two gas
generators over to the elevator—while keeping a wary eye on the
ceiling—in order make sure the they had an exit when the time
arouse.

He had to admit, he had
a really good group of men working for him on this project. If
nothing else he'd make sure that they'd get recognition for all their
hard work.

- - - -

The
twins looked up as one of Dr. Marcoh's creatures slunk along the
ceiling. It stopped above them and whiffed at the air, its head
swing from side to side before it arched its neck back to look at
them. For several moments, neither one of them moved in the
darkness. The creature shuddered. The dim emergency lighting making
it appear as if the light rippled down its mangled form.

“This
will prove difficult,” the twin on the right said quietly, his
nose wrinkling slightly as the odor of the animal above them wafted
down to them, but he made no move to cover his nose.

The
creature tilted its head at the soft whisper and snorted deep in its
chest. The iridescent eyes flashed at them curiously as it tilted
its head from side to side. Its flanks quivered and it shuffled
uncertainly. Its long claws gripped at the concrete ceiling making
lengthy vicious looking gashes.

“Brother,
you know we can't fail him,” came the reply from the left. The
one on the right nodded. To fail was to die. Without any more words
exchanged between them, they set off confidently down the darkened
halls with the creature watching them leave. Their boot falls
echoing.

They
would not fail.

- - - -

“What
is
that noise?” hissed Ed. He paused in his trek down a hall
filled with boxes and scaffolding, looking around for the source of
the needling scratching noise that seemed to surround them.

“Don't
stop, we're close now!” urged Noa from the rear.

“Don't
you hear
that?” persisted Ed. He slowed to a stop and franticly cast
his eyes about the darkness looking for what could be causing the
noise.

“Ed,”
whispered Al. He shoved the gun into the Seniore's back in warning
in case he took this as an opportunity to start something. The
Seniore chuckled softly, and then laughed, louder and louder. Al
hissed in annoyance and shuffled closer to the man in order to shut
him up.

“Oh,
you're going to enjoy this, Edward,” chuckled the Seniore. “I
wondered why he hadn't let them out sooner. I guess he just wanted
to wait—”

“Shh!”
Roy hissed at the man, trying to silence him. The sound that Ed had
heard first was now audible to them all. Everyone waited on pins and
needles, wondering when and where the source of that noise would
appear from. Above, down the hall, in front? It seemed to be all
around them and then it was behind, then above. Roy strained his
eyes, trying to catch what could be making that noise.

“A
horsey!” Isabella screeched in alarm, pointing at the wall
behind them.

Despite
the wrong word, everyone whirled around at the tone in her voice, to
search for what the little girl had seen. On the wall behind them
they could see movement approaching. It was just a darker patch on
dark wall, but they could see and hear it move, crunching the wall
with each step.

“The
fuck is that!” cursed Ed a little too loudly, taking a step
back. The dark shape on the wall grumbled at the noise and the dim
lighting reflected in its eyes as it looked around at them.

Roy
frowned and slowly moved towards Noa and Isabella, pulling them
behind him. Noa clutched at his jacket and huddled into his back.
He began to inch his gun from his hostler. The shape moved closer
still, seemingly smelling the air, as the eyes flashed in and out of
the light.

Without
warning, the thing leapt off the wall, launching itself directly at
Al. He bent his legs ready to spring out of the way when he actually
caught sight of the beast. He widened his eyes in alarm as the light
played along its flanks. The humanoid shape was twisted, with
bulging boil like warts all over its body. Al actually forgot to
move and could only stand there horrified, gaping at the thing
hurtling towards him. With a cry of rage, Ed pushed himself away
from the floor and sprang towards his brother.

Roy
was faster. His gun tracked the beast and he fired into its
mid-section. As an added measure, he used the explosive charge from
the gun and engulfed the animal in hot blue flames. Ed crashed into
Al's frozen body, knocking him to the floor out of its path. With a
terrible human-like cry that echoed unpleasantly down the halls, the
beast fell to the floor just in front of Ed's and Al's feet,
immobile.

Ed
could only stare at it from over his shoulder, with Al beneath him
doing the same thing. The stench of burning flesh assaulted their
noses, making Ed scrunch his. He looked over at Roy who was standing
in front of Noa, panting. Roy's injured hand was clenched tight as
he stared at the burning body. Looking down at his brother, he
asked, “Alright?” Al could only nod minutely.

Pushing
himself off his brother to rest on his heels, Ed covered his lower
face with the sleeve of his shirt, looking at the charred carcass
with disgust. A greasy puddle was staining the floor from the
creature's corpse. “Ugh! What is
it? It stinks,” said Ed in disgust. He could see Al cover his
face in his peripheral vision. “Did it burn up from the shot?”

“Thank
you, captain,” said Al, looking up at the man standing in front
of Noa and Isabella. Roy lowered the gun, and nodded at Al.

Another
near human-like cry echoed down the halls seeming to come from
everywhere at once. Ed hastily stood and looked around in alarm.
“There's more of them!” he exclaimed.

“Ha
ha ha ha! You won't be getting out of here now! Ha ha ha ha! Oh,
Edward...soon.” The Seniore gazed at him out of half lidded
eyes.

Ed
met the leer for a moment before turning away. “Fuck,”
cursed Ed. He was starting to feel his anger towards the Seniore
return. “Let's hurry.”

Everyone
felt the urgency to get out of here quickly, now more then ever,
except for the Seniore who was grinning widely. The cry sounded
again, but it was too hard to determine the source and it was making
Ed edgy. He could feel that they would have to fight those things.
Feel it in the pit of his stomach, but they didn't look like anything
he'd want to deal with without alchemy.

“Move!”
hissed Roy. While the creature continued to burn, Roy hadn't been
able to tear his eyes away from its carcass. He'd never burned a
living thing since he was little, and to see this thing now turning
into an oily patch of charred flesh took him right back to that day.
It had been an accident. He hadn't meant to get so angry that he had
burned the cat who scratched him as a small child. At that time no
one thought he could call fire to his will and make it do his
bidding.

It
wasn't until the Seniore spoke did he come back to himself and
realize how venerable they were here. They needed to get out and
now. Ed pulled Al to his feet and the both of them manhandled the
Seniore forward.

“Take
the next right, Edward,” called Noa from behind Roy, who was
walking in front of her. The cry, accompanied by the crunching of
concrete rushed up behind them in the dark. Edward spun around and
came back towards the women and Roy, who was starting to lag. He
searched the walls for anymore of those things, spotting several
flashing eyes watching them before they winked out of sight.

Without
a word Ed lifted Roy's good arm and slung it over his shoulders. His
other hand worked its way into the top of Roy's pants, where it
gripped tightly, and he pulled Roy forward. “Noa! Run
faster!” yelled Ed over his shoulder. He just caught motion in
the corner of his eye on the ceiling. Noa, dragging Isabella with
her, dashed past them. “Com'on, Mustang. Run!”

Roy
gasped. “How do you know
that?” He too looked over his shoulder and frowned in horror.
He counted at least three sets of eyeshine following them. One on
the ceiling, and two on the walls.

“Not
the time for that!” gasped Edward, willing his already tired
body to move faster, pulling Roy along with him.

- - - -

Colonel
Jack Tompkins strode boldly across the main chamber. Soldiers
swarmed around him, lugging, heaving, carrying the precious equipment
and documents towards the elevator, to pile onto the platform, and
the two high powered flood lamps lighting up only a third of the
chamber. No one paid him any notice as he approached the elevator
and the two engineers splicing wires together with some generators.

“Is
it ready yet?” the colonel asked the closest technician. He
adopted an air of suppressed anxiety with a hint of
self-righteousness, just like he'd seen so many of the officers
behave. The Germans had no lack of pride in themselves.

The
technician he was addressing looked up from his work, and blinked.
He looked across to the other engineer, who had also looked up at the
colonel's interruption, and then back. “Sir, the switch to
battery power is almost complete. It should only be—“

“Good.
Then take me up as soon as you have completed.”

“Yessir!”
both technicians replied and hurried to finish off their task.
Almost immediately, the technician jumped up and rushed over to the
first of the generators. He turned the key and pulled on the cord,
making the engine turn over.

“Sir,
we can take you up now, but due to the generators output, it won't be
as quick as before—”

“That's
fine.” The colonel crossed over to the elevators controls and
flipped the switch. The floor beneath him shuddered once and then
started upwards. Painfully slow. The colonel almost felt that he
should jump off before the thing crashed. But he had a part to play.
He was an officer in the German army, full of pride. To do
something like that would be to give himself away. He could only
hope that everyone else had gotten out all right.

This
was a disaster.

Almost
thirteen hours had been spent in here, and while he and the others
presumably had done a lot of good with their misdirection, and
sabotage, he had no way of knowing if anyone had been able to locate
and extract the very man they had come in here for, Major Edward
Elric.

The
colonel allowed his gaze to go unfocused while the massive pillars of
support beams passed by. This could all be for nothing. He really
hated when his missions went sour. Capitan Taylor was a mistake to
bring. He had no training in how to go into a facility like this.
Walking in cold and be able to make it out without some sort of
planning and studying of the premises or blueprints first was not
part of the capitan's skill set . All his team members knew how to
memorize the layout and get back to a starting point without trouble,
and without any prior knowledge.

He
looked up and saw the main shed come into view. The
platform groaned to a stop with a little bounce, making the colonel
brace himself. The main shed door was closed firmly against the
elements. Searching the inside of the shed, the colonel saw a large
switch near the shed-like door. Striding across the floor, he turned
the handle, releasing the door to swing upwards. Impatient to get
out of this place, he walked over to the mid-point and waited, with
his hands behind his back, for the door to rise enough to allow him
to walk out.

The
door had only risen to his chest before he was swarmed. The colonel
took an alarmed step back, raising his hands in surrender as twenty
American soldiers pointed rifles at his chest and head.

“Don't
move! Hands on your head!” shouted someone from behind him.
Colonel Tompkins wasn't about to do anything to provoke them. He
didn't want to get accidentally shot by his own countrymen. He
slowly interlaced his hands on the crown of his head and stared
straight ahead.

“Name
and rank,” someone new demanded in German.

“My
name is Colonel Jack Tompkins with the intelligence branch of the
American Army, serial number 1293 4 766 32. I am under orders to—”
he answered in English.

“Stop!
Mathews, search him for any documents. We'll see if you're who you
say you are,” said the first voice menacingly.

A
rough hand was clasped to woven fingers as a soldier began patting
him down. As he found items on his possession, they were turned out
and thrown onto the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, the colonel
saw another soldier bend down and rummage through his things. The
soldier patting him down moved to the front and jerked open his shirt
front, making small buttons pling off of the guns pointed at him.
The soldier lifted his dog-tags up and inspected them.

“Sir,”
the soldier saluted him then, letting the dog-tags fall back to his
chest. At the colonel's nod, the other nineteen soldiers lowered
their weapons and snapped to attention.

“At
ease,” the colonel commanded, lowering his hands back down to
his side. Twenty soldiers shifted to a shoulder width stance
awaiting further orders. He was handed his documents and he shoved
them into his pants pocket. “Have your men remove these items
in case they recall the elevator,” Colonel Tompkins ordered,
pointing to the boxes that had been placed on the platform. “Report
on the situation? Who ordered your deployment?” he demanded as
he strode out into the blinding sun.

A
corporal hurried to his side, and saluted before answering. “Sir,
one of your team members got out almost four hours ago, and was able
to contact us after he commandeered the radio tower,” said the
corporal, pointing to a squat building.

“Who's
in command? Are you planning an assault?” questioned the
colonel. His eyes swept around the ruined, smoking compound.
Several of the smaller buildings lay in charred ruined heaps. Tanks
lined the perimeter. A group of soldiers seemed to be guarding one
building in particular. Must be where any prisoners where being kept
for the time being.

“Yessir.
Major General Thompson is commanding the operation, and he plans to
infiltrate and seize the contents within.”

“How
many of my team have come out so far?”

“I
believe all but one and the target have come out, sir,” replied
the corporal.

“Taylor!”
the captain said, making the man's name sound vile. “I knew we
shouldn't have taken him with us!”

--
To be continued –

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A Little Light of Love