For Her. For Him.

A/N: To my reviewers, nette, this is the showdown, we'll see if you like what I've done with it, it jumps around a lot. Trulywished, yeah, Wrath is on their side, and you'll see soon that he's in trouble now. Amethyst-eyed Koneko, yeah, Raine's pushy, but I'm basing her personality on Roy. As for the flare, yep, it was due to the babies, as for everything else, I know it's tense, but that's where we are in the canon. As for Havoc, you know you're the only one to pick up on that, at least who's said anything. Bookworm51485, I'm glad you decided to read this and finally review. Glad you like Raine. She's original, but not really. Her personality is based mostly on Roy, so I'm not being entirely original with her. As far as Dante, well, her intentions are coming up. Asha Crone, this chapter is the end of Scar. (I love his character too. Unfortunately, I picked up on this story a little late for his story line, and with Ed incapacitated, he was almost non-existant in this. kuragari75, hope this was soon enough for you. 4thcry, nope, can't hear you. Wrath has been a little fun to play with. I wondered how different he'd have been if Ed and Al hadn't tried to remove his limbs and Izumi had just been honest with him, so this is my take on that. Yes, if I do a sequel, you are the one to be thanked (blamed, too, I guess if it sucks).

This chapter has a lot of transitions from points of view, hoping to carry across the idea of how much is going on here.

Chapter 36

Creating a Stone

Wandering back to face Pride, Lust and Gluttony looked up at the large building.

“Are you okay?” Gluttony asked. “I will kill that scarred man for hurting my Lust.”

“I am fine, Gluttony. I just wish I knew what it was that man had in that locket. A piece of her, I think, the woman I was supposed to be.”

That man with his Ultimate Eye knew she was there and arrived shortly, apparently having spotted the two homunculi. “Did you kill Fullmetal so quickly?” Pride said.

“The master stopped me. She ordered me not to hurt him. I want to know why.”

“It is not our place to question why.”

Lust only half-noticed as the puddle of a woman formed at Pride’s side. “Wrath has gone after Fullmetal. He wants his body. We need to find him. Especially if the master has given orders.”

“You two, find Wrath,” Pride ordered.

“We’ll need a way to detain the little brat,” Lust looked down at Pride’s sword. Forged with alchemy, it was the only thing that could stop a homunculus short of using alchemy, as long as it was jabbed into the center of the ouroboros. (A/N: My explanation for how Lust was held by the sword in the series.)

“Unless you know of another way…”

“It is not as though it is the only one I own,” Pride said, “but I think my dagger will do just fine.” He pulled a dagger out of his boot, handing it to Lust. No, he didn’t trust her enough to actually give her the sword. Only the dagger, forged the same way, but something he could see coming.

Pride and Sloth left Lust and her companion to search for the little brat.

“Did you see the power that Fullmetal now has, Gluttony?”

“He was more powerful than Master, but he’s pregnant.”

“But I think he could defeat the master, Gluttony. All we need is a bargaining chip to make sure he doesn’t betray us?”

“Chip?”

“Someone who has something of his, two somethings.” Lust looked down at the dagger.

********

Roy ran after Al. “Al, wait!”

“Brother is in danger, and you have to stay here and stop the troops from going into Lior!”

“I know. Just…” Roy held out his hand. “Just take him his watch.” He handed Al the watch. “Take it to him.”

Al took the watch from his future brother-in-law, seeing on the colonel’s face just how much he wanted to be going with him. “He’ll appreciate this,” Al said before fleeing from the building, heading toward the town of Lior following the sounds of chimeras as he went.

********

Elsewhere at Central Command, Havoc and the others were spreading the truth through the troops in a viral way, certain the truth would be manipulated, but so long as Pride and Sloth became the villains, the members of Mustang’s team didn’t much care how.

Havoc and the rest were careful to ensure the rumor wasn’t traced back to them, but just as careful to make sure it spread. The troops would not defy the false leaders, but now at least understood what they were, they understood what Isbal was really all about. The troops of Amestris knew everything, learned it all as the troops in Central certainly were thanks to Shezka, Maria Ross, and Denny Brosch.

An underground rebellion was starting, and the would-be rebels now needed a leader, a figure to gather around.

********

In a bunker in Lior, Ed had left a still stunned Scar and Lyra with Marta and Raine while he went to talk with, or rather to, Rose.

“Do you mind if I… Could I hold the baby?” Rose smiled, handing the squirming infant over to the teen, who struggled to hold him with the added weight and his own awkward size. “Were you really this big, too?” He gestured to his stomach, Rose nodded, then signaled that she’d been a bit smaller, naturally, only having one child. “The back pain is a bitch.” Rose immediately covered her baby’s ears, looking at Ed disapprovingly. “Sorry. But the back pain really is terrible, isn’t it?” Again, she nodded.

Ed looked down at the dark-haired child. “Hi there. Your mommy is really trusting to let me hold you. Usually, I’m really awkward about holding a baby, but I’m going to need practice.” A chubby little hand grabbed Ed’s nose. “I’m going to have two like you on the way.” Another hand darted out to Ed’s mouth, and Ed mock-bit at the fingers, evoking a pleased laugh from the baby.

Rose put her hand on Ed’s shoulder.

“I’ve gotten down the pregnancy part. It sucks, but I’ve got this much under control. It’s when they’re born and I’m faced with two of these that I’m getting scared about.” He laughed. “As though my life didn’t already have enough to be frightened of.” He handed the baby back to Rose and looked at her for a moment, a remorseful expression on her face.

“Scar said you lost your voice because of what the military men did to you.” Rose looked away. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you by bringing it up. I know you must really hate the military after all of that. It’s just that,” Ed looked down to his stomach, rubbing his left hand over it. “I can’t. These babies have three parents, all in the military. I’m in the military… I know it’s easy to forget that, but I am. Their mother was in the military, and their father still is. And Rose, I love him. I really do. He will be a victim in Scar’s plans if we can’t convince him to stop, and I don’t know how I can go on if he’s hurt, Rose.” He held up his left hand to show her, feeling like he was manipulating her. Sure, he was still hormonal as hell and these things were all true--not that he would normally admit that out loud, but he’d learned from the last time he’d dealt with Rose that to get through to her, it took emotion, that which she could relate to. “Do you see this ring? He actually proposed to me.”

Ed began to allow himself to tear up. Damn, it sucked having to do this in front of someone. He preferred being strong, but he was too ridiculous-looking to put of any semblance of strength. So bearing his weakness for the young woman to see would have to work. “Rose, I can’t lose him.”

“Then send warning to him,” Scar said behind him. “It goes against the laws of Ishbal, everything you and this man have and are to one another, but these babies, I cannot allow them to be without their parents, no matter how they are created. Give me a message. I will give it to one of the children to deliver to the…other… father.” Ed looked at him doubtfully. “I will do nothing to hurt them.”

“Especially since they have not intention of letting you hurt them or me.” Scar looked at him strangely, either for his remark or just the fact that the man was still very baffled. “That blast, I know it came from them, or at least their power. I'm pretty sure I was the one in control when I transformed the air into a hot blast of moisture to force you away from me.” Those eyes of the man, despite all of Ed’s explanations, did not lose their confusion and once again fell on the large belly. “You can touch it, but you need to put that right hand of yours behind your back.”

Ed lifted the maternity top to bare his stomach to this man, believing that Scar was simply not capable of hurting the babies, if not for himself or for them, for Al. As Ed had instructed, Scar tucked the right arm behind his back, then placed the left on the teen. “It’s so unnatural."

“I doubt it’s a whole hell of a lot more natural when it’s a woman.” Ed watched as Scar moved his hand away. “Their mother was dying and was a good friend to me from the time I met her five years ago. I tried to save her. Would you have done differently?”

“Of course not.”

“And if you knew she was dead, but something in her wasn’t, would you have tried to save it if you could?”

Scar didn’t answer, but bowed his head in acknowledgement that he likely would have done the same. “You need to get sleep. Both you and Rose,” he said, an acknowledgement that despite beliefs and religious dogmas he was trying to accept Ed. “The ladies and I will stand guard. Tell me, why is your younger brother not here?”

“The military forced him to stay behind." Ed made sure to add, "He cannot wait to be an uncle.”

Scar nodded and left Ed in the room with Rose, where they each took a place on tiny beds on the opposite walls. It was not a restful sleep that came, but Ed gradually began to doze, only to be reawakened a few hours later by the sound of an explosion at the outskirts of the city. Struggling to get out of the bed, Ed watched as the curtain separating the room from the rest was pushed back, Marta standing outside.

“It’s Kimblee. Ed, you’ve got to get out of here.” She outstretched her hands to pull him from the bed. Stepping from the room, he found Scar preparing himself. “Take this,” he said, extending the locket. “If it can help you, keep it.” Ed took the watch from the outstretched hand, while Scar turned to Lyra and Raine. “Take Edward and Rose and get them to safety.”

“Wait a minute,” Ed said, grabbing the man’s shirt. “I’m not running away.”

“You are. You said there’s someone waiting for you in the military, and you have a little brother who looks up to you for whatever reasons little brothers always do. I don’t know if word will reach them, but if it does and they survive, what happens if you die, which is quite possible? Do you really think you could fight against this Kimblee?”

Ed, for once, found himself without a witty remark or retort to Scar’s words. The honest truth was if he tried to go to the town, he would likely get himself and his children killed.

Raine wrapped an arm around Ed’s shoulders. “I know you don’t want to admit it, but he’s right. You can’t fight him like this, Baby.” She looked up to the other black-haired woman. “Okay, Lyra. Lead the way out.”

********

Above, Al tried to scatter the people of Lior, to get them to escape however they could. They had to get out of the town before it was too late. Yelling, doing alchemy, whatever means he had, he used to try to save the people. When he would encounter an chimera, he destroyed it, something that never failed to disturb him on some level.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Al turned to face Lieutenant Colonel Kimblee. “I’m getting the people out of this town while I try to find my brother.”

“Your brother is dead.”

“No, he isn’t. You were sent here to kill him, and you’re looking for him too.”

“How do you…”

“I have my own sources.”

“Well, I wasn’t told not to kill you.” Kimblee charged at Al, who dodged out of his way. “Come on, Al. I want to see what you’re made of. I bet you’d make a great bomb.”

“Al!”

Trying not to lose his focus on Kimblee, Al searched for the source of that voice, finding Marta running toward the battle at break-neck speed. Behind her, Ed could see Scar.

“Marta, behind you!” Glancing back the chimera made no reaction of fear of the man, making Al wonder if Scar was fighting on their side for once.

Once Marta and Scar joined the fray, it became easier for Al to draw a transmutation circle, creating stone barriers that knocked the Crimson Alchemist off of his feet.

“All you’ve done is give me fuel for my alchemy,” Kimblee said with a smirk, laying his tattooed hands on the stone barriers.”

“I know,” Al said, using other elements in the sand and stone to create walls around Kimblee and the stones that he couldn’t transmute into bombs. The explosion within the created walls was enormous, knocking down some of the walls, creating a hole, where a shadow was cast amidst the smoke.

Kimblee staggered out, Marta immediately lashing out at him as he transmuted a nearby wall into a bomb that sent her staggering backwards.

“Marta!”

********

Back at the command base, Archer was leading troops into battle, Roy trying to warn the stubborn, glory hog of the dangers of just charging into the city. The man was a bastard, and Roy hated him with every fiber of his being, but he was going to cost other lives if he risked his own.

“Listen to me, Roy, if you come with me on this mission, that’s fine, but don’t stand in my way. If you want to stay outside with your troops and cower, do it, but you got to be the big hero of Ishbal by killing thousands. It is my chance to get recognition, and you aren’t ruining it.”

“It won’t be recognition you get, you idiot. Scar has something planned. He will kill everyone, including you. What good is being a hero or getting a promotion if it happens post-mortem?” Roy asked, grabbing Archer’s coat.

“And here I thought you didn’t care,” Archer said sarcastically. “Being a family man has made you weak, Roy.” Archer returned his focus to the loading of weapons on to various transport vehicles. The armament Archer had planned was even utilizing ambulances and trucks designed for carrying troops.

Whether Roy liked it or not, they were headed to Lior, and thanks to the efforts of his own team, a number of the soldiers looked positively terrified to be going. Their faith had been shaken, and though a number of them looked to him for leadership, many seemed ready to run.

********

Underneath the city, Ed was moving with the rest of the people of Lior, fleeing Kimblee’s onslaught. Ed felt like such a useless coward running away. Not that he was exactly running. He was moving so slowly that he felt certain it was Raine alone that kept him moving forward, her arm around him, occasionally using her hands to make contact with his head, releasing natural hormones to ease his pain. She was condescending--like her brother--and pushy, but damn if it wasn’t nice having an instant endorphin releaser for a sister-in-law, or soon to be.

Making the whole experience even more unpleasant, Lyra’s perfume was practically enough to make Ed sick. He wasn’t quite sure what the smell was, but it set off his sensitive nose every time he got a whiff. So he spent a good portion of their journey through these catacombs struggling to keep the contents of his stomach where they belonged.

Wherever they were beneath the city, Ed realized that he was near the surface, as the ceiling shook and sounds from above could be heard, Scar, Marta and… Al. All screaming at Kimblee.

“Al!” Ed said, turning to run back, to find a place he could break through the ceiling, letting the people of Lior pass by him as he moved back.

“Ed what are you doing?” Raine asked, following behind.

“Al’s right above. He’s in the city, fighting Kimblee. I can’t let anything happen to him.”

Amidst the crowd, Ed could hear Lyra calling out for him, trying to get him to stop. Turning a corner, Ed saw a giant wave of water approaching him. Bracing himself for impact, Ed held his arms over his head, only to have the wave suddenly stop at his feet.

“Hello, my son,” the water-thing said, as a face appeared, a face Ed had wanted to see for so long and dreaded now. Frozen for a moment, Ed heard Raine yelling for him, making him move, reaching into his pants’ pocket for the hair he’d imbedded inside of a tiny piece of glass. “You are not going anywhere.”

“Ed!” Raine yelled, making the homunculus the Elric boys had created turn to her.

“Stay out of this!” the homunculus said, distracted just enough that Ed was able to throw the round marble-like glass into her still-liquid body. Watching as the face froze and her body solidified, Ed stood, almost unsure of how to proceed next. He’d prepared for this, readied himself for this moment, but felt at a loss now. She had her face. Her body. He had created this thing. That was it; he had created it and he had to eliminate it, to stop the havoc it had caused, to stop what had been done to Maes Hughes from happening to anyone else. To take responsibility.

“I said I would destroy you. It’s my fault you even exist, and I’m going to be the one who finishes you off.”

“My son…” the thing muttered, hearing her like this, in pain, looking at him actually lovingly, Ed's hands trembled, even the one that wasn't really flesh and blood. This thing looked like his mother and he was hurting it. He had hurt it.

He didn't even notice as it struggled to move closer to him, fighting against the piece of his mother's real body, fighting the transmutation circle inside of the glass that he'd activated while tossing it in.

"ED!" a new voice shouted, Rose's raspy, no longer silenced voice. "Your babies!"

Ed looked down and saw the thing was grasping the air, her hand nearing his children. He didn't know what this thing was doing, what she was attempting in that form so like his own mother's, but he would be damned if she hurt the babies.

Ed clapped his hands together and laid them on the creature’s body. “You’re made of water. You should never have let me know that. I know how to destroy you because I know what you are, just like Greed.”

"Be a good boy. Take care of your little brother."

Backing away, he watched as the face of his mother vanished into water vapor. Trying to avoid the same feeling of terror he’d felt the first time he’d destroyed a homunculus, Ed turned and ran opposite the direction from where the people of Lior were still running. He clapped his hands to the wall, preparing to breach the surface to help his brother, his concern the only thing keeping him functioning.

********

Al was above, trying to get to Marta, but finding Kimblee standing in his way.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, coughing up blood. His own bomb had done a number on him. And Scar was looking little better, as the man had already absorbed Kimblee’s red stone necklace into his arm.

Stepping close enough to Al, Kimblee grabbed Ed’s pocket watch, opening it to find a small pile of red stones. “You didn’t think I’d play without a loaded deck, did you?” he asked, tossing the stones at Scar, stunning him in pain as his arm absorbed these as well. While the Ishballan was momentarily incapacitated, Kimblee grabbed hold of his left arm, making Scar scream out as his left arm turned black. “In just a few moments, that arm will explode, taking you with it. It will be slow and painful and make what I did to your face seem like nothing. Too bad you don’t have a brother nearby to give you another arm.”

Al gasped in shock as Scar grabbed the useless arm; even Kimblee’s eyes grew wide as the determined man disintegrated his own limb.

The fighting had taken them to a more secluded area of the city, away from Marta, who very well could have been killed in the collapse of a building from one of Kimblee’s explosions. Al didn’t know. All he was certain of was that this man needed to be stopped. Now.

Al was close enough to the man to kick him directly into the awaiting tattooed arm, which Al did, watching as Scar used the power in that arm to spear directly through the alchemist, who as he laid there dying began to laugh, lungs filling with blood.

“You didn’t even notice when I grabbed your brother’s watch. Your body is turning into a bomb, and when the transformation’s complete…” The laughter and the voice stopped suddenly replaced by choking, then nothing, as Al realized that there absolutely was something wrong with his body.

“Scar! Help me!”

********

Ed couldn’t find where the fight was taking place on the surface. He could see the destruction, the damage, but couldn’t find any sign of his brother or any of the others involved in it. But he heard shouts, voices not far away. The noise of an approaching army. Maybe Al was with them. It was all that the teen could hope for, that running to the military would help him locate his brother.

Looking into the sea of blue uniforms, Ed spotted the two colonels at the front, one determined, one reluctant.
“Ed!” Roy shouted out, while Archer made eye contact with the teen, scowling. Ed didn’t even care that with his torn shirt, it was blatantly obvious that he was not merely disguised as being pregnant. Archer’s eyes darted over at Roy, then back at Ed, confusion and anger present even at Ed’s distance.

Then it happened. The sky grew red, and even with Raine pulling him onward, the teen struggled to move fast enough, to get to the troops and out of the city before the inevitable happened. Seeing what must have looked like an explosion, Archer ordered troops within the town, though Ed and Raine shouted for them to turn around and flee. Roy told his troops to clear from the area, while he ran into the heart of the city to reach Ed.

Feeling Roy’s strong hands at his shoulders, both Mustangs ran, practically dragging the teen’s heavy body from Lior, as the red light began to overtake them, the force driving all three to the ground before the red light engulfed them whole.

********

Though he felt he may have just watched two of his best friends being killed, Havoc managed to turn to the troops, shouting to them to retreat, some driving away in the few vehicles and ambulances that had been brought to the scene, to escape the blast while they could. Archer, only a few feet away was ordering terrified troops into the blast, until he was silenced as half of his body was eventually caught within the red glow.

Taking his own orders, wishing he could go in and save the three alchemists he’d just watch being swallowed by the red light, Havoc ran away, then freezing in place as the blast began to fade, appearing to have destroyed everything in its wake.