I am so so so sorry for such a long wait. Almost a year, holy crap. But I'm back now with a new chapter.

This chapter is dedicated to kushina410. I know I promised this sooner and I'm really sorry for the wait. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you so much.

Disclaimer: Still don't own FMA unfortunately.

Roy pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing irritably. He could feel a headache starting to come on. Riza looked over at him, her voice as stoic as ever, but her eyes gleaming with suppressed worry. She reached over and rested a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, sir. We will find him." Roy nodded to her appreciatively, but his concerns were far from gone. What if they didn't find him? What if when they did, they didn't like what they found? He could be hurt. Or worse. Who knows what's been happening to Ed in the time he's been gone? His shoulders slumped as he buried his face in his hands. Ed had been missing for days now, and they were no closer to finding him. Deep inside, he coud feel their time running out, and the thought scared him. He laughed humorlessly.

"God, when did I start caring so much?"

"Sir! We may have found a possible lead on Ed's location. We've got a few people saying the big man that took him went inside the station and never came back out. We're thinking they might be underground," Havoc exclaimed as he came bursting into the room. Roy felt hope swell up inside him. He didn't wait to hear anymore as he was already walking through the doors.

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's move out." Riza briskly came up to walk beside him, and he took comfort in her presence as he felt a new determination stirring. They would not fail. It wasn't even an option.

"Well, you already saw the place where we take apart the trains. Now for the rest of the tour. We're coming up to my favorite part," Amy explained as she continued to lead Ed along through the tunnels. He glared holes in the back of her head. At this point, slamming his head into a wall sounded like a pretty great idea. Anything to escape her annoyingly cheerful voice. Better yet, he would love to slam her head into a wall. But seeing as how that may very well get him killed, he grudgingly decided against it. If he died now, who would kick her ass later? Oh, how he was looking forward to that.

Soon, they came to the end of their tunnel as it opened up into another huge cavern, this one bigger than the last. What he saw sent his heart sinking to his feet. Everywhere he looked, there were boiling steel containers of glowing orange liquid. Smoke rised up, covering the entire cave and making his eyes water. He could hear the sounds of more chains clanking together and he watched as more people hobbled around with chunks of metal on weighing on their shoulders. Others stood at the boiling pots, tossing in more metal pieces.

"What the hell are you doing," he demanded, bewildered. He could feel the jumble of puzzle pieces tossing around his mind but refusing to fit together into a coherent explanation. Amy smirked down at him.

"I think it's time you learn just what you're here for, Fullmetal." The way she said it turned his insides to ice. She spread her arms out, encompassing the whole view with flourish, a large grin plastered across her face.

"There are a few of us who have worked to perfect our alchemy against the teachings of God, but it has been for the greater good. I happen to be the one who was able to steal all those train cars," she said smugly. Ed raised a doubtful eyebrow. She ignored him as she continued with her story.

"It was all quite simple really. Just wait for them to get within the range we needed and make the dirt come out from underneath them. Like quicksand, we sucked them right into the ground." She sounded so proud and Ed wanted nothing more than to wipe that smile off her face.

"We have people taking apart the cars, as you saw earlier, and then the scraps are brought here, where we melt them down and reconstruct them into something far more... powerful. But of course, we wouldn't have the power needed without you here."

"Which brings me to my next question. What am I even here for?" Amy looked at him for a moment, as if studying him. She frowned.

"You have an immense energy about you. So much raw alchemic power. If we could simply tap into that power for our own uses..." she trailed off as she quickly tugged him forward. They weaved through the bustling people, Ed silently promising to get them out of here.

He groaned as he was lead through another tunnel. Just how big was this place anyway? Luckily this tunnel was shorter and in no time they were in yet another cavern, though this one was much smaller than the others. In the middle was an enormous steel sphere, almost completed save for a few missing panels which were being pounded into place. It was far from being pretty. His brows furrowed in confusion.

"What is this thing?" He looked up at Amy as she stared fondly at the horrendous creation.

"That is our salvation. Our weapon against the government that controls and oppresses us. And you're going to be the one to power it. Whether you're willing or not."