(Later/Fifth Lab)

        “Hm… A guard posted at an unused building… Interesting…” I muttered as we peeked from behind the corner of the wall.
        “That is suspicious,” Al agreed. “I wonder what they’re hiding?”
        My eyes narrowed on the lone soldier pacing lazily by the entrance. “The question is, how do we get in?”
        Al glanced up at the tall, stone walls topped with barbed wire. “We could climb, but…” He hesitated. “If we use alchemy, the light will give us away.”
        “Then we won’t use alchemy,” I decided quickly. “C’mon, give me a boost.”
        Al cupped his hands, and I stepped into them. With a quick heave, he tossed me up the wall. My metal hand caught the barbed wire with a sharp clank. Slowly, I bent the wire back, loosening it enough for Al to get a grip.
        “Got it?” I whispered down before dropping quietly to the other side.
        Al landed beside me a second later, his armored body hitting the ground with a soft thud. He straightened and quickly scanned the yard.
        “Come on,” I urged, leading us around the edge of the building.
        The doors were boarded up, thick planks hammered in with no gaps. The wood looked fresh compared to the rest of the building.
        “They aren’t taking any chances, are they?” Al muttered.
        I looked up and around. “Wait. There.” I pointed at a vent about halfway up the wall.
        “… Are you sure you’ll be fine?”
        “Does it matter?” I shot back as he helped me up. “Fine or not, this is the only way in.”
        I tugged at the vent cover until it came loose with a faint squeal of metal.
        “And whether I'm fine with it or not, you're too big to fit anyway.” I ordered, giving him one last glance.

~~~***~~~***~~~

        “Damn, it’s even tighter in here than I thought,” I grumbled, dragging myself forward on my elbows. The metal groaned under me, echoing every movement. “I couldn’t get through this if I were regular sized… lucky I have a small body…”
        The thought hit me like a slap, and I froze. “OH NO! I JUST CALLED MYSELF A TINY LITTLE PIPSQUEAK!” The words ricocheted down the shaft. I winced and slapped a hand over my mouth. '…Crap.'
        Forcing myself onward, I finally reached the grate at the end. One good kick and it clattered free, bouncing once before skidding to a stop. I dropped down into the hallway, landing lightly on the stone floor.
        The place was too quiet.
        “There are lights on,” I muttered, narrowing my eyes at the faint glow down the corridor. Fluorescents buzzed somewhere ahead, throwing long shadows across the cracked walls. “Not currently in use, my ass…”
        I shoved my hands in my pockets, boots scuffing the floor as I moved forward. Every sound echoed: drips of water, the low hum of something mechanical deeper inside. The air smelled sharp, metallic, almost like blood left to dry.
        I swallowed hard, jaw tightening.
        Whatever was going on here, it wasn’t just abandoned research.

(Earlier That Night - Hughes Place)

**Nik P.O.V**

        That night, I walked back to Hughes’s house with the cold air biting my skin through my coat. Normally by the time I crawled into bed, the nightmares would come like clockwork. That boy in Liore, pulling a gun. The circle. Nina. The Gate. And lately, Ed, covered in blood, slipping away from me no matter how hard I tried to reach him.
        But tonight? Nothing. No dream. No vision.
        I woke up staring at the ceiling, heart pounding, colder than the night air outside. It wasn’t relief. It was worse. If the visions had stopped… maybe that meant they weren’t warnings anymore. Maybe it meant whatever I’d seen was about to happen.
        I couldn’t wait until tomorrow. Not with the image of Ed bleeding out burned behind my eyelids.
        My mind raced as I dressed in silence, easing the door shut behind me. Boots thumped softly, each step pulling me closer to the Fifth Laboratory.

~~~***~~~***~~~

        The streets around it were dead silent, the kind of silence that made every step echo louder than it should. The Fifth Lab slowly came into view. Lights on and a guard posted out in front of an iron gate. A large stone wall wrapped around the rest of the property with rolls of barbed wire along the top.
        So much for being unused...
        I slipped into the shadows along the wall, narrowly avoiding the guard’s line of sight. That’s when I spotted it... a strand of barbed wire hanging lower than the rest, bent and loose, like someone had already pulled at it. My stomach twisted. Of course. They came tonight. Without me.
        Dumbasses.
        I carefully took hold of the wire, trying to avoid the barbs so I didn't injure myself. It took a minute for me to make the connection and just grab onto the wire and hoist myself up.
        I crouched at the top, waiting, scanning. Nothing. Then I dropped down to the other side, knees bending to absorb the impact before I darted along the building’s edge.
        That’s when I heard it: metal clashing, scraping. Voices.
        I edged around the corner and froze. Al. He was locked in combat with something that looked like… another suit of armor? Sparks flared with every strike, the sound of steel ringing sharp in the cold air.
        My whole body tensed, every instinct screaming to run in and help him. But then... that dream. Ed, blood everywhere, slipping through my fingers no matter how hard I tried to hold on.
        My chest tightened. If it was only Ed I saw… then Al will be fine. He has to be fine.
        I swallowed hard, forcing down the lump in my throat. Then I turned, scanning for another way in. Somewhere, Ed was inside. And that was where I needed to be.