Shouting… a slice in the air as alchemic rays filled the room and a blade grazed his cheek, a trickle of blood dribbling down, collecting on his jaw.
He had to finish this… and quick.
He secretly pulled out a filled syringe from his pocket, uncapping and hiding it from view as he faced his opponent. They had ordered him to do this, and he would be killed either way if he did not inject the liquid into the blond, even if he happened to escape this fight.
The boy was lunging again, automail blade drawn, directing toward the soft jugular of the attacker. Quick and painless, that was what it was spouse to be. He had no other way.
The man jumped forward, already knowing this was going to be the end of him. Half a second before the blonds' blade connected, he slammed the needle into the boy's side, pushing the liquid into the bloodstream, and an agonizing scream that was not his own ripped through the night's air.
He fell limply to the ground, half-way to death.
He did it. He triggered the chain of events that would eventually result to the end of Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist.
Stamp. Sign. Put Aside.
The repetition was painfully dull, and as he copied his moments for what felt the thousandth time, he could only hope for a distraction. Much to the colonel's dismay, his only good distraction was on a mission, then to Rezembool for a regular check-up on his automail.
He couldn't even consider slacking off for a second due to Hawkeye, who was standing behind the closed door with her gun at hand.
He felt the alchemic surge of a huge transmutation in his gut before the building below him started to shake. Crashes and the sound of something crumbling hit his ears before, with a burst of debris, a thick layer of dust, and a loud crash, an elevator shot up through the floor.
Conveniently, right in front of the door.
A light 'ding' sounded out as the numbers on the elevator lighted up one by one in sync with the dings. The craftsmanship upon the top where the numbers spread out were classic swirls of an obviously skilled alchemist.
He could only think that it was Edward, but he went on his mission two days ago, and shouldn't be back for another three.
With a final 'ding,' the elevator doors began to slide open, revealing a boy with his red jacket hood pulled up over his head, shielding his face from view.
"Fullmetal?" Foy tested unsure if it was the boy or some kind of trap. Positioning himself to snap, he readied himself for whatever came next.
"Calm down Colonel Bastard, it's only me." The boy spoke, transmuting everything back to normal. And his voice definitely was Edward – sounding, but instead of his rich strong voice, it sounded slightly more, melodish. Like a harp and flute- or some other musical all the women swoon over.
"Edward… what happened to your voice?"
'Shit.' The blond didn't think his voice had changed.
"Sore throat, Bastard. Nothing that need being concerned about."
He had originally planned asking Roy for help, but the way Roy was acting and now that he's here… Edward wasn't to sure. He didn't know whether to tell the truth, or give him a lie that would most-definitely get him pinned against the wall, spilling the truth to Mustang with a snap-position finger inches away from his face.
He snorted. Great options.
Deciding to just ask for help, Edward sighed. "There is a reason why I'm here a few days earlier than should be. You see-"
"I was wondering about that myself. Where is your report?" Roy cut him off, not realizing that the teen for once was going to tell him without probing.
"Dammit, Mustang I'm trying to tell you! I need your help!" Edward shouted loudly, exasperaltly ripping of his hood and in a mix of red cloth and golden hair, the loose tresses fluttered down like a waterfall around his back.
Ears. Two blond cat ears stood perched upon the boys blond hair, twitching in delight to be finally free of the hood.
"Fullmetal…" Roy choked out, staring in disbelief at the boy. What the hell happened to him?
"Yeah, I know of all people to 'sprout cat ears' it happened to me." He said with a sigh.
"You don't just mean ears, do you Edward?" Roy asked, trailing off with a soft tone in his eyes.
"No." Was the whispered reply. I'm no longer just human. They injected me with some kind of cat DNA. Roy, I'm part Chimera now."
"Edward… what do you mean 'part chimera.' All you have is cat ears." Roy strained out, trying to make since of this all, but once he let those words slip past his lips, he already knew he was going to be corrected by the blond.
"I have a tail too." Ed stated, ignoring the hidden question. He was tired of all that happened, and just wanted to be normal again. Well… as normal as he could get anyway.
"Oh," Was all the Colonel said, getting up from his seat to cross the room, standing in front of the blond.
Those ears… the right one twitched slightly downward, and the look on the boys face clearly said. 'What the freak do you think you're doing.' Sad to say, even with the pissed off look on his face, he looked…cute.
Experimentally, Roy lifted his hand to the crown of the boys head, and softly scratched the silky ears.
"Hey… w-what are you doing!" The boy strained out. Shocks of pleasure ran up and down his spine like tiny popping fire crackers. It felt good. Real good. But the impulse to punch Mustang and at the same time lean into his hand… was confusing. "S-stop."
With one final scratch, Roy pulled away his hand to rest under one of the boy's face frames of hair. Running tender fingers over the soft velvety skin where Edward's ears used to be, he froze.
Rubbing his fingers gently across the tissue, he whispered softly in a comforting voice. "Edward, do you feel this?"
"N-not really, Bastard." He replied shakily, uncomfortable with their closeness. Sure he felt the hand, but it was deep in the skin what felt it, and he knew the older man didn't mean that.
'Scar tissue.' Roy thought immediately. So it wasn't just 'disappearing and reappearing' with the ears. It had been painful, very painful to cause these scars.
Resting both hands on the boy's shoulders, he leaned his face down and placed a soft kiss to the boy's forehead, smelling the honey pear scent that wavered into his nose. "It's going to be alright Edward." He whispered against the boy's warm skin, before pulling the boy into a hug.
"You know what's funny… Roy?" Edward mumbled into the other's chest, taking in all the man's cinnamon and gunpowder smell, not at all uncomfortable in the man's arms.
"What's that?"
"It took me being turned into a chimera to admit… I'm scared." Edward sighed, giving into the hug, wrapping his arms around Roy's waist, bringing them closer.
"It's going to be okay Edward… I'll protect you."