"Ed…I was wondering…" Roy looked out the window of his office and sighed.

"…Yeah?" Ed sat up from his position on the Colonel's office couch. "What is it?"

"I was just thinking…What if…all of this was a dream? What if I were to wake up tomorrow in a world with no alchemy and I was just an average person? What if I was all alone? What if-"

"That's highly unlikely, Mustang." Ed laid back down on the couch and covered his eyes with his metal arm. "You're thinking too much. I thought you had a ton of papers to do and that's why you're making me wait to give my report."

"I do have a ton of papers to take care of!" Roy snapped. "You'd try to put it off as long as possible if you had this much work to do!"

"I wouldn't have that much work to do because I wouldn't put all that work off until the last minute." Edward gave Roy a sly grin. Roy just gave an aggravated sigh and set back to signing papers.

A couple minutes passed before the silence got to the Colonel.

"But really…could there really be such a place?" Edward sighed.

"Maybe. Maybe not."

The silence consumed once again. The shuffling of papers was enough to drive Roy crazy.

"Maybe? So does that mean you somewhat believe in it?" Ed grumbled and sat up again. He stretched while shooting the Colonel a look that said "Leave me alone I'm trying to sleep." But Roy ignored it and kept talking. "What would I be able to even do without my alchemy? I'm basically useless without it on rainy days; imagine not being able to use it ever. What would you do Ed? Could you be able to defend yourself with just your fighting skills?"

"I don't know Colonel." Ed gave up the idea of getting any sleep at all. He glanced at the stack of papers next to Roy and cursed under his breath. Two feet of paper still left to go. "Looks like I'm staying the night..." He mumbled to himself.

"Don't worry Fullmetal. I'll definitely get done by tomorrow." Roy smirked and signed another paper, tossing it aside afterwards and grabbing another paper from the stack.

He's doing it on purpose now. Ed stood up and grabbed his jacket hanging over the back of the couch. He slipped it on. The Colonel looked up from his work with a puzzled look on his face.

"Where are you going Fullmetal?"

"Out. I can't stay cooped up in this small room all night and day."

Again, another one of the Colonel's famous smirks of triumph. He set down his pen and leaned back in his chair. "Don't wonder too far, Edward. You still have a report to give." And the smirk grew bigger. Ed slammed the door behind him and walked towards the break room, hoping to find Alphonse.

XoXoXoX

No Al anywhere. Ed couldn't fathom where his brother could possibly be with the limited areas he could fit into or where he was even allowed into. Ed did find Havoc and Fallman though. Better some company than being left alone with his thoughts.

"The Colonel giving you a hard time again, Ed?" Havoc took a cigarette out of a cigarette box lying on the table in front of him and lit it, despite there being a "NO SMOKING" sign on the wall behind him. Ed took a seat right next to Falman and across from Havoc.

"When doesn't he?" Ed mumbled.

"Don't take it too hard. He likes to tease you because of the reactions you give him. He's also pretty worked up from the mission he had yesterday too." Falman shook his head. "I think anyone would be after what he had to do."

"What mission?" Falman fell silent and Havoc took on the role of explaining it.

"Well we don't know much but from what I heard was that there was a chimera running around town yesterday. Roy went into it thinking just another chimera. As it turns out, it's a chimera girl." Ed froze. "He couldn't bring himself to kill it. So instead he brought it here. He got in trouble with the higher ups and they said they'll fire him if he doesn't kill it soon. Right now I believe it's in the building's jail cells."

"He's just…keeping her there? He's rebelled against the higher ups before, hasn't he? He can't just let an innocent creature die!" Ed stood up, slamming his hands on the table.

"It isn't innocent. It's killed many people so far. 50 to be exact. Or maybe more that we don't even know of. We've just had 50 people reported dead with the same claw marks on them and they match the chimeras." Havoc took a hit off his cigarette and then put it out in the ash trash sitting nearby. Ed hated how he kept calling the chimera "it" but he was more concerned with how the creature was being treated.

"I'll be right back." And with that, Ed was off again.

XoXoXoX

It was cold in the basement, to be more exact, where all the holding cells were. Ed could literally see his breath and resisted the idea of running back upstairs to the rooms with heat. They were keeping a girl in this cold? It was cruel. Then they were just going to kill her off. Ed couldn't stand the thought of Mustang just bowing down to everyone above him and killing a little girl. He kept walking until he came to a cell that actually held a person. A girl. The one he was looking for.

Sitting against the wall was a girl around the age of 15, Edward guessed, wearing only a ratty blanket. Her hair was a mess, greasy and dirty; Ed could hardly make out the color of it but guessed it to be a brown color. Her skin was pale and full of bruises and scratches. The chimera girl didn't seem to notice that Ed was there until he lightly knocked on the bars of the cell. Immediately the girl snapped to attention.

She looked frightened more than a menacing creature that killed people. Her eyes were the only untainted things about her; a sparkly amethyst color that were only clouded with fear and sadness.

"Don't worry; I'm here to bust you out of here." The girl's eyes lit up and she hugged the blanket closer to her. "Do you have a name?" Ed clapped his hands together and made his arm into a sharp blade. The girl nodded.

"Riku." She said. Edward then slashed the bars causing them to break and fall to the floor with a clank.

"Well, c'mon Riku. We're getting you out of here." Ed held out his flesh hand and Riku immediately took it, standing up with help of Ed, and again, pulling the blanket tighter. He noticed she didn't have anything underneath and took off his red jacket.

"Here. I'll get you some better clothes when we get out of here but for now this will have to do." The young alchemist looked away while Riku dropped the blanket and slipped on the coat. Before she had a chance to thank Ed though, a man, a security guard, turned the corner and saw them both, immediately recognizing the prisoner who was supposed to be locked up.

"Hey, stop! What do you think you're doing?" The man dropped the flashlight he had in hand and started running towards them.

"Dammit. We gotta get out of here! C'mon!" He grabbed Riku's hand once more and started running towards the way he had come in.

XoXoXoX

"Oh, Colonel? Ed isn't here?" Al had entered Roy's office upon knocking and Roy had guessed he was only here for his brother.

"No, I'm sorry. He left here awhile ago to stretch his legs. I believe he went to the break room."

"That's odd. I was just there. Havoc said that, if anything, he would be here to talk to you about a 'mission'."

"What? Mission…oh shit. I think I know exactly where he is…Dammit Fullmetal!" Roy wasted no time running out of the room, his destination the jail cells. Al followed close behind, still quite confused and was about to ask when Roy answered his question. "I had recently captured a chimera. I bet Havoc or Falman told him about it and Ed went to-" Before Roy could finish his sentence, Ed came from another hallway to Roy's right, slamming into the Colonel.

"Ow…dammit…" Ed rubbed his head and looked down. "Shit! Mustang!" Ed got off of the Colonel with lightning speed and bolted off with Riku in tow before Roy could even make a move.

"That little brat…" Al helped Roy up.

"I'm sorry but since that was my brother that just ran out of here, it must mean we're in trouble and I should probably follow him." Alphonse bowed and gave the Colonel an apologetic smile. He then ran after his brother and the mysterious girl. Roy sighed and rubbed his head. The security guard stopped next to Roy and saluted.

"Sir! Should I continue the pursuit?" Roy shook his head. "Sir?"

"I suppose it was what I was hoping for all along. Message the Fuehrer and tell him the chimera escaped without us knowing."

"But sir-"

"Just do it. Or I could literally fire your ass." After that, the security guard slunk off without a word out of fear. Roy shook his head again and returned to his office. "Looks like it's back to paperwork." He smiled to himself for a moment but it quickly turned in to a frown. "You better watch your back from now on Fullmetal. You just became a enemy to the military."

XoXoXoX

"Why do I do such things for people I don't even know?" Edward panted. They had made it as far as the outskirts of the city and Edward was completely exhausted. Riku had surprisingly good stamina, she wasn't panting or anything. Ed cursed his own stamina and made a promise to run more, which probably wasn't too hard what with all the enemies he had just made.

"It's because you have a heart brother!" Al smiled at Ed.

"A heart? Everyone does."

"No, I mean emotionally. You felt sorry for her didn't you? That's why you risked yourself to save her." Ed contemplated it. He didn't really think about it when he busted her out of the cell. He was only thinking about her fate and how it wasn't really fair. Then…the thought of Nina…

"Who…is this?" Riku pointed to Al. Ed smiled at her and replied;

"That's my little brother, Alphonse. You can just call him Al. He's really nice, don't let his appearance scare you." Riku looked up at Al.

"What's your name?" Al smiled at the girl in front of him, happy to make a new friend.

"I'm Riku. You're Al. He's…"

"Edward. You can just call me Ed." Ed ruffled Riku's hair playfully. "Now we should find a place to stay the night and get you some food, a shower, and some good clothes. Al, do we have enough money for an inn?" Ed looked at his brother and Al immediately pulled out a little bag of money.

"Enough for a night." Al counted the change in his head, making sure that they had enough for 3 people, not just two like usual.

"Alright. Let's go. I think I saw an inn a block back. Hopefully if Mustang called a search party he would think we weren't dumb enough to stay in an inn in the city and instead look in the surrounding forests or train stations. Of course, we're really playing it smart by hiding in the open."

And with that, they set off for the inn.

XoXoXoX

"Mustang, I trust that you will get that Chimera back at all costs and find out how it escaped!" The Fuehrer's voice barked orders in the Colonel's ear but he was used to it. The only thing he could figure was why the usually so calm, cool, and collected Fuehrer was actually openly angered by this.

"Yes sir. Goodbye." Roy sighed and hung up the phone. Riza, standing next to him and hearing the whole conversation, was concerned. If the chase was dragged out long enough and the capture of the chimera seemed impossible, Roy could be fired from his job for being the one who wouldn't kill it in the first place. Or worse.

Roy leaned his head on his hand and started tapping on the desk with his fingers of his other hand. Knowing Ed, he would choose to hide in the open. An inn most likely. It's the last place any well-minded person would think of a person running to when they are being pursued. So he would throw the troops off and tell them to search surrounding remote areas like forests. Or places like the train station, a great place for a getaway. He would then call off the search for a period of time so they could escape, but for what reason? A change of places to look. Tell them that you thought of the whole "hide in plain sight" idea just then and have them search public places. That should buy them some time to escape. The only thing left was to hope that Ed caught on to the plan in some way and would respond accordingly.

XoXoXoX

"Oh my dear. You're is matted with dirt and…is this blood?"

The innkeeper's wife instantly fell in love with the cute little girl, Riku, and agreed to help her clean up. The wife only had sons, the innkeeper told Ed, and seeing a little girl in need of pampering was something she always wished for. Ed didn't mind, she seemed like a nice lady and he knew he wouldn't be able to help Riku in any way with bathing and dressing.

"Yeah. I got into a few scuffles."

"A few? Honey, your hair is basically red itself from all the blood!" The wife scrubbed harder and Riku winced from the pain.

"You gotta fight to survive. Could you also cut my hair too? It's too long and gets in the way…" The innkeeper's wife smiled at Riku and nodded.

"Of course, dear. We'll fix you right up."

XoXoXoX