A/N: A friend of mine got me into FMA. Needed to vent after episode seven.
"You really think this is a good idea? What if you lose your certification for this?" says Alphonse.
"If that's what it takes to prove me wrong tonight, then so be it," Edward mutters. Even though they're closing in, even with the guards outside taken care of, he can't shake this feeling that he's too late; for what, he doesn't know. His spirits aren't lifted when they reach the cellar door, left ajar, too deliberate to be accidental.
They make their way into the basement, and there are…creatures, trapped and crouching in many cages, neither human nor animal, reminding Edward vaguely of the beasts that Rosé's people had called godless. The noises they make are uncanny in their resemblance of something human.
"Over here."
It's Tucker.
The two brothers make their approach. Tucker is indeed there, arms at his sides, waiting patiently for them in a smaller alcove at the end of the long stone hall. "Come on in, boys," he invites, and it feels like a trap. Edward and Alphonse step inside and almost immediately, each is on their guard.
There are runes, spaced sparsely all over the walls and ceiling. Books and scrolls, some splayed open and careworn, others discarded haphazardly upon the floor. Light is sparse, provided by a lantern.
"I told you I'd let you see," Tucker says, very softly, and steps aside to reveal…a dog, long-haired, with fur the color of cream. "It's a perfect version; a Chimera that understands the human tongue."
The dog does not move, does not blink. Its eyes are solid white, and seem to glow. Edward fights back the urge to shudder.
"Listen, dear," Tucker says, addressing the Chimera, enunciating slowly to instill purpose, "that's your friend, Edward. Look."
The dog's body shivers. It lifts its head, slowly, and tries to speak: "Eeerd…edwuh. Edward, friend?" Its voice is gravelly.
"Yes, exactly, that's very good!" Tucker says, voice lifting in praise.
"That's—very—g-guh. Good," the Chimera mimics, voice rough and unsure.
Tucker's sigh is relieved. He turns away from dog and brothers both, speaking more to himself than anyone in particular: "I'll have no problem getting the funding, now. I can't believe I didn't see it. The other one was too old to adapt."
"Unbelievable! It really can talk!" exclaims Alphonse.
The Chimera just looks at Edward, who can't bring himself to look back. He walks toward the dog and closes the space between them, kneeling down when it pokes its nose against his knee.
Edward finally looks at the dog and there is a spark between them. Familiar, like instinct, a patchwork of memories. The dog sticks its head forth and takes the tiny locket in its teeth, pulls it free but not from him and the boy flinches.
"Eeeeerrdwurd," it rasps. The boy is shaking, and he gently passes a gloved hand over its head.
"Yes," he whispers, and his voice is cracking. "That's right."
The dog that is not a dog huffs, licks his hand, almost soothingly. "Ed-ward…? Why does it hurt?"
Edward stiffens like he's suffered a blow to the stomach. He can't ignore the inevitable anymore. He takes his hand away and the dog whines softly, nosing at his wrist before he gets to his feet.
"Brother?" says Alphonse uncertainly.
"Something wrong?" Tucker inquires.
Ed's voice is low, shaking with anger as he addresses Tucker: "When was it, that you said you first transmuted a Chimera that could speak?"
"I thought I told you. It's been two years now."
"And how long has it been," Edward continues, "since your wife left you?"
"Two years." Tucker's voice never changes. "Why?"
"Tell me: do those letters still reach your wife, even now?"
"I'm afraid I don't follow you," Tucker says quietly.
Edward's head snaps up. "You know exactly what I'm getting at. Where have Alexander and Nina gone to?"
Al turns his great head towards Edward in shock, but Tucker only sighs, as though he is just as reluctant to speak about this as Alphonse. He looks into Ed's face, and his eyes are strangely cool, void of sentiment.
"I never liked prodigies like you, Ed. You're too damn perceptive."
Edward moves like lightning; slams Tucker up against the wall with his good arm.
"Brother!" Alphonse cries weakly.
"You HEARD him, Al!" Edward roars. "You know what he's done to her, don't you? This guy used his own wife as a test subject! And now he's sacrificed own daughter and his dog to transmute a Chimera. And for what?" He laughs harshly, shaking with rage. "To keep your precious position? Or is it because using another human is simpler?"
"Why are you getting so upset, Edward?" Tucker asks, as though he's not being held up by his collar, mere seconds away from contact with Ed's metal fist. "It's the nature of scientific progress—animal testing, experimentation, trial and error! All advancements have…a price."
"SHUT UP!" Edward shouts. "I'm not gonna let you rationalize this. That was your own family, damn it! You've been toying with people's lives!"
"Toying with lives?" Now it's Tucker's turn to laugh. "I suppose you would know about that, wouldn't you? It's cost you an arm and a leg. It cost your brother his body. You don't really think you and I are any different, do y—"
Edward drives his fist into Tucker's face, and the frame of the man's glasses fractures under the force of the blow, skidding off somewhere against the stone floor.
Tucker grunts in pain. Slowly, he looks up, smiling grotesquely through the blood filling his mouth and the bruise rising prominently on his cheek. Then he starts laughing; the fucker is laughing, like this whole situation is a joke, his face the punch-line.
Edward is ready to do it again when his brother's enormous hand curls over his wrist. "Why, Mr. Tucker?" Alphonse asks, holding Ed firm. "The whole point was to pass the assessment and continue your way of life. But now your family's gone, what else is left?"
Silence is broken when Tucker blinks, speaks: "That's the funny thing; I had no reason. I fully understood no matter what I did, my reputation would be ruined. So I chose instead to discover the secrets of the scientific world…and push them to the limit. I had to know if it was possible." Both boys are speechless. "When you have that kind of power, it's difficult not to try," the man whispers. "Isn't that what we agreed on, Ed?"
"No!" Edward growls, but he's more desperate than angry.
"Sure, part of me did it for respect and this house, just as you partly did it for your mother, but there's more. You're desperate to put your mind to use, Ed, to see what you're capable of, to put the world under your fingers! That's the essence of alchemy! You did it for knowledge, control, and above all, just to prove that you can."
Edward's fist connects again, this time with a loud KRAK! Tucker's body drops to the floor. The man grins in a daze, and red dribbles from his mouth, sickeningly. He's missing a few teeth.
Ed can barely speak. "You're wrong, you bastard. Alchemy isn't about…I'm not…like YOU!"
Something snaps. He drives each fist into Tucker's face in brutal succession with a near-inhuman scream and his metal arm shudders at the force and his real hand is bruised, knuckles raw, and he feels nothing. Breathing violently, great ragged gasps as he shrieks: "I'M NOT LIKE YOU, I'M NOT—NOT—" like a broken toy. And Tucker's face caves under his savage force and Edward feels the warm blood spatter his face and his clothes in flecks and doesn't stop.
"Brother, you'll kill him!" shouts Alphonse, but he does not care, he cannot care, he barely hears anything for the pulsing of his blood in his ears until he's wrenched away by Al's metal hands. Edward almost protests, almost thrashes, but then there's a gentle pull on his coat and this is what makes him stop struggling, still panting wildly.
Nina/Alexander is growling softly around the fabric of his jacket trapped between canines. Releasing him to speak: "No, big brother." It/she licks his hand and bloody knuckles and Edward feels nothing but a sick sort of emptiness.
His breath freezes in his throat. He knows what he will do, and he crouches down, hands on knees. "Nina? I want you to bear with me, okay? This may hurt."
"Brother, what are you doing? You aren't planning to split them up, are you?" Alphonse asks sharply. "We can't! We don't know how!"
Tucker gurgles something, mouth open in a smile, dripping crimson. Edward ignores him. "Kuuhhgh," Tucker manages, and spits out a mouthful of blood and some more teeth. "Hers is a perfect transmutation, fused to the core. It's impossible to separate them. You'll only subject her to the same fate as your own mother."
Edward chokes on his own breath. Nina/Alexander only cocks its/her head, curious. He cannot look. His eyes are wet and he bows his head.
Alphonse crouches, patting the creature on the head.
"You promised...you'd come play with me," Nina/Alexander says sadly.
"I know," Al murmurs, and Edward takes advantage of the distraction to wipe his eyes viciously on his sleeve, and he probably smears that bastard's blood over himself but he doesn't care anymore.
"Elric!" a voice barks. "Assaulting army personnel? What the hell is the meaning of this?"
Edward keeps his head down, doesn't care if the whole damned guard is there, he can't face them after this. "Sir. Tucker used his daughter to—" His voice breaks.
In the darkness of night they lead Tucker away into the carriage and Edward feels nothing but a hollow sort of despair.
"Mr. Tucker will face a court-marital, and we'll take the Chimera with us. You are to tell no one what you've seen tonight."
"WHAT?" Edward says, anger flaring up once more. "You wanna cover it up, don't you? You knew about this! You wanna make some half-beast—"
Something slams into his chest like a boot or a horse's swift kick, and he's winded as he tumbles onto rainy cobblestone, semi-conscious. They leave him there, and then the carriage is moving away. Rage stirs him to action. He forces himself on his feet and with a clap of his hands there is blue lighting, spreading underneath the retreating deportment and tips it over and in the millisecond before its impact Edward wonders if he will kill Nina.
And then it hits with a tumultuous crash upon the cobblestones that will surely rouse the populace. There is a ringing silence. Edward counts the seconds in his head. And the dog that is Nina slowly crawls from the wreckage, and at the sound of his cry, runs off into the night.
EDIT, 1/28/17: Changed the dialogue to be (mostly) in-line with the dub, along with a detail or two.