Dreamer372: HELLO AGAIN! Here is a new chapter!

BlueRoseRabbit: I don't have much to say xDD

Alex POV

We were in a hotel Ed checked us into, sitting around in a circle. I had "broken" into Kes's pack and eaten two or three packs of sugar. I swear on my fuzzy red head, after thirty seconds of literally bouncing off the walls, Ed had had enough and he transmuted the floor around me. After I had slightly calmed down, I chuckled.

"Why don't we play Truth, Dare, or Revealed?" I suggested slyly. Ed gave me a strange look.

"What the hell is 'Truth, Dare, or Revealed'?" He asked. Kes and I shared a look and laughed at the memories of other times we had played this game.

"It's a game I made up. You need at least four people, which we have, and a past known between at least two pairs, like Kes and I and you and Al." I spoke to Edward. "We have to ask for a truth or dare, but if we say something untruthful or we don't do a dare, our partner reveals something embarrassing about an event or somethin'. It's rather simple." I clapped my hands briefly, imagining the fun we were about to have.

"But Alex, we know about their past, remember?" Kestrel whispered.

"Not that much, just the important stuff." I elbowed her so she'd shut up and let us play.

Ed sighed. "Fine. Alex, how the HELL do you get so energetic when you eat sugar?"

"I dunno." I said. Kes elbowed me.

"Yes, you do. Tell them, or I"ll tell them about the time at the park with the poor rodent." She grinned. I got wide eyed. I recalled the poor squirrel I sat on at the park a couple years back. It had bitten me, and I couldn't sit correctly for weeks.

"Don't you dare! If you do, I'll tell them about the time with the table and sharp napkin!" I yelled back. She turned beet red.

"Not cool! If you do that, I'll tell about the haunted toilet disproving!" She yelled.

I shuddered as I recalled having to unclog our neighbour's toilet to prove to her it wasn't haunted (she had been bugging us for weeks). "I'LL TELL THEM ABOUT THE THREE POLES AND YOUR BOOKS!" Somehow we had both stood up and now we were pretty much at each other's throats.

"I'LL TELL THEM ABOUT THE FOOD FIGHT 'YOU' STARTED!" She retorted. I glanced over to see Ed and Al (I swear!) sweatdropping. Kes looked, too, and then we looked at each other again. I burst out laughing and fell to the floor, clutching my gut. Soon, Kes had joined me, laughing her head off. We kept laughing until I got a cough. I coughed for what felt like a long time until Kestrel slammed her fist into my back. I then ran to get a glass of water. I heard Ed and Al talking to Kestrel in the room.

"We never did find out why she gets excited when she eats sugar." Al noted. I heard Ed facepalm.

"You people are crazy." he muttered.

"AGREED." I shouted. I could almost hear them sweatdropping. I raided the food-chest or whatever it's called. I took out three apples and some beef jerky, completely forgetting about water when I saw that yummy meat. I chewed the jerky while trying to catch up on the conversation. I walked up to the door and banged loudly on it. I heard a crash and someone walking towards me. Feeling like pranking the boys, I jumped behind the couch to hide. What I didn't know was that my tail had come out of my pants and was swishing from side to side, visible to anyone in the doorway. A great pain from my tail and I jumped, startled, only to get pulled back down again. I turned around to see that Edward had stepped on my tail. Tears swam in my eyes. In a matter of seconds Kestrel had shoved Ed to the ground and was yelling at him.

"Watch where you're stepping!" She yelled, then turned to help me up. "You okay, Alex?" She asked with concern, pulling me to my feet.

"Yeah, just FINE," I said sarcastically, but softened. "Sorry, but when your nerves are on fi-" I stopped halfway through the word as Kes's eyes darted to the floor. I shut my mouth and gave her a hug. I mumbled, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up." Ed looked at us with confused eyes. I pulled out of the hug, and offered a hand to Ed. He grabbed it, and I pulled him up. I then proceeded to punch him in the face. "If I were you, I wouldn't do that again. By the way, don't mention Colonel Bastard or his alchemical specialty around her. Bad memories." I said the last part into his ear.

I thought for a moment, then shouted one of my many phrases "DON'T QUESTION MY MOTIVES!" Kes smiled a bit, and Ed and Al looked at each other, and gave me what I guess is a WTH face. I giggled behind my hand.

There were three knocks at the door. "Can I come in?" Mustang's voice floated through the door. Kes paled and wordlessly retreated to her bedroom. I frowned, but once Kes's door shut, I got up and opened the door. "I know you're probably curious, so, Mustang," He turned and looked at me. "She doesn't hate you. She just hates flames." I told him bluntly. He blinked, took off his gloves, and slipped them in his pocket. I went to get Kes and knocked on her door. I poked my head in and simply said, "Mustang's gloves are in his pocket. You can come out. I WILL drag you you out by your ear if I have to." She meeped, dashed out, and jumped onto the couch. I could tell she was still a bit tense. I tapped out 'stay in front of her, and keep your hands out of your pockets.' in morse code. He nodded, and sat across from her.

"I simply want to ask some questions," he explained, holding up his hands in surrender. Kestrel nodded hesitantly as Ed, Al and I took seats as well.

"H-how can I help you?" She asked.

"Are you a chimera?" He asked bluntly.

She nodded. "I'm a bird chimera."

"I was wondering if you would be interested in helping an alchemist named Shou Tucker with his research. He's very interested in chimeras."

My eyes flashed briefly, and Mustang stiffened, noticing. I looked him straight in the eye. "I'll do it. Only me. He can't know Kestrel is a chimera." Kestrel looked like she was about to object, but she wisely stayed quiet. "I've heard a bit about the man, and I have to ask: Is he going to cut me up, turn me in, or keep me there?" I held my head high. I despised Tucker. The man doesn't deserve to be a father. Even Ed's good-for-nothing (other than saving the day in Brotherhood) father was better than him.

Mustang eyed us curiously, but promised that Ed and Al would keep an eye on Tucker to make sure he didn't do anything to me. I had a sudden thought, held up a finger as if to say, "just a moment", and ran to get my special needle. I found it in Kestrel's bag and I tossed it to Ed. He examined it, noticed the grey stuff, and frowned, obviously not understanding.

"Truth." was all I said, and his eyes widened. I grinned and he gave me a hug. I patted his back awkwardly, then noticed the others looking at us with great amusement. I whispered the three forbidden words, "chibi", "shorty", and "pipsqueak". He started shouting at me, but I punched him. He stepped on my tail and I dropped like a fly. I tensed up and started growling. "Get. Off. My. Tail." Ed got off obediently and I shakily sat down on the couch, where Kes patted my back sympathetically. I looked over at Mustang and said, "When do we see the man?"

Mustang grinned.

Kestrel POV

"Woooaaaaah, this house is huge!" Alex looked up at the place with amazement written all over her face.

"Yup." Ed knocked on the door and Nina opened it with a big smile. "We're back, Nina." He patted her head. I felt a pang in my heart, thinking of how she would die if we failed.

Ed, Al, and Alex went into the house. I had been spying on them from the trees. I was only able to hear them because of my bird senses. Alex bowed, but I could tell she was still tense. They sat down at the table, and I could see clearly Alex showing him her ears and tail. He jumped up, and asked something incoherent. She stiffed and nodded. Ed looked about to object, but Alex held up a hand. He still didn't look like he agreed. Tucker got up, as did the other three. I saw Ed said something along the lines of 'we're not leaving her alone.' Tucker nodded.

Mine and Alex's official plan was that I'd make friends with Nina, and then hide in Tucker's house at night to keep an eye on her. On the night of the transmutation, I'd hide Nina while Alex distracted Tucker and maybe make him have a little "accident".

Alex POV

I had gotten poked, prodded, and studied. Tucker poked my ear, my tail twitched; I got a weight on my tail, my ears went back. I found out I had claws. It was PAINFUL as HELL. Ed and Al sometimes looked ready to, um, I guess knock his daylights out. I looked out the window of the slow-moving car, and sighed. Kes had, at some point, made him thinkhe saw her in the house. He had come to ask us about a brown haired girl with long claws, and I had signaled Ed and Al to act unknowing. It worked. In other words, Tucker thinks he's having hallucinations, and is acting super paranoid. Kes found a part in the house to hide, and when Tucker isn't around, she plays secretly with Nina.

It had been a few days since our first meeting with Tucker, and none of us had spoken to Kestrel at all, but judging by Tucker's increased skittishness she was still in the house somewhere. We were in the car on our way to Tucker's when I saw it.

It was a reddish mass by the side of the road, and it twitched. "STOP THE CAR!" I shouted, and, not caring if it was stopped or not, jumped out. I twisted my ankle in the process, but oh well. There was a growl, and I shivered. Wolf.

Wait... WOLF! I looked closer at it, and saw it was a small wolf with red fur, bleeding from a medium-sized gash in it's side. I frowned, and picked the poor thing up.

It growled at me, but I growled back. The female (I checked), shut up, and leaned into my arms. Havoc, Ed, and Al looked at me oddly. I shrugged, placed her on the ground near the car, and tore a piece of cloth from my sleeve. I pressed it to the wound, and she growled. I growled back, and focused on the cut again. It was a bit deep, but it wasn't infected. I'd have Kestrel check the wound out as soon as possible.

"Why the hell are you helping that thing?" asked Ed. I looked up at him, and my gaze hardened.

"I have a soft spot for wolves. My family adopted one from the woods. We found the thing whimpering and hungry. It died a few years ago," I said. I had gotten a few bites from it, and I had developed a soft spot for them. I shrugged, and picked it up. I got in the car, put in my lap, and smiled softly. The canine had fallen asleep, but not truly.Wild animals never did.

Kestrel would understand. She and I are wild now, and even though she wouldn't go near my first wolf, maybe she'd like this one.

We got to Tucker's house shortly after that. Ed was tackled by Alexander, Nina hugged Al, and Tucker met me at the doorway.

"What have you got today, Miss Alex?" He asked in his timid voice, the bastard. I forced myself to be polite.

"I found an injured wolf on the side of the road. Could we treat it, please?" I asked in the nicest voice I could manage. He sighed, nodded, and we all went inside. Nina dashed off to play with Alexander (and probably Kestrel), Ed and Alex headed to Tucker's library, and Tucker and I brought the wolf to the kitchen table. He brought out some bandages and we fixed her right up. I tapped on the table in morse code, smelling Kestrel nearby. She had probably come in the house when she saw the wolf, and I was certain she heard my tapping with those sharp bird senses of hers. I told her, "heal the wolf". I convinced Tucker to take me off for testing and we left the wolf unattended.

Kestrel POV

"You poor baby." I edged around the she-wolf as slowly as I could so she wouldn't be startled, but I made soft cooing noises so she'd know I was friendly. She merely whined in response. I petted her and accidentally nudged her paw. She snarled, I checked the wound out, grabbed some bandages, and swore. "Alex, you dimwit. You didn't check all over her for wounds, just the obvious bits." I sighed. She had taken care of the gash in the wolf's side well, but she failed to notice the chunk torn out of her paw.

I transmuted a bit of new flesh from a bit of meat in the fridge and data from the wolf's remaining tissue cells and wrapped bandages tightly around the paw, knowing that with a little alchemical help (I clapped and provided it) the flesh would grow back good as new. I looked at the gash on her side and deemed that stitches were warranted, so I transmuted a needle and thread and knocked the wolf out. I found a nerve bundle and disabled it so the she-wolf would not feel the stitches. I set to work right away.

After I was done, I reestablished the nerve connections, albeit gently. The she-wolf would be in pain when she woke up.

"Miss?" Nina walked in with Alexander.

"Nina, I told you to keep quiet, your papa cannot know I'm here." I knelt down and gave her a pat on the head. "Why don't you go take a nap? You and I can play later tonight." She nodded and ran off.

"I feel like a stalker and a soon-to-be-kidnapper." I muttered as I climbed some stairs. I paused. "Actually, that's what I am, really. Who could've known this is what I'd become? Certainly wasn't a childhood dream of mine." I climbed out a window and ended up perched in a shadowy spot on the roof. I watched Ed, Nina, Al, Alex, and Alexander romp around in the yard. "Now, lets just keep an eye on things, shall we?"

Alex POV

"I'm here to get you three." Havoc wiggled his cigarette. Nina, Alexander, Alphonse, Edward, and I were playing in the front yard. Ed and Al had taken a break from research to play with Nina and Alexander since they were "bored" (Kestrel needed a nap). As we started piling in the car, Havoc hung back to give Tucker a message. I froze.

This was the "evaluation day" message.

According to the Brotherhood manga, there'd be one more day after this until the transmutation of Nina. I'd have to come back to the house later to warn Kestrel. Or maybe Nina would tell her? I dunno. I'd come back after dark just in case.

We stopped at a restaurant and had dinner. It was delicious. I felt a little guilty about eating it because I knew that Kestrel was probably living off berries and worms (unless she was stealing from Tucker's kitchen), but I ate anyway. When we got to the hotel, I gave it about an hour, then I decided I'd pay Kes a visit. We hadn't spoken face to face since before Tucker, though we had been communicating through morse code every once and a while. Ed and Al thought Kestrel was on a pre-alchemy test mission for the Fuhrer, and I doubt the Fuhrer knew anything about what was going on.

"Where're you going?" Ed asked as I opened the window.

"Oh, just thought I'd take a walk." I bluffed.

"You don't wanna use the door?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Jumping out windows gives me that rush of adrenaline." I grinned at him wildly and jumped. I heard Ed sigh as the wind rushed past my faced and I landed on my feet. I walked calmly until the hotel was out of sight, then ran like lightning for Tucker's place.

When I got there, I climbed up a tree to a limb close to the roof and leapt from the limb to there. Kestrel was napping on the rooftop. "Kes!" I gave her a nudge and she made sleepy noises. "Get up!" She groaned and sat up.

"Alex, what're you doing here?" She asked.

"The transmutation day is in the day after tomorrow. Be prepared to snag Nina tomorrow night. I'll arrive at Tucker's house early the next day and distract him while you get Mustang and co. to arrest him. You can have the reason being that he transmuted his wife into the first chimera two years ago. Got it?" I stared into her eyes. She nodded.

"I know." She gave me a hug. "Be safe. I'll see you soon."

"'Kay." I hugged her back and then jumped off the roof.

BlueRoseRabbit: Ooh, I'm excited to write the next chapter.

Dreamer372: I have many sayings still to use.