I'm sorry I didn't mean to keep mentioning it. I'm still a little insecure about the story. Thank you anyway for your reviews. I'm enjoying this story. I'm going to keeping going. Still no warnings in this chapter.

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Chapter Four

The trip to headquarters was intriguing. So many different smells and random objects floating around. These things I would ignore walking around on my own seemed to fascinate me more. My head turned to each noise and object flying through my peripheral vision. Mustang petted the back of my head, and I stared up at him. I had to wonder what was so important about the cat in his arms. I didn't understand why he cared about it so bad. He doesn't know it's me. I glanced up at Al. For someone who loved animals, Al didn't acknowledge me. I placed my head down in his arms and enjoyed the rest of the ride, attempting to ignore everything that was going on around me.

Mustang deposited me on the couch in his office. I moved from the right side to the left where I normally sat during my debriefings. He never noticed that hint. In fact, he sat down at his desk and looked at the paperwork. I didn't understand at all. If I was missing, why was he not doing more to look for me? Was he hiding the fact that he was worried? Did he not care about me that much? I curled up on the couch not paying attention to anyone in the room. I knew that sometime later the rest of Mustang's unit returned from their individual search. I bet you can guess what sort of results they had.

I've learned that cats should never drop their guard. They should always know what is going on. Suddenly a voice sounded, "Edward! Edward! It's so good to see the you're alright. Everyone's so worried about you. How did you get in that form anyway?" I lifted my head and stared into the face of a panting dog. To this day I don't know how he knew it was me. I don't even know how I understood what he was saying. Shrieking in a noise that I didn't know a cat or even me could make, I clawed my way away from the face and ran underneath Mustang's desk. Black Hayate continued to shove his noise underneath the desk. Voices sounded through the room, but I could only distinguish one. "I didn't think it was you at first, but you smell just like your clothes. I can't imagine how you must feel, being once a human now a cat and not being able to tell anyone. Oh, I smell a treat." He banged his head against the table and ran off somewhere. I could feel my fur standing on ends. Even though I knew who the dog was, something was making me fear him. Something that I didn't recognize.

I felt two hands wrap around me. I struggled at first and moved to another part of the desk. "Hawkeye, get that dog out of here. The rest of you, get back out there and find Ed! The next time I hear from one of you, it better be to tell me you found him and he's safe." Mustang's face came under the desk just as I heard the door slam. "Easy now. He was just saying hello." I refused to move. "He's gone. I'll protect you." Wrapping his hands around me, I finally let him pick me up. He placed me in his lap and gently petted me until I felt my fur flatten out. I wanted to cry. Besides understanding what was going on around me, I could barely control myself anymore. I feared that another hour in this form, I'd remain forever as a cat. That couldn't happen. Someone had to help Al return to his human body. He would never know what happened to me. I could only imagine what would happen to him.

After several minutes, I was fully calmed down. Mustang's hands were mesmerizing. Each stroke of his large hands over my body rubbed away more stress and anxiety. He stopped after a while and worked on the paperwork in front of him. I didn't mind. Feeling his warmth was enough for me at that moment. I fell asleep shortly after. Nothing bothered me until Mustang picked me up and carried me through the doorway of his office. Everything was dark and deserted except for a few lights that remained on at some of the desks. The others must not have still been looking for me. I knew they would never find anything. That gas was long gone, and unless there was something in that folder that screamed they were going to test it on a human then I was screwed.

Mustang shut all the lights off and closed the door behind him. "I swear, Ed, if you turn up safe and sound, you won't be for long," I heard him hiss under his breath. He continued to walk slowly through headquarters and out on the street. He obviously hoped that someone would come with information. He stopped at a store on the way home and set me down on the window. "Stay here. I need to buy you more tuna before we get home, and they won't let animals in the store." I glanced up at him and sat on my hind legs. I was tempted to play hard to get, but I knew if he wasn't trying hard to find the real me, he wouldn't bat an eye to me leaving. It took him several minutes to return to me. When he walked out the door, I jumped off the windowsill and stood next to him. He had two bags in his arms, and I knew he wouldn't be able to carry me as well. He smiled and walked towards his house. I followed close behind him. He glanced back ever now and then just to make sure he didn't loose me.

The night wasn't like our first night together. He fed me food in the kitchen, but this time it was on the floor. He disappeared into the living room instead of watching me eat. Curious at what he was doing, I only ate half of the tuna and moved to the other room. He sat on the couch in just a pair of shorts flipping through a book. I could barely tell what he was reading only because he would put it down to write something on a notepad. I jumped on the back of the couch to look over his shoulder, but the words were hard to read. He rubbed his eyes and placed the book down on his lap. He looked much tired than I ever seen him. Maybe the reason he wasn't looking for me was because he had something else on his mind. Maybe he was too tired to go looking for me. I never even considered that.

Mustang rose and walked up the stairs. He never even noticed me. I watched him undress and move into the bathroom. I figured if I was going to remain his cat, I better get used to him undressing randomly. I jumped up in the bed and lied down on the far end. Like last night, I waited until he was comfortably positioned in the bed before I curled up behind him. Instead of lying on his back, he curled around me and draped his arm over me. It was strangely comforting to feel his heat around me. I felt a strange tingling feeling in my legs. I ignored that at the time when I shouldn't have. If I would have just hid under the bed or moved away from Mustang when I started feeling this strange sensation, then maybe things would have turned out differently.

I'm going to go ahead and tell you want is happening. I sort of figured it out how it happened later on. The gas that I breathed in was unstable. It was meant to change a human into the animal that their personality best suits. Don't ask me why I changed to a cat. Upon administrating the counter gas, the human/animal would change back to their normal self. Like I said, it was unstable. Once the gas was fully through my system, my body began to change naturally back to normal. It started in the legs. They grew out to my normal automail and human legs. My back straightened out and the fur started to draw back into my body. The most unfortunate thing about changing back to human while asleep is waking up naked next to the man you were beginning to have feelings for. I didn't know at the time, but I admired him more than I thought. The feelings of resentment and constant playing the stubborn child was all a ploy to attract his attention. I'm sorry to admit this, but I was falling in love with my superior. A man if you would believe it.

I'm giving you the choice now. From this point on the story becomes very difficult to read. Things happened to me that made me feel worst than ever. If this is getting too weird for you don't flip the page over. If you can't handle things that degrade people, don't flip the page. I won't blame you or call you a coward because it's taken me this long to write what really happened. Make your choice and either close the notebook or flip the page.

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The next chapter is a little difficult to read but not as difficult as the following chapter. I'll start the warnings in the next chapter so you'll know what will happen before it does. I won't leave you in the dark. Like Ed said, the story is going to get extremely dark for several chapters. If you're not a fan of dark fics it'll be okay if you want to skip the rest. If you're sticking with me, I'll see you in a day. The next chapter will be up tomorrow. As always, thank you for reading and please review.

Angel Dove