Disclaimer; If I owned Fullmetal Alchemist then there would still be a Fullmetal Alchemist. As there is not, I clearly do not own it.

A/N; I have no excuse except that my time management over the last few months has not only been somewhat limited but also slightly non-existent. I've been juggling uni and work, as well as practicums, and I found that I just didn't have a spare moment. But I've graduated now, so hopefully we shall get back on track! To everyone who is still with me, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Nine;

He could feel it.

It was right there.

The overwhelming realisation that the enemy, the natural predator, was so close, so nearby, and no matter how far he went he couldn't get away. He had to run, he had to flee, he needed to get as far as possible, but he couldn't.

He was barely aware of rolling to all fours, body shuddering. If he couldn't run then he could try and show this other presence, this enemy who was the boss. A hiss escaped from a raw throat.

A growl was his reply and, before he could even think about it, he was at the other side of this small room, clawing at the stone wall.

'Clawing... no, wait...'

He could feel it, there was something there to chase, but there seemed to be something else that was separating them, keeping them apart from each other. Frustrated, he batted at this strange wall, trying to get to it, to chase it and maybe even play, but he couldn't get past.

He whined and shook himself. Where was it? He could smell it, the scent was overwhelming his senses because it was so close that he could almost reach out and touch it, but he couldn't see it. There was just this realisation that it was there and that it was nearby.

'No... stop...'

He couldn't get away.

He couldn't find it.

It was close, way too close.

Why could he smell but not see?

It was there!

'STOP!'

A gasping, ragged breath was suddenly drawn in and the form huddled by the wall froze, his body trembling slightly from the shock. For a moment no other sound was made and then Edward exhaled, pressing his shaking hands to his temples.

'What the hell was that?'

But he knew, even before he had consciously thought of the question, what the answer was. He knew what had overwhelmed him the moment that he had woken up, because it was still threatening to take over.

Of course, it was a surprise in itself that he even had woken up, because Edward had been sure, so sure, that he was about to die. But he was alive, so the next biggest shock was that he was even consciously aware of himself.

Why hadn't the transmutation destroyed his mind? He could feel the different senses grappling for dominance within him, could smell and feel the presence of both a cat and a dog, and his mind was balking at it. Part of him wanted to run away, to find the closest high surface and leap onto it. The rest of him was relishing the idea of a chase, of running far and fast and chasing down his new playmate.

Firmly Edward squashed these two, contrasting urges. There was nothing to flee from, nor was there anything to chase. At the end of the day he was still Edward, and he would not be servant to the forced animalistic urges that had come from the transmutation.

How had it worked though? What had gone right for him that had gone so wrong for those poor people? Why was he not only alive but fully conscious?

Warily Edward looked around at his surroundings. He was back in the cell he had first woken up in upon his arrival at this place. He doubted, however, that it would be as easy to escape as it had been last time. Cooper would have more of an interest in him now, and would want to study this strange phenomenon.

Maybe even try another transmutation...

Edward shuddered at the thought and pushed it away as well. He didn't want to go through that transmutation for a third time, he didn't think his body would take it. After all, the first time he had gone through it he had blacked out for only a minute or so before waking briefly and then falling asleep. This time he had fallen unconscious immediately, his mind shutting down almost from the moment the transmutation had touched him, and he had been out of it long enough for Cooper and his bodyguard to unchain him and dump him back in this cell.

Edward's hand twitched suddenly and he realised that, without his noticing, his body had tensed up as though ready to run. Scowling inwardly he forced himself to calm down, refusing to let this beat him.

Then he heard them, clear as day. Footsteps, walking down a stone corridor and walking closer and closer. His body tensed again, and this time he let it because it was always good to be wary.

The smell hit him before anything else. It was harder for him to ignore his senses now that there was two sets of them, and he could no longer ignore the scent that told him Cooper was near, the scent he had noticed when he met him but had ignored, the one that was a mixture of danger and death. With two senses, however, he could no more ignore it than he could the stone that was steadily digging into his back.

Edward took a deep breath and sat up straight against the wall, crossing his arms. There was no point pretending that he had died from the transmutation, Cooper would see through that instantly and he hated to think what would happen to him if Cooper did believe it. So the only thing he could do now was present a strong front and pretend that he had been unaffected after all.

It was this pose, along with a defiant, angry glare, that met Cooper when he slowly opened the heavy door and stepped inside. Strangely, however, he seemed unsurprised to see Edward sitting there, awake and seemingly fine. Instead a slow grin spread across his face and the young ex-alchemist had the strangest feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong.

"It's about time you woke," Cooper said, lifting his chin and looking down at Edward. The air of superiority grated on Edward's nerves, but he refused to say anything. "When you blacked out yesterday I became worried that that was the end of you."

Edward's eyebrows twitched slightly, but it was the only indication he gave of being surprised at all. He had been unconscious for an entire day? If he had been worried before, then he was even more so now...

"The silent treatment?" Cooper asked, raising an eyebrow. "Trying to avoid any questions that I may require you to answer? You needn't have feared, Elric, I have no questions for you. All I require is the proof of my experiment."

Edward set his jaw and his glare darkened. If Cooper thought he would give him this 'proof' then he should think again. He would never give Cooper anything, not willingly.

But Cooper didn't seem worried at all by this show of defiance. In fact, his grin only grew more amused as he looked at Edward and held up a small cage that Edward had just noticed was clutched in his hand. He showed nothing outwardly, but his insides roiled with dread at the sight of it.

He had a feeling that, somehow, he would end up giving Cooper what he wanted... one way or another.

"The difference between you and I, Elric, is the lengths that we will go to for proper research," Cooper said. "Morals, laws, human rights... all of this becomes nothing in the face of the data that I can obtain. It is no worry to me that someone, such as yourself, might be suffering, and I feel no guilt out of forcing the data that I want out of them. I am a scientist, Elric, and it is my job to discover new things, no matter how immoral people think that I am." His grin turned manic. "I have no doubt that you will never tell me what I want to know, so I shall simply have to force the answer out of you."

He crouched down and put the cage on the floor in front of him, the door turned toward Edward. With a flick of the finger the catch was released, opening the cage.

For a long moment nothing happened, and Edward began to doubt not only Cooper's words but also his sanity. Cooper, however, merely chuckled and gave the back of the cage a hard tap.

A small blur shot out of the cage and paused, huddled on the floor of the cell. Edward tilted his head and blinked, staring at the mouse that was suddenly sitting there. For a moment beady black eyes stared back at him, and then the mouse turned and fled.

Later Edward would not be able to say exactly what happened to him. One moment he was sitting on the floor, determined not to give in and then the next...

Well, all he really remembered was the sensation of darting forwards, quick as lightning, gold eyes focused steadily on the mouse that was suddenly his prey. Did it truly think it could escape him? Because he was larger, stealthier, quicker than it and it really had no chance. He would catch it, perhaps bat it around, eat it if he felt hungry enough...

It darted left and he followed, light on his paws and ready for anything. There was another presence in this small, dingy area, but he ignored it, because the hunt was the most predominant thing right now. He growled, steadied himself, and pounced, landing on the small creature.

It was as he caught the mouse, however, that Edward abruptly returned to his senses. He blinked again and gazed down at the small struggling creature trapped between his hands. The overwhelming urge to do something washed over him, but he pushed it away, trying to work out what had just happened and how he had gotten all the way to the other side of the cell.

'What the hell?' Edward thought, releasing the poor little creature and sitting back on his heels.

Undeniably he had just chased that mouse, but he barely remembered doing it. And suddenly remembrance slammed into him. Not of what had just occurred, but of earlier days when he had realised just how badly Tucker's failed transmutation had affected him.

Because there had been periods just like that, times when memory failed him and he was suddenly standing in a completely different place, on all fours. Once he had had a piece of raw meat in his mouth, and it was only later, when he heard the butcher complaining about some sort of animal that hadn't really looked like a dog (but, really, what else could it have possibly been?) that he had understood what had happened.

It had been the catalyst to realising that these canine effects that had plagued him were not going to go away. In fact, the longer he failed to recognise them the stronger they got. It was after this that he had made a conscious effort to suppress those instincts, to hide them from the rest of the world and pretend that they didn't exist.

But he was skilled in suppressing canine extinct, to the point where it was almost automatic now. He could pretend that his sense of smell and hearing was the same as everyone else's, and he could hide that sometimes he just itched to get away and run, and that, occasionally, when he fought, he relished in leaping into the air on all fours and throwing himself at his opponent with all the grace of a guard dog defending against intruders. It was easy to hide all of that, because he knew each instinct now and how to suppress it.

But this was an entirely new set of instincts. Feline instincts were completely different again, and he had yet to have time to work out how to begin hiding them, and keep himself from instantly reacting. If Cooper had thrown him a bone he would have given him a glare, but when he released the mouse...

It made Edward feel sick to his stomach to realise that he had been utterly had. In the end Cooper had gotten what he had wanted, and Edward had been able to do nothing to stop him.

"Thank you, Elric," Cooper said graciously, tempting the mouse back with a piece of cheese and closing the cage on it. He stood up, smirking down at Edward, who could do no more than look up helplessly at him. "You have been most helpful."

He left the cell, the door closing behind him with a deep, echoing sound that sounded almost like a funeral toll to Edward. And, when he had gone, Edward opened his mouth and yelled, releasing his pain, anger and frustration to the world.

FMAFMAFMA

Alphonse couldn't pinpoint exactly what had gone wrong, though he knew that something had. He could feel it as keenly as he could feel his own heart beating. There was no one around to discuss it with, however, so he simply curled up in his hospital bed and wrapped his arms around himself, imagining that his brother would be there tomorrow, walking into the room as if nothing had happened and sternly making sure that Alphonse hadn't done anything that would have overexerted himself.

It was a good thought, and Alphonse slowly fell asleep with this image in mind, holding it dearly to himself even if he knew, somehow, that it wouldn't be happening like that anytime soon. It comforted him, however, so he pretended that it was reality and drifted off into pleasant dreams.

When he woke the next morning he wouldn't remember what had troubled him so.

FMAFMAFMA

Colonel Mustang put his head in his hands and sighed deeply. At this time of night, when military headquarters were silent and he was left to his own damning thoughts as the moonlight fell across him, it was all too easy to think that they would never find Edward.

It was not a thought that he allowed himself during the day. In the brightness of the sun, faced with Alphonse's desperate hope, Winry's never-ending optimism and his team's tentative wishes, he would force all these thoughts away. There was no question that Edward would be found, and soon.

He would be found.

By day he portrayed this strength, becoming a pillar of optimism and hope, encouraging everyone else on when it looked like they might falter. He comforted the two teenagers, promising that he would return Edward to them. He strode forwards with strong, determined steps, checking each location as though it would finally be the one that would lead them to Edward.

By day he was strong, a leader.

By night he was weaker, his chest hurting, aching until all he wanted to do was collapse to the floor and stay there forever, the burden that he had shouldered finally becoming too much. It was when he let images of Edward lying still on the ground, glassy eyes staring blankly at nothing, his skin cold and no breath rattling his chest. Or sometimes he would think of a body, almost mutilated beyond compare, perhaps almost unrecognisable.

When he didn't consider these possibilities, another, just as dark, thought would come into his mind. Of Edward, thankfully alive, but his mind gone. He would imagine that the bright spark that made Edward who he was had disappeared into oblivion, and he would wander aimlessly, not recognising anyone, not acknowledging anything but trapped within his own mind.

Sometimes Mustang wasn't sure what would be worse. He was either dead, or as good as, and he wasn't sure he could do anything to prevent it. He was trying, trying so very hard, but as each lead turned up false and each location ended up being nothing it was getting harder and harder to pretend that Edward was going to be okay after all.

He screwed his eyes shut and drew in a deep, shuddering breath. It was all too easy to believe that this was his, Mustang's, fault. Perhaps all this could be because he had given Edward the materials to research Tucker, gave him the means to find the truth that no one had even imagined, and thus ended up in him being partially transmuted. Or maybe it was because he had allowed Edward to hide the signs, even as he knew something wasn't quite right. Supposing he had kept a better eye on that file, would it still have been stolen? He should have watched it, should have made sure nothing found it, maybe locked it away in a safe and pretend it had never existed.

And perhaps, just perhaps, he should never have gotten Edward involved in the military in the first place. If he hadn't been in the military, he would never have met Tucker, he would never have been transmuted in such away, never caught the attention of Cooper and, finally, would not have gotten kidnapped. If he hadn't been in the military, he would have been safe.

Yes, Edward had done an awful lot for the military, and for his brother. The countless successful missions, no matter how high the cost of them was, was proof of that. And that wasn't even discussing the defeat of the homunculi and the return of his brother's body.

Yet... when had Edward's simple search for a means to return his brother's body turned into an all-out save-the-world mission? He had done it, yes, with the help of everyone else, but he had lost so much too.

Was this how the world was going to repay him for that deed? Edward had saved them all even if he didn't have to. In return he had lost his alchemy and been kidnapped by a mad man.

Mustang snorted. Some reward.

"Sir?"

Mustang started and sat up straight, knowing that it was already too late and they had already seen his slumped, defeated form. But he knew that voice too, and as much as he hated showing weakness in front of anyone, he was slightly glad that it had been her and no one else.

"Lieutenant," Mustang said tiredly, rubbing a hand across his brow. "Why are you here so late?"

"I could ask the same of you," Hawkeye pointed out shrewdly. Her sharp eyes would pick out, now, what Mustang had been hiding, at night when all his defenses were gone and his heart was on his sleeve. "It is past midnight."

"Is it?" Mustang raised an eyebrow fractionally, resisting the urge to glance at the desk clock and check for himself. "Perhaps we should get home now."

Despite his words he didn't move, and neither did she. He saw her amber eyes sweep his desk, noting the paperwork that was starting to pile up, and the pens that had been untouched. She would deduce, in an instant, that he hadn't been working all these hours, but it would also lead to questions that he didn't want to answer.

For a moment silence reigned between them, neither wanting to broach the topic that was hovering between them now. Mustang sighed, after long seconds ticked away, and leaned back in his chair.

"I find it easier to think at this time of night," he said simply by way of explanation.

"I see," Hawkeye said with a nod, her sharp eyes letting him know that she saw more than he was telling her. But she wouldn't ask, she would know he couldn't answer. "Would you like me to leave you to your thoughts for now?"

"No," Mustang sighed, tipping his head back. "I won't be here much longer, I believe."

It went so quiet that he thought she had left after all, but he didn't feel the strength to actually check. But then she shifted slightly and he realised, as warmth suffused him and almost banished the dark, cold thoughts, that she hadn't abandoned him after all.

"Sir, we'll find him," Hawkeye said quietly, and Mustang slowly closed his eyes. "It's only a matter of time, now."

"I know," Mustang said quietly to the ceiling. "I know, lieutenant."

'But what state will we find him in?'

Coming Up; Chapter Ten: As Cooper begins to plan the next stages of his horrific experiment Edward once more attempts to escape, discovering more in the process of just how far gone into madness Cooper actually was…

Thanks to;

bloodynessie, Skip, kfk0003, Fluehatraya, mysterious-Becci-D, Mel72000, Joker Oak

Hope everyone has a good Christmas and a brilliant start to the new year!