While the cat (in his body) stood staring up at the air vent, mimicking Ed (in the cat's body), Ed thought up a cunning plan to get up there and to also get the cat in question to follow him. He quietly padded back away from the wall and then took a running jump at the cat. Unlike his first attempt at getting on the bed with Genevieve, Ed had learned how to jump higher, how to use his claws without necessarily hurting the person and to use his tail for balance. He ran, using his claws, up his body and then leapt from it's shoulder at the air vent. He only just made it and it took a moment of hanging there limply before he was able to pull himself in. He then looked back at the cat who looked surprised at Ed's actions. "Mew?" it asked in Ed's voice. Ed sighed heavily and turned away but didn't go anywhere. He sat there, at the edge of the vent and dangled his long fluffy tail over the edge and flicked it back and forth.
It was thanks to Al that Ed had learned what can get a cat's attention; they were always after the hair on Al's helmet. But it was sheer luck that he'd learned to use his tail by now and he sat there, swaying it back and forth, trying to make it as appealing to a cat as possible. Glancing over his shoulder, he smiled at seeing it did indeed seem to be working and the cat watched his tail in fascination. Seeing this, Ed edged further away from the opening so only just the tip of the tail was visible then continued to make it dart back and forth along the edge. Finally what he had hoped for happened. The cat (in his body) made a leap for the vent and, as luck would have it, it managed to catch onto the edge of the vent. Now it was up to the cat to use the muscles Ed knew his body had to climb up and into the vent. Ed backed away to give it space but, as soon as the cat had it's torso inside the vent Ed hurried off down the vent. Now was the tricky part. He had to find his way back to the outside world and make the cat follow him. He continued to flick his tail back and forth and made various noises every human makes when they want a cat to come to them.
"Ch-ch-ch, puss-puss-puss..." Ed whispered as he looked back at the cat in his body which was crawling through the vent. This continued on for a while until Ed caught a whiff of fresh air and a hint of a cold breeze on his body. Following this, he managed to find his way out. "Al! Heads up!" He shouted before jumping down into the arms of his little brother... but he was quick to jump out of these arms as the cat, who was still following him, literally fell out of the vent and into the arms of Al. "Mew!" it whimpered. "Wow! Who knew you could make such a convincing cat call brother?" Al asked looking from the human body in his arms to the cat body on the floor before him. "Ha-Ha, very funny Al. Now come on! Lets get going!" he snapped. Al didn't need telling twice and he was soon hurrying after Ed. "Where are we going brother?" Al asked as he held the cat, which clung to him in horror, and ran after his big brother. "Back to Madam Christmas's house! From there we can contact Roy and try to sort this mess out!" Ed replied but kept to himself that he was hoping Roy had managed to find Genevieve in their absence.
He wanted to pretended that, as long as they could swap Ed's soul with the cat's so that they were in the right bodies again, that he wouldn't care what happened to Genevieve. He wanted to pretend that he'd be able to continue on in his search to find the answers he and Al had been chasing for years now. He wished he could pretended he hadn't ever met her and that she meant nothing to him. That she was just a random chance meeting that hadn't had any effect on him... He wanted to pretended. But he couldn't. When he'd decided to join the military he'd given up that right as it was part of his childhood. He'd tossed it aside and knew it was too late to go back to it now. He knew that being an adult meant he had to face responsibilities... and even if Genevieve wasn't his fault, even if her predicament was nothing to do with him directly, Ed knew in his heart he couldn't just leave her to the fate of the state. 'Goodness knows what they've got planned for her... or what they're even doing to her now?' Ed thought miserably as they ran.
When they arrived at Madam Christmas's town house she let them in with a slightly surprised look as the one she thought was Ed 'Mewed' at her in an adorable way. "He hit his head! I just need to make him rest a while! Please excuse us!" Al explained as he rushed past her and up to the room where Genevieve had been staying with 'Eddy the cat' at his heels. No one could deny, Al really had a way with females as Madam Christmas asked no questions. Ed was just considering asking Al to go look for Roy when the door to the room opened. At first Ed and Al were on edge, expecting the worst but they were relieved to see Roy, himself, enter the room, panting and clutching some papers to his chest. "Mustang!" Al exclaimed happily. "There's a first for everything and this is one: boy am I happy to see you!" Ed gasped with a slight smile to his face as he sat on the bed with the cat, still in his body. "Like wise..." Roy panted as he caught his breath. "So, is it good news or bad?" Ed asked impatiently. "A bit of both. Good in that she's alive and that she's under minimum security right now... but bad too." he said taking a seat. "What's the bad part?" Al asked a little nervous. "Well... bad in that she's being moved so she won't be staying in Central that long." Roy explained slowly as he flicked through the papers he'd brought with him.
"Do you know where she's being taken?" Ed asked. Al nodded, "Yeah, it'll be easier to intercept those moving her if we at least know the direction they're heading in. There's so many ways in and out of Central..." He glanced at his brother as he said this and saw how nervous Ed was. On the surface, Ed was calm but Al could tell from the twitching of his tail and the slight movement of his whiskers and flick of the ears, that Ed was worried sick. "I believe they're taking her North." Roy said with a sigh. There was a LOT of good reason for that sigh. Firstly, Fort Briggs which was the most northerly military base, was difficult to get to due to the cold weather and constant snow... aka; Ed's automail would need changing for the trip. Secondly, Fort Briggs was a major strong hold and known for it's incredible defenses which would make breaking in practically impossible (unless you were Izumi, but that is another story). And thirdly was Olivia Armstrong. As the oldest Armstrong sibling, she shared a few choice qualities with her brother. Fortunately, being half naked wasn't one. Unfortunately the kind nature wasn't one either. She was known as the Ice Queen because she ruled with a heart of ice and, though she was very fair in her rule and judgment, she stuck to the rules like a tongue sticks to a frozen street light in the depths of December. There would be no chance of getting Genevieve out of Fort Briggs if she went there... even if it was possibly the safest place for her to be taken as Olivia also would not permit the girl be experimented on.
"...Ah, shit." Ed groaned as he thought about all those. "My thoughts exactly." Roy agreed and pulled a map free from the papers in his hands and placed it on the bed for the brothers to see. "As long as we can catch up to them before they reach North City we should be able to manage it without invoking the wrath of Major General Armstrong." Roy said thoughtfully as he pointed out the places on the map. He purposefully avoided using Olivia's name as it was obvious they were all worrying about that outcome should it arise and somehow, by not using her first name, it made it sound more acceptable that she was (or could be) an enemy rather than a dear friends formidable big sister. "So that settles it. We have to catch her before she leaves the Central area." Ed said firmly, grinning like a mad man... or rather the Cheshire cat. Al and Roy nodded, knowing that once Ed had a face like that, that he had made up his mind on what he would do... whether they could pull it off or not was a different matter all together...
"One last question before I leave you to get some sleep, Fullmetal," Roy said standing up. Ed looked up at him curiously. "When are you going to ditch that stupid kitten look and get back in your own body? With how you go on about your height I would have thought you'd be dying to get back to such a height where you don't have to look up at two year old's." he teased as he let the room laughing. Ed's eye twitched and he gritted his teeth, his claws sunk into the bed covers. "When I'm back in my own body I'll give him such a thrashing he'll wish he had as many lives as a cat!" he growled. Al backed away.