Disclaimer; I don't own anything

A/N; It was never my intention to let another two years pass before I updated this. We're so close to the end, but time seems to slip away before I realised it. As a Christmas a New Year's present, though, I'm offering a slightly longer chapter for everyone who is still following me. I'll ensure that my New Year's Resolution is to make more time for writing without allowing life to get in the way! Thank you for reading, and I hope this is worth the wait.

Chapter Eleven;

His ears perked up, and he paused. There had been a strange sound, an unfamiliar sound, somewhere in the distance. For a moment he wavered uncertainly, unable to make sense of the garbled sounds... and then Edward internally shook himself. The sounds weren't confusing and senseless. They were words that he had momentarily been unable to translate.

A downside to this different instinct thing, then. When he was so caught up in this strange chimera-state, it was harder to understand human speech. Still, that was a problem that was easily solved; he slowly straightened, focusing everything on hearing and understanding as he stood very still.

'Death-man,' a corner of his mind whispered. 'Large-man. Both are there.'

If he was honest with himself, Edward had hoped not to come across either of them again. The place was large enough that he should have been able to miss them... but it appeared that his luck was just as terrible as it always had been.

"...Elric remains calm," Cooper suddenly said, the sound of Edward's name catching his attention. He wavered slightly on the balls of feet caught between needing to know what they were talking about and fleeing while he still had the chance.

After all, this was what had happened last time. He had gotten so caught up in finding information that he hadn't had time to recover and escape before he had gotten himself captured.

Still, it was slightly different now. This time, Edward knew exactly where his enemies were, so they couldn't creep up on him like they had last time. On top of that, he hadn't trapped himself in a room of death that made him freeze, so he could be a lot quicker on the uptake if he did need to flee suddenly.

Logically, the best thing to do was turn around right now and try to find the way out. On the other hand... knowing what they were going to do next was good too, right? If he simply escaped, there was no guarantee that the two of them would be arrested, especially if they realised that he was gone before he sent the military after them. If the two of them got away, this nightmare would simply continue, regardless of whether they came after him again or if they chose someone else to continue experimenting on.

No, he couldn't let that happen. If he did nothing else during his time here, then he would at least make damn sure that the two men holding him captive became familiar with their own cells by the end of it all.

It was this thought that made him creep forward, his steps soundless as he effortlessly moved with feline grace toward the sound of the voices. He still didn't know exactly where they were, and the fact that his hearing was quite good now was sort of messing with his perception a little, but with every step he could hear them more clearly until he was listening to the entire conversation with no trouble at all.

"He ate the food you sent him," the henchman grunted as Edward eased closer. He could see an open doorway up ahead, so it made sense that the two of them were there. "I stayed to make sure."

Well, that was a little disturbing. Edward hadn't even noticed that the man hadn't walked away because he had been too caught up in his thoughts.

"Good," Cooper said, satisfied. "We can leave him be for a little while longer, then; I still need to set up some things for the next experiment, and it might be a good idea to allow his mind to settle first. I would hate for him to die before I am finished with him."

'...Next experiment?' Edward grimaced. Cooper was planning on experimenting on him again? Hadn't he had enough with one success?

Though he already knew the answer to that. Alchemy, itself, was a science, and science was all about experimenting and then re-experimenting to ensure that the result remained the same. Cooper would want to make sure that his first success wasn't a fluke. And what better way to do that then to try the transmutation again?

The thought of having to go through that again made Edward's stomach recoil. He knew, without a doubt, that he would not survive a third transmutation. He knew it as surely as he knew that the sun would rise in the morning. After being transmuted with Alexander, he had blacked out briefly and then slept for a few days. After being transmuted with the cat, however, he had been unconscious for hours afterward, and even now his body was still trying to remind him of the aches and pains it had suffered. It was only sheer force of will that was keeping him going right now.

The mind wasn't meant to be transmutated so many times. Hell, it was a bad idea to do it once let alone twice or three times. Edward had been lucky so far, managing to get away with both his life and his mind intact after two separate transmutations.

He would definitely not survive a third. Even if he lived through it, he knew that his mind would be gone, becoming instead a jumbled zoo that he wouldn't have a hope of penetrating. The very essence that made him who he was would most definitely disappear.

He wouldn't allow that to happen, not now, not ever.

Which meant that it was time to get out of here. He had what he needed. Cooper and his henchman weren't going to disturb him for awhile, which meant that he had some time to find a way out and send the military to this place. With luck, Cooper would never know he was gone.

Slowly, carefully, Edward backed away. When he was some distance from the two of them, he blocked out the murmuring sound of their voices and darted down another hallway, determination giving his feet wings. There was no need for stealth, now, because there was no one around to hear him. What he needed now was speed and to stay alert for any danger that could possibly be around.

'I need a way out,' he thought to himself. 'If I could just find fresh air somewhere down here, I'll have an escape route.'

If he could manage it, he would avoid that awful room, the one full of the dead bodies of Cooper's previous victims. He silently swore to them that he would get them all a proper burial very soon, that he would get them away from this terrible place and give them somewhere to lie in peace. For now, though, he couldn't afford to go that way, even though he knew there was a window in the room; freezing up now would not be a good idea, not if he wanted to leave here swiftly.

Then, suddenly, he caught the scent of something.

All at once, Edward knew that it wasn't fresh air, which was what he was looking for. But his feet were already turning in that direction and he realised, with some horror, that it was his cat instincts, his newest set of instincts (and the ones that he hadn't yet had time with in order to gain some semblance of control over them) that had pushed to the forefront of him mind, just as they had when Cooper released that mouse into the room.

There was at least a difference this time, though. Even as his cat instincts chased something else, his human mind was still very active, and knew exactly what his body was doing.

Though this was only a small concession. It just meant that he was aware of just how his body was acting without his permission.

'Stop!' he yelled, battering against the mental walls that had shot up, blocking him from control. Everything in him was willing the neural command to connect so that he could focus once more on the most important thing.

But his body wasn't listening to him any more. His nose twitched and he bristled as he padded lightly forward, getting ever closer to what had caught his attention.

'Prey. Follow. Catch. Friend...?'

Helpless, Edward found himself shifted to the role of observer. There was only the faintest of stirrings from his other instincts, which pricked its head when it noticed that he was now running with purpose toward some unseen goal, but otherwise they sat quiet in the back of his mind, in the way he had trained them to ever since he had discovered them. But he couldn't reign this in; it was too strong.

This was what he had feared, even all the way back when Tucker had done the first transmutation on him. This was the greatest fear that he had so far faced; the terror that he would lose himself, lose control, had been a constant companion for a very long time, until he couldn't even remember not being afraid of it in the past.

Perhaps being aware as this was happening was even worse for him, to be honest. Being aware and still not being in control was strange and terrifying, and there was no comparison he could make to the sensation. The only thing he could even begin to compare it to was the helpless darkness that he had spiralled down into after he and Alphonse had tried human transmutation; lacking two limbs, he couldn't do anything for himself, and the intense depression that he had sunk into had prevented him from wanting to do the little he could.

But he had gotten out of that, hadn't he? He had found another purpose, replaced his limbs and kept moving forward, promising himself that he would never go back to that dark time ever again. Because he knew, had always known, that simply giving up would never be the answer to any of his problems.

He had been strong them. He had taken control of his life and stood on his own two feet. If he had managed to do it then, when it seemed like the very world was against them...

Then he could do it now, when the only enemy he had here was his own mind.

'STOP!'

His body stopped so abruptly that, thrust suddenly back in control, Edward could only pinwheel his arms frantically in a futile attempt to stop himself pitching forward. He hit the ground, tumbling into an awkward pile of automail and flesh.

For a moment, he stayed where he was, breathing in and out slowly. Then he groaned and flexed his own fingers as he pulled himself up off the ground, more relieved than he could say that he was no longer running heedlessly down the halls.

Then he stopped, belatedly surprised that he could even move at all. Slowly, he shifted into a sitting position, rubbing his head where it had struck the ground as he stared unseeingly down at his knee.

Just like that, he was in control again. The sensation of helplessness had been so fleeting that he could have just imagined it if it wasn't for the lingering terror and wariness that still occupied his mind.

Still... he had taken control again, forcefully suppressing his instincts in the way he had previously been unable to. The feline part of his mind was again quietly idle, waiting for the moment that he decided to utilise them. It was just him again, him and the strange skills that were now part of him. The moment when he hadn't been himself was gone.

"Alright," he said aloud to himself, making sure to keep his voice low as he got carefully to his feet; who knew where Cooper and his henchman had gone during the brief period of time he wasn't paying attention. "Alright." He drew in a deep breath. "Think about it later. For now, concentrate on escaping."

It was a good plan. Edward couldn't afford to stop and analyse what had just happened. There would be plenty of time to do that afterward, but there likely wouldn't even be a second for it if he managed to get himself caught again.

Though...

Edward looked around thoughtfully. Just like he remembered what his body was doing, he also remembered the thoughts that had slipped into his mind while he was struggling for control. Thoughts that had come from a small corner that was paying attention and was driving him to act on his instincts.

"Prey... Follow... Catch," he murmured, rubbing his head. It was probably dangerous to talk out loud right now, as he had a tendency to do when he was working through a difficult problem, but he needed something to ground himself right now. Besides, his nerves were so frayed at the moment that he would probably sense Cooper coming from a mile away. "Self explanatory. Means there's something around here, something that's prey. But..."

To be honest, that wasn't the part that was confusing him. That there was prey down here was odd, but perhaps not against expectations if there was an opening nearby. The last thought, however, rang through his mind, and it was this that he scrutinised.

'Friend...' He had thought, for a split second, that there was a friend down here. The cat part of him had picked up something that he had managed to miss completely

There was someone down here that he had recognised as a friend.

Before he could stop it, excitement bloomed in his chest. If there was a friend down here... it meant that they had finally found him, that Alphonse had managed to lead Mustang and his soldiers to the right place in their search for him. He hadn't been abandoned, nor were they too late.

He didn't have to do this alone anymore.

When he moved this time, it was with the fully conscious decision to do so. His feet slapped against the floor, and he knew he was making more noise than was wise, but it didn't matter anymore. He knew exactly where he had been heading before he had taken back control, and his sights were set on the door just ahead of him, the door that was slightly ajar. If he had been heading there, toward both friend and prey, then it must mean that it was the way out.

Heart beating fast, body almost trembling with relief and amazement, Edward slammed through the door, allowing it to the hit the wall and bounce off. It clicked shut softly behind him, but he paid it no mind as he threw himself forward.

He had only gotten three steps before he realised that something was wrong.

There were no windows, and the only way out was through the door he had just come through. There wasn't a chance someone was hiding, biding their time, because there wasn't anywhere to hide in the first place. There were only three things in the room.

A large bird case, in which a tiny yellow bird twittered anxiously when it caught sight of him. 'Prey.'

A very familiar small, calico cat, which eyed him with far two much intelligence. 'Friend.'

And a large transmutation circle, in the middle of which was a pole stuck in the ground.

He hadn't been running toward freedom. He had been running straight toward the very experiment that he had been trying to escape.

"No," he muttered, ignoring the desperate, almost hysterical quality his voice had taken on. He swung around and reached out for the doorknob... but there wasn't one. The door could only be opened with a key. "No! I won't...!" The cat daintily walked toward him, its eyes never leaving him, as though telling him to face the facts. "I won't believe that this is going to happen no matter what!"

But it was impossible. The door was made out of thick metal; it might have succumbed to his automail, but he couldn't test it since his leg still wasn't working properly... it was amazing enough that he had managed to get this far, really. And there was no other way out of the room.

"Did I not leave this door open?"

And, the icing on the cake. Of course Cooper would choose now to return to the experiment room to check on things before he dragged Edward here.

There was nowhere to go. He could only stand, frozen, as the door clicked open, swinging inward to admit the two people he least wanted to see right now.

It would have seemed funny, from an outside perspective. Honestly, Edward couldn't say who was more surprised; him as everything went to hell in a split second, or Cooper and his henchman at seeing him out of his cell.

And then a tiny, logical thought broke through. He didn't know which part of him noted it... but he supposed that didn't matter, anyway.

'The door's open.'

There was, right in front of him, a way out. He would have to make a break for it, but he had been in tougher situations before. And he had the element of surprise right now, which was more than he could say in other instances.

He didn't think, he just acted. Pushing his body forward, reminding himself of just how close he was to getting out of here, finally, he dashed forward. He had lost none of his speed since the promised day, and he was more glad than ever that he was still wearing the northern automail that finally allowed him to utilise his body's natural strength and speed to almost full capacity. He kicked aside his tiredness, informing every cell in his body that it would put everything he could into this final bid for freedom.

However, there was a part of him that could not move on will alone, nor could it listen to his mind's commands. His metal limb could only do what it was capable of, and it had been on his last legs for quite some time.

It was just unfortunate that it chose that moment to stop working completely.

Surprised, Edward dropped. It was all Cooper and his henchman needed to snap themselves out of their own surprise, and, in moments, Edward found himself being hauled back into the room, struggling as much as he could. The last thing he saw, before the door closed again, was the cat slipping out of the room, escaping in the way that he had been unable to.

'At least one of us got out,' he thought wryly, trying to kick out with his flesh leg as the henchman dragged him to the pole and roughly cuffed him to it once more.

But the henchman, finally showing the reason why Cooper kept him around, snarled and caught Edward's ankle before his foot could connect. Leaning closer, his bared his teeth in an animalistic expression that Edward, despite being a partial chimera – with two different animals –, would likely never be able to replicate.

"Do it again, and I'll break this one too," he growled, leaving no doubt that he wasn't lying.

Edward almost told him that it didn't matter, since he was about to die anyway, but he refrained from doing so and slowly lowered his leg. If there even the slim chance that he could survive this, that he could get out... then he had to be prepared for it.

"Well," Cooper drawled, stepping toward them, though Edward noted with some amusement that he didn't come within kicking distance. He still had the bruise from when he had been careless last time. "I certainly wasn't expecting you to be so eager to continue the experiment, Edward."

Edward scowled at him. "I don't want anything to do with you or your experiments. I was looking for the way out."

Cooper scoffed. "Do you think I would have left an exit where you could find it? You might be a genius, but that just means that I was more careful."

It was looking more and more like he should have just gone through the death room. It would have been terrible, but at least he could have gotten out and lead the military to this place.

"Or..." Cooper stepped closer, his voice lowering. "Were you perhaps hoping that Colonel Mustang would show up in a blaze of glory?"

"I don't need that bastard's help!" Edward snapped, though his eyes betrayed him, flitting away from Cooper's gaze; after all, that was exactly who he had hoped to see as he raced through the halls, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

Cooper laughed coldly, straightening. "It's a foolish hope, Elric. Not only will Mustang never find this place, but he isn't even looking. After all, you are not part of the military anymore; they have no obligation to find you if you go missing."

"Yeah?" Edward challenged, ignoring the small voice that told him that Cooper wasn't quite wrong on that one. "He might be a bastard, but Mustang wouldn't leave me here to die in a psychopath's hands, I know that much."

"Such trust," Cooper said with a bemused look on his face. "One would certainly not have expected it after seeing the way the two of you interact whenever you meet. But I'm afraid that it's misplaced, this time; there are no soldiers out looking for you, and Mustang himself has found himself busy with rebuilding Central headquarters; after all, the Fuhrer is dead and half the building itself was blown away somehow."

There was every chance that Cooper was lying; Edward certainly hadn't found him to be particularly trustworthy so far. But there was a small element of truth in what he was saying; if Mustang and the other soldiers had been ordered to clean up, then they would have no choice but to do so. After all, as Cooper said, the military didn't really need to concern themselves with him anymore. If he went missing...

Well, it wasn't really their problem.

Despite this, though, Edward thought of the faces of Mustang and his team and knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that they wouldn't leave him here. The lot of them had been part of his life for three years now, and he part of theirs. No matter what, they would get here. Late, probably, as Mustang usually was... but he would find his way to this underground trap eventually.

Perhaps Cooper was taken-aback by the burning determination and belief in Edward's eyes, likely having expected him to wilt at his vitriol. He stared for a few moments, eyes searching his captives for some sign of compliance... but there was none. Edward would continue fighting him in the only way he could right now, even if it was only by not giving Cooper the satisfaction of seeing him fall.

Abruptly, Cooper turned away.

"Since you're here and everything seems to be in order, we may as well start the experiment early," he said darkly, and the henchman moved away instantly, stepping off the circle. "As you may have guessed, I am interested in studying how conflicting instincts can survive in one form. So far, you have adapted remarkably to having both feline and canine traits in you." He turned, his eyes gleaming with feverish madness. "So why not add a third and see how it goes?"

Edward tugged on the cuffs, growling. But they didn't budge.

"If you do this, I'll die," he said resolutely. "Then you will have lost your test subject."

"No, not really," Cooper said simply. "You see, the previous success has shown me that turning people into partial chimeras is possible. And one success means that I can likely count on other successes. A failure here simply means that it is impossible to transmute more that two creatures into one person. After you die... well, there's hardly a shortage of people in Central."

Edward's breath caught. He hadn't thought about it like that. He had been concentrating only on hopefully persuading Cooper that he still needed him.

But Cooper didn't need him anymore, as far as he was aware. Having succeeded in connecting Edward's mind to that of a cat's, he would naturally be confident in his ability to do it again. Edward was now pointless baggage.

Which meant that it was alright to get rid of him now.

Cooper, Edward realised, had never intended on him living through this experiment. If it worked, it would be amazing, but it wouldn't be any skin off his back if it didn't. It just meant that Cooper had gotten rid of a troublesome element that was slowly pulling out of his control.

'I'm going to die,' he realised numbly. He watched as Cooper slowly knelt down, every action deliberate, and he knew this was it. 'Alphonse, I'm sorry.'

And then Cooper's hands met the circle and the world exploded in a flash of light.

FULLMETALALCHEMIST

Normally, Mustang wouldn't pay much mind to any distractions, not while he was on the job. Today, with only one purpose in his mind, the last thing he needed was to worry about the small cat tugging insistently on the leg of his pants.

It had been a very frustrating few hours already. They knew the sewers were here. But every entrance had been blocked off, and fairly recently, too. Part of Mustang wanted to just make a hole and be done with it already, but caution reminded him that he didn't know where Edward was, and that they didn't want to alert his captors that they were present just yet.

But, damn it, he just wanted to storm the place, fire blazing. He knew Edward was here, the recently transmuted walls pointed to that, but they had to find a way in before they could even think of mounting a rescue operation.

(He ignored the small voice in the back of his mind that said that it could be like last time they had found a highly likely place; only notes had been left behind, as though the captors were taunting them.)

As such, he didn't have time for a cat, no matter how cute it was trying to be. He looked down with a dark glare, intending on shooing the animal away. And then the cat looked up.

He wasn't sure what made him freeze. Perhaps it was the odd intelligence in the gold eyes, intelligence that reminded him, inexplicably, of Edward. Or perhaps it was the memory of seeing a similar odd intelligence in another animal, so long ago.

Slowly, Mustang knelt down, staring at the cat.

"Fullmetal?" he asked quietly, feeling almost insane for asking.

The cat blinked slowly, and then it deliberately shook its head. Mustang sat back on his heels, not sure what to say. That wasn't normal feline behaviour, that was a definite. The cat, naturally, wasn't Edward… but Mustang would suddenly bet his life on the fact that part of Edward was in that animal.

"Do you know where he is?" he asked, a sudden thought occurring to him.

The cat nodded once and then darted away. Mustang surged to his feet, barely thinking about the ridiculousness of what he was about to do. Hope was blossoming because, finally, they had a lead, no matter how strange it is.

"Men!" he ordered, and everyone looked up. "Follow that cat!"

And it was a mark of how desperate they all were that every person present jumped to do his bidding. Mustangs' urgency had worn on them all, and it was as though everyone had simply been waiting for something like this to happen.

In the lead, making sure to keep the cat in sight, Mustang allowed a grin to spread over his face. They had found Edward, finally.

Now it was time to bring him home… and deal with those that took him.

Coming Up; Chapter Twelve; Mustang has found a valuable ally in his efforts to find Edward, but he is now in a race against time. The question now is whether he can reach Edward in time… or if he'll be too late to prevent a third transmutation from taking place.

Thanks to;

All my readers and everyone who has reviewed, particularly recently. Many of the reviews that I got in the last two months (and I can't believe I was still getting reviews!) helped kick-start me into writing this chapter, partly out of sheer force of will and partly out of guilt. Here's hoping that those two emotions will help me to write the next chapter quickly! I'll be going away for two months soon, so it'll be a miracle if anything is posted in that time, but I'm going to aim to attempt to have another chapter out after my return. Once again, thanks for staying with me on this journey.