AN: Hm…this should teach me not to make predictions anymore. I had thought that summer time will mean more free time, and it did…in theory. Unfortunately, to a degree, that free time didn't convert itself to writing time and now, way later after my last update I still can't figure it out where did it go so fast. "stays and ponders". Now about this chapter:

GAHHH!! I can't remember how many times I've wrote the first paragraphs, only to delete them. I was so frustrated that I've almost decided to cut off the scene, when one night it practically wrote itself. And the rest is history… Strange. And on that note: THANK YOU to all my readers and /or reviewers. You are the main reason I don't give up when writer's block strikes me.

Beta: not betaed yet. I promise a cleaner version of this chapter just as soon as my beta becomes available. Until then enjoy it as it is. I did my best to hunt down all the typos, grammar mistakes and awkward turns of phrase, but I'm sure some still remain. If you find them don't hesitate to point them to me. Thank you.

WARNING: Swearing, angst, violence, darkness and mention of disturbing imagery and situation. That sums it all.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to the Fullmetal Alchemist universe/manga/anime, except for this insane plot, so please don't sue!

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

But he was not prepared for the powerful light that suddenly shone from Ed's body.

Dammit, not again!

For the last three months waking up in pain had been quite the norm for Ed. But waking up in pain while somebody else was screaming in his head was new. New and annoying. And once again his body felt like it was being ripped into millions of pieces at once with seemly only the force of his will still keeping him together. And one voice that kept screaming.

Will you just shut up?

Amazingly it listened, the howls steadily reduced to small whimpers and Ed let out a relieved sigh, and then took the opportunity to look around.

Now, where was he?

Light and dark played together, with no shades of grey in between, illuminating strange patches of mist all around him. Blown away by an unfelt wind, the mist would sometimes clear showing fantastical shapes made out from a rock like substance. However, within moments, they would turn to dust and disappear, unseen forces quickly eating them away; an ever-changing landscape, which had no equivalent in the real world, as far as he could remember.

Wait a minute...Was that his inner world? He asked himself when all the other explanations failed him. But if that was it, who had been screaming? As summoned by his words, the mist in front of him parted and a figure materialized, details slowly revealing, until finally she appeared in all her glory.

Thinking back it should have obvious, but right now Ed was too busy staring. And then:

"YOU!" not only his pointed finger, but his entire body shook with the force of his repressed anger. Yet his shout was met with only a cold stare from feline golden eyes and the lazy flick of a long, beautiful tail. Other than that, she appeared mostly human, if one should ignore the short silken golden fur with a splattering of black spots covering her from head to toe. That, and the fact that in true catlike fashion she was eyeing him in a supremely unconcerned way.

Ed could no longer stand it, and with an angered yell he rushed towards the chimera, only to have his outstretched fingers close on thin air moments later. To his left, close enough to taunt him, but just out of his reach she stood still, and Ed almost bolted again, actually took a step in her direction, before his rational side reminded him of the futility of that action.

Never be said that Edward Elric was a slow learner.

But he still wanted to wring her neck. He just had to find a more subtle way as the frontal attack seemed out of the question.

"I know you want to kill me" she suddenly spoke, an underlying growl marking the unnaturalness of her voice "but killing me now means killing yourself. You can survive without me."

"Maybe I'm willing to risk it!" he bit out and had the satisfaction of seeing her lose a bit from her superior attitude, before her words finally sunk in. He narrowed his eyes "if what you said it's true, than that also means you can't survive without me either." An almost inaudible growl was his only answer, but to Ed was more than enough.

He smirked.

"Do not presume cub! I can kill you with a swipe of my paw." And the truth be told said paw had quite impressive deadly looking claws. Yet Edward felt secure in his knowledge.

"Perhaps" he acknowledged as much "but I think if you could do that you would have done it the first time you took control. Instead you just tried to smother me into the darkness." He nailed it, he was sure. "So tell me, what made you release me now?" never mind that I was slowly regaining control.

"This" she said and then pointed her paw-like hand to his chest, his masculine chest he distractively noted, where a roughly drawn alchemical symbol was glowing fiercely. As on cue, pain surged through him and once again he had the feeling that his body was ripped into millions of pieces.

"Stop it! Do it now!" the growl made the words almost incomprehensible, but Ed was too caught in his personal agony to respond.

It hurts, it hurts so much…yet there's something familiar about this pain, overwhelmed by it his brain was slowly giving him the answers and suddenly the image of a beautiful and extremely complicated array flashed before his closed eyes.

Of course, that time at the experimental center…he remembered now, and with that he also found the key to their situation.

"I can make it stop." He barely managed to say through clenched teeth. "But you have to give me back the control…" he never managed to finish that sentence when with a snarled almost crazy "Never" she launched at him, claws ready to strike. He barely managed to sidestep her, his reflexes dulled by the pain, when she attacked again. He dodged one blow, repelled another in a quick succession, then seizing an opening in her defenses kicked her hard on the stomach, sending her a few paces away from him.

For a moment they stood motionless, tense postures signaling their want to fight, when a new wave of agony send them both to their knees, the chimera seemly more affected than him when she collapsed to the ground and with the last of her energy she just curled up in a fetal position, whimpering softly.

"Give me back the control." Ed could fell his own consciousness slowly leaving him and words rushed from his lips before he had the change to think about them "I promise I won't let you die. I won't let any of us die."

And just like that the pain stopped.

And somewhere on the floor of a slightly destroyed military hall the body of one Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist began to breathe again.

AN: I guess this will come across like another evil cliffhanger, but it just felt like the right spot to end this chapter. Don't worry Roy will soon make an appearance.