Each individual chapter will have a different rating, different pairings, different spoilers, and a different setting and timeline. Multiple people were involved in writing this fic, I do not claim to have written anything other than my own characters. I do however claim to have come up with the plot, story idea, and organizing it all. The others who write characters in this fic are well aware that I am posting it, and contribute willingly. This fic is an ongoing project with an unknown number of parts, with alternate storyline as of the fifth laboratory incident. Enjoy!


Death of the Man, Birth of the Animal
Rating: PG-13 (For mild language use, graphic gore in transmutation)
Pairings: HavocxEd
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.
Spoilers: If you don't know Munich, this equals spoiler.
Setting: Side one in Ishbar, side two in Munich, Germany.
Timeline: The hours after the massacre of military personnel stationed in Ishbar.
The world was a washed-out dirty grey... no color, no life. It was supremely depressing.

Havoc sat down on a bench, trying to figure out where the hell he was. There were no landmarks to help him.

"Lisa, he's slipped into unconsciousness. We don't have much time."

"Colonel, I can't do anything if he hasn't signed the paper – you know the rules just as well as I do."

"He has signed the paper, now just do it!"

Lisa Delgardie – a not-very-well-known alchemist who specialized in chimerical transmutation of humans for medical reasons – flipped her coppery hair over her shoulder. "Are you an idiot? I may be a genius, but I can't do a chimerical transmutation unless there's an array involved! Not even the Elric brothers could do that." She ran her left hand through her hair, the scarlet flamel tattoo prominent against her pale skin. "Get me the animal and bring Second Lieutenant Havoc down to my lab."

Shit! Rain again, why didn't I feel that one coming!

A boy of about eighteen with long, blond hair, tied back in a ponytail and looking rather like a London boy, dashed through the streets with an odd gait, dress-suit drenched and the bottoms of his shoes covered in mud as he held a faded newspaper over his head to try and keep himself dry, unsuccessfully.

He didn't stand out anymore by now, at least not to the locals. They were used to the one known as Edward Elric, Hohenheim's son, making a general spectacle. He was too interested in rockets and space, not a very grounded boy at all.

Havoc decided to get up and explore his surroundings, since he was obviously NOT in Central and NOT in Ishbar anymore.

Rain had never been an annoyance to him, and he strolled sedately down the way. Until a boy barreled into him.

"Oh, excuse me," he said politely. Then got a good glimpse of the young man. "My GOD!"

In the middle of Lisa's workshop there was a gigantic array carved into the floor, two smaller arrays fitted inside.

The alchemist supervised the movement of Havoc's limp body into the middle of the second array. "There will be a twenty-four-hour critical period of gestation," she informed the surgeon. "In that time, you cannot disturb me, otherwise the lieutenant will die. What am I crossing?"

The surgeon nodded to two of his underlings. "Lieutenant Havoc and a male lion."

The beast was dragged in, fighting its captors weakly.

Ow! Stupid good for nothing-The boy looked up, golden eyes widening in shock, reaching out his left hand to touch a face he hadn't seen in years.

"Jean...? Wh...what are you doing here!" Ed's voice was worried, it wasn't even an undertone, more like blatantly obvious. "Forget it...come on, we should get out of the rain before we catch cold!"

The golden eyed boy grabbed the older man's hand, and attempted to head off down the street, only falling as his hand slipped.

"Ouf! Damn leg!"

He struggled to get back to his feet, stumbling a bit and falling against Havoc, clinging instinctively for support.

"This isn't right...you shouldn't be here..." The boy's words were barely above a whisper.

Havoc pulled the young man upright, steadying him. "Where exactly IS here? I don't mind admitting it, I'm confused as hell. One moment I was in Ishbar, the next I was here, sitting down on a park bench. What the hell is going on?"

"I have a sixty-five percent success rate, and none of the chimerae I've created have ever gone mad or lost their memory. The least you can do is trust me," Lisa snapped. "The lieutenant has a three-to-two chance of survival. Now get out before he dies completely!"

The surgeon scuttled out, his attendants following rapidly.

She scratched the tranquilized lion's ear absently. "I'm sorry about this. But it has to be done."

Lisa clapped her hands and touched the outer edge of the main array.

Ishbar...oh god...no...

"Don't worry about it...let's get inside..." Ed pointed at a nearby house.

"The door's open, just hurry..."

He squeezed his eyes closed, glad for the time being that it was raining, and that tears couldn't be distinguished from the rain dripping down his face.

"Ed, wait a second. Where am I" He lifted Ed's chin, puzzled by the obvious tears. "What's going on?"

The reaction itself took an hour. Lisa wiped her forehead, averting her eyes from the mess on the floor in front of her. It always made her want to throw up.

"Twenty-three hours of gestation," she repeated quietly. "Don't let me down, lieutenant."

God...don't look at me like that...please...

Ed turned his head away and started to walk towards the door he'd pointed to before.

"We can talk about this once we get dry, I don't want to have you catching cold..."

He waved one gloved hand over his shoulder.

"Come on...inside..."

Havoc sighed, following the young man indoors. Doubtless, he'd be told at some really rotten time. But he was still curious as to where he was and why... nothing... looked... like... it... was... supposed to? Including himself?

"Ed –"

Steam rose from the non-human lump on the floor, accompanied by a moan of pain.

Lisa watched the blood ooze out from the combined bodies, wincing. She knew exactly what kind of pain the lieutenant was going through, and sympathized deeply.

"C'mon, Havoc..."

Without so much as looking at Havoc, Ed began to strip out of the drenched clothes, throwing them in a pile on the floor.

"Come on...out of those wet clothes...I'll get something dry from upstairs...the stove is over there, go warm yourself up..."

The boy acted as though everything was common sense, just motioning to the glowing warmth across the room and heading upstairs to get a couple of blankets and some dry clothes.

Havoc unbuttoned his brown jacket, frowning at the worsted wool. He'd never wear something like this back in Central... and a black silk string tie? White silk shirt?

He peeled off the shirt, looking curiously at a little tag at the nape of the neck. "Harding Bros. Inc. of England. Made in China."

"Wha...? China? England? What's that?"

Lisa felt faint. She had exerted too much energy to pull of the reaction. Right before she passed out, she managed a weak chuckle. "Damn... I must've really wanted you to live, Jean."

Ed came back down, snatching the clothes from Havoc's hands to discourage further scrutiny. "Hurry up...pants too..."

The boy himself had a thick woolen blanket wrapped around his shoulders, and apparently was wearing nothing else.

Golden eyes dared to glance over tanned skin, and narrowed slightly...what was that? It was undoubtedly an alchemical array...god why couldn't he remember! He'd seen that same array before...

Edward shook it off, holding out the other blanket to Havoc and walking across the room to sit by the warmth of the coal-lit oven.

Havoc reached out to grab the blanket, then doubled over in pain, retching.

With a cracking and rupturing of bones, blood vessels and muscles, an almost-recognizably human hand reached up out of the mess. It clutched uselessly in the air as a horrible roar-cum-wail of pain echoed through the stone laboratory.

"Jean!" Ed somehow managed to support the older man just enough so that he didn't hit the floor too hard.

The boy wrapped his blanket around Havoc's shoulders as well, cradling the man in his arms.

"What happened, Jean...? Are you okay!"

Blood began to run out of the man's mouth as he clutched at his stomach. A tiny whimper of pain was the only sound he managed to make.

The ungodly sound slowly synthesized into a voice recognizably Jean Havoc's as the hand attempted to lever the steaming mass off the floor. The curve of a man's back slowly became evident, then collapsed back into the sick mess of blood, flesh, and fur.

"Oh god...Jean...god...what's happening to you..."

Now that Edward's face was dry, his tears were even more evident, heat that dripped down onto Havoc's shoulder as he held the man closer.

"God...I can't...I don't want to lose you again..." His voice was barely a whisper, etched with pain and loneliness.

Edward began to run his fingers through Jean's hair, not even realizing it at all as he did so, nuzzling his face in the damp, dirty blond mess.

"Ed..." The pain receded into a dull ache, and he finally managed to support his own weight. "Ed... what the fuck... is going on...?" A shaking hand touched the young man's cheek. "What's happening to me?"

Pain glazed over blue-green eyes.

Another scream echoed around the chamber, as the mess convulsed, once, twice. Leonine and human features merged into a semblance of Havoc's face, though they moved and shifted fluidly.

"I don't know...I don't know...it'll be okay..." Despite how many times he told himself that, Ed still didn't believe a word of it.

"Let's talk about old times, okay? Roy...how's Roy doing?"

The golden-eyed boy forced a smile on his face as he brushed strands of straw-coloured hair out of Havoc's face. Brows furrowed slightly, betraying his worry upon seeing green mixed with the familiar blue.

"Roy..." Havoc's face tightened at another spasm. "I... don't know. I haven't seen him for three years..." He convulsed, again retching blood.

Deep blue-green eyes opened in a mostly human face, pupils contracting and dilating wildly. Neck and shoulders developed with a horrible cracking sound, attaching the face and lone arm. A hoarse voice whispered, "No..."

"I won't let go...stay with me, Jean you can't go now!"

Ed propped the man up against the wall, wiping away the blood from his mouth with a corner of his blanket, wiping at his own tears with the back of his arm, the rest of the blanket pooled around his waist.

"Come on, Jean...you're strong, I know it...you can make it..."

Havoc's chest heaved in labored breathing, even as his eyes stared uselessly ahead. "Ed," he whispered, fear obvious in his voice, "Edward, I can't see anymore...!" His eyes darkened.

Fanged teeth gritted uselessly against the pain, as another arm developed with the same excruciating sounds. Fur rippled down his naked shoulders, appearing then disappearing.

I will live!

A human roar echoed for the third time.

"Just try and relax, Jean...I'm not going anywhere I promise..."

Ed's voice wavered with each word, though he tried to keep it steady, fingers threading restlessly through still-damp hair.

He cradled Havoc again, face resting in the crook of his neck as he sobbed quietly.

I finally see you again...and now...you're going back...it's better this way...but I can't help but want you to stay...

"It's just a nightmare...you'll wake up and everything will be fine..." It was more for himself than Jean, really...

"Am... Am I dying?"

"God, grant me life," the Havoc-chimera whispered hoarsely. He pulled himself up, even though his legs were not yet developed. Strength flowed through what existed of his body. "I'm alive..."

"No...you're going back to where you belong...tell everybody I'll see them soon, okay?"

Ed smiled through the pain, it was better this way...it was...

He leaned up and kissed Havoc's forehead lightly.

"And I'll see you soon too..."

Havoc's entire body convulsed grotesquely as a scream of pain ripped from his throat. Then he was limp, eyes empty.

In one massive burst of excruciating agony, the rest of Havoc's body developed.

Long, lean, tough muscles rippled beneath dark golden skin. Messy blond hair flopped into blue-green cat eyes. Pointed ears caught every little sound.

Havoc was a perfect fusion of lion and human, and he was alive again.

"Al...it's almost time now...I can feel it..."

Body wracked with sobbing breaths, Edward clutched the limp mass of flesh and blood and bone to his chest, supporting the head and cradling it carefully as hot tears flowed down his cheeks and onto the cold skin.

"Take me back home...please god just take me back home..."


Please review, constructive criticism and questions appreciated, flames will be deflected back at you by Roy. n.n;