A/N: Sorry it has taken me so long to update. It's finals week. Not a fun time for anyone. So when I'm supposed to be studying, I'm writing this. :-P Anyways, I hope you all enjoy. Also, Happy Holidays to everyone!
"Fury," the colonel addressed.
"Sir," Fury responded automatically.
"Get a car. We're going to follow them." Roy said.
They had arrived at an old building far from town. The men carefully unloaded Hawkeye on the stretcher.
"Put her in a free cell." Adolf ordered. "Then get the staff."
"Well, officer, care to tell me what this is about?" Roy snuck up behind him.
Adolf jumped, but was relieved to see that it was only Roy.
"Decided to come immediately, eh?" Adolf asked.
"Hawkeye is one of my best. Now tell me what is going on?"
Adolf smirked. "Follow me then."
Adolf led him down a corridor of cages. Some where empty and some had chimeras occupying them. Then they arrived at the cage where they were unloading Hawkeye.
"What is all this?" Roy asked.
Adolf ignored him. "Prep her."
"Yes, sir." A lesser officer saluted.
The men left the cage with the still unconscious Hawkeye in it.
"A few years ago, a young girl was a martial arts expert. She was the best in the city and possibly the country. She had invested in becoming the new martial arts expert in the military. Then, chimeras were still unheard of. While she was getting into her prime, we selected her for a new type of experiment. Her sensei told her it was a new program and got her to come, but that is all we really told him.
"Alchemy was also becoming another weapon in the military. Instead of just using firearms we could create new weapons with the elements surrounding us. Then we needed a new type of soldier. Making chimeras by combining animals was being practiced and was becoming highly successful. However, they weren't completely obedient because so many were involved in creating them.
"We determined that a chimera general needed to be created. One of human intelligence and one that could listen to orders then give them out. She was our general."
A female squad of troops had entered the cage now. They checked her vitals then proceeded to undress her, keeping her back to the men.
Roy saw the tattoo again. It indeed had covered her whole back. Some of it had crossed over to her stomach and another line ran up the left side of her neck a little. The whole thing was the Chinese calligraphy for "tiger."
"Armor, sir?" one female asked.
Adolf shook his head.
The females redressed her in a tank top and loose fitting pants.
"Stimulate the transformation." Adolf said coolly.
"What?" Roy questioned.
Adolf ignored him and kept staring at Hawkeye.
The women grabbed an arm and one gave her a vaccine. Hawkeye flinched and waved her arm, but they grabbed it and finished. The women saluted and left.
"We thought that it would be best to first inject the specimen with the blood first. Then we used alchemy to bond the cells together. A practice unheard of now because the only known specimen of the experiment had escaped."
Hawkeye stirred.
"When the experiment was complete, we tried training her, but obviously she was unhappy like that. She escaped by unknown means and essentially had disappeared. Until we had heard that she had joined the military. She had disappeared for months. That was until we found her serving you Colonel." Adolf said.
Hawkeye moaned and woke up. "What…where am I?" She looked eyes with Adolf. "You!" She snarled. Hawkeye stood, but then the pain of her induced transformation hit her. Then she saw Roy standing outside her cell. Tears began to well up.
"What are you doing here?" Hawkeye said.
"I came for an explanation." Roy simply answered.
Hawkeye's hand and arm bulged and cracked as her claws grew out.
Roy winced because it sounded like it was painful.
Hawkeye hissed in pain but tried to keep some sort of composure. "Please, leave me."
Her back popped loudly. She roared inhumanly; deafening Roy's ears. Hawkeye's face grew out into her tiger muzzle and her golden fur grew across her body. Her stripes crossed her arms and legs. Tears dripped off her nose. Her sharp teeth clenched tightly together. Her muscles bulged, but she kept a lean build. Hawkeye's feet became digitgrade and her long tail grew out. She was disappointed and embarrassed with herself. Her secret had been revealed fully to Roy.
Adolf smirked and left the two alone.
"Hawkeye…" Roy said.
"Please, just go. I never intended for you to get tangled up in my mess, sir." She kept her head lowered.
"Hawkeye, it's a little late now. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Why wouldn't I tell you. I'm a chimera, Roy. A beast that has no place in the world." Hawkeye sobbed.
"Listen, Hawkeye. You're human to me. You have a place in the military and with me." Roy tried to comfort her.
Hawkeye looked up and her amber colored gaze met his dark, determined gaze.
"Listen, I'm going to get you out of here." He said, sounding more determined.
Hawkeye smiled a little.
"Just hold out for a little while. I'm going to get Adolf exposed for the bastard that he is for doing this to you." Roy said clenching his fist.
"But Roy, won't that expose me?" Hawkeye said worried.
"It might come to that, but I'll be there with you." Roy said coming closer and grabbed Hawkeye's clawed hand. He stood for a moment looking over Hawkeye in her changed body. "Listen, I had better go." He tightened his grip for a moment then let go.
He came out to where Fury was waiting by the car.
"Sir, is everything okay?" Fury asked as he saluted.
"It will be. Let's head back to Central. I have much business to attend to." He said getting the car.
Roy was in thought all the way back to Central.
A/N: I really hope this isn't getting too cliché. But I thought it was cute and I'm not very good at writing love stories. Heh. Anyways, thanks for all your reviews! Once again. Happy Holidays!