Here it is, chapitre six...

Review Replies:

Rose: xD Liked that, hm?

Away. x3 He'll be around.

Envy: Shortest yet, dear Envy. xD Wut're you going on about?

Fang: xD No, We can't kill Ed. We've been trying, but it's not happening. We've got an ulterior motive here. And... the last chapter wasn't intentionally short, but this one should be longer.

You do? What do you think is going to happen?

Taisa: Ooooh, smartsies! xD Well.. Here, then xD j00r long chapter.

Disclaimer: Don't own! Dividers are "Suddenly I See" by KT Tunstall.

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/Her face is a map of the world (is a map of the world)/

She held out a coat for him, letting the catboy shrug it on. It was one of Roy's work trenchcoats; more than enough to hide him. She pulled on her own coat, which was about thigh-length. "Ready?" Rose asked Edward, who was getting used to having his ears under the uniform hat he'd put on.

"Ready," replied the catboy, nodding. "How are we going to go?" He knew Roy had taken the car, so he wasn't quite sure.

"How else?" asked Rose, as if it were obvious. "We're walking. I walk all over the place. You shouldn't have a hard time," she added, looking at him. "You should have good stamina, right?" Obviously Rose had gotten over Edward's "change" pretty fast. Not without a few tacklehugs, of course.

"Right," he replied, shrugging. "Let's go, then.." He didn't bother to put on boots. There was no point, if they were just going to fall off with his weird paw-feet anyway.

Rose nodded. "Alright," she responded, pulling open the door. The night air filled the room, chilling it a little, but neither rescuer noticed and the pair of them simply stepped out of the door. As soon as they did, Rose looked at her friend. "Can you figure out where she went?"

"I'm not a dog," grumbled Ed as retort, but he did sniff around to find the colonel. Finally he pointed down the road. "I think he went that way." It was faint, since Roy had been in the car, but it was there all the same.

/You can see she's a beautiful girl (she's a beautiful girl)/

They finally found Roy's car, rather mangled. Rose stared at it in horror, but Ed shook his head. "He's not in there," he assured the colonel's niece, who looked at him in obvious terror for a moment before nodding, accepting that Roy was gone and he obviously was not dead... unless his body was somewhere else, and then that would defeat the purpose of Ed trying to calm her down in the first place.

They walked past it, dismissing it for now. They'd have to get a new car (or at least fix it themselves with alchemy), but that wasn't the point. Ed was just glad the scary machine was dead, but he didn't tell Rose that. So off they went, till Ed blinked, staring up at a building. It looked abandoned, but the security was much too high for something abandoned... That made him think. "Rose, d'you think..."

Rose looked over at her small friend, tilting her head. "Do I think what?" she asked, joining him near the large gate. It didn't seem like anything was up to her..

"D'you think he could be in there?" Sure enough, there was a flash of blue light from one of the windows, and a howl. A scream of pain... Edward covered his ears. He'd recognized that voice... And he didn't doubt he'd screamed when it'd happened...

Abandoning all caution, the blonde began to clamber over the fence, and Rose latched onto his legs, dragging him back down. "You can't get in that way," she rebuked. "We have to sneak in somewhere else."

/And everything around her is a silver pool of light/

So they'd gone around the back, and found a hole there. Edward had left it, when he'd escaped from the place. He hadn't remembered it until now (not even the building itself), and he pointed out the hole to Rose, who nodded. "Let's go," she hissed, taking his paw and dragging him through. "We have to go get him."

Edward looked at her uneasily for a moment. What if she got caught, too? But then again, Edward and Roy were both skilled alchemists. Edward could use his power, so there was no reason Roy wouldn't be able to use his as well, so when they found Roy, it wouldn't be hard to get out without the only fully-functioning member of their . "Right.."

The pair looked up at the large building, seeking the fastest way in. They found it in a small rusted door. Edward began to pull it open, but it let out a screech of displeasure deep in its hinges and Ed let go of the handle, covering his ears for a moment. Rose waved a hand at him, beckoning the boy over. "C'mere," she said. "This is how you do it." She hauled the handle up, pulling the door open carefully. It didn't make a sound, and it swung open without sticking.

Edward stared. "What'd you do?" he questioned, examining the door. /That/ didn't make much sense... But now that he looked at it.. The door was rather heavy. Lifting it up would both take pressure off and get some of the rust out of the hinges, which was bound to make it a little less sticky.

Rose seemed to realize he knew what she'd done now, and didn't answer, just pulled him through the doorway again. "You need to lead us through," she mumbled. "You should be able to find him, right?"

/The people who surround her feel the benefit of it/

And that brought them to now, walking past rows of cells of both failed and successful chimera attempts. Edward had just covered his ears and looked straight ahead; Rose, on the other hand, had actually shut her eyes, and was clinging to Edward's paw in an attempt to forget about the creatures that lined the walls. He didn't mind, and just urged her on.

And finally...

They passed a cell, number 66. It wasn't big, maybe half the size the other cells were, but this one had heavier security, as if the owner was very intelligent and could break out of many locks. Edward stopped, peering inside. What was lying on the floor looking rather bloodied made him wince, and he immediately started picking at the lock with a claw. "Rose," he hissed. "Found him."

/It makes you calm/

Rose turned around slowly, letting out a gasp as her eyes fell across what looked to be her uncle. "Taisa!" She rushed the short distance over, grasping one of the bars of the cage desperately.

"Don't make a lot of noise," Edward instructed, finally getting the lock open, though bending a claw in the process. "He's probably in a lot of pain and has a headache or something, and if we're loud, we'll be caught."

Rose nodded worriedly, quieting. "What should we do with him?" she asked edgily, looking down at the crumpled form of what was arguably her uncle. "We can't stay long.."

Edward crouched near the darkhaired man, pushing him up. "Here, take his legs," he instructed. "We'll carry him out like that." They'd have to move quickly, but...

The blue-eyed girl shook her head. "I'll piggyback him," she replied. "He's pretty light. Doesn't matter. We just need to get him home," she added, pulling her uncle up from Edward's palms and slinging him onto her back, turning to leave the cell. She did, and beckoned for him to follow.

/She holds you captivated in her palm/

They were out now, making sure that they didn't run into any security or anything. The pair hadn't seen anyone, which was kind of weird. Edward left the hole in the fence the way it was, even shook the sand from the hole in the wall up a little so it didn't look like it'd been stepped on. Rose looked over at the car as they passed, wondering if she should get Ed to fix it so they could drive back. Unfortunately, the gas tank was busted, so it was all over the ground, and no matter what, they wouldn't be able to go anywhere in the car till they got it fixed properly. So they just walked all the way home, till they got back and Rose put Roy on the couch, where he lay motionless.

So they sat, watching for any improvement. Edward went and got Rose a pillow and a blanket, and she actually slept at Roy's "bedside". Ed, on the other hand, went to sleep on the armchair, since Roy had taken up his beloved couch. They could figure this out in the morning...

Edward didn't really think Rose wanted to accept that Roy had a number of new appendages: ears, tail, and paws being the most prominent. Like Edward, but a different color scheme. It was rather mortifying to think that of all the people who could have become these sorts of creatures, it had to be some of the most famous alchemists around, pillars of strength for the people.. Was something going to happen?

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Got tired of typing around the end. xD We hope it's not too short!