Disclaimer: I do not own FMA

It was cloudy as we walked the streets of East City, heading to a big house.

Tucker's house.

I knew. I knew it was today, today was the day Ed and Al would find out. And I knew we were too late. But I also knew the effects of stopping Tucker from doing what he did. I didn't want to mess up the timeline more than I have already.

We finally reached the house.

Al rapped on the door, then waited. Nothing. I felt a lump form in my throat as the brothers peered in the door, Ed shouting, "Hello?"

Ed and Al walked in a moment after no answer, with me shuffling along behind them. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, and my body tense in anticipation for what would happen.

There was a double door Ed and Al wandered to, slightly cracked open to let scarce light into the room.

"Hello boys," I heard Tucker's eerie voice say. I felt like ants were crawling down my spine as I heard his voice. Ed, Al and I crept into the room.

"Who's this?" Tucker asked, pointing to me. I could see he was crouching as my eyes adjusted.

"This is Lynette, she's an alchemist that has special permission to take the State Alchemist's exam," Ed replied. Tucker nodded. My blood ran cold.

"I've done it," Tucker said, facing Ed and Al. "I've made a chimera that understands human speech." I froze in place, while Ed and Al wandered over to the thing Tucker was crouching next to.

As soon as I saw it, I started to shake. For the first time, I felt a stab of pure fear. As I stared at the creature, I couldn't hear anything Ed or Al said. But that fear never lasted long, because it was soon consumed by anger and despair.

I took a few steps to the chimera, falling to my knees, and shakily touched it. It looked at me, with those sad eyes it had, with unusual intelligence behind them. It was then I knew for sure.

I was looking at Nina and Alexander.

I stood up abruptly, silencing the room. I hadn't listened to their conversation, so I didn't know how far they were to guessing the truth. All I cared about at that moment, was connecting my fist with Tucker's face.

I walked over to Tucker, and slapped him as hard as I could, effectively knocking him down. I picked him up by the collar, the muscles in my arms straining to hold him up. I brought his face close to mine, and snarled, "How dare you." I threw him to the wall, grabbing his collar again.

"You think this is funny, huh?" I said in a dangerously low voice. "Don't toy with me!" I punched him, my eyes blazing.

"Lynette!" Ed exclaimed, holding my fist back. I violently shook him off, turning my burning eyes to him.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO YOUR OWN FAMILY?!" I yelled, punching him again. By now, he must have a mild concussion, but I didn't care. Better yet, I wanted to kill him.

"HOW CAN YOU PLAY WITH PEOPLE'S LIVES LIKE THAT, HUH?!" I screamed, throwing Tucker on the ground. Al held me back before I could attack him again.

"Lynette! You're going to kill him!" Al exclaimed. I tried to shake him off, growling almost inhumanly.

"What's going on?" Ed asked. I stopped resisting and started to shake, in fury or fear I didn't know.

"You want to know what's going on?" I laughed bitterly through my flowing tears, "This maniac created a chimera with his own daughter." That's when all hell broke loose. Ed got to punch Tucker once before Ed held him back.

"YOU MONSTER!" Ed yelled. I slipped out of Al's grip, going over to Nina. I looked up at her, into her deep, sad eyes.

"You and me are the same!" Tucker laughed quite crazily, "Ed, we've both toyed with people's lives! You're just like me!"

"NO!" Ed yelled, escaping Al's grip, holding Tucker by the collar, "I'M NOT LIKE YOU!"

"YES! YOU ARE LIKE ME! YOUR ARM, YOUR LEG, AND YOUR BROTHER ARE PROOF!"

"NO! NO, I'M NOTHING LIKE YOU!" Ed punched Tucker hard.

"YES! YOU AND ME ARE BOTH THE SAME! WE BOTH BROKE THE RULES, JUST FOR THE SAKE OF DOING IT!" Tucker's strangled laughs frightened me.

Nina approached Ed.

"No," Nina spoke slowly, in a strange voice, "Don't hurt daddy." Ed froze, and turned his head to see Nina. He dropped Tucker as I crawled over.

"Daddy, are you hurting?" Nina asked. Hearing her voice alone made me cry. I couldn't help it, even if I didn't get to know her, she seemed like such a sweet girl. And if I cried when this happened in the show, I felt even more horrible in real life.

I could see Ed, standing, shocked. I could see the pain and anger in his eyes. I wanted to comfort him and Al, but all I could do was put a hand on Nina, and let tears run down my face.

I sat with Ed and Al as they sat on the steps of East City Headquarter's main building. Rain poured down hard, soaking me to the bone. The dark clouds loomed over us, stretching beyond the horizon.

I didn't say anything. It was right after the incident, and I could feel Ed and Al brooding on it. I felt helpless, wanting to comfort them, but ending up just watching from a distance. I've felt this before, much before.

I was the kind of person who acted strong. Who took every burden upon her shoulders. Who went out of the way to do completely selfless things, no matter the toll it took on her. I was the one who was strong, who was the person people could lean on. I've suffered before, greatly, but I can't stand to see other people suffer. It was heartbreaking, especially seeing the two brothers I had gotten close to be in despair, and I could offer nothing to comfort them. Just watch. And that was truly heartbreaking.

"We choose our own path, knowing full well what we're doing," I heard Mustang say as he traveled down the stairs with Hawkeye by his side. He paused to stand by the brothers. "That is the way it is. Right, Fullmetal?" Ed didn't reply, his head still down, bangs veiling his face.

"You will more than likely come across cases like this in the future," Mustang warned, "As you may have to get your own hands dirty as well." He and Hawkeye resumed walking slowly down the stairs. "You gonna shut down like this every time?" Mustangs question hung for a moment, before Ed finally answered.

"We may be called dogs of the military," He said, his voice sad and low, "We may even be cursed as devils. But it doesn't matter. Al and I are still going to get our bodies back." Ed continued quietly, his voice starting to shake, making Mustang and Hawkeye pause to turn to him as he went on, "We know the truth. We know we're not devils. We know we're not gods." Ed inhaled as he stood up, his voice quivering even more as he continued, "We're human." I could hear his breath shake as he inhaled again, turning his face up to shout, "WE'RE ONLY HUMAN!" His breath shook, and Mustang and Hawkeye continued down the stairs.

"We couldn't even save one innocent little girl," Ed said quietly, but I could hear the pain behind it. A piece of my heart cracked as I heard his next words.

"What good are we then?"

Okay, that was major depressing. I even cried a little while writing it. I had to hand it to myself, though; I don't think I did bad on this chapter. I mean, I'm usually not the dramatic, sad writer, but I did pretty good for my first time writing something horribly depressing, no? Well, I put 110% forth to write this chapter. I hope you guys liked it!

The next one will be somewhat depressing, but I'm planning a GIGANTIC SURPRISE for the next one. Be prepared! (_)

Please review, my lovely readers~

Thanks!