A/N: Hi once again guys! Sorry about yesterdays update being so late! It was actually a pretty hard chapter to write. After getting home from work, I just couldn't English. And I can't English much better today, but oh well! I hope you guys like this chapter as well! Also, once more, than you for the reviews, and sorry if it seems a little confusing on the tri-way Chimera, but it does have an important part I promise!

P.S: I am so sorry about this chapter taking so long, it was just surprisingly hard to write! I had to re-write it about six times I believe, and I'm just now happy with it! But I do hope you enjoy it!

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Chapter 5

Today's Mid-Day Crisis Right before Lunch

"Well then what do we do with it?" Edward questioned warily as he stared down the beast. It had never occurred to him that his neighbor even knew how alchemy worked. He certainly never expected the man to do something that, by his own moral standards, was certainly taboo.

"We alert the proper authorities. The Fuhrer wants every single one of these things found in the public eye brought in to be studied." Alphonse sighed heavily. "You'll have to give a witness account, probably tell them it was-" A bright blue light and a squelch that sent the house into silence interrupted him.

"No," Edward sighed rubbing his head and standing up. He wasn't necessarily a fan of being able to do Alchemy, no matter the thrill or enjoyment he derived of it. The science was still too taboo for him to perform so freely. "I don't want any unnecessary drama at work. Besides, I doubt the animal would have lasted much longer. That was a pretty basic array I used. What they don't know won't hurt them." Edward stood dusting his hands off on his pants.

"Edward!" Alphonse gaped after the shock wore off slightly. "Edward you don't understand! The Fuhrer wanted all of these guys brought in! You've literally just committed a felony brother!" Edward didn't even bother to stop by him very long before clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you, in your own personal opinion, think it would have been fair for the thing to be experimented on any longer? It was suffering Al, all I did was end it." He continued past the door and shut it tight locking it. He would have to contact Mustang and alert the man.

"Still," Alphonse whispered weakly following his older brother about the house. He had done the same thing as a child. Protected him from what he thought was corrupt or evil, but he had always assumed what he had done was Legal. "We should still call someone…alert the Military. At this point Shou Tucker,"

"Shou Tucker is across country. If we alert the military now then word would have reached Tucker long before he even thinks of returning. Which means he wouldn't come back. I'll tell Mustang, but we can't make any legal moves until he gets back. Tucker knows more than he lets on," Edward brushes his hand through his hair and grabbed up the bag Alphonse had managed to pack for the cat. "But…" He groaned heavily looking at the orange tabby. "Looks like we get a cat."

Even in the situation they were in, Alphonse couldn't stop his face from lighting up. Winry wouldn't allow a cat into the house. She much preferred dogs, so Al had to get all of his cat love in during the visits from his patients.

Central Headquarters: Mustang's Office

He hadn't been expecting a call so late in the afternoon. In fact, he was just getting ready to leave his office when the blasted machine began to screech at him.

"Damnit," Mustang hissed as he fumbled for the receiver. It seemed to him that most of his military life since his promotion had been spent on the phone or filling out paperwork, at least, it did when he wasn't punishing Fullmetal. "What?" He growled into the phone as his brushed his raven hair back from his forehead. "I was just getting ready to leave this had better be worth my time."

"Think of it as overtime, Mustang," The smooth cocky voice filtered through the phone. It was certainly something he could have gone the night without, but it did little to quell his interest.

"What do you find so important to contact me for Fullmetal?" Roy sighed leaning back in his chair and fixating his stare on his oak door. "Like I said, this had better be worth my time or someone's got kitchen duty for the next couple of months."

"As if Mustang, you can't punish an off duty officer. But I do have something that might peek your interests." Roy could imagine the blonde leaning his hip against his counter with his hair down. It was a pleasant image that he had created in his mind many a time. It would be all the more pleasurable to see it in person, he caught himself thinking as he listened to the voice. "Do you recall my neighbor? Shou Tucker?"

Tucker. He had recalled the name in his distant memory. It was familiar, but Roy was lack to fully recall anything.

"No," Roy mused leaning his chin on the palm of his hand. "At least in any specific detail other than just your neighbor. But that can't be what you honestly called me about is it Fullmetal?"

"It is for the most part," Edward hummed as the speaker crackled and muffled lightly as if the young man was finding a more comfortable position. "He's the main reason I called, you see, I'm babysitting his cat and the damned thing got into his basement."

"Was it too big and scary for you?" Roy smirked interrupting the boy. If Edward wanted to play scary campfire stories, well, Roy had plenty he could tell.

"Hardly, and watch the small comments Mustang," Edward growled rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I'm not the best aviator in Amestris because I miss my targets. There was something important in his basement. Alphonse called it a Chimera."

Roy didn't give him time to finish before his mind was calculating the quickest route to Edward's small house. Twenty minutes by walking, five minutes by car.

"Hang up the phone. Don't call anyone else. I'll be there in a few minutes Edward," Roy was already out of his chair and had one arm in his military issued coat when he slammed the phone down. Time to see what the Fuhrer is so excited about.

Edward Elric's Home

It was about ten minutes longer than Edward expected when Roy finally pulled into his drive way. Alphonse had questioned instantly after he hung up how Roy knew where he lived. Edward had yet to explain to his younger brother that he and his commanding officer had quite an after work affair.

"Edward," Roy hadn't even bothered to knock, not that Edward minded much. But it sent Alphonse jumping from his seat at the table and a glare at the older of the two brothers. "Alphonse," Roy blinked in surprise seeing the younger blonde in the home. He hadn't even thought that the youngest Elric would be in the home. Actually, he had completely forgotten he was even staying in Central for the time being.

"Yes, that would be me," Alphonse huffed lightly glancing between his brother's CO and brother. "Would have been nice if you would have knocked."

"I..uh…Sorry," Mustang smiled softly at a loss for words.

"No need for him to knock," Edward sighed waving his hand dismissively, lowering himself from the top of the counter. "He comes over all the time."

"I gathered that when he didn't knock," Alphonse snipped slightly irked. Sure, his brother had a right to secrets, but this was something he deserved to know! His brother may have little to no brotherly instinct, but Alphonse was drowning in it, and of course, he wondered if Mustang would be good enough for his brother.

"Sorry Alphonse," Roy sighed rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced at the floor. He felt if he were a young school boy being caught doing something he shouldn't. "Anyway," He shook his head putting on his best 'I'm so confident' smirk and crossed his arms. "What about a Chimera?" He could handle talking business with both brothers in the room, talking about what might be a love life was something completely different.

"Right," Edward nodded and looked stepped towards his coffee brewer. "Shou Tucker knows alchemy, and apparently, he knows it well enough to combine three types of animals that wouldn't even meet under normal circumstances."

Roy raised an eyebrow questioningly. From what he understood, and from his own dalliances in the science, rushing into a complex array could be dangerous. There had been many a singed eyebrows while he was practicing with Edward, he had become versed in the study and manipulation of flames. It was one of the many secrets he and Edward shared.

"Odd, isn't he too old to be so knowledgeable in Alchemy?"

"You would think," Edward sighed glaring heavily at the floor. "But he seems to be a man of surprises. When he goes away, he usually calls every day to question about his mangy cat. But I haven't heard from him today, which is strange. He works like clockwork."

"Any old man can be set in his ways, and if he's missing a day, I wouldn't consider that suspicious." Roy buzzed logically as the cogs began to turn in his own mind trying to connect what he was being told with the image of the kindly gentleman from next door.

"I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't seen it. Honestly, if Alphonse had told me at all about what they were beforehand I probably would have laughed and called him and the Fuhrer loons." Ed didn't bother to acknowledge the blasphemy as it slipped from his lips. In any other presences he would have done his best to laugh off the comment, but under the current crew, he knew he was safe.

"I understand, it's just a bit ironic is all," Roy looked at his blonde subordinate. "He only released minor information to us this morning."

"Why didn't the rest of the military know about it?" Edward questioned warily looking Roy in the eyes. "What is he planning on doing with the information he gets from studying them?"

Alphonse chewed on his lip as he watched the two men put the puzzle pieces together.

"He wants to build an army of beyond human proportions," Alphonse stated matter of factly. "He plans to use the practice of creating chimeras on humans."

"Human transmutation?" Edward tensed his jaw line staring his brother down. He hadn't expected his baby brother to recall some of his own sins, but Edward had seen what human transmutation could do. Had even, at one time, seen someone perform it in the midst of a battlefield. He hadn't thought it possible until the blue light blinded him from the air as an entire battlefield was wiped out and morphed into something that should have never existed.

"You've heard of it before, brother?" Alphonse questioned hesitantly. He could see the mild panic rising in the golden orbs that stared so intently at the floor.

"Best not to answer," Edward sighed heavily shaking his own head, breaking his line of thought. "Anyway, how could Mr. Tucker know such a thing? From what I understand of it, performing such a transmutation is dangerous. It mostly backfires from what I've seen, creating some kind of monster that could be disassembled if it steps so much into a humid area. If something goes wrong in the mutation, then all the Fuhrer is doing is murdering his subordinates."

"Edward," Roy snapped uncomfortable with the subject. He could certainly see the point his youngest subordinate was making, but he was still considered to be loyal to the Fuhrer. Even in the private talk among the blonde's kitchen, he couldn't have Edward trying to frame the country's leader without proper evidence.

"I know," Edward sighed fidgeting with a lone strand of hair as he stared intently at the tile once more. "But you can't ignore how well the pieces of the puzzle fit together. But none of this decides what we're going to do about Tucker and what he's doing."

"In all honesty," Alphonse rubbed the back of his neck anxiously as an idea occurred to him. "Why don't I hire him onto my team? I'm studying the creation and dissemblance of the beasts. Perhaps he could be of more help to me if he could perform his experiments legally."

"That means nothing," Roy interrupted quickly recalling what the Fuhrer had mentioned this morning. "if the Fuhrer wants everyone who is practicing it among the civilian population brought in and questioned. In which case, Tucker could be either a new pawn for some plot, or he could be the key to getting you in trouble."

"He doesn't even know I've gone in his basement yet. That's always been his number one rule; stay out. But I suppose now I know why," Edward looked at the other two in the room. "I say we go back in tonight and do some of our own research, see if he wrote any journals or anything on his studies. I don't think we should alert anyone until he gets back, like I was telling Al."

"You think he'll try to run if word gets out too soon?"

"Wouldn't you if the country suddenly wanted your head on a silver platter?"

"Who said the Fuhrer would go so far as that?"

"He's a rich man, Roy. He's got money to spare for days, and a Military budget to rival any king or queen. He can make it happen if he so desires," Edward snapped. "We can't play dumb, until we know more about what Shou is planning by dabbling in human transmutation, I don't think we should alert anyone higher than you Roy."

"Then tell me what you wanted out of calling me over so late?"