i will warn everyone, this is long. there were loose ends i needed to tie up and here they are

~*~Jean~*~

Out of this whole ordeal, the fact that I had a fast metabolism meant that I wouldn't gain any weight. The offset to that is that in order to feed my hunger, I have to buy groceries every damned day. The whole peanuts in a bowl thing isn't working anymore and I guess my body is starting to figure that out. It's taking too much of my check to feed myself only one day and I have to buy so much food. Heymans doesn't eat very much since he's not usually all that hungry nowadays. He eats maybe one bowl of things he would usually just eat three or four of but he's becoming a lot more active than before. He actually played chess with me a couple of days ago…

He didn't win (which is a first) but he understood the concept and even joked that he would win against me the next time. Even though he's been practically comatose, he's still tired and has been resting at my house for the past couple of weeks trying to recover from the ordeal he had been through and the coma. Things have been going pretty well I think, considering he's able to do everything for himself now instead of the other way around.

I thought things were going to be okay with us but I guess I was wrong. I am sitting up in bed reading a book with a cigarette in my mouth, getting really involved with the book. I am so intrigued that I don't realize that my cigarette is getting low. I flip the page in the book when a loud yell rings out in the house, making me jump. I yell out myself, which makes the cigarette fall from my mouth and into the bed. I curse because the sheets begin to smoke and I get the cigarette out to put in the ash tray and pat out the burning sheets. As soon as the fire is out from the sheets, the scream yells out again and I run to Heymans' room.

I open the door tentatively and look inside to see Breda thrashing in his sleep, agonizingly yelling and crying. He looks like he is having a bad memory… I walk into the room and turn his lamp on, going to his side and shaking him a little.

"Heymans? Hey, wake up man… Heymans!" I say, touching his arm.

He suddenly gasps awake, launching up in the bed like someone had thrown him into the sitting position, breathing heavily. He stays like that for a moment until he finally puts his face in his hands and breathes in a shuttering sigh.

"Oh god…"

"What is it?"

"Fuery… oh god… Fuery… He's a dog… He… I…"

I sigh, knowing that that image will probably never leave Heyman's mind. He was already afraid of dogs but to see one of his comrades turn into one? Even I couldn't handle that and I like dogs. I put my hand on his back as he begins to sob.

"He was screaming and I just couldn't help him! He was turning into a dog and I had to see… I just couldn't do anything! I just… I was so helpless…"

"No one blames you for what happened, Breda, and there's nothing anyone at the moment could have done for him. Tucker found out your fear and needed it to scar your mind yet hurt Fuery at the same time. I'm sure Fuery knows that you didn't do it on purpose and knows that you couldn't help because of your fear."

"He's gone… just gone…"

I'm not the touchy feely type when it comes to my guy friends but knowing how guilty Breda feels, as well as knowing him pretty much all of my life, I know that holding him will not be looked at strange. I sit on the edge of his bed and pull him into a hug to comfort him. He wraps his arms around me without hesitation and begins to cry uncontrollably. We had all heard Kain's horrible screams while he was turning, though what was going on was oblivious to everyone but Riza and Heymans. Whatever it was, we knew that Fuery could not be going through something good. But all we did was hear things…

Heymans had watched a comrade morph into a grotesque thing that was neither dog nor human, screwing his mind up royally. The atrocities that were done to us didn't seem to fit Tucker's schedule in all reality until he read that Breda was actually quite smart despite his appearance and that he had an irrational fear of dogs.

"Everything will be fine, Breda." I say softly.

"No it won't. He's a dog, Jean; a dog!"

"And he blames no one. He's safe for now and the Elrics are searching for a way to change him back."

"They are?" He looks up at me for a moment. "How far along are they?"

"I actually haven't gotten any updated information from anyone about it but I'm sure if I ask Maes he can tell me. Ed and Al are doing everything they can to get Fuery back to normal since they didn't have enough time for Tucker's little girl."

"Where is he? Is he alright?" Heymans asks, pulling away from me.

"He's with Riza at the moment, making friends with Black Hayate."

"I want to see him."

I lift an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure? I mean, he is a dog still."

"Yes. I need to see him… I have to."

"Are you absolutely sure though?"

"Yes."

I nod and pat him on the back.

"Alright then, we'll see him tomorrow."

Heymans nods, still shaking but looking like he is going to be alright. I got back to my room and light up a cigarette, even though it's too late to be lighting one up again, but it calms my nerves. If I don't calm down, I'll be thinking about Breda all night and never got to sleep. I'm going to have to call Riza and let her know that Heymans wants to see Fuery because she is going to have to prepare Fuery as well as how I will have to prepare Breda. I pick up the phone and dial the number.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye speaking." An angry but sleepy voice says over the phone.

~*~Riza~*~

The phone rings and I growl, turning over. I don't want to pick it up but it goes off again.

"Telephone." I hear Fuery say from the end of the bed. It rings again. "Telephone." He sings again.

I am going to throttle whoever that is. It better be the Colonel or Ed or someone with important news… I try to maybe ignore it one more time but I feel Fuery crawling up the bed and when I open my eyes he is right in front of me.

"Telephone, Riza."

I sigh and turn over, grabbing the phone.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye speaking."

"Hey, Hawkeye, it's me, Havoc."

"Jean, you have nerve calling me this early in the morning. I'm going to give you three seconds to give me a good reason."

"Telephone." Fuery says.

"Sorry but it's urgent. You know I would never do this on a normal basis. It's Breda; he wants to see Fuery tomorrow."

"Oh…" I prop myself on my elbow. "And that concerns me why?"

"Heymans is really shaken up with the fact that Fuery is a dog and we all know he was afraid of them in the first place… I just don't want him to relapse into the stupor he was before so I thought that maybe you could do something with Fuery to help ease the sting. Like tell him not to talk or something… and prepare him for seeing Heymans?"

"Telephone, telephone!"

"Yes, Fuery, it's the telephone." I say to him. "I can try to get him to understand the situation but I doubt he'll follow directions. He gets excited when he sees people he knows."

"How is he?"

I watch as Fuery talks to himself, singing about telephones and sigh.

"He's… cute. More dog than human but he's alive. He eats well, very loving… If I didn't know him, I would swear he was the sweetest dog in the world."

"Telephone, telephone, telephone…"

"Yes, Fuery, telephone!" I say a little more harshly than I had meant to.

He had gotten used to my tone (or remembered it) and so ignores me completely.

"Telephone, telephone… tele… telecomm… communications… telecommunications..."

"Does he like that word or something?" Havoc says from the other end of the phone.

"Sometimes he just likes to say that. He gets that way with the doorbell too."

"Telecommunications… my job… telephone… war…"

"Sometimes he'll- What did you just say?" I ask, looking at Fuery.

"I didn't say anything." Jean says on the phone.

Fuery turns around, his big brown eyes looking at me full of fear.

"Hawkeye?"

"I'm going to have to call you back" I say, hanging up the phone.

Fuery's eyes dilate and instead of the eyes of a dog, human eyes look at me, beginning to panic as he begins to look around.

"Dog… dog… I'm a dog! I'm a dog!"

"Fuery, calm down. Just look at me, alright?" I say, grabbing his face to look into mine. "Can you tell me your name? Who are you?"

"Sergeant Kain Fuery, under Colonel Roy Mustang. My job telecommunications. I'm a dog! I'm a dog!"

He begins to kick and go into hysterics and I pull him into an embrace, holding him close to me with crushing force.

"It's going to be alright… Shhh… shhhh… I'm here."

"I'm a dog!" he wails, his head buried in my chest.

He sobs uncontrollably as if he were a human again but all I can do for him is hold him close.

"Colonel! I want the Colonel!"

"He's not here, Fuery."

"Please! Colonel! Colonel!" he yells within his sobs.

I begin to get teary-eyed myself at the pitiful state he's found himself in. Out of all the people he could call for, he wanted the Colonel…

"I'll call for him, alright?"

"Dog, dog, dog…" he repeats as he lays in my arms, hyperventilating.

I rub his head softly and look into his eyes.

"Don't worry; I'll all for the colonel but you just have to calm down."

"I'm scared." He whispers, his eyes looking into mine.

Seeing the rising fear, I wrap my arms around him tightly and pull him to me.

"I know. Don't be scared though… I'll protect you…"

~*~Maes~*~

The phone rings loud in my ear and I unlock my arms from Gracia, reaching over to answer it.

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes…" I mumble.

"I apologize for calling you at such a late hour, sir, but there is a situation that has come up." I hear Riza say over the phone.

"What's wrong?" I ask, waking up a little.

"It appears that Sergeant Fuery has become self-aware of his situation."

I am fully awake now and grab my glasses off the side table. Gracia stirs but turns over from me.

"Are you sure?" I whisper to be quieter.

"Affermative, sir. He's asleep now but he wants to see the Colonel… now. It took all I could do to convince him to calm down but he needs to see him as soon as possible."

"Right now though, Lieutenant?"

"I don't know how long his humanity and self-awareness will last. Plus, Havoc called and told me Breda wanted to see him tomorrow and I can't have him freaking out on Breda. His only wish is to see Mustang."

I pinch the bridge of my nose and sigh.

"I'll talk with Roy about it."

"Thank you, sir. Sorry about the inconvenience."

"No, that's alright. I'll talk with Roy."

I hang up the phone and get up, finding my pants to put on.

"Maes?" Gracia mumbles.

"Something's come up so I need to go talk to Roy for a bit."

She nods and watches me leave the room.

I walk down the hallway toward where Roy's room is and see the light on. I frown at that since he is supposed to be asleep but he hasn't been able to get much sleep for a while now. I knock a little on his door and a faint invitation tells me to come in. I open the door and am taken aback at the condition he's gotten in. Edward has been by and has been helping to get Roy to eat but it looks like he just keeps getting worse.

Roy's pallor is almost white, he is gaunt and looks like he got beaten up from the black circles under his eyes. He must have been hot because he actually had his shirt off and the disgusting growth in his stomach was showing, bruises from where the creature had hit him hard from within was forming. Roy sees me looking him over and grabs the sheets to hide.

"What is it?" he asks softly.

"First of all, why weren't you asleep?"

"I can't. The baby is kicking me too hard."

I grind my teeth at him calling that creature a 'baby' but I walk closer to him and close the door.

"Riza just called with a situation that has come up."

"Is she alright?" he asked, his face immediately turning professional.

"She's fine but it's about Sergeant Fuery. It appears that he's become self-aware of his situation and has been asking for you. She needs you to come as soon as possible just in case his humanity is lost."

Roy nods and removes the sheet, swinging his legs over the side.

"Let's go then. My men need me."

I get his clothes and help him get them on even though he protests. When he puts his hand on me, it feels like a feather has touched my shoulder and I look at Roy as he sways from standing.

"Roy, you're really going to go through with keeping that thing inside of you until it needs to be born?"

"Yes. Shut up, Maes, about it. You make it pissed off." He growls, shoving the boot I have for him onto his foot.

I smirk a little and we head out.

As we drive toward Riza's apartment, Roy is leaning against the passenger door. It's like I'm driving by myself though because he's so quiet. I touch his shoulder and when he turns to me, I know he needs to vomit. I reach up to touch his face but he knocks it away.

"Don't touch me."

"Roy, you've got a fever."

"Stop the car… now."

His face turns different shades of green in front of my eyes and I pull over as he fumbles with the door. He finally gets it open and stumbles to the ground and I begin to hear him vomiting harshly.

I get out of the car and go around. The vomit on the ground has red in it and my eyes widen.

"Roy, we need to get you to the hospital."

"No."

"It's killing you, Roy. We have to get that thing out of you before it blows a hole in your stomach! You're vomiting blood!"

"I just got sick from the car ride, Lieutenant Colonel." Roy hisses, looking up at me with the authority I once knew. "I have a duty to my subordinate."

"To hell with your subordinates, in all honesty. Not one of them has come to visit you, you know that right? I mean, I know Riza has been very busy but in all seriousness, no one has come to see you. What loyalty do you have to them?"

"As their superior, I have left my life in their hands before. They have never failed me and I won't fail them now. Shit happened, Maes, things are exactly on track…" He gagged and vomited one more time before he braced himself and got up. There was blood on his lips as he stared at me. "I have a job to do."

"Fine, be stubborn. That's great, but I can be stubborn too. When we get done with Fuery, I'm taking your ass to the hospital. Your 'baby' is literally sucking the life out of you."

Roy nods a little. "Okay."

I nod and help him back into the car. I hand him a handkerchief to wipe his mouth with as we drive to Hawkeye's.

We finally reach Riza's house and park the car. Roy is feverish but he breathes in, smoothes out his shirt and looks like he's trying to make the most of it. Dumb ass… His military air is apparent as he steps out of the car to go toward the house. We knock on the door and Riza opens it quickly. Upon seeing Roy, she gasps.

"Good god, Colonel…"

He only smiles, walking in as I walk in behind him. Seeing it in Riza's full light is more disturbing than before but I try to keep a calm face. Riza, who is usually more composed, seems unable to keep her surprise from her face.

"What did he do to you, Roy? When I saw you last it…"

"Roy seems to think it's a baby but the actual thoughts and results of that aren't very clear."

"It could be a baby, it could be a monster… Whether the case, I can't just abandon it in case it is a baby."

"It's killing him from the inside." I snap. "I'm taking him to the hospital after this."

"If I had known he was this bad-"

"But you didn't. You haven't been very faithful to your superior by not visiting not one time." I growl to her.

She looks over to me with low, dangerous eyes.

"I have my reasons, like keeping the Fuhrer off of our backs with only me and Jean working in the office. Breda has been recovering and the Elrics are working on a way to help Fuery."

~*~Roy~*~

I know I look horrible, and I feel like shit too, but they didn't have to yell in front of me like I wasn't even here. I don't really feel well though and I go over to the couch as the two argue. When I finally sit down, I see Fuery laying on the other end of it. He opens an eye and upon seeing me, wags his tail.

"Mus-tang-" He crawls over to me and nuzzles my arm, licking my face. "Colonel."

"Hey…"'

"I'm a dog." He says, looking down at me. He turns his head. "You are…"

"Experimented on just like you." His ears perk up at the fighting and he turns, squinting his eyes at the two. "Maes is mad because Riza didn't visit."

"She's been helping me… Colonel?"

"My head hurts and I'm not feeling very well."

Fuery suddenly whimpers and the last thing I remember is him getting off the couch and yelling my name.

okay, so to clarify this, fuery was just a sergeant until he was transferred in the manga, to which he was then a master sergeant. i accidentally mixed up that time with this one on which he was laying cable in the war but it also looked like the telephones that the soldiers carried around. then again, i always see him at a switch board looking thing so that's where i got that from. someone had mentioned the subs not checking on roy. i've addressed that (you know who you are) i think. not too many chaps left so enjoy