Kayla: WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, ACE? I THOUGHT YOU'D BEEN EATEN BY GIANT DOGS NAMED ALEXANDER OR BEATEN TO A PULP BY A HOMICIDAL PALM TREE OR SMOTHERED BY A GIANT GUY WITH SPARKLES OR SOMETHING!

Ace: No, Kayla. I just got myself grounded, but I'm ungrounded now, so I can work with you three again.

Sonya: Whoop de doo.

Lela: Come on, I think we've neglected the reviews long enough. I'll start with Furorensu-Chan. I do agree, Dorochet is a much better reward than my master, but I personally would rather not have the Playboy Alchemist. And, as you can see, Ace didn't lose interest in the story, she just got in trouble and now has writer's block, which we'll explain later, okay?, okay.

Kayla: Thanks for all the compliments and stuff, Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD, and I too was overjoyed when Ed asked me to come along with him! But I don't think anyone really wants to know what happens next with us... *blushes* Oh, and by the way, WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER MY QUESTION?

Sonya: DarkVampirePrincess8 again? *glare* I hate you three so much right now. Anyway, yes, Envy needs to go someplace nasty, but not for torturing my sister since I think she enjoyed that, and I hate Ace for making me get captured. Again. And, trust me, while Kayla is not depressed or vaguely suicidal like the rest of her sisters, she still has to put up with her stupidity.

Ace: Lela, would you mind?

Lela: Of course not. Ace5980 does not own FullMetal Alchemist. Now, please, enjoy the new chapter.

7: Year of Changing Motives

(1 year later)

Sonya had lost all sense of time due to the fact she was unconscious most of the time so she wouldn't prove too unruly, but when she was awake, she was restrained, blindfolded, gagged, studied, and normally injected with something she didn't really care about anymore. She was simply another experiment, unaware of what was being done to her the same way a lab rat was clueless as to what happened to it.

But today was different. Today, Sonya awoke to the sound of crashing, screams, and sirens resonating in her ears. At first, after the disorientation had worn off, she was frightened. Then a pair of cold metal hands stroked along her face with surprising gentleness, careful not to scratch her with the claw-like ends to the fingers. She shifted, letting out a quiet moan. "Sonya, Sonya, Sonya, that's no way to treat your rescuer, now is it?" a familiar voice asked, freeing her mouth and body with a few swipes.

"Greed?" she gasped, shocked that the homunculus had bothered to save her after so long. "Did anyone else come?"

She could almost hear the smile in his voice when he said, "Nope, it's just me here since it was more of a chance happening I was on when I found this place rather than a planned rescue."

"Why'd you save me then?"

"I count my chimeras as my property, and as Greed, I don't like it when people mess with my things."

"Thanks Greed," she murmured, unwinding the cloth over her eyes. "Holy shit," she gasped, going stiff.

"What?"

"I can see."

Lela was normally a well-kept chimera. But apparently, today, she just wasn't clean enough for Envy's tastes. He stormed into their room in one of his tempers, picker her up by the scruff of her neck, carried her into the bathroom, and dunked her into the already filled tub, clothes and all. She did not fight him. No biting, no scratching, no squirming, no splashing, nothing. She just sat there in the water, tail tucked around her, and let him have complete control.

Confused, the sin paused in his scrubbing to look at her. It was hard to tell between the sheer amount of water and Lela's dripping wet hair serving as a curtain, but she almost seemed to be crying. "kitten?" he asked uncertainly, feeling a little guilty, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," she sniffed, "fine." She was lying, and he knew it.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done this to you."

She looked at him in shock, her green eyes shining. So she had been crying, like he'd suspected she was. "No, you shouldn't have, but since you did, you might as well finish what you started," she murmured finally, startling him. "Just be a little gentler with your scrubbing, please. You're pulling my fur out."

"Wouldn't want you going bald, now would we?" he sulked, going back to what he'd been doing. Lela couldn't help but notice though that his strokes were gentler, more like a mother cat's tongue swabbing at its baby kitten than a slave scrubbing away at a dirt-encrusted floor. It actually felt nice on her fur. Not that either of them would ever admit it, of course. Appearances did have to be maintained.

Kayla couldn't find Ed in the apartment, so she found her way to Al instead. "Where's Edward?" she asked, her yellow eyes begging him to tell her.

"He's taking a bubble bath-"

"BUBBLE BATH! I LOVE BUBBLE BATHS!" Using her chimera speed, she ran into the bathroom, shedding clothes as she went, and dove into the tub, slopping bubbles and water all over Ed and the floor. Neither of her victims had seen it coming.

"Kayla," he spluttered, wiping bubbles from his face, "what do you think you're doing?"

She looked up innocently. "Playing with the bubbles."

"Kayla-"

"PLEASE LET ME STAY!" she yelped, jumping on top of him. Unbeknownst to her but beknowst to him, her back paws had landed beside his hips, in effect straddling him, a front paw was beside his chest against the side, while her remaining paw was up by her chest.

Despite the compromising situation, he could not resist her puppy-dog eyes. "Fine, you can stay. Just don't look."

"Yay!" She quickly licked his nose, making a spluttering sound as she slid away because she'd accidentally gotten a bubble or two in her mouth at the same time. "Promise I won't!"

Watching her move away in shock, Ed suddenly realized something, something very important. "Kayla, your chest is bigger now," he blurted before he could stop himself.

She looked down at herself. "My ninja boobs aren't so ninja anymore! Yes!"

"... Getting out now."

About fifteen minutes later, Kayla timidly walked up to Ed, both of them now clothed. "Sorry," she murmured, rolling over to flash her belly in a classic wolf show of surrender.

"It's okay," he huffed, ruffling her hair, "You just aren't allowed to get in bubble baths with people ever again."

"Deal."

Sonya: Now, does everyone understand why I hate being related to these losers?

Lela: Sonya! That wasn't nice!

Kayla: You hate being related to me? *sniffle*

Ace: Blah blah blah, family rivalry, now I need to abuse my power as author!

Lela and Sonya: Oh crap.

Ace: As Lela told everyone, I am suffering from a teeny, tiny bit of writer's block. The thing is though, it's all because of that stupid Lab 5. Now, to justify myself doing this, I need to know if I should follow the manga for Lab 5, making it easier on myself, or if I should follow the anime, which would be harder but provide less factual inaccuracies. You see, if I went with the manga the whole way, I would end up having to kill off Sonya, which I don't think she wants.

Sonya: YOU'D KILL ME OFF! WHY YOU LITTLE-

Ace: Um, I have to run now, but please, drop me a review with your opinion if you ever want me to logically get past chapter 11!

Lela: *sigh* Reviewers will be rewarded with a magical bobble-head of the character of your choice, manga or first anime. And please, help Ace. I want to be able to figure out what I know that my sisters don't!

Kayla: And I want to be able to rape Ed!

*Everyone stares at Kayla with wide eyes*

Ace: Okay then. There's all the reasoning, so get on it, faithful (and not-so-faithful) fans!