Ace: Grounded right now, so I'm only allowed an hour on the computer and keeping this short right now by not answering reviews until I'm done with being grounded.

Lela: ACE!

Ace: They should be happy I'm just choosing to put this up for them. Just because I've written up to chapter 23, which is the end, does not mean it's all typed up.

Envy: Fascinating.

Kayla: I KNOW, RIGHT?

Ed: Oh Kayla, refusing to grasp the concept of sarcasm.

Sonya: She never was good at that…

Greed: Ace5980 does not own FullMetal Alchemist.

21: The Signs of Collapse

"Animalia?" the man asked, and she nodded. "You wouldn't happen to be related to a friend of mine by the name of Sonya, now would you?"

Kayla froze in shock. All this time Sonya had been here? "Sonya's my… little sister," she finally gasped, still lost in the suddenness of discovering where one of her sisters had been all this time. "I haven't seen her in three years." Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes. "I'd given up on her, thought she was dead."

"Come on then," he said gruffly, "I can't leave behind a fellow Canine-Amestrian in need. I'll take you back to the Devil's Nest to see your sister."

Sonya awoke panting, thinking back on the philosophical words her dream had given her. Not all angels are gifted with wings? What the hell was that supposed to mean? She rolled from her side onto her back to stare at the ceiling, ignoring the pins and needles of protest from her large wings. The only angels who didn't have wings were fallen angels, and according to the Gate, the last fallen angel had died some 1,000 odd years ago. She closed her eyes, feeling like she was on the edge of an epiphany, only for a loud crashing and banging to completely distract her.

"God," she growled, pushing herself upright, "why did Greed have to decide to trash the place today, right now of all times?" Deciding she'd rather minimize the structural damage to their home than go dream-searching, she pulled on her dress, lacing it on far more slowly than Greed could when he removed it. She was on the warpath, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop her.

Lust was sorry it had had to come to this, but she had seen the way Lela and Envy were, and they'd fallen in love, not lust. She knew this was going to tear him apart inside, but she had no other choice. He was beginning to put his pet above the mission, and that simply would not do. "Father, there is something I need to tell you."

When Kayla heard the crashing, she bolted towards it, leaving the man, Dorochet, in her wake. She'd been around Edward long enough to know the feel of his alchemy, and she could sense he was using it to make the sounds. Skidding around corners haphazardly in her haste, she ran until she found Edward, hurt and bleeding, on the floor. Making a quick assessment of the scene, she snarled and launched herself at the guy with the creepy gray body-suit. She caught a whiff of his scent and growled, knowing it could be firmly labeled as 'homunculus'. She might be here a while.

Acting on impulse, Sonya ducked just in time for a bullet to whiz over her head and bury itself into the plaster of the wall in front of her. She cussed explicitly, folding up her wings behind herself. Judging by the extreme accuracy of the shot, a Military sharpshooter had fired it, meaning the Military had infiltrated her home. A large part of her wanted to flee, but she would not leave behind her friends and her lover. Hissing out another long stream of curses, she ducked down into one of the many sewer hatches around the building, intending to go to the rendezvous point.

Of course, that all flew out the window when the pair of sword blades clanged loudly above her head. "Aw shit," she muttered to herself, "the wolf in sheep's clothing decided to tag along." She weaved expertly around the blades, wishing she actually had a weapon to fight him. "Damn homunculus," she growled, shaking off the blood from a superficial scratch she'd obtained on her forearm, "That hurt, you know."

"And not once did you ever refer to me by my title."

She glared at her opponent, her red eyes narrowed. "Sorry, but I don't recognize shitty homunculi as my Fuhrer."

"A shame then. You would have made a fine addition to the Military."

Rather than bother with a proper response to that, she merely flipped him off and jumped back from the blade hissing through the air. Unfortunately, she didn't see the blade flat that smashed into her head and knocked her unconscious.

Kayla felt something close around the back of her coat and throw her back towards Ed. That something turned out to be a royally pissed Izumi, and it looked like she would take care of this. Confident that the homunculus was going to pay for hurting her mate, she approached him and gently began swabbing off the blood with her tongue. He sighed but made no move to push her away, recognizing it was a strong wolf instinct to lick wounds because of the healing balm in their saliva and even though Kayla's wasn't nearly as strong as a wolf's, it was something far too intense for her to resist cleaning off her mate when he was injured. Besides, it actually felt nice, so he was perfectly content to let his chimera mate lick his wounds clean.

Greed had never intended for any of his henchmen to die. Instead, because of his past insubordination, the only one left alive was Sonya, and she had only suffered unconsciousness because she had recognized Fuhrer Bradley as a homunculus and called him out on it. With ever second that went by, the train only pulled them closer to their demise. He gently brushed a wayward strand of hair from her face, a surprisingly tender gesture from him, but he no longer cared what the others thought of him. They were both going to die soon, so he saw no reason to deny his feelings for the angel any longer, not when they were so close to the end.

Knowledge slowly opened his white wings before the Gate, feeling the black hands caress his feathers. He knew now what he must do. He must venture into the mortal realm to prevent Justice from becoming lost forever.

Ace: Yeah, yeah, I know I'm horrible.

Envy: Isn't that the truth.

Lela: *smacks Envy* Play nice, you.

Kayla: Can I rape Ed now?

Ace: Yeah, sure, after he does the offering.

Ed: Reviewers can still get last chapter's offers of pervert lessons.

Kayla: YAY ED! *tackles*