I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist

Chapter 3

"Winry is so gonna kill me," Ed complained loudly. Three weeks have passed since Ed was turned into a Chimera and he was sitting on a train heading to Resembool to get his automail repaired.

"Stop complaining, Fullmetal," Roy said, frustration beginning to creep into the older alchemist.

Ed's cat ears twitched with impatience. "But I hate waiting and doing nothing," Ed complained even more loudly, just to bug Roy. "It's not my fault that the bastard destroyed my automail." Ed let out an irritated huff and continued to stare out the window.

After what felt like hours, the train began to slow down as it neared Resembool station. As the train stopped Ed eagerly got up from his seat, grabbed his crutch, and got off the train as fast as he could with one leg.

"Why are you in such a rush?" Roy said when he finally caught up to the blond alchemist.

"Why are you so slow?" Ed retorted without stopping his surprisingly quick pace.

Ed began to walk more slowly as they neared the Rockbell's house. "Winry's gonna kill me," Ed muttered, glancing at the port for his automail. "Yep. I'm gonna die"

Roy had to suppress a laugh at the thought of a young girl killing Ed, despite the many things the boy had gone through.

Ed continued on to the Rockbell's house. Soon he knocked on the door and let out a slow breath. Once this door opens I'm gonna die. Ed thought to himself.

The door opened and for a second Winry stood there staring at Ed, her gaze fixed on where his automail should have been. "What did you do?" Winry asked deadly calm, her voice just above a whisper. Winry's left eye twitched as she pulled out her trusty wrench and started pounding Ed with it.

"That automail was my masterpiece!" She shouted, the wrench's pounding becoming harder with every blow.

"Winry, I didn't mean to," Ed protested.

"That was your excuse the last time!" Winry yelled. "And the time before that! And the time before that! And the_"

"Winry, will you stop trying to kill Ed, he's our cash cow." Pinako appeared at the door and looked at Winry until she stopped beating Ed to a pulp.

"Yeah, you're right," Winry agreed. "Listen pipsqueak, the next time you break my automail you better have a great reason why."

Ed nodded. "Yeah, next time I break my automail I'll give you a good reason why."

Pinako walked into the house, followed by Winry. Ed followed more slowly. "See, told you she would try to kill me," Ed whispered to Roy.

Roy nodded. "If it weren't for Pinako you would have been dead," Roy whispered back.

Ed's cat ears twitched again and for a moment Roy wondered why the other two didn't seem to notice that he had a pair of golden cat ears on his head.

Soon they arrived in the main living space and Ed sat down heavily on the couch. Winry appeared and stood over him and crossed her arms over her chest. "Now tell me, why is your automail broken?"

"Uh, well, you see," Ed said nervously. He didn't want to tell Winry that he was kidnapped and that the people who kidnapped his destroyed his automail. "You see, it was night and-"

Den started barking madly, his ears flat against his head. A low growl came from the agitated dog.

"Take those cat ears off, they're bugging den," Winry ordered.

"I can't," Ed admitted, giving a slight tug to the ears.

"What do you mean 'I cant'?" Winry demanded.

Nervous sweat began to pour from Ed's face and he tried to think of a way to explain to Winry why he was part cat. "Okay, it was night, I was kidnapped, my automail got destroyed, and now I'm part cat," Ed said quickly with one breath.

"Wait, you were kidnapped," Winry said in shock. "By who?"

"I don't really know-"

"Daniel Tucker," Roy interrupted, his voice flat.

"Daniel Tucker," Winry repeated. "Who's he?"

Roy took an unsteady breath. "He is a former state alchemist that killed several military officers. Up until a few weeks ago he was in a high security prison in Central, and just recently escaped."

"Wait," Ed blurted out. "Did you say his last name was Tucker?"

Roy nodded.

"Is he by any chance related to Shou Tucker?" Ed asked, a small surge of panic creeping up on him.

"Yes, he's Shou Tucker's father," Roy informed.

"Oh great," Ed said sarcastically. "Let me guess, he's an expert in chimera's."

"You're half right," Roy said. "His specialty is freezing things like air and water. Although, he use to, or by the looks of it, still does, study Chimeras."

Pinako walked into the room, unaware about the conversation the three were having. "Do you have any parts of your automail?" Pinako asked Ed.

Ed shook his head, earning a glare from Winry. "Sorry, the arm was completely destroyed."

Pinako sighed. "Well, I guess it's going to take about a week to rebuild your automail from scratch."

"A week," Ed complained. "But last time it only took three days."

Winry gave Ed a hard look. "And last time you're leg was still in one piece."

Ed turned away from Winry, earning another wrench to the head. "What did you do that for!" Ed shouted, turning to glare at Winry.

Winry gripped her wrench tighter and Ed thought it was best not to argue with her anymore. "Ed," Pinako said. "We've got no spare legs at the moment, so I hope you're use to walking on one leg." Pinako gave Ed a wicked smile as if to tell him that they still had spared but weren't going to let him use one.

Ed's ears twitched again and Pinako looked at him suspiciously before walking away to her work table. Winry left the room and the sound of banging told Ed that the two engineers were busy at work on his automail.

***

"You've been here before, haven't you," Pinako said before taking a sip of her beer.

Roy nodded. "Yes ma'am. A few years ago I cam here and spoke with you, Edward, and Alphonse."

Pinako set down her drink on the kitchen table and looked Roy directly in his eye. "I had a feeling you were the one who made Edward join the military."

"I didn't make Edward join the military," Roy corrected. "All I did was tell him the privileges he would get by becoming a state alchemist." Roy found it quite uncomfortable talking to Pinako, even though he had talked to her many times since he arrived three days ago. Must be because we're alone. Roy thought.

"What ever the excuse is." Pinako paused as she drank. She placed the beer back down onto his usual spot of the table and continued. "Edward wouldn't have been turned into a chimera if it weren't for the military."

"You knew Edward was turned into a chimera?" Roy asked, he had sworn she'd been in the other room when he told Winry. Maybe Winry told her.

"You think I wouldn't notice that Ed has cat ears," Pinako said casually.

So it's that noticeable. Roy pushed the thought aside. He heard the floorboards creaking behind him, for a second he thought that it was Edward or Winry. Roy turned around and saw Den staring up art him, his large brown eyes full of curiosity.

"Hey Den," Roy said cheerfully, but the dog just walked away. Roy turned back to Pinako. "Is your dog against the military?"

Pinako shrugged. "He's usually very friendly. Got along well with that Armstrong fellow."

Roy nodded. "Maybe dogs are smarter than we think."

"You may be right," Pinako said, watching Den as he walked out of the room.

***

Ed paced impatiently in the yard outside, his at ears flicking in annoyance. As it turned out, Pinako did have spare legs, and after much complaining Pinako had given in and lent him one to use. Ed still didn't have his arm but it had already been a week and his automail was scheduled to be finished that day.

"Hey Ed!" Winry ran out of the house holding his finished automail in her had. "It's done!"

Ed's excitement quickly faded when he remembered that he still had to get the automail connected. Releasing a sigh, Ed followed Winry into the house.

Once inside Pinako gave him one of her usual wicked grins. "You ready kid?"

Ed nodded slowly and took a seat on a chair. Pinako and Winry placed his arm and leg into the port and counted down from three. Pain flared up in his shoulder and leg as the automail was connected.

"Ow. Damn, that hurts," Ed muttered when the pain began to die down.

"Stop being such a cry baby," Winry said. "It's your fault that you're like this in the first place.

Ed shot Winry a look of pure hatred. "Shut up! Just shut the hell up!" Ed shouted standing up quickly, his fists clenched tightly.

"Why should I shut up?" Winry asked.

Roy watched as the two kids bickered back and forth. A faint smile spread out on his fact, although he didn't know why.

"Why are you so happy?" Ed demanded, turning his glare to Roy.

Roy quickly removed the smile on his face. "I don't know what you're talking about, Fullmetal."

"Anyway," Ed said, changing the subject. "I'm out of here." And with that Ed walked out of the front door.

"Thank you for letting us stay," Roy said politely, bowing his head.

"No need to be so polite," Pinako said. "That Armstrong guy was the same way."

"Thanks anyway," Roy said, before turning away and leaving the house and following the, now running, Ed to the train station.

"You remembered all the parts this time?" Pinako asked.

Winry quickly looked behind her at the clean work space. "Yep."

***

"Fullmetal, slow down," Roy panted as they neared the train station.

Ed didn't slow his pace until he was a few short feet from the tracks. "If we miss this train there isn't another one that comes for several days."

Roy looked at a nearby clock. "Fullmetal, it isn't even 12 yet."

"I know," Ed said. "The train comes in half an hour. If I miss this one, there isn't another for three days. I don't think I could spend any more time here."

Roy looked at Ed as he eagerly awaited for the train to come. "Shouldn't you be glad that you have a place to go to?" He asked.

Ed turned to him, his ears pricked up to catch even the slightest sound from a oncoming train. "Well, yeah. But it's boring here."

Roy didn't want to get into any further argument with the boy. For the rest of the time until the train came the two of them stood there in silence. It appeared Ed heard the train before Roy because he jumped up from his seat and grabbed his bag. "The train's here."

Roy listened carefully and heard the faint sound of a train speeding down the tracks. He was still unsure about how Ed had heard it so clearly, but he grabbed his own bag and pushed the thought to te back of his mind. A minute later the train pulled up and Roy slowly got on after Edward.

The young alchemist dived into a neat and sat down as the train started to slowly move away from Resembool. Roy sat down across from Ed and watched as the country scenery slowly and gradually turned into city.

The train ride was about an hour and by the time they got to Central HQ the sun was high in the sky and was beating down brightly on the two of them. Walking into the air conditioned halls, Roy felt overjoyed to be out of the boiling sun.

The two of them walked quickly through the hallways until they reached Roy's office. Opening the door, Roy walked in and was immediately greeted by his subordinates.

"How was your trip?" Hawkeye asked as she placed a stack of papers on Roy's desk.

"Fine," Roy said. His eyes fell upon the growing stack of papers on his desk. "Uh, is that my work."

Hawkeye nodded. "Yes sir, you have to get it filled out by Monday."

Roy already began to feel depressed at the thought of doing all that paperwork.

"Sir," Hawkeye said. "We have a new report about Daniel Tucker."

Roy looked up from his staring contest with the floor and turned his gaze to Hawkeye. "You do?"

Hawkeye nodded, she picked up a folder and handed it to Roy. "He was sighted the day after you and Ed went to Resembool.

Roy quickly scanned the pieces of parer, unaware of Ed looking over his shoulder. Roy shut the folder and handed it back to Hawkeye. This is bad. Roy walked over to his desk and sank into his chair. How did he escape from prison in the first place? Roy's thoughts were quickly interrupted by Ed.

"I'm going to find this alchemist and teach him a lesson." Ed's voice held so much authority that Roy found it hard to believe that he was still only a child.

"Fullmetal, I can't allow you to go hunting down this murder just for revenge," Roy stated calmly.

Ed shot Roy a cold glare. "It's not for revenge, you saw what he did to me." Ed's voice grew louder each second, his ears folded back on his head. "I'll send him to where he belongs."