Ace: Fine, greedy readers, here is your chapter! Honestly, why do I even do this any more?

Sonya: 'Cuz you like the reviews.

Ace: Oh yeah...

Kayla: Ace5980 does not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

1: Trapped in a Cage

Specimen 17 shifted in her cage pitifully, wincing as her long scabs from the whipping rubbed against each other. Glazed yellow eyes followed the movements of the alchemist observing her, unable to summon more than a passing interest with all the drugs in her system. Attention waning, she pulled her dull gray tail close to her dirty fur matted with blood and let her eyes slide shut. Sometimes she didn't know why she remained here, remained alive. Then her nose would find the threadbare piece of red fabric tied around her wrist, and she would remember soft gold and cold metal.

Lela had been running for five long years. She did not dare to linger in any place in particular, not when she could sense the pursuit so doggedly following her in her flight. She dozed lightly when she'd sleep, unwilling to dream. She did not like the place she visited when she did dream. Her mind's nighttime wanderings always brought her back to that day five years ago when she'd first started running. Sometimes she felt the vaguest urge to stop running, to simply lie down and die. She saw no point in life without her love, her sin, her Envy. So long as she could see him one more time before she died, she would die content.

When she felt the cold, unfeeling hands finding the cat collar she'd kept around her neck and then lifting her up, she almost wept, unsure if it was in relief, joy, or sorrow. She allowed herself to be placed in the middle of the cold plastic floor of a large cat-carrier, not even protesting when they accidentally slammed the tip of her tail in the door. All she did was close her emerald eyes and wait to see what the very next day would bring. If what she was hearing was correct, it was bound to be important; her new captors kept saying she would no doubt prove to be an excellent lens for the sun...

As his thoughts often did of late, Roy Mustang had Edward Elric on his mind. The blond hadn't been in his right mind after he'd come back from that trip all those years ago without Kayla. Sure, he may have recovered Alphonse's body, but there had been little life in the ex-alchemist the last time Roy had seen him. He didn't talk about it, but it was obvious he was searching for her. Everyone tried to help as much as they could, but the impulsive blond was just too distant and the chimera too impossible to find.

More importantly though, Roy was worried about his ex-subordinate. There had been no contact with anyone, not even Al, in months, and quite frankly, it wasn't hard to imagine the worst. Still, there was nothing they could do. Ed had become prone to isolation these past five years, so the simple fact he hadn't called or written to anyone was hardly cause for alarm. That did not stop Roy, Riza, Havoc, Breda, Falman, Fuery, and even Armstrong from keeping an eye on all incoming police reports and relaying what little information they could find to Al, Hohenheim, Izumi and Sig Curtis, and the Rockbells, but it was a well-known rumor that something horrible must've happened to the man formerly known as the Fullmetal Alchemist.

"Damn," Sonya growled, looking at the broken lock angrily. "Then alchemists must've gotten here."

Knowledge, who was right behind her in his preferred guise, a brunette version of Roy Mustang, nodded. "Yep. You were only about twelve hours off, you know."

Sonya's sword, Final Judgment, gleamed softly in her hand from the sunlight filtering in through various holes in the dilapidated hovel's roof. "Did they leave anyone behind?"

"No," he sighed, both hating and appreciating the younger angel's methodicalness and militarism. Angels were supposed to be innocent creatures, but Sonya, the embodiment of the angel Justice, was hardly that. She had blood on her hands, a chip on her shoulder, and a deceased sin for a lover. There was no way Justice would be fit to go beyond the Gate anytime in the near future, not when so much darkness and power sat firmly on her slender shoulders, which was actually why Knowledge still hung around. Someone had to teach her how to be a proper angel after all.

"Well," Sonya sighed, willing away her sword, "looks like we're back at square one again."

"Not quite," Knowledge corrected absently. "Lela's being taken to a facility to be used for a kind of horrible experiment, one I'm certain the Military would be more than mildly interested in."

The chimera paused to think about the matter. The two angels knew far more than the Military did, but even their divine power had to bow to sheer numbers, never mind that Justice was technically an escaped Military experiment. On the other hand, working with the Military did dangle quite a big carrot in front of Sonya. "Fine, Knowledge. Who should I contact to settle an alliance with?" she asked, her large bat wings unfolding from behind her as she prepared to fly.

A pair of snow-white wings fluttered open behind the male, feathers ruffling slightly. Knowledge may have been the elder, but he was more than content to let the younger lead in her attempt to resurrect her lost lover. "Why, you'd want the Flame Alchemist, naturally!" he replied. "Who better to rescue the lost arts than the one who once lost everything himself?"

"Ha ha, very funny," she said, prepping for a good running takeoff. "Now are you gonna tell me what I need to convince him or what?"

"But of course," he said, following. "All you'll need to tell him is that you know where Edward Elric is."

Kayla: Dude, why is Ed so important?

Lela: That's what we have the next chapter for. And by the way, it'll likely be a good Sonya-thing for a while, seeing as she's gonna meet up with Roy and everyone else...

Sonya: *opens Ace's reviews* NO MORE! STOP PUSHING THE BUTTON! YOU'RE GONNA MAKE HER BLAST OFF INTO CANADA!

Ace: DON'T LISTEN TO HER, I WANNA GO TO CANADA!