Title: Free Fall
Author: Spirix

Genre: Drama/Romance/Action
Rating: don't care anymore :P
Pairing: Edward/Alter!Roy, Edvy, Ed/Roy

Spoilers: A lot… This story is AU because it has both parts from the anime, the manga and even some bits that come from no where but my insane imagination.

REAL Summary because it's Been a While So I'm going to make this brief. Ed was in Rome for ten years, most of those being a slave. Near the end he rounded up a crew and joined a rebellion to overthrow the empire. Al and Roy worked together to bring Ed back but the array brought back not only Ed but his crew also. Ed is now distant and different, not really wanting to get involved with Amestrisian affairs, but people from his previous life are making that impossible. Now read the rest on your own you lazy person. Lol.

Disclaimer: I hate this part; it just reminds me of my lack of owning such a great story.

Dedication: To everyone who loved my Bleach fanfics

Is What Is Real Really Real?

Chapter Three

Envy

Pride awoke with a start and felt someone slam his shoulders back down.

Al whispered to him, "Don't move Brother, I think you have a concussion."

Pride looked at him blurrily and noticed two things: One was that he could barely focus and the second was that there wasn't enough light in the room for that to matter anyways. His head pounded and pulsed in disapproval as he tried to sit up again but slowly. Al helped him by supporting his shoulders and pushed him up against the wall.

"Hey Boss, sorry about that," Havoc said from somewhere above him, "but hell, you have red hair, how was I to know?"

He smirked and ran a hand through his red locks, "Yeah, it's a bit of a change. I didn't have much of a choice since being blond is one of my more noticeable qualities. That and... other things."

Fuery chose that destined moment to speak up and say, "What, like how tiny you are?"

"Who are you calling so short—Ouch! Fuck my head, never mind." Pride covered his face with his hands and tilted his head back against the cold wall.

This earned him a snicker from Al who he peeked at between his fingers. "What's so funny?"

"You just being you. It's nice, like back before." Al sat next to him with a groan. "Anyways, this is the situation: the whole gang is here based on intercepted info saying there was some big life altering weapon here. So they came to look for it."

"Naturally," Havoc added around his cigarette.

"We were told to stop anyone from coming in," Fuery said and sat across from Pride and next to Havoc.

Pride grabbed his head as evidence and said sourly, "Good work."

BANG!

Another shot went off upstairs followed by a barely audible yell. It sounded like Mustang! Pride felt his blood run cold and the sudden urge to run. Not one to fight his instincts he stood up and pushed the pain away to allow his adrenaline to kick in. With the kind of lifestyle Pride had, it wasn't hard to turn it on like a switch. He knew he was probably taking years off his life, but frankly, he really didn't care. A feral need to protecl surged through him like electricity and Pride knew lightening was building up within him.

It may be another man, one with the same face but a different life but Pride would slaughter and maim before he let any harm come to Roy again.

Dashing free of the hallway powwow, Pride made his way to the stairs. Using his arms on the rails he propelled himself up through the air and to the middle of the stairs. He dash up enough so that the next time he hoisted himself forward he would kick in and land on the door. It seemed flashy theatrics were instinctive to him in the heat of battle.

Pride slammed into the door and surfed it inside the dark office room. He paused for a moment to assess the situation. Maes Hughes was being dragged to the side by Roy Mustang and putting up a savage fight at that. A person with purple hair lay limply on the floor, the seeming victim of Hughes's brutality. Seeing Mustang safe cooled his head slightly.

Hughes broke free of his capture and launched himself at the purple figure again only to be recaptured.

Before Pride could do anything other than look, Hawkeye stood before him.

"I think it best you leave Pride. Hughes is not shining in his best light and there is nothing you can do here. Why don't you go see Havoc downstairs?" She said in a careful yet authoritative air, but the despair and confusion in her eyes astounded him. It was almost as if Wrath was looking back at him and his heart stopped beating.

Save my baby! I know you can, I know it. Let me die Pride and just make sure the baby lives. Please! You're the only one who can show it love. Please Pride, please...

It was that same look, pleading for help, only Riza Hawkeye didn't know how to ask for it like Wrath had. Pride swallowed and turned away from her. If she wanted him to leave, he would. Pride had always done what Riza had asked.

He was standing in the doorway and made the mistake of turning back, or maybe it was his good fortune, that he saw the man lying on the floor. He had narrow hips and shoulders, looking very thin, even when curled on the floor. His black hair was almost purple and fanned out around him dramatically.

Then their eyes met.

Blue irises filled of pain and utter joy clashed in a swirl of familiarity. They were purple when they were of his enemies but humanity made them this blue that belonged to his lover.

Envy!

Pride evaluated the situation with a warrior's hard experience. He saw the potential dangers and decided on the quickest series of events to get out of there with Envy in tow and without killing anyone. Before any of them even noticed him, Pride had an abandoned pistol from the floor behind a chair in his hand and the barrel pressed firmly to Maes Hughes's temple.

"Calm down before I do it for you, permanently," was all Pride said coolly as he cocked the gun.

Hughes didn't seem to take him seriously for he drove out of Mustang's arms and kicked Envy firmly in the side. Without hesitation, Pride grabbed Hughes's hand and shot him in the bicep. The man howled and clutched it. The pain finally woke him up to his blind rage and he stared at Pride in disbelief.

His voice trembled as he said, "Ed? How could you?"

Pride could see the dangerous qualities in the enraged Maes Hughes slipping away, so he tossed the gun aside.

"Easily, you would not listen. Pain is the best way to gain someone's attention." His voice was colder than he meant it to be. He didn't hate Hughes, but then, he didn't hate all the people he was paid to kill in the past. No, he didn't need hate to carry out the vile and hideous things he had to do, just resolve; the resolve to live another day and the resolve to complete his checklists of people to protect... or seek revenge on.

Right now, his main priority was protection. He pushed past Hughes and then Mustang to the fallen body on the floor.

"Is that really you?" Pride whispered as he knelt down. To speak his name would bring an unbridled and world-shaking reality to the situation that Pride wasn't certain he could handle just yet. Envy was dead to him for so long that Pride didn't know what to do with this new circumstance of a very living person before him.

Envy's weak voice cleared his mind of doubts and fears with a few simple raspy words, "I knew you'd find me. You always do."

Pride couldn't even fight the smile on his lips, "Yeah, I guess so."

Envy sighed and stood up with his hands on his hips.

"You know Pride, you really suck the fun out of this game," he commented in a drone voice while stepping over a line of bushes.

Pride shrugged and handed Envy their bag of roots and leaves the needed to dye their wool supply. It was a meagre living but they didn't need much. Pride was quite content with their small herd as long as he had Envy by his side.

Envy hoisted the bag over his shoulder and said, "I'm serious! Do you always have to find me within like… thirty seconds of me hiding? Where's the hunt and the chase? You just skip it all the interesting bits and go straight to results."

Pride stopped short and crossed his arms. "The goal is to find you. Don't tell me that I found so quick that you're bitching about it. Next time why don't you actually try to hide and I might actually get a chance to seek."

The argument was resolved when Envy pushed Pride over and ran for all he was worth to their small hut, laughing the whole way.

Pride wiped the blood off his hand and leaned against the kitchen doorway heavily. He had used everything he had to heal the gunshot wounds in Envy's shoulder and arm. Since they were both clean through shots, Pride knew it was safe to assume he was shot and point blank range. That was a small mercy considering how much blood Envy had lost. Pride tossed the rag into the sink and opened the icebox. He greedily poured a picture of water down his throat.

"Brother, is he going to be okay?" Al asked hesitantly and pulled up a stool to the island countertop.

Pride pretended not to hear him as he savoured the fresh cool liquid. It was downright sinful how much he was enjoying the water, but wholly appropriate considering his sinful name. When the jug was empty, he sighed in disappointment and placed it on the counter. Without the water as a plausible excuse, Pride turned to face his younger brother.

"I don't know Al. I did all I could for him but in the end it is up to him. He lost a lot of blood and it's not like any of us can replace it." Pride turned away again and looked distantly out Hughes's kitchen window.

He could see his horse, Roy, grazing with the other horses of his men in the field. It was the false dawn now, the world alight with an odd grey glow.

Al made a weird noncommittal sound and stated, "Who is he?"

"Hmm?"

"You heard what I asked Brother," Al said.

Pride sat up on the countertop and listened to the morning sounds outside. Being so far away from the city, there were many things to listen too. Birds, bugs and just the rustling wind were at the top of the long list of nature noises Pride could identify. The crisp smell of the damp grass reminded him so much of his and Envy's home in Israel, where they hid from the Roman Empire before leaving to join up with Ling's rebel forces, before Pride was recaptured into slavery, before everything. Pride missed the simplicity.

"Brother!"

Pride turned back dully to stare blankly at Al. He felt divided between lives and the greying between the two was unnerving. On one hand he was Pride: tormented, physically skilled to bodily perfection, with no future and a past he didn't look at. On the other hand, he was once Edward: still tormented, very minimally skilled in anything besides alchemy, with no future and also a past he didn't want to look at. It was all shades of grey, the differences. Having Al call him 'brother' and healing Envy with his magic was just one of many overlapping examples that bothered him deeply. It was like his two halves should never come in contact.

Pride muttered aloud without realizing it, "I wonder if this is what reincarnation feels like?"

Al sagged against the counter in frustration. Pride took little note of this and made his way into the hall. He walked soundlessly passed the living room and other vacant rooms of the house; no doubt everyone was still at the hospital with Hughes.

Pride knew he should feel some measure of guilt for shooting him but that feral protective edge he had wasn't allowing it. Hughes crossed the line when he got between Pride and what belonged to him. That brought Pride's thoughts back to his sleeping patient on the other side of the door he found himself outside of. Subconsciously, his body brought him to where his thoughts kept wandering too. Envy was alive and just a doorknob turn away but something felt wrong.

Where had he been all those years of searching?

"Home is an empty word," Roy read to no one.

He tossed the newspaper back onto the waiting room table with an agitated air. It was a stupid article about furniture sales across the city but that one statement rang like a gong of truth in his mind.

What was home? Did everyone have one? Did it even exist?

Roy thought about Pride, an occurrence happening more and more frequently, and how he handled Maes the previous night. It had been so cold and rhythmic that Roy had no doubt that Pride had 'calmed' many others in his time. But Roy didn't want to think about that detail. He was more concerned with what happened afterwards. Who was that man on the floor?

A purple cascade of hair covered the slumped form of a man that tied all of Pride's mysteries together. The scene played out in Roy's mind; their eyes met and every wall and barrier Pride had put between himself and everyone else had fallen. That soft smile haunted Roy in a way that made him want to drop everything in search of a way to bring it back. It was a small gesture but one that spoke of a bond deeper than any one Roy might hope to have with Pride.

Who was that man and what did he mean to Pride?

Jealously threaded through Roy as he thought of that simple smile. It was the kind you gave to something familiar, like one's pet or child... like one's home. It wasn't until Roy read those five words did he recognize what that smile was.

Pride had found his home with this person. Roy had to know who he was.

"Sir," Hawkeye interrupted his thoughts and handed him a paper cup of coffee. He took it without a word but Hawkeye understood. It had been a trying night for all of them. "Hughes is going to be fine. As long as we believe that, it will be true."

Roy blew over the surface of the coffee, watching it ripple through the faint steam. The cream, not completely mixed just yet, spiralled lazily around the center of the cup. Not looking up, Roy said, "I never knew you to be a woman of faith Hawkeye."

She took the seat across from him and replied, "I have to have faith Sir, to follow you this far. Faith is not always associated with a god or deities as you well know."

Roy chose not to comment further thought to this; instead he took a sip from his coffee and tried not to cringe at its apparent lack of quality. The hours ticked by in anxious silence and the rays of the false dawn began to peek through the hospital window before the doctor finally came to tell them Hughes was in fact fine. Roy was glad to hear this but his mind wasn't even paying attention, still too busy riddling over Pride and the purple man. Such divides in attention were not fair to his longest and oldest friend but Roy could not help it. It was like an obsession he could not break free of.

He wanted Pride, all in all. He wanted to know his secrets. He wanted his body. Roy wanted so much, so fiercely that he was afraid. It was not in his nature to be so single minded and... greedy. That was the only way to describe the carnal animal welling up inside of him.

And it didn't just stop at the blond either. He wanted the power of the fire and the knowledge of Roger. He wanted the secret war to be over and he wanted to come out on top.

Was this so bad? Was this really such a sin? Maybe greed was more of a necessity than a sin, at least that's how it was for Roy.

Envy rolled onto his side with a groan. When no sharp pain rippled through his body he opened his eyes wide in surprise. With careful probing, he explored his body to find it good as new.

A heavy quilt pooled around his bare body as he sat up. Envy first inspected the pink twin bed he was in then continued onward to the surrounding room. It was very obnoxiously a little girl's room with its lace, stuffed animals and massive doll house in the corner. The colour scheme made him squint under the absolute pink brilliance of the room. Arm held up as if to ward off the feminine sights, Envy put two bare feet on the thick rug. He sidestepped a discarded toy dog and made his way to the only exit from the room.

It was fairly obvious that whoever brought him here did not care about keeping him there against his will. Envy opened the door with ease and peeked down a deserted hallway. In his mind he half expected the girly room to be a trick, to lure him into a false sense of security and confidence but he was beginning to think he actually was in someone's home. The family portraits in the hallway had people he vaguely recognized but his head was still foggy. Try as he might, head could not recall the events that brought him into this house nor why he was injured.

Why did he know to check for his wounds if he remembered nothing else?

Envy closed the door and sat back inside the room with his back against it. All he recalled was a red waterfall flowing in front of him. It shimmered mysteriously as Envy was left to ponder the human anomaly of dreams for what felt like the one-thousandth time since he became human himself.

Dreams, dreams, all the dreams that haunted him night after night were driving him insane. Constant wisps of his past and regrets, no escape from the faces of his loved ones he left behind. Loved ones? No, there was only one. Pride.

Pride was that one person who was there for him, even when things were at their worst. He thought about that night back in Alexandria. He shouldn't have said the things he did.

True, Pride was drifting farther and farther away but Envy should have brought him back, not drove him into oblivion.

How?

"How could I let him go?" Envy put his face in his hands and dragged his fingers roughly through his purple hair. When he yanked his digits free, they flew haphazardly to his sides. His hand collided with toy car, causing it to squeak in protest. Envy threw it across the room, going back to his inner monologue externally projected. "He never left my side once. But I kept finding excuses to accuse him of wanting to leave me. I shouldn't have to dig for shit like that, I mean, who could really love me? I can't even love myself. I guess that makes 'Envy'… heh."

He tore at his scalp a second time, taking satisfaction at seeing the purple locks clutched fiercely. His black fingernails dug into his palms and Envy savoured the pain. "I need out."

Always one to replace fixing problems with actions of an unrelated matter, Envy left the room with an abruptness that only a tropical storm could manage. Envy soon found himself with a face full of red hair as he collided with a solid smaller body. Confused he pushed the red out of his face along with the person attached.

It was when their strange eyes met that the world turned upside down. Envy's light blue human eyes looked into the pure golden ones he had been missing all along. The one those eyes belonged to didn't say a word but Envy could hear the volumes spoken with that look.

Pride's eyes were filled with wonder, confusion, longing and even a hint of mistrust, as if he wasn't certain who it was before him.

Envy broke the silence first, taking a step to close the gap them. "I... you... I'm sorry." The words came out too quickly and Envy felt himself blush in frustration.

"What?" Were the first words Envy heard Pride speak in what felt like years. Overwhelmed he slammed their bodies together in a desperate hug. He still didn't know where he was or how Pride had come to him again, but none of that matter. Envy had never felt joy like this. It was so hot and bright yet he didn't fear being burned. Envy welcomed the searing sensation of having his lover in his arms once again.

When arms finally reached around and enclosed Envy within them, he knew he was truly home; that place he often heard people talk about but didn't know. Envy found his home again.

Al watched the embrace with hate in his heart. This purple man no one knew just walked into his only just developing life, his and his brother's, and messed it all up. He was finally reaching the brother he once knew deep within Pride and now all those walls had returned, newly fortified with indifference and distance.

Al saw how "Pride" had dealt with Hughes. It was like watching some monster puppeteer his brother's body. Al didn't know what to do or what to think. So much was whirling around him it was like being trapped in a twister of mystery and loss.

The purple man caressed his brother's cheek and Al punched the wall. Or at least what he thought was the wall. The glass of a picture that was once hanging was now embedded in his clenched fist. The red of the blood spilling over his hand ran bright and only served to fuel his building rage.

Pride, still in the purple man's embrace, opened his eyes wide. Al was almost too furious to notice the molten gold tinge to them shift to a brilliant blue. He probably wouldn't have noticed if it hadn't of been his hand Pride was healing with his magic. The pain from his hand subsided but Al felt somehow betrayed.

'What are you doing with this man? Who is he?' is what Al wanted to ask but instead he barked out, "Every day you are getting farter and farther away! We are never going to be brothers again are we!"

Al surprised himself. He hadn't realized the turmoil boiling deep inside of him was this specific. Armed with this knowledge of himself, Al asked what his heart truly desired to know. "My brother, Edward, he's dead isn't he?"

Pride stepped away from the purple man and Al took in the sight of him for what felt like the first time. His savage flame like hair hung in a rushing red waterfall over one of his bare shoulders. They were the same colour of the strange vine like tattoos that covered his body. Nothing about this man said he was Edward Elric but his basic looks. His personality was different. His morals, motives and mannerisms were that of a much different person also. Al had held on to how this man and his brother had the same eyes but it was clear now.

The wild anger in him turned to ice. Feeling strangely calm, Al voiced his realization. "You're a homunculus… of my brother aren't you?"

For a moment Al swore he saw a flicker of purple in those familiar eyes but it was gone almost too fast to detect. Almost.

Pride reached out his hand to his little brother but Al turned and walked away, disowning him in a single gesture.

"It's time to go."

Pride had almost forgotten Envy was there. He turned to his long lost lover in confusion. "Go where?"

The world was sliding farther and farther away with each passing moment and Pride struggled with his humanity. His body was manufactured, yes, but his soul was just that, his soul. It was the only thing separating him from being the creature Envy once was but Pride had to wonder if it was really all there after all he had been through.

Envy turned him around as if reading his mind. "Don't look like that love. You are human enough for me and that's all that matters. I think being like this, half between human and something more makes it easier for us to do what we were meant for all along."

Pride inquired, "And what is that?"

Envy kissed his forehead simply. "To change the world of course. Don't you get it yet Pridie? We have these powers, this immortality so that we can outlast everyone and shape their world. We're like messengers of god, if a god existed."

Pride could see Al walking out in the field through the window at the end of the hall. He seemed so far away, his last connection to this world. Pride knew he could go after him but Envy's hand slipping into his own made him wonder. What if he really wasn't Edward Elric? What if he was now someone more?

Something more.

Something meant for more.

Pride gripped Envy's hand and watched Edward's brother walk out of sight. When he was gone, so was Edward.

"So," Pride inquired, "where do we start?"

Envy grinned, "I thought you'd never ask."

"What were you thinking," Roy chided his now conscious friend. The hospital room was white and bleak and in no way helping Roy shake the feeling that something wasn't right. He felt odd, strange and just plain weird. Unfortunately for Maes, Roy was too irritated to be sympathetic to the gunshot wound patient.

Maes whined and pulled the starch white sheet over his head. "I know, I know. I lost my head—"

"You did more than lose you head Maes! You almost lost your goddamned arm!" Roy grumbled into his stale coffee, glaring at it menacingly. No matter how hard he tried to force his thoughts to focus on Maes they rebelliously turned back to Pride. He owed Maes more than that but it was like on some (dare he say magical?) level, Roy and Pride were connected.

The magical key in his pocket pulsed warmly. Ah yes, that was the connection. Roger's beyond dying love for Edward. Roy wondered aimlessly and not for the first time if his frequent obsessions with Pride were a manifestation of his musical double, and not in fact his own obsession. Roy clutched his mug and was glad it wasn't a paper cup that held his hot beverage.

Roy hated the feeling that he that was being manipulated by someone else. This Roger person had another thing coming if he thought he could meddle with Roy Mustang.

As soon as he thought that, he dismissed it. His obsession was of his own creation and he should grow up and admit it. Roy was never one for blaming his ways on others so he didn't see the point in starting now.

There was no way something this strong could be anyone else's feelings than his own.

Roy looked at the wall. His unease was coming from that direction. Roy could almost feel the ripples of confusion washing over him, causing his own confusion to increase.

He gave his cup another lethal look. This mess of chaotic round about thoughts made him very unstable, much like active lava.

Maes's worried voice cut through his spiralling thoughts. "Hey, you're not going to hurt me are you?"

Putting the coffee down, Roy raised an eyebrow. "No? I think you are injured enough for now."

Maes let out a long sigh as he sank into his pillow. "Good. That murderous glint in your eye was scaring me. I'm fairly certain these sheets are highly flammable. I like my face un-melted, as does Gracia."

Roy hadn't realized he was displaying his inner self so externally. He was torn to throw his mask back on and the need to tell someone what was going through his head. He never liked talking about his problems but Maes had rarely given him a choice in the past. Why wasn't his old friend trying to beat information out of him now?

Roy plastered a smirked on his face and bantered back with effort, "I hate to break it to you but I doubt any change would make Gracia leave you, since it's clear it isn't your looks that she married you for."

Maes pouted and sank into his pillow to a surprising depth. Roy had to sit up a bit to see his descending friends face. It was now dark and serious. "Roy," those stern thin lips whispered out, "we've know each other for a long time. I need to know."

"Know what?" Roy asked hesitantly.

Maes sat up slowly, deliberately making the seen more dramatic with each rising inch. "I need to know; when the time comes you'll choose me."

"What are—"

"Every day," Maes interjected, "you get farther and farther away. Even right now, I see you sitting next to me but you're not there."

Roy tried to apologise, argue, or just say something but Maes cut him off again.

"That man with the purple hair is not a man Roy. He is the monster that killed me and I need to know you'll be with me when I go to return the favour… even if Edward interferes."

"Hey Ammy?"

Slim and his mischievous brother Fish sat by the small campfire with their marshmallows. Today they both had a break in their usual routine of spying and tracking the many government paid informants Lenard had discovered and listed for them ages ago. Since they required a much desired break, they both decided to visit their favourite forest hermit Ammy, who was still brooding over Jilly's death.

He poked the fire roughly and examined the thief brothers. "Why are you two here?

Slim blew out his flaming marshmallow skilfully and grinned. "I have come to bring you motivation."

"Yeppers," added Fish through his full mouth. Ammy glared at his gleeful energy until Fish muttered "Fuzzy Bunny," and ducked behind his brother to dig through their bag.

Ammy extended his legs and still managed to look menacing in the fire light while completely relaxed... for his standards. He still had three knives attached to him with various leather straps and Slim didn't even want to have a gander at how many were hidden; though knowing Ammy, probably only one. He was a more obviously dangerous man, unlike Pride. Now Pride was really scary only because he looks so cute when head leads his pray into a dark secret place and then comes out covered in blood smiling.

Slim shuddered and put another white sweet on his stick. "Fish found something a few days ago and thinks it will help you get involved and out of this," he gestured to the forest around him, "nature...ful place."

"And what did he find?"

Fish brandished a black and white photo with a cheerful grin. "This," he exclaimed with glee.

Slim watch the expressions change rapidly from annoyed to curious to shock and now confused. Ammy opened and closed his mouth several times before just closing it and looking at them both with intense eyes.

Slim took his cue to explain. "Remember when Pride said this world had doubles of people in the old one? Well I never really believed him until I met that blonde girl, Winry. She is the spitting image of our dear favourite spitfire Cleo. Ever since I have kind of been keeping an eye open for look-a-likes, so when this one was chit chatting with one of our targets, I was slightly shocked."

Ammy touched the picture like it was precious and asked, "What does this mean?"

Slim looked at his brother for assurance, received a nod, and then said carefully, "It means Jilly's double is the enemy, or at least working with them. This is just a basic character profile based on her movements and doings but Fish thinks she may be able to be persuaded to switch sides; be an inside girl."

"What does this have to do with me?" Ammy grunted but the softness in his eyes said more than his lips.

Fish spoke this time. "She is already on the fence. She follows her orders but she has actually sent small hints to our people to lead them in the right direction without seeming so. What do you say Ammy? This is a chance to start again AND to be a part of the big plan to reform this government. That was what it was about all along. This is our home now. Will you fight for it?"

Ammy closed his eyes for a moment then looked decisively at the twins. "What is her name?"

"Lust."

"I need your help," Al asked Noah quietly. She was taking clothing off the line and folding them into a wicker basket. It was late evening and Al had spent the whole day wandering the forest, contemplating his most recent discovery. The one that involved his brother's homunculus thinking he was the person he was created after.

Noah put the final bed sheet into the basket quietly and touch Alphonse's wrist. Al watched in amazement of how she didn't even need to say or do anything. One simple touch and she just knew the whole story, the whole forefront of his mind, leaving the back, secret parts untouched.

She pulled away with a sad resigned look. "What if you're wrong and that really is your brother you just turned away?"

"If I really am wrong," Al said with a confident air, "than my real brother would forgive me."

"So you want me to teach you magic, I'm sorry Al but it's something you are born with an aptitude for, much like what I can understand for alchemy." She put the basket on her hip with a note of finality.

Al could see he was getting no help here and was lost as to what to do next.

Cleo put a hand on his shoulder from seemingly no where. Her big blue eyes lined with their ever present makeup were one of a few things Cleo decided to keep along with her modernized clothing. She always wore white loose blouses undone and tied with a black tube top she borrowed from Winry. She looked strangely familiar but Al couldn't place his finger on it. Maybe it was the black wig she insisted on wearing?

Her eyes twinkled. "I can help you in other ways."

"How?"

The mischievous glint in her eyes hardened to look razor sharp like diamonds. "I will teach you the way of the sword. Without that: you don't stand a chance."

Not wanting to look a gift horse in the face, Al kept his mouth shut as to her motives. They would become clear in time… right?

Roy watched his candle with keen interest. The flame leaned toward him as if longing for his touch. Never able to resist the wanton need of another, Roy extended his bare hand and allowed the flame to lick his hand. It was cold to touch and mad his fingers tingle with excitement.

This was very good.

After hearing about Pride's sudden departure with the unknown man, Roy was livid, if only internally. Just when he thought things could hardly get any worse with Maes and Al branding together to take down the wrong man, the man in question was not even around to be questioned.

The bright and shining future that had been panning out before them with their elaborate plan to take down the government was loosing key players and Roy couldn't see how it could continue.

Without Pride, all his resources and informants were useless because they were loyal to Pride and Pride had changed sides. Roy wondered if he should be afraid of this fact but decided against it.

Pride, like the Fuhrer, was just one man. Did it make it harder that Pride was the only one man who meant everything to him? Well yes, but it also served to power Roy's need to take this country down. He felt alive, like white hot flames, ready to take on anything that got in his way.

How could Pride? How could he leave for that shape shifting homunculus?

Al and Maes's combined stories filled in a lot of the gaps as to who the stranger from the warehouse was. Envy. How ironic that a man named Envy took from him the only person he's ever wanted.

The flame was trying to sooth his wild thoughts but Roy refused to be pacified. He wanted the fuhrership. He wanted the country. Most of all, he wanted Edward.

Suddenly he was engulfed in flames of a different sort. They were strange and intense, not burning his skin but fuelling him with desire. Roy thought at first to fight it but something inside of him said to wait.

"Wait until you hear what I have to say."

"Who are you?" Roy demanded of his empty basement.

"The desire in you. The want. The need for everything that is not yours. I can show you how to attain it all. But you first you'll have to accept me in."

The voice was without gender or accent. It was purely just a voice. Roy looked at his flaming hands, then, through his fingers he saw his forsaken candle. The small flamed called out to him but Roy didn't have a strong enough connection to his own magic to feel it strongly.

Roy needed more power and the very power was being offered to him.

"What's the catch?"

The voice sounded like it was smiling when it replied, "Only your soul."

Now that was interesting. The voice was asking for something Roy wasn't even certain if it existed. Should he give up something that was nor even there to attain the power he needed to have everything he ever wanted?

The key in his pocket suddenly felt heavy, like he could no longer carry it while he welcomed the power. Roy was torn in two. The key felt like it was trying to pull him away but the false flames were drawing him closer. Roy needed the flames. He knew he couldn't conquer alone and he had lost his greatest supports. Al and Maes were too busy plotting the saving of Pride from Envy to notice that there are other schemes they should be attending and his ace, Pride the puppeteer with the plan, was lost to him forever.

Was Pride ever really his?

Was Edward even still in there to be his?

Roy heard a clank on the floor. The key had burned through his pocket and fell symbolically. Even the key was abandoning him.

"I won't. I'm already a part of you, if only you would accept and let me in further."

Roy tilted his head towards his ceiling. "What part?"

"I'm the greed in your heart. Give in and together we will rule it all."

With nothing else to hold him back, Roy smirked and said, "I surrender."

"Good."

"Good."

Ling smiled at his handy-work. It had been too easy to divide them. Their bonds were weak and without any real connection. He stood up and dusted off his knees. Yes it had been almost too easy.

Ling wondered if it was a trap but there was no way any of them could know. He watched the Flame Alchemist curl into a ball on his floor and waited. The concrete floor cracked and groaned with the earth's shifting. Ling urged it forwards, using his own magic forward to cocoon around the withering man. Conquering him was too easy. Why did he abandon his magic? Was it because he was an alchemist first and hadn't really accepted the part of him that had only recently surfaced?

"What are you doing?"

Ling groaned and turn his head to look annoyed at Lust and her ever present shadow, Gluttony.

He pointed through the basement window at the mound of earth he was using to suffocate the flame. "I'm killing one of our obstacles, what does it look like?"

"It looks like you are breaking the deal you made with Envy. He is not to be harmed Greed!" Lust extended her fingers menacingly.

Ling merely sighed and turned back to his task. It was taking longer than he had thought it would. How long can a man live without air? "Put those away babe, I don't have time to play with you."

"You will when I dice you. Last time I checked you weren't a real homunculus, just like those other two, you can die also." She slashed forward and grazed his smooth cheek. "Just a warning."

"Alright," Ling raised his hands, "I give. Keep your Flame Dog for all I care. He won't be able to prevent what's going to happen next regardless."

Lust watched him leave casually as if he wasn't just trying to kill a man moments prior. She slipped down into the house and slashed open the earth smoothly. She noticed reluctantly that she was losing her edge when the alchemist's sleeve became stained with small quantities of blood. She hadn't meant to slice his arm also.

"Can I eat him?" Gluttony asked from the small window, too large to fit through and ordered to remain outside regardless.

Lust checked his pulse and found it slow and steady. It was like the man was sleeping...

She stood up and searched the room. She found what she was looking for instantly and brought the corner stool over to sit upon. Comfortably place with her dress in order she replied, "No, he is too important. Edward Elric has a lot of work to do and we don't want him being distracted. We need the alchemist alive to... motivate Elric when time comes. I wonder though..." She flicked her hair over her shoulder and rested her chin on her palm. "Do you think he can do it?"

Gluttony sat on the dirt with a thump and sucked his thumb. "The Gate said he could."

"I suppose... The real question is, will he really destroy the Gate? I don't see that is even possible. We can only pray it is if our own wishes are to be granted huh?" Lust groaned and leaned against the wall. She had a long vigil ahead of her. Who knew keeping someone alive would be so much work. It was worth it though, if she were to gain her humanity out of it, any price would be worth it.

Envy stroke the amusingly red hair away from his lover's sleeping face. It would surely be an interesting story to find out why he had decided to change his looks so dramatically, and his tattoos were something of an oddity as well. Envy traced a red line across Pride's nose and along his cheek.

Yes, they were very strange and certainly not inked. No they were from some higher being, without a doubt. After all, Envy was beginning to think himself an expert on homunculi since he was the first and there was no doubt in him that these lines came from the same source as the ouroborus. They were even the same colour.

Did these markings really identify his small lover as the one?

Envy had almost forgotten in years long past, when he was created that one day he would have to seek out this individual and teach them what the Gate needed them to know for what happens nest. Who would have thought the bratty, short, Fullmetal Alchemist was preordained to be the end of them all.

Chapter Three End

a/n:

It's felt like years which I regret to say isn't too far from the mark. This chapter was murder to write because it contains so many details I had to cross reference. I literally spent a week checking to make sure I was consistent so I screwed up somewhere, please tell me before I go crazy.

This chapter is dedicated to Marylover because without her I would have probably moved on to the different anime genre by now. She keeps me motivated and hopefully this will stay true until the near end of Free Fall; my monster, my baby, my burden and blessing.

A friend today told me every one of my chapters was a quarter of a standard novel. I choked on my tea quite comically. I think I should never take on a project like this. Next time there will be just more small chapters, I promise.

Well enjoy anyone who is left reading this. If nothing dramatic happens to me in the next few weeks this fic should be done before the fall. I hope...

-rix the demon

PS
I drew a picture for Mary and decided to share it. It's on my livejournal. If you have problems seeing it just PM me.