Edward is growing paler and thinner as the weeks progress. Envy watches over him. His fear is split between the baby and Sir. If carrying this baby was going to kill Edward he would prefer to rid him of the baby now.

Edward is sweating and holding his stomach. Envy tries rubbing circles on it. He tries calming the child. "I don't feel like a mommy," Edward whimpers. Envy kisses him. "Baby, it's okay. It's going to be alright." Edward continues to mumble the same message and won't respond to anything else.

Envy goes to Sir. "You need to get the baby out of him! He's dying," he tells the man. He shakes his head. "A good mother will die for her baby, and wouldn't want to live without it." Envy feels hopeless. He doesn't know how to get rid of a baby.

The women don't seem to want to help either. Even momma seems to abandon Edward. Maybe they were commanded to. He doesn't know. They still try to feed him, but he can't get any food down. Every time he seems someone he tells them he doesn't feel like a mommy. He acts as if he's stopped recognizing the faces around him.

His stomach, and that part alone, is getting bigger. The rest of Edward is almost decaying. His arms remind Envy of his time on the other side when the Nazis were keeping people in the camps. The way their bones showed through their skin.

His hair is falling out and he's stopped talking. Envy can't take the sight of him for another moment. He grabs a knife from the kitchen. It ruins routine and the women watch him. He goes to the room where Edward is holding his stomach. He's mother the same line he'd been repeating for weeks, but without voice.

Envy moves his hands and puts the knife to his belly. Edward closes his eyes, obviously ready to die. He can hear Sir coming toward them and cuts Ed open. Edward groans and grips the sheets so that he doesn't interfere.

Envy thrusts a hand in and searches for the child, but doesn't find one. Sir knocks him to the ground and puts a hand over Edward's wound, stopping the blood. "Get that kid out of him before he dies!" He begs more than yells.

Sir grabs Envy and tosses him into the closet, but not before Envy can see that Edward's bleed has stopped. Envy claws at the door for hours before giving up and lying on his back. He can't hear, or smell, or see anything.

He wishes he could keep time. He sleeps and then wakes. Then he sleeps and wakes. Nothing else to do, besides worry about Edward. And then, finally, he hears something.

The door is yanked open and Edward is bloody, looking completely wild. "Do you remember the transmutation circle to get to the gate?" He asks quickly. Envy nods dumbly. Alchemy? Had Edward forgotten that alchemy didn't exist anymore?

Edward grabs Envy from the closet, his blood dripping onto Envy. "Quickly. We need to hurry. Use my blood and make the circle." Envy doesn't question. He uses the blood dripping down Edward's bare belly to make a circle on the floor.

He can hear Sir yelling, but Edward seems calm. He's holding something, and Envy wonders if it's the fetus. He finishes the circle and looks at Edward. "Are you trying to bring the baby back?" Envy asks, feeling uncomfortable and anxious.

Edward grins and holds his hands out. "It was never a baby," he says, holding a red rock. It hits Envy, finally. The red stone. It was the Philosopher's stone! His wide eyes go to Edward's. "There isn't any alchemy…" He says, completely bewildered.

Edward steps into the circle and grabs Envy's arm so he can stay upright. "Sir… He has alchemy books in his room. I hadn't thought about it until you cut me open. I knew then what he'd done. The alchemy books, him putting things inside me, blindfolding me, his alchemy texts… And when he was hitting you, he stopped when I was there. I'm more powerful than he is with this," Edward explains.

He puts the stone in the middle of the circle and looks up at Envy. They kiss briefly before Edward falls to one knee from the blood loss. He claps quickly and thrusts his hands to the ground. The room lights up around them and then goes black.

Lineline

Edward and Envy are holding hands and looking into the gate. "You've returned?" The gate asks. They don't know what to say. "That was not an alchemy free world. Only the strongest were able to remember. The homunculus, of course, and you Edward." Envy tilts his head.

"Who were we with? He was so strong…" Envy questions. "That was Dante. He too was very powerful." It begins making sense. "Now the only question left is about the life you want to resume. You can go back to the world of alchemy… but your brother will still be a soul attached to armor, and Envy will still be your enemy," the gate says. Ed and Envy look at one another.

"Or, you can go back to that world and destroy Dante with the stone. However, this stone is the last trace of alchemy in that world, and will never work again."

Envy watches Edward struggle. "Edward… chose the second. We'll destroy Dante… Your brother will be whole… We can be happy," he says, squeezing Edward's hand. Edward smiles, tears fall down his face slowly. "I wish to stay, here, with Envy."

The gate closes and they're back in the house. There is blood everywhere. Edward can hardly move, but he's the one who made the stone and must be the one to destroy Dante.

Envy helps him into the room and they're face to face with Sir. Edward is panting and holding his stomach. Sir comes closer and Edward snaps. He runs at the man and thrusts the knife he'd been saving into his chest.

The man falls and Edward falls too. Edward crawls to the man and thrusts the stone inside. He shrieks and writhes. Envy pulls Edward up and they watch the man evaporate. Edward is cold and shivering. Envy waits until the man is completely gone before carrying him to the bedroom.

He pulls some of the sewing stuff out and finds a needle and thread. "I'm going to sew you up, Edward. Don't move," Envy warns. Edward passes out before he finishes. He lifts Edward into his arms and they leave the house.

He walks carefully, because Edward had told him once that no one ever leaves. He makes it into the town and finds a doctor. It is late, but they take him in. Envy explains that Edward is military and was attacked.

They allow Envy to stay with him while they fix him. He waits for the rest of the night for Edward to wake. "Hey sleepyhead. Ready to head back to central?" Envy asks. Edward shakes his head. "We gotta live somewhere, and you've already got a job there," Envy explains.

Edward smiles slightly. "Are you really going to stay with me? Forever?" Envy smiles and kisses him softly. "Might as well, right?" He answers rudely.