From One Heart To Another
He didn't know how he got there.
Wherever it was he was now sitting.
It was cold, and hard. Uncomfortable.
His automail arm had been disconnected, and was now sitting on a chair near the door, at the other end of the room. He had a handcuff around his one hand, with a chain so long that it wound around a thick metal bar, then across his chest, and connected back to that same wrist. If he struggled against it, he knew it would cut his flesh, it was clutching so tightly to his wrist.
"You look confused Edward," a voice said from in the doorway.
He didn't need anyone to tell him who it was. He knew that voice. That eerie voice that lingered in the air. It haunted him sometimes, the very thought of him.
He scrunched his knee's up, and moved his legs back slightly in the process. Then, he shut his eyes, and waited for it to be over. Where ever there was one, there was surely more nearby...And knowing that...Well, it scared him. Here he was, completely defenseless, tied back, one-armed, and to top it all off; out-numbered.
Nearly silent, gentle footsteps approached him, and he tried very hard to keep his heart beating evenly. To not let his adrenaline run. He didn't want to show that he was afraid…Terrified, of being this close to any of them, when he was this defenseless.
"Well, you've got your eyes closed and everything. What's the matter Edward, you're not scared, are you?"
Edward had to hold his voice steady, so his fear wouldn't show through.
He gave off a laugh, trying to make it sound like he was mocking them,
"You think I'm scared of the likes of you? I'd just rather not look at scum like you Envy."
The male before him gave a quiet chuckle, apparently all of this amused him.
Then, before he could have understood the sounds he heard next, there was a cold hand, gripping his throat. His instincts told him Envy, automatically. But when he opened his eyes, his instincts had lied.
Wrath…He'd forgotten how strong this kid was.
"Scum like Envy? I'm like Envy! Does that make me scum too?!"
Envy was down on one knee, watching Wrath, with a rather irritated expression looming over his features.
"If you kill him now, then I won't have any fun in hearing him beg. Drop him you idiot," Envy finally ordered. Wrath obeyed glumly,
"I get one good kick, right?"
"One. The rest of the beating is mine."
Wrath grinned, his face becoming almost childlike again. But still too sinister to prove any form of innocence.
"When, when?!"
"Tomorrow. All of it starts tomorrow."
Wrath began to look like a kid before Christmas. He rushed off to the door, and out. Envy rose to his feet, and walked towards the door. He paused in front of it, and picked up Ed's automail arm from the chair. He then spun around to face Ed, and waved the arm, making the hand move from side to side, making the hand wave at Edward,
"Have a good sleep Edward," he said in a taunting way, before dropping the arm back to the chair, and heading out the door. Locking Edward in the cold darkness.
--
The next day, Envy, followed by Wrath, Lust and Gluttony, entered Edward's prison. It was usually just the four of them now. Sloth was usually out being a secretary for someone who paid a lot of money. They could just steal food and what not, but seeing as all the State Alchemists seemed to be working in groups, and on the lookout for Edward to turn up again soon, as they desperately tried to hunt him down…
Right now, it was just best that they lay low. Sloth naturally looked human, so she got jobs easily, forging fake names everywhere she went. Envy, also went out to work, being as he could transform, into someone who was human, male or female. So, he too, worked. Though, not as much as Sloth.
Then there was the fact that Pride had never been around to begin with and Edward…Well, he'd already taken Greed down and out.
So, that left the four of them.
When they walked in, Edward's eyes opened into a glare. He let them see that he loathed the very core of them. All of them.
Envy gave a smile of sinister pleasure in seeing Edward's expression, and Wrath wore an expression that resembled Envy's. Lust's smile seemed faint, but it was there. She was probably waiting for things to get interesting. And Gluttony stood next to her, a finger at his lips.
"Can I eat him?" He questioned, using his other hand to point a finger at Edward.
"No. There's no sense in letting you destroy him completely. If Envy does the dirty work, then he can take the corpse for the State Alchemist's to see."
Gluttony's hand dropped to the floor again, and he smiled. He seemed to like the idea. The three remained at the door. Lust leaning against it, Gluttony standing next to her, and Wrath, sitting in the chair, with Edward's automail arm in his lap.
So that left one person left to approach him.
"If you're going to be tormenting me, you can at least fight fair!" Edward announced, shifting his gaze from Envy to Wrath, and back to Envy.
"I guess it'd be more fun that way too…Wrath, throw me that arm!" Envy called.
Wrath threw it with brute force, and Envy didn't even turn to catch it. His arm swung up at just the right moment, and he caught it as though he'd known exactly where it would go. Then he pulled out a key, and unlocked Edward's handcuff, backed up, and set the arm down, before pacing backwards some more.
Edward got up, and went to his arm, he reattached it to his stub of an arm, and screamed. It hurt. It always hurt. Nothing else hurt this much.
He stretched his arms, making sure his automail still functioned properly. It did. It was still as perfect as ever. Winry had done her job well.
Winry.
The name sent a wave of anger and pain through him. Not because of her. She'd done nothing wrong. Nothing at all. But if any of them had hurt her…
He looked up to see her standing there, smiling. Her usual smile playing out across her features. He growled in his throat,
"That's not funny!"
"What's not funny Edward?" Winry's voice questioned, a wave of shock crossing her face, and she stared at him, wide eyed,
"Have I done something wrong?"
She looked hurt. Torn, broken…
Edward growled again. This time he had to force the sound out of his throat,
"It's not funny, Envy!"
A smirk spread out across Winry's features, and a light formed at her feet, slowly working it's way up her body, as it did this, the area the light had already past, changed to it's original form. Her voice slowly faded out into that of his enemy.
Envy.
He lunged when the light had gone out, and Envy was back to his regular, old self. He clapped his hands together, and as he pulled them back away from each other, his automail arm gained a blade. His voice rang out loud and clear. This was a war, and he refused to lose. He came at Envy, swinging his bladed arm viciously, with every intention to slice his throat open, or stab him in his non-beating heart. Or did it's foul existence still beat? He didn't know for sure.
But he wanted him dead.
When he made a move to slash at him, Envy dodged, and delivered a good kick to Edward's head.
It was then that Edward realized how solid Envy was truly built. Sure, they'd fought before, but he'd never paid much attention. Right now though, he had no back up. And Envy did. He needed to find a weak spot. Anything. Something to stop Envy for ever a moment, something to hold him down for even a second so that he might get a chance at making a hit.
But he couldn't find an opening.
--
"Alright, Sloth is home. We should probably call this a day," Lust's smooth voice said from the doorway. Wrath got up and ran over to stand at Envy's side,
"One?" He questioned with a smile.
"One." Envy seemed zoned out. He looked to Lust and Gluttony as Wrath did an Envy style kick to the right side of Edward's jaw. He didn't turn around again until he heard a blood curdling scream. It scared him. It scared everyone in the room. He whipped around to see what had happened, and found Wrath holding Edward's automail arm in his hands, and Edward gripping his shoulder.
Wrath had disconnected it too quickly.
"Lust!" Envy growled loud enough for her to hear.
"Envy?"
Envy snatched the automail arm from Wrath's hands, and could automatically smell ripped flesh, and fresh blood. He whipped the arm at her, and she caught it effortlessly. She dropped it on the chair,
"Gluttony, let's go," she told him sternly, not wanting him to react to the stench. They left the room. Wrath was staring at Envy in shock. Envy was glaring at Wrath, he gave him one good kick to the stomach,
"Now get out of here, you idiot!"
Wrath ran.
Envy re-connected Edward to the metal bar in the position he'd be attached to it before. He didn't leave right away. He made sure Edward was locked down, and then for some reason…He wanted to see the damage. The damage Wrath had caused.
"Get away from me." Edward's voice said quietly. When Envy remained, Edward roared it at him.
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"
Envy took a step back, staring down at Edward. He didn't say anything. He just turned around, and walked out the door, locking Edward in once again.
--
When he slept, he saw them.
Winry, Al, Riza, Roy…Everyone…
Anyone he spoke to on a regular basis.
He saw Winry, scolding him for breaking his automail again. And Al laughing about how hard it seemed to be, for Winry to look so mad. And Winry scolding Al, for laughing at her. It made him laugh too, seeing his brother getting a good old fashioned scolding. He saw Riza, and her dog, and her giving Roy a dirty look for considering the female alchemists having to wear, as Roy called them, "tiny miniskirts."
He saw them fade.
A new set of faces took their place.
Lust, Gluttony, Wrath…
Envy.
He felt and heard the sound of his flesh ripping, as Wrath ripped his automail arm off. Saw how totally angry Envy had gotten. Saw Envy kick Wrath hard in the stomach. No explanation, just a furious expression, and solid kick in the gut.
But why?
And then, someone else, faded from his dream.
--
His eyes snapped open.
He looked up to the ceiling, and saw a hole there. Just big enough for a bird to get in through. It was dark, and he could see stars. It had to still be really late. He sighed. He still had plenty of sleep ahead of him, but he didn't want to sleep. Not even for a second. Not if it meant seeing the images in his head…Seeing everyone fade…
What really bothered him was the very last person to fade away.
It had made everything more real, and for some reason, he'd woken up.
He heard gentle footsteps, and he tried to adjust his eyes to the darkness around him.
"Who-Who's there?" He questioned just loud enough for them to hear. His voice was breaking. He was losing his vocal control. He certainly sounded like he'd had the holy hell beaten out of him. The footsteps stopped. He sat, waiting for either someone to attack him, or someone's shape to take form.
He doubted it was Sloth. And it wasn't Gluttony, his footsteps were loudest of them all. They didn't sound light and feminine. So this wasn't Lust either. And the figures form was too tall to be Wrath, even from his sitting position on the floor.
"You don't give up, do you?" Edward questioned dryly.
"You tell any of them I came down here, and next time I'll kill you."
"Go ahead, I'm going to end up dead anyways."
He felt Envy lower himself to his level by sitting down in front of him. Edward closed his eyes again. It seemed to be habit now. He didn't want to see him, and even in the darkness, he didn't want to catch that smirk of his, or see him pretending to be someone else.
"You're either expecting me to hit you, or you think I'm disguised as someone you know." Envy's voice broke through Edward's silence.
"…How can you possibly see me?"
"When you've already faced death…Your senses…Strengthen. I can only see you well enough as if someone were shining a flashlight on you. Wherever my eyes focus, that's what I see best."
"It's bad enough, having to be away from them. But to have to see them, and then have them ripped from my very sight again…And to not know if any of them are even still alive…"
His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat, in an attempt to regain his vocal control.
"You're shivering."
"I'm human."
"I guess it is cold down here. For a living, breathing person."
"I feel like I'm in ice water. And I can't get out. Being attached to a metal bar of course, doesn't help."
There was a moment where neither of them had anything to say.
"Don't run," Envy's voice broke through the silence.
"Wha--?" Edward's sentence was cut off. Envy's body was against his, and he could hear Envy unlocking him. He put no pressure against Edward, and he seemed unnaturally gentle. But what shocked Edward most, was the softness and warmth of Envy's skin. Earlier that same day, he'd felt like solid stone.
Envy moved back, and there was a small thudding noise, as the lock was placed on the floor, and Envy put away the key. Edward's chain loosed, and he moved his wrist out of the cuff. His hand automatically went to the stub of his other arm, caressing over it as gently as he could manage.
But he still screamed in pain when his hands came over the torn flesh.
He pulled the chain from his chest, and let it rattle to the floor. Then he pulled his knees to his chest, and curled his good arm over the top of his knees, and buried his face in his arm.
"Well, well. The oh-so-famous Full Metal Alchemist is weak of heart."
"Shut-up!" Edward hollered angrily,
"You would be too! If you had a heart to feel any form of emotion with!"
Ed lifted his head slightly out of his lap, and moved his arm, before resting his forehead against his knees.
"But you don't. Well, not a beating one at least. You probably don't understand any emotion besides the negatives." He paused at that for a moment.
Something warm grabbed Edward's hand, and moved it forewords. When his palm stopped on something soft, and warm, he was glad his face could not be seen very well.
"It shouldn't beat. But it does…Sometimes," Envy stated simply.
"It's your fault…That I'm here, isn't it?"
"What?"
"It's your fault I'm here! Why did you guys have to take me away?! After I worked so hard to get my little brother his body back! After I worked so hard to earn money to go visit Winry! We were all just starting to feel a little happier, and then this happens! And all because of you! You just had to take me! Of all the Alchemists! Why me?!"
"You were the easiest to capture."
"…So that's it then…I was an easy capture…Out of everyone, I was seen as the weakest…Maybe I was never meant to stay with my brother, and see him human for very long, or see Winry finally looking happier…She's gone to funerals all her life. It looks like that's not ending for her yet…"
Edward's hand fell away from the warmth. He shivered from the cold that captured his hand when he pulled it away. His teeth rattled slightly, as he tried to hold his jaw together. Not an easy task when you're crying. He was falling apart. Everything he'd tried to hold up, fell.
In front of the one person he didn't want to see him this way.
He was cold, hungry, broken and afraid.
And Envy could see it.
Edward was falling apart, giving up, and giving in. He knew he wouldn't see Al again, or Winry for that matter. He'd never lay eyes on another State Alchemist…At least, not eyes he could still see out of. His corpse would never allow that. And his body would have to be beaten much more, before he could die.
And for a moment he wondered who'd be the one to kill him.
And then he was aware of warmth on his shoulders.
"Falling apart in front of the enemy, Full Metal?"
"Are they still alive…? Al…Winry…Everyone…"
"It would be senseless to simply kill them all. The point of this is to lower the amount of State Alchemists. If they see one dead, and brought back, with a sign…They'll fear for their lives and safety, and families, of course. And the ones who give in to their selfishness, and leave, won't be killed. I'm pretty sure this will lower the numbers. And besides…It's always entertaining to see a little more despair in the world."
"So that's the game to you? Kill me off, watch others suffer?! You're sick. You probably wouldn't understand what it feels like, to lose someone important to you."
"Oh I don't? I had my father ripped out of my life. He didn't want me. He didn't want me from the start. He hated me, and was all too happy to leave…So I commit suicide."
"…"
"And lately I keep having the same thing I want to be near, ripped away."
"…"
"But of course, I have no idea how it feels to have something taken from me."
"…He didn't want me either, Envy."
"At least you have people who want you now. I've never even had that. It must be nice, knowing someone gives a damn about what happens to you."
There was a silence.
"You're still shivering."
"Well, if you weren't your own heater, I'm sure you'd realize how cold it is in here."
In the darkness, Envy's eyes clouded.
And for once in his life, he ignored all thoughts of his "friends," and did what his heart told him to.
He released Edward's shoulders. His hands found the blonde perfectly in the darkness. He lifted him very carefully into his lap, facing him. His arms went around Edward's waist gently, and Edward was immediately both shocked and confused.
Edward had so much he wanted to ask at that time, but he didn't. Because when he looked up, even in the darkness, he could see Envy's eyes.
So he waited.
"...What keeps getting ripped away from me…It's the same as what gets my supposedly dead heart beating…It's always in the same position. It's only one person. And it drives me absolutely crazy."
"…" Edward wasn't speaking. He had his head resting against Envy's chest, listening to the sound of the heart that now accelerated.
"…You, Edward. It only beats when I'm near you. That's why, earlier…With Wrath…I was ready to kill him right there on the spot. I can't kill you. And I won't let any of them do it either."
"…" Edward had had no idea that this was something that went on in Envy's head. And he hadn't realized why his nightmare had bothered him so much, until now.
He reached behind himself with his good arm, and took one of Envy's hands, moving it around to be between them.
Right over his heart.
( A.N: Okay, the end! Yeah, this whole idea came from ONE fan art. Can you believe that? It was a cute picture. And yes, I know the relation between Envy & Ed. And, I don't really care right now…My friend got me into this pairing lol. Writing this fanfic took some time…The story – without being double spaced – is just a little over six pages. R&R please! )