HOLY MOTHER-LOVERS IN SATAN-LAND, I LIVE! lol Been so caught up on my writing course at University that I haven't written anything outside of my work for the course, but as my assignments are all done and dusted and chapter 107 made me cry so friggin' much, I decided to actually write this one. It has no spoilers for 107/any recent chapters, it's sort of a cross between the original anime and the manga/Brotherhood; homunculi can be created by human transmutation AND by Father, with Father still in charge of them/in Dante's place (Envy still has the original anime's origins, just Dante is out of the picture)

I've been planning this in my head for ages, and I have the rest of it all mapped out so I shouldn't get stuck anywhere. I'm intending to get most if not all of this written and uploaded by the end of summer, and with my track record, this should be uhh.... interesting... Feel free to poke me via PM if I get more than three weeks without an update. I'm serious. Please do it, I procrastinate far too much.

Disclaimer - I'm not Japanese, and my self-portrait is not a really awesome cow. So no, I'm not Arakawa-sensei, but I do borrow her characters for abuse in non-profit products of boredom such as this.

"Let her go, Envy."

"Or what? You gonna fight me, pipsqueak?"

Elysia squirmed in his grip, twisting herself around so that she could look at Roy and Edward and reach her arms out towards them. Roy moved as though he were about to go over, but Edward reached an arm out to stop him without looking away from the girl.

"He'll kill her if you get too close," the blonde muttered.

"Why are you even doing this?" Alphonse asked; Edward glanced over to him, then back to the homunculus. "She's got nothing to do with this."

"Yeah..." Envy said slowly. "But you two have, and you like her, so I take her to get to you. It's really not a hard concept to grasp."

Outside a tile fell and shattered on the ground, a few pigeons cooing to each other across rooftops. Elysia was still in her pyjamas from the night before, the pink cotton bunching around her waist where Envy held her. Her hair was sticking up in tangled tufts, her eyes red and puffy as she tried to stop sniffling.

"But why?"

"Someone told me you were meant to be smart," Envy rolled his eyes.

" We're meant to be sacrifices, right?"

"What other purpose could you serve?"

Edward watched Envy carefully, examining him for even the slightest weakness; his grip was tight enough to keep Elysia secure but not tight enough to hurt her. If he could distract the homunculus, maybe bait him into a fight, he would drop the girl, or at least loosen his grip and Elysia could wriggle free. No... He had fought Envy before; he knew the homunculus wouldn't need both hands, not unless Edward was willing to get seriously injured. He took risks but wasn't stupid – there had to be another way...

" Aren't you meant to be trying to get us to go willingly, not making us more likely to oppose you?" Alphonse asked, ignoring the homunculus' insults.

"That's the plan, yes."

"Then why take her?"

"I'm just trying to piss you off. It's a personal thing, you see. Isn't that right, Shorty?"

Edward stopped looking for ways to free Elysia, instead staring at the homunculus with a frown. What could he be on about? Then he remembered. He'd found out three months ago, but he didn't know Envy knew he'd found it... He clenched his jaw and began looking for a way to shut him up that wouldn't hurt Elysia. Envy grinned and set the girl down, letting her run over to Roy who passed her over to Riza; she in turn passed her to a captain to take outside.

"Now, see, little Edward's been keeping a secret from you."

"Brother?"

"It's a pretty big one, too, I'm surprised none of you noticed or found out yourselves."

Edward became aware of every detail of the homunculus' features; his too-wide mouth, how pointed his nose was, even how little he blinked – twice in the past three minutes. And he couldn't back away as Envy approached.

"I think it's time for a story, don't you?" Envy grabbed Edward's automail arm and gave it a sharp tug; Edward didn't resist as he was pulled forwards and spun around to face everyone else. "Once upon a time – about two hundred years ago, if I remember right – there lived a man called Von Hohenheim. He's still alive today, but that's another story for another time. Now, Von Hohenheim had a son, but this son got sick and died. Wishing he hadn't died, and with a Philosopher's Stone in his pocket, Von Hohenheim decided to bring his son back. But, boys and girls, do you know what happens when you try that? You create a homunculus. This particular homunculus could shape-shift, and is also still around today." He paused and grinned at Alphonse. "You know what that means?"

"That's not... You can't..."

"I assure you, I can," Envy laughed as he transformed, stepping closer to Edward even as his hair shortened and turned blonde, flinging his arm around the alchemist's shoulder. "Me and the shrimp, here, we're blood brothers. Same as you and me. All part of the same dysfunctional family."

"That can't be true..."

"Just ask your big brother. Well... One of them..." Envy snorted and clapped Edward's back, turning and heading for one of the doors. The soldiers raised their guns, but Envy paused and glanced back over his shoulder. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. You'll be dead before you empty them." He grinned again and walked out unchallenged, cackling as he went.

They could hear the sounds of children playing in the nearby schoolyard, their squeals and shouts carrying through the open windows. The shadow of a sparrow flitted past outside, and the murmur of the market began to increase as the town began to wake up.

The soldiers all stood still, glancing around at each other but always looking back to Edward, looking over to where he stood separate from the rest with his fists clenched tightly, not looking at any of them.

"Brother?" Alphonse asked eventually. "Was any of that actually true?"

Edward closed his eyes for a moment, looking down to the floor when he re-opened them. There were cracks running beneath his feet.

"When did you find out?" Roy asked quietly.

"A while ago."

"How?"

"Found some letters."

"And you didn't think to tell anyone?"

"You didn't think to tell me?" Alphonse cut in. Edward winced, and waited a moment before replying carefully, still staring down at the floor.

"I... I didn't want you to know," he said.

"But why not?"

There was another pause, Edward measuring his breathing to make sure his voice wouldn't crack.

"Because I didn't want you to have another burden. Especially not one like that."

"You need a better excuse than that, Edward," the armour said coldly; his brother stayed silent. "Fine. Whatever."

Alphonse shook his head and turned towards the door. He glanced back over to Edward, but the blonde still had his gaze fixed on the tiles beneath his feet; with another shake of his head, the armour walked away from him.

Edward listened to his clunking steps until he couldn't hear them any more, unable to decide whether he wanted to run after or away from his little brother. His left fist clenched tighter, so hard it began cramping but he still didn't relax it. The soldiers around them began to file out quietly, Havoc and Hawkeye waiting behind until Roy waived them out, leaving him alone with the boy.

"Edward," Roy said quietly. "Explain."

"What's there to explain?" the boy asked, his voice catching slightly. "Envy got it down pretty well."

"Well first of all you can explain why you didn't say anything when you found out, and secondly you can explain why you haven't gone after your brother yet."

The blonde finally looked at him, glancing up through strands of hair.

"Would you?"

"That's not the point."

"Whatever," Edward muttered, heading for the door. Roy grabbed his arm to stop him.

"You're going to need to come back to the office to make a report about today, you know."

Edward paused for a moment, and Roy frowned; normally he would have been voicing his protests immediately... The blonde reached down and unhooked his watch, pulling it from his pocket and handing it to Roy before slipping his arm away and walking past him to the door.

"Problem solved."

Seriously, guys - poke me with sharp sticks if I don't update inside of three weeks...