SAINTS AND SINNERS

Author's Notes: Chapter 2 revamped. Quote is Matthew 7:15 KJV.


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Watch out for false prophets

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Sunlight pooled into Winry's upstairs bedroom annoyingly early the next morning, waking the small blonde from her fitful sleep. She cracked a cerulean eye open and instantly snapped it shut again, groaning. Yup, she felt a migraine coming on.

Yawning, she raised up and stretched; arching her back like a cat until she heard a satisfying pop.

"Winry!" Sheska called. "Breakfast!"

Winry groaned and retreated back underneath the warm blankets in Sheska's spare bedroom. After discovering Scar and the was on the loose, Winry had quickly came to Central to keep tabs on Ed and Al. It was also good to see a childhood best friend, Winry smiled sleepily.

Sheska's parents had also been doctors and old time friends of her families. Whenever Winry's parents came to Central for medical business, she would always play with Sheska. Sheska's parents passed away a few years ago, leaving the house to Sheska. Winry's smile widened as she remembered the house's state until recently, books upon books upon books littering and smothering the house. Winry had came and helped the book hoarder clean up her space, and she had marched straight to the flea market and forced Sheska to get rid of any unnecessary books. Sheska had complied, but it had taken a good deal of crying and pleading from the brunettes part.

"Winry!" Sheska popped her head in through the doorway, her face smudged with flour. Winry nuzzled deeper into the purple blankets. "I got up early to fix you pancakes and you're going to eat them before they get cold!" Sheska wined.

Winry rolled over on her back and stretched again. "I'm so tired," she yawned. "What time is it?"

Sheska looked down the hallway. "Seven!" She chirped.

"And why do you get up so early?" Winry murmured, finally complying and forcing herself from the bed.

Sheska put her hands on her hips. "I always wake up this early, it's good to rise with the sun!"

Winry didn't know how in hell the petite brunette could be so peppy this early, but nonetheless she got up and followed Sheska down the stairs and into the kitchen, scratching the back of her head the entire time.

Sheska's house was beautiful Winry decided as she sat at the breakfast table by the window.

It was two stories, but still small and cozy. The front door opened up to a straight hallway with another hallway to the left that held the stairs. Upstairs was three bedrooms and a study. Beside the stairs was a family room and a den. To the left of the first floor was the kitchen, white tile floors and soft yellow-orange walls with white trim. Above the sink was a tiny little bookcase that held a ton of cookbooks. Winry took a bite of pancakes and chewed thoughtfully. Sheska was a good cook, she guessed all that reading did pay off.

Sheska took a seat in front of her and begin to eat as well. They ate for a few minutes in comfortable silence, with Winry's head bobbing ever so often from the sleepiness.

"I think we should visit Gracia and Elicia," Sheska said through a mouthful of pancake.

It was still recently after Maes' death, and Winry had yet to pay her respects individually. She nodded.

A half hour later and sporting her black miniskirt and light blue top, Winry slowly walked into a nearby flower shop close to Sheska's house. Sheska had told the blonde to go ahead without her because she still had to make a few phone calls and take a shower.

Winry walked up to the clerk and ordered a bouquet of white lilies, dark crimson roses, and pink gladiolus.

When someone grabbed the bottom of her skirt and gave a soft pull, she had to hold back a squeak of surprise. She turned on her heel to promptly smack whoever was trying to pull her skirt down! Pervert!

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which come to you in sheep's clothing…

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Blushing furiously, she turned and saw not a perverted old man, but a small little boy no older than four. Winry blinked as her blush faded.

He was very tiny, and Winry had no clue how he had managed to reach high enough to get to her skirt. He was even smaller than Ed when he was that old! He had a mop of cute black hair on his head framing two very blue eyes and tanned skin. "Hi," he blushed and Winry's heart melted.

"Hi, what's your name?" She cooed.

"E- Eaton," he blushed. "I cant find my Mommy…"

"That's not good!" Winry smiled. "We'll just have to find her." She bent down so she was eye level with Eaton. "Where did you last see her?"

Eaton's eyes grew sad. "A month ago. Daddy said she went to heaven. Do you know where that is?"

Winry blinked and her already melted heart melted some more. "Eaton.. Where's your Daddy?"

"Dublith."

"Dublith?" Winry gasped. Dublith was a pretty good way from here, at least four or five hours by train. "How did you get here, Eaton?"

The boy blushed harder and seemed to think for a moment. "I snuck on a train…" he began drawing circles in the floor with his left foot.

Winry blinked and rose back to full height. Today was going to be a long day.


With a sigh, Winry fell face first into the couch, all energy seeming to drain out of her. Her hair flew around her during her fall and when she stilled it gracefully drifted around her like feathers in the wind. It was sundown, and the sky was becoming pale and bloodless as the sun finally disappeared beyond the city buildings.

Sheska plopped down beside her with a huff. She put her chin in her fist and leaned forward, biting her lip. "I feel so sorry for that little boy…"

Winry nodded, her face still buried in the couch. Raising up, she looked Sheska right in the eye.

"He seems so…angry,"

"Yeah," Sheska gave her a sideways look. "Elicia seemed almost… afraid of him."

Winry's eyes met the ceiling and she once again fell with her head in the soft cushions, breathing in the scent of old books.

The moment Winry found Eaton, she had returned to Sheska's and got him a cup of hot chocolate while they questioned him. "Do you know your phone number so we can call your daddy?", "Are you hurt?", and so on. His only answer was a shake of the head while he adorably licked his chocolate mustache from his lip. His dad owned a small shop in Dublith in the country, Eaton told them. Eaton himself was just four years old. He didn't even know his dads name, he only called him by Daddy.

Sheska wanted to go to the police but Eaton replied with a furious "No!" and the two girls froze in their tracks. "I don't like those people, they're scary," he had whimpered. He said he would board the train tomorrow and go home. Winry and Sheska finally complied.

For the rest of the day they went to the Hughes'. Winry rose her head from the couch and got into a sitting position beside Sheska. Now that had been interesting. Eaton had seemed oddly… pleased while he was there, and Elicia was terrified of him. It unnerved Winry.

Something else that made her somewhat confused. When she had silently informed Gracia of Eaton's situation, he had froze and for a moment he gave her the angriest look she had ever seen on a child's face, but it soon disappeared and he grinned.

"Well," Sheska rose. "I'll get the other couch ready for you to sleep on."

Winry looked up. "Thanks."

While Sheska was doing that, Winry's thoughts continued to wonder.

Eaton was already tucked in the spare bedroom she had occupied earlier. They had the whole plan set out: they would rise at five in the morning and board a train for Dublith, find Eaton's father and return him safely, make a short trip in Rush Valley and visit Mr. Garfiel, and then return to Sheska's that evening.

"There you go," Sheska smiled. "I'm going to bed."

"Goodnight," Winry shot at Sheska, as the small mousy girl made her way up the stairs.

"You too."


Everything smelt like that fucking mechanic in here; strawberries and honey.

Envy wrinkled his nose, but after a few moments decided the smell wasn't bad.

With a flash of red he returned back to his preferred form, his hair falling down to his waist in a curtain of dark green. His violet eyes took in his surroundings.

The room was small. The bed he currently occupied lay sideways against the north part of the wall in front of the window. The only other things in the room were a nightstand, a dresser with a few trinkets and photos, and a small bookcase. Envy rolled his eyes and smirked, falling back against the bed. Humans were so gullible. Give them the face of a cute lost child and they would eat right out of the palm of your hand.

Suddenly, a flash of movement on the wall caught his eye and he hissed. "Pride?"

The child came into view. Damn bastard seemed to pop out of the shadows themselves, Envy's eyebrows drew together. Several eyes and mouths appeared with the shadows and Envy sneered. Pride's power always was the freakiest.

"Of course."

Envy slid off the bed in one fluid motion and put his hands on his hips. "What do you want? Tell Dante I have everything under-"

"Dante left."

"…What?"

"She's not in Dublith."

"Then where the fuck is she?" Envy snarled, tightening his fists at his side. This changed everything. The whole plan was to have the fucking mechanic go to Dublith willingly and then have her walk right into Dante's clutches. Now that she was gone, they would have to find somewhere else to settle while waiting for the Pipsqueak and Scarhead to find them. Fuck!

Pride blinked. "She did not inform me."

Envy sat on the bed with his head in his hands. "Then why," he bit out, "are you here?"

He was silent. "Dante said not to forget what she told you and Lust a few days ago. She also mentioned to inform you Wrath will be traveling with you and Lust and Gluttony from now on."

Envy bit his tongue so hard he drew blood. His shoulders tensed and he smashed his fist down on the nightstand swiftly, hearing a satisfying crack as the surface shattered. "I'm not Dante's babysitting service."

The two were silent for a few more moments. Pride standing in a way that got him his name, and Envy rubbing his temples. "Where is Lust?" he was suddenly very tired.

"I do not keep up with her."

Envy squeezed his eyes shut.

Pride gave the door a sideways look. "Someone's coming," and in the next second the child and the extra shadows were gone and Envy was snuggled down in the bed in his child form.

Sheska opened the door a crack and shivered at the cold. Eaton must have opened the window.

Damn mouse. Envy's teeth clenched.

"Eaton?"

The child was still. Silently, Sheska tiptoed over to the bed and tucked him in. His face was peaceful and soft and held a childlike roundness that fit the boy perfectly.

Brushing her fingers through his dark hair, she left him and closed the window as silently as she could without waking him. It did pass her that this window was too high for him to reach the lock, but she brushed it off. He must have climbed on the nightstand.

Running a hand through her messy hair, she turned and left, leaving the door open a crack.

Envy's eyes snapped open angrily and he squirmed out of the cocoon Sheska had tangled him up in.

He changed back to his preferred form and put his hands behind his head, thinking. His face twisted in annoyance.

Fuck Dante! He slammed his fist into the bed. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

Face twisting together harder, he clenched his eyes shut. Maybe he should just kill these bitches to vent his anger. He almost snapped that mouse bitches fingers off when she had touched his hair. He could easily think up another brilliant plan to get that damn rock for Dante.

No. He pulled his hand down his face and growled, rolling his eyes. This plan was too brilliant to pass up. He needed a phone; he had to call Lust.

He had to open the damn window, it was hot as hell and it certainly wasn't helping him think. He did so and sat on the thin windowsill as Eaton.

…He couldn't call from the house phone because the call could be traced. That, and he had no clue where Lust was.

She would be meeting him in the alleys of Dublith tomorrow when Eaton led the mechanic and mouse into their trap. He rolled his eyes deeply. There was no shaking off that Sheska girl, if he knew the mechanic was staying here he would have thought of a different approach to this situation.

Back to the deal. There was no use going to Dublith now because Dante was gone hell knows where, and she would kill them if they were in her house unattended.

Where could Lust be… shit.

He was on his own for now.


"Winry…" Ed gasped, trailing kisses down her neck. She bit back a gasp at his antics. His hands roamed places no man's have before and she couldn't help but squirm from under him.

"It's okay," his golden eyes were soft. "Winry."

"Winry,"

Winry…

"Winry!"

With a gasp, said blonde opened her eyes and shot off the couch in a manner that was very unladylike.

Wait.

…Had she been having a …dream about Edward?

Oh my God. He'd never let her hear the end of it if he knew.

Licking her lips, she waited for her eyes to adjust and came back to the real world. The ticking clock on the wall read 3:56.

What the hell? Who had been calling her name?

With a sudden jolt, she heard her name again coming from Sheska's bedroom, she sounded urgent.

She quickly headed for the stairs but stopped when she saw Eaton's bedroom door wide open. The child was also gone from the bed and the window was open all the way to the top. There was no way Eaton could reach that high…

Thief.

Winry cursed and pressed herself flat against the wall. Sheska's frantic voice once again rose from her bedroom and Winry's breath quickened. What was going on in there?

Running back downstairs, she grabbed her wrench and made her way slowly and carefully toward the voices. Peeking around the corner, she saw that Sheska's bedroom door was open and two shadows were on the wall.

"Listen," an angry voice snarled. The sound of a hefty slap filled the air. Winry made her way for the bedroom, fast. "If you don't shut up and listen I will fucking kil-"

He didn't get a chance to finish. Winry's wrench met the back of his head with a sickening crack and he crumpled to the floor, gasping. Blood gushed from the wound, but Winry was frantic. Sheska was on the edge of the bed with rapid hand sized bruises forming on her arms.

"Oh!" she had a second to gap at the fallen man before Winry had her by the arm and was running out of the room at a dead sprint.

"Where's Eaton?"

Tears were running down the poor girls cheeks but she managed to choke out "T-that was him. H-he chang-ged," Sheska sobbed. Winry took the stairs down two at a time with Sheska's arm in a firm grip. Whoever that person is- or was, Winry was pretty sure she left her wrench halfway in his skull, they were dangerous.

"We have to hide," she said, and stopped at the bottom of the stairs a heartbeat before she leapt for the kitchen. She shoved Sheska into a bottom cabinet and told her to stay quiet. Squeezing in after her, she closed the cabinet and they were elapsed in darkness save for a few shimmers of light shining through several cracks in the wood.

"He tried to k-kill me," Sheska breathed just as Winry scolded "Be quiet!"

Sheska covered her mouth with her hand and Winry peeked out one of the many cracks; she had a pretty good view of the whole kitchen and stairs from her position.

Tears of her own started to form, but they quickly disappeared. She had to be strong for Sheska, but she wouldn't know what to do if she had killed that man. Her wrench went pretty deep in the back of his head and he had also hit the ground hard… She had just killed someone.

Winry's eyes widened. She had just killed someone. She had just murdered someone. With a wrench. She told herself it was in self defense, he was going to kill Sheska, he was-

Footsteps made her thoughts halt abruptly.

How was he alive? Or was this one of his companions?

They slowly but surely came into view, and it was the same man from before. He descended the stairs slowly, clenching the back of his head. He looked very angry, and Winry was afraid. She looked at Sheska and shook her head, signaling do not make a sound. Her only reply was a wide-eyed, fearful stare.

She turned her eyes back to the man and took in his appearance. He looked normal enough; black hair, dark eyes, and pale skinned, dressed in regular clothes.

It was what happened next that froze the very blood in her body.

Small streaks of red lightning began forming near his middle, going up his body and down at the same time. There was also a faint white-ish tinge forming around his body almost like a glow.

As this happened, Winry's pupils shrunk. He was changing, just like Sheska said. What once was dark jeans formed into muscular toned legs. Her gaze traveled up the thing's body.

A flash of light illuminated her vision for a second and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she was staring at… she didn't know exactly what it was, a man…

He was wearing thin boots with the toes and heels exposed and a black skort over top of tight spandex shorts. His defined stomach was bare up to just below his breast area where he adorned a very tight black sleeveless top with a slightly high collar. Fingerless gloves were on his hands ending a few inches up his arms.

His hair was long and dark, there wasn't enough light to distinguish the real color, but the strangest thing about him was definitely his eyes. They were big and violet, like a cats. They seemed to reflect the light back at her, they were so bright. And so… scary.

This thing was furious.

This thing should be dead.

Winry held her breath as it slowly made its way throughout the kitchen, it's features stretching into a deep frown.

The back of his head looked fine where there should have been a gaping hole or a wrench sticking out of it.

What the hell is this thing? Winry's pupils slightly shook from fear. If what Sheska said was true and this thing was Eaton, then it was here for a reason. She doubted a robber would disguise himself as a child for a whole day just to get into Sheska's house.

"Goddamn it," the thing cursed and punched the wall. A crack filled the air and part of the wall shattered. His mouth was set in a snarl and she noticed his canines were slightly sharper than most.

He stayed that was for a few minutes, and as the time passed Winry became more and more terrified of what was going to happen.

The thing then began searching, but he did it with carefulness.

None of this made sense.

He left, only to return a few seconds later and jerk open the closet under the stairs. Winry felt herself relax a frame but it returned tenfold when he made his way into he kitchen and began opening the cabinets.

Her pupils shrunk smaller with every cabinet he got closer. She knew she should move, do something, but her entire body refused to listen to her, she was completely frozen in fear.

When he opened the door to their left, Sheska let out a small whimper and the thing stopped moving. Winry saw a satisfied smirk grace its features and he opened their cabinet door in a casual manner.

"Found you," he grinned sadistically. "Now while I've really enjoyed this fucking game of hide and seek, we really need to get going,"

If possible, his grin widened and Winry shrunk against the back of the wall, shaking.

Something maddening flashed in his eyes and in one movement, he had her by the scruff of her shirt and out of the cabinet against the wall, she gasped involuntarily.

The last thing she registered was his violet eyes and his mouth formed in a sneer before a snap reached her ears and she knew no more.

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but inwardly they are ravening wolves…


End Chapter 2