"I... I didn't scream..."

It was late- much too late for any normal person to be out. The street lamps were brightly lit, but they did little to extinguish the ever morphing shadows and the darkness that seemed to move in the corner of the bright blue eyes every time their owner took a step forward to the safety and warmth of home.

She tried to walk faster, to get home before the lights went off and sighed, trying to shake off the feeling of being watched. She figured, hey, it's late, and she was probably being paranoid. It was after 2 o clock in the morning after all, and that bastard Mustang had her and Nee-chan researching everything there possibly was to know about FMA. She'd just left his office after dropping off the papers. She was tired, and her imagination was running wild. Her mind was simply playing tricks on her as she thought she heard foot steps behind her. Still though...

"Who in there right mind would willingly be out this late on a work day?" she whispered as she stopped beneath a street lamp. "I don't see anyone... But Ed said specifically said not to trust my eyes in this place after dark. Central can be a dangerous place, so he said... But still, I'm just paranoid. There's nobody here but me..."

"You sure about that?"

"AH!"

She turned sharply, the tug of her gloved automail fore-arms putting an almost painful strain on her upper arms.

"You deaf? I asked you a question. Are you sure you're the only one here?"

"Uh- As of right now? Nuh-uh!"

The person who had snuck up behind her smiled charmingly, but he had a murderous gleam in his violet purple eyes snake eyes. His green hair was long and thin, but fanned out around his head and almost seemed to bounce as he snatched up her hair tie.

"You sure looked scared, girly."

'Well DUH! Of course I'm scared.' She thought, studying his face. She recognized him, she knew him.

She took a deep breath, and looked him dead in the eye, erasing all traces of fear from her face. Well, she tried anyway.

"Well of course... Any girl with any common sense would be afraid of you... Envy. You're a Homunculus, right?" she asked calmly, though Envy was slowly starting to back her into a corner.

"You're the one who killed Maes Hughes..."

Envy smirked.

"You did your homework, you smart girl." She gulped and backed away from him.

"Looks like I won't be killing you tonight..."

"Wh- Whaddya mean by- WHAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

She pouted. She glared. She didn't respond to any of his questions. Especially the question about her name.

"I won't ask you again! WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR NAME!"

"Hmph!"

He grabbed her loose hair and forced her to look up at him.

"What the hell is the matter with you? Is your head broken or somethin?"

"Maybe I just don't like cross dressing palm trees." She muttered, pointing to his outfit and then his hair. He twitched.

"Why you little-"

"Envy! Where are you? I'm bored! Come play with me!" A juvenile voice sounded, coming from down the hallway of the maze that Envy had taken her to. She figured that this maze of an underground city must be the Homunculus HQ. She never realized that the place had been this big.

"Get lost Wrath! I'm busy interrogating the prisoner!" he snapped. Wrath, a small child in appearance with long dark hair and a strange half top with suspenders connected to his shorts, waltzed in any way. He spied the girl strapped to a chair with bruises around her neck and blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. She knew him too. She knew all seven of the homunculi by heart, and she also knew that this sweet, innocent looking child could be a psychotic killer. Still though, she had always loved kids and she had the urge to at least humor him a little, give him a reason to laugh. She smiled and tilted her head sweetly.

"Hi. I'm Nikki, what's your name, kid?" she asked. She snickered as she watched Envy flounder at the sight of Wrath getting her name so easily.

"My names Wrath! Wanna play with me? Envy's always either too busy or he plain just doesn't want to!" Wrath stuck out his tongue at Envy, who in turn gave him the finger.

"I'd love to play with you. But unfortunately I have to ask him first." She said, pointing at Envy though her hand was strapped down to the armrest of the chair.

Envy glared at her and then at Wrath, wishing he could just snap BOTH their necks. But he couldn't do that to the prisoner as that would kill her, and he wasn't through with her yet, and it would be pointless to do to Wrath, as he would simply heal.

Scowling he waved them away.

"Fine. But I'm not untying you!" he muttered, watching through the corner of his eye as Wrath went to work untying Nikki from the ropes. That girl was all smiles and giggles as Wrath led her to his room to play, and Envy was left to his own thoughts. The predominant thought in his head at the moment, was why he hadn't killed her yet. The people he kidnapped (or attempted to kidnap) never made it back to the base, much less to the interrogations. What made him decide to keep her around this long?

Well, for starters, she interested him. When he had taken her back, they had walked, and not once did she attempt to escape. When called on it, she replied, laughing hysterically: "AHAHAHA! THAT'S HILARIOUS! HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF A HUMAN- OUTRUNNING A HOMUNCULUS? OH, GOD THAT IS RICH!"

"You certainly are the strange one..."

"Well hey! What good would running do me? It would probably just get me killed, so I figure, I won't run, and live a few minutes longer."

He had to admit. She had had a point there. But upon arriving to the base, she had become stubborn and uncooperative. Just getting her name had been an extreme test of his patience. It was like he was a game that she knew exactly how to play, because she had gained his attention to the point where he really didn't want to kill her and waste his efforts. She truly was a weird one. Not to mention that her arms seemed to make a heavy clanging sound whenever they hit something solid. But her arms looked normal. Maybe there was automail underneath her skin? He wasn't sure.

What was worse, this Nikki girl reminded him of her. Maybe that was why she peaked his curiosity so. But the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. He didn't want to think about that so much. He shifted. Her personality was cheeky, but calculating, somewhat like his own, and she also knew how to handle people in social situations. What had happened a moment ago with Wrath was proof of that. He also got the feeling that if he were a normal human person who had tried to kidnap her, the reaction he had gotten would have been quite different. He could see that in the way she held herself. She would have fought him, but she had sense enough to know that she didn't stand a chance against a homunculus. Envy figured that she probably WANTED to fight him, but realized that doing so would get her killed, not only because he would win, but if the other homunculi decided to fight her as well, she was as good as dead. She could probably fight pretty well... For a human that is. She had a strategic mind, and she was probably trying to figure out a way to get herself out of this mess right now as he thought on it. Not that it would do her any good. But still. He could tell she was intelligent. More so than anyone else he'd killed or tried to kidnap.

"I'm really glad Envy let you play with me! Nobody else ever does. Sloth's too lazy, Lust just says no, Greed's always busy counting money- dunno where he gets it, Pride's always busy doing boring stuff, Gluttony always wants to eat me, so he's not so much fun, and Envy's just plain mean."

"I'm glad too. Envy's kind of scary."

"Only when he's pretending. I think he's like that cuz you remind him of Nicole."

"Nicole?"

"Yeah. He had a girlfriend before he became a homunculus. She died that day. Come to think of it, you look just like her in the picture he showed me. 'Cept she had her hair down." Wrath smiled, getting ready to throw the ball back to Nikki. She caught it and tossed it back.

"Do you think you could show me the picture?"

"Maybe later, if Envy leaves it out like he usually does."

"Knowing that you were here I wouldn't leave things like that out. Not with a kid running around."

"All of the others know already. It's just a touchy subject."

"Oh. I see."

Wrath threw the ball up in the air and bounced it on his head.

"You really do look like her though. But you don't have the same eyes. Hers were really passive- like Sloth's. Yours are more like Envy's. You got a lotta fight in you, right?"

It struck Nikki as to how perceptive Wrath was. She nodded.

"I hope so. I intend to survive as long as possible, and then I'll get to play with you some more! But I should probably be getting back. I'll bet he thinks I'm trying to get you to help me escape or something."

Wrath nodded, pouting.

"Alright. Come on, this way." He said, leading her out of the dingy room. Nikki smiled gratefully and took the hand that he offered as he led her back to Envy's room.

She was back sooner than he expected, and Wrath had her hand as Envy opened the door. She smiled at Wrath, thanking him for leading the way, and when she was sure he was gone, she sighed and walked in, sitting back down in the chair from before, waiting for Envy to strap her in again.

"Um... What the hell are you doing?"

"Sitting. You were gonna interrogate me some more, right?"

"No..."

"Oh. Well, can I sit over there then? Looks more comfortable than this steel chair."

Envy shrugged and she made her way over to one of the two beds in the room. She sat on the one that didn't look used.

"Lets restart. I'm Envy. And you are?" Nikki sighed, and took a deep breath, looking him dead in the eye with a look that told him clearly that she would not be an easy kill or like anything he had ever encountered before. Not that he hadn't noticed she was unusual. That was a given.

"I'm Nicole. Nicole Roanoke. You can call me Nikki." she stared at him as if daring to question her.

Envy stared at her blankly. 'well that went nowhere.' he thought bitterly.

"So how long do you intend to keep me as a pet before you kill me?" she asked. Envy studied her.

"What makes you think I intend to kill you?"

""I guess I won't be killing you tonight." Quote unquote." Envy sighed and crossed his arms.

"You are very strange."

"You're the one wearing a halter top and a skirt."

"Its not a skirt."

"Looks like one. You should at least change the pants. I can understand the halter top at least."

"My clothes are fine!"

"Yeah, for a cross dresser."

"No, for a guy. Like me!"

"A cross dresser guy?"

"ARGH! YOU ARE JUST LIKE NICOLE! ALWAYS TWISTING MY WORDS AROUND!"

"I am Nicole. That's my name smarty."

"No, Not you!"

"Then who?"

"None of your damn business!"

"Jeez, touchy touchy."

"Shut up, if you want to live."

"My lips are sealed. For now, at least."

Envy sighed and sat down on the other bed, opposite the one she was sitting on.

"I wonder how you'd react to the others... I'd like to see you go up against Gluttony."

"NO WAY! THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL I'M GOING UP AGAINST THAT GIANT! HE'LL EAT ME!"

"True... but how'd you know that?"

"... Uh... There was a picture in the news and a testimony from Riza Hawkeye and Kain Feury. They said Gluttony tried to eat them."

"I'm pretty sure that that article didn't give names."

"Not that particular one, no. But like you said. I did my homework... Haha..." Nikki said nervously. She really hoped he thought she was telling the truth. Because the real truth was, she was from another dimension on the other side of the Truth gate. She wasn't even supposed to be here.

"Okay, whatever. You're lying but I really don't care. So how old are you?"

"I don't see why I should have to tell you that. You should never ask a woman her age. It's rude."

"Well for the record, you look almost as young as Wrath, which means that you were out past curfew last night."

"I am Not a little kid! I'm grown!"

"You look fifteen."

"I am TWENTY!"

"Oh. Okay." Envy smirked.

"You jerk!"

"Thank you kindly. Whens your birthday?"

"Its in November. Its on thanksgiving this year."

"So the 21st then?"

"Yeah."

"You're really really weird."

"We've already established that, thank you."

"No, I mean, everything I expected a scared girl being kidnapped to do, like run, scream, try to fight me off... You do the exact opposite. You even went back to the interrogation chair without being asked!"

"It wouldn't do me any good to struggle."

"Then why wouldn't you even tell me your name before?"

"I just wanted to test your patience. See how much you had. I figured you were gonna kill me anyway, so if I play my cards right I can draw out my life as much as possible and still have a little fun."

"You're a smart girl, I'll give you that. Strange, but smart."

"I get that a lot. … Nee-chan's probably worried about me..."

"You have a sister?"

"Well, no, actually. Nee-chan is just a really close friend of mine. We're like sisters, but not really blood related."

"Oh. Kinda like me and the other homunculi?"

"Exactly."

Envy looked her over. He had given her hair tie thing back and she had pulled her dark chocolate hair into a messy ponytail, her black long sleeve shirt was wrinkled, as were her dark cyan blue jeans, and her bright blue eyes looked everywhere but his face. He smirked, leaning back so she got a good look at his chest and … well, other places.

"See somethin you like?"

"No, not really."

Roy jumped as the telephone rang near his ear.

"Ahem- Hello?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound half asleep.

"Hey, Roy. Have you seen Nikki? She didn't come home last night after dropping off those papers. I've looked everywhere for her."

"Um, No, I haven't. But the papers are here, so she must've come by here. What time did she leave?"

" she left at about 1:15 in the morning, and it takes her about 30 minutes to get there."

"Alright. I'm going to get some of my team to help look for her. She wouldn't just leave and not tell you, right?"

"No, of course not. She wanted me to go with her anyway. Oh, man!"

"Don't worry, Tara. We'll find her."

"Thanks. Bye."

"Goodbye. Hawkeye! Havoc! Mizu! We're going to go find Nikki. She's Missing. Riza, get Black Hayate!"

"Yessir."

"Falman, Breda, Feury, You stay here in case Nikki comes by. In the meanwhile, Keep working."

"Yessir."

"Lets move!"

"So this is the route Nick takes to get home?" Mizuri asked, looking first at Mustang, and then at Havoc.

"yeah. Look for anything that Nikki might have dropped."

"You mean like a piece of her automail?" Riza asked. Mustang nodded.

"Exactly."

"Well here. Look."

Riza handed Roy a thin sheet of automail that probably came from the palm plate.

"it says N.V. On it." Havoc observed. Mizu and Roy said it aloud a few times.

"N.V. … N.V. … ENVY! THE HOMUNCULUS!" Roy exclaimed. "It makes sense. Envy was prowling around and when she got caught or cornered, she dropped a piece of her automail with a clue as to what had happened to her."

"That's right. But now the problem is how we find her, and how we tell her "Nee-chan" what we think happened.

"My guess is that Tara already knows, but needed us to get the clues. Look don't question it, just trust me." Riza said, taking the automail plate from Roy.

"But like Mizu said, our main problem is figuring out where Envy took her. The Homunculi moved out of the fifth laboratory ages ago."

Havoc nodded.

"But they had to have had a backup. They're 5th lab home was practically destroyed when we took it down. Where do you think they would go?" He asked.

Mizu looked grave as she spoke.

"The Infinity Laboratory."

Mustang looked at her quizzically.

"The Infinity Laboratory was the figurehead for the things that the 5th was doing, and was much more lavishly decorated and well taken care of. It's probably been the home base this whole time, but the operations took place from the fifth. The Infinity lab is located near the outskirts of central so it had that "Scenic inspiration" look to it, but it was shut down long before the fifth was. The people that managed it were corrupted like Shou Tucker and the things they brought to the media were terrible monsters that didn't even have names- they were so unheard of. That's why they shut down the fifth too. But apparently the 5th was still secretly running, so whats to say that the Infinity isn't Homunculi territory as well?" She stated.

"Alright. We'll check it out. But first, we gather some troops. I'm not taking my men in there alone. Lust almost Killed Havoc, Pride almost took Riza, Gluttony almost got Feury, and Envy started the Ishbal War. We go in armed to the teeth and we leave nothing to chance, Understand?"

The group nodded, and they started back to the office to gather what was needed.

Nikki squeaked indignantly as Envy slid his hands up her shirt.

"HEY! KN-KNOCK IT OFF!" She yelped. Envy slid his hands downward then, beneath the hem of her jeans and her underwear.

"STOP IT!" She screamed, whirling around to let her hand collide with the side of his head.

Envy hit the far wall with a loud crack. There were bits and pieces of the wall that had come loose and were strewn all over the floor like dust from an asteroid impact.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! YOU PERVERT!"

"What the hell is going on in here?" asked a male voice. Nikki looked up to the door apprehensively as Greed stuck his head into the room. She grabbed the nearest blunt object she could find, which happened to be a piece of the bed post that had broken when Envy hit it during his flight to the wall.

"Ah... You can put the stick down, Kid."

Nikki huffed.

"I'm NOT A KID! I AM 20 YEARS OLD, THANK YOU!"

"Uh... Okay, short stuff. What the hell just happened?"

"DO NOT CALL ME SHORT! And Envy was being a pervert so I slapped him."

"You … You slapped him?"

"Yes, Captain Idiot. I slapped him for sticking his hand up my shirt and down my pants."

"Uhm... I'm sorry, but it looks like you ran him over with a truck, not like you slapped him. How the hell did you manage THAT?" Greed asked, pointing to Envy, who was just then climbing out of the giant hole in the wall.

"You... Bitch..."

"Cross-dressing pervert palm tree!"

"She got you man."

"Shut it!"

"Okay, so you met Greed and Wrath, now you get to meet the other Homunculi cause I can't stand you."

"Is it because I remind you of Nicole or is it because I speak my mind?"

"BOTH! Now SHUT UP!"

"Sorry. No-can-do."

"Ugh... That's Pride; That's Sloth; That's Lust; and That's Gluttony."

"Nice to meet you all... Ah... I don't think I have much to say besides the fact that I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me short or call me Nicole. I'm 20 and you can call me Nikki. Hajimemashitite."

"Okay great. Pride, I'm dumping her on you."

"I'm sorry, but I have things to do right now. Why not let her stay with Sloth or Lust for a while? They're both girls."

"I'm too tired..."

"I have a date."

"Greed?"

"Sorry, after what she did to you I'm steering clear for a while. I don't wanna test her temper."

"I don't think that's such a good idea either." Nikki put in. Envy groaned.

"Wrath?"

"I'm Playing with Mousy!"

"Grrrrr... Gluttony! Lunch time!"

"NANI!" Nikki exclaimed as Envy pointed at her.

Gluttony grinned and charged, barely leaving Nikki enough time to react and box vault over his head.

"NO EAT! NO EAT!"

Gluttony either didn't hear or didn't care, because he charged again anyway. Coming up with a half formed plan as Gluttony transformed and the other Homunculi retreated (save Envy because he obviously wanted to watch her get eaten), she vaulted over his head and turned to land on his back. She pointed to Envy.

"Hey Gluttony! Lets skip lunch and get to dessert! Go for the palm tree!"

"WHAT!" Envy cried. This was something he hadn't expected, and Gluttony turned on him in an instant, taking his leg in his teeth and biting hard. Envy screamed as it was torn from his body, and a new one regenerated in its place. Gluttony, satisfied with chewing on the severed leg, transformed back to normal and Nikki hopped off of him. She stumbled a bit,and then went to sit against the wall of the sitting room that Gluttony's rampage had practically obliterated.

"I can't believe I'm still alive..."

"You won't be for long!" Envy hissed, hovering over her menacingly.

"Envy, calm down." Pride said scoldingly. Then he turned to Nikki. "That was very clever. You're very resourceful, aren't you?"

"ah... I try. Really I'm just trying not to die here..."

"Coulda fooled me..."

"Well you're doing an excellent job of it. As I said, You're very clever..."

"Uh... Thanks... I think."

Pride smiled at her and she smiled back uncertainly. Envy scoffed.

"You'll be staying in Envy's room from now on. He's the only one with an extra bed."

"Great..."

"Hey, Envy..."

"Now what?"

Nikki sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"Tell me about Nicole. Think of it as a last request, will you?"

"I never said I was gonna kill you. Why should I grant you a last request?"

"You say that after you almost had Gluttony eat me- just yesterday! I don't know how much time I have left before you really snap, and this is just a little thing I'm asking of you. I'll even say please. Please, will you tell me about her? I'd really like to know what she was like and what she was to you."

"No."

"Why not?" Nikki whined, glaring at him almost evilly.

"Because it's something that doesn't concern you and it's something I would rather not even think about- let alone tell you the story!"

"It does concern me."

Envy looked up at her and glared, again sitting just opposite her.

"It concerns me because I remind you of her somehow and it AFFECTS the way we interact. I do not want to live in another woman's shadow, even if it is in my dying days."

"There is seriously something wrong with your head...Do you have a-"

"JUST TELL ME!"

Startled for a moment, Envy looked at the clock beside the window, which read 4:00 AM. It was either too late or too early for this. It was still dark, so he couldn't decide, not that he really gave. He couldn't really decipher the look on her face, somewhere between rage, desperation, and something else he couldn't identify.

Casting his gaze downward, he sighed and rubbed his temples.

'Maybe I pushed a little too hard...' Nikki thought, letting her look drop a little as she fell backwards to lay down on her bed more comfortably.

"if I tell you about Nicole... Will you shut the fuck up?"

"I promise I'll be quieter. I cant promise total silence though."

"That's the best I would have gotten, either way. Well, for starters, If you were to take your hair down and be a little passive, you'd look exactly like her."

"Is that why you pulled out my scrunchie when you kidnapped me?"

"... ..."

" I'm gonna ask questions, Envy. Anyway, Go on?"

"She was very smart, and she reasoned things out a lot like you too, but she was much quieter. I mean MUCH."

"You're hinting at some fault in me, aren't you?"

"Gee, you think? Anyway... I... I loved her a lot. When I was dying and was chosen to be a homunculus by Dante, she volunteered herself to create my philosophers stone. I didn't want her to do it. I begged and pleaded with her, but I was too weak to actually stop her. She had this notion that if she did it, she'd be a part of me forever, but all that came of her unnecessary sacrifice was a big wad of loneliness. It's like she was being so selfish and dramatic that she didn't realize what losing her would do to me... There's a reason I'm named Envy. I saw the damned woman who took her from me go to her husband as happy as can be. I envied that. I knew that I could never be happy with the person I fell for ever again. I started killing people because I thought that if I couldn't have a shot at happiness, neither should they. Nicole was too giving for her own good... I miss her."

"Well... that was quite the revelation, and I wouldn't have expected to hear something like this from you... But you didn't answer my question. What was she like."

"The exact opposite of you."

"hmm... Short, concise, to the point. I like that."

"... Oi, what kind of books do you read?"

"Eh? Why would you ask such a random question?"

"Don't question me! Just Answer me!"

Nikki looked at him in question, wondering what exactly he had to gain by this.

"I like to read and write romance. Why?"

Envy nodded to himself. Then he turned away from her on his bed and went to sleep. Nikki harrumphed and followed suit.