Chapter Fourteen:Rescue

Dante was starting to question her own plan. Something that rarely ever happened. She found that having Envy and Edward in the same house was more of a challenge then she thought. When the homunculus didn't return shortly after he was suppose to lock Ed up in the basement, she went down to find her creation beating the teen with his own metal arm. It didn't really surprise her that he had taken her orders too far. Transmuting the nearby wall to knock him off his feet was far from a sufficient punishment, but she had another mess to clean up now. The side of Edward's face was bleeding pretty badly. And it was obvious that Envy hadn't been very gently when he removed the automail but then she wasn't so sure he even knew how to be. Sending the homunculus on a much needed walk in the woods to cool his head, she went back upstairs to get something to clean Ed up with. When she came back into the basement, she noticed the blond seemed to be coming in and out of consciousness. His head drooped to one side and he seemed to be staring at her blankly. Kneeling in front of him, she tried to get some kind of acknowledgment from him. Some spark of intelligence. He was obviously too distracted by the pain as he tilted his head away from her. Reaching down, she gently took his chin and started cleaning the blood off his face.

"I don't know why he can't leave you alone."

"Really?" Ed's voice came out in a slurred sound but he never missed an opportunity to mouth off. Of course it was just a strong front. If she hadn't stopped Envy when she did, he was convinced he wouldn't be having this conversation at all. The scary part was he honestly didn't care.

"If you stopped trying to get away, this wouldn't keep happening. Can't you see that I'm offering you a better life with me. You can start over here." Edward concluded his head hurt too much to argue with her. Not getting an answer from him, Dante cleaned out the wash cloth before continuing her task. "You'll see, I promise." Once she cleaned up most of the blood, she bandaged the gash as best as she could. By the time she was finished, Ed was already out. She couldn't help but wonder if Envy gave him a concussion. She was starting to realize she had underestimated how stubborn the alchemist really was. She had hoped that by convincing him that Alphonse was dead, she would be the one he'd turn to for comfort. Apparently corrupting him wasn't going to be as easy as she thought. Of course Envy was not helping which didn't really surprise her. She honestly just wanted to bring Ed back upstairs where he would be more comfortable but he had lost that privilege. The silence in the house was interrupted above her head causing her to become suspicious. Envy wouldn't dare stick around when he was told specifically to get out of the house. Deciding to leave Ed where he was, she headed for the stairs.

...

The wind had picked up outside, so much so that it was difficult to hear what Maes was saying. Roy barely made out that he had just seen the homunculus exit the house. If they were going to sneak inside the mansion, this was their best chance. As soon as Envy was out of sight, the two of them hurried around to the front door. The moon light made things barely visible and there didn't seem to be many lights on inside. Roy felt uneasy about this whole situation. Maybe enough time had gone by and his buzz was wearing off. Or it might have been the fact that he wasn't sure what to expect once they got inside. For all he knew there was a small army of homunculi waiting for them. He had a hard enough time taking one down so the thought of going up against any more right now was unsettling. Another factor that was going to make this an even bigger problem was the size of the place. It was not going to be easy to find Ed right away. The house was big and they would more then likely have to split up.

His thoughts were interrupted as Hughes managed to get the door open. Moving in quietly, Roy motioned to Maes that he was heading upstairs and he nodded back. As Mustang disappeared up the stair case, Maes ducked around the corner when he heard a door open. Dante made it a point to lock the basement, placing the key in her pocket before heading into the living room. Although she didn't look like a threat, Hughes knew better then to undermine her. Nash Trigham's journal had mentioned that the person pulling the strings behind the scenes was a woman and not what you expected. Even though the girl in front of him didn't seem old enough to be an evil mastermind, he would not chance it. Even if it was against his normal instincts, he knew it would be difficult to search this place without running into her. Seeing her head for the stairs, he moved quickly. Bringing his hand behind his back, he produced a throwing knife and grabbed her around the waist. He brought the edge of his blade against her neck, firmly.

"If you scream, don't think for a minute I won't silence you," His voice came out in a low deadly tone. The girl in his grasp didn't seem surprised or even scared. She seemed more curious then concerned that he was even there.

"So it's the Lieutenant Colonel to save the day? I was almost certain you were dead." Her response only confirmed in his mind that she was not just some innocent bystander and he tightened his grip on his knife.

"It's actually Brigadier General and obviously I'm not. Now where's Edward?"

"That's what you came for? What makes you think I'll just hand him over?"

"I don't know, girlie. What makes you think I intend on letting you live? I'm pretty sure last time I checked, you tried to have me killed."

"What makes you think I had anything to do with that?" Her tone was too calm as though his threat was no concern of hers. The blade moved closer to her neck. It would be so easy to end this right now,but he needed her alive.

"Just tell me where Ed is." Dante seemed annoyed but she knew she was at a disadvantage without Envy there.

"Upstairs."

"Fine, you go first." He released her but pulled his gun out as well, still holding the knife in the other hand. Dante had to come up with something, otherwise she would have no choice but to give Edward up."

"So how did you know we were here," she inquired as they made it to the top of the steps. The question brought a smirk to his face.

"I've been in investigations for over eight years. I know how to hunt down information."

"I see. And what do you plan to do once you have Edward? There really is no where to go that the military won't find you. It wouldn't be too hard to convince them that you were involved in the Furer's disappearance and what happen in Lior. Since you went missing for so long and faked your own death you certainly don't look innocent."

"And if I kill you right now, no one would ever hear that ridiculous accusation. So quite talking and show me where Ed is."

"Well I did tried to reason with you." She shrugged as if she didn't care.

"Can't reason with the dead though, can you?"

...

Roy swore that if he wasn't careful, he would get lost in this place. The fact that it was night time didn't help much either. He'd almost made it through each room when something outside caught his eye. The homunculus was on his way back to the house. He'd be there any minute now and then this mission would become even more difficult then it already was. There was another stairway leading into the back of the house. As he made his way down he noticed the large room at the bottom. In the center of it was a transmutation circle. Although this particular circle was not one of the more popular ones that you would find in alchemy books, he still had a pretty good idea what it was for. And while he didn't have all the means needed to seal a homunculus, he wondered if the circle alone could weaken one. It was worth a shot.

Envy kicked the back door open. Apparently a brief walk in the woods did little good for his fowl mood. Glancing around, he noticed Dante was no where in sight and figured she was probably still fussing over the Pipsqueak. As he came further into the room there was a sudden snap and a pillar of fire came down from the ceiling towards him. He jumped out of the way, landing near the circle. Roy stepped out from where he was hiding, his rational side screaming for him not to challenge a homunculus again.

"You weren't suppose to dodge that," he called out, receiving a glare in return. "That just defeats the purpose."

"Well look who decided to invite himself in. I guess you have a death wish too."

"If you think you can kill me, then go right ahead." All of Envy's frustration came out as he got to his feet and leaped gracefully through the air. He would have landed a perfect kick right in the smug General's pretty face if the ground hadn't moved unnaturally and shot up to run him through. His rage must have gotten the best of him since he didn't even remember seeing Mustang kneel down to touch the edge of the circle. Before he realized it, the middle of the floor came to life, impaling the him. Before he could even acknowledge the pain, there was another snap and the room became incredibly hot. "You just sit tight till we leave, okay?" Roy didn't want to wait around in hopes that his theory worked. Even if it was completely false, it would take the homunculus some time to regenerate. Now he just had to find Hughes and Ed.