Disclaimer: I don't own FMA. Only the Shadow Children.

Chapter Twenty-One: In Which Plans Are Revealed and Created

The first player rubs his temples and looks over the board.

"What's wrong?" the second player asks, clearly trying not to sound smug.

"Nothing, nothing. Just…tired, that's all." The first player rests a finger on his rook, watching it wobble back and forth on the board.

The pieces are moving.

Roy steepled his fingers together, staring at Envy and the rest of his unit across his desk.

"So, these things—Shadow Children, you called them?—are stronger now, but still defeatable. Good. Though I'm sorry you had to be dragged into this, Miss Rockbell. It looks as though you'll be joining our unit early."

Winry simply smiled. "I was trained for this. I'm happy to be of use."

"Thank you. And they're still after you, Envy?"

Envy shrugged. "I guess so. I mean, they saw me first." He grinned. "Glad to see you liked my name for once, Ponyboy."

There was a pause.

"Okay, Envy," Roy said coolly. "Confession time."

Envy looked at him blankly, not saying anything.

"I've had a feeling since you got here that you were up to something. You said that you were kicked out of your house, abandoned by your master. A tolerable excuse. However, only now are enemies trying to attack you. Wouldn't it have been easier on your master to just kill you and dispose of the body while you were with them?"

Envy's fingers curled and uncurled.

One point for me, it seems, Roy thought smugly.

"Envy." Roy leaned forward. "Why are you really here?"

Envy's purple eyes flickered from side to side, thinking things over. "…The part about Master kicking me out of the house is true—she ordered me to infiltrate the military and cause some commotion." He grinned. "I love that sort of job, so I took it. And then she threw me out without any real explanation."

"What was the point of causing commotion?"

That seemed to throw Envy for a loop. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "…Y'know, she never did specify what the point was. I was so damn thrilled to get out of the house, I didn't bother to ask."

"'She', huh? Interesting."

Envy shrugged. "Yeah, 'she', so what? A master is a master. She's kept me busy and needed for 400 years…and now she's trying to kill me. Typical."

Winry, standing alongside Kimbley, looked almost pityingly in his direction. Roy cleared his throat, suddenly hit by a realization.

"And you have nowhere else to go, do you. You have unique needs, am I right?"

Envy seemed to realize what Roy was driving at. He bared his teeth in a defiant grin. "Right, Ponyboy. And you're saying I'm stuck with you and your merry band, here."

Roy leaned back in his chair, unable to stop himself from smirking. "Ironic, isn't it? You can't stand us humans, but you can't live without us."

Envy laughed, the harsh, desperate sound ringing in the room. "Congratulations, you power-hungry bastard, you've got me. So now what?"

"Well, you said your master lived in Dublith, right? Greed as well?"

"I'm guessing so, yeah."

"Well, then. I have something to keep you busy this summer…after a fashion." Roy toyed with his pen. "I think it would be a good idea to get Greed on our side. One more pawn your master can't use."

Envy snorted. "He won't go. Especially not if I ask him."

"Hence why it won't just be you who goes." Roy smirked. "I plan on coming along—and if not me, then perhaps Hughes, if he's willing."

Envy's brows furrowed, then cleared again. "What about Kimbley and Rockbell, here?" he gestured lazily to Kimbley and Winry. "It'll be educational for them both—a way to see how useful they'll be to you."

He just wants company, Roy realized, feeling more confident than ever. "Let's discuss this privately." He looked at the others. "We'll call the rest of you in when we're through."

With a quick salute, the others were out the door, Kimbley and Winry looking behind at Envy until the door closed.

Envy moved closer to Roy's desk, fingers tapping on the wood. "Something you want to tell me, Ponyboy?"

"If we're in the mood for divulging secrets, I have one of my own." Roy leaned back in his chair, watching Envy's expression.

Envy's lips curled slowly into a cocky grin, eyebrows raised. "Let me guess…does it have something to do with my skort?" He looked down, suddenly thoughtful. "Y'know, I think it's more of a kilt, really. A kilt with shorts."

Roy cleared his throat. "That's not what I was after. It's about Kimbley and Miss Rockbell."

Envy's cocky grin began to fade a little. "Oh? Do tell."

"I see you've grown attached to them." Roy smiled. "I hoped as much."

Envy's grin was gone now. "You planned on me finding something to keep me occupied."

"Yes. That was one reason why I enrolled you in the CMAI. The other was because of the missing children—some of them came from the Institute, and I wanted to see whether or not you or your Master were behind the kidnappings."

"She may be behind them after all. But she never ordered me to steal kids." Envy shrugged. "So, what was the second reason, then?"

"The second reason was that I quickly learned you're the sort that gets bored easily. So I needed a reason to keep you here. I should have chosen a different place than the CMAI, now that I think about it, but in the end you still found two humans to keep you interested."

"…And now that I'm really stuck here…are you going to take them from me?"

Roy almost laughed—but thought better of it. The expression on Envy's face was one of someone who knows all too well that everything he wants can and will be taken away, and resistance would only be met with pain.

"I hate to admit it, but as sarcastic and manipulative as you've been this past month, you've also done everything I've asked without complaint. I have no real reason to punish you. So no, I'm not going to take them away."

Envy's eyebrows rose, and a smug smile slithered onto his face. "You might regret that, y'know."

Roy shrugged. "We'll see, won't we? Let's bring everyone back in. Let's figure out our traveling plans."

Once everyone was back inside, traveling decisions were made.

Winry checked her tool bag and sighed. "Unfortunately, I need some replacement wrenches and screwdrivers. Kimbley helped turn them into explosives to try to kill the Shadow Children. Luckily they worked, but I can't do much without them."

Roy nodded. "There's a town called Rush Valley on the way to Dublith. It's an Automail boom town. We'll stop there on the way to Dublith."

Winry's eyes grew wide, and a comically large grin spread across his face. "Rush Valley? I've always wanted to go there! It's an engineer's dream!"

Roy watched as Envy and Kimbley looked on with amusement as Winry, giddy, continued talking about what she'd heard of Rush Valley, while Hawkeye tried to hide her smile. The rest of his men simply gawked.

Winry finally let out a high-pitched squeal of delight—then cleared her throat and attempted to look professional.

"I'm sorry, sir. Forgive the outburst."

"That's quite alright—though as this is a secret mission of sorts, I'd advise restraining yourself." Roy suddenly had an idea. "Actually…why don't you three"—he pointed to Envy, Winry and Kimbley—"go to Rush Valley, and thus Dublith, ahead of us, on the pretense of vacationing together. Major Hughes will meet up with you in Rush Valley two days later, and myself in Dublith the day after him. That way, no one will be the wiser."

Envy grinned. "Sure, sure. And you don't have to tell us not to do anything horrible to Miss Rockbell, here. We know the drill, right Kimbley?"

Kimbley nodded, the picture of gentlemanly decorum. "Indeed. No harm will befall Miss Rockbell."

Winry laughed, her cheeks pink, but there was quiet strength in those eyes and her stance. Roy had a feeling she would be fine.

The real question was: would the plan work in the long run?

The two rooks collide—the black rook is taken by a suddenly very awake first player.

"I thought you were tired?" The second player raises a bemused eyebrow.

"I am. I just saw an opening." The first player yawns dramatically, stretching in his chair.

The pieces are moving.