DISCLAIMER: I do not own Berserk, or its associated characters. I do not own Full Metal Alchemist, or its associated characters. I'm just writing this for my own amusement. Damn. Quite a while for this one to arrive... I've been busy lately. Hope this trend breaks, soon... In other news, Brief lemon-alert! If you don't like spicy stories, turn around and walk away from this chapter...

SOUTHEAST OF CENTRAL, A SMALL VILLAGE

Lust's fingers curved and flexed, as Lydia stood and shouted at her. It took barely a second to line them up. One for the heart, one for the throat, one for the brain, she'd barely feel a thing...

Lust stopped. Her eyes drifted upwards, with a sick certainty...

There was a child in the window. Small, and of indeterminate gender, it watched with fascination at the scene below. It was perhaps eight, and had a bandage covering its scalp.

Eight. Old enough to talk. Old enough to incriminate.

Well, no matter. If she acted fast enough, it would be easy to kill the child as well. It wasn't like this was the first time she'd ever done it.

No witnesses had been Dante's first rule...

She stopped.

Dante is gone.

"...Knew you were too good to be true! Everyone thought you were an angel, HE thought you were an angel..."

She still needs to die... No.

If she dies, then HE will find out.

She grimaced, and Lydia took it as a sign of weakness. Emboldened, the mousy-haired girl took a firmer grip on her bucket's handle, and moved to stand right in front of the homonculus, screaming into her face.

Lust's scowl deepened. How would the Black Swordsman react to this woman's death? Or the child witness dying, for that matter? She didn't think it would be good. In fact, it might be downright dangerous. At this point, she needed him on her side. Without Gluttony, she was vulnerable to the others, and he was too valuable to discard in this current state of affairs.

She sighed, as Lydia paused for breath, tears streaming down her face.

Life was a lot more difficult when you couldn't kill all the inconvenient people.

She studied Lydia with violet eyes. How do I handle this?

Then, it came to her.

"So." She asked, pitching her voice to the right combination of malice and amusement.

"Did he fuck you?"

Lydia stopped cold, mouth hanging open. Her cheeks reddened, as she froze in shock.

"Hm. I didn't think so. He didn't seem that experienced when he came to me. I had to show him the basics, and even then he was clumsy. But he hasn't touched you since then? He didn't use what I taught him?"

Lydia's eyes glazed over, as the bucket hanging from her hand rattled and shook.

"Heh." Lust turned slightly to the side, and took a half-step, measuring her distance from the well in her peripheral vision. Perfect.

"He... He wouldn't... He never..." Lydia's voice was soft, vulnerable, and held the sound of a dying dream.

"You never wondered why he called off the wedding? He wanted more, and he knew he couldn't find it with YOU. After he'd had me in every way a man can fuck a woman, how could he settle for a mousy, flat-chested, plain little nothing like y-"

CLANG!

Lust smiled to herself, as Lydia's bucket struck her in the side of the head. She let herself go with the momentum and fall, at just the right angle-

There was a crunching noise, as her head struck the side of the stone well, and everything went black.

She woke up to find Puck standing in front of her face, with his arms crossed. He was tapping his foot.

"What did you do to her?" He demanded.

"I'm the one who just died, and you're asking ME what I did to her?" Her lips curved into an ironic smirk, as she sat up and popped her neck back into place.

"Yeah, right! You can heal back when you die, but that girl was in tears! She was sobbing over your body when I made it outta the well, like her heart was busted!"

"It probably was. Humans are fragile that way, amazing what you can do with words. Where is she now?"

"She ran away screaming when she saw me."

"She SAW you?" Lust raised an eyebrow.

"Some people can. Especially when they're really shaken... Whatever it was you did, why'd you do it to that poor kid?"

"That 'poor kid' heard me talking to you about the poison. I needed her out of the picture, before she brought the whole village down on me. Fortunately, it's early enough that most of the town's out in the fields... Speaking of the poison, where is it?"

"I tucked it in the fork of the tall tree out by the road. The leaves are hiding it right now... What do we do with it?"

Lust rubbed the back of her head, feeling slick blood drying in her hair. She smeared it carefully, getting as much of it on her glove as she could. The living fabric would devour the blood, clearing away all incriminating traces and gaining nourishment from it.

"Wait until nightfall, then take it out and burn it. As long as you don't open the bag, you'll be in no danger."

"What about that girl?"

"She thinks she's killed me, and she's run off to deal with that. After seeing you, she probably thinks she's mad. Once she sees me walking around again, she'll doubt her sanity even more. By the time she works up her courage to do something, we'll be long gone."

Lust kept her voice low, and started picking her way out of the town square. Puck followed, buzzing along behind her with his arms crossed.

"I still feel bad for her. You didn't see her crying."

"Do you know why she was spying on me, to begin with?"

"Uh, no. She was spying on you?"

"She was Lujon's original fiancee. The one I told you about, the one he dumped."

"Oh... That... No wonder she was screaming at you. What did you DO to her?"

"I lied. Now she's convinced that Lujon will never love her, because she isn't good enough."

She didn't see the slap coming. Placing a hand to her suddenly-stinging cheek, she looked down at a suddenly shaking Puck, wings beating furiously as he hovered next to her head.

"HOW COULD YOU! THAT'S... THAT'S THE WORST... THAT'S THE WORST THING I'VE EVER HEARD!"

Violet eyes narrowed. "I rather doubt that. The other option was to kill her."

"You did worse than kill her. You killed her dream."

Lust looked away, and up at the child in the window, still watching the scene below with wide eyes. The child giggled as she looked at it, and ducked under the window sill.

"That dream died long ago." Her voice was low, and full of an odd sadness. Puck stilled, the rage in his face smoothing out, bit by bit.

"I simply put the nail in its coffin."

And with no further words, the two made their way back down the road.

-

Guts leaned back, and rolled his cup of tea around with one hand, watching the liquid slosh inside the cup with the eye of the truly bored.

How long is she gonna make me wait? He wondered. Lust had been gone for over half an hour now.

At least Puck's keeping an eye on her.

But without Puck's reinforcement, Guts was being put through one of the toughest challenges he'd had, since he came to this place. And he had to face it alone.

A fight, he could have handled. A band of brigands would have been easy to spot coming. But this was far worse...

Small talk, with a suspicious, jealous stranger.

"So, where did you meet her?"

"Hm?" Guts started to raise his tea again, then put it down. He'd drunk so much that his kidneys felt like they were rolling on the ocean.

"I was just wondering where you two had met..." Lujon smiled, but it came out looking more like a grimace.

The hell's his problem? Guts kept his face smooth. "Central." He said, and downed the rest of the tea in one gulp.

"Central. Hm, I've never been myself. Have you been there often?"

"Only once."

"Oh, well... What was your favorite part of it?"

"Leaving it. Hey, which way to the outhouse?"

Lujon pointed, his eyes distant and far away. Guts retreated, to take care of business.

After a good piss, he scrubbed his hands with sand, and leaned against the wall of the shack. Furrowing his brow, he considered the situation again.

Why did she tell him I was her husband?

It's the stupid kind of game that nobles play. I don't have time for this shit.

He sat back down, and decided to give it another five minutes, before he went back. I really don't need to waste time with this guy. This is her goddamn side trip, SHE can...

He heard familiar voices, outside. Finally! He thought to himself, as he reached toward the door.

"It was cruel." That was Puck, sure enough.

"It was necessary. And she'll get over it, like she should have long ago."

His hand froze, on the outhouse handle. What had she done?

"She's gonna go tell Lujon. What happens then?"

"He won't believe her. All I have to do is deny everything. And by the time it matters, we'll be long gone."

"I hope so. Guts is really worried about Caska, the sooner we find her the better."

"So it would seem... I wonder..."

Guts shifted, keeping still.

"Lujon was obsessed with me, and still is, though I do not return his 'love'. Lydia was obsessed with Lujon, and still is, though he did not return her 'love'. Humans seem to enjoy using love as an excuse, when obsession is the real driving force."

"Uh... I'm not sure what you're getting at here."

"Just this. Does Caska return Guts' love, or is she simply his own obsession?"

Guts froze, his eye wide open. He bit his tongue, keeping an angry yell from escaping. Of course she loves me! She's just... An image of Caska as she was in her arms flashed through his mind, to be swiftly replaced by Caska, mad and shying away from him in terror.

She's... Just...

"That's... that's not true!" Puck wailed.

"I didn't say it was, I merely raised the question. Yet you seem to be overly defensive against the idea. Are you sure it's not true?"

"Listen, lady, I've seen him cut down hordes of horrible creatures to defend her! He's saved her time and time again, and he's never stopped looking for a way to get rid of her madness! She wouldn't be alive if it weren't for him..."

"But does she return his love?"

Guts closed his eye.

"No." He whispered.

"Well... Uh..." Puck said. "She's kind of nuts right now..."

"It's no big deal." She said.

"Just another reminder of how flawed humans can be. Come on, we've left them alone long enough."

"It's... I'm really sure it's not like that..." The voices faded. Guts listened to Lust's footsteps as she made her way up the path, back to Lujon's house.

Leaving Guts sitting on the outhouse seat, staring at the warped remnants of the door's handle in his clenched fist.

In time, he rose and made his way back to the others and Lujon, keeping silent through the rest of the day.

-

That night, he rose to leave. Lust caught his arm, and he stiffened at the touch, but let her hand remain. Can't say anything, Lujon's watching.

"We'd better go, if we want to set up camp." He reminded her.

"Surely you're not heading out into the night?" Lujon said, concern overtaking his petty jealousy. "I've got a spare room, it's no trouble at all if you want to stay over..."

"Don't want to put you out." Muttered Guts, glancing down at Lust and removing her hand with exaggerated care. She shook her head slightly, and pointedly shifted to turn away from the door. He glared back, then calmed his face and glanced back over to Lujon. "Which way to the inn?" Okay, so we're staying. Still don't want to stay under this twerp's roof...

"We don't have an inn here, this town's far off the regular roads. Really, it's no trouble at all..."

"We'll take it." Lust interrupted, before Guts could belt out a refusal.

"All right..."

-

The room had only one bed. Shrugging, Guts unlimbered his equipment, and rolled his cloak into a pillow. Shrugging out of his shirt, he stretched out on the floor.

At least it's dry.

Puck had left to go take care of the poison, promising to return once it was burned away. And after that's done, we can get out of this crummy town. Guts thought, settling himself in to get comfortable. The floor groaned underneath his weight, and he winced. Old house. I'll be waking with every little creak.

Then Lust's pale face filled his vision, as she knelt over him with about a foot separating their noses. A spray of ebony hair fell across his face, and he shook his head slightly to keep it out of his eye. His eye drifted over, to trace the line of her cleavage, practically falling out of her dress... No, dammit. Focus!

"What are you doing?" She murmured.

He glared back. "Trying to get some sleep. What's your problem now? Bed not fluffed enough?"

"Keep your voice down." Her eyes flicked toward the door. "You toss and turn while you sleep."

"Yeah, so?"

"This floor creaks. If you sleep on the floor, he'll be able to tell. And the thought that we're not sleeping together... that might encourage him."

"So what? What's that matter to me, this is your problem."

"If I give him any encouragement, any at all, he's likely to chase after us."

Guts frowned. "Why would he do that?"

She scowled. "I know how men's minds work. He's fixated on me, and won't let go." And he looks so much like HIM... her mind added silently. She killed the thought.

Guts sighed. "Shit."

"Stay up and watch me if you must, I know you're used to going without sleep."

"Alright. Fine, I'll take the bed." Grunting, he levered himself up, and settled into the old four-poster. Wrapping the homemade quilt around himself, he leaned back and sighed. It was pretty comfortable.

Gotta admit, it's been a while since I've had a bed. This is pretty nice. He rested his head in his flesh hand, and turned on his side. "Blow out the candle, would ya?" He yawned, as behind him the candlelight disappeared and smoke wafted from the extinguished wick.

Then, he heard shifting. Cloth sliding across skin. What? He started to turn, and saw Lust standing in front of the moonlit window, sliding her gloves off. She set her hands to her bodice, and he whipped his head back around, as it started to slide down...

"He...hey!" He remembered to keep his voice low. "What are you doing?"

"I already told you." She said. "If he hears one of us moving around on the floor, he'll be encouraged. Now slide over."

This was too much. "Look, If you think I'm gonna-"

He felt the covers whip off his back, and started to twist around. He froze, as he felt soft, warm flesh press along his side. A cloud of ebony hair settled around his face, and cool breath traced along his neck.

"You need a bath." Lust observed, murmuring the words a scant few inches from his ear.

"I had one in Liore." He muttered, desperately trying not to think about what was pressing into his upper back.

Trying not to think about...

It was no use, and he shifted. Leather trousers were good at keeping your legs dry, but they were entirely too tight at all the wrong times. He struggled to keep his composure.

"Strange. You're not yelling about me touching you."

She traced a finger along his rib cage, and THAT was enough. Growling, he caught her hand in his own, crushing the fingers with an iron grip.

"Don't you play your damn games with me!" He seethed, turning to face her in the dim room. "I don't like you, I don't trust you, and if you think I need you, you're wrong. I made my own way before I met you, and I can do just fine without you. You're starting to piss me off, and if you screw me over, I'll..."

Her eyes were calm. "Funny you should mention screwing." He froze, as her other hand moved beneath the covers, stroking.

"It doesn't matter to me one way or the other..." She rolled back, her breasts settling and bobbing in front of his agonized eye.

"But you seem to want me, at least your body does. If it will settle you down, I don't mind. Go ahead."

"..." He stared down along her body, as she drew the covers aside. At the large, dark nipples on her perfect pale breasts, on the curve of her hip, and the dusky patch of hair between her slowly spreading marble thighs.

He turned his head aside. "You're... not... human." But the excuse was feeble, even to him. He remembered the female disciple, years ago. How she'd hidden her monstrous form under a human guise, and he couldn't get near her without cutting through a wall of fooled innocents. How he'd pretended to be seduced by her, and let her haul him off into the woods one night.

He could've killed her then, but he let his body talk, and had his way with her before she'd turned into a monster under him. And how he killed her, while he was still inside her.

How long has it been, since then? He wondered. It felt like a lifetime ago, and his balls were telling him that it was...

"I know." She whispered, in his ear. "I'm a mockery, nothing more than a doll of flesh and bone made to look human. That's why it doesn't matter. No love, no meaning, no children or problems to deal with. Just Lust. Now either fuck me or go to sleep, because I'm not leaving this bed."

For a long minute, he considered her.

Caska...? He thought, and let the memories run through his mind.

He'd never touched Caska after... After she'd gone mad. It would have been like raping a child. There was that one time that he'd come close...

That wasn't me! It was the spirits! His hand tightened on Lust's wrist, and bones snapped. She narrowed her eyes, but did nothing. Guts didn't notice, still lost in thought.

I love Caska. He knew, and knew it was true. It's not obsession, I'm just her best chance at... At living. Not some life of madness, either. And maybe she loves me or maybe she doesn't, I don't know. If it turns out I'm wrong, then I'll deal with that when it comes.

He looked back at Lust, and let go of her wrist. She twisted it to the side, and the bones snapped back with audible cracks.

Now that he'd had time to think, things made more sense.

"Well?" She asked, one hand dipping between her legs. Quiet, wet noises filled the room, as she pumped her fingers rhythmatically.

"You want to fuck me, so that Lujon will hear."

She shrugged. "I imagine he will. What does it matter?"

"You want to convince him that it's hopeless. You and him."

She rolled her head away from him, turning around abruptly, and using her hands to pull the covers up.

"So what?"

"So, all right."

"What?"

"Let's go."

She looked back at him, as he shifted back, and stripped his trousers off, one-handed. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

He glared at her, throwing the pants aside, and drawing her to him with his free hand. Grabbing her shoulder, he shifted her underneath him and slammed himself into her with no foreplay or prelude. He tightened his thighs as she gasped and spread herself wider, shifting to accomodate him as he thrust.

"Because... It's been forever for me, and because I don't love you, and you don't love me."

"And you need this, or you can't leave this place behind. Not with things left open."

He twisted, and she shuddered, clenching herself around his cock, stroking it with her muscles.

"That's all."

"Ah." She whispered, then wrapped her arms around his waist, grabbing his back, and urging him on. Her breasts shuddered and heaved with every thrust, nipples dancing along his chest like caressing fingers.

There were no more words then, for quite a while.

Afterwards, he slept, rolled away from her on the bed. She stayed awake, watching him with expressionless violet eyes.

She watched Puck peek inside the window, take one look, and fly away, shaking his head. Wise. She decided.

And in the deep of the night, she heard a dry sobbing coming from the downstairs room. Another dream shattered.

Lust smiled.

-

They left in the morning. Lujon said perhaps three words over breakfast, and didn't walk them to the road.

Guts, in a better mood than he'd been in a long time, glanced over to Lust. "So, the southern road is what we need?"

She nodded back. "It will take us to Dublith. That's where we should be able to find what we need, to fight the others."

As they strolled Puck flew down from a fir tree, to join them, eyes huge and glancing between the two of them, before sighing in relief. Business as usual! Good, I was worried...

Violet eyes caught the sprite's own. "Is it..."

"Taken care of, burned right up." Puck's own eyes narrowed. "I, uh, had to stay there all night to watch the fire, make sure it didn't burn the woods."

Lust nodded, and Puck watched Guts' back loosen up slightly. Yeah, that works.

"Dublith." Guts tested the word. "After that, we'll have to start looking for Caska all over again."

Lust shook her head. "The difference is that you've got me, now. I know who has her, and I know how they work." Envy, anyway. That new one, Greed... She banished the thought.

"You need me, and I need you. At least until she's safe." She said, moving up to keep pace with him.

"Agreed." He said, and the rest of the trip that day was silent.

Leaving Puck fluttering behind the two, watching them walk oh-so-slightly alongside each other, than they had before last night.

Is this a good thing, or a bad thing? He wondered.

In the end, he shook his head and settled on Guts' shoulder.

It's a thing. He decided, and that was that.

And the road wound on toward the south...