Hello loyal readers! Welcome back! Sorry that it's been kind of long since I updated last. But it's been kind of weird around my house lately with school almost over and my grades aren't what they should be. (parents)

Anyway,

Allons-y!


Chapter 44

Ed slumped against the wall, bleeding in several places, bruised, and automail busted out the wazoo. He was trying hard not to black out; this fight wasn't over yet. He had turned around at just one moment and almost lost the fight because EJ hadn't been standing behind him. He'd managed to keep his head, but in the back of his mind he kept worrying that EJ was hurt somewhere.

"Are you dead yet?" Greed asked. Ed opened his eyes and stood shakily. Greed chuckled evilly. "There ya go; you're chock full of piss and vinegar!"

Ed slammed his automail fist into Greed's chin, sending more bits and pieces flying, but Greed just smirked, grabbed Ed by his face, and threw him across the room into a stack of crates.

"So, are you ready to tell me your secret now?" He demanded lifting Ed by his shirt collar. The blonde alchemist just let out a weak chuckle.

"Thanks for toying with me." He whispered. "You gave me just enough time to cool off and start thinking clearly." He flexed his automail, which creaked in protest. "Is my mechanic amazing or what? Even after all this it's still working."

It was on now.


~~Third person~~

Lust regarded the redhead before him. She had a nasty cut under her eye, bruises in several places, but she was still standing, even as blood dripped from a slash in her arm.

"You just refuse to say die, don't you?"

She smirked, worked her mouth, and spit out a mouthful of blood before wiping the corner of her mouth on her sleeve.

"I've learned how over the years. But my question for you: why won't you die?"

Lust crossed his arms, considering the question.

"'Cause I haven't had kids yet."


~~EJ~~

I stared at Lust in confusion. What does not having kids have anything to do with this?

"Huh?"

"I'm part of a very interesting group. You've met Greed; he told us all about your little . . . eh, spat . . . on the roof of Lab 5. He told you that all of us have a special talent or ability. One of the perks that comes along with that is not being able to die until we bear offspring. After which, our abilities are passed to the next generation, much like you and your father." He caught my surprised look and actually grinned at me. It was his way of saying "Go ahead; attack me again. I dare you." I measured the pain in my wounds and my breathing; if I continued to fight, I'd only end up making myself more tired. If I decided to withdraw, would Lust just go ahead and kill me?

No, I thought. When I met Greed, he said something about me being an energy source. It's obvious that Lusts' group doesn't wanna kill me, but what would they do if I just surrendered?

No; don't think like that. You can get out of this; the exit is right over there.

Maybe, but there was on little problem: Lust was between me and the exit.

Making a split second decision, I charged Lust, rolling under his legs and ramming both feet into his spine before launching into a half flip that was intended to propel me out the door.

I was almost out when he grabbed me by the end of my braid. On instinct, I clapped my hands, pressed one to my hair and broke Lust's grip on me, racing down the hallway until I ran smack into somebody. The other person grabbed a hold of my wrists as I struggled.

"Geez, Samuels. . . You have gotta stop giving me heart attacks!" Ed's voice rang in my ears, and I slipped my arms around him. I looked up into his face, which was scratched and bruised, and he ran a hand through my hair.

"What happened to you?" He asked me, holding a lock between his fingers. I told him what had happened between me and Lust (he seemed a little confused when I mentioned that my opponent wasn't a woman) and we lapsed into silence that seemed to extend to everything except Ed's heartbeat.

I wasn't sure how long we stood there, but it was long enough for a couple of MP's to drag Al into the area and bandage up mine and Ed's battle scars. Al was unconscious, and as soon as they opened up his chest plate, I let a small scream escape before pressing both hands to my mouth. Al was drenched in blood on the inside as they pulled out a woman with short blonde hair and a green tattoo that twisted up her arm and neck. She didn't move or breathe; she was dead.

Edward rushed to his brother's side.

"Al wake up! Al, say something. AL!" He yelled, desperation tingeing his voice. Al finally moved and I felt myself let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" I wondered at the same time as Ed.

"Are you okay? You're both covered in blood!" Al exclaimed. Ed wouldn't meet his eyes; it probably wasn't the best time to tell him about the dead girl inside his armor.

We didn't have to; he saw it for himself and put his head in his hands. "I couldn't save her."

I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself Al." I whispered, hugging his arm.

"Come on; let's go home." Ed smiled, but it was one that didn't reach his eyes. Al looked up and made a resigned sound.

"Hold it, you three." I whirled towards the sound of Fuhrer Bradley marching his way towards us. I stood next to Edward and slipped my hand into his for support. He squeezed it in response.

Bradley asked if a) we'd had any dealings with a man named Greed, b) if we'd shared any information with him, and c) if Ed's limbs and Al's body were somehow connected. None of us gave any specifics to these questions.

Without Bradley to fuel me with adrenaline, I suddenly felt light headed and started falling, only to be caught by some familiar arms.

"Da**, what did you do to yourself?" There was none of the usual humor in Ed's voice, and I missed it. I just looked up at him and clenched my hands in the fabric of his shirt.


Later that night back at the Curtis', I sat out on the steps with the guys and the major while Ed finished cleaning Al's armor. I was silent, which wasn't like me at all, as I thought about what Lust had said to me while he'd been slicing me into delicatessen meat.

"I'll admit I expected more from the host of a seraph!"

What is that even supposed to mean? I wondered.

"Samuels, you feeling okay?" Ed's voice jerked me harshly back into reality. "You've been awfully quiet."

". . . yeah. . ." I trailed off. "I'm sorry; were you asking me something?"

"Just back there, when Greed showed off his tattoo, you said something about it being in the wrong place. What did you mean by that?" Ed pressed me. I hesitated before answering.

"Just something from when I was little; it doesn't matter." I lied. Armstrong gave me a look that seemed a little lopsided with his bandaged eye.

"Oh yeah; something I forgot to mention Major: Greed had an ouroborus tattoo." Ed pointed out.

"I'm not sure I follow." Armstrong replied. Ed gave me a look that seemed to say: Oi.

"Think back: the fifth lab, the philosopher's stone? You know those people I told you and Lt. Colonel Hughes about?"

Armstrong made a choking noise. "Colonel Hughes? I—" He looked down, not meeting my look of incomprehension, before walking over to Ed and putting one meaty hand on his shoulder, and the other on mine.

"Listen you two:" His voice was firm, and his eyes were fiery. "Do NOT do anything rash."

It was hard to meet the blue eyed gaze, but I answered with an incredulous: "Sure."

The major bid us good night and disappeared into the darkness of the alleyway.

"Brother, EJ?" Alphonse's voice made me turn to face him. "They're back: all the memories of when my body was taken away, I remember." He explained. Ed and I exchanged glances; Score one for the alchemists!

"What'd you see?" I wondered, leaning forward in interest. Al made a face and began waving his arms around like he was trying to rid himself of a stubborn leech. (I have seen this happen, before but it's a really long and messy story that involved a lot of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth and about two hours with a pair of pliers) "Well it was definitely weird. Unfortunately, I didn't find out anything that could help us get our bodies back."

I deflated a little; poor guy.

Al clipped his chest plate back on and seemed a little let down.

"I guess we haven't made any progress huh?"

"Well no; that's not entirely true." Ed responded. I just looked at him weird; he held his hand out to help me stand, and I'll admit: I never realized how much I liked the feeling of his hand in my own.

"Remember what the Fuhrer told us back in Central: the unrest among the ranks of the military?"

"What about it?" I wondered what he was getting on about.

Ed and Al explained that the Fuhrer's warning had centered on the Philosopher's Stone and the ouroborus group. What didn't make sense to Ed is that Bradley had gone and slaughtered everyone in the underground bar; why not try to get information out of them first?

"We've been warned, but we need to get closer." Ed told us. I nodded my agreement and determination; we were gonna get through this with everything we had. I could just feel it.


"You act like we're about to perform major surgery; it's just a haircut!" Ed declared incredulously.

"Easy for you to say; you could do with one every now and again." I replied, my knees knocking together as I gave him an unamused scowl.

"I'll keep mine, thanks."

"You keep giving me that superior smirk and one of these days I'm gonna slap it off you."

"Just try me, Samuels."

"Okay." I started to get up, but Izumi gripped my shoulder and made me sit back in my chair.

"Be civil, the both of you!"

Ed and I shut up, but I still stuck my tongue out at Ed like, I will get you for this later.

After my run-in with Lust, I'd deconstructed about half of my usual waist length hair, but it was uneven and all over the place. Izumi had offered to even it out, and after about a day and half of "considering", I'd agreed.

Which explains why the Elrics, Izumi, and I were currently sitting around a chair in the kitchen.

Why was Ed there? Because he's an a**, and I have told him as such. Does he care? Obviously not.

"All right; here we go."

"Just make it quick, please." I begged, shutting my eyes tight.

It was worse than getting my automail reattached; the sound of the scissors slicing through the strands until they tickled the back of my neck creepily, and the fact that Ed was watching didn't really help my confidence.

Finally, it stopped. I opened my eyes and reached up to run my fingers through what was left, and was surprised to find that my hair now stopped a little past my shoulders.

"Wow; EJ, it looks good!" Al complimented me. I blushed.

"How does it feel?" Izumi asked me. I shook my head from side to side.

"Certainly feels lighter; it's weird." I answered truthfully.

"It. . .looks nice on you." Ed mumbled, and my face flared up again. If I wasn't mistaken, his cheeks had a little bit more color in them too.

"All right you two: 'fess up. What's going on between you both?" Izumi demanded.

"NOTHING!" We protested in unison. "HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY IT?!"


~~Underneath~~

"And the Angel girl was not harmed?" Master inquired, his hands calmly behind his back.

"Unfortunately no; we seem to have a bad habit of flinging her around like she's an indestructible doll." Treachery shot a nasty glare over his shoulder at Greed, who leaned against the wall, the stick of lollipop casually placed between his lips. He shrugged off Treachery's comment and gave the stick of the lollipop a twist.

"Well, she is a doll. If it weren't for the slightly annoying fact that Fraud kind of deterred me from pursuing her, where do you think I'd be right now?"

"Greed, don't be a pervert." Treachery chastised. He turned back to his teacher. "Honestly, I think Lust would really be the one who should be giving this report, Master. He was there after all."

"Lust has broken one too many rules to return; you know this Treachery." Master stated without emotion. Treachery rubbed his shoulder; even after all these years, it would still ache from the time when Lust had dislocated it, popped it back, and dislocated it again.

"I'm not sure why we're so concerned with NOT killing her when she can't die in the first place."

"For just that reason; up until today she didn't know. More than likely she is now questioning her constitution."

"And along with that, she's still questioning her feelings for the Fullmetal boy. I'm still not sure about him." Treachery made a face.

"Leave him be; he's no concern of ours. He's the sacrifice for the Homunculi, which means that we have no need to worry about him." Master waved his hand dismissively.

"But sir—"

"I will not have the subject discussed any longer. Do I make myself clear, boys?"

Greed and Treachery turned the gazes to the ground sheepishly and mumbled "yes sir".

Master went back to staring at the photo of the redhead, one he had taken from the pocket of the coat he was wearing.

I'm anxious for the day, young one, when those blue eyes will not have a soul to light them. And then I'll be rid of you pesky Blessed mutts for ever.


Ohh~~! So I've been thinking, and I'm thinking that I'm gonna start addressing my reviews at the end of the chapter.

DoctorWhotaliaandtheOlympian s- Glad you liked it! And thanks!

Synk- You're probably thinking of the Homonculus Lust, who is a girl, but I did kind of try to make Lust have that sort of femininity to him.

See you next chapter! And thanks to all who have alerted, Favorited, and reviewed!

~~Sady Mordan