It didn't take long for Johanna to get completely lost. She tried her best to follow the sounds of the explosions but after a while those died out. Her hallway gave way to what looked like a sewer, though the canal was bone dry and looked like it had been for a while. Johanna cursed under her breath, the tunnel was laced with doors.

"Isn't that fantastic." She growled, running a frustrated hand down her face.

"Jo!" Someone called from behind her, stepping out from one of the many doors. To her surprise, it was Edward.

"Thank God." Johanna sighed, turning to him with a smile. "I was afraid I was going to be lost down here."

"Any luck finding the Colonel?" He asked her. Johanna shook her head.

"No, I tried following the explosions, but I lost them." She pouted. Edward shrugged.

"You have the directional sense of a rock." He told her quietly, turning back off towards the door he came from. Johanna made to follow him, slinging her bat over her shoulder as she did.

"Hey wait." She said suddenly, chuckling as she did. She felt stupid, it was such a dumb password. "Lemon bar." Edward turned to look at her, an eyebrow raised. He waited a tick, but it was a tick too long, and Johanna leveled her bat at him. "No wonder you didn't say it." Johanna growled, though on the inside she was terrified. She'd never been face to face with a homunculus alone before. She wasn't sure she was ready for this fight.

"You stupid brats." He hissed at her, kicking at her chest. Johanna blocked him with her forearms. With a growl, she swung her baseball bat as hard as she could. To her surprise, he jumped out of the way. "I thought taking your boyfriend's shape would take the heat off. I was wrong."

"Dead wrong." Johanna hissed, taking another swing. I have to be faster, if I hit him his costume will melt away, and it would be very bad if someone walked in on us fighting.

"Boy, you're slow." Edvy sneered at her, throwing several jabs. Again, Johanna swung, barely missing him one more time. "You'd think with the Elric's you'd have gotten better." He hissed, aiming another high kick at her face. It missed by mere inches, coming so close to her cheek she could feel it breeze past her face.

"Fullmetal!" Another voice came. The pair of them looked up, Riza Hawkeye had joined them in the sewer, and to Johanna's chagrin, her gun was train on her. She seemed a little worse for wear, there was a cut on her shoulder and a few on her cheeks. She'd already fought Envy.

"No wait-!" Johanna began, only to receive a hard kick from Edvy. Johanna groaned as she flew through the air, landing hard several feet away.

"She jumped me when she didn't know our password," Edvy looked at her with a sneer. "Lemon bar." Riza cocked her gun, pointing it at Johanna with a glare. Johanna's heart jumped to her throat, this was it, she was going to die. Behind her came a snap, and to her surprise Edvy burst into flame with a terrifying scream.

"Colonel, no!"

"You need to be more aware of your surroundings, Lieutenant." Mustang told her, his voice hard. Johanna had never been more relieved, nor terrified, to see someone in her life. "If that was the real Fullmetal he would have used his alchemy." To be honest, Johanna wasn't sure how true that was, it was close quarters combat and Edward likely wouldn't have bothered to transmute. The call that Mustang had made was reckless, but Johanna didn't dare correct him. Johanna dared to turn around and look at Roy, He regarded her with a glare, before returning his attention to Envy, who was now in his own body. With a pause, Mustang looked at Riza, his face softening for only a moment, before speaking again, his rage lit anew. "What have you done to my Lieutenant?"

In a flash, Envy lit up again with another cry. Johanna frowned, watching as Mustang snapped his fingers in furious succession, using both his hands to flambe the Homunculus alive. The hallway began to fill with smoke and the smell of burnt flesh, while Mustang showed no signs of stopping.

"Stop!" Johanna shouted at him fearfully. With one last snap, he set Envy ablaze for a final time.

The hallway around them grew deathly silent, and as the smoke began to dissipate, Johanna could see Envy's limp body several feet away.

"Do not tell me what to do, Allen." He hissed at her, brushing past her. Slowly, Mustang made his way over to where Envy was now disintegrating. As his body broke down, a small green, slug-like creature crawled from the ashes, falling to the ground in a snivelling heap. As he began to crawl away, crying and weeping, Mustang stopped him with a single, heavy boot stomp to its body. Johanna flinched as the slug whined from underneath his foot.

"So this is your true form then? You're ugly." Mustang sneered at him. "Envy means jealousy, right? I get it." Mustang told him, squishing him more. Johanna shuddered as Envy's begging fell on deaf ears. "Jealousy is an ugly thing!"

"No! I don't want to die!" Envy cried, squirming as much as he could.

"I'm not giving you a choice!" Mustang growled, raising his fingers. "Now burn in hell!"

"That's enough, Colonel!" Riza told him, leveling her pistol at his head. Johanna stood, feeling anxiety building in her chest as the Colonel and his Lieutenant stared each other down.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Mustang scoffed.

"I'll take care of him from here." Riza informed him. Mustang stopped but his hand did not drop.

"He's as good as finished. Drop your weapon."

"I can't obey that!" Riza shouted, her eyes glistening in the low light. She was holding back tears.

"Dammit! I WON'T ASK AGAIN!" Mustang growled, his face darkening as his fingers began to spark blue. Riza raised her gun higher, she was going to shoot him!

"Just stop it!" Johanna shouted, catching both of their attentions. She clapped, touching the ground, knocking both Mustang and Riza off their balance. With another flick of the earth she tossed Envy back to her, catching the small monster in her fist. "I won't let him do this to you two!" She told them through tears. Mustang froze, glaring up at her cooly.

"Give him back." He hissed, hand raised for the snap. Johanna shook her head. To say that she wasn't scared would be a lie, but Johanna knew that she couldn't return Envy to Mustang. The man was on a rampage, the kind that would change you. The kind that created monsters from good men.

"No!" She told him, like a petulant child, jumping to her feet and turning to run. She didn't get far, because when she turned to run, she smacked into a hard body. It was Scar, flanked by Edward. Scar placed his hand on her shoulders, steadying her, before scowling up at The Colonel.

"What are you doing Colonel?" Edward's voice was surprisingly calm, considering the situation he'd walked in on. This was the second time Mustang had raised his fingers to Johanna, there wouldn't be a third. Johanna sighed, relieved, as she stepped between Edward and Scar. She felt much better defying Mustang with help.

"I'll be taking Envy back now." Mustang told him.

"Envy?" Edward questioned, looking down at the small slug that Johanna held. She snatched it to her chest, shaking her head as she did.

"They were going to kill each other over him." She informed Edward. Edward narrowed his eyes, turning back to the Colonel and Riza.

"That is an order." Mustang continued after Edward didn't comply.

"No. We won't." Edward told him firmly, grasping Johanna's closed fist in a sign of solidarity. The pair squared off against Mustang, though at this moment Johanna had wished she hadn't. The man glared daggers at the both of them, his fingers once again sparking blue as he pinched them together tightly.

"That thing deserves the worst death possible." But Edward and Johanna stood firm, they weren't giving Envy back to Mustang. They wouldn't let him destroy himself for revenge. "GIVE HIM TO ME." He shouted again. Johanna could see the Colonel slowly losing any composure that he had left. "OR I'LL BURN YOUR HAND ALONG WITH IT!"

"TRY IT THEN!" Johanna returned with the same force as Mustang. Edward glanced at her corner of his eyes as her fist closed tighter around Envy. She sobbed, her voice cracking as she spoke again: "If you want a fight then fine! But maybe you should take a good look at your face first! Is that what you wanna be Colonel? Another monster?!" Johanna's words echoed off the walls around them, and they hit Mustang like a ton of bricks. For the first time since he'd arrived in this basement, his face seemed to soften.

"Is that the face you want to wear when you're leading this country? Because if it is, you're going to let down a lot of people!" Edward stepped in, taking a huge weight off of Johanna's shoulders. She didn't know where she was going from there. Thankfully, she didn't have to, Scar stepped up to the conversation.

"I'm not going to stop you from seeking your revenge," Scar said cooly, earning incredulous looks all around. "But I hate to think what this country would be like run by a man held captive by his own hate." The tunnel grew deadly quiet as the men stared each other down. No one moved, barely breathed, as they contemplated how a fight between them would turn out.

"I can't let you kill Envy, but that being said I have no intention of letting him live." Riza cut in suddenly, her gun still trained on the back of Mustang's head. Johanna had honestly forgotten she was there her attentions had been so stuck on Mustang.

"But I did it. I finally ran him down!"

"I know that, but still!" Riza paused. She was shaking, but whether it was from the adrenaline or something else, Johanna didn't know. "You're about to do something reckless. This will not help. Not your country or your friends! This is pure hatred, and I will not let it take you." Riza sobbed, lowering her gun ever so much. "You're better… I know you're better than that."

Roy groaned, something of a mix between a sigh and a pained sob as he took in Riza's words. She knew him better than anyone in this entire world, and if she knew that he was better than this, then it had to be true. If that was the case then why was he filled with so much hate?

"If you're going to shoot me, then do it." He said finally. "But what will you do after it's done?" What would she do after he was gone? Judging from his actions today she'd write him off as a monster. As a coward. And that broke his heart knowing he would have died letting her down so.

"I can tell you I'd have no intention of carrying on by myself. This fight would be my last and once this is over I'd end my life, because I would have failed you!" She told him cooly. Something in her words broke Roy Mustang and he roared, shooting his fire off down the hallway beside them.

"That can't happen. I can't…" Mustang paused painfully, turning to look back at his Lieutenant. "I can't afford to lose you." He told her. Her words pained him, cut him so deep that he wasn't sure if he could breathe anymore. He thought she had failed him? Riza faltered, dropping her firearm to the side as she cried openly. Roy watched her sadly. "What kind of madness is this? Scolded by children, lectured by a man who's been my enemy, and you," He trailed off, reaching out to touch Riza's cheek. "I've done it again, I've hurt you. How foolish can one man be?" Mustang wrapped his arms tightly around Riza's shoulders, pulling her into his chest. Riza, in an uncharacteristic display of affection, wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. She'd almost lost him then, and it was too much to handle.

Johanna's heart ached in this moment. It ached for Riza Hawkeye, who put her heart on the line for her Colonel. It ached for Roy Mustang, who was in so much pain that he was willing to risk destroying himself to make it go away. It ached for Mae's Hughes, the man who was long dead but still bore the burden of being the stigma. Johanna couldn't stand it anymore, and she sighed as she wiped her face with the back of her hand.

Edward pulled her closer, resting his forehead against the side of her face. He wanted her to know that he was right here, that he was prepared to fight for her decision, but he didn't think it mattered; he knew she would have made the same decisions regardless. The Colonel was their friend and the last thing they wanted was to lose him like this. As Johanna's sobs subsided, Edward was once again reminded of how fragile she was. Even if she'd given the beat down of a lifetime to those monsters earlier, this is why he loved her. Because she was just so human.

"Are you humans always such pathetic worms?" a weak voice interrupted the silence. It was Envy, who had worked his way out of Johanna's hand so that his face, and consequently, his loud mouth was free. "Why didn't you just listen to your gut and do what you wanted to? Colonel Mustang, have you forgotten? Your pal Scar here was going to kill you!" Envy continued. Johanna watched the creature with an air of sadness as he poked and prodded all of her friends, bringing up Winry's parents, and another innocent girl who Scar had wasted in his darker days. He even stooped so low as to bring up Ishval again. "This is the perfect time for you to seek your revenge, all of you! It would be so easy to just kill each other!" Envy paused, throwing Johanna a pointed look before continuing. "You're way past the point of kissing and making up, so do it!" Johanna frowned at the creature as Edward nuzzled his face further into her short hair. The Colonel and Riza still held each other tightly, listening to Envy's desperate plea, his last shot at victory. He watched them for a second more, hoping, waiting for bloodshed that would never come.

Slowly, Johanna reached over with her other hand, taking Scar's in hers. She felt the Ishvalan tense under her fingers, and he went to pull away but Johanna tightened her grip. They were together all of them. Even the Ishvalan who was here with them, despite the injustices committed on him and his. Envy began to whine as he watched them, grousing about how it wasn't fair. No it wasn't, at least not for Envy, who was watching his entire world crumble around him. Everything he and his hellish family had worked so hard for.

"Now I see…" Edward spoke quietly, his breath dancing along Johanna's cheekbone. He pulled away, looking at Envy with sad eyes. "You're jealous, jealous of humans." Envy turned to look at him, his giant, bug like eyes seeming to grow even bigger. Slowly, Johanna gave him over to the oldest Elric, and the small Homunculus rested calmly in his palm. "We humans are weaker than you Homunculi, and yet, when we're beaten down, we face the challenge again and again. Our loved ones are always there to pick us back up and you're jealous. You envy us because of that." Edward told him. Johanna frowned at the thing, a pitying look, one that Envy hated. He hissed at them, snapping at Edward before diving from his hand. He hit the ground hard where he struggled to get up. Johanna bent to stop him, but Scar grabbed her shoulder.

"Be careful." He whispered to her before letting her go. Johanna nodded, kneeling next to Envy slowly.

"And what do you want, Albrecht?" He hissed her birth name, treating it like poison. "You came to gloat? To trample on me too? To treat me like the weak thing I am?" He whined up at her.

"No." Johanna, shook her head, picking him up in her hands. She looked up at Edward, who also joined her. "I just don't want you to die alone."

"But why?" Her words struck Envy, and to be honest, Johanna didn't even know why she felt that way. This thing was the entire reason that everyone in the room was in pain. It killed their loved ones, their friends, it started wars and destroyed countless lives because of it. But at the same time she sympathized with it the way that she'd sympathized with Gluttony when Pride had devoured him. He was pitiful and so, so vulnerable. He finally understood how his victims had felt, how Mae's had felt, and that crushing despair, in Johanna's eyes, was punishment enough. She forgave him.

"Because maybe, if someone had shown you kindness sooner, you would have had a chance to feel something besides envy." Johanna whispered to him. Envy watched her with huge, watery eyes before he began openly weeping in her palm.

"I'm not jealous of you. I'm a Homunculus! I've had infinite lives and time to see exactly why I hate you!" He cried. "I could never be jealous of something so weak and pathetic. It's insulting." He continued, laying down on Johanna's palm. But they were right, he was jealous of them, and their relationships and their love for each other. That was something he had never and would never know.

Johanna held him closer as he collapsed into her hand, wheezing and blubbering as he did. She wondered if Envy could sense just how close to death he was, if he knew how many breaths he had left to take in this world? Was he terrified? Deep down, Johanna knew that the answer was yes, and she struggled not to take offense at his ramblings about how much he "hated" humans. He didn't have to admit it if he didn't want to, it made no difference now.

"I don't want to go." Envy whispered, suddenly going limp in her palm. Johanna frowned down at him as he began to disintegrate, his ashes disappearing into the air around them. With his dying breath, he watched Johanna fearfully, but the only comfort she could offer him was a weak smile as he dissolved into nothing, leaving only a stain on her palm.