The hard part was over.
Or at least, the hard part was supposed to be over. Greed had started his morning with a strong glass of bourbon and a weak punch in the nose from a recovering brat. Things seemed to be heading back in the right direction. He was supposed to be focusing on his plans for the Elric boys. It was a quickly thought up plan but there was no more gain than risk in theory. Now it was just time to round his troops and make his moves. He had put it all off for too long to piece his mind back together and he'd finally begun to feel himself again. To feel want.
The immobilizing weight that'd sat on him and spilled onto his followers was now wavering with every short and curt word a certain pale girl managed to push out.
His subordinates had gone to bed well rested and relieved.
So why was he facing a dilemma from one of said subordinates now?
It took a lot to annoy the sin; his emotions were artificial after all. It took even more to anger him and evenstill he'd never admit to anyone getting under his skin like that. Besides, there was really only one thing that could upset Greed that way.
Taking his things.
Especially things he'd put fucking effort into saving.
"What's this about, Bido?" Martel asked. "Did something happen?"
"He's just thinking about the kid, boss." Dolcetto attempted to pacify the irate leader who's brow furrowed above tiny glasses.
"Bullshit." Greed spat, hovering feet above the green chimera that'd thrown off his entire morning. The inhabitants of the Devil's nest were usually of one sound mind, but this particular morning they didn't seem to have a decisive bone in their bodies. "He's thinking about himself. That's my fucking job. You're running away because you're scared. You want it to be someone else's fault the next time she gets hurt. Someone else's problem so you don't have to live with it."
"It wasn't MY fault last time!" The gecko put emphasis in his words, pointedly bringing attention to who exactly had caused their most recent mishap. Bido's small stature stood with clenched fists and tired shoulders. His expression however, showed a stern conviction. It was the look of someone fighting someone they respected. The righteous indignation of someone pushing themselves to do something they didn't want to. "We're too dangerous for her! If she was normal, she woulda' already-...I can't. We-we can't keep playing house!"
Playing what? Greed snarled, slamming a speeding fist into the concrete beside him. A fine coat of dust bounced from its place among the stones and puffed ghostingly into the air. Nothing he had done had been pretend, so what the fuck were they playing? He took a calming breath and brushed the debris from his knuckles.
After everything they had just gone through, this was not how he wanted to start his morning. It was a blazing, cicada song kind of morning in Dublith. Greed had intended to seize it. He'd called Marta upstairs to reveal his "master plan" to kidnap the armored Elric child and milk his secrets. It would be quick and easy.
Bido however, of all people, had come to him with a request, bringing the rest of the best with him.
An insane unreasonable request to give the baby away.
The baby he had just almost lost.
"Greed, you know... Bido can't really want this." Marta whispered, not knowing what more to say. The situation in front of her had unraveled suddenly and quickly.
Bido was putting a voice to the thoughts they had all secretly swallowed.
Was this life really what's best for their adoptee?
The blonde would keep it to herself, but she had the feeling her leader was projecting Henry's feelings onto Bido's plea. He wasn't addressing the situation through unfiltered eyes. The gecko hadn't said anything about running from his problems, and it didn't take much to see that the little man would do anything for the sleeping child in the other room. Greed however, had reacted so strongly to the notion of even considering separation.
The babe falling ill had torn through him before he even knew it was because of his past. He(nry) had abandoned his child once. No matter how much he disassociated himself from his past life, the immobilizing weight of Henry's choices sat on his neck, pulling at his decisions.
Bido, on the contrast, was of an unbiased mind. He stood on the ground of someone who would do what was best for his little friend.
Even if that entailed giving her up.
"Buddy, we knew what the risk of keeping her was when we decided to take her in." Dolcetto reasoned. "What's suddenly changed your mind?"
"You know what has, Dol." Roa answered from his quiet spot, posted in the corner. "She almost died. We knew what the risk was, and we were selfish for taking it."
Marta averted her eyes and Greed sucked his teeth. "I saved her once, I'll do it again."
"She shouldn't have to be saved." Bido whimpered. "I don't want her to be away from me, but...We killed her family! And we'll kill again. We have to. That's our life. I don't want that to be her life too. I want her to be away from death and little red stones."
Greed sneered. He was made of death and little red stones. "The stones saved her life! You think anyone else is gonna have them just laying around?" The sin seethed.
There was a collective flinch in the room as suspicions were confirmed. He had indeed given her more stones despite their consensus.
"They're what put her in danger in the first place." Marta answered calmly. "If we were anyone else, we would have killed her right along with her parents over them."
Greed's purple eyes darted to hers, but the snake held his steady gaze. "This is no place for children."
The outraged sin stood quietly with wide disbelieving eyes. They had fought to keep her. Begged almost.
Just to turn around and put her back once Greed was finally invested?
He laughed. It was a harsh and involuntary sound, but what else was he going to do? Throw a tantrum until all submitted to him? Manipulate and threaten them into obedience? Who was he, Envy?
Danté?
"She's not a normal child." The sin voiced, letting his head fall back in exasperation. He pulled his glasses from his face and smoothed a hand through his spiked hair. "Who will know how to raise a growing changing homunculus except for the ones who created her? They're dead so, not really an option anymore."
The room sat quiet as he spoke.
"Your next bet would be someone who knows about this shit, right? Alchemy, science, stones? Thats the military, which we know leads to a lab. Is that what you want?" He looked around the answerless room.
"If not there, then we put her with normal children. An orphanage maybe, where she will have the strength to snap a kids spine on accident. That will get her sent away. We're back at the lab option." Greed finished, in an irate huff.
Bido wrung his tail in his hands.
"It's not what I want...but we ...we escaped the lab. If we knew she would die here with us, would we still keep her here?" Bido looked to the floor as he spoke. He didn't want to play Devil's advocate, but someone had to. It wasn't his safety at stake. All options needed to be explored; they needed to use their heads and not make a decision based on preferences. He was finally thinking like a parent and it bothered him that he'd had to basically watch her die for that to happen.
No answers still, but the group muttered to themselves for a moment as their leader took a seat.
"Greed said she stays. Shouldn't we just follow his lead?" Dolcetto suggested, in his familiar squat. "Boss isn't perfect but he's still the boss, y'know?"
Greed sighed. As easy as he knew life would be, blind acceptance wasn't the kind of thing he'd push for. He had decided on what kind of leader he wanted to be a long time ago. His chimera knew he could kill them all in a single movement. There was no need to remind them of that. That alone was the sole reason he was in charge...that and his ability to keep them all under the radar. Everything else was mutual.
Trust. Dependence. Even respect.
Although he was the only one aware of how much his men meant to him, and he preferred it that way.
So when Marta uttered the word "Vote " the sin felt as powerless as any other sob standing with a ticket at a ballot box
"She stays." Greed asserted, sitting on the couch. His face, for only a moment, looked enraged before he dropped his head into his hands. "That's my vote."
"Thankyou." His second in command whispered, knowing all still heard. He'd let them do this. Majority vote brought the baby into their lives and majority vote would decide if she stayed.
"Send her away." Roa voted, offering no further explanation, but his deep voice was heavy with sacrifice. It obviously wasn't what he wanted, but if there was a chance their little mascot could have a healthy normal life in the outside world, he'd want her to take it. He'd want any of his underground family to take that chance.
"Stay." Marta voted, receiving a few surprised looks. "She isn't a normal little girl. There's no guarantee wherever we leave her will know how to handle her any better than we do. The risk of her ending up in military hands is too great. I won't risk her going through what I did. They do more than experiment on women. "
The silence on the room was brief but heavy as the crew learned a piece of truth about Marta that had been withheld. Rightfully, it was none of their business, but the snake knew what that revelation would do. If she could've avoided it, she would've never given her friends more of a reason to hate and dwell on an enemy they could never defeat.
"She...she has to leave...there has to be somewhere safe for her." Bido added his choice to the tally. "If I had a child of my own, I wouldn't want her raised here."
Dolcetto went rigid at Bido's words. All eyes turned to watch him. It was a tied vote and he'd be the deciding factor. His loyalty and disposition pushed him to follow Greed, but the thought of his own child living in bar slums and following him through dark alleyways floated in his mind.
Would he want that? Would his kid want that? Would he resent his father for giving him the life of a criminal, or resent him for abandoning him with someone else?
The dog sat squarely on the floor, something he found himself doing often lately. He would have to choose the fate of someone else, and it wasn't a responsibility he felt qualified to have.
He swallowed hard and opened his mouth to speak.
The door to the room suddenly gave a groan. The crew turned to watch an unexpected addition slowly creak open the old door. The small girl in question, on her tippy-toes in a small Victorian styled dress, held the doorknob with both hands. She let go of the door, balancing herself and turning away from the adults.
"I thought she was asleep?"
"She was, I checked."
The frilled child bent down to grab the ear of a giant stuffed elephant that had sat just out of view. Roa has gotten it for her of course, the huge thing being roughly a few inches smaller than Bido. She wordlessly, dragged the animal across the tense room, weaving through the adults and stopping in front of Greed.
Unmoving in his seat, the sin followed her with his eyes. He sat with his fingers laced infront of him and a quiet frown. She stared at him for a moment, as she often did, until the sin quirked a brow. "What?"
The small girl cuffed the fingers of her tiny hand into Greeds pant leg and assertively placed a pink shoe'd foot atop his. She plopped the elephant down in front of her, turning to face her caretakers.
"Stay." She spoke clearly and finitely.
Brows rose and surprised looks were exchanged.
Greed eyed the little thing on his shoe.
"She's...addressing the elephant in the room?" Roa muttered in disbelief.
Dolcetto snorted, then for the first time in a long time, he laughed. Unrestricted and hearty, with tears in his eyes, he let himself laugh. What a punny coincidence. He inhaled deeply to compose himself, only to burst into a more intense crying laughter. "What an awesome kid." He exhaled. She'd chosen for herself.
They were her family. No one seemed to consider that angle except for him...and he was glad that he did. "I vote with the kid."
There were collective sighs and nods throughout the room as the final vote was cast. Despite their bumps in the road, the Nest would try their best to raise the strange child they'd grown to love.
Bido looked to his leader, feeling the weight of an apology on his heart but knew he had to do what he did. Greed met his gaze in return and stood from the couch. He put a hand on the Gecko's shoulder, patting it there before descending the steps. It was an understanding gesture and a clean slate.
An elephant was dropped in front of Bido, grabbing his attention. He looked down to the second pair of purple eyes that had disagreed with him that morning.
"Play, Bido." The little monster below him ordered.
"Yes ma'am." He smiled genuinely, feeling a weight lift off his thin green shoulders.
Bido had somewhere in mind for the girl to go. He wouldn't have brought up the option otherwise, but it of course wasn't guaranteed to work. Either way, he chose not to tell the others. Maybe he'd spent too much time around Greed, but deep down, he wanted to stay with the babe regardless of circumstance. It was selfish, but he was still human. Bringing up the idea of even letting her go was all he could manage. He'd tried, and that was enough for him.
The Devil's nest wasn't a place for children. It was a place for monsters and his little friend had picked a side.
