Hey, guys! Long time no see!
Sorry, I know this chapter took a really long time. Here's what happened. I wrote out almost the entire chapter, and then realised that it wasn't meeting my standards. It wasn't awful – I've actually taken bits of it and included them in this version – but it wasn't my best effort, and I'm not okay with that. You lovely people are kind enough to read my stories, and you deserve my best effort – not a rushed, meandering, clearly unfinished mess.
So I ended up rewriting the entire thing. I still wouldn't say it's "the best chapter yet" – but it's a lot better than the previous version. It's something I feel comfortable placing in front of my readers now. I'm really sorry for the wait, and hopefully this is at least worth it. Because I really do want to put out work that I think you'll enjoy reading.

Anyway, enough with that. On with the story!

. . .

Envy shouldn't be alive. He recognised that fact almost as soon as he regained consciousness. The blade had gone straight through his chest, and for weeks now he had been little more than a weak mortal.
So why was he?

He took inventory of his body. While his chest was sore, it didn't hurt as if a literal sword had just gone through it. It was more of a dull ache. He was tired and had a headache, but didn't have any other noticeable discomfort. What the hell had happened? Why was he still breathing?

The door opened, and he flinched – before realising it was only Edward. He relaxed, and could almost laugh at how once upon a time, the Pipsqueak's presence would have made him less calm.
He couldn't tell anymore whether that was a good or bad thing. He didn't care.

Ed crossed his arms, looking Envy up and down. The caution Envy had always known was still present, obvious in the guarded posture Ed held – but there was something else, too. A strange softness had taken hold in his eyes, one that Envy had never seen before and couldn't place.
"Huh; so you did survive."
"Yeah, I was about to ask you about that. How?"
For a split second, he saw hesitation in those gold eyes. Then Ed sighed.
"It looks like your powers are starting to come back."

It took Envy a moment to even comprehend what he had just heard. It was as if Ed had spoken to him in Xingese. When the words finally sank in, his heart began to race.
"What do you mean?"
"That blade went straight through your chest. No human would've survived that, let alone heal as fast as you did. Granted, you're nowhere close to where you were yet. Don't get too excited; it still took a few days for the wound to close properly."
"But it did close," Envy insisted. Ed nodded.

He was giddy. He hadn't even been aware of it until that moment; but he had accepted at some point that his powers might be gone for good. The idea that they had started to return – and in his moment of need, no less – was more than he had dared hope.
"So you really didn't know," Ed mused.
"What?"
Ed's eyes flicked back to Envy.
"You didn't know your powers were back?"
"No. I thought that was pretty clear. You guys told me they wouldn't come back, remember?"
"We said we didn't know," Ed corrected. "Still, you had no idea that they would. So that begs the question; why did you do it?"

Now Envy was even more confused.
"Do what?"
"Envy. You threw yourself in front of Al. You took a sword through the chest for him. If you knew you were immortal, and it was in your best interests to keep him alive, I'd understand using yourself as a meat shield. But as far as you knew, you could've died. Why would you do that?"

Envy paused.
He actually had no idea how to answer that question. Now that he stopped to think about it, he didn't know what had possessed him to put his own safety at risk to protect Alphonse. He certainly wouldn't have done it for anyone else.
All he remembered was a flurry of emotions; his temptation to return to Dante, the final rejection he had experienced from her, the realisation that she was about to kill Alphonse – and in that moment, strong opposition to that concept.

Why?

That strange, unfamiliar warmth crept back into Ed's eyes, inches at a time.
"You saved his life, you know."
Envy scoffed. "Oh, please. I don't even know why I did it. Don't get sappy on me."
"Ugh," Ed groaned, "I'm trying to say thank you!"
"Yeah, and who said I wanted that?"
"Why do you make things so difficult, damnit?"
"Because it's fun!"

While the content of their conversations hadn't changed much, the tone had markedly shifted. It felt almost as though some of the venom had been sucked from their interactions; not all of it, but enough that Envy no longer genuinely believed he might attack Edward at any moment.
The old Envy wouldn't have believed it.
Ed shook his head, and started to leave. "I'll have to tell Winry you're awake; she'll want to look at you."
He was almost at the door when Envy called after him. Once again, it was impulsive; there wasn't a reason that he could trace. He simply felt that he must do it.

"And Alphonse?"
Ed turned back.
"What about him?"
Envy bit the inside of his cheek, trying to decide whether speaking had been a mistake. A touch of that caution had come back in Ed's eyes; the familiar protectiveness he held towards his precious baby brother. Finally, he decided it was too late to back out now.
"Is he… okay?"

Envy would swear from then until his dying day that he had caught the barest hint of a smile on Ed's face. One not directed at his brother, girlyfriend or superior – one directed at him.
"He's fine. I'll let him know you asked."
"No, wait- ugh."
He glared at the empty doorway, trying to figure out his damned emotions all over again. He was going to get to the bottom of this, somehow.

. . .

Ed found Winry chatting to Al at the table in the main room; or more accurately, trying to. She was doing all the talking, while he seemed to be lost in thought.
Ed wondered if he was still getting over his recent near-death experience. It wasn't exactly new for them, but there was still something about coming within inches of the end that just… got to you. Ed had never really gotten used to it himself; and he imagined it had been very different for Al when he had been in the armour. This had been his first experience with any real danger since his body had been returned.

"Hey," he said. They both looked up.
"Thought the gearhead would wanna know that Envy's awake."
She jumped up, her eyes shining. "No way. Already? You did say he has some kind of magic healing powers, but I had no idea they worked this fast!"
"They actually usually work faster- Hey, Win!" She had already left, practically running up the stairs. He sighed.
He really hoped she wouldn't decide to take him apart in one of her psycho experiments. Envy might be immortal, but Ed still wasn't sure he could be put back together quite as easily as a pocket watch or automail limb.

He looked back over at Al, who seemed distracted again. He plopped down next to him.
"You know, you'll get wrinkles if you keep pulling that face."
Al snapped back to Earth.
"Sorry, I was thinking."
"About what?"
"You're not gonna like it."
"What else is new?" Ed asked, rolling his eyes. "Anyway; you heard what I just said, right?"

He nodded. "Envy's awake, right? That's good news; I was worried he wouldn't pull through."
"I never thought I'd say this, but so was I. Oh; he asked after you, by the way."
Al pulled a face. "Wait, really?"
"Yep," Ed said, sighing dramatically. "Looks like you've got a fan! Someday you'll be just as famous as your big brother…"
He noogied him. Al pushed at his shoulder, laughing.
"Stop, brother. Besides, you and I both know you're not famous anymore," he quipped back. "You stopped being relevant when you disappeared off the face of the planet for almost a year, remember?"
"Ouch."
"Well it's true!"

Ed scoffed. "What were you thinking about, anyway?"
"I told you, you won't like it."
"Tell me, you little shit."
"Fine," Al sighed. He glanced at the phone on the table.
"You and I both know-"

"No, stop!" Ed protested.
"I haven't said it yet!"
"I can tell from your tone. You're gonna say we need to call Mustang."
"Well, what do you suggest? We thought Resembool would be safe. It's clearly not. We can't do this on our own, Ed. We need help."
"We've handled everything on our own so far," Ed said with a whine. Al opened his mouth to say something, then closed it at the last second.
"Things are different now," he said, finally.

Ed tugged at his braid, a few stray strands falling loose. "Yeah, yeah! You're right, as usual. Fine; I'll give him a call."
"Maybe I should," Al joked. "You can have kind of an attitude."
They fell into a comfortable silence, sitting together as the clock on the mantle ticked merrily. There was definitely something on Al's mind, but Ed had no idea how to bring it up. And he had no idea if Al had any interest in talking about it. He could be awfully withdrawn when he was troubled.

Al finally spoke, his words echoing in the quiet room. When he heard what he had to say, Ed's heart damn near stopped.
"Why didn't you use alchemy?"
"What do you mean?" Ed asked, his tone carefully flat.
"That whole fight with… Lyra, or whoever that was. You could've kept up with her easy, but you didn't. You just stood there like you couldn't do anything. You didn't even use alchemy to break me out of the dirt; you left me there while you took care of Envy, and then you and Winry chipped it apart by hand."

Ed started to panic. He had always known he would have to tell him eventually, but he had hoped it would be on his own terms. Never had he suspected that Al would figure it out first.
"And?"
"Why, Brother?"
"I just don't like using it anymore, okay?"
He knew he shouldn't be lying; not now, when he had already been caught. But the fear was taking over, that same damn fear that had stopped him from talking honestly with Al about the night of the transmutation.

It was exceedingly obvious that Al wasn't falling for this, either.
"Bullshit-"
"Don't swear," he said, automatically.
"Whatever," Al said, waving his hand dismissively. "Let's ignore for a second that that's not you; that you love alchemy more than anything. My life was in danger, Ed. If there's one thing I know about you, it's that you would do anything in your power to save me."
"Duh." He flushed; while it was true and he knew it, it still embarrassed him a little to hear it aloud.

"But you didn't transmute," Al pointed out. "You didn't even try. I've been thinking, and I can't remember a single time you've used any alchemy since…"
His brain finally clicked, right as Ed started scrambling for another excuse.
"You never told me what you gave up," he said, and Ed's stomach dropped from under him. Horror was starting to creep into Al's expression, and he hated it.
"To get my body back, I mean. I even asked you; you just smiled and told me not to worry, that it wasn't important."
"It wasn't."
"Ed, I was worried you gave up your liver or something! But that wasn't it, was it?"

"Al…"
"Just say it!" Al said. "I'm tired of you hiding things from me. I'm not a child anymore, for god's sake; I haven't been one since the day Mom died."
While he hadn't quite broken into a shout, it was close enough to get his frustrations across. Ed glanced at the ceiling, worried that Winry or Pinako might hear.
Then he sighed, staring at the floor and clenching his fists. He couldn't hide it anymore. He had known it for a while, but now he had been faced with the horrific reality.

"I gave up my alchemy," he said, speaking to a silent room. "I can't transmute anymore."
Al didn't answer; he didn't have to. The look in his eyes was enough. Before Ed was able to say anything, Al had started to walk off.
"Al!"

Before he had even taken two steps, Ed was next to him, holding his shoulders. "Come on, don't be mad! What was I supposed to do? You were running out of time, the stone was a bust, we had no options left."
"I'm not mad at you," Al snapped, tears threatening at the corners of his eyes. "Are you kidding me? How could I ever be mad at you for that?"
"But then…" Ed finally realised the truth of the matter. He pulled his brother into a hug.

"No. Don't. Don't do this to yourself, Alphonse."
"But you loved alchemy; it was your whole life! You've been using it since you could read! How can I not feel guilty that you gave all of that up for me?"
"I love you," Ed said, cutting him off. He pulled back, looking into Al's eyes and smiling; that tender, goofy smile he only ever gave him.
"Come on, you're my little brother. You think I'd rather have my alchemy than you? Do you really think you mean that little to me?"

Al sniffed, rubbing his sleeve across his face. "Do you ever regret it? I wouldn't blame you if you did-"
"Never. Even when you're driving me nuts; not even then. I would not trade you for anything, Al. I thought you knew that by now. And if I ever had to make that choice again, I'd do exactly the same thing."
A smile finally crossed Al's face; a small one, but enough to convince Ed he had gotten through to him. He let Al go, and crossed his arms.

"Right now, we have more important things to worry about."
"Like what?" Al asked. Ed nodded towards the stairs.
"Well first, we have to call Mustang. After that? It's time for Envy to give us some more information. Hopefully, he's a little more willing than last time."
"Right," Al said. He headed for the phone. Ed groaned.
"Let's get this over with."

. . .

Envy had always thought there was no such thing as a human he could fear. He was a homunculus, after all; what was there to be afraid of?
He had since realised that this was not true. He was very much afraid of Winry Rockbell.
He winced as he shifted his weight; he was still sore from her examination. He knew at this point that the Elrics had to have told her about his status as a homunculus; he had seen normal medical evaluations, and they weren't normally that intense. He hoped he wouldn't have to see her again for a while.

The door opened, and he started – only to realise it was the Elric brothers.
"Oh, it's you." He watched as they approached the foot of the bed; Ed leaned against it, while Al hovered a step or two behind.
He noticed that Al's eyes were red; had he been crying? A twinge in his chest; what was that?
He very nearly asked about it; he didn't have time, before Ed opened his mouth.

"Okay, Envy," he said, sharing a brief glance with Al, "It's time to start talking."
"About what?"
"Your master. Lyra?"
Envy sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Makes sense. You want to know what she's up to, and how you can stop her."
"You benefit from this too," Al reminded him. "You're weak right now; vulnerable. And she clearly has some kind of weapon she can use against you. We can help keep you safe, but you have to teach us how."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not stupid," he said, rolling his eyes. He pushed back the small part of him that still didn't want to say anything; they were long past the point of secret keeping, and he knew it.
"Look, I don't know who this Lyra person was; but I assure you, the woman you saw isn't her. My master body jumps."
The brothers were both confused; he could see it in their expressions.
"You mean, like what you do?"
"Nope. She's not copying a physical appearance; she literally takes someone else's body. That's Lyra's body, but you weren't speaking to Lyra."
"She what?" Ed shouted. "How can she- she's killing those people! Right?"

"Yep," Envy confirmed. "Are you really surprised by this? You just watched her almost murder your brother. I think it's obvious she's not above killing."
Al had paled. "You mean, Lyra's dead?"
"As far as I know. I guess it's possible the original person could still be in there, but I've never seen any traces of them after my master takes over. And she destroys the last body every time she jumps, so it's not like I could figure it out that way."
"But I don't get it," Al asked, "Why would she steal bodies? What does she get from that?"

"Immortality," Ed said, before Envy could answer. Al looked over at him.
"Think about it, Al. If you could just switch to a younger body every few decades, you could outrun old age. It would make a human capable of living for hundreds of years." His eyes hit Envy's. "Isn't that right?"
Envy nodded. "You're not wrong. That's why she does it." He hesitated, fighting back the urge to clam up.
"Her real name is Dante."

"Dante?!" Ed sputtered. "That old lady who lived in the mansion?"
"So you know her?"
"Yeah; we went to her house!"
Envy felt a brief flare of rage. Not directed at the Elrics, but at Dante. She had known for many years that he had desired to take revenge against them. To know that she had seen them, and had said nothing of it to him… It set him ablaze.
He shook his head. Now wasn't the time; he had to clear his head.

"She created maybe half of us by herself. And she sought out the others, from all across the country."
"Why? I can understand her motives for the body jumping, but why create homunculi? Especially if she can just scavenge them from other people. She doesn't need to make her own!"
"When she first discovered the existence of homunculi, it didn't take her long to become fascinated by us," he said, rolling his eyes. "In particular, she's interested in our natural immortality. She's done some weird stuff with homunculi and aging. I think she's trying to reverse engineer it; figure out if she can apply it to herself, somehow."

Ed's hands clenched. "That's disgusting."
"Why?" Envy asked, confused. "If she figures it out, she won't have to steal bodies anymore. For humans, that should be a good thing."
"But she's using you guys as test subjects," Al pointed out. "That's wrong."
"But we're not human, so why does it matter?"
"Because you're still sentient beings with thoughts and feelings, damnit! We've seen that ourselves."
"I'm flattered," Envy deadpanned, ignoring Ed's temper.
"Not just with you," Ed said.
"Besides," Al added, "the issue of the homunculi aside, she's messing around with human transmutation." He shuddered. "And, as we know from experience, that doesn't usually end well. Someone has to stop her, before someone gets hurt."
"Speaking of," Envy said. The brothers looked back at him.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. He had no idea how to have this conversation. In past days he would have carelessly blurted it out, enjoying the way their faces twisted in horror; but he found that now, even if only the younger Elric, the thought of seeing the face that had shown him such kindness in pain made him very uncomfortable.
"Look," he said. "At this point, it seems like some kind of conflict with Dante and the other homunculi is inevitable. Especially now that they've found you two – she won't let you go without a fight. She's been looking for you for a year. I've met enough humans to know that you two need to be aware of this before that fight starts, or it's going to cause problems…"
Ed's blood turned cold. He knew what Envy was about to say, and he had already figured as much. But he didn't want him to finish the sentence; because if he said it out loud, it became real.

"One of the homunculi who's with Dante is the one you created."

The room went completely silent, as the brothers digested the information. Ed hid his face behind his bangs. Envy shrugged, a faint emotion akin to pity brewing in his chest.
"I had to tell you. If she catches you off-guard with that little surprise… well, she did say Hohenheim left by himself to stop her. That's probably exactly what happened to him."
Al's eyes widened. "That's right, she did say that." He prodded his brother. "Ed, he didn't abandon us! You heard what she said! Dad must have heard us talking about her; he must've known we were in danger. He left to stop her!"

Ed straightened, his brow knitting together as his mind started to whir.
"Why, though? Even if he heard her name from us, why would he recognise it? And why would that clue him in that she was after us?"
"You have a point; that is strange," Al conceded. They thought about it for a few minutes, their eyes drifting around the room. As Ed's fell on Envy, he noticed that the homunculus' mouth was held in a tight line.
"You know the answer to that, don't you?"

Envy tensed. "What makes you think that?"
"For a shapeshifter, you're a terrible liar."
"That's not fair; I'm not used to feeling guilty for lying," he grumbled, accidentally outing himself in the process.
Ed remembered his earlier conversation with Envy, and his voice took on an indignant tone.
"You said you knew him, from when you were human!"
"So?"
"Your body's young; you couldn't have been older than twenty when you died."
"I am a shapeshifter…"
"Who hasn't been able to shapeshift for months! Any form you were holding would've dropped by now. This is your real body."
"Plus you have those nodes," Al added.
"The what?"
"The red lines; all the homunculi I've met have them. That's another piece of evidence that this is the body you were born with."

Envy craned his neck to look over his shoulder, where he knew the nodes lay across his back – a surer pointer than any as to his true identity.
"Fine. This is my 'real' body," he admitted, mimicking air quotes as he spoke. "What's your point?"
"You also told us you're over four hundred years old," Ed said, leaning forwards. "Let's be generous, and take away twenty for your human life. I don't even think you're that old, but for the sake of argument. Hohenheim looks like he can't be older than his forties or fifties… That's still a really big gap. Even if he was born in your last days of human life, there's no way he should still be alive today."

"I feel sick," Al said, standing up. Ed knew he had just come to the same conclusion.
"He's been doing it too, hasn't he," he asked, making direct eye contact with Envy.
"Doing what?"
"Don't play dumb with me; the time for that is long past! He's been stealing people's bodies too. Yes, or no?"
Envy bit his lip, genuinely struggling with the answer. Ed's unwavering stare broke him. He sighed.
"If it serves as a consolation prize, she made it very clear that it was her idea."

"That doesn't matter!" Ed roared. "He took part in it! He's responsible for how many deaths; fifty? A hundred?"
"Can't be. Even Dante's done it less than ten times, and I can't imagine he's done it many more. He didn't want to do it at all, at least not when I knew him. And you have to remember, any time either of them did it they had to use the Philosopher's Stone to make it work."
Ed sat back, his face draining of colour.
"The Philosopher's Stone?"
"Well, yeah; you think either of them would've had that kind of power without it? That's why Dante needs a new stone; her old one ran dry."

"That's why she's been hunting down alchemists," Al said, a sudden clarity coming to his voice even as he still looked like he might vomit. "Desperate alchemists, who have lost something. People who would be willing to do anything."
"Alchemists like us," Ed finished. "She did say we were her best lead; something like that." He turned back to Envy. "That's why you were hunting us."
"Yes," Envy said. "I mean, I had my own personal issues with you; and Sloth and Dante had their plans. But the other homunculi were just doing as they were told."
Ed's forehead wrinkled again, deeper this time, as Envy's words fully registered.

"Personal issues?"
Envy realised his mistake.
"You'd never even met us before. How could you have personal issues with us?"
"Hohenheim," Al said. The others both turned to face him. Envy's heart skipped a beat when he saw Al's face – he wasn't confused, like Ed. His face was calm, resolute.
He knew. Somehow, he had figured it out.

"He never had a problem with us; not really. He had a problem with our father; and by extension, that meant he had a problem with us."
So what did he do to you, huh?" Ed started to ask. Al cut in.
"What he did hardly matters. The important thing here is how Envy feels now."
He had addressed the last statement towards Envy, who swallowed. He wasn't ready for this conversation either.

"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I don't know how to feel about anything anymore," he admitted, showing a rare vulnerability. He hated it; hated letting anyone see his weaknesses. But considering all they had been through together, and the fact that he still needed their help, he figured he could consider this an olive branch of sorts.
"I'll admit it; for as long as I've known about your existence, I've hated you. You don't even want to know what I've fantasised about doing to both of you."
"And now?" Ed asked, his expression hardening in a way Envy had become surprisingly unused to. He was raising his guard again, after having tentatively lowered it; and Envy realised that it actually hurt.

"You saved my life," he said. "I meant everything I said to Dante. Recently, you've been nothing but kind to me; I still don't understand why." He shrugged. "I guess I have some things to think about."
"It doesn't matter, I guess," Ed said. "At least for now, we're all on the same side. Mustang will have some ideas on how we should handle this. For the meantime, we need to know what the deal is with that box."
"The wha-" Belatedly, he realised what Ed was referring to.
"The box Dante had, right?"
Ed nodded. "That thing stopped you dead in your tracks. We need to know why. We're teammates; that means we have each other's backs. You had ours just now; you warned us about.."
"Sloth," Envy finished, choosing to ignore the pained look in Ed's eyes.
"Right." He took a moment to compose himself.
"Now it's time for us to have yours. The box. What is is, and can we help?"

"I don't think so," Envy said. "It's… a bit hard to explain."
"Try."
"Homunculi have one weakness. We were created to mimic the dead; the only thing that can weaken us is…"
"The real thing," Ed said, his eyes lighting up.
"Right. I'm not entirely sure what it is; I've never seen it. But whatever's in that box, it has to do with my human life. Could be actual remains; a bone or a hair from my corpse. Could be an object that meant a lot to me, once. Whatever it is, it's going to have that effect every time I go anywhere near it."
He choked a laugh out. "It's her insurance policy. To make sure none of us ever turn on her."

"Does that mean she has one for all of you?" Al asked, his expression turning thoughtful.
"As many as she could find. I know she has something for Pride, and Lust. But getting Pride's wouldn't be easy; she lets him hold onto that one himself. I guess she trusts him the most."
"More than you?" Ed asked. "Aren't you the first?"
"Yeah, but I've always been kind of a loose cannon," he admitted. "She's never really trusted me. It got worse when Greed left; she never said it, but I knew she thought I'd be next. She kept my leash annoyingly tight after that."
He shrugged. "Looks like she was right."

There was a knock at the door. Everyone looked up, as Winry opened it slightly and hovered next to it.
"Sorry to interrupt. Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye just arrived."
"Great," Ed sighed. "I'll go explain the situation."
"Can I trust you not to get into a fight?" Al asked, with a sickly-sweet smile. Ed smirked.
"That depends on him, and how many short jokes he cracks."

Ed followed Winry out of the room, leaving Al and Envy alone. Envy took a moment to appreciate the gesture of trust; it wasn't so long ago that Edward would never have left him alone with his baby brother; would have dragged Alphonse out of the room by force, if he had to.
Al cleared his throat. Envy remembered that this might be the only chance he would have, for a while.
"How long have you known?" He asked. Al crossed his arms, refusing to look at him.
"I've suspected it since Dad showed up. I didn't know until just now, when you confirmed it."
"What gave it away?"
"Your behaviour."

He swallowed.
"Have you said anything to the Pipsqueak?"
Al hesitated.
"No. I didn't know how to bring it up."
"Good. Don't."
Al opened his mouth to argue; Envy interrupted before he had the chance.
"He's having a hard-enough time adjusting to everything else. This is just another spanner in the works that he doesn't need right now. Besides, it doesn't change anything."

"It changes everything!" Al blurted out. "How could it not! Envy…"
He cut himself off sharply, glancing at the door. When he spoke again, he had lowered his voice.
"They were together, weren't they?"
"Hohenheim and Dante, you mean?"
He nodded.
"Fine, you caught me. They were."
"Which makes her…"
"Yes, okay? You know all my dirty little secrets – well, almost all of them. You happy?"

Al took the chair Ed had been sitting on, his expression thoughtful.
"Well, it makes sense now."
"What does?"
"That infuriating loyalty you have to her, even though she's done nothing but hurt you."
"She wasn't always like that," Envy muttered.
"Wasn't she? I can't imagine you turn into the murderous, body stealing type overnight."
Envy groaned, gritting his teeth.
"Maybe someday, I'll explain it to you."
"Why not now?"

He paused. Part of him still didn't trust Alphonse. He was starting to recognise the irrationality of that; he had been far more vulnerable in his presence, and he hadn't done anything to harm him yet. But that didn't make the impulse go away.
He sighed.
"Things changed after William died, alright?"
"William? Oh."
"That was when they became obsessed with the Stone," Envy explained. "He died of mercury poisoning when he was seventeen. They tried to bring him back. They got me instead."
"And Hohenheim left not long after," Al finished. "Shit. No wonder you were angry."

Envy shrugged, doing his best to stem the familiar anger that was building within him. It was difficult; he wasn't used to trying to temper his emotions like this. But what he was realising, over the course of this conversation, was that it was misplaced.
This whole time, he had blamed them. But they hadn't even been born yet; how could it be their fault?
"Apparently, I wasn't good enough," he said.
"So that's where the name comes from," Al said, his eyes widening with the realisation. "That's what you were jealous of. You thought we were good enough. You thought we had the one thing you were deemed unworthy of; a family."
He laughed; a hollow sound, devoid of his usual bubbly joy.
"Sorry to disappoint; our family's messed up too."

He leaned forwards.
"Why are you telling me all of this? Why now?"
"Well, I've come to hear all about your family problems."
"Not by choice, I'm sure."
"Still. It's only fair I tell you some of mine, right? We're teammates, as your brother said. Besides, it affects you. Dante's history with Hohenheim is the reason she's after you."
"What does she want with us, Envy? Really. It can't just be about the Stone; if it was, I think the other homunculi demonstrate that she could find someone else if she really wanted to."
"You're not wrong," Envy said. "I mean, it's partially about the Stone; but there's more to it than that."
"Like what?"
"Look, I'll tell you – but you're really not gonna like it. You ready?"

Al sighed. "Can't be worse than finding out our Mom's a homunculus."
Envy grinned; that familiar, devious, shark-toothed smile he was known for.
"She wants Edward. She thinks she can steal the body of someone close to him, and recapture what she lost with Hohenheim."
The effect was instantaneous. Al shuddered so violently, Envy could damn near hear his teeth click.
He laughed.
"I warned you. I knew you'd react like that."
"Ew…"
Al glanced at the door again.
"You know we have to warn Ed about that, right?"
"Yeah, I know."
"And you know the first thing he's gonna ask is how you know that."
"At which point, I'll say I overheard her talking about it. And you're gonna smile and nod, and not say anything to contradict my story."

His voice instinctively dropped to a threatening growl, one he had used hundreds of times; although, he realised, he wasn't sure he would ever actually act on it if Alphonse did break his confidence. He was no longer certain he could.
"You know…" Al said, in a gentle tone, "You're going to have to tell him eventually."
"I know that, damnit. Just… not yet. Not now. He needs to be focused, and this? It's literally the most distracting thing he could possibly hear. It's bad enough that you know."
He turned away from Al, staring out the window.
"Maybe when all this is over, if we survive that long…"
"We will."
"How can you be so sure of that?"
Al shrugged. "Well, we've lived this long. Double amputations, human transmutation, vicious murderers be damned. None of it's taken us out yet."
"Yeah, but Edward had-"

He shut himself up at the last second, realising he wasn't sure if Al knew yet. He didn't want to get beaten up by the Pipsqueak for accidentally starting another fight.
"Alchemy?"
He breathed a sigh of relief at Al's matter-of-fact tone, and the lack of surprise in his eyes.
"Yeah, he told me. Or more accurately, I figured it out."
"You really are too smart for your own good, you know that?"
"I've heard as much," Al answered; Envy caught barely the slightest tinge of unease on his expression, before it turned to complete shock.
"Wait. Did you just… compliment me? You really are injured, aren't you?"
"Oh, shut up. Don't let it go to your head, Tin Can. That's what your brother's for, remember?"

"Our brother," Al corrected. Envy flinched.
"Right. I'll get used to that, eventually."
"You don't have to right now. I won't say anything; on one condition."
"Yeah? And what's that?"
"You have to promise you'll tell him yourself, at some point."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Thanks, I guess."

They sat in silence for a while, Envy watching Al's face. He couldn't figure out why he hadn't left already; he was clearly friendly with Colonel Flamethrower, shouldn't he be rushing to see him?
Then he saw it; something in Alphonse's eyes. It was buried deep, clearly an art he had perfected over the years; but it was there. It was making Envy uncomfortable. That goddamn feeling was starting to come back; the one he could never quite place.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked. Al shook his head, blinking.
"Yeah."
"Are you sure?" Envy asked again, narrowing his eyes. "Your words are saying one thing, and your body language is saying another."
Al didn't answer. Envy leaned forwards.
"You found out about the alchemy today, didn't you?"
"Yeah."
"Idiot," he muttered. Al glanced at him.
"Not you," he clarified. "The Pipsqueak. I told him to tell you earlier than this, damnit."
"Rich, coming from you."
Envy flushed.

"Yeah, yeah. Okay. You might have a point."
"Might?"
And then Envy did something with Alphonse he'd never thought he would. He laughed.

. . .

Ed felt himself slip back into his defensive State Alchemist demeanour the moment he was around Mustang again. He supposed it would take time to get used to being around him, and not having him ride his ass constantly about filing his reports.
He crossed his arms. "Thanks for coming."
Roy's impassive expression didn't change, but Ed could tell he was tense. "Where's the homunculus?"
"Upstairs, resting."
"From what? What exactly happened?"
"Okay," Ed sighed. "We should probably sit down."

He explained the story to Roy and Hawkeye over coffee. By the time he had finished, they both looked confused.
"What?" He asked. "Did I grow a second head or something?"
"Did you just say the homunculus put himself in danger to protect Alphonse?" Hawkeye asked, seeming unable to control her curiosity. Roy shook his head.
"They have healing abilities. It probably wasn't a big deal for him."
"Actually," Ed said, "Hawkeye's closer to the mark. He didn't know he had his healing powers at that moment in time. He's been… recovering from an injury, of sorts. He hasn't had any access to any of his powers, until recently."

"Ah," Roy said. "Well, that explains why you two were so determined to protect him in Central. Let me guess; you're responsible for his recovery?"
Ed nodded. "We found him passed out on the street. I kinda promised Al we'd help him out."
"You should really stop making promises to your brother; they seem to always get you in trouble."
Ed didn't miss the smirk forming on Roy's lips.
Hawkeye was still pensive; she seemed almost to retreat inwards as she spoke. "It's interesting that he would willingly put himself in danger to protect someone else. Especially if, as you say, he had no guarantee that he would survive it. Maybe you and Al are right; maybe we judge these creatures too soon."
"Don't be too fast to forgive, either," Roy said, giving her a stern look. "We know what they've done. This one in particular, Ed once described as being quite the psychopath."

Ed leaned back against his chair, crossed his legs, and rested his hands behind his head.
"Honestly, it feels weird to say this… but I think he's changing for the better. At least a little. He's still an asshole, but he's calmed down a lot. He's less violent, less angry – and like I said, he's actually helped us out once or twice. I don't know what to make of it."
Roy thought about it.
"Might be Al's doing. You said he was spending a lot of time with him, right? Maybe he's a good influence on him."
"Must be," Ed agreed, chuckling. "But we shouldn't be surprised, in that case. You know Al; he brings out the good in everyone."
"He does seem to have a talent for it," Hawkeye said.

Roy glanced towards the stairs. "You mentioned the homunculus was resting. Is he well enough to move?"
"Don't know, he hasn't tried. Why?"
"We need to discuss our next move. And as much as I hate it, he should probably be present for that conversation."
Ed sighed. He was already developing a headache.
"I'll go get him."