DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA. I only own my own OCs. `Nuff said.

Ten

Delilah nearly screamed, but her terror kept her mute as she stared at the boy.

He rolled his eyes. "Please. As if I'd want to do something unspeakable to someone disgusting and small like you. But if I heard you right, you're looking for Marcoh?"

Delilah tensed further at the name, and the boy stood and stalked over to her before he roughly grabbed her face with one hand. "Wouldn't you like to know where your precious adoptive daddy is? Heh. He sure was easy for Lust to rough up, just like the Fullmetal runt was for me."

She finally found her voice. "…Edward?"

The boy smirked. "You might wanna check down at the hospital for him later. But I have a deal for you, missy: I'll let you go without too much of a scratch if you promise to keep your little trap shut about Marcoh missing. It's kinda a hush-hush thing; you guys definitely won't be able to find him, but we'd rather you not poke around. Besides, you wouldn't want to have to tell his story to the military, right? And in return, I'll let you stay free for now."

Delilah neither moved nor spoke. At this, the boy narrowed his eyes at her and gripped her harder. "Listen, bitch," he hissed. "I could always get into that hospital. It would be easy to kill someone—or at least have them stay longer. Maybe the Fullmetal kid, maybe someone else. I'm sure I could figure out how to dismantle a walking tin can. And I'm not allowed to kill you—I honestly think you're too weak to even be a candidate—but I could make you wish you were dead."

She suddenly felt a warm liquid begin to run down her cheeks, and she realized that he had pierced her skin. "O-okay."

"Promise?"

She jerked her head in a nod. "P-promise."

He grinned hugely. "Good." He let go of her, but not before shoving her away; she landed on the bed. "If I'm not mistaken," he began, his tone conveying that he was anything but, "Marcoh taught you medicinal alchemy. Heal yourself up before I force you to."

Fearing for her life, Delilah hurried to do as she was told. She pulled her chalk out of her dress pocket and drew a quick transmutation circle on her palm…or she tried to, at least. The chalk wouldn't rub off well on her sweaty hands.

"Use your filthy human blood, you idiot," the boy spat.

She dabbed at her cheek with trembling fingers and drew a circle before holding a palm up to her face and healing the cuts. The boy gave her more instructions, and she hurried to the bathroom to clean the blood off her face and hands. She was shaking so badly that she splashed water onto her dress.

"Remember, you little shit," he told her when she came out again, "say one word about me or Marcoh and I'll slit your throat, candidate or not. But only after I deal with your friends." He spat out the word like it was the worst of insults.

The word struck a chord within her. "P-please… no," she begged, her voice interrupted by sobs. Tears started streaming down her face.

He rolled his eyes. "Shut up, you idiot. Just make sure I don't have to come after you." His eyes glinted. "Take care." With that, he waved at her with a wicked grin and leapt out the window.

Alone now, Delilah stood still in shock before she fell to her knees and sobbed.

()()()()()

When she finally calmed, she wondered if it had all just been a nightmare. Perhaps discovering the key ingredient to a Philosopher's Stone had been the beginning, and she was only waking up now.

But she couldn't deny what had happened, as she was lying on the hotel room floor, her face wet with tears. She was cold, since the window was still open. Her palm had a reddish tint on it; she hadn't managed to completely clean herself up. The memory of why the blood was there in the first place nearly made her start crying again, but she knew that she had to get up. What if someone came in and found her like this? She doubted she could come up with a plausible explanation, and if someone discovered what had happened, then that boy with the strange tattoo would…

She didn't feel safe. She hadn't felt that way for years, and she hated how it had returned. She wanted it to stop. She would do nearly anything for it to stop.

She managed to pull herself out of her thoughts and stood, heading to the bathroom. She took a quick shower, and when she came out she inspected herself in the mirror. There were no marks on her skin due to her alchemy, not even a bruise, but she couldn't deny that she looked tired; she had stayed awake the whole night, after all. But she could easily attribute that to being worried, which was partly the truth.

She left the bathroom and got dressed, but not before closing the window and pulling the curtains closed. She knew there couldn't be anyone in the room with her anymore, but she felt on edge, as if she were being watched.

How had that boy known where she was? He seemed to have known her, maybe not her name, but enough about her to know that she had a connection to Marcoh. What had he—or that "Lust" person he had spoken of—done with the doctor? Why had he called her a "candidate"? Whatever it was, it seemed to be the only reason she was alive, so she was grateful for that. But still, she was worried about Edward and Alphonse, and of course about her own well-being.

A sudden knock on the door nearly caused Delilah to have a heart attack, and a booming voice asked, "Miss Delilah? May I come in? It is I!"

After a surprised moment on her part, she did her best to shake off her worries. "One moment," she called, heading to the door and opening it to reveal the Major, as she was expecting. Seeing him in his uniform was just another reminder for her of where Edward and Alphonse were supposed to be.

"What happened?" she asked anxiously, allowing the Major to enter.

"There was an incident at Laboratory Five last night," he explained. "Edward has been hospitalized, I'm afraid, but the Second Lieutenant reports that he is in stable condition. She informed me that you were still here, so I came to bring you to the clinic. Shall we?"

A pit swelled in her stomach at his words. "O-of course." She hurried to collect her hat and, after a thought, she grabbed her briefcase. She had nothing in it that would help Ed, but in case she had to sleep at the hospital, she didn't want to have to run back for her things. Besides, she didn't think she would ever be able to sleep alone in that room—or any other room, maybe—ever again.

On the way to the clinic, the Major informed her that there had been an explosion at Laboratory Five and that the building was now a pile of rubble. According to Ross's report, there had been a strange man in a suit of armor at the scene (both the Major and Delilah doubted that this person was of the flesh), and that there had also been a strange boy whom had brought Edward out of the building. Both had gotten away.

From what Delilah heard of the stranger from the Major's description, she knew without a doubt that it had to be the boy who had broken into her room.

()()()()()

When she came into Ed's room, she found the boy sitting up, looking particularly grumpy at the fact that he was bedridden. Al wasn't in the room, a fact that made Delilah worried, but her first concern at the moment was Edward.

"Edwa—" she began, moving to him, but the Major interrupted.

"EDWARD ELRIC!" I was so worried about you!" he cried, rushing to the boy and enveloping him in an embrace.

Ed's eyes bulged. "M-Major! I can't breathe!"

Reluctantly, the Major let go. "Where is Alphonse? I wish to check on him as well."

Ed shrugged, grimacing at the soreness of his wounds (he had probably been fine up until the Major had crushed him). "He's been hanging around somewhere. Maybe you'll find him if you go look."

Needing no further prompting, the Major left. Now that it was just the two of them, Ed flopped back onto his pillow and groaned.

"Why does the Major have to do that…? Hey there, Del," he greeted.

Realizing that she had just been standing there, Delilah put her briefcase down by the door and hurried over to Edward. "May I see your wounds?"

Ed grinned. "I was hoping you would say that. I wanna be outta here as soon as possible."

He shifted, which was a bit tricky since his automail arm was in a sling, but he pointed out where the doctors had stitched him up. He told her that a nurse had left some paper and a pencil for him on request of Ross so he could draw some of what he had seen; Delilah used that to draw a transmutation circle. As she closed Ed's wounds, she explained that she was inexperienced with healing anything below the skin, and that his now-closed wounds might break open if he moved too much. She also suggested that he rest a lot. Ed grumbled a bit, but thanked her anyway.

When she was finished, she set aside the paper and sat in the chair beside his bed. Ed could easily guess what was on her mind—well, partially, at least—and he reluctantly launched into a brief description of last night's events. Apparently, their suspicions about Laboratory Five had been correct. Ed had been able to sneak inside (but not Al, as he was too large to fit through the air vents), and he had come across a pair of brothers bonded to a suit of armor and its helmet. While he had been fighting them, Al had been attacked by another armor-man who called himself "Barry the Chopper." These people had been guarding the lab.

At this point in the conversation, Ed paused, looking pained. "I managed to defeat the ones after me. One of them was about to tell me what he knew, but then these…people killed them. I think one of them was named Envy. They called me a 'human sacrifice' and allowed me to live, for some reason. But Envy still gave me some bruises." He pointed out one on the middle of his stomach.

Delilah was horrified, but she managed to control her emotions. She wished that none of this had happened to them, but it had, and she had a feeling it would again. Not wanting to be having this conversation, she tried to change the subject a bit. "Where is Alphonse?"

"Something's eating him. He's been a bit quiet since we got back, but he'll come around. It's no big deal, probably." He glanced at her. "You look tired, Del. You sleep last night?"

The memory of the boy flashed in her mind, and she wondered if he had be the one called "Envy." It probably was.

She shook her head, partly to answer Ed's question and partly to try and dispel her own thoughts. "I was too worried. And…I was thinking about something."

Her words piqued Ed's interest. "About what?"

Delilah opened her mouth to speak but hesitated, and at that moment, the door opened and Alphonse came in.

Ed brightened. "Hey, Al. The Major was looking for you."

"He found me," Al answered simply. At his lifeless tone, Delilah knew that he wasn't quite all there. He reminded her of how she sounded when her mind was on something.

"Hello, Alphonse," she greeted.

He seemed to realize only just then that she was there. "Hey." He went over to sit on a stool at the far wall. She frowned.

Ed turned back to Delilah. "What were you saying?"

She looked at her lap. "…Nothing important." Desperate to change the topic, she looked up and asked, "Have you called Winry about your arm?"

"Yup. She didn't seem too happy about it, though. She should be here tomorrow afternoon if she catches the first train."

Delilah smiled. "I cannot wait to see her!"

Ed suddenly looked confused. "What about Marcoh?"

Her heart leapt into her throat. "…He has not answered yet."

He raised an eyebrow. "You sure you've been calling him, Del?"

It was her turn to be confused. "Of course I have."

"I dunno." Ed shrugged. "Sounds like you're lying so you can try to come with us to more places. What do you think, Al?"

Alphonse looked up. "I don't know."

His tone caught Ed off-guard, and before he could somehow start wondering about Marcoh again, Delilah asked, "Have you eaten?"

Ed blinked. "Breakfast. No lunch yet."

Delilah stood. "I will go see if there is any ready." And she left. Somehow, she managed to get to the bathroom before the tears started to leak out of her eyes.

()()()()()

She managed to calm down, and the rest of the day and the next passed a bit awkwardly. Ed asked her if she was going to go back to the hotel to sleep, but she refused, using some excuse about wanting to see Winry as soon as possible. She could tell that Ed was starting to get a bit suspicious of her actions, but he let it go. Delilah was glad he did; she had no desire to explain anything, not even a fact as simple as how she didn't want to be alone at night. She only managed to sleep because Ed reminded her about her medicine.

With nothing better to do, Ed slept for most of the time. Al stayed quiet, and Delilah was nervous about disrupting his thoughts, so she stayed silent as well. She doubted she would be able to speak about anything even if Alphonse was being more talkative. His unusual behavior was just another worry in her mind.

()()()()()

Delilah was returning from a trip to the bathroom when she bumped into Alphonse—literally. She hadn't been looking where she was going, and apparently, neither had he. Unfortunately, Delilah now had a sore spot on her forehead, and she rubbed it gingerly.

"Sorry," Al apologized. For the first time in a while, genuine concern was in his voice. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she replied, removing her hand and rubbing tiredly at her eyes. She may have gotten sleep the night before, but even with her medicine she had kept half-waking up. She doubted that she had taken the right dosage…or maybe she was starting to develop a tolerance to her current prescription.

"Winry's here," Alphonse stated, his tone becoming a bit flat once more. Delilah noticed but didn't comment.

"Oh. I will go see her." She paused. "Where are you going?"

"A walk. I'll be back later." With that, he walked past her.

Concern and fear filled her as she watched him leave. She hadn't said anything about Envy, but that didn't stop her from fearing him coming back.

"I'm sure I could figure out how to dismantle a walking tin can."

But she didn't follow him. Instead, she suddenly found herself looking up into the face of Maes Hughes. The smiling man was dressed casually; she assumed he was off-duty.

"Hey there, Delilah," he greeted cheerily. "Care to take me to see Ed? I have some good news to give him."

Delilah glanced to where Alphonse had gone, but he had disappeared by now. She greeted the Lieutenant Colonel and led him to Edward's room.

a/n: First, I apologize for any typos or any rushed sort of writing. It may only be 11pm but I've had a long day and I'm having trouble spelling correctly right now. But I wanted to get a chapter up because why not. I also haven't really read through the whole of this chapter for typos, so yeah. I might do that later.

Second, yes, Envy didn't kill her because she's a candidate for human sacrifice. A candidate. Just that. Just a fall-back in case something happens to the other sacrifices. She's a fall-back because, while she's a relatively, physically-weak person at the moment, she IS Marcoh's assistant/apprentice and she preforms medicinal alchemy, which if you think about it could very well relate to human transmutation...if I'm making sense right now. Well, it makes sense to me when I'm awake so idk if I'm explaining it very well right now.

Third, don't worry about Al, Del's just being a worrywart because of what's going on.

Haha, the reviews I got seemed pretty excited about Envy. I think he's cool, but I really do see him as a pretty violent, bad guy, so I did my best to keep him in character...I hope I did well... *slumps*

Anyway, Del and Ed got some one-on-one time, Al's being depressed, Del's being depressed...yeah. Shit's gonna hit the fan soon.

Please don't forget to leave a review on your way out! I really do love them. c: