Each individual chapter will have a different rating, different pairings, different spoilers, and a different setting and timeline. Multiple people were involved in writing this fic, I do not claim to have written anything other than my own characters. I do however claim to have come up with the plot, story idea, and organizing it all. The others who write characters in this fic are well aware that I am posting it, and contribute willingly. This fic is an ongoing project with an unknown number of parts, with alternate storyline as of the fifth laboratory incident. Enjoy!


Falsehood of a Viper
Rating: PG-13 (For language, really)
Pairings: HavocxEd
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA.
Spoilers: Noooooone!
Setting: Central HQ.
Timeline: Ed goes to apologize to Havoc for running away.
Wiping his eyes again for good measure, despite the fact that they were already raw from him rubbing them so fiercely, Edward trudged slowly and shakily down the hall, finding his carefully collected composure had become increasingly less collected with each step he came closer to the room that was labeled "Jean Havoc."

Blond hair was in disarray and many strands had fallen loose from the braid. Ed would admit it himself, even. He looked like shit.

It wasn't even close to how he felt, though...crushed...

"Dammit...I'm not going to cry!" He hissed, trying to force back down the tears that threatened to rise again.

But why...why didn't I see it before...why couldn't I stop it...this is too cruel...

"Dammit, I'm not going to cry..."

Havoc barely registered the words, not even bothering to lift his head from his folded arms.

The room he was in was painfully clean, white and featureless, and his only refuge was the window that looked out over the parade ground.

That's where he was now, pillowed on the windowsill, alone.

Ed swallowed down the pathetic, horrible moan that tried to rise up in his throat and bring forth more sobbing just like before.

One foot in front of the other...one...two...one...two...left...right...left...right...

And then he was there...human hand trembling over the doorknob.

Shaking...? How long have I been standing here?

Edward had to choke back a guilty, pained sob that rose without warning, and he barely managed to keep it at bay as his hand clutched the doorknob tightly. Just go in...no turning back now...

His knuckles were white before he finally turned the knob, wincing at the creak of the hinges as he slowly opened the door, unable to look up. If he looked up, he wouldn't have been able to stand anymore...he wouldn't be able to keep the control he'd already almost completely lost...

The blond alchemist stood there in the doorway, still trembling from the tension caused by holding back everything with all that he could muster. He couldn't look...just shut it out, Ed...shut it out and everything will be okay...

No...no it won't...nothing's okay...

"... go away..."

Was that hoarse croak really his voice?

"I'm not going anywhere, Jean..."

Ed finally managed to step inside, closing the door behind him and sliding down against the wall to sit.

"What happened...no...that's not the right question...is it..." He found his voice eerily calm compared to the raging, churning emotions inside his chest threatening to burst out at any second.

"I guess...what I meant to ask was...why..."

"Why? Because without the transmutation I would have died, away from home and away from you. Now, I have a chance to kill the bastards who killed all my friends." Havoc got up, spreading his manacled hands as far as they would go.

"Look at me, Major Elric. Look at me! You were right, I'm not human anymore. I'm an animal, a monster, created for two reasons: to hunt and to kill."

Edward swallowed and forced himself to raise his head to meet Havoc's eyes, biting his lip as he got to his feet, each step towards the older man-now-chimera forced by another emotion. Rage.

With one swift movement, the back of the alchemist's hand became very acquainted with the side of Havoc's face. He'd hit him. Hard. "Quit with the damn formalities, Jean! They obviously didn't take your heart, or am I wrong?"

He didn't even realize what he was doing until it was done, and the tears found their way from his eyes. It was then that Ed couldn't find the strength anymore, and fell to his knees, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Why would you care?" Havoc snarled, long sharp incisors bared. "I'm not Jean, remember? You ran away from me when you told me you would stay. I have absolutely no reason to trust you anymore! Why should you be anything more than a superior officer to me when you obviously don't want me as I am?"

He looked down on the boy, cold, uncaring, unmoving, but broken and bleeding inside. "Go. Go back to Colonel Mustang. As a chimera, I'm not good enough for Major Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist."

He turned away, leaning heavily on the windowsill. "I was never good enough for you, was I...?"

The younger boy bit his lip, wincing as he tasted the metallic tang of blood.

"I wasn't ordered to come here and see you, you know!"

It was hard enough coming back after losing him once...Edward was strong...but to come back to this...

You didn't even tell him I was dead, did you Roy...typical...drop the burden on me to lighten your load...now I've got to be the one to keep the secret...

"I...never had to come here..." Ed felt almost as though he was watching the scene rather than a part of it, and he didn't even register standing up and wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve. "Maybe I shouldn't have...if that's how you feel..."

He stepped towards the door, hand hovering just over the knob. "I..." Ed fumbled for the words, trying to string together something that would make sense out of the jumble of thoughts and emotions swirling inside of him. "Maybe it's me who was never good enough for you, Jean..."

The creak of the door hinges.

"I'm sorry..."

"It didn't have to be like this," Havoc said softly. "Why did you run away?"

Edward paused in the doorway, left hand clenched tightly at the tension and stress that threatened to rip him apart.

"I was scared... and it hurt... it was too much to bear so soon... so suddenly... I had to..."

He didn't bother to say the rest... he shouldn't... if Roy hadn't told Havoc... it was better for him not to know...

I ran because I know more than you do... you think it was just a dream... but I know what really happened... I knew you would've died... I knew because you almost did... but I never wanted anything like that... I would've rather lost you than have you lose yourself... I was selfish... I didn't know what to do... I wanted to throw up...

"Ed, stop trying to spare my feelings. I know it has to do with me being an apparent monster.

"Let me tell you something: I knew I was dying. That's why I volunteered for the transmutation in the first place. I needed to keep living."

He was pretty sure that was part of the young man's problem.

"And... you... you were not alive here either were you...?"

Ed swallowed hard, unsteady hands moving up to the back of his neck. There's no use hiding it anymore...is there...

He let out a ragged sigh, closing his eyes and closing the door once again, still inside. Shakily, he shrugged his coat from his shoulders, letting the crimson garment fall to the ground, as he unfastened his jacket and let it fall similarly. Finally was the black tank top, the one final thing that hid what Alphonse had done to get him back.

Fingers trembling, Edward lifted off the shirt, just holding it in his right hand as his left traveled up his spine. He hissed slightly as his fingers brushed the seal, red as blood and twice as sinister a meaning.

It wasn't the same as other human transmutations, though...it bore the unique symbol that the Elric brothers alone wore, captured within an array that was unfamiliar even to Ed. How Alphonse had come up with it, how he'd done it, the older Elric still didn't know...Al wouldn't tell him...

Finally, he spoke. "It's only been one week..."

"Don't worry, I won't ask you anything more. It's just that I smelled blood when I saw you before, and I began to worry."

He turned around, rubbing the red mark on his cheek where Ed had struck him. "I was worried about you."

Edward looked over his shoulder at Havoc, leaning down to pick up his coat; it was a bit chilly in the room.

"...It wasn't a dream... it was the other side of the gate..."

Draping the red fabric around his shoulders, he turned and walked over to the bed, sitting down on the edge of it and sighing heavily.

Havoc watched the boy, not entirely unsympathetic, but entirely unwilling to go comfort him. He was still smarting from Ed's slap. "Tell me, Ed," he said impulsively. "Am I really that terrible to look at?"

The blond alchemist lifted his head, turning to focus golden eyes on Havoc. For the first time he just looked... it wasn't even that obvious really... it's just those eyes had caught him so off guard...

"No, Jean... you're not..." Ed said truthfully. Chimera or not, Jean Havoc was a very attractive man... and if Ed didn't know any better... he'd almost swear he heard himself think just now that those eyes were... even more stunning than before...

"Again... I'm sorry for how I reacted... really I am..."

Havoc shrugged. "Don't worry about it. I'll have to get used to it sooner or later..." The emptiness in his voice was painfully apparent and he winced. "After all..." Here his mouth curved into a bitter smile. "I'm not human anymore."

"I wonder what I am then..." Human and automail hands clutched the coat tighter, as Ed turned his head away again, bangs falling in front of his eyes. "On the other side...there's a gravestone marked 'Jean Havoc, living despite all odds'..." His smile was pained, but genuine.

Havoc was touched by the last remark. "So you buried me..." he said softly. "The way I was supposed to be buried here...

"Did Colonel Mustang tell you how I was killed? Two cuts across my neck at the main artery and vein. Shot through my left lung twice... I'm alive, but I paid a price. Oh, and what I paid..." Brilliant cat eyes gazed steadily at the boy. "At least you have your humanity. That's more than I can say for myself."

"You're just as human as I am, Jean... you've just got a little extra..."

Edward brought his knees to his chest and smiled sadly. "I don't want to lose you again...it was hard enough to let you go back there..."

A smile came this time, easy and full. "Oh, don't worry. I'm like an old bad penny – I always come back." A tiny, pregnant pause. "And I'm sorry for flaring off at you earlier. It's... you running away rubbed me a little raw, and seeing you come back like this made me so angry. I wondered why you would care to see me after a reaction like that. I felt... like an animal in a zoo." Another grin, quick and sharp. "We're never ever going to a zoo once we get out of this, all right?"

"Never really liked the zoo anyway...wild animals tend to have a nasty smell." Ed wrinkled his nose at the thought and flopped back on the bed, rolling over on his stomach and looking up at Havoc.

"But you smell like cigarettes, and I don't know an animal alive that would smell like cigarettes all the time..." There was a hint of a spark in golden eyes, as a grin spread across the younger male's face.

Lithe and quick, Havoc moved across the room and sat next to the prone boy. "Truce, then? M'mm... speaking of cigarettes, next time you visit, do you..." he trailed off and his eyes glared at the young man, full and sharp. "Do you have the Medic Warden's permission to see me right now?"

"Weeeeeell... you could say that..." Golden eyes skirted the glaring gaze professionally, as one hand dipped into his coat pocket and pulled out a single, slightly bent, cigarette, twirling it between his fingers. "Besides... does that really matter that much...?"

A feline grin spread across Ed's lips, as an equally feral glint shone in his eyes that now met Havoc's gaze again. "You don't have any more visitors today, anyway..."

Without hesitating a moment, the alchemist tucked the cigarette between the older man's lips, and in the same moment leaned towards him, breath grazing lightly against Havoc's ear in a whisper.

"Why not let me be the judge on how human you are?"

Blue-green cat-eyes widened in shock. What... what the hell? Did I miss something...?

He lifted his chained hands. "Whoa, wait a minute, Ed!"

Then he noticed his wrists were bleeding – the handcuffs had rubbed him raw.

"Hesitation... a human trait..." Ed was idly unfastening the clasps and buttons on Havoc's jacket, golden eyes flitting back up to the other man's gaze. "If you're not going to smoke it then you might as well put it down.." Without even waiting for a response, he snatched the cigarette back from Havoc again, leaning over and putting it on the side table before returning to the buttons.

"Chimera or no, you haven't lost what drew me in the first time..." There wasn't even time for a retort before three years of loneliness and longing poured itself out in a single kiss.

"No, Ed, wait!" He tried to fend the young man off, but the cuffs caught at his wrists painfully. He hissed between his teeth.

"You shouldn't see my scars... not until they've faded..."

Too late. The twin diagonal slash marks on his throat had already been revealed. And he knew it was only a matter of time until the sick mess of scar tissue disturbingly close to his heart would be revealed.

Ed slid over to straddle Havoc's waist, touching his hands together and clutching the chain that dangled between the cuffs on the man's wrists, a blue light crackling for a moment as the restraints were transmuted into a tangled mass of steel which the alchemist swiftly tossed aside. He then tugged the military jacket free from Havoc's body, similarly tossing that aside before his human arm draped around the older man's shoulders, automail fingers deftly twining in the black fabric of his shirt as golden eyes stared intently into blue-green.

"I've already waited three years, Jean..."

Edward neglected to mention then the humiliating incident the day after his restoration...where Envy had his way and left a broken boy, spent and stripped of all dignity, alone on that bridge...how he'd broken down and told Roy everything...how he'd been so uppity and nervous around Roy ever since then...how he couldn't even trust Al...

He leaned closer, the tip of his nose brushing Havoc's. "I need this, Jean... I need you..." His voice trailed off, and a glistening tear streaked down his cheek. "I haven't felt alive since then... none of this has felt real... I need to know that I'm still alive, Jean... that you're alive and that I'm not going to lose you again... nothing else matters..."

Havoc's self-preservation instinct kicked in, and he began to lick his chafed wrists. Little streaks of blood were left on his lips and face.

"I... I know how you feel..."

"Jean..." Edward trailed human fingers through straw-colored hair, shifting forward so that Havoc's back hit the sheets, strands of golden blond tickling the sides of his face and neck as the younger boy leaned down over him.

Silence reigned for a moment before Ed leaned further, licking away the small crimson streaks. He paused after a few seconds, taking in a slow breath as his tongue retreated from the corner of Havoc's mouth with similar slowness.

"Just don't make me stop... please..."

The harsh and pleading whisper was swiftly followed up with a fierce kiss, automail fingers twining together with Havoc's left, human still buried in tawny locks of hair.

There's so much wrong with you, why can't you tell me? What do you have to hide from me? Ed had never been this desperate before, nor had he ever been so aggressive.

With a soft, capitulating sigh of submission, Havoc surrendered to the inevitable.

Despite the growing warmth in the pit of his stomach, Edward felt almost icily cold...and for a moment he could see -

All around him hands were reaching out, icy fingers scratching across bare skin, tendrils wrapping around his limbs and trying to tear away his very soul.

- Nails dug into the tanned shoulder, mouths separated as a strangled cry wrenched itself from Ed's throat. He clung desperately to the body beneath his own, as though somehow it were his only anchor to the world.

Havoc's jaw clenched as several hormones got together and set off another of the self-preservation instincts. His new body was not fond of physical pain of any degree, and he quickly put his hands flat on the mattress before claws could spring out of their pads and into the young man.

"Ed! Snap out of it before I kill you!"

The urge to kill was growing stronger as Ed's grasp tightened on him. Desperately, he tried to wake the young man up. "Major Elric!"

Golden eyes suddenly snapped open, wide and fearful, unseeing in the short moment that followed, pupils contracting and dilating in hopes of finding something to focus on, but there was nothing but white in his line of vision. Edward's breath caught sharply, a flicker of violet betrayed in golden irises for a split second as the world around him came flooding back.

His first instinct was to shove off of Havoc, away, as far as he could get, and Edward was soon huddled in a shivering heap at the opposite end of the bed, eyes still wide with fear. The only sound was his ragged and uneven breathing.

Havoc sat up slowly, his own body still urging the bloody death of the young man that had so recently vacated his personal space. Gingerly, he unhooked his claws from the mattress, picking off a few stray feathers.

"Ed? What's wrong?"

He had a very distinct feeling that even going near the boy would be a very bad idea. Because of both his condition and the young man's.

Golden eyes remained wide in fear, pupils still dilating and contracting erratically. Every so often he would twitch away from something that wasn't there, eyes darting frantically like a frightened animal.

It was then that Edward's eyes seemed to focus on a point somewhere to the left of and slightly above Havoc's left ear. Something clicked into place in Ed's brain as he slowly took in a long, deep breath...and in the next instant, his pupils contracted sharply, lip trembling as his entire body was tense, frozen stiff as a look of pure, raw fear manifested itself upon his face.

The entire medical wing was sure to hear the bloodcurdling screams that followed, repetitive, unending, refusing to cease until the braided alchemist's throat was dry and raw, his voice hoarse and unable to carry on.

Havoc covered his sensitive ears and groaned, cringing at the horrible sound. It was bad enough that he could hear the infinite dissonances in the tones, but what made it worse was that it was Ed. His Ed. He hunched over, curling into a tiny ball, mewling at the pain in his head.

You don't belong here, blasphemous wretch! Come back, back to your own kind! Earth isn't for you anymore, monster! Your home is purgatory! Return!

"I...wo...o...n..ot...goin...ack...ne...er..."

Breaths ragged and voice hoarse and painful in his throat, screams were reduced to pitiful rasps and occasional squeaks. Golden eyes were partially glazed, half from fear, half from something else, whatever it was that he was seeing.

"Can...ake...me...o...ba...k...s...s..s...sta...ay...a...awa...y...stay away from me!" There was a clap followed shortly by blue light, the bed lurching and shifting, suddenly throwing Havoc against the far wall of the room. The sheets rose and slithered through the air, winding and twisting throughout the room, casting a maze of tangled fiber with Edward at the back, cowering and choking out even more incoherent strings of word fragments, barely visible beyond the messy web of white.

"Great," Havoc muttered. "I've seen shell-shock before, but this..."

Deciding to risk pretty much everything, he dove through the tangled mess, using his nifty claws to tear through the cloth when he was impeded too horribly much.

Finally managing to worm his way through to the young man, he grabbed him in a hug – protecting but not stifling, comforting but not constraining. However, he was ready in the event that Ed took exception to his display of affection.

"Ed... Everything will be all right. It's just a hallucination... I'm here for you..."

Suddenly tense, a few fleeting streaks of violet shot through golden irises. Ed slowly relaxed, however, as the feeling of warmth pricked through the seemingly inescapable cold. His eyes closed slowly and the alchemist let his arms slide around Havoc's waist, tears falling hot on the tan shoulder that remained unmarked by small crescent moons of red.

"Jean... I want you to kill me... end it... I shouldn't be here..."

Havoc looked down at the boy, shocked, incredulous, and just the slightest bit hurt. "Of course you should be here, you little idiot! I went through hell and high water to see you again, and I'm not letting you go!"

He cuddled the boy close. "Suicide's not worth it, Ed. There are so many people here who would be devastated to see you put in the ground. Your brother. Winry. Lieutenant Hawkeye. Colonel Mustang. Me.

"Not to mention what people went through when you died the first time. Not to mention what happened to get you back.

"Don't wish for death. I've seen too much of it, and I don't want to see you go." He tucked Ed's head more securely in the curve of his jaw, neck and shoulder and began to purr comfortingly.

"I'm selfish and you know that, Jean... and I'm the one who's really suffering from being here now..."

Ed tried not to give in, trying to keep his mind set on fulfilling this need and ending these outbursts... he'd only been back one week now and this had happened five times... once he'd even turned on Al...

"I'm not human, Jean... and the other side wants me to remain torn between two worlds rather than be in either one... I can't just keep fighting this... I need it to end... I don't know any other way..."

There was a stern resolution in his voice as he gritted his teeth with the strain of holding back emotion for the sake of getting this over with before he changed his mind and collapsed under the pressure. "Lieutenant... I don't want to have to order you to kill me."

"Respectfully, sir? You're an ass. Even if you order me to kill you, I'll disobey. Then you can have me court-marshaled. Makes my day." He was getting increasingly annoyed, and therefore his voice had lowered several pitches and had begun to sound suspiciously like a disgruntled male lion's growl.

"Stop thinking like the sixteen-year-old kid you used to be. Grow up! You're supposed to be here, not there! I don't care if the other side (whatever the hell that is) wants you to go to Timbuktu, you're here! And you're supposed to be here!"

Here with me...

He flexed his free hand again, and the long, sharp, black claws sprang out from the pads of his fingers. "Think rationally for a minute. Do you really want to die like some poor, stupid animal that's too weak to outrun the hunter?" He took a deep breath, preparing to get hit again. "Do you really want to be a weak coward?"

Hearing the sound of muscle working and joints snapping slightly, Ed reached out and grabbed Havoc's free wrist, pulling the hand over his shoulder so that the tips of claws rested against a slightly raised, red as blood alchemy array. "You were never on that side... not really... just a figment for a fraction of time... you never saw the gate, the eyes, never truly felt the cold... but I've been there and back so many times... been stuck in the middle... Blood is warm, Lieutenant... living flesh is warm... If I'm not really truly alive... then what stain is it on anybody's reputation to exorcise me back to the damnable Purgatory between worlds?"

Ed put pressure on Havoc's wrist without warning, flashes of violet crossing his irises once more the only clue that something was seriously wrong. "Just scratch that blasphemous mark from my shoulder and stop my suffering, Jean..."

The blond alchemist's voice wavered, hesitantly. Was this really what he wanted? Ed didn't even know anymore... It was all too much to bear all at once... but it would be soon now... He could feel the tickling sensation of a single drop of blood that slithered its way down his back from the small puncture he'd caused with Havoc's claws. Soon... and Fullmetal actually believed that nothing could make him change his mind...

Havoc allowed his claws to retract. "No," he said calmly. He got up, leaving Ed. "If you want to die so badly, do it yourself. If you're really so desperate to end your life because you're too lazy to fight whatever's wrong, then I refuse to help you. I won't have the blood of another innocent person staining my hands, and you least of all."

Ed winced as slowly he came to his senses, the flicker of violet leaving dull amber and carefully collected resolve shattering in his eyes, leaving only the broken half-human that he'd been made into. His look was pleading, but he couldn't will himself to make any move other than to look up at Havoc, fresh tears welling in his eyes once more.

"Dammit, Jean... I don't have the strength to fight this! Not alone!"

"You don't have to fight it alone," the older man pointed out shortly. "You never had to. If you would just stop seeing yourself as being alone and heroic, you would have realized that before you said the stupidest thing I have ever heard you say."

He stalked through the mess of sheets to grab his shirt, slip it on and button it up. However distraught Ed may have been at that point, he wasn't comfortable with his scars out to see for all and sundry.

Edward got to his feet, shaking slightly at first, but steadying himself almost immediately. He grabbed his tank top from the floor as he reached the door, slipping it on without so much as a single word or glance towards Havoc.

Fullmetal opened the door, after pausing for only a moment. "I've always been just a lost cause, haven't I? No matter how hard everybody keeps trying to bring me back up to my feet I always fuck things up..." The braided alchemist still hadn't looked back.

"I'll send Al to clean up the mess...don't bother to look for me around later, I'll be going to see the one person I know who can effectively beat some sense into me... if that doesn't work... I'll have to think..."

One boot-clad foot stepped out the door, and then paused. "I don't know when I'll be back...feel free to ask Mustang about the past week, if he withholds, tell him I wanted you to know... oh, and tell him not to come looking for me, unless he wants the butcher's wife to cut off his tail before he can tuck it between his legs and run..." And with that, Fullmetal was gone, the door closing almost silently behind him. Violet eyes blinked rapidly as he walked off, sifting off to return to their usual golden hue.

Edward couldn't have done it himself. It had been Fullmetal that walked into that room, and it was Fullmetal that walked out of it. Edward was really only half-there... it wasn't really what he wanted to say... and it wasn't really what he wanted to do... but Fullmetal protected him... funny, how a name can become a shield with which to deny what's shoved blatantly obvious in your face.

Havoc cursed Ed several times, (stupid little git being the least of it) tore open the door and sprinted down the hall.

Grabbing the back of Ed's collar he yanked him back. "See here, you little nuisance," he snarled. "I told you I wouldn't let you go, and I won't.

"I don't care if you're human, a chimera, or hell, even a homunculus. You're still the charming, bratty little Ed I threw up on in the train station and still the straightforward Ed that... well... nevermind."

He spun the young man around glaring at him with an incendiary look in his slit-pupiled eyes. "Besides, I've been assigned to be your bodyguard, so where you go, I go, boyo. Take it and lump it." And, just because it was a superior officer he was smarting off to, he added, "Sir."

The mask slipped for a fraction of a second, as a hint of shock and hurt sparked in golden eyes before it was set back in place again.

Edward shrugged the Lieutenant off and started walking down the hall again. "I don't need a fucking b-" he'd started to say, but was cut short as something suddenly shot past him.

The something would have impacted square in the center of his forehead, had it not been for Havoc's quick reflexes that took him to the ground before he even knew there was anything wrong. Realization dawned on him as he turned to look over his shoulder, and saw the skyline of Central City instead of a plain, white wall.

"-bodyguard..." Ed managed to choke out, trembling as his mind patched together the fact that the wall that no longer was, was supposed to have been him...

A dark-skinned woman in a military uniform, the stars insinuated she was a Lieutenant Colonel, stepped forward into the hallway, one gloved hand on her hip, the right sleeve of her uniform dangling empty at her side.

The overall look was of a fierce superiority, self-assured and with the glittering look in that one slit-pupiled golden eye, warranted.

There was a slight hiss in the woman's voice when she spoke, sharp and clipped as one would expect from a committed military official. "Very impressive, Second Lieutenant Havoc... I see the operation was a success?" The woman paused, taking in the scene before her while at the same time not even really seeming to see any of it. "And Fullmetal... you're looking quite healthy as well..."

She smiled, a cold smile, really, and continued. "You will both come with me for debriefing." The statement stood firm, commanding. Although it was not said, the woman's words were unquestionably an order.

"Like hell we are," Havoc retorted, adrenaline still surging high. Getting up, he kept his front towards the woman, protecting Ed from any threat she might have posed.

There was a funny smell around that woman, and he didn't like it at all – cold, musty, but sweet. Unconsciously, his upper lip curled up, revealing sharp, white teeth. The claws on his left hand sprang out.

A flicker of violet specks danced across Edward's irises, and he stared dumbfounded at the woman from behind Havoc, still on the floor.

"Wha..." was all he could manage to say.

Golden eye narrowed to a slit. "That is an order from a superior officer, Lieutenant!" The woman snapped, not making a move at all. "And if you wish to keep that pathetic title I suggest you do as I say before I have to get the warden to put you in a cage..." The malice in her voice was sharp, but to anyone who didn't know better, it would simply seem as though she was a woman who severely abhorred insubordinate officers.

"First time I've seen you," Havoc remarked. "Besides, I've been debriefed about three times already. I never got notice of a fourth debriefing."

The scent finally clicked in his head. Snake. Adder? No. Something else.

"And it's Second Lieutenant, ma'am."

"The Fuhrer would be pleased to hear of your skills of intuition, Second Lieutenant... And the debriefing is mostly for Fullmetal, not you." The one-armed woman still stood at ease, but with an air of superiority lingering about her. "Now, Major Elric!"

Subconsciously responding to orders, for reasons unknown, considering he didn't usually tend to follow orders, Edward scrambled to his feet in a hasty salute. "Ma'am!" He walked past Havoc and towards the Lieutenant Colonel.

"So what's it like to be a cold-blooded reptile?" Havoc said easily, tensing to get hit by more than one person. "I'm assuming your operation wasn't as... successful as mine?" His tone was slightly mocking, but there was still the hint of a growl. "I'm surprised you managed to weasel your way in here, little viper."

"Jean what the hell are you talking... about..." Ed let his words trail off, looking back slowly from Havoc to this woman in front of him.

"Wha...h...how..."

The woman's mouth broadened into a fanged grin. "That's a good nose you've got there, dog of the military...or rather...cat as it would be..." The brilliant blue of a military jacket hit the floor, revealing a black, low-cut, tight-fitting shirt, one sleeve long and dangling to the right side where an arm wasn't present to fill it, the other sleeve short, cut right at the shoulder to reveal the glittering scales that ran down her arm. Before long, the scales had snaked their way upward, peaking into stripes on her cheeks. Navy blue hat was tossed aside recklessly to reveal a short, rebellious looking style of silvery white hair. Her visible eye never blinked, though a semitransparent membrane slid over it, moistening it.

Falsehood bowed swiftly, forked tongue flitting out to smell the fear emanated from the alchemist before her. Before there was a chance to react, she'd struck, taking Fullmetal by surprise with a deadly kiss.

Her one eye looked directly at Havoc, as the boy in her arms started to go limp, and she pulled away, smirking as that forked tongue slid out again before Falsehood 'blinked', sliding past the boy as he dropped to his knees, past Havoc in the blink of an eye as she hissed into his ear..."Best find him the anti-venom quickly... if you want him to live..." ...and out the gaping hole in the wall behind them.

"Jean... I... don't feel so good..." The blond haired alchemist's eyes rolled back slightly as he collapsed to the floor without warning.

"Anti-venom... Oh, fuck!" He stooped down to quickly feel Ed's pulse. Still going strong, even though it was occasionally erratic. "Looks like you're going to get your wish, kid," he muttered sourly. "And you said you didn't need a bodyguard... you stupid ass, how could you not tell!"

He moved smoothly, muscles working lithely as he catapulted away, sprinting towards the Medical Supply at the end of the hall.

Edward convulsed violently, spilling the contents of his stomach on the tiled floor next to himself, mouth gaping for air that his lungs couldn't seem to get, searing pain shooting throughout his body as he dry heaved a few times more, each time the stomach acid burning his already raw throat.

Fuck!

Havoc skidded into the Supply room, almost crashing into a tall metal cabinet. He looked around, searching desperately for the 'Desert Wounds and Injuries' closet.

Bingo!

He tore open the doors, searching for venom serum. He found it on the top shelf, already in a syringe, ready for application.

There IS a God!

He grabbed it and sprinted back out.

Ed lay there in the middle of the hallway, muscles occasionally twitching and jerking involuntarily, a cold sweat blanketing his body.

Havoc skidded past the prone boy, going down on all fours and digging his claws into the tile. That stopped him quite nicely.

He jabbed the syringe into the side of Ed's neck (the artery) and pushed in the plunger. After he was completely certain the serum was in, he collapsed back into the wall and waited for the kid to wake up.

And boy, was Ed ever going to get the riot act.

After a while, slightly glazed golden eyes flickered open, and Edward was overcome with a coughing fit that drug him to his knees with a rude awakening.

"Did... did I... am I... where... Jean!" The boy's voice was confused at first, and then panicked, as clouded vision slowly began to focus on military blue and straw yellow. "Oh thank god..."

A weary look of relief swept across his face, the tiny flecks of violet slowly melting away into pure gold.

"Welcome back," Havoc remarked noncommittally, cleaning tile and grout dust out from under his fingernails with a claw.

Edward breathed a heavy sigh, crawling wearily over to Havoc and collapsing again, head resting on Havoc's thigh as golden eyes slowly closed, the blond alchemist succumbing again to sleep.

"Oh, for..."

Figures he'd pass out on me, Havoc thought sourly. My room's a mess, I'm a mess, and he expects me to take care of him?

As angry as he was, he had to admit that it was preferable to Ed's other moods that hour.

Grunting slightly, he lifted the boy up and cradled him in his arms.

"Now I get to clean up my room. Funsies."

The blond boy stirred slightly, instinctively clutching at Havoc's shirt, whimpering.

"...I'm sorry...Jean..."

Havoc's jaw tightened. It took all his considerable willpower not to flare off here and now.

"I sure hope you are, Ed. Otherwise you're not going to like what I have to say at all."

Edward sighed, his grip loosening slightly as he mumbled incoherently in his sleep.

As he carried the boy back to his room, a petty officer came panting up to him. "Lieutenant, what happened here?"

"An unwarranted attack against myself and Major Elric," Havoc replied coolly. "Staged by a woman impersonating a Lieutenant Colonel. She escaped through that hole in the wall." He twitched his head back. "A ground patrol should be in order."

The young officer nodded fuzzily. "Right. I expect you and Major Elric to be summoned later for a full report." The inefficient young man dashed off, not even questioning the odd picture that Ed and Havoc made.

Havoc opened his door onto the rampant chaos inside. He sighed, depositing the comatose boy onto his bed.

"Well, this isn't too bad of a mess..." he remarked, tearing down the sheets and piling them at the foot of the bed. "I guess I should be thankful you didn't totally mess up my room."

After cleaning up, he glanced down at his wrists, which were bleeding again. "Oh, damn."

Havoc tore up some strips to bandage his wrists with, hoping they wouldn't swell into cantaloupes by the next week. If they did, he'd be one severely unhappy camper.

He perched himself on the windowsill, waiting for his Horror from Hell to wake up.

And he was still severely pissed.

Ed never really meant to cause any harm...but it would be hard for anyone who hadn't been across the Gate to know what it was like to be pulled back through it by force.

Cold...so cold...

In truly cat-like fashion, Havoc could feel himself dozing off in the warm sunlight.


Please review, constructive criticism and questions appreciated, flames will be deflected back at you by Roy. n.n;