Points of Authority

Woo! I got the day off from school! Yeah! … Okay, so, since I have the day off, and it's currently, like, 10:30 a.m., I'm going to try to work on this all day and make it a good sized chapter (you must understand, I'm very featherbrained, I get distracted easily and wander off from my computer to read or watch TV or listen to music or something like that.)

I'm glad no one actually threatened to kill me, though I was threatened to be beaten with a porkchop… That disturbed me… Seeing as how I don't like pork much.

Don't you guys worry, Envy will get his powers back before the final battle with Dante. Yes, it has been decided, Dante will die. I can just see you all celebrating. o

Disclaimer (I keep forgetting about this thing…) : Do you see Dante and Lust actually turning on Envy? Do you see Edward freaking out because he thinks Envy is dead? No? Then, if you don't see these things, isn't it safe to assume I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist? Yes? Wonderful. You're catching on.

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Envy's eyes slowly, painfully, slid open. He flinched at the sparse light in the room, wincing as he turned his head. He sensed a presence on his left side, and tried to turn so he could see who it was. He abruptly stopped, biting back a yelp of pain, as pain seared through his body, burning worse than any fire, from his right shoulder and various points in his back. Oh… yeah… Forgot about those…………… Wait… Where am I? Why am I not dead? He groaned. Probably left just barely alive and locked in a dungeon to be tortured or something. Woo. Fun, fun. I can't wait.

The figure at his side stirred. It lifted its head briefly, and, as its golden eyes met Envy's, he suddenly knew where he was.

Ed's eyes widened as he looked up to see Envy looking right back at him.

"… You're alive!" he practically shouted, jumping up and placing his hands none-too-gently on the side of Envy's bed. Oh, thank God, thank God, thank God! Envy flinched at the loud tone of Ed's voice.

"Barely…" his voice, weary from all the screaming he had done previously (A/N- Bad, bad mind! Bad! Sorry… :shakes head: I really need to stop reading all those lemons… o.O), came out barely above a whisper. "Where… Well, it's obvious where I am, so let me ask a more pressing question. Why?"

"Why what?" Ed intoned, lowering his voice.

"Why am I here? Why didn't you just let me die? That would get a load offa your shoulders, ne?" Envy asked, his voice becoming a tad bit stronger. Heh… Could I be imagining it, or is that concern that I see in my O'Chibi-san's eyes? … Wait… MY!

"Uh…" Ed flushed a bit, trying to think up a good excuse. A little voice in the back of his head chanted Edward's in love, Edward's in love in a tiny sing-song voice. He quickly disposed of that voice by throwing it into a deep chasm, almost grinning as he heard it screaming shrilly on its way down. "Well… I didn't figure, if they were trying to kill you, that uh… That you were a part of their little pack anymore, right?"

Envy raised an eyebrow. "So what if I'm not? I'm still an enemy of the state, right?"

Ed shrugged. "Why not join up with us?"

Envy scoffed. "It'd be safer for me to go back to Dante." (A/N- Ah! Ah! Points of Authority just came on my CD player! Coincidence? I think not! XD Sorry, I just had to say it… Anyone out there actually know the group that sings that? I think I smell a contest… lol)

"You can't go back there."

"Why not?"

"They'll just finish you off! Are you really that eager to die?"

Envy shrugged, wincing as pain shot through him again. "I got nothing else to live for…" He looked away.

"Then make a reason to keep living. Come on, it can't be that hard."

"Easy for you to say. You've always had a reason for living."

"And you haven't?"

"Tch. Please. Why do you think I was named Envy? Because I envy everyone else, everything they have that I don't. Like family."

"But I thought Dante was your mother…?"

"Ha!" Envy's eyes narrowed and hardened. "That bitch was never worthy of being called anyone's mother." Ed had obviously touched a nerve. He let the subject drop quickly.

"Well, you're in no condition to go anywhere or move period. You're at least going to get better before you decide where you're going to go." He finished his sentence with an air of finality. Envy sighed submissively.

"I couldn't argue if I tried, could I?"

"Nope."

A sigh. "Fine. I'll stay. But… I have a favor to ask of you…"

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Ed walked in to Mustang's office. The Colonel looked up from his papers, casting Riza a sidelong glance before cautiously setting them down. Ed sniggered.

"She not needing to use the pistol today, Mustang?" he asked teasingly.

"Not yet," Riza replied, fingering the pistol that was at rest in its holster by her side, as if thinking to use it anyway.

"You here for a reason, Fullmetal?" Roy asked, resting his chin in his palm.

"Yeah… Kinda. But… Well, there's a really long story behind this request…" And with that, he began recounting the previous two day's events, leaving out a few… er… key details.

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"So, let me get this straight. You want us to give our worst enemy what we confiscated from Marcoh so he can get his power back?" Roy asked dubiously.

Ed shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "Well… Yeah."

"And what are we going to get in return for the stones?"

"He promised to lend his services to us whenever necessary."

"So he's… switching sides?"

"I guess you could say that, yeah."

"… Why?"

Ed sighed. "Because they tried to kill him. Have you not been listening to me?"

Roy massaged his temples. "… Well… I suppose… I should probably talk to the Fuhrer about this, first."

"For some reason, he specifically requested that the Fuhrer be left out of this."

That pulled a questioning glance from Roy. Ed replied with a shrug.

"I could lose my job over this, you know."

"Not if no one knows." Ed smiled wickedly. "I won't tell if you won't."

"I stopped playing those childish games a while ago. However, the prospect of having an indestructible force on our side… Alright. I'll do it." He still looked reluctant as he scribbled something down on a sheet of paper. Ed grinned triumphantly.

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Ed walked into the room, seeing Al and Envy obviously deep in conversation. The discussion ended abruptly when he walked into the room, and he became curious, from Al's look of conquest and Envy's disgruntled look. The remnants of a blush on the homunculus's face only made him that much more curious. He lay a briefcase down on the bed Envy occupied. Envy's eyes shone with anticipation.

"You mean he actually gave it up?" Envy asked eagerly.

"Yep. What are you going to do with them, exactly?" Ed asked, curiosity overwhelming him.

"… Eat them, of course." He opened the briefcase. "Or drink them, in this case… I guess… I hope it works…"

Ed looked at him like he was crazy. "You're going to consume that? Won't it kill you?"

Envy laughed. "Nope. It's how we're sealed… Oh, fuck, I have to go through the sealing again..." He grimaced.

"What, is it painful?"

"Excruciatingly."

"Oh. Sucks for you."

Envy cast him a slight glare. "Thanks for the support. I feel much better about this now."

"How do you know when you've consumed enough?"

"Uh… I'll suddenly be in severe pain."

"So you'll have no idea until it's too late."

"Yep."

"No time to brace yourself."

"… Yep."

"No time to—"

"Shut up!"

Al, snickering slightly, grasped his brother's shoulder. "We should go until he finishes. The last thing he needs it to be agitated when doing this." Ed gave his younger brother a sidelong glance, then shrugged and walked out of the room, Al following.

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After about half an hour of wandering the streets of East City aimlessly, Ed began to get impatient.

"When the hell is he going to be finished?" he asked, crossing his arms across his chest in agitation. Suddenly, from seemingly nowhere, a briefcase was dropped onto the chibi's head. Amid heavy curses and death threats, Envy dropped in front of Ed, fully healed and smiling.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did that land on you? I didn't see you standing there," the Sin said, grinning like a maniac and obviously trying hard to hold back laughter.

"I hate you."

That set the laughter loose. Ed simply glared until he was finished laughing, then punched him on the shoulder. Envy muttered an "ow" and rubbed the abused body part.

"I see you have new clothes," Al said.

"Yeah, how'd you manage that?" Ed asked, still glaring.

"Oh. They come with the body. Rather convenient, if you ask me," Envy said, smiling.

"I didn't," Ed replied. Envy shrugged. Alphonse noticed a kittie out of the corner of his eye. He tried sneaking off, but, due to his bulk, Ed noticed. "Where are you going, Al?" Al stopped in his tracks.

"Uh… To get groceries. You two have to eat, or if Envy doesn't, at least you do. And we both know how much you hate the cafeteria food at Headquarters," Al said quickly.

"Oh. Okay. Don't be long. And no cats. Understand?" Ed crossed his arms, giving a pointed glare.

"Oh, sure, sure, brother. Of course not." With that "promise," Al went off in search of the kittie. Ed turned back to Envy.

"Uh… Well… I guess that it's just the two of us now…" Ed said, suddenly uncomfortable for no reason. Envy linked his hands behind his back and grinned, also feeling the change in atmosphere.

"Yeah… Looks like it… Uh… We should go back to the hotel and clean up, ne?"

"Hm? Clean what?" Ed cocked his head to the side, looking at Envy questioningly. Envy sweatdropped.

"Have you not seen the condition of your room? And the sheets that I was on, they're all bloody and stuff. Isn't that your bed?" Envy shook his head and grabbed Ed by the arm, dragging him back to the hotel.

"But… But… I hate cleaning!"

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Meh. Five pages… Though most of it's dialogue… I kinda cheated… ;;

I really want to know, though… Who knows who Points of Authority is sung by? And who listens to them? They happen to be one of my favorite bands… Maybe I'll put the first person with the right answer in the next chapter… Not that you guys would care, right::sighs:

The next chapter will be mainly fluff, I'm figuring. Since they're alone… In a confined room… Alone… :positively giddy from all the possibilities: Eight chapters… I think that's delaying the romance for long enough, don't you guys?

Well, don't forget to drop me a line!

Hey, if you decide to take a whack at who sings the song (not that it's hard at all, I think I actually put it in the first chapter… I'll go delete that real quick…) tell me what you want for a prize. If it isn't too terribly much (it probably won't be) I'll see what I can do, huh? Remember, comment, criticize, compliment, or complain! I'd love to hear what you think!

Ja, mata!

Envysloyalservant