Chapter 10

AN: Another rough chapter. Not really for what goes on, but for some verbal descriptions.

oooooooo

"Where the hell are they?" Ed snarled under his breath.

They had found the hidden elevator in the Fuhrer's office, greasy bootprints on either side of the door a clear indication that Winry had fought back. The wrench lying behind the couch told just how desperate that struggle had been.

The entire group had emerged in the upper halls of some kind of amphitheater, or dance hall. They were trying to be quiet, to find the homunculi before they were found themselves. So far, they were having no success...

Until voices drifted from below them.

"Wrath, are you ready to perform the transmutation?"

"Will...will it hurt her?"

"Of course not."

Ed was the first to move, peering into the sprawling hall below them. What he saw sent his stomach plummeting.

The homunculi were gathered around an enormous transmutation circle, with a large bowl of what Ed recognised as Red Water in the middle. To one side, was Winry, sprawled on a table, apparently unconscious. Her feet were bare, and purple fabric was wrapped around her wrists.

What the hell were they doing to her?

"We need to get down there, now!" he hissed.

"No arguments there," Mustang agreed. "As for getting down there-"

But Izumi was several steps ahead of him. She clapped her hands, transmuting the floor beneath them, warping it into a gentle slope to the floor below it.

"Get going!" she bellowed, beginning to run down her makeshift ramp.

No one hesitated in obeying – the homunculi were already massing.

Lust's claws separated Izumi and Seig, the alchemist and her husband joining to launch a double assault on the homunculus attacking them. Pride lunged for Roy, sword drawn, and the Flame alchemist barely managed to sidestep in time. Gluttony tried to assist Lust, but Armstrong intervened, dealing a blow that sent the large homunculus reeling, even with his considerable weight. Sloth's snaking liquid arms snagged Havoc, and had to be driven back by a hail of bullets from Riza's gun. As though of one mind, she, Havoc, Fuery, Breda and Falman rushed Sloth, trying to bring her down with sheer force of numbers instead of alchemy. Ed tried to go to Winry, but Envy's fist lunged in front of him, forcing him to fight or risk a cracked skull. Wrath launched himself from the table, aiming at Ed's unprotected back, but Al stepped between them.

Chaos didn't even begin to describe it.

Hohenheim advanced on the woman standing in the center of the large hall, apparently unconcerned at the battle raging around her.

"Hello, Hohenheim, just in time to witness the making of the new Philosopher's Stone."

"Not this time, Dante," Hohenheim said, his voice flat.

"Why not?" she smirked, "You certainly can't stop me."

She didn't even have to clap her hands. As a hammer blow of pure alchemical force rushed towards him, Hohenheim raised his hands to block it.

oooooooo

Winry's heart jumped as she heard a battle raging close by...and was that Ed's voice?

She risked opening her eyes, just a little, the lids parted by the merest slit.

And she nearly screamed in joy. They'd come! They were here to get her out of this awful place! Winry would have leapt from the table, but the drug surged up again, and it became impossible to move – she struggled just to remain conscious.

She could dimly hear Wrath shrieking like a banshee, fighting Al with all the ferocity of a wildcat. More evidence for that split-personality thing. It just wasn't natural how he could switch from being sweet and comforting to savage and merciless so quickly.

As darkness hovered at the edge of her vision, Winry fought desperately not to pass out.

oooooooo

"So good of you to drop by, pipsqueak," Envy taunted.

A slight tightening of Ed's lips was the only sign that he had heard the insult. The alchemist was uncharacteristically silent about the jab at his height, completely focused on the fight.

Envy narrowed his eyes. Ed wasn't reacting the way he'd hoped – maybe he'd have to go farther to get the reaction he desired...

For several moments, the battle was silent as the homunculus pondered what he could throw at Ed that would enrage the alchemist. Then he saw Ed's eyes dart towards Winry for a split second, and he knew.

"You must want your little mechanic back something fierce, huh? I don't blame you, that is one delectable ride," Envy smirked.

Ed said nothing. He was so absorbed in the fight the words barely registered. And when they did, he simply dismissed them, chalking them up to Envy's malicious nature.

"Speaking from experience, of course. While your little team was running around like headless chickens, did you ever wonder what was happening to Winry? What I was doing with her?"

Ed snorted, "Nice try, Envy. Winry would never do anything with you."

Envy barely managed to contain a shout of joy – Ed was playing right into his hands. "True, 'with her' isn't really an apt description. 'To her' fits better. I spent hours with her, Fullmetal. Hours. She'd never tell you – ashamed, probably, of everything I did to her. Of everything I made her do."

Ed's mouth went dry. Every instinct he possessed was telling him that this was nothing good. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You don't know? I thought it was obvious...I fucked her, Fullmetal. I fucked your pretty little mechanic."

Every one of Ed's muscles snapped tight, his mind screaming in horror, frantically rejecting the thought that Winry had been raped.

'He's lying! He's just trying to screw with your head!' he berated himself. 'Snap out of it!'

Envy could see Ed trying to will himself into numbness, so he continued goading him. "Don't worry, I didn't take her like this-" his head flicked in the direction of Winry's prone form, "I don't like them drugged. She was awake the whole time. Her eyes are stunning, aren't they? Like the summer sky...and so expressive. When I was on top of her...they turned the colour of a frozen river, but when I was actually in her...they were like amethysts, so dark blue they were practically purple."

'I'm not listening!' Ed coached himself, feeling his stomach work itself into a thousand knots. 'He's lying, it's not true!'

"She was so feisty, so defiant...she fought me every inch of the way, but that just made it all the sweeter. The things I did to her, Fullmetal...you can't imagine. I've lived for centuries, so believe me, when I say I tried everything with her...I do mean everything. Over and over, again and again. I was only planning on doing her once, but I just couldn't help myself. She was like strawberries and cream...perfect...every last inch of her."

Ed's chest felt so tight it was a wonder he could breathe. He was trying to keep his mind on the fight, but it was becoming more and more difficult. He kept telling himself that Envy was simply trying to push his buttons...but he couldn't block out the snide voice drilling into his brain, painting horrendous images in it's wake.

"Her skin was so soft...that surprised me, you know, considering she's a mechanic and all. And it was so pale, like milk cream. All of her was beautiful; slender legs, tiny waist, full breasts..."

Ed gritted his teeth, blind rage rising in him as Envy described Winry's body intimately. 'This can't be true, it can't be...please, don't let it be true...'

"She cried, you know? When she realised she wasn't strong enough to push me away...just turned her head and closed her eyes, and these little tears began to trickle down her cheeks. That felt so good – her despair, her helplessness..."

Envy was pleased to note Ed's breath coming in sharp gulps, and grinned at the way the alchemist's hands trembled. He nearly laughed at the deep anguish in Ed's eyes.

Ed, for his part, was desperately trying to ignore what Envy was saying. A good imagination was essential in an alchemist, but now Ed was cursing it, cursing the agonising visions that it conjured.

"She begged too. Begged me."

Then, horrifyingly, when Envy's mouth opened, it was Winry's voice that issued forth. Winry's voice, sounding terrified, hurt and choked with tears. "Please, stop! Oh, no, don't...please, please, leave me alone!"

No matter how much Ed told himself that this had never happened, those words, in that voice, tore at his very soul.

"Just to prove I'm telling the truth," Envy smirked, "I'll tell you a few...things...about your little mechanic. Well, she's definitely a natural blonde. She has a scar, right here-" Envy touched the rise of his hip, his finger resting on the tip of the bone. "Oh, and I almost forgot...I bit her, just about here-" he smoothed his hand over the side of his neck. "The sight of blood on her skin...the sound of her screams...beautiful..."

"Shut up!" Ed hissed, unable to restrain himself any longer. It might be a lie, but it still made him sick to hear it. Red dots of rage were exploding behind his eyes. "Just shut up!"

"Oh, but I haven't told you the best part," Envy waited for perhaps a few seconds, then dropped his carefully-contrived bombshell. "She screamed for you, Fullmetal. While I was fucking her, she was screaming for you to come and save her."

And that was all it took. Those words single-handedly managed to shred Ed's heart apart as nothing else ever could. The idea that Winry had screamed for his help as she was being raped...

For a split second, Ed wilted, almost collapsing to the floor at the despair that washed through his body. But it was quickly consumed by white-hot anger.

And, as Envy had hoped he would, Ed's rage and anguish over came all logical thought. He rushed wildly, savagely.

Blindly.

Envy smirked, and waited for his opening.