Hey look, I got off my ass and updated….amazing.

No warnings for this chapter, just enjoy.


Envy pulled himself up off of the floor and sat on a box. His head was still spinning from the recent transformation. Whatever was wrong with him, he needed help. His first option was Dante, his master and birthmother, but that was quickly ruled out. She had even less compassion than him. At even a hint that one of the homunculi was weakening, she ordered them dead. One of the previous Prides had shown too much compassion, Dante labeled it to be a sign of weakness and he was slaughtered the next day.

The only one who could possibly know what was wrong with him, maybe even fix it, was Hohenheim. The idea of returning to him made Envy gag, he would rather give up his un-ending life than do that. The alchemist that he helped to control, those working on the stone, were too likely to give away his secret. There was only one person left who was experienced enough to help him. As much as it sickened him, it was the only option he had.

The next day Envy climbed on a train headed to a small town in the middle of nowhere. He used a body of his own concoction, one that could blend in very well. He was a person of normal height, brown hair, brown eyes, a boring face, wearing a nice suit, but not nice enough to attract attention. He looked like someone going to a job interview perhaps.

Although he hid his nature very well, he had trouble hiding his disgust. He hated trains, but not because of the noise or even the uncomfortable seats. He hated them because of the people. There were always so many, so close, so stupid and useless. Today, however, he didn't notice them as much. He was so focused on his own problems that he tuned out everything around him. Before he knew it, he was getting off of the train.

The area around him was familiar, he had spied on all of Hohenheim's spawn over the years. Ed and Al were the only two children that he stayed with for more than a year and the only two that Envy had allowed to live. If it had not been for their interest in alchemy, they would have been killed as well. Strangely enough, all of Hohenheim's children were boys, he seemed incapable of producing a girl.


Miles away in a small house, Winry was fixing breakfast for Edward. Since he was hiding under the floor, he could not see what she was doing and didn't catch her adding milk to the eggs. She had just finished the scrambled eggs when a firm knock on the door caught her attention. Placing the eggs on a plate, she opened the door.

Envy was standing there, still looking like someone going to a job interview. He took off his hat and stepped inside.

"Winry Rockbell, right?" He asked as though he didn't know who she was. He knew her very well from when he had spied on Ed and Al.

"Yes. Is there something I can help you with? Automail perhaps?" She looked at him strangely. Behind her, Den had begun to growl deep in his throat.

"Smart dog," Envy muttered before turning his attention back to Winry, "I'm here to see Edward and Alphonse. Don't bother lying to me, I know that they are here."

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen them. If you tell me your name, I'll tell them that you were looking for them next time I see them." Winry felt uncomfortable with this stranger, but she tried not to show it. If Den didn't like him, there had to be a reason.

"I need to see them now. Go in the basement and tell them that their half brother is here to see them." Envy looked at the shocked expression on her face. "Yes, that's right, the basement. Are you surprised that I know where you are hiding them?"

From the other side of the room, a door opened up from the floor. Ed climbed out but Al stayed behind. He looked the stranger over and took a few steps forward.

"Who are you?" he asked, baffled.

"I can be whoever you want me to be, Fullmini" Envy's lips contorted into an evil smile as a look of shock and horror came over Ed's face.

"Winry, get out of here! He's a homunculus!" Ed shouted at her. Envy made no attempt to stop her from leaving the room. Instead, he sat down on a chair and changed his form. He had found that if he sat he was better able to stay awake. Also, from studying himself in the mirror, he found that he did not look like he was losing control.

"Why are you here? To try to convince us to use the damned stone?" Ed shouted. If Envy's head had not been swimming, Edward would have received a firm slap across that loud mouth of his.

"Hardly. I'm here of my own free will, nothing to do with the bitch. I have a deal to make with you." Envy leaned his chair back on two legs, trying to look non-threatening, which was very difficult for him. The only thing more difficult was to not call Ed "pipsqueak" at every opportunity.

"Give me one reason why I should trust you," Ed growled.

"For starters, I don't need your trust, I need your cooperation. If you really want to trust me though, consider the fact that I know where you are hiding and the military doesn't."

"So its blackmail then, help you or you'll tell them." Ed sneered.

"Nope, wrong again. I'm offering to help you in return. Equivalent exchange, right? You do a little research for me, I give you a safe place to stay and tell you where you can find the remains of the rest of the homunculi. Sound like a fair deal?" Envy stood up and went over to where Al was still hiding. "Your brother can come along as well. He might be useful when it comes to doing the research."

"Something tells me that you aren't looking for a science fair project. What do you want us to study? The philosopher's stone?" Ed shouted back.

"Will you give up that obsession with the stone, I already told you that this has nothing to do with her. There are two theories that I want you to study, Alchemic Decomposition and Time Element." Envy slouched back down in the chair.

Ed just stood there for a moment. Those were old theories that very few people even knew about, let alone studied. Alchemic Decomposition was the theory that things created by alchemy sometimes returned to their natural state over time. It was one of the theories that Isbalans used to prove that their god did not like alchemy. Time Element was the idea that some reactions needed time to take effect. If you were trying to create a book case, it might take a day for it to really look like a book case. Overall, that theory was rejected by most alchemists because it did not take a day for it to look like a book case.

"Why do you want me to study those?" Ed asked, his confusion taking over his anger.

"That doesn't matter. I just want you to."

"Time Element is mostly found in the creation of a homunculus." Ed pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. I'm clearly not interested in creating another damned creature, there are no humans that are worth the effort of bringing back to life. Can we just get on with this?" Envy was beginning to get annoyed, he did not want to put up with this but he needed Ed's help.

"Brother," Al spoke up from the basement, "If we don't go with him, what are we going to do? We can't stay here."

Ed looked down at his younger brother. The gigantic suit of armor hardly fit in the basement. Staying here meant forcing his brother to be uncomfortable, something he hated doing.

"There is a place where we won't be disturbed. You can stay there as long as you like, even after you finish the research. All the books you should need will be there, all of the equipment too." Envy was now standing next to Ed, looking down at Al. "The ceilings are high, so are the doorways. The rooms are large enough that he won't have trouble getting around."

"Alright, I'll go. But first, how do I know that you aren't going to turn me in?"

"Because I need you to do that research."


Thank you to those kind people who reviewed, also, thank you to the kind people who put this story on their story alerts list but didn't review. I guess they like it but they don't want people to know.

As for Envy being a uke, unless major changes happen in my writing ability, there wont be enough information to figure out who ends up on top. The scene will just sorta fade out before that happens. (Unless I magicly learn to write lemons, in which case there will be a link to a site where you can find out everything you want to know, possibly more)

Ok people, you know the drill. Please say something semi-intelligent, feel free to tell me if something is wrong with the story, and um…well, have fun.