. . .

Envy raised his hands in surrender, keeping his eyes on the Flame Alchemist.
"Well, well. I had reports of your friends in the area, but I had no idea you were here too, Homunculus. I guess I shouldn't be surprised; you do like to take the forms of others, don't you?"
Roy looked briefly to Ed and Al. "Well, at least we caught this one. This won't take long."
"Wait!"

Roy's dark eyes hit Ed in surprise. Al took the opportunity to move backwards so that he was directly in front of Envy. He was hoping that Roy wouldn't be able to hit Envy with his flames if there was a civilian standing too close.
"If you have other ideas of what we should do with him, I'm all ears." Roy said, addressing Ed.
"He's…" Ed's eyes flicked back and forth, stress building within him as he realised the gig was well and truly up.
"He's with us, Colonel."
Roy's eyes darkened.
"What are you talking about? He's the enemy!"
"Actually," Envy started. Roy shot him a glare so deadly he thought it best to close his mouth.

"We promised him amnesty," Ed argued.
"That's not your right anymore, as you love to constantly remind me."
"I may not be a State Alchemist anymore, but I still see it as my duty to help those who need it! That's not just a soldier's job; it's a basic responsibility of all humans!"
"He's not human though!" Roy reminded him. "He's a Homunculus."

"Would you say the same thing about Ishbalans?" Al asked quietly. Roy sputtered.
"No! Of course not! But that's different-"
"How is it so different, Colonel? You had to kill Ishbalans en masse during the war because they were on the wrong side of history. They also have Scar in their ranks, who is arguably one of the biggest threats you face on a daily basis. Does that mean you would strike down any Ishbalan you saw on the street now?"
"No!"
"Why not?"
"Because…" Roy trailed off.

"Because not all Ishbalans are the same," Al finished for him. "That's what you were about to say. What makes you think that can't be true of Homunculi, too?"
Roy still didn't look like he was about to back down. Ed picked up where his brother had left off.
"Tell me Colonel, how are Homunculi created?"
"Is this an alchemy lesson, Edward?"
"Just answer the damn question."
"Fine," Roy sighed. "A Homunculus is created when an alchemist tries to bring back the dead."
"Now tell me; do you honestly think those alchemists are trying to create evil? Do you think they program something into the Homunculi that makes them inherently bad?"
"No," Roy admitted, now seeing where this was going.
"So how can you tell us with certainty that all Homunculi are inherently evil?"

Roy didn't have an answer for that. His gloved hand wavered just slightly.

"All they know is what they've been taught," Al added on. "What was it you told us, Envy? You're born, not made. That's what you said."
He turned back to Roy.
"They come into this world just like newborns, Colonel. Just like us. If all they're taught is hatred and violence, that's all they're going to understand. And considering they're created from the failed attempt to bring a loved one back, I can imagine that's how a lot of them start their lives. With fear, rejection, and hate. That's probably why most of the ones we've met have turned out the way they have. But who's to say that they can't be taught something else?"

Roy groaned.
"And what about the fact that this particular one tried to kill you, Alphonse? Did you hit your head and forget about that? Argue all you want about whether Homunculi can be good people; I'm sure you're right and there are some out there. But this one made his choice a long time ago!"

Envy decided to use his ace in the hole. As little as he wanted to, he had no other choice.

"She's going to kill you, Flame Alchemist."
Roy narrowed his eyes. "What? Is that a threat?"
"No," Envy said half honestly. "It's a gesture of good will. Our master is planning your death as we speak. She's going to have you sent up North to 'de-escalate a potential uprising'. While you're there, you're going to be hit by a stray bullet. The plan is that you'll die on the scene, and your death will cause an outright war. She's hoping that she'll be able to use that war to create a stone."

Everyone fell silent. Roy's breaths started to become shallow. He lowered his arm, now taking a much more sincere interest in the Homunculus.
"How do you know this?"
"Because I was supposed to help," Envy admitted. "Of course, that's going to be a little difficult now. I don't have access to my powers right now, and I'm sure neither of us plans to go North anymore."
"Why does she want me dead?"
"Because you started to interfere too heavily in her plans. She wants you out of the way."

"One more question, Homunculus."
"I have nothing better to do than answer it," he shrugged.
"How was she going to have me sent up North? Is she military?"
Envy paused for a long time. Seriously thought it through.
"I can't say who, but she has someone on the inside."
"Someone higher than me, who could order me around," Roy speculated. Envy nodded.
"Way higher than you. As in, you could be court martialled if you refuse to follow an order."

Roy snapped his fingers, and Envy flinched as he felt a wave of heat. But it wasn't him the Flame Alchemist had chosen to set on fire; instead, the already damaged couch next to him caught alight.
"Damnit!" Roy swore. He turned around and leaned on the wall outside the room for several minutes.
When he returned, he had seemingly regained his composure.
"Edward, Alphonse. This… creature clearly has a great deal of valuable information. I can't risk executing him right now. It seems like you get your wish, for the time being; he will be spared."

Everyone took a deep breath.
"But," Roy added, "We just can't allow him to run amok either. He's a wanted criminal. Since you're a retired State Alchemist, Edward, I am officially leaving you in charge for now. You're responsible for him, and for making sure he doesn't cause any trouble."
"What happens if I don't want to," Ed moaned. "I'm not a soldier anymore, you can't make me!"
"Then I'll have no choice," Roy said. They didn't need clarification on what he meant.

"Well we can't stay here, that much is for sure. Not now that the other Homunculi have found us."
"So what do you propose?"
"Let us take him back to Resembool. They'll never find us there."
"Edward, I don't know-"
"There's nothing there, Mustang. You want me to keep him out of trouble, right? Resembool's the sheep town; what trouble could he possibly get into there?"
Envy's mind immediately started delving into all the literal hundreds of ways he could cause trouble in some stupid sheep town. If only he had access to his powers…
"Fine," Roy said. "I'll allow it. But don't think I won't be checking in."

"Whoa, what the hell happened here?"
Roy spun around, absolutely furious, to face Jean Havoc. Envy shuddered for the man.
"And just where the hell were you two?! Did you think I was kidding when I said the Elric brothers needed to be constantly supervised? Did you take that as a friendly suggestion rather than an order?"
Falman put his hands up. "I had nothing to do with this, I was told my shift started now." He shot Havoc a glare. Havoc laughed sheepishly.
"Oh come on Boss, I've had this date set up for months! You knew about it. I figured they would be fine for an hour or so…"
"Well they weren't! I'll have you know Alphonse almost died while you were on your little unscheduled break-"

Ed and Al shared a glance as the men argued, understanding passing between them even without a word spoken.
This wasn't going to be easy.

. . .

Well, Envy had to say: he wasn't all too impressed by the Sheep Town so far. They hadn't been kidding, there were a lot of sheep. And that was about it.
He followed the boys up the stone path (it was times like this, he questioned with a grimace, he wondered why he didn't wear shoes in his main form) towards a rather large house. The Pipsqueak knocked, and the door opened a moment later.

"Sorry, we're all booked out-ED! AL!" The brothers were tackled to the ground by a mass of blonde hair, the three of them laughing merrily. Envy suppressed a scoff, simply waiting impatiently.
They got up eventually, the tackler being what Envy now recognised as a young girl.
Blonde – slightly lighter shade than the Pipsqueak. Comes about halfway down her back. When she smiles she gets a dimple on her left cheek. Really muscular for a girl, I wonder if she works out-

Stop it, Envy! He chided himself. He really hadn't noticed how often he did this until he started trying to stop himself.

It was then that the girl's attention fell onto him.
"Uh, who's this?"
Envy snickered. "Good luck explaining this one, Elrics."
Ed glared at him before stammering out the basics to Winry. She crossed her arms.
"Are you serious? You brought a Homunculus here? Have you lost your mind?"
"We didn't really have a choice," Al said. "Who knows how long we're going to be saddled with him for, so unless you're happy to not see us again for an indeterminate amount of time-"
"Well that's not really new from you boys. But I guess I understand. Fine, he can stay here for now. As long as he doesn't cause any trouble with Granny."

Envy's ears pricked up at that last name. Granny? So there was a fragile old lady in the house… Interesting.
No! Stop it! You don't have your powers and they have alchemy! Don't do anything stupid.
He sighed. Someday he'd be allowed to have fun again…

A hand was thrust in his face, and he looked up to see the girl smiling brightly at him.
"Winry Rockbell. It's nice to meet you."
"Envy," he returned, shaking her hand and trying not to look like he was squashing a bug while doing so.

She, to her credit, took his bad attitude with grace and poise. "I know you've been through hell and back recently. I'm sure a relaxing retreat from the city is all you need to get back on your feet." With that she stomped away, grabbing Edward by the ear as she left.
"You come with me. I want to make sure you haven't destroyed my masterpiece!"
"Masterpiece?" Envy queried, looking at Alphonse.
"Ah. Yeah. She's his automail mechanic."
A lightbulb went off.
"Oh, She's his girly-friend!"

There was a pause before Alphonse burst out laughing.
"Whatever you do, do not let him hear you say that!"
"What? Why not?!"
"It's kind of a sensitive subject. Come on, let's go inside and get settled."
"Humans and their rules," he muttered as he followed the boy inside.

The house was nice enough, he would admit that. With a warm, cheery atmosphere and nice furniture, it easily beat out most of the dingy places he had stayed in. Winry, who currently had Edward sitting on the floor with his shirt off, saw Envy come in and yelled out at him.
"I'm sorry about this, but I'll have to set you up in one of the patient rooms! We don't have much space. I'll get most of the medical crap out of your way as soon as I'm done with this idiot." She pointed her screwdriver at Edward.
"Winry…" Edward complained in a low tone.

"Oh it's no trouble, Winry," Al said. "Which room? I'll get started with the small stuff while you're working."
"Oh Al, you're such a sweetie! Let's see… Let's put him down the hall on the left. There should be a tool box somewhere on the floor, you can just shove all the tools and screws and stuff in there."
"Got it." Alphonse headed in the direction pointed and Envy, not knowing what else to do, followed him.

The room was small and smelled like antiseptic – but it wasn't too bad, he conceded. At first he had thought he probably wouldn't spend too much time in here anyway – Homunculi didn't really have to sleep – but after seeing the town, he might have to readjust that. There really wasn't much to do around here.

He watched Alphonse start picking things up and throwing them in the box Winry had described.
"You know, you could help if you feel like it."
"Why would I do that?"
"Okay, whatever," Alphonse sighed. "Do whatever makes you happy, Envy."
"Anythi-"
"As long as it's legal," Alphonse corrected, clearly seeing his mistake. "Ed and I are responsible for you, and I am not going to prison over you."
"Ugh, fine. You guys are so boring. Though I shouldn't be surprised, seeing where you grew up."

He wandered around, seeing some photos tacked to the wall he decided to investigate. He heard Alphonse behind him.
"Oh, those are all from when we were kids! Winry keeps them all over the house. I think she likes to remember when things were simpler."
"You don't say…" He looked them over. Most of them were just of the children; clearly the Elrics and that Winry girl, they couldn't be anyone else. Boring, boring, boring.

But then he saw this one photo sitting right in the centre. One particular photo that made a whirlwind of emotions hit him all at once. Anger, the all-familiar envy, and something he recognised as pain, even though it wasn't at all physical. Something else, he couldn't pinpoint. But it was making the back of his eyes burn and the anger rise to the surface, overcoming all the other emotions…

"Hey, are you okay?" Alphonse asked.
It all boiled over.

"Oh please, as if you care! You standing there acting all goody goody, pretending to give a shit – it makes me sick to my stomach!"
"Wha-"
"I'm better than all of you! Better than you'll ever be! You stole what was mine, what should have been mine, and you still have the balls to think you're the heroes of this story?! God, you're so self-righteous!"
"Envy-"
"Just leave me alone, you worthless worm!" He stormed out of the room, out of the house, with no idea where he was going. He just needed to get away.

Al stood where Envy had left him, completely confused. He heard footsteps and tensed; worried Envy was coming back to make things physical – only to see a bewildered Ed.
"The Hell just happened?! Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I mean I'm fine…"
"What do you mean?"
"It was Envy. I don't know what happened, he just exploded. He was fine five minutes ago."
"I mean what were you expecting, Al? He hates us, remember? He's probably frustrated that he's stuck here with us."

Al's eyes fell to the wall.
"No, I don't think that's it."
Ed's brow knit together.
"Why not?"
Al pointed. "He was looking at the pictures. It was something about the pictures that triggered him. He was totally okay before that."
"Aren't they all just of us? No, wait!" Ed walked over to the wall, taking one specific picture off it. He held it out to Al.
It was the one 'family picture' the Elrics had ever taken. The picture with both of their parents in it as well as them. The only one they had successfully taken before their family had been split apart forever.
"Envy, huh?"

Al raised his brow.
"The Homunculi are all named after sins, right?" Ed explained. "So far, they've all been pretty obvious. Greed wanted what he didn't have. Gluttony's always hungry. And Lust, well… let's just say that one's obvious before she opens her mouth. But not Envy. He's always kept it pretty close to the chest."
"He's older, too," Al pointed out. "He mentioned that he's four hundred and something, and Lust's only around our age. That's a pretty big gap for there to be no other Homunculi in between. What do you want to bet he's one of the oldest, if not the oldest?"
"Which means…"
"Well the naming scheme had to start somewhere, right? If Envy was younger than the others you could just argue that he got his name to keep the theme going. But if he's one of the first, that means he was named that for a reason."
Ed pointed at the photo again. "Which makes the real question…. What he is jealous of?"

. . .

Ed was both surprised and amused by where he ended up finding Envy. The Homunculus was leaning against a tree, staring at the water.
"You know, whenever Al and I fight, this is exactly the same spot he goes to."
"I don't care what your dumbass brother does when he's upset."

Ed decided to try a different tactic.
"How do you know Hohenheim?"
That had an effect. Every single muscle in Envy's body tensed.
"Who?"
"Don't play dumb with me. I saw the photo you were looking at, and he's the only person in it who I believe for a second that you've met before."

Envy curled in on himself tighter, still refusing to look at Ed.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Look, I'm trying to help you."
"I don't want your help, Pipsqueak."

Ed took a deep breath, closing his eyes and biting down on the words he wanted to shriek.
"Fine." So instead of saying anything else, he simply sat down nearby.
Envy looked over at him with a strange expression; it was as if he couldn't decide whether he wanted to be annoyed, confused, or angry.
"What are you doing?"
"I am so not leaving you by yourself out here."
"why, you still think I'm gonna go on a murderous rampage first chance I get?"
"Among other reasons," Ed said evasively. "If you want to sit out here, fine. But you're stuck with me."
Envy sighed, trying to ignore the tiny spark of warmth that was lighting up inside him.
"Fine."

They sat in silence for a time, watching the sun sink lower in the sky as the evening chill started to set in.
"You're right, I know him. Or, knew, rather."
Ed perked up, looking back over at Envy. The Homunculus was still staring into the water, seemingly determined to avoid catching Ed's eye.
"'knew'?
"I only knew him for a short time. Back when I was…" He swallowed the bile threatening to make an appearance.
"When I was human."

Ed's curiosity was instantly piqued. Envy had never talked about this before; in fact, he was fairly certain he had never heard any Homunculus talk about it.
"Wait, you mean you have… memories? From the human you were meant to be?"
"The human I was," Envy corrected.
"That's not how it works. You're an imitation, not the real thing. The dead can't be brought back to life."
Envy paused, seemingly thinking his response through.

"I understand why you'd want that to be true. Seems your stupid brother did manage to instil some empathy in me after all, damnit."
"I wouldn't get too excited," Ed grumbled. "You've still got a long way to go."
"Whatever, Pipsqueak. Anyway, I remember being human as if it was me. So as far as I'm concerned, those are my memories."
"Okay fine, so how did you know him?"
"Not telling."
"What?! You can't bring something like that up and then not explain!"
"Yes I can, and I am. Besides, I only brought it up because you asked."

Ed glared at him.
"Trust me Pipsqueak, neither of us is ready to have that conversation yet."
"You've said that before. Why do you feel that way?"
Envy sighed, rolling his eyes and finally meeting Ed's with an air of irritation.
"Always with the interrogations. Look, once I say it, I can't take it back. It's out there forever. And it's going to change a whole lot of stuff, in a whole lot of ways that are going to make all of us really uncomfortable. Would you agree that our relationship is already on shaky ground?"
"That's a kind way of putting it."
"Exactly. So I'd rather avoid rocking the boat right now. I know," he said before Ed could answer, "It's shocking me too. Usually I'm the one trying to capsize everyone. But my own ass is at stake here, and I like my ass right where it is."

"And your little outburst?" Ed pointed out. "If you wanted to avoid rocking the boat, that was the wrong way to go about it. Consider the boat well and truly rocked."
To his credit, Envy seemed almost… ashamed.
"I couldn't help it; I get that way sometimes. That's just who I am."
"Does it have to do with your sin?"
Envy raised an eyebrow at him.
"You know, it's not that hard to figure it out. I have met several of your partners. After Homunculus number three, you start to see a pattern."
"They're not my partners anymore, remember? We've kinda hit the point of no return there."
"Okay, so what would you call them?"

Ed paused as a memory came back to him.
"Greed called it a 'sibling disagreement' once. Is that how you see them, or just him?"
Envy scrunched his nose a little in thought; it was strikingly similar to the way Al looked when he was studying.
"I guess so. There always was kind of a family dynamic there. Ha! Maybe I'm more like him than I thought."
Ed didn't bother to question who Envy was talking about. He figured he meant Greed, based on the tone. But at the moment, he was more focused on the fact that he had finally gotten Envy to calm down and act like a semi reasonable person again. He stood up.

"You ready to come back to the house yet?"
"What if I don't wanna?"
"Then I'll make you; you're still my charge, remember?"
Envy laughed wickedly, standing. "You can't."
"What do you mean I-" Ed's blood froze solid.

"You know."
"Please," Envy said, "I've known for ages."
"How?!"
"Back at the hotel, when Lust and Gluttony showed up. You thought your flashy Flame Alchemist would distract everyone, didn't you? You thought no one would notice that you were standing there doing nothing while he did all the hard work."
"I didn't need to do anything; you saw how fast he got the situation under control."
Envy shook his head with the closest thing to a genuine smile Ed had ever seen.
"I know you too well by now. Your brother was in danger and you did nothing. That's not you."

He started walking, leaving Ed behind for several seconds before he ran to catch up with him.
"Hey! Where are you going?"
"You wanted me to go back to the house, right? I'm going back to the house."
"But that makes no sense! If you knew all this time-"
"I told you, I have no interest in killing you right now. It doesn't end well for me, so I'm not gonna do it. Do you believe me yet?"
For several minutes, Ed was in stunned silence. Then a chuckle escaped him.
"Okay, fine. I guess I have to take your word for it."

. . .

They eventually made it back to the house, but not before it had gotten dark. Ed sighed, realising first that he was late for dinner, and second how much trouble he was going to be in with Winry and Pinako.
"What did I do this time?" Envy snarked. Ed shook his head.
"Not you."
"Then what?"
"Suffice it to say, you're about to get one hell of a show." The near permanent bump on his head had already started to hurt, as if in agreement.

Envy was first to the door, swinging it open without much of a care. He took exactly two steps into the room – and froze dead in his tracks.
Understanding immediately that something was wrong, and terrified that Envy was about to lose his cool for the second time that day, Ed pushed past him to try and get between him and whoever the hell he had a problem with this time.
Everyone was sitting at the table. Winry and Pinako were thoroughly engaged in conversation with what looked like a guest. Everything seemed pleasant enough; for a moment, Ed couldn't figure out what was wrong with this picture.
Then he noticed Al.

His brother was sitting at the same table, but slightly further away. His expression was… complicated, to say the least. It looked like a mixture between anger, confusion, joy, and worry. Ed didn't think he had ever seen him look so conflicted about how he should feel. He had also never seen him so uncharacteristically antisocial. He looked as though he was sitting only as close as he needed to so as not to be rude, but would much rather be alone.
Finally looking over and seeing Ed, he watched as Ed raised his brows in a silent question; what's wrong. Al very intentionally flicked his eyes over at the 'guest', just once, in answer.

Ed followed Al's line of sight – and finally realised what had been bothering him in the back of his mind since he had walked in.
The guest was a man; a tall one, with broad shoulders. He also had a long, blond ponytail trailing down his back.

Just as Ed started to put the pieces together, the man spoke over his shoulder at Al.
"Alphonse, is everything alright? You seem distracted. Of course, I understand this is a shock-" The man turned around, and noticed Ed.
It was a voice he hadn't heard in more than ten years. A face he hadn't seen in just as long. Yet somehow, Ed recognised both immediately. They had been ingrained in his memory for as long as he could trace back.
"Ah, Edward," Van Hohenheim said, an awkward expression crossing his face. "You've finally returned."

. . .

Dun dun dun~~

Well, sorry this one took a little longer to release. Enjoy!