. . .

"Keep looking – he has to be here somewhere!"
"He's not," Envy said. His posture probably looked calm to outsiders – he was resting back against his chair, with his hands behind his head. But despite the message his body language was sending, he couldn't be more stressed out.

Ed glared at him.

"What do you mean, he's not? Do you know something we don't?"
"Oh, please. Have you really still not figured it out? Whatever was on that note he had yesterday, it freaked him out – bad."
"Wha- I thought we already established it was from some girl."
"Did we? Because he never actually said that. You did."

Roy, who had just re-entered the room, paused at Envy's words. Then paled.

"He's right," he said. "Al never told us what the note said. Did anyone get the chance to see it?"
"No," Ed said. His eyes widened. "But he might have left it behind."
Envy straightened.
"You think?"
"Well if you're right about his state of mind, then sure. Al gets scatter-brained when he's flustered. He might've forgotten it."
"Shit – well let's find it, then! If we can figure out what it said, we might have a lead."

"You two find the note," Hawkeye said. "The Colonel and I will start searching the surrounding area. He left between last night and this morning, probably on foot - so he can't have gotten far."
Roy nodded.
"Check the rivers," Ed said. "If something's bothering him, that's always the first place he goes to blow off steam."
The soldiers left. Lust got up too, in her corner of the room, and cleared her throat to get the boys' attention.

"I'm going to start searching, too," she said. "If the soldiers are checking the rivers, I'll stop by the train station and ask around. We should make absolutely certain he hasn't left town – that way, we can narrow our search."

Within minutes, Ed and Envy were the last people in the house. They started tearing it apart, looking for any indication of where he might have gone. One thing that drew Envy's eye – his shoes were missing, which meant he had definitely left of his own accord.

Envy had figured as much, but it was still relieving news. At least it meant he hadn't been kidnapped – yet.

After a while, Ed ran back into the main room – with the note in hand.
"I knew it! That idiot stuffed it under his mattress. That didn't work when we were five, and it didn't work this time."
"Great." Envy met Ed at the table in the room's centre. "Lucky for us, he sucks at hiding things. Now, let's see what this is about."

They read the note together – and shared a glance.

"It's a trap," Envy said.
"Well duh, of course it is!"
"We have to find him, now."
"What about the others? Shouldn't we go together? If he's in trouble, we need all the help we can get!"

Envy thought back to their last encounter with Dante – when Al had very nearly been stabbed to death.

"We might not have time for that," he said.
"So you're suggesting we waltz into a trap alone? Great idea."
"Without the Flame Alchemist? Hell no. If I'm being honest, I think I'd rather hide behind him and let him do all the work. But I don't think we have a choice here, Pipsqueak. We might not have a lot of time."

Ed swore.

"You're right," he said. "I don't know how we're going to beat any homunculi we actually run into – but damnit, I guess we'll have to figure it out."
"That's the spirit! Come on; let's get this crap over with."

Despite his apparent gung-ho attitude, Envy didn't feel nearly as confident as he sounded. He thoroughly shared Ed's concerns – what if they ran into the other homunculi? Or what if Dante was there?
There were so many what ifs, and none of them were good.

He just hoped they found the kid – before anything serious happened.

. . .

Al took a deep breath, and looked around the dusty warehouse.

"Okay, this was probably a stupid decision," he said aloud to the empty room. "I'll admit that. But I've taken this risk twice before, and it paid off both times. Maybe it'll pay off this time, too?"

He waited – perhaps a half hour, perhaps longer – and then groaned.

"Who am I kidding? This was a stupid decision. No buts."

As the minutes passed, his unease grew at the same rate as the shadows on the concrete floor. His emotions, which he admitted had managed to override his logical brain, were now beginning to subside. Why had he thought this was a good idea?
Sure, the letter had seemed convincing enough – but this could so easily be another of Dante's tricks.

Not that Dante had ever known her… So perhaps it was real. Maybe, for just one more minute, he could pretend it was.

He could almost laugh at himself. All these years, and he had never grown up. At heart, he was still that little boy sniffing in the cold, asking his big brother what they would do without their mother.

More time passed. He stopped pacing, bit his lip so hard he tasted blood; then glanced at the door.

He had waited long enough. He wasn't sure what he had even expected – all he knew now was that his gut was telling him to get out, and he would be a fool not to listen.

He turned to leave – and came face to face with the person he had been hoping, and dreading, to see.

"Alphonse," she said, smiling at him. "It's good to see you."

. . .

"I can't believe he was this stupid," Envy grumbled. They were fast approaching the warehouse construction site specified in the note, and his stomach was dropping an inch with every step.
"In all fairness," Ed said, "Two homunculi have already defected. And there was that research we did, too."
His voice dropped, retrospective. "I can see why he'd take those odds."

Envy came to a stop. "You're right," he said. "Shit."

He started walking again, feeling worse than ever. Ed's words had struck home – Envy had set the precedent, twice now, that homunculi could be trusted as long as they said those magic words.

Which meant it would be his fault if Al got hurt.

They reached the site – it was only half-built, but it was large and had high ceilings. That was good – Envy liked having space to throw his weight around.

"Al? Hey, Al!" Ed called, as they entered the building.
"Hey," Envy yelled. "We found the note, kid, so we know why you came here. May as well get the embarrassment over with!"
There was no response. They looked at each other.

"Maybe we're in the wrong place," Ed said.
"Or we're too late."
Ed flinched.
"Why do they want him so bad, anyway?"
"Easy. Gets him out of the way – and you. They know you won't make a move against them, if there's a chance they'll hurt him. In their minds, that neutralises the two strongest threats."
"If they want us out of the way, why don't they just kill us? Seems like it should be pretty easy. There are plenty of people out there who can create a stone – they don't need us. So why would they take the risk, if we're that big of a threat?"

Envy hesitated.

"Dante wants you alive," he admitted. "She has some… Pretty sick fantasies. Trust me, you don't want the details."

They continued searching the main space. There was no sign that Al had ever been there at all; and shouting his name was getting no response. Ed looked to Envy in concern.
"Where the hell is he?"
"He's indisposed," another voice said.

Ed froze, and paled – but recovered fast, his expression settling into a glare. The initial reaction made Envy glad he had warned Ed about this beforehand – he didn't want to consider how bad things could have been, had he been blindsided.

"What have you done with my brother?"
The words shook with fury as they slid from Ed's throat. Sloth's expression didn't change – her face was as bleak and empty as Hawkeye's family home had been upon their arrival.

Envy knew the expression well. For the first time, he found himself wondering if it was a ruse – just like it had been for him, and for Lust.

It wasn't like it mattered, he supposed. Not at that point.

"Your brother's fine," she said. "He won't come to any harm, as long as you do what we say."
"Right – and I suppose we're meant to take your word for it?"
"For now, yes."

"Okay," Envy said. "Now that you've had your little fantasy, let me explain how this is actually going to play out. We're going to beat your ass. You'll try to hold out, but eventually you're going to tell us where Alphonse is. Then we're going to pick him up, thank you for babysitting, and take him home. How does everyone else feel about this plan? Because I like it."
Ed smirked. "Think it's one of your best."

"Interesting version of events," Sloth said. "We'll see how that works out for you." Envy took a swing at her head. She dissolved into water before it could land.

"Go find Al," he told Ed. "He might still be here! I'll hold her off."
He hesitated for a moment, then nodded and left. Envy waited, as Sloth reformed.
"Do you plan to keep this up forever?" she asked. "Because I'll be honest; I really don't feel like fighting right now."
"If I have to, then yeah. Unlike you, I've got a decent amount of stamina."
"I thought Dante said you were dying," she sighed.

Envy raised an eyebrow. Luckily he had learned long ago to prevent his emotions from fully playing across his face – otherwise, he reflected, he could have given away far more about how weak their position actually was.

"Don't know where she heard that," he said, trying – and failing – to hit her again. "As you can see, I'm fine."
As if to prove it, he shifted his arm into a blade.
"Although if you don't believe me, I'm happy to test my strength."

"Al!" Ed shouted, entering the next room at a run. So far, each he had checked had been empty – and his heart rate was increasing with each second that passed.

If Al had already been taken elsewhere, they would have to return for reinforcements. They would have no way of knowing where he was – and, while he hated to admit it, he didn't think he and Envy could take on the remnants of the homunculi alone.

Reinforcements meant wasted time, during which Dante could be doing whatever she wanted to Al. Given she had tried to stab him the last time, that didn't exactly inspire confidence.

"Damnit," he said, as this room too came up empty. "Never thought I'd miss the days when he was a suit of armour! At least then it would take them a few hours to figure out how to kill him."

His only reassurance, as small as it was, was that she – Sloth, if he'd heard correctly – had mentioned Al was being kept hostage. It didn't make sense to kill a hostage; so he had to believe that Al would be kept alive until they no longer had use for him.

He did a double-take, realising that the next – and last – room contained a humanoid figure. He frowned upon realising two things.

Number one: He didn't know this person at all.

Number two: Judging by their eye colour, they were definitely a homunculus.

"Alright," he said, "Let's get this over with. Though you look like just a kid – I don't know how much of a fight you'll be able to put up."
The boy's face twisted into a glare, and he rushed forwards.

"More than you think!"

Ed changed his stance to prepare for the attack – only to stumble in shock, when a blue flash caught his eye.

At the last moment he caught himself, flipped out of the boy's path, and landed in a crouch. He stared at the kid in disbelief.
"You – you can perform alchemy?"
The boy grinned, showing off his sharpened teeth.

"Weren't expecting an even fight, were you?"
And then Ed realised – no one on Dante's side knew that he couldn't transmute. He grinned.

He had worried about it since her last attack. Envy, after all, had figured it out immediately just from watching his behaviour. Al had, too. Despite their constant reassurances that no one else knew – that they couldn't know – he had never quite brought himself to believe them.

But this new homunculus had confirmed it. Envy was right – no one else had noticed. And the reputation of Edward Elric – the big, bad, Fullmetal Alchemist – now that was something he could work with.

. . .

Envy groaned as Sloth dissolved; again.

"Oh come on, you coward!"
"Funny. I didn't think shapeshifters were known for their bravery."
"Oh? And what were you doing, that whole time you were masquerading as the Fuhrer's secretary? Not hiding, I'm sure."

He could tell he had struck a nerve – because her reaction to his next attack was slightly slower.

If he could only give Ed enough time to search the building, then hopefully he would find Al. Then they could get the hell out, re-group, and figure out a plan.
They just needed enough time to even the odds. That was it.
He could do that.

He noticed, almost too late, that Sloth was preparing an attack of her own – and dropped to avoid the water she had just shot at his head.
"You're slipping, Envy."
"I'm just not used to you putting effort in!"
"Well you're as irritating as ever," she sighed. "I suppose some things never change."

Her eyes widened.

"Wait," she said. "Actually, you're more annoying than usual. You're trying to distract me."

She started to turn, to chase after Ed. Envy took advantage, and tackled her to the ground. He had caught her off-guard, and she was actually solid when he made contact. They fell to the floor, and he pinned her under his knee – then groaned in annoyance when she dissolved again.

"Shit…" He wasn't getting anywhere at this rate – and he was about done making himself look a fool. If they only had access to alchemy… There was probably so much an alchemist could do with water, damnit!
Without it, they would need a more creative solution.

He scanned the room, and his eyes lit up.

"That'll work."

. . .

"What's wrong? Forgot how to transmute?"
Ed dodged again – and flinched as the boy barely missed him. The attacks were getting closer, and the kid was clearly attacking to kill.

'That was way too close! Gotta be more careful.'

He landed roughly from his last-minute dodge, stumbled, and hit the ground. He recovered fast, but not fast enough to escape the boy's notice. A wicked grin crossed his face and he ran at him again – and just like that, Ed was put on the run.

"Damnit," he shouted, ignoring the steadily growing urge to clap. It wouldn't work – he would only be showing his hand to his opponent, and that was never a good idea.
Assuming he hadn't already done so, of course.

He searched the room for anything he might be able to use, and eventually saw a metal pipe. He ran for it, desperate.

He had been observing the boy's fighting style, trying to find anything that might help him – and he had noticed that in order to transmute, he seemed to need to create a circle with his right arm and left leg. Something about that registered dimly in his mind as significant – but he couldn't figure out what.

The point was, as long as he could turn the tables and get the boy on the defensive, he shouldn't have time to transmute. Which would put them back on a level playing field.

He swung at the boy with the pipe – and while he didn't manage to make contact, he had successfully forced him to dodge. Exactly as he'd hoped, he had cut the boy off right in the middle of a transmutation.
He grinned.

"Well, look at that! I can still hold my own in a fight after all!"

He advanced, with renewed vigour.
It shouldn't be a surprise to him, he realised – he had been taught to fight without alchemy in the first place, thanks to Teacher's stubborn insistence. At the time he had of course sighed and rolled his eyes at her – but now, he was thanking his lucky stars for her harsh rules.

The boy shot him a glare, and tried for another transmutation – only for Ed to cut him off a second time.
"Okay," Ed said, laughing. "I think I've finally hit my groove! Now we're getting somewhere!"

At that moment, the boy seemed to realise he wouldn't have time to transmute anything while Ed was holding a long-range weapon. So he resorted back to his simple hand-to-hand, rushing Ed in what had to be some kind of tackle attempt.

Ed flipped backwards, and his foot connected with the boy's skull in the process – sending him backwards into the wall. The bright sparks shooting from his head confirmed Ed's suspicions. Definitely a homunculus.

"That hurt!" The boy shouted.
"I'll bet it did. Look, I don't want to fight you. You can walk out of here, if you want."
The boy got up. A primal shriek tore its way from his throat, as he rushed in for another attack.

"No?" Ed asked. He sighed, and spun the pipe in his hand.
"Okay, then. Let's get this over with."

. . .

Envy waited, locked in a stand-off against Sloth. Neither had moved for a few minutes – neither trusted the other not to attack when their back was turned.

He already had a plan – but he needed to wait for the right moment. Sloth's laziness had always belied her true power – in her liquid state, she could actually outrun most people. He needed to catch her completely off-guard, if he wanted to stand a chance.

Finally, his opening appeared. A second homunculus – a child – ran in from the other room, in tears. Sloth instinctively turned towards him, and Envy seized the moment.

He ran for the other side of the room. Far too late, she heard his footsteps and made chase. He reached the hose he had seen earlier, swung around, and turned it on.

The effect was instantaneous. As he'd hoped, she had partially dissolved to increase her speed. As the water from the hose hit her body, she completely lost whatever form she had managed to hold, and collapsed into a puddle. He dropped the end of the hose into the growing pool on the floor, and turned – just in time to see the child leap on top of him.

He handed hard on the ground, and shifted his arm into a tentacle – which he promptly wrapped around the child's neck.
"Don't think I'll go easy on you, just because you look like a kid," he spat out. He slammed the boy into the ground several times. Then he released him, got up, and dusted himself off just as Ed re-entered the main room.

"They're healing slower than usual," Envy said, pointing to the boy. "That means Dante's struggling to maintain them."
"Good news for us," Ed said, trying not to flinch at the damage Envy had done to the boy. "Where's M… The other one?"

Envy decided to pretend he hadn't caught the stumble. He pointed at the puddle on the ground.
"One of her tricks is turning into water. Works a lot like my shapeshifting. Here's the thing – my shapeshifting is really just a fancy kind of alchemy. I need all the components to already be in my body, in order to become that thing."
"Okay…"
"Hers works the same way. The human body is already seventy percent water – all she's doing is adjusting the way her molecules are arranged. So if you mess with that balance, it completely throws her off. It'll take her a while to figure out how to reform herself – first, she needs to sort out which parts are her and which are the tap water."

He noticed then that Ed was alone – and noticeably distressed.

"You didn't find him, did you?"

Ed looked down at the ground.
"No. Unless I missed something, he's not here."
"Shit! Well, that means one of two things. Either he got of here, headed back to the house, and we just missed each other – or he's been taken somewhere else."

He paused, took Ed's pipe, and impaled the boy – who had finally healed from his prior injury.

"We need to figure out which it is, fast. Because if they have a hostage… That complicates things."

. . .

The walk back to the house was solemn and quiet. Neither particularly wanted to find out if Al was there or not. They had a feeling they already knew the answer.

Their suspicions were right. When they reached the house, everyone else had returned from their own searches – and they were all empty-handed.

Everyone gathered around the table, and updated each other with their stories. The atmosphere had markedly changed from their previous meetings – the somewhat cheerful comradery they were used to had vanished.
Now, the house felt empty. Quiet. Sad. It reminded Ed uncomfortably of the way his childhood home had felt in the aftermath of Hohenheim's abandonment – and then again, far worse, after the death of his mother.
It was the atmosphere of loss, and grief.

Roy was the first to break the sullen silence.

"Envy. Can you think of anywhere they may have taken him? You never had a specific place where you kept prisoners?"
"We never really took prisoners," he said. "Dante has the whole military under her thumb. I guess she could have him in a prison cell, somewhere – but we can't exactly search every prison in the country. And they sure as hell aren't gonna tell anyone in your crew where he's being kept."

"She doesn't have him in a jail cell," Lust said, unexpectedly.

Roy immediately turned to her, his face tight. "What makes you say that?"
"That would draw too much attention. If she's using a military cell, she has to explain who he is and why he's there. The Fullmetal Alchemist's little brother being arrested is a news headline – he'd be too easy to find."
She frowned. "No, Dante wants this kept quiet."
"So where would she put someone if she needs it kept quiet?" Hawkeye wondered.

Lust turned to Envy. "I think she has him in the mansion," she said.
"Wait, really?"
She nodded. "She'll want him close. She's losing control of the situation, and you know how much that upsets her."
"You don't mean the Fuhrer's mansion, do you?" Hawkeye asked, paling. Envy shook his head.

"No, no. She has her own mansion – but it does connect to the Fuhrer's. There's easier ways to get in, though. I don't recommend that we try that one."
"Do you think her theory holds water?" Roy asked.
"I think it might," he said. "What she's saying makes sense. He's a high-value hostage – Dante would want him right next to her, especially while she has homunculi betraying her left, right, and centre. That way, less can go wrong."

"That makes sense," Roy said. "Where is this mansion?"
"Whoa, hold up. We need to be careful. We need a plan. That ballroom is her inner sanctum – it's dead centre in her territory, and she still has four homunculi."
"Not to mention her own talents," Lust added. "You're right – this won't be easy. Although…"
"What?" Envy leaned forwards, closer to her. She bit the inside of her cheek.

"She probably won't expect a direct attack on the mansion. Especially if she has a hostage – she'll expect us to do what she wants."
"You might actually have a point," Ed said. "She's almost killed Al in front of me."
"Twice," Lust interrupted, "If you count the time we… Almost killed him in front of you."
"Right." Ed seemed to brush the bad memory off as if it was nothing. "So we knows we're not stupid enough to call her bluff. Which means, we have the element of surprise."

Envy cracked a smile.

"So you're saying we win the day by being stupider than our enemy expects."
"That can be a valid tactic," Roy said. "If she doesn't see it coming, that means she can't plan for it. We might actually stand a chance, even taking her numerous advantages into account."

"Envy," Hawkeye said suddenly, breaking a long silence on her part. "You said four homunculi just now."
It was then that Envy realised – while he had mentioned fighting two homunculi at the construction site, he had neglected to bring up the newcomer.

"Afraid so," he said, grimacing. "Looks like she found a new one. He's just a kid, though – came running out when I had Sloth beaten. I beat him pretty quickly, so I don't think he's a big threat."
Ed shook his head.
"Bigger than you might think. I fought him, too. That kid has alchemy."

The room fell into a stunned silence. Envy's eyes widened.

"What did you just say?"
"He can transmute – though I'm not sure how. I always thought homunculi couldn't do that."
"We can't. Believe me, I've tried. I used to be an alchemist, before."
"Well it sounds like it's more possible than we thought," Hawkeye said. "Unless it's just this homunculus. Perhaps there's something special about him."

"Could it be his talent?" Roy asked. "Every homunculus has a unique ability, correct? What if this is just his?"
"If it is, then he's the luckiest damn homunculus I've ever seen. Because no one else can do anything like that. It's like – it's like being able to play one instrument, versus being able to play every instrument. That's how powerful this kid is."

Ed frowned, thinking back to the fight.

"There's something else," he said. "It's bothering me, but I can't put my finger on why. He transmutes… weirdly. He does it by connecting his right hand and left foot – I've never seen anything like it!"
"Do you know anything about this?" Envy asked Lust.
"I knew Dante wanted him – Sloth and I were the ones who retrieved him. I had no idea he could transmute, though – that shouldn't be possible. Let alone this strange method he's using. Unless…"

She noticeably paled – an impressive feat, given her natural pallor.

"I'm not sure if either of you noticed," she said, slowly. "But two of his limbs are the wrong colour for his body. At least two shades darker. And they're too long, too – he was off-balance when we first brought him in, because of it."
"What are you getting at?" Roy asked.
"I'm saying – and I don't know how this is possible – he might be using human limbs. That would explain his strange method of performing alchemy. He must be using the same clapping technique that Edward used. But unlike Edward, he doesn't have two human hands – so he uses his foot instead."

"But where the hell would he get human limbs from?" Envy asked. "Actually, scratch that – I'm not sure I even want the answer to that question."
"Well I don't know the details – but from what I've heard, he's spent a lot of time inside the Gate. I can't even imagine what kind of strange things could happen in there."

"No," Ed said. His voice had dropped to a near whisper – and his hand was shaking.
"If he was inside the gate, he only could've gotten those limbs from one place – a human who sacrificed them."
"You think so?"
"That's the only thing that makes sense."

He chuckled bitterly.

"I knew something was off about that arm and leg, but I couldn't place it. It all makes sense now!"
"You don't mean," Hawkeye all but whispered. Ed turned back to Envy and Lust.

"You two saw that mark on his arm, right?"
"No," Envy said.
"Yes," Lust whispered, at the same time. He looked at her questioningly.
"You may not have seen it," she said. "He has a birthmark of some kind, high up on his right shoulder."
"It's not a birthmark," Ed said, clutching his own – metal – right arm. "It's the scar from the fox bite. When I was a kid, I got attacked by a fox."

His eyes darkened.

"He can transmute because he's using my arm and leg."

. . .

Aaaaand herein lies the problem with writing stories chapter by chapter – now I have to really hope I haven't screwed up haha
Because I couldn't quite remember what I said about Ed's arm and leg – kinda just have to hope I never said he got them back, otherwise I've just retconned that.

Oh well. I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you in the next one!