Chapter 15: Splits in a Notebook


It had been almost three weeks since Janelle lost her voice, yet she managed to somehow still communicate with Greed just by looks alone. And it was going great until some days became harder than others. And then she got sick.

Ever since her training she had the works. The first day was the worse, sneezing, coughing, dizziness, light puking, migraines, a stuffy nose. For the first time in forever she had a completely head cold. The worst one she could remember so far. At least when it started, it had been getting better, but her face was still rosy with the help of cold sweat, and the temperature had lowered.

Nothing she couldn't handle though, instead of going out she stayed in her room most of the time, reading and catching up on homework that had been unfinished, just to keep her mind fresh, considering she wasn't in school at the moment. She couldn't fall behind now after finally getting out of her life of drugs, sex, and rock n'roll. Not to mention she was just bored out of her mind, and Greed still hadn't returned from his rounds.

It sucked too, because even though she didn't have to worry about Greed she did sometimes, but she wondered if it was just from being alone with the others around to check up on her when he was away. She just was expecting another punch in the face from Envy when she wasn't looking, but Janelle doubted that Greed would let it slip a second time without killing his brother at least once.

She sighed, rubbing her eyes already from her second hour into the studies, trying to remember certain equations in her head, rubbing her temples when she couldn't remember a simple answer. But when it clicked she gasp with a smile and sketched it down on the copy printed paper. That was it for math, now she wanted to start on Biology. She never really got it all that well, always assuming she understood it when she read it, but when she would write down her answers, she would get it wrong. It was a pain really, it wasn't suppose to be that complicated, she assumed it must've been how text books would like explain things in a difficult way. She was always better hearing someone explain it to her than reading from the texts.

She itched the side of her head while she read, scanning the lines word for word until she suddenly notice extra three books at the far side of the small table. Three of which the ones she had previously purchased with Greed and Ling. It was the poetry books, and the massage book.

She assumed Greed must've put them there before he left, showing her that he had picked them up before he came back from the hill that one day. Of course. I must've forgotten them or brought them back…I can't really remember but…I'm glad he hasn't forgotten about them either. She smiled and shook her head, grabbing the three as she scanned their titles. She never did get a chance to read them, and as she looked to the beige book, she flipped through it to find one poem that caught her attention. From there, she slowly drifted off into the book, completely forgetting about her studies to replenish the subject English. I mean, that's what she tried to use as an excuse anyway. After 10 minutes of reading from it, her eyes started to wonder to the specific book among the poetry ones. The naughty book.

It might've been for massages, but no one got that naked in a book unless it was sexual unless proven otherwise. She didn't mind though, and she gladly put the book in her hands down to replace it with the other novel. She started with page one, hoping that some of it could give her some tips on how to…Well, I guess she wanted to improve her skills in the bedroom, was that so wrong?

Her legs crossed under the table, and her elbows hit the solid wood as she continued on, suddenly hearing the faded footsteps of someone approaching. She wasn't sure if they would just pass by or enter the room, but even so Jan's heart jumped none the less. In excitement and fear, but she continued to read, trying to calm her nerves.

Then the sound of her door knob clicked, and the door creaked when it opened and closed, "I'm back." She must've not realized it but she had been holding her breath, and released it slowly as she put the book down, and sat up from her chair to greet him with a hug, he returned with an arm wrapping around her back, "Thanks for the welcome, but still no sign of Bido yet doll. I didn't think it was going to take this long for him to eventually show." She lifted her to meet his face, his eyes looking up thoughtfully rubbing his head and sighing at the predicament.

But then he noticed her gaze, and smirked at her softly ruffling the top of her head, "Don't worry, I'm not leaving without him. I'm just tired of waiting. Patience is a virtue, but…well…" He trailed off only sighing as he shook his head at her, "We just need to leave…Soon." Janelle nodded, she knew what he was feeling, the pressure was a lot to handle.

But Greed chuckled suddenly, letting the two pull away as he reached into his chest pocket, "I got a surprise for you by the way. It's not much, but I figured you needed a notebook so you could communicate a little better." Smiling with glee and anticipation, Janelle patiently watched when he pulled out a small blue book, her smile widened even more, seeing the silver lining of the it that made her eyes sparkle. He handed it over, she bowed her head to him to give her thanks, "You're welcome. Like I said it's not much but…" Again he seemed to trail off seeing the girl step up to him, and push on her tip toes to give him a small kiss on the cheek.

He couldn't stop smiling, the warm welcome, and her gentle caring way of gratitude? He felt spoiled by her tenderness, "I'm glad you like it." They both walked towards the table, Janelle sitting in her seat as before while Greed pulled up a chair next to her, seeing the mess she had created with her paperwork, and books, "So, I see you've been busy." Jenny shrugged, then pointed to her head, "I know, you're trying to keep up with school. So you've told me. Well, wrote. Whatever. Anyways, how's your temperature? Any better than before." He leaned forward pressing his hand to her forehead to feel the cold sweat and the sickly fever still intact, but her spirit in high hopes, "Mm, I don't like this, your fever hasn't gone down from the last time I checked it." Janelle nodded, and grabbed a pencil from the desk to write down in the new blue book, showing Greed what she wrote. He leaned in to get a better look at the cursive, chuckling at what she wrote, "Well as long as you're built like an ox, I don't think I'll worry too much. Still I'll keep an eye on it."

Janelle could see the disappointment in his face, knowing that with her being sick, their intimacy would have to be postponed until further noticed. But that didn't mean Janelle couldn't attempt to keep him happily occupied, by pulling her chair in closer so she could lean in, her eyes giving him that gentle tender stare that told him everything would be okay.

He noticed, but he still couldn't help but feel bad. All he wanted to do was make her feel better, he almost felt unease by her paled complexion, weary that if he tried to kiss her she'd only feel worse. Not only that. He wanted her to get better but it felt like it was taking forever.

He'd never seen her like this, and it annoyed him to feel slightly scared. Maybe he was just over reacting knowing she'd get over it, but the thought of her in pain made him ache as well. Again, he sometimes wondered if that had to do with Ling. Considering he was too feeling slightly heart broken by the sight of Janelle reaching over to a box of tissues and coughing till she was pink in the cheeks, till she was reaching for water to ease the roughness.

She was finished she sluggishly made her way to the bed, and plopped her entire body to the mattress, curling up on the bed with a pillow snuggled to her face.

Greed could only wonder how she managed to study at all in her condition, and made his way over hearing Ling to do him a favor. Apparently, he had a few tricks up his sleeve. He didn't know what it was, but he managed to explain that it would relieve some of the tension Jenny was probably feeling, and that was enough to make him give in. He stood up from his seat and removed his jacket to give himself more room to maneuver around the bed beside her.

She didn't move when he put his knees to the mattress, feeling him move up to the side of her, and lean into her ear, "Would it hurt too much to give you a massage? I assume it would make it worse, but I feel helpless when I want to help." When Janelly heard it was Ling she turned her tired eyes to him, smiling as she nodded to him, and then patted her shoulders to let him know it was okay to touch her.

He smiled softly, glad that he could help in some way to ease the girl's sickness. He started as gently as possible, making sure not to put too much pressure on the tender spots. He looked from his skillful hands to the girls breaths of bliss, her brows knitting and cheeks scattered with the light tint of pink. Her eyes went from closed to slightly opened, as if she was staring off into the distance before re-closing her eyes in relief. Then she bit her lip she he got to her lower back, using his palms to push inward and slide up her side to make her nearly want to moan, even if she couldn't be heard, Ling intriguingly enough was already glued to her face, seeing the erotic faces she was making.

If anything he was glad she was enjoying it, and glad he could relieve some of the stress from her very tense muscles, but the mere touch from him, and the sight of her made him hard, even when he wasn't thinking of her in a sexual way.

He wasn't trying to be sexual, but his body just reacted to her like that. He wish he could do something about it, but he had to admit, he was hurting horribly, knowing it had been a while since the last time. He didn't want to make her feel like she was just used for that though.

Would she think that? If she knew? He was trying hard to hide it behind his pants, but the more he leaned into her bottom, the more obvious it became to Janelle what it was.

And all she could do was smile shaking her head before lifting it from the pillow, curling her back and raising her chest up so she could press her lips to his.

Ling started to feel light headed, molding into the kiss with small pecks at a time before his tongue found its way into her mouth, and his hands around the frame of her torso and neck. He even lightly moaned at the touch of her lips, the scent of her skin intoxicating him even more.

When he pulled away a bit, having Jenny only push into his lips again to make Ling chuckle and open his eyes to the silly girl smiling between their lips. It was then she pulled away with a bright grin taking her face before she looked away, to lay her head into a hand that was tenderly cupping her face, "Mm, I hope you don't mind if I return to easing your pain." She shook her head, and felt him lay her front back to the mattress again, his hands going back to her shoulder blades, and down her lower back massaging it out.

Her muscles tense, shivered, and relaxed, her hands gripping and also relaxing when he hit the sore nerve.

Janelle hiss, both in pain and bliss, "I'm sorry. I hope it doesn't hurt too mu-,oh!" He wasn't sure how it happened but Jan was able to flip herself underneath him, and grab his hips to hers, making him laugh, and her give a silent giggle when she did.

But then she coughed, covering her mouth, and making Ling jump off of her in a hurry so she could sit up, "Oh Janelle, don't over exert yourself." He rubbed her upper back, until she was finished, then kissed her slightly dampened forehead, feeling her lean against him fatigued, "I know…With the homunculi closing in, we haven't had much time to…Really spend together, but just remember what Greed said. We'll find Bido and go. For now, relaxing is the only thing you should be doing. We'll have time when we've escaped. I promise." Janelle nodded against his chest, holding him close and as tight as she could, nuzzling her cheek against him before she looked up with a sincere smile, her brows knitted to show her yearning, her eyes staring into his so dearly that he could only cup her face, and kissed her lips, sending a shiver down his spine when he did.

The same could be said about Janelle, her hands about to cup his own face until they heard the sound of someone walking by. The girl jumped back, frightened gasping back softly when they got close to the door and stopped.

When nothing was heard, the person continued to walk, making the girl's shaky breath come out strained, before she put her hand to her heart, then her face, unsure of where to really place her hand as she took in a deep sigh to calm her nerves.

Ling could see how spooked she was getting being here, knowing that they knew Greed had his memories back. Or did they? The question was how long did Pride stick around for and how much did he hear? They could just assume, and since they didn't have the answers, Ling could only listen to Greed when her said, Later tonight, I'm going on a run. Janelle's not safe here, and I'm not liking these goose bumps I'm getting Ling heard him, but he refused to answer as he reached for Janelle's hand, knowing that he had to strong for her. Because if he broke, she'd have to pick up the pieces, which he didn't mind, but he was far from breaking.

He had a feeling they'd make it out soon. Even if they didn't, he had to keep believing it. He still had people waiting for him too. He hadn't forgotten about Lan Fan and Fu, and knowing them, they were probably getting worried. And from underground, he could sense they were very far away. Back in Xing still, or somewhere in between, he couldn't exactly pin point them on a map but he knew they were alive and his people were waiting for his return as well, so had a million reasons to make it out with Janelle alive.

As he comforted the girl with an arm to her back, Jenny slowly looked to Ling with a desperate look, on that told him all as he smiled at her with a comforting gaze, "There's a lot writing on our survival Jan, and we will make it out of here alive. And I swear on my life we will make it out together." She shook her head, and turned to the night stand made of wood to knock on the hard craft.

Then she turned back to him with a finger to her lips.

If he understood her correctly, she just told him not to jinx it, which made him chuckle as he pulled her onto the bed softly making sure her head landed on the pillow with no effort, a free hand coming up to retake her temperature before he wiped her head with the back of his shirt sleeve, "Poor girl. I wish could something else to ease you…You sure you're not hungry?" She made a sick face, shaking her head, "How about water?" Still she shook her head, "Alright…Well, how about a nap, huh? Some sleep will ease your illness." She shrugged nodding, believing that sleep would be best to get over this stupid cold. She couldn't take a heart attack and a head cold at the same time, it just didn't work for her. So she laid down, Ling following in suit to lye next to her after taking off his shoes.

They faced one another under the comforter, and laced their hands together in front of them. Their eyes started to drift from their fingers to their eyes, small smiles taking their lips before Ling decided to cover them with the fluffed comforter.

Janelle tapped his palm to indicate her curiosity. Ling chuckled and kissed her knuckles, leaving himself pressed against them as he answered, "There's still a lot you worry about when you drift to sleep. I see it every night you go to sleep." He didn't have to see or hear her to know she was looking away, "Lately you've been lighting candles if I do late night shifts for those monsters." She was hiding her face now, not wanting to admit it. But he had probably caught her on more than one occasion. And it had only been 5 days.

She couldn't help it, she was scared that if she woke up and it was dark, she'd be swallowed again by the portal, or that Father would come for her. That something would happen, she was just waiting for it. Janelle suddenly squeezed his hand, not hard, but enough to show him that he was right. It even started to shake a bit, which the prince quickly put a stop to when gripped her hand, "For an hour, I want you to pretend that we're nowhere near this place. That we're…somewhere else. Anywhere you want to go." Her hand didn't shake as much now, relaxing now that she was slightly feeling the sleep start to consume her.

She didn't mind it though, with Ling running fingers over her palm, and softly pecking her finger tips, she could only feel her body snuggle up to his, his breath sucking in slowly and deeply before he too closed his eyes and exhaled. He leaned his head into hers, and before long, Janelle had fallen completely asleep. When Ling noticed this he yawned himself, and shook the sleep from his mind, knowing that Greed wanted to do another run before went to get food for the sick one.

He never really had taken care of a sick person before, but seeing that he wasn't doing to bad of a job, he assumed he could do again, anytime. Slowly he made his way out of the bed, covering up Janelle when he was finished.

Put back on his shoes, and turned his body to the slumbering woman before him. He couldn't help his hand running through her bangs, hearing a heavy sigh escape from her nose.

Ling smiled and let his hand linger above her head before he took his leave with a soft close of the door. To get her some good sleep? It was the least he could for her at the moment, but hoped it would make a big impact later when she was feeling better. He was relentless to do that to her, but Greed needed to find Bido, and fast. They couldn't just sit around waiting for their opportunity to slip through the cracks.

Just as Greed was passing through the halls, Father called from his throne, "Greed."

"Yeah?" He didn't bother to look, Greed just stayed where he was looking at the entrance he wanted to reach.

"I'm sensing another presence here in the underground tunnels. Dispose of it, immediately."

"Sure." Yes, this is it

Are you sure? Maybe he's bluffing

I don't think he's bluffing Ling. But this is it, tonight we're out of here

What makes you think they'll just let us walk out of here? Greed just smirked when he opened the main door to through the tunnel of pipes and tubes again, I have no choice. Once I get a hold of Bido, I'm getting Janelle and we're getting out of here. I'll carry her out if I have to

That's probably a bad idea Greed

It doesn't matter. Do I look like I care of how I get that girl out of here! You of all people should want her to be safe

I do want her safe, but that's why I'm thinking the safest way not the ruthless way

Don't piss your pants princess I'll make sure to keep at just escaping. Although if someone gives me a reason to slash them up once or twice then…

Again, focus Greed

Right, sorry…Now, the question is where… In the distance, the two could hear the sound of footsteps. The person was bare footed, and panting uncontrollably. When Greed walked up the tunnel the sound of the panting became louder, "I'M GETTING OUT OF HERE! MR. GREED WOULD NEVER BE IN A PLACE LIKE THIS!" Finally! We caught our break! Like on queue the lizard came running at him, but stopped when he noticed Greed, "So, you're the lizard man I've been looking for!"

"AAHH!" Like a frantic screaming girl Bido only ran at Greed and to the side of the wall to crawl over head and jumped behind Greed, "He-, W-Wait! Get back here! I'm not gonna kill you I swear! Crap…I shouldn't have said that. I mean, Please talk to me!" The man seemed to refuse his request, which annoyed him when he continued to run.

"Dang it, I said stop!" Greed wasn't in the mood to play games, and jumped into the air tackled the lizard to the ground, getting them both to grunt and wrestle one another. Greed wasn't sure what he was spewing from his mouth but he caught bits and pieces of it, "Damn it will you just hold still!" Suddenly, the lizard man stopped.

The avarice doubt it could be from his request, so he looked over Bido's shoulder to see that he had noticed the man's tattoo, "You're…" He turned around, and Greed loosened his grip as he pushed Bido to his feet, and dusted himself off, "Yeah, Greed."

"W-What? No…No you're not! You only have the tattoo you don't-," Without another word the homunculus showed the lizard his shield, his body hunching over to get a little close to his face as he stared at Greed, probably somewhat in denial, "The ultimate shield…The avaricious…"

"I could give you the whole speech of wanting status, women, glory, and-,"

"The finer things in life?"

"Bingo. Good you remember it, then I won't have to repeat it. Anyway, that's not the point. Bido I need you to do me a favor."

"This can't be happening how are you Mr. Greed? Where's your real body?"

"This is my body. Look it's a long story, and this will go a lot smoother if you get out of here and just…Meet me somewhere." Bido looked at him confused, almost in denial of what was happening right now, and was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that his mysterious guy had the same abilities as the Greed he knew.

Of course, he is also saying he is that Greed. Could Bido really take his word for it? Should he listen to his man?

When the lizard didn't answer, Greed rolled his eyes growling at him, "I'm telling you the truth goddamn it! If you want to stay out here and get yourself killed by the other homunculi be my guest, but I'm doing you a favor Bido. I hardly understand it myself, but just do as I say! I'm your boss!" The lizard wasn't entirely sure on what to do, what was right or wrong, but if the man had already given a few clues to who he was, Bido had to believe it was him.

He tried not to smile just yet, in case his hopes were all for not, and nodded with a ball of his fists, "I hope you're right…Mr. Greed…"

"I am…Meet me near the first phone booth you find outside of Central's headquarters. I will be with a girl. A brunette. Don't forget. Give me at least an hour. The girl isn't exactly in the best condition to be getting out of a situation like this."

"Wait, so you know what's down here?" Greed nodded and eyed his friend, "Which is why I need you to be extremely careful when getting out of here. If it wasn't for me catching you, you'd be dead already."

"Heh, thanks for the tip."

"Yeah. Well…Go hurry. We'll meet up in 2 hours. Just to be safe."

"Right. Good luck Mr. Greed."

"Just stay out of sight!" Bido left without looking back, Greed only making sure he was out of sight before he disappeared heading back to the room as soon as he could.

He was just expecting something to go wrong when he got back, so he kept on his guard, walking as slowly as he could without blowing his cover. When he got back to the room he opened and closed the door as quietly as possible, and went straight for the bed to pull back the covers. Only Janelle wasn't there, getting Greed's heart to jump before he immediately went for the bathroom, "Janelle?" There was no answer, and the place was completely silent.

He began to panic, the room slightly starting to spin as he rubbed his face in frustration, "Crap, they knew. They knew, they knew. Shit, maybe I should've had her escape first. Shit! What do I do Ling!" He thought he was being quiet enough to himself, but it was only when he heard a chuckle from Envy did he gasped and turned to the door, now on a deadly alert as the jealous homunculus grinned, "I knew something was up the moment you got your dick stuck in that disgust bitch. And now you're befriending the human inside you? You must've really lost your mind when you got your memories back eh?"

"Screw you Envy, you're still a two timing dick. Now where is she! Tell me!"

"Awe missing your sex toy already? So cute. But she's our Greed. She was never yours." Greed growled. He was loosing his patience fast, and he wasn't about to leave without his possession, "You've screwed up Greed and Father's about to give you your last strike. Now be a good boy and go find your next assignment. Is your toy really worth all this drama? Your life?"

"I don't expect you to understand Envy. I'm only going to ask this one last time, tell me where Janelle is!"

"You want your toy, go and find her! I'm sure the furious would love to get a piece of your insolence as well."

"The furious…? Wrath…"

"That's right. Father figured he needed someone else to watch the girl from now on, and finally seeing how useless you've become."

"Well, Father's always a step ahead and I'll give him that…" He was smirking for a moment, trying to out do Envy's sadistic enjoyment, which seemed to work until Greed gave a sharp gaze and grim frown, "But he's still a fool for thinking I'm going to just walk away without Janelle."

"Ha! If I didn't know any better I'd say you actually like the stupid human. Don't worry though, Wrath's gonna take good care of that pretty little girl for you." Greed glared slowly spreading out into a squatting stance while his shield began to sleeve his arms, "Oo, did I make you angry?" Envy morphed his arms into large green ones, his hands now inhumane, and clawed.

"Get out…of my way!" He jumped forward and flipped over his brothers head. Envy had expected him to attack, which was a miscalculation on his part, and of course it annoyed the jealous homunculus, and with a small push of his feet he was already on his brother attempting to use his monstrous large green arm to catch or slow Greed, but the avarice was way too determined, way too uneasy about what would happen if they caught him.

He was sure now that Janelle was right, that he was just as expendable as everyone else. But she wasn't, and if he wanted to keep it that way, he needed to get to her, fast. But how or where was he suppose to look? Greed, if you need to know where Janelle is just take a turn here! Hurry!

What? How-,

I can sense people's chi alright just go! Quickly! "Damn it!" He skid around the corner avoiding one of Envy's tentacle arms and rubble of the sewer tunnel he ran into. Greed the dug his shielded hand into the wall creating a long cloud of dusty to block his brother off with just enough time to find a man hole. He swiftly moved up, hearing Envy close behind but still stuck in the dust cloud he left for him, "Rrgh! Greed…!" Then he closed the tunnel behind him, panting and still on the run, sprinting down the closest alley he could find. When he found the nearest person he barked to them, "Hey! Hey lady! Do you know what time it is?"

"Yeah it's 4:00."

"Thanks." He dashed off towards the Furher's home. He wished his home wasn't literally right next to where he just came from, but he could care less at the moment, as long as he had time to get from Janelle to Bido in time to make it out of Central alive that's all he cared about.

He couldn't believe this was happening to him. Janelle was just sleeping, he told her she had nothing to worry about, and now his words seemed like a lie. He was raging pissed, however they got her he was going to fight to the death to get her back. I'll get her back Ling. I have to. I promised…

We both did Greed

When he had made it over the gates he wasted no time finding the nearest window, and busting through it to alarm the guards and servants that served the house, "Alert the Furher!" One called out to the others, only to receive Greed's boot to his face. A few others received the same treatment, being punched and kicked unconscious, enough to get them out of the way, and into the main study where Wrath and Pride laid. Under cover with the 'wife' and 'mother'.

Greed was panting, everything racing through his mind now, the past and present, the possessions they stole. Wrath thought he had the right to take what was his. His henchmen, his life, his woman. He wanted to make him pay the moment he laid eyes on the eye patched homunculus, but instead of fighting, he growled, "Where is she!"

"You'll never find her. I've made sure she is easily kept out of your grasp. You've been nothing but a nuisance. And I'm going to make sure you stay dead this time."

"You bastard! So help me if you don't tell me I'll-,!" He leaped up into the air, throwing his weight down to avoid an attack from his sword. It was his shield against the blade that created the sparks, the grunting coming from the two men as they attempted to dominate one another, "Tell me where she is!" His voice broke, angry and venomous. His words would've burned a hole in a ground if it could, but Wrath merely returned his words with a smug smirk, "You miss your things? You're a rat clinging to garbage Greed, and now you've got a thing for this little girl! Look at how soft you've become!"

"Damn you!" Greed heard a crash from the left of him. Ms. Bradley had dropped a vase that was standing behind her, which gave Wrath his opportunity to take a swipe at the avaricious. He avoided it flawlessly, flipping far enough to land on the front of the fireplace.

But Wrath was quickly and just as swift as Greed, making numerous attempts to stab and slice at the avarice's head. Their reflexes were uncanny, anyone with human eyes could barely keep up with Wrath's incredible speed, until the avaricious put up his shielded hand and swiped at what might've been a priceless plate giving Greed enough time to run across the other side of the room where he heard suddenly heard a small bell being rung, and a bang of a wall. Or a door.

He wasn't entirely sure where or what it was coming from, but it sounded close by. And since Janelle was the only one that couldn't talk, he assumed they gave her a bell so she could contact someone. It was clever, but the question was, was it true? Greed kicked at the door, and skid across the floor on his side to avoid a blade in the back, and jumped off the little wall he had for his toes and fumbled to his feet as he sprint searching for the missing girl, "Janelle!"

There was no sound, "Janelle! Jenny if there's any way you can make some noise do it! And hurry!" It was still silent, leaving Greed to believe maybe he was starting to loose his mind, but again a bell came from the top floor.

From where Greed was he could see shadows coming up from behind him, making him assume it was probably pride or Wrath, but either way he wasn't going to find out. He ran up the spiral stairs, hearing the sound getting louder and louder, until he came to the hall way he'd been looking for, "Janelle! Janelle? Come on doll ring the bell again."

It rang again, and Greed finally found the door he was looking for, only to find it locked from the inside. He didn't know why, but he found it hard to believe she locked it herself, so he looked around the frame, only to find the door had been locked by alchemy, "Damn it. Janelle, I'm going to get you out! Just hang on." His hands were still shielded and he smashed his hand through the door. An easy way to get in, which was great because they didn't have much time.

The moment he came crashing in through the door though, a big heavy object came crashing into his chest. He nearly lost his footing, but twirled the girl back around and pulled her in close, "God you're burning up…I should've never left. I should've never left Jen." When he cupped Janelle's face he could only see the happy relief of tears taking her eyes, a smile that slowly spoke his name. He smirked back and pressed his head against the girl's, "I would never leave you behind. When I said we were leaving together, I meant it." How could she not smile, she felt more than special enough to know that Greed would've climbed the tallest towers to get to her, and that overwhelmed her a bit before she sniffled back and tried to get a hold of herself, "Alright, let's not get carried away yet, yeah? They'll be…" He looked down to the ground seeing the shadows start to consume the outside light of the hallway, "Crap, uh…Here, get on my back." Janelle nodded and leaped onto his back, giving Greed his queue to run towards the window, "Close your eyes!" She also listened to his order and snuggled her face into his shoulder, gripping as tight as she could when she felt his feet leave the ground, they fell from the four story home.

It tickled Jenny's stomach like never before, but she held her insides in as much as she could until Greed's feet hit the ground again. It was just a quick pause before the homunculus took off away from the lair of the Furher, away from headquarters until the promise day were to finally arrive for other matters.

Now with the night finally approaching, Greed had finally ran passed the phone booth and into the confided bushes that covered the area, "Bido…" There was a slight silence, and then a rustle of leaves from the distant bushes near the two. Greed wasn't sure on whether or not to be on guard, but when Bido made himself present, the avaricious could only sigh heavily, "Dang it Bido, now is not a good time to be sneak up on us like that."

"Heh, sorry. I-I've been waiting like you said. Is this the girl you were talking about?" Greed looked at the girl on his back, suddenly pushing herself off of him when she felt the need to vomit.

Both the men cringed and Greed chuckled softly nodding, "Yeah. That's my girl. Her name's Janelle by the way."

"Oh. Well…So…What exactly is going on? And who is she?"

"Uh, I don't think it's still the right time to be explaining it all. We're going to need to find a place to hide out. We can't be roaming the city with this one in the condition she's in."

"What do you suggest?" Greed rubbed his bangs together then ran his fingers over he back side of his head before turning to Janelle who was wiping her brows. Then her eyes turned to him, her hand waving him over, "What is it?" She pulled out her blue notebook that she managed to keep, and opened it up to pull out a pencil that was sticking out of the side of her ear. She scribbled the words down, and turned it to Greed so he could read it.

His eyes adjusted to her cursive, and he chuckled nodding his head, "Yeah, Ling says he knows that place too. You want to head there? Why? Is it isolated?" She nodded, writing down that Edward would eventually meet up there thinking Alphonse would be there after they left the North.

Greed nodded and smirked at the idea. It was his chance to ask about Jan's voice too, so it worked both ways as he nodded to the plan, "Alright. Let's go then."

"What? How do you even know he'll be there? How does she know this?"

"Look the faster we get to the cabin, the faster the girl and I will answer your questions. Until then, I need to get Janelle out of here."

"This is ridiculous I don't even know if you're the real Greed or not!"

"I am! I told you so myself, if you want I'll play 20 questions with you later but right now's not the time. Come Janelle, can you stand?" She nodded smiling softly as she looked to Bido and nodded her head a second time at him with a sincere look in her eyes.

Bido wanted to believe it was him, and deep down he had a feeling this was the real Greed. He just needed something to make it stick. But the girl's face was only telling him it was. So would that stick enough for him to finally leave it alone?

Only time would tell when he got to this cabin Janelle spoke of.


"Come on kid how much further is it?"

"It can't be far now. I know Al's here, I just know it." Edward, Darius, and Hienkel all came from their trail up North, after being wounded and chased by Military Police, it was current news that the Full Metal Alchemist was now a fugitive. Now he was heading back to the one cabin just outside the borderlines of Resembol and Central, "This is it!" Ed ran up to it, only to find it quiet and deserted, "What? But I was sure-," Then Darius smacked him in the back of the head, "You little runt you said he'd be here!"

"Owe! Easy with the head Gorilla!" Just then, Hienkel froze from the two's commotion, hear and smelling something odd heading their way and pulled out his gun to the darkness outside their lantern's light.

Darius turned off the light and got into position with Ed near the door before hearing a familiar voice, "Are you sure this is the place Janelle?" There was no answer, but Ed gasped and his eyes widened when he turned his head to see Greed standing outside the door frame with Janelle by side, "Janelle? Greed? The hell are you guys doing here! And…You! But I thought that-,"

"Long story. Anyway I could sit this one down somewhere?"

"Uh-, um yeah? I guess, here. What's wrong with her?"

"She's not feeling well. Going on a head cold for the last 2 ½ weeks."

"That's sucks. I hate head colds."

"They're the worst." The two larger chimeras consecrated with each other while Greed had placed Jan on the ground. Greed happily obliged to be her pillow but sitting with her and laid her head against his thigh. Her eyes were already closed and her cough was raspy and weak, and as he brushed her hair back from her dampened forehead, Greed felt that her fever had gotten work, "Shit, this running around isn't help!"

"Wait, what happened Greed? Why are you here?" Greed sighed and looked to the blonde boy, his eyes full of worry and curiosity, "Janelle told me about my time in Dublith. You were right along Ed, I am that Greed."

"What? But…How could she…" Then it hit him, "The book, that's right." He looked down at Janelle her face pained and her hands rubbing her stomach to make the ache go away.

He felt bad but there was little he could do. His eyes went from her to Greed again, "Alright, so…Why did she decide to tell you that?"

"Because I was suppose to kill Bido."

"What!" The Lizard nearly went as pale as Jenny, but Greed just chuckled and shook his head, "Don't worry, that's why she told me what she did. She…She told me everything. Literally, from Bido and the others, to actual things I said. And then she said that Father found like to be a 'prime candidate' for me to take over.

"So what went wrong?" The blonde asked.

"Pride…" He said in a low growl.

"Pride?"

"He has an ability to lurk in the shadows. Janelle and me were talking on the hill when he got wind of her telling me about what Wrath did to me and the other chimeras. I would've gone after the bastard if Jenny hadn't grabbed my legs…" He was staring at Janelle the whole time, her tired form trying to still sleep off the excitement. She seemed even a little dehydrated.

It was depressing him how much she was sleeping. Even after everything that's happened, usually someone would've been wide awake after something as traumatic as being taking out of bed like that. Greed could only assume she was just so sick that she was mostly incoherent, thinking it was him moving her around. And that agitated him more, "Wait, so Father found out then, about her telling you about your memories and all?"

"Yeah…" Was what they heard, but the sorrowful tone only worried Ed, "Well what…What did he say? What did he do?" The homunculus chuckled holding onto Janelle shoulder while the other stroked her frozen cheek, "More like…What did he take…"

"What? wait-, no…What did he take Greed!" Again he was silent, but glared at Edward to show him a hurt filled face, "Ed, Janelle can't speak." Ed's eyes shot open, everyone's did. They couldn't believe what they were hearing.

"H-Hold on, who's this father guy?"

"It'll take too long to explain." The blonde's voice shook his anger slightly taking over as well at the news of Janelle being a mute, "So, I take it you came here to get away?" His voice was shaky, almost finding sympathy and anger for Janelle. He felt terrible, he wish he could do something, but there was nothing he could do to get her voice back.

"Yeah well, after they found out, and seeing that I was probably a thorn in their side again, they were going to off me. They took Janelle to King Bradley…And I got her out."

"Sounds like you all have been dealing with a rough time eh?" Hienkel couldn't imagine what the two went through, but then again, nothing had been easy lately, not with everything about to blow to hell.

"Tell me about it. And I still have this need to kill someone." Ed looked from the chimeras, and then to Greed, seeing something peering through the unwavering face of the homunculus. Something he had seen in a few people including himself, but the blonde was beginning to believe that Greed had grown an attachment to Janelle while him and Al had been away.

And he would be right when he noticed the way the avarice was caressing her face. He almost looked like he was in pain, hurting from the inside out as he watch the raspy girl slumber. Edward never remembered the avaricious being so tender, caring and gentle, but then again this was a different time, and after Janelle getting in the mix of all this, the golden eye boy could only smile to himself and chuckle seeing that Jan may have had a big impact on a few people. He wondered if Ling was one of those people too.

But that was there thing, not his. With a deep sigh, Ed could only shake his head, "Well, we can't just stand around here hoping the homunculi will come and find us so ill prepared. If we head towards Resembol we should be able to get to my grams and stay there for a while."

"Which reminds me, Ed. You might want to hear this. But it's about Father. He was planning on using Janelle for the day of reckoning."

"Day of what?"

"Pops is planning to open the portal the day of the solar eclipse, while doing so I have a really bad gut feeling he's going to use Janelle to either open the portal and some how use her world to immerge with this one, but I don't, all I know is Jan's name is in his bag of tricks, and I don't like it."

"Yeah, well…I tried to tell her it was a bad idea to mix up with that guy."

"Heh, she's a stubborn, natural brave woman. I'll give her that. Nuts too." The girl sneezed suddenly, twice in a row before she nuzzled her head into the side of Greed's pelvis getting the others to chuckle, before the avaricious began to reposition Janelle in his arms, "Can someone give me a hand here."

"I got it."

"Thanks." Everyone seemed ready to take off, so Ed sighed and threw up his hands, "Alright guys, I don't know about you but we've wasted our time here long enough. When we get there, I'll make us something to eat as well. I'm assuming everyone's hungry right?" Ed had already helped Greed with Janelle, putting the girl on his back with little to no effort.

Which Greed did appreciate. To an extent, "Heh, maybe we could also clear some things off the table as well."

"Like what?"

"For one, I'm not one to follow. If you want to do this right, you'll follow me. Because this world?" Greed then grinned at Edward chuckling at him with that devious look on his face, "It's my possession, not yours."

"Heh. Whatever you say Greed. But…I don't think we're going to have much of a choice here. Not only that but I don't think one mistake is going to mess up my chances of getting that information you promised me. I can't have my temper getting the best of me can I?" At first, the avarice seemed confused by what he meant, but once he remembered about his and Ed's old conversation back in Dublith, the homunculus only laughed, and nodded, "Alright then. And just for good reasons. What's your guys' name?"

"I'm Hienkel." The blonde man with glasses spoke first.

"And I'm Darius. We're chimeras."

"Chimeras too huh? Hey Bido guess you won't be alone on this one."

"Yes. I guess so. Nice to meet you both." The two of chimeras smirked and looked to the lizard, "From what I can tell you're a lizard or of some kind of reptilian."

"Correct. Lizard is what I am."

"Cool. So, not that we have our muscles, and such. Shall we get going before the homunculi somehow find us?"

"I couldn't agree with you more Full Metal."

"It's Ed."

"Whatever. All I know is I'm beat and I'm ready to sleep this whole day off like it never happened." To Greed's comment Ed and the others laughed and chuckled to one another, feeling like they couldn't agree more after the adventure they had to go through to get to where they were.

Now they had teamed up with Greed and they were all heading to Resembol hoping that the Edward's friend would be there long enough to welcome them in and give them a place long enough for Janelle to recover.

Because Greed and Ling haven't made mention of it, but they were more than worried about the girl's condition, the way she stayed limp, and slumbered without a sound. They only hoped they could get to the house in time to stop her sickness from getting worse, Don't you worry doll, We'll make it. I don't plan on giving up on you. Not now, not ever, so don't you give up on me.


Next - Chapter 16: Heart Throb


I hope this was worth the tiny wait. Sorry for the non smut bit I figured the need something to happen I couldn't just let them escape so easily it'd be...well too easy! Anyways melt me will be out soon as well as giving in for those of you waiting so patiently it's just after making l&l I was tried of replaying that scene in my head but I'm close to be finished. And don't worry another chapter or so and greed will make his appearance again :) until minions...later! I'm a have me some miso soup! Wooooot