Hi everyone! I'm back! I'm curious (but don't feel pressured to answer) how was your Valentine's Day? :)

I'm really happy about the positive feedback I have so far for this story, I originally intended for the story to be...maybe 6 chapter long at best but...wow. ^^ It's still fairly short and at the beginning of the plot but I'm starting to develop it into a full fledged story :3

Thank you all kindly for your support! I always appreciate any and all feedback you throw my way! ;)

ANSWERS TO REVIEWS:

Curligurl0896: Thank you! :) Yeah, I know, which is why I already have a cool name for Greed! ;) haha Personally, I found it a bit weird at first, but after testing it out and imagining a person actually having a name like that, I don't know...it sounded kinda cool ^^BTW: Ling wasn't shocked hearing Greed adopted the sin as his codename because, of course, he knew his real name. Hihi, mysteries, mysteries... ;)

QuinzMoon: Hi there! ;) Oh, it's actually Croatian ^^. FINALLY! . Hell, I thought I was doing a lousy job at portraying that, I mean signaling she was indeed lonely. Despite having a good job, being loved by her friends and customers, she is actually lonely by the end of the day when she's alone in her house with only Den there. I guess I could try to point it more out in future chapters but thank you for noticing it :) hahah that's right, I'm always happy about reviews though (simply cause I'm review addicted :3)

Pouda-P: Hihi, thanks a lot! :) Really thank you, I know people often come here to expect a lot of EdWin fluff and such but in reality, I wanted to try and create a good balance in between. First of all, they have to even be friends and fall in love for there to be fluff! ^^ Maybe this story will be longer than I planed... oh boy.

Pfeh: haha thanks for your opinion. Wow really? You love it? Seriously? (tries not to fangirl shout) Aw thanks so much! :) haha I'm still unused to compliments I guess :P Oh yeah...that's a guarantee, I can definitely promise that the first time they met, the first thing he will see is Winry's wrench in his face ;)

The Sins of the Past

Previously on "Letters from War"...

Olivier opened her eyes, her voice echoing ominously within the confines of the bunker, "His name is Sloth," she retrieved a slip of paper from the inner side of her uniform, "Physically larger than any man, enhanced speed and strength, he tires out quickly and seems to dislike work outside of his commanding zone."

Kimblee observed the photo of the super soldier, he was indeed far larger than any men standing before him, even larger than Alex Armstrong. He showed it to Greed and Ling, Greed whistled lowly, "Hm, would ya look at that," Greed frowned and Ling rose an eyebrow.

"What's wrong?" he tilted his head in confusion, taking the photo from his brother.

Greed turned his head, eyes narrowed, "Nothing," Olivier rose an eyebrow at his behavior.

"You seem to know him," she narrowed her eyes in suspicion, her hand resting on the hilt of her saber in a threatening manner.

Greed scoffed at the apparent threat, "Well, I don't," he sent her a look and Kimblee chuckled.

"Whatever the case, I presume "Sloth" is only his codename?" Kimblee looked inquiringly at the blonde general.

She crossed her arms, "We assume so, but every other bit of information we could gather of him is classified. We didn't even find him in the database of the State Military. It seems as if he isn't even a registered soldier here," her gaze hardened.

Greed frowned dryly, "I doubt you will find any information on him anyway," Olivier sent him a sidelong glance.

"And why is that?" when Greed remained silent she growled lowly, "I suggest you tell us what you know, Major General," Olivier wrapped her gloved hand around the hilt of her sword, her gaze sharp and condescending.

Greed growled.

Both parties stared each-other down, Greed's eyes briefly moved to the motion of Olivier lifting her thumb up to slide her sword slightly out of its sheath, a clear sign she was going to draw it soon should Greed not give her an answer, fast.

The room grew cold, Greed's instincts of year long fighting telling him this woman wouldn't hesitate for a split second of cutting him down should she even harbor the slightest suspicion of Greed being in allegiance to the unknown threat.

Greed sighed heavily, opening his eyes to look directly at the blonde general, "It happened years ago, I thought they all died in the war," Olivier slid her saber fully back into its sheath with a soft click, Greed buried his hands deep in his pants pockets, a faraway look in his eyes, "We were seven back then and we had something of a "blood pact", sworn siblings you could say."

Kimblee tensed, his eyes hardening at hearing this newfound information that had been withheld from him, as well as Mustang and Edward. Ling grew worried, moving just a bit closer to his brother should the mad bomber snap irrationally at any given moment. He wasn't called the "Mad Bomber" for nothing, after all.

Greed scoffed, ignoring Kimblee's obvious displeasure, "I realized too late that they were a bad idea. We created codenames for each of us, naming ourselves after the seven deadly sins. Pride, Envy, Sloth, Lust, Wrath, Gluttony...and Greed. It fit us because our personalities mirrored the sins." Greed crossed his arms, face scrunched up in displeasure.

Olivier rubbed her chin thoughtfully, "When has this "blood pact" been made?" her eyes locked on Greed, voice filled with disdain.

He frowned, "Six years ago,"

Olivier frowned, "...Have they expressed their desire for revenge for deserting them like you did?"

Greed snorted, "The better question is when didn't they? 'Course they did, but I made myself scarce after I left." Greed gave a crooked grin.

Olivier's voice was firm and sharp, "And why did you leave?"

Greed smiled, "Because a stubborn as hell woman made me," he grinned and Ling pinched his brother's cheeks, eyes twinkling in mischief.

Olivier turned around, motioning for Kimblee to come closer to her, ignoring the bickering brothers behind her.

"Listen Kimblee," the man in white leaned in, eyes focused to what the general had to say.

"No! No! I told you to stop doing that crap around people! Get the hell off me!"

Kimblee sighed at the quarrelling brothers.

"Aw but Greed-nii is so cute when he's talking about Lena-chan!"

"Stop talking like a retard and stop pinching my cheeks!"

"Listen and listen well, contact your ominous sources for any additional information you are able to gather about any other soldiers with similar profiles as this Sloth person. I'll contact Mustang personally,"

"What about Captain Elric?" Kimblee tilted his head.

Olivier snorted, "That half pint doesn't have the guts to handle something of this caliber, I think I'll let the grown-ups handle it. Wouldn't you agree?"

Kimblee sighed, "I suppose," when his eyes trailed over the two brothers, he rolled his eyes, "Sometimes I ask myself who the adults are supposed to be,"

Olivier smirked, "I'm asking myself that too," she left her office with a click of her boots, a slam of the door and the brief sight of a dark skinned man with spiky silver hair and shades following behind her.

"Winry!" a familiar female voice called out sharply.

"No!" came Winry's whiney, but firm voice, barking back her answer.

"Come on!"

"Nu-uh!" Winry shook her head.

"But you gotta!"

"You can't make me! I have a wrench!" Winry threateningly waved her wrench over her head and Lena rolled her eyes.

"I am a martial arts teacher need I remind you," she rested her hands on her hips, sighing.

"W-well I...I...I can use my wrench!" Winry stomped her feet on the floor like a angry toddler.

Lena shook her head, "Come on, what's so bad about it?"

"I don't wear dresses you know? A-and I'm not really...er..." Lena rolled her eyes for the fourth time that day.

"Oh come on, the guy is really sweet and kind. Don't you trust me with picking out guys for you?" Lena put on a kicked puppy look, sticking out her bottom lip.

Winry scoffed, "Remember Robert?" she deadpanned.

"I didn't sic him on you!" Lena crossed her arms.

"Well, I don't want to either way!" Winry crossed her arms as well in a pure act of defiance.

"Ugh Wiiiinn!" Lena threw her hands up in the air, "When was the last time you went out? Met a nice guy? When?!" she fixed her with a sharp gaze.

"I don't like blind dates!" Winry growled in frustration.

"This isn't a blind date! ...It's just a date with a guy you've never met!" Lena smirked, satisfied with her answer.

Winry's eyes almost bulged out at it, "That is a blind date!" Lena shrugged, inspecting her blunt nails.

"Fine! But this is the last time!" Lena grinned happily, clapping her hands and throwing the light blue summer dress at her friend.

"Right! Go and get ready, I'll go and reserve a strip club-I-I mean a place for you guys to eat!" Lena grinned innocently and winked, speeding off out of Winry's bedroom.

The blonde fell back on her bed, mentally cursing all of her friends for thinking she was some sort of old, lonely cat (or rather dog) lady with dust settling between her legs.

Couldn't they understand that she didn't want to date presently? She just hadn't met anyone who caught her eye.

Winry called out as she pulled over a shirt, "Anyway, if I may ask, who is this mystery guy?"

Lena's voice was far too cheery, "Oh! You'll like him! He's a real sweetheart! And he's shy too!"

Winry was skeptical, raising a fair eyebrow in suspicion, "What's his name?"

Lena pocked her head in through the gap in the door and grinned a suspiciously what Winry dubbed as "Greed-like" grin, "His name is Danny!" her smile was far too wide.

The poor man in a white dress shirt and formal black pants scratched at the back of his head, holding a nicely arranged bouquet of flowers in one hand, while nervously running the other through his hair a few times.

"Would you stop that! You look fine!" Maria Ross slapped at his fidgeting hand, "Just remember, be polite, smile, don't say stupid things and you'll be fine!" she smiled brightly.

Danny blushed, fixing the collar of his shirt, "I-I'm not sure about this, I mean, I've never met her! What if she doesn't like me? What if I don't like her? What if I do say something stupid?!" Danny started pacing around in circles before Maria firmly slapped the back of his head, causing him to cry out in pain and pathetically rub at the sore spot.

Maria growled and pointed a finger at him, eyes narrowed, "Now listen up Brosh! Everything will be fine! As long as you remember to breathe and not behave like you do at your watch post nothing should go wrong! If you don't like each-other then you move on! Simple as that I believe." She sighed in exasperation, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

Danny swallowed, tapping his foot lightly against the floor.

"Is it possible for me to-"

Ross growled, "No! You are not cancelling the date! Orders from your superior!" she lifted a finger in the air.

Danny blinked, "Which one?!" he shouted frantically, growing exasperated with his partner.

Ross smiled, "Me of course! Don't you forget that I'm a higher rank than you. Now fix yourself up and try to stand still. I'll be back by the time your date ends," she waved as she turned her back to him and left.

Danny's eyes widened in realization and he called after his partner, "Hey wait! How do you know when our date ends?! ROSS!"

He froze in the position for a few moments, before he slumped his shoulders and sighed heavily, trying to be patient in a nerve wracking situation.

"I'm so sorry I'm late! You must be Dan right?" Winry grinned apologetically, huffing in exhaustion at the run she had to endure.

Danny jumped and turned around, blinking a few times in surprise before he smiled at her arrival, "N-no worries, I think I was too early anyway," he thought with a cringe, "About an hour too early...", he brushed off his train of thoughts to smile pleasantly at the young woman, "You must be Winry right?"

She straightened herself and sent him a bright smile, "Mhm! The one and only!" she laughed.

Danny smiled and extended a hand, "Nice to meet you! I'm Danny Brosh,"

Winry smiled, shaking his hand firmly, "Winry Rockbell,"

His eyes widened, "Ah, hey wait! You own that automail shop don't you? The Rockbells?" he blinked.

She smiled proudly, "That's right!" she winked and grinned, proud of her work. Danny scratched at the back of his neck, smiling.

"Uh...t-t-these are for you!" he almost shoved the bouquet of flowers into her face, before he quickly remembered the proper etiquette and slightly pulled them to himself so they weren't poking her in the eye.

Winry blinked, surprised at seeing the beautiful flower arrangement and gladly accepted them with a shy smile, "O-oh, um, t-thank you very much!" she grinned nervously, not at all used to getting flowers on her first, blind mind you blind, date.

With a nervous giggle, Danny held his hand out, "Um...shall we?" he grinned.

Winry smiled, internally cursing Lena before she replied with a leveled voice, "Sure..."

"You set her up on a blind date? With Sergeant Brosh?" Riza's tone suggested she was intrigued and amused, whatever came first.

Lena giggled, watching the pair from a safe distance away, "Damn right I did! Oh you should see it Riza, Winry will kill me once the date is over!" she snickered.

A sigh escaped the General's wife, "I don't doubt that one bit. But...why Sergeant Brosh? As I recall, he is quite fond of Second Lieutenant Ross..."

Lena's hand went flying to her mouth, eyes wide, "WHAT?! WHY didn't you tell me that earlier?! I wouldn't have set them up! Oh damn..." Lena slapped her face.

Riza chuckled, "I suppose it doesn't matter, his loyalty to Ross is almost as strong as Roy's is to me, he won't stray from her side don't worry...And I doubt Winry would take a liking to him anytime soon, really,"

Lena rose an eyebrow, "Huh? Why is that?" she tilted her head, keeping a close eye on the two wandering pair.

"Brosh is a good soldier and a certainly good man but...his intense infatuation to Ross isn't very discreet, he is rather nosy and lazy on occasion and he's shy around women sometimes, at least when he is forced into an uncomfortable situation. I'm not sure Winry would appreciate those qualities..." Lena pouted, placing a hand on her hip.

"Hm...should I break it up?" she asked skeptically.

A pause, "...I never said the date would have to be cancelled now have I?" Lena grinned widely at the underlying teasing tone of Riza's voice.

"There ya go sharpshooter! I just love when you're making people squirm, especially if it's not directed towards me!" she grinned, laughing.

Riza laughed as well and Lena could imagine her sitting at her desk and shaking her head at the whole predicament.

Suddenly, Lena heard a knock sound distantly through the telephone.

"Enter," she could hear Riza's muffled command, the phone was probably pressed against her chest to momentarily take care of her guest.

"Lieutenant General Mustang?" Lena heard a unidentified male voice ask firmly.

"Yes?"

"We have just received a telegram from Captain Elric's base," Lena's whole attention shifted to the conversation, that was Ed's base! Greed was in it too!

Riza's voice tightened, "What does it say?"

"I'm sorry but..."

Lena's eyes widened and before she could loudly ask what was wrong, she bit her lip to keep from talking.

"...Fort Briggs was attacked,"

Lena's heart raced in fear, she had heard from Riza that Ed had sent Greed, Kimblee and Ling to Fort Briggs!

"When?" the alertness and worry in Riza's voice was unmistakable.

"Two days ago, sir. We haven't heard anything since then-"

The conversation ended abruptly as Lena quickly slapped her phone shut and sprinted towards her car, heading to Central.

His vision was a bit red and a whole deal of black. He blinked slowly and when his other senses started kicking in, he could feel pain.

He estimated the damage wasn't critical, still, he gingerly moved his limbs only just so, fearing the bastard that did this may still be there and it would be a rookies mistake of alerting the enemy that they were alive.

Greed slowly creaked an eye open, blinking back the blood and assessed the situation after his blurry vision cleared.

The ground from under the massive desk of Olivier had been destroyed, a large, uneven hole gaping from underneath, two soldiers lay dead in the corner, their skulls smashed in.

His opened eye trailed over to the right, Ling was there and when Greed saw the shallow movement of breath, he internally sighed in relief. Kimblee was leaning against the wall, seemingly barely conscious as he was holding his bleeding side. Olivier herself was nowhere to be found. Figures, she had left them before the attack had taken place.

Slowly, after listening in for any footsteps, Greed gingerly lifted himself off the ground, pushing off the debris that had knocked him out in the first place.

"K-Kimblee..." Greed groaned, gripping his pounding head, discovering a small wound the blood shining eerily on his fingers from the dim lighting the lights ahead provided, "What...w-what the hell...happened?" he shuffled over to Ling, his pulse was strong, his breathing seemed fine. With Greed's limited medical experience, he deduced he hadn't suffered any injures aside from minor surface injuries inflicted by the impact of the flying debris when the attack had happened.

The man slowly opened an eye, his breathing slightly accelerated, he was in pain, a thin line of blood trailed down from the corner of his mouth, "It was...i-it was the s-soldier...Sloth...h-he had come f-from...underground," Kimblee tried righting himself but Greed firmly pressed on his shoulder so he didn't injure himself more, "He...argh...he came looking for...someone." Kimblee turned his face to the side and spat out blood.

"Who?" Greed grit his teeth, expression grim.

Kimblee winced, "He said he had to kill... the blonde general. Olivier had left before it happened, but I'm not sure if that monster followed her..." he sucked in a sharp breath.

Greed growled and quickly grabbed his communication device, "This is Fort Briggs to Elric base! I repeat Fort Briggs to Elric base!" he shouted into the receiver, angry beyond belief.

"Elric base to Fort Briggs. We hear you Greed, what do you have to report?" Ed's voice echoed from the receiver.

"Listen up kid, we've been attacked. Kimblee's bleeding, he has a wound on his stomach and it ain't looking good. Ling is unconscious!" he gripped the phone harder.

"WHAT?! HOW COULD YOU LET THAT HAPPEN?! WHY DID I SEND YOU THERE FOR ANYWAY?!" Greed was about to explode at his superior until he heard shuffling, cursing and then a new, deeper more mature voice spoke, "Greed, how bad is the damage?"

Greed grit his teeth, it was Mustang, "Two Briggs men are dead, Kimblee's bleeding and needs medical attention fast, Ling's unconscious. General Olivier left but I don't know if the monster found her or not,"

"Monster? What monster?"

Greed swallowed, "His name is Sloth, he's a kind of a super soldier with enhanced physical strength and speed but is dim witted. He unexpectedly attacked from underground and knocked us all out. I was unconscious but judging by Kimblee's wounds I suppose he had a brief skirmish with him before he was wounded heavily," Greed pressed a hand to Kimblee's wound and the soldier hissed but nodded gratefully.

"I'm sending more men to Fort Briggs immediately, they will come with the chopper and travel by truck. Wake up Ling and do anything you can to help Kimblee, I'll try to contact Armstrong and see if she's alright,"

Greed sighed, "Yeah, sure just do that. Oh and Mustang?"

"What is it Greed?"

"Call your wife will you? Tell her she should relay a message for me,"

"Are you implying of-!" Mustang's voice reached critical rage levels before Greed sharply cut him off, "Hell no! I ain't thinking of dying cowardly anytime soon! Now listen!"

Roy shut his mouth, relieved to hear Greed wasn't thinking of going after that 'monster' and risking the high possibility of dying.

"Tell Lena that I'm fine, that we had a bit of a fallback but that I'm alright. I'll call her as soon as I can,"

Roy sighed, "Alright, I'll call her right away. Try to hold out for as long as you can, I'm sending Havoc and Breda as backup!"

"Thanks sir. Greed out," he said before he pocketed the device and searched for Ling's medical backpack.

Once spotting it near Ling's body, leaning against the wall, Greed quickly grabbed it and took out pure alcohol and gauze.

He looked Kimblee in the eye, "Alright, you know the drill. This will hurt like a bitch but it will save your life, bite down into this," he offered Kimblee piece of rolled up cloth, which he had bitten into.

Kimblee nodded and Greed slowly cut open his uniform and removed the bomb straps. Greed hissed in sympathy when seeing the real damage, blood was leaking out from a shredded, messed up wound, Greed calculated to be not too deep that it damaged the organs, but just damaged tissue.

With firm but quick strokes, Greed cleaned away the blood with a roll of cloth soaked in alcohol and Kimblee groaned loudly into the cloth in his mouth, sinking his teeth into it. He would have screamed had his will not been so strong.

Greed muttered, "Sorry, hold on," Kimblee nodded and the peculiar, or maybe even creepy thing was, while Kimblee's eyes seemed exhausted from the pain, they were alive. More alive than ever and it reminded Greed of Kimblee's words he had uttered once during battles.

What could be more beautiful than doing work that puts your soul at risk, because that's what it means to be alive!

Greed shook his head, working quickly and thoroughly to make sure he didn't miss anything before placing a disinfected, smooth cloth against the wound, to prevent it from sticking to the gauze once it came on top of it. Next he pressed a rolled up, thick gauze on top of the one he had just positioned over the bleeding wound and finally he helped Kimblee lean on him so he could wrap the wide bandage around his stomach better.

Once he tied it firmly, ignoring Kimblee's loud groan of pain, he sighed and looked at the bomber's face. It looked drained but alive, he took that as a good sign.

"Thank you... I owe you one," Kimblee said, words sincere and voice drained.

Greed nodded, "Try paying that back by staying alive," he looked at Ling and opted to finally try and wake him up. This had only been emergency medical care, Kimblee needed to have a professional look at and Ling was a medic after all.

"Hey! Wake up you idiot! We've got injured here!" Greed unceremoniously kicked Ling in the butt, his suspicions were confirmed when a loud snort sounded from his brother's mouth.

"WAKE THE FUCK UP YOU STUPID JACKASS PRINCE!" Greed hollered right into Ling's ear, causing the medic to jump into the air and knock heads with Greed, who growled in annoyance and pain and punched him on the head.

"Quit giving me headaches and take care of Kimblee!" Greed pointed at the wounded soldier, Ling blinked, eyes adjusting and clearing before he quickly turned serious and knelt by Kimblee's side.

"How deep is it?" he checked the bandage, pressed a few spots around the ribs, "He may have internal bleeding," he looked at Kimblee, "Any numbness? Pressure around lungs and ribs?"

Kimblee chuckled hoarsely, "Nothing but a little sting and some pain,"

Ling frowned, "Have you disinfected the wound?"

Greed snapped, " 'Course I did! What do you hold me for? A fool?"

Ling rolled his eyes and secured a compression bandage around Kimblee's ribs and stomach, "It hurts but it will slow the bleeding, it's very uncomfortable and I usually avoid using it but until help arrives it could be a while," Kimblee nodded, smiling slightly.

"You have my thanks," Ling nodded and smiled.

"So...what happened here?" Ling looked around, taking note of the two dead Briggs men and the thrashed place. No sign of Armstrong either.

"Sloth attacked us," Kimblee answered, a wheeze.

"That super soldier?" Ling frowned, Greed tensed.

"That's right. He's resistant to almost any physical attacks and my bombs don't do much damage either," Kimblee frowned, seeming troubled by that thought.

Greed snorted, eyes narrowed, " Course they won't, he may have the appearance of a human but he is differently composed than one." Ling and Kimblee rose their eyebrows and Greed decided to quickly inform them about what he knew, with no small amount of wariness at their reactions, "They have been injected with a special serum, which enhances certain qualities. The scientist creating the serum can choose which specific attribute he would want be enhanced. It can be enhanced eyesight, night vision, enhanced hearing, enhanced durability or flexibility, near to limitless stamina, body parts like finger nails pr teeth can be turned into deadly weapons sharper than blades or the composition of carbon in your body can be magnified to the point of having a near to indestructible shield, covered by skin." Greed's face was grim, knowing the consequences of withholding such privy information.

Kimblee's only question was this, „Were you also injected with the serum?" he locked eyes with the soldier.

"Yeah," Greed's answer stunned Ling, who had no idea about it.

"What?" he took a step forward, eyes hurt and questioning.

Greed bit his lip, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you...I couldn't,"

Ling's gaze hardened, his expression suddenly angry, "Does Lena know?!" Greed remained silent, gaze downcast, "Well does she?!" Ling pressed further, voice raising, fisting the collar of his uniform.

"No," Greed looked his brother in the eye, "I couldn't tell her. I didn't want anything to happen to you two. Sloth will tell them I'm alive and they may seek revenge. I thought they were dead but..." Greed bit his lip, "I did it to protect-"

Ling punched Greed square in the face, eyes burning, "You stupid moron! Don't you get it?! We are family damn it! Family sticks together and shares their pain! I could have worked on a cure! Or helped you through it! Lena too! How the hell will you look her in the eye when you return?!" he was livid, dark eyes burning.

Greed gave a dry chuckle, eyes pained and knowing, eyes that have seen far too much for his young age, "If I return..."

"Stop pissing me off!" Ling punched him again and Greed wiped his mouth and said quietly, "There is no cure..." dark bangs identical to Ling's covered his solemn eyes.

"Well I would have found one!" Ling shouted, jabbing his finger at Greed, "Don't go getting all depressed on me! We will find a cure, we will defeat those bastards and I can see my beautiful Lan Fan again and you'll see Lena again! Got that?!" Ling crossed his arms, eyes narrowed down at his older brother.

Greed remained silent before the shadow covering his eyes disappeared and the ghosts of the past vanished from his eyes, he gave a small grin, "Yeah...I got it," he smirked and stood up, dusting himself off.

He clapped Ling on the shoulder with a small grin, before punching him in the face.

Ling stumbled back, clutching gingerly at his nearly broken jaw, "Ouch! What did you do that for?!" Ling's bottom lip trembled, eyes wide and innocent.

Greed rotated his wrist, a small frown on his face, "Tch...ya don't hit your older brother moron..." he remained silent for a moment before he grinned widely and ruffled Ling's hair roughly.

The Xingese medic grumbled about the treatment but his look softened and he sighed, looking at a stunned Kimblee, "Let's get you out of here. I'm worried about that blood you're losing..."

Kimblee grunted with effort, until Ling squatted down in front of Kimblee, "Well, hop on, I'll get you out of there and Greed will be acting as our shield," he winked, grinning.

Greed shook his head, "You have no idea..." but he kept his thoughts to himself, grabbing the Colt AR-15 semiautomatic rifle slung over his broad back and bringing it to the front, one ammunition belt attached to it in case things would need to go quick and deadly out there.

Swallowing down his pride, Kimblee allowed Ling to slowly position him on his back, carrying him piggy back style.

Greed laughed, "Oh man...too bad I don't have a camera with me, I bet Lena would have loved the photos..." Kimblee shot him a murderous look and Greed lifted his hands, "Alright, alright... I've got all the pictures I need in my head anyway," Kimblee was not amused.

Greed once again checked the magazine, it was full, good. Safety, released. Greed smirked, unusual blood lust lining his handsome face, "Let's get 'em good..."

Ling sensed the increasing blood lust rolling off his twin, itching for a fight. It may have had something to do with the enemy being a former comrade-turned-enemy that got him so riled up, maybe because Kimblee was injured, Ling unable to fight that increased the strong drive to protect them that caused Greed to be like this. Whatever it was, Ling hoped there wouldn't be much bloodshed. A silly thought in times of war, he knew.

Greed moved first, molding himself to the wall and motioning with one hand to follow.

With a bit of readjustment on Ling's side, the medic and the wounded soldier treaded slowly after Greed, despite being exhausted, Kimblee kept a ever watchful eye and ear open to any suspicious sounds.

One would think thanks to those countless of explosions without as much as ear protectors to shield his sensitive hearing from the loud noise of the bombs and the explosions, Kimblee's hearing would have to be nearly nonexistent. But to the surprise of many, the expert bomber had excellent hearing, which he used to his every advantage in every situation.

It was him that heard Sloth in the first place, had he known that the soldier would have punched a hole through the ground he would have immediately moved out of the way, but to him, it had sounded like digging, therefore he concluded there may be construction work made for underground tunnels as additional escape routes.

Sometimes, he hated his advanced thinking.

Greed's footsteps were silent, expertly decreasing the noise by walking lightly and carefully avoiding any small rocks or cracks that may make more noise to alert the enemy of their location.

Greed froze and Ling followed suit, not daring to voice his thoughts and ask what was wrong.

The older Xingese twin frowned, stance stiff and muscles tense, preparing for battle. One hand going to the belt filled with bombs, the other gripping the rifle tighter, going for the trigger.

Ling prepared himself, estimating where he should run to bring Kimblee to safety and hide him somewhere safe so he could return and help his brother.

The nearly inhuman growl coming from Greed was the only warning before a loud crash and a large blur zipped right past Ling's vision, smashing directly into Greed.

"Greed!" Ling shouted, both him and Kimblee watching in anticipation what the hell just happened.

When the smoke slowly cleared, it revealed Greed, slammed into the crumbled wall, holding his rifle horizontally to block a inhumanly large fist from directly connecting with his body, his arms were shaking from the effort, a murderous expression on his face.

It was truly a monster of a man, the large soldier that had moved with the speed of light was quite possibly twice the size of Olivier's brother Alex, who was known for his incredible height and width but this even surpassed the muscular man himself.

Sloth's eyes were almost round, a unusual pale blue, so pale one would think it was actually white. His hair was short and black, thin strands reaching his ears.

Kimblee's eyes narrowed down at one single detail he noticed about him, his shoulder.

The symbol of the Amestrian State Military should have been on it but instead there was what appeared to be a red dragon or snake eating its own tail.

His eyes widened, he tried to speak but blood escaped his mouth instead. Ling immediately noticed, reaching inside his pocket to retrieve a tissue and wipe the blood off his mouth, he ordered strictly, "Don't speak, Kimblee, you'll worsen your condition,"

Kimblee forced himself to still and rest, knowing the dire consequences his futile actions could bring.

Greed said he knew Sloth, or at least what he was so he also must know...of that tattoo.

"No...it's not a mere body art. It's a symbol, a symbol for life and death, for birth and rebirth, for...immortality," Kimblee froze when Sloth began to speak.

His voice was slow and one would think he were stupid to talk the way he did, "Sloth...finally found you...Greed," he applied more pressure against Greed's rifle and Greed's arms bulged with the strain of keeping him back.

Greed spat through clenched teeth, "Yeah, well, nice to see you again Sloth. Sorry I hadn't come to some tea and cookies, but I had been busy!" he pushed the large man away and used the momentum to kick his chin, sending him flying on his back.

Greed quickly snatched a explosive bomb from his belt, grinning.

Sloth slowly lifted his head, "Everyone thought...you were dead...Pride said...we need to...kill you..." he slowly started to lift himself but Greed fire a shot at his leg before he could do so.

Instead of crying out in pain, Sloth simply blinked and Greed quickly realized why, "Damn...protectors? Hm...looks like they equipped him well for this..." he thought with a bit of worry in the back of his mind.

"Oh, Pride huh? How's the little runt? Still hurt I left him for someone better?" Greed taunted, counting the steps he needed to take in order to close in on Sloth and disable him before he launched another attack.

Sloth was unfazed, "...Lust...said you might be...in the military...she found you...in the data...book..." Greed's taunting smirk instantly vanished, his face paling as he realized a very horrifying possibility.

In order to gain access to the database of the State Military, one would either need to be a high rank, privileged through special permission from the higher ups or the worst thing, a part of one of the elite of the military.

"Lusty's in the military?! What the hell?!" Greed wasted no time in voicing his thoughts but instead of answering, Sloth moved in for the kill.

Greed's rifle shattered in thousands of miniscule pieces as Sloth's fist slammed through the metal straight into Greed, blood immediately surging through his mouth as his eyes widened and he released a pained yell, several ribs cracking from the harsh impact of Sloth's fist against his ribcage.

"GREED!" Ling shouted out in panic, one arm holding Kimblee while reaching toward his gun with the other but he froze at the hand motion from none other than Greed.

Blood was trickling down Greed's mouth slowly, but his roguish grin was still there, much to the confusion of all parties present, Greed placed a hand on top of Sloth's fist, "Let me show you..." he pressed down, "...what it means...to anger me...Sloth,"

Sharp nails dug into Sloth's skin, blood spilling down his arm, bone trembling under the heavily applied pressure from Greed's hand, "...I haven't used this in a while but..." he grinned, "I don't suppose I should go easy on someone also injected with the serum do I?!" he laughed and slammed his elbow against Sloth's jaw, the soldier went flying and crashing into the wall several feet opposite of Greed.

Greed craned his neck, wiping his mouth from the blood that he had spat out earlier, Ling watched in horror while Kimblee's eyes were wide in surprise, "Heh...let me show you what it means angering Greed the Avaricious!" with a grin that rivaled the devils, Greed moved in to attack.

Cliffhanger? Yes, yes I think so. Phew...woah...so much action and drama now...oh I love it! :3 So what did you think? Anything I should improve? What do you think will happen next?