I'm back everyone! Thank you all kindly for putting up with me and reading this story ^^ I've had doubts about continuing or not or if it was interesting enough but you keep me going! :3

ANSWERS TO REVIEWS:

Dark Shining Light: Thank you very much for the compliment and reading my story! :3 Oh don't worry about that, I've tried taking it a bit slow to make it a bit more "realistic" but fluffy scenes will soon appear between them! :)

QuinzMoon: haha hola amica! ;) Ugh...don't ask, stressed because of school and my teeth are killing me because I got my braces tightened today and I'm in a world of pain T_T Anyway, about Bradley, I'll include him more in the story now, since he plays a big part later. He IS interested in the war of course, since he has a fierce rivalry going with the leader of Drachma after all. But at that moment, he had been more interested to know where Sloth has escaped. Haha well, Ed tries to hide his letters from his friends but...meh, I just love writing how they tease him about it, it makes his more "human" side appear, as opposed to the battle hardened soldier he is on the battlefield. Haha I guess it's pretty obvious, tbh he's one of my favorite chars in FMA:B and I haven't really found many fics about him so I decided to write one where EdWin AND a little bit of Greed is. I also put Lena (OC) in this since I think Lan Fan and Ling fit better together. ;) haha have a nice week too!

Enjoy!

Finding the Culprit

A knock sounded on her door suddenly and Lena lazily stood from her couch, wondering who could it be.

It was odd, usually she didn't get any visitors except her friends or occasionally her neighbors when they needed something. But her friends all worked and today was her day off...who could it be?

Lena opened the door and saw a tall, somewhat handsome man standing before it, dressed in a simple white dress shirt and black pants with unusually long spiky hair. She tilted her head, wondering. She never saw him here before.

"Hello, um, how may I help you?" she briefly looked left and right and found him to be alone.

The man smiled pleasantly, "I'm terribly sorry for disturbing you but...it seems like I got lost while trying to search for my house. You see, I've just moved into the neighborhood and purchased a house...around here-"

The door slammed in his face and he blinked quizzically, perplexed.

Lena growled at the other end of the door, shouting just enough for the man on the other side to hear, "Listen up! I don't know who the hell sent you but I won't get fooled with a sorry ass excuse like "I'm a new neighbor and I can't find my house"! I won't give you any information if that's what you want!"

The man's right eye twitched and he grit his teeth, "Alright...this will be harder than I thought...I thought she was some easy-to-fool woman, but Greed hadn't been kidding when he said "a stubborn as hell woman made me" leave...now I know what he meant. Time for Plan B,"

The man smiled sheepishly, scratching at the back of his head, "Ah, I'm sorry but I don't know what you mean! I seriously purchased a house a few hours ago and I've had errands to run in town but when I returned all these houses seemed the same to me and I didn't properly commit my own to memory just yet," his voice sounded genuine, that was good.

He could hear the woman snort skeptically, "Whoever you are, don't hold me for a fool. I can kick your ass back to wherever you came from if you're lying to me!" the man felt a shiver run down his spine and he cursed mentally, "Just what sort of woman did that greedy ass pick? She's nuts!"

"I promise, I'm not lying. I've asked your neighbors but they didn't seem too keen on helping me either," he tried playing the victim, perhaps she would go soft.

She didn't.

"My neighbors are just fine, why should I believe they didn't want to help you without a very good reason?" he cursed, damn this woman was smarter than he thought, stupid Greed.

For a brief moment he was tempted to just storm into her house and overwhelm her, but that would destroy the whole point of the plan. He sighed, calming himself, "I know it's not every day you encounter someone such as me but I really don't know where I left my house," he couldn't believe he was pleading with a human to trust him!

Silence ensued for the next couple of minutes and before he could throw caution to the wind and endanger his mission, she finally opened the door.

Lena's eyebrow was raised and she crossed her arms, "Hm...I suppose," she warily stepped out of her house, closing the door behind her, the man smirked internally.

After a moment of tense silence, Lena chuckled, smiling, "Please don't worry about my behavior just now, I tend to get a little too suspicious at times. I admit, it tends to happen when you're new to the neighborhood and all. I'll help you look, do you remember approximately how it looks like or the address?" she pocketed her keys, a friendly aura surrounding the fierce woman.

The stranger smiled down at her pleasantly, "Thank you, I do hope it doesn't take away your precious time," he sighed internally, thankful she wasn't as distrustful of him as before.

Lena smiled, "No, no don't worry ...uhm...what did you say your name was?" she grinned in embarrassment.

The man grinned, violet eyes flashing, "Oh, please call me Envy," he winked.

"Envy?" Lena's eyes widened in suspicion, her hand itching to grab at the hidden knife located at her calf beneath her pants leg, "Did...did he just say Envy?!"

Lena froze for a split second, looking up at him, "Pardon?" she tilted her head and Envy quickly corrected himself.

"Ah, excuse me, my name is Dan," he extended his hand for a handshake.

"Shit! Thanks to this stupid woman, I've almost exposed myself! Let her be stupid! Don't notice the slip up!" Envy couldn't believe this, usually rookie mistakes such as this didn't happen to him.

Lena pushed back the uneasy feeling and shook his larger hand, smiling, "My name is Lena,"

The man smirked and turned to walk forward, "Thank you again for your help Lena, I know it's... not quite easy to trust a stranger," he smirked.

Lena smiled, "Don't worry, you wouldn't stand a chance if you did try anything anyway," she winked confidently.

This spiked Envy's interest, "Hoho? Challenging me is she?" he could feel the subtle rage rise in him but he stubbornly pushed it down, "Maybe next time..."

Lena looked around but Envy noticed she always looked at him at least every few minutes, she distrusted him.

"So, what do you do?" Lena asked conversationally and Envy thankfully had a plan.

"I am a police officer," Envy replied smoothly, "What about you?"

"I'm a martial arts teacher, nothing special," she smiled, she was easy going.

"You know, I may sound too forward but would you consider going for a cup of coffee?" he was grinning internally while appearing the innocent, kind man he was supposed to be.

Her smile was sugar coated and innocent, "Oh, I thank you kindly for the invitation, but I'm afraid I already have something planned for today," she tilted her head slightly to the side, smile in place.

Envy felt slightly suspicious, "Hm...just a few minutes ago she was interrogating me like I murdered someone and now she's acting all sweet and sugary...just what sort of woman did Greed pick? She seems too naïve to notice anything..."

"Ah, I see, how about another time then? I would gladly...get to know you better," Envy purposely made sure he made his intentions clear, a small toothy smirk made its way to his handsome face.

Lena seemed surprised but suddenly something akin of a small shadow made its way to her eyes, which didn't seem too kind and innocent anymore, "Oh, I'm sorry, it seems I misunderstood you. I thought you meant it purely in a friendly cup of coffee. Well, I have a boyfriend so..." when she smiled and looked at him, her gaze spelled death.

Envy had to admit, either way the woman was one hell of a actress to even stir something like fear into him or he was going soft...

"I see...how strange, I didn't see your boyfriend anywhere,"

Lena tried very hard not to punch his face in, "He's away on business,"

Envy smirked internally, "'Business' huh? We will see about that,"

"What does he do?" he hoped she would tell him.

It seemed his luck with women was starting to fray... "I don't really think I should tell you that, I mean, I don't know you, now do I?" she smiled.

Envy shook off the wave of anger he felt at her rejection, "Yes, of course, how rude of me." He quickly remembered his original backstory and quickly looked around the houses, "Ah, I think it's that one over there," he pointed to a house a bit farther down and Lena smiled, spotting the direction where his finger showed.

"Oh, that's a good thing that you remembered how your house looks like. Anyway, welcome to the neighborhood!" she smiled, extending her hand for him to shake.

Envy did so with a fake grin, "Thank you, I hope to see you again soon Lena," he smirked, malicious intent hidden behind a façade of friendliness.

The two parted ways and as soon as she was out of sight, Envy quickly hid behind a wall of a house and he was greeted by a seductive, feminine voice, "You could have made it more obvious,"

Envy growled, "Shut up, she was a tough nut to crack. Just what sort of chicks does the bastard even pick anyway?" Envy grumbled, scratching at the back of his neck.

Lust rolled her eyes, "I can see why she distrusted you, your acting skills are poor," her comment made the man glare at her icily.

"If I let you had a go I'm sure she would be in ribbons right about now," Lust smirked, not going to deny the very possible fact.

"Anyway, how does our plan look like? I gotta beat someone up so I actually get a house or she would be suspicious," Lust gestured to the house next door.

"I think this one is currently on sale, so we are on luck. However, gaining access to the police and getting a uniform will prove to be a bit...difficult," Lust commented, glaring at Envy's "hilarious plan".

Envy grinned maliciously, "Oh please...nothing you can't fix, right?" Lust tossed her hair back, bloody red lips stretching into a sharp smile that would have sent chills down anyone's spines.

"You know how I operate," she disappeared stealthily and Envy sometimes asked himself how she didn't get to be the stealth expert.

He sighed, looking at the house with a "sale" sign on it.

He smirked.

Lena waited patiently until the ringing stopped and the deep, smooth voice of her boyfriend reached her ears, "Hey there, what's up?"

She wasted no time, "Can we talk privately? There's something I need to ask," hearing the emergency in her tone, Greed replied lowly, "Just a sec,"

She heard shuffling about, footsteps stepping on leaves and then Greed's voice, "Alright, let's talk,"

Lena rose an eyebrow, "...Just where did you go?"

Greed looked behind himself, holding the phone in one hand and the receiver in the other, crouching down on his haunches, "Ain't important," came his easy going reply.

Lena face palmed, "...How far from camp did you go, you lunatic?"

"...Not that far, okay?" Greed rolled his eyes, she just knew him too damn well. Ten feet wasn't that much, "Anyway, where's the itch?"

Lena turned serious again, "I may sound crazy..." Greed piqued in, "You don't say...", she continued with a eye roll, "...but I think...I think someone from your old gang is here, may be here,"

Greed turned fully serious, his attention solely on her, "What? How do you know? Did you see them? Did they find you? Are you hurt? Should I come?"

Lena couldn't help but firmly say, "Yes, yes, no and no you won't come! Greed! This isn't school! You can't just randomly skip classes! You're in a warzone for pete's sake!" she huffed in exasperation, "I know you're crazy and sweet enough to do it, so that's a definitive 'no' from me!"

A long sigh, "Yeah, yeah...so who was it?"

A pause, "I think it was Envy,"

"How did you know?" the emergency and alarm in his voice was unmistakable and it made Lena worry slightly.

"He slipped a bit. He said his name was 'Envy' at first but quickly changed it to 'Dan' after he tried to convince me I heard wrong," she frowned, "Also he found me, he was on my doorstep actually, under the pretense of being a "new neighbor" and "searching for his house"," Greed snorted loudly, "Maybe he felt confident because nobody but you knows what he looks like,"

"Yeah, that sounds like him, arrogant ass," Lena smiled, "Did he do or say anything to you?" his questions were short and filled with a sharpness and alertness Lena only ever heard when he switched over to his 'soldier persona'.

"Calm down! He didn't do anything, yet," she winced at what it sounded like, "I don't think he will do anything anyway, I mean since he sought me out, he must know our relationship. That means if he wants something from you he won't do anything rash," she tried to calm him down by reasoning and logic, thankfully Greed wasn't a fool.

Unthankfully, Greed was angry. He growled despite her calming attempts, "Why the hell didn't you call Hawkeye? Let her shoot the lizard dead!" she could almost hear his semi-automatic loading in the background and aiming at imaginary Envy's head.

She huffed in annoyance, "Let me remind you that I'm an expert in martial arts, I don't think Envy has all too much of a number on me, though I shouldn't underestimate him either way."

"I thought I told you what he looks like, how didn't you know it was him right away?" Lena growled at his question.

"You idiot! All you said about his appearance was that he looked like some palm tree!" she shouted at the phone, wishing she could shout with Greed face-to-face.

"What am I supposed to say?! He looks like a palm tree! A short, ugly, shitty little palm tree!" Greed groaned at the other line, running a hand through his hair.

"Alright, well now that I know who I'm dealing with..." before Lena could continue, Greed immediately scolded her.

"No! You're not taking matters into your own hands!"

"No, no, listen. I thought of making him think I was some dumb girl, so he would let his guard down more easily. He actually tried asking me out today, but I said I had a boyfriend," she smirked, "Hmm...what if I pretended to break up with you and fool him?"

Greed's reply was immediate, "No,"

Lena rolled her eyes, sighing heavily, "Greeeed! Stop being such a baby! I'm just pretending!"

Greed crossed his arms on the other line, huffing, "No. You don't know what that psychotic chicken will do! He was always a bit on the sadistic, bitchy, unpredictable side. He may kill you or try to toy with you until you go crazy, as long as you're suffering he's had his fill,"

Lena frowned, "Hm...then what do you suggest? You know him better after all,"

Greed made a sound of agreement and replied, "Don't do anything that provokes him too much, he's got a short temper and once he reaches his fuse, he can become sadistic and dangerous. He may not look like it, but he can become dangerous if provoked too much. Don't go anywhere alone with him, since he's likely being watched by either Lusty or maybe even Pride. Lust's far more dangerous than Envy, so make sure you don't open the door when he knocks again or go anywhere alone with him. Tell Hawkeye what happened, she can station guards at our house,"

Lena frowned in confusion, "I thought you said Envy can prove pretty dangerous, how can a few guards overwhelm him?"

Greed grinned, "Honey, I was talking about a dozen guards, all of Armstrong's caliber,"

Lena shook her head, "Uh-huh, good luck finding so many good soldiers. Don't worry, I won't try acting on my own too much, since I trust your judgment on this one." She smiled, twirling the curled cord of the phone around her finger, staring down at it, "How is it looking on your side? Anything new?"

Greed released a long, drawn out sigh, "You're not gonna like this sweets..."

"Surprise me," she said dryly, plucking a green grape from her bowl she had fixed earlier for herself.

"Our...captive escaped, the others must have busted him out. He didn't say anything when we tried interrogating him so we got nothing. We suspect Drachma's making their move soon, you know how their leader gets," his voice was filled with disdain.

"What? Sloth escaped?!" her eyes widened, "That means...that means that surely Envy and the rest must have busted him out. They may already know where you guys are, are you moving?" her worry returned full force, she felt how her hands started to become sweaty and she wiped her hand across her jean clad leg.

"Yeah, we're discussing our next coordinates. Anyway, I gotta go now. Remember what I said and don't act stubborn and do something stupid, alright?" his voice turned softer at the end and Lena smiled, wiping a tear away furiously with the sleeve of her shirt.

"Y-yeah...I can't believe it's you who has to tell me that," she rubbed at her eyes, not understanding why her heart ached so suddenly and she had that sudden urge to just cry.

"Are you...crying?" Lena's breath hitched at his question, how did he hear it out? Was she that obvious? Shit...

"Crying? No, no, why would you think that?" she laughed to herself, trying to calm down as fast as possible.

There was a short silence before Greed spoke again, "I ain't your devilish handsome boyfriend for more than five years for nothing, sweets. Why are you crying hm?" she giggled briefly, feeling a bit better already.

She decided she didn't have the strength anymore to keep secrets any longer, "I just...I just...sometimes find it hard to...t-to cope with all of this Greed...I understand you have to be away, but t-that doesn't mean I like it..." she took a deep, shaky breath, "I just wish...you were here. I miss bickering with someone throughout the day, I miss doing laundry with you and scolding you because you put too much washing powder in the washing machine. I-I miss when we would watch movies with handsome actors and you would cover my eyes playfully whenever they got naked and comment things like "My woman won't submit her eyes to such torture" and then you would try to make me feel better with your "amazing abs"," she giggled, covering her mouth, tears spilling from her eyes.

Greed chuckled, "Yeah...my abs are amazing," Lena laughed and she wished she could hit him for that comment, "I never expected this stupid war to last this long, trust me. If none of these idiots had come here I wouldn't either. After all this is over...I won't ever leave you alone again, definitely not,"

Lena froze. Greed and herself had always avoided using the word "will" and "definitely" whenever they spoke about him coming back, they were both realistic people, they were by no means pessimists but...this was war...war was always paid with casualties of all kinds...most with the lives of the soldiers in it.

It was something unspoken, they knew it wasn't...definitive that he would come back, but they rarely said it out loud, because in truth, it scared her. A lot. She didn't want to face reality, she was facing it but at the same time not, because she just didn't want to even think about that possibility, that Greed was never coming back.

Before she could tell him she was fine and to thank him for calming her down, the line went dead.

"Fullmetal!" Roy roared over the rapid fire being shot back and forth and over the noise of explosions, releasing a torrent of fire towards his enemies in a straight line.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm trying here! Give me a break!" Ed shouted back, punching a Drachma soldier square in the face, the impact may have likely shattered his jaw and a few teeth.

"Where the hell did they all come from?! How did they find us anyway?!" Greed threw another soldier over his shoulder swiftly, rubbing his back when he felt the stitches that had yet to be removed stretched painfully across his taut skin, "Ah, damn, I'm getting old,"

"I hate to be a mood killer here but this isn't looking good Roy," Hughes commented, beating a soldier up with his rifle since he ran out of ammo, the poor sod was already half unconscious on the ground but he scared the crap out of Hughes just when the man was about to relieve himself by a tree, he was going to pay for interrupting him damn it!

Roy quickly observed the small battlefield that was once their base, more and more Drachma soldiers came from the north and Roy had no idea why now of all times, just as they were in the middle of discussing their next coordinates and relocating to another base.

What was that stupid ape thinking? He had initiated a full scale war between Amestris and Drachma, but did he have to bash them every week? Roy growled, kicking another soldier away in frustration, feeling anger consume him at the leader of the arctic country.

"Retreat!" he motioned west, where they hid two choppers under well placed leaves and several low hanging trees, it would be nearly impossible for Drachma to have spotted them.

Ed whipped his head around, one arm holding a trembling enemy in the air, who had tears running down his face, realizing who was holding him in the air, "What?! Are you serious?! We can't retreat now! I-"

"That was an order!" Roy locked gazes with Ed, two authorities clashing before Ed grit his teeth and punched the poor fool in his grip away, turning to his team.

"Retreat!" he shouted loud and clear, he looked back toward where Kimblee was, keeping more in the background since he wasn't healed fully yet, "Kimblee, can you provide a distraction?"

A toe curling, blood thirsty grin spread on his face and his eyes seemed to lighten up at the suggestion, Ed shivered mildly, still slightly disturbed about the amount of killing intent this man could exhibit so casually, "It would be my pleasure,"

He stepped forth, grinning like a madman when he saw the torrent of soldiers running towards him, he lifted his hands, swiftly grabbing several items from the insides of his pristine white coat and threw them at the ground, right at Drachma's feet.

The ground shook with the force of the blasts and just as a smoke screen appeared, Roy and Ed's teams started running west, Kimblee threw a grenade at where he knew enemies stood just for good measure, before Greed supported his frame and half limped, half paced to safety.

"Hm, again? I hope this won't become a regular occurrence," Kimblee remarked, but by no means venomously, referring to the fact he was saved, again.

Greed smirked, "Sorry, but your explosives come in handy in combat so I thought to save your ass," Kimblee chuckled and smirked, nodding his thanks. Greed nodded back and Ed observed their interaction while walking beside Mustang and his brother.

"Hey Al, do me a favor and check up on Kimblee and Greed once we are in the chopper. I have a feeling they overdid it again," Alphonse nodded at his brother's words, looking at the injured and limping duo.

"What do we do now? They've got us in the rumps," Hughes commented, rifle in hand and running alongside Roy.

"First, we need to get out of here. There's a good chance that more soldiers are tailing us right now, we need to contact Central and send for back up." Roy looked briefly at Ed, "Do you think Drachma's sudden ambush is in any way connected to Sloth's escape?"

Ed immediately shook his head, "No, doubt it. I don't think Sloth, or whoever he gets his orders from, would unite with Drachma. They don't have anything personal against us, or at least I think so," he glanced at Greed, "Besides, remember what that crazy old goon said?" he referred to the leader of Drachma.

Roy nodded and sighed, "He says that about every five minutes every time we meet. 'We will win! Because we are Drachma!'" he rolled his eyes.

Ed shook his head, "No, not that," he huffed, blowing a strand of loose hair out of his face, "The thing he said about sneaking in from all sides before taking the middle. Was this the first step?" Roy rose an eyebrow, not quite following.

Ed elaborated, gaze serious, "Our base was north-east from Central, see it as a corner on the map. I think he plans on eliminating each corner before he moves in for the kill in the center, right where Central is, where Bradley is," he grunted, keeping his pace even.

Recognition dawned in Roy's eyes at Ed's explanation, "Good analyzing, though I think most would aim for that pattern. I think he may have a more complicated plan put together, sometimes that may throw us off guard if we are not careful enough. This ambush today has been the first step to executing that plan of his and I'll make sure he won't follow through it," he growled, fire dancing in his eyes.

Ed suddenly grinned widely, "Heh, you can be really motivated can't ya?"

Roy was in his face in seconds, bumping shoulders with the younger male, "Shut it Fullmetal," he grit his teeth and Ed chuckled, concentrating on the path ahead, entering a more forested area now.

The trees provided good cover and judging by the small markings on the trees, they were close to the hidden choppers now.

Ed could still hear shootings in the distance and he sighed in relief, they were getting quieter.

He fingered his breast pocket exhaling in relief when he felt paper crumble slightly under his prodding, good, he had Winry's letters safely stored there.

His eyes suddenly widened and he skidded to a abrupt halt, causing two infantrymen to nearly slam into him from behind, hadn't the first one sharply made a turn around his superior and fell to the ground to not hit Edward.

"What the-? Edward, why did you stop?" Hughes slowly stopped running, jogging back to the younger male's side, Roy and Greed and Kimblee walked to a stop as well.

"The last letter..." he whispered, eyes wide, "I...I forgot the last letter..." Hughes rose an eyebrow in question, not hearing his mumbling.

"What? What did you forget? Ed?" he placed a hand on his shoulder, but Ed drew back, breaking in a head start in the wrong direction: back to camp.

"Hey! Stop disobeying me you fool!" Roy shouted, chasing after the blonde soldier, "Where are you going?! Do you want to run to your death?!"

Ed shouted back, gaze forward, eyes narrowed, gun already at the ready in his arms, loaded, "I forgot something important! I'll be right back!"

"Brother!" Alphonse slammed into his brother's running body, making the male shout in surprise and impact the ground rather painfully.

Alphonse was promptly shoved off of him, "Ouch! AL! What gives?! Do you want to give me a concussion?" Ed rubbed at his head, seeing stars briefly swarm his vision before he shook his head and regained focus.

Al shouted in his face comically, "DO YOU WANT TO GET KILLED?! THERE ARE ENEMIES OUT THERE! YOU WILL GET SHOT! I DON'T WANT YOU TO GET SHOT! WHAT CAN BE SO IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO-"

Ed suddenly cut his brother off, his tone serious, "I forgot something important Al, I forgot the last letter she sent me. I have to go and get it back," he clenched his hand into a fist, gritting his teeth at his forgetfulness and stupidity.

Granted, they had been ambushed and caught off guard, but that was no excuse to forget something as important as taking all of Winry's letters with him before their base got destroyed.

Ed quickly stood up, dusting off his pants, "Don't try to stop me, I'll be back, you just head straight to the chopper, I'll find you," he took off again.

Alphonse stared after his brother speechlessly, surprised of his brothers actions. He knew the writing letters back and forth with Winry had changed his brother a bit, he would suddenly sneak out of their tent, going somewhere where nobody would think to look for him or find him easily. He also noted how, whenever he received her letter, he would get slightly distracted, not in battle, never in battle, but concerning mapping the area, participating actively in discussions, situations which didn't endanger the lives of others simply.

When he asked Hughes about it, the older man just said it was "Edward's first time of finding a woman that showed an interest in him and him reverting back to a lovesick school boy". Alphonse sighed, he was glad he hadn't asked Mustang, who knew what he would have said.

"I've got this!" Greed suddenly rushed past Alphonse, who was still on the ground but shot up as soon as the man ran past him, "Hey! Greed! What are you doing?! Your injuries haven't healed yet!" he shouted after him desperately.

Greed turned his head briefly to grin and shout back, "Don't worry! The runt's safe with me! I've got time to heal later!" he waved with his free arm, the other was holding a bazooka, his rifle slung over his broad back, he was equipped with two grenades.

Alphonse turned to look at Kimblee, who shrugged his soldiers and smiled, "Never go unprepared into a battlefield, especially one filled with smoke,"

Alphonse fell back on his back, hearing how Mustang was having a fit because of Ed's recklessness and Hughes fawning over pictures of Alicia and Gracia again, he groaned, slapping a hand to his face in exasperation.

This wasn't going to end well.