A/N: Hello everyone, it's good to be back again. :) I hope all my precious readers are doing alright and if not, I'm sending a lot of comforting hugs! Life's roughing me up a bit, but I hope for better times :3

CHAPTER NOTICE: Anyway, this chapter will begin with scenes of the past during Ed's academy days, I won't be putting the whole text in italics because that would be an eyesore, I'll just put spoken words in italics to know it's set in the past. Then we will slowly rewind and jump right onto when Ed wakes up after fighting Gluttony.

Enjoy!

With Eyes Wide Open

A group of laughing men, just in their beginning twenties, strolled casually down the hall of what was to be their second home during their time in the military and Ed scoffed at their leisurely gait and half-assed jokes.

Reality hadn't quite sunk in yet for some and that just made Edward furious hearing the comments of how easy it would be to pass the final exams and become full-fledged soldiers ready to 'wipe the floor with enemy scum and become war heroes'.

Becoming dogs of the military.

Class began, and Edward was seated in the middle, close enough to pay attention to their teacher but far away enough from anyone that looked like they would talk to him.

"I heard you've already attended several classes in psychological warfare, correct? Is someone capable of telling me how to gather information from a prisoner of war by utilizing any means necessary, including mild forms of torture of any kind?" the teacher was dressed in military garb, as was anyone employed here and Edward could see the dark circles under his eyes, but his eyes themselves didn't look hardened or had that faraway look like some of the other ones did.

"This one must have only studied military strategies and tactics but had not actively participated in any wars," Edward thought, he couldn't say he blamed the man. Living with the consequences one had to face after being lucky enough to survive a war were terrifying, he could imagine.

Edward raised his hand, dropping it when the teacher signaled for him to speak, "Interrogating prisoners of war is similar to brainwashing someone, isn't it? Isolation, sleep deprivation, perhaps inconsistent and small meals, physical or mental abuse, using reverse psychology or any other form of tricks to make the prisoner start doubting their own thoughts and what they know, creating internal conflict within themselves. If we could manage to keep them on their toes and on high alert, they might break soon enough." His gaze was calm and he noticed several of his 'classmates' started to whisper among themselves.

The teacher rose an eyebrow, a barely audible smile on his face, "That is correct. However, the military is working to educate soldiers on the field in the art of speech and manipulation more so that, before physical torture is deemed necessary, we would only use words at our disposal."

Another student raised his hand then, "What does it matter anyway? They're prisoners, right? They're the enemy, I think it's nothing bad if we inflict some damage on them if they could mercilessly kill some of my comrades and fellow countrymen," a lot of approving nods and hums of agreement sounded throughout the room and the teacher raised his hand to silence them.

Edward felt a shiver run down his spine suddenly and he had a feeling the uniformed man was about to say something big, "Those so called enemies you speak of…" the teacher looked down at his desk before again at the all the soldiers in training, "We are their enemies too, I'm certain you would see differently were you a prisoner of war. Just like us, they are humans with feelings, lives. They have families, friends, relatives, people that care for them." And then, something hardened in his teacher's eyes that made Ed feel slightly on edge, "Every life that you take, whether it be friend or foe, is not just one life." He paused, to let his words sink in, to create an impact and partially shocked and stricken faces greeted him, "It's every life connected to them, every friend, lover, family member or partner. I wish I could say you will never find yourselves in a situation where you decide over a person's life, but that would be a lie,"

The grim silence that followed made Ed nearly break his pencil.

He didn't think of the military as a place full of fun and games, but the reality of his own decision enrolling into such a place hit him again when he entered the privacy of his room and replayed his teacher's words in his head.

Alphonse would stay behind in Resembool, safe and sound, and then, what would happen should he fall in battle? Al had no one aside himself, his brother was resilient and resourceful and smart, he was capable of taking care of himself just fine, but Ed didn't want to hurt his brother in this way.

It was bad enough when their mother died, when their shitty father left, but him leaving too would be like a punch to the gut. It didn't sit well with him, but it was the only choice he had, fight in a war and do everything he could to protect his brother from harm or be stuck sitting ducks while said war was taking place and nobody knew which side would win.

At least with his involvement, they would have an extra pair of hands to help turning the tides. Maybe if he trained and tried hard enough, maybe he could amount to something, maybe he could use his knowledge in alchemy and chemistry to his advantage, after all, modern warfare partially relied on all sorts of biological weapons and chemicals, maybe-

A knock on the door gave him pause and Edward stood up to answer it.

Was it the new roommate he would have to share the bunk with? Every trainee needed to share the room with a fellow trainee and so far, not even half of them were assigned roommates.

Perhaps Edward's time of doom came earlier than he thought, he wasn't exactly a people's person.

"….AL?!" his shocked screech reminded him of a velociraptor, but he could care less about that.

The smiling face of none other than his younger brother greeted him and Ed had half a mind to punch himself and check if he was dreaming, "Wha…wh….what the HELL are you DOING here?!" he roughly pulled at Al's shirt collar, slamming the door shut so that not the whole building would hear him.

Alphonse, as always, had the perfect angelic expression on his face, even as he held up a very familiar looking acceptance form in his hands, "I took the exams and passed brother! I'm a soldier in training too now, just like you!" he grinned brightly, "But I'll specialize in the medical department, so we don't really have so many classes together, but that's okay, we have the core ones together, we can sit next to each-other and by the way, I'm your roommate-"

Ed violently screamed his ear off, "WHAT THE FUCK ALPHONSE YOU DON'T JUST APPLY TO JOIN THE MILITARY JUST TO FOLLOW YOUR BIG BROTHER! I TOLD YOU TO STAY HOME!" Ed's face was red, he was sure his blood pressure was skyrocketing right now but he didn't care, he snatched the papers from his brother's hands, "Gimme those! Maybe it's not too late to destroy them or withdraw!" he was about to march out of his room until a strong hand on his forearm made him freeze in his tracks.

Al's bangs covered his eyes and his brother's uncharacteristically serious voice reached his ears, "Brother…please listen. I applied to the military to keep an eye on you and protect you and to stop people dear to me from being killed or hurt by this war," when Ed slowly turned his head to look at his brother, Alphonse had a hard, determined look in his eyes, "Mei is living in this country too. We both still live in this country, along with our friends. Dad is also somewhere still in Amestris, maybe." Ed snorted at that, who the hell cared about that old geezer? "What I'm trying to say is, I'm not going to hide and wait at home while you're out there risking your life brother! It's either together or not at all!"

Ed weighed his options.

Since he was already a few months here, it would be difficult to leave. Alphonse was still fresh from the exams, maybe they would allow a withdrawal. On one hand, he would suffer his brother's rare but very lethal wrath should he attempt to destroy his application documents, on the other hand, he would kill himself before he allowed his brother to walk head-first into danger.

He stared at his younger brother, noticing how his chin looked sharp and slightly angular, his eyes a little more slanted but still rounder and bigger than his own ones, his cheeks having lost their baby fat years ago. His brother was smart, on par with his own intelligence, he may abhor violence but they've occasionally engaged in sparring sessions, courtesy of their very strict, crazy martial arts teacher, purely for self defense purposes and for learning something new and useful. After all, getting mugged in the street wasn't such an uncommon occurrence as some were led to believe.

Ed finally opened his mouth, "Since you'll be the medic, I'll be the first to shoot any bastards dead before you go anywhere near the warzone. If somebody sneaks up on you, you'll scream my name or beat the shit out of him with your fancy medical bag or equipment or whatever. If you get injured, I repeat if, I'll call for a chopper and you'll be sent back to Central. I don't care if it's a freaking scratch, if you're hurt you're calling it quits-"

"Thank you brother!" Alphonse launched himself with full force at his stunned sibling, whom got cut off mid-sentence and had just enough time to keep them both from stumbling to the floor.

"H-hey, easy there, alright, alright already," he patted his brother on the back, sighing heavily.

What did he do to deserve this?

But Alphonse's eyes were gleaming in excitement, "I promise you I'll be careful if you're careful too. Since I'm the medic it's my job to heal any injuries you get and if I say you're too injured to fight, you won't try to fight in the next battle, got it?" he smirked.

Ed scratched the back of his neck, chuckling, "Don't forget, I'm the older brother, I gotta protect you,"

Alphonse smiled, "Yeah and I'm the younger brother, I have to make sure you're good enough to protect me," he winked, laughing at the stunned look on his brother's face.

Ed blinked, for the first time asking himself since when his little brother grew up and with a fond look, he decided, that maybe the military wouldn't be so bad with his brother by his side.

His head was killing him.

He felt the familiar, heavy weight of his prosthetic leg as the bed sank deeper under that limb, but he failed to feel the almost reassuring weight of his artificial arm.

And finally, his eyes opened only groggily, the light nearly blinding him when he opened them fully.

It took him far longer than necessary to get to his senses and recognize his surroundings, and when he saw the obvious signs of tearing, namely the loosely hanging, half-ripped cables hanging off of the place where his automail limb was supposed to be, he groaned.

What the hell happened?

His mind was a maze, thousands of thoughts leading to so many things his brain failed to keep track of and ending up lost.

He saw he was in a small tent, alone, a medical kit resting next to his makeshift bed, consisting of a blanket and a rolled-up tent under his head.

Rubbing at the ache in the back of his neck from his uncomfortable position, a sudden jarring memory made him freeze up.

Gluttony.

They had been fighting Gluttony.

The sick man had actually eaten the bodies of dead soldiers.

The sick man had nearly eaten him.

Ed froze, hands slowly moving up his chest to hesitantly feel around his neck, making out the indentations where Gluttony's teeth had pressed a little too hard against his skin, even underneath the bandage that Al most likely applied.

And he realized he was covered in bandages. His shoulder was bandaged and he felt the ache pulse within his muscles, like a beating heart and he remembered he nearly dislocated it when he tried escaping from Gluttony.

Shivers raced up and down his spine, like small needless poking him everywhere at once and Ed rubbed at his neck frantically to get rid of the feeling.

This wasn't the first time he laid injured in a tent, certainly not the last, it wasn't the first time his life had been threatened either, but…this had been a very different battle.

It hadn't been a battle to eliminate enemies and make sure you and your comrades survived for the next big fight.

It had been a literal fight for his life. Fighting something else other than just a normal soldier or machines and guns. Gluttony hadn't been a normal man.

Gluttony had eaten dead humans and he had attempted to eat them too. He had bodily enhancements like Greed, due to the serum, he could digest human flesh without consequences, he had an insatiable physical hunger like Greed had a nearly insatiable hunger, though of a different kind, for all sorts of things (his name fit him very much so).

He shouldn't have underestimated Gluttony. He had gone and done a fucking rookie mistake and judged the enemy by mental strength and appearance. While Gluttony may look dimwitted and slow due to his obese build, he was fast on his feet, had brutal physical strength and even agile when he was 'hungry'.

The familiar but unwelcome feeling of nausea hit him again and he had the suspicion it hadn't been the first time in over forty-eight hours that he had the strong urge to empty his stomach.

Slowly getting up to a sitting position, Ed used the standing wooden beam holding up the tent as a support, lacking the counterweight to balance his body out with the lack of an arm. It felt…odd, it had been a while since he went without his limb replacement and it made him slightly uneasy, as if an attack could happen any moment and he had no mechanic who could fix him up quick enough.

His feet were wobbly from being in a laying position for a longer time, but he felt confident enough to make it outside.

With careful steps, Ed managed to pull away the flap of the tent covering the entrance and he was met with dozens of pairs of eyes.

He reeled back, yelping, nearly destroying the makeshift tent that he had just slept in, "W-wha, what the hell?!" he blinked, rubbing at his eyes and sure enough, his own team, Mustang and his unit, along with their remaining troopers were all looking at him.

Some were bug eyed, as if not expecting him to be up and walking again. Others were worried and surprised, maybe because he looked pathetic and felt like it too, or maybe because he had woken up sooner than any of them expected. And some faces looked…pissed. Most notably Greed's.

"Fullmetal," his eyes turned to Roy, "It's good to see you on your feet," his words were soft and sounded genuine and Ed reluctantly suppressed the urge to offer a biting, sarcastic retort, in lieu he nodded his head, his own words softer than usually.

"Yeah…thanks," Roy scoffed softly, as if something amused him.

"Are you sure you're alright to walk, brother?" Al's doctor eyes scanned him from head to toe and it made Ed stingy, being seized up like some insect up for inspecting.

"Hey, don't give me those analyzing doctor eyes, Al. I'm fine," he bit his lip, "Kinda," his thoughts seemed to echo his stance, because his knees felt like they were about to give out.

Maybe he even looked like he was about to collapse, because Alphonse pulled on his arm and made him sit on the small log he had previously occupied. He must have felt the nearly effortless way in which Ed allowed his body weight to hit the wood, out of sheer exhaustion, because he frowned in concern.

"How…long was I out for?" he gave each of his friends and comrades a look.

It was Ling, seated next to Greed, who answered quietly, looking exhausted, "A week and a half,"

Ed swallowed thickly, "…A whole week? Damn," he rubbed at his eyes, "I'll need to call a mechanic to get me fixed up," he stared at his nonexistent prosthetic pointedly but Al intervened.

"Don't worry, we already called for a mechanic, he should be in by tomorrow," Ed nodded, thankful for at least one good news.

"Alright…what…what happened?" he rubbed a hand over his face, feeling nauseas all over again when he remembered Gluttony and his big, bloody teeth, "What happened after…after Gluttony attacked me?"

There was a loud crunching sound and when he turned his head to look what it was, he found a not so small stick clutched tightly in Greed's hand, broken in miniature pieces, the thick wood standing no chance against Greed's pure strength, without the shield.

He was pissed, "Tch, whaddya think? We knocked him out, locked him up again," he scoffed, eyes hardening, "Interrogated the little shit all night, hasn't said anything I didn't already know." Greed shared a look with Roy suddenly and sighed, "We suspect the other family members didn't tell him anything of their plans, I'm not surprised either. Gluttony's not the sharpest tool in the box, if you bait him enough in his pacified state, he may blubber up a thing or two," Greed shrugged, looking as weary as he sounded, "He knows nothing, may as well kill him,"

Ed frowned, suddenly getting flashbacks from a particular lesson in his academy days, "What if…what if we left him alive…" at the affronted looks on some of his friends faces, Ed quickly elaborated, "But…got him on our side somehow? It's not uncommon for captured soldiers to have a change of heart after a while," he remembered the forms of psychological torture again.

Greed gave him an enraged, dark look, "…Did those painkillers mess with your head? Listen kid, that monster doesn't have a heart, I highly doubt you can convince one of the dumbest beings to exist on earth to switch sides. Besides, he is closest to Lust and he would never think of betraying her. He would rather die,"

Ed sighed, "You…you said his…energy…reserves or…that serum thingy…" Ed gripped his head, "Ugh, the reason for his inhuman powers…you said it's fully charged, right?"

Greed suddenly gave a very disturbing, very bloodthirsty grin, "Well…I would say it's about reduced to half since my last visit," he grinned, flexing his wrist.

Ed didn't even want to know how Greed took care of that, "Hey uh…I…I need to make a call," he stood on wobbly legs, shaking his head at his brother who moved to help him and offering him a small smile, slowly making his way to the other tents and hopefully to a still functioning phone.

"A call? Now?" Roy rose an eyebrow, "Who could he possibly call now?"

Al rubbed his chin, "Good question…" he stared at his brother's back, thinking.

"Hello! Rockbell's Automail Shop, how may I help you today?" a chirpy, familiar female voice answered and briefly, it made Ed feel better.

"Hey…it's me, Edward," he cringed slightly when he heard the surprised and sharp intake of breath.

It was no surprise really, he hadn't contacted her for weeks, for all she knew, he was as good as dead, "E-Ed? You…" there was a relieved, hopeful tone to her voice and his heart lifted, felt lighter. Maybe comforting words was just what he needed-" YOU INCOMPETENT, INSESITIVE JERK!" came the sudden loud screech that made his ears bleed and Ed hastily pulled the damaged phone away from his ear.

His temper, the same short fuse he thought he had long since abandoned, resurfaced again, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING INSENSITIVE JERK?! Cut me some slack would ya?!" he shouted right back, not caring if anyone heard him. Funny, he hadn't mentioned the bit where she called him incompetent…then again, if he let himself get injured like this, she wasn't far off.

Winry wouldn't let up too it seemed, "WHY SHOULD I?! YOU DIDN'T CALL FOR WEEKS YOU IDIOT! I THOUGHT SOMETHING HAPPENED! GREED DIDN'T CALL EITHER AND LENA IS PREPARING TO GO ON A KILLING SPREE! TELL HIM TO CALL HER AS SOON AS HE CAN!" there was a moment of silence, enough for Ed's ears to stop ringing, until it felt like his ear drums finally shattered when Winry spoke again, "I WAS WORRIED YOU STUPID JERK! I-I THOUGHT YOU GOT INJURED OR-OR DIED OR SOMETHING! YOU CAN'T JUST NOT TELL YOUR FRIENDS WHAT'S GOING ON!" there was so much hurt in her voice that it broke Ed's heart.

Feeling his throat clogging up, Ed coughed, trying to calm down his own emotions, "H-hey…Winry, listen I…" he took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair, "It's…been rough, the past few weeks. We…we got attacked last night or err…a week and a half ago, it was a close call. I just woke up after the attack, I was out for a week and a half." He bit his lip at the silence, "Another sin attacked us, this time it was Gluttony. We got him locked up…somewhere, but we aren't sure for how long that's going to work. We still need to make a plan and see where it gets us," he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

Winry was uncharacteristically silent on the other line, a feat Ed was sure he would never achieve, at least not by his own doing, since she seemed so intent on screaming at him.

He understood her, if he found out one of his friends were in a haphazard warzone and didn't give a sign of life for several weeks he would also fear the worst. He couldn't blame her, really, he couldn't.

And then, Winry finally spoke, her voice was quiet, shaky, "…Were you injured?"

Ed hung his head, "…Not really. My…ahm, I got a scratch, nothing bad," he looked down at the vacant spot where his artificial limb was supposed to be attached, "Al looked me over, I'm fine, or going to be," he cleared his throat, "How are you? …I'm sorry I didn't call," his foot was nervously tapping on the ground as every second passed.

For some reason, it almost felt foreign to apologize. Not that Ed never apologized for anything, it felt weird saying it with so much emotion. He was genuinely sorry, sorry for making her so worried, sorry for probably worrying the rest of his friends, sorry for actually caring so much to be even thinking this.

He thought she hung up, but he was surprised when she finally spoke again, "I'm…okay. Business is doing good, the others are worried though. Riza said reinforcements were on their way, they…um, they should be there either today or tomorrow." Ed breathed a sigh of relief.

Good, they seriously needed more firepower right now, "Ed…" he perked up, his throat dry, waiting, "I'm…sorry too for shouting at you. You just woke up from a coma and I'm here screaming your head off," she laughed a little and he couldn't help but chuckle too, at the absurdity of the situation, "I guess I just went a little overboard with worrying…"

He didn't notice how husky his voice had gotten, "Be worried all you want, Winry," he smiled, it felt good saying it, as if she had a right to worry, to worry about him.

He grinned when she started stuttering, "Um, well, i-it's, I mean, it's not like I'm worrying about you all the time, I have stuff to do too, you know? I can't work properly if I worry about you all the time, I have to mentor Aaron," Who was Aaron?, "I have to take care of my clients and my friends and help granny build a new automail model as a hip replacement, I still need to do grocery shopping-" he suddenly burst out laughing, immediately regretting it when he felt his body wobble unsteadily.

"You crack me up, Winry. Grocery shopping? That's the best you got?" he smirked, "Since when is food more important than a friend?"

Winry, it seemed, didn't share his sentiments, "Since it keeps me alive, genius. I mean, I could try to eat you but that would be a difficult task," he could hear the humorous undertone and couldn't help but tease.

"Are you calling me fat, Ms. Rockbell?" he was sure he had a shit-eating grin on his face.

She couldn't believe they went from worrying over the war and his health to weight jokes, "I most certainly am, Mr. Elric," she giggled and it stroked Ed's ego slightly, "Please Ed, take a good rest before you do something stupid. I'm sure Alphonse would agree with me too,"

Ed felt unnaturally flustered, "Yeah…uhm, you too," he internally cursed for the slip up but relaxed when Winry laughed.

"Call again soon Ed, take care," Ed bid her goodbye back and the line went dead again as he hung up.

He sighed, heavily, he felt lighter and heavier at the same time and he was sure it didn't make sense.

He ran a hand over his face, looking up at the, for once, clear sky.

Wait…

Eyes wide, he raced back to where the tent was he had stayed in, everyone else still gathered next to it, "Mustang!"

Roy turned his head, "What is it, Fullmetal?" he rose an eyebrow expectantly.

Ed pointed upward at the sky, "Where are we? The sky is blue, it's clear," his gaze narrowed, "Did we move after the attack? Last I remember, we were in the middle of another snowstorm not far from Briggs,"

Roy cleared his throat, "We did…we thought due to the casualties we had, staying in colder climate may not be the best idea,"

Ed mercilessly bonked him on the head with his automail foot, "Ouch, what the-!"

"You're an idiot, Mustang!" Ed's eyes were a blazing inferno of gold, "We were close to Drachma's next base, we could have launched an ambush as soon as I recovered, what the hell bit you in the ass and made you even dumber than you were?"

Roy stood up now, towering over the furious man, his dark eyes serious, all humor gone, "You're the idiot if you think I'll risk the lives of my men and comrades because of our position over the enemy," Ed's expression faltered, "We'll head out after the mechanic reattaches your arm," he glanced at the torn cables hanging out of Edward's shoulder, "After all, we wouldn't want an incompetent soldier who doesn't know how to take care of himself ruining our chances at getting one over the enemy, do we?" his gaze narrowed.

Ed's hand curled around the collar of Roy's uniform and he brought him down to his height, only slightly smaller than Roy's own, "If you want to fight, fine, I don't need my other arm to wipe the floor with you," the fire was back in his eyes, "Listen General Useless, I know what you're trying to do, but I know." He sighed and released his superior, "…I know it was my fault that Gluttony freed himself. I know it's my fault we relocated for nothing and-ouch!" a firm fist slammed down onto the top of his head, enough to jolt him, but not hurt particularly bad.

He glared daggers at Roy, who had his arms crossed and a disapproving frown on his face once he straightened, "After all these years in the military, you disappoint me now, Fullmetal. Gluttony's escape had nothing to do with your incompetence, it had to do with lack of information about the prisoner," he shot a quick, slightly peeved look at Greed, who had the decency to look sheepish, "And with bad luck."

Ed snorted, "I thought you didn't believe in back luck,"

Roy smirked, "I thought I didn't believe in demons, but here we are with the seven deadly sins out for our necks," he shared a wry smirk with Greed, who shook his head.

"Six," Greed grinned lazily, waving a hand and Roy smirked.

He nodded affirmatively, "Right, six. Dire times call for desperate measures Fullmetal, mistakes may be inconvenient but they're inevitable," after a while, Roy smirked, "Besides, our current location offers us a unforeseen advantage,"

Ed rose an eyebrow, "Oh yeah? What would that be?"

Roy's smirk grew and he tightened his gloves over his hands, "The element of surprise. They don't know our location, reinforcements are on the way and we can plan our next course of action without having to fear being spotted quite yet," he turned around to address a quartet of foot soldiers, "Have you scouted the area?"

A shorter woman saluted briefly and nodded, "Yes sir, the area seems to be clear,"

Roy nodded once and turned his attention to Al and Ling, "Once everyone received medical attention, take a long rest, you deserved it," both men nodded, directing their team to check up on the still injured soldiers a little ways ahead.

"And you," lastly, he turned to Greed, "I want to know everything connected to the sins and how to beat them, their strengths and what their purpose is. Tell us everything Greed," Greed stared at his superior for a moment before nodding solemnly, violet eyes narrowing in concentration as the core teams of Mustang and Ed gathered around to sit.

"Alright, story time I guess," Greed frowned and took a breath, crossing his arms as memories flashed before his mind's eye, "I guess you could say it began in Dublith…"

"SHINEEE!" Winry and Mei watched as Lena rampaged through her house, pillows and a stray blanket or two, and curiously enough, Greed's shirt and pants, which looked suspiciously singed, were littered all around the rooms. Lena herself was slamming her fists against the punching bag that was nearly twice her size and Winry flinched every time the loud slap resonated through the room when Lena's unprotected fists met the firm bag.

Winry whispered lowly to Mei, "What is she saying Mei?" she glanced down at the smaller Xingese woman.

Mei sighed, "She's swearing in Xingese," she winced at a particularly loud colorful word, "And she wants Greed to die,"

Winry swallowed thickly and started to walk slowly toward her friend, "W-why don't we all calm down and-" Lena's furious eyes were nearly black when she rounded on Winry, who took a step back and subtly hid behind Mei, who was known for her previous martial arts career in Xing.

Mei sighed, "I understand your anger Lena but um, maybe they didn't have any functioning communication devices and-"

"THEN HOW THE FUCK DID ED CALL WINRY?! HUH?! NO DEVICE MY FOOT! IS GREED TOO MUCH OF A SHITHEAD TO STEAL HIS PHONE AND CALL HIS WORRIED-FOR-NOTHING GIRLFRIEND?!" she delivered a high roundhouse kick to the punching bag with an enraged shout and when she landed on her feet she was bouncing on them nervously, seizing the poor punching bag as if it were the source of all her anger, "That damned bastard, not calling, not saying 'Hey babe, I'm okay', nothing!" she delivered a powerful uppercut, "I don't care anymore! He should burn in hell! I'll find another man!" she delivered furious punches in quick succession, making even Mei worried if her skin was starting to blister and peel from the harsh impacts.

Winry shook her head and carefully stepped out from behind her temporary human shield, raising her hands placatingly in the air, "I'm sure he had his reasons Lena, Ed said they were under attack from one of the sins, I'm sure they're still trying to figure everything out. Greed will call you as soon as he can,"

Lena's shoulders were shaking with barely suppressed anger, with exertion from her punches and her quick, unfocused breaths.

To be honest, both women understood her perfectly, "I understand Lena, if Alphonse were to do something like that, I would be angry too," Mei said sympathetically, sighing. Winry nodded in agreement.

The brunette's head suddenly shot up and Winry worried she might get whiplash, "Wait…Al sends you messenger hawks, doesn't he?" Mei nodded slowly, "Why can't my idiot of a boyfriend send me birds too?! What the hell is his problem?!" she grit her teeth, falling heavily on her couch.

Winry and Mei shared a look and neither of them needed words to understand what each of them thought, 'Because you both have anger issues and would one day strangle the poor thing,'

Mei sighed and sat next to her enraged friend, patting her shoulder, "Suggest it to him next time and maybe it will work, besides, you can trust Greed and Alphonse and everyone else, they won't die so easily,"

Lena leaned back and sighed, long and hard, and the exhale seemed to have taken away most of her anger. She was still frowning and her arms were still tightly crossed over her heaving chest, but at least she didn't look like she would kill anyone anytime soon.

Winry stiffened when Lena turned her head toward her, eyes narrowed, "What did you say about a sin?"

Quickly remembering their conversation, Winry replied uneasily, "Uhm, the s-sin that attacked them," she bit her lip, "Ed said something about being attacked by Gluttony,"

She watched the way Lena's eyes widened and she swore she saw fear in them, real fear.

"Shit…" Lena swore softly under her breath, her hands shaking against her knees, "Gluttony's a monster, they couldn't have gotten away without any bruises, they-" she sucked in a breath, "Damn, I don't know! Greed never told me anything except how dangerous they were! But, but it doesn't take a genius to know what they are or what-what powers they have right?!" she looked at her two friends, "I-I mean Gluttony…what, did he try to eat them?! That can't be right," she buried her face in her hands helplessly and Mei gently rubbed her back.

The Xingese woman frowned worriedly, her own heart racing at the new information, "Let's search him up,"

Winry blinked, "What?"

Mei's gaze was steel, "Let's research all about the seven deadly sins, maybe there are similarities. We can check in with Greed for confirmation, I'm sure he was forced to tell everyone about them," she bit her bottom lip, her shaking hands betraying her own emotional state, "Let's visit the State Military library,"

Winry's eyes flew open in shock, "What?! But how? I'm not sure outsiders are allowed in there,"

Lena suddenly cracked her knuckles with a sneer, "I'll make them give us permission,"

Mei sighed, "Guys, remember where Riza works again?"

Both women looked at each-other and had the decency to blush in embarrassment, Lena fiddled with her fingers, "Oh…right…" she cleared her throat, "Sorry, still angry over the whole Greed fiasco," she sighed and hissed when she squeezed her hands, spotting bloody, destroyed skin on her knuckles, "Aw, great, my students will kill me,"

Mei smiled brightly, "Come on, we can't lose anymore time! Just because we're stuck here and not fighting there doesn't mean we can slack off!" Mei suddenly grabbed the two women by the arm and dragged them after her sprinting form with surprising strength for her smaller stature.

Winry felt her wrist could get dislocated, "W-Wait! What about my shop?!"

Mei's voice was as carefree as her bubbly personality, "Call your assistant and tell him to stay longer!" Lena blinked in surprise at the smaller woman's resolve.

Slowly, a smirk spread over the martial artist teacher's lips, "What do you know, our little Mei can be pretty resolute, huh?" she grinned, suddenly feeling a bit better, "Well, can't deny the facts!" she shoved her hand into her pocket while trying to keep up with her friend's running pace, "Call the boy blondie, we are hitting the books!" Winry caught it in the air just in time, frowning at both of her arms as she tugged hard at their joined hands.

"Stop!" Mei came to a jarring halt, nearly causing Lena to stumble into her and Winry to lose her balance, "We have a car remember?" she looked at each of them and motioned toward Lena's car in the backyard.

Mei grinned sheepishly, "Sorry…" she smiled, heading for the car, "We can't lose much time!"

Lena grinned and fished for her keys while jogging to her vehicle, "You know, I think Ling is a good influence on you Mei!" she shouted while getting into the driver's seat excitedly, "Bet Al likes the bossy attitude under the sheets, huh?"

Mei's cheeks glowed brilliantly as she tried to hide her face, "L-Lena!"

Winry tried to desperately tune out the rest of the conversation as the young male voice answered her, "Hello? Who is this?"

Winry cringed, "Ah, hey Aaron! It's me Winry, ah, listen I'll need to run some errands for today so would you maybe mind staying for just a bit longer and close up shop?" she glanced back toward the playfully bickering pair in the car, "I think it's going to take me all day,"

There was some shuffling from the other side and the voice of a irritated customer that made Winry worry, before Aaron's voice took over again, "R-right, no problem Miss Winry! Um, but, this isn't your number,"

The blonde sighed heavily, "Yeah….don't ever call this number Aaron, okay?"

The young student made a confused noise, "Uh…w-why? Is something wrong? Are you in danger?" the urgency and worry in his tone was sweet but Winry couldn't imagine what would happen if Aaron were to call Lena one day. The devious woman could tell him all sorts of twisted things if she were in a good mood.

"No, no, no! It's perfectly safe, I just ah…just don't call this number okay?!" she hoped her stern order would repel the man to listen to her and it did judging by the nervous spluttering.

"A-a-a-alright, m-mmiss Winry I w-won't I promise!" she felt guilty for making Aaron so nervous to make him stutter, but what needed to be done, needed to be done.

"Good, see you tomorrow at work Aaron." She cringed at the loud sound of a honking car and a customer's enraged shout, "Good luck…"

She hang up before she heard the end of Aaron's agonized, high pitched squeak, most probably from the enraged customer throwing something at him, before she turned around and walked toward the car, sliding in the backseat.

She handed Lena her phone and leaned forward between the two women, "Alright, settled," she watched Mei's curiously red face and Lena's shit-eating grin, "Let's just get to Riza before we do any collateral damage," she eyed the way Lena's hands were eagerly flexing on the steering wheel and it made her stomach churn, "…Why don't I drive? I'm sure you're tired from your punching session Lena,"

'More like killing spree,' she added mentally but the brunette shook her head quickly.

"Nope! In fact, I could use a good drive!" the grin on her face was too wide and maniacal to be considered sane to drive and Winry fastened both seatbelts across her torso as a precaution.

Mei fastened her seatbelt and wrapped her arms around her head, "Okay, we are ready to go!"

Lena's jaw dropped in shock, "H-Hey! I'm not bad at driving, what's the big idea?!" she looked back and forth between Winry and Mei.

Winry deadpanned, "You're a suicidal driver, not a bad driver,"

"What's the difference?!" Lena shouted over her shoulder.

Mei squirmed in her seat nervously, "One wants to get killed and the other doesn't but can't help it,"

Winry was sure they would need to make a detour to the hospital if the glare Lena sent them was any indication of the way she would be driving today: murderously.

The library was quiet, save for the tell-tale rustling of paper as the shorter woman flipped the pages over the thick books tirelessly.

Sheska had already accumulated over twenty-five books but had no real breakthrough yet.

Riza had coded her the current situation at the border with the Homunculi, so she had set to work. Danny and Maria were stationed just outside the doors, nobody should be able to sneak up while she was researching confidential information.

As far as she learned, there were many theories revolving around the creation of the first sins, among them the name 'Homunculus' fell, but no real historical records have ever been created.

No real supporting evidence could be found in the science books either, "What if I search in the other books instead?" she quickly rushed toward a section she used to visit more often in her youth: the mythology section.

Usually it was said to be myths, scientifically unsupported and thus, deemed insignificant in her line of work in the State Military, however in this particular case, it just may be of help.

Her fingers found the thickest book she could find and she quickly scanned its contents, her finger rapidly tracing down each chapter title.

Drachmanian Myths

Aerugian Legends

Xerxes

Amestrian Gods

Her finger froze on the next title.

Seven deadly sins

It was a big chapter, there was bound to be something of use there. She flipped open the correct page and she immediately stumbled upon various pictures of partly demonic-looking creatures, each marked with descriptions underneath.

One looked like a black-reddish fire ball with disformed eyes and a mouth, underneath it was the small paragraph.

The sin of greed, believed to have existed since the existence of men, but after the sin of pride. Like lust and gluttony, it is a sin of desire. It is the sin said to be the origin of all evil along with the sin of arrogance, pride.

Sheska rose an eyebrow as she quickly jotted down notes on her notebook, "After the sin of pride? So pride existed before any of them? How is that possible? Someone must have created them after all," following this books logic, where humanity was created by a single entity, the sins must have originated from somewhere as well.

They couldn't have materialized out of thin air, after all.

Sheska continued on reading.

Translation:

Shine - die (Japanese)

Inspiration: Katsuki Bakugou (My Hero Academia) XD

Thanks for reading! See you in the next chap! :)