A/N: 'Ello, 'ello~ This chapter is pretty long. Yeah. I thought I should end it the way it's been ended. Anyway. Yes, this story is OC x OC because Cain is in love with Catalena, and it's Greed x OC because well, Greed ends up with Catalena. That's the whole point as to why you're even reading this, right? ANYWHO. The story finally peels off of Cain and focuses on Catalena again. (THANK GOD) Nah, just kidding, I like Cain.

See profile for pictures of my OCs? AS WELL AS NEWLY ANNOUNCED OC FOR NEW STORY. /throws confetti

Warning! Major time skips in this chapter! As well as a cliffhanger! D:

Disclaimer: IF I OWNED FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST EVERYONE WOULD HAVE A PHILOSOPHER'S STONE DURRHURR


Rapacious

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| Of course I lie to people. But I lie altruistically—for our mutual good. |

Chapter 4

Innocence is Misleading

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The Sun had already fled this side of the world, leaving the sky in an endless sheet of black. Yet the woman strolling the streets strolled without fear, her body and mind guided by the directions mentioned in the letter. Though she wasn't ecstatic about Cain's capture, she was curious in who required her services so urgently they'd kidnap a member of the military.

It must have been a very relevant case.

Humidity from the air irritated her. Catalena was as grateful as she could be once a nearby street sign matched the address of the letter's. It turned out to be a series of warehouses; the mystery of their being further induced by the foggy haze that clouded around.

Yes, it was the perfect setting for a situation like this. There was a damsel in distress (Except the fact that the damsel was male) that required rescuing. Cliché in her opinion, but interesting.

Then the atmosphere suddenly changed.

Well…maybe she had miscalculated or misconceived the addition of the two enigmatic henchmen.

A pair of silent entities sheathed in black. Their identities were hidden behind a peculiar looking mask, save for their eyes. Those eyes spoke well enough however, that they've seen the same criminal things Catalena had.

"…The young lord has been expecting you," an elderly voice belonging to one of the masked figures said. The both of them drew knives on her, and she was feeling threatened.

Catalena didn't like the idea of being forced.

Yet she stood still, their foreign weapons brandished only a few feet away from each other. Gray eyes drifted from the both of them, displaying naught but slight irritation. "A young lord? Interesting," was all she chided, smirking and walking through them.

The sharp and stern gaze of one of them looked angered as she slipped through. Perfect. Something to use against them later if need be.

Entering through the creaky wooden door with the black figures at her heels, her eyes spotted Cain slouching over in a seat. His eyes were pinched shut while his expression looked dark and heavy.

A sense of worry shot through her, and Catalena bounded toward her friend, kneeling down and gripping his shoulders, calling his name in panic, "Cain! Cain! Are you—" Her stormy gray eyes widened to their full height.

He was snoring.

As the two figures behind her closed the door upon their entrance, Catalena scowled at her friend, his sleeping face about to meet her fist.

Luckily for Cain, the bubbly demeanor of a fifth individual caught her attention,

"Oh, hi! You must be Catalena Artenie, am I right?"

Slowly she faced his way, instantly registering a young man dressed in a goldenrod jacket and baggy pants waving becomingly at her. His spiky black hair blew out in his face, but it failed to shield that cheerful expression that was etched on it. He looked almost innocent in her opinion.

"…You are…?"

"I'm really popular today! It's Ling Yao, of Xing. Since you two are practically in my custody, I'm proclaiming we'll know each other for a while, so; these two are my retainers. " Ling finished matter-of-factly and folded his arms within each sleeve as he sat cross-legged on a discarded cabinet.

A snore erupted from Cain's sleeping figure as Catalena gave Ling a deadpan look. Now what would some foreign brat want with her?

"…The letter failed to mention why you've requested me. So why have you?" Catalena inquired, cutting straight to the chase.

He broke out into a grin, throwing himself off of the cabinet to plant his feet firmly against the floor. Ling crossed his arms over his chest, looking official, "Word around this country is that you're the person someone like me would want to find if they're hungry for some information…"

"Someone like you? What would that mean?"

While his retainers guarded the doorway and Cain remained asleep in his strapped chair, Ling replied, "The reason why I'm even in this country is because the thing I'm searching for sets me apart from the normal individual," Ling paused, letting Catalena soak his words in, "can you guess what it is?"

Did he really want her to guess? Catalena didn't like playing around. It was so unprofessional. Information brokers were the ones who danced around their employers, not vice versa. It was reprimanding.

Besides, she could go through a million and six things that a person desires.

"…No. My job is to find information you need, and it doesn't exactly work if you don't know what is it you want."

"Okay, okay! I see you don't like wasting time~" Ling chimed, holding his hands up. Still he waited a few more seconds before adding, "You ready yet? It's the Philosopher's Stone. What information can you offer?"

Her body took the full brunt of being unprepared for that sort of question. The Philosopher's Stone! Now that was interesting. Just a few hours ago she was telling Cain she didn't know much about it, as it seemed unrealistic. The only thing she was sure of it was that it brought homunculi to life, but the idea of it being able to bypass Equivalent Exchange was blasphemous to her.

Wishful thinking.

And yet, here was a client before her, depending on her skill to find information on the object.

As an esteemed information broker, she felt obligated to unlock the secrets that hid it. So inwardly, her decision was already made before he had even requested anything.

Catalena sighed, causing Ling to shift uncomfortably—anticipating another dead end to his lengthy search, "…Sorry. I don't know anything about the Philosopher's Stone, truly. People don't usually ask about it, so it never crossed my mind as something vital."

"…Oh…" Ling's demeanor immediately shifted, suiting the defeated look that now took place on his face.

"…But, " she sounded, to Ling's approval, "…Since this has been a pretty popular topic lately, I think I can find out about it for you." Catalena threw a glance over her shoulder at unconscious Cain, who was still lazing off, "…I mean, if you aren't forcing me or anything. Coerce is so unprofessional."

Ling remained still and silent as seconds sprinted by. The feeling of hope took over his depression, and he beamed, "Really? So you'll help me? That's so kind of you! I'm—"

"Please. Kindness is not a factor in business. It's nothing at all personal." Catalena interrupted, stating her seriousness in the matters of 'business'. To let emotions in the way of business was also blasphemous to her. In fact, she killed two birds with one stone in this one predicament. She 'saved' Cain (He didn't exactly look like he need saving) and received another job (Which she enjoyed) in one ultimate episode.

So to speak, if Cain was kidnapped and merely required saving, she would look past it, as it wouldn't benefit her (In her case she assumed Cain was mature enough to deal with his own problems).

"Alright, whatever you say!" Ling cried happily, his own emotions spurring on the brighter side of the rainbow. He drew closer to her, smiling appreciatively, "What do you want me to do?"

He stared back at him, a little wide-eyed, but then moved her face away, "You can just sit back and do nothing. This must be your first time dealing with people like me. I haven't once met someone as humble as you, Ling Yao." [1]

Ling took a step back, "Really? It's that easy? I love Amestris this much more now~" He gestured a distance between his two index fingers, "So when will I get this information?"

Catalena turned her back on him, beginning to untie the bindings on Cain's chair. "Give me a few days. If you need to see me, I'll be at the Devil's Nest." Once the ropes lay loosely on the ground, Catalena grasped one of Cain's limp arms and draped it over her shoulder, bringing the both of them to a somewhat standing position. Her attention re-focused on the Xingese man dancing in front of her, "Where can I contact you?"

Ling stopped his happy dance, replying nonchalantly, "Oh~ Don't worry, I'll be keeping a close eye on both of you~" He spoke mischievously, and in that same moment, the two henchmen at the door made their presences known.

With Cain still breathing on her neck, Catalena's brows furrowed and she mustered a conclusion to the little meeting, "…Alright. Well with this all settled, I guess I'll be seeing you in a while, Mr. Ling Yao."

"I'll be looking forward to it, Catalena. You've just made me the happiest person ever."

The two bodyguards removed their selves from the doorway, allowing Catalena passage through. The woman stepped out into the night, dragging herself and the unconscious body of Cain across the dirt ground.

Even though she felt the need to maim him for getting himself dragged into the mess and then ending up useless (And sort of a hindrance) towards the closing, Catalena need Cain alive to help in her search for precious information of the Philosopher's Stone.

Speaking of the illustrious stone, had the reason behind why the innocent Xingese man ever bothered her? Well, not really. Catalena's job was only to find out about the Stone, and that was all. Did she ask a man why he needed information on a particular person? Never. She could already assume the unimaginable, and be fairly accurate.

But when it came to the Philosopher's Stone, or in this case, Ling Yao, she could expect the unexpected.

Man, did she had a load of crap to deal with the following week…

(A few days later)

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His possessions filed out the door, as orderly as possible. Even Bido, being the short and clumsy lizard chimera he was, followed in suit behind Roa's mass figure as elegantly as his clawed feet could manage him.

Scratch that, the little midget just fell over.

Greed chuckled, observing Bido's recovery via crawling on all fours through the pub doorway.

Once they were gone he found himself lying idly on a lavish red couch, staring mindlessly at nothing. Days usually did go by this; Greed would watch his possessions leave to scour through daily routes (Provided by Catalena), and then he would spend half of the afternoon bathing in self-indulgence.

He was mildly content with that, since his greedy nature only desired to actually possess money, a place, power, and minions.

Greed's purple slit eyes carefully removed themselves from the paint of the ceiling towards a stairway across the room. His expressionless face harbored a twisted looking smirk now.

All he needed was a woman…

Luckily for him, there was one locking herself away in her room, and that room provided easy access for the homunculus. Speaking of which, as he leisurely carried himself along the stairs and then strolled through the hallway carefree, the question of why Catalena had holed herself up in that dusty old room for days now intrigued him.

It had been 5 days since the eviction notice…and it didn't appeal to him that she had untangled herself from that little conflict as of yet.

Maybe if he was lucky, she'd have to live as a fugitive like him, and they'd have to spend loads of time together.

Greed mused at the thought as he brought the back of his left hand against the wooden surface of her room door, knocking gently.

There wasn't an answer, and before Greed granted himself free entry, he cautiously cast a glance to another door several feet along the hallway.

"The brat's not here, either…"

Erasing the ill thoughts of the raven-haired young military officer, he wrenched the doorknob and opened the door.

He came upon a dimly lit room with tens of paper thrown across the floor, bundled up or flatly laying there. In the back of the small bedroom was a figure, with towers of books lying on either side of her. The woman herself was too absorbed with her work; she didn't even cast a glance at him.

Greed frowned. Well this wasn't going well…she didn't even look at him!

Papers crunched beneath his shoes as he traipsed through, noticing the bed looking untouched. Had she gone days without sleeping?

He was now at the desk, close enough that his purple eyes could read the fine print of the papers Catalena was reading, and close enough he could even catch the label of RESTRICTED stamped over it.

Leaning over and placing one hand on the desk to gaze more intently, he whistled, "Whoa. Just what does kitten do in her time?"

"I could ask the same to you." Catalena muttered, gray eyes moving from left to right in constant motion.

He leered in closer, unintentionally breathing down her neck as he read along with her, "My minions are out on a date together, kitten. I'm home alone with nothing to do." Out of his peripheral vision, he noticed Catalena's shoulder tense up, then relax, "…Hey, if you aren't busy, what do you say…"

Excluding Greed's rather seductive tone, the room was silent, so he stopped once he heard Catalena chuckle. "2 days, right? Since the eviction notice? Guess what amount of work Cain has done. He's going to get into loads of trouble, and I told him I'd take care of it, so I will."

Greed fell silent. The subject of the other male brat annoyed him. It was bad enough he was living in his pub, now he was stealing his woman away from him. And to Greed, this girl was much more interesting than the spineless ones he usually had by his side. She was elusive too, which meant he had to work to get her in his hands. What a fun game that would be, he thought.

"…So what does reading about the Fifth Laboratory have to do with innocent old men?" Greed referred to the title of the classified papers Catalena was reading, which he assumed she received from the help of Cain. Guess that boy wasn't a dog of the military after all.

"Interesting you would call him innocent. Mr. Warner just so happens to be a former scientist stationed there."

"Ooh. Scientists are sneaky." Greed purred, leaning even closer to the woman discretely.

Seemingly ignorant of his impeding figure or truly unaware of it, Catalena dug her hands through another set of papers, pulling out one with the picture of a middle-aged looking man on it. She pointed to the picture bio, "He's been working with the military for about twelve years as a research scientist. Turns out he's a pretty respected guy, being the apprentice of a State Alchemist…"

"Oh, really?"

"Mhm. I'm beginning to wonder what made him to be the hermit he is today. Oh, look here!" Catalena pointed to his martial status, "He was married! Hm, but it looks like his wife has been dead for four years now. Maybe that's why he's undergone a mental and physical breakdown."

Catalena smiled spitefully at the thought. The sleazy old man was much more interesting than she ever would have imagined! Who would've known he had dabbled in dark things like…

"Sounds like a dramatic romance story."

Catalena smiled at the homunculus' comment, "…I thought it was more of a suspenseful one. Did you know what the Fifth Laboratory was used for? They created Philosopher's Stones there using prisoners from Central Prison and from the Ishval Civil War. Joseph Warner was one of the many scientists required to do this…but the whole operation has been shut down for a while now."

The point Catalena was slowly going for finally hit Greed, and his back slowly straightened at the realization of it, "Ohhh! Now I get it. Interesting. This old man might have a Philosopher's Stone is what you're saying, right? That's a lot of work you've gotten done in three days. So, do you have a plan?"

Catalena turned her torso in her seat so that she could face Greed. For once, she looked happy, like a child who had been praised, "…I think I can work everything out. On occasion when Bido and I stalk Warner's address—he's usually inside his house all day. But on Thursdays—which is today—he goes out for a while all day and then returns home at midnight. We found about his schedule from local residents."

Greed grinned, the definition of malice defined from his features, "So you're finally going to kill him, am I right? Ha! Hey kitten, can I come along? I've been bored stuck in this pub all week!"

Her facial features immediately went deadpan, "Absolutely not. I simply won't allow your well-being to be compromised."

Greed also shared the same look of deadpan-ness, except he was also disappointed, "…Y'know, you remind me of a little kid named Pride…"

"Is that your homunculus brother?" Catalena inquired him, but then immediately discarded the question, as the thought of Ling Yao popped in her mind, "Never mind. Hey, how were you created anyway? Are you truly created just with the help of a Philosopher's Stone?"

"Huh? Well…sort of. I guess you can summarize it by saying we're created by human transmutation, except that a Stone is involved." Greed watched her expectantly. She just stood there, lost in thought. "…Why do you ask?"

For a moment she didn't register his lean figure standing in front of her, but then there he was, and she smiled to disguise her vulnerability, "Nothing. I was just wondering."

With confidence she shuffled past the homunculus, who eyed her as she closed in on the exit. Greed suspected she was about to finish this deal with the old man once and for all, and he only envied that she was capable of slipping through her problems like that. Since, he himself could not sever from his own binds.

Donning her brown alchemist gloves as she waited in the doorway, Catalena faced Greed again. There was an odd feeling emanating itself in the distance between the two. It was like a thousand words that were left unsaid.

To make the amount less than that, Catalena voiced, "So I guess I'll see you later then. I'll be home late like before." Greed felt something tingly from her current expression, which was usually indifferent and uncaring, now had a new, unfamiliar visage about it.

Greed remained stoic.

Predicting that he was going to remain that way, Catalena left the room. Regretfully on Greed's perspective, by the time he figured out that he should have said something she was already gone. He could probably chase her out of the room but that would be rather cheesy.

He'd rather take his chances and wait until she came back.

Staring at the empty doorway, Greed's face met his palm. He did misinterpret everything.

There was something Catalena was scared of, and that was why she looked at him that way. That would explain the thousand unsaid words between them, but he failed to notice it.

What could she be scared of?

Maybe she impacted him more than he thought.

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She loved calling people at sunset. In fact, she stalled her tracks to Warner's house just so she could enter the phone booth at exactly sundown. Cain would still be in his office and she would be able to contact him. To Cain's chagrin, it would be the exact time he would be leaving work, and at her sudden call he would have to scramble.

Another laugh she could add to the pile.

Punching the numbers in and contacting Cain's superior officer, she was directed to her childhood friend,

~"Hello? Catalena?"

"Hey. You're about to leave work, right?"

~"Hm? Oh, yeah. Hey, what's the big idea calling me right when I'm about to leave work, you dumbass. You know when I get off."

She chuckled on her end and said into the phone, "I'm fixing to get rid of a thorn that's been in my side for a week now. Just thought I'd let you know."

~"You have a splinter? It's not going to hurt when you pull it out? Will you be okay?"

"…"

~"Hello? Hello? Cat? HEY. You still there? IS IT GOING TO BE ALRIGHT?"

"Calm down," she hissed, brows furrowing at the sudden migraine, "You'll see me come home."

There was a relieved sigh from the other end, ~"Thank you. I can sleep a little better at night despite that there's a monster at the other end of the hallway."

"Greed's a good person. Get to know him. Let him buy you a drink."

~"The last thing I would do is drink something that bastard offered me. It was probably spiked and I would wake up strapped to a railroad track."

"Silly Cain, that only happens in black and white motion picture."

~"Who's to say life isn't some fucked up motion picture movie?"

Annoyed by his childish stubbornness, Catalena sternly chastised him, "Enough of that. I'm done talking with you."

~"Oh wait, wait, I'm sorry!"

She hung up.

By the time she left the phone booth, the sun was almost gone. This nightmare was almost over.

She couldn't believe she would actually be scared of a man she thought herself superior to. She guessed innocence was misleading.

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The Philosopher's Stone, also known as the Fifth Element, the Red Stone, or the Celestial Stone, was an infinitely powerful construct used by alchemists to amplify their abilities.

There was a chance this Joseph Warner man had one.

If he was able to create things out of thin air with the help of such an object, then she had reason to fear him. He bypassed her alchemical ability with the help of the stone. She was outmatched, and there was a chance she could die.

"That's right," Catalena muttered, pressing one of her gloved hands to the knob of the door.

She stared down at it wistfully, before the circular design on her gloves glowed with an intense blue aura. Before her melancholy gray eyes, the surface of the knob peeled away like paper, deconstructed into nothingness.

She slipped her wrist through, pushing the door open as quietly as she could manage.

"…It's every man for their self, Warner."

She was no alchemical genius, in her opinion not dedicated enough to the work of alchemy to become a State Alchemist. She did not want to be chained up like a dog of the military; besides, she had Cain to fill that spot for her.

All she had to prove alchemical prowess were the arrays designed on her gloves. The right allowed simple deconstruction (Depending on the amount of the material transmuted, can she disrupt the balance of the flow of the object and make it rebound [Much like Scar's destructive alchemy] in her desired amount), and the left allowed reconstruction. Press both hands to a mangled object, and it should sum up to simple transmutation.

She leaned on the right hand, destruction, when the situation seemed suitable.

Closing the door behind her person, the first room she entered looked…well, to be frank, disastrous.

"Did it rain in here?" Catalena murmured to herself, the soles of her shoes feeling something sticky beneath them. That was when she realized it was blood.

Eying it curiously, she knelt down, running a finger across.

It was cold, but still wet, so the cause of it had been earlier that day.

The whole room was similar to her office, papers, drawers, everything scattered along the floor mindlessly. The only thing she was missing was the claw marks and splattered blood on the walls and floor.

Reaching an alternative entryway in her search for the senile old man, there were two stairwells, one leading upstairs and the other reaching downstairs.

She went upstairs. Save the best for last, she thought.

That bedroom she reached was the most morbid thing she'd ever seen.

There was a large alchemical symbol drawn along the circumference of the room, a design that she hadn't seen before. In the middle of it, was a pool of blood that smeared all along the wood floors. Bottles and measuring items were gather endlessly in corners of the room. Blood soaked rags and sheets were piled on the old bed. And she swore she saw a rat just dash into the closet.

Geez, where were the landlords of this creepy apartment?

Catalena stepped over to the alchemy circle, trying to configure what type it was. It wasn't the normal alchemy symbol, obviously. So what was it…?

"…An array? No…it's just been used. The temperature of the blood is the same as the one downstairs…it's…"

The sound of a door creaking open caught her attention, and she hurdled herself further away from the door to the backside of the room, ready to react to any situation.

Okay…maybe not this situation.

Red energy crackled from the wall, and a large spear protruded from the blood-splatter drywall, spearing towards her.

She leapt out of the way, once out of its range, pressed her right hand against its surface and then broke down the compounds of it into dust in a matter of seconds. It created a dry powdery substance of dust, lead, and drywall drifting through the air, which clouded her vision. Catalena covered her mouth with her arm, squinting her eyes to find out what just happened.

"I should've known this wouldn't have been easy…you're too smart to just run away, Miss Artenie…"

"Warner?" Catalena coughed, waving her free hand through the air to scatter the remnants of particles.

The haze subsided, and she finally took sight of the antagonist of her bad week.

"You should really learn to stop being so nosy…"

He was dressed in rather formal attire, a vest over an old-looking dress shirt and black slacks. The clothes looked too big for him, like he had lost weight or something.

Hell even his creepy old middle-aged face looked gaunt.

…But what really unnerved Catalena was the red object glowing within his fingers.

Her gray eyes were as wide as saucers as her fears came true. So he really did have a Philosopher's Stone!

"…What…have you done?" Catalena inquired, trying to remain calm in the midst of her inner turmoil.

Warner grinned, revealing crooked, yellow teeth as he seethed, "This? This? On the floor? This is the future, Miss Artenie! The truth is drawn all over my walls and floor around you!" He cackled and then held up the Red Stone, his grin turning into a smirk, "And this…is the myth that said it all."

"…"

"The unbelievable truth, the unreachable goal—this—THIS is the Philosopher's Stone! With it, I can not only create whatever I desire, but I can also reverse DEATH ITSELF!"

"…You're crazy," Catalena muttered, too low for him to hear over his ranting.

Warner, in all his senile glory, took a step forward, gesturing to the symbol drawn out on the floor, "Look in front of you. That, is none other than a human transmutation circle."

Human transmutation circle?

Oh God, this guy is beyond senile…

"Do you know about human transmutation, Miss Artenie?"

He could see the scowl that took place on her face. Her expression read nothing but discord, "It can never be done."

"LIES. ALL OF IT." Warner pointed to his body, thrusting all of his limbs, to show Catalena that they were perfectly fine, "Human transmutation can be fulfilled. All it requires is the right ingredients. Alchemists who perform human transmutation fail, because there is nothing that can rival the value of a human soul. As a result, people who perform human transmutation never come out unscathed, and to add to the hubris, the one transmuted comes out to be something that isn't even human."

"And you came out scott-free because…"

Warner raised his left hand, the one that didn't hold the stone, "I have the Philosopher's Stone, Miss Artenie. With it, I can bypass the Law of Equivalent Exchange. With it, I have breathed life into my dear old Christine."

The mention of his wife made Catalena's knees buckle. Did he really bring her back to life? Impossible! Unrealistic! There is just no way!

"She's not here right now. She's in the basement. Now I'm going to dispose of you quietly so you don't disturb her rest. I just created her this morning, after all…"

"Right…" Catalena humorlessly chuckled, perspiration forming above her brow. "That explains the blood…"

"Her body isn't perfect, I'll admit…but she thinks and speaks as perfect as any human being could. In fact…" Joseph took another step forward, his shoe becoming soaked with the puddle of blood, "…I could use your body and bind her soul to it."

Catalena stood up straight now, the feeling of fear completely unknown to her. Now she stood with poise, and with a determination so strong it was almost unfathomable.

This guy was just a selfish old man who could create shit out of thin air. So, what of it? When you threaten me I'm allowed to kill you.

"I don't plan on surrendering my body to anyone." Catalena pushed a nightstand in front of her transmuting it with her destructive alchemy until it tipped on the edge of Rebound, and then launched it with her feet at Warner.

Not even Greed, she mused.

The drawers that slid across the floor surprised him, and he transmuted a wall of stone to shield him. As it contacted the wall, the Rebound detonated, and the nightstand exploded into shards of wood and dust.

Warner peeked his head over to see where Catalena was, but she had already darted behind him, pressing her right hand against his left arm. The old man craned his neck to gaze horrified at the feat of his arm becoming deconstructed in the blue hues, and pulled away just as the Rebound was inflicted.

Catalena skidded out of the way; Warner used his Stone to move the wall he transmuted earlier to separate the two.

There was a bruise on her left arm, but her legs brought her to the other side of Warner, smiling at the fact that his left arm was now hanging limply off his torso. With blood dripping off the sleeve of his dress shirt, he hissed at her, and then the familiar red energy of the Philosopher's Stone being used engulfed him.

The power of the transmutation blew wind in her direction; she shielded her face, slowly edging towards the door. No, she wasn't going to escape, but she had the impression that she was going to need cover. Damn it, she really hoped the neighbors weren't calling the military right now because of the noise.

Carrying herself on the outside of the bedroom, her face peeked over the lining of the doorway, and immediately widened once they registered what they saw.

Warner now had a mounted gun in the middle of the room, and he was frantically maneuvering it with one arm. The arm that was supposed to hold the Stone, so if he was using the gun then…

"Do you see what the Stone is capable of? Think of all heights we can strive for with them!" She heard the mechanics of the gun operate, and promptly the bullets started firing in her direction. She had to duck and roll to another part of the wall, the bullets shredding through the barrier she was just pressing herself against.

"Damn it!" Catalena cursed. He was shooting all along the walls. She kept ducking and rolling until she hit the stairwell.

"Where are you running to? You've made the situation a lot worse, dismembering my arm like that! Don't worry; I'll fix the both of us up once you're lying unconscious in a pool of your own blood!" Warner's voice came from the hallway. He was following her. Catalena shuffled down the stairwell. Throughout all the action, she had a plan.

The bullets came nonstop; they pierced the drywall and ricocheted in spontaneous motion. She hadn't gotten nicked yet, but she as sure her time was going to come soon. Her alchemy was much better in close combat, but she wasn't going to charge headlong into a rain of gunfire.

Catalena waited at the foot of the stairwell, observing the upper level. She could still see the consecutive shots barrage the wall, and they were slowly turning as Warner approached the staircase.

"Did you run into the living room? Good luck hiding in there!"

Catalena smirked.

Got you.

Warner turned the corner, his machine gun pointed at her current position of peering over the wall, "There you are~"

Before she could put her plan into action, the stream of fire struck her side, causing her to retreat further along the wall. Catalena held her pounding side that was riddled with bullets. She felt the right side of her body falling apart.

As if some angel was watching over her, the gunfire finally ceased.

"Oh, boo! I just ran out of ammo!"

Catalena prayed silently.

With her right arm, she slowly pressed her hand against the wall behind her. Her weakened right torso impaired it, but she was able to keep her hand steady in order to disrupt the flow of energy through the building.

She disrupted the flow all the way to the beams of the staircase.

"Got my gun all ready and now Ima shoot you~!" His voice became louder as he descended from the stairs.

Milliseconds passed, and her card had already been played.

Warner had already triggered the trap.

With the structure of the staircase weakened by Catalena's influence, the steps Warner was standing on shook under his and the gun's weight. Confused and panicked by the instability, he cried out, "W-what's going on? What did you do?" He dropped the gun during the confusion of the stair's impeding destruction and watched in fear as it hurdled down the steps. He grabbed onto the iron railing with his right arm and held on as tightly as he could.

Catalena, however wounded as she was from the gunfire, dragged herself to the fallen machine gun.

Warner's mouth gaped frantically as he watched her set the gun up properly.

Catalena's breaths came out slow and steady, as if she was trying to calm herself to remain conscious. She slowly aimed the barrel of the rifle at Warner and looked stoic.

The old man saw his life flash before his eyes when she smirked triumphantly. Her image became distorted as pieces of the stairs began caving in, falling down into the basement below them.

"I told you not to make an enemy of me. But you didn't listen, did you?" Catalena caressed the trigger of the gun carefully.

"…"

"You'll be joining your wife, soon…"

She pulled the trigger.

In an instant his body became victim to the spray of the machine gun fire, his blood painted his walls with the 'truth' he spoke of, and then was promptly buried under all of the lies along with his crappy stairwell.

The whole house shook under the sudden outcome, the walls around the fallen staircase looked about to fall in.

This whole apartment was about to fall apart, she thought. And just because the whole structure of it weight heavily on the stairwell. Another miscalculation on her part.

Catalena threw the gun on the ground, falling to her knees to hug her sides. She felt blood wash up her body, and she coughed it on the floor in front of her.

"Damn it…I really wish I let Greed come with me…he would've killed this guy so easily…"

Catalena smiled at the thought of the homunculus.

"Funny he would be the last thing I'm thinking of in my final moments…"

Still pressing her hands against her bleeding side, she fell over, curling slightly in order to impede the blood flow. Debris from the ceiling above her began falling as the apartment was about to collapse. She stared blindly at the blood-soaked floor.

Sorry Cain. I guess I won't be seeing you at home. You always said my arrogance would get the best of me.

Bye Greed. Don't let Cain kill himself just to see me, all right?

And DON'T you dare die yourself, either…

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"I have to thank you for everything you've done, human.

Killing that ugly old geezer was the best thing anyone's ever done for me, even though I've only been alive for fifteen hours.

You're dying, aren't you?

Well, I'm dying too…this body…is falling apart.

…Other humans are coming…you're going to be in a lot of trouble if they find out who you are…

…So from now on, this body…will also be mine.

I feel so enthusiastic at the thought of it."

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[1] – Of course it is just a ruse. Ling is pretty arrogant, he's always throwing his title around like it's no big deal. B[

A/N: So much fun with the end of this chapter! This idea has been tugging on me for quite a while now. Anyway, so Catalena's alchemy is similar to Scar's. She has arrays woven on her gloves, and they disrupt the flow of energy within objects, causing an alchemical Rebound. Depending on the amount disrupted, influences the power of the Rebound. It's the Rebound that does the destruction. And of course, with her reconstructive array she can reconstruct materials into a new form of that material as long as it has the same compounds.

Confusing?

Maybe so~

Fusosososo~

Crazy Warner was supposed to have a sort of Gatling gun thing. I don't remember what Cornello had, but I DO know the crazy old bat made a gun or something to use against Ed.

ANYWAYS. REVIEW. THANK YOU AND GOOD DAY.

By the way, I do not know when I will post my newest story, but it should be soon, and the update process should alternate with this story's every Sunday. Information on bottom of profile, and a picture of that OC and my others will be on top of profile. See you later, my loved readers.