Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Fullmetal Alchemist nor do I claim to.

Chapter 4

It'd been an entire day that Edward had been in the hospital, and he was beginning to climb the walls.

"I'm FINE! I need to get back to work. Doing research in this fucking bed is bullshit." Edward spat and grumbled and tossed papers about in his frustration.

"Shut up, Shrimpy! You're still fucked up and need to rest. You're going to get even more fucked up if you don't lay down and relax. Stupid idiot." Envy shoved Edward as gently as he could back onto the bed. The short alchemist was half off the bed already, blankets strewn and pulling at the tubes still attached to his arm.

"I've been laying down for the past day. I'm sick and tired of resting." Edward whined, but was then pacified by Envy's gentle shove. He knew damn well the homunculus was perfectly capable of being significantly more rough with him, but for some reason he was abstaining. Why in the hell did Envy care anyway if he was hurt or not? Edward was even having trouble remembering the damned homunculus was the one who hurt him in the first place.

Edward squinted at Envy's smug face to study his expression. He was seriously trying to figure this situation out. Envy was evidently pleased that Edward had decided to calm down and lay in bed obediently, because he looked rather happy as a matter of fact. Edward felt an uneasiness since the day before, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. He felt like something happened, but he couldn't quite remember. Edward knew he had been on some pain medication, and he became suspicious of what might have went on while he was intoxicated.

What's more, is he felt nervous, and almost shy when Envy would look at him. What in the hell was wrong with him? He couldn't possibly have feelings for this... inhuman sociopath. Edward was fairly certain he wasn't gay, but who could be sure when the damned homunculus could become a male or female at whim. This shit was really starting to mess with his mind. But then again, he had never really been interested in anyone in the past. He was always too caught up with his alchemy. Finding a way to get his and his brother's bodies back took up way too much time to even think about dating.

He didn't realize his face had acquired a distinct pink tint as his thoughts about Envy were racing. Envy narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Edward, leaning over to scrutinize him. "The fuck you getting so flustered about?" He pressed.

Edward sputtered. "N-nothing! Geez..." He looked away, folded his arms and pouted like a stubborn child.

Envy smirked widely. He had a feeling he knew what Edward's problem was. Being the little shit he is, he decided to make the small alchemist even more uncomfortable. This was turning out to be even more fun than before when he would only try to annoy the Pipsqueak. Oh, how Envy loved new games.

Envy climbed slowly onto the hospital bed and straddled Edward's legs, sitting his ass on the blonde's thighs which were covered by the thin white sheet. He looked down sweetly at Edward, who was now a shade close to that of a tomato. Envy batted his eyelashes innocently. "Are you sure it's nothing?"

Edward was no longer looking away, he couldn't help but stare up at the green-haired boy looming over him. At least he appeared to be a boy at the moment. Damn, this was confusing. "Envy what are you-" He began, but Envy chastised him.

"Hush, Chibi." He murmured, and ran his slender fingers through Edward's bangs.

"It was you... wasn't it?" Edward said asked quietly, not quite able to relax while Envy was doing all these things to him. He wasn't quite sure how to respond to someone sitting on him either. He wasn't exactly experienced with this sort of thing.

"Was what me?" Envy feigned innocence, poking out his bottom lip cutely as he scooted his ass up so he was then sitting on Edward's hips instead of his thighs.

Edward swallowed the saliva he didn't realize had been pooling in his mouth before responding. "Yesterday. I remember..." His eyes lowered as images of the person with green eyes flashed in his mind. He was finally recalling that someone had kissed him. His face heated up instantly at the thought, because he also remembered enjoying it.

His body was automatically responding to Envy, unfortunately. He was trying to will himself to stay calm, but there was no way to hide it because Envy was kind of sitting right on top of the evidence.

"Remember what?" Envy insisted, feeling another smirk play at his lips as he felt the pressure beneath where he sat. Edward was getting hard, ha! This was easier than Envy thought it was going to be.

"Someone... someone kissed me. I remember it now. I thought I was dreaming, but I'm certain now. But... it was you, wasn't it?" Edward repeated, his voice shaking a little with the effort it took to lay still. "Green eyes..." He murmured under his breath to himself as he stared thoughtfully into Envy's brilliant purples.

"It might have been." Envy replied noncommittally, flashing his eyes that same green color briefly just to tease Edward. The blonde's eyes lit with recognition, and his face flushed a deeper shade of red when he realized his suspicions were indeed accurate.

Envy lightly touched the side of Edward's face, tracing the angular contours. He just loved being this close to him, and he was enjoying every second of this. Envy was feeling a strange warmth welling up inside of him that he'd never experienced before, and it reached all the way to his fingertips making them tingle as they ran over Edward's smooth skin.

Edward held his lower lip between his teeth as Envy touched his face intimately. He wasn't sure whether to throw the green-haired homunculus off him or to grab him and ravish him right here in this hospital bed. His body and mind were giving him very mixed signals. Was this really happening?

As if he were a mind reader, Envy leaned over to connect their lips again. Edward squirmed slightly beneath him, but didn't protest too much. Before long, the little blonde was letting Envy dominate him. He actually put hands on Envy's hips as the kiss heated up and Edward allowed him entrance to his mouth.

Envy's heart swelled, filling with emotions he'd never had... not since he'd become a homunculus anyway. Not that he could remember much of anything from when he was a human. He couldn't even begin to understand any of the things he was feeling, and the rush of them all was almost too much. He inhaled sharply, just barely managing to reign himself in. The hell was going on? He wasn't real sure, but it was definitely weird. He didn't yet realize that was only the beginning.

Just as Dante expected, Envy hadn't even realized she had temporarily released the hold on his Ouroboros. Such an oblivious child, Envy was. As she watched him and Edward together, it disgusted her and yet made her happy at the same time. She knew it was only a matter of time before the changes would start happening. Edward was actually responding to Envy now. That didn't take long.

She huffed and laughed bitterly, thinking about how easily influenced the Fullmetal Alchemist is. It's sickening how this was all coming together really, but she would just have to have patience.

Dante decided to check up on her eldest creation. She ran her hand over her scrying orb, and the vision of Envy sitting at the edge of the bed with his hand over his chest came into clear view. Her eyes widened, seeing the bewildered look on Envy's face. She hadn't imagined the changes would start this soon. This was wonderful news for her indeed, it wouldn't be long now. First the emotions, though Envy never really had any shortage of those. Then comes the beating heart, next the warm skin and maybe even bodily functions. Oh, Envy would have fun with that one. Dante snickered to herself as she imagined the look on his face when he began to feel hungry and then the first time nature calls.

The best part will be if he really does lose his perfect little created skin he calls his "preferred" form. Edward will really love to see that he'd been making out with his late brother. It will be hysterical.

Dante just hummed and laced her fingers and waited. She had nothing but time, so she would just wait like a snake getting ready for the perfect opportunity to strike.

Edward pushed all thoughts from his mind and simply enjoyed the contact of skin on skin with Envy. He'd never felt this kind of electricity before. He began to forget for a moment that Envy was supposed to be his enemy.

Alphonse picked that exact moment to return from a run to Edward's study to get him more work to do since he knew his brother was going crazy in the hospital bed. He wasn't aware of the other things that were happening in this same bed.

He stood awkwardly in the doorway as he witnessed the scene before him. They obviously hadn't noticed he'd returned, as Envy was still on top of Edward in a very peculiar position from Alphonse's point of view.

"Uhh... I'll come back later." Alphonse said quietly as he began backing out of the room.

Edward flailed as he heard his brother's voice, trying to shove Envy off him. "AL!" He yelled, causing Alphonse to stop dead in his tracks as he nearly made it out of the awkward situation.

"Damn tin-can! You have the worse freaking timing!" Envy complained as his favorite little blonde plaything began shoving at him just because his stupid metal brother came back. He sat on the edge of the bed and glowered up at the towering armored boy. Talk about a mood killer. He was really starting to enjoy himself... and he had been certain Edward was too.

"Al, I can explain!" Edward said desperately, trying to cover himself further with his bed sheet. He wasn't even undressed, if you can call the hospital gown being dressed, but nonetheless he felt like he was exposed to the world.

"It's fine, brother. I don't understand it, but you don't need to explain. What you do in your free time is none of my business." Alphonse replied softly from the doorway, shooting Envy a leery glance as the homunculus sat there grumbling about him.

Edward covered his face with his hands and groaned audibly into them. "I don't even know what is happening anymore."

Envy was feeling mighty dejected at this point. The Pipsqueak had really been getting into it until his stupid assed brother-in-a-can decided to barge in. He stared at the wall, tuning out the brothers as they had their little awkward conversation. Envy put his hand experimentally over his chest, still feeling that strange tightness there. Then he felt something even more strange. There was a light thumping beneath his pale hand, almost like a heart beat. What the fuck? That wasn't normal. Not for the last 175-some-odd years, anyway.

He sat, pondering over this strange predicament. Was he sick? He hadn't been sick in a very long time, so he didn't really remember what it was like. The tin-can and his Pipsqueak brother were still talking, albeit with more increased tension than normal. Though, he could blame himself for that. He knew it was his fault that all of this was happening.

Envy was pulled from his thoughts as he heard his name being called.

"Envy. ENVY! God damnit, what are you doing over there?" Edward was cussing and threw a plastic cup at Envy's head, abruptly interrupting his day dreaming. Envy instantly forgot about the peculiar sensation in his chest.

"OW! Shit, that fucking hurt you little twit!" Envy whined, rubbing his head and glaring daggers over his shoulder at Edward. "What do you want?" He was still feeling put out from being shoved around.

"Yeah that was kinda the point." Edward huffed, and Envy gasped dramatically.

"Alright you two, knock it off!" Alphonse reprimanded them in a tone that a mother might use with her unruly children.

"I'm leaving this damned hospital whether anyone likes it or not. I'm just fine now. I can't be here anymore. I need to go some place and think." Edward began to get up, ripping tape and tubes off himself and climbed out of the bed. Envy didn't make any move to stop him this time, mostly because he was just a little pissed off at him.

"But Brother, you can't-" Alphonse started to protest.

"Watch me." Is all he said as he stomped out the door, still in his gown.

Envy and Alphonse just stared at each other when Edward left the room.

"Nice going, tin-can." Envy rolled his eyes.

"What do you mean? This is your fault! What were you even doing with my brother anyway? Actually, never mind, I really don't need to know." Alphonse held his helmet in his hands and sighed.

Envy grit his teeth. "It's your fault for barging in and interrupting. We were having a fucking moment, okay?" He looked away with a small blush. He was just now starting to feel a little embarrassed by the whole thing. This wasn't normal, usually he would just flip everyone off and go about his business like nothing happened.

"A... moment?" Alphonse repeated quietly. He was really surprised. Were Envy and Edward in some kind of... relationship? Alphonse was beginning to wonder after all he'd seen.

"Yeah. I guess. If it wasn't for you..." Envy began mumbling incoherent things to himself as he hunched over and sulked. He still hadn't moved from the edge of the bed since Edward left.

"Well, you're going after him aren't you?" Alphonse said expectantly. He'd figured out after seeing them together that this wasn't just a game for Envy. Alphonse had the sneaking suspicion that there was more to that homunculus than meets the eye.

Envy frowned at him. Stupid metal asshole. Of course he was going after him. Just not right this second. He'd let the shrimp stew for a while and think about what he'd done. Yeah!

"Why don't YOU go after him. He's your dumb ass brother after all." Envy mumbled bitterly.

"I'm not stupid, Envy. It's your fault he's in here, so I think it's best if you go talk to him yourself." Alphonse said cryptically. He didn't want to let on to Envy just yet that he suspected what was really going on. He wasn't sure what he thought about his brother and a homunculus together, especially one who's true gender is questionable at best, but who was he to judge? Edward did seem to be enjoying himself when he came in. Alphonse shuddered a little at the thought. He didn't need to ponder on that anymore, but the point is that he hadn't seen his brother happy in a very long time. If Envy could be the thing to make him happy well he was all for it.

"Fine. What ever. He probably hasn't made it far anyway. He's such a moron." Envy talked as he got up and began going towards the exit.

Alphonse just smiled internally as he watched Envy go after his brother.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for Envy to find Edward. Seeing as how the blonde simply up and left still in his bed gown, he didn't even make it past security downstairs in the waiting room. They weren't about to let a patient just walk out without even so much as checking out first.

"You're such a dumb-ass-chibi-butt-shorty." Envy said when he saw Edward arguing with the people at the front desk.

"SHUT UP!" Edward growled at Envy before turning back to the poor girl behind the glass at the front. "I'm just fine. I don't see why I can't leave now."

"The doctor said one more day. I'm sorry, I don't make the rules." The girl apologized, looking pretty thankful that she was safely behind glass.

Envy snickered as Edward was escorted back to his hospital bed, grumbling and cursing the entire way. He was thoroughly scolded by the same nurse as before, but Edward minded his manners with her since there was now body-guards posted outside of his hospital room door. Guess they didn't trust him now. Envy and Alphonse just watched, though Envy was having trouble not laughing the entire time.

Edward sighed as he laid back down. He was feeling a little fatigued, but he wasn't about to admit that to anyone else. He was cleared to go the next day, then maybe he could get something done. He was trying to do anything but think about Envy, and avoided eye contact with him as much as possible. He couldn't shake the fact that he'd actually enjoyed himself. He found himself longing for Envy's touch again, just the thought giving him tingles in all the right places.

Unfortunately for him, Alphonse decided to stay the night. Normally he was fine with being with Al all the time but now he felt like he wanted some privacy with Envy. He felt bad thinking about asking him to leave, so decided against it. He would just wait until he was out of this god-forsaken hospital so he could at least attempt to make some sense out of what was happening here.

He laid in bed with Alphonse on one side of him and Envy on the other, both in their own chairs. Every now and then he would open up one eye to steal a glance at the homunculus. There he was again, looking like he was sleeping. Edward knew there was something more to it, and made a mental note to ask about it later. He was actually becoming more interested in Envy scientifically as well. Perhaps he might be able to gain some insight into the philosopher's stones from him. From his research, homunculus were pretty old. Maybe he'd know something about how to get his brother's body back?

Edward's brain raced with all these thoughts until he fell into a restless sleep. Tomorrow, he was sure he would get some answers.