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

Chapter 5

Envy woke up before everyone else. He was having some kind of nightmare, if you could even call it that. It was more of a fearful thought that forced him into consciousness. It occurred to him that he hadn't been summoned in quite some time by mother-dearest. He had been so preoccupied with this situation he'd gotten himself into that he hadn't even thought of her in days. Fear washed over him as he glanced warily around the still-dark hospital room. For some reason, he thought he would open his eyes to an angry Dante. Fortunately, he was calmed somewhat by the sight of the unconscious form of Edward curled up beneath the bed sheets just snoring away, not a care in the world.

He knew Edward would be cleared to go today. That was a relief, because hanging out in this depressing ass hospital was getting old real quick in Envy's opinion. He was sure Edward shared that notion. What time is it? Envy glanced at the clock which read about 4:30 AM. Lovely.

Alphonse was sitting on the other side of the room, peering at Envy with his dimly glowing red alchemy-powered eyes from within his metal helmet. Envy couldn't be sure if he was awake or not, because the metal boy wasn't moving an inch. Could he even sleep in his condition? Envy wasn't totally sure, so he proceeded with caution.

Sighing quietly to himself, Envy stood and stretched. He felt sort of... off. He couldn't really explain it. Maybe he was still feeling weird about Dante. That stupid hag, she was even making him uncomfortable without being anywhere in sight!

He actually felt a little stiff from sitting in that hard chair all night, and he let out a small groan as his back cracked. Damn, he used to be able to just rest anywhere without a problem. Maybe his age was beginning to catch up to him. Ha! Like that will ever happen.

Dismissing all thoughts of aging, he began to creep past the eerily still form of Alphonse on his tippy-toes.

Alphonse's helmet slowly moved, looking right at Envy as he was mid-step, causing him to flail and fall flat on his face with surprise.

"Ack!" Envy scrambled back to his feet, struggling to regain composure.

"And just where do you think you're going, Envy?" Alphonse whispered, mindful of Edward who was still sawing logs.

"Nunya, tin-can. Besides, I'm not your prisoner. I am staying with Shorty of my own free will, and I possess the same will to leave." Envy replied haughtily. He honestly hadn't really thought that far ahead, he just didn't want to be in this room any longer. Maybe Edward's anxiousness was beginning to rub off on him.

Alphonse sighed. "Brother won't be happy with me if I just let you leave."

"Like I give a shit."

"I think you do, actually."

"You don't know a damned thing, you rusted piece of crap." Envy growled, and then his stomach made a loud gurgling noise, causing him to slap his hand over his middle and gain a rather mortified look on his face.

Edward rubbed his eyes irritably, sitting up in bed after all the noise woke him up. After his vision cleared, he saw Alphonse and Envy arguing. He noted that Envy had his hand over his gut, which he thought was strange.

"What's wrong with you?" Alphonse asked, and Envy scowled.

"I dunno. My stomach feels weird." He frowned, looking down. He was reminded of the weird sensation in his chest, and now the thoughts of being sick were returning. What the hell was happening to him?

Edward scrunched up his face as another squelching, grumbling noise emitted from the homunculus' middle. "What the hell was that?"

"Ughh." Envy groaned, ignoring Edward's idiotic question and dropping to his knees, folding both arms over his abdomen. "This is not fucking cool." He complained out loud and winced as his belly ached and complained loudly.

Then the nausea hit. He scrambled to find the nearest trash can and stuck his head in it as the wretching began. He gagged and choked violently for several moments, before the sounds of hard objects hitting the bottom of the plastic can with several 'ting' noises could be heard. Edward and Alphonse simply stared at the scene before them, unable to comprehend what was happening.

Envy lifted his face from the bucket, suddenly looking very gaunt. A thin string of light red substance dripped from his lip, and he wiped his mouth. He shuddered, looking like the taste just hit him. At the bottom of the can were small red stones among a shallow pool of what resembled watered down blood.

He shoved the can away and scowled, looking at the ground. He knew exactly what it meant when his body began rejecting the stones. I'm fucking dying, he thought to himself. But why? He had already healed his wounds... they weren't even bad enough to cause this to happen. Pipsqueak was supposed to be the fucked up one, not him.

Edward's eyes widened as he saw the familiar-looking red stones that Envy had just puked up. Could those possibly be what he thought they were? Those looked an awful lot like incomplete philosopher's stones. Why would Envy have them?

Alphonse just looked worried, but Edward sprang out of bed like a fire cracker had been lit under his ass. He grabbed Envy by the front of his turtleneck and narrowed his golden eyes dangerously at the homunculus.

"Why do you have philosopher's stones inside of you?" He demanded, only thinking of his brother now.

"Brother stop! This isn't the way!" Alphonse raised his hands in the air desperately.

"Stay out of this, Al." Edward said, his eyes never leaving Envy.

Envy had lost most of his fight along with his stones, and merely gazed foggily at the angry alchemist. He felt really weak, too weak to deal with the Pipsqueak's shit right now.

"Tell me God damnit!" Edward shook Envy by the collar, before being grabbed by his biceps from behind. Alphonse pinned Edward's arms to his side, forcing him to let go of Envy. The homunculus leaned back painfully against the wall once he was released.

"Leave him alone. Can't you see he's sick?" Alphonse said softly, though his brother was kicking and flailing with futile attempts to escape from his iron grasp.

Finally Edward sighed, going limp in Alphonse's grip as he calmed down. Alphonse relaxed and let Edward go once he was sure he wasn't going to flip out again. "I knew he was hiding something. He knows about the stones, Al. There's no other explanation."

"Why don't you let Envy explain instead of jumping to conclusions." Being the voice of reason as always, Alphonse motioned towards the lump of green that was Envy's head, which was now tucked between his knees. Edward looked at Envy, his eyes softening as he saw what kind of state the poor homunculus was in. His hair fanned over his legs and he shivered, looking rather pitiful on the floor.

Envy never moved from his spot against the wall, and he was barely paying attention to what the Elric brothers were even saying. He wasn't sure what was going on with his body, but he knew he needed help. He was inside a hospital, sure, but this was the last place that could help him. He needed to find Dante.

Dante already knew Envy would come running back as soon as things started to go wrong for him. He was perfectly content to frolic with the Fullmetal Alchemist right up until now.

Lust was sitting in the room with Dante this time, one leg folded neatly over the other as she sat in a chair. Her dark purple irises were cast downwards sadly towards the floor as she thought of her 'brother', Envy. Dante wouldn't exactly let Lust in on any information, but she knew it wasn't good. Dante was happier than normal, and that never meant anything good for Envy. Their 'mother' had a special fondness of tormenting her eldest son that Lust would never understand.

Envy and Lust actually got along well enough to have regular conversations, and that meant a lot for Lust. Gluttony followed her everywhere, sure, but he wasn't much for intelligent conversation. She genuinely missed Envy since he'd been gone these past few days, and wished he'd come back.

Lust was careful not to be visibly upset when Dante ordered her to make sure Envy did not return home under any circumstance.

"What do you mean, he's not to come back? We need him." Lust said pointedly, careful not to lose her composure.

"Does that mean I can eat him?" Gluttony put his fingers together, getting a hopeful look on his face.

"No, you can't eat him." Lust said, touching his shoulder in a motherly way.

Dante looked sternly at Lust, ignoring Gluttony entirely. "Not anymore we don't. He has disobeyed me for the last time, and he will just have to lie in the bed he's made." Her thin, falsely young lips curled into a vicious smile, sending shivers up and down Lust's spine.

Lust's eyes narrowed very slightly. What sort of mess has Envy gotten into this time?

Envy glared up at Edward, still feeling sick and frankly was rather pissed off that he was losing stones for no good reason.

"You know too much already." He grumbled to himself, his gravely voice low and testy. "It's nothing you can use anyway. These incomplete stones aren't enough to do the kind of transmutation you are trying to do."

"But if I had enough of them I could-" Edward began, but Envy interrupted.

"No, you can't." Envy snapped. He already knew the Pipsqueak Alchemist was too chicken shit to be able to do the kinds of things it would require to create enough of those stones. He wasn't about to break his damned heart, he knew humans were all about their 'hope' and shit.

Edward rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to get any information out of Envy, what was he thinking? His face fell as he realized it was pointless to even try. "How do you know so much about alchemy? I thought homunculus couldn't do alchemy." He asked with a softer tone this time.

"We don't, but that doesn't mean I don't know a whole hell of a lot more about it than you do." He retorted, wincing a little as his stomach was beginning to act up again. Envy shivered as a chill took over his body, though he felt sticky at the same time. Was he sweating? Gross. He wasn't used to this sort of thing.

"What is wrong with you anyway?" Edward ignored Envy's flippant attitude, shaking his head sadly as he watched the other shiver on the floor. He wasn't sure what to do for him, seeing as how he wasn't human.

"I don't fucking know, alright?" Envy snapped at him, the fear now evident on his features.

He really didn't know. Edward had never seen him like this before. He figured the damned homunculus was near invincible. It was interesting to find out that just throwing up some of those stones could affect him in this way. Edward's mind raced as he put the pieces together. Could the philosopher's stones be the homunculus's life source? The theory was a bit outlandish, but it was something.

Envy had trouble standing, but he forced himself to his feet. He didn't like the way the Pipsqueak was looking at him like he was some kind of lab rat. He needed to get to Dante, as much as he despised to admit it. He needed her help. She was the only one who would know what to do for him. He was shaky, but with a burst of adrenaline he ran towards the window and busted it with his elbow before leaping over the side and landing on his feet with a soft thud outside.

He grunted, not feeling as graceful as normal but he didn't much care at the moment. He sprinted towards the trees in the direction of Dante's lair, as Edward and Alphonse both looked out the now broken window. Envy had already disappeared by the time the guards came into the room behind them.

Edward had a hard time explaining the broken window to the hospital, and ended up just paying for it out of his State Alchemist account. Now Envy was even costing him money, great. He started getting dressed, putting on his signature leather pants and black wife beater. He threw his red jacket over his shoulder and gathered his things.

He and Alphonse finally left the hospital and returned home, but there was no trace of Envy.

"What do you think was going on with him, Al?" Edward asked his brother as he ate noodles at the table.

"I don't really know, but it looked like he was in bad shape. He was fine until he threw up those stones." Alphonse mused.

Edward pursed his lips in thought, before taking another bite. "That must be his weakness. I wonder if all homunculus have those stones. I'm thinking it might be the key to their existence."

"Hmm." Alphonse hummed a reply as he watched Edward eat. He couldn't really eat himself, but he did enjoy watching others. Alphonse was a little taken aback by Edward's attitude, however. First he had seen them kissing, now Edward is acting like Envy was some piece of scientific research. He really didn't understand his brother's emotions. Until now, he had been certain there was something going on between them.

Edward finally finished his bowl and leaned back with a sigh. "I dunno, Al. I feel like this has all been like some sort of weird dream." He looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"Yeah, me too." Alphonse said softly.

Edward couldn't stop thinking about Envy. They really had shared some kind of moment, for sure. Edward still wasn't sure what he really felt about the homunculus, but he wasn't really one to wear his emotions on his sleeve for the world to see. Would he ever come back? He felt a small pang in the middle of his gut when he thought about Envy never returning. It was like an unfinished chapter in a book, begging to be written.

Envy finally made it to the front of Dante's mansion. It was just a front, as the real action happened underneath in her lair.

He collapsed about 50 yards from the door, still concealed by some shrubs. "Nng...Fuck." He groaned, grinding his teeth as the grass brushed the side of his face. He had used most of his energy just getting here, and now he was so close.

A pair of legs and heels appeared in front of his face, and he thought for a moment it was Dante. He looked upwards, expecting the harsh face of his 'mother', but was surprised when he was met with the warm face of Lust.

"Envy... what have you done?" She asked, reaching for him. He took her hand and allowed himself to be righted, though he leaned on her slightly.

"Fuck if I know." He sighed, shaking the leaves from his hair. "There's something wrong with me."

Lust's eyes grew wide as she felt Envy's skin. It was warm. Homunculi were cool to the touch by nature, which is why that surprised her so.

"You can't be here." She said, moving with him further into the trees so they couldn't be seen. "She might be watching us now. I am risking us both by doing this, but you must leave. Now."

"The fuck are you talking about, Lust?" Envy demanded weakly, having no choice but to follow her.

She stopped and propped him against a tree, kneeling next to him. "Dante said you are no longer welcome back." Her violet eyes glanced away, feeling ashamed for even having to tell him this way.

His eyes grew as large as saucers as he comprehended her words. "You can't be serious. That fucking bitch can't just abandon me after all this time." He felt close to tears. If he couldn't turn to Dante, who else did he have?

"I don't agree with it, but I cannot disobey her. You know this." Lust sounded regretful, but looked back at his eyes as violet locked with violet. She had always been unquestioningly loyal to Dante, but now she was beginning to have her doubts.

"You don't understand." He stared intently at her. "I'm losing my stones. I'm fucking dying, Lust. I need help." He coughed a little, almost as if to accentuate his point.

She let out a small gasp, but said nothing. Her eyes lost a little of their shine, and she looked down. She knew what that meant, as well as any of the homunculi did. If Envy was losing his stones, that meant he was going to die soon if he wasn't replenished. But why was his skin warm? Could it possibly be...? No, that was impossible.

"You might not be." She whispered, and wiped the sweat from Envy's brow with her hand. "You're changing, aren't you?"

Envy glared at her. "I don't know what you're talking about." He huffed stubbornly, though he knew she was right. He had been changing, in more ways than one. He didn't even feel like the same ruthless bastard he once was.

She looked long and hard at him before speaking. "I'm sorry Envy... I can't do anything for you." She said suddenly as she stood. He stared up helplessly at her, disbelief plainly written across his features.

She turned to go back towards the mansion where they had both lived together for decades. She turned so that the tears that ran down her face couldn't be seen. She couldn't risk it right now, but she would find him again. She needed to know if she was right. Out of all the homunculi, Lust had the strongest desire to become human again. If Envy could achieve it, why couldn't she? There was more to this than meets the eye. She just hoped this wasn't the last time she was ever going to see Envy.

For a long time Envy just sat, still propped up against the tree where Lust had left him. He felt like there was no hope left. He had never felt so alone in his long life. He was ready to give up on everything, when for some reason he touched his hand to his chest. There it was again... the steady thump. Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes as he closed them and just listened to his own heartbeat. Somehow that rhythm soothed him enough to fall asleep, which is something he hadn't done in a very long time.