Ed lay still, thoughtless, unaware of his own general existence.

His state of meditation and unawareness was disturbed by a faint buzzing. It vibrated annoyingly in his ear, provoking his lifeless sleep.

Unconsciously he lifted his hand to swat the trespasser away, and leave him in his drowsy, exhausted state.

The impact jolted him awake. It wasn't a small anticipated huge, but a large metallic thud. The buzzing formed into words.

"Brother!" the echoed voice repeated over and over.

Edward's vision returned to see Alphonse. His brother sighed with relief upon Ed's return to reality.

He realized with a familiar dull clinking, that his automail arm and leg were back in place. He sighed with relief, but it was short lived.

Al shook him urgently. "Envy! Do you remember brother?! He took Winy, come on!"

Ed's eyes shone with realization. "How long was I out?" Ed asked with effort to wake his tired body up.

"Only about 10 minutes," Al replied.

Ed stood, familiarizing himself with his mechanical limbs. "Then they couldn't have gotten far," He announced. Al trotted to his brother's side anxiously.

"How will we find them?" Al asked shakily.

Ed grunted. He hadn't thought of that. He was chasing a homonculous that could be anywhere, and he had a hostage.

Al interrupted his thought. "You're the prodigy…"

Ed held his hand up to silence Al, to achieve a more quiet state of thought.

Al saw the streaking beads of sweat trailing his brother's soft cheeks. His eyebrows folded into a determined series of lines across forehead. His eyes were closed, and his hand covered his grit teeth. Al watched admirably as Ed's face twisted into the familiar form of realization.

Al waited eagerly for his conclusion.

"I got nothing." Ed finally announced to al's shock. "YOU WASTED ALL THAT TIME FOR THAT?!"

Ed scratched his head. "THAT'S ALL I GOT, OK?!"

Fortunately, Envy was not one to leave Edward out of his twisted mind games. A message became clear on the door behind them.

Inscribed on the wooden frame, finely etched was the message,

Brat,

Y live for?

Ed grimaced. Envy wants to hold us off, so we'll make it at the end of his little plight.

"What does it mean?" Al asked anxiously.

"I'm not sure yet…. But I'm sure it's some kind of anagram." Ed noted.

He lifted a twig and copied the message onto the dry earth. He scribbled several failed words. "What are you doing brother?'

"An anagram is a scrambled word or phrase…."Ed explained. "I know that!" Al exclaimed. He copied his brother, scratching the letters into the dust.

Rotary fab live? No….. Al tired, but soon became stuck. He listened to the steady flow of scratches from his brother's side. It suddenly stopped. Al looked to him hopefully.

Reading over his shoulder, he saw, brat why live for….. laboratory five

"Brother! That has to be it! Envy's at laboratory five! Brilliant deduction!" Al congratulated.

Ed stood up, with clenched fists. "Come on Al….. We're going to lab five…."

Upon reaching the destination……………..

The dark lab was still in ruins after it was demolished so much earlier in their ventures. Ed kept a wary eye or signs of any life, unusual glowing…… a sign. A sign was what he needed desperately.

He wandered a collapsed hallway. A wall rose just above Al's head, casting a dark shadow to shroud them from view of a potential enemy.

Finally, they spotted smoke. Ed held his cloak to his mouth, shielding himself from giving his position away by coughing. He also knew the smoke could be hazardous. He broke into a leaping bound for the room.

When the brothers entered, three things stood out.

Winry's lifeless body sprawled carelessly to the side. She was covered in scratches and dirt.

Envy was in the form of Ed, crouching beside Lust. He was looming over something, speaking to it.

When he moved aside, his heart fell. A chimera lay at Envy's feet. A silver, distorted figure of a large cat with large, round, red eyes brimmed with tears. "Leave her alone you sick bastard!" Ed exclaimed with remorse, regret, and dismay.

Winry had been reverted into a chimera. She had nothing to do with the feud between Envy and himself.

Envy couldn't have done it himself….. and Ed swore that moment behind a storm of seething hatred under his skin…. That he would kill whoever it was helping the homonculous.

"Ed…" a distorted, unfamiliar voice called out to him.

His emotions got the best of him when the chimera realized what It was.

Ed held a gloved hand to his face to old back his tears. "I'll kill you here and now Envy….. I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"

YAAAAAY!!! Cheesy much, huh? I just wanted to update as a new years treat. Sort of….. I apologize if you don't like it. Also, I have thought up the sequel to Gender bender! I can't wait to start it, because hopefully I can incorporate my original character, Kira. Thanks for reading!