He understood that Ed needed rest. He realized just how hard Ed had had it lately. He knew Ed was still healing. But damn it, he was bored as hell.
Roy watched Ed as he slept, literally not having anything better to do. They were alone in the room, and there was nothing to read or stare at that was any more interesting than Ed. He resisted the urge to poke Ed in the face and wake him up.
Ed rolled over on his side with a small grunt and opened his eyes. Roy watched him intensely, hoping the alchemist would say something.
"Why are you staring at me?" were the first words that came out of Ed's mouth.
Roy started, but he recovered quickly. "Because there's nothing else to do around here."
"Then go read something."
"I just said, there's nothing else to do."
"Nothing?"
"No."
Ed sat up with some effort and stretched. "Where is everyone?"
"I don't know. They went out about two hours ago."
"Did they say why?"
"No, but I think it has something to do with Sloth."
"Like what?"
"How should I know? Like I said, nobody told me anything. All I know is that everyone was called out to some other part of this place."
Ed frowned and closed his eyes. "I think the Fuhrer's giving some kind of speech."
"A speech?"
"Something like that. Whatever it is, it's ending now."
"Good. Maybe someone will tell us what's going on. How are you doing?"
Ed opened his eyes and glared. "Is someone paying you to ask that all the time?"
"Hey, I'm trying to be nice."
"I feel like crap. And I think it's going to be that way for a while." Ed placed a hand on his ribs. "It still hurts to speak."
"Then don't."
"Fine. Then you have to stop asking me the same question every five minutes."
"Okay, I'll stop."
Ed lay back down and said, "Good." Then, in a quieter voice, "I wonder how Al's doing."
"He's probably fine. Maybe he made it out."
"I wonder…" Ed closed his eyes.
"Fullmetal?"
"Shh."
Roy closed his mouth and waited for Ed to say something. After a while, Ed spoke. "He made it out. I think he's with Mei Chan and Scar."
"You can tell?"
"Somehow, yeah."
"Does that mean he's…"
"I don't know."
Roy smirked. "That seems to be you favorite saying nowadays."
"Shut up." Ed lay on his side, facing Roy. "Hey, I was wondering… maybe it's none of my business, but what are you going to do about Envy and… Hughes?"
Roy tensed at this. "I think you know what'll happen when I get to that bastard."
"I do. I just wanted to be sure."
Roy fell back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. "To be honest, it's not so much because of Hughes that I want to get my hands on Envy. I mean, it's a major part of it, but there's something else."
Ed placed a hand on his left side. "Is it because of this?"
Roy nodded. "When I found you, out on the road… it was the worst I'd ever seen you. And in a way, it reminded me of… something."
Ed closed his eyes. "You're being a little overly protective lately."
"As opposed to…?"
"Being a bastard."
Roy chuckled. "Would you rather have me being a bastard again?"
"No."
"Then what are you complaining about?"
"I'm not complaining, I'm stating a fact."
"It sounds like you're complaining to me."
Ed pulled his pillow over his head. "You're annoying."
Roy chuckled. "It's good that you're still yourself."
"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Ed thought about it for a moment. "…Don't answer that."
Roy leaned back against the wall. "We need a plan."
"You think?"
Roy ignored Ed's sarcasm. "Got any ideas?"
Ed propped himself up on his elbows. "We need to catch the homunculi off-guard. If we do it right, we can get Envy on his own and take him down, but we'd need someone else to deal with Wrath."
Roy nodded. "We may be able to leave that up to the people here."
Ed nodded. "Major General Armstrong's pretty good with swords. She'd probably be able to deal with him, especially if she has all of Briggs on her side."
"But how would she be able to spread the word without arousing suspicion? And how would the higher-ups in Central react?"
Ed fell back, momentarily forgetting that he was injured and grunting at the pain that came. "That's the problem. If we say it was an accident, they'll be suspicious and accuse Briggs of being on Drachma's side. It would probably lead to war up here, which is what we're trying to avoid, isn't it?"
Roy nodded. "The only hope we have is that somebody in Central will prevent them from coming up here."
"Right, but who? There's only a few people we can trust down there, like my brother and… my father, and Havoc…"
"And Scar."
"But can we really trust him?" Ed asked.
Roy raised an eyebrow. "You were pretty willing to trust him when you ended up in the hospital."
"Yeah, but… never mind."
"You're still angry with him about the Rockbells, aren't you?"
Ed nodded. "I know he's on our side, but it's hard to believe that after all he's done."
"Even though he's saved your life more times by now than he's tried to take it away."
"Really?" Ed thought about it. "Yeah, I guess so. But…"
"I'm sure if Winry knew more about the details she'd be willing to accept our alliance with Scar."
"You mean you didn't tell her?"
"No, I told her, but she wasn't happy about it."
Ed sighed. "Of course she wouldn't be. I'm not happy about it either."
Roy was quiet for a minute before he heard footsteps outside. "We'll talk about this more later, okay?"
"Sure." Ed closed his eyes as the door opened and Olivier came into the room. She stopped in front of their cell and looked at the two.
"We have a problem."
----------------
"Someone cut the phone lines?" Ed asked incredulously.
"Yes. I'm doing an investigation at the moment, and the Fuhrer just finished a speech about loyalty to the military."
"But who would be stupid enough to do something like that?" Ed muttered, mostly to himself.
"I don't know, but if we're cautious, we can work this out to our advantage. At the moment, however, I'm supposed to bring you two down to the tunnel. He seems to want to speak with both of you in private."
As they made their way down to the tunnel, Ed felt a growing sense of unease. It felt like something terrible was going to happen, but he didn't know what. Are you there? he thought, hoping that there would be a response.
Yes.
What… should I be this worried? What are they planning?
…I don't know. You'll just have to stay on your guard.
But…
You have every reason to be nervous, but you need to be calm. After all, they think you're easy to control. Try to use that to your advantage.
How?
I… don't know. Sorry.
Ed sighed and grimaced slightly. His chest was aching, and they were walking too quickly for his comfort, but he couldn't do anything about that. Finally, they arrived, and Ed found himself breathing a quiet sigh of relief as they waited for further instructions.
The Fuhrer arrived seconds later with Envy, and they entered the tunnel. Ed's unease grew with every step, and by the time they stopped walking, it was almost unbearable. He stared pointedly at the ground as Wrath spoke.
"You understand why you're here, correct?"
Since neither of them really understood and Ed didn't seem to want to open his mouth, Roy gave an answer for both of them. "No."
Wrath and Envy exchanged glances. "Let's sit down."
Ed practically collapsed on the ground, but somehow he managed to be somewhat graceful, earning only a smirk from Envy instead of some snide comment. Once they were all seated, Wrath spoke again.
"Who cut the telephone lines?"
Roy blinked. Ed continued to stare at the ground. After a minute, Roy spoke again. "I don't know."
Wrath turned to Ed. "Edward?"
Ed shook his head. Envy sighed, stood up, and began pacing. "They aren't lying. Might as well go on to the next part."
"Of course." Wrath looked directly at Ed. "We have instructions for you."
Ed kept his head down, but he turned his eyes so that he could see Wrath. "For what?"
"Sloth is missing. I know you know where he is. I also realize that you're planning to continue fighting against us. Also…"
Ed waited for Wrath to continue, but he didn't. Instead, Envy came behind Ed and kneeled so that his mouth was right next to Ed's ear. "We know you love her."
Ed didn't move. Envy pulled Ed's head back and looked straight into his eyes. "I guess you don't understand what I meant by that. You see, it is painfully easy to infiltrate another country when you have the majority of the government on your side. In fact, we have spies up north right now. They're perfectly willing to follow our instructions."
Ed's feeling of unease grew into fear, but he did his best to keep his face from revealing any emotions. It wasn't enough, however, and Envy laughed. "Aw, how sweet. You really do love her. You know how you can save her?"
Ed continued his silence. He was concentrating on the voice in his head.
They're lying, Edward.
H-how do you know that?
They know that Winry is in Drachma, but they won't be able to find her that easily. They're simply bluffing to keep you under control.
But…
I promise you, she'll be fine.
Envy continued, unaware of what was going on in Ed's mind. "It's simple, really. All you need to do is release Sloth for us."
"No."
---------------
Roy looked at Ed in shock. He hadn't expected Ed to outright refuse the homunculi. He tried to get a closer look at the alchemist's face, but Envy stepped in the way.
"No?" Envy asked, his voice becoming rather low. "Why not?"
Ed was silent, but Roy could tell he was resisting the urge to attack Envy. After a while, Envy sighed and dealt Ed a blow to the chest, sending him flying. Roy tried to help him, but King Bradley held out a sword in warning. Roy stayed where he was.
Ed spat out some blood as he tried in vain to push himself up. Envy walked up to him and crouched down, grabbing Ed by his braid and pulling his head up. "Oh? Was I wrong? You don't care about her enough to do what we ask?"
Ed pulled himself away and weakly got to his feet. "I'm not falling for that," he growled, his eyes glowing with hate. Roy bit his lip to keep from smiling. He had realized that the homunculi's threat was an empty one, but he wasn't sure if Ed knew that himself. He just hoped that Envy wouldn't continue what he had been doing to Ed in the wilderness. Roy didn't think that he would be able to do anything without being beaten himself.
Envy grabbed Ed by the shirt and pulled him close. "Then do you want me to continue what I was doing before?"
Ed tried to punch Envy in the face, but Envy grabbed the fist and twisted Ed's arm before punching Ed in the chest again. Ed fell back with a small cry of pain, clutching his chest. Once again, Roy tried to help, but he was forced to stop when Wrath held a sword to his throat and growled, "Do not interfere."
Envy looked back at Roy when Wrath spoke and grinned. "Let's go with the other plan, shall we?" he asked in a playful tone.
"It seems we don't have a choice," Wrath replied. Envy pulled Ed to his feet again and held him by the shoulders, forcing him to look at the Colonel.
"You see that man?" Envy said, the grin on his face widening. "Get a good look at him, because soon you won't be able to." And with that, Envy roughly brought a hand down on Ed's neck, causing Ed to lose consciousness, and carried the alchemist away.
Roy just about lost it at this point, but once again, he found himself face-to-face with Wrath. He glared at the homunculus, who gestured for Roy to sit back down. Roy did.
"What happens to him is none of your concern. You should be more concerned about yourself."
This seems familiar… Roy thought. "And why is that?"
"We are beginning to doubt that you can be useful to us."
Roy raised an eyebrow and tried to ask what this meant, but Wrath ignored him. After a while, Roy gave up and began to stare down the dark tunnel in the direction that Envy had gone.
--------------
Ed awoke in utter darkness. He blinked several times, hoping that it would help him concentrate, but to no avail. He groaned as he felt the pain course through his body.
After a while, he became aware of voices, and he tried to see where they were coming from. It was still too dark to see, however, so all he knew was that they were coming from somewhere to his left. He listened intently, trying to hear what they were saying. To his dismay, both of the voices were very familiar.
"Let me go!" a female voice cried out. "You jerk, I'll-"
"You'll what?" Envy replied lazily. "You can't beat me."
Ed panicked. The female voice sounded eerily like…
"Ed! Help me!"
Ed tried to get to his feet, but the effort caused a burning pain to shoot through his chest. He fell back to the ground. "Damn it, Envy, let go of her!" He shouted instead, grimacing as he spoke.
Ed heard a soft thud, followed by footsteps. He tried once again to get to his feet, but before he even got to a sitting position, he felt a weight on his chest.
"Let who go? I thought you didn't think we had her, pipsqueak," Envy purred into Ed's ear. Ed tried to punch Envy in the face, but he couldn't see where Envy was exactly, and managed to get his fist caught in Envy's hair. Envy easily pulled it out and twisted it slightly. "So, what'll it be? Are you going to behave now?"
Ed grimaced. "What… happens to her if I don't?"
Envy twisted slightly harder. "She pays the price."
Ed was quiet. What should I do? He… he has Winry…
No, Edward, it's a trick. Don't fall for it.
But…
Stop. Please, you're making a mistake.
I can't risk it, though. If they have her…
ED! Listen to me!
No! You don't know… just… please, leave me alone…
Edward…
Ed ignored his new companion as he spoke. "I… fine. I'll… do whatever… you ask…"
"Good. You're beginning to learn your place again, aren't you, little brother?"
Ed cringed. "I hate you."
Envy grabbed Ed's arms and pulled him to his feet. "I'll just ignore that little comment for now." Envy turned Ed around and pushed against his back. "Start walking. I'll be there in a moment."
After a while, Ed and Envy arrived back at where Roy and Wrath were sitting. Ed kept his eyes down, not wanting to look Roy in the face. He felt as if he were betraying the Flame Alchemist, and there wasn't anything he could do about it. He waited silently as the homunculi walked a distance away spoke to each other, trying to hear what they were saying. Their voices were low, but Ed could hear some of what they said.
"Did it work?"
"It did. He's convinced that working for us will keep her safe."
"That's good. Let's send him after Sloth now."
"No, no. I have something else in mind at the moment."
"Oh?"
Even Roy heard the laugh that followed. "A punishment."
After that, Ed couldn't hear anything else. He looked nervously at Roy, who hadn't been able to hear the conversation. Roy looked back at him and tried to give a reassuring smile, just before the homunculi returned. Wrath stood a distance away as Envy walked up to Ed.
"It's time for you to prove yourself. If you do as I say, your little friend will be just fine."
Ed was quiet. He could tell everyone was watching him, and after a while, Envy leaned close to Ed's ear and whispered, "The Flame Alchemist is now a liability to our goals. Your first task… destroy him. Now."
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I so evil. :D