Chapter Six: Cold Case

Interesting how a single touch can provoke a huge reaction, can be the initial spark for new feelings, or can be the reminder of old ones. Even as he slipped away, Envy was certain down to the marrow of his bones it – that kiss – had meant nothing. He had only done it for the shock factor, to see Pride's stupid reaction. A part of him was also curious to see what his consequence would be, if any. Envy could still feel the hundreds of eyes on him, so he knew Pride hadn't left him yet to tell Father, in fact, the little bastard hadn't even bothered to utter so much as a gasp in surprise. So far, that was fine with Envy. It looked like Pride would need a little more convincing to show him that Envy was serious about taking things into his own hands.

Envy should have known it would take more than that to drive away Pride. He wasn't as easily fooled as the other homunculi. Besides, a kiss was just a kiss, and in this case it hadn't even been a real one, just a gag show for Pride – a surprise attack, if you will. It was Envy's way of warning Pride. It meant if I'm willing to start this, you know I'm willing to finish it. And Envy never started what he knew he couldn't finish. If Pride didn't back off, Envy would take his game to the next level. And that would mean…

"Laboratory Five?" Pride's voice echoed through the night as Envy picked his way carefully over the crumbled stone of where once stood the towering warehouse building. He showed no sign that he had heard Pride at all, and continued his trek across the rumble until he got to a particular point. Here Envy dropped down on his knees and started moving head-sized rocks and stones and throwing them across the yard like they were pebbles.

It would be a long night ahead of him, but in the back of his mind Envy knew something would come out of this. After all, Father wouldn't want him going about and ruining things for him, and if Pride had half a brain he would have figured out by now what Envy was planning to do. If Envy was lucky Pride would run into the core of Central and tell Father and Father would have no choice but to pull Pride off Envy's back before Envy did the unthinkable. Unfortunately, Envy was plainly aware that his luck seemed to have taken a downturn for the worse and the usually – annoyingly – smart little bastard was taking his sweet time figuring out what Envy had planned.

Envy threw aside another huge rock with little effort and looked around at the unlimited supply at his feet. He would have to move it all if he wanted to find what he was looking for…

Yes…It would be a very long night.

It was strange. Winry felt oddly numb after everything that happened as she walked back from the park. She tenderly touched her lips – ouch, still sore. She frowned. She had to admit, she was more than a little confused over everything that happened. She supposed it was because her brain was already experiencing an overload after she had found out about Hughes' murder. Though she had let it slip her mind temporarily out of shock at meeting Envy for the first time, Winry had forgotten, wouldn't let herself forget.

The first thing she would do tomorrow is buy flowers for Mrs. Hughes and bring them over. However, before she started even thinking about tomorrow, Winry had to think about tonight and where she was going to stay. She really didn't have that much money with her, and she doubted any motel offices were open this late. She mentally slapped herself for not planning this out a little better. She wondered absently if she would have to go up to Central Headquarters, claiming to be Edward's friend and beg for a room. Would that even work?

"Hey, nice to see you again!" Winry almost jumped, but she contained her emotions as her eyes widened and landed on a familiar face next to her. Ling Yao had appeared out of thin air. She hadn't even heard him approach her.

"Where did you come from!?" She gasped.

Ling gave her a smile, "Well, from the park and I happened to see you there as well."

Winry paled a bit. "The park?"

"Who was that person you were with?" Ling asked, darkly, eyes narrowing even more, "I felt the same Ki energy coming from him as that guy on the train. You're not friends with him are you? I saw him kiss you."

The color suddenly came back to Winry's face, too much color perhaps. "You were spying on me!? How dare you!"

Ling shook his head, saying, "Not spying. I was making sure he wasn't going to hurt you – I don't like him."

"He wouldn't hurt me. He's saved my life more than once," Winry said. She didn't know who she was trying to convince, Ling or herself. After tonight she didn't really know what Envy's motives truly were. His entire personality, from what she had seen, was so random, and he really hadn't answered any of her questions as to why he had saved her, just that he had. Winry looked up at Ling. They had started to walk together down one of Central's avenues, in no direction at all it seemed. "You said he had the same Ki energy as that guy on the train. What is Ki energy? And what does that mean if it's the same?"

"In Xing, people are trained to sense life sources during combat training. The martial arts there trains us how to fight without the use of our eyes by sensing the Ki radiating from our opponents body," Ling explained. His face then hardened as if he were remembering a memory he wished to forget, "But that guy on the train and this one you met in the park – they have the same Ki. That means I'm sensing they are one in the same person. The only weird thing is they Ki I sense from him isn't human its something else…"

"Envy's a homunculus," Winry stated. Ling glanced at her, eyes wider than usual, "A homunculus? You serious!? Well, that explains a lot."

Winry could sense she was still being studied. She looked over and found Ling still staring at her. "What?"

"You're on a first-name bases with a homunculus," Ling said, darkly, "Is that usual for your country?"

Winry shook her head, "I'm still getting over the shock of it myself – that and a few other things... So, if the Ki of Envy and that guy on the train is the same you said they are the same person? How is that possible? That guy didn't look anything like Envy."

"He's not human so it's possible he has powers beyond human control – perhaps…he can change what he looks like by will?" Ling suggested. Winry furrowed her brow, "I doubt it. That seems a little far-fetched, don't you think? And besides, I've met Envy before, years ago, and he looked the same."

Ling jumped at that, "I thought you said you just met him?"

Winry sighed, "It's a long story…" She yawned, "I better get to headquarters for the night. I'm beat."

"Headquarters, huh? I guess I'll see you around," Ling suddenly said.

"What?"

"I'm an illegal immigrant. I can't be seen by the blue collars or I'll wind up in prison…and they have terrible food in prison," Ling said with a frown.

Winry raised an eyebrow at him, "You know you never did tell me why you came to Central in the first place, and you never did come with me to meet my friends, Ed and Al."

Ahead, a car turned onto the street they were on. Ling froze, "Uh, well, it was nice chatting with you, Winry – bye!" With that he jumped into an ally way, and before Winry could follow him the car stopped next to her and the passenger rolled down the window to speak with her. Winry turned to the car, frowning, and upon seeing who the driver and passenger were she immediately smiled.

"Winry Rockbell? Is that you?" Riza asked in shock.

"Ms. Hawkeye, it's been a long time," Winry greeted, bowing, "and Mr. Mustang too."

"What are you doing out so late?" Riza asked looking over her grass-stained clothing and bloodied arm, "Are you alright? That looks like a bite mark."

Winry had almost forgotten about her bite, it wasn't hurting her so it hadn't been on her mind. "I…" she couldn't come up with an excuse fast enough. Riza was already ushering her into the vehicle.

"You've obviously been through a lot. We need to get that wound dressed or it could get infected," she said.

"Where did you get that bite from?" Mustang asked as Winry took a seat in the back. Riza had turned to face her, a look of pure concern on her features and in her eyes. The car started moving, and Winry just felt like putting her head against the back of the upholstery and closing her eyes. Instead, she knew she would have to answer a few questions.

"Some wild animal attacked me in the park," she said. She heard Riza gasp in response, "It's lucky you got away. Don't you carry a weapon with you?"

"No," Winry said simply. Then, she realized something, the only thing she really wanted to know at the moment. She looked into Mustang's face through the rear view mirror and asked, "I heard about what happened to Mr. Hughes. I'm sorry."

Silence enveloped the car. Riza had turned to face forward again. There was a distant look in both hers and Mustangs eyes. Winry almost wished she'd said nothing. "The investigation is underway," Mustang finally said, his voice was controlled and level.

"Do you have any idea who did it?" Winry asked, though her voice was starting to shake. She had to be careful or she would end up crying again.

Mustang looked through the mirror at her, eyes as dark as coal, calculating, "I'm not at liberty to say."

"How are Mrs. Hughes and Elicia?" Winry decided to drop the subject of the case. It would seem that Hughes' murder was a deeper incident than a simple gun shot. Mustang's eyes had plainly warned her to remove any interest she had in pursuing it. Not that she had wanted to, but she had to admit in the last few weeks she had felt terribly helpless. Though, it seemed that the only thing she would be able to do for the Hughes family was give them as much comfort and support they needed. She had no problem with that, after all, she was in debt to that family. It was the least she could do.

"They're strong," Mustang had said, voice cracking only briefly.

"Winry, you can stay at headquarters, if you like," Riza added changing the subject.

"We'll put the room service bill on Fullmetal's tab," Mustang smirked.

Envy slipped into one of the old warehouses, unnoticed. It was the same warehouse he had been to last night when he had let those chimeras free. He had been asked to meet Lust there to give her military updates, as usual, but this time Envy was going to put his plan in full motion. He had finally been a bit lucky that day. After running into Sheska as Captain Focker, Envy had managed to find out that Mustang was snooping around in files concerning laboratory 5 and Hughes' murder case.

It was obvious the Colonel had sourced a connection, but from who? There was no way he could manage to find out they were connected unless he was going on a hunch. Stupid humans and their intuition – it always got them into trouble. That was alright with Envy. For the first time he was glad a human was snooping because it gave Lust a reason to let him put his plan into action. He would have to be coy about it, suggest it and make it sound like it was in their – Father's – best interests.

"I heard the Colonel is digging around for information about Hughes' death," Lust said, conversationally as soon as Envy closed the door to the warehouse. He stopped in front of her, cursing whoever had managed to find out before him.

He gave her a half-assed reply, "Yeah."

It didn't seem to bother Lust, as she just continued talking, "I wonder if he's discovered anything."

Oh, did she seriously think he would have managed to look that far in a bloody day? He'd only just found out about Mustang's intervention, and she expected him to know how much he uncovered? According to the look she was giving him, Envy figured she did.

"Maybe," he said, calmly. He really didn't care how much Mustang found out. It wasn't like it would change anything. They couldn't kill him after all. He was too important. "What do we do?" he added as he noticed the look Lust was giving him turn into something akin to warning. He figured she wasn't impressed by his lack of effort.

"We moved him to Central to keep an eye on him…" Lust started and Envy glanced behind her at the fat idiot on the floor. He was staring listlessly at the caged chimera. Sometimes Envy wished he were just as brainless and he could go about his day eating and following Lust around stupidly – life would be so much easier…oh, Lust was still talking, "Can't he just behave?" Envy blinked, momentarily confused. Was she talking about Gluttony or Mustang? He gave himself a mental slap. Obviously Mustang, "He's a precious candidate for sacrifice.

"You haven't gotten anything out of your boyfriend yet?" Envy snickered. He couldn't believe Lust had actually advanced on a human to get information. A part of him even wondered if she was capable of keeping a relationship outside of the bedroom.

"Nothing," Lust sighed, "I can't even tell if he's foolish or able. Which reminds me," she crossed her arms under her large breasts and walked past Envy to the door, "I have a date. I'll go hunt for more information again. We're going, Gluttony."

Envy watched the fat idiot stand and bounce across to Lust. He suddenly panicked. If he let them leave now there wouldn't be another chance like this one. He hadn't even managed to get a word in before Lust decided to end the conversation. His eyes landed on Gluttony's mess of bones on the floor and he gave a little sound of disapproval, making the other two homunculi stop, "Geez, Gluttony, don't leave this place a mess! Seriously!"

He could feel their eyes on him now, and he knew Lust wasn't suspicious of his behavior. He was always berating Gluttony about his messy habits. It grated on his nerves how the fat bastard could leave one mess after another, waiting for someone to pick up after him. He once recalled Lust calling him Mother for fun – after his reaction she never did it again.

"Hey, Lust," Envy said grinning at the pile of bones. For some reason he was certain looking at them made his mind work faster, "You just need the Flame Alchemist to behave, right?"

"That's right."

Got her. Envy glanced over his shoulder, and said, "Are you up for taking another measure?"

Lust gave him a look. It was the look that would have had most men on their knees begging her to take them back to their bedrooms. Envy hated that look. She had tried that look on him, but he was a master at ignorance and it seemed to work on her like magic. "Got something on your mind?"

Envy gave her a toothy grin and replied, "The best way to shut up an annoying dog is to give him some food."

"Second Lt. Maria Ross has been taken in for questioning, sir," Riza said, handing Mustang a file from one of many she carried, "She is under suspicion for the death of Brigadier General Maes Hughes."

They were standing outside, next to the phone booth where Maes Hughes had been murdered. The scene had been scrubbed clean for the public's sake. After hearing that Maria Ross had been arrested by officials and was being held responsible for the murder of the late Brigadier General, Mustang and Hawkeye immediately left the building to discuss matters further. They were both certain they couldn't trust the military now. Not only had Ross been held for less than twenty-four hours but her first trial hadn't even been a fair one. It was clear from what Armstrong had said before: the higher ups are taking control of the situation and if pinning Ross for the murder of Mustang's men made the situation go away faster than that's exactly what they intended to do.

Mustang opened the file and in it contained witness accounts from various spottings; people saying they had seen Maria Ross that night fleeing the scene of the crime. Behind those Mustang noticed the Lieutenants own investigation had taken place, especially concerning a man named Barry. Sergeant Falman had been placed there for surveillance. Mustang looked up from the files, deeply impressed by his subordinates hunch to initiate an investigation on her own. "What's with these files here, Lieutenant?" he asked her, just for the sake to hear her response.

"Do with them as you see fit, sir," she said simply.

"A statement from a criminal won't move the courts," Mustang said, darkly, "especially if the jury is tainted. Though, I had a feeling something was off when they arrested Second Lt. Ross."

"What would you like me to do?"

Mustang folded up the file and gave it back to her. "Let's pay Barry and Sergeant Falman a visit. Maybe he can point us in the right direction."

"If his word won't stand up in court, then why –,"

"It's not his word I want, it's his hand. It said in the file Second Lt. Ross shot him in the hand. I want to see the bullet holes. They are the only evidence we have in this case," Mustang replied.

"Mr. Mustang! Ms. Hawkeye!" Both officers turned to see Winry Rockbell running towards them. She stopped and doubled over in front of them to catch her breath. "I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find you…"

"Is something wrong?" Riza asked, eyes wide on the gasping girl before her.

"You bet something's wrong!" Winry replied heatedly, "They arrested Maria right in front of me and said she was Mr. Hughes' killer!" Then, she stood straight and looked Mustang right in the eyes, "Please, tell me it's not true! Maria would never do anything like that. Please, you can't say you're going to sit and let this happen!"

Mustang didn't seem to budge. The look he gave her was stern and stubborn, "It's in your best interest to not get involved."

"I was at laboratory 5 when Maria Ross fired the shot," Winry suddenly declared, "Alphonse and Mr. Brosh are my alibis. They're saying she fired a shot at Mr. Hughes and they have her bullet, but it's the wrong bullet."

"What are you talking about?" Riza asked, curiously, "How can it be the wrong bullet? They matched it to her firearm."

"Well, they're going to have to check it again," Winry said, determinedly. She suddenly held up a small, clear plastic bag before them. Mustang and Riza both stared in shock at it.

"Is that what I think it is?" Mustang took the bag from Winry and peered in at its contents like he was making sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

Winry nodded, "I went back to the laboratory last night and dug it up. Inside is the shell casing and the bullet which she fired that day. I found both of them."

Looks of absolute shock were on both of their faces as they stared at the little bag Winry had given them. It took either of them a moment to collect themselves, but when they did they glanced back up at Winry. Mustang was the first to speak, "You went to some extreme lengths. I see those Elric brothers have had some influence on you, which reminds me. I received a phone call from Fullmetal this morning. Apparently, you're supposed to be in Rush Valley working for some automail mechanic."

Winry felt the color drain from her face. "I had a few things to do here first," she excused.

"Like dig up bullets?" Mustang spat.

"I…" Winry bowed her head a bit so her face was hidden by her golden locks, "I wanted to pay Mrs. Hughes my respects."

She kept her face down, but she distinctly felt the tension increase with her words. Then, deciding enough was enough with this conversation she quietly said, "Excuse me…" and slipped away from them.

She could feel their eyes on her back as she moved away. Once she knew she was out of eyesight, Winry Rockbell disappeared around a corner and reappeared as a blond-haired, blue-eyed army officer with a wicked grin.

Riza and Mustang continued to stare at the bullet and casing. "What do you want to do with it?" she asked, curiously.

"It won't do anything to bring it to court, especially since the judge has decided to rule unfairly. But this is definitely a standard 45 shot. Second Lt. Ross' weapon is the same kind," Mustang sighed and looked up at his most trusted subordinate, "I think we're going to have to do this the hard way."

"I'm up for anything, sir."

"Good, and I hope your acting's up to par too."

"Yes, sir."

Winry Rockbell made her way down to the cafeteria of the headquarters building for dinner. After paying Mrs. Hughes a visit, she had been stuck up in her room fiddling around with the newest model of her automail design for Edward. The junctions in the elbow weren't working as smoothly as she wanted them to and it had taken her all take to calibrate it for the weight of the metal she was using. To be honest, she was just trying to forget the tears she had seen in Mrs. Hughes' eyes.

She grabbed a plastic tray from the concession line-up and stood waiting her turn. She actually took her place behind someone very familiar and it took Winry a moment to remember the girl's name.

"Sheska?" Winry greeted, "Wow, it's been a while. How've you been?"

The bug-eyed girl turned to face Winry with a look of pure confusion on her face. "Uh, hello," she said timidly, "I'm really sorry, but I forgot who you are."

"I'm Winry Rockbell, remember? We went for coffee last week. You saved me from harassing a library guard," Winry laughed, but Sheska looked like she was about to faint, "Are you okay?"

"I don't remember that," she said, slowly, "Are you sure it was me?"

Winry blinked in confusion. "What? Of course it was you," she replied, though a hint of doubt was starting to surface in the back of her mind. How could it have not been her? "Don't you remember telling me about ouroboros? I also told you about –,"

"Ouroboros? No, I don't even know what that is," Sheska said, shaking her head.

"S-seriously?"

"Ms. Rockbell, is that you?" Winry almost dropped her tray in sight of Armstrong, who had appeared out of thin air. She wondered how on Earth a man with such size could manage to be so quiet. It was slightly unnerving. "I didn't know you have chosen to join the state military! That's just marvelous!"

"But I didn't join the military. I'm just here because –,"

"Save me the explanation, Ms. Rockbell. You can tell me all about it in due time," Armstrong suddenly grabbed her hand and started to pull her away from the line-up. Eventually, he was dragging her out the door. Once they were out of the headquarters building, out in the sunlight of early evening, Armstrong finally let her hand go. Winry looked up at him in confusion.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"You mentioned ouroboros earlier to my subordinate," Armstrong started, "I wanted to stop you from saying anything further."

"I don't know what you mean," Winry replied, nervously. Was it a dangerous subject or something?

"We received a phone call from Edward Elric earlier today explaining the origins of the ouroboros tattoo. It seems these people with the tattoo may be the ones behind a few misdeeds in the military," Armstrong explained, "If that's the case, it's best if you know anything to be more discrete about who you give your information to. It's already been made clear that they don't want people sticking their noses where they don't belong."

Winry's eyes widened at this. "Are you saying you think the people with the tattoos are the ones who murdered –,"

She was silenced by a finger to her lips. Armstrong was giving her a very stern look. "Let's not talk about that now. We're too close to headquarters."

"Mr. Armstrong, when Ed spoke to you," Winry said, slowly, "Did he ever mention if these people have certain talents?"

Armstrong sighed, "He did say they could do things that are impossible for a human to do. I don't really feel you need to know –,"

"Please, tell me," Winry pleaded, "I've been doing my own research on them. It's best if I was aware –,"

"Your own research? Winry, you should stay out of this."

"Mr. Armstrong, I'm sorry, but I've already come so far," Winry declared, stubbornly. If this would lead her to figuring out some of her own mysteries, then she didn't care whether she was frowned upon or not. She had come to Central to pursue her own determination just like Edward and Alphonse, and she wouldn't stop because one officer told her it might be dangerous. In actuality, Winry liked the feeling of it. She liked the feeling of the danger she was encroaching on because it made her feel like she was finally getting somewhere. Envy had failed to answer so many questions, and so she would find the answers herself.

Armstrong looked like he had given in. Winry mentally nicknamed him 'big softy'.

"I suppose the more you know the safer you are, since you can always watch out for them," he excused, "Well then, according to Edward's descriptions he has come in contact with a total of four of them. He calls them homunculus, and said that each of them had specific powers."

So, Envy's not the only one out there? Winry took a breath and waited for Armstrong to continue.

"One goes by the name of Gluttony. He can bite through even the toughest metal and he seems to devour anything. Another calls herself Lust, and she is a very tall woman who is very beautiful. She can extend her fingers into daggers and pierce anything. The other is Greed, who has an ultimate shield. And the last goes by the name of Envy," Armstrong explained, "he is the reason the military's on its toes. Apparently he's a shape shifter, and he can change himself into anyone at will."

Winry blanched and took a step back from Armstrong. A shape shifter? So, Ling was right then, Envy could really change into anyone at will. Winry thought back to the brown eyed fisherman she had met on the bridge. He had a prosthetic arm, unable to carry a person without them noticing it. Eleven years ago Envy had asked Winry to close her eyes and after she had he wasn't Envy anymore he was someone else…it was all falling into place now.

And that meant…Sheska. Sheska didn't remember her meeting with Winry last week at the coffee shop, because Winry hadn't met with Sheska at all. It had been Envy she was with and didn't know it at the time. Who else would know more about the ouroboros tattoo than Envy himself, right?

And the man on the train that Ling had started a fight with. That must have been Envy as well…

It gave Winry chills just thinking about all those times she had spoken to Envy without knowing it was him. She could feel the heat creeping into her cheeks at the memory of her telling, who she thought was Sheska, about how she admired Envy as a guardian, when now she knew Sheska had been Envy all along. No wonder Sheska had made such a fool of herself there, she – he – was completely unaware of how Winry thought of him until that moment. It must have come as a shock.

"Winry, are you alright?" Armstrong was watching her anxiously. She supposed she would look a little feint after realizing all of this.

"I'm going to go lie down for a bit," Winry said, starting to walk away from him. Her eyes were cast downward in thought.

"Alright, well, Edward and Alphonse will be arriving into town today. I'll let them know you're here at headquarters."

"Ed and Al are coming?" Winry spun around faster than anyone could say 'trouble', and asked, "Mr. Armstrong, please don't tell them I know anything about the homunculi."

Armstrong looked a little taken back by the request, but it seemed he would agree with her. It was probably for the best. "I'll let you deal with them."

That night found Winry held up in her assigned room at headquarters, lying on her bed with her hands behind her head, thinking. Edward and Alphonse hadn't arrived yet, and from all the noise downstairs Winry figured the jury had found Maria Ross guilty. She would be sentenced to execution later that week. That bothered her a lot. She knew in the bottom of her heart something wasn't right with the trial. Winry knew Maria Ross was a gentle, kind-hearted woman. She wasn't the type to murder. But, Winry had taken Armstrong's advice and stayed out of it.

It was strange. Now that Winry had her answers, now that everything had been explained, could be explained, she had hoped she would feel happy. Winry didn't even feel light-hearted. Yes the mystery of her savior years ago had been found out, and yes her memory had not failed her, an explanation had been given for her remembering two different people. So, why did Winry feel worse after Armstrong enlightened her on the nature of the homunculi?

There was a quiet knock on her door and Winry snapped from her thoughts as she realized she was sitting in the darkness, alone, thinking about trivial things, things probably well above her head. She stood up and crossed the room, knowing full well who might be on the other side of the door.

When she pulled it open, she wasn't at all surprised to find Edward standing there. However, something struck her as odd and she didn't open the door all the way. Instead, she stood in the crack of the door, eyeing Edward through the gap.

"Hey, Winry," Edward said, studying her, "Uh, can I come in?"

"Ed, where's Al?"

"He got caught up with Armstrong."

Winry narrowed her eyes on the alchemist in front of her. Red flags went up all over her brain as she realized Ed would never leave Alphonse alone just to come up to her room, especially to greet her. No, Winry had been tricked enough as it were. It was time she played up the joker now. She opened the door and let him in, closing it behind him. He turned to her and asked, "Winry, why are you sitting in the dark?"

Winry flipped the light on, "Better? And where's my kiss?"

Edward blinked in obvious confusion. When he hadn't lashed out at her Winry knew the man in front of her was not Edward Elric. Got him.

Taking advantage of his moment of confusion, Winry brought a sure hand up, wrench included, and brought it down hard on his head. A pathetic little sound escaped his lips as he stepped away from her, rubbing his head. His eyes did not belong to Edward. They were angry, furious, and the expression on his face couldn't have been darker. Winry shivered and wondered if that had been such a good idea, but after seeing the lump that was beginning to form on his head, she decided it had been a fantastic idea.

"What's the big idea!?" he shouted.

"That's for leaving me in the middle of the park with nowhere to go in the middle of the night and for the pain you caused me when you kissed me!" Winry growled back.

Edward's eyes were now very wide in disbelief. Winry knew he was either deciding whether to blow his cover or not. She had made it obvious she knew he wasn't Edward, so there was no point in playing the part anymore. Winry was also very curious to see how Envy transformed.

"Are you going to keep pretending to be Edward, Envy, or do you want another hit over the head?" Winry smirked.

Edward was frowning at her, his eyes had narrowed almost threateningly. "Stupid bitch," he muttered, and there was a red flash of light and Envy was standing before her. Winry attacked him with the wrench again, "Don't – call – me – bitch!"

"Stop! You – I don't like fighting," Envy managed to grab the wrench from her hands, leaving her defenseless or, in other words, nothing to attack with. He didn't look at all happy with her. In fact, a small red mark where she had hit him last was starting to show on his cheek. It made him look like he was blushing on one side of his face. "Is that how you treat a guest?!"

Winry crossed her arms across her chest. She felt oddly exposed and vulnerable now that she didn't have a weapon. She wondered why she would feel that way around Envy in the first place. Wasn't she supposed to feel safe around him? He was her guardian after all, right? She watched him place her wrench down on the night stand. She felt a little better now that he wasn't armed.

"Man, I come here to bring you an update of the situation and you try to murder me with a wrench. What's wrong with you, idiot?" Envy said, putting a hand on his hip, while the other rubbed the top of his head.

"An update? What do you mean?"

"Don't tell me you're okay with the military hiding shit from you," Envy said, "I know you've heard of Maria Ross' situation."

Winry gasped, "Envy, do you know anything about the Hughes' case?"

Envy grinned, rather darkly, "Of course, that's why I'm here."

Winry stared at Envy with a look of disbelief. He had obviously come to visit her for some reason, and to update her didn't seem like a very convincing excuse. Besides, after being friends with Edward and Alphonse, who didn't tell her anything about anything, she was less inclined to believe that all Envy wanted to do was share information. "Is that really why you're here, Envy? Because that seems a little…lame."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Envy frowned, "but I know Maria Ross is a friend of yours, and I'm just looking out for your best interests after all."

"My…best interests?" Winry repeated, confused. What he mean by that?

"I hand delivered some pretty hardened evidence to Roy Mustang earlier today to help let Ross go free," Envy explained with a sly grin spread across his face.

"There was evidence? But I heard the trial announcement, they're saying she's guilty," Winry said.

"Do you really believe everything you hear, stupid?" Envy jumped backward to avoid a slap.

"Stop calling me names!" Winry scowled, and then she realized something, "Envy, what do you mean by that?"

Envy shrugged and took a seat at the desk in the corner of the room. A smug grin had settled on his face as he said, "I know you're friends with her, so I arranged it so she would escape punishment. She should be on her way out of the jail cell right now with the help of a few others."

"You mean, you broke her out of jail?" Winry gasped.

"Yeah, it was an unfair trial anyway – can't let those assholes kill her just because they feel like it, right? After all, we both know she wasn't the one to kill Hughes," Envy grinned back at her, as she gaped at him.

"T-thank you," Winry said, and then, after a pause she asked, "Envy, do you know who did kill Mr. Hughes?"

Envy's grin grew even wider, as he said, "Oh, don't worry, Winry, I'll enjoy torturing him when I catch him – that is, if that's what you want me to do?"

Winry blinked, "Huh?"

"Well, what would you do if you found Hughes' killer?" Envy was giving her a studious look through his eternal violet eyes. Winry was taken back by the odd question. At first she wasn't sure how to answer, and then, she decided that was probably because she wasn't face to face with the killer. Once she was confronted with him she would know in that moment what she wanted to do to him. Right now, she wasn't sure.

"I don't know. I would probably want to kill him. I hate him for causing Gracia and Elicia so much pain, because I know what it's like to loose my parents," Winry said. Then, she bit her bottom lip and said, "No, I think I would most certainly kill him for what he did."

"Interesting, you humans are all the same," Envy said in a bored tone. Winry gave him a dry, disgusted look, "And what do you mean by that?"

Envy shrugged and said, "You're all so hell-bent on revenge. You think that if someone wrongs you, you deserve to wrong them back – you think it's your right as human or something. I have to admit, it entertains me to no end when I see how little you've all changed in the last two hundred years, repeating the same mistakes, making the same stupid decisions."

"Oh, so what would you do different then, Envy?" Winry snapped, anger flaring in her very blood. Just because he was a homunculus made him think he was so much better than humans. It was really starting to irritate her.

"I would forgive him," Envy smirked, "Is it really so hard to do?"

"How could I forgive a murderer?" Winry growled, "A murderer who took a little girls father away no less!"

"Oh, come on, girl," Envy sneered, "You humans have suffered major losses over the years before, like Ishbal just to name one incident –,"

"Shut up!" Winry snapped suddenly. She found her fists were balled at her sides, her cheeks were starting to burn with a familiar heat, "You know nothing of Ishbal!"

Her voice trembled when she spoke. A dark look had descended on Envy's face, making her second guess her last comment. Perhaps he knew more about Ishbal than she knew. She watched him stand up and walk towards her. When he stopped in front of her, he studied her face with a deep frown.

"Don't be such a cry baby," he said. Then, he seemed to try to pass her and Winry acted on pure impulse.

Without thinking, she grabbed his arm, stopping him from leaving, and then she stepped into him, burying her face in his chest. She could feel him tense up at her touch, but she didn't let go. She needed this, needed this feeling of closeness. After everything that happened in the last few days, with the news of Hughes' death and everything on top of it, Winry felt like she was in the middle of something way over her head, and the only reason she was there in the first place was because of him. Envy. He had been the reason she had come to Central. He had been reason she had searched so hard for her determination. And now, he was right here.

"Please get off of me," Winry heard him mutter into her ear. She figured the 'please' was there for good measure otherwise his tone of voice would have had her glaring at him. It was obvious he wasn't used to this contact, and that made Winry hold tighter to him.

She could feel his body against hers, firm and warm, and she could smell his scent on his skin. Her hands had snaked around his body and came to rest between his shoulder blades. His body felt lean against her own, lean, but strong, she had no doubt. She could hear his breathing, even and controlled. The only thing she found strange was she couldn't hear the sound of his heart, even though she had her ear pressed against his chest. "Why can't I hear your heart beating?"

"Are you really that naïve? I don't have a heart. I'm not human, remember?"

Winry had pulled back a bit to see his face he was watching her with wide grin. She had started associating him with that grin. He always seemed to be grinning about one thing or another. She found her hand had started a quest of its own, tracing lines along his collar bone and down the front of his chest. She found herself saying, "But you look and feel human…"

She looked back into his face and was met with an amused expression. He was still grinning and his eyes were just a tad too pleased. He suddenly shook with silent laughter and grabbed the hand that was currently going back around the side of his ribs. Winry had completely forgotten what she was doing, and blushed when he suddenly spat, "That tickles."

"Envy," Winry suddenly asked, "Are you an enemy of the military?"

Her question didn't seem to throw him off guard, in fact, he countered by saying, "Would an enemy of the military give Mustang a piece of evidence to free an innocent woman from an unfair trial? You should be questioning the jury and judge on that one."

Winry smiled at his answer, because it assured her that what she was about to do wasn't wrong and that she wouldn't regret it later. He was grinning down at her with his amused expression, watching her piece together what he had said when she suddenly leaned forward, closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his.

It was softer than when he had done it. She could actually feel his lips. There was no pain, no sudden jolt of anger. Instead, she was surprised to find that for someone inhuman he had very warm lips, but as she expected, he didn't seem to know quite what to do with them in this situation. She supposed she had caught him off guard, but that didn't bother her. Though, what did bother her was his lack of response. She seemed to be trying everything to get him to open up to her. She even tried brushing her tongue lightly against his lips, and he still didn't budge. Frustrated, Winry broke the kiss and bit the inside of her bottom lip, wondering if she had read him wrong and perhaps he just wasn't attracted to her like that.

She stared up into his face, which had gone oddly blank, and said, "Sorry if I was a little forward. I just –,"

"You should be," Envy replied, with a hint of irritation in his voice. Winry's heart dropped. What had she possibly done to make him this angry? It had just been a kiss, right? "You should know, Winry, if you really want to do this: I like to be in control."

Winry almost smacked him. She couldn't believe his stubbornness, as she snapped, "Oh, so this was just about your need to dominate? You're such a jerk! Well, forget it! Last time you kiss me you hurt me –,"

This time Envy had initiated the kiss and silenced her. It surprised her at how gentle he was and how overall considerate he was being towards her sore lips from the night before. This time he was the one trying to break into her, not the other way around, and Winry would be damned to let him in that easily after his little display. Screw that! She wanted control every once and a while so he would just have to learn to be a bit more submissive. She didn't even let him in when he tried the same trick she had used on him a few seconds ago. She gave herself a mental pat on the back because she knew he was getting frustrated like her.

However, one of his hands had come to rest on the small of her back and had started tracing lines and circles around her spine. It felt amazing, and she didn't even realize when she went to let out a little gasp of pleasure Envy immediately took the opportunity. Suddenly he had broken past her barrier and deepened the kiss. Winry was upset at her loss but at the same time glad for it. She felt her entire body react and she let herself lean further into him, returning the kiss. She had managed to tangle one of her hands in his long hair, feeling the softness of it.

All the while her mind was screaming at her to back off and that this wasn't right. On the other hand her body was screaming something else entirely.

"Winry!?"

Winry snapped to attention. Envy had much quicker reflexes and he had suddenly jumped away from her in surprise, baring his teeth at the figure standing in the doorway. Winry felt the color drain from her face at the sight of Edward and Alphonse standing there. "Ed!? Al?"

Edward ignored her and turned to Envy, who had gotten over his shock and was grinning from ear to ear over this little scenario. "Envy!? What the hell is going on!?"

Too fast for any of them, Envy was at the open window, saying, "She can explain. I'm out of here!"

"What!?" Winry snarled, "Envy, get back here!" But he was already gone. Winry couldn't believe he had left her there to fend for herself. Some guardian he was turning out to be!

"So…Winry," Edward said, slowly, "Why the hell did you have a homunculus in your bedroom!?"

Leonahari: Oh snap. Well, I'm going back to work tomorrow. I can't tell you how happy I am to actually go to work...it's kind of sickening. Oh, and because it's the end of semester my updates may take a tad bit longer due to finals and long papers. I can't wait for next semester. I'm taking a Japanese class! Oh, and if anyone's in Math 12 Priniples...HELP! It's been three years since I graduated and therefore I can't remember anything from Math 12 and I'm taking an upgrade next semester. It's going to suck. Anyways, I hope you liked this chappie, because I had a hell of a time writting it. Not only was it long, as usual, but I couldn't seem to get Envy the way I wanted to write him in this scene. I've been doing a lot of rereading of the manga to assess his character, and I came to my own conclusion that he may not be as difficult to pair with Winry as he seems. The difficult part will be making him feel something for her, since he really doesn't have attachments to anything except Father in the manga...phew, my eyes hurt. Well, see you in the next chapter!