Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, only the books that are mentioned.

Part Three: Doubts

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Alphonse had never, ever seen so many books before in his life.

Certainly, the Central Library was filled with many useful books, as well as what some people called "The Commoner Library", but this…this was heaven…. this was heaven and paradise combined…. a utopia.

By mid-afternoon, Alphonse had read through thirteen out of the hundreds of bookshelves, and was halfway through the fourteenth. He found himself immersed in a book about pirates and fair damsels, and dashing young lads who joined pirate crews to experience adventure. It was a very big book, about 700 or more pages, and after a while Alphonse began to even act out some of the parts:

"'And Gregory the Nine-Fingered plowed through the British Royale, swinging his cutlass hither and thither, laughing wildly as his enemies fell!' he bellowed, swishing his hand from left to right, play-laughing in a deep voice as he did so. He looked at the book in his hand.

"'Then, Captain Seagrave appeared at the tiller, a wild gleam in his flaming black eyes as he manned the sails. His beard gleamed in the lightening flashes as he roared 'Steady as she goes, me hearties! We'll shove this ship into the bloomin' rocks!'"

Alphonse leaped atop a chair, pretending to command the tiller, brows furrowed in concentration. He glanced back at the book, trying to hold his balance while trying to figure out what happened next.

"'Gregory and the rest of the crew roared with glee, and began to stampede toward their own ship, The Red Anne, which was nearly attached to the Royale's ship. Leaping over the side, a few of the crew members fell into the roaring ocean, while the rest of them began to trim their sails, and secure their ship.'"

Alphonse nearly tripped over his own feet as he scrambled towards his own The Red Anne—a particularly squashy armchair near the window. Hopping on top of the soft, velvety furniture, he pretended to pull some ropes in and prepare the mast.

"'Captain Seagrave, however, did not follow his men. He continued to command the British Royale's ship, and'"—

Alphonse suddenly realized that he was not the only one quoting the book.

"—'and yelled out to Gregory 'Gregory the Nine-Fingered, ye are now the commander of me ship and crew! Man them well!' And with that, the ship crashed into the rocks, never to be seen again by man or spirit'."

Slowly, Alphonse turned around and found Wrath sitting on the wooden chair that he had used previously. The boy shrugged, and said quietly:

"That's Envy's favorite book. He likes bitter endings like that. He's always in here on Fridays when he thinks nobody's around, acting out scenes from the book and changing into the characters. You an' Envy have lots in common."

Alphonse shook his head stubbornly. "We do not! That's…just a coincidence."

Wrath smirked. "That's not what Mommy said. She said that whenever she thought of you—on occasion—she always thought of Envy."

Alphonse glared at him. "I bet you're lying. Mom wouldn't…wouldn't compare me to him. Never."

Wrath shrugged again, and stood up. "You know what they always say, Alphonse. 'Never say never'!"

And with that, he ran out the room, laughing at Alphonse's worried and angry face.

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"Envy, dear, remember that you cannot rush him. He must make the decision on his own—it makes the triumph that much sweeter."

Envy tried not to roll his eyes. "Mas-terr, you're making it sound like he's my lover, or something."

Dante's smile was like frozen sugar as she replied "You never know, dear, with his personality. He just might harbor a crush on you soon."

Envy hid his face from Dante's gaze so that she could not see his face. "That's ridiculous. And he's probably already got someone."

"Not that I remember."

Envy glared at Her, no longer hiding the angry flush on his pale cheeks. "That isn't the issue right now, and you know it. Stop toying with me!"

Dante's smile grew even colder. "I have every right to 'toy with you', as you put it. If it weren't for me, you would have been dead centuries ago. So don't argue."

Envy's gaze switched rapidly to a look of fear, the changed to a smirking mask. "As you wish…Mother."

Dante's smug gaze abruptly faltered for an instant, then formed a chilling scowl. "You are not my son. Get out."

Envy's smirk persisted. "Of course, Mommy dearest—"

"GET OUT!"

Envy sped out of the room, his eyes mixed with triumph and fear.

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Edward awoke suddenly, realizing that it was mid-afternoon. Or, at least it was in Central. Where he and Roy were…it was time to get to work, like always.

"Colonel. Colonel! Hey, wake up! The Whip Men are going to be arriving soon!" he hissed at his sleeping companion.

"Fullmeh'all, 'm havina good dream. Leemee 'lone…" Roy slurred, rolling onto his side.

Edward rolled his eyes, and shook Roy roughly. Roy awoke abruptly, and glared at him.

"All right, Fullmetal, I'm up! What do you want?!" he snarled.

Edward sighed, and pointed to the approaching figure that was ambling casually across the sand dunes. Roy's face turned chalk-white in fear.

"Oh, God."

Edward nodded. "Well, we might as well just get it over with…" he muttered, getting to his feet.

As the figure began to grow more visible in the glaring sunlight, the two men noticed that this person didn't look like any of the usual Whip Men, with their shirtless military uniforms, pale skin, and twisted smiles so similar to the whips they carried. This person was blonde, with long hair that floated behind them as they walked. After the person walked a few steps closer, they realized that it was a girl…a girl carrying a toolbox in her left arm—

"WINRY!" Edward bellowed, his eyes alight with joy. Winry's sky-blue eyes sparkled with happiness as she saw him, and jogged up to the mouth of the cave. Dropping her orange box with a crash, Winry leaped into Edward's arms, laughing blissfully.

"Oh, Ed! I've missed you so much!" she gushed, giving Edward a small peck on the cheek.

Edward smiled a silly grin as he touched the warm spot on his cheek. "You have no idea how much I've missed you, Winry. No idea at all." he replied.

Winry smiled, and let go of Edward somewhat reluctantly. "It's been far too long since I've seen you, Ed! Al's been missing since you were brought here. I think he planned to be looking for you."

Edward sighed. "I know. I haven't seen him yet—I'm not surprised. It's a miracle that any Armestrian could get…" He stopped, and stared at Winry with a scowl of concentration. His eyebrows furrowed. He suddenly smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, never mind. So, are you here to upgrade my automail? And how'd you find me if Al can't?"

Winry turned to her toolbox, opening and rummaging through it. "After a fashion. I have no idea where Al is. He just ran off looking for you one day, and that's the last Granny and I've seen of him."

Roy sensed that something was not right. He got to his feet, and stood beside Edward, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm surprised that you haven't broke down in tears, saying how worried you were about Edward." he said calmly.

Edward smirked. "Aw, I already know how much she worries about me. There's no point in telling me again." Behind his back, he placed his right thumb and index finger together—the signal to be careful.

Winry turned around, brandishing her wrench and a few other tools. "Are you ready, Ed?" she asked with a cheerful smile.

Edward groaned. "I never am."

Suddenly, Winry's cheerful smile became a twisted, fanged grin. "And you know I wouldn't have it any other way." she cackled.

In an instant, Edward and Roy were backed up against the cave wall. "Hello, Envy." Edward snapped.

In a flash of light, Envy took the place of Winry, a scornful smirk on his face. He gestured to the sandy floor, still holding the tools in his hand. Obediently, Edward flopped down onto the ground, his eyes smoldering with rage. Envy knelt down in front of him gracefully, sniggering as he gently brushed Edward's bangs away from his face, in an almost-motherly way. Roy and Edward shuddered at the touch.

"Why, Pipsqueak, why haven't you used alchemy on me yet?" Envy asked in mock-shock, clicking his teeth with his tongue in a disappointed way. "Surely you haven't forgotten the fundamentals of alchemy!"

Edward glared at him, both hands clenched into fists. "You know full and well that I can't here, Envy."

Envy smiled patronizingly, dropping the wrench to fiddle with Edward's "antenna"—a lone bang that always defied gravity. He grinned with delight as Edward's glare became a look mixed with fear and, naturally, anger. Envy then danced his fingers across Edward's jaw-line, feeling his victim's jaw clench with a satisfying crunch.

"Stop that, Envy." Edward ground out through his clenched teeth.

Envy ignored him, glancing smugly at his skinny, wiry body. Though Edward had some muscle left, one could mainly see his ribs—particularly since his shirts had long ago been either discarded or simply destroyed by the pounding heat. As for his lower body, all that covered him was the cheerless, thigh-length remains of what were a pair of boxers.

Wrath couldn't have done a better job.

"Envy, I'm warning you…" It was Roy this time, his fingers ready to snap at any moment. The Whip Men had let him keep his gloves—as they put it, "they distinguish you from all these other slaves". It wasn't a good thing, either. The Whip Men always knew he was responsible for things collapsing and work destroyed—even when he was on the opposite side of the construction site.

Envy laughed. "What're you going to do, snap your fingers at me?" he taunted, now tracing Edward's collarbone.

"Don't. I'll take care of this." Edward quipped through his teeth, his face flushed with both anger and embarrassment. Then, he clapped his hands together.

All hell broke loose.

Electrifying shocks coursed from Edward's neck to his feet, making him writhe with pain and agony. The small leather collar that wound around his neck glowed blue, sending out huge volts of electricity into his veins. His automail began to shudder and break under the strain. Edward screamed, a high-pitched howl that sounded for all the world like a puppy in pain. He slammed his hands into the sand, hitting it with his hands loose and barely feeling.

"MakeitstopmakeitstopohGodpleasemakeitstop!" Edward cried out in torture, now rolling on the ground from side to side.

Roy ran up to him, clutching his hand tightly, braving the pain as well with his eyes closed. Envy simply watched it all with a look of smug triumph.

When the pain subsided, Envy eyed the collar gleefully, and flashed a superior grin.

"How cute, an electric collar for the Puppy of the Military. And"—Envy chuckled nastily at the similar collar on Roy—"one for the Old Hound as well! Pride has quite the sense of humor, hmm?"

Ed hacked painfully, and looked up from the ground, his face covered in grit. "I hate you," he gasped, spitting out a few drops of blood.

Envy held the wrench in his hand again, and bent down to view Edward's prosthetic. "Fine by me. I hate you too, of course. And your father."

Edward winced as he felt the first screw slowly turn out of it's socket. "What about Al?" he asked through gritted teeth.

A smirk. "That's for your behavior to decide, Pipsqueak."

Edward didn't press the point.

"I hope your master kills you, Envy." He snarled as the first screw was plucked unmercifully out of it's dangling position and thrown across the floor, were it rolled to a stop at the cave entrance.

"Ah, ah, ah, remember your dear brother? I could easily break him…" Envy chided, staring coldly into Edward's eyes as he began to work on the next screw.

Edward glared at him, and clamped his jaws shut. The second screw was out in seconds.

"What're you doing, anyway?"

Envy ignored him, tossing the screw over his shoulder.

Edward tried again. "Are you going to hurt me? Beat me into a pulp?"

Envy's lips curled into a smirk at this question, as he began to remorselessly yank out the rest of the screws with his bare hands, not bothering to use a wrench anymore.

As Edward fought back a cry of pain, Envy whispered into his ear "If you close your eyes, you can just pretend it's Winry doing maintenance. You're a smart boy, you can do this I'm sure."

Edward shuddered, realizing that this would be the safest course to take. Numbly, he closed his eyes and let his memories take control.

It is a quiet, lazy summer day in Risenbool. As per usual, Edward is getting his automail fixed by Winry. She is laughing and talking animatedly while he listens with hazy concentration. Alphonse sits with Den, patting her as she happily wags her tail. Only the cranks of Winry's wrench are really distinguishable. 'If not for Alphonse being in the armor, this day wouldn't be half bad' Edward thinks to himself.

A familiar voice jumped out at Edward through his memory.

"So, Ed, have you found the Stone yet?" Winry asked, fiddling with a few parts of the metal prosthetic.

That's Envy, not Winry. He's toying with me. "Stop it, Envy."

Envy sniggered as he began to feel the outline of Edward's metal limb. "Have it your way, then. I'm not complaining."

And with that, he pried the arm loose with a sickening creeeak of metal.

Edward's eyes snapped open, and he stared in utter horror at Envy, who dangled his automail arm in front of his face in a teasing way. A few wires dangled from it, sparking a little at the edges.

"I think I'd better send this off to Winry—she's expecting this." Envy smirked, slinging the arm over his shoulder.

"Wait, Envy."

Envy stopped in mid-stride, one side of his head cocked to better hear Edward. "Yes, Pipsqueak?"

"How exactly did you know what Winry looked like?" Edward queried, his hackles raised.

"Well, now…" Envy turned his head to stare into Edward's faltering gaze. "…That's for me to know, and you to never find out!"

As Envy cackled loudly at his joke, Edward leaped to his feet, and staggered towards him in a blinding rage. Just as Edward thrust his fist at Envy's exposed stomach, Envy gazed down at his two limbs and noticed the left leg was also made of metal.

"Oh, right, your leg. I almost forgot." Envy's smirk grew wider as he bent down to examine the leg. "I must be losing my mind in my old age." he sniggered, retrieving the wrench from the orange toolbox.

Without further ado, he loosened the prosthetic limb from its socket with a simple twist.

Edward couldn't even flinch—his body went into shock the second his metal leg came loose. Roy stood by him protectively as Envy slung the leg over his other shoulder, sniggering all the while. With the backward wave so similar to Edward's own, Envy trudged across the sand, calling over his shoulder:

"If you hadn't used your mother as Equivalent Exchange to bring you brother back, perhaps things would be different…"

Edward felt the blood pounding through his veins as a tidal wave of anger surged through him. He just had to bring that up, didn't he?! He clenched his remaining fist into a tight ball, and collapsed onto his back.

Edward barely even thought of the fact that, for a few days, he and Roy would have time to relax. He didn't even think about his missing limbs. All he could think about was Alphonse's pained face as he emerged from The Gate, feebly reaching out to Sloth's fading, outstretched hand…

To be continued at Part 4…