Chapter 13

Flynn lay flat on her back, staring at the hospital room ceiling as everyone stared at the new acquisition on her abdomen. What was left of their ever dwindling group of colleagues and friends had gathered around her bed including: Mustang, Hawkeye, Breda, Fuery, and Falman. Ed and Al of course were there but stood at the head of the bed to allow everyone else to look because they had already studied it extensively. She felt like an interesting new lab specimen laid on a table for observing.

"Ow!" she yelled as her navel began to sting. The Colonel had grabbed the stone and jerked hard on it.

"It's definitely fused, dumbass, don't do that," Edward scolded him for his ridiculous action. "It appears her body attempted to reject the stone. I don't understand how it didn't kill her." He kept a wary eye on Mustang who continued to poke at the skin around the stone.

Flynn was feeling more and more like a science experiment. "Can it be removed? Can it be cut out?" she asked hopefully.

"I don't know. It might kill you. We don't know enough about these things yet," Mustang stated flatly, tracing the tattoo with his finger.

"I'm guessing that your body was being reformed internally when you were going through all that pain. It even healed your broken bones and the stab wounds. Those thoughts and pictures playing in your head were memories belonging to the souls in the stone," Ed explained, watching her face.

"Greed called me Lust. He wants to make me her replacement," Flynn said, her voice wavering slightly with emotion. "What's going to happen to me? What's going on? What does this mean?"

"I'm not sure," Ed replied, avoiding looking at anyone in the room but her. "My best guess is the stone will slowly break down over time and little by little you will be taken over completely. Since you've got all of those other souls floating in and out of your consciousness you're bound to start exhibiting some, shall we say, unusual behavior," Ed warned, ignoring the startled faces that turned to look at him.

"How can we tell the difference from the way she usually acts?" Mustang inquired, receiving angry looks from the people gathered around the bed.

"You've been implanted with the thoughts, feelings, and memories of who knows how many people. Since the stone didn't fully bond to you, everything is in a constant state of flux within you." Ed stroked her face and hair as he spoke. He knew it was a small, sad gesture to comfort her, but he did not know what else to do. "All of those souls inside of you are annihilating your soul, but they're doing it very slowly."

"Oh, god, no. No this can't be happening. I'm basically being eaten alive. Is that what you're saying?" she inquired, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Yes, that's a perfect way to describe it. They're destroying the real you. Your soul – your mind and emotions," he replied.

"They're killing me. Little by little. One day, I just won't exist anymore," she murmured, sniffing back the tears.

"Give me time. I'll find the answers," Ed assured her. 'Oh, god, I can't lose you too,' he thought silently.

It was a disturbing dichotomy. The position Edward Elric found himself in was painful as hell. He would have a brother who was a soul without a body. Flynn would be a body with no soul – at least not the one that was actually her. He would have her body, but not her – not the soul he loved. Life could be just too damn cruel and unfair sometimes.

Flynn had been at home for a week now. She had not been allowed to return to work, and Al had become her constant companion unless Ed was around. It was nearly impossible for her to sleep at night especially since the egotistical, lecherous creep next door had gone back to his old ways of having a different woman in his bed every night. Tonight was no different so she got out of the bed to avoid having to listen to her next door neighbor's sexual encounter. She was almost relieved in a weird way that Mustang had gone back to his old ways. At least something was normal and predictable around here. She tiptoed past a sleeping Edward on the couch to walk out onto the balcony. Al must be out for one of his many midnight strolls since he was not in the living room or on the balcony. She wondered what it was like to never have to eat or sleep. How did he occupy his mind and his time? Her heart broke for Al and his brother who was seeking so desperately to find a way to get his brother's body back. Now she had added to their troubles by getting abducted by Greed and being implanted with a stone. With a deep sigh, she flopped down on the lounger to stretch out and stare at the moon. A shrill whistle echoed through the courtyard of the apartment complex. Her stomach quivered and clenched with anticipation; that call was for her. She looked through the black metal bars of the balcony to see Greed standing below.

"Come on, baby. Come with me," he said in low voice so it would not attract attention.

Flynn stood up to get a better look at him. An unexpected and crushing need to be with him gripped her. Her hand grasped the handrail to boost her body up and over to a thirty foot fall to the ground. She landed on her feet, momentarily standing still to allow her amazement of what she had done to wear off. Maybe there were some good things about this new body. She ran to him, leaping into his arms. Her arms and legs wrapped around him as her lips hungrily claimed his.

"Damn, woman!" he growled sensuously through his teeth, pulling her away so he could breathe. He peeled her off of him, setting her on her feet. "We gotta get outta here before your guard dog wakes up."

Flynn took his hand, allowing him to lead her. She recognized the direction they were going in. They were heading downtown to the bar where she had first met him. The Devil's Nest. Damn. If only she had noticed the name the night she came here, she probably would never have gone in. So the favorite playground of the Amestrian military was also the Greed's headquarters. He was hiding in plain sight, right under the military's nose. He opened the door and led her down a long dark hallway. It seemed as if he opened a random door, but it led to a fantastically decorated room full of expensive furniture.

"Wow! For you to not even be truly human, you have some very decadent human tastes," Flynn stated with awe as she looked around. She noticed the room was decorated mostly in dark green; green was her favorite color and the color of her eyes. Dark green was also the color most associated with the vice of greed. "Guess I was just made for you."

"Yes, you were," he moved toward her, grabbing the collar of her thin cotton tee shirt to effortlessly rip it into two pieces. His fingers stroked the tattoo on her belly as he looked into her eyes. "Now, I made you even more perfect."

Flynn moaned as he covered her lips with his in a forceful, ravenous kiss. She felt as if he wanted to consume her with that kiss. His tongue flicked across hers, causing her to moan again while she clung to him with her hands on his waist. She had to admit he was a very good kisser, and her body was responding to him enthusiastically. Her arousal grew exponentially when his hands covered her breasts. The flame of desire within her ignited into an inferno between her legs when he bent to taste her hardened nipples. Her fingers flew to his pants, pulling at the button and zipper. She cried out in surprise when he swung her up and into his arms to carry her to the bed. After unceremoniously dumping her on the incredibly soft and fluffy bed, he stripped off his clothes. She gasped when he grabbed her underwear, easily snapping the elastic as he wrenched them off her hips. He was frighteningly fast when he moved to be on top of her and positioned himself between her legs. She didn't see how big he was, but she sure did feel it when he rammed himself into her. A scream ripped from her throat as an unexpected mix of pleasure and pain coursed through her entire body. She held onto him, digging her fingernails mercilessly into his back as he thrust into her with hard, almost violent, ferocity. Despite the brutality of his animalistic sex, it felt good. She moaned and cried out his name many times, raking her fingernails down his back. This seemed to only excite him more and spur him on. She could feel the orgasm beginning to build within her; a warm, fluid sensation running from her lower belly all the way down to her thighs.

"Greed," she called, getting him to look her in the eyes. "Are you going to come with me?"

"Oh, baby, yes!" he yelled, pushing up on his arms for leverage to thrust into her as hard as possible. They climaxed at the same time, howling like wild animals humping in the woods. He collapsed on top of her before rolling onto his side, pulling her into his arms. Their bodies were slick with sweat, sliding against each other as he kissed her voraciously. He continued to kiss her, his hands roaming all over her body. A few minutes later, he pulled her on top of him, impaling her on his once again hard member.

Flynn wondered how long he could keep this up and if he planned to just screw her to death. It seemed as if he had the ability to make that happen. After many hours of feeding his seemingly insatiable appetite for sex, she was ready to beg for mercy. Shame and embarrassment wouldn't even have factored into it; she needed him to stop and she was willing to plead for him to do so. Just as she was ready to set her pride aside, he had an orgasm and let her go. Her whole body was shaking uncontrollably. It felt like the room was spinning. What the hell was happening to her? She was actually enjoying this! Tears flowed from her eyes, mixing with the sweat on her face so he could not tell she was crying.

"Get some sleep," he said, kissing her briefly on the lips.

She easily drifted off to sleep after what he had put her through. Even pleasure had its limits.

Flynn, a little dazed and confused after waking up, staggered toward the door she assumed led to the bathroom. She stepped into the huge tiled shower with a showerhead that hung down from the ceiling. It was like bathing in a tropical rain forest. Her mind wandered to thoughts of Greed: he wasn't romantic, but damn he was great in bed. A slow sensuous smile tugged at her lips as she recalled the recent encounter. Her throat was raw and sore from screaming his name. When she got out of the shower, she noticed a pile of clothes sitting on the round marble table next to the window. She smiled as she picked up the note and the rose on top. 'Maybe he is romantic after all' she thought to herself as she read the note: I wasn't sure if I was capable of love until I met you. You even make me feel human.

"Oh, my god," Flynn sighed, hugging the clothes to her chest. She hurriedly dressed in the clothes, staring at her reflection in disbelief. She was wearing a pair of black leather pants that were so tight they looked painted on and were so low that her hip bones were visible. The top was nothing more than a leather bra and the dark green fur collared vest stopped just below the top. She thought it was funny he had given her a feminized version of what he wore. "Damn. I'll live up to the name Lust in this," she murmured to herself as she pulled on the leather high heeled boots. A cold chill swept not just over her but through her body; it felt as if something had literally come over her. She slowly made her way upstairs to find Greed.

"There you are," he said, taking her by surprise when she reached the top of the stairs. "Come on. I've got something you'll be interested to see."

Flynn took his hand as he led her to a private room just to the left of the stairs. She looked around the room seeing several people she did not know. What was interesting about this? To her amazement, her eyes fell on a familiar face – kind of. "Al?" she gasped, running to the suit of armor that was chained and sitting on the floor in the corner. "Al?"

"Who are you?" a woman's voice echoed from inside the armor.

Flynn screamed and backed away.

"Flynn, it's me!" Al exclaimed. "I picked up a hitchhiker on one of my walks, and she brought me here."

Flynn pulled off his helmet and looked inside to see a blond woman. "Wow, Al. You must feel violated."

"It's not funny," he moaned plaintively as she put his helmet back on.

"I know. I'm sorry, sweetie. Don't worry. Ed will get us out of this."

"Flynn, why are you here?"

"Uh…"