(A/N: Some further notes on various things -

Greed: I deviate from at least the manga time-line here (not sure about Brotherhood), in that Greed was even around and working for Father at the same time Kimblee was. I will be pushing his departure to directly prior to/during the Ishbal War. As far as the overall plot goes, exactly when he left doesn't matter. Besides, I like Greed as a character. I would be sad to do this thing without him. As for him not knowing Wrath's identity, I could see Father keeping it a secret. No matter when it happened, Greed's betrayal probably came as no surprise to Father.

Envy and pronouns: my Envy is genderless, and will be referred to as 'it'. However, when taking the form of a man or woman, the pronouns will change accordingly. Confusing? Yes. So is having a genderless character. I know it is insulting to refer to an intersex/asexual/transsexual individual as 'it'. However, Envy is a creepy shape-shifting monster. Different rules apply.

This is very Kimblee-centric at first. My intention is to give both he and Envy equal time and development. I find it helps to look at the homunculi through a human perspective, at least to begin with. And I honestly feel like Kimblee understand them better than I do -_-'

About Kimblee's alleged ethnicity: I know it was never specified what he was. However, he looks distinctly Asian (oh, alright, 'Xingian') to me, and I thought it was an interesting take on his character. I'm not claiming that his actions are justified because he's faced discrimination; I doubt even he would claim that. I'm merely showing reasons why the human side of the world might be unappealing to him.)

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Kimblee's senses were called back to attention with the sound of a door. It was a singularly sinister-sounding door: The clank and scrape of a heavy lock being turned; the high, shrilling creek of ancient and long un-oiled hinges paired with the deep, metallic groan of the door being pushed open; the echoing boom of the door closing, and the dead-bolt rasping back into place.

Meaning he was still trapped here –

– Where was 'here'? Memory failed to serve.

More sounds. High heels click-clacking on a hard surface.

"Is Father getting impatient?"

That voice, at least, he knew. The voice of the monster that had recently 'recruited' him, Envy. Once again mentioning this person it called Father. They had been on their way to see 'Father', and then…

What then? When exactly had he lost consciousness?

"Not especially." A woman's voice, low and sultry. "I thought it best to check on your progress. Down here all alone with a comatose human…I wasn't sure you could be trusted."

'Comatose human'? How long had he been out? Did that mean she wasn't human either? She sounded human enough, and he wondered if her body matched her voice. He fought the urge to open his eyes and find out exactly what manner of creatures he was trapped here with. For now he took the opportunity to eavesdrop.

His shoulder hurt. Recollection stirred, sluggishly. He'd sustained a wound in his fight with Envy…but he failed to equate that with this…

"If I was going to kill him, I would have done it while he was awake to know it." Envy said.

"Who said anything about killing? Mind-games, torture, manipulation, these are all things I don't trust you not to do. Especially since he apparently gave you a bit of trouble earlier."

Envy had laughed at the 'mind-games, torture, manipulation' part, but at the woman's last words its mirth died abruptly.

"Who told you that?"

"I'm not revealing my sources." The woman's voice said, levelly.

"Whoever they are, they're lying. He put up more of a fight than I expected, but I was in control the whole time."

"As you say." Her voice indicated otherwise. Kimblee repressed a smirk.

There came again the sound of her shoes on the floor, coming closer. It took every ounce of fortitude not to open his eyes, to lay there blind and let that thing approach him.

"He's rather good-looking." Her voice was very near now, dispassionate as though she were commenting on the weather.

"He might be able to hear you. That stuff wasn't meant to put him out very long."

Oh, right; that brought it back to him: the fleeting, flash-bulb recollection of Envy's arm snaking up (literally) from behind him, jabbing a syringe into his arm. The realization that he should have expected something like that from the start.

Envy's grin.

'Nighty-night.'

"It doesn't matter to me." The woman's voice said. "Shall I tell Father he's still out cold?"

"Yeah." There was a silence, then, abruptly, "This is idiocy! What is he thinking, looking for human aid! Pull their strings from the shadows, I say, we've done it well enough before!" There was a crash, as though Envy had broken a piece of furniture in ire. "This is a fucking waste of our time!"

There came another sound – not quite a voice, speaking not-quite words, a cross between the sigh of the wind and the muttering of a crowd far away. Indistinct, yet unmistakable. It sounded…angry.

Kimblee's eyes snapped open then of their own accord, that voice made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and logic fly away. Yet his sight did not reassure him, for, to his eyes at least, it was only he, Envy, and the unnamed woman in the room (along with the remains of what was presumably the piece of furniture Envy had smashed moments before).

First shape-shifting monsters, now the shadows had a voice. Could this day get any better?

"Best watch what you say, Envy." The woman said. Her looks matched her voice: darkly beautiful. Somehow it wasn't reassuring in the slightest.

"Father doesn't care what I think of his plans so long as I carry out orders." Envy replied. It glanced back at its human charge. "Oh, you're awake. Good."

"I'm thrilled about it too."

"Ah, a sense of humor." The woman commented, giving him an indolent smile. "The ones with a sense of humor always last the longest. I'll tell Father you'll be there soon."

She turned and exited. When the heavy door had shut behind her, Envy turned, giving Kimblee an unnervingly friendly smile.

"That was Lust. In spite of her name an appearance, she's not a whore, but you won't be killed for hitting on her."

Out of everything he had expected Envy to say to him, that was pretty far down the list.

"…Why did you knock me out?"

"Orders. Can't let you know where we operate just yet, you're not officially on the team."

"…Right." He sat up, and with the motion realized that his wounded arm had been tended. It currently rested in a sling. Everything else seemed to be working fine. That was something. Speaking of working...

"My watch, assuming you didn't tamper with it as part of your mind-games and manipulation business, indicates that its two o'clock am on Saturday. I'm due at muster on Monday at six o'clock sharp, so I would appreciate it if we can get this business over with before then."

Envy stared at him a moment, mouth slightly agape.

"That's what you have to say?" It managed, at last. "You're abducted by monsters, pounded full of drugs, wake up in a cell, and the thing you're worried about is getting back to muster on time? You're either the bravest or the stupidest human I've ever met!"

"It's my bread and butter. What else should I be concerned with?"

Envy leaned forward, bringing its dark eyes very close to Kimblee's blue ones, its arm once again twisting and elongating into a serpent, which hissed, showing glistening fangs.

"Maybe you should be more concerned with your immediate survival."

"I don't know about your kind, Invidia, but humans face death every day. If I was to cower as the prospect, I would never have gotten anywhere."

Envy drew back slightly, regarding Kimblee in a way that seemed almost…curious.

This human had looked at Envy in its most hideous, terrifying form, and he had smiled. This human showed no fear when facing a situation that would've had anyone else pissing on themselves. Was the the human suicidal? But he had fought for his life vigorously enough…

Envy had thought it understood humans. But it didn't understand this one at all.

"Well, if you're feeling courageous, I guess it's about time you met Father."

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The first person – we use that term lightly here – that Kimblee actually met was a squat, incredibly round creature, with arms that dangled almost to the floor. Its head was smooth as a skinned potato, with small eyes and a large nose. It was drooling.

"Xingian." It remarked in a high, child-like voice. "Can I –?"

"No!" Envy snapped, in a tone that would suggest it was reprimanding a dog.

"You didn't let me finish, Envy." The creature whined, eyes tearing up.

"You were just going to ask if you could eat him. The answer is no."

"Was not." The creature insisted sulkily.

"Really? What were you going to ask me then?"

The creature stared. It looked confused, but then again, as far as Kimblee could tell, it always did.

"Gluttony?" He asked, glancing sidelong at Envy.

"You're quick." Envy said, then, to Gluttony, "Go find your sister, Gluttony. Maybe she'll feed you."

"But…want to eat Xingian…"

Envy stepped forward and snarled. Gluttony whimpered, scrambling away down the darkened tunnel.

Someone laughed behind them. Envy and Kimblee turned as one, to see an incredibly ferocious-looking man regarding them. He was tall, with muscles hard and sharp as cut diamonds, and he was wearing the clothes to show it. He was grinning, revealing carnivorously sharp teeth.

"Well, well; look what the monstrosity dragged in." He regarded Kimblee over the tops of his sunglasses. His eyes were red. "So you're the human."

"That's what I'm best known for." Kimblee remarked dryly.

"Oh for fuck's sake, were you all just waiting out here?" Envy exclaimed, exasperated.

"Pretty much. I was bored, and Gluttony was, well, hungry. Aren't you going to introduce us?" He looked at Kimblee once more. "Or can you guess which sin I am?"

"I can't." Kimblee's best guess would have been Lust, but that one was taken.

"Greed, this is Zolf Kimblee." Envy said, regarding Greed with an incredibly cold look. "A.k.a the Red Lotus Alchemist. Kimblee, this is Greed, my brother. He wants everything in the world. Yes, that includes you. Yes, that means what you think it does. Hope that's not awkward."

Greed returned his eyes to Kimblee, the smug look never leaving his face. "And you've clearly met Envy. Right now, Envy is either jealous of me, or jealous of you. Probably both."

"Oh shove it." Envy growled.

"Maybe I will."

"See if I care! Only wait until after I'm done showing him around before you start trying to bang him!"

"Touchy. I was just being friendly."

"Friendly like a dog humping someone's leg!"

Kimblee watched the exchange with mounting incredulity. Were two monsters…fighting over him? Well, they seemed to be fighting each other first and foremost, he was simply an afterthought. Still, wasn't a situation he ran into every day…

A breath of what sounded like wind was heard in the tunnel, although the air itself did not move, accompanied by the ominous whispering he had heard before. Both Greed and Envy stopped arguing abruptly. He looked in time to see them exchange a look he could not describe, except in what it said to him:

Whatever that sound was, they hate it, or fear it, more than they do each other.

"Father is waiting." Envy said, voice level once again. Greed stepped aside to let them pass.

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(A/N: The thing sounding creepy in the dark is Pride. Hopefully that was obvious. Thanks for reading!)