Chapter 28: Carry on wayward son

An/: So, warning long and quite intense chapter ahead. Perhaps I should have cut it somewhere but I didn't want to give y'all another cliffhanger. That said I won't bore you all with a long authors note here as there is quite a lengthy one at the end of the chapter. For now just Read and Enjoy!

Ed groaned tiredly as the carriage finally came to a halt. Jumping off he looked around in vague interest. Hours of boredom had dulled his mind somewhat but a few quick stretches helped get his mind running again somewhat.

The small border town which was their destination was positively tiny. Nothing but a few houses, an inn, town hall and a grocery store which probably served the entire village. It looked like the kind of place where everyone knew everyone and the suspicious looks they were getting from the few people still out and about confirmed this. They probably didn't get visitors all that often.

Those looks didn't improve much when, with a resounding clank, Al left the carriage. His poor brother had been cooped up for the entire journey, only going outside at night when they made camp and Ed could imagine his discomfort. At least his lack of flesh and bone limbs would have come in useful for once, Ed mused. Hard for your legs to fall asleep when you don't have any.

Behind Al's impressive bulk he could just make out Fuhrer Bradley exiting the carriage. The man looked completely unruffled and just as stern as always. Ed absentmindedly wondered what it would take to upset the intimidating man.

He was startled out of his musings when the bland secretary returned with a bunch of keys. He hadn't even noticed her leave, but then again she wasn't the most striking person out there.

"Here you go, Elric-san." She addressed him, handing him a set of keys. "You and your brother are in room 9 together. "

"Ah, thank you, ...eh..." Ed rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, he had forgotten her name.

"Maria." The secretary smiled kindly at him.

"Thank you, Maria-san." Ed corrected himself, glad she didn't seem to take offense.

"No problem." The woman smiled once more before walking over to the Fuhrer and Al.

Seeing nothing else he could do Ed walked over as well.

"Ah, Fullmetal!" the Fuhrer called out jovially. "Had a good trip?"

"Yes sir, thank you."

"Good, good" the man nodded, seemingly not all that concerned with his reply. "I was just telling your brother here about our plans for tomorrow. We will be meeting the Aerugan envoy in a clearing not far from here, 11 am sharp!"

"Understood." Ed nodded and suppressed a smile. That meant they would have the night to relax and even have some time in the morning where they wouldn't have to do anything. Secretly he felt glad about this, he was looking forward to spending a night in a real bed again, even if it had only been a few days since they had left Central.

"Well then, see you in the morning Fullmetal, Alphonse" The Fuhrer nodded and took his leave, Maria following behind.

"Let's go Al" Ed called out to his brother and together they entered the inn.

Roy Mustang glared out the window of the train he had commandeered for his mission. He'd had to pull quite a few strings to clear the vehicle and he just knew he was going to hear about this later, but he believed it would be worth it. If he was right the homunculi were on the move to ambush the Elrics and the Fuhrer and, while he didn't know what their exact plans were, anything involving Amestris' leadership could not be good. He just hoped he was right or he could probably forget about ever getting promoted again.

He looked at the soldiers around him, all state alchemists he'd had pulled from various missions around Central and hoped it would be enough. It had to be.

With a sigh Roy returned his gaze to the landscape that was quickly flitting by.

'Wait for me, Fullmetal.'

Ed glanced around the clearing warily. Although clearing might be a misnomer. The area more closely resembled a large meadow that just so happened to be situated between a few trees. The grass was still somewhat damp, the bleak sun not yet strong enough to evaporate the dew clinging to the green sprigs.

Ed, Al and the Fuhrer were currently waiting on the Aerugan Envoy and had been for a little while. Maria had decided to stay behind to deal with some correspondence.

The group had decided to leave early, as it wouldn't do to be late to such an important diplomatic meeting. 'Still, it should be about time now.' Ed mused, looking at the sun peeking through the clouds.

As if on cue he saw a number of people approaching from the other side of the clearing. Ed tensed, this was it.

Nothing could have prepared him for the shock he felt once the people got closer and he got a better look at who exactly were approaching.

"Homunculi!"

Immediately he transmuted his automail in a blade and jumped in front of the Fuhrer. From the corner of his eye he saw Al jump into a ready stance as well, as grim a look as Ed had ever seen on his metal features. Seems they were in for a fight.

He counted quickly. There was Lust and Gluttony, and another woman who…no wait that couldn't be right could it? It looked like the Fuhrer's secretary was walking there with them, although she was dressed differently from normal.

Behind him the Fuhrer suddenly started laughing. Startled Ed whipped around only to dodge in the nick of time as the man's fist flashed past his face. He jumped to the side, putting some distance between him and the man, as well as increasing his distance from the homunculi who had finally reached them.

"What the hell?" He called out. Quickly moving so that his back was to Al, who had also jumped back, his eyes did not leave the homunculi for a moment.

"Ah, I'm sorry Fullmetal" Bradley chuckled, " but it seems there has been a little mix-up. You see we were never going to meet the Aerugans." The man smirked.

"You betrayed us?" Al asked, sounding upset.

"Hmm, betray? No I don't think I betrayed anyone." The Fuhrer grinned, ripping of his eyepatch. "After all, I was never on your side to start with."

The brothers stared in shock at the ouroboros that was positioned where normally the man's pupil would be.

Before they could recover Lust spoke up. "Pride, that was not necessary. You did not need to reveal yourself."

The newly revealed homunculus grumbled. "It's not like they will survive this."

Lust hummed noncommittally, deciding the confrontation was not worth more of her time. "Just remember the plan."

Pride nodded gruffly.

Meanwhile Ed and Al had recovered some of their wits. The reality of their situation slowly setting in. Ed was already looking for escape routes but found none. They were in the middle of a meadow with very little cover and the superhuman abilities of the homunculi would not allow them to run. Next to him it looked like Al had come to the same conclusion from the way he had clenched his hands.

Things did not look good for the Elric brothers.

Envy dashed through the forest at a manic pace. The trees were a blur as he passed them by and his arms and legs were littered with scratches where he'd been hit bit by the branches he couldn't dodge at his current speeds. He didn't care though, those scratches were nothing to someone with a healing factor like his and besides, he had more important things to worry about.

The moment he had seen that blue memo realization had set in. It was a trap. The other homunculi were moving against the Elrics and they hadn't informed Envy because they knew he would interfere.

There could only be one reason they didn't want him interfering: They were not just messing with the Elrics this time, they wanted them dead. After all, if it was just about beating them up a little more Envy would have been the first one invited. Envy growled at the thought and, impossibly, sped up even further. No one messed with his Chibi.

Seeing what looked like a clearing up ahead he slowly came to a stop. This had to be the place. The villagers had said there was really only one clearing in the direction the Amestrian envoy had traveled after all.

His feelings were confirmed once he looked and saw the other homunculi fighting the Elrics. Forcing himself not to jump in immediately he evaluated the situation. The Elrics were holding up alright but they were clearly outnumbered. Furthermore Envy could see the homunculi were only playing with them. None of them looked like they were going full out.

Envy frowned. Had he been wrong then? No. It couldn't be. They wouldn't have revealed Bradley if they didn't intend to finish the boys here.

Deciding he'd seen enough the homunculus entered the fray.

Ed grunted as he blocked another strike from the former Fuhrer, his feet creating a trench in the ground as he was pushed back by the power behind the man's strike. Seeing a flash from the corner of his eye he jumped back, just in time to dodge Lust's nails as they raked through the air where he'd just been standing. He didn't have much time to think before he had to go on the defensive again however, as Bradley resumed his attack.

Putting all his strength behind a blow he managed to score a hit on the former Fuhrer, pushing him back a bit and giving him a moment to look over at Al, who was fighting Gluttony and the Fuhrer's secretary: or Sloth as he'd heard Lust refer to her. The armored boy seemed to be holding up alright but there wasn't much else Ed could determine before Bradley threw himself back into the fight with a sweeping kick aimed at his side.

Before Ed could decide whether to dodge or block the strike however, the Fuhrer was suddenly kicked away with force. The man flew through the air for a bit before landing on the other side of the clearing with a loud crash.

All of a sudden the fighting stopped as everyone focused on the newcomer.

There, standing with his back to Ed, was Envy.

Ed could not comprehend what had just happened. One moment he was fighting the homunculi, the next Envy jumped in and…saved him? He had no clue what was going on with the other male, or even what to say. Luckily it seemed he didn't have to say a thing as Lust spoke up then.

"Ah, Envy, how kind of you to finally join us." Her melodious voice had an amused quality to it and Ed noted she did not look surprised in the slightest to see the green haired homunculus.

"Lust." Envy growled, his voice shaking from anger. "What," he began, "is going on here?"

The carnal sin titled her head to the side in confusion. "I thought that would be clear? We are going to kill the Elrics."

"And why" Envy got out through gritted teeth "Why wasn't I informed of this?"

"Well because you would interfere of course" She replied, pointedly looking over to where Pride was slowly getting back to his feet.

"Well you were correct." He growled. "Stop this, now."

"Unfortunately we can't do that." Lust said, sounding vaguely regretful. "We have already found a replacement. The boys need to die."

At those words Envy straightened and his tone suddenly became dead serious. "I won't let you"

Lust smiled ruefully "I know."

And with that she charged.

The battle had been going on for a little over an hour now Ed estimated. After Envy's surprise interference the other homunculi had stopped holding back and although the addition of the greenhaired homunculus had evened the odds somewhat they were still in a precarious position. Ed still didn't know quite what to make of the other's declaration that he wouldn't let the other homunculi kill him and his brother, but he had no time to think it over now. First they would need to survive.

He exchanged a few more blows with Bradley, barely blocking a sword strike with his automail and wincing as it scratched. If they survived this Winry would murder him for damaging her precious creation… again. He shook his head, now was not the time to think of this.

Whereas before the homunculi had only used his fists and martial arts to attack that had ended the moment Envy arrived. Now Bradley was going full out. Using his sword and surprising speed to keep Ed on the edge.

Across the clearing Al seemed to be faring not much better being confronted by an enthusiastic Gluttony, though Ed noted Sloth seemed to have disappeared. Something to worry about later, he decided as he tried to stab the Fuhrer.

Meanwhile Envy and Lust were still going at it. The greenhaired homunculus sported a few nasty looking scratches courtesy of the other sin's nails but it was clear Lust wouldn't come out of their battle unscathed either: her usually perfect ensemble was stained with dirt and her lip was split and dripping blood.

Grimly Ed returned to his own fight. They could win this, they'd have to, and then afterwards he would ask Envy what the hell his deal was. He thought it was about time the insane homunculus took responsibility for his actions.

15 more minutes passed by in the same frenzied rhythm of battle when suddenly Ed heard a bloodcurdling scream from the other side of the battlefield.

He looked over and felt himself freeze. There was Sloth, standing over Envy with what looked like a bone in her one hand… and her other stabbing straight through his stomach. Her eyes were crazed and tears were streaming down her face. "For Wrath." He heard her whisper, her voice carrying through the sudden deathly silence that had taken over the clearing.

Ed watched, waiting for Envy to push her arm away. Waiting for him to mock her as he always did. He had seen the homunculus' regeneration at work before, a wound like that should be nothing to him.

But nothing happened.

Sloth pushed Envy's body of her arm and it fell to the ground with a sickeningly wet thwack. She regarded the body with disgust and dropped the bone she had been holding. "My work here is done." She said, voice flat and uncaring as she turned and stalked towards the trees.

Ed stared in disbelief as she walked away and no one stopped her.

No one that is, until suddenly the forest burst into flame around her and several people dressed in military apparel ran from under the trees with loud battle cries, followed a moment later by Roy Mustang who carried the wayward sin with him in a vice like grip.

"Yo, Fullmetal, Alphonse." He greeted with a smug smirk, "Looks like you could use some help here."

Ed fell to his knees next to the fallen homunculus. He was vaguely aware that the others kept fighting. Heard the screams and cries of pain and felt a flash of heat as Mustang set something on fire nearby, but he didn't care.

The moment his mind had caught up with reality he'd run over to the body of his fallen nemesis. Why he did that he had no clue, his mind was a mess of conflicting emotions. Ed still didn't completely understand what had just happened. One moment everything had been fine and then Sloth had reappeared and Envy had become powerless. Had been stabbed and didn't recover, didn't regenerate. But it didn't matter. All that mattered was the here and now, and the fact that he could see the life was slowly leaving Envy's amethyst eyes.

Ed let out a startled sob. So focused on Envy's feelings had he been, on figuring out the other's motives, that he had never truly stopped to consider his own feelings. Now though, as he gazed in pain glazed violet for what could very well be the last time and felt the desperation that came with that, he finally realized. He might not be entirely sure how he felt about the homunculus, but one thing was certain: he was important to Ed, too important to die like this. Lifting his head from where he'd let it fall down in despair he once more locked gazes with the homunculus. "Envy, I..I-"

"Don't." The homunculus shushed him, shaking his head slightly as he did so. He didn't want to hear it, not now, not when he would be forced to leave the other behind like this. It might be selfish, but he didn't want to know what his chibi wanted to tell him, didn't want to know how much he would be hurting the boy once again by leaving him. Didn't want to be hurt himself either if what his chibi said did not meet his expectations.

"Don't cry either." He murmured, lifting a shaky hand and messily wiping away some of Ed's tears. "I never liked seeing you cry." The last was added almost as an afterthought and Ed wondered if the homunculus was even fully conscious that he'd said that out loud.

"Will you do something for me, Edward?"

The use of his real name only made the boy more aware of the situation and a new wave of sobs wracked his frame. Still he nodded, and roughly pulled his sleeve over his eyes to try and hide his tears.

"Smile."

Ed startled and watched Envy with large eyes. Whatever he had been expecting, that had certainly not been it.

Envy saw the confusion, the sheer disbelief at his request reflected in the other's expression and so he carefully repeated his request, hoarse voice serious as he desperately clung onto life. "Smile for me...one last time."

He saw the hesitation in the alchemist as it became clear that what he had heard was indeed correct, but he had no energy left to explain. He had never gotten around to telling his chibi about that one faithful encounter so many years ago, the way that one little smile had changed so much, had meant so much, and silently he regretted that he had never gotten the chance to tell Edward how much he truly meant to him.

Though maybe, he reflected, he wouldn't have told him even if he had had the time either. He didn't know and at that moment, as he gazed up at his angel through dying eyes, he couldn't particularly bring himself to care either.

At that moment all that really mattered was his chibi, his Edward, who was doing his very best to smile through his tears and Envy couldn't help but think he had never seen anything this beautiful before, the image burning into his mind, even as his eyes closed for the final time...

A smile just for him.

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AN/: PLEASE DON'T MURDER ME.

Okay, so I was super nervous to post this chapter. This has been a long time coming (at least the scene at the end) and I know you all probably hate me for it but I really don't think it could have gone any differently. Envy has already hurt Ed too much and their relationship and circumstances were too volatile for this to end any other way. This final scene is one of the first scenes I had written for this fanfiction (together with the epilogue) and ever since I have I could not think of another ending…

Which brings me to the next point. This is, officially, the ending of Smile for me, HOWEVER, an epilogue is still to come. I have the epilogue written already and will post it within the next few days.

I would like to thank everyone for their continuous support. Your reviews, faves and alerts truly helped motivate me to write this and were always a bright spot in my day, even during those times where I wasn't that active on FFnet. Truly Thank you.

xXx Mai1564