It had been about a year since the great war ended. Father and the other homunculi were defeated, a few dead and others still missing. The country was now at peace. Edward Elric, the hero of the war, the people, and the youngest State Alchemist in Amestris sat in an armchair near the fireplace of his and Al's new home, gazing at the book he was reading without taking in any of it. He was thinking, as he often did when it was quiet. The only sounds in the house were Alphonse in the kitchen making stew for dinner, and outside a storm brewing as rain fell and thunder rumbled in the distance. Wouldn't be long now before the brunt of it was on top of them.

Ed sighed, realizing he had been simply staring at the middle of the book for the past 20 minutes simply thinking. Father they knew was dead. No doubt. But a couple homunculi they didn't know if they were completely gone…

Especially-

Ed's thoughts were interrupted as there was a knock on their door. The rain was hitting full force now, and the thunder louder than it had been. Who in their right mind would be outside in this?

"I'll get it!" Al called from the kitchen, leaving Ed to stew. The younger brother opened the side door that lead to the kitchen and gasped at who was there.

Envy…though definitely not as confident as he used to be. The homunculus looked beaten, bruises and dried blood all over him and dirt on his skin and clothes. He was also wet and shaking like a leaf from the cold. Al debated with himself as the two stood in complete silence. Envy's eyes were wide and pleading, and his cheeks even though it was raining looked like he had been crying.

Swallowing, Al tensed himself and let Envy in, guiding him inside from the cold and closing the door with some effort behind them. He had no clue if this was a trick, but he assumed Envy wouldn't want to look so pathetic in front of people he considered weak.

Almost as soon as he stepped inside, Envy's shaking legs gave out, and he fell to the floor with a thud. Ed heard this and came running.

"Al! What happened-!" He couldn't finish his sentence as he saw who it was on their kitchen floor, Al standing over the body just as shocked. He wasn't dead but fainted from the cold and exhaustion. He probably hadn't eaten well in who knows how long.

"How…?" Ed looked from Al to Envy and back, not sure how to process this. Kneeling, Al checked Envy over, noting a few injuries but nothing major and how cold he was from the rain. He must had been out there for hours.

"Brother, what should we do?" Al asked, looking up to his big brother. Ed stood in thought, already contemplating what to do about their impromptu guest. Neither of them would feel right if they threw him out now, but then again, they couldn't tell if this was a trick.

"We need to at least clean him up. No way are we putting him in a bed like this." Ed finally said, bending down to pick Envy up with Al's help. The two carried him to the bathroom and set him down in the tub before beginning to wash him off. The two were careful around any bruises or cuts, hoping none of them were infected as they worked. Soon enough Envy was clean, his clothes already put in the wash by Ed.

"I think we have some spare pajamas in the closet." Al offered, going to get them as Ed watched over Envy. So, this was what happened to him…honestly some of Ed didn't know what to think of it. He hadn't regenerated at all from his wounds, some of which looked days old or even weeks, but then again Ed didn't know how dedicated Envy could be to a trap.

Al soon came back with the pajamas, and the two (rather awkwardly) got to dressing him before taking him to the guest room. Setting him down in the bed, Al drew up the covers to Envy's chin, and the homunculus looked more peaceful than he had on the kitchen floor.

"So, what do we do now, brother?" Al turned to Ed, who looked as serious as ever.

"We wait. If he was faking sleep he would have woken up while we were washing him, but I'm not taking any chances of him waking up first. We'll take shifts."

Al nodded, agreeing with the plan. "I'll take the first one. You might want to call Mr. Mustang and tell him you can't come in tomorrow."

Ed smirked, and left the room to do just that, thinking what he was going to use as an excuse other than 'Envy dropped on our doorstep'.

Meanwhile Al stayed behind and sat in a chair across from Envy, watching for any movement and listening for any signs of him waking. It was now his turn to think about what to do next.

Ed soon came back with two bowls of stew, setting one on the desk where Al was and holding the other for himself, looking over at Envy as he ate.

"So, any clue what we're gonna do with the palm tree?" Ed asked.

"Nope...I do kinda feel bad for him though. He has nowhere to go if we kick him out."

"Wait, you're saying you feel bad for a homunculus who killed an entire civilization, killed one of our best friends and tried to kill us on several occasions!?"

"B-but I mean…he was just following orders, wasn't he? Maybe…maybe if he had some good guidance, he could be different!"

"Al! You're saying you want to keep him here!?"

"Where else is he going to go!?" Ed flinched when Al raised his voice. He wasn't used to his brother being loud, and it honestly kind of scared him…

And it was true. If they didn't take him in, he wouldn't have any home to go to. Just like them way back when…

Ed sighed. "Fine. But when he wakes up, he's going to pay for all he's done. And we'll be setting some strict rules for him."

Al didn't know what Ed meant by that, but judging by the time, he figured they had a lot of time to talk it out and come up with a plan.