Summary: To be rapacious means to look past everything in your wake, and to grasp only that desired motive. Could you honestly push aside all that has made you what you are today? When will you open your eyes and see the reality woven right before you? Greed x OC. Possibly some OC x Ling friendship thing going on. I'm not aiming for mush, I'm aiming to provide an alternative for your extra time for you to read and review this. Thank you.

A/N: Based off of FMA: Brotherhood.

And just so people who are thinking this story has to do with vampires and werewolves or demons and angels, underworld also means the criminal element of human society.

NO I'm not assuming you are stupid. But if you are assuming that I was assuming that you were stupid then I guess you are stupid.

Read and review and I'll return the favor if you wish it~ Although animes I am only interested in are FMA, Hetalia, and DRRR! I am also aware of Vampire Knight, but considering VK I will only read it if...well, you're pretty dedicated. Because I'm not really into it at all.

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA or FMA: Brotherhood. If I did, I wouldn't change anything, because EVERYTHING IS FINE JUST THE WAY IT IS. :D Honestly, with the exception of Greedling, if any other homunculus survived Amestris would probably be fucked right now.

Rapacious

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| To wish you were someone else is to waste the person you are. |

Chapter 1

Welcome to the Underworld

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"Military activity around Dublith is getting pretty heavy this week around. You sure you're not purposely gathering attention to yourselves?"

"'Course not, sweetheart. Why in the world would I try to make your job harder than it already is?" The rugged looking older man flashed her with a very sly-looking grin, leaning comfortably against the edge of her wooden desk.

"Was that sarcasm?" The girl asked him, raising a thin eyebrow as she pulled away a stack of papers that Greed was crumpling under his sheer weight.

The older male craned his neck towards her, sounding mischievous, "You know me kitten, and that I don't ever tell a lie."

The papers in her hand shifted loudly enough for him to sense her irritation from his nickname for her. It was a pun off of her real name. She even balled her fist towards her mouth and coughed for emphasis, but Greed just outright ignored her not-so-subtle gestures.

"I guess that means I can hold you to your word, then… " She smirked, leaning her head against her hand with her elbows propped on the table, "…Here I have written the routes for this week's daily patrols."

The male homunculus snatched the papers from the desk, pulling it towards his face and examining it with keen interest. She watched him interpret it for a few moments, until his thin smirk grew into a satisfied grin. Greed folded the papers in half, stuffing it into his pant pocket before turning away from the dimly lit room, "Thanks kitten."

"It's Catalena, Avaricious. And where's my payment, " she growled, pushing herself from the desk and standing up. There was a single lamp lit in that office room, and in the dim fluorescent light an intricate alchemical design could be distinguished from the brown gloves she wore.

Greed stopped for a moment, instantly receiving the serious and violent vibe she was radiating. To her chagrin, he only flashed a smile, "Put it on my tab, kitten."

"I don't accept tabs, Greed. Money in advance, and that's that."

"You shoulda thought of that before you handed me what I came here for." He threw a friendly wave over his shoulder, trudging towards the exit of the small office.

Gritting her teeth, the girl hastily drew a transmutation circle on the surface of her desk with a lead pencil. Once she was done, her gloved hands were pressed against it. A crackle of blue energy ensued from the outline of the drawing, and Catalena transmuted a wooden spear at the homunculus.

The sharp end of the wooden pike soared through the air at Greed, but as expected, once it tried to pierce the area in between his shoulder blades, the tip of her weapon chipped right off, useless.

It was as if the man in front of her had an impenetrable shield covering his body.

Greed only turned his torso over, rubbing the area where Catalena aimed the shard and staring unimpressed at the remains of it shattered along her wood floor, "…Ouch. Now was that really necessary, kitten? I told you I would get your money to you later."

"You'll get my money to me now, homunculus. Or else someone is going to discretely mention your presence in Dublith here to the State Military." She threatened, expression hardening into a glare.

Greed actually took a moment to reconsider everything. "Are you really going to do that to me? After all the business we've done together?"

"I can give more reliable clients the information they need. Information brokers aren't subject to only a single homunculus." Catalena retorted, resting a hand on her hip. "It's been real, but business is business. Nothing personal."

The dark-haired man sighed, rubbing the back of his head. Reluctantly, he returned back to her desk, stepping over the remnants of the wooden spear. He pulled a bag out of his pants pocket before slowly dropping the contents of it on her desk. Catalena took the pile of cens into her hands, counting the amount and then pocketing it within her own pants.

Greed could instantly recognize the sinisterly satisfied smirk on her face.

"Pretty pinchy with your pennies, aren't you, Catalena?" He muttered, frowning as he shoved his hands into both pockets.

"Maybe. But then again, aren't you? After all, Mr. Greed was the one who didn't want to pay up front again…" She slumped back into her revolving chair, spinning around in it triumphantly.

He discretely shuffled his feet towards the exit, shooting the girl spinning around in her office chair a blank look. Once it was clear she was finished with him, he threw one more comment before he would leave that room for another week or so, "…You know, kitten. If word ever gets out to anybody that I'm here…I'll make sure you come crashing down with me."

The chair suddenly stopped spinning. The back of it was the only thing visible to Greed's wine-colored eyes.

"…We both know that it's against the rules to dig into the classified contents of the State Military if you aren't part of it yourself."

"…"

"You're nothing but a lowly citizen of Amestris, stationing herself and her 'information database of the Amestrian underworld' within the bad side of Dublith." Greed finished as he mentioned her inferiority to adults. "You're playing with fire, kitten, and you're not the type who wants to get burned."

"…Oh, just get out, you grinning creep." Catalena sighed, the back of her chair still the only thing in sight.

He smirked victoriously before bidding his farewell, "If you say so. Later."

Greed's parting words reached her as he slipped out of the low-class apartment room. She heard her door close as he was leaving, and after waiting a few moments to signify his absence she stood from her chair.

The girl bent over to pick up the broken pieces of her alchemy. Quietly she gathered the wooden fragments and then threw them into the disposable bin beside her desk. Standing up, she took a good look at her disorganized office room of spilt papers, pens, filing cabinets that's contents were boiling over, and begun to realize that her choice of career truthfully wasn't that commendable.

Information broker…Amestrian underworld…trying to hide a homunculus from the eyes of the state…not the life her mom or dad would have been proud of now when she kicked herself out of their house. They wanted her to find a handsome looking boy and then live life and prosper.

Muttering colorful words, she pressed her hand against the transmutation circle from before, fixing the dents of her work desk. Once it was flat like before, she began rubbing the fabric of her sleeves against the pencil drawing on the desk. The black outline of the transmutation circle disappeared from its surface and a content look ushered on her face.

Yeah, her current life wasn't so simple.

But it sure was exciting as hell. So it wasn't so bad now.

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A/N: Let's keep the prologue short and ready to aspire for more, shall we? Please review and leave your opinions. But despite the amount, I will update because I'm a narcissist, as well as a perfectionist. I will embrace your criticism with open arms and am open to improvement.

Catalena is a Romanian name to newcomers, by the way. So don't get on me because it sounds, what do you say, Mary-sue. If this is an issue - if you AREN'T satisfied with the name, shall I name her Saphira Obliva Leila Renegee? eu e

OH GOD THAT SOUNDS SO HORRIBLE EVEN TYPING IT

And that was a joke, by the way.

To old readers, I'm not sure if I'm going to keep Catalena's previous personality. All I know is I have to remain consistent. We'll see as I type along.

Please review~