Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, or any related characters.

WARNING: This fanfic will, in later chapters, contain graphic descriptions of violence and rape. If this will be too much for you to handle, please do not read.

Father paced back in forth in front of two of his homunculi, regarding them with curiosity. Envy and Pride were both fine creations, exceptionally powerful. But lately Father had been entertaining a thought…Envy could shape shift, taking on the appearance of whoever he pleased. And Pride, aside from having the ability to attack from the shadows, could take control of beings such as the Fullmetal Alchemist's brother, beings who contained shadows inside.

So what would happen if he combined them?

"Pride, Envy." He addressed the two homunculi, finally, pausing in front of them. "I have a plan of sorts. An experiment, yes, but should it succeed…well, who knows what advantages we could gain?"

"What're you talking about?" Envy whined, flipping his hair back. Oh, Envy. So impatient, so harsh even in his words.

"The two of you are powerful, effortlessly deadly on your own. What do you think would happen if you two came together?" Father held up his hand to prevent either of them from responding. "I am particularly interested in what would happen by combining your shapeshifting, Envy, and your ability to control, Pride."

Both of the homunculi grinned at their maker, slowly, before glancing at each other. The possibilities shone in their eyes.

"So you intend to combine us?" Pride asked, staring at Envy with his strangely emotionless eyes.

"Yes."

Almost before the word was out of his mouth, Pride attacked, shooting his shadows at Envy, pinning the other homunculus to the ground.

"Hey, watch it!" He shouted, ripping his own arms in order to escape, red light crackling around the wounds. Envy glared, jumping back as Pride continued his assault. "The fuck are you doing, Pride!?"

"I'm going to consume you, obviously."

Envy seemed about to respond, either by insulting Pride or smacking him, but then—

"Stop!" Father commanded, booming voice echoing around the underground room. Though both of the homunculi owneds rather rough personalities, they did as he commanded.

"I have another way to combine the two of you."

Without another word of explanation, Father walked up to the pair, thrusting his hands into their chests. He pulled out their stones, ignoring their screams of pain, and, perhaps, outrage, absorbing back the pride and envy he had rid himself of long ago.

It didn't matter. He wouldn't be keeping the pesky sins for long.

Closing his eyes in concentration, Father cast the sins and their matching stones back out of his body, using some of his own life force to allow them a new, physical form.

When he opened his eyes, he was rather displeased with what he saw. Though this new homunculus would, undoubtedly, be powerful, it was not at all an attractive being.

The homunculus looked like a miniature version of Envy's true form, a green monster scuttling round the floor as it got its bearings. However, instead of people hanging off the sides, it had holes, with Pride's sharp, dangerous shadows sneaking out.

The new homunculus shook its head roughly. "Ugh," it spoke in Envy's voice. That was worrying; neither Envy nor Pride should have remained a dominant force. "Let me fix this."

He shape shifted, rising up in a more humanoid form. Evidently, Pride possessed some degree of control as well, for the resulting form did not look exactly as Envy had. The hair was darker, almost black, and though the locks were wild as ever, they were much shorter. The homunculus himself was closer to Pride's height than Envy's, and was clothed in a slightly less revealing outfit than the latter usually preferred. The shadows were no longer explicitly visible, though occasionally the homunculus's edges flickered with suspicious blackness.

The homunculus paused, eyes vacant, seeming to be directing his attention inward.

"Well," Father asked, "how does it feel?"

"Confusing." This time the homunculus spoke in a double voice, echoing hauntingly. Evidently, the two had indeed bonded properly. "But…powerful."

"Have you any idea what you can do?"

"Control dreams, I should think," he grinned maliciously. "Control people, even. Shift reality, perhaps."

Father allowed himself a small, dangerous smile. "Excellent."

He stood. "Go, now. Go and take care of the Fullmetal Alchemist. How you do it is up to you. Both of your previous personalities could think of something horrific enough, so I'm sure you can too; I don't care what it is, so long as it destroys him."

The mouth shifted, becoming oversized, literally splitting the face with a wicked grin. "Yes, Father."

Edward was at the Gate once more, standing next to his brother's body. Desperately, he pulled on Al's arm, willing to try anything to get him his body back, including force.

"You cannot help him that way," a voice spoke, echoing around and around the blank area.

Edward whipped around, seeing no one. The voice was strange, seeming to overlap and mimic itself—certainly not the voice that normally spoke to him in this realm.

"How can I, then?" Perhaps this new voice would hold the key, would know how to do it!

"You must offer up your ability to use alchemy."

"What?" But the voice did not answer, having said what was necessary. "Give up my alchemy…"

Edward awoke suddenly, his eyes snapping open, though he remained still in bed. He stared across the room at Alphonse, trapped in that suit of armor.

He had had that dream before, where he tried to help Al. The only thing was, this was the first time he had heard that voice, actually had an idea of what to do.

It wasn't hard to choose what to do, to decide to give the suggestion a shot, no matter how farfetched the possibility of success was. It wasn't a choice, really. He would gladly give anything up, even his ability to do alchemy, to get his brother back the way he should be.

Silently, Ed reached over to a side table, grabbing a piece of charcoal with which to draw the required circle on his sheets, the circle that would take him to the Gate of Truth.

Softly, softly, he clapped, placing his hands on the tiny circle.

This time, outside of a dream, Edward faced the same being he always did at the Gate. He spoke: "I have an exchange to make. My alchemy for my brother's body."

The being laughed, black particles dancing around its white form. "You're a clever one, Edward Elric."

Black hands, tiny and numerous, shot out from the Gate. For a moment, Ed was afraid he was being taken, before he saw them dragging in a second Gate Edward that had been positioned behind himself.

And then he was back in his room.

And Alphonse was there, in his own body.

"Al!" Edward cried, both shocked and overjoyed that the suggestion of a dream had worked out. But there was something strange about his brother, a certain, peculiar darkness in the normally warm eyes. Could it just be his condition, which, as Ed saw now, was abysmal?

"Al?"

Much to everyone's surprise, the next morning Al barreled into Colonel Mustang's office at Central Headquarters.

"Fullmet—wait, you're not Edward—"

"Who—is that you, Al!?"

"You've got a body again?"

"How did that happen?"

"Nevermind that!" Alphonse shouted, silencing Mustang's team. His cheeks were sunken, his hair a mess, and his body frail, Edward's borrowed clothes loose on him, but his voice remained strong. "Edward's gone missing!"