"What the hell?"

"Ah. missed one."

"Where'd it come from? You didn't tell us they had a child."

"How the hell was I supposed to know?"

Greed frowned. He looked down at the tiny wobbly child clenching his pant leg. Short hair lay matted to its head as it struggled to maintain its footing, standing in short uneven bobs. He probed his thoughts on how he'd managed to miss a detail like this in his plans. Surprises were mistakes caused by reckless planning. Surprises could be costly things and that was an adjective the sin would prefer to avoid if he weren't on the receiving end. The baby, as inconsequential as it was, showed a lack of thorough information gathering. The surprise in question, lifted a soft chubby foot for a second, and then pressed it down on Greed's creaseless leather boot. He frowned further.
The tall dark haired humonculous reached down and pinched the back of the child's pajama suit and lifted it to his eye level. It smelled familiar. The toddlers arms and legs dangled as it stared face to face with its captor.
~ scrawny mistake~ he thought. but a mistake nonetheless.

"What do we do with it boss?" Dolcetto asked, adjusting his unused practice sword onto his hip. The dog chimera hadn't had to contribute much to their outing that evening.
The bespectacled boss sniffed the quiet infant and looked it over. The thing would most-likely grow up to be an enemy, considering that he'd just killed it's parents.

The moon, which had remained hidden throughout most of the night, stretched its light out from behind departing clouds. Soft white light illuminated the small house and the intruders inside. Two very dead scientist lay in a midst of carnage on the floor, currently being ignored.
The new light also exposed , in a clearer view, the young human hanging in its pajamas. The surprisingly calm child glanced up from its dangling feet. It was a girl; Greed could tell immediately. Pale purple eyes locked onto his, trying to adjust in the dark. ~ Weird color~ and yet familiar still, like gems. He liked gems.

"Oh, she's cute; Poor little thing. I hope she didn't see all that. ". Marta walked from the shadows behind Greed to glance up at the child. "You were supposed to know how many people lived here. Greed." Her concerns were justified considering she had snuck into the house first, being the slimmest and quietest of their entourage. Befitting qualities for a snake.

"Yeah-Yeah. My bad." Greed dismissed. The soft thing in question didn't seem to take notice to the short blonde he addressed. Greed held her attention. And she had his. She smelled like menthol and electricity, the stench of alchemy. He wondered if it was from being surrounded by her parent's work.

"Kids make me nervous" Dolcetto announced. He crouched into a comfortable position and rubbed his neck. Anytime he let his guard down, he subconsciously portrayed his canine traits. He was the only one of the group who'd adapted more than just physical mutations from their animal counterparts; His implanted genes seemed to seep into his personality. This remained a constant point of teasing for him. "Your call boss."

As their leader went to speak, two tiny fists were formed and quickly pushed into his face.
"Pow pow". Her tiny voice spoke.

A beat of silence fell over the household before Martle put a hand to her mouth to muffle her chuckle. Greed's frown resumed.

He slung the baby into Dolcetto's arms, who had to stumble to make the unexpected catch. "Kill it." He decided, putting hands in pockets and heading to the unhinged door. Their job was done and it was time to take their leave. Their group had never been one to waste time on idle things (largely on account of their leader's hate of wasteful behavior.) He'd managed to reach the end of the yard before realizing that he wasn't being followed.

Turning on his heel, the thug boss felt a delay coming as he took in the expressions of his four underlings standing in the doorway.
Roa and Bido, who had been listening from outside, now stood on the front step with matching frowns.
Greed sighed. "What?"

"I killed enough children in Ishbal." was Roa's simple yet unexpected response.

This was going to be one of the many times his minions displayed that they were , indeed, still very human.

Sure enough, the subject in a purple one-piece sat unharmed on Martle's hip. The blond girl held her like a professional albeit seeming a little awkward. This surprised the sin. He didn't know she had experience with kids...or maybe chicks just naturally knew these things. But that was beside the point

"Well, just leave it here. Now c'mon I want to clean my claws." The leader thinly compromised, picking filth from his nails for emphasis.

Bido whisked his tail from beneath his cloak and stepped his bare-feet into the damp grass. "We can't leave her here in the middle of the woods. She'll die Greed, sir." he rebutted, sliding a pitying look at the child who was old enough to only barley stand.

Greed feigned frustration and folded his arms. "And what exactly would the four of you propose we do? Keep it?"

"Can we?" Bido pitched. His three companions cast him surprised glances before seeming to consider it and look back at their commander.

"Oh you cannot be serious." Greed laughed before acknowledging the ridiculous idea. He leaned against the thick tree that was conveniently located beside him and pinched the bridge of his nose. "And keep it where? The devil's nest? An 'evil lair beneath a tit-bar' is hardly a place for children. Oh! and lest not forget the fact that we murdered the brats family." He reminded.

"Exactly," Martle answered "We owe her". Choosing to only address the latter half of the superiors complaints.

Greed sputtered, suddenly losing and then regaining balance. "O-OWE HER?!".
If there was one thing stingy people hated, it was debt.
"Are you forgetting that her parents are two of the fucking alchemists that ripped you guys apart and put you back together for fun? THEN they rip ME off, " he added, more importantly "thinking I was laid-back enough not to notice they'd been pocketing half my red stones. The materials to make those little shits are NOT cheap. If anything, SHE OWES US."

Roa's reply was short and simple. As were most of the things he said " She can't pay you back if she's dead."

Greed blinked at the large chimera. With closed eyes, he slowly brought his hand up to his face. Incredible. Fucking incredible. His four acquaintances stood unwavering. The little problem-starter yawned at the tension and let her arms dangle before she rested her head on Martle's breast. Greed squinted at it. ~damn brat~ yet as he thought this, a small feeling that something was weird with the kid slid into his head again. It smelled...so Familiar.

...It wasn't staying in HIS room.

"What-ever,". Placing one hand on a jutted hip and tossing the other in the air, he gave in. His surrender was more to his slight curiosity than to the will of his underlings but they didn't need to know that. "just c'mon"

The four sighed and spoke in relieved unison. Roa nodded in pleased compliance and Dolcetto spoke to Marta about the wariness the implied obligations of childcare bought on.

Greed shook his head before he stalked off into the forest. "A pet for my pets" he grumbled under breath.

"Heard that, boss" Roa called out as they all resumed following leader, newest member in tow.

...

...

welcome to my {first} short chaptered inconsistent fanfic :) reviews are welcome but please be gentle with my heart.

Bido: gecko chimera, smallest

Roa: ox chimera, largest

Dolcetto: dog chimera, average height

martle: snake chimera, short

Greed: original homunculous, fabulous