"Winter Slumber"

I don't own Full Metal Alchemist.

Chapter 1: Poor Marta…

In Marta's mind, the world had just ended. To explain why, I have to elaborate on the circumstances. In the Devil's nest, there are only four rooms; the bar/kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, and an empty room free of any furniture whatsoever. In the bedroom, there are just two beds. One, the double bed, was Greed's, which he would never share with anyone, and the other one was everyone else's; they just took turns to use it. So they use the age-old method of pulling names out of a hat.

Normally, Marta would avoid this by putting in someone else's name. Hell, there was no way she'd be alone with Greed for more than an hour; she made sure of that. But someone went out of their way and put her name into that God-forsaken hat. Somebody must really hate her…or they didn't know any better. I mean, there was that newcomer who treated Marta like an older sister… She probably heard that it was better to get the bed rather than sleep on the floor or one of the couches in the bar.

It's not her fault, but still, Marta thought bitterly. What, does she think I'm better than her or something? Sure, I've got seniority, but I'm not superior or anything. She groaned inwardly. This was going to be a long week. (Note: when your name is drawn from the hat, you use the bed for a week, whether you want to or not.)

Anyway, while Marta readies for bed, I'll explain her evaporated tolerance of Greed. Over the past few weeks, his changed attitude towards her became more and more pronounced. At first, she didn't think much of it; he was only being slightly nicer to her than he was to everyone else. But pretty soon it was so obvious that it started to scare her. And then came Christmas, of which they a sort of 'Secret Santa,' only you got to choose who you gave your present to. Marta knew that Greed was going to get her something, and it scared her beyond all rational belief of what it could be. Lord knows what was going through her head at the time.

Then the dreaded day came; the first few hours were okay, as she got a nice, fluffy blanket from Dorochet and the newcomer, but then she received a gift from Greed. She became so nervous that she started to shake.

"Marta, what's wrong?" inquired Greed cheerfully.

"Nothing, I'm just cold," she bluffed. "Thank you for the gift."

"No problem," he said as he walked away. Still shaking, she began to unwrap the box. The instant she opened it and saw what it was, she slammed the box shut. As Dorochet was right next to her as she opened it, he saw it, too. He'd never let her live this down. Ever.

Inside the box was a lacey, red bra and matching panties.

To put it shortly, Marta was scarred for life.

And now, three weeks before Valentine's Day, she was sure Greed would do something to her. She wasn't sure what he'd do, but she knew he'd plan something. But she'd think about that later; now was the time to rest. She started to unroll her sleeping bag, but sighed as she remembered she had to sleep in the bed tonight. She walked to the bedroom and sat on the foot of her bed. Well, I might as well get this over with, she thought as she pulled down the sheets. Then she slipped under the covers and went to sleep.

Boy was she in for a rude awakening tomorrow.

The next morning, Marta awoke to find arms wrapped around her protectively. Suddenly her face flushed and her mind was in chaos. What the hell is going on! She thought. Close to hyperventilation, she turned to see who it was, even though she had a pretty good idea of whose arms they were. Twas the greedy one himself. She tried to get up, but had a hard time since Greed was clinging to her and wouldn't let go. She looked around the room; good, she was still in her own bed… But Greed snuck into bed with her! But he's got his own bed! Why does he have to sneak into mine! Marta thought, hyperventilating.

Greed seemed to wake up a little bit from being next to Marta's gasping breath.

"Hush, I'm still sleeping…" he mumbled groggily, not noticing her distress.

"Well, I'm not, so let me go!" she said indignantly.

"But I don't want to…" he whined. It was like talking to a frickin' seven-year-old.

"What the hell's wrong with your own bed! Why'd ya have to sneak into mine!" He paused but a moment before he said "Because I didn't want to wake you up." He just pulled her back down and held on tighter. Marta became horribly aware of just how loose and revealing her tank top was (actually, it was okay, but her mind isn't quite right today, if you haven't noticed) and immediately tried to cover herself. Greed took this as her being cold and pulled her ever so closer to himself. Marta squeaked and thought if this continues, I'll go insane, if I haven't already!

Her thoughts were interrupted as Greed said, "You should wear something heavier if you're cold; after all, snakes are sensitive to the cold."