"Is that so?" Father murmured, "Envy is dead. You will come back, my son, with all of your memories intact."

"I can't believe it's over," Al whispered, "And after all that time…"

"Yeah," Edward smiled, "We did good, little brother."

"But, what about your alchemy?" Al asked him, "You're out of a job."

"I only went into the military to get our bodies back," Ed muttered, "The job has already served its purpose."

"I guess you're right," Al consented.

"Although," Ed smirked, "Mustang would definitely want my help cleaning up this mess."

"Yeah," Al chuckled, as they both looked over the ruins of Central Command that were left after the battle with Father. Without warning, Ed began walking towards the rubble.

"Brother?"

"I want to go in there," Ed whispered, barely loud enough for Al to hear, "One last time."

Al nodded, and followed him wordlessly into what used to be the proudest building in all of Amestris. Ed led them into the depths of the destroyed building, not entirely surprised that he could still tell where he was. He paused by Mustang's former office, and stooped down to go through the papers and wood splinters left where his desk had been. He pulled out a single photograph of an elderly blonde man. He couldn't help wondering why Mustang had held on to something so personal. He flipped it over, and saw the word 'Hawkeye' scribbled on it. He flipped the image back over. When he looked at it, he could see a bit of her features in the man's face.

"That was the lieutenant's dad," Al deducted, and Edward nodded in agreement.

"It wasn't fair," Edward muttered, "What happened to him - Mustang, I mean - he didn't do anything to deserve it. If that was the science I was so dedicated to…"

"You would do something about it," Al smiled, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder, "I know you would try to improve alchemy, Brother. You wouldn't just give it up. You'll still try to change it."

Ed closed his eyes and smiled, getting to his feet. He exited Mustang's office right where the door had been, and moved down the halls, stopping where Hughes had worked, and in front of Sciezska's station. He smiled sadly at all the torn and burnt books littering the ground.

"She would cry if she saw this," he murmured.

The two brothers were forced back into the present when a blood-chilling scream pierced the air.

"Come on!" Ed yelled, already sprinting for the stairs that would lead to where the yell was coming from - the chamber where Father had resided under all of their noses for years. He bolted down the stairs, prepared for almost anything. However, he was not prepared to see someone he'd thought to be dead shrieking and writhing in pain on the floor.

Which is exactly what he saw.

Envy was the source of the scream he'd heard - and was still hearing - and he didn't need a medical degree to tell why. His arm was swollen and turning an earthy shade of green, and red sparks were surrounding his entire body. Ed kneeled down and examined the IV attached to his wrist, which was relentlessly pumping a familiar red material into his system. The red sparks were growing more abundant and brighter, which only confirmed what Al was about to say.

"The Philosopher's Stone is killing him."

Ed ungracefully ripped the needle out of his arm, and after a few moments, Envy's screams resided into small whimpers.

"Father must have left him to regenerate," Ed muttered. Envy nodded.

"And then… he didn't come back," Al finished.

"Did you…" Envy panted, trying to force his thoughts into words, "Did you win?"

Ed couldn't help but smile as he held up his right arm, sporting the flesh of his newly recovered limb. Envy nodded, and focused the rest of his energy on breathing.

"What should we do?" Al murmured.

"Help him," Ed told him, "He did kind of have a bit of a turn around before he died. I actually don't think he's all bad."

"Just mostly bad," Al muttered.

"I can still hear you," Envy panted. Ed chuckled, and attempted to get Envy up off the ground. He eventually accepted the fact that Envy could not support any of his own weight. He let several thoughts of Envy's true form run though his head, and knew if that was still the case, he wouldn't be able to carry him.

"How do we get him out of here?" Al asked, starting to favor simply leaving the homunculus to save himself.

"Large motor vehicle?" Ed suggested. Envy let out a strained chuckle.

"That won't be necessary," he coughed, "I weigh about what I look like I weigh right now."

Ed nodded, putting together several alchemical formulas in his head. He unquestioningly attempted to lift Envy off the ground, and his weight didn't seem to be a problem. However, Envy hissed air in through his teeth every time Ed touched his arm.

"God damn it…" he muttered.

"Sorry!" Ed apologized quickly, lifting Envy into his arms, and situating him so his arm was making minimal contact with anything. Envy took up panting again as they made their way quickly back into the open.

"Well what now?" Al asked, "We can't exactly take him to a hospital."

Ed nodded in agreement, "We'll just take him somewhere safe for now. If he gets worse we'll get Doctor Marcoh."

Al inclined his head once in acceptance to his brother's plan, and began to walk in the safest direction he knew: south.

They made their way secretively across the countryside, using taxis and wagons to get back home. They wrapped Envy in a cloak to hide his arm, claiming he was ill to account for his inability to stand. In fact, they were all a bit worse for wear. Ed was having some problems carrying Envy what with one of his arms having not been exercised in years, and Al grew tired very easily. When they finally stood outside a house that was extremely welcoming to Ed and Al, and a bit foreboding to Envy, they were almost at the end of their ropes. Den was as welcoming as always, knocking Al off his feet to attack his face with licks. Ed set Envy down on the grass and caught his breath. Den went over to Ed and expressed his love for him as well. After that, he moved on to Envy, and sniffed him cautiously before running his wet tongue over his face as well. Envy attempted to scramble away, and Den jumped on him, preventing him from escaping. Ed laughed.

"Down? Sit?" Envy tried.

"He's not going to do it if you say it like your not sure. You've got to be firm about it," Ed told him.

"Alright…" Envy muttered, "Get the hell off me!"

Den tilted his head in confusion before moving onto the grass next to him, tail wagging madly. Envy wiped his face on the cloak he was still wrapped in. Ed burst out laughing. All of a sudden, the festivities stopped. Ed and Al directed their attention to the blonde in the open doorway. Tears began flowing down her face as she jumped on them with just as much enthusiasm as Den had.

"Dummies. Welcome home," she sobbed, a huge smile spreading across her face.

"Thanks."

"Good to be back."

"Who's your friend?" Winry asked.

"Hi," Envy muttered, attempting again to sit up and failing miserably, "Long time no see."

"We've met?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Yeah," Envy said, falling onto his back again, "You kept me in jar for a while."

Winry considered for a moment, and finally made the connection when she looked into his violet eyes.

"Envy?" she burst.

"Damn straight," he muttered.

"Not much of a threat right now though," Al muttered.

"If she's going to help me I wouldn't hurt her if I could," Envy muttered.

"Help you?" Winry inquired, not sure she wanted to do any such thing. Envy rolled his eyes and rolled the cloak up so she could see his arm. She instantly jumped to his side, examining the damage. Envy shuddered at how loudly her eyes screamed 'amputation'.

"Ed, get him inside," she told him, not taking her eyes off Envy's arm. Ed lifted Envy off the ground again and followed Winry inside as she muttered something about 'demon science'. She gestured at the couch, where Ed put Envy down. Envy gulped as Winry walked back over.

"Tell me what happened," she muttered, being careful to look but not touch, for which Envy was thankful.

"He was left with an IV pumping the Philosopher's Stone into him for too long," Ed said simply.

"And how long was he like that?" Winry asked.

"Under twenty-four hours," Ed said.

"It was only painful for about an hour, maybe?" Envy added. Edward felt a pang of sympathy for him. It must have been scary to be left alone like that. It was - although Envy would never admit that.

"What do you know about this?" Winry asked, "Has anything like this ever happened before?"

"Yeah, I was there," Envy muttered.

"I need to know everything," Winry instructed, "Don't leave anything out."

Envy looked up at the ceiling and muttered, "I don't really think that I should…"

Ed looked at him for a moment and then questioned, "You don't think you should, or you don't want to?"

Envy looked at him before redirecting his death glare at the ceiling. Ed sighed.

"Will you tell if it's just me?" he tried. Envy gave up after a moment, and simply nodded his head. Ed nodded to Winry and Al, and they left the room, although he was sure they were eavesdropping.

"Every little detail is important," Ed reminded him, and sat down on the coffee table in front of the couch.

"Fine," Envy grumbled. Ed sat in silence, waiting for him to start. Envy rolled his eyes when he was reminded of child awaiting a bedtime story.

"Father was doing an experiment," he started, resigned to telling the whole tale, "He wanted to see what would happen if more than the proper dosage was put into the body. Normally he would measure out an amount or stop as soon as they were done. But, he just let it keep going one time, to see what would happen. The beginning was just swelling, and then color change, and then extra limbs, a tail…"

Envy trailed off, for what Ed thought was dramatic affect at first, until Envy looked away. Ed then realized he just didn't want to say the next part.

"And?" he prompted.

"And the physical appearance of the lives put into the stone," he murmured, looking at the wall. Ed's eyes widened marginally.

"It was you," he gasped.

"Tell me something new, why don't you?" Envy snapped.

"Uh, sorry," Ed muttered, "And sorry about… that…"

"Don't be. You didn't do it, apologize for all the things you're actually responsible for," Envy scoffed.

"Well then, I'm sorry Father didn't come back," Ed tried, still not sure why he was apologizing.

"He would've let it happen all over again anyway," Envy said, waving his hand in dismissal. Ed looked at the ground uncomfortably.

"That's… horrible," Ed stated, and stood up to tell Winry what he'd found out.

"I don't need your pity," Envy spat as he walked through the door.

"Thank you for listening though," he whispered.