A/N: Hi there everyone! Thank you all so much for the response last chapter, it was really great to hear from you all. As someone who tends to fall off fandoms, it means a lot to me that you're all still interested even after an eight month hiatus. So once again, thank you all so, so much.
I wanted to get this chapter out sooner, but I ended up doing some traveling and it got pushed back a week. So, just a few details that might have gotten forgotten in the break:
At the end of the last chapter, Greed was stranded in South City. He ends up meeting a local Escort named Anna and they decide to spend the night together, this chapter takes place an hour or so after that meeting. The only real confusing thing is that Greed is using the alias 'Garin' for the time being.
And that's about it, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and thank you all for sticking with me.

'Anna' gave a big stretch of her long, tanned arms while letting out a contented sigh. The man next to her, Garin, though that probably wasn't his real name, gave a sleepy chuckle as he slipped his arm around her bare shoulders. Normally, she wasn't much into cuddling but given that Garin was spending the rest of the night in her narrow bed regardless, she just assumed get comfortable. Besides, she had actually enjoyed herself for the first time in a while and he wasn't bad company either; eventually, Anna would have snuggled up to him on her own. However, there was still something undeniably frustrating about the situation.

"You know, it's really not fair." Anna breathed while running a hand across the man's smooth chest. (Funny, she couldn't remember seeing him take off his shirt.)

"What's that, dollface?" Garin mumbled, sounding half asleep already. Given that he'd been dead exhausted from the start though, it was quite a feat he was still awake.

"You've gotta be the best I've had in months, and you're not even staying in town." She wasn't looking for any kind of attachment to this man, but bartering with him for decent sex was an arrangement she could have gotten used to.

"Heh, you gonna miss me, sweetheart?" He yawned, the comment floating straight up to his ego.

"I just wanna see what you can do awake and when your head's not a million miles away." Anna got her turn to laugh when Garin flinched. Had he really expected her not to notice? "You think I can't tell when someone's just going through the motions?" Granted he was very, very, good at said motions, but there were more than a few times where she could tell his mind was somewhere else entirely. "I don't really mind or anything, handsome, don't worry." Anna could tell being called out annoyed him from the way he tensed and she preferred to keep the affair pleasant. "Though whoever you were thinking about must be a real gem if she made you forget me-"

"I don't need to fantasize when I've got a perfect woman here with me." Garin's retort almost sounded angry, and she felt his arm tighten around her possessively. The reaction surprised Anna to silence for a few seconds. She supposed his irritation could be warranted, though only a little. What got her was the way he'd said 'perfect'. Anna had long passed the point of falling to flattery, it had never done much to woo her in peaceful times either. However, it didn't sound like flattery coming from him. There was just an odd sincerity to the way he talked that made Garin sound like he really considered her flawless.

"So what, you weren't even thinking about sex?" Anna cut back in before she could get anymore doe eyed at just an honest compliment. "Well then, you have one impressive muscle memory." She reached up and squeezed his fingers, signaling he needed to loosen up before he made any bruises.

"Mhm, guess." He replied in a voice that gave a distinct impression he was pouting. All was quiet for a minute after that, Garin either falling prey to the noise in his head or sleep and left Anna to reflect on what an awkward note the night had ended.
"Can I ask ya a question, dollface?" He suddenly jolted her back from a doze.

"Mh?" She mumbled in assent but Garin kept musing for a while after, a sharp stare focused down on her.

"You wanna live forever?" And again, Anna went quiet.

The question was not normal pillow talk, but by far wasn't the weirdest she'd had. It wasn't even that strange a question in general, everyone thought about immortality at one point or another. Most people just had it as a passing fancy, others became obsessed with the idea but regardless, there was always a wistful note to the question because everyone knew it couldn't happen. This man didn't have that note. With all the same confidence and sincerity he'd used to declare her perfect, Garin asked that question. As if she said yes, he would make it happen. After putting himself out like that, Anna felt compelled to at least think about her answer.

"...Not really, no." She said softly and as she could have guessed, the look the man replied with was beyond incredulous. "I'd rather find out what's next, you know?" Though if what she'd been taught to believe was true, she wasn't going to like 'next' very much, living as she did. In truth, Anna had just wanted to cut him off before he could ask for the real reason.

"No, I don't." He replied, with a finality that said he didn't even want to understand her point of view. It seemed like his intent was to stave off death through sheer willpower, and it honestly didn't sound like that vain an attempt coming from him. "And I'm tryin'a figure out how to change it." Garin finished, apparently hanging onto some nigh on moronic belief that he actually could. At that point, Anna had to wonder if he was younger than he looked. Living forever was a fantasy for children and cocky teenagers that were blessed enough to never brush against death in their short lives.

"...Listen, I'm not anyone to be giving out life advice," She was really beginning to regret breaking the initial silence. She didn't even want to talk about this but there were only a few people she had ever heard speak with Garin's audacity, important people, people that risked too much on a blind faith in themselves. "But I like you and, I wouldn't waste the time I had chasing the impossible." She had seen what happened when you tried to change something that just couldn't be fixed. It was better for everyone to just take whatever shitty cards you were dealt and make the most of it. After everything, Anna couldn't let Garin slip off without that warning at least.

"I don't believe in impossible."

"Ah-Ow!" That comfortable, if not overbearing, hand on Anna's shoulder turned crushing when Garin full on snarled his reply. "Let go!" She spat, giving his hand far more than a gentle squeeze this time. Fortunately, the sharp slap across his knuckles made Garin realize he was taking out whatever vendetta he had against mortality on the wrong person and released just as quickly. That didn't stop Anna from scooting as far from him as she could get on the rickety double bed.

"Sorry, babydoll, didn't mean it." He really did sound remorseful too, matching the sad eyes she could barely see in the dark. All Anna gave him was the barest hum of acknowledgement though. After almost hurting her twice, she wasn't going right back with just a little apology. Garin seemed to get the message. She heard him rustle around for a second and maybe try to reach over but thought better of it and returned to laying on his back. Either content to wait or resigning himself to an uncomfortable night alone.

After that ordeal, all Anna wanted was to go to sleep. However, several minutes of honest trying proved that plan futile. There was too much tension in the room for her to relax. So, after a few more minutes of internal debate, she stole a glance over to her bedmate, hoping there was some way to neutralize the situation. Garin was still awake, though he didn't give any indication that he noticed her move. He laid flat on his back, squinting up at the cracks in the ceiling as if they were the most confounding things in the world. It was odd, in the half light of the apartment, his eyes almost looked purple, a lot like they had back in the dim glow of the alley. She had to wonder if they actually weren't blue reflecting oddly like she'd assumed and lavender was just natural for him. But purple wasn't a normal color in Amestris, was it? Then again, he might have not been Amestrian at all. All she really knew about the man next to her was he had a temper and thought death was something he could outwit.

Unfortunately, while the sound of her rolling around didn't bother him, Garin seemed to have an acute awareness of when he was being stared at. His eyes snapped to lock with hers just a second after she started watching. Right off his face softened and another sheepish, apologetic smile crossed his lips, though some of his mischievous air had come back. When he opened his mouth again, Anna half expected it to be some childish comment about her staring.

"Hey baby, got another question for ya, b'fore I forget." He elected to forgo the teasing.

"What?" She hadn't meant to snap like she did, but his questions hadn't been leading them to the best places that night. That didn't seem to put Garin off though.

"You're a sharp lady. You heard anything about this monster running around?"

Anna tensed at the question. She couldn't help it, but cursed herself all the same since Garin definitely noticed. Of all people, why would he be asking her about this? Did he know something or maybe every living thing he crossed was getting this line of questioning. You did tend to get a lot of information working the streets, so there was a decent chance it was the latter.

"What's it worth to you?" But Anna was wary all the same. She couldn't deny she had information but she'd withhold it until she knew more. No one in their right mind would go after that thing for fun and there was only a handful of sane reason for it.
'Oh all the fucking gods if I just bedded a soldier…' Her business involved some questionable things but she wouldn't feel clean for weeks if that turned out to be true.

"A lot, actually." Garin replied as he pulled himself into a sitting position. "And if ya help me out, I can get it out'uh this city for good." Now that got Anna's interest. In spite of herself, she curled up to get closer, but the skepticism was still there.

"What are you, military?" She went straight for the elephant in the room. Garin's belt of laughter made her nearly flinch off the bed.

"Ha! Not even a little." He chuckled, sounding genuinely amused. "Tryin' to beat them to the punch, actually." Once again, his tone seemed totally sincere. Anna wasn't going to trust him on just his pitch, but there wasn't any reason to pass up the opportunity yet.

"So...you're here to kill it?" She tested.

"If it comes to that." He shrugged noncommittally. Anna wasn't sure exactly how to take that and Garin reclaimed control of the conversation before she could ask. "But after that, I'm gonna guess you want 'im gone." He stated, leaning in closer. "If you tell me where he is, I can make that happen." Garin seemed bent on not giving any straight or clear answers, which was suspicious at best. However, the things he did say seemed to be in earnest and honestly, Anna couldn't have cared less about the details of the monster's fate. Killed, stuffed, put in some messed up zoo, it didn't matter to her as long as that thing was far out of her city. It was hard to believe she'd been lucky enough to meet Amestris's most forward monster hunter but she couldn't afford to back out or second guess, if something wasn't done soon the damage that thing did would be irreparable.

"Outside the city, on the lower east side…" Anna choked out. She never shared this information with any outsiders and her body found it hard to cooperate. "There's an Ishvalan slum village. That-monster, it's been raiding them for weeks now."

"And you're sure it's him?" Garin rushed, with a lean forward that trespassed far into Anna's personal space.

"Ah-I-! Well, I don't see how anyone could mistake it for a person." She hadn't seen it herself, but the descriptions were too far out of anything human to be just mistakes. How many false leads Garin must have followed to get to so suspicious, she had no idea. He almost looked reluctant to believe her but after a long minute of musing, he gave into the hope sparking in his eye.

"Of course, where else would he hide. Why didn't I think'uh that?" He muttered over the hand on his chin, a calculating look of someone much smarter than Anna had expected on his face. "And can ya get me in?" Garin continued after a second. "It's family turf, right? You still-"

Whatever he'd gone and said next got lost in the din of squealing springs when Anna practically leaped off the bed again. And when those stopped squeaking, she was greeted by cackles.

"Heh heh, I know a dye job when I see one, sweets." He said, fidgeting with a black ringlet Anna spent no little time and money maintaining, before she smacked his hand away. "My advice, mix some brown in there next time; straight black just looks unnatural." Garin seemed to be electing to ignore his own appearance. "Though more'n that, you missed some roots on the back of your head." He laughed again when her hand shot up to her skull.

"Ah-!" She choked over her tongue, being rendered speechless for the, once was already too damn many-nth, time that night. There were more than a few big problems with this situation. It was pretty ridiculous that her brain decided to zero in on,

'How the hell could he notice that in the dark?' Of course, the real issue was that she had slipped up like that in the first place. It didn't matter if the man was uncannily observant, oversights like that were not something she could afford. Prostitution wasn't a safe profession for anybody and for an Ishvalite, well, that was another story entirely.

"Alright, jeez. Sorry for statin' the obvious." Garin opened his mouth again far too soon. Apparently, he'd taken the look on her face as an offended glower. In reality, Anna was thinking about the knife she kept under her side of the mattress, wondering if she would have to use it. How he could mistake the murder on her face for anything else she couldn't fathom, he obviously wasn't an oblivious person. Maybe he wasn't worried about it, maybe he didn't believe she could actually hurt him. If that was the case, good, he would have no idea what hit him.
"Anyway, this slum, can you get me in?" Garin added, his eager look starting to border on impatient.

The reaction managed to short circuit Anna's thought process yet again. And in the pause it made her take, she started to doubt if he was actually a threat. He had yet to try taking advantage of her and didn't seem to intend to, he was one hundred percent absorbed into this monster business. On top of that, if this was some ploy to smoke out remaining Ishvalans, he wouldn't have blown Anna's, and subsequently his, cover by throwing the fact out there. Not to mention she had been the one to make advances, he'd barely even tried to flirt. When she really thought it over, it made the most sense that he was just a brash man with a big mouth.

"Well?" A big mouth and a sharp tongue. Garin's snapping for her attention wasn't much appreciated but annoying or not, he was offering a service she needed desperately.

"Yeah, I'll take you." Anna replied, just as he looked ready to whine again. "I can't say you'll get a great reception," especially with only her there to vouch. "but if you say you're there to kill that motherf-cker, they'll come around."

The smile that split Garin's face was more than a little unnerving, bordering on manic, and Anna swore there was something wrong with his teeth.

"Dollface, you're the best thing to happen to me in weeks." He said, or shouted really, but his voice was too giddy to be at all threatening. He sounded like a little kid who'd been told they were getting a puppy. The grown man was just as eager too, she didn't even get a chance to reply before he was rolling out of the bed and scrabbling around for his pants.

"Uh-? Hey, wait." She called, rolling back to his side of the bed. "We can't go now." She was met with a confused glare. "If you go stomping through in the middle of the night, they're gonna mistake you for that freak." Their current policy was to start shooting if anyone so much as saw a funny shadow. The technique attracted a lot of unwanted attention but several people had already saved themselves, so no one was inclined to drop it. Garin mulled that information over for a second, some sharp teeth poking out to knead his lower lip.

"Damn, guess you got a point." He grunted a moment later. Though no matter how much he grumbled, his body looked relieved. Big, bunched shoulders dropped down like his drooping eyelids and his hands fell slack at his sides. It was amazing he managed to stay standing long enough to undo his pants and fold them over a chair before flopping back onto the bed. "Tomorrow, once it's, eeaah, light." He said through a big yawn as his eyes fluttered shut. He very well may have been asleep before Anna could mumble 'Alright.'

She honestly didn't know what she was expecting out if this. Garin was big, strong and definitely in better shape to fight than anybody from the village but he was still just one man. It was all equal chances that he would kill the thing or just make it angry end up dead himself. But in any case, it was a low risk gamble for Anna that she could tell herself she wouldn't lose any sleep over.

"Ssssoooo…" Garin suddenly hissed, snaking his hand up her back with each 's'. Anna arched away at first but his soft, warm fingertips were quite the relaxant. "You comin' back? It's cold down here all alone." His hand sat beneath her shoulder blade. The touch felt greedy, he wanted her close, but it seemed important she initiated. Anna regarded him once more.

"That line doesn't work in the summer." she grumbled while curling up next to him, draping an arm across his chest just like before.

"Still worked." He snickered under his breath, taking the invitation to pull her tight against his side.

Alright, maybe she'd lose some sleep if Garin didn't make it out of the job alive. A few more hypothetical hours got stolen with the last kiss He snuck before finally passing out.

A/N: To be honest, I'm kind of on the fence about this chapter, so let me know your thoughts. It was a bit tough getting a grip on Anna's character and Greed feels a bit weird to me, though it might have to do with how I had to write him from an outsiders perspective. Hopefully it's at least well written and not too hard to understand.

Like always, reviews aren't required but I would really like to hear opinions on this one. Plus, I've really enjoyed talking to you all again. Another time, thank you all so much and here's to more chapters!