Envy's Child

**Disclaimer: I don’t own Fullmetal Alchemist, or any characters relating to the show.



The rain still hadn’t stopped. For three days now it had continued, not a hard drenching rain but enough. A steady drizzle that made inside work gloomy and outside work downright miserable.

The military found the girl in a wide, stone alley between two respectable businesses. She sat shivering in the middle of the strip of concrete that spaced the walls.

Her dark brown hair hung limply around her face as she sat hunched over the one leg she had bent; the other was stretched out in front of her. Her arms hung like dead weights from her shoulders. Bruises and scratches adorned her entire body. The worst of the damage seemed to be concentrated on her hips. There were deep gouges and blue/black bruises that vaguely resembled the shape of hands. But that was not what disturbed them the most. What disturbed them was the torn state of her clothes; they were practically gone. The shirt she had been wearing was torn to expose her breasts and her bottom half sat naked on the ground. The pile of cloth discarded behind her all that was let of her clothes. Obviously the worst of the damage was going to be mental.

The military officer in charge called out for her. She turned her head to look at them; her eyes stared through them, haunted and unfocused.

Orders were shouted and they were followed. A kind looking man slowly approached the girl so as not to spook her. He crouched down next to her, wrapping her in his military jacket. He started to button it when he stopped in shock. He was staring at her leg or more specifically the mark on it.

It was The Mark. The mark that identified a homunculus.

The man took a step back and made his way back to his commanding officer. He whispered his findings into the man’s ear and waited for the command.

“Take her to the Colonel. He’ll want to ask her some questions.” The ranking officer commanded.

Other people had already taken care of the girl, ushering her into the car that would take her away.


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The car drove away, splashing through a puddle in its retreat from the crime scene. The girl was silent through the gently probing questions of the officers. None of them wanted to damage her delicate psyche but they wanted at least some basic knowledge so that they had at least something to give the Colonel when they dropped her off.

“What’s you’re name?” An anonymous dog of the military asked.

Silence.

“How old are you?”

Silence.

“Where are you staying?”

Silence.

Then like a flash of lightning she was in action. Her head whipped to the window she was sitting next to and locked on something neither of the men in the car could see. She looked back to her questioner and then down. She reached and in a flash of skin, she had grabbed the gun from the holster on his hip. And before he had even registered that his gun was gone; she was out of the car and running down the street.

“Hey! Wait!”

The car stopped abruptly and both men raced from their seats to follow her. Another car stopped behind them and the other military personnel exited the car. All five people rushing to catch the A.W.O.L. girl.

The rain still poured from the sky and though they had to watch their footing, they weren’t falling behind on the girl. The water splashed in their eyes making it hard to focus. But still they ran. The four that still had their guns, had them out and ready, since no one knew what a girl like that could do.

When they found her, she was in an alley identical to her own. Having cornered a man there against the dirty bricks, she held him at gun point. They made it just in time to see the strangest sight any of them had ever encountered.

The girl, drenched from head to toe, and wearing a state military uniform, aimed the gun to the man’s head.

There, with her eyes completely devoid of emotion, she said the first words she had said since they saw her.

“I win.”

The words were said simply and with an eerie calm but the power that flashed through her eyes as she pulled the trigger made her words seem worthless in comparison.

And it was obvious it was true. Whatever battle that had been fought between the two was over. And the girl had claimed victory.

She watched the man for a moment, taking in his dead corpse before she moved, turning to face her pursuers. The military stood there in absolute shock. Some of their wits returned and they raised their guns, a clear warning to the now murderer.

Radiating serene, she calmly walked up to the man she had taken the gun from. Though they knew they should, because she was blatantly posing a threat to an officer of the military, none of the others could bring them selves to disarm her with a bullet. Hell, they couldn’t even pop off a warning shot.

She presented the gun to him on a platter made of her hands. He took it from her, letting it hang by his side.

“Thanks.” She said. She took in their open mouths and decided to take pity on them. Though she didn’t want to go the military’s headquarters she knew they would want to talk to her. About the man she had killed.

And of course about the tattoo.


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Eastern Headquarters was surprisingly empty for such a large complex. And the people there didn’t really seem to be doing much. Faking paperwork, playing cards, picking up women, whatever.

It was amazing how the arrival of one girl could change all that.

The officer that had found the girl was now escorting her to the infirmary. The hallway was wide, with pale blue walls and brown doors spaced at equal increments along the wall. They passed offices and meeting rooms, ones marked for research and those used for storage. They duo had entered through the back way to avoid some attention; though it probably wouldn’t help for long. The man was sure someone had already notified every available person that a homunculi was among them and had already killed once today. And he knew that the embellishments would follow.

When they finally made it to the infirmary, he signed her in as ‘Jane Doe’ and left her in the care of the registered state doctor on command there.

The doctor, a kind man who looked a bit older than middle age, led her to an examination table off to the far side of the room. He patted the padded table, “Up.”

She boosted herself onto the mattress. Sitting with her feet dangling over the edge and her back to the wall, she waited for the doctor to make his first request.

He left the room for a moment, returning with a clipboard, a piece of paper, and a pen. He slid the curtain around the bed closed even though they were the only ones in the clinic. Better than being walked in on, she supposed.

“Name?”

“Aomi,” she said. Wanting to get this done with as soon as possible, she decided to answer his questions truthfully as long as they weren’t about what she was. Hell, even she wasn’t very sure.

“Last name?”

“ . . . I don’t know.”

“Age?”

“Seventeen.”

“Last place of residence?”

“. . . um . . . I don’t really know that either.”

The doctor looked up, frustrated. He saw her face, bloody and no doubt hurting, and smiled slightly, ashamed. The girl was hurt, had survived a rape and he was frustrated that she couldn’t remember information. She was probably traumatized. No wonder she couldn’t remember anything.

“Stand up.” He commanded gently. She obeyed. “I’d like to take a look at the damage. Okay?”

She nodded, reaching down to unbutton the military coat. Sliding it off her shoulders, she presented her wounds to his inspection.

He looked her over methodically, stopping every once in a while to touch a laceration and ask questions. After his examination had been completed he brought her a hospital gown to wear. It was cheaply made and not very warm but it was clean and better than the damp coat she had been wearing.

“Now comes the scary part. Are you ready?” The doctor said as he arranged her into a reclined position on the table.

“No but I’ll manage.” Aomi said through false bravado.

He smiled reassuringly at her before setting up between her legs. “I’m going to touch you now.” He warned her. “Tell me if anything hurts.”
The examination had begun.


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Ten minutes later and the doctor had completed his internal assessment of the girl’s well being. While Aomi tended to some of her more intimate cuts, like those on the insides of her thighs, the doctor wrote up a report on the girl.

Doctor’s Log:
The patient has slight vaginal bleeding (weak enough to be caused by a fingernail rather than a blade of some sort). Considerable amount of bruises cover most of her body. Scratches caused by fingernails on hips, shoulders, and breasts. The patient seems strangely unfazed. Those on the scene comment that she was thoroughly shaken and mute for the most part, but seems to have recovered a bit. I have refrained from questioning the girl too much for fear that she is already mentally overwhelmed. Mention of the tattoo has not arisen. But on further inspection of the mark during an examination: This doctor finds that compared to the picture Edward “Fullmetal” Elric provided the military with, the mark is strangely incomplete. The serpent eating its own tail is present but the triangle in the center and the lines above it are not. Also the color is lighter than what Fullmetal describes.
:End Doctor’s Log.

The doctor put his pen down and moved over to the girl with a glass bottle of antiseptic. Treating her with care, he cleaned and bandaged all superficial wounds and used alchemy to heal those most in danger of becoming infected. He erased her bruises, watching the change in her facial expression as he did. The tenseness in her muscles ebbed and a half dreamy, half happy look came across her features.

“I’ll need to get an official sanction before I can heal your internal injuries.” The doctor told her regretfully.

“Its fine.” Aomi said.

“I’m still going to heal it, without proper repair it may only worsen.” He warned her. She nodded. Not saying anything more on the matter. It brought back fresh memories, ones she was determined to bury. The air was now tense with unsaid things and it was with relief that they heard the newest patients enter the infirmary.

“Put me down, Al! I can walk just fine!”

“Without a leg, brother?” A person, she was guessing was Al said.

The blond boy huffed and said something that sounded like, “I could have managed.”

The doctor left to tend to the newcomers, shutting the curtain behind him, closing off what brief view she’d had of the duo.

For now, she could remain alone. She welcomed the reprieve and dreaded the day when she would be well enough to receive a real interrogation. They would wheedle every last drop of information from her, of that she was sure. But she had options and talents that not even these poor suckers knew about. Needing protection, she’d stay here as long as her identity was safe and when it wasn’t she’d slip out the front door.


**Please reviex: constructive criticism appreciated, also any ideas, questions, or typos. Also, I\'d like to know your opinion on the name Aomi. I believe it means greeness in Japanese.