Freak Like Me

I Found You!

Al P.O.V.

"Do you think it was right to leave her there?" I asked, turning to Brother. It had been days and I still felt awful for abandoning Lillith. She was in a town far from her home and all alone. To make things worse, she was a chimera. Military would be looking for her for sure if one of the homunculi weren't. It wasn't right. "She's tough. She can take care of herself," he replied nonchalantly. Someone bumped into me as we walked down the street. "I'm sor--" I froze when I saw Lillith standing there, her cloak pulled around her tightly. She looked rather pale. Her eyes darkened with rage and she swung at me. I fell to the ground with a clatter, stunned into silence. Brother turned around and saw her, his eyes going wide with shock. She hit him in the face, sending him to the ground as well. "What the hell was that for?" he cried. "You left me!" she shrieked, her voice an almost animalistic growl. "You dropped me off at some hospital in God-knows-where and didn't think twice about it. Some creeps from the military came to pick me up and they...they--" She stopped yelling and started to cry.

Brother struggled to stand up, staring warily at her. I approached her slowly, my arms held out in a peaceful gesture. She hissed, baring her fangs at us. "I'm so sorry, Lillith. You were hurt and we didn't know what else to do. You were better off there than with us. You were safer there," I said softly, only inches from her. "They wanted to take me back and use me for more experiments!" she sobbed, her body wracking with every word. "Alphonse, I was scared. I was so scared," she whimpered. I wrapped my arms around her awkwardly as she continued to cry. "Al..." she whispered, her entire weight slamming against me. She collapsed, her eyes rolling back in her head. "Brother!" I cried, unsure of what to do. He pressed his flesh hand against her forehead. "She's got a fever," he murmured, smoothing her hair out of her face. She was shaking badly. "We can't leave her again, Brother," I said. "Come on," he demanded, walking toward the hotel we were staying in. I picked her up in my arms, running after him.

Lillith P.O.V.

I woke up in a dark room. I was curled up in a twin-sized bed; someone had thrown a blanket over me. Another bed was across from me. A small form was huddled up in the top corner of the bed. "Good, you're awake. How are you feeling?" a familiar voice asked. I rolled over to see Alphonse sitting against the wall. "It's so cold," I whispered, wrapping the blanket tighter around myself. He stood, making a tisking noise as he came to sit next to me on the tiny mattress. "You haven't broken your fever yet," he said, tucking the blanket around my feet. "What happened?" I asked. "Your wound was infected and it made you sick. Brother cleaned you up and brought you medicine. I've been waiting for you to wake up for hours," he admitted. "Really?" I asked, shocked. "Yeah. I-I was worried about you," he murmured. I stared at him for a long time in silence. "Well, um, I guess I'll let you rest some more," he said, getting up and going to sit by the wall again.

Suddenly I was burning up. I grabbed the blanket and padded across the room. I lay next to Al on the hardwood floor, laying my head in his lap. "You're so cold. It feels good. I feel like I'm on fire," I mumbled sleepily, pressing my cheek against the cool metal of his leg. "Glad I can help," he whispered, running his hands through my hair. I fell asleep to cold fingers against my scalp and a lullaby being hummed in my ear.

Ed P.O.V.

I woke up late the next morning. Lillith was curled in a ball on the floor, her head in Al's lap. "Brother, I think her fever finally broke," he said excitedly. "Good," I murmured. "Wake her up and give her that medicine. I'm going to get dressed." I grabbed my clothes and shuffled into the bathroom. "I don't wanna," I heard Lillith whining in the next room. "I just wanna sleep." Alphonse had a friend, maybe even a girlfriend when the time came that we could get his body back. I smiled at the thought. Lillith and he were getting pretty close. I walked into the room as Lillith was finishing her dose of medicine. "When you get out of the shower, you need to rub some of this gunk on your wound. It will keep it from getting infected again," I said, tossing her a bottle that I had picked up from the pharmacy along with a bag of clothes Al had insisted on getting for her. "Thank you," she murmured, grabbing her clothes and rushing to the bathroom. I sat down on the edge of the bed and turned to Al. "So, you got yourself a girlfriend," I teased. "I-I do not!" he stammered.

"Al, she likes you. And admit it, you like her too," I said, making sure my voice was low so she wouldn't hear me. "Okay, maybe I do like her...just a little bit," he mumbled, staring at the ground. "My baby brother has a crush. How sweet!" I squealed, taking just the slightest bit of joy in embarrassing him. "Brother! Be quiet. She might hear you," he whispered, glancing at the bathroom door. "C'mon Al. Why don't you just tell her that you like her?" I asked. He crossed his arms over his chest, staring down at me. "I'll tell her that I like her the day that you confess your love for Winry," he taunted. I could feel the blood rushing to my face. "I do not love her!" I growled. "She's my mechanic and our childhood friend. Why would I love her 'that way'?" Al continued to stare at me. "Riiiight. Whatever you say, Brother," he mumbled. Lillith came out of the bathroom and he jumped in surprise. "We were just talking about you," I smirked. "Oh, really?" she replied as she brushed her hair, pulling it into a high ponytail. "What about me?" I failed to hold back my laughter as Al stuttered and fumbled for the words to say. "You two are weird," she said playfully. "We get that a lot," I grinned.

Lillith P.O.V.

"Where are we going?" I asked, bouncing up and down beside Alphonse. "You'll see," he replied, glancing down at me. I would give anything to see what he really looked like. If I could see him smile once, it would make me the happiest person alive. "Alphonse," I whined. "Isn't Ed going to wonder where we are?" I followed him obediently. So many things caught my eye and I wanted to explore, but I resisted the urge that I knew came from the animal side of me. "Winry is busy fixing his arm," he answered absentmindedly. We had a run in with another homunculus a few days before, and it was back to their hometown, Resembool. This one was named Envy. He was a shapeshifter, and he had called me by name. Ed had destroyed his automail arm fighting the thing. Envy's face was so eerily familiar, but I couldn't recall where I had seen him before. I let my thoughts wander to the androgynous homunculus as Al led me to an empty patch of land, A large tree with a swing was nearby. "This is where our house used to be," he sighed, running his hand over the bark. I tried so hard to focus on what Al was saying, but I couldn't. My thoughts kept drifting back to Envy. His pale white skin, his spiky green-black hair, his dark violet eyes, the ouroboros on the outside of his thigh...

"Al!" I screamed, startling myself at how loud I was. He turned around quickly, inspecting me for any signs of pain. "What is it Lillith? What's wrong?" he asked, sounding worried. "That homunculus, Envy, was the person I killed at that warehouse. It was him!" I whispered. I was suddenly very afraid. "A-are you sure?" he stammered. I nodded, my hair whipping back and forth. "I am one hundred percent positive that it was him," I replied, the light and joking mood from earlier now gone. "We have to tell Brother," he murmured, grabbing my hand and pulling me back the way we had came. "But, wait," I huffed as I struggled to keep up with his fast pace. "Why did you bring me out here?" He looked over his shoulder at me and I could feel the warmth of his gaze. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach. "That's still a surprise. I'll take you some other time," he said softly. He was kind and gentle with everyone, but when he spoke to me, I felt special. I felt important. I didn't feel like the beast that I knew I had become. I followed him toward the Rockbell home, my fear slowly ebbing away.

Al P.O.V.

Lillith ran into Winry just as she was leaving the den. "I-I'm sorry," she murmured, ducking into the room. She was terrified of Winry. "What's wrong?" she asked, staring up at me with worry. "She's just a little scared. Brother and I are the only people she knows and she's somewhere foreign to her. Give her some time and she'll adjust," I lied smoothly. "Oh, well I hope she gets used to things," Winry responded with a smile. "That's got to be hard on her." I nodded as I walked into the room. Brother was flexing his automail limbs experimentally. Obviously Lillith told him about Envy. "We need to go," he muttered, throwing his jacket at me. "Let's go. Now," he demanded as he ushered Lillith out of the room. "We're leaving? Just like that? What about Winry?" I asked, following them hesitantly. "She's safer if she's not involved, and we have a homunculus to find," he replied, making his way to the door. Lillith was already waiting for us outside. I sighed, following Brother out of the house. "See ya soon, old hag," Brother murmured, waving to Granny on the way out.