Lascivious

Chapter One

"Visiting hours are ending in a few minutes. And then you," the nurse- a young thing with close cut brown hair- said pointedly to the pretty brunette sitting on the edge of Roy's bed, "need to get out of here, Miss... um..."

"Christmas," Vanessa said languidly, "and I'll be out in a minute, alright darling?" she gave a wicked smirk in Roy's direction. The nurse stormed out of the room.

"Poor thing," Vanessa mused. "She's got quite a crush on you. I don't suppose we should tell her I'm not actually your girlfriend?"

Roy laughed. "After what you just pulled, I think it's best she doesn't know you're my sister. Besides, a broken heart might do her some good. Give Havoc a chance with her," he gestured to the man asleep in the bed next to him.

"Saving yourself for Elizabeth are you?" Vanessa teased, and raised an eyebrow when she noticed a momentary shift in his expression.

He regained his composure quickly, "You could say that." He grinned, "Or maybe I have better things to do with my time than flirt and sleep with people."

"Ah that's right, you don't have a snot nosed baby brother who needs you to collect information from a bunch of grubby looking military officials. I take it you don't want this report then?" She took the slip of paper from her pocket and waved it tauntingly.

"Now I didn't say that," he said quickly, and made to snatch the paper from her hand.

She pulled it away, "I wonder if I should though," she said more seriously, "the doctor told me, Roy, about the way your insides were cut open, about the way you sealed them. And your man Havoc over there..." Roy winced. "You know what Mom said to tell you before I came here? She said to make sure that you weren't in over your head. And if this isn't that, well then I don't know what is."

Roy sighed, "Nessa..."

"Oh don't give me that crap. I just hope you know what you're doing, Roy, because I'm trusting you. And if you get yourself killed, I'll never forgive you."

"I'll be fine, honestly," he promised, resisting the childish urge to cross his fingers. She reluctantly handed the paper over and as he read it, his lips twisted into a smirk, "Thank you, Vanessa. And now you'd probably better get going before that poor nurse skins you alive."

She laughed as she stood from the edge of the bed. "You're right. I'll tell the girls you said hello."

As she closed the door behind her, Roy could hear Havoc beginning to stir in the bed beside him. He would be disappointed to have missed Vanessa, he knew. The 2nd Lieutenant had a thing for Roy's sister, in the way that he had a thing for every pretty girl he met. He wondered if he couldn't persuade Vanessa to take Havoc out some time. God knew the man deserved it after everything he had been through.

A spinal injury... He can never walk again...

But a new sound from the hallway outside the hospital room disturbed Roy from his musings.

"No more visitors!" But the nurse stopped dead in her tracks when she opened the door.

Roy snapped to attention the best he could with the stabbing pain in his side. "Fuhrer Bradley, sir. To what do I owe the honor?"

"Can't the Fuhrer check after the well-being of some of his injured officers?" He turned to the nurse, who had backed into the opposite corner of the room, "Can I have a word in private with Colonel Mustang?"

"Oh... um... of course, sir! I'm sure there's a private room somewhere..."

"Don't bother; I prefer to walk. There's something I'd like to show the Colonel. I hope you don't mind, Mustang?'

"I should be able to manage." Roy was curious. He had assumed that Bradley would want to know what he had been doing in the laboratory, and he supposed it might be best to tell him everything. The Fuhrer deserved to know about the threat of the homunculi and about the corruption that was seemingly deep within the military. However, he had no idea what Bradley could possibly want to show him.

Walking was harder than he anticipated, and as he strode out into the corridor, he tried to disguise his pain.

Bradley raised an eyebrow. "You were injured pretty badly, Colonel."

"Not nearly as badly as my subordinate," Roy replied grimly.

"Ah, 2nd Lieutenant Havoc; I heard. A good soldier; he'll be missed. Hopefully he finds retirement more enjoyable than his military career."

This surprised Roy even more. It was odd enough that the leader of the country had paid attention to a Colonel being injured, but a Lieutenant... Unless Bradley had been looking into the affairs of the laboratory personally, it made no sense.

"Well about that, sir..." Suddenly, Roy didn't feel nearly as confident about relaying the real events and he fumbled for a new story.

"No need to explain, Mustang," Bradley said pleasantly and gestured to a door at the end of the hall. "Now if you would just take a look in here."

Roy stepped into a dark room. The butt of the sword hit him over the back of the head before he even had time to voice his confusion.

-----

The number of homunculi had dwindled down to six and Father couldn't pretend to be pleased. Of course, the number may as well have been five; due to Greed's insolence, he was as good as dead until Father could find, kill, and recreate him himself. And now with Lust's demise, his forces had been weakened further, and so close to the Promised Day. The damage was not irreparable, of course; simply inconvenient, but this Lust had been a near perfect model. Her passion was not geared towards the carnal distractions that impeded humans, but rather a lust for blood. He would be lucky if he was ever able to conceive a Lust like that again.

He had been so annoyed that his initial instinct was to arrange an "accident" for the Flame Alchemist. Sacrifice or no, the man had just proved himself far too dangerous to be kept alive. Besides, Marcoh could easily serve as the fifth sacrifice.

Perhaps that's what he would have done, had he still been tainted by all the mortal follies he has possessed in his creation in the flask. But there was another option: a far more appealing use for Roy Mustang.

The man was beginning to come to. He rose shakily, clutching at his injured side. Poor work from Lust, Father couldn't help but think; she should have stabbed him until she was certain he was dead. It certainly wasn't unlike her to want to watch the man bleed out next to his dying subordinate, and in the past, Father had seen no reason to deny her such amusements. This time her fun had proved fatal, however, and he would have to be sure not to allow such carelessness from her successor.

"What... what the hell is this?" Mustang demanded. "Fuhrer Bradley? And you," he spat when he saw Gluttony, "Who the hell are you people?"

He didn't bother answering. "Gluttony, hold him down. Make sure he stays still." He summoned a new Philosopher's Stone from his own body and approached the man struggling under the giant homunculus' grip.

"You... you... what are you even trying to accomplish here?" His questions fell on deaf ears as Father tore off Mustang's bandages and applied the Philosopher's Stone to the exposed wounds.

Welcome back, Lust...