Chapter 15 - 15 Vee

It took Envy a moment to remember that he had posed as a prisoner to gain her trust. "Yeah… I was." he rubbed the back of his head a bit. "You made a lasting impression, Nova." He gave her a bit of a smile. "I'm sorry for scaring you…" Nova flushed some and rubbed the back of her neck. "I should've realized it was you.." She murmured sheepishly. "Still as charming as ever I see." She mused, relaxing a bit. "Why come for me?" She asked curiously. "That was so long ago it seems.." Envy sheepishly scratched his cheek. "I was worried about you, you had it the roughest in the lab… when I saw you with the brothers… I thought you were just playing along with them and was a captive…" It was quite easy to fall into the role of Vee again after remembering what he was like.

Nova shook her head lightly. "They're okay." She admitted shyly. "I knew them before I was kidnapped, they're my friends." She said as she walked closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad you got away, I hope the others did to." She murmured wearily. "How have you been adjusting to being out of there?" She asked genuinely. Envy gave her a lazy grin, nodding as he listened to her. Inside he was frowning, not liking that she was that close with the Elric brothers. "I hope the others did too… unfortunately, I haven't run into the others…" he sighed a little. At her question, he chuckled softly. "It's a little easier with being able to transform into animals, lots of people take pity on something that's cute." He winked at her playfully, lightly placing his hand upon hers. He made sure that his mark was covered to not draw suspicions. Nova smirked some. "Are you sure you're not jealous?" She teased, only somewhat seeing through his lazy grin.

Nova flushed once more at his tease and lightly poked his cheek with her other hand. She couldn't help how she acted with him, it was just a relief to see him again, after being in that place. Envy laughed at her tease, smirking in amusement. "Jealous? Nah, you know I've always been a lone wolf." He lightly nudged her. "Besides, I got to see you, didn't I?" he smiled lightly. "Always did say that four smile could light up an entire city, and that still hasn't changed." He murmured softly and lightly stroked her tinted cheek. "I should probably let you get back to your friends though, I bet they'll get worried about you if you're gone too long." He sighed a little and dropped his hand from her cheek.

Nova's cheeks darkened as he spoke. "A lone wolf, huh?" She murmured quietly. "Cheeky bastard.." She murmured softly, gently taking his hand in hers. "You haven't changed, you know that? Even when we were in that damn place.." She murmured, lowering her eyes. "Can we stay like this, just a little longer?" She asked quietly. "They're good boys but no matter how they try, they'll never understand what I went through.. I still have nightmares about that place.." She admitted quietly, then slowly let go of his hand and brought her arms around herself. "I know you probably don't want to hear about it, since we're free.. I'm sorry.." She murmured.

Envy had to hold back a smirk as he lightly pulled Nova into his arms. "We can stay like this. And no one will be able to understand what we went through. People can imagine, yes, but never fully understand…" he sighed softly to her. "We're the only two who can understand each other like that… and I have nightmares of that place too… they never seem to get better." He murmured. "I don't plan on leaving Central for a while, if you ever need to talk about it, I'm usually in the park or around here."

Nova blinked when he did and leaned into him lightly, closing her eyes for a moment as he spoke. No one else could understand what they went through.. She felt a lot better though, knowing he and the others made it out, or that's what she liked to believe. "Just don't fall on anyone, alright?" She teased lightly, pulling back after a moment just to look at him and smirk some. Envy smirked at her. "Even if it's on you?" he teased with a wink. He got her now, it was all too simple to get her to fall for his charms again. This was going to be even more fun than he expected to get her on his side, maybe even convincing her to slowly distance herself from the Elric brothers. "I'll see you later though, alright? You do have friends waiting for you, you don't want them worry too much." He told her softly. "Remember, I'll always be around, either I'll find you or you'll find me. You're not alone, Nova." He reminded her softly, lightly tipping up her chin with a lopsided smirk.

Nova smirked some at his tease and chuckled. She pouted some when he pretty much said it was time to go, and flushed when he tipped her head. She stepped back and rubbed her forearm sheepishly. "Alright, alright, you win." She murmured, smirking lightly. "See you later, Vee." She murmured, before turning and heading back towards the park. Envy chuckled softly. "See you later, Nova. Take care of yourself, alright?" he told her, watching as she left. He had to make preparations now to make sure he could be around when needed so she wouldn't get suspicious of him. Once she was out of sight, he shook his head and headed back to the hideout.

Al was sitting with Ed, who was still sleeping, wondering where Nova was, hopefully she found the kitten's home and that it was going to be okay. It felt like she had been gone for a while as his brother's nose began twitching a little. Nova easily found her way back to the park and have Al a wave when the boys came into view. She offered him a small smile when she was close enough and lowered down some. "Sorry it took so long.. The address on the collar was farther than I expected." She murmured quietly. 

Al smiled when Nova returned. "It's okay, I'm you got the little guy home alright." He told her just as Ed slowly opened his eyes with a yawn. "What are you two talking about?" he mumbled sleepily as he rubbed his eyes. Nova smirked some when Ed woke and shook her head. "We had a cat fall on Al while you were napping, and I took him home." She explained with a sheepish smile. Ed sat up and nodded a bit. "That's good to hear." He murmured, rotating his arms out. "You guys hungry at all?" he offered. Al laughed at his brother. "Ed, your always hungry!" he teased.

The rest of the day went by with the trio smiling and talking as they went about the rest of the day. The next day, Schezka phoned them, telling them that the books were finished and they could pick them up any time.Excited, the boys immediately headed to the Hughes's house to collect Nova so the three of them could fetch them.

Gracia gave Nova a smile when the girl joined her in the kitchen. "Morning, Nova. How'd you sleep?" she asked her as she placed a plate on the table for her along with a glass of juice. Gracia soon joined her with her own plate and a cup of coffee, and Elicia soon joined, climing up into Nova's lap to sit. Maes had since left for work. Nova thanked her and sat down at the table to eat her breakfast. "I had less nightmares last night." She said, sipping from her juice, then told her about the kitten who ended being one of the other kids that escaped from the lab when scar busted her out, as she gently ran her free hand through the small child's hair. She couldn't help the small smile that came to her lips as she ate her breakfast.

Gracia smiled at her as she listened to her, having often lended the girl an open ear whenever she was home. "I'm glad you met up with someone who was freed from the lab with you." She chuckled softly. "It must ease your mind to know that the others are free too, even if you only met up with the one." Nova nodded lightly. "Thing is, I haven't told them." She murmured, referring to the boys. "I told them it took longer to find the cats home." She murmured, sighing softly. Gracia took a sip of her coffee as she considered the girl's plight. "Do you feel guilty about that?" she asked softly. "It's your choice if you want to include the boys in that detail, but if you feel that they wouldn't receive the news well, then having a secret friend who knows your nightmares might be best for now." She offered some advice.

Nova rubbed the back of her neck when she spoke. "I'm more worried about Edward getting over protective.." She murmured sheepishly, knowing how he could be. She blinked when she heard a knock at the door and finished her breakfast before going and looking through the peep hole and noticed the boys, so she glanced at Faye with a smirk before opening the door for them. "Morning." She greeted. Gracia chuckled as she waved to the boys and finished her breakfast. "Morning boys." She greeted them while taking hers and Nova's plates to the sink to wash later. "Morning." Edward greeted, grinning at Nova. "Schezka phoned, the books are ready!" he told her excitedly, ready to get going.

"Yeah, but brother needs to get her money first beforehand." Al reminded his brother, who merely rolled his eyes. Nova smirked some as they spoke and nodded. "Let me just get changed, alright?" She said before letting them in and going to her room to change into her out clothes, and pitting on her beanie. She then joined the boys in the living room, ready to go. Ed grinned at her as he and Al waited. Once she was ready the headed out, saying bye to Gracia and Elicia as they closed the door behind Nova so they could head to Schezka's, though he did have to pop by the collect money. Nova followed the boys with her arms behind head.

When they got to the apartment, Nova knocked and stepped back as the petite woman opened the door and grinned at the trio and let them inside. She went over to her table where the copies of the books were neatly stacked. "It's all right there, I'm sorry it took longer than expected." Nova picked one of them up and skimmed the pages. "It's a cookbook.." She murmured, glancing at Edward. "Guess that means he wrote in code." She said, knowing how some alchemists wrote notes in a code to keep them safe from stray eyes. "No, this is great Schezka!" Ed told her with a grin and then handed the money for her time and effort.

"Thanks for everything! Come on Al, Nova, let's get back to the hotel and start cracking this!" he beamed, grabbing as much as he could carry, the books were quite large, surprisingly. "Thanks, Schezka! You're a lifesaver!" Al added in as they headed out again to get started on this. Just like his brother, he was just as excited. Schezka blinked when he handed her the check and nearly had a heart attack at the amount he jad written out. Nova flinched some when the squeal sounded and she chuckled as she followed the boys. Ed never thought about the money he had saved up or how much his grant money was either.

Money had never been important to him anyways, so he merely gave what he thought was appropriate.

By the time the trio got back to the brothers' hotel room, they had also gotten a lot of paper and pens. "Alright, first, let's see what he has written so we can get some books to help us crack the code." He suggested as the two put the rewritten works on the table. There was mention of green tea and other elements that were used in Alchemy and soon Ed went to the state library and got everything they needed.

Nova told Al she would be at the park, unsure of how to help them without getting in their way, since  she knew how the boys were when it came to their books, then headed out of the room and to the park for a walk or something. She also couldn't help thinking what would happen when they found out the truth about the red stone they had spent their lives searching for. It made her sick just thinking about it. Ed and Al shared sheepish looks, apologizing to Nova about this, they didn't mean to push her out, especially since this had been her idea.

Ed was about to say that she could help them, but she was gone before he could. They didn't know how long it would take to decipher the code, it was ten books and who knew how much information was packed inside them. Al shook his head a with a sigh, sometimes his brother was an idiot, but he also worried about Nova too. He knew she didn't like being cooped up inside, and the brothers had a tendency to do just that when they were working.

~°~°~°~

Envy had been prowling around the park as a cat, laying under the tree he had seen Nova and the brothers under the day before. He was thinking of the fun he could have now that he remembered watching the girl to bring her to their side and the personality he had used for the persona of Vee. It was going to be fun. Nova stretched lightly as she came to the park and blinked when she noticed an all too familar cat and slowly went to sit next to him. He looked distracted, so she gently ran her fingers up his back how most cats liked. Envy blinked when he felt someone run their fingers over his fur and looked up to see Nova. He didn't think he would see her so soon. "Not with your friends today?" he asked, blinking slowly a little as he got up and stretched before climbing onto her lap and curled up.

Nova smirked some when he spoke and shook her head, lightly running her fingers over his back once more. "They've got their noses in books." She murmured. Envy looked up frowning a bit as he kept his Vee persona on. "Noses in books? What's so important that they're leaving you alone?" he scoffed a bit. Internally though he was wondering what the brothers had gotten themselves into this time. It wouldn't do them any good if they stuck their noses in their business. Nova shook her head some. "I could have stayed, but who wants to be stuck inside all day?" She murmured with a small smirk.

Envy snickered a bit. "That would boring!" he made a bit of a face. "I don't understand why people insist on doing that…" he shook his head a bit. "So, that means you're all alone then?" Nova chuckled at his face and nodded some. "For now anyway, eventually I'll go check on them." She murmured, continuing to gently stroke his back. Envy bobbed his head a bit as she spoke. "They're lucky to have you as a friend." He murmured softly. "You must care for them a lot." Nova paused her petting and looked up at the cloudy sky. "I guess.." She murmured, having a lot more on her mind than usual. A good friend would have told the boys the truth about the stone, instead of trying to help them find it.