Spoilers: Through chapter 84 and AU from then on

Disclaimer: Thankfully, Fullmetal Alchemist belongs to Hiromu Arakawa. Whatever actually happens is probably going to be way more interesting than this.

The Missing Piece

By Allegra

Winry Rockbell, by nature, was not a nervous person. Most would describe her as a spunky girl, laid back in many respects but passionate about her work beyond belief. She was determined, bordering on headstrong, and though she worried for her friends, they were seldom enough to distract her from her work. So when Winry set down the automail leg she'd been modifying with a defeated sigh to start pacing the length of the room, even Den picked up on the fact that something wasn't right. The canine made a pathetic sound in the back of her throat to display her uncertainty, eyes following her two-legged roommate from the corner of the workshop. Winry barely paused, and Den's whining increased in volume, not appreciating the lack of attention.

"Shush, Den." The blond muttered, a frown tugging at her features as she glanced at the clock. Ten O'two. One minute later than it had been the last time she checked. Winry groaned to herself, resuming her pacing. They should have called. A few hours late would be nothing new, usually they didn't call at all; hours could be attributed to anything from a delayed train to sleeping in. But they weren't a few hours late; they were a few days late now. And they hadn't called to say why.

Winry was not a nervous person, but she had seen enough during the last few months to become a little edgy. The fact that she hadn't been able to leave the house for the past two weeks and was sleeping in the basement was testament to that. She was a hostage in her own home, which, though better than being a hostage in a far less forgiving setting, was nothing if not boring. The irony of the situation didn't slip past her, and she had little in the way of work to keep her mind off of her current situation, as well as that of her friends.

Nellie had begun spending half of her time at the Rockbell house, an intern with Pinako. Winry's childhood friend had always dreamed of being a doctor and it was common knowledge that Pinako had more medical wisdom to share than most of the traveling doctors that passed through; not to mention more time, since her near-retirement. However, what the town did not know was that the primary reason behind Nellie's common visits was to explain why twice as much food was being consumed in the household, when Pinako's granddaughter was still working in Resembool.

Winry bit her bottom lip, trying not to panic. One day wasn't so bad, maybe their train broke down, and the Elrics had never been overly considerate when it came to her distress; Ed probably wouldn't even think to call. By the second day she was starting to really worry, and now… she was in an all-out panic, despite her best attempts at remaining calm. Even their conversation had been strange, beyond the fact that Edward had actually bothered to call; she hadn't really thought much of it at the time, but he had sounded tense. Her frown turned pensive as Winry ran over the short conversation in her mind for what must have been the twentieth time that day.

"Hello, this is Rockbell Automail, Nellie speaking." Winry recited, shooting her grandmother a look as she said it. Pinako grinned, nodding approvingly.

"If you want to use her name, you'd best keep up with her attitude. And I don't want you scaring away the few customers I have left." The old woman said before leaving the room. Winry stuck her tongue out after her, rubbing the red spot on her hand where Pinako had smacked her for answering the phone by saying 'yeah, what do you want?' She was bored and worried, and she had the right to be a little snappy!

"Hey, Winry? It's me."

"Ed?" Winry asked, attention swiveling back to the phone as she recognized his voice. "Rare for you to call."

"Yeah, listen Al and I are coming over, okay?"

"Um, sure." Winry blinked, surprised, before narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "What exactly did you do to your automail?"

"Nothing- look I'll be there soon."

"Why, what's wrong?" Winry demanded, utterly mystified both by his words and tone.

"I'll explain when I get there- our train's leaving now, I have to go." He rushed out.

"But Ed-" She began.

"Bye Win." Edward interrupted, followed by a click.

"Bye." Winry muttered into the dead line, slowly hanging up the phone. What on earth was going on? Edward's voice had sounded almost… scared? Winry shook her head, dismissing the thought. This was Edward. He was always short and to the point; when the point wasn't that he'd wrecked his automail, anyway. Which he apparently hadn't, leading to the question of why they were coming at all. Maybe… She didn't want to allow herself to even consider it, but maybe the brothers had finally gotten their bodies back? Home would be the first place they would come, if they were able, and with Edward in such a rush; well, he would be excited, wouldn't he? Still, something in his voice had seemed off. But then again, he was running late, he was probably just worried that he'd miss his train.

Shrugging, Winry set to the task of setting up the couch as an extra bed. Edward and Alphonse would explain everything when they arrived. She wondered idly what time their train would get there.

That had been almost four days ago. Winry growled in exasperation, sitting on the still-made couch. Perhaps the brother's past antics had made her paranoid, but even they would have the sense to call if they were this late. She tried vainly to ignore the thought that followed that fact, but couldn't help acknowledging it.

Unless for some reason they were unable to do so.

Winry resumed her pacing.

The Elrics lived dangerous lives, that much Winry knew firsthand. And the more she thought about the call, the stranger it seemed. Edward said that he would be back after all this "promised day" stuff was over, Winry had a feeling that she would have had some sort of feeling if an epic battle deciding the fate of the world had taken place just a train ride away. Maybe not, all of the activities leading to this had been cloaked in darkness after all, but surely someone would have called her. And considering it was a cool, breezy night following a sunny day with no signs of a coming apocalypse, they probably hadn't lost either. Leaving Winry to the conclusion that whatever face-off they had planned hadn't happened yet.

So then why had Edward actually called her to say he was coming?

The last time she'd seen him he had been hiding in her room (she blushed slightly remembering how close the alchemist had come to seeing her undress), phones could easily be traced; surely Ed knew that. If he wanted to come, why give her forewarning and risk capture? Why would he need to come back at all? Was Greed behind it? She doubted Edward would come back if it meant bringing danger with him, none of this made sense. He was supposed to meet up with Al and go see Hohenheim in Central, had something gone wrong?

Winry growled slightly at the multitude of questions she had no way of answering, resisting the urge to kick the wall in frustration. She was startled out of her reverie by a measured knock on the door. A brief flash of fear crossing her face, she quickly ran to the basement, wrenching the door open and pausing just long enough to close it before all but tripping down the stairs. She pushed aside the equipment blocking what looked like an innocent enough patch of cement, until one looked close enough to detect the slight traces of an alchemic reaction. Winry reached into her toolbox, pulling out a large screw driver and plunging it into a curiously circular dent in the floor. She marveled slightly at Edward for coming up with such an ingenious contraption on his way out the door, grinding her teeth together as she strained to twisted it, a block of what looked like cement popping up to reveal a trap door. The Fullmetal Alchemist wasn't called a child prodigy for nothing. Quickly sliding inside, Winry let the top down and groped blindly for the flashlight, flicking it on as she settled down to wait. Unfortunately, lights and ventilation had not been in said genius's blueprints.

Sighing, Winry mentally went over her plans to install such things, wondering vaguely who had bothered to stop by at such an hour. It was probably just Nellie, or a neighbor requiring Pinako's mechanic skills. Winry drummed her fingers impatiently on the ground; there wasn't much to do to pass the time. The first thing she'd done was lug a flashlight and clock down here, along with a blanket to sit on during particularly long visits from her grandmother's old friends. But considering her air supply was severely limited, she never stayed long; usually the basement was good enough of a hiding place. The exception, they had decided, was with old colleagues who might want to see the workshop, or mysterious late night visitors. So Winry waited as patiently as she could to hear Pinako's bony knuckles rap on the door, signaling that all was clear, as she watched the seconds tick away.

The gnawing thought that it could be Ed and Al up there didn't do much for her patience, but they would be proud of her for being cautious. There didn't seem to be much she could do for them at this point, so boredom and anxiety seemed a small price to pay for their peace of mind, knowing she was as safe as she could be. Not that it would matter, if the brothers failed, a traitorous part of her mind pointed out. Winry studiously ignored it, hoping that she could get out soon. Working on Ed's future automail soothed her somewhat, even if the activity wasn't doing its job tonight. It gave her something to focus on, and helped her hang onto the assumption that Ed would be coming back.

The sound of knocking interrupted Winry out of her reverie. That was fast, she thought, reaching for the lever that would release the spring. Probably Nellie, or someone dropping off the parts she had ordered a few weeks ago, though it was getting a bit late for that.

"Winry, you'd best hurry up here; got some guests waiting." Pinako said and Winry heaved herself out, already half-way to the door.

"Guests?" Winry echoed in surprise, before grinning and sprinting past her. How silly of her to worry, they were always fine; Edward would explain everything, and he'd probably have some made-up excuse to accompany it. And Pinako said 'guests', maybe Al was here too, maybe they'd really gotten their bodies back after all! She wrenched open the door, a half-formed greeting falling from her lips before she screeched to a halt. Winry clung to the doorframe, unable to do anything but gape at the two familiar figures in her living room.

"Good evening, Ms. Rockbell." Colonel Roy Mustang said cordially, Lieutenant Hawkeye inclining her head in greeting behind him. Winry blinked, momentarily stunned.

"Where's Ed?" She asked before her mind had quite caught up with her mouth. Panic seared through her as the two soldiers exchanged a look, frowning.

"We were hoping to ask you that." Mustang said at length, turning back to face her. "Fullmetal's been missing for over a week."

AN: First chapter and already I'm ending it with a classic "oh noes!" cliffhanger, this is gonna be fun.