Chapter 1 - The Enigma Himself

Winry strode into Ed's bedroom. It was a watery 7am and the weak sunlight was inching through a crack in the drapes, illuminating the giant superking size bed and the two bodies lying tangled within. With a purposeful sigh she whipped the heavy curtains open, vigorously. There was a moan from the bed and she saw Ed's blond ponytail disappear beneath the pillow. The naked woman next to him, rolled over with a yelp, trying desperately to cover herself and Winry just rolled her eyes. She was so used to seeing these women in Ed's bed that it didn't bother her anymore. She doubted that anything would shock her at this point. There had been hookers, strippers, groupies, teenagers (although none that were underage – she ALWAYS checked that) and a couple of so-called MILFs in her time working for him. There had been threesomes and orgies and times when she'd had to call out the EMTs because they'd gotten so loaded that they'd passed out in a puddle of their own vomit. Nope, nothing would shock Winry now.

This woman, whom Winry had nicknamed "Precious" (Winry quite often liked to nickname the bimbos that Ed brought back to his place) stumbled up, on wobbly legs and grabbed her clothes from where they were draped across the plush carpet. Her cheeks were bright red and the woman leapt towards the bathroom as Winry moved to sit on the edge of the bed next to the hung-over singer.

"Oi," she poked Elric's shoulder, harshly, drawing another moan from the blonde man. "Edward!" She exclaimed as he tried to burrow further under the covers. She grabbed the corner of the duvet and pulled it, leaving him naked and shivering in the bed.

"Winry!" He yelled, sitting up and glaring at her. "What the fuck?!"

She just smirked at him, trying her best not to let her eyes roam over his naked body.

"You're live on air in 1 hour and I need you dressed and ready to go in 20 minutes," she beamed at him, in her brightest and most upbeat tone. He just scowled at her and she grinned all the harder. She loved frustrating the hell out of him sometimes.

"Fine…"he mumbled and rolled off the bed, standing and stretching lithely. Winry averted her eyes. His body was…well, it was fucking gorgeous. He was leanly muscled, a large Seprent's Cross tattoo covered his sculpted left shoulder and a series of alchemical circles and lines sleeved his right arm from shoulder to hand. His stomach was taut and muscular and a fine trail of blonde hair trailed down his flat stomach towards…

"And take a shower!" Winry yelled, standing up and brushing past him, ready to head downstairs.

He just grunted behind her.

Edward Elric had it all, Winry mused as she wandered down the grand staircase; women, cars, the fancy mansion and enough money to ensure he never had to lift a finger for the rest of his life. He had struck the big time aged just 16; as a singer he had recorded a couple of record breaking number ones that had had topped the charts for more than a few months and had made him the most eligible sixteen year old on this side of the Western Hemisphere. Every girl had known his name and his single Equivalent Exchange had been in the top 10 for a record breaking 28 weeks. He had not been able to walk down the street for fear of being mobbed by throngs of screaming teenage girls.

With the fame came the status. He toured, extensively; each new city bringing a fresh round of parties and networking. He'd met famous faces and hung out with celebrities in every major city in the world. With each new famous face he'd met he'd found himself climbing up the ladder, introduced to rich and famous; partying with the stars.

But with the fame also came the women and the drugs. Ed had no end of women who were keen to throw themselves on him and for a while that is what he had let them do; getting carried away with the endless string of sexual escapades, he played out every young man's fantasy. He'd fucked models and sports stars, strippers and singers, never getting attached to any of them, rolling in and out of each new city with his tour bus, leaving a fresh string of broken hearts behind him.

The drugs were not far behind the women; the endless string of parties saw to that. Sometimes it was a joint here and there; getting high at the back of a house party while strippers danced around him had been an exciting thrill when he was fresh on the scene. But after a little while dope just didn't cut it and he was introduced to fresh heights. His first taste of cocaine was extreme, yet exhilarating. Winry remembered how he'd woken up with the recollection that he had done something awesome, but the memory was just out of reach. He'd of course tried it again at the next available opportunity, delighting in the buzz it gave him and the feeling of invincibility it had offered. Cocaine of course, led on to other things and soon Ed had been experimenting with a cocktail of prescription and non-prescription drugs, much to Winry's dismay.

After a while when Ed failed to produced any further number one hits, he began to feel the pressure from his record label as they demanded more from him. He spent longer in the studio, working late; desperate to recreate the success of his earlier years. But success was not forthcoming and after a while he was dropped from his record label. He tried to stay positive, to show that he wasn't giving up. After all, he was still collecting millions in royalties every year from the album, the singles and the movie that he had starred in. Not to mention the books and interviews.

Ed was still invited to the parties, having made some close friends within the industry. But he didn't carry with him quite the status that he once had and Winry noticed the affect that this had on him, but she was powerless to do anything about it.

Winry had worked for Edward since he was sixteen. She had been eighteen when he had advertised for a personal assistant and his manager, a loathsome womanizer called Mustang, had hired her without so much as glancing at her resume. She supposed she should have been relieved that, as Mustang had put it, "a great arse and pair of tits like hers would look great in the tabloids"; but soon after coming to work for Ed, she had realized that she had bitten off more than she could chew.

The work was 24/7. Although she was paid for 8 hours a day, she was always on the clock. Her work was advertised as administration and secretarial work, but in reality she served as official dry cleaning collector, coffee maker, alarm clock, sobriety tester and in one horrifying incident, criminal alibi. Ed had her personal cell number and would call her at all hours of the day to ask her advice and to ensure that she was doing everything that she could to make his life as indulgent as possible. He was desperate to make it back into the big time, and was working harder than ever, recording with various artists and appearing on radio and TV as much as possible.

25 minutes later and Winry was sat at the bar stool in the pristine kitchen that Ed barely ever used, but had paid a fortune for. She sipped at the take out coffee that she had grabbed on her way to work that morning, relishing the feeling of the caffeine flood her system. She was well used to the early wake up calls with Elric, but it didn't make them any easier.

"Precious" ran down the stairs and Winry noticed that her cheeks were flushed and she looked upset. The woman glanced at Winry with a scowl and then fled the house.

"See you then," Winry called cheerfully to the departing woman as Ed wandered down the stairs. He was freshly changed, his hair was wet but braided and he was wearing the clean shirt that she had left out for him.

She pushed a paper bag towards him and he moaned in appreciation.

Technically he wasn't supposed to be eating pastry, but she knew croissants were his favorite and he always craved them after a heavy night drinking. She wouldn't tell his personal trainer, Hughes, if he didn't.

"You're my savior," he moaned as he tucked into the pastry and she nodded her head skeptically.

"Yeah, yeah!" She muttered, grabbing her purse and the house keys and standing up. "Which car do you want to take?" She asked him, distractedly.

He considered this for a moment. It was a fairly difficult decision when one owned a garage full of fancy cars, Winry noted as she waited for him to make his decision.

"The Lambo." He grinned after a while and Winry resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him. The yellow Lamborghini was one of the more ostentatious of his cars. And given they were headed down town to the TV station; she realised that he was obviously planning on making a big entrance.