Thank you to everyone who've been reading this and for all the encouraging reviews! I never expected so much feedback and I hope to get more with this.
And a special thanks to my beta Le Soleil Avant Le Crepuscule, without whom this would be a tremendous mess.
Loves.
-PK
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"There's food in the fridge, and if you don't feel like cooking, Wrath can do it. Just make sure he doesn't undercook the meat, he likes to pull it off a little early." Winry was buzzing about the house, throwing things in the bag she was taking with her to Central. The small gaggle of men in her living room looked at her, confused. Alphonse was holding Edward's red jacket, in the process of folding it. Mustang watched with Winry's schematics on his lap, almost fascinated as Wrath tightened and fixed Ed's arm.,. The little homunculus hmm-ed now and then to acknowledge her.
"Where are you going Winry?" Al asked, watching her debate taking her favourite wrench. She set it aside in the small pile of tools Wrath was using. When she had taken the child in, he had been so bouncy and energetic that he had almost driven her insane. It hadn't been until he had watched her fixing his own limbs (with a million questions streaming out in a rapid buzz that had reminded her of angry bees) that one single thing had caught his attention. Since then, she's let him work with her, and was beginning to teach him how to build the automail itself. He was quick and efficient, and could read the schematics like a pro. She wondered if all the homunculi were this smart. Smiling at Al, she placed a can of pepper-spray in her bag instead.
"I'm accompanying Brigadier-General Mustang back to Central." She said, her voice light. Wrath's eyes flicked to her pocket, where Envy's map was, then back to Ed's arm, tightening a loose bolt by his shoulder.
"He wants you to go to Central?" The little sin asked, making Ed and Al glance warily at the black haired man. They both knew he was a self-proclaimed ladies' man, and it didn't sit well with them that Winry was going with him. Mustang at first, looked just as confused as the Elrics, before quickly composing himself again. She noted the way his eyes flicked to the map and his lips pressed together. If he said something about it, it would blow her whole cover. The Brigadier-General stepped by her and grabbed her bag.
"One of the men in Colonel Armstrong's unit had an accident recently, and I requested that she come and look at it, to see if she could build a replacement limb." He explained, seeing the skeptical looks on the Elric's faces. Wrath smirked, but said nothing, for which Winry was glad. She knew he knew that she was going after Envy, she just didn't want the brothers to know, or they'd throw a fit. The child looked up and her and stretched, pushing the hair out of his face. Ed offered him a hair tie and he took it, putting the jet black locks back.
"You want me to watch these two while you're gone?" Wrath asked, standing and fetching a different tool. Ed watched him, confused at his calm behavior. When they had first met him, he had been a hyperactive kid with no control of his Alchemy. Then he had eaten those red stones, and had become a hyperactive psychopath with no control of his Alchemy. Now, he was calm and quietly working, with no hints of Alchemy. Winry, however, smiled and patted his head as he went by.
"I'll make sure Ed gets better." Wrath said, looking from Mustang, who was standing by the door ready to go, to the Elrics, one of whom was sitting on the couch and the other was folding laundry a few feet away. Winry nodded and Wrath thumped himself into her, grasping her into bone crushing hug.
"You be careful of Envy," He said, low enough for her to hear and no one else. "He's unstable. More than he used to be. Ever since Lust…" The child stopped, frowning. He let go and walked back over to Ed, plopping down and opening the blonde's arm, poking around in it.
"You just be careful, okay?" He asked, eyes wide. Winry nodded.
"Are you sure you have to go?" Alphonse asked, looking at Mustang shifting in front of the door.
"Yeah, everybody in Central knows what a womanizer he is, so you be careful Winry. It's not his style to cradle rob I don't think, but I've been gone awhile, right Colonel?" Ed said, a grin on his face as the raven haired man stiffened slightly. Wrath snickered as Mustang turned, a strange look on his face.
"It's Brigadier-General now, Fullmetal. I expect you up and ready to come back to Central to fill out a report in a week at most." Ed nodded and the room got uncomfortable, causing Winry to grab her coat and open the door. She had a feeling that Ed had really insulted Mustang, and the last thing she wanted was for the irrational Flame Alchemist to set her house ablaze.
"Brigadier-General?" she asked, not liking the weird feeling. It was hostile on a whole different level of hostile. Not the norm between Ed and Mustang. Misplaced hostility, almost like it was only that cause neither of them knew what it really was.
"I'm ready to go." Winry said, breaking the weird feeling. The man nodded, turning.
"I'll see you in a week Fullmetal."
Mustang preceded her out the door. Ed and Al smiled up at her and she waved.
"I'll be back as soon as I can guys, okay?" The brothers nodded and Wrath snickered at them, tightening a bolt on Ed's leg, making him jump.
"We'll be fine, Winry, just go on. The sooner you get there the sooner you'll be out of that creepy Colonel's reach." Alphonse laughed, getting up and handing her a letter.
"Can you drop this off with Sciezska? I need a book for my class."
"Of course." She said. She liked Sciezska, and would have to make sure to stop and spend a few minutes with her, at least. Once she found Envy that was. Mustang made an impatient noise and she jumped, throwing her light coat on and dashing out the door. Just before it shut completely she heard Wrath call something to her, then run away from a profanity-screaming Edward. Chuckling, she caught up to Mustang and got into the passenger seat of his car. Sliding in, he sighed, setting his head on the wheel for a moment.
"Please tell me your, ah… Apprentice didn't say what I thought he did." She smiled innocently and looked over at him. Oh, she was sure he had heard what Wrath had said, and just the whole idea made her laugh. As farfetched as it seemed, he had a knack for knowing what's going on when no one else can tell.
"He said: 'I'm sure he's going to go cradle robbing, Winry, but I don't think you're the blonde he's after.' Does that mean something to you, sir?" She watched in humour as his lips pressed into a fine line and a light pink tinge crossed his face.
"You're really going to Central to chase that homunculus that ducked out right as myself and Alphonse came in, aren't you Miss Rockbell." A statement. Not a question. She had to admit, he was good. It was probably how he got so far in the military. Winry looked out the window at the fast moving scenery around her, before glancing slyly at the Brigadier-General.
"How about we agree to just keep our mouths shut, Mustang?" The raven-haired man nodded, a small grin playing on his face.
"I'll keep my mouth shut about that homunculus, and you keep yours shut about what your boy meant." She made a small noise of agreement and leaned again the door as he pulled up to the train station. Someone came up to him and he handed the man a little slip of paper and the keys. Leave it to the military to convince someone to lend them there car. Or maybe it was because of Alphonse. She went and bought their tickets, before boarding the train in silence together. No sooner had they settled into the booth that she nodded off, spending the first part of the trip asleep. The rest was spent fretting over what to say to Envy when she found him. By the time the trip was done, she was so twitchy and anxious she nearly knocked the Brigadier-General off his feet in desperation to get out.
"Are you all right Miss Rockbell?" He asked, handing her the pack and walking her outside. She nodded, pulling out Envy's map and looking around. There was a small hotel near the red circle and she read it carefully, before turning back to Mustang.
"Wait, hold on!" She called as he got into the car waiting for him. Hawkeye was standing in front of the driver's door, looking at her with the same mild irritation Winry remembered.
"Can you give this to Scheizka for me?" She handed Al's letter over and the pale man gave her a wan smile.
"Of course." He said, getting into the car. "Just make sure you're careful. Those boys will have my life if you get hurt pursuing this… strange friend of yours." The car pulled away with a rumble and she held the map up. Facing east, she started walking. She wasn't sure how far it was to the circled building, or to the hotel, or even when to look for him. But she would have to stay somewhere, and that little inn was the closest to the place she needed to be. She held the map up again and turned down one side street, then another. For hours she wound her way through Central. It was dusk when she finally found the small place, kind of old but cozy in a way. She walked up to the front desk and the slightly bent, kindly old man looked up at her.
"Can I help ya, little miss?" He asked, fixing his glasses to get a better look at Winry. The man smiled broadly at her, fishing out a paper from his pocket. He set it on the table and flattened the rather wrinkled note. She gaped, realizing that she was looking at a pen drawing of herself. It was a little off, but remarkably accurate. "Ya must be Miss Winry Rockbell. I tell ya, this is a spittin' image of ya, miss. I almos' believed the young man that reserved the room was daft but he said yeh'd be here and here ya are." He slid a room key across the desk, along with a sealed envelope. She fished around in her bag for her wallet and the man laughed. "He took care of everythin' miss. Ya must be pretty special." He winked again, and she blushed, furiously. Just what was that homunculus up to?
"T-thank you." She said, grabbing the key and the envelope and going up the stairs. Once she found the right room, she set her things down and flopped onto the bed, looking out at the twilit sky. She just couldn't figure him out. First Envy had fought her all the way about staying at her house and even just accepting her thanks for helping Edward, but now he wanted her to track him down, even going so far as to pay for her room? She rubbed her head in frustration and lifted the envelope, tearing it open. There was a single, small piece of paper. On it, in his strange, neat script was another note. She read it carefully, her heart speeding ever so slightly.
Winry,
If you made it this far it means that you came alone.
Good girl.
Now, meet me at midnight.
Don't be late.
Envy.
Midnight. Well, that answered when she had to be there. But her name… the last one just had the endearing title "girl". So she was Winry now? She sighed, looking at the clock on the wall. It was seven in the evening, which meant she still had five hours until she had to meet Envy. She got up, bringing out a notepad and pen, setting to writing a letter to Scheizka. She had a feeling that she was going to be gone from her home for a while, and if the Elrics were going to come back to Central before she got back, she didn't want Wrath to be all alone. The child still had nightmares, after all. She set the pad and pen on her desk, pausing, and decided to have a bath first. Better now, to give her hair time to dry. Fishing in her bag, she brought out clean clothes, then walked into the bathroom and started the water.
"A nice hot soak should help clear my mind…" she muttered, taking her hair down and brushing it in front of the mirror. It was all so confusing. The only thing she had thought about since she found Envy was the bizarre sin. She couldn't shake it. She hated to admit it to herself, but he was interesting. Part of her kept thinking, is this right? If only there was a sign… then it would be okay. Sighing, she set down the hairbrush, and noticed something on the floor next to the sink. She picked it up and her jaw dropped. It was Envy's headband. Every time she had ever seen him, whether fleeting glances while with Ed and Al or up close on her porch, he had been wearing it. She moved the black material through her hands, loving the softness of it. She plucked a single long, dark hair off it and flushed a deep red.
"I asked for a sign, and I guess this is as good as any." She said to the empty room, her face heating up as the unbidden thought of the sin in the very room, maybe only hours before her, stripping down to bathe. She shook her head, embarrassed. He was dangerous and cruel, and insane. It's not like she hadn't had these thoughts before, about other guys, but the vivid image of him stripping off that tight half-shirt, revealing to the secluded little world of this room that pale alabaster skin and the shine of that emerald black hair as he sunk down in the water... she moaned at the image and jumped, startling herself. Even more embarrassed, she set the headband down on the small, neat pile of clothes on the cabinet top before removing her dirty ones and slipping into the nice hot water, relaxing, letting herself forget the world.
A half hour later had her sitting at her desk, her towel draped across her head, staring at her notepad. She had flipped open to a random page and found a bunch of scribbled notes, all in Ed's insane scrawl. The content made her pause and, in its own twisted way, explained a lot about the nature of his and Mustang's fights, at least from Ed's end. She smiled, remembering Wrath's teasing and Mustang's reaction. She looked down again at a half finished letter to the black haired former Colonel and laughed. She always had a feeling about Ed; he never had shown interest in girls, after all.
Colonel Mustang, she read to herself, biting the end of her pen lightly, hearing Ed's voice echo with words it must have been hard to say.
It has recently come to my attention that I have found new feelings for, I think I might be interested, I think I might kinda feel something more than, there might be more than just professional emotions toward you, and wish to inform tell let you know confess that I have been thinking a lot about this, and how to say this and, Colonel Mustang Roy, I think I like want need love you. *I don't tell you this to make you uncomfortable, but because I felt that you should know. Please, don't let this change anything between us. I need this job for my research. I just thought you should know. Edward.
It made her smile to hear such kind words. She made a note to herself to speak to the Brigadier-General about what Wrath said about him. If she could make those two happy, she would. Everyone deserves happiness. That's what Granny always taught her. With that thought it mind, she turned to a clean page to compose her letter to Scheizka.
It was eleven o'clock when she was finally satisfied with both her letter to Scheizka and the one she had decided to write to the Brigadier-General, asking him to meet her for lunch before she left, for what she had called "Edward's sake". It was the truth, in a way, but made it sound as professional as possible. Family worried about one of its own. Standing, she rubbed her eyes and took her coat off the doorknob, putting it on and heading out into the night, finally, to meet Envy. Before she closed the door, she spotted his headband and, after a moment's consideration, she picked it up, slipping it on her own head, the way she saw it on his. She flushed as the fantasy from before came back for a moment, but shoved it down, going out the door and locking it behind her. Quiet as she could, she walked down the stairs and out the front door.
The night air was quiet and calm, with a big full moon hanging bloated in the sky. She had to admit, she was glad it was so full and bright. It made the night seem less threatening than it would if it weren't so nice. She hummed to herself absently, walking down the back road to the marked building. It was eerie back here, with large pieces of rubble strewn across the street, and the closer she got to her destination, the larger the pieces got. It unnerved her. Just where was she meeting Envy? Pulling out her map, she glanced down at it, squinting to see the faded words on it. Laboratory five. She knew about that. It was the place Ed had first met Envy. He told her all about it when she had to fix his arm after that event. Something had exploded and caused the lab to go down. She couldn't remember what exactly happened, just something about Envy and two others, one called Lust and the other called Gluttony, who were dead. Looking up at the mass of rubble, she knew she was here.
The whole place was destroyed; hardly any of its original structure was still standing. The explosion and almost two years of weather and wind had brought it down, crumbling to the earth. She figured in a weird way, it must have been a new beginning for Envy, back to where it really all started, at least with the Elrics. The beginning of the end, that day, she supposed, taking into all of what Edward, and then Wrath, had told her. Wrath had told her that the homunculi had lived a secluded, watchful life, only interfering when they had to, until the Elrics had come along and upset things. He said he had heard Lust talking to Envy one night about those "blasted alchemists" sticking their noses where they didn't belong. Maybe that's why they were meeting here. She had heard from Wrath that the Elrics were the cause of Lust's death, and ultimately all the homunculi. A life for a life? She got really nervous then, and turned to leave. This was not a good idea. He was insane, what if she was right? What if—
Her thought didn't get any farther. As she scrambled up out of the ruins and tried to run, her foot caught on the rubble. She cried out in shock, falling forward, her hands going up to protect her face. She felt something warm and strong catch her before impact, and she dropped her arms, regretting so when she saw the ground rush away from her in a dizzying effect. She felt her ankle pull free and she was set down on the ground. She caught a glimpse of long, dark hair and looked up. A shit-eating grin was gracing the ageless face, and Winry felt her heart hammer in her chest as her light, sapphire blue eyes met the shining amethyst. It was all before her now, and she would soon have all the answers she wanted, and more probably.
Envy was here.
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Thanks again to everyone and especially thank Soleil, for without her this would have been a grammatic failure.
*The original line here got lost somewhere between the thought train and expressing it. I thought it might entertain you a bit to get a taste of things before I go back and edit: "I tell you think to make you uncomfortable, but..." It got really lost someplace. Thanks again love for finding that xD"
Remember, reviews make me happy. ^^
-PK
