I can't believe I didn't put this in the first chapter!

I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, all of the characters belong to the cow!

~*~

Chapter 2: A Rude Awakening

As Ed slept, he heard voices deep within his subconscious. Somewhere within his mind, he knew who was speaking.

"Jeez, how long does he need to sleep?" asked a deep voice that he recognized as the Colonel.

"Well, he kind of sleeps for two. It's the same way with his appetite, he's also eating my share," replied a hollow voice that was undoubtedly Alphonse. Roy grunted softly in understanding.

"Maybe the shrimp should get more nutrition in all of that food he inhales." Ed's eyes opened wide as if he hadn't been sleeping at all.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT HE COULD STICKTO THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SHOE AND YOU WOULDN'T EVEN NOTICE IT?!"

Roy had covered his ears for most of it, knowing that it would be coming. The other passengers looked over momentarily, but turned away quickly, fearing that he was a lunatic. "Oh, you're awake," stated the Colonel nonchalantly. Ed's breath was staggered as he fought the urge to kill.

"I really hate you," sneered the now enraged Edward. Roy merely smirked and gazed out the window. Al fidgeted a bit in the uncomfortable silence that followed.

"So," he began in hopes of lightening up the mood, "where's Lieutenant Hawkeye?" Roy shrugged in response, mainly because he knew that she wasn't in any danger.

"I lost sight of her when I boarded; the crowd was massive," he said in a very relaxed way. He knew that he would hear about it from his subordinate later, so he didn't want to think about it anymore than he needed to. Ed chuckled slightly, breaking the Colonel away from his thoughts and causing him to glare daggers at the young man. "What's so funny?" he asked, clearly irritated.

"You managed to lose your babysitter, huh?" Ed asked only half-jokingly. If at all possible, Roy's eyes narrowed even more. He hated when people would under mind his authority, especially when they did it by referring to Hawkeye as anything but his subordinate.

"Quit while you're ahead, Fullmetal," he mumbled almost like a child. Ed released one last snicker before sitting up in his seat.

"We should be home any minute, Al," he said to his brother who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, anytime now," Al replied, getting excited to see the Rockbells. "I hope Winry's not too mad." He gazed at his brother's arm, noting that it at least came back in one piece this time.

"Oh, she'll be beside herself with anger Al, you know how she is," Ed replied with a bored expression. "I'll be a lot worse for the wear by the time she gets to working on my arm." Al stifled a chuckle, mainly because he knew that it was true. They had both come to know that every time that wrench of Winry's would come into contact with Ed's skull or Al's armor, it was only out of concern.

Just as expected, they arrived at the train station a little bit north of Risembool. Ed and Al stood and began to make their way to the door, hurrying to get there before the mass of soldiers did. Once off of the train, they slowed their pace. Al turned to see where the Colonel had gone and spotted him as well as Lieutenant Hawkeye. By the looks of it, the superior was being sternly lectured, probably about not getting separated, considering who could have been on the train.

Ed looked in the direction that Al seemed to be focused on and chuckled. "Whipped," he mumbled under his breath, turning his attention back to the path. Al followed closely behind as they made their way to the place that they had both come to accept as home.

At last, after a good 15 minutes of walking, the house of the Rockbells came into view. Ed's glance fell to his busted arm and he got a sudden feeling of fear within the pit of his stomach. The first time they come back in a while, and it's only because he needed something. That's how it always was. He couldn't wait for the day when he would return because he and Al were back to normal.

"Well," began Ed, "we're here." He heaved a sigh and turned his attention back to the house, as if he expected a wrench to come flying at his head, even from the distance away he was from the house.

"Relax brother, I'm sure they'll be happy to see us, we haven't been home in a while," soothed Al. He was more or less trying to convince himself more than his brother. Ed nodded weakly and continued up the path, his pace much slower. His feet felt like lead, both of them, not just the metal one. His right arm seemed to weigh on him even heavier than before.

Once at the door, the elder brother put on a braved face in and puffed out his chest in an attempt to look like he wasn't scared out of his wits. He raised his one good hand, which was holding the suitcase, and used it to knock on the door 3 times. He figured that even if it was too early for them to be awake, which he doubted, Den would begin to bark, and Pinako would wake up.

The dog did begin to bark, but by how quickly the old woman told her to shut up, he figured that she couldn't have been sleeping. A few moments later, the short elderly woman opened the door, a small smile creeping up on her lips when she saw who it was.

"Well," she greeted, "if it isn't our cash cow. What did you break this time?" Ed put on a sarcastic smile.

"What?" he replied with fake innocence. "Can't a guy come home once in a while just to come home?" Pinako raised an eyebrow.

"Not you," she answered, making her way into the house, Ed and Al following. It was unusually quiet, which struck Ed as odd. Usually, Winry was tinkering in some new advancement in automail.

"So," Ed began casually, still looking around, "where's the machine freak?" Pinako looked up at him and then back down.

"She's upstairs, she seems to have contracted some kind of illness," she replied, a tinge of worry in her voice. Ed's eyes widened at her explanation.

"What do you mean?" he asked, desperately trying to hide the panic in his tone. However, his concern and morbid curiosity got the best of him, causing him to drop his suit case and dash up the stairs.

"Edward!" called Pinako after him. The last thing she wanted was for him to disturb Winry if she was trying to rest. She was ignored however, and sighed as she went to prepare some tea for everybody.

Ed resisted the urge to bust into the room and make sure that she was okay. He stood at her door, his heart racing and his breath shallow. He was almost afraid to open the door, and it frustrated him that he couldn't decide between the two extremes.

He attempted to suck in a deep breath and exhaled shakily, taking hold of the doorknob with his left hand since he still had no use of his right. Slowly, he turned the knob counterclockwise and pushed it open. It didn't squeak at all, considering Winry would never allow anything mechanical to go without oil.

When he peeked his head in, he was awe-stricken at the sight. There, lying in bed, completely fragile and defenseless, was Winry. The covers were pulled up to her waist and her chest rose and fell rather rapidly considering the trouble that she was having breathing through her nose. Her hair lay slightly tangled on the pillow, framing her face that was paler than usual.

Ed made his way over to the bed gracefully, taking special measures to not make his left leg make any noise. He was by no means used to seeing Winry look so frail. Usually by now, he would have a wrench to his head for all of the hard work that he had ruined. Though he had to admit, even that would be better than seeing her in this state.

Once next to the bed, he pulled up a nearby chair that he figured Pinako had put there so that she could watch over Winry. He didn't want to disturb her, but at the same time, he wanted to see her open her eyes. So, he carefully and lightly shook her shoulder.

"Winry," he whispered softly, "hey, can you hear me?" He waited a few moments and surely enough, her eyes fluttered open. After her vision adjusted so that she could see who it was, she smiled.

"Ed, what are you doing here?"she asked, her voice scratchy and strained. He was nervous about telling her that he had once again gotten his arm busted, but he really couldn't get around it. He used his left hand to hold up his right, a sheepish grin on his face.

Her smile dropped into an unamused frown. If she hadn't been so weak, he would have a black eye. "What happened to my masterpiece this time, Edward?" she asked angrily, her voice low.

Ed laughed nervously. "Well," he began, "I had to handle these chimeras and well, they sort of," he paused, "disconnected the nerves."

Winry's jaw dropped and she sat up straight in bed. "What do you mean they disconnected them?!" she exclaimed before going into a coughing fit. Ed's expression went from extreme fear to concern. He would have pat her on the back if he could have reached it.

"Are you alright?" he asked calmly, only wanting her to relax and cursing himself for making her condition worse. She coughed a few more times then lied back on her pillow, holding her pounding head and breathing shallowly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Now, let me see your arm," she ordered. Ed's eyebrow arched.

"But you're sick," he reminded her, "I'll just have the old hag do it." He laughed slightly, trying to cheer her up. Winry just shook her head and smiled.

"I'm fine Ed," she replied, "I'd rather work on your arm then keep lying in bed." Ed looked at her doubtfully but shrugged, using his left hand to set his right one on her lap.

She looked it over, getting a general look at what she was in for. From what she could see, it was a good hour of work, and that's only if his leg didn't need adjusted too.

"Yeah," she said, still examining it, "they really did a number on it." She reached over to her night stand and grabbed a few tools. A normal girl would have jewelry, perfume, even makeup. Winry however, had wrenches, bolts, oil, screwdrivers, and various other tools that she had stored under her bed.

Picking up the pliers and the screw driver, she took the main plate covering off and began to pull on wires that would normally be attached to nerves.

"Well," she started, "normally this would be extremely painful for you, but considering you're not feeling anything, I'm going to have to reattach every single nerve individually, which unfortunately will be painful."

"Great," Ed replied sarcastically, "will it be as bad as automail surgery?" Winry shook her head not looking up from her work.

"I don't think any kind of pain is as bad as that, Ed," she pointed out solemnly. As she pulled at wires, she recalled how painful it had been for her to watch Ed go through hell on that operating table. She could still see the fire in his eyes when he had told her to give him an arm and a leg.

While Winry was lost in her thoughts and her work, Ed had to focus on the urgent matter, and that was finding out if Winry had the disease that the Colonel had mentioned. It was a rather large setback that he hadn't bothered to ask what the symptoms were.

"So," he started, deciding how to put his concern into the right words, "how long have you been sick?" She used the heel of her hand to rub her eye and clear her mind.

"About two weeks," she replied, pulling at the rest of the wires. "Why do you ask?" Ed shrugged his left shoulder to avoid messing up her work. He didn't want to make her worry; she had enough to worry about every time he came home hurt. Needless to say, he was nervous about his next question.

"Winry," he began unusually urgently, "have you been around any animals lately?" This time, Winry looked up at him with an inquisitive look.

"Why do you ask?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow at his strange behavior. Ed became frustrated, mainly with himself.

"It doesn't matter why," he answered her rather harshly. Winry, sick or not, was never one to just lie down and be talked to like that though.

"Yes it does Ed," she retorted, placing a hand on her hip. "It matters because a while ago, I took some of the local children to a petting zoo."