What Hurts the Most
Disclaimer: I Don't Own FMA In Any Way.
Rating: PG—PG-13 Due To Some Angst and Crude Language.
A/N: Thanks to all the people who alerted and reviewed ;) Hope you like!
F----------------M----------------A
It can't be, was Ed's first thought after being slapped across the face. His thoughts were racing; he couldn't even feel the stinging sensation of his cheek as his eyes stayed intent on the wall to his left and his thoughts stayed on what just happened. She can't be Winry…Am I losing my mind? If any time was good to question his sanity, he supposed now was as good a time as ever. He was too sad and heart-broken; this was just his mind playing horrible tricks on him.
The Elric finally found his motion once more because he blinked once before blinking a few more times and finally receiving signals of pain from the right side of his face. He shook his head and brought his metallic up to his face; the metal connected with his flesh and it immediately felt a little better. He dared to look back to the young woman who he had saved, but had graciously thanked him with a stingy slap across his features. Once his eyes met with hers, however, he realized that his mind was playing no tricks; his golden eyes landed upon the same face he had seen before getting hit. Winry's beautiful yet steaming face was glaring at him heatedly, telling him that she didn't want his help.
"Winry," he breathed, almost unbelieving. He saw that the young woman's face had fined out over the past two years; she looked her age, of course, but she looked mature and…stunning. Even with her hair slightly messy from her attack and her shirt ripped in her right shoulder, she was stunning to Edward. The Alchemist swallowed a lump in his throat as he tried to breath in what was happening right before his eyes. He hadn't seen Winry for two years and, finally, he was staring at her square in the eye; into the eyes that had taunted him for so long.
"Winry…what…what're you doing here?" he questioned her nervously. The girl shrugged heatedly and stood up, walking past him, stumbling slightly and still clutching her arm. Ed stood up as well and walked up behind her. The mechanic bent down and picked up something off the floor before standing once more. Picking up her hair in a bun with the clip she had apparently picked up, she held her arm again.
"That's none of your concern, Edward," she told him sternly. "You're a State Alchemist; you're job is to help me but, as a citizen, I have right to deny that help and that's what I'm doing," she explained to him without moving from her spot.
"Winry, but,"—"I also have my right to stay silent now, no matter what," she cut him off angrily. Edward sighed, both discontent and slightly aggravated.
"Winry," it was the fourth time her name had escaped his lips. "Don't do this, not because of me but because of you; you're injured," he told her worriedly. Winry's eyes widened slightly and she turned around and faced him.
"How did you know I was hurt?" she asked.
"You're holding your right arm tight and you've tried to keep holding on for as long as you can; that leads me to believe that it either stings or hurts pretty bad and is bleeding, possibly. Not to mention, you just stumbled which tells me that your leg is screwed up, too," her former friend explained in the same worried tone as before. What he had told her, however, caused Winry's eyes to widen more. Of course, her arm was injured and she wasn't putting too much weight on her right leg because it was also a little banged up from when the man had pushed her to the ground. Nevertheless, she glared at him once more.
"Again, that's none of your concern; I can take care of myself, thank you," she said heatedly as she turned around once more, refusing to look at the Elric in the face; the face that enticed yet annoyed her for such a long time.
"Oh really?" Ed asked scornfully as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and locked his left hip to his side. "Have you no idea of what could've happened to you if I hadn't shown up?" he demanded angrily.
"Are you saying that I can't defend myself?" Winry accused immediately, turning around once more.
"No, I'm saying you can defend yourself you just don't know how! I saw you when that man had you against the wall; you weren't even trying to make an attack to run for it," the Alchemist explained to her in the same annoyed tone of voice.
"Of course I was!" the mechanic snapped back at the young blonde.
"There's a difference between struggling to get free and actually fighting back," Edward clarified, narrowing his eyes on the young woman before him. The Rockbell, of which, widened her eyes; she was speechless as she realized that the bastard was right; she was trying to get free, not fight back. She huffed out a breath of pure aggravation as she turned around and tried to limp towards the entrance of the alleyway. Her eyes were full of anger and her pride was slightly injured.
"I'm done with you,' she muttered irately as she walked away.
"Oh no you're not!" Ed replied as he ran up in front of her, preventing her exit to the area.
"Get out of my way, Ed," the young mechanic demanded.
"You're still injured," the Elric stated.
"I think I can patch up a few injuries on my own," Winry clarified as she tried to walk past her former childhood friend but he stood in front of her once more.
"I can't let you do that," he explained firmly.
"And why not?" the blue-eyed young woman asked, almost unbelieving that this jerk was even trying to order her around.
"You're injured and this rainstorm has done nothing but get worse; if you have any common sense in that thick skull of yours, you'd know that this is the perfect condition for crimes to take place. Much more if you're hurt; that just makes it a whole lot easier. I can't let you go home under this storm, much less without protection," the Alchemist declared, trying to sound formal but also stern. Winry practically growled at him.
"I'll just get an officer to escort me home then," she hissed at him.
"And how are you so sure that you can trust them? The nicest faces often hide the ugliest of people," Ed retorted, crossing his arms again.
"Look who's talking," Winry muttered quietly, mostly to herself but Edward caught it. He chose to not comment on it, however.
"And don't even ask Mustang or Hawkeye." This sparked Winry's curiosity and she gave the blonde an intrigued look. "Mustang already has a huge pile of paperwork to file and sign," The Elric continued. "And Hawkeye's got to make sure he does it all, considering the lazy bastard has the attention span of a rat when it comes to paperwork." The Automail tech's right eye twitched slightly as she could almost already read what was going on through the Elric's mind.
"Then what are you proposing? That you escort me home? Because I won't allow it!" she asked him furiously.
"Hell no," Edward replied. "I'm off duty, number one, and, number two, I'm not escorting anyone under this rain; I'm actually getting tired of it with every passing second. No, I'm taking you home so I can tend to your injuries and harbor you until the rain lets up." The blonde mechanic widened her eyes and glared at the other blonde with an anger that couldn't even be defined.
"Have you lost your mind?" she ordered from him.
"Of all the things I've lost…I couldn't possibly miss my mind any less."
F----------------M----------------A
After many protests and spiteful incoherencies, Edward managed to drag Winry back to his home across the street. He ordered her to stay seated on the black sofa he had against the wall that was parallel to the entrance. Against her better judgment, she agreed to stay put while Ed walked back out to give Mustang his eyewitness account of the incident. The Colonel knew that Ed had no personal feelings at the beginning of the incident, seeing as he didn't know the victim was Winry, so he believed him and said that a file would be reported soon, and the man would most likely be put on trial within the next few weeks or so. After that, Mustang, his lieutenant, and his officers climbed into their military cars and drove off towards HQ.
After that, Ed returned to his home, his military jacket over his shoulders but not actually on. He entered closing and locking his front door afterwards. The blonde looked across the room to Winry, causing his eyes to droop; she looked somewhat sad as she sat there with her arms hugging her as she stared down at the floor.
"Winry," he uttered boldly. Winry's sullen expression changed as she looked up and glared once again.
"What?" she asked scornfully.
"Win, I know you don't want to be here."—"Then let me go home!" the mechanic interrupted angrily. Ed sighed quietly and walked deeper into his home until he was standing a few feet in front of the young woman.
"I'm doing this for your own good, Win; even leaving you alone can lead to something. Like I said, rainy weather is the best time for people to commit crimes," he told her, trying to make her understand.
"And how would you know that?" Winry asked; she was becoming very aggravated with this situation.
"Blood is thicker than water…but continuously flowing water can wash away evidence that said blood ever existed." Winry couldn't help but widen her eyes at the seriousness in his voice as he told her this. Ed then walked off, leaving the Rockbell to ponder over what he had said. She hugged herself more tightly as she leaned forward, her mind full of thoughts; many consisted of Ed. The Elric, of which, returned after a few moments with something in his arms.
"Here," he told her softly as he handed her the blue towel that he had gotten. "Dry yourself off; once you're done with that, I can fix your arm and leg and find you some dry clothes." Winry silently took the cloth and unfolded it, carefully drying her damp body from the rain. Ed then walked off towards the stairs that were hidden behind the wall where the sofa sat. Once Winry finished drying herself off as much as she could, she wrapped the blue towel over her shoulders in an attempt to warm up.
The towel was soft, even if it was slightly damp. The Rockbell sighed to herself. Her mind strayed back to Ed and she wondered whether she should thank him for his hospitality, even after all that's happened, or knock him out for harboring her in his home against her will. After a few minutes, she could hear the sound of boots stepping down the stairs. Ed was, once again, standing in front of her as he came down.
Winry followed up his legs until her eyes met with his; the Alchemist was holding a small, white box in his hands and was missing the military jacket that had, moments ago, resided on his shoulders. His face looked worried but also stern. He took the liberty of sitting on her right side and opening the little container. Inside, Winry could see a roll of bandage, antiseptics and some small pieces of white cotton. Ed grabbed a square-shaped cotton patch and a small bottle of medicine. The Elric turned towards her.
"I don't expect you to thank me for this," he stated as he placed the cotton on his lap and opened the bottle. "But I'm not looking for your appreciation; I just want to help." He grabbed the cotton once more and carefully poured some of the liquid onto it, letting it absorb. Once there was enough to make the patch damp but not soaking, Ed placed the bottle on the floor before reaching to Winry's arm. He stopped, however, and awaited permission from the Rockbell.
Winry looked to him and automatically understood why he hadn't touched her yet. Just like when they were younger; they didn't need words to comprehend each other's thoughts. The Automail tech lifted her arm, indicating he begin as she dropped her other arm on her lap and looked to the floor. Ed gently grabbed her upper arm with his flesh hand before hovering the patch over her injury.
"This is going to sting," he warned. Winry said nothing and Ed continued the task at hand. He pressed the cotton onto the scraped flesh of her right shoulder. Winry tensed, immediately, from the burning sensation of her arm.
"How'd this happen anyway?" the Elric asked as he continued to press the cloth, gently, into her injury, letting the disinfectant do its job. He felt terrible causing Winry pain like this but it was for the better and that kept him composed.
"When the man pushed me," Winry struggled to say as she prayed that Ed would remove the Godforsaken patch soon. "I fell on my shoulder and the ground scraped it; the same goes for my leg," she replied, forcing aside the minor pain she was feeling. Finally, after Ed had disinfected every damn inch of her injury, he removed the little patch and closed the bottle once more before placing it back in the white box. Afterwards, he grabbed another piece of cotton, a different bottle and the roll of bandage. Opening the new bottle, he poured some on the smallish cloth and repeated the process.
"This one will sting much less than the other, I promise," the golden-blonde-haired young man stated, trying to sound somewhat humorous. Winry wasn't really amused but she allowed him to place the new piece on her arm. When it connected with her flesh, she resisted the urge to sigh, relieved; it was cold but refreshing to her wound.
"Hold it," Ed asked of her. The Rockbell followed the command before placing her hand upon his. Ed's eyes widened slightly and he blushed. Winry, on the other hand, looked away and scowled at the innocent floor. Edward quickly pulled his hand away and tried to make the blush at his cheeks reduce by grabbing the bandage roll and beginning to unroll it slightly. He placed one end of the tape on Winry's arm, telling her to let go, which she did, as he began to wrap it, tightly, around her injury, cotton cloth still in place.
"Winry?" he asked, trying to make light conversation and hopefully get some answers out of the girl.
"What do you want?" the Rockbell replied irately. Ed sighed discontentedly; he could tell by the tone of her voice that she really didn't want him talking to her.
"I was wondering if I could ask you something…" he mumbled as he continued to wrap her arm in bandage tape, soon to finish.
"If you must," Winry muttered back. The Elric finished wrapping her upper arm before ripping it and tucking it within the bandage. He gestured her for her leg, which she obliged, unwillingly. She sat towards the opposite end of the sofa and brought up her wounded leg, carefully, onto it. Ed looked down at the scrape before repeating the process that he had done with her arm. As he was doing this, he finally asked her his question.
"Why'd you come to Central?"
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A/N: Cliffhangers rule, do they not? XD Please R&R, constructive criticism, no flames ;) thanks!