C o m p e t i t i o n.
Ed's Competition.

Resembool was the same as ever. Just miles of green and... more green. Ed couldn't help but notice how close Winry stayed to him, her hand almost lingering to take his, as they walked along the beaten track that led up to her childhood home. It was as if she was nervous of something...

Somehow, he knew it was this new assistant of Pinako's. The bastard that was after her, his girlfriend, Winry.

His fists tightened, and suddenly he reached out to grab, pulling her along but still holding her hand with the kind of gentle grip that he always seemed to have.

"Come on."

They soon reached the small house that lay buried amongst mountains and hills and trees. The usual puff of smoke was rising from the chimney, a ward against the chill of the autumn's day. As they approached, the familiar noise of a dog barking greeted them; the culprit of the noise flew out from the house, before promptly tackling her favourite victim to the ground.

"Gah Den, get off!" Ed attempted to shove the slobbering dog from off of him, desperately jerking his head away from the wet kisses she was giving him. Yuck.

That was when he came out of the house.

He wasn't bad-looking- in fact, he was rather handsome, but with a different charm from that Ed did. His hair was brown, short; his eyes a piercing blue- similar to Winry's but minus the gentleness.

"Den, come ba- " He ran after the dog, wiping his greasy hands on the oil-stained beige apron that he was wearing.

His eyes cut to Winry, and he grinned. "...Winry!"

But then they met the gold ones that were glaring at him from the floor, and that grin just slid off his face.

"... Oh."

A sheepish smile spread across the female mechanic's face as she laughed, grabbing Den gently and tugging her off, looking down at her boyfriend with an amused look.

"Somebody's excited to see you..." Ed only muttered at her remark, sitting up and brushing dirt off his coat with an irritated look.

"Stupid dog..." Normally he wasn't this unfriendly with the overly-friendly dog, but this time it was his dignity at stake, and he was grumpy anyway because of this Dan character. Who seemingly had just come out of the house. Glares clashed.

And then, the brunette had stepped forwards, grabbing Winry's arm and practically abducted her into the house. Ed fumed, letting out a loud cry of "Ack, hey!" as he stumbled to his feet, running after them quickly.

Winry cringed as her scolding to Ed about being horrible to Den was cut off, using her other arm to reach out for him as she was dragged through the doorway of her old home. Her face became apologetic as she watched the alchemist vanish behind a wall as she stood in the main room, Dan still holding her arm with a determined look. He turned round to face her.

"How are you anyway? Do you want anything to drink?" A pause. "... And who's the short guy you've brought with you?

Winry opened her mouth to reply, only to find the 'short guy' had appeared beside her, gently grabbing her wrist and pulling her out of Dan's grip.

"The name's Elric. Edward Elric." He was seething, his golden eyes narrowed as he pulled Winry close to him, a faint possessive look across his face.

His rival scowled, arms folded as the blonde was torn from his grip.

"Oh, so you're the Edward I've heard so much about..." He looked haughty, taunting. Then he paused. "Winry's friend, right?"

That emphasize on the word 'friend' was almost too much for him. "Why yes, I am... I'm her boyfriend." His face became proud, holding the girl in his arms tightly as she glanced up at him, slowly going red.

Dan just stood there, looking unconvinced. "Right. Sure you are."

Well if he wanted proof, he'd get it.

Grinning, the blonde slowly slid his hand round Winry's back, using his other hand to push a few strands of blonde out of her face as he lowered her down. The girl blinked, seeming to suck her breath in and hold it as he leant down closer, finally reaching his desired destination as his lips pressed to hers in a passionate kiss. She responded at once, leaning up into him; oh god, it was like nothing else was there, not that other guy - what was his name again? - not even the air, just him and his arms and his lips-

And then it was gone, his presence still lingering as he leant up, pulling her up with him. A smirk was the first thing to enter her eyes as she opened them, looking upwards with a bright flush on her cheeks. Somehow, Ed being jealously possessive just made him even more good-looking, if anything. Not that she'd tell him that.

Dan watched the scene, his mouth opening slightly before he closed it with a scowl.

"Yeah, when you two are done with that..." His voice was slick with jealously as he watched the couple with sharp eyes.

Ed promptly stuck his tongue out, a childish expression spread across his face. It made Winry smile how he did that sometimes; like he was reliving his childhood now, because he'd lost it so long ago. Dan muttered under his breath.

"Hmph..." The rest was inaudible, but it sounded like sharp insults, matching the daggers that practically threw from his eyes. He turned his attention back to the blonde girl again.

"Anyway, Winry, do you want to come look at the automail plans I drew up?" He made himself sound innocent, nice. And she took it, not wanting to be rude; she pulled herself up right, suddenly finding herself gripped tighter by Ed's hand on her wrist. His smirk was fading back into a glare again.

Winry almost groaned. How was she supposed to do this? She didn't want to upset Dan, being Granny's new assistant and all... But yet there was Ed, not wanting to let her go, not willing to even risk sharing her with anyone. Then, she had an idea.

"Ed..." She pulled her wrist from his grip, turning around to face him with an assuring smile.

"Why don't you go and check that Den's not eating that apple pie I saw in the kitchen earlier?" She winked at him, hoping he'd get the hint that there was food in the kitchen- food that he could eat.

But he wasn't buying it; he followed her into the other room as she walked off, pouting and whining; "What? But I wanna see these... automail things... too!"

So obvious he was lying, and she didn't like it. Why was he so worried?

"Ed, you've never been interested in automail... And you won't understand it anyway! I don't know what you're so worried about..." As much as she loved how possessive he was, his childishness was getting annoying. She was fifteen and she could look after herself.

But it was Dan that interrupted them, stepping forwards, blue eyes focused on Winry. "Hey Winry, could I talk to you about something? ... Alone?"

She blinked in surprise, ignoring Ed's protest of "Well I might end up having to live with these things, so of course I'm interested...", which was quickly replaced by "I don't see what's so secret that I can't hear...?"

His face was contorted into a harsh scowl, all hatred firing at the brunette in front of him. What the hell did this guy think he was doing?

Exasperated, Winry muttered "boys..." under her breath, whirling round to lean in towards Ed, whispering in his ear.

"Just go and wait in the kitchen, I'll take Dan into the garden and he can talk to me for a minute about automail or whatever... You'll be able to see us from there, if you're so worried...
I just don't want to upset him because he's Granny's assistant, and I don't like her being on her own... So please...?"

It was the only option she had; she didn't want Pinako alone again, and if Dan got offended, he'd probably quit and leave.

Ed's response only annoyed her more, as he stomped his foot on the floor, much like a five year old having a tantrum would.

"I don't understand why I can't come with you guys!" He whined.

Winry snapped, almost getting her wrench out there and then. "Well obviously he just wants to ask me something, I don't know! But you're being rude, and you're acting like you don't trust me!" She stalked out into the garden as her anger got the better of her; Dan followed at once, giving Ed a sly smirk and slamming the door behind him.

The blonde stood there almost in shock, alone. Of course he trusted Winry, he just didn't trust that stupid bastard... Couldn't she understand that? But maybe he'd gone about it the wrong way...

His thoughts suddenly crashed as a muffled scream reached his ears.... from the garden.

Only one thought re-entered his mind, screaming at him.

WINRY.

The door almost fell off it's hinges as he burst through it, almost howling in rage as his eyes settled on the scene in front of him.

"Hey Winry... You alright?" Dan approached the blonde as she leant up against the wall, her blue eyes looking glassily. He couldn't help but run his eyes everywhere- oh god, she was too good for him, she should be with him, not that idiot...

Winry nodded, her eyes flickering to the male who had followed her, then to the door behind him. Oh god, she shouldn't have walked out like that... Ed was only worried about her...

Sighing, the female leaned back upright, smiling a little. "I'm going to go apologize to him... Sorry about this..." She started to sweep past him, only to find herself stalled as a rough hand gripped her arm.

"Oh Winry... Can't you see..." Her heartbeat picked up pace as her brain registered the danger and malice in his voice.

".... Dan, let go of me..." She turned back to yank her arm out of his grip, only to find the breath pushed out of her lungs as she was forced up against the rough wall, trapped.

"W-What are you doing!" She stumbled over her words, eyes widening in horror as the male pinning her against the wall grinned at her, his hands travelling. She struggled as his body held her in place, trying to scream but finding it cut off as one hand was clamped over her mouth.

"Shh... Let's have some fun, shall we?" His laughter was almost unreal, like some villain out of a movie. His rough hand snaked under her top, nearly, nearly...

And that was when the noise of the door sounded, her streaming eyes darting towards the figure who had appeared in the doorway; there was a flash of silver, red and gold and then she was free, shaking as she clutched at the wall behind her.

She didn't even have to look to see who her saviour was- she knew he would come.