A/N: Woot! Third chapter! I'm feeling pretty good about writing this fanfic, even though I'm not very satisfied with how quickly the two got together. . Oh well. Thank you for all the lovely reviews! I love getting positive reviews, even negative criticism is welcome as long as you're not totally trashing me. Keep sending 'em in!

By the way, just to clarify, Roy wasn't wanting Winry in the last chapter. Ew. Someone brought it up, so I'll just explain his reaction to WinryxEd: he's jealous that the kid can be so happy with his girlfriend. Roy goes through women so fast and never stays with any of them for too long, and he's jealous. Ed misenterprets it this way: Roy Mustang is a pedophile. But he's not. Trust me, the only Roy romance I will ever put out there is RoyxRiza.

Just thought I'd clear that up.

X X X

The house that the trio would be staying at was military housing, but it had a cozy feel to it. It had the same build as all of the other houses around, slender and several stories tall. It reminded Ed and Al of the house Sciezka had stayed in when they first rescued her from the book avalanche.

Winry zipped inside first, checking out every room quickly in search of the room she wanted to stay in. She didn't look long; on the second floor she found two bedrooms, one small and one large. She immediately claimed the smaller room and spent some time unpacking her luggage.

Roy had accompanied them to the house, but he left once the brothers began to head inside. He plodded off towards the headquarters, feeling sorry for himself. Fullmetal was happy, had a girlfriend that fit him perfectly, and would most likely have a very successful life. Roy had been like that when he first joined the military, full of energy and positivity, his goals for the future so clear in front of him. He would become the Fuhrer and make Amestris a good place to be. His eyes had been as innocent as Alphonse's, and he hadn't known of war. Then, when he was sent off to Ishbal, he lost the exuberant drive to continue. He couldn't even date without feeling slightly hopeless. It drove him crazy.

Colonel Hawkeye stood in front of the headquarters, watching her dog, Black Hayate, eat a piece of meat with a small smile. Roy realized it was lunchtime. He'd barely noticed. Riza looked up as he approached, and her eyes glowed a tiny bit. Roy smiled the smallest amount in return, a little relieved to see a familiar face after the long train ride.

"Brigadier General," she said, pulling a salute. Roy mirrored her, smirking. "Colonel," he replied.

"Colonel," she muttered, her tone thick with dark humor. When she noticed Roy's perplexed expression she explained. "You were the colonel not too long ago. Now I am. We really are moving up." Roy smiled, remembering his days as Colonel Mustang.

"Over a year, hard to believe as it is," he told her, putting an arm around her shoulders. Riza ignored him, trying to remember where the time had gone. Over a year already since she'd last called this man a colonel.

"Two since we got this thing," he added, nudging Hayate-gou with his boot. The black dog glanced up at him with intelligent eyes, labeled him as non-threatening, and returned to licking up the last of his meat.

"Don't you have paperwork to do?" Riza asked Roy, arching an eyebrow suspiciously. Roy sighed, dropping his arm.

"Yeah, I'm going," he grumbled, trudging up the stairs. Riza smirked, oddly reminded of a defiant child, and caught Hayate-gou's curious glance.

"He hasn't changed a bit," she told the dog. He blinked, as if asking her to elaborate. "He still can't do a thing without me."

Riza glanced over her shoulder at the black-haired man, finding that his eyes were fixed on hers as well. Roy turned around to continue up the steps, a trace of a smile ghosting his face, and Riza watched his back retreat.

X X X

Winry rolled over in her bed, struggling to get comfortable. She wasn't used to sleeping on the beds in Central, and she had a hard time getting to sleep. She couldn't hear any noise from the brothers' room next door to her, so she decided that she would be able to get up and wander around without disturbing either of them.

Winry padded into the kitchen in search of something to help her get to sleep, maybe hot milk, and stopped short when she noticed that there was someone else in the kitchen. There was a shadow leaning against the counter across the room. Winry felt her pulse race, imagining a robber or other person that would break into a house, but then relaxed when she heard a familiar snicker. Edward.

"Calm down, Win, it's me," he told her, watching her face. Moonlight slanted in through the only window, illuminating her shocked face, and Winry wished he would come over next to her so she could see him better. And for other obvious reasons.

Winry moved out of the moonlight, completely forgetting the reason she'd come into the kitchen in the first place, and slunk towards Ed. There was some kind of forbidden pleasure about slinking around at night, strange and childish as it was.

Ed pulled Winry into a hug as soon as she was close enough. Winry felt him almost trembling, and he seemed very frail in her arms. His breath whispered in her ear, a little faster than normal and shaky. Winry looked up slowly, trying to see his face in the darkness. She could barely make out the edges of his features, and found, to her surprise, that his brilliant gold eyes were wide and terrified. He was trembling with some kind of hidden emotion, his fearful eyes searching her face. Winry squeezed him comfortingly, wishing she could comfort whatever emotion had suddenly gripped him. He'd been fine when she'd first entered the room, laughing and joking. What was wrong with him?

"I'm scared, Winry," he whispered, admitting fear to her for one of the first times in his life. Winry looked up in surprise. He would never have told her anything like that before.

"Why?" she asked, searching his bright eyes for a small shred of comfort.

Ed pulled Winry into a sudden kiss, startling her. He squeezed her tightly, until her bones almost creaked, but Winry couldn't feel it. This was the most forward he'd ever been with her before. The few times they had kissed since they'd gotten together had been small, sweet, and innocent. But this kiss was deep and heavy and made her whole body tingle all the way to her bones. Winry gasped, shocked at the sudden smooch, but quickly melted into it. Her mind was on auto-pilot: this was Ed, who she loved, and she was kissing him. Her body did the rest, while her mind wordlessly screamed pleasure and excitement.

Ed whispered lightly against her lips in answer to her question, "I don't know how to do this."

Winry's breath hitched as she realized what Ed meant. She smiled and pulled his lips back to hers. Ed was hesitant now, his earlier passion diminished with the admonition of his fear. Winry knotted her fingers in his hair, which, to her surprise, hung free down his back.

Ed may not have known what he was doing, but Winry certainly did.

Winry's tongue darted into Ed's mouth, teasing a reaction from him. His rapid heartbeat stuttered, and he gasped. Winry almost wanted to laugh at his surprised reaction, but decided against it. That wouldn't encourage Ed that he was doing okay. Instead she ran the tip of her tongue over his bottom lip, pressing slightly. Ed shuddered and his grip around Winry tightened. He spun around so that Winry's back was to the wall, not his own, and pressed her against the sheetrock. His eyes glimmered with worry, curiosity, and a bit of fear. Winry met his gaze evenly, urging him to continue, and saw the grudging decision in his eyes. He planted his left hand on the wall beside Winry's head slowly, caressing the side of her face with his other. Winry shivered at the touch of cold metal, but smiled gently at Ed. He drew a deep breath and slowly pressed his lips to Winry's cheeks, first one side and then the other. Winry smiled softly, almost frustrated when Ed pulled away. She'd known nothing would happen. Ed was a careful, intelligent guy. He wasn't going to change dramatically in one night.

"Come on, Win," he murmured, his voice gentle. He held one hand out slowly for her, and she took it, moving equally slow. She felt tired, now that the adrenaline had left her system. She went willing when Ed led her up the stairs and into her room. She curled up on her bed, pulling the covers up to her chin, and watched Ed. He stood in the doorway of her room, watching her with tender eyes. Winry blinked several times slowly, attempting to make the picture change so that Ed was sitting beside her. And after several seconds, it did.

Winry smiled triumphantly when Ed sighed and trudged into her room. He pulled the chair out from her desk across the room and sat in it wearily. What he really wanted was to be able to hold her, just hold her. He was tired and confused and wanted the morning to come so he could go the the HQ and return some semblance of normalcy to his life. But instead he just sat there, watching Winry, feeling like some kind of stalker or peeping tom.

Winry pulled one hand out from under the covers and took Ed's hand from where it lay on his knee. His right hand, which she had made herself. She smiled gently, proudly, feeling the screws and metal joints that she knew so very well. Ed watched, surprised. Winry's thumb traced the pattern of metal on the back of his hand slowly, the tempo gradually decreasing until her hand fell away. Shock and terror seized Ed. Images flashed before his eyes: his mother, laying sick in bed, holding both his and Al's hands. She whispered that she wanted a ring of flowers, and then her limp hand fell away. Ed was on his feet, eyes widening. Then Winry's slender body rose and fell slowly with the even tempo of dreamless sleep. Ed collapsed in his chair, legs too weak to support him, and let his face fall into his hands. His body shook with silent grief, wracked by tremors beyond his control. His eyes miraculously remained dry. Edward Elric did not cry.

When the sun rose in the morning, effectively waking Winry, she found that she was not alone. Ed lay on top of the covers beside her, his arms around her. Her cheek was pressed to his warm chest, and she could hear his heartbeat. His sputtering, uneven heartbeat.

Winry sat up quickly, shock in her eyes. She was not shocked that her boyfriend had flopped down next to her the night before and fallen asleep. Not shocked from the memories of the night before, in the kitchen. She was shocked by the sound of his heartbeat, the sound of a dieing man.

"Al!" she yelled, her hand flying to Ed's forehead. Footsteps pounded on the first floor, Al rushing to see what was wrong. Winry ripped her hand away in shock: Ed's face felt like a furnace. As she watched, desperately trying to remember any medical things she knew about that might help him and failing. Al's familiar breathing reached her ears, heavy from racing up the stairs. He drew in a gasp when he saw his brother stretched out on Winry's bed. He glanced at Winry, and his cheeks blazed at the shocked and terrified look in her eyes.

"Er, Winry, what happened?" he asked. Winry shot the younger Elric a glare before beckoning him over.

"I woke up this morning and he was burning up. His heartbeat's irregular too."

"I'm not surprised," Al said. Winry stared at him, trying to decipher his meaning through the screaming haze of fear that clouded her brain. Then understanding set in: Al thougt that Winry and Ed were far enough in their relationship to actually do something.

Al clutched his head as Winry smacked him as hard as she could.

"Al, be reasonable! Ed and I didn't do anything, okay? I went to sleep last night and he sat in here with me. When I woke up, he was lying next to me and . . . this!" she finished, gesturing at Ed. His fists were clenching, his jaw working as he grit his teeth together in pain. But somehow he wasn't conscious.

"Ed? Edward?" Winry asked, tugging on the bottom hem of his pants. Ed made no move in response, merely twitching every now and then in pain. She cast Al a worried glance and beckoned for him to do something.

"Nii-san?" Al called, taking Ed's left hand and pulling on it. "Aniki? Nii-san?" Ed once again made no response.

"I'm calling an ambulence," Winry whispered, darting from the room in search of a phone. Alphonse grabbed his brother's shoulders and shook him, tears pricking at his eyes.

"Nii-san!" he yelled, shaking his brother violently in an attempt to wake him from whatever horrible thing he was seeing in his closed lids. Ed's eyes twitched open, and his golden eyes jerked to Al's face. Recognition glimmered in them, but the clenching and twitching continued throughout his body. He doubled over on himself and moaned, his eyes darting around wildly before landing on Alphonse again.

"Nii-san? Where does it hurt?" Al whispered. Ed brought his fists to his temples, digging his knuckles in as hard as he could.

"G-gonna explode," he muttered, his jaw bulging as he ground his teeth around the words. Al's eyes flew open. That didn't sound good.

Winry appeared in the doorway, her wide eyes lighting on Ed. He twisted his head around, struggling desperately to see her face, and the ghost of a smile touched his features when he saw her. Then a grimace replaced it and he rolled back over, curling tightly into a spasming ball. Winry raced to his side, whispering in alarm to herself. "He'll be okay," she breathed, her pulse spiking when her fingers brushed against his sweat-soaked shirt. "He has to be."

Al rushed to the window, glancing out at the bright lights flashing from several streets over. He breathed a tiny sigh of relief. The ambulance Winry had called was coming. They would always rush to help the Fullmetal Alchemist.

"Winry," he called over his shoulder, drawing the fearful blond's eyes to the window. She saw the lights flashing in the distance and let herself relax a little bit. He really would be okay. They would help him.

"Al, go get me a cloth and some cold water," she ordered, her medical knowledge kicking in now that she knew the ambulance would arrive soon. "Try and calm down, too," she added, seeing the wild light in his eyes. Al closed his eyes briefly, nodded, and hurried from the room.

Winry turned to her boyfriend, stroking his bangs out of his face. His eyes rolled to meet her gaze, and there was pleading, anguish, and torture in his gaze. He reached a hand for her, clenching his other hand tightly to his head, and Winry took it gently. She stroked his palm soothingly, trying to remember anything that might help him.

Al arrived then, looking visibly calmer and carrying a dripping cloth. Winry took it and pressed it to Ed's forehead. He struggled away from the cold touch, but she held the back of his head firmly. Ed's eyes pleaded with her, begging her to help him, and she whispered softly, "This will help." Ed stopped resisting, clenching his fists and trembling as he leaned into the cloth. He shuddered at the cold, but the angry pulse in his wrist calmed the tiniest bit. Winry smiled in triumph as his twitches lessened. He still looked to be in a great deal of pain, but the icy water was lowering his temperature and reducing the sweat he gave off . . .

The front door slammed against the wall and medical personnel bounded up the stairs, brushing Al aside. Winry tried to step back to give them space, but Ed's fingers tightened around her hand. His eyes met her own, looking very calm and demanding.

"Stay," he whispered, so much pain loaded into that one word. Winry glanced at the white-clad men in question, and they nodded. She squeezed his hand back and said quietly, "I won't leave, Ed. I promise." Ed's face relaxed a little, and the medics lifted his limp body into a stretcher. Winry almost burst into tears.

Then she noticed the shallow rise and fall of his chest, the way his eyelids and fingers twitched as if he were fighting the pain in unconsciousness. Her legs buckled beneath her, and a familiar hand caught and steadied her. Winry glanced up and saw a watery brunette swimming in her vision.

"It'll be okay, Winry," the man said. "Brother's a survivor." Winry nodded and allowed Al to help her to her feet, leading her from the room and down the stairs. The medics almost wouldn't let them ride in the ambulance, but backed off when Winry drew her wrench from her pocket (she had never taken off her sweatpants off before going to bed before, thank goodness). Al followed with a shrug for the bewildered medics, who rushed the boy from the scene as quickly as they could. The sun had just cleared the horizon when the ambulance arrived at the Central HQ hospital.

"What happened?" Riza gasped, passing on her way to Fuery's room (the man had managed to trip and fall down three flights of stairs two days before trying to stop Hayate-gou from chasing a kitten). Winry glanced up at the colonel as she passed, tottering behind the men with Ed's stretcher, and she shrugged.

"I just woke up this morning and . . ." she whispered, her voice weak. Riza stepped up to the young blond and held her while she cried.

"It'll be alright, Winry," she murmured, stroking the girl's hair.

"You don't know that," Winry sniffled, her voice muffled in Riza's uniform.

"Sure, I do. He probably just had food poisoning or something," Riza said comfortingly.

"He said it was his head that hurt, and he was trying to kill himself in his sleep," Winry whispered, theatricality over-exaggerating the event to make it more extreme to the colonel. She couldn't explain why, but she wanted the woman to admit that Ed might die. She wanted comfort, but she didn't want to be comforted.

"Winry, the doctors and surgeons here will be able to make him well again. Whatever is wrong with Edward is nothing they can't handle."

"You don't understand," she wailed. "People die. My mom and dad died, and they were just helping people! What if he doesn't make it?"

Riza pushed the girl away and held her at arms length by the shoulders. Winry met her gaze with blue eyes blazing with terror and grief. She shook Winry, attempting to jar some sense into her, but the younger blond just shook limply in her grip.

"Winry, get a grip on yourself. Edward is going to be fine. Do you hear me? Fine. Absolutely fine. And if he's not, well, you can shoot me."

Winry's eyes lit up with surprise at that. Some semblance of sense settled over her and she smiled, sniffing and trying to stop the tears rolling down her face. "I guess you're right," she whispered. "Okay."

The young girl collapsed helplessly on the floor and refused to move. Riza sighed, scooped the girl up, and plopped her in a waiting room chair.

"Stay there. I'm going to go visit Kain, and when I get back I want you to still be there. Okay? Then we can go see Edward together." Winry hesitated before nodding, and Riza departed only half satisfied.

As soon as Riza had rounded the corner, Winry was on her feet, striding in the direction of the room Ed had been taken to. She's promised Ed she would stay with him, and she wasn't about to break that promise just because Riza Hawkeye had asked her to stay in the lobby. She'd never promised the colonel anything. When she came back and found Winry gone, she'd know right where to find her.

When Winry reached Ed's room, she found the door closed and the sounds of murmuring hospital employees coming from inside. They must have been searching for what had caused the teenager pain. Winry sighed and slumped against the wall, wishing she could be in there with him without getting in the way of the doctors.

Minutes passed, Then an hour. More time. Winry ended up sitting on the floor once her shaking legs gave out. Still time passed. Winry didn't move from that spot. Breakfast time came and went, and the sun rose in the sky. Then, finally the door creaked open and Winry found herself staring into the droopy eyes of a doctor who reminded her oddly of a Basset hound.

"What's wrong with him?" Winry asked immediately, putting on her "game face" that she wore when attaching automail. She could block out their screams of pain with a cold expression, keeping herself whole. It only worked for a short while, but it would get her through whatever he had to say.

"We haven't found anything wrong with him," the doctor answered, his droopy eyes sparkling. "It was probably something emotional, some kind of trauma in his past. If too much negativity builds up in a person's brain it can do damage. Has anything bad happened in his past?"

Winry looked away, her mask slipping. She sucked in a deep breath before answering. "Both his parents died, along with quite a few of his friends. He and Al have seen a lot of bad things in their short lives." The doctor looked a little surprised, but didn't ask questions. He merely gestured for her to enter the room and departed with a clip board, scratching his head.

Winry peeked through the crack in the door before entering. She could see nothing of Ed except for a stretch of rumpled blanket at the foot of his bed. She sucked in a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Ed was laying on the hospital bed, propped up as if he were just leaning back for a short nap. The corners of his mouth were turned down slightly in a pained grimace, and his fingers twitched every few seconds, itching to curl into fists. Winry stopped several feet from him, staring at him blankly as if keeping her face calm would make the picture before her go away. She slowly stretched out one hand and stroked Ed's bangs from his cheek, a single tear falling to strike the white blanket as she did. Ed didn't awaken from his sleep, but his face turned towards her a fraction and he mumbled, "Winry . . ."

Winry smiled softly to herself and retreated to a chair several yards away where she could watch the young alchemist without disturbing him. He turned several times, his hands occassionally rising an inch or less, as he breathed her name. Then, after a while, he stopped moving around altogether and merely slept, breathing evenly. The pain eased from his face and his expression became innocent and gentle. Winry was oddly reminded of her dream a month before, of the playful Ed in the meadow. She smiled softly to herself before drifting off herself.

A/N: This chapter took longer than I thought. School started literally a page in, and then I was so overcome with a new school and new people that it took me about a week before I even started again. I finally found the time to finish it. Please don't kill me for the short length or crappy quality.

Yes, in my mind Hohenheim is DEAD. I believe that when they go to fight the Homunculi in the next few chapters Hohenheim will die, because somebody has to and I refuse to let the brothers go. Sorry, Hohenheim fans. I like him too.

Now you see where the big and important hospital becomes helpful. It's helpful later, too, but this is the first time a big and important hospital is required. See, my spoilers make sense!

I realized while writing this that in every chapter so far Ed and Winry make out at least one time. That is very depressing. None of my previous fanfics ever had this much gooeyness. Why does the first one I actually post have to be such a marshmallow-fluffy one? Grr.

I don't know if they have ambulances or Basset hounds or the equipment needed to figure out what's wrong with him, but whatever. It's my Fanfic, deal with it. And yes, I am aware that this entire chapter is thoroughly dumb and without point. This chapter was actually created just because someone figured out what I was going to do in Central and I strove to prove them wrong. Yes, egotistical. No, not smart. It means more writing before I get to the part of the story I actually want to write. Oh well.

[Japanese Translations]

Nii-san and Aniki both mean "big brother." Al usually says Nii-san when referring to Ed, but I threw in Aniki because I think it sounds more friendly. Don't ask why.

Please wait excitedly for the fourth chapter! Ja ne!