So, yay! Next chappie's here! Thanks to D3athrav3n, Orange Singer, Bar-Ohki, Took-Baggins, tiggeranddash and Synneofthesun for reviewing! I'm very VERY sleepy, so I'm going to update and then take a nap. Enjoy!

"Over here, psychopath." I turned back to the desk, and what did I see but an actual woman standing on it. She had blond hair that was pretty short, except for a strand that hung in front of her face, green eyes and very full lips. She was dressed in a black sleeveless shirt tucked into gray stirrup leggings that were pulled over black combat boots and held up with glittery suspenders. But the most astonishing thing of all was that she was about six inches tall.

I stared for a moment, completely dumbfounded. She looked vaguely irritated.

"What--when--what--" I found myself stammering.

"Oh, jeez," the woman sighed, walking across my desk towards my hand. She pinched the skin on my hand with her tiny fingers. "Stop babbling, will you?"

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. "But who are you?" I exclaimed. "And why are you so--well, I don't know, tiny!"

"Just call me Marta," the woman said, "and don't get all in a knot because I wasn't born the same size as you. It's rude to stare, so quit."

I dutifully averted my eyes to the wall. Marta stepped onto my hand, walked up my arm like it was her own personal ramp, and settled herself on my shoulder. "Now," she said, "let's go about getting your memory back."

4: Memory Medicine

I blinked. "You know?"

Marta nodded, swinging her little legs back and forth. "Yep. I was there. Would've done something, maybe, but I was still invisible."

"Then you know what happened?" I exclaimed. "But how do I get my memories back?"

"Not so loud, dummy," Marta said. "You'll wake up the whole block."

I lowered my voice. "Well, stop calling me dummy, then. My name is Winry."

"Winry. Whatever." Marta waved a hand, like it didn't matter.

"Now tell me how I get that chunk of the afternoon back!" I practically begged. "I think it has something to do with Edward and Alphonse Elric, but I'm not sure what!"

"You'd be right on that," Marta said. "The Edward one's the cause of your amnesia. He did it."

I gasped. "Him! But why? What didn't he want me remembering?"

"Look, rather than me dithering the whole story to you, why don't we just get your memory back?" Marta suggested.

"How?"

"Willing to go for a walk?" Marta asked.

I blinked then, looked out up at the window. "You mean sneak out? We've got to go somewhere?"

"Yes, dummy. Winry, sorry." Marta shifted her position on my shoulder. "Go ahead and throw some shoes on, and let's go. Time's wasting."

I was torn between my desire for my memories and not wanting to do something that seemed like sneaking out, and therefore wrong. Finally, my memories won out, and I threw my black high tops back on and grabbed my tote bag. Marta jumped down off my shoulder and settled herself on the edge of the tote bag, between its two shoulder straps.

Together, we left very quietly through the front door. Feeling like a criminal, I crept down the driveway to the sidewalk. "So, where to?" I whispered once we were at the end of the driveway.

Marta rolled her eyes. "Come off it, will you? They won't kick you out because you take a nighttime stroll, you idiot. Just calm down."

I tried, but it didn't really work. Seeing that she wasn't getting anywhere, Marta sighed and changed topics. "Just turn right and walk until I say," she ordered.

Off we went. I glanced back at the townhouse several times, expecting to see a light on in the window. I kept looking until we walked by a brick building, which blocked my view. Only then did I focus solely on walking forward.

The night was mildly warm, so I didn't need anything to cover my yellow tank top and black shorts. Even though it was close to nine, there were still people driving by and walking down the sidewalk, only not as many mind-numbing numbers as during the daytime. I didn't see any other women walking by themselves and assumed this was because the freaks came out at night.

As if reading my thoughts, Marta spoke up. "Don't get spooked," she said. "You've got that wrench in here, don't you?"

I nodded. "Maybe I don't want to know, but how did you know about my wrench?"

"I saw you brandish it in that would-be kidnapper's face," Marta replied, sounding highly amused. "That was when I first started tagging along with you, actually. You didn't look like a city kid, but you had enough attitude to deal with a city problem. You were interesting."

"Oh, is that why?" I said with a sigh.

"Turn right here," Marta suddenly commanded.

I stopped and turned to the right to find myself facing a dark alley. "You're kidding," I said.

"Nope. This is where she lives. Start walking if you want your memory back."

With one hand inside my tote bag, clenching the handle of my wrench, I walked into the alley. The light of the streetlights didn't reach very far down, so I soon found myself in near darkness. I saw a small half-circle of light over a plain door a few yards down.

"That's our destination," Marta said, pointing at the door.

I nodded and walked towards it, eager to get back into the light. I climbed the single step and raised my hand to knock. Then I paused. "I can knock, right?"

Marta sighed. "How else do you use a door, dummy?"

"Winry," I corrected, before knocking on the door.

A rectangular slot at about eye level slid open, revealing two dark eyes. "Password?" a man's voice said.

Marta climbed up my arm again so she could stand on my shoulder and glower at the eyes. "Let us in before I poke your eyes out," she said.

"Hi, Marta," the man said, obviously unfazed by Marta's threats. The slot slid closed, and then there were a series of clicking noises. Then the door swung open silently. I had expected it to creak loudly. Wasn't that how all mysterious doors were in the big city?

I found myself facing the owner of the eyes, a tall man with dark hair wearing a white dress shirt tucked into blue slacks. "All right, what's up?" he demanded. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

"Quit lying. You don't do anything human anymore," Marta replied. She pounded her little fist on my neck, which just felt like a hard poke. "Go ahead and walk in. Don't let His Grumpiness Roy intimidate you."

I hesitantly stepped forward, and was relieved when the man, Roy, stepped aside to let me through. I walked in, and he closed the door behind me. "So, what can we do for you?" he asked me.

"Well, I'm Winry, and Marta said she was bringing me someplace where I could get my memory back," I said.

"Hmmm," Roy said, examining my face. "Yeah, looks like you got the white-out. Come on." He gestured for me to follow him, and turned around and walked. I followed as we walked down a hall with light blue walls, unmarked by a single door, and dark blue carpet. I couldn't see any lights anywhere, but it was bright enough to see, as if the walls themselves were creating the light.

We seemed to walk forever, in which time I realized the name Roy sounded familiar. "Um, Mr. Roy?"

"Just Roy, kid."

"Do you know someone named Edward Elric?"

Roy paused in his stride, then continued. "Yep, I know him. Do you?"

"I think he was the one who did this to me."

Roy stopped entirely and turned to face me. I stopped too, confused. Roy was glaring, but I realized that it wasn't at me.

"Dare I ask why you brought her here?" Roy asked of Marta.

"What? It's no fun hanging around someone who doesn't remember half the Abnormal stuff," Marta replied.

Roy sighed and covered his eyes with his hand.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. "Can I still get my memory back?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Come on." Roy walked on a little bit longer, then stopped in front of what looked like more blank wall. I stood next to him, confused as to what the wall was supposed to do.

Roy, to my surprise, knocked twice on the wall. "If Ed erased your memory, then he did so for a reason," Roy told me. "You obviously saw or heard something you weren't supposed to, and he was only doing his duty to keep it under wraps."

"So you're telling me I shouldn't be mad at him?" I guessed. "Too late, I already am."

Roy shrugged. "I'm not saying I blame you, just telling you the truth."

"If he didn't want me telling people whatever it was, I could have done that much," I protested hotly. "It isn't like I would have been spreading it around. He could have asked!"

Roy just shrugged again. At that point, the section of the wall in front of us suddenly morphed into a wooden door, complete with doorknob. As I gaped at it, Roy turned the knob and swung the door inward. "Ladies first," he said with a sweeping gesture.

Marta punch-poked me again. "Stop gawking," she ordered.

I collected myself enough to walk through the door. Roy followed me and closed the door behind us.

We were now in what looked like a large living room. The walls were cream-colored, and the floor was polished hardwood. Matching navy furniture was pushed against the left and right walls, and a red and blue area rug covered the center of the floor. Against the wall opposite the door was a nondescript desk with a cooler and what looked like a horde of chemistry equipment on top. A closed laptop was pushed to the edge of the desk to make room for all the other clutter.

"Nice room," I found myself saying.

Roy walked in and looked around. He heaved a sigh. "Where is she?" he grumbled.

Marta looked around also. I, having no idea what else to do, joined in the looking around.

"Paninya!" Roy yelled, sounding peeved.

A slot in the ceiling that I hadn't seen before opened, and out dropped a girl. She fell facedown onto the floor with a muffled thump.

"There you are," Roy sighed. "Didn't you hear me knock?"

The girl sat up, rubbing her forehead. She had short, dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and was wearing an oversized black T-shirt and camouflage leggings, and black socks. "I'm here now, right?" she said, standing.

"You're never where you say you'll be. Ever," Roy said irritably.

The girl, or Paninya, smiled and shrugged, as if his opinion didn't matter. Then she noticed me. "Hi! I'm Paninya!" She stuck out a hand.

I reached to shake it, but Roy was faster, and he grabbed Paninya's wrist. "What's this?" he demanded, pointing at the slender silver ring on her finger.

"What? It's not a skin dye ring, if that's what you're thinking!" Paninya said indignantly, and a little guiltily.

I blinked in confusion. "Paninya's fond of pranks," Marta informed me.

Paninya heaved a sigh and slipped off the ring. "Sorry, I just couldn't resist! I love changing people's skin color!" She held out her hand again, and I eyed it suspiciously.

"Don't worry, my hand's prank-free this time," Paninya assured me.

I hesitantly shook her hand, but nothing happened to me, so I relaxed a little. "So, how can I help you?" Paninya asked as she stuck the ring in her back pocket.

"White-out," Roy said.

Paninya blinked. "Oh, really? By who?"

"Ed."

"Ah, jeez, seriously?" Paninya rubbed her head, looking a little frustrated. "Then why is she here?"

Roy pointed accusingly at Marta, who had crossed her legs at the knee and propped herself up on her hands, looking totally at ease. "Man, you're a nuisance," Paninya said to Marta, who stuck out her tongue. "But whatever. So, what was your name again?"

"Winry."

"Winry...?"

"Rockbell," I supplied.

Paninya put a finger to her chin and gazed at the ceiling, as if trying to remember something. "Rockbell...Rockbell..." She walked over to the desk, shoved aside a stack of papers and test tubes, and lifted a thick spiral notebook. Opening it, she turned a large chunk of pages over and then began flipping them one at a time. "Now, let's see what we have here. R...Randall...Reyes...Rezunta...Richards? Again? Ah, here we are--Rockbell!"

My brow creased. "You've got some kind of file on me?" I said in surprise.

"Yep. Any and all white-outs have to be recorded, in case we need someone to get their memory back," Paninya supplied as she drew her finger down the page. "All righty, it says here that you did indeed have your memory wiped on Monday, at 3:28, and you lost the time period between 1:12 and 3:28. It's got Ed's signature right here."

"Yeah, he showed up around five to fill out one of the forms," Roy said.

Paninya slapped the notebook shut with a decisive thud, making me jump. "Okay! Then come over here and sit down, and I'll have you fixed up in a jiffy!" she announced to me, waving grandly at the navy armchair.

"Would there happen to be anything under the seat?" Roy asked suspiciously.

"Not this time! You cleaned all my butt-bump sacks out from under it, remember?"

Marta snickered. "You should've seen Roy's behind," she said to me.

"LET'S NOT DISCUSS IT," Roy growled.

I eyed the chair warily before sitting down in it as slowly as I could. Nothing happened to my rear, but I sat on the edge of the armchair anyway, just in case. Paninya went back to the desk, put the notebook down, and checked one of the tube racks before grabbing a vial with what looked like the darkest molasses in the world in it. She came back over to me. "Okay, so do you remember any sensations just before you got the white-out? Ears popping, eyes watering, anything like that?"

"Um..." I concentrated, trying to dredge up what had happened just before I returned to reality on the library's stairs. "I think...my ears did pop. And...something with my eyes and fingers?"

Paninya uncorked the vial, and a smell like slightly sour milk wafted into the air. "Okay, good enough," she said.

Marta took the opportunity to jump off my shoulder, slide down my chest, and land on my lap. "I don't want to be any closer to that stinky crap," she announced before jumping down to my shoe.

Paninya whipped a dropped out of nowhere and stuck it in the bottle. "Tilt your head back," she instructed. I did so, and she plopped a drop into each eye. It felt like saltwater, but not as irritable. She then told me to tilt my head to each side and put drops in my ears. Lastly, she had me hold up my hands and put a drop under each fingernail. "Now, give the stuff a few seconds to dry, and then you should get your memories back. Okey doke?"

"Should?" I repeated.

"Yeah, that or..."

"Grow extras eyes, ears, and fingernails," Roy supplied.

"That was the old batch!" Paninya snapped. "This one just has funny side effects like extreme levitation and inability to breathe oxygen! Jeez!"

I paled. "Um..."

"But that's not all that common!" Paninya assured me cheerfully.

Roy snorted.

I waited, as Paninya instructed me. The cold wetness in my ears and under my nails quickly faded away. I blinked, expecting everything to come tumbling back, but I was as clueless as I had been.

"So...when does it kick in?" I asked after about a minute or so.

"What? It didn't work?" Paninya's brows scrunched, and she examined the vial. "That's odd...but I used it exactly like I was supposed to...the mix was right and everything." She turned and headed back to the desk, continuing the conversation with herself.

"Sometimes it takes a little longer than expected for it to take effect," Roy said. "You might as well head home."

"What a waste of time," Marta sighed as she climbed back up my side and perched on my shoulder.

I blinked and looked at Paninya, but she seemed to have completely dismissed all the other occupants of the room as she flipped through a book and made notations on her arm.

"Come on," Roy said, "I'll walk you out."

Marta was right. This had been a waste of time.

Say thanks to my sister, who wrote half of this chapter. See you next time!