Chapter 4

"Good work, today, Ms. Rockbell."

"Thank you, Nathan. See you in the morning."

"Good night." The soft click of the door lock resounded as Winry gathered a few blueprints and manuals and prepared to leave the prosthetics lab. It had been three months since she had started work in the military and she was making heavy progress in her development with her experimentations with plastics and its durability. It had been a long day and she could not wait to return to her apartment and sleep.

Pulling the heavy door tightly behind her, she inserted her key and turned to leave. A faint tapping of heels surrounded her ears before a voice did.

"Winry? Winry Rockbell? Is that you?" Winry turned around and was confronted with a familiar face.

"Sheska? Hello, it's been awhile, hasn't it?" An excited smile spread across the face of a woman with messy brown hair. Her arms were loaded with several books as she struggled to use a hand to shove her glasses further back upon her nose. Winry watched her old acquaintance try to maintain her balance and quickly rushed to her side just as a few of the books crashed to the floor. As both women stooped to pick them up, an excited Sheska spoke.

"You have a military's uniform? Are you apart of the Central division now? When did you become apart of the military? What do you do here? I can't believe you're working here!"

"Whoa, slow down, Sheska." Winry could help but laugh a little at her frazzled friend as they both stood up again. They began walking towards the exit and were soon out into the cool evening air. The sun was beginning to set, casting a brilliant yellow glow as the women stopped a moment before continuing down the numerous steps.

"Yes, I am working within the military now. I've been here for about three months now. I am the head of the Prosthetics Research department. Can you believe that?"

"Wow, Winry. I'm so happy for you. Things have really changed for you. I can hardly believe you're apart of the military. And in Central, no less! Hey! Maybe we could commute together for work sometimes?"

"Sure." Winry smiled over at the young woman. She seemed really happy to see her, and Winry had to admit that it was just as good to see her.

"So where are you headed?"

"I was headed home."

"You should have dinner with me. I know this great place near Central Library."

"Are you only suggesting it because it's near the library?" Winry asked with a raised brow. Sheska jumped a bit, almost dropping her books again.

"Uh! Um...no only that! I wanted to catch up on old times...plus I have some reports to update that just happen to be at the library." Sheska mumbled nervously as Winry laughed loudly. Sheska looked a bit hurt as Winry fanned her hand at her in reassurance. With a smile she spoke.

"How about after dinner I go with you to the library to keep you company as you file those reports?"

"Sure!" she yelped as the books once more crashed upon the steps.


"So, prosthetic huh? I know you're great at that; you're a genius when it comes to automail! You're the best mechanic in all of Amestris!" Sheska smiled broadly as she placed a spoon in her mouth, enjoying the warm soup she had in a large bowl before her. Winry ate a piece of bread as she gave into a broad smile herself.

"Yea, I could hardly believe it when I got the offer myself. And to think! I almost turned it down."

"Wha-! Why would you do something like that?" Winry provided no response for a moment as she stared down at her own bowl of soup. She swirled the brown liquid around with her spoon as her mind drifted back. Sheska tilted her head a bit and laid her spoon back onto the table. 'Wait...it's not because...because of them, is it? You almost couldn't take the job because it had a lot to do with the Elrics?" Winry stopped stirring her soup and looked up at Sheska with surprisingly watery eyes. Sheska felt as if her heart had dropped as she watched her teary eyed friend.

"I felt...that I couldn't, you know? I felt like I could never come back here. That, even being in the places he's been...that it was never enough. I still felt cold...I was still..." Winry wrapped her arms around herself and looked out of the nearby window. The sun was completely gone now, and the night life was picking up around the area in a flourish of laughing and smiling couples and families out for a late dinner around the nearby bistros and cafés. A small hand on her shoulder startled her and she jumped a bit which made Sheska pull her hand away.

"I'm sorry, Winry. I didn't mean to...I didn't know that it still hurt so much." Winry raised a hand to stop her.

"It's ok, Sheska, really." She managed a weak smile, her eyes still damp at the corners. "Some days are harder than others. I know it's been three years; you'd think that I'd be used to them being gone...but...but...they were my family. It's not so easy. I know that Edward...he said that there was another world...remember those weird aircrafts that appeared in that underground place?"

"Who could forget?!" Sheska interrupt; suddenly remembering her thoughts of alien conspiracies.

"Yea, well, it's still hard for me to let go of them, even though I know that they are 'over there'...alive. I often wonder...are they happy? Is he thinking of me...?" Her voice trailed off as she patted Sheska's hand and in an instant, produced a gigantic smile. "Hey, how about we go to the library now?"


The library was quiet in the late night as the two women walked amongst rows of gigantic bookcases that housed a number of histories and works by a variety of authors; a few that had even served in the military. Sheska lead the way up a staircase and down a hallway, past two double doors where she was to file the reports that she had been lugging since leaving Central's main office. Winry looked around at the smaller bookcases that were filed mainly with different colored folders; watching Sheska search for specific ones and placing the appropriate papers in different ones. Winry had never really been throughout the library and was amazed at the amount of information that was kept in the building. She was so involved in her tour that she failed to her Sheska call her name.

"Winry!"

"Huh?"

"Come over here, I want to show you something!" Sheska motioned for her as she held open a door that lead to another room. The door was in the very back of the large room and lead to a smaller room that resembled a personal office. Winry walked towards the office and looked around at the floor to ceiling bookcases as she spun around taking in the arrangement of the room. Confused, she looked back towards the now nervous looking woman.

"Sheska, what is this room? Why did you want to show me this? This looks like someone's office." Winry pointed over to a beautiful cedar desk. Looking back over her shoulder, Sheska pulled the door closed, encasing them in darkness.

"Hey! What are you-?"

"Shhhh!" She heard Sheska chirp out as Winry sensed movement on her left. Her eyes strained in the darkness as she tried to make out Sheska's movements about the small office. Winry heard a sharp thud and a painful yelp as a small lamp clicked on a moment later. Sheska was rubbing her left thigh vigorously as she tried to recover from bumping into the table. Winry shook her head as she walked closer to her.

"So, what is-?"

"Shhhh! Winry, please! We have to be quiet. This room is highly classified. If we get caught back here..." Winry came closer to the nervous woman and leaned closer to her.

"What is this place?"

"This is where the military keeps records of the really obscure and taboo from all over the world. A lot of records are never destroyed but are brought back here instead."

"How were we able to get back here? Wouldn't this place be guarded?"

"In a way, it is guarded. Well, at least it was at one point. Since the civil unrest calmed down, thanks to the Brigadier General, keeping this place under lock and key isn't a high priority anymore. It's basically forgotten. However, it's not to say that it isn't monitored. It'll still mean a dishonorable discharge and prison time for being back here." Winry could feel the fear rising a bit within her as she urged Sheska on.

"But why did you bring me back here!"

"I remembered something I came across a while back when you were telling me about being the head of the prosthetics department and the Elric brothers."

"Yea?"

"Well, did you know that it was their father who invented the concept and design for the automail we know today?"

"Their...father?Hohenheim?" Winry stood back from the talking girl, her hand smothering a gasp that was trying to escape from her lips. She had heard a few stories about him in a few rants from Edward, but nothing of real importance. She looked around the room once more as Sheska pulled her back down towards her.

"Hohenheim was an enigma around here and Amestris, but he had a number of major contributions to the technological advancements here. His work however was recorded and kept here. I'm not real sure why...maybe it had a lot to do with his involvement with the taboos of alchemy. I wanted you to see it because maybe you could get a better understanding about the work you were doing and become a heck of a lot better, perhaps even get an idea for an entirely new design! And also...I thought that understanding his work...you could get a better understanding of who Edward is." Winry sat up once more, but this time she walked over to a small chair that was against a wall and sat down with a thud. Studying the works of the prosthetics founder would be a once in a lifetime chance. And Winry was almost sure that this understanding would no doubt help her improve her own work. She looked over at Sheska, who was already in front of a bookcase, scanning a few shelves and pulling down a few folders.

"Sheska. Thank you."

"No problem, any thing for a friend." They both shared a smile and continued to looked for more scripts.