(A/N: Here's the fourth chapter! Enjoy!)


Automail

The train ride to central was a long and tiring ride.

"What does the note say?" Alphonse asked his brother, unable to contain his excitement.

"It say 'National Library. First Branch'," Edward read, holding the note in the air.

"Or I see," Armstrong spoke, thoughtfully. "Like hiding a tree in a forest. It would be very difficult to locate a single book amongst millions of others."

Ed grinned happily. "Our first real lead to the stone, Al!"

"Brother…!" Al sighed blissfully.

Armstrong beamed at the boys' excitement and enthusiasm. Then frowned a little in thought. "What are we going to do about her?" Grabbing Ed and Al's attention, he gestured his head to the red haired girl sitting on the bench across from them.

The girl hadn't spoken a word to them since they met her. Even saying goodbye to Dr. Marcoh she did not make sound, not even a simple farewell. They wondered if the doctor was right about her being mute.

Edward shrugged. "I don't know. Al's the one who invited her," he accused, sending a pointed glare at his younger brother.

"Don't be mean, brother!" Al retorted appalled. "We are on our way to get Winry to make you a new arm. Why not invite her? Besides, I'm sure Winry would be delighted to have another customer."

"Whatever," Ed breathed in annoyance. His golden gaze darted towards the redhead staring out the window. "She just so creepy," he frowned. "Not only that, but she ripped off your helmet, Al! She knows your secret! The way she decidedly invaded your personal space pisses me off! I don't like her. We are only dropping her off at Winry's and that's it." He huffed angrily, and turned his head out the window.

Al just sighed at his brother's anger and stubbornness.


"Granny!" Edward waved to an elderly woman who stood about four feet tall, her gray hair tied into a small ponytail that extended upwards, and she wore glasses. The house behind her was a bright yellow color with the sign 'Rockbell Automail' on the front porch.

"Hey, Granny. Could you fix us up?" Ed asked, awkwardly placing a hand on his back.

"Hello, Ed, Al," the old lady greeted the brothers. Her gaze then landed on Armstrong and the redheaded girl in the wheelchair. "Who are your guests?"

"Oh! This is Major Alex Louis Armstrong," Ed introduced the bald man. His smile faded when he glanced over at the red haired girl. "And she's… I don't even know what her name is. We just found during one of our investigations, and Al invited her along in hopes that you could provide automail to replace her missing leg."

"I see…" The short woman removed her pipe and exhaled, eyes darting between Ed and the very tall man standing behind him, carrying Al in a crate. She almost snickered at the enormous height difference. "I know I haven't seen you in a while, Ed, but you've gone and grown smaller."

With that insult, Ed practically exploded and the two went into a shouting match, hurling insults at each other. The argument was only stopped when he was knocked over by a flying wrench.

He groaned in pain and then glared angrily at his assailant. "What the hell, Winry?! Are you trying to kill me?!" he screamed furiously.

"I should say about you, Ed!" the girl shouted with just as much bite. She had long, blonde hair that was tied into a ponytail with side swept bangs, and big, innocent, blue eyes. She wore a green bandana and beige colored jumpsuit with the top half unzipped, showing the black tube top she wore underneath. "I thought I told you to call first before you come back here for maintenance!"

Then she smiled brightly. "Welcome back, you guys!"


"Oh no!" Winry screamed in horror, looking at the broken pieces of the metal arm laid out before her despairingly.

"Yeah, it's a little messed up," Edward said, nonchalantly sipping a cup of coffee.

"A little messed up? A little?! Ed, don't you see what you've done to my beautiful creation? I slaved over this!"

"It's basically the same! It's just in smaller pieces!"

The earned him well deserved, powerful kick to the face.

Winry turned her angry gaze on Alphonse while Ed laid limp and motionless. "Are you messed up too, Al? Geez! How much trouble are you guys getting yourselves into?"

Al was about to answer, but the fact that he was replying in the first place just pissed her off more. She threw another vicious kick his way, startling him and knocking him over.

"All you two do is worry me!" the blonde mechanic huffed angrily, hands on her hips in exasperation.

"Speaking of that, what are we going to do about her?" Pinako pointed at the redheaded girl sitting in the corner in her wheelchair. "Didn't you boys say she needed automail for her leg?"

Winry calmed down to address the new girl. "Another customer who gets to experience the wonders of automail!" she squealed joyously. She smiled and walked up to girl, extending her hand out to shake. "Hi, my name's Winry Rockbell! What's yours?"

Much to her surprise and bewilderment, the girl simply growled at her, glared at her before turning away. Winry frowned confused. "Hey! All I was asking for was your name."

"She's probably just scared, Winry," Pinako said, approaching the girls. "Don't be so forceful."

"But Granny!" the blonde mechanic pouted.

"She's mute, Ms. Winry," Armstrong spoke up.

The young girl disheartened at that, now feeling bad for yelling at the poor redhead.

She produced an easy smile. "You say you need an automail for your leg, right? Do you mind if I left up your skirt? I need to see the damage."

Everything happened so fast within a blink of an eye that the occupants could only stare wide eyed and slack jawed.

Winry was sent hurling to the ground, clenching her side and moaning in pain. The red haired girl's chair was spawned out beside after crashing in a heap. The redhead on the opposite than where she previously was on all fours, or three in this case, poised and glaring darkly. In fact, her glare was so fierce, if looks could kill, they would all be dead now.

Edward was the first to recover from the shock. "What the hell is your problem?!" he screamed furiously at the redhead.

"Winry! Are you alright?" Alphonse shouted in worry.

"Yeah, I think so," Winry groaned groggily. "What was that for?!" she shouted with a mixture of anger and hurt.

The red haired simply glared at her.

Edward glared at the girl in return and stalked her. "You are not even going to apologize? You have some nerve!"

The girl response was to quickly backpedal until her grabbed gripped table. She placed her hands upon it and backflipped to the otherside, leaving the occupants awestruck.

"Where did you guys even find this girl? She sure can move with only three limbs," Winry asked Ed dumbfounded.

Ed was just as baffled. "We didn't find her. She was a doctor's place we stopped at on the way here. Al thought it was a good idea to bring here her," he finished, throwing his brother a glare, who just shivered uncontrollable.

"Well, how was I supposed to know?" he retorted.

Armstrong held his arm up in a friendly gesture. "Now, now, miss. Calm down. We are not here to hurt you."

The redhead only glared at him, mouth formed into a deep frown.

"We just wanted to see your leg, that's all," Pinako joined in, speaking in the same calming. The way this girl acts… Her aggressive and defensive nature… Is uncannily no different than wild animal.

There was a quirk of a red brow, but that is the only movement.

Ed stepped forward. "Quit acting stupid and just listen to them."

A dark glare was thrown his way.

"Edward Elric, step back."

Ed looked at the Major with confusion. "Why?"

"Don't you see you are making her even more hostile," was Armstrong's response.

"Isn't it strange? She acts more like a wild animal that's been locked in a cage," Pinako added.

"I'm not a wild animal," the redhead growled.

Everyone merely gasped in surprise.

"You can talk?" Al asked shocked. "I thought Dr. Ma- the doctor said you were mute?"

"That's because I only let him conjure up him any silly, little excuse to explain why I never spoken a word to him. I stayed with him merely for survival. And since he outlived his usefulness to me, I figured there would no more reason to stay with him," she responded bluntly and coldly.

Ed growled angrily at her. "Why you…! That's no way talk about someone who helped you!"

"Just because he helped me then, doesn't mean he wouldn't attack me later," the redhead responded. "He was probably expecting me to drive me to a false sense of security and therefore drop my guard. So just as he was using me, I was using him. It's as simple as that."

Al sweatdropped. "Drop your guard?"

The redhead ignored him, her posture relaxed a bit and her blue glance over at Winry. "I hear the boy and the armor mention you could make me a new limb, girl. Is that correct?"

"Yes." Winry could only nod dumbly, too perplexed and utterly mystified on what to say.

"Good. I am in need of a replacement."


(A/N: That's it! Did you enjoy it? Leave comments and questions in a review, and thanks for reading!)