WINRY

Winry collapsed onto a plush couch in the entry, shock, dread, and disbelief creating a whirlwind of anxiety in her mind. Roy had killed someone! There was no way he could escape without severe punishment, or even death. Three days. She wondered how he could stand it. How could Riza bear it?! Winry groaned, burying her face in her hands. She really didn't need any more stress in her life; and this wasn't even her problem! The door creaked open and Riza walked into the room, her hair once again neatly clipped to the back of her head.

Col. Hawkeye smiled at the young girl. "Ready to go?" she asked, after returning the small silver key to Major Corondel. Winry nodded and followed Riza out the door.

A thought struck the younger girl. "Col. Hawkeye, how many ranks did you jump?" Winry asked, realizing the vast difference between Lieutenant and Colonel.

Riza smiled to herself. "I didn't actually skip any ranks. Right after the new military government was set in place, all of the unsettlement needed to be sorted out. There of course were people who were not willing to follow their new leader. Those people that were deemed trustworthy were of high value, and moved up in rank very quickly. I was one of those people, and seeing as my superiors kept getting weeded out, I was promoted a lot. I think I'll probably just stay a Colonel though," Riza explained. Winry nodded in understanding. It did make sense. Silently she wondered if she dared bring up Roy's trial. She wanted to learn everything she could about it, but was it really her place to know? Curiosity ate away at her stomach. Riza must have noticed. "Is there something on your mind?" The older woman inquired.

Winry forced herself out of her daze. "Um, no. not really. " She gave Riza her best don't-worry-about-me-everything's-fine smile, but she could tell the Colonel was still skeptical.

"If you say so…" She shrugged, "Well, sorry for the delay. Let's go get you settled in, and then we can go back to the hospital." Riza smiled as both she and Winry climbed into the car and drove away.

"I apologize in advance, because this is going to be really painful," Winry warned as she prepared to join Lt. Farley's nerves to the various metal body parts she had constructed. He gave a slight nod and set his jaw (or, what was left of it. A good portion of his face had been completely destroyed). "I'm going to start with the worst one," Winry stated, reaching the Lieutenant's half-metal face. She was confident in her ability to fashion everything on his face, except for his missing eye. She had long studied the mechanics of the human eye, and she figured she could probably build and attach a functional one. However, the anxiety of attaching the optic nerve almost directly to the brain was killing her. One wrong move and he could be dead. She took in a deep breath and connected the nerves. The Lieutenant cried out in agony as tears welled in his one good eye. His toes clenched and the muscles in his legs seized against the pain. Winry turned back to the doctors who were in the room 'supervising her.' "If you want to do any skin grafting, I suggest getting ready for that now," she mentioned, moving to hover over her patient's chest.

She sighed. This part here was the real reason he was presumed terminal. He'd lost his entire left arm, shoulder and much of his ribcage. This left his left lung, as well as his heart, exposed. It was a frakking miracle he'd made it off the battlefield in the first place. She'd managed to re-build his ribcage under the hard metal skin, but there was still the possibility that an infection had already set in. "Ready?" she asked. Lt. Farley nodded sharply. 3…2…1. She connected the nerves. The Lieutenant lurched as the entire left half of his torso was engulfed in searing flames of pain. Winry scurried to the other side of the hospital bed. "3, 2, 1," she warned as she connected the nerves for the metal forearm. Farley yelped in pain as sweat poured down his face and neck. The muscles in his legs were so tight, Winry suspected they would cramp soon.

The Lieutenant's pain was clearly off-setting the doctors in the room. "Can we… sedate him?" one of the younger doctors asked, glancing at the man writing on the operating table.

Winry shook her head, "The nerve connection won't work as well unless he's completely undrugged." The doctor nodded skeptically. Farley had stopped writhing, but he was still whimpering. Winry smiled and gently ruffled his bright red hair. "I'll be back in just a minute. The pain will go away soon, but don't try to move yet. I need to go check on Lt. Currey." She looked up at the head doctor in the operating room, "Go ahead with the skin grafting operation on his face. Afterward, move him to a recovery room and make sure he doesn't move any of his automail yet." After getting a nod of acknowledgment from the doctor, she walked out of the room.

Winry glanced down the hallway and groaned. Where exactly were the recovery rooms? A young female nurse was walking down the hallway away from her. Winry ran towards the nurse. "um, excuse me," she started, lightly tapping the nurse on the shoulder.

"Yes?" she asked, turning around.

"Can you tell me where the recovery rooms are?" Winry asked, her slight social anxiety making her trip over the words. The nurse smiled.

"I'm actually headed there, so just follow me." She turned back around and began walking down the hall again. Winry let out a quiet sigh of relief and followed. "I haven't seen you around here before, are you new?" the nurse asked.

"No, not really. I'm the automail mechanic for the Havoc squad," Winry explained.

The nurse chuckled, "Aren't you a bit young to be an automail mechanic?"

"Will people just stop doubting me already?!" Winry muttered angrily. The nurse laughed again.

"We're here. Name plates are by the doors," the nurse mentioned as she continued down the hall.

"Thank you!" Winry called after her. She turned to the door closest to her. "Currey… Currey…" She muttered, reading each of the names next to the doors. "Currey!" She opened the door and walked in. The poor lieutenant was almost completely metal now. Rehabilitation was not going to be short, or easy.

Winry collapsed against the door. She buried her face in her knees and groaned softly. "Long day?" came a familiar voice. Winry looked up into the hospital room. Havoc was the only one awake, and he sat in his bed, fiddling with a pencil in his good hand.

"Uhg, yes. Can I rant?" Winry asked.

Havoc shrugged, "The floor is yours."

"I operated on Farley and Currey against orders and currently they're both still alive, but I don't think Farley's going to make it, but who knows, he might. I've never lost anyone before and I sure as hell don't want to start now. On top of that it's been a year, and Al is nowhere close to summoning the gate. I hate myself a little for it, but I'm beginning to think that he'll never be able to do it. He'll never get the gate open, and Ed will just stay dead forever. And to top that ALL off, apparently Colo- Roy Mustang killed the Fuhrer and is going back on trial in just a few days and he's probably going to die!" Winry groaned again as her head fell back in her lap. "The anxiety is killing me!" She moaned, her words muffled by the fabric of her skirt.

"hmm. I'm sorry. But, can you explain one thing for me?"

Winry looked up in surprise, "Sure, what?"

"Ed's not dead?"

"Oh…yeah…um…" Winry sighed quietly. "Technically I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but we have reason to believe that he's not actually dead. You see, this girl Rose brought Al and Wrath home and-"

"Wait, wasn't Wrath a homunculus?"

"Yes. Apparently they saw the whole thing. Anywho, Rose said that Ed gave himself up to save Al. When he did, 'The Gate' appeared and he was pulled through, right before Al had taken full form. Also, this was not the first time Rose had seen Ed pushed through the gate. The first time, he came back through. The second time, not so much. That's why we think that he could still be alive…" Winry trailed off.

Havoc was quiet for a moment, "Don't give up hope just yet. Alphonse is a good kid. He'll pull through." He smiled reassuringly at the girl. She tried to smile back, but her heart was still in her throat. She looked at the four remaining men in the room. Was she ready to operate on any of them? Close… but not yet. She had absolutely no desire to get up and walk, so she crawled over to her miniature work station in the corner of the room and began assessing what she had built so far.

The door opened and a man entered. Winry glanced up. He wasn't exactly tall, but he was by no means short. He had long, blond hair died behind his head. He cleared his throat.

Havoc looked up, "Can I help you, Private?"

"Er, yes. Brigadier General Rosalyn wants you to testify in Mustang's trial on Thursday."

Havoc sighed, "Do I really have a choice?"

"Knowing her, I'm afraid not, Captain."

"Tell her I'll be there, but I wasn't in on the Fuhrer's assassination plan, so I doubt I'll be much help."

"I actually think you'll be speaking about the staged uprising, seeing as you were disguised as the former Colonel for a time, sir."

"Ah, I see. You're dismissed, Private," Havoc commanded. The blond man saluted and walked back out of the room. "FRAK!" Havoc cursed, pounding the bed with his good hand. "Frak…" he moaned, covering his face with that same hand.

"What is it?" Winry asked, alarmed.

"Roy organized the staged uprising. You know the one that caused a whole frakking war! If they bring that into the charges, then the Colonel will be facing two charges of treason. He's not going to make it, there's no way he can. Oh Gods we're so frakked," Havoc moaned. Winry looked down at her hands.

Why? Why did misfortune seem to follow her everywhere? First her parents, then Ed and Al, then Ed and Al again, and now this? She didn't know Roy exceptionally well, but she knew him enough to know he didn't deserve to die. Dread-filled silence hung in about them like a plague. Winry's anxiety was getting so bad her hands began to shake with fear. She folded them in her lap. The last remaining sane portion of her brain realized that the blond private had called Havoc 'Captain' as opposed to 'Lieutenant.' "Jean," Winry began.

"Hmm?"

"Were you promoted?"

Havoc gave a half-hearted laugh, "You noticed. While you were out the Fuhrer stopped by and promoted me to Captain. I always wondered how Riza managed it, but I guess I've figured it out. All you have to do is get half of your men frakking killed and they'll give you a frakking medal for it!" Havoc spat. Winry looked back down.

"Well, congratulations anyhow," She whispered. Havoc nodded and sat back.

A middle aged woman poked her head in the door, "Winry?" The blonde picked her head up in acknowledgement. "There's a phone for you," The woman finished. Winry nodded and followed her out the door. In the entry of the building, the receptionist handed Winry a phone.

"Hello?"

"Winry? This is Izumi."

"Sensei? What is it?"

"The Gate."

Winry gasped, "Did Al do it? Did he summon it?"

"No, he was inside reading and I was gardening. It just appeared in my yard. Then there was all this blue smoke that engulfed it and it was gone, but it showed up."

Winry was speechless, "Do you… do you think it's Ed?"

"Trying to reach us from the other side? That's what Al thinks, but I'm not so sure."

Both ends of the line were quiet. "Thank you, Sensei," Winry said before handing the phone back to the receptionist.