Title: Her Nemesis
Fandom: Full Metal Alchemist
Disclaimer: I do not own FMA
Pairing: Edward X Winry
Rating: Teen
Genre: Action/ Drama/ Angst/ AU
Summary: Her childhood was abruptly taken away from her, leaving Winry as a cold, deadly assassin. Will her fate change, when she had to eliminate Edward, the military dog? And what will be the fatal consequences of their encounter? EdWin.
A/N: Thank you for all of the readers and reviewers!
---------------------------------------Her Nemesis--------------------------------------
Chapter 7- Voices in the Dark
(Third person's point of view)
He sat behind his desk, his chin leaning on his own hand, staring at the younger boy in front of him. The younger boy folded his arm across his chest, sitting down, while leaning against the chair.
"So Fullmetal, are you planning to tell me what's been going on?"
Ed rolled his eyes for a moment before shrugging, "There's nothing going on here, Mustang."
He raised his eyebrow high in reply, and continued to stare at Ed and Al intently. "You've been attacked… twice. Then Al's been kidnapped. And now you're telling me there's nothing that's been going on here?"
Silence. The younger boy simply sat still, and there was no change of expression on face; his eyes revealed nothing.
Mustang sighed, "We've been through this, Edward. First, there was Scar, then the homunculus… now this." He moved his stare to Al, who was sitting next to Ed.
"As I've said before," Ed began, gritting his teeth all the while, "There's nothing for me to tell, and there's nothing that's been going on here… or even if there's something, that's really none of your business, Mustang."
"It concerns the military," he answered simply, leaning back against his chair. "Fullmetal, after all these years, I thought you would understand. You are the dog of the military, and anything that concerns your life and safety, also concerns the military."
Al shrugged, looking at his brother yet kept quiet.
"What are you hiding, Edward?" Mustang spoke again. "This isn't a simple matter you know."
Yes, I know. The thing is, I'm not even sure myself about the answer.
"Fullmetal," he said again, standing up from his chair, "What are you trying to protect?"
Para… Winry… Why?
"Nothing,"
Sighing, Mustang sat back on his chair, and opened the drawer from his desk, holding up a brown envelope. "You see, you two aren't the only target around here." He opened the envelope, and took out a bunch of papers from it. "You see? These are the files of the murdered military personnel and staffs."
"What?" Ed answered, grabbing the papers and examined them. His eyes opened wide in horror and shocked. There were photographs of the dead, all covered in scarlet blood, lying down on the ground in different positions. "…No way," he murmured quietly.
He read the descriptions; observed the pictures carefully, all in a dead silence. When he closed his eyes, more pictures flashed in his mind, everything in a quick blur. Pictures of Nina, the chimeras, homunculus, and figures covered in blood, splashes of crimson on the wall with the sour smell… then, out of pure nothingness, his smile appeared in his head…
…Maes Hughes…
Ed's eyes snapped open, cold sweat streamed down at the back of his head.
"Why?" He thought, "Why them?"
Al too, was looking at some of the files with full of horror. "Brother," he whispered.
"There are seven murders in total; seven murders in a week. Fullmetal, what are you thinking?"
He ignored Al's voice and Mustang's question. He stared down unto the papers, yet his mind was in somewhere else. Anger was written in his eyes, blankness and confusion mixed with uncertainty flowing down in his vain.
Ed shook his head, "What is their purpose?"
"It's a lot more complicated than you think, Edward," her voice spoke in his ears.
"A murder in a day… But, it's the military… it should've been different," his mind protested. "These are trained military personnel, damn it… So how?"
"For it is bigger, scarier, deeper, and a lot more frightening that what you could imagine it to be," her distant voice spoke again, sounding like an alarm, a bell that was indicating the time to fight.
"So," Mustang spoke again, breaking the silence in the room along with Ed's thoughts with it. "Tell us what you know, Fullmetal."
"Us?" Al asked, looking up to the Flame Alchemist.
The door then opened, and a man walked inside. His grey hair glistened in the light, and there was a long deep scar on the right side of his neck. The man smiled, and took a sit next to Al. "Faus, information department, at your service."
"Yeah," Al nodded, while Ed kept quiet, frowning. There was something disturbing about Faus, which he did not know what. Perhaps it was his cold distant smile that seemed to be so fake, or perhaps it was the way he talks, how his voice always seemed so cynical and bitter. Or maybe, it was just because of the sentimental feeling he held, as he watched Faus being in Hughes' position that gave Ed the feeling that the family-loving-man was being replaced.
"He's the one who compiled all these files, Fullmetal, and the one who researches about Para."
"How'd you–" snapped Ed, turning his head to Mustang, whose expression was still and indifferent.
"So you knew," he replied, looking back at Ed from behind his table.
Ed gritted his teeth, "So do you."
"Well, so this is the Edward Elric and Alphonse," Faus suddenly spoke, breaking the silence between Ed and Mustang. "I've wanted to see what you two are like."
The brothers kept silent.
"So, what do you know about Para, Edward?" Faus asked again.
"Nothing. Now, stop asking me all these questions. What makes you think that we know anything about Para anyway?"
Faus showed the smile of his again, the one that seemed so cold and distant. "Well, you two are their first targets, am I right?"
"So?" Ed replied shortly.
"And the fact that you two are the only one who survived both of their attacks," continued Mustang. "Fullmetal, you managed to save Al, who had been kidnapped by them. Just why do they bothered to kidnapped Al and not murder him instead is a question on its own. But how you managed to save him from their clutch, is indeed, a bigger mystery for the military."
"Al's been kidnapped, but not murdered, maybe it's because he's not exactly in the military," answered Ed quietly.
"I'm sure that's not the real reason," Faus replied.
"How do you know?"
He smiled in reply, "Just a feeling."
"I think that this case is relatively different than Scar's case. Fullmetal, Para has eliminated a lot more people who are never been involved with the military before. By killing Al shouldn't make a difference, and yet," Mustang paused his sentence, looking directly into Ed's eyes. "Just how did you manage to save Al, Edward? How did you know where to look?"
"I didn't. She told me where Al was. I didn't save Al… she did."
Yet he kept quiet, sealing his mouth shut in reply, and merely shrugged.
"Fullmetal, you aren't cooperating. Remember, you aren't the only target. At this very moment, new targets might very well appear."
"Somebody from Para who knew where Al was came and confronted me," Ed replied. "That's not exactly a lie, right?"
Mustang kept quiet, leaving Faus to asked, "And?"
"I won the battle, and so I got Al back."
"That simple?" asked Mustang.
Ed nodded in reply.
"I still got the idea that you aren't telling me everything, Edward. And I'm sure that you aren't going to let another information passed your mouth right now," said Faus while standing up from his sit. "But we'll leave it there for this moment. Please do consider about telling us the truth the next time we meet. Excuse me for now." And he left.
"I don't trust him," mumbled Ed to Mustang.
"He does his job," the older man replied shortly. "Right now though, you seemed to be hiding more things than he is, Fullmetal. I hope you would really consider what he said."
"Right."
"Brother, why didn't you told them the truth back then?"
Yeah… why?
"I don't know, Al. I really don't know."
"I see. But, shouldn't you…"
"I don't know Al. I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight," replied Ed, walking into his room.
He laid on his bed in the dark bedroom, his hand covering his face.
"Brother, why didn't you told them the truth back then?" Al's question popped in his head again.
"Maybe because you trusted her too much," a voice appeared in his head.
"What?" Ed thought in reply.
"You were always been hoping that she would return to you. That she would be with you and Al forever… right?"
Ed couldn't help but nodded in the darkness, answering to the voice that was unheard for anyone but him.
"But why, Edward? This isn't like you… You've known better. You've learn not to trust anyone, especially those who are your enemy."
"She isn't an enemy," Ed said back in defense.
"She attacked you, didn't she?"
"That was at first. She didn't know us yet, didn't remember who we were to her yet. It was different. We are friends now. I trusted my friends."
"And yet, she betrayed you, didn't she? She betrayed you, even though she remembered who you are. She betrayed you, and went back to Para. She could find another choice. But she didn't. Edward, open your eyes. Forget about the sentimental values. She betrayed you. She betrayed your friendship."
Ed kept quiet. His fingers clenched his bed sheet tightly.
"This isn't like you Edward. This is stupid. Stop denying it. You know that she is indeed the enemy; that she's a part of Para, and there's no denying in that fact. What made you trust her? Why? You were never this trusting. Never been this incautious and naive. So why?"
"…I don't know."
"Face it, Edward… open your eyes. Face the fact that Winry is a part of Para, while you are a part of the military. And if it's not simple enough, then let's just face this: Para kills innocent people, and she is one of those murderers. And you are saying that she isn't the enemy?"
"But it wasn't her voice. She… she tried to betray Para for us."
"And yet she went back to them."
"That was to save Al. She did it for good. She..."
"Why do you want to defend her so badly?"
"What?"
"She isn't your childhood friend anymore. The old Winry you used to know is dead, buried somewhere, and will never return. What is left is an eliminator, a murderer who shared the same name as your childhood friend. That's it."
"But,"
"Edward, why did you hate Scar?" the voice cut through his sentence, breaking through his every defense.
"Because he killed innocent people! Because he killed anyone who he thought was sinful, and went against his path! He didn't think of other's live as important! He treated human lives as-"
"And how is she different that him?"
"…" He could not answer, he didn't know how.
Perhaps it was because of her rare smiles that always managed to lighten up his heart. Or perhaps it was because those sad looks in her eyes, the way she often gazed away to a distant land, as if was to search for something she would never reach - that would sent a jolt in his heart, a wish to care for her in every situation it is. Perhaps, it was as simple as because everything about her reminded him of the good old times, and how she would bring back the memories of his home.
But perhaps, he didn't need a reason.
"And how is she different than Scar?"
"Because she's Winry," he answered quietly.
Because she was being herself, and by that reason alone, he was glad that he has met her for the second time. Perhaps there are still a million other reasons that he will need to explain, a lot more motives that he will need to think through. But at this moment, a twinge of sensation of an unfamiliar feeling was there to make him be so sure, that by answering the question with one seemingly simple answer… it was enough. It was a start.
"Why?"
"Because she's an important person in my life."
"Which one? The old Winry, who was your childhood friend… Or the new Winry, who is now a member of Para?"
He opened his eyes in the darkness and smiled, "Both."
"It'll only bring you trouble. Remember, Edward… this is a war. Thinking such a thought would only result in a mess."
"I know."
"We don't have room for such a feeling. Such an emotion is unnecessary."
"I know."
"So why are you betraying your logic?"
"Honestly, I still don't know the exact reason. And it doesn't matter; I don't think a reason is necessary. But at least, I know what I should do now, something that I should have done a long time ago."
"What is it?"
"I'll bring her back," he answered simply. "True, Winry's a part of Para, and that she's one of those eliminators. But then, Winry is Winry. It'll be all right. It'll work out, somehow."
"And you could only hope," the voice spoke again.
He nodded. A hope is sometimes unrealistic, and is often idealistic. A wishful thinking blended with naivety and mere optimism. But it was the one thing that could carry on dreams, and the one thing that would make them stand in the middle of a mess. Perhaps a hope would only resulted in disappointment and a chance of regret and loss in the future…
Yet he hoped anyway, for the very same reason why we all dreamed, regardless of the disappointment that we may face. Perhaps, just maybe… There is nothing wrong in being able to hope, to wish, and to cherish the dreams of the future – despite of how seemingly unrealistic it is.
"Don't say that I didn't warn you," the voice of his logic spoke for the last time.
"I'll survive," he mumbled, before closing his tired eyes.
He knew that he was not being his usual self, that he was ignoring the logic and consciousness that he always followed.
"Because she's an important person in my life."
It was a start, perhaps that of a path of destruction. Or maybe, if he was lucky enough, everything would really turn to the way that would make them smile. Yet which ever path that was, through those simple words... great consequences will appear before them. Yet at that very moment, ignoring the war that was starting to heat up, forgetting the consequences that he may face in the future, he closed his eyes and rested his head for a moment, drifting into a peaceful dream.
It was a start.
-End of chapter 7
A/N: I took a break from Winry's point of view to be a third person's point of view, to get another look from the military's side. I hope that turned out okay. In truth, I'm not as excited with the story as I used to be. But I already planned the ending since a long time ago, and I really wanted to get there to finish it. So be patient, I'll definitely finish it.
Please review?
- FrozenAlchemy✖
