I'm alive! Here you go.


Chapter 9


The day passed slowly as Edward awaited the time when he needed to be at work. Knowing that Ilsa would be there shortly after him, he waited in the entrance hall for her to show up. A few patrons walked by, giving him an awkward feeling each time one of them stared; he caught a chill and shivered. Some of the people passing through the doors looked less than desirable, some smelled of alcohol, there were even a couple who had an odd white powder on their face. He would have to talk to mama-san if he wanted anything done about it, but she was the kind who loved her money. So he kept his opinions on the customers to himself.

Finally, Ilsa showed up for work, she was dressed in a shimmery navy blue gown that hugged her curves, right to her knees. She had a 'gentleman' on one arm and a black purse with a long strap on the other. He caught her attention. "Ilsa, do you have a minute?"

"Back off, she's workin'." The man, who smelled of whiskey, blurted out.

"It's business." He reassured him.

He pulled her close, her expression became annoyed. "So's zis."

"Actually." She distanced herself a step. "He works here, I'll just be a second. You can head off to our usual room if you like." She winked at him.

"I'll be waitin'." He gave Ed the stink eye as he swaggered on by.

Waiting until the man was out of ear shot. "Are all your customers this...sober?" He joked with a chuckle.

She rolled her eyes. "Seriously. What they do is get really wasted, so when they go home to their wives, they use it as an excuse for fooling around with us." She folded her arms and looked down the hall into the main foyer, there was music and cigarette smoke, as usual. "What can I do you for?"

"You see...it's about Winry." Ed became uneasy.

"Oh really." Ilsa too became uneasy. "Did she complain about you and I?"

Taken aback, he responded with uncertainty. "Do you think that she would?"

Giving that thought a second, she shrugged. "I just figured she did, but I guess not. So what is it then?"

"It's about her family." He began. "I walked her home last night and stayed on her couch."

"Oh, did you see...anyone else there?" She said abruptly.

"Not really, but I found out about it from her nanny, Aria, after she had left Winry's. But I heard some other things too." He fiddled with his words. "She said that you and three other girls go there every so often and she gives you money. Now, I'm not trying to talk you out of it so she can save for her passport...I just want to know what it's all about."

Ilsa shrugged. "Sorry Ed, I can't tell you. If her secret gets out, she'll cut me and the other girls off. What can I say, the extra money is nice."

"Secret? What secret?" He thought out loud.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret now, would it?" She kissed his cheek and began to walk away. "Maybe a quickie tonight?"

Ed nodded. "Sure." He decided to snoop around the hall for some more information.

Following several steps behind Ilsa, he entered the first floor bar. Looking from side to side, he searched for a girl that had 'dark hair and pale blue eyes' like Aria had described; deciding that it would be best to look for her instead of the other two with blond hair and blue eyes, because in Germany that was like looking for a needle in a stack of needles. Scanning the bar he picked out three different people who fit his description. Approaching the first one, who was sitting at a table in the corner of the room alone, he sat across from her. "Hey there." He said in a polite tone.

"Sorry, I only do girls, husband's orders." She said, completely brushing him off.

Momentarily stunned, he made a quick recovery. "I'm a bodyguard, work here too; I'm just looking for some information on a particular girl."

The woman pulled a cigarette from her purse and lit it. "You have five minutes."She was quite rude.

"Do you know anything about a girl named Winry who works here?"

"I know she's a bitch." The woman said with bite, obviously calling the kettle black.

"Still. What do you know about her personally?" He folded his hands.

"Nothing. The only time I see her is when we work together. I don't make a point of talking to her, she's just...not right, you know, in the head." She shook her head. "Anyway, we're done here." She shooed him away with her cigarette hand.

"But it hasn't been five minutes, it hasn't even been one minute." He said with disbelief.

"So? I can't help you, there's no need for you to be here." The woman rolled her eyes and she turned in her chair to face as far away from him as possible.

"R-ight." Containing his frustration, he just got up and left, muttering over his shoulder as he walked absentmindedly. "What a cun-" Indecently he had bumped into damsel number two. Lucky him. This one was taller, but still fit the description, black hair, blue eyes. "Sorry about that."

"Oh don't worry sweetie, you can bump into me anytime." She touched his collar in a seductive manner.

"Heh." He couldn't help but be a little flattered. "I actually needed to talk to you about something."

"What is it baby? I'll do whatever you want." She said in a oddly deep voice while reaching out and taking hold of his ponytail, getting somewhat closer. She twirled it around her finger.

"I need some information about Winry. Do you know her?" He spoke over the music, it wasn't too loud, but he had moved closer to it.

"Winry? Never heard of her. I'm new, just started last week." She got a little closer. "I could help you out in other ways if you like solider."

"Sorry, but I'm a little busy. Maybe some other time." No sooner did he utter those words when he glanced up to see something horrendous. A five o'clock shadow adorned the underside of her face, or rather, his face. He then quickly caught sight of an Adam's apple. "Or maybe not at all. Forget I said anything." He quickly turned to run.

"Don't be like that. I can love as good as any woman." He did his best to show off what he considered a feminine figure in his women's clothing.

"I'll have to take your word for it." He quickly made tracks, leaving his newly made cross-dressing acquaintance in the dust. "That was terrifying." Ed held a hand over his chest and sighed. He looked around frantically for the third possibility but couldn't spy her anywhere. He made his way into the back hall that led to mama-san's room. He didn't see her very often, he hated the idea of his mother running a brothel, so seeing her face behind such a desk was disheartening. Edward knew that mama was familiar with all of her girls, men and all those in between. Like the new friend he just made. He quivered at the thought.

Before he could even make it to mama's door, a girl, not a stitch on her body, save for the towel on her head, exited the closest room to him; it looked to be the shower room, she was soaked. As she walked toward him, he noticed the criteria, dark hair, and these cold blue eyes that could freeze you. He didn't want to stop her from walking by, she was in the nude. He did however find himself becoming more desensitized, so he decided to give it a try.

He cleared his throat. "Excuse me." He locked his eyes with hers, not wanting to move them.

"I have to be somewhere in twenty minutes, so it's gotta be a quickie." She said without a hitch. Edward was beginning to think that the girls in this place were use to being treated like sex toys, hence the name of the hall, therefor weren't use to someone just wanting to strike up a conversation.

"No, I'm not looking for that. I'm looking for some information on a person." He continued.

"Mama has the girls ratings in her office." She was still sure he was looking for sex.

"No, again, it's on one girl in particular. She's special." He tried to finish his though.

"Francine the she-male?" She questioned.

"We've met--I'm talking about Winry." Finally, getting his thought finished, he saw her expression change. "You know her?" He grew hopeful.

"Yeeaah." She trailed with her words as she began to dry her hair, her arms in the air, chest exposed. Her arms moved back and forth vigorously, causing a lot of movement that Edward did his best to pretend wasn't happening.

Edward became interested in the light fixtures on the ceiling as she mauled her hair with the white towel. "Um, I uh, just..." He composed himself, becoming desensitized wasn't the same as being desensitized, he was not there just yet. "I was wondering if you knew anything about her kid. Like, who's the father."

She hesitated. "She doesn't want people to know...but..." She looked him over. "Since you like me, I'll tell you something."

"Like? I don't know you enough to form an opinion." He saw her eyes drop and then come back up to meet his. "..." He looked down, apparently, he didn't look away from her naked frame quickly enough, he had become a little 'frisky'. "I-" She threw her towel to him to cover himself.

"Don't worry, is it your first time here or something?" She smirked as she placed her fists on her hips.

"No...I'm new here, a couple weeks in now, I'm a bodyguard...uh, I'm sorry, that's very rude of me." He was embarrassed and thus tried to think of the cross dresser to bring himself down, it seemed to be working. A little. But not really, not with the counterbalance.

"Think nothing of it. Well..." She exhaled deeply. "Winry first told everyone that she didn't know who the baby's father was, then she told everyone he didn't want anything to do with her, so he took off."

"Really...thanks that helps a little." He smiled at this pretty girl before him. "By the way, I'm Edward." He only then thought to introduce himself. Remembering this familiar face from a long time ago, he was sure it was Clause from Xenotime, he was twelve at the time as he recalled.

"You know, your the first guy to tell me their name...I'm Klaus." She sighed. "Alright...one more tip. Her folks went to church everyday. But that's all you get...or maybe." She moved closer and reached for her towel. "Let's get rid of that before you go out."

He hesitated, but nodded. "Why the hell not." He had come to terms with discarding his morality when he started working at a brothel.


"So, will you tell me now?" Ed propped himself up on his arm as he leaned over Ilsa. "Hmm? I got that she knows who the father is and that her parents were extremely religious...that and her mother tried to commit suicide at the top of her stairs...other than that, I got nothing."

She laid back on the bed and placed her hands behind her head. "As good as a young piece like you is, I like my money. But I guess I could give you a hint." She rolled over and poked a finger in the middle of his bare chest. "It's got to do with why her family really moved."

"They were trying to get away from Hitler, right?" He said.

Ilsa shook her head. "That's just what she tells everyone. But that's all you get from me. If you want to know, you'll have to bring it up with her. But remember-" She kissed his forehead. "You heard nothing from me." She stood up, bare back to Edward. "Lest you lose out on this nice butt."

He smirked. "Sure."

"Ooh, don't forget." She tossed her dress over her head and straightened it out. "Mama wants you to 'initiate' the new girls at the end of the week, did you decide on if your going to do it or not?" Ilsa fluffed her hair out from the neck of her dress and then began the hunt for her undergarments.

"She got knocked up and her folks disapproved...that's all I got." He sat up in the bed and watched Ilas search.

"You're close." She stood up and swiveled her hips to scan the room. Ed smirked his wide Elric smile, one he hadn't used in a while. "What are you smirking at?" She glared at him as he pulled a pair of black silk panties from beneath the covers. "Give me that." She held out a hand as Ed tossed the garment at her. Briskly putting them on, she stretched upward.

"I'm close huh?" He gathered his hair and tied it back in it's usual ponytail.

"Yeah...but...there's other factors that you don't know about. Honestly, you may not want to bother. Winry's the only one who can fill in the blanks for you from here on out. But I suggest you not ask her, I don't think she can afford to pay a fifth person."

Ed thought to himself for a moment. "If I guess it...I won't tell her, but will you tell me if I'm right?"

Ilsa gave it a second to process. "Sure...because you won't."

"Sounds like a challenge." He smirked.


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