Chapter 10

Wanting More

Edward sat up in the comfy bed that he was occupying and looked blearily into the rising sun shimmering into his window. He blinked a couple of times then looked to his side at the beautiful creature occupying his bed at the moment and he gazed lovingly over her sleeping form. Taking a quick look at his watch, he decided it was time to get up and shower. He would come back and get Winry later.

The warm water running down his back felt glorious to Edward. His body tingled as it woke up. As his sleeping body and mind began to wake, his thoughts wandered back to the last three weeks, so much had happened…

Flashback, I didn't like it all italiced

A rainy morning had greeted him that first night he and Winry had slept together. When he had woken to Winry's arms wrapped tight around him, and his arms around her, he thought that the morning was perfect.

Until he realized that Alphonse was probably home.

Edward slapped himself in the head. How stupid could he get? Alphonse wasn't dumb, he knew where Winry was. But, nevertheless, it made the situation awkward. He might as well get it over with so he could spare Winry the humiliation.

Entering the kitchen where Alphonse had coffee prepared and ready gave Edward the slight feeling that Alphonse knew what Winry and Edward were going to be doing before they themselves did. Alphonse had this casual atmosphere in the room, and it made Edward wary.



"Sleep good last night Edward?" Alphonse said coolly, though a glint of playfulness was hinted at beneath his surface.

"Yes, I did. Is there enough coffee for me too?" Edward said, pointing at the machine that provided daily caffeine for the household.

Nodding Alphonse replied, "I suppose you did. But it seems that Winry left already, she's not on the couch. Funny though, all her belongings, including her clothes are still here. Did she leave in her pajamas?" A smile played on Allophones' lips.

Edward bristled, realizing that Alphonse was playing with him. "Winry's in my room and you know it. Cut the crap." Edward stormed to the coffee pot and drank in the warm liquid that greeted his body.

Heaven.

Alphonse chuckled. "And what is she doing in your bed Edward?"

"Sleeping." Edward shot back with a look. "Don't tease her when she comes out, okay? I don't want her to feel bad." Edward shot Alphonse a look that said, 'Say anything and die a horrible and painful death!' Alphonse heeded that warning.

As Edward sat down, Alphonse pushed the local paper toward him. It was the part advertising apartments. Edward glanced down at the paper and back up to Alphonse. "What's this?" He said angrily.

"I think its time that I moved out. This apartment is yours and I've been meaning to lately." Alphonse said matter-of-factly.



"Pft, don't be stupid Al. You pay half of the rent and I pay the other half. All of our costs are split, remember? So, that means that this place is mine just as much as it's yours. Besides, why in the world would you have to move out?"

"I think its time we separated brother. You know, spread our wings a little bit. Ever since mom died we've been inseparable, and I think its time that we separated. We need to get lives besides each other, understand?" Alphonse looked longingly into his cup. "I want to get married and have a family of my own to raise. Every time I go the Hughes, I'm reminded that I'm getting older and that I'm losing valuable time." He smiled at Edward. "You only live once Edward. Every moment you waste is a wasted moment."

Edward looked sadly at the listings. Everything Alphonse had said hit home with him, his own thoughts mirroring Alphonse's.

"I think you would need a studio right Al? What about this place? It's in the building across the street and the landlord is the same guy we have now." Edward smiled across the table and Alphonse smiled back

--

"Okay, I think that's everything Alphonse. If I find anything else, I'll just run it over to you." Edward loaded the last box onto the small trolley that they had been using the whole day. Winry was at the Mustang's; clearing out her things, ready to move in with Edward.

Alphonse paused for a moment. "Are you sure you don't want to live by yourself for a while brother? I mean, are you sure you want her to move in right away?" Edward nodded.

"I don't like living alone. I did that during my last two years of college and it gets lonely and expensive." Edward smiled. "Don't worry Alphonse, I'll be fine."



Alphonse gave a slight smile and turned to leave. Edward shut the door behind him and looked around at the apartment. It felt so empty. He glanced at his watch and saw that Winry probably wouldn't be there for another couple of hours. He started wandering the halls, walking past Alphonse's old studio, which was empty now. He imagined Winry's tools and machines filling up the space instead and he pictured her working diligently there. He smiled and moved on.

The next room was his office where he brought home his cases and worked late into the night. A small desk surrounded by papers and folders. A laptop sat closed on the hard surface as it charged. Edward stepped into the office and looked around the walls that had newspaper clippings and pictures of Elicia (courtesy of Hughes). A framed photo of the team sat on his desk. Havoc, Furey, Breda, Fallman, Riza, Mustang, and himself when they were just beginning as a team. Edward and Roy had hated each other from the start, and Edward smiled at the memory.

The other picture was more recent. It pictured the Hughes, the Mustangs, Alphonse, Winry and himself on a picnic soon after Edward had gotten his new limbs. The simplistic beauty of the picture was a reason why Edward kept it on his desk. To remind him of what he had and what he was working for.

As he walked past the second bedroom that was across from his own, Edward wondered what he and Winry were going to do with it. To him, it seemed pointless to have it. But then he figured Winry needed her own space and she probably didn't want to sleep with him every night either. Whatever, that's where her things would go.

As he sauntered back to the kitchen he heard the door. 'Winry must be here.' Edward had given her a key previously. Edward stepped to the door lightly, happy to see his new blond roommate.



As he opened the door gleefully, expecting to find a beautiful blond standing across the doorstep, he smiled warmly and said "Hey Winry!" But instead he was greeted by someone else. Not a gleefully happy Winry.

But a smirky, happy Roy Mustang.

Edward made a face, and Roy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What's that face for? We're helping Winry." And Mustang strode past Edward with a trolley. Riza followed suit, carrying boxes in her arms. Winry was after them.

She smiled warmly. "They said they would help carry it in. That way we don't have do all of it." Edward smiled warmly back. Then, quickly glancing around to make sure Roy and Riza were gone (they were moving stuff into Winry's studio), he quickly leaned over and kissed Winry, wrapping his arms around her.

He pulled away for a second. "I'm glad to see you." He whispered into her ear. Winry giggled and kissed him back. For a few moments (or minutes) time seemed to pause, leaving just the two of them in a state of blissful happiness.

"Ahem." Roy and Riza were standing in the room, Riza standing emotionless and Roy with a knowing smirk on his face. Edward and Winry pulled away from each other, each blushing profusely and smiling.

Roy spoke up. "We're done in there. So if you two want to quit, there's more boxes downstairs."

-- End of flashback--



Otherwise the past three weeks had been a flurry of getting ready for the big operation that was happening soon. Edward turned off the showerhead and stepped out of the shower. After retrieving a towel to wrap around his waist he stepped out of the bathroom.

Before stepping into his bedroom, Edward sneaked a peek in and took a long look at the sleeping form of Winry. All he could see of the girl was a small tuft of blond hair peaking over the covers. Edward stepped quietly into the room to retrieve some clothes, and then quickly stepped out again and into Winry's room to change.

--

Winry opened her eyes, seeing bright light streak in. She fumbled around for her cellphone and saw that it was 7:30. Edward usually woke up around six, took a shower, and went for a jog. He probably wasn't back yet.

She quickly got out of bed and went to take a shower. After she was done taking her shower, she got dressed and made coffee. After discovering that Edward had already made coffee and had kept some warm for her, she wandered into her studio to check her messages. Then she began work on some new feet that would help an amputee run faster to qualify for a race.

Winry began thinking about her life as it was now, and how she no longer could imagine her life without Edward. She began thinking of all the special times they would share in the future and she even wondered if he would propose one of these days. Even if he didn't, that would be okay too. For right now her life was complete.

A familiar ring-tone filled the studio and Winry reached over to grab her cellphone. Glancing at the caller-ID she saw it was Mr. Hughes.

"Hi Mr. Hughes! How are you today?" Winry said brightfully.



"I'm good Winry! I hope everything is fine over there, living with Edward and all."

"Yeah, everything's fine." More than fine in Winry's opinion, but he didn't need to know that.

"Good. I was wondering if you and Edward would be up to a picnic this Saturday. Its Elicia's birthday and I want everyone to be there!! She's turning 5 Winry!! She seems to become even more adorable everyday!!"

"That sounds great. Edward's not around right now, but I'll tell him when he gets back. For sure I can come though."

"Great. Tell Ed I said hi. Oh, and don't tell him this, but since it's his birthday this weekend too, I thought we could surprise him. He always forgets, so I'm sure he'll be stunned."

"Oh, Mr. Hughes, that's wonderful! Thank you so much, I'm sure he'll be really surprised."

"You think? I hope so; Gracia's cooking this wonderful cake with red and white frosting. I can't believe Edward is turning 29 already, can you?" Hughes sighed over the phone. "He really needs to find himself a wife."

"Yeah, he does. Well, I have to get back to work, but thanks for calling. I'll see you this weekend, with Edward in tow."

"Thanks Winry!" And he hung up.

Winry thought about what Mr. Hughes had mentioned, about Edward having a wife. Winry wanted to settle down too, and she thought that Edward would ask her to marry him. He obviously loved her, and she loved him, so what was he waiting for? Winry sighed. Edward probably wasn't even thinking of marriage, he probably thought she was content with their current lifestyle. But Winry wanted to take that final step. Oh well, she could just wait it out.



Just then Winry heard the door click open and she ran into the kitchen just as Edward was taking off his running shoes.

"Mr. Hughes invited us to a picnic this Saturday, Edward. Its Elicia's birthday so we have to pick her out a birthday present. You're going to go right?" Edward looked up from tugging off his shoe.

"Yeah, of course." He said with a final tug of the pesky shoe. He straightened and walked towards Winry, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her on the neck.

"Great! So do you think we can get her present sometime during the week?" Edward paused.

"Yeah, sure. The operation is tomorrow night, Sunday, so we'll be done with all the clean-up by then."

"Great! I want to get her some cute clothes and maybe a nice doll…" Winry faded off, lost in her own thoughts of childhood. "By the way, I'm hungry."

Edward released Winry and started walking to the kitchen. "What do you want to eat? I'll make it for you." He smiled.

Winry smiled back. "Pancakes, with sausage."

"Okay then." Edward reached into the cupboards where the supplies were while Winry sat at the table, reaching for the paper. "Oh no!" Edward raised an eyebrow from where he was cooking the pancakes.

"What?"

"Scar has been active again." And she handed the paper over to Edward's waiting hands. He quickly glanced over the title.



MORE GANG KILLINGS IN QUEENS

QUEENS; NEW York, NEW YORK- after a pause in organized crime for the past 3 weeks, another gang related incident has taken place. These seem to be the killings that had been taking place a few weeks back…

Edward set down the paper and ran to the phone, quickly dialing the Mustang's home phone.

--

Mustang was just waking up to a beautiful face in the early morning hours when his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and groaned. It was Edward again. Mustang had already heard about the killings in Queens and knew they had to do with Scar. But he answered his phone anyways.

"Roy here. Edward I know about the killings in Queens, my men are on top of it already."

"I'M PART OF YOUR TEAM!"

Mustang smirked. "Yeah, but I figured you didn't want to be woken up at 3 in the morning, now did you?"

Edward cringed. Mustang knew him too well.

"You still could've let me know. I don't like learning about things in my department from the newspaper." Edward growled.

"Well, that paper is very reliable then. I'm surprised though, no reporters were there. Must have been hiding behind the scenes." Mustang thought for a moment.

Edward thought for a moment then remembered something. "Isn't Havoc's new girlfriend working for this paper? Was he with you last night?"



Mustang leaned back against the headboard and let Riza rest her head on his lap. She was still asleep; last night had been rough on her. "Oh yeah, that's right, she was there. It doesn't really matter, but I'll keep better tabs on him."

Winry smiled at Edward and he smiled back. She kissed him on the cheek and turned to go back into her office. Edward watched after her with a forlorn expression on his face.

"Well, are you prepared for the operation Edward? Its tomorrow night you know. I'm going to have Havoc bring his girlfriend, I'm sure a reporter would want in on this. Do you think you should bring Winry too?"

Remembering the last time he had Winry act as his decoy, Edward didn't think so. "I think that Winry would rather stay out of this one. I'd like her to stay here, and then I don't have to worry about her."

"Yeah you're probably right. Maybe she and Riza could stay here at my place." From her place on his lap, Riza looked up and shot Roy a wicked glare. "Never mind, but this is Riza's last stake-out, just so you know."

Edward was confused. "Why is it her last? IF it is, we probably won't be able to function properly as a unit. You suck without her."

"Easy honey, don't get angry and tell Edward what's up." Riza said from her comfortable spot on Roy's lap. Riza didn't want Roy to burn Edward verbally over the phone. He had such a large ego; it was, at times, irritating, But she loved him anyways.

"Well, Riza's pregnant, so I don't want her to become overly stressed at work."

There was a pause on the other side of the phone.



"Riza's pregnant? How did that happen?" Edward had never sensed any real close physical contact between Roy and Riza, so to hear that she was pregnant… well it didn't exactly suit her image at all. "Well, congratulations then."

Riza calmly took the phone away from Roy before he broke it. HE quickly jumped out of bed, muttering about taking a shower or something like that. "Save some hot water please." He grumbled and continued to stomp off.

"Oh, Riza is that you?" Edward voiced over the phone.

"Yeah. I think Roy has a problem with me participating tomorrow. I understand why he's worried, but still…"

"Yeah, its part of your work. You love your job and you want him to understand that." Edward drawled off in an offhand manner. He hated talking with women sometimes. They were so easy to read.

"Yeah. Well, I better let Roy call Maes. You know how that will go over though." Edward assumed that she meant that Maes would give them the normal freak-out fest.

Edward laughed. "Yeah, do you want to tell Winry?"

"Sure."

Winry responded in a very different matter.

"WHAT!? You're pregnant!! Oh my god, how are you? How's Roy? When is it due? Do you know if it's a boy or a girl? Have you consulted a doctor yet?"



Seeing how this conversation was obviously going to play out, Edward decided to continue frying up Winry's breakfast. When she finally got off the phone with Riza, the food was ready. As they ate across from each other, Winry thought about how lucky she was. She had Edward.

But yet, that one thought floated to the top of her mind.

--

Traffic was horrible. What was even worse was that Edward was stuck in traffic with Roy. Even worse was that Mustang had this weird, happy air about him. This was freaking Edward out.

"What's up with you?" Edward snided at Mustang. Mustang shot him a look of surprise, raising his eyebrows.

"Whatever do you mean? I'm perfectly fine." Mustang continued to scout out the area. The area was going to be secure the following night for the operation, with snipers and team members hiding in the shadows. And the "Hawk's Eye" watching over them all at the top of a nearby skyscraper.

"I mean that you're unusually quiet today. And you have this weird air about you." Edward thought it was because Mustang knew he was going to be a father. He wondered what that would feel like. To know that a person you helped create was coming to this world. He figured it was a pretty incredible feeling, looking at Roy and Maes and the way that they acted.

Mustang thought about what Edward said. He ignored it and continued to mentally picture the way things were to take place the next day. Everything was ready.

Riza was at her post overlooking possible weak points when Roy called.

"How's it going? What do you see?"



"Well, over, towards the west there is some suspicious buildings that I want to keep an eye on, otherwise, everything's fine."

Mustang looked over to where Riza indicated and made a mental note of where they were. "This will be harder to do in the nighttime."

"I know. That's why we invested in the night vision goggles." Riza smiled. Roy had raised money for 3 years to get the goggles. They came in handy a lot.

"That's right. I'll pick you up at the corner then?" Roy was finished with the checkpoints, and Riza was done with hers. It would be best if he picked her up to head home.

"Yes. Two minutes."

"I copy."

Riza packed up her things and prepared to head out. The next night was probably going to be the biggest crime ring bust their squad had seen. It made her excited, but also scared. A lot could go wrong.

--

Winry looked over the kitchen and the contents it held. She was almost done with dinner, now all she needed was the person she made it for. She had made something he really liked, because he was special to her. She knew she was special to him, so why hadn't he asked her for her hand yet? She was very confused.

"Well, the pie is in the oven, keeping warm… the chicken is roasted perfectly… the vegetables are steamed to perfection… Now where is Edward?" Winry took off her apron and pulled out the bottle of wine that she had bought earlier that day. She figured she could have some while she waited.



Just as she began to uncork the bottle, the key turned in the door. Winry left the cork where it was and walked to the door.

Edward could smell dinner from the other side of the door. He was already savoring what was soon to be in his mouth. He really hoped Winry made an apple pie. It smelled like she had made chicken too.

Edward already knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Winry. He loved her very much, but he was scared that she would reject him if he offered her a ring. Also, he had no idea how to ask her. He had been watching chick-flicks with Winry lately, to try and get an idea, but nothing came to him. It was very disheartening. He wanted to be original.

As he opened the door, he heard the scuffling of feet on the wood and smiled. Winry was going to greet him at the door like she always did.

"Hi Winry! What's for din-" The breath was knocked quickly out of Edward as a familiar blond hugged him fiercely. She raised her head to look into his eyes.

"I made chicken and vegetables and mashed potatoes and Apple pie." She smiled. "I hope you like it." Edward smiled down at her and reminded himself how lucky he was.

"I'm sure I'll love it." And he bent his head to kiss Winry's sweet lips. As their mouths connected, Winry felt like she was going to die from sheer pleasure. Just being in Edward's strong arms was enough for her. When he was around her, she felt whole. Real.

"You could shut the damn door before you did things like that." Edward broke from the kiss to look behind him. A very grumpy, fat, old lady with a mean look on her face and two poodles stood in the hallway. Edward quickly recognized the lady as a neighbor.



He smiled at the lady, with an expression that he had just been caught doing something very mischievous. "I'm sorry. I'll remember that next time."

The old lady nodded. "I hope so." With a turn of her heel she continued to go down the hallway, muttering about 'indecent young people.' Edward quickly kicked the door shut, and held Winry close again.

"Now, can you remind me of what we were doing before we were interrupted?" Edward smiled mischievously at Winry and she kissed him in return. "Ah," he said against her lips, "I thought it was something like that."

--

Edward was lying awake. His mind was jumping around, thinking of all the things that could go wrong the next night. Winry was lying next to him, her arms wrapped casually around his middle. He thought she was asleep. But a gentle squeeze reminded Edward that she was still awake. She propped herself up on her elbow.

"What are you thinking about Edward?" Edward didn't reply. He didn't want her to know how scared he was. He didn't want to die because he didn't want her to be sad. He wanted to stay alive for her. Winry's gentle hand brushed against his face, pushing back hair from his forehead. The motion was calming to him. "You can tell me things Edward. But if you don't want to talk, I understand."

Winry didn't want Edward to know how angry he made her with his silences. She was always there for him, but he didn't seem to care. He just stayed there, emotionless and aloof. She wanted to share his sorrows and his joys with him. All because she loved him.

"I'm just worried about the operation tomorrow night." Winry smiled.



"Okay." And she rested her head on his chest, knowing that the contact would comfort them both. Edward wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer.

It was time he bought that ring.

--

Okay, so I've been really lazy the last couple of weeks… hope this is enough….

Thanks guys for putting up with me. I'm kinda thinking about ending this story within the next 3-4 chapters, just as a heads-up. I want to start work on a new one. Also, fans of "Those Who have Opened the Gate," I'm trying to get to it, but at this time in my life, my writing skills just want to rewrite that monster completely. So I'll keep you updated on that one as well.