When Writer's Block bites, it bites. Yes, this fic was on hold this long because my plot bunny died a horrific death and I had to go and buy a new one. I'm so sorry for making everyone have to wait for so long! But at least I'm back now, so the story can continue! Woo!

Many thanks to Orange Singer, Synneofthesun, UnbornHope, D3athrav3n, Bar-Ohki, Asj Johnson, n a g a s h i . n o . k u r o, Took-Baggins, tiggeranddash, and Little Patch of Heaven for reviewing! And if you're still around, thank you for being patient with me! Now, I'll stop wasting time and get to the chapter, eh?

Previously...

"Um...what's going on?" I asked, not yet willing to peel myself away from the wall.

Alphonse looked too shocked to answer. Edward had his glasses on, and was examining the suits of armor nearest to him. "I think this has something to do with your ability," he told me.

"I thought I could sense metal, not control suits of armor!" I cried. "And where'd these things come from anyway?!"

"This is the metal you were sensing under the house," Alphonse had recovered enough to tell me.

"Winry, go ahead and get dressed," Trisha told me. "We can discuss it more thoroughly over breakfast."

"But what about...them?" I asked, pointing at the armor.

"Send them back to the basement," Edward suggested.

"Okay...uh, you guys go back to the basement," I told the armor.

Immediately after I spoke, they complied, tromping out of the room as the Elrics scrambled out of their way. They got off of each other and uncurled from their balls and just sort of filed out single file, each one ducking through the doorway.

10: Answers And Questions

I mechanically dressed in a blue shirt and jeans, my mind still whirling. What with my creepy dream, followed immediately by the morning's events, I was understandably confused and a little scared. But I managed to keep myself from flying into hysterics by thinking carefully of how glad I was that nothing else crazy had happened to me.

I brushed my hair and pulled it into its usual high ponytail. Then I opened my ring box, which didn't actually have rings in it. Instead it was a carrying case for my six earrings. I put them all on, trying to pretend this was a normal morning and nothing unusual had happened.

Yeah, right.

I heaved a sigh through my nose and tried to keep an open mind about this. At least now I had an idea of what I was capable of. And it wasn't anything useless like fruit communication. But what else could I control? And could I use this power well?

My door opened, and I whirled. But no one was there. I blinked in confusion.

"Down here, dummy," a familiar voice said.

I looked down and saw Marta. "So, I hear something finally showed up. Congrats. They tell you what it is yet?" she asked.

"Uh, not yet. We're gonna talk about it over breakfast," I told her.

Marta nodded. "Cool. I'm starving."

As usual, we all ate like we were starving. Trisha seemed to be the master of preparing mass amounts of food. I'm not sure how many eggs, pancakes, and pieces of bacon I put away, but it was at least four times as much as I would have eaten even at my hungriest.

Finally, when we started to wind down, I hesitantly broached the subject. "So...um, about my powers..."

"I was thinking about that," Edward said. He propped his elbows on the table and rested his chin on top of his hands. "You talked about sensing metal, and then you easily controlled the suits. So it's obvious your power is about metal. The question is, to what extent?"

"What, like can I tell a skyscraper to move it or whatever?" I asked.

He nodded. "What size, what type, what distance, things like that need to be tested."

"You're not running tests on me," I said flatly. The idea of "tests" brought images to mind of people being locked in cages, injected with things, made to run on treadmills while hooked up to monitoring machines. Like in the movies.

Seeing the look in my eyes, Trisha was quick to reassure me. "Nothing experimental, of course, Winry. We'd never do that. We'd just see what different types of metals you could manipulate, and to what extent your powers go."

I relaxed. "Hold on a second," Marta butted in from where she was sitting crosslegged near my plate. "What about those creeps who attacked us at the mall? What if they find out Winry's got powers now?"

"They won't," Edward said firmly.

As if on cue, I glanced at Envy, who had been leaning against the wall behind Edward's chair. His arms were crossed, and he looked angry. I wondered what affiliation he had with that creepy Lust and Wrath. Whatever it was, his name and appearance fit in with their little theme.

The dirty dishes started floating towards the sink. "In the meantime," Trisha said, "why don't you test your powers for yourself, Winry, and see what you can do?"

"You mean, around the house?" I said in disbelief. "What if I break something?"

"We'll fix it," Edward said matter-of-factly.

I stared at him.

"We can't let you practice where someone can see you," Alphonse explained. "We all honed our powers in the house. If we broke something, we called in a specialist to fix it."

"But...won't that cost money?"

"An Abnormal specialist," Marta said, as if that explained everything.

I still wasn't comfortable with the idea of manipulating metal inside the house. Something could go seriously wrong.

"Check it out, Marta! It's actually dancing! Isn't that cool?!"

I changed my mind.

"Great, now make it do something useful!" Marta said from her perch on the staircase railing.

I paused, and the metal folding chair paused in its hopping jig. "Useful? Like what?" I asked her.

"See if you can stand on it and fly! Like an air surfboard!" Marta suggested.

My brows scrunched. "Like those futuristic hoverboard things in the movies?"

"Uh...yeah! Like those!"

"I don't know..." I gazed at the chair. That sounded like it would be a lot of fun, but I wasn't too sure in my ability. Sure, I could make the chair dance, but could it support my weight? And then could I steer it safely?

"Oh, come on! Live a little!" Marta told me.

"Easy for you to say!" I shot back. But the idea was stuck in my mind now. I walked over to the chair, which was still standing upright, waiting for my orders.

"Hey, you think you can order it around without saying anything? In your mind, I mean," Marta said from the railing.

"Really? Maybe?" I frowned at the chair. Hey, uh, if you can hear me, lie down so I can stand on you.

The chair immediately fell on its side, like someone had been holding it up and then let it go. I blinked at it.

"Well, go on," Marta urged.

"But how can it just lift up in the air? It doesn't have propulsion systems or anything like that," I pointed out.

"Hey! I'm trying to live vicariously through you! Now just do it!" Marta ordered.

"All right, all right! Sheesh!" I stepped onto the folding chair, planting my feet so I had good balance. "Now, um—"

"No, no, in your mind, remember?" Marta said, pointing at her own head.

"Oh. Right." Okay, um, float up in the air?

Nothing happened. I looked down at the chair.

"What are you waiting for?" Marta asked me.

"I already tried. It's not working. It needs something to propel it, like I told you," I said to her, shifting my weight to step off.

Marta looked irritated. "Just try it again."

I sighed, but stayed on the chair and decided to try again to please her. Up in the air, chair.

Before I could blink, I shot up into the air. My stomach plunged, and I let out a scream. I heard Marta cry, "Whoa!" but I was too busy reeling back and forth in fear to reply. My arms windmilled wildly as I rose higher into the air. The ceiling in the living room was pretty high, but my head was going to hit it soon. Before that happened, though, I tipped forward and tumbled off the chair.

I expected to hit the carpet, but I landed on my back on something hard and uneven. I blinked, and then twisted onto my side to see that I was lying on the chair, which was still floating about a foot off the ground.

"Oh my God!" Marta shrieked. I looked over at her questioningly as my stomach slowly found its place again.

Marta had stood up and was staring. "Winry, when you fell off the chair...it—it swooped down and caught you! Did you tell it to do that?"

"No, I was too busy fearing for my neck," I said.

"That's so amazing! It's like the chair knew you were in trouble!" Marta's surprise had raised her voice's volume level substantially, and that coupled with my scream must have been what brought Alphonse and Trisha running into the room.

"What's going on?" Alphonse cried. Then he and his mother stopped short when they saw me lying on a levitating folding chair, my legs dangling in mid-air.

"Look! Look what Winry can do!" Marta yelled, still loud.

Trisha and Alphonse seemed equally stunned.

Let me down, I thought at the chair. It dropped immediately, dropping me with it. The chair and I landed on the carpet with a muffled thump. "Ow!" I yelled.

"Are you okay?" Alphonse asked worriedly, coming over to my side and helping me sit up.

"Yeah, just bruises," I said, wincing as my back started to throb.

"Winry, that was amazing!" Marta was still yelling.

"It really was," Trisha said at a much lower volume.

I stood up and rubbed my back. "Marta suggested it," I said.

"Can you do it again?" Alphonse asked. "Something like that might definitely come in handy. Right Mom?"

Trisha nodded.

"Sure, I guess." I stood on the chair again, made sure I was positioned for proper balance, and then braced myself. Up in the air—but slower this time!

The chair jerked up into the air again, and I had to bend forward and grab it to keep from falling over. "How is that slower?" I exclaimed out loud.

"That is so amazing!" Marta yelled.

For the rest of the afternoon, and well into the evening, I practiced hovering on the folding chair. Alphonse and Marta supervised, with Marta shouting out more and more dangerous stunts for me to try, and Alphonse giving me tips on how to control it better and keep myself safe. By dinner I had mastered the art of turning in a circle.

"Dinnertime," Trisha said, coming into the living room. "How's it going, Winry?"

"I think I'm getting better!" I said as I turned around and around.

"Watch out or you'll get dizzy," Alphonse cautioned.

Trisha turned to him. "Alphonse, did Edward say when he and Envy would be back?"

Alphonse's brow creased, as if he was thinking hard. "Sometime in the early evening, I think. Brother said he'd at least be back by dinner."

"That's what I thought also. Edward's not one to miss a meal unless he absolutely has to," Trisha mused.

I had the chair settle on the ground, and then stepped off. "Where did he say he was going?"

"To pick up some supplies. More potions like the ones you've seen. Brother always has a good supply of them," Alphonse told me.

"Well, should we call him or something?" I asked.

"I tried his cellphone, but I didn't get an answer," Trisha said. She looked a little worried.

"Maybe they're just running late or something," I suggested.

"Maybe." The Elrics didn't looked convinced, though. "I think I'll try him again," Trisha said, exiting the room.

Alphonse exchanged a glance with me. "I'm sure Brother's okay," he said, but he sounded worried.

Dinner came and went. We all had to eat, because everyone was practically starving, but I could practically see the anxiety rolling off of Trisha and Alphonse. Trisha tried Edward's phone five more times, all unsuccessfully.

The evening turned into night. Alphonse got on his own cellphone and started to talk to who I figured out was Paninya. Trisha periodically called Edward's phone. I halfheartedly practiced moving along slowly on my makeshift surfboard while Marta sat on the edge, looking thrilled with the ride.

"Did he check in after that?...I was hoping you were going to say 'yes'. What was his last report?" Alphonse held the phone between his shoulder and ear as he wrote down what Paninya said onto a pocket-sized notebook. "Okay...okay...okay...wait, approaching where? Spell that, please...D-U-B-L-I-T-H? Okay. Now, did he...okay...okay...and that was it?" Alphonse listened, then sighed. "All right. Thanks, Paninya." He closed the phone.

I settled the chair on the ground, which caused Marta to give a disappointed sigh. "Any good news?" I asked Alphonse. Trisha hung up the phone as if on cue, turning to us.

"Not really. Paninya said that Brother checked in for the last time at 2:20 this afternoon. According to her, this is what his last report said." He held his notebook up to read from it. "'Got package, taking "scenic route" home, approaching Dublith to check out suspicious activity.' And then that was it."

"So it's possible the 'suspicious activity' is what's delaying him," Trisha commented. I noticed that she didn't say Edward was missing.

"I told Brother he should be more specific when he checked in. He never listens to me," Alphonse sighed.

"You think he's okay?" I asked worriedly, wondering if this had something to do with Lust and Wrath.

"I'm sure he's all right. Edward is very capable. And Envy makes a good protector for him," Trisha said.

"Protector?" I repeated, a confused look on my face. "Is that why Envy hangs around all the time? I thought he just lived here because he likes to."

"He doesn't mind living here now," Alphonse said, then hesitated.

I glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

"Um..." Alphonse looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have brought it up. Brother doesn't like to talk about it."

"I thought you were letting me in on all the Abnormal stuff," I said, exasperation in my voice.

"It has to do with when Hohenheim left us," Trisha said.

Dead silence. I suddenly realized I had way overstepped my bounds. My face flushed as I saw their unhappy expressions. "Oh. I—I'm so sorry, I didn't mean—"

"Don't worry about it at all, Winry, you couldn't have known," Alphonse said, smiling immediately.

"But still, it was rude. I'm sorry," I apologized.

"Already forgotten," Trisha told me, her smile returning as well.

The phone rang. We all glanced at it. "I'd better get that," Trisha said. She walked over to the phone mounted on the wall and lifted the receiver, putting it to her ear. "Hello?"

Alphonse, Marta and I watched as she frowned. "Hello? Who is this?" She listened, her face growing pale. "Who are you?"

Immediately Alphonse dashed from the room. I wanted to follow him, but my eyes were fixed on Trisha's face, as it slowly grew more upset. I barely noticed when Alphonse returned, but his tugging on my arm made me turn. He pulled me into the kitchen and hit the speaker button on the cordless extension in his hand.

Trisha's voice echoed to us from two places: the living room and on the phone. "Just tell me what you want," she said.

"It's very simple," a rather pleasant-sounding man's voice said. "We want the Stone. Deliver it to us, and your son won't suffer the same fate as his father."

Alphonse's face immediately drained of all color.

"I can't give that to you," Trisha said, sounding as upset as Alphonse looked.

"Then I'm afraid you've condemned your son. I'll be certain to tell him his mother didn't value his life enough to part with something she doesn't even use." Then there was a click, and I realized the guy had hung up.

Alphonse hit the Talk button to hang up the phone, looking pale and shaky. For a moment I feared he would pass out. "Al, what's he talking about? What stone?" I asked, confused, but also understanding that this meant Ed was in serious danger.

There was a sound behind me, and I turned to see that Trisha had entered the room. Her face matched Alphonse's in paleness and misery. She moved to the table and sat down heavily. Alphonse seemed to snap out of it then, and he rushed to her side and hugged her.

Marta, who was perched on my shoulder, had nothing to add. She looked as stunned as I felt.

"M-Ms. Trisha, that guy on the phone—he's a kidnapper?" I said.

Trisha nodded. "And he wants the Stone." She put her face in her hands.

"What stone?" I asked, not understanding.

The phone rang again. They both jumped. Trisha looked like she really didn't want to answer the phone, her hands tightening into fists, which was a gesture that didn't suit her gentle personality. I picked the extension up off the table before Alphonse could and hit the Talk button, holding it to my ear. "Hello?"

"May I speak to Trisha, please?" an unfamiliar woman's voice said.

"It's for you," I said to Trisha.

"Is it him?" she asked, sounding fearful.

I shook my head. "It's a woman."

Trisha accepted the phone, but instead of putting it to her ear, she hit the speaker button. "Trisha speaking," she said.

"From the tone of your voice, I'd guess you just got a call," the woman said.

"Yes. They have Edward, and they want the Stone from us now," Trisha said.

"I knew that's what they would ask for. Somehow the Homunculi are predictable like that," the woman said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Who were the Homunculi? I wondered, but didn't voice my question yet, as the woman was continuing to talk. "Don't make any plans to hand it over to them yet. They'll call your bluff for a while by threatening Edward, but they're cowards. I'll be visiting in the morning." Then the woman hung up.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, who was that and who are the Homunculi?" I asked.

"The Homunculi are a group of seven—well six now—Abnormals," Alphonse explained to me, having regained most of his composure. "You already know two of them, Lust and Wrath. The rest are—"

"Wait, let me guess. Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Pride," I said.

Alphonse nodded. That opened the door to a lot of new questions. Obviously Envy completed the set, so that meant he was a part of their group, or had been at least, since he was on the Elrics' side as Ed's "protector". Why had he switched sides?

"They're after something we have called the Philosopher's Stone. It's an Abnormal substance, and it's very powerful. Its destructive capabilities are intense. We've been keeping it safe from the Homunculi and other power-hungry groups like them for years," Alphonse told me.

"So all this time you people had the Stone, I can't believe it!" Marta finally spoke up. "I've heard so many urban legends about that thing I could write a damn book!"

"Wait, but if they have Ed now, then..." My head was starting to hurt from these new developments. "I mean, how did they get him? You don't think that Envy was the one who—"

"He couldn't," Alphonse interrupted firmly. "Even if Envy wanted to betray Brother to the Homunculi, he wouldn't dare."

I rubbed my forehead. Trisha could see my growing frustration and reached out to pat the shoulder Marta wasn't sitting on. "It isn't fair to speak so cryptically around you when it's our fault you're in this with us," she said.

"But, Mom—" Alphonse protested.

"I know, dear, Edward wouldn't want us talking about it. But Edward isn't here, and if Winry is going to help us she deserves to know and understand what we're talking about. It's a very long story," Trisha said.

"Then I'll make us something to eat," Alphonse said in a way that made me think it was an automatic response to that phrase. He got up and went to the fridge.

Realizing I was still standing up, I sat down at the table across from Trisha. Marta climbed down off my shoulder and sat crosslegged on the table.

"Of course, you know Edward is legally blind," Trisha said.

I nodded, wondering what that had to do with anything.

"He wasn't born that way. His vision was fine. He didn't have any health problems that would cause deteriorating eyesight. He should have lived his entire life with normal vision."

Trisha paused, and I realized she was waiting for me to get something. So I took a guess. "Then...does that mean his, um, condition was Abnormally caused?"

"Yes," Trisha said.

"Damn," Marta commented.

Alphonse set a glass of water next to his mother's elbow. She thanked him and he went back to the fridge. "It was six years ago," she went on, slipping into storyteller mode. "Hohenheim and I had just sent Alphonse off to summer camp. Edward had been upset because he hadn't gotten to go."

"How come?" I asked, slipping into listener-with-questions mode.

"Hohenheim and I had decided that Edward should finally learn the truth. We were going to show him the other side and begin his Abnormal training. Edward was disbelieving at first, but when he was shown proof he got excited, realizing that this was the secret in our lives. He was eager to learn everything, so we took him on a routine mission to fix a malfunctioning portal. It should have been perfectly safe, a way to ease him into the world.

"It turned into a fight for survival. A terrible, horrible day I will never forget for as long as I lived."

I was paying rapt attention now.

Yep, I did it. Now you have to wait again! But don't worry, the plot bunny hasn't failed me and the next update will be much, much sooner than the last!