13

Melody jumped awake in a cold sweat. She had a nightmare about the night at lab five, it had, to say the least, scared the living hell out of her. She felt someone touching her arm and she looked over to see Shane's concerned face. She relaxed and smiled at him, putting her hand over his as it touched her arm. Shane smiled back and withdrew his arm.

"You were having a nightmare." He said, Melody nodded.

"I know, it was just a nightmare, though." She said, "I'm fine." She looked down in her lap to see she was gripping the white sheets of her hospital bed. She released them and stretched. "Wow, what a night…!" She said, Shane got up from his chair. "First we find out the secret of the stone, then you go to the place it was made, I almost get killed, I learn what a homunculus is, and we see the effect of the stone in action, even if was unfinished." She looked up at Shane with a sheepish smile, "I must look like hell." Shane laughed.

"Not really, you came out of that whole event better than the rest of us." He lifted up his shirt and showed her the bandages from the cut he received from Barry's knife. "You just got a bruise, I got a scar, Ed has a head wound, his right arm won't work, he's also got some shoulder wounds, and Al came out the worst because he's got no arms 'r legs." He smiled at her, "You are one lucky lady!" Melody looked at his bandages and put a hand to them, Shane didn't flinch or pull away. He looked at her solemn face, "What is it?" He asked, pulling his shirt down and holding her hand. She looked up at him.

"When you were carrying me… It didn't hurt did it?" She asked, Shane smiled and ruffled her hair as if she was a small child.

"Nope, I was fine. Didn't hurt while I was carrying you. Which reminds me!" He hit his fist into the palm of his hand, "You felt pretty light when I carried you, have you been eating right?" Melody glared at him with a smile on her face, she punched his shoulder. "Ow!" '

"I have been eating just fine, thank you very much!" She said, Shane rubbed the shoulder she hit.

"Sheesh, okay fine." He said, "At least you're not pissed at me. Are you?" Melody shook her head no and tossed the sheets off of her.

"I could never stay mad at you." She said, getting up, she got right in front of his face and smiled, "Even if I want to." She wrapped her arms around Shane's neck. "Thanks for taking care of me." She murmured. Shane chuckled softly.

"Like I would let anythin' bad happen to you." He said as he wrapped his arms around her waist. The door burst open and the two split apart instantly. Hughes raised his hand in a friendly hello.

"Hey guys! Hope I'm not interrupting anything!" He said, noticing how close they were standing together. Melody stuck her tongue out playfully at him. "Nice to see you, too, Melody." Shane smiled at him.

"What do want, Hughes?" Shane asked, faking a groan as he spoke. Hughes kept smiling.

"What, I can't come to the hospital and pick up my own houseguest?" He asked, Melody's eyebrows went up.

"Oh, yeah." She said, "I forgot, you're staying at his house." She said, Hughes looked over at her and peered in to look at the bruise, Melody backed up a little because she was weirding out. "What?" She asked, Hughes stepped back.

"That's a nasty bruise." He said, "I was just inspecting it." Melody shrugged.

"'Kay, whatever." She said, "Hughes, have you seen the boys yet?" Hughes shook his head.

"Actually I was about to go see them before I drop Shane off. I could drop you off somewhere, too, if you want." He said, "Where ya staying?" Melody's eyes went wide.

"Uh, I'm, um… hmm…" She sweat dropped, "I'm not staying anywhere…" Shane sweat dropped.

"That's right, since Scar isn't hunting you down anymore, you don't have to stay with the Elrics." Shane said, "And even if you did, you'd have to stay with them in that dorm, and, well, that's not exactly the best place to stay, considering how small and unprivate a dorm is with two boys…" Melody groaned.

"Ugh! What the heck am I gonna do!" She whined, Hughes smiled.

"We've got some extra space at my place." He said, Melody looked up at him, "We could make a room for you if you want."

"Oh, no." Melody said, "You've already got Shane, I-I don't wanna impose…" Hughes laughed.

"Nonsense! We've got a spare bed that needs someone to use it anyway!" He said, "You won't be imposing at all!" Melody smiled.

"Thanks Hughes." She said, Hughes waved his hand.

"Don't mention it!" He said, "I'm going to visit the Elrics, you wanna come with?" Melody nodded.

"Yeah." She said.

"Hey Edward." Hughes greeted, "I heard that you've been up and around today."

"Yeah, a little." Edward said.

"How about you, Al, you holding up, too?" Hughes asked.

"Sure." Al replied. Melody looked over at Ed.

"So, how are you feeling, Ed?" She asked, "I mean, you're not in pain or anything, right?" Ed shook his head.

"Not really, no." He smiled up at her, "You were out for two days, you know that? I was afraid something had happened to you and we'd have to get a body bag." Melody gently playfully punched his shoulder.

"I may be a girl, Ed, but I'm no weakling." She said. Ed smiled.

"Got that right." She smiled back.

"Oh, I forgot." Hughes said, "I haven't had a chance to eat lunch today."

"Oh, well, I'll get you some food, sir." Block said, putting some books down on the table next to Edward's bed.

"Yeah, uh, Lieutenant Ross, why don't you go with him?" Hughes asked. Melody looked at the now-serious faced officer, she knew where this was going.

"Understood, sir." She said, she and Block walked out of the room and shut the door.

"Thanks, I'm real hungry, I've just been so busy lately." Hughes said. Once they shut the door, he looked over at all the teenagers in the room. He took a seat on a stool near the bed and looked at straight at Edward. "About lab five, as far as the official military report goes, everything that happened there is collateral damage caused by Scar while he was pursuing you, but needless to say, I don't believe that." Edward said nothing, neither did Melody, Shane or Al. "We found a lot of corpses we suspect are chimeras. And a great deal of sophisticated equipment I can't help but think was working until yesterday. And surviving prisoners claim they were taken there by Brigadier General Graun, who we both know is in a grave with an exploded skull." Nobody said a word. "Ed, what the hell happened?" Edward didn't respond, "Ed." Hughes said, more sternly this time.

"How should I know?" Ed said, "I passed out."

"Don't give me that." Hughes said, "Just tell me what you saw, will ya?" Edward didn't say anything. Melody didn't move, and neither did Shane.

"Homunculi…" Ed muttered, Hughes's eyes widened.

"You're kidding me." He said. "Artificial people?"

"That's right." Edward said, "Believe me, they weren't human at all." Melody's mind flashed back to the memory of the homunculi. The woman with the spear-like fingers, the fat man who could eat anything he wanted, and the boy who could change into anyone he wanted. She shivered at the memory of him putting his finger against his skin. Shane put an arm around her to comfort her.

"So they're connected with the philosopher's stone?" Hughes asked.

"I'll say, they were trying to convince me to make a stone for them to make them human." Edward replied, "What's worse, they wanted me to use those prisoners to pull it off."

"That's hard to believe." Hughes said.

"Tell him, guys." Edward said, "Isn't that right?" Shane nodded, Melody did, too.

"Yes." Al said.

"He's telling the truth, Hughes." Melody said, "We really did see those things." Hughes nodded. Edward drew pictures for him to go off of.

"A guardian whose soul was attached to armor, a psychopath named Envy, tattoos of orouborous, the serpent that devours its own tail, and the arrays to make the philosopher's stone." Ed listed off. "Those are the things I saw in there, Hughes."

"This is turning into an awfully serious matter," Hughes said, "and the whole thing is about a little red stone."

"It's been serious for years now." Edward said, "Dr. Marcoh told me that the stone was used as a weapon in the eastern rebellion." Hughes looked over at Ed, "Anyway, these homunculi told me they were keeping me alive for their sakes. They were told to."

"Thanks for the information, Ed." Hughes said, "I'll take it from here." Ed looked up at him, eyes wide in astonishment, "Now get some rest. Why don't you and your brother just worry about yourselves for a while?" Ed smiled at him, he looked over at Al to see he wasn't looking his direction at all, and the smile faded. Hughes walked out the door. Melody and Shane followed.

"Oh, Melody." Edward called, Melody turned around, "Winry's coming into town today, and Armstrong's going to meet her in about an hour, why don't you go with him? I bet the girl time you spent is worth something." Melody smiled at him.

"Sure, Ed. Sounds like a blast." She said.

Melody stood next to Armstrong at the station, the train from Resembool had just arrived. Melody was excited to see Winry again, Shane came along with her. "So, tell me again," Shane said, "Winry is Ed's mechanic, right?"

"Yes." Melody said, trying to look over the crowd, "And she's obsessed with mechanics, so she's easy to buy for." Shane nodded.

"Right…" He muttered. He looked up at Armstrong, "And all this is legit, sir?"

Armstrong nodded. "Most certainly, Miss Rockbell has a deep admiration of all things machine." Shane sighed.

Winry shouldered her toolbox. She sighed, "Cushion-less seats…" She muttered, "Let's see, Ed said he had a sign for me, or something." She said as she looked around, she saw Armstrong and gasped. He spotted her, too.

"My warmest welcome, Winry!" Armstrong exclaimed, "Thank you for going through the trouble of this make-day trip!" Winry waved and laughed nervously.

"That works…" She muttered. Melody smiled as she saw her, she jumped and waved. "Oh! Melody!" She ran over and she and Melody hugged. "It's nice to see you again!" Melody smiled.

"Yeah, you too!" She said, Winry looked over her shoulder and saw Shane. Melody turned to him, "Shane, this is Winry Rockbell. Winry, this is Shane Trublood, an old friend of mine." Winry held out her hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Winry said, Shane smiled coolly back.

"Believe me, Miss Rockbell," Shane said, looking at her, "The pleasure is all mine." Shane playfully nudged Melody's shoulder.

"You didn't tell me Ed's mechanic was such a hottie!" He said, "Warn me next time!" He winked at her, Melody smirked at him. She pretended to nick him.

"God, you're such a flirt. I swear…" Melody muttered, Shane held his arm out for Winry.

"May I, Miss Rockbell?" He asked, a smile on his face, Winry blushed.

"Y-You may!" She said, linking arms with him. They walked over to the car that was waiting for them, when they turned around, Melody stopped smiling. She looked over at Shane suspiciously.

"Miss Melody." Armstrong's voice caught her attention, "Are you alright?" Melody nodded and smiled.

"Yes, Major, I'm just fine." She said, "I… I was just thinking, that's all."

Yesterday

"Hey Ed." Shane said, coming in. Ed looked up at him.

"Hey." He replied.

"How do ya feel?" Shane asked, Ed shrugged.

"Where's Mel?" Ed asked, Shane looked to the floor.

"She… She hasn't woken up yet." Shane muttered.

"Oh…" Edward said, he looked across the room at Al, then back to Shane, "You're really worried about her, huh?" Shane nodded.

"Of course." He said, "I've been worried. I really want her to wake up soon, but there's a good chance she won't. Doctor says she's just tired, but still…" Edward looked at him for a second. He smirked.

"You're in love with Melody, aren't you?" Edward asked, Shane looked up at him, a blush covering his cheeks.

"W-What! When the heck did I say that!" He said getting flustered. Ed kept smirking.

"You are, aren't you? You're head over heels for her!" Shane's blush grew to cover his entire face. "Am I wrong?" Shane sat down on the bed.

"Yes, you got me…" He muttered, "I'm crazy for her…" Ed patted his shoulder.

"Relax, I've been where you've been pal." Edward said, "The girl you like is too oblivious to notice, right? You wanna tell her, but you can't." Shane nodded. Ed's eyes lit up. "Wait… Shane," he looked over at Ed, "How far are you willing to go to get her to be yours?" Shane looked at him as if he had asked him what two plus two is.

"I've already traveled way too far than I should have to find her." He said, "I'd go to hell and back for her." Ed smiled.

"Then I think I just figured out a way to get her feelings for you out in the open." Edward said, "Listen, my mechanic is coming tomorrow, her name's Winry. Why not flirt with her, make it obvious, too. Let Melody think you got a thing for Winry, she'll either get jealous and try to stop it, or she'll encourage you, or she'll do nothing about it." Shane nodded, "That's how it works, from what I can tell. Just don't get too comfy with my mechanic, though. I've got a thing for her, and I don't want you stealin' her, 'kay?" Shane nodded.

"Alright, deal." He shook hands with Edward, "So, what in God's name do I do!" Edward sweat dropped.

"Okay, here's what you do…"

Present time

"You know, I really like your hair Winry." Shane said, Winry smiled. "It's real silky, and blonde hair is really something."

"Thank you Shane, I like your hair, too." Winry said, "Dark hair always makes someone look really cool, and the way it's all shaggy really compliments your face."

"Really? Go figure, huh?" He and Winry shared a friendly laugh. Melody sighed. She was really starting to get annoyed. She didn't mind a little friendly chat to get to know someone, but this was flat out flirting! Melody wished she just go temporarily deaf so she wouldn't have to listen to this stuff. Armstrong pulled up at the hospital, Melody jumped out of the car.

"Here, Winry, let me." Shane said, getting the door for her, she smiled at him.

"Thank you, Shane, you're such a gentleman!" Winry said, getting out of the car. Shane looked over at Melody, and he caught her staring at the two, she quickly looked away. Shane smirked. Winry shouldered her toolbox as she shut the door.

"Oh, that must be heavy, Winry, I'll carry it for you." Shane offered, Winry smiled.

"Thank you, Shane, but I've got it." She said, Shane nodded.

"Alright." Shane said.

The four of them walked up to Ed's room, "Hey, Ed, we brought your girlfriend." Melody saw Ed and Winry blush seven shades of red.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Ed yelled.

"Whatever." Melody shrugged. Winry came in and saw Ed, she dropped her toolbox in surprise.

"Edward! You didn't tell me you were in the hospital for this!" Winry whined.

"Yeah, well, one thing lead to another…" Ed laughed nervously.

"It's nothing to laugh about." Winry said, Edward looked up at her confused.

"What's wrong?" Ed asked.

"I didn't do the maintenance on your automail the way I should've." Winry said, her face filled with guilt. "And now… this is my fault…"

"NO! Don't say that there's a lot of other things to blame!" Ed said, "Right, Al?" Al glanced over at them.

"Right." He said, Melody looked over at him, Al had been awfully different lately, what was bugging him?

"See there? And Al doesn't lie!" Ed said to Winry.

"Yeah, but…" Winry started.

"Your maintenance was perfect." Ed rubbed his auto-mail arm, "It always has been! It's complicated machinery, and I'm slinging it all around, it was bound to jam up sometime! I mean, honestly, the timing was pretty good, if it had stopped earlier, I'd be a lot worse off. It broke because I was rough with it, don't worry!" Winry couldn't believe what she was hearing. Could he actually not have noticed that I forgot to use that screw? She thought, this was good, he didn't know, she could blame it on him!

"You're right, Ed, you're too rough. A reckless klutz, really." She laughed, Ed deadpanned. Armstrong, Melody, and Shane all sweat dropped.

Melody sighed. Edward was still in the hospital, Al was with him, and Shane and Winry had gone to get dinner. Melody wasn't hungry, so she decided to go and wait to go to the new place she was staying at. She was in Hughes's office, sitting on a chair with a piece of paper and a pencil, she was only doodling, but it kept her occupied.

She had spoken with Sheska, and she had a lot on her plate, she was making all kinds of documents for Hughes and worked nonstop almost 24/7. She didn't want to bug her any more than she already had. She looked up as she heard a phone ring, Sheska answered it, "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes' office." She answered, Melody smirked at how formal she sounded, "One moment." She opened the door to Hughes' office. "Lieutenant Colonel, sorry to interrupt, but there's a call for Colonel Mustang." Hughes came out and went over to the phone.

"Yo, Roy! Good timing!" Hughes said, "I've got great news!"

"What, your soldiers have found Scar?" Mustang asked.

"No, you obsessed idiot, how would that be great news?" Hughes said, "Did you honestly forget? Tomorrow is Elysia's birthday! We're throwing her a party and everything!" Melody and Sheska sweat dropped.

"Unless you wanna become charcoal, Maes, you better tell me the news from Central." Mustang growled.

"Don't worry, if anything important happens, I'll let you know." Hughes said, "In the meantime, make sure you send my daughter a present! Bye, now!" Hughes hung up the phone. Melody looked at him, confused.

"Hughes, are you sure it's okay not to say anything about Ed and Al?" Melody asked, Hughes looked over at her.

"Yeah, I'm sure." He said, "Right now, it's better if he doesn't know anything." Melody shrugged.

"If you say so." She said. Hughes turned to Sheska.

"But enough of that, you got those reports?" He asked, Sheska smiled proudly.

"Yeah! Working non-stop without sleep, I've managed to finish them all!" She said, showing him the desk covered in paper. Hughes plopped a thick book down on top of them.

"Great, here's a list of what's next, doll." Melody sweat dropped, and Sheska fell over. Melody sighed and went back to doodling, but she realized she was out of room to draw, she sighed again. When she got up to get more paper, her watch slipped out of her pocket. She forgot to chain it to her clothes so it fell to the floor and popped open.

"Oops." She muttered. Hughes bent down and picked up, he looked at the picture inside.

"Who's this?" He asked, Melody stood beside him.

"Me, my brother, and my dad." She said, Hughes handed her the watch.

"You never said you had a brother." Hughes said, Melody clipped her watch to her belt.

"You never asked." She said, she turned to get more paper, but stopped. "Hughes?"

"Yeah?" He asked.

"You… really love your daughter, right?" She asked, Hughes quirked a brow.

"Of course. Why?" He asked, Melody didn't look at him.

"Well… I was just thinking…" She muttered, she turned her head and looked at him, "If your daughter did something, something that couldn't be fixed or changed at all, something that affected specifically you… Would you still love her?" Hughes' eyes widened, as did Sheska's.

"Why are you asking me this?" Hughes asked, Melody shut her eyes tight.

"Well, my dad loved me just as much as you love Elysia, if not more." She said, her voice getting shaky, "And… I've done something to him that I could never, ever fix… I-I never knew whether or not he still cares about me because of what I did…" Hughes put a hand on her shoulder.

"What did you do?" He asked, his face soft with concern.

"Something unforgivable…" She asked, Hughes could see a tear escape and travel slowly down her cheek. He turned her around and looked at her, Melody looked away, her eyes shut tight. Hughes nodded to Sheska to leave the room, she did so. "Please, Hughes, answer me…"

"Melody look at me." Hughes said, Melody opened her eyes and looked at him. "What did you do that was unforgivable?" She looked at the floor.

"I-I can't…"

"I won't tell anyone, Melody. I swear." He said, Melody didn't answer as more tears escaped. He sighed, "If Elysia did something that couldn't be fixed, something that couldn't be undone, I would still love her with all my heart and soul." Melody sniffed, she wiped the tears from her eyes, her body still shook, though. "Now, what did you do?" Melody shook her head.

"I don't wanna say…" She said, her voice cracking, but the tears had already stopped flowing, she took a deep, shaky breath and tried to calm herself. "I… just wanted to know. Thanks Hughes." She released herself from his hold and walked out the door, "I'm going to get some dinner, I'll be back soon enough." Hughes looked at her sadly as she walked out.