Uexpected

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Ed went into work that morning with an unusual amount of pep. It could have been the fact that he woke up early enough to actually make coffee and breakfast, meaning he didn't have to worry about stopping by the nearest Quick N' Go for something to eat. It could have also been the fact that he barely had any traffic to deal with that morning; the roads were suspiciously easy to navigate, which was something he'd yet to experience since moving to East City.

Or it could have been the fact that he and his neighbor had spent an entire night making out on his couch.

And floor.

And pushed against half of his living room walls.

And front door.

And her place for a minute.

Kain Fuery, another newbie in the forensic tech department, eyed him suspiciously over his thick spectacles as he walked into the lab. "Hey, Elric."

"Yo!" he greeted, a wide smile on his face. "How's it going, man?"

Part of a laugh bubbled out of Kain's mouth, before saying. "I should ask you the same thing."

Ed's smile turned lopsided. "Can't a guy have a nice morning?"

"You?" Kain chuckled. "Not usually."

Ed shrugged his shoulders, letting his smile trickle down to a smirk. "Eh, I just had a really good night is all. Let me revel in it."

Kain laughed at the same time that Mustang walked into the lab; his face was downcast and his eyes looked heavy. Edward watched him curiously as he paced toward them, not paying attention to the large cooler he was holding.

"Men," he said, laying out the object and opening it to reveal evidence from a fresh crime scene. "I need you to work on testing these vials of water for any other substance immediately."

Ed nodded his head immediately, not understanding the severity of Mustang's voice. "What's the case?"

"Homicide," Mustang replied, wearily. "A young girl, barely four."

Ed's eyes widened, while Kain went ahead and started prepping the vials. "What?"

The older technician held out a manila folder to him.

"Her name was Nina Tucker," he began, and when Ed looked down at the familiar looking child in the collection of crime scene photos, he found himself wishing he didn't eat breakfast that morning.

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Winry dropped Paninya off by her next class nearly fifteen minutes early, a new record. Whenever those two went out to lunch, they got so sidetracked, they always ended up leaving late, causing Paninya to panic over possibly getting kicked out of her class. Lucky for her, the professor seemed pretty relaxed, and often arrived later than any of the students.

She waved her friend good-bye and leaned back into her seat, pulling out her phone as she contemplated whether or not she wanted to text Edward. She didn't know why it made her so nervous to try and talk to him; hell, he even mentioned possibly seeing her tomorrow after they said goodnight! Yet, there she was: staring at the empty text box, trying to decide how the hell she should address him.

Eventually, she shook her head and let out a shriek, to calm her nerves.

"Quit being a baby, Winry," she told herself, and starting typing.

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(11:45): Hey! Are you on your meal?

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She waited nearly ten minutes for a response, but got nothing. It was rather strange to her, she remembered Ed would always text her around eleven or eleven thirty while on his hour break.

With a shrug of her shoulders, Winry pulled out of the parking lot and started the drive towards home. Perhaps she'd start on her readings and pay him a visit after dinner? Hopefully that wouldn't be too weird, for either of them.

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Ed stared at the blinking message on his screen. It was Winry, no doubt wanting to talk or possibly plan on hanging out that night. Ed swallowed back a bit of spit, or possibly bile, and locked the phone before placing it in his pocket. He couldn't talk to her right at that moment, not while he was such a fucking wreck. He needed to pull himself together before going back into the lab. He needed this hour to let everything he could out, before putting on a numb face and helping build evidence to find and convict Nina's killer.

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He still hadn't text her back, and she was growing worried.

It was stupid of her to fret over this. She knew that, yet she couldn't stop. Winry tried telling herself that maybe he just didn't have his phone on him, or it might have died while at work, or maybe he was just really busy. There was no reason for her to freak out. None, zero, zilch!

…So why was she?

Rereading a paragraph from her textbook for the fourth time, Winry let out a frustrated groan and slammed the thing shut.

"This is hopeless," she grumbled, and looked at the time on her phone.

It was nearly six o'clock, and still no word from Ed.

She felt a bubbling of fear and anger begin from deep within her belly. Just what the hell was this guy playing at? Why was he so back and forth with her? Did he even have an interest in her, or was he just an indecisive asshole? Damn it, was he just toying with her?

Slamming her hands against the table, Winry stood up, grabbed her phone, purse and keys, and made her way out of the apartment. She was going to talk to that immature bastard, but first, she needed a little bit of sugary, chocolate encouragement.

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Ed pulled into the apartment building's parking lot, staring vacantly at the world outside of his dashboard. He knew this job would be tough, but this… This was entirely different.

He knew her.

He didn't know her by name, but her face was a familiar one. He'd seen the little girl outside in her front yard nearly every day as he drove home from work. Her house was right next to a small ice cream parlor he often frequented after long days in the lab. She was small, and kind, with a squeal of a laugh and a bear of a dog that tried to jump their houses fence and lick him every time he went by. To know that little girl and her over-sized mutt wouldn't be there to greet him when he stopped there, it really ate away at him.

The worst thing was that he couldn't get the images of little Nina dead out of his mind.

She had been poisoned. The test results showed anti-freeze in the water taken from the dog's water bowl. The theory is someone wanted to shut her dog up, so they poisoned the pup's water supply. Nina's father wasn't the most watchful parent, and he claimed he had no idea that she had drunk some of it, too. It was horrific, it was hellish, and Ed couldn't get the thought of that little girl suffering to go away.

With a shaky breath, he leaned his head against the rim of his steering wheel and willed himself not to cry.

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Winry's breath hitched when she saw his car parked out in the lot, and her body froze entirely when she realized he was still in the driver's seat. Just what the hell was he doing, anyway? Was this his pathetic way of prepping to avoid her?

"To hell with that," she whispered, and held her head up high as she made her way towards his car.

His head was laying flat against the steering wheel when she got to the passenger's side door, and she wondered if he had fallen asleep. Leaning down towards the car window, she knocked on the glass loudly, hoping to scare the shit out of him.

She didn't expect for him to slowly look up at her with red, teary eyes.

Without a passing thought to how aggravated she was with him, Winry opened the door and sat in the seat beside him. He looked awful, and something deep within her told her that his appearance was most likely connected to why they haven't talked at all that day.

"Hey," she began, but received no response. "Are you alright?"

He remained plastered to the steering wheel; looking out through the dashboard like a forlorn soul. She was growing worried; something definitely wasn't okay with him.

"Did something happen?" Winry added, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, you can talk to me."

Ed's eyes flickered towards her, but only for a moment. Winry remained quiet and patient, never lifting her hand from his shoulder. After several minutes of tension building silence, Ed lifted himself from the steering and fell back into the plush of his seat.

"There was a murder today," he croaked. "I-I can't talk about it, but… Fuck."

He brought a hand to his forehead and pushed his bangs from his eyes. "She was four, Winry. She was four years old and died because some fuck couldn't deal with her barking dog."

Icy cold pain shot through her veins, causing her to forget to breathe. This is what he had to deal with all day, and all she could fuss about was not getting a text back? How petty was she?

"I recognized her," Ed muttered. "I'd see her almost everyday after work. She was a good kid, it doesn't make any sense."

She looked at him, still holding his head in his hands, and Winry felt her heart grow heavy. This was horrific; what kind of person could carry that kind of weight? Was Ed strong enough to hold himself together, and God, he knew her too? Winry could feel a sob building up in her. She didn't even know this little girl, and yet she was on the verge of tears just thinking about her loss.

In an instant, Winry wrapped herself around Ed and pulled him close to her, hugging his head tightly to the crook of her neck. He didn't respond immediately, but eventually, he wrapped an arm under her hold and grasped her shoulder tightly.

They stayed like for an hour or so, quietly comforting one another as nighttime coated the sky black. Once their hold on one another loosened, Winry helped Edward out of the car and brought him to her apartment.

"How does a cup of coffee sound?" she asked him.

"Can it be alcohol instead?" he replied back.

"I had every intention of adding half a bottle of Baileys to both cups," she smiled.

Ed returned that smile with a small grin of his own. "In that case, I'll take a coffee."

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Author's Note: You guys didn't think I'd leave his happy and carefree forever now, did you? Muahahaha.