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"What sort of things is your girlfriend into?" Winry asked as they strolled the streets of Central. Havoc smiled, throwing his hands behind his head, "She likes guns." Winry was surprised, "Oh! Do you think you could get her something involving guns?" "Well, I feel like it would be a major cop-out to give her something like that. I want something sincere and something that she can pamper herself with," Havoc admitted, pulling out a cigarette. He remembered his company, bit his lip and put it back. Winry hadn't seen it at all. "How about a spa kit from over there?" Winry pointed at the lotions and perfumes store. "Okay, sure," Havoc answered, pulling her to the cross walk.
"Ed got me a spa kit from there three days ago. It smells great, and I absolutely love it. I always smell like grease and oil, you know? Sometimes I wish I could just smell really nice for him," Winry confessed. "I'm sure he doesn't mind the smell of a mechanic. I'm one hundred percent certain he loves it," Havoc answered. Winry blushed at Havoc's comment, "What kind of smells does your girlfriend like?" "Hmm," Havoc thought, walking carefully with Winry across the street, "I guess she likes flowers." "What's her favorite flower?" Winry asked as Havoc opened the door for her. "Maybe lavender or roses," he answered.
As soon as he followed Winry in, the overpowering smell of different scents hit him. He almost choked on the air. Winry wasn't affected however, she went straight to the flowery section. "How about this one?" Winry selected one and was offering it to Havoc. She turned and found he was still just inside the door. "Havoc?" she wondered. "Coming," he called, rushing over to her. Havoc took the pink bottle from her hand and smelled its contents. "I like that one," he said.
Winry handed Havoc more than fifteen more bottles, and he seemed to like all of them except a few. "Which one do you like best?" Winry tried again. "I don't know," Havoc couldn't decide, "Which one do you like?" "I like this one, myself," Winry handed him the brown bottle of pink lotus. Havoc sniffed it again and smiled, "I'll just take this one." "Okay," she began to put all the other bottles back. Havoc took the bottle over to the counter, asking for the spa basket of the same scent.
Walking out of the store, Winry checked the time. "You feeling like lunch?" Havoc asked. "Yeah, a little bit," Winry replied, "How about you?" "Sure!" Havoc agreed, "Where would you like?" "The café on the corner?" Winry asked. "Let's go!" Havoc said. They sat at one of the tables outside, Havoc wondering if the spa kit would be what his girlfriend actually wanted. "What else do girls like?" he asked. Winry laughed, "What do you mean?" "I don't know. What sort of things do you do in your spare time?" Havoc wondered. "I read automail engineer magazines, cuddle with Ed, we talk about the baby, I engineer new types of automail, that sort of thing," Winry answered. Then, the server arrived to take their order, and she eyed Winry suspiciously. The server looked over at Havoc. "Jean," the server tsk-tsk-ed. "You know me?" Havoc asked, surprised. "Don't tell me that you're two-timing that girl of yours. I could rat on you, you know," the server said. "What!?" Winry reflexively answered. The server took another look at her, and her eyes widened. "She's not another girl!" Havoc tried to convince. "Jean, she's pregnant!" the server accused. "I'm not his girlfriend!" Winry argued, "I'm happily married!" "Explain yourself, Jean!" the server demanded. "She's a mission! I'm watching over her for the day!" Havoc looked genuine. "Oh, seriously?" the server immediately backed down, "That's a relief." "How do you know me?" Jean asked the questions. "How do you not know me?" the server smiled. Winry saw the realization in Havoc's eyes. "Ellen?" he asked. "Of course!" the server replied. "I didn't recognize you. Your hair. You cut it all off!" Havoc said. Ellen did in fact have short hair. "You aren't wearing your glasses, either," Havoc continued. "Yeah, I'm getting them repaired. That's why I was kind of squinting. Sorry," she apologized, "I'm not blind, but pretty close." She laughed. Winry just watched the whole thing happen, completely forgetting her order. "So what will you be having?" Ellen asked, she turned to Winry. "Uh," Winry looked back down at the menu frantically. "I'll have the regular, Ellen," Jean said, buying Winry some time. "I'll have the Lunch Special #5," Winry decided. "Okay, it'll be right up," Ellen smiled, taking the menus and making her exit.
"Because we have to break for lunch soon, we need to come to a conclusion," the Fuhrer commanded. "I believe we should allow the Elrics to continue their daily lives but allow us to monitor their premises," a high-ranking general contributed. "That must absolutely not happen," another officer argued, "We can only protect them where we know best. They should stay in a safe house." Mustang returned the comments, "Edward has agreed to stay in a safe house until the immediate danger is eliminated. We should be arguing about how to eliminate the danger rather than where the Elrics will be staying." "But you're forgetting that the elimination of the danger depends on where the Elrics are staying," the first general argued. "Hey," Ed burst in, "I want my family to be safe. If that requires us staying in the safe house, we will. If we are needed to help eliminate Neil, I will gladly move back to the house to help catch the bastard." "Ed, you can't use yourself as bait," Mustang objected. "I'm willing to, sir," Ed addressed the Fuhrer, "I want my wife to feel safe again and be able to resume her business as soon as time allows, which will only be when Neil is taken down." There was a silence. The meeting had come to this point several times before starting all over again with the higher ranking officials wanting to keep everyone safe. "I think we should break for lunch and come back with clear heads and full stomachs," the Fuhrer answered.
"Mustang, I'm not going to sit back while everyone does all the work," Ed argued with the Brigadeer General in the military cafeteria. "Ed, you don't have your alchemy anymore, and you can't protect yourself as well as you used to," Mustang answered sharply, "You need us to help you." "I'm not going to just sit there," Ed pouted, shoving more food in his mouth. He finished quickly, excusing himself to the restroom. "Sir," Riza was sitting near them, "Edward is not going to just idly sit by while all of this happens. I know he's hatching a plan up his sleeve, and I'd rather the military give in to his demands than see him get hurt trying something on his own." "I can sense it too," Mustang sighed, "We'll need to do something fast."
"Are you going to be able to finish all of that?" Winry asked when the food came. "Yeah," Havoc answered, starting to drool. There was a large steak, the plate piled with mashed potatoes and green beans. On a side plate was toast with butter and jam. Winry's platter was just a simple turkey and vegetable medley. She began to delicately eat, watching as Havoc dug into his food. In a short period of time, Winry looked up at his plate to find that half the steak was gone. "Did you just-?" Winry asked, appalled. "Yup," Havoc answered with a full mouth, grabbing his napkin to wipe his face. "That's insane," Winry looked down at her plate which still had lots of food. "It's only been a few minutes," she couldn't believe it. "I'm a quick eater, I suppose," Havoc replied.
Neil watched as a man in a uniform ate lunch with Winry. He snickered evilly to himself. This was definitely going to be easy. He waited for the perfect opportunity. "I'll be right back," Neil heard Winry excuse herself. Jean moved to stand. "No, I'll be okay. It's just to the bathroom. I drank too much water while I waited for the meal," Winry said. Jean hesitantly sat down. Neil moved quickly and swiftly. Ellen came back with a refill on waters. "I'll be right back," Jean got up and followed Winry, thinking it was better safe than sorry. He knocked on the girls' bathroom door fearfully. "Winry?" he asked. There was no response. "Winry?" he asked louder, his voice louder and urgent. He knocked harder. "What's going on?" Ellen asked. "Winry's in there, and she's not responding," Jean had a panicked look. Ellen walked in with a gasp. "Jean!" she exclaimed. Jean burst through the door, finding the bathroom empty, the window open. Jean checked all the stalls in a panic. "Call the police," he yelled, climbing out the window.
"Hello, please connect me with Brigadeer General Mustang immediately! This is an emergency!" Ellen nearly yelled into the phone. "I'm sorry, Miss? Who is this?" the woman on the other end asked. "Jean Havoc needs back up at the 12th Street Café! He's in pursuit of the suspect, and ordered me to call," Ellen explained. "Code Yellow emergency," Ellen heard her say quietly as she clicked a button. The phone rang again. "Come on, come on," Ellen started worrying. "Brigadeer General Mustang's desk, how may I help you?" a woman answered. "I need to talk to Brigadeer General immediately! Havoc needs backup!" Ellen explained. "Sir!" the woman yelled to someone away from the phone. "Where are you now, Miss?" the woman asked. "At the 12th Street Café. He's in pursuit of a suspect," Ellen calmed down. Now it was the woman who was urgent, "Was there a blonde woman with him?" "No, she's gone missing," Ellen sadly answered. "Thank you," the woman answered, "I'm going to transfer you to someone else who will ask for details." "Okay," Ellen replied. She heard the woman yell, "Brigadeer General, get in the car! Twelfth Street Café!"
"What's going on?" Ed asked, watching the Brigadeer General and Hawkeye running down the hallway. He ran after them. "What's happening?" he demanded. "Report to Falman, Ed," Riza ordered, "He can explain the situation." "Just tell me what's going on!" Ed demanded. They were in the garage lot now. Mustang picked out the nearest car. "You're driving, Hawkeye," Mustang got in the passenger side. Ed grabbed Riza's shoulder, "What happened to my wife?" Ed examined her expression. Something bad had happened. "Get in the car," Riza said, climbing in the driver's seat and starting the car. She revved the engine and sped away.
"What the hell is going on?" Ed demanded from the Brigadeer General. "Do we tell him?" Mustang asked Hawkeye. "Tell me what?" his voice grew louder at Riza. "He's going to find out. Better now than later," Riza replied to Mustang. "Your wife has gone missing," Mustang said it. "What!?" Ed was outraged, "WHAT!?" "Calm down, Ed," Mustang tried. "Calm down?!" Ed looked frantically out the windows. He gripped his head in his hands. "How did this happen!?" he demanded, "Havoc was right there!" Riza took a hard turn, slamming Ed against the left side of the car.
"Dammit, Mustang! Havoc was supposed to be right there!" Ed yelled. "Edward, I know you're upset," Mustang raised his voice as well. "Hell yes, I'm upset!" Ed replied. "You need to calm down," Mustang asserted. Riza took another hard turn, Ed pressed up against the window again. "This is my wife, Mustang!" Ed answered. "I know!" Mustang said, "I know!" The car slammed to a stop, Ed spotting Havoc panting outside. He practically slammed the car door open, his stride taking him quickly to Havoc.
"Edward!" Mustang shouted after him. Ed was blinded by rage. He grabbed Havoc's collar. "You were supposed to be right there!" his voice rang, "How did this happen?!" His tears clouded his vision. "Dammit, Havoc! Why?" Edward continued. "Edward, stop," he heard Riza behind him. He looked into Havoc's eyes. Ed turned to see Riza's gun pointed at him. He didn't want to be on the opposite side of that barrel. His white knuckles returned to color. Roy grabbed Ed and pulled him away. "Edward," Mustang took his shoulders and forced him to look into his eyes, "We're going to get Winry back. You need to calm down." Ed's eyes were filling with tears, the sense of loss hitting him.
Ed watched, formulating a plan, as Riza and Mustang talked with a waitress and Havoc. Roy was calling in reinforcements to the area to start searching for any clues. When they arrived, Ed found Havoc alone, leaning up the café's alley, smoking. "I'm sorry, Havoc," Ed apologized. "I understand, Ed," Havoc answered, "It's okay." "No, it's not okay. What I did was not okay," Ed said, "I let my anger get the best of me, and I took out my frustration on you. I know you did all you could to stop her abduction." He swallowed the lump in his throat as he said 'abduction'. His wife was missing. His pregnant wife was kidnapped. "But I forgive you, Ed. I feel like I've failed you, and I need to apologize too," he answered. "No, that's not nece-" "Yes, it is," Havoc interrupted, "I let her go to the bathroom alone. I should have insisted that she converse with me through the door." "There was nothing you could do, she had to go to the bathroom," Ed almost started crying at the stupidity of it. Winry was in the bathroom when she was kidnapped. So simple, yet she must've been so scared. Neil was going down for this, for this atrocity. Ed would see to it.
What's going to happen next!? AHH! Even I don't know! Haha, I have arcs planned, but still need to put them on paper! Reviews are super cool, if you want to leave one! What would you like to see happen next?
Thanks for reading, and sorry for the cliffhanger...