Sorry this chapter took a while, I got caught up in college applications -.- Thanks for reading and enjoy!
"Maria," Denny took a step closer to her nervously. She watched him indecisively. The tension and silence was unbearable. "I'm here to relieve you," he sighed, understanding the look in her eyes. "Yeah," she looked down. "I just wanted-" Denny started. She looked up at him, a flicker of hope. He stopped dead mid-sentence. She stepped forward, combing the hair away from his forehead. "I know," she whispered. He impulsively pulled her close, centimeters from closing the gap. He stared at her lips. It was a stalemate. Neither of them moved. He looked back into her eyes. "Good night," he stepped back slowly, handing her the flowers. "You too, Second Lieutenant Brosh," Maria tried to smile. Her eyes filled with tears as she grabbed her coat and rushed out the door. "I'm sorry," Brosh whispered once the door closed.
He made his security checks around the house before sitting down on the couch. He recalled the first assignment he had ever been assigned to work with Maria. And he had to tie his feelings up; he tried so hard not to show it. But she had noticed. And he did his best to hide. Slowly, he noticed that he had started to work with her more and more, and he found out that it was her doing. She was hinting with the higher ups, she had friends who made assignments. And everything that had happened in the fiasco with the homunculi. He had been so crushed with her 'death'. But no one could ever know his joy when she returned alive. He grabbed the phone in the living room next to the couch. Dialing her number (he had it memorized), he let it ring. Soon enough, an exhausted Maria Ross picked up. He almost chickened out, listening to her panting. She had just gotten home and ran to the phone.
"Hello?" she asked. "Hey, it's me," he responded nervously. "Denny?" she sounded surprised. "Yeah, it's me," he answered, "I wanted to tell you that you looked great tonight." He bit his tongue at how lame he was sounding. She chuckled, "Thanks. It was good to see you too." "Do you think, that um, well, do you think we could eat lunch tomorrow?" he stumbled with his words. Maria was hesitant to respond. "I mean, I feel like we have some catching up to do," he said. "Denny," Maria responded, "We sent letters almost every month while you were away." "I know, 'Lily', but I just…" Denny couldn't finish. "Tomorrow, lunch at noon at the new place on 17th. I'll pick you up," she gave in. She didn't sound too excited, but Denny suspected she had much on her mind. After the phone call, Brosh paced the house excitedly. He made his rounds and stayed awake and vigilant.
Winry's eyes opened to darkness. Was it morning yet? Was it still night? She tried to hear, but there were no sounds save someone's breathing. She tried to move her arm, but something restricted her. Winry started to panic. She didn't want to be a hostage. "Help," she whispered fearfully. Warm hands which were intimately wound around her stomach tightened, pulling her closer to something warm. "No," she said louder, trying to get away. "Why?" a mumble sounded, warm arms pulling her back. "No, no, no. Stop!" her voice escalated, her tone turning hysterical. Edward was up now, shuffling the covers, trying to protect Winry from whatever was scaring her. She was trying to get out of his reach. "No, don't hurt me," she said frightened in the darkness, struggling to get farther away from Ed. He sat up, his back against the headboard. "Winry, what's wrong?" He was moving away from her, seeing her fearful expression. She sat up on her side of the bed, her nightgown and hair a mess. She widened her eyes, trying to get them adjusted to the dark. "Winry, it's me. It's Ed. What happened?" he asked, trying to reach out to her. "Edward?" she whispered, scooting back to him. "I thought, I thought I was being held hostage," she stuttered, "I thought you were-" "Winry," he scooted to meet her in the middle of the bed, "Winry, look at me." She looked up through her tears, combing her hair back with her hands. He cupped her face gently. "Hun, if I ever do anything, anything at all that reminds you of him, I want you to tell me," he said. Winry closed her eyes and nodded. Edward pulled her to him, rocking her back and forth, he carefully hugged her, holding her head to his chest with one hand. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "Sorry for what?" he asked. "For panicking," she explained. "Hun, it's okay," he whispered to her, "I love you so much. I'm sorry for what I did." "No, Ed," she argued, "I was having a nightmare. You weren't intentionally doing anything." Ed responded with a kiss. "Can I send the nightmares away?" he wondered, kissing her softly again. She responded hesitantly, her hands tracing his face in the dark as she nodded. Ed guided Winry into lying down. With his arms carefully around her, he continued kissing her. He kissed her salty tears away, her eyelids, her cheeks, her nose, always gravitating back to her lips. "I love you, hun," Ed whispered to her, "No more nightmares. I love you." "I love you too, Ed," Winry answered, her eyelids drooping as she fell back asleep. Ed watched Winry's sleeping expression before closing his eyes to get some rest too.
Winry awoke first again as light poured in through the blinds. "Edward?" she asked. "Hmm?" he half-grunted, his eyelids opening a crack. "Edward, I have regulars coming in," Winry tried to poke him into waking up. "Hey," he protested as she persisted in poking him. "Wake up, Ed. Wake up, wake up, wake up," she turned it into a game. "Nyeh," he finally stretched his arms above his head. Winry laughed as she poked his sides. He struggled immediately. "Hey, no fair!" he tried to stop her. She continued, dodging his attacks. "My sides are hurting," he said through his laughing. "Really?" Winry asked, hesitating in her tickling. "Gotcha!" he rose up, grabbing her and pinning her against the bed, he stopped. "Are you awake?" she wondered. "I think I am now," he gave her a kiss, helping both of them stand up. "You sure are cruel, though," he grabbed her sides teasingly. She flinched and giggled.
Winry was washing her face as Ed warmed up the shower water. "Want to join?" he asked, immediately switching the faucets to a cooler temperature for Winry. Winry thought about it as she dried her face. She watched as Ed shed his shorts. "We have company downstairs," Winry tried to convince herself out loud. "What?" Ed asked, closing the door quickly. Winry laughed at his forgetfulness. "There should be someone from Central watching us for the next three days, remember?" Winry explained. "Oh," Ed said, remembering. "Still," he took her hand. "I'll help you with your hair," he promised with a childish grin. Winry rolled her eyes, taking her nightgown off. Ed tested the water before leading them into the shower.
Ed grabbed the shampoo bottle, turning the water on low as he turned to shampoo Winry's hair. Lathering it in his hands he gently massaged at her scalp. "So how many people do you have coming in today?" Ed asked. "I have two, and I need to call Leann again so that she can come in tomorrow," Winry explained. "How long do you think that it will take?" Ed wondered. "Oh, I don't know," Winry replied, "Depends on how well they've been taking care of their automail." "Which reminds me! I have to get started on yours!" she exclaimed. "It's alright," Ed hugged her with his lathery shampoo hands, spreading the bubbles. Winry started to lather her hair some more. "No, I want my husband to have the best automail to showcase my skills," she said. Ed smiled, "Take all the time you need." He then took the shampoo and scrubbed his head. Winry took her soapy hands and made herself a bubble bikini and drew a smiley face on her stomach. She giggled as she turned to face Ed. Ed laughed, creating a bubble bikini for himself. Winry laughed harder at his attempt. Ed gave up, pulling Winry back under the water as he turned it up on high to rinse. He kissed her and the shampoo ran down their faces, making everything taste like soap. "Ick," Ed replied. Winry pretended to pout. "Not you, hun, the soap," he defended himself. "I know," Winry smiled. She grabbed the soap bar and started to soap Ed's shoulders and arms. He watched her, realizing again how lucky he was to have her in his life.
When she looked up, she saw how serious Ed was looking at her. "Ed?" she asked, soaping herself. "Winry," he answered quietly. "What is it?" she asked, "Is something wrong?" She put the soap back on the tile shelf. Ed's wet bangs fell in his face; she combed them behind his ears. "I just realized how lucky I am to have you," he smiled, bending down for a kiss. She kissed him while rinsing his hair under the water until the shampoo ruined the taste. Winry broke it off, helping Ed wring out his hair before they traded places and Winry rinsed her hair.
"So, I have Kat and Owen are coming in today," Winry wrapped the towel around herself and wringing her hair one last time, walked across the room to the closet. "Yeah?" Ed almost slipped with his strange automail leg coming out of the shower. He wrapped his towel around his waist and walked to the closet. "What kind of automail do they have?" Ed asked. "Well Owen's is a more dense material, so I used the compounds-" she stopped, "I guess you mean where their automail is. Owen actually has an automail foot. And he's a performer, so his must be durable and light. Almost the same type of metal as the stuff for your winter model. Kat is an interesting case. She is missing three fingers on her left hand, the pinky, ring, and middle. She doesn't do any strenuous activity, but she does like playing piano in her spare time, which requires all ten digits." "Just her fingers, huh?" Ed thought that was definitely interesting as he buttoned up a shirt. "Yup," Winry pulled her mechanic suit on with a tank top. She tied the arms of the suit around her so that it wouldn't fall. Pulling her hair up in a ponytail, she tied a bandanna around her head. Edward finished dressing, and walked her downstairs.
"Who comes in first?" Ed asked, making his way to his desk, spreading his papers out again, refreshing his alchemic mind. "I think Owen comes in first," Winry checked all her tools in their drawers, filing through the cabinet for a file. "What time is he coming?" Ed inquired. "I think he'll be here within the half hour," Winry checked the clock. "Okay," Ed said, getting up, "I'll be over here if you need me. But I'm going to get us some breakfast, first." Winry finally found the file she was looking for in the top drawer. This patient actually had their own drawer. 'Edward Elric' she noted how old the file was from her younger self's handwriting. And the next folder just said 'Ed' and the year. Every folder after that had model names. 'Ed's fortified', 'Ed's winter', etc. She had wanted to come up with creative names for her models, but he seemed to go through them too quickly. She pulled out the latest file, looking over the materials she would need to order. She could ask the military to recycle Ed's old leg which they had in evidence. But she figured that new parts would be better because they wouldn't be melted from a combination of metals and they would be easier to order. Not to mention, she could upgrade the metal if she chose to. She examined all the tools necessary and evaluated the estimated time of completion as Ed presented toast and eggs. "Thanks, Ed," she smiled, realizing just how hungry she was. "Welcome, hun," Ed returned to his seat with his breakfast before the front door was opened.
"Oh, you're downstairs," it was Havoc again. He saw the shocked look on their faces as they had not been expecting him. "I didn't mean to scare you," he put his hands up, "I was out doing my rounds outside." Ed relaxed, and Winry turned back to her breakfast. "Do you want me to make you something?" Ed got up, swallowing his food. "Oh, no, it's fine," Havoc said, "Continue your work. Pretend like I'm not here." "Are you sure?" Ed asked. "Of course," Havoc nodded, "Just keep working." Ed sat back down, "Well, holler if you need anything." "Thanks! I will," he moved to stand post in the living room. Ed looked over to see that Winry had finished her breakfast. He took her plate, noticing the blueprints. "Whoa, those look complicated," he commented. "Not really," Winry concentrated. Ed smiled at her dedication. "Love you," he kissed the top of her head, taking the dishes to the sink and cleaning up. He returned to his desk just as the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," Winry shoved Ed's file under a shelf and pulled Owen's out. She rose quickly and went to the door. "Hey, come on in," Winry welcomed. "Whoa!" Ed heard a man exclaim, "Congratulations!" Winry blushed at her baby bump. "Thanks," Winry gestured for the man to come in. Ed leaned back in his chair to see the customer. He rose as they made eye contact. The man was smiling and obviously had a bubbly personality. "You must be Ed," the man held out his hand. "Yes, I am," Ed shook his hand. "Pleasure to meet you," he said. "As well as mine," Ed replied. "Congratulations on the baby," Owen said, moving over to the chair. "Thanks," Ed answered. Owen was conveniently wearing capri pants, so his ankle was already showing. He took his bag off and set it down next to the chair. "Sorry, I'm going straight to practice after this, so I had to bring my stuff," he apologized. "Oh, no it's fine," Winry sat down in her wheely chair and swiveled over to his plans, putting her gloves on. Owen took off his shoe and revealed the rest of his foot.
Ed stared for a brief moment at the shape of it. It was elegantly shaped, but didn't look human. Owen caught him watching. "It's for dance. I'm a ballerina, and it's pretty cool when I don't have to cover up this work of beauty. It functions perfect as a regular foot and looks stunning in the studio. I tell you, Ed, your wife is amazing," Owen explained. The metal was a light color, barely noticeable, almost white. It would fit right in ballet. Winry really outdid herself with the design of it, and all Ed could do was admire it. "Okay," Winry wheeled over to Owen. "Any pains, malfunctions, or problems to report?" she asked. "Not really. It works great," he smiled. "Alright," Winry grabbed a tool, "That's good to hear. I'm glad it's working out for you. I'm going to poke around and check everything, so you can just relax for a moment." Winry bent over his ankle and began to work. Ed pulled himself away from watching Winry and dived into his alchemic notes.
Sorry if it was mostly boring... I'm also thinking about starting a Brossh fanfic, so watch out for that one. I kind of set it up in this chapter (hehe sorry). Thanks for reading, reviews make me smile! :)
