The Ties that Bind

A series of related one-shots that range from Roy finding Ed and Al in Resembool and far, far beyond. Not chronological. EdWin, AlMei, Royai Parental!RoyEdAl Parental!RizaEdAl

His Kids

Older Brother 18, Younger Brother 17

Winry groaned herself awake and immediately knew where she was. Well, not where exactly, but she knew the situation she was in. It was hard not to considering how many times it had happened to her, even if the circumstances did vary every now and then.

Taking a deep breath, she took stock of her body starting with wriggling her toes, then rolling her ankles, bending her knees. She couldn't turn onto her back with her arms bound as they were, so she had to settle for an awkward shimmy of her hip—the right one twinged a bit and she guessed a bruise was forming from being none too gently tossed on her side. Next she tested her fingers and wrists, though her elbows were out of the question unless she wanted to dislocate one of her shoulders, and that sure wasn't happening.

Other than her hip, the only pains Winry found were her right shoulder—which probably hurt for the same reasons as her hip—and her head. It wasn't a foggy, cloudy pain like what happened with Barry the Chopper back when she was twelve, but a low, dull pulse that seemed to reach long fingers from the base of her skull to squeeze hard along her entire crown. Hardly pleasant, but at least she hadn't been drugged.

The last few traces of unconsciousness released her with reluctant fingers, and Winry resisted the urge to shake her head to clear it faster. That would only exacerbated her head injury.

Head injury.

Winry scowled. "I can't believe that jackass hit me in the head with his gun. He's lucky I didn't get a concussion."

She realized the moment she spoke that she should probably be more concerned than she was considering she'd just been kidnapped and was being held in near darkness in a room small enough that she had to curl in on herself, despite her arms being bound almost elbow to wrist, to fit without smacking her head against a wall. Only the dim glow of what seemed to be late afternoon sunlight filtered through the heavy, spottily torn curtains that hung over the room's single window. Well, it was more of a closet than a room, but at least it was empty of any cleaning supplies or storage. Instead, it was just Winry in the small space with a thin woolen blanket spread out on the concrete floor as if that alone was somehow enough to cushion her body against the frigid stone.

A twinge of pain shot through her arms when she tried to relieve the pressure on her shoulder and Winry groaned. Working herself carefully with bound ankles and arms, she managed to prop herself against the cold, cinderblock wall with a modicum of comfort. Or at least what passed as comfortable considering the circumstances.

Where was this place, anyway? Was she still in East City? She really hoped so; it would be much harder to find her if her kidnappers had managed to get her out of the city. And what did they want with her anyway? She'd never seen that bearded man even once in her life before he'd appeared behind her at the train station as she disembarked. She had come to East City at General Mustang's suggestion since he had made Ed and Al promise to check in once a month while they were abroad. Ed had protested, of course, but the General had stood firm as they glared at each other over the restaurant table they'd gathered at together following the annual Promised Day Memorial.

"Do you have any idea how many of Amestris's enemies would kill to get their hands on you boys?" General Mustang asked, his tone obviously rhetorical. "It would be irresponsible of me to let you go off on your own without having a way to know if you've run into trouble. The military's official stance is that we don't negotiate with terrorists, but if either of you got kidnapped—especially you, Ed—we wouldn't have much choice. We would have to do anything we could to get you back, or it would mean war."

Ed rolled his eyes. "You're exaggerating things, Colonel—"

The General's eye twitched. "It's General!"

"—the military isn't gonna get off their butts and go to war over someone like me. Especially not now that Furher Grumman is in charge."

"It's because Grumman is in charge that we would go to war, Fullmetal! Or did you conveniently forget the part you and your brother played in making that change?" There was a moment's pause before General Mustang sighed and leaned forward in his chair, tenting his laced fingers over his nose. "You spent almost five years turning yourself into the Hero of the People, Ed. Did you really think that wouldn't have consequences?"

Ed was stunned, Winry could see it all over his face, as he sat down hard in his chair. Al reached across the table's corner to pat his brother once on the shoulder, though he almost looked as stunned as Ed.

"We're sorry, Sir," Al said, turning his attention to the General as he blinked repeatedly, obviously trying to reconcile what he'd just learned. "I guess we really didn't think about it like that."

"Well think about it," General Mustang said, though he sounded more tired than upset. "You'll both call me at least once a month?"

"Yeah," Ed said, his tone low and—Winry suspected—only grudging because he didn't want to admit the General was right. "We'll call."

And then, of course, Ed had to go and propose to her right before heading off to the West for who knew how long, and even though Winry supported his travels, it was pretty disappointing to find herself alone—and maybe a little abandoned—literally seconds after getting engaged. And somehow, just like he always seemed to do, General Mustang had sensed her mood when he'd called to check in on her like he always did.

"Why don't you come up to East City for the weekend?" The General had suggested seemingly out of the blue while the two had been talking shop about the volatile spring weather. "Ed's supposed to call on Friday, and since he's in Creta, it'll be collect, so I'm having it wired to the office."

Winry's eyebrows went up. "You're making the military pay for Ed and Al's out of country phone calls?"

There was an embarrassed pause before the General coughed. "Well, seeing as their wellbeing is in the country's best interest, I figure the Furher won't mind."

Winry giggled at that, trying her best to stifle it behind her fist. "Of course I'll come up. In fact, why don't I head over now? It's only two hours to East City, and I'm all caught up on my orders for the week. I would love to look at things for the wedding with Capt. Riza." Then, realilzing that may have been a bit presumptuous, Winry blushed and tucked her hair behind her ear. "That is, if you don't mind."

"Of course not. I'll make sure there's a room waiting for you at the Grand Marquis when you arrive."

So, almost two full days before her fiancé was even expected to call, Winry told Granny she where she was headed, packed up the bare necessities, and bought a last minute ticket for East City. Or would have done if General Mustang hadn't already called ahead and paid for one for her.

Winry frowned at that thought. The whole thing had been literally spur of the moment, so how in the world could anyone have known that Winry would come to East City when she did with enough warning to set an ambush for her as soon as she stepped off the train?

Who are these people?

As if on cue, a row of locks snapped along the length of the door, capturing Winry's glaring attention. The door opened stiffly with a loud squeal that made her flinch. Couldn't anyone be bothered to oil those hinges once in a while? Honestly!

"Ah," said a different bearded man from the one she'd seen before. That one had been young, probably not much older than Winry, with streaks of red in his otherwise chestnut hair. This man was almost entirely gray and had wrinkles around his eyes to match. "You are awake."

His accent was thick enough that it took Winry a moment to register what he'd said. She scowled up at him, unwilling to be cowed. Considering how often she'd been kidnapped in the past, Winry was well beyond fear in the face of yet another abduction—although did Scar really count? She'd suggested that one, after all. No, this time, she was pissed.

"Just who the hell do you think you are, sticking a gun to my back and demanding I go with you? What do you even want from me anyway? If it's money than you're flat out of luck, my Granny doesn't have the funds to fill a ransom order and no one else would bother."

Which wasn't entirely true. After almost seven years of milking Ed's automail repairs for as much as she could get, Winry could probably live pretty comfortably for the rest of her life as long as it wasn't especially extravagant living. As for no one else bothering with a ransom? Well, that was true, but definitely not for the reasons she'd implied.

Graybeard snorted as he looked down his long nose at her, his hands clasped behind his back. "You stupid child. You are thinking we want your money? Please. What good is Amestrian paper trash? Is not fit to wipe my ass."

Winry's nose wrinkled at the unwelcome image. "Charming." Shifting against the wall in an attempt to get more comfortable, Winry resituated her glare. "Well if you don't want money, then what do you want? And you better not think you can sell me to some creepy pervert, because if that's the case, I'll kick your ass myself!"

"Do not be insulting me, girl. You are only being as important as you are being valuable to him." The man grinned a nasty, almost sneer, his eyes glinting almost red in the waning sunlight. "You really should being more careful about announcing your importance to such a man. With the engagement being splashed across every newspaper, how could we not be taking advantage?"

Surprised, Winry's glare slipped to what was undoubtedly an unattractive gape. "Wait, you're using me to get to Ed? Seriously?"

Graybeard frowned. "Why would you being surprised? He is being the great state alchemist, yes? The Hero of the People?" He snorted. "Let us be seeing how important he is when it is you he gives his country for, yes?"

Winry blinked. "But…You do realize Ed is out of the country, right? He's in Creta right now, and even if he's right on the eastern border, it would take him at least two days to get back to East City. And yet, he's the one you're worried about? He's the one you're trying to threaten?" She sighed, dropping her head in disappointment. "Honestly. Do you even know how to get in contact with him? He's in Creta, you know, and it's not like he gave me his phone number."

"Is being no matter," Graybeard said, waving a hand. "We were being aware of you for some time, Miss Rockbell. We know of your phone call with the Butcher General; we know he will be having contact with the Fullmetal Alchemist in two day's time. We only need to be being patient."

"Are you saying you tapped my phone?" Winry gaped. "How…how rude can a person be? That is my private phone line used to convey private conversations! You have no place listening to them!"

Graybeard took half a step back, blinking wildly as he stared at Winry with an expression of utter bemusement. She clearly wasn't the demure, weepy damsel he'd been expecting. But then, why should she be? He'd made a stupid mistake by taking her so early and with so many witnesses. They may not have known she was being kidnapped at the time, but Winry didn't doubt that at least one person would be able to ID her abductor. The General had said he was sending First Lieutenant Ross and Captain Breda to meet her, after all. And those two were nothing if not dogged when it came to uncovering information. Captain Breda had been like that for as long as Winry had known him, but she suspected Lt. Ross's dedication to routing out the truth came from her own experience with being framed for Brigadier General Hughes's murder.

Either way, this man clearly had no idea what he'd done by kidnapping her like he did.

Or what Hell he'd invited down onto the heads of him and his accomplices.

And speaking of which, depending on how far out of town they were, whether or not Black Hayate had been able to pick up her trail, how long it would take to set up a perimeter, Winry figured said Hell would be descending right about—

An explosion rocked the cinderblock building to its roots, and Winry caught a brief glimpse of a thick, metal door flying across the outside room, propelled by a trail of smoke and smoldering flames. Winry grinned.

—Now.

"I don't know who you bastards think you are," came the General's low, threatening growl. "But it's pretty obvious to me that you're not from around here. And do you have any idea—" Snap "—how tired I am—" Snap "—of people like you—" Snap "—coming into my country—" Snap "—my city—" Snap "—my life—" Snap "—feeling like you have some sort of right to mess with my kids?"

Graybeard stared over his shoulder in pasty-faced horror as screams and roaring flames accompanied each successive snap as they drew closer and closer to the closet in which Winry was being held. She sighed at the theatrics, shaking her head a bit. Honestly, he was lucky she wasn't being held in the main room or he could have burned her with his erratic attacks.

Well, no, Winry amended. She knew without a doubt that he would never risk hurting her, which meant he must have known where she was from the beginning.

Ah, Capt. Riza must have scouted the scene from the rafters. Which meant she'd told him exactly where everyone was, including Winry herself. And considering the entire building seemed to be made of rebar enforced cinderblock—and since the General had very strict control over his flames—this tirade was being done as much for a lesson as it was a show. This was the General's way of telling the entire world that Winry Rockbell was absolutely, without a doubt, 100-percent off-limits as a hostage to anyone, and foreign relations be damned.

She should scold him for being so reckless, but honestly, Winry couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so taken care of by someone other than Ed or Al. It was almost like having a dad again.

Messing with his kids, huh? Winry ducked her head to hide her shy grin, just in case the General chose that exact moment to subdue Graybeard and come to her rescue.

And, naturally, he did.

"Winry!" The General tossed Graybeard aside and dropped to his knees in front of her, his black eyes roving her form, looking for any obvious injuries. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm okay," Winry said, trying her best to school her expression from the dumb grin that kept trying to emerge. "I wasn't awake for very long, so I wasn't really alone long enough to get worried, and they didn't hurt me."

Visible relief accompanied the sharp breath he blew out as the General clapped his hands together and reached for the ropes binding her ankles and wrists. "Thank Truth for that. I might have to kill someone if they had actually done something to you."

Winry took his offered hands and climbed gingerly to her feet with a wince or two; she was definitely stiff after an hour or so of lying unconscious like that. That small, vindictive part of her that had never really gone away after learning about Scar hoped that at least Graybeard—and Redbeard too, now that she thought about it—at a few nasty burns to take care of for a while.

"Did they say what they wanted?" The General asked, one hand moving to the small of her back as he escorted her through the warehouse. He used his body to shield most of the carnage from her, but Winry honestly didn't care one way or the other. He'd already said that no one was dead, so it's not like it would be anything too bad. Still, she let him take care of her because he obviously needed it.

She did, however, catch First Lieutenant Havoc's eye as the General escorted her out. The chain-smoking soldier nodded to her with a relieved smile. She nodded and smiled back. She even threw in a little wave that seemed to make him chuckle before getting back to work.

"I guess they wanted to use me to get to Ed?" She replied, though it was more of a question as she shook her head. "I didn't get a lot of details, and that man's accent was very thick, so I'm not sure I would have understood anyway, but I think they wanted to make him trade himself for me. Whether Ed was their end-goal or if they had something bigger in mind…" She shrugged, then winced as he right shoulder twinged. She rubbed it, trying to work out the knot that had formed there. "Sorry, but I really don't know."

"That's more than enough." He patted her left shoulder once. "It will give Breda, Ross, and Falman a good lead when they start the interrogation."

Winry hummed her understanding as they stepped outside, and she squinted against the setting sun that was glaring right at her. Capt. Riza appeared then, blocking the sun for a moment as she—like the General had done—eyed Winry up and down for anything out of place. Her brown eyes lingered on Winry's sore shoulder as Winry continued to rub it out, but she didn't say anything about it. Instead, her eyes snapped to General Mustang's and she saluted.

"All insurgents appear to be accounted for, Sir. Permission to authorize transport to Iron Down Prison?"

"Granted. But why don't you take a break and let the MPs take things from here?" The general smiled at Capt. Riza before shifting it to Winry. He squeezed Winry's shoulder once before releasing her into Capt. Riza's custody. "I'm sure Winry could do with a hearty dinner and a night in with a friend."

"Of course, sir." Capt. Riza held her salute for half-a-moment longer before her professional face melted to one of sincere concern as she swooped an arm around Winry's shoulders to shuffle her away. "Are you all right, Winry? They didn't do anything to you?"

"I'm fine, honest." Winry waved her hands placatingly and laughed. "Just a few bruises, but I promise they'll clear up in no time."

Capt. Riza's expression darkened and she shared a brief glance with the General before the light returned and she was smiling at Winry in that soft, almost maternal way she sometimes did. "Well, then. I'm sure a nice hot bath will help with that."

The General waved them off, obviously intending to stay behind and oversee the prisoner transportation personally. Realizing she likely wouldn't see him again until late the next day at best, Winry tugged Riza to a brief stop, ignoring the older woman's questioning glance.

"Hey, um, General?"

He turned at her voice, one eyebrow going up. "Yes, Winry?"

"Thank you," she said, looking down at her fiddling hands with a blush. "For saving me."

"Of course." The warmth in his voice made her look up, and Winry's blush deepened to see that at least a small spark of that warmth had made it to his eyes.

With a brief wave of her fingers, Winry let Capt. Riza draw her away to a waiting town car to head to the hotel for the night.

My kids, he said, Winry thought as the door closed, and she caught a glimpse of the General's back through the closed window. She rested her forehead against the cool class and smiled. She could definitely get used to that.

Kaliea: So this totally came about because I had this image pop into my head of Winry getting kidnapped again and just being so totally over it. And then, of course, Roy came bursting in throwing flames everywhere and telling the kidnappers to "stay away from his kids" and...well...this ^-^

Thanks for reading!