DISCLAIMER: I only own my own OCs and this fic, not FMA, though.

Sixteen

They hadn't wasted much time after that. After bidding farewell to the LeCourts, who told them how to get back to Rush Valley, the five teens had left and headed on their roundabout journey. The walk to the next town had been a long one, since the bridge was still out, but eventually the group managed to snag a ride on a passenger wagon; Delilah ended up sitting in the middle between Alphonse and Winry, while Paninya and Edward sat at the far ends.

At first, all of them talked for a bit, mostly expressing gratitude for having found a mode of transportation other than walking. Everyone sans Alphonse was tired from the journey, and even Delilah was finding it hard to keep her eyes open. Soon, exhaustion took over, and the first to succumb to sleep was Ed, followed by Paninya. The only reason why Delilah and Winry were still awake was because they were engaged in conversation, along with Alphonse.

"I can't wait to meet Mr. Garfiel," Winry said, yawning. "Dominic said he was the best engineer living in the town."

"How're you going to get him to make you his apprentice, though?" Al asked.

"You could show him Edward's arm," Delilah suggested.

Winry nodded. "I'll do that. It is my best work, after all."

Al chuckled a bit. "Well, I hope you won't have to make him another one from scratch."

Winry suddenly pouted. "You guys still haven't told me what you two did to get so beat up. You guys worry me."

"Uh…if anyone was to tell you that, I think it should be Brother," Al said tactfully. Delilah almost didn't hear him—Winry's question had gotten her thinking about the infamous Scar, and she just barely managed to suppress a shudder, thinking about how Envy could've hurt her like the murderer had hurt Edward and Alphonse.

Winry sighed. "Well, at least you don't get into trouble, do you, Delilah?"

She said it as a joke, but Delilah was so suddenly overcome by guilt that her tongue slipped. "Someone threatened me."

It felt as if the temperature had dropped. Al and Winry stared at her with wide eyes, and the mechanic's mouth had opened in shock.

"I-I mean," Delilah amended, trying to look small. She couldn't believe she had just blurted such a thing out. "I just got separated from E-Edward and Alphonse and someone threatened me but he left and…" She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to ignore the memory of being so terrified. "I lied to you about if anything happened in Central. I am sorry, Winry."

Tears appeared in her eyes as she silently berated herself for being unable to tell Winry the whole truth. Partly it was because she agreed that Edward should be the one to explain to Winry what had happened with Scar and what had happened at Laboratory Five, but also because Delilah just couldn't find it within herself to explain again about that night. She wanted to forget about it completely.

"Oh, you poor girl."

Those words were the only warning Delilah got before Winry hugged her.

"I must've made you uncomfortable by asking about it," the older girl said. "I'm sorry. I wouldn't have said it if I'd known."

Delilah sat still, unsure of what to do. After a moment, she hesitantly wrapped her arms around Winry and relaxed into the hug. "It is all right."

Winry pulled back after a moment. "That must've been scary. You reported the guy, right?"

Alphonse had stayed quite silent up until this point. "We did. He…hasn't been found yet, though."

"Oh." There was an awkward pause.

"Um…" Deciding that now was as good a time as any, Delilah reached into her pocket. "I, uh, made something for you, Winry."

The mechanic looked surprised. "Really? What? Why?"

Delilah felt embarrassed, but this was definitely preferable to how she had felt a few moments ago. "I…will miss you while you are working. Um, here." She placed the white object into Winry's hand.

Winry peered at it curiously before recognizing it. "A hair tie?"

She hadn't sounded judgmental in the slightest, but Delilah felt the need to defend her decision. "I did not have much to transmute with, so I used a little of my dress. I wanted it to be useful…"

"Oh, thank you, Delilah, I love it." Winry immediately worked on switching her blue hair tie with her new white one. "Was that what you were doing last night?"

"Yes. I transmuted it."

"Did you help her, Al? I mean, you went looking for her."

"O-oh, no, she made it all by herself," Al answered. Delilah blushed, and she was grateful for his words, because it seemed like she was being modest instead of being embarrassed at the memory of the night before.

Winry finished tying her hair. "Well, thank you. Now I just wish I had something for you!"

"Oh, no—I do not need anything." Delilah awkwardly waved off Winry's offer. "I am all right."

"Well, if you're sure… Oh, maybe I'll make you some apple pie too sometime, with the recipe Mrs. Hughes taught me."

Delilah found herself smiling. "I would like that."

()()()()()

After a while the exhausting events of the past couple days finally caught up with her, and without meaning to she fell against Winry, who was already asleep, and drifted into a doze that lasted until the wagon stopped in Rush Valley and Alphonse woke them all. Ed, sleepy, gave the wagon driver and few cens, and Paninya led the way to Garfiel's automail shop.

"Just so you know," she said as they came into view of a rather flowery-looking sign, "Mr. Garfiel can be a bit…different."

And different he was.

"Oh, my dear, you most certainly can be my apprentice if you made this by yourself," the man cooed, moving his fingers along Ed's automail arm. Ed looked quite displeased at the invasion of personal space. "This is simply exquisite!"

Winry blushed at the praise. "Oh, it's nothing."

"But you made it in three days," Delilah said.

"Three days?" Garfiel's eyes widened and he put his hands on his cheeks. "Oh, darling, I simply must have you as my apprentice!"

Winry blinked. "Really?"

Garfiel moved away from Ed (much to the boy's relief) and clasped Winry's hands within his own. "I won't take no for an answer!"

After a moment, Winry beamed. "Okay!"

The two launched onto the topic of what Garfiel expected her to do, but before even Ed could grow tired of the situation, a customer walked in and asked for Garfiel's assistance. Ed took the opportunity to remind them all that their things were still at the hotel, and Winry asked Mr. Garfiel to excuse them.

()()()()()

"I can't believe he really wanted me," Winry breathed as the group trudged their belongings to the train station. The mechanic would've rather dropped her suitcase off at Garfiel's, but Ed had stubbornly insisted that there was no time.

"What're you talking about, Winry? Of course he wanted you to be his apprentice," Alphonse said.

"Yeah, you must be some mechanic if Ed's arm is that good at throwing punches." Paninya laughed. Ed mumbled something about pickpockets, and his wording didn't sound particularly pleasant.

They came to the ticket booth in front of the train station, and Edward paid for three tickets.

"You might wanna hurry," the salesperson advised. "Train's about to leave and the next one doesn't leave until dark."

As if on cue, a whistle blew, and Ed bolted onto the platform.

"Brother!" Al called uselessly. He let out a sigh that sounded like exasperation, but he wasted no time in picking up Delilah's briefcase and, much to her surprise, Delilah herself, before hurrying after his brother. She had to hold on to her hat to keep it from flying off.

Luckily, Delilah thought, he hadn't thrown her over his should, or else she would've been impaled by his spikes. Not that this ordeal was much more comfortable than that; he seemed to be doing his best not to accidentally crush her, but his movements caused her head to repeatedly bump into his chest plate, and her elbow smacked against him, too.

"Be careful out there!" Winry called.

"You too!" Ed yelled. Delilah was wincing in pain, so she was only vaguely aware that he was somewhere in front of her and Alphonse. "You'd better train hard! And Granny's gonna be worried about you, so make sure you give her a call."

Alphonse's entire body lurched; there was half a second of something akin to silence, and then he landed on the end of the train with a resounding thud.

"I don't need you of all people reminding me!" Winry yelled.

Ed laughed. "Make sure you steal some of that old guy's secrets so that next time you can make me a better arm!"

"You can count on it!"

After Winry and Paninya had blurred into distant dots, Alphonse set Delilah down. The girl pulled off her hat and gingerly rubbed at a spot on her head.

"Sorry, Delilah," Al apologized before turning to his brother. "We could've just waited for the next one, you know."

"There was no way I was gonna stay in that place anymore, especially after meeting Mr. Rainbow."

"Brother!"

"Whatever." Ed opened the door into the last compartment on the train. Only two or three people sat around in separate booths; the people looked up curiously when the door opened but lost interest when they only saw a couple kids in the doorway, missing the bulky armor behind them. Ed went inside first and took the nearest seat, while Delilah followed and sat beside him. Alphonse came last, shutting the door behind him and sitting on the bench facing them.

"How long will it take to get to Dublith?" Delilah asked.

Ed shrugged. "Only one hour, I'd guess. It's not far from here."

"…Maybe you two should get some rest before we see Teacher," Al suggested. "We've had a long day already, and seeing Teacher while we're tired might be…bad."

"But if I take my medicine I will not wake up properly for hours," Delilah pointed out.

"And I couldn't sleep if I tried." Ed shuddered. "Not when we're so close to Teacher…."

"Is your teacher a scary person?" Delilah asked, remembering a previous conversation where the boys had seemed terrified.

"Yes," Al said.

"Scarier than words can describe," Ed added.

"She's a wonderful person. Just…"

"Scary."

"Yeah."

Delilah wasn't sure how to handle that information. "But…she taught you well, right? I mean, Edward, you can perform alchemy without circles."

"Uh…" Ed shrugged. "Yeah. Speaking of alchemy, I think we should be acting more like your teachers and see what else you know. Right, Al?"

And so, the rest of the ride was spent talking about alchemy, and before long they had stopped in Dublith. Delilah had hardly been aware of the passing of time.

Ed stretched his arms as they stepped off the platform and wandered into the town. "It's pretty much the same as we left it."

"…But Brother, we're different."

Ed slumped. "And she's going to kill us."

"She…is not really going to kill you, right?" Delilah said.

"We'll see," Ed muttered. "We're here, anyway." He stood up straight and dry-swallowed, looking at a store sign above them: MEAT.

"Fitting. We're dead meat," Al said.

"But you are metal…."

"Figure of speech, Del—"

"Hi, can I help you?"

Ed and Al jumped, but as Delilah wasn't expecting to be killed, she wasn't taken aback. While the brothers held each other in fright, she turned to see a stocky, well-muscled young man standing behind them.

"Hey, Ed, that you?" His tone was warm. "Long time no see!"

"Uh…Mason, right?" Ed said, detangling himself from his brother.

The man—Mason—laughed and patted Ed's head. "You've gotten so big? And who's the big guy in the armor? And who's the girl?" he added suggestively, not that Delilah quite picked up on his tone.

"That's our friend, Delilah," Ed said.

"And I'm Ed's younger brother, Alphonse."

Mason paused. "….You've gotten really big." He shrugged it off and led them through the nearby alleyway to the side entrance of the shop, reclaiming his chipper mood. "You came to see Izumi, right? Just wait a sec. I'll go get her. It's actually perfect timing! She just got back from a trip yesterday."

While he went inside, Delilah noticed that Ed was trembling, and Al was muttering, "I wish she was still away on that trip…." Up until now, Delilah hadn't been overly worried, but now, anxiety was starting to creep up on her, especially when she heard approaching footsteps.

A large, bearded man carrying a bloody knife lumbered outside. His arms were on-par with those of the Major's, not to mention of two of them were probably the same mass, although the comparison just about ended there, as the man's gut protruded quite roundly. He was still intimidating, to say the least.

"N-nice to see you again," Ed and Al chorused.

The man inspected them and suddenly grabbed Ed's head with a meaty hand and ruffled his hair. "Good to see you, Ed. You've gotten big." His voice was deep, gravelly, and warm. Like Mason, he needed help in identifying Alphonse, but he also gave the armor-boy a pat on the head.

He turned to Delilah and held out a hand. "Sig Curtis. Pleased to meet you, miss."

Flustered, she let her hand disappear into his fist. "Delilah Heywood. I am a, uh, friend of the Elrics."

Sig gave her a smile before addressing Ed. "Why the sudden visit?"

"Well, there was something we wanted to ask Teacher."

Sig readily agreed to lead them around the back to the house. He asked Mason to keep an eye on the store before they headed around to where the house was connected to another street.

"How's Teacher doing?" Al asked.

"Not so bad, considering her condition." Sig stopped beside an open window and spoke inside. "Hey, Izumi, the Elric kids are here. They brought a girl with them. Can you get up?"

A voice wafted out. "I think so. I feel a little better today."

She sounds bedridden. All of Delilah's worries about Ed and Al "getting killed" left her head. At least partly. I wonder if there's anything I can do for her….

Immediately after this thought crossed her mind, the front door flew open and a foot jutted out, kicking Edward all the way across the front yard.

An imposing woman stepped out of the house, glowering at Ed's crumpled form. "Well, if it isn't my fool of an apprentice. I hear a lot of rumors about you even out here in Dublith. So you've stooped so low as to become a dog of the military, have you? Well? Say something!"

Sig picked up Ed's limp body. "It's no use, Izumi."

Izumi?

This was the sick woman?

Izumi's mood flipped completely when she noticed Alphonse, who had been trying to stay out of sight up against the wall. "And who're you in the armor?"

"I-it's me, Alphonse. Um, Teacher…"

Izumi brightened. "Oh, Al! You've gotten so big. And who is this lovely young lady?"

Delilah was unable to speak. She opened her mouth, but she could only stare at the woman. Her silence seemed to speak volumes to Izumi, and the woman's mood changed once more.

"She's, uh, our friend, Delilah Heywood," Al supplied.

"A friend, huh? I think I see how it is. I don't hear from you two in years, and you suddenly show up on my doorstep with a girl?" Al started to move away from his teacher's dark tone, but she was too quick, and he was soon sprawled on the ground.

"Which one of you got her pregnant?"

Ed, who had regained consciousness, fell onto the ground from the shock, while Al let out some sort of startled yell. Delilah was still too stunned by everything to react…though this predicament didn't help her at all.

"Well?"

"T-Teacher, why would you think that?" Al said.

"Y-yeah," Ed added. "That's not why we're here. A-and she's our friend…!"

Izumi examined them through narrowed eyes before turning to Delilah. "They've done nothing to you?"

Shocked out of her stupor, she nodded. "No. Uh, I mean, they have not."

Izumi still looked skeptical. "Well, I'll accept that for now. You can't trust teenage—"

She interrupted herself when a large flow of blood cascaded out of her mouth.

Sig was immediately at her side with a bottle of pills, soothing her and gently scolding her as she took the medicine.

She embraced him when she was finished. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Come on, don't talk like that," Sig said.

Delilah tottered over to Ed and Al, who looked as dazed as she felt as they regrouped.

"Um…maybe we should try this again," Al suggested.

"It's nice to see you again," Ed offered weakly.

Izumi grinned and gave Ed a playful (and painful) slap on the head. "Welcome back."

a/n: I'M SORRY FOR THE LATENESS omg. Just, just don't rely on any quick updates anymore. The only reason this was finished was because I decided to procrastinate on the work I really really have to do because I've been sick lately and I have to make up a lot of shit. And yeah ffnak;sjhfka I'm sorry, I feel like this chapter was kinda bad jdfkjasldjf I don't even know anymore xD;;

anyway I need to get going, please review!