Diclsiamer: Wlel hree we go aiagn, my gamrmar skucs, my polt's rlalely niotnhg at all, and my piatecne is naer to nohtnig... yaeh... i atcaluly don't own tihs fcitoin if you can bileeve it!

ahhh... finding new ways to write this is actually getting pretty fun hope you can read that one, you should be able to though, it's a weird brain thing.

Enjoy!

Chapter 6

Winry blinked herself awake and moaned, she felt like her head was full of fuzz, and her limbs were made of noodles.

In a second she saw Ed gazing down at her, his features tense.

She turned away and looked out the window on her right, it looked like it was early morning, meaning she must have slept through the night, "I can't feel my arm…"

Ed couldn't bring himself to say anything.

"Is Auntie and Al here?"

"They're waiting outside,"

Winry snorted, "I've always loved auto-mail so much… figures that something like this would happen to me." She didn't have to look to know that she no longer had her left arm, it felt like she still had an elbow though; that would probably make it easy for Pinako to attach auto-mail. It wouldn't be so bad. She couldn't stop the tears from trickling down her cheeks though, no mater how much she loved auto-mail, she would always love the ability of touch more.

"Do you know his name?"

She had nothing to lose anymore, why not tell him? She laughed inwardly, she had plenty to lose; she still had two legs and another arm, not to mention her life. But she also knew now that if she told Ed, she probably wouldn't have to worry anymore… she didn't even want to think about what he would do to the man, "Leaning…"

"Do you know what his house looked like?"

"It was big… like a mansion."

Ed nodded and turned to leave, stopping at the door for only a second, "I'll be back by tonight."

Having been unable to find any information on a Mr. Or Mrs. Leaning, Ed had gone back to his original idea. Following the street he had found Winry on, he now found himself standing in front of the only house that could be considering a mansion within 20 miles of anywhere.

"He's more powerful than you think… not the kind of person you would want to underestimate."

An icy voice sounded next to Ed, making him jump a little. He looked Lust in the eyes and scowled, "I don't have time for you"

She shrugged smoothly, "Nor I for you. I've merely come to watch the show, and pick up the pieces when you're done."

"What does this have to do with you?"

"Nothing actually, we just happen to have mutual intensions at the moment." She paused for a minute, "Was that girl a friend of yours?"

He narrowed his eyes, "What girl?"

She smirked, "You don't have to worry, I have no intensions of using her for anything. It seems that for the first time a coincidence is working in my favor, simply by chance."

"So you want me to do the dirty work?"

She laughed, "Don't kid yourself, you couldn't hurt a fly. You're probably just here to ask questions, and arrest the man. But you should know by now that that won't work anymore… what goes in prisons these days just seems to come out more dangerous. You don't even know what this man has done either. So Full Metal… what are you going to do?"

He wanted to lash out and kill her right there, he was sickened by the thought that he couldn't even do that, "Well we'll just have to see…" he stepped up to the door and sliced the hinges, expecting it to be locked.

Walking into the dark house, he really didn't want to beat around the bush, "Leaning!" His yell echoed down the halls. Almost instantly he saw a haggard man appear in a large open doorway.

"Usually people knock before they break my doors…

"I'm sure they do…" he could feel himself getting prepared for a fight, his voice deepening, his hands ready, it happened so fast now, he hardly noticed it, "I have a few questions I would like to ask you."

"Oh?" The man walked out of the shadows and closer to Ed, "I saw you earlier today… you were with the auto-mail girl. Huh, seems that I have more enemies than I thought."

"What makes you think I'm an enemy?"

The man shrugged, "You break into my house, you call out my name, and it's because of me that your girlfriend is going to die. What makes you think I shouldn't?"

Ed smiled maliciously, the man had set Winry's body to poison itself completely, he probably hadn't considered the possibility of amputation, "Good, that'll make things go faster. That's all I needed to know." With a clap of his hands, his auto-mail was it's usual sword.

The man smiled as well, "Seems like we have something in common," The man clapped his hands lightly, and drew out a long sword from the floor.

For a moment, Ed was too shocked to do anything, the man hadn't even used a mock philosophers stone.

"Who would have thought this would be the outcome of a human transmutation? Alchemy without circles… it's nearly enough to make the money not mater. Looks like you lost a bit more than I did though."

This man was posting a lot more questions than Ed was planning on asking, but he decided to get the first one out of the way, "What did you do to Winry?"

"The auto-mail girl?" the man gave a facial shrug, "she came to help my wife with a… leg injury. She overheard something I would have rather she not have, and she betrayed my trust by telling someone. I don't appreciate it when people do that."

"Apparently. So you preformed human transmutation? Since Lust is lurking around, it must have been one of her gang that you tried to bring back. You mentioned something about money… that brings Envy to mind, but I don't think he's the one. Which means you probably created the fat one," Ed laughed, "Money's probably the only thing that would make you want to create that thing."

The man frowned, "What are you talking about?"

Ed's lip curled, "Probably a close relative? Heir to the family fortune?"

Ed could see the sneer from across the room, and he was ready when the man lunged forward with his sword, before they're blades met Ed shouted out angrily, "And she didn't say a word to anyone, for your information. You've just messed with the wrong family…"

Sparks flew as the blades connected.

A scream brought everything to a startled halt though. Ed turned to see a worn down woman in a nightdress, using a doorframe for a crutch. She coughed, and Ed could see the glint of an auto-mail leg.

"Stop this!" She shouted as loud as she could, "the money was never worth any of this!"

Ed pushed his blade harder as the rest of the puzzle brought itself together, "you tried to bring someone back because you weren't exactly second in line for the money, didn't you? When the transmutation failed, you tried a different method… it's easier to get the money when there's no one else to claim it. Your wife probably didn't like what you were doing, so she tried to tell someone. When she lost her leg, you needed someone to come and clean up the mistake." (a/n can you tell I'm rushing this along? Or has Ed just gotten good at figuring things out quickly with all the stuff he's been through . )

The man dropped his sword and fell to the ground holding his head, "Stop!"

There was a gurgle as the man fell to his face and Lust pulled her fingers out of the man's back. She sighed, "I hate it when things move slowly"

Stunned, all Ed could processes was the sound of a metal knee hitting hard floor, as Mrs. Leaning fell to the ground with sobs.

"Obstacles are so exhausting…" Lust smiled towards Ed, "What's the matter? You look surprised"

Ed ground his teeth.

"Did you really think I was going to let you get to the really important questions? Although… taunting you with hints is always enjoyable." Her shoulder shook with silent laughter.

"It's always a pleasure for me too… but dancing in the palm of your hand is getting tiring"

"Too bad you can't do anything about that."

Gluttony showed at her feet, and starred at Mr. Leaning hungrily, "Can I eat him?"

"Not yet." She looked back at Ed "You should know Full Metal, that this is what happens when you're not dancing in line, and you're no longer useful. If I were you, I would go back to the people that are important, and not worry about my future until it's in front of me. For now… you're still useful." She jumped up, and through an open window above her, while Gluttony grabbed the dead man and ambled off into the shadows.

(a/n sorry to cut the fight scene short folks, but this is more of a romance )

Ed dragged his feet over the street gravel, mindlessly wandering in the direction of his mother's grave. When he came to it, he was actually somewhat surprised. Why had he come here again? He had wanted to get back into town to see how Winry was doing, if Pinako hadn't take her back to the house yet to prepare her for auto-mail.

He starred at the gravestone and considered everything he had just heard. It seemed people would perform forbidden acts for near to no reason these days. Figures that the man would survive too. The world seemed to be becoming more and more unfair by the minute. The man had preformed human transmutation, and seemed to gain more than he lost, Winry lost her arm without gaining anything for it, and Mrs. Leaning had lost her leg for trying to do the right thing.

Ed sighed, if you looked at it in the whole though, the man had finally lost his life for everything he had done, Mrs. Leaning had probably gained her freedom, and Winry… she had gained a body guard that would probably give his life for her.

He walked away from the grave with a sad smile; he wouldn't let his mother's death be in vain.

He found himself starring up at his favorite tree, slightly befuddled as to how he had managed to get there. Apparently his subconscious was working against him, and he needed to be in these places today. He lay down in the grass and closed his eyes. It was still just the afternoon; no one was expecting him home till later.

The fist cricket of the night seemed to sound literally inside of his ear, making Ed nearly jump out of his skin as he was so rudely awakened. He rubbed the back of his head and yawned, the sun hadn't completely gone down yet, but he was still a ways away from home. Had he really slept that long? It seemed amazing with all the things on his mind.

By the time he did make it home the moon was already up, and the sun long gone. He figured that Winry would be home by now, Pinako would never have allowed her to stay more than two nights, regardless of her condition. Considering the fact that she was nearly a surgeon, Ed wasn't too worried.

The door created open, and he tried to step in as quietly as he could.

"Where have you been?"

Ed stiffened at Al's voice, "Taking care of some problems…"

"Oh…" Al traced his fingers over the table he was sitting at, "Roy called again, he said to tell you that if you're not home by tomorrow he's going to personally burn down the auto-mail shop you're apparently building."

Ed couldn't help but laugh, "He was yelling at me about the funds yesterday… I don't think he considers that auto-mail equipment is related to getting the philosophers stone."

Al sighed, "Winry's sleeping upstairs, she was worried about you. Auntie said that she wouldn't give her auto-mail for a few days… she thinks that Winry needs to get as much rest as she can, before she starts working again."

(a/n just when I think I'm getting to the end, making things logical drags me back in again, gah!)