Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue
A/N: The Tringham brothers, for those who don't remember, are from the Anime episode: 'The Other Brothers Elric'
The Other Brothers
"Brother…" Fletcher Tringham scolded.
"Would you rather sleep on the street?" Russell asked before putting a fork of food in his mouth.
"You promised not to pretend to be Ed anymore."
"I know, but that was the only way they would let us stay for free. All we have to do is some alchemy repairs."
"We have enough money to pay."
"But not to pay for the night and a train ticket out of this dump," Russell reminded.
Fletcher sighed, knowing his brother would not listen. "Where are we going anyway? Back to Xenotime?"
Russell shrugged and pulled out a map before sticking another piece of steak in his mouth. "Well we are in Fieldsdale. To the north along the track is Resembool and to the south is Millerton. I doubt we will find anything in either place."
Fletcher thought while Russell continued to eat. "Resembool, that name sounds familiar."
Russell thought about it too. "Yeah, don't know why, it's just a small town."
Suddenly the front door to the inn burst open revealing a teenage girl in with a black skirt, black boots and a white tank top. She was panting; apparently she had run all the way here. When she had caught her breath her head shot up and she quickly brushed her blonde hair away from her sapphire eyes which were full of a mixture of desperation and hope. "I heard the Elric Brothers were in this town. Where are they?"
For Russell the math was simple: Girl x Hot Girl x Girl his own age x Hot Girl looking for Edward Elric – Edward Elric not being here He was Edward Elric! "Right here! I'm Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, how can I be of service to you?" Russell jumped to his feet and gave a deep bow. When he looked up he knew something was wrong when the hope disappeared from her eyes and sadness replaced it.
"You're not Edward." The girl said while looking down, her voice threatening to turn into a sob. Russell was about to apologize when she suddenly looked up, the sadness replaced with cold fury. Russell gulped. "YOU'RE NOT EDWARD!" The girl exclaimed. Suddenly she raised a previously unseen wrench over her head. Russell couldn't be sure, but he thought he might have just soiled his pants. Much to alarm of the inn's other patrons she charged forward and smashed the wrench on top of Russell's head and then proceeded to give him a beating that made the ones that she gave to the real Edward Elric look like love taps.
When Russell was a lump of flesh on the ground the girl turned on Fletcher. "And who are you supposed to be? AL?" She waved her wrench wrathfully, something that would haunt Fletcher's nightmares for some time.
"NO! No, my name is Fletcher!" he rapidly answered. "Fletcher Tringham. We're only friends of Ed and Al!" He raised his arms in an attempt to protect his head. After a moment and the blow still hadn't come, he lowered his arms hesitantly. The girl still stood there with her wrench raised, but her face no longer held all the anger it once did.
"You know Ed and Al?" she asked.
"Yeah, we met them in Xenotime. Ed helped unseat the local land baron and helped us save the town from the flood of red water with his alchemy." He didn't mention that they had pretended to be the Elric brothers then too. Fletcher was young, not stupid.
The girl lowered her wrench and her expression softened into a sad smile. "Yeah that sounds like them." Fletcher noticed, now that she was close up and not threatening his life, that she was quiet pretty. "My name is Winry, Winry Rockbell. I grew up with Ed and Al in Resenbool." Fletcher realized that must be where he had heard the name before. "I also made Ed's automail," she added as she sat down at Russell's old seat.
"Wow! Really? Ed's arm is so cool!" Fletcher didn't realize he had just said the right words to get on Winry's good side. Her smile gave him a clue though, and also caused his heart to beat a little faster. Though he didn't know it, he had just developed his first crush. The two of them sat there talking about Ed and Al, Winry telling him childhood stories that made them both laugh, and him telling about their adventure in Xenotime, leaving out a few key parts.
Meanwhile, Russell had some how managed to get at least his arm bones back in place and pulled himself up to the table while murmuring, "Not cute, not sexy."
Winry heard it and casually gave him another blow to the head that sent him sprawling to the floor. "You're not Edward," she said with a smile that implied some inside joke. She then continued to talk with Fletcher.
When Russell finally pulled himself to the table again (he made a point to be on the far side of the table from Winry and out of her range), Winry decided it was time to leave. She had run here as soon as she had heard the Elric brothers were in this town and needed to get back. When she stood up Russell cleared his throat and gave his most charming smile even though it caused much pain to his bruised and bloody face. "Since now we know each other, how about I treat you to dinner the next time I'm in the area." Fletcher looked at his brother and tried not to laugh. Russell's face was so beat up the ugliest girl in the country wouldn't go out with him.
Winry looked at him in shock for a bit at his audacity. Then shook her head and smirked. "You aren't Edward," she said. She turned and headed for the door, giving a wave goodbye as she did.
When she had left, Russell returned to being a breathing pile of gloop, apparently only his desire to impress a pretty girl had kept him upright. "Freak," the pile muttered. "She's freaking nuts. No wonder Ed recovered from injury so quickly and Al wore a suit of armor. They would have to in order to survive with her around. You know what, they can have her."
"Lucky them," Fletcher added under his breath before putting a forkful of peas into his mouth.
A/N: Wrench Action, funny even when Ed isn't getting hit. Though I wonder how much Ed would freak if he found out Russel was hitting on Winry (hehe) And before you tell me that's not how Ed and Al's home town is spelled, that's how they spell it in the manga. Review, OR WRENCHES WILL BE FLYING TOWARD YOUR HEAD! Well, not really, but MENTAL WRENCHES will be, attacking your conscious, and a good night's sleep is worth clicking the little purple button right?