Chapter 6;
Bane; "Okay, I'll cut you some slack; here's the next chapter!" –hugs nice reviewers- -gazes lovingly at the 9 WHOLE reviews she received-
A; "There is referance to a flashback. When it becomes time for a flashback, Bane always puts it in italics and bold. Amazing, eh?"
Bane; "There are somethings you should watch out for; further description of torture, language, someone who becomes mildly disturbed, and…of course…mutilation (hey, it wouldn't be me writing if there weren't any of this!). As well as a VERY gorgeous chibi and his astoundingly hot-headed temper. Oooh. Aaaah. But no description of rotting corpses. So have fun."
"I see you've been favoring your breast-bone."
She spit at him, but being at an odd angle against the wall, she missed her mark. Still, a gesture was worth its weight in words.
"I'm sorry to hear that perhaps we cut… too deeply, too often. I really do hope we didn't damage anything… permanently."
Winry scoffed, something that might have had effect had she not had to pause in order to release wracking coughs. The infection was worsening. It was now even obvious to her tormentor, a fact she loathed severely. As though reading her very thoughts, the man clutched her throat and pulled her upward. Winry gritted her teeth and winced with the sudden movement. He noticed, no doubt.
"So I'm going to ask you once more; where is the Full Metal Alchemist?"
She laughed now, ignoring the blistering ache that bubbled as she did so. The sound trilled, filling the room with her soft jubilee.
"You don't get it, do you? I'm dying."
She indicated the vertical gash across her sternum.
"It doesn't matter what you do to me anymore; you made a mistake by ever putting the knife to flesh."
It was his turn to chuckle; not soft or pleasant, but hoarse and cruel. One more reason to despise him.
"Oh, but my dear girl, it does matter. You see," with firm fingers he gripped her throat tighter, "We have the modern marvels of antibiotics. It matters, because we can cure that little drawback any time we feel like it. It just remains their now because it just so happens that… I don't quite feel like it yet."
Blindly, she struggled. The agony that struck through her sternum was intolerable, but his words stung worse still; the laced digits across her neck burned a new memory of true pain. In response, he lowered one palm, laying it across her chest and applying pressure to an already over-sensitive wound. Her futile attempt ceased at once, as did her breathing. Winry gasped, trying to regain the wind that had been knocked from her. She collapsed onto the wall, falling once more in an akward position.
The man knealt beside her, making an eye contact she dared not refuse.
"How do you feel right now?"
Her glare told all.
"Bet you would just like it all to fade away, right?"
Now he had her attention; her mind caught on his every word. She couldn't help but nod feebly.
"I can do that. I can make it all fade away."
Tears were running down her cheeks now, webbing from her eyes in plea of mercy. How could he do this to her? How could her offer her the one thing she had wanted since the beginning of the eight months?
"Please, don't…just…don't…"
"I just need one thing in order to do that, Winry. I just need one thing."
"Just don't… leave me be, I can't give it to you… I…just…don't…"
"I just need you to tell me where he is. I know he told you. My men were tracing him, and they were too ignorant to over hear him. Winry, I know he told you where he was going the last time he left Resemboul. All you have to do is tell me…"
Winry drew back, wishing she could simply meld into the wall and disappear.
"You need to tell me where he is…"
"Or what?"
"Or it never fades away; we cure you."
She shook her head, pushing away from him against the wall. She doubled over, her hands on her ears. Silent tears once more fell to the floor. Winry simply rocked back and forth, muttering, "He told me so… he told me… can't tell you… he told me so…"
The man left for a moment, returning with something minute, which he gently placed in his pocket. He walked back over to her, knealing beside her.
"So are you going to tell me?"
She didn't answer, only shook her head slowly, again and again, and continued to sob. She couldn't take this anymore. Everything had been going so well; another few days and she'd have been gone. He'd have been safe; far from Resemboul.
Winry felt strong hands force her to open her mouth as the man reached once more to his pocket. A fifth of a pill was jutted down her throat with unecessary force, just enough to keep her alive. The dose was sufficient antibiotics to restrain the infection. Like a variable in a science project.
The man left her to her corner, knowing that the girl would break soon enough. She had to; nothing but what he wanted could have saved her.
"So I figure, they kill her, and they put the scroll in her mouth… hoping someone would come and find it."
The floor around him was covered in papers; crudely drawn maps of the town, transmutation circles for different purposes, and a grocery list for all the supplies they would need to save Winry. There weren't getting much headway on theories…
"So you're saying gravitational forces pulled it downward into the throat?"
"Yeah." Edward confirmed, proud of this new possibility.
"But why would they kidnap someone, and then leave a clue telling us where to find them?"
"I know. That's what bothers me. Unless…"
"Unless what?"
"Unless they targeted Winry for a specific reason."
"And what would that be, Brother?"
"Bait, Al."
"Bait for what...—who?"
It took only another moment for Alphonse to catch on.
"Oh…Then…if Winry's bait… what should we do? We can't play into them...can we?"
"Not yet. We need to add gunpowder to our grocery list first."
"Sir, I understand that the Elrics are wading into something they can't handle."
"And what would that be, Lieutinant?"
Her response was somewhat irrelevant, or so it seemed, but the Colonel didn't seem to notice.
"Did you know that Mrs. Rockbell had passed away, Mustang?"
"No, I was not informed. Though, I suspect that Fullmetal was."
"Yes. Infact, the two were probing the surface of Forensic science."
"You mean…"
"Mmm-hmm. And they found something within the corpse."
"Oh? What might that have been?"
"I'm not sure, Colonel. I managed to glimpse it; perhaps a scrap pf paper… It had wording apon it."
"Did you catch that wording?"
"Yes, Sir, I did."
"I'll be back in a minute, Brother."
Edward nodded distractedly, busy loading something with too much gunpowder. They'd been creating mini-bombs with gunpowder and gasoline packets that burst and sparked on impact. The explosives had been affectionately been given nicknames; rupts.
The days had flown by, barely giving the time to rest and prepare. He had only another hour or so before Festered would most likely be blown apart in his search for Winry. He worried of the damage she might have suffered, and how those responsible for all this could have had dozens of thugs involved. He clicked the pouch closed…
Al heard a cacophany over the running water of the sink. Figuring Brother had managed to do something wrong with the tempermental powder again, Alphonse continued what he was doing.
He had taken a shower and washed his hands numerous times, but the smell… the bittersweettang of decay still lingered. Alphonse had taken to washing his hands often in an attempt to soak the smell away when the nauseous feeling became too much to bear. By the time he turned the knob off, his fingers were an angry red. And if you took the time to notice, they were hot to the touch as well.
Upon opening the door, he found a very aggrivated Edward, face coal black. His brair had an off-fragrace to it. And after a moment, Alphonse recognized it; burnt hair.
"Nice look for you, Brother."
Edward simply grumbled something that sounded like, 'gonna' take a shower.' Alphonse didn't reply, simply walked downstairs and submerged himself in the stench he had come to loathe.
He didn't hate it only for the way it's foulness made him wince, though, that had some role to play as well. It was something that went further; that tainted memory. Pinako had been such a proud woman. And yet, her pride never kept her from wisdom, nor clear thinking. Although Alphonse had never given it much thought, subconsciously, he figured she'd pass away in just as thorough dignity as in which she had lived. She would have been honored by a coffin, a funeral, and proper burial… not just two boys putting something rotten in the earth.
The woman he had once known hadn't deserved this. Any of it. It wasn't equivelant exchange; it wasn't…fair.
Edward ran his fingers through his hair, now back to its soft hay-color. It only took another moment to wash the black off of his face. Once clean, however, he didn't get out… not right away. The boy just stood beneath the warm water, letting it flow over his shoulders. Thoughts ran through his mind; forcing him to dwell in memories long since forbidden to his conscience.
The station was barren, and the rain was brutal. It fell in sharp needles that stung continuously. The graying sky was unperturbed by the misery brought by his departure. But the sky was alone in this. Alphonse had taken an earlier train, unwillingly. Edward stood alone beside a distraught Winry. Her words were shrill and soft, barely rising above the harsh pattering of the rain.
"Leaving again, so soon?"
"Yeah…"
"But--…you've only just---"
She had tears in her eyes. Still fighting to keep him from catching glimpse of this, she turned away in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner. He wasn't fooled. With one sudden movement, Edward embraced her tightly from behind.
"Why are they after you anyway?"
"They think we have more information on the stone than anyone else."
"And do you?"
"No, Winry. I don't."
She was sobbing now, trying to hold it all in. Edward turned her around, letting her loop her arms around his neck; to cry into his shoulder.
"I want you to stay in all you can—"
"So y-you admit it?"
"Admit what?"
"That leaving isn't going to solve anything? That it isn't going to keep us safe?"
He sighed, feeling slightly guilty at the passing notion of how he loved the way she wept; like soft, gently drizzling raindrops. Only she could make him love the rain.
"Win, you've got to get this; everyday I stay here, I risk my life. And everyday that I risk my life, I risk Al's everything. His chance at…being what he was before…it… it isn't getting any farther with me staying here. Winry, I have to leave. For Al."
"Pinako says w-we might have to leave soon. Or th-that we should prepare for the worst."
"She's right."
Winry pushed away then, wishing to look directly into those golden eyes she had come to love…
"B-but we… we can't leave!"
"Why not?"
"Because," She choked, tears making fresh trails of down her paled face, "It's home Edward. It's something you obviously don't understand anymore."
There was no possible way to make her understand how much this was hurting him. How much—her freshest words were searing at his guilt. He cupped his hands around her face swiftly, holding her there as much he wanted to run away himself.
"Winry, these guys will do anything for that stone. As soon as I leave, I want you to head back home. They can't know that you have any relation to me. They will NOT know, do you understand? Stay safe. If you need me, call the Bastard of a Colonel Mustang, and he'll tell you any information you need to reach me. I'm heading North. We've heard of strange miracles and occurances there. Don't tell anyone this information, you hear?"
"I'll die before I say anything Ed."
He never once suspected that she meant it in its literal sense. Or he might have said something--anything-- to make her take back those seven little words.
The train roared along the tracks, bringing withit a foreboding aura of loss.
"My…train…"
"Oh."
He leaned forward, daringly placing a chaste kiss upon her delicate lips. And without another word, he boarded the car, pleased to see that she was smiling.
Winry returned home just as Edward had asked, heart lifted by something anew. Something headed North; far away from her.
Her eyes traced the blade's slender edge motionlessly. With a slight push, she neared herself closer to the object. Winry wished to feel it within her grasp. Another few painful scooting along the wall and she closed two fingers over the sleek blackwood handle. It's presence in her palm made her skin tingle dangerously. This was going to be fun.
Edward shut the tap off, taking his time to exit the shower. He then reached for a towel and wrapped it around his waist. Ed's broad chest glistened with water, hair tangled and unbound.
He hated Tuesdays.
Alphonse could be heard gagging downstairs; they hadn't figured out any methods of ridding the house of its stench. And none of them had even begun to work. Febreeze was no exception; breezes weren't good enough, they needed a windstorm.
It only took a moment to get dressed and find his way back to the table on which he'd been working,
"Brother?"
"Yeah, Al?"
"How many rupt pouches do we have? I mean, enough for us to get Winry out of—where ever she is?"
"Us? Al! You're. Not. Coming."
Alphonse's face fell, and he glared reproachfully at his older sibling.
"Brother! That's not fair and you know it!"
"Tell me what's not fair, Al?"
His temper was rising.
"I've proved to you that I can fight on my own. You don't have to treat me like a child!"
"I'm not treating you like a child! I'm treating you like ahuman being!"
This silenced the younger of the two, causing him to stop and think over these harsh new words. But before he could fully digest them, Edward had begun to speak once more.
" You're not metal anymore, Al. I don't care what you think of it, but you're not. You're HUMAN. And that means you could die in so many different ways. That is something I'll never risk again, Al. Never."
"That doesn't mean tha—"
"Oh yes it does. You're staying here."
"You make it sound like being this way again is the worst thing that could've happened to me."
"Because, Al. Sometimes I wonder whether I ever did the right thing by showing you what pain is again. Sometimes I wonder whether you're really happy like this."
To this, Alphonse couldn't answer. He'd often wondered this himself.
"So… You're going to stay here, understood?"
Al nodded feebly. Edward snatched the rupts from the table and pocketed them swiftly. He called a back on his way to the door, "Winry'll be with me by the time I come back."
Bane; "Whoooooheee! Tension!"
A; -giggles-
It was just beginning to darken as he made his way through the urban streets. Edward's pace was quick and forced; as though he couldn't get to his destination swiftly enough. Which was, perhaps, the case.
When at last he was within sight of Festered, Edward absent-mindedly reached down to check his pocketwatch. The emptyness of the area it used to have preoccupied gave him an odd feeling, one he couldn't sort out between a pang of gloom, or a twinge of relief. He needn't have bothered, however; it was 5:52.
The Colonel himself had come with the squad-group. This was obviously something of general importance. Lieutinant Hawkeye sat beside him, silently reviewing what she had seen of the Elric brothers earlier. Maes just smiled to himself, perfectly content to gaze out the window and flick through some of his more recent pictures of Elysia.
"So, what do you intend to do when we arrive, Sir?" Havoc spoke up, unsure of the situation. Rury listened intently, eyes wide. The remaining dozen military combatants stayed in silence, 'enjoying' the train ride wordlessly.
Roy had prepared well. He had no idea what they would find in Resemboul. But there was no doubt in his mind; he was going to find out.
"We're going for a drink, men."
She shook with cold. And yet, Winry barely even noticed, reflecting on that one moment…
"I'm back, Auntie!"
There was a shuffle from the kitchen. Winry, being her inquisitive, unhesitant self, made her way to the source. As soon as she saw them, the world might has well have stopped. At least, she did. Pinako was against the wall, shivering and staring wide-eyed at four men, armed and ready.
She knew what this was about. One of them gave her a satisfied look, but the assailant beside him was obviously unsettled.
"Do we take both of them?"
The first retorted,"Nah. If he comes back, he'll want something to remember us by." With that, he shot one round, directly into Pinako's forhead. Crimson splattered the window behind her. The stately woman slumped against the counter, her gaze unreadable.
Nobody was remotely perturbed by a scream, and a thud of knees collapsing to the floor. Sobbing reverberated through the room.
"Thom, why don't you do the honors?"
Two went to grab her, and through the blur of her tears she wrenched from their grasps. With one blow, someone fell to the ground. Another kick, and she grinded another into the wall. It took only a few moments after for her arms to be twisted behind her. She fell to the ground with a distant crash. Winry felt a hard strike to her side, rendering her near useless for revolting.
"Marcus, I want you to stay behind and find somewhere to place this. Make sure it'll be found."
"Sure thing."
Something changed hands, but due to her position, she was unable to see what. Winry felt cold fingers press against her neck, searching for just the right spot… They paused, for a moment, in which she attempted to draw back. The pressure met the vein without fail, however. Her mind dissolved sluggishly into an abyss, drawing her slowly within.
The air was warm once he entered the bar. He remained in the doorway, disliking the new smell of smoke and beer. He quickly found a seat at the counter.
Edward glanced around behind him periodically, nervous as to when…someone…would show up. Even in his vigilant caution, Ed jumped as the bartender leaned over to speak to him.
"We don't get many young folk 'round here any more."
"I don't plan on being ' round here' much longer, I assure you."
The man was weedy and had only two tufts of graying hair atop his head. Nose crooked, he gave off an aura of great dislike for anyone who didn't drink liquor. Or so it would seem. The bartender cheked his watch briefly, glimpsing at the doorway for a moment.
"You best be off, now."
"Sorry, I've got some business to attend to at 6:00."
"I don't know what that could be, but best to take my advice and go."
Edward gave the man a sharp look, as though he didn't know what he was talking about, and didn't particularly care.
"Why are you so anxious for me to leave?"
The bartender glanced around shiftily and replied in a raspy whisper.
"Men come 'round that time once every week. You don't want to be here when they do."
"Why not?"
"'Cause they have awful…tendancies."
Now Edward was interested.
"Like what?"
"Dragged someone out of here last time. Didn' try to stop them, of course… too afraid it'd happen to me."
"Was that the first time?"
"Nah. And that won't be the last."
"Sorry, but I'm not leaving."
"Suit yoursel—"
The door flew open, and in walked someone Edward knew had to be the one he was meeting. Far from the numerous 'men' the bartender had spoken of, there was only one. Though, he was sinister enough, with long black hair and disconcerted stubble of a beard. He sat down in a booth, lit a ciggarette, and puffed.
With impatience, Edward stood and sauntered over to this new stranger. It simply took the short bang of his auto-mail arm against the table to catch the man's attention.
"You come here every Tuesday?"
Edward's victim gazed up lazily and offered a husky, "Yeah, kid."
"Then my name's Edward Elric. And I think you have something of mine."
The man's eyes widened momentarily, before he smirked, eyes alight with cold anticipation.
"Good. The boss'll know what to do with you."
The intercom's message caused the military squad to shift uneasily, 'You are now nearing Resemboul. Please enjoy your stay.'
Bane; "Okay. It's long, like I promised, but no Winry. Not yet. It got… too long, let's say. Next time, I promise. You can prank me with flames next chapter if I don't have them. Oooh! And a nice confrontation with the military is in order. Ooooh! Aaaah!"
A; "Nasty cliffy, Bane. I think some of your reviewers aren't gonna' be happy about that."
Bane; -starts packing to run off to Canada- 0.0!
Drumstick; "You can't move to Canada!"
Bane; "Why not?"
Drumstick; "'Cause they make fun of Canadians!"
Bane; "They do? Oh…yeah. Can someone explain that? And what's with all the Alabama jokes? I don't get those either. (I live in Georgia, Atlanta, for further explanation!) I'll hug the first person who can explain the reason of these jokes."
Bane; "By the way, I luv' you all so much, that I've decided to quit having review requirements for the rest of the story unless you ALL quite reviewing. Deal?" –!hugs!-