Disclaimer: Don't own FMA. And considering I have been doing pretty good with my copyrights, that is all. I own most of the idea...I own the thought for renaming the Homunculi with Latin names...anyway, you get the picture.

Advertisement: The usual, Shiruba Neko. Her new story, Brothers, is so wonderful! It's the sequel to Illness...I absolutely adore both stories. (I adore all of her stories, actually.) So go read those. ThenI just emailed Asha3 her chapter back, so she should be updating as soon as she has time. IsisoftheUnderground has a new story, Fullmetal Amnesia and that is really good. Though I haven't read the latest chapter yet... -shifty eyes- You guys go read it, though! Then Meluvian Indil's storiesif you like Lord of the Rings and/or Phantom of the Opera.

Chapter 12: Didn't Mean To

Winry sighed. She'd been sitting in the restaurant for the past half hour with nothing to do but stare into oblivion. Lanie had left very shortly after they'd entered the restaurant, pleading a curfew. So, for fifteen minutes, she'd been talking to Secundus until one of his waiters, a young looking man with light blond hair slicked back to a point almost, had come and whispered something in Secundus' ear. The brown haired man had excused himself politely. A few minutes later, Winry had seen him storming out of the restaurant, buckles on his leather jacket clinking with his steps.

That had alarmed her a little. And now, for the fifteen minutes following the restaurant owner's sudden departure, Winry had been twirling her finger along the rim of a wine glass filled halfway with water. The constant humming was kind of soothing in a strange way. But if it wasn't soothing, it was subconsciously annoying her and keeping her from thinking. Whichever way, Winry was successfully avoiding thinking of what Edward had planned earlier, and what he was doing at that moment. Which was a good thing, actually. Lately, she'd found the more she thought about Edward, the more she realized how much she loved him.

Yes, she was head over heels for a man she had known for only a few weeks and who was a royal pain in the--

"Wine?" a thick, feminine voice asked from beside Winry.

She stopped the movement of her finger abruptly and looked at the waitress. It was that one woman from earlier, the one with the wine bottle and the quick reflexes. (Note: see chapter 10 edit) She was bent over a little with a tray and a bottle on it extended to Winry. The woman smiled a little.

"Uh, no thanks...I'm not quite old enough to drink yet," Winry replied, smiling politely.

The other woman grinned. "That's all right. It isn't high alcohol content, and I won't tell anyone," she said and set the tray down on the table. Winry looked at her strangely for a moment when the woman took a seat on the other side of the booth. "I'm Martel."

"Winry," she said, smiling and continuing her playing of the water glass.

Martel nodded. "So, why are you back here, without your guy friend?" she asked.

Winry sighed and hung her head down to where her chin was almost touching below her neck. "I don't know, really. One minute, I'm having the dance of my life with the most handsome guy I have ever seen, then the next I'm being shoved out into the cold snow with some girl I only just met." Then she looked up at Martel. "Guys are so confusing."

She shrugged. "I haven't had much experience with guys, outside of the men here at the restaurant. And that isn't in the romantic sense. But maybe I can help you somehow." She poured some wine into one of the glasses on the tray and took a sip.

"Well...the guy that I was with earlier--"

"Edward Elric," Martel put in, giving a half smile.

Winry nodded. "He's my bodyguard, as of about a month now...and he is the most annoying, stubborn, neanderthaloid, wonderful man I have ever known." She sighed romantically. Then she blushed. "Pathetic, I know."

Martel was about to say something, but a frantic voice stopped her. "Winry!" The person calling for Winry immediately came into view with one of the waiters chasing him.

"You need to be quiet, or you'll be escorted from the building," the very buff guy was saying.

Martel scowled at him. "Law, let him be," she scolded.

Winry looked up in surprise and saw Al a few feet away from her, leaning forward with his hands on his knees and sucking in air. "Alphonse?" she said warily. "What's wrong?"

It was about another minute before Al stood up. He was still breathing heavily, but tried to speak. "Where's...Edward?" he asked, taking a very deep breath. Still a little in shock, Winry wondered what on earth was going on. Should she tell him?

"He's in the club behind the alley," another waiter said, coming up beside Al. It was the man that had told Secundus something that had caused the man to leave in a fit.

Then Martel stood up. All of this back and forth was making Winry dizzy. Did Al know something she didn't? But Martel spoke up finally. "What's wrong, Alphonse?" she asked, looking concerned.

Al looked around and saw that there were quite a few eyes on him. "I got a call from the station..." he said. "There's trouble." The three floor staff members and Winry all flinched visibly.

"What's wrong?" Winry asked. If anything happened to Edward... She didn't want to think about that.

Without giving an answer, Al looked at the pointed-haired waiter. "Dorochet, can I use the phone?" he asked, sounding a little desperate.

"Of course." Dorochet disappeared. Promptly, the other waiter, Law, leftas well. Winry sat in her place still, wondering what was going on.

"Alphonse," she said quietly, "what is wrong?"

Again, he ignored her until Dorochet came back out with a telephone. He started dialing numbers and brought the handset to his ear finally. Winry seethed.

Tired of being brushed off, she snapped out. "What is wrong, Alphonse!" she said rather loudly, standing up so abruptly the chair toppled over.

Everyone looked at her strangely for a moment, surprised at her outburst. Then there was a very loud silence. Winry heard the ringing on the phone, it was so quiet. Then Al spoke. "Brother is in trouble," he said softly.

And no sooner had he said that, the ringing stopped, the voicemail picked up, and there was a very loud, very alarming noise. It was familiar, yet unfamiliar in a strange, no one wanted to admit that it was what it was type of noise. Winry gasped in surprise and turned around instinctively. Dorochet whipped his head towards the wall, listening intently. Martel looked around suspiciously. Al took a deep breath.

"Was that noise what I think it was?" Winry asked quietly, also taking a deep breath to calm herself down. She felt a rage fit coming up, and currently Al was in her line of fire.

Dorochet answered first. "It depends on what you think it was, " he replied.

Winry swore and stepped towards Al and Dorochet. "What's going on?" she yelled loudly, feeling the raw emotion welling up inside of her. Her heart was almost in her mouth, making it hard to talk. "What just happened?"

Al shook his head. "I don't know Winry. Stay here," he ordered.

Winry seethed. "No! I am not going to stay here! Edward is in trouble and you aren't even running to help him! So while you're just standing here, tell me what is going on!" she shouted at him. "Now!"

Before Al could answer, Law came back with a coat and handed it to Al. He sighed. "I'm only here stillbecause you'll follow me if I go," he replied, trying to sound calm but failing.

"Tell me what is going on!" Winry demanded.

Al sighed, seeing no alternative. "Hughes called me and told me some stuff about the case. Now please, stay here. I don't want you to get hurt," he told her.

"I'm--"

"Winry! Every second I'm here is more time lost that Edward could be in trouble!" Al swung his arm towards the kitchen, which on the other side of the kitchen was, in fact, the nightclub. "Stay here!"

Winry was silent as she glared at Alphonse. He glared right back. Everyone was watching them; the patrons, the waiters, and Martel. Everyone was waiting for someone to move.

-----------------------

Ed grumbled to himself. He was in a very uncomfortable position behind an overturned table. His back was pressed up against it with a chair over his left leg. Since he didn't feel the pain that might have been there, he didn't move his leg. He knew he would have to move soon, though, because a cramp was settling itself in his thigh. But for him to move his leg meant upsetting the chair, and then shifting the table. And since he was leaning almost his entire weight against the table, moving the table meant falling backwards. And that just wouldn't work. Nope, not at all.

Yeah, he'd thought about the scenario in deep enough detail, or as much as he could in five minutes minutes.

Something else he'd thought about was just how he had managed to get where he was at present.

Well, first, he'd been talking to Secundus, Quintus,and Primus...or rather...Envy. That had been something he did not want to know about, what sick mother would name her child after a deadly sin and why. Story best left untold. Then Primus-Envy had said something particularly upsetting and alarming to Edward. It had been something about the accident, and that had been enough for Edward. No one was supposed to know about that, no one. So, he'd promptly pointed the gun at Primus-Envy once more with a surprisingly steady hand. Surprising because Edward had felt like he was shaking all over from mention of the accident. If they knew about that, then what else did they know?

Then his cell phone had started ringing. The sudden tune had just been so unexpected. And the crappy thing about it was Edward couldn't answer it. Everyone was so taut with tension that anyone to make one move would trigger a catastrophe. So Edward had let it ring...and ring...and ring more. The polyphonic tune to a silly cartoon had quickly become annoying in the near silent room. That had been the only reason he had that tone--so he would answer it almost immediately.

Anyway, as soon as the ringer had stopped, things had gotten..."hairy." Primus-Envy had shifted to a shape silently and inconspicuously during the cell phone ringing and had long, spiky, greenish hair. Green...green with envy. But he had slowly been inching forward unnoticeably and had taken action immediately when he had the opening. He'd kicked at Edward's wrist, but the gun hadn't flown out yet. Thus the first shot fired at a light fixture. Then Primus-Envy had successfully knocked the gun out of Ed's hand somehow or otherand it had slid off in some direction.

With Edward somewhat unarmed and reluctant to use his alchemy, he had tried to fight Primus-Envy. To put it in short and to spare Edward some humility, Ed had gotten his candy bottom whipped by his current opponent. (A/N: "candy bottom": figure of speech; sorry crazed fangirls, as far as I know, Edward does not have a bottom made of candy.) In the process of Edward's butt-kicking, tables and chairs had been knocked over after him being thrown on them and whatnot. And while Edward liked to consider himself at least a little skilled in fighting hand-to-hand, this guy was just out of anyone's league when it came to the martial arts he was putting out! Edward had soon tired of being kicked in the face, so he had escaped long enough to jump behind a table. In his rush, he'd knocked over a few chairs and one had landed on his leg. He had been about to alchemize his metal arm into a blade when he'd seen the gun; even better. How convenient.

So that was how Edward had ended up hunched behind the table with a barstool crushing his leg. He mentally checked the bullets in the gun to see how long he could draw this out.

"Hey, shorty!" Primus-Envy shouted. "You're too small to hide! You'll get lost somewhere! Just come out and shoot me."

Infuriated at the short guy joke, Edward threw the chair off his leg (the table surprisingly stayed in place, much to the contrary of his thoughts), turned around, and aimed randomly. Since Primus-Envy's voice had sounded very close by, Ed had assumed that he would at least by close to the table. But instead of pointing the gun at Primus-Envy, he saw Winry staring at the gun barrel with something akin to shock.

"Edward," she whispered.

Ed shook his head, confused. "Winry? How did you get here?" he asked. Then he thought. "Why are you here? You could get hurt!"

Before Winry could answer, there was a shout at the door. "Brother!"

Ed looked over to see Al. When he looked back in Winry's direction, she was gone. In her place was the spiky, green-haired man with a malicious smile on his face. "Surprise," he said and made to kick at the gun.

Still in shock, Edward couldn't move. Primus-Envy's foot came in contact with Ed's hand and knocked the gun over towards the door. Then a shot rang out again, the trigger catching on something. Promptly following the shot was a cry. Ed looked in that direction and saw Al clutching his right shoulder. Then Ed suddenly had his own problems to deal with. A fist connected soundly with his jaw, sending him flying backwards.

"I'm tired of this!" Edward yelled after uttering a few choice swear words. He clapped his hands and ran his left hand over his right hand. A silver blade burst through the flesh-like glove. He jumped up and charged at Primus-Envy.

They sparred for a while, neither gaining any hits. Finally, Primus-Envy jumped backwards and smirked. "Yo, shorty," he called.

Edward growled and tried to restrain himself. But since he was so furious at everything that crossed his path, he couldn't help the spastic reaction that followed. "Who are you calling an ant, you palm-tree head!" he shouted, instantly feeling very childish. Then he just glared.

"I'll catch ya later, my short friend," he said and then very promptly disappeared into the shadows.

Now in shock again after having been tricked so many times that night, Edward looked around. He didn't feel like he was being watched. Upon further speculation of the room, he noticed that Secundus and Quintuswere gone. Armstrong was just now coming back in the club. His cheeks were red, so Ed assumed the man had gone after the two. For some reason, Edward just didn't have a bad feeling about Secundus, so he couldn't badly about Armstrong returning empty armed. Quintus, he was just unsure about her entire dealing in this fiasco altogether.

When Edward focused on what the very tall, very broad man was doing, he swore. Quickly, he returned his alchemized blade back to a hand. "Al! Are you okay?" he yelled across the room and ran towards his brother. Al was leaning against a turnstyle, clutching his shoulder. The blood was staining what had oncebeen a white shirt, but was no longer. The younger man was breathing heavily through his mouth in the pain that had to be plaguing him. When Edward reached his brother, he knelt down on the floor and grabbed his hand. "Al, I'm sorry!" he said, his voice a little hoarse. "I'm so sorry, Al."

Al looked at him a little dazedly. "It's fine, Brother...you...didn't mean to," he managed. Then he squeezed Ed's hand weakly. "Winry's...at the restaurant, still." He took a deep, strainedbreath when Armstrong tried to shift his shoulder.

Edward swore again under his breath. "Armstrong, don't touch him. Call an ambulance," he ordered. "Al, I don't care about Winry right now. Are you going to be all right?" He put both of his hands around his brother's. They were like ice.

"Oh, my God," a light, female voice said from the door. "What happened?"

Al looked over at Winry and sighed. "Well, she's not there...anymore," he murmured.

"I can see that," Edward grumbled. He looked at Winry. "Are you out of your mind?" he demanded of her. She didn't even have her coat on!

"What happened?" she demanded, kneeling down beside Alphonse.

"He got shot," Ed stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Armstrong, when will that ambulance be here?"

The mostly-bald man looked down at Edward. "They are on their way, Edward. Calm down," he said.

Ed growled once more. "Don't tell me to calm down! I just shot my brother in the arm, and you want me to freaking calm down, Armstrong?" he shouted, positively shaking.

He heard Winry's gasp and, out of the corner of his eye, saw her snap to attention. "You shot your brother?" Her voice was ever-so-slightly accusing. And "ever-so-slightly" was just too much for Edward at the moment. His stress had him taut as a bowstring and just the slightest pressure to release it could send out a deathly missile on anyone. Anyone except Al.

"Of course not! Not on purpose!" He jumped up and began pacing. "Your stupid butler kicked the gun out of my hand and it shot off at Al!" In a very frustrated manner, Ed tangled his fingers in his hair. He made a few distressed noises and kept his back turned to the group. It was hard to keep his emotions in check and he didn't anyone to see anything he didn't want to show...such as the hot tears stinging in his eyes.

"Edward?" He heard Winry stand up and close the short distance between them, so he blinked away the moisture threatening to expose his stress. She lifted her hand to touch his shoulder. "Ed, it's going to--"

He pulled his hands out of his hair and jerked away from her. The sirens from the ambulance blared outside, alerting everyone to the vehicle's arrival. Ed stiffly walked to where his jacket was lying on the floor and took the collar in his hand. When he made his way past Winry, he dug his keys out of the pocket, slung it around her shoulders,and took her hand. "Follow us to the hospital," he told her, placing the keys in her palm. "I'm riding in the back of the ambulance with Al." Ed looked in her eyes for a moment searchingly. He wanted--no, he needed--to see the hope in her eyes, he needed something to let him know things would be all right.

She seemed to realize that's what he was looking for because she gave him a small, soothing smile. He was about to turn to leave when she touched her left hand to his cheek. "Edward," she whispered.

"Is someone going to ride with him in the ambulance?" a paramedic asked either of them.

Ed looked over away from Winry's hand and nodded. "I am."

"Okay," the woman said. "We're about to leave, so come on."

He was about to nod again when Winry used the back of her hand to gently turn his face back towards hers. "Edward," she said, a little louder than a whisper this time. "Things will be okay." Her tone was firm and assuring. "They will."

"Okay, Winry," he told her tonelessly, feeling a little impatient now since his brother was bleeding still and they were having a casual conversation. He started to turn away again, but Winry grabbed his hand.

She was silent for a moment, then found her tongue. "I'll see you soon, okay?" And before he answered, she wrapped her arms around his neck. Then she whispered something that Ed wasn't sure he had heard correctly, at all. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to hear it! "I love you."

---------------

Muahaha! Lol Another cliffhanger. I love those at the moment. And it seems I have a thing for dragging out one day, then skipping a couple days at a time. So yeah...anyway...a lot of you didn't realize that Primus was Envy-chan? How was that? Which Homunculus did you think Primus was? Pride? Ah, anyhow...ummm...yeah, I am like...researching my butt off for the next chapter, and I'm going to California to see my brother tomorrow...I will be staying in a hotel...so I might be able to get to a computer there. I hope. But if not, you guys will have to bear a week without this! -sniffles- In the meantime, though, you all could go read Shura's stuff. She is wonderful, one of a kind. You all probably roll your eyes at me, "Ehh, she's just doing that because Riona's just a freaky author" or something. Actually! I would have advertised it anyway! Her stories are so unique and well written. Go read them! lol Okay...enough now. I'll stop rambling at you all. Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know, 'kay? Love you all! I will hopefully see you all next Wednesday! If not, until next time!

Love, Ri-chan