A/N: ok, sorry for taking so long to update. Its the busy time of the year for me, and I needed to have my beta proof-read before updating. (thank you bluepen113 for reading it over!)

I just want to say thank you so much those of you who reviewed! It really makes my day : )

I know my story is weird..and its about to get weirder, haha, but like I said, this story is a good bit fantasy.

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA!

I'll Leave the Door Open

Ch. 2: Etched in Steel

Winry stirred, and let out a moan as she moved her head back and forth. Why was it so dark?

Slowly, she peeked one eye open, then the other. Blinkingly, she peered into the darkness as she tried to remember how she had ended up on the floor. She jerked her hands up close to her face as the memory of lightning racing up her hands came back to her. Wriggling her fingers experimentally, Winry found everything in working order, though they did seem to tingle faintly.

The dazed mechanic groaned and put a hand up to her head; she now had a fierce headache.

A crashing sound rang out from some corner of her workroom, and Winry gasped in surprise, her breaths coming in quick fearful intakes. Something was close to her; she could hear a strange clanking noise as if something was moving towards her.

Winry reflexively backed away as far as she could till her body hit the hard wall and she could move no more. Heart pounding, she felt around on the ground for anything she could use to defend herself and her hand landed on a stray flashlight that must have rolled off of her back shelf.

Shakily, she turned it on, and shined the light in the direction the noise was coming from, revealing the shadowed form of something.

The girl felt as if her heart had stopped and her blue eyes widened in surprise. Two yards away sitting on the floor, blinking hard from the light being shown, was the unmistakable figure of a dragon. Roughly the size of a cat, it shimmered slightly as the light reflected off its shiny, grey metallic hide.

The creature's head was cocked to the side slightly as if curious, ruby eyes glinted faintly. A long snake-like tail twitched from side to side calmly as it watched her which made Winry's breath catch; this thing was moving!

It was completely made of metal, from its tail, to the tip of its snout, to its membrane wings folded neatly against its sleek back.

Winry gulped.

Through her fear, she couldn't help but think of how handsome the creature was.

Its delicate little claws were perfectly shaped, its body was catlike and thin, but somehow seemed muscular, wiry metal muscles flexed gracefully as it moved about. Its hide was smooth, but had the faintest scale patterns running across it which caught the light and shimmered beautifully.

The creature's head was long, with two punctures at the tip for its nose which served as its nostrils, and two tiny fangs sticking over the bottom jaw. Its eyes were two sparkling red orbs. On top of its head was a pair of small delicate horns that twisted like corkscrews. Located on its back were two thin, pliable bat-like wings that laid flat.

The dragon sat up taller, looking Winry over, then let out a clear musical note, greatly resembling a sound that would come from a flute or pipe.

Winry blinked and released the air, she felt, had been held in for an eternity. She sat stone still as the creature had ambled up to her and stopped a foot away. Reaching its long neck out, it sniffed her for a second, then, seemed to look directly into her eyes, its head cocked to the side as if in question. She looked down at it and saw her own pale reflection in its ruby eyes.

Winry's expression softened as she watched the dragon reach a clawed paw towards her. She hesitated for a second, before she reached out and touched it. It was warm to the touch, not cool like she expected, since it was metal. The creature hummed happily, and Winry felt along its smooth back curiously.

"You're beautiful…" she whispered under her breath and she lightly scratched the dragons chin.

It closed its eyes and happily swished its tail from side to side, vibrating slightly, which reminded Winry of a cat purring, and then released a deep throated noise that sounded like hollow metal chimes colliding with one another when blown by a breeze.

Winry grinned. "You like that, don't you?" she asked the dragon, who responded by vibrating more, which caused Winry's hands to feel tingly.

Giggling, the blonde gently picked up the dragon, cradling it in her arms and looked around the room with the aid of her flashlight so she could better asses the damage to her workroom. Some things had been knocked off her long work bench and now lay scattered on the ground. She guessed the dragon had something to do with that.

Shining the light towards the ceiling lamp, Winry sighed.

"I'll need to replace that."

The dragon, who thoroughly enjoyed being cradled and doted on, looked up at the light, stretched its neck out slightly and whistled a string of notes. The light went on, and Winry blinked, her eyes trying to adjust to the sudden light.

Dumbfounded and a bit shaken, she stared at the dragon mouth wide open. It stared back innocently, ruby eyes glinting with an intelligent flare. Its metallic hide glinted in the soft glow of the light bulb, throwing sparkles delicately over Winry's pale arm.

Cradling the dragon in on arm and holding the flashlight with her other hand, she stood, though a bit shakily, and thought about the whole situation. As far as she knew, something like this had never happened before.

But how did it happen? Her mind couldn't produce any clear answers to this strange puzzle.

After returning the flashlight to its shelf, she took a deep breath and slowly moved back towards her worktable, dragon in tow, which was making a soft clinking noise in its throat, what she referred to as its purr.

Setting the dragon on the table top, the blonde mechanic started cleaning up, her mind still abuzz with questions. What exactly had happened? Was it something she did or a result of something else? Her mind was reeling, and now she felt weak and tired.

Maybe now isn't the time to worry about this, she thought to herself, her brows creasing and her mouth straightened into a thin line.

The dragon, meanwhile, was busying itself with trying to pry open a jar of screws. Its tail carelessly swished across her military notebook.

"Do you need something?" Winry asked, slightly amused as she approached the dragon and lifted it away from the jar.

She wasn't sure what it was getting at the screws for, but she'd put that question away with the thousands of others till she could think clearly once more. Looking down at her book, she saw a picture of a transmutation circle with an image of a dragon inside it. It was the same image that she knew was printed on the back of the stopwatches assigned to registered alchemists. She closed the notebook and stuck it in her shoulder bag.

A knock at the door startled the already shaken blonde, and she jumped nearly a foot in the air.

"Who is it?" she called, trying to compose herself as her heart beat frantically in her chest.

She stuffed the dragon into the bag and slung it across her shoulder. The dragon made a rattling noise in protest, but went silent from a hush by Winry.

Winry felt herself relax slightly as Riza Hawkeye poked her head through the door at the top of the steps.

"I saw the light under the door and thought I'd check in on you. You really should go home Winry, you've been since seven this morning," the older woman looked down at the mechanic, concern evident in her eyes.

She opened the door wider and stood in the doorway as light from the hall flooded through.

Winry gave a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Maybe I should head home, I am a bit tired," she replied with a lopsided grin as she made her way to the stairs, flipping off the light of her workshop and stepping up next to Riza.

Locking the door, Winry turned to her friend with a smile. A look of worry flashed across Riza's eyes.

"Winry, are you alright? You look pale."

The blonde mechanic gulped, slightly startled that she had noticed, but quickly hid her discomfort with a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine Riza, don't worry. I'm just tired, that's all."

She patted her worried friend on the shoulder, and waved.

"See you tomorrow!" Winry called over her shoulder, and with that she made her way home, keeping her bag protectively pressed against her.

Next chapter:

Pyre Ignition- Winry makes it home with her new companion. What will she (and Den)discover about the strange creature?

Thanks for reading and please review!

-Miss Soupy