Chapter Five

Winry woke the next morning to her alarm clock, and she smashed a hand on it blindly, groaning from the lack of sleep. She groaned and sat up, scratching her head, and tussling her tangled pale blonde hair. She sat up in bed and stretched, her oversized white t-shirt slouched off one shoulder and she swung her bare legs over the side of her bed and as she stood, the t-shirt fell to midthigh, and she rubbed her eyes before wandering into the hallway and to the bathroom door. She reached for the knob, but it wouldn't turn in her hand. She jostled the knob again when a deep voice startled her from the other side.

"Almost done."

Her eyes widened and suddenly Winry was very awake, the events of last night coming back to her suddenly. She suddenly became aware that the only thing she was wearing was a t-shirt and panties and she was about to retreat to put on more clothes, but the door pulled open suddenly.

Steam billowed out from behind Jered's tall frame as she stood in the doorway, cargo pants and undershirt already in place, damp hair occasionally dripping water droplets onto his bare shoulders. "Hey sleepy head." He teased as his eyes scanned her from head to toe, silently appreciating the long legs that were exposed and tried not to let his eyes stray too long on the faint peaks beneath the thin white shirt. "Bathroom is all yours. I hope I didn't use too much hot water."

"There's a big water heater for the whole building." Winry explained at his jest. "I think I'll have a nice, long, hot shower." She smirked.

Jered nodded and moved aside. "Enjoy your shower. I'll make us some coffee."

"Mmm… coffee… I'm so glad I let you move in." She said patting his shoulder with a grin and Jered just chuckled as he made his way to the kitchen, leaving Winry to her morning routine. A short time later, she emerged from her room, dressed in her typical work attire, coveralls with the arms tied around her waist and a tube top with her bandana tucked in her back pocket. The robust smell of coffee filled her senses and she padded to the kitchen, following her nose as the smell of eggs joined the bitter brew.

"Coffee and breakfast?" Winry teased as she made a beeline for the coffeepot while Jered wielded a spatula and frying pan on the stove, work shirt now on.

"I know, I spoil you." He said, sending a grin over his shoulder as she filled a mug and spooned in some sugar before slouching into a kitchen chair at the dinner table.

She took a deep sip before responding. "Come on, you know I've earned it." She said with exaggerated sweetness.

Jered just chuckled. "Sure you did…" He spooned some eggs onto two plates that already had toast waiting on them and he placed one before her before he took the chair across from her with his own mug of black coffee. "But seriously Winry," His toned changed from light and teasing, to serious and sincere. "Thank you for letting me stay here and for…" he struggled to find a word to sum up everything they had gone through together last night. "…everything." He finished lamely.

"You're my friend." She said firmly. "I'm not about to let you live on the street. Especially not with those people." She said as a shiver ran through her at the memory of the whistles and groping hands. "And" she added, changing her tone to one of superiority. "I'm not about to let my apprentice hobble around on an old, outdated piece of automail."

"Hobble?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Hobble! Have you seen how uneven your feet are? I don't know how you stand it!"

Jered just shrugged as he continued with his breakfast. "Not much choice."

That brought Winry up short, so she turned her attention to her eggs and toast and ate her meal, glancing at the clock on the wall to make sure they weren't late for work. They finished their coffee and breakfast and left together to head to work.

When they arrived, Mr. Garfiel was sitting on a stool behind the counter near the door, newspaper obscuring their view of him as he muttered to himself.

"Good morning, Mr. Garfiel!" Winry chirped brightly.

Mr. Garfiel put the paper on the counter and his usual sunny and sprightly energy was lacking and there was an underlying dread and worry that had replaced it.

"Oh Winry!" he cried dramatically, coming around the counter to throw his hugely muscled arms around her slender frame. "Promise me you won't walk around at night alone!" He sobbed into her small shoulder.

Winry froze beneath the weight of her employer. Does he know about last night? That I was almost attacked by a bunch of homeless men? Did he know Jered was homeless? Did he know Jered was living with her now? These fevered thoughts raced through her mind as Mr. Garfiel continued to cry on her shoulder.

She missed the surprised and concerned look Jered cast at the two of them as similar thoughts ran through his own mind.

Mr. Garfiel lifted his head to stare at Winry through watery eyes. "A third girl was taken last night!"

A gasp tore from Winry's throat at the news. Another woman has been kidnapped. Last night. I was wondering around in the dark in shady areas last night. That… that could have been… me.

A warm, heavy hand broke her from her terrified trance, and she glanced up to see Jered looking down at her with worry in his green eyes. "Winry…" he whispered with a hint of urgency.

"Thanks Mr. Garfiel, I'll be careful." Winry responded numbly. "I should probably get started…" She gently pulled away from both Mr. Garfiel and Jered and headed to the back room. Jered waited a moment to avoid suspicion before he followed her at a sedate pace. He found her in the back room, braced against her work bench, staring blankly at her workspace as she trembled slightly.

"Winry…?" Jered called softly to not startle her as he paused a few feet away. She straightened but didn't turn. "Are you alright?"

"That could have been me." She whispered.

He closed the distance and put his hand on her shoulder again. "But it wasn't." She turned under his hand and stared at him with wide blue eyes, her creamy complexion was pale. "I won't let it be. We'll go to work together, we'll walk home together, go to the bar together…" he said, his tone lightening on the last one as he gave her a friendly jostle. "Come on, tomorrow's Friday night and I think we've all deserved a drink. We'll go pick up Paninya and after we drink, we can walk her home so she's not alone either." He reassured her.

Winry nodded her head, feeling her racing heart slow at the comfort he offered her, putting her fears to rest. "A drink would be nice." She said shakily. She took a deep breath and a glint sparked in her eyes as she eyed Jered.

Apprehension wracked Jered for a moment at the look Winry was fixing on him. Almost predatory in nature. "What…?" He asked warily. Winry quickly tugged him and pushed him to sit on the stool with a shove. "Woah! Hey!" He protested as she snatched a measuring tape and his right leg, resting it on her thigh as she gripped the hem of his pants and started tugging them up. "What" he said grasping her wrists to stop her, "are you doing?"

"If you want me to get started on that new leg, you're going to have to let me get your measurements." She snapped impatiently, tugging out of his grip, and shoving his pant leg further up. "This would be easier if you took off your pants…" She muttered, unaware of the red flush on Jered's cheeks. Once she had gotten the cuff above his port, not an easy task, she measured the circumference and scribbled some numbers on her notepad. Unceremoniously, Winry dropped the old automail leg and started reaching for the other one.

Jered hopped off the stool and held his hand out to ward her off. "Jeeze woman! Give me a minute and I'll just take off my pants!" Jered snapped in pseudo-irritation. Winry crossed her arms at his tone but wore a smirk as he finally did as she had suggested. Jered got shy for a moment, "Do you have to watch?"

"It's not like you have anything I haven't seen before." Winry said nonchalantly with a shrug, thinking back on her many surgeries on people of all ages, gender, color and creed.

Jered swallowed heavily but dropped his pants on a deep exhale and stood before Winry in his shirt and boxers.

"Was that so hard?" Winry teased as she snatched up her measuring tape again and began taking more measurements of his flesh leg.

The door to the back room burst open and Mr. Garfiel had started to barge in, then caught sight of Winry kneeling before Jered with his pants down, his view of much else was obscured. "Oh my!" He cried dramatically, bringing a hand to his mouth in a show of shock. "I'll give you two some privacy!" Mr. Garfiel said with a sing-song tone and a scheming sparkle in his eyes.

"It's not what it looks like!" both teenagers called out at the same time.

"I'm taking measurements for a new leg." Winry explained tersely, standing to face him with a hand on hip, her wrench wielded in the other.

Mr. Garfiel deflated in blatant disappoint. "Oh." Then curiosity sparked in the flamboyant man. "New leg?" He asked, venturing closer. "I see. That's new." He said, eyes traveling from the worn limb to Jered's face.

Jered grimaced, "Not really."

Mr. Garfiel took note of the reluctance of Jered to acknowledge his automail limb. "I'll just head up front. You two have a surgery later." He said as he gave a dismissive wave and sashayed out the door.

"Two?!" Jered blurted in surprise as he turned to Winry flabbergasted.

Winry grinned at him. "Mr. Garfiel and I feel you're ready to start learning surgery." Jered gave her a wide-eyed look. She chuckled, "It'll be fine, I'll be with you every step of the way and show you what to do. Today, you'll just be observing, and I'll talk you through what I'm doing."

Jered's apprehension lessened and he matched her eager grin. "Excellent."

Jered started learning automail surgery from Winry that Thursday and the next day as well. It was a long day of putting in or adjusting old and worn out automail ports and Jered could feel his head brimming with surgical techniques, drugs and automail construction. By the end of the last surgery, Jered slumped on the chair where the previous patient sat and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Who knew there was so much to this…" He complained.

Winry chuckled. "What?" She asked innocently. "You thought surgery was going to be easy?"

"It's just… more intricate than I thought."

"Well, in that case I'd say we definitely deserve that drink now." Winry finished wiping the grease from her hands and pulled the bandana off her head, freeing her cornsilk blonde hair. She started packing her odds and ends in her bag, slinging it over her shoulder.

Jered found his feet with a sigh and a stretch. "A drink sounds amazing." He began packing his bag as well. "We'll go stop by Dominic's and pick up Paninya."

Winry nodded and they made their way out of the back of the shop, up to the front where Mr. Garfiel was double checking the till. "Have a good night Mr. Garfiel!" Winry chirped.

"Be safe. Stick together." He said in way of goodbye. A habit he had picked up after the recent disappearances. He worried for Winry but didn't want to smother her with that worry. She had seemed really shaken up when he had cried on her shoulder yesterday after telling her a third girl had gone missing.

"See ya Monday!" She called as she practically skipped out the front door.

Jered followed her down the street at a more sedate pace, but easily keeping up with his longer legs. Winry stopped to 'ooh' and 'aah' at various window displays (all of which were automail, obviously) and Jered watched her with a fond smile. Despite how much time Winry spent around the metal limbs, they never ceased to excite her.

"Jered! Look at this! They've got the latest titanium ball joints that are supposed to be more durable than any that have come out before! Isn't that so cool? You shouldn't have to replace that joint ever again!"

"It's cool." He laughed along with her bubbly enthusiasm. Something across the street and down a few shop fronts and she took off to admire the next latest advancement in automail. It was a slow process, but Jered enjoyed her fervor as they made their way to Dominic's shop where Paninya still lived.

When they arrived at Dominic's, Winry eagerly pulled open the door to find a gray-haired stoic man working at a workbench in the back of the dim shop. "Hi Mr. Dominic!" Winry greeted brightly.

Without turning from his work, the old man called over his shoulder. "Winry. Paninya is in her room."

"Thanks!" She called and moved through the shop to the small staircase that led upstairs to the living quarters. "Pan!" Winry called as she jogged up the stairs.

A dusky smiling face greeted her at the landing before Winry had even gotten to the top. "Hey guys!" Paninya greeted cheerfully. "I'm sooo ready for a drink." She said with an exaggerated groan.

"Me too." Winry commiserated as they started making their way back down the stairs and out onto the street, headed for the local bar the girls favored.

"Whiskey?" Pan asked once they had entered the bar.

"Please." Winry intoned.

"Make that three." Jered added.

Paninya headed to the bar while Winry and Jered got a booth in the back. The booth had proved more conducive to group conversations than the bar. Winry slid in and Jered sat next to her, leaving the bench across from them open for Paninya. "Drinking tonight?" Winry teased. Past bar trips, he had a beer, but that was about it.

"I finally have a little extra cash. Having a place to live and real food makes it a little easier to splurge."

His tone had been light and teasing, but the harsh reminder left Winry quiet. "Jered…"

He caught the quick shift in her mood. "Hey, no, really! It's fine! My life is great now."

Winry smiled at him but before she could say anything, Paninya clunked three glasses of dark amber liquid on the table. "First round is on me! You guys can get the next two." She said with a grin as she slid onto the empty bench seat.

Jered gathered his glass and held it aloft in a toast and the girls clinked their glasses against his before they all took a long sip. "Ah! That hits the spot after a long week."

"Tell me about it!" Paninya said, stretching her flesh and automail arm over her head. "Dominic has been keeping me around the shop since… you know…" She trailed off before giving her head a shake and taking another gulp of whiskey. "I've been running circles and sorting parts…" She groaned. "It feels like it never ends."

"Ugh!" Jered cut in, whining dramatically. "I've been learning surgery."

Winry and Paninya exchanged a look and then burst out laughing, changing Jered's face from moping to pouting and he drank from his glass sullenly.

"He seems to think that surgery is supposed to be easy." Winry said, leaning across the table to confide in Paninya.

Pan was nursing her drink and just laughed, shaking her head. "Men." She said derisively with a wink for Jered.

"Why did I agree to hang out with you again?" Jered muttered good naturedly.

"Because you don't have other friends?" Winry asked innocently.

Jered clutched his chest, acting wounded. "I see how it is. Maybe you'll like me after I get the next round." He said, excusing himself and heading towards the bar.

"So…" Pan said, thoroughly enjoying the view of Jered walking away. "How's living with Mr. Mystery?"

"Mr. Mystery?" Winry asked, wrinkling her nose at the nickname.

Pan waved a metal hand dismissively. "He had a mysterious past and, wait, the name isn't important!" She snapped, getting back on track. "Have you seen him naked yet?" She asked eagerly, eyebrows high on her dark, slender face.

Winry spluttered and choked on the Whiskey she had been nursing, coughing as her face burned a deep crimson. "No!" she managed to blurt between coughing. She wiped her eyes and then her mouth on a napkin and glared at Paninya. "Why would I have seen him naked?" She hissed.

Paninya shrugged trying to look innocent despite the gleam in her eyes. "It's a small apartment, and I know how groggy you are in the morning." She said with a wink.

"He's always had pants or a towel at least!" She blurted and then groaned, slumping in her seat, reaching for her whiskey glass, and finding it empty. She pouted while Paninya roared with laughter across from her.

"What's so funny?" Jered asked, carefully placing three more glasses full of dark amber liquid on the table before finding his seat next to Winry. Paninya was catching her breath and Winry sat with a cute pout, her arms crossed over her chest. "What were you talking about?" He asked again.

"You… naked." Pan said and chuckled at his startled expression.

Winry sat up straight, seeing her opportunity. She grabbed her whiskey glass and brought it to her lips before responding. "Pan wants to know what you look like naked." Winry said brightly, returning the gleaming look Paninya had fixed her with earlier.

Paninya had been mid-sip and she immediately started choking on her drink. Jered looked helplessly between the smirking blonde to the dusky choking girl on the bench across from him.

When Paninya finally settled down, Jered discreetly nudged Winry under the table and he leaned forward, bracing his heavily muscled arms on the table (Winry suspected he was flexing for full effect). He let his curling brown hair fall into his face and peered at Paninya through the locks, green eyes glinting in the dim light of the bar. "I'd be happy to show you some time, if you're really that curious." His voice was deep and purring and Winry knew he had been teasing Paninya, but she felt something coiling in her lower belly.

Paninya seemed to be equally affected by Jered's charm. She blushed a dark red, her eyes darting from his entrancing green eyes to the bulging biceps straining against the tight sleeves of his t-shirt and back. Her mouth moved, but no coherent words came out, just strangled sounds.

Jered couldn't keep a straight face any longer and the animal magnetism he had wrapped around him fell away as he burst into a deep, belly laugh that left Winry and Paninya both blinking back to reality. Jered was sipping his whiskey, looking triumphant while Paninya looked away and quickly drained her glass. Winry followed her lead and drained the liquor in her tumbler, but it only seemed to add to the heat that was growing in her belly. She slammed her empty glass on the table louder than she intended, the strong liquor gratefully fogging her reality just enough to cut through some of the embarrassment.

Paninya's empty glass slammed onto the table top shortly after Winry's and Winry started pushing Jered off the bench seat. "Hey!" He protested, holding his half-full whiskey glass out of harm's way.

"Next rounds on me!" Winry declared as she continued to work her way off the bench seat, Jered having finally stood and gotten out of her way.

Jered blinked at the pushy blonde and then to her and Paninya's empty glasses on the table. "That was fast."

Winry winked at him, starting to feel the effects of liquid courage. "Try to keep up." Before heading to the bar.

Jered sat back on the bench and took another deep sip of whiskey. Paninya eyed him warily before she seemed to screw up her courage, a mischievous glint in her eye. "So…" she said, playing with the rim of her empty whiskey glass. "How's living with Win?"

Jered had braced himself for worse and hid a relieved sigh by taking another sip. "It's good. Obviously much better than my previous accommodations." He said with a sardonic salute with his drink.

"I'm sure." She said with a demure smile. "Since I asked Winry, it's only fair I ask you too…" She trailed off, watching the tension gather in his shoulders as he braced himself, enjoying his discomfort with glee. "Have you seen Winry naked?"

Jered was glad she hadn't waited for him to be drinking, surely, he would have sprayed his whiskey across the table at the question. "Of course not!" He practically shouted in his defense.

Paninya's grin widened. "That was a pretty quick denial…" She stroked her chin in an exaggerated gesture of pondering something. Before Jered could defend himself further, Pan continued her conjecturing. "I know from previous drunken sleepovers that Win prefers a baggy shirt and panties for bed clothes." She studied his expression as she fished for something juicy.

Jered's face was suspiciously red. "Well… uh… she's uh… taken to wearing shorts now too…?" He offered and it almost sounded like a question.

"Now?" She asked with a raised brow.

"Winry's… not a morning person. I think the first few days she forgot I had moved in…" he said, choosing his words carefully.

"She walk in on you in the bathroom too?"

"Too?" He asked, with a curious lift of his own brow.

"Drunken sleepovers, remember?" She said dismissively. Pan looked up suddenly and Jered followed her gaze to see Winry weaving between tables, making her way back to them.

"Okay people, drink up!" Winry declared as she slid onto the bench seat beside Jered and slid drinks to each of them. Jered drained his second drink quickly and accepted the third from Winry, starting to feel the hot flush of alcohol in his veins.

They spent the last round sipping slowly and laughing together. When they finished their drinks, they weren't drunk, but pleasantly buzzed, and ready to call it a night. Dominic would worry if Paninya was out too late, so they left the bar and traveled as a group to Paninya's home above the automail shop. Then Jered and Winry wove their way through the streets, still laughing and enjoying each other's company. When they got home, Jered poured a tall glass of water for them both and insisted Winry drink it before falling into bed.

Winry chuckled at Jered's insistence at taking care of her. "Thanks." She said with a smile, accepting the glass and downing at least half of it under his watchful eye.

"Do you want some aspirin? Just in case?"

"I didn't drink as much as I usually do, I should be fine." She said. "Do you need aspirin? I haven't seen you drink that much before."

"The only reason I haven't drunk a lot before was that funds were kind of short." He shrugged off his harsh past, like he usually did and continued. "I can be quite the accomplished drinker when I want to be." He bragged teasingly.

Winry appraised him for a moment before smirking. "We'll have to put that to the test sometime. Maybe do a last man standing kind of drinking contest with Pan."

Jered laughed at her sudden enthusiasm. "If that's the case, maybe we should drink at home, that way last man standing doesn't have to lug the other two home."

"It's true," Winry agreed. "Pan's not too heavy, but I bet you weigh a ton."

"Someone is pretty confident in their drinking skills." Jered said, giving her an appreciative look.

"I learned from the best. My granny." Winry stated proudly.

Jered's eyebrows climbed his forehead in surprise. "Now that sounds like a story. But it's late, and we should get some sleep."

"Good night Jered."

"Good night Winry."

SarahPlainntall here! Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! I just had fun with this chapter and let it take me where it wanted to go. WhoisMissa, thanks for the review! I'm glad you're enjoying my different take on this. Don't worry, the boys will come along shortly everyone!