Chapter Eight
Winry was up early the next morning in order to get the first shower. While Jered was taking his, Winry started making breakfast and coffee as Al wandered in.
"Good morning, Winry." He greeted as he joined her in the kitchen.
"Morning Al. Ed still asleep?"
"It's embarrassing, he's sleeping with his stomach sticking out. Again."
Winry giggled. "Sounds about right. I don't hear any snoring." She said, stopping in her breakfast preparations to listen to the only sounds in the apartment which came from the shower.
"He was for a few hours last night. Makes it hard to concentrate on my reading."
Winry had often wondered how the boy in the suit of armor spent his nights since he wasn't able to sleep. The bathroom door down the hall clicked open, followed by the soft click of the spare bedroom door closing. Winry dished the eggs onto three plates with pieces of sausage and toast. Two plates were placed at the table and the third Winry carried into the living room with a steaming cup of black coffee. Al decided to watch from afar. Sometimes it was best not to get involved in their antics.
Winry put the dishes on the coffee table and looked down at the sleeping blonde boy on the couch, the blankets kicked off and twisted about his body. He wore only a black tank top and blue boxer shorts, flesh hand draped across his stomach where his shirt had ridden up. She smiled in amusement before her gaze shifted to his face, calm and unguarded only when he was asleep. The admiration startled her, so she decided to quickly end that train of thought and placed a cold hand against his bare stomach.
"GAH!" Edward shouted, bolting up and scooting back simultaneously as he was roused from a deep sleep by something frigid pressed against his warm skin. He blinked blurry eyes until Winry's laughing face came into focus to match the giggling coming from his mechanic. "Not funny." He grumped, plopping his head to rest in his hands wearily.
"Stop pouting. I made you breakfast!" She said cheerfully as she sat beside him on the couch and passed him the plate.
Edwards eyes light with joy. "Food!" Was his exclamation as he fell onto the eggs, sausage, and toast like the ravenous teen he was.
"And coffee!" Winry chirped, suppressing her chuckling as she passed him the mug.
"I thought I smelled eggs." Came a genial voice from the branch in the hallway that met the kitchen and living room.
"Yup!" Winry said, standing from the couch to join Jered, missing the narrowed golden eyed gaze following over the rim of a coffee mug. "Food is on the table. I just thought I'd bring Ed breakfast in bed."
"You need a bed for breakfast in bed!" He groused from his spot on the couch.
Winry swiftly stuck a tongue out at him before turning to move back to the kitchen where she and Jered sat down for breakfast. Edward watched the two leave as he grumbled to himself and rummaged around for his pants. With deft fingers, Ed re-braided his hair and pulled on his black jacket before snagging his empty plate and half empty coffee mug and trudged to the kitchen. Winry and Jered were seated across from each other and already digging into their own food as Ed trudged in and went straight for the coffee pot, refilling his mug before flopping into a chair between the two mechanics.
"What are you up to today?" Jered asked curiously as he looked over at the irritable blonde sitting next to him.
Ed took a long drink from his steaming mug before answering. "Al and I are going to walk around town, check out the dump sites, talk to people. The usual." He said with a casual shrug, not bothering to look up.
"Have you ever dealt with something like this before?" Jered asked eagerly.
Knowing his brother and how he had a short fuse at times, especially first thing in the morning, Al answered. "Brother and I have had dealings with killers before."
Jered nodded seriously. "It must have been frightening."
"We… find ourselves in dangerous situations often to try to restore our bodies." Al cast about for the right words.
"Al!" Ed hissed, not wanting to let this strange new guy know too many of their secrets.
"It's okay." Jered soothed. "Winry gave me the broad strokes." He caught Ed's narrowed gaze and back peddled. "Not too many details of course."
Winry was finishing her breakfast and draining her coffee cup as she stood and put the dishes in the sink. "Hurry up Jered, we're going to be late for work."
"Got it." He said and stopped asking questions and started shoveling the food on his plate into his mouth.
"See ya later Ed." Winry said, placing a hand on his shoulder in passing. "Bye Al!" She said giving the suit of armor a quick hug as she snatched up her messenger bag with parts and pieces and headed for the door, Jered behind her with a similar grease smeared bag.
"Good luck!" He called cheerfully as he followed Winry out the door, closing it behind him.
"I don't like him…" Ed grumbled to himself.
"What was that brother?" Al asked.
"Nothing." Ed stretched after finishing his coffee and put his dishes amongst the rest in the sink. He grabbed the stack of folders from his things and spread them out on the kitchen table which proved to be larger than the coffee table near the couch. The files contained information on the girls that had been kidnapped and the two that had been found dead. He sat and began reading, wordlessly pushing a pile towards his younger brother who quickly started reading the files, making small, distressed sounds as he read through the reports and looked at the crime scene photos. Ed felt himself grimace but didn't allow himself to make a sound while reviewing his own case files.
Edward reviewed the dump sites of the bodies and read the medical examiners reports, looking for any clues before he traded files with Al and noticed several similarities between the cases. "All the reports state the bodies were dumped post-mortem."
"And both of them had evidence of restraint. There were manacle-like bruises on an ankle of each girl." Al said solemnly.
Ed drew out a map of Rush Valley and began marking the locations of where the bodies had been left. There was no pattern, they seemed randomly dumped in the city and didn't appear to be making any kind of alchemical symbol with their locations. Though it was still hard to determine much with only two bodies and a few missing girls.
"Look brother." Al said, gesturing at the map. "They look like they've been found in back alleys."
Ed squinted at the map closely before folding it quickly and stuffing the contents of the folders back together and leaving them stacked haphazardly on the kitchen table. Ed snatched up his red jacked and the map. "Come on Al." He said as he breezed out the door without looking back.
Ed and Al had been walking around town, checking out the sites the girls had been abducted from and looking for clues at the two body dump sites. Ed stood up with a stretch, holding his lower back and grimacing. "Al, did you find anything?"
"No clues here either brother."
"How did this guy not leave any evidence?" Ed whined.
"We can talk to more people, see if they saw anything new?" Al suggested.
"I don't think we're going to get much more than we have." Ed flipped open a little notebook he had been taking notes in. "One or two unfamiliar faces that looked in need of automail repair, the milk delivery truck, the dog-catchers van, two separate automail part delivery vans, a stray dog, Mr. Clayton was changing a flat tire on the intersection over there," Ed said gesturing towards a street corner in the distance, "a bike courier, and a suspicious old man with a walker." Ed finished with a gusty sigh, showing what he thought of the leads they had gathered so far.
Al looked up at the darkening sky. "It's getting late."
"I guess we should start heading back. We can start fresh tomorrow."
Winry and Jered got home from work and came home to an empty apartment. Jered went to his room and Winry went to dump her bag on the kitchen table before grabbing a cold drink from the fridge. As she turned, she noticed the stack of files on the table.
Winry looked around, making sure she was alone, and Edward wasn't lurking in the shadows. Curiosity won out, like it usually did, and she opened the top file, seeing a picture of a pretty face she had seen in the paper. One of the kidnapped girls. Her eyes scanned the pages quickly, reading and absorbing the details. Her fingers flew to the next manilla folder, opening it and reading quickly. It was like she was possessed. The next file and the next until she reached the fifth file and crime scene photos spilled across the table surface. She picked them up and with trembling fingers, sorted through them, feeling her stomach lurch as she read through the medical examiner and coroner's report and the police report.
She left the crime scene photos where they had fallen from her numb fingers but still, she reached for the last manilla folder. More gruesome photos spilled out, looking similar to the others already splayed across the table, she began reading the police report when a heavy hand fell on her shoulder, ripping her from her bubble of horror with a small shriek.
"Winry!" Ed hissed venomously, spinning the blonde around to face him. "What do you think you're doing?" Ed hissed, shaking her lightly in anger.
The mechanic flinched, knowing she had been caught and his anger was justified. "I wanted to know what has been happening…" She tried meekly.
Ed released her with a sigh, rubbing his brow in obvious frustration. He gathered the photos and files and stomped into the living room. A clap rang through the apartment and a sizzling alchemic light shone from the other room as she heard things shifting in that direction. Jered had quickly come into the hallway at her cry, but had hung back next to Al during the awkward tableau.
Taking a deep breath, Winry steeled herself and walked into the living room. Her work bench had been moved and the far end of the living room now had an alchemic wall separating it from the rest of the living room, with a doorway where Ed could be seen putting the folders on an elaborate desk with a plush and vulgar chair behind it. As he was leaving his newly created work space, he made pointed eye contact with Winry as he exited, clapped his hands, and sealed the wall into a smooth, solid surface.
"Fine." Winry said dismissively, turning on her heel, blonde hair swishing as she spun and strode to the kitchen table, snatching up her bag before swiftly making her way to her room, Jered and Al pressing themselves against the wall to make way for the mechanic as she slammed the door behind her.
"Is it always like this?" Jered asked Al softly.
Al shrugged his armored shoulders. "Usually."
The next morning, Edward and Alphonse headed down to the police station to see if they had made any progress. The brothers had checked in the first day they had arrived in Rush Valley, the sleepy little precinct seemed to be in a panic amongst the kidnappings and dead bodies. The frenzied pace seemed more frantic than usual, considering the circumstances. The brothers approached the captain's office, dodging uniform clad officers as they scurried about the office. When they reached the door to the captain's office, it was ajar and Captain Chen Huang, a middle aged, balding Japanese man who had worked his way up through the ranks sat at his desk which was overflowing with papers and reports and he was on the phone, looking red faced and exasperated.
"Captain." Ed said casually, standing in the doorway as the man at the desk slammed his phone down on the receiver.
"Elric!" He said, sounding relieved as he hurried around his desk to usher the brothers inside before closing the door behind them. "Thank goodness you're here!"
"What's going on?" Al asked.
"We found another body."
"What?" Ed asked sharply.
"Prisha Devi was the third girl to go missing. We just found her body this morning."
Edward cursed under his breath. "What did you learn?" He asked eagerly and Captain Huang motioned him over to his desk and gestured at the array of reports and pictures on his desk. Ed shuffled through the pictures, the usual lurching in his stomach as he reviewed the now familiar brutality. Prisha's dusky skin was littered in bruises and cuts, an eye was swollen shut and she was covered in crusted blood.
Al had been reading through the medical examiner's report; it was brief due to being a preliminary report. Prisha's body was currently at the morgue, being examined by the coroner. "Looks like she had been chained as well. The report says there was a ring-like bruise and lacerations on the left ankle."
"Do they know the official cause of death?" Ed asked darkly, thinking back on the first two bodies where Marlene Jonston's official cause of death had been blood loss and dehydration and Anita Marshall had died from a blow to the head.
"Too soon to tell." Captain Huang said, observing the two teens as they poured over everything. "When you boys are done here, one of my officers can take you to the scene of the crime."
Edward nodded absently, his eyes never leaving the report in his hands.
It had been a long and trying day for the Elrics. The reports were as dark and disturbing as the reports on the other two deceased girls. The pictures had dulled the normally voracious appetite of the elder brother and the crime scene didn't yield any new clues. They already knew the girls had been detained and died somewhere else and their bodies had been disposed of in dark back alleys seemingly at random.
Things were frustrating to say the least. It was starting to get dark outside, and Ed rubbed his eyes tiredly. He put together his copy of the file on Prisha Devi and stood stretching and cracking his neck and back.
"Let's go home Al." He said tiredly, shrugging back into his signature red jacket and leaving the busy police station and its headache inducing flickering fluorescent lights. The streets were dark and empty, feeling eerie. The clank of Als armor echoed through the streets as they slowly made their way back to Winry's apartment. They made it up the flight of stairs and unlocked the door with one of Winry's spare keys and Ed trudged down the long hall, ignoring the laughing voices from the kitchen and heading straight for the living room, opening his sealed room with alchemy, and closing it again behind himself and Al.
Ed tossed the file onto the elaborate and garish desk he had transmuted in the middle of the space he had made for this investigation. Al pulled out photographs and began meticulously pinning them to the wall where the other victims' photos hung below the smiling face of the missing girl they had once belonged to. Ed took a thick marker and marked the location on the map pinned to another wall. The reports were added to the others on the desk.
Ed and Al silently stood back and examined their work this far before Ed let out a gusty breath. "I need a break from this." He muttered, clapping his hands, and opening the wall again, Al quietly shuffling out behind him as Eds alchemy sealed the wall behind him again. Edward tossed his red jacket on the couch and stretched wearily. Laughing and a third, familiar voice drifted from the kitchen.
Wandering into the kitchen, Ed's eyes widened at the scene before him and he heard Al's quiet, "Oh." from behind him.
"Edward! Alphonse!" Paninya cheered, holding up a glass with two ice cubes and dark amber liquid sloshing dangerously as she toasted them from her seat at the kitchen table.
"You'rrre home laaate." Winry slurred as she swiveled on her own chair, also holding a glass of what he could now identify as whiskey as the fumes finally reached the alchemists nose.
"What are you guys up to?" Al asked lightly, curious and amused by the drunken teens at the table.
Jered lowered his glass with a light clink on the table. "We had a tradition of drinking at the bar, but this seemed like a better idea." Jered said, appearing a bit more sober than the two women at the table with him.
Ed fixed his mechanic with a baleful look. "And how much have you had to drink?"
"Mmmm…" Winry thought aloud, tapping her chin in exaggerated fashion. "Well…" she picked up the near empty handle of whiskey, sloshing the contents as Paninya held out her glass. Winry deftly tipped the bottle, pouring more into Pan's cup who then saluted her with her now full glass and tipped back a long swallow with a smirk and wink in Ed and Al's direction. "We're almos' done with this bottle an' we finished that one ov'r there." Winry gestured towards the empty bottle on the counter.
"Are you feeling okay Winry?" Al asked in concern, noticing her slurring words.
"She's fiiiine!" Paninya said, waving a dismissive metal hand at Al. "We had previous business to settle."
"Previous business?" Edward asked flatly, examining Paninya's drunken antics.
"Mr. Mystery over here thinks he can out drink us," she gestured to herself and Winry with a smirk. "and we're proving who's the last man standing."
"Mr. Mystery?" Jered asked, looking briefly stunned before Paninya took up the bottle Winry had been holding and sloshing the last of the whiskey into his glass with a wink.
"Thought you might prefer it to sexy mechanic." Paninya said and couldn't keep from bursting out laughing at Jered's utterly confused and slightly horrified expression. Winry joined in the laughing, but Ed and Al watched on, not nearly as amused as the drinking party.
"Looks like your contest is over." Ed observed dryly, noting that both bottles of whiskey were now empty, and the three glasses were close behind.
"No!" Paninya protested loudly. "We haven't declared a winner yet!"
"It can be a tie?" Al offered, feeling panicked and ill prepared to deal with drunk peers.
It was Jered's turn to laugh at the face Paninya made at Al's suggestion. "It can't be a tie! There has to be a winner!" She insisted as she drank the last of her whiskey.
Winry had been giggling and finished her drink, slamming the glass lightly on the table before dramatically pushing back her chair with a light screech on the wooden floors, placed her hands on the table and stood with some swaying effort, gathering her bickering drinking mates' attention. "I'm pretty sure I have another bottle in one of these cabinets." She announced, straightening, and immediately feeling a headrush as she teetered dangerously before falling into a heap on her chair once again.
"Winry!" Jered and Ed had called simultaneously, both lurching to catch her, but the mechanic reached Winry first and steadying her slight frame with large, calloused hands as she held a hand up to her head.
"I'm fine." She reassured. "I just stood up too fast."
"You're out!" Paninya shouted, rising abruptly, and pointing at Winry's slumped form in victory before a wave of black washed over her vision and she stumbled forward, catching herself on the edge of the table and Al's cool armored hand braced her shoulder.
"Are you alright Paninya?" Al asked worriedly.
"Maybe I'm out too…" She mumbled with her eyes closed. "Al, your armor feels nice and cool. Will you walk me to Winry's room?"
"Uh, su-sure, I can do that." Al mumbled, unsure of what else to do other than comply.
The drunken dusky skinned girl leaned heavily against his side, twining an arm through his as she sighed, and they set off at a shuffling pace towards Winry's room.
"Do you want a glass of water or something Winry?" Jered asked, slowly finding his feet but proving to be steadier than either of the girls.
"That'd be great." Winry said with a smile as Jered filled a glass from the tap and brought it to her. She drank deeply and finished it, thumping the glass onto the table before she stood again, a little wobbly, but better than the first attempt. "I'm just going to go to bed." She said, taking her first unsteady steps.
Jered stepped forward to steady her again, but this time Edward was faster. The alchemist took her arm and wrapped his other around her waist, supporting her close to his side. Golden eyes challenged green and won.
"Good night." Jered said, giving the slightest, discrete nod to Edward.
"Good night, Jered." Winry responded as she shuffled along, leaning heavily against her friend's side, not noticing the testosterone laden tension in the kitchen. Al was headed their direction and passed them in the hallway. "Good night, Al." Winry murmured in passing.
"Good night, Winry. Paninya is already asleep."
Winry nodded sleepily against Ed's shoulder, but they kept shuffling down the hall until they reached the bedroom on the right. Edward quietly opened the door with the arm holding her arm, reluctant to relinquish his hold on her waist, rationalizing that this hold was the only thing keeping Winry from falling over.
"Come on." Ed urged quietly, tugging her to the bed in the corner of the room. He carefully lowered the blonde to the mattress where Paninya was an unconscious pile of blankets against the wall and Winry sat, fighting to keep her eyes open. He knelt before her and began unlacing her boots, pulling them off one at a time.
Winry watched him as he gently tended to her, her inebriation had lowered her inhibitions and she admired the way the soft bedside lamp made his golden hair shine. She reached forward and brushed the strands that had fallen across his face away. Ed's nimble movements stopped as he froze at the gentle contact. Winry's questing fingers continued running through his hair, over the braid and lightly fingering the band that kept his hair together.
Before she could do anything else, Ed looked at her, startled. "What are you doing?" He asked quietly.
"Your hair is so soft, and it looks like gold… it's beautiful." Winry murmured, leaning towards him, her own cornsilk blonde ponytail sliding over her shoulder.
Ed felt his breath catch and his cheeks burned. Losing his senses briefly, he ran his flesh fingers through the locks that cascaded before her, letting the silken strands twine through his fingers.
Enjoying the sensation, Winry let her eyes slip closed and a small moan escaped parted lips. Ed was utterly entranced, and he let his hand find the tie that kept her hair bound and slipped it from her locks, allowing a waterfall of cornsilk to fall around his mechanic. As his fingers stroked her hair, they brushed her cheek and paused before continuing to brush across her soft skin. Vibrant blue eyes opened and locked him in place, hand cradling her cheek.
"Edward…" She sighed and seemed to sway, reminding him abruptly of her current state.
Feeling ashamed and embarrassed, Edward quickly pulled his hand back and stood, distancing himself from his friend as she sat drunk and prone on her bed, blinking glazed and confused eyes at him. The mistake he had nearly made weighed on him and he was eager to bolt. "It's late. Looks like Al already got some water," he said, eyeing the two glasses on the bedside table. "And some aspirin." He added. "You should lay down and get some sleep." He said, careful to keep his voice neutral.
Winry studied him for a moment before tucking a strand of hair behind a pierced ear and nodded. She curled on her side, facing away from him and Ed pulled up the blankets, covering her completely. He turned off the bed side lamp and made his way to the door.
"Good night, Ed." He heard her mumble sleepily from the dark and he paused in the doorway for a moment.
"Good night, Win." He said, closing the door behind him.
Sarahplainntall here! Sorry for the long delay, setting up this story is a little slow, but I'm getting to the exciting parts. So thanks for sticking with me and reading along, thanks for all those who have favorited or followed. Of course, a special shout out to those who have left reviews. Elvenstar146, thanks for the praise and I'm glad you're enjoying so far. The Elrics will be around for the rest of the story, so don't worry about that! A fan, I hope you enjoyed this little taste of Edwin. More fluffy subtleties to come!