Chapter Nine
The next morning, Winry and Paninya both woke with a groan and pounding headache. Winry fumbled with the childproof cap on the bottle of aspirin and shared with her friend as they both drank deeply from their own water glass. Both girls were still dressed in their clothes from yesterday, rumpled and wrinkled as they were, they would do for now.
"You can have the shower first." Winry croaked, finger combing her blonde hair.
"Thank goodness." Paninya said on a sigh as she sat on the edge of the bed and tentatively tested her weight and balance before making her way to the bathroom for a much-needed hot shower.
Adjusting her tank top and skirt, Winry blinked in the bright light of the hallway, her room had the blinds and drapes wide open, and shuffled her way towards the kitchen in search of coffee. Ed was already seated at the kitchen table, a plate of toast and a steaming mug of coffee before him.
"Good morning, Winry." Al chirped, coming from the living room to greet his friend. "How are you feeling?"
Winry winced at the shuffling of armor but smiled through it. "Just a little headache. Nothing coffee and a hot shower won't fix." She said more cheerfully than she felt.
Ed watched silently as Winry went about fixing a mug and sitting with a sigh as she inhaled the fragrant steam. By the time Winry had finished her cup, the bathroom door down the hall clicked open and they heard Winry's door close.
"Looks like the shower's open." Winry said, standing from the table and heading for the steamy bathroom. In the hallway she ran into Jered, leaving his room with a yawn. "Rough night?" She asked in a teasing tone.
It took a moment for him to focus on her. "I slept like the dead. Just a bit of a headache today." He confessed, massaging a temple.
"Me too." She confided quietly. "When Pan is done dressing, the aspirin is on my bed side table. There should be coffee in the kitchen."
An immense look of relief crossed his face. "You're the best Winry." He gushed.
"Actually, Ed made the coffee this morning."
"Ah. I'll get a cup and then walk Paninya home." He said as he continued on his way to the kitchen.
Winry continued into the bathroom, still warm and humid from the last shower and closed the door. She turned on the water and stripped down, stepping under the hot spray, she let the water ease the last of her tension away. She stood under the hot water, soaping her skin, and washing her hair as she let her mind and body rest. After her shower, she dressed in her tube top and coveralls with the top half tied around her waist. She was just tying her damp hair back in a bandana on the way to her work bench, which had been slid down the living room wall to make room for Ed and Al's secret detective room.
Edward suddenly stepped into her path, feet planted, arms crossed, and glare affixed. Winry moaned internally. Winry stopped and eyed him. "What was that?" Ed growled out.
Blinking at him, she kept her voice calm. "What was what?"
"Last night."
"Last night was the continued tradition of drinking with friends after a long week of work."
"It was reckless!"
Her irritation was rising, despite her resolve to remain calm. "We did it from home, where it's safe and we didn't have to be out past curfew and still have a good time."
"Drinking with a stranger."
"Not this again!" She said with a groan, her frustration overflowing to the point where she felt she had to stamp her foot.
"You don't know him!" Ed insisted, hands gesturing wildly.
"No! You don't know him!" Winry yelled right back, hands balled in fists. "Is that what's really bothering you? We went over this! You and Al live your life, but that doesn't mean I have to stop living mine!"
Ed gaped at her, face flushed in anger, at a rare loss for words. "Tha- No, I-" He ran a hand down his face and growled again in frustration. "You're drinking with some guy while I'm out there, trying to solve murders!"
Winry looked at him incredulously. "What else am I supposed to do? I'm not some dog of the military-" she poked him in the chest "I'm not an alchemy freak-" she poked him again "and you never want me to be a part of that life!" She jabbed him once more in the chest at which point his hand snatched her wrist and kept her from pulling back.
"I-" Ed said shortly, imitating Winry's tone, tugging her closer with each punctuated word. "Am-" he tugged again, forcing her to take a step forward. "Trying to-" he tugged again and his mechanic was toe to toe with him, glaring right back. "Keep you-" he yanked again, pulling her arm behind him, causing her to lurch into his body. "Safe!" With his final punctuated word, his automail hand came down on her upper arm and he finally let go of her wrist and grasped her other upper arm. "Why do you make it so hard to protect you?" his voice lowered as he let his flesh hand brush some hair from her face and gently tuck it behind her ear, stroking her cheek lightly along the way.
Winry had been reaching for her wrench, but the sudden tender confession left her stunned and she found her arms reaching out to him. "Ed…" She said softly, not sure what else to say. She felt him tense, as if he was coming back to his senses and was withdrawing back into himself. Sure enough, he caught her tender gaze, looked away and then took a step back, his arms falling to his sides.
"Just don't go anywhere alone." He said, turning away from her. "Take Jerry if you have to." Ed said, purposefully messing up his name.
Winry didn't bother to correct him as he slunk to his 'detective room' as Winry had deemed it in her mind. She let out a heavy sigh and went to her tool bench to continue her work.
The phone began ringing a few hours later, making Winry take a break from her work on Mr. Yomata's left hand. She sat back in her chair, puffing out a breath before standing to answer the phone. "This is Winry Rockbell." She said in way of greeting.
There was a brief pause on the other end of the phone. "Er, uh, yes. Miss Rockbell, is State Alchemist Edward Elric available?" The stately voice questioned over the phone.
"May I ask who's calling?"
"Detective Rookwood from the Rush Valley Police Department."
"Oh, of course! Just a moment." Winry placed the handpiece on the table top and walked over to Edwards ornate, yet gaudy, double-doors and knocked. She waited a moment as she heard shuffling from within before the door cracked open and Edward filled the doorway, golden gaze studying her warily. "The police are on the phone for you." She said demurely.
Ed's faced warped from wary suspicion to angry concern. "Damnit!" He cursed, moving past his mechanic after shutting the door firmly. He grabbed the receiver. "This is Edward. Yes." He listened for a moment, his free hand clenching into a fist. "Got it. I'll be there soon." He slammed the phone back on the receiver and cursed loudly. "God damnit! Al! We have to go!"
An armored head peered from between the doors, somehow managing to look grim as he swiftly followed his brother out the door as Ed swept on his iconic red jacket and disappeared.
Winry watched the brothers leave in a flurry of motion and let out a held breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.
Ed and Al stood stooped over the table at the police station, police reports from the family and pictures of the latest missing girl, sixteen-year-old Yuki Hirashita, spread across the table. She had been missing for the last five hours. Yuki's older brother, Sanso, had been escorting her to the store to buy some groceries where he ran into the girl he had a crush on. According to the brother, Yuki must have become impatient with his flirting and left to head back home without her escort. When Sanso had finished flirting, he realized his sister must have left the store, so he headed home. Sanso had been unconcerned about Yuki leaving without him until he found a familiar bag of groceries spilled near an alley. Panicked, Sanso checked the area to no avail and then ran home. His parents told him that Yuki had never come home. They had decided to call the police immediately given the circumstances around town.
The police had started their investigation, getting reports from the family, neighbors and those who had been at the store. They had waited four hours before they thought to call in the State Alchemist that had been sent in to help with this investigation. Ed stood fuming over the reports and pictures of the young girl. The incompetence of the police here frustrated Ed to no end. It looked more and more like it was up to the Elrics to solve this on their own, at least for the most part.
Ed gathered the reports and pictures and tucked them into his red jacket before stomping out of the police station. "Come on Al, we're going to check out the scene."
It was a long walk to the East end of town where the disappearance had occurred. The store and alley had both been cordoned off with police tape with an on-duty officer guarding the scenes of the crime. Ed flashed his State Alchemist watch and with narrowed eyes, easily walked into the store with Alphonse in tow. Ed paced the aisles, eyes darting for anything unusual, not that he expected to find much at the store. After lapping the aisles, Ed sauntered up to the poor, strained looking cashier.
"Tell me what you saw." Ed said tersely.
"Well, uh, the boy and girl came in, the boy stopped and talked to a pretty girl for a long time." The clerk said automatically, almost as if reading off a script. Clearly, he had told this story several times. "The girl finished her shopping, I checked her out and then she went up to her brother to try to get him to leave with her. Looked like he blew her off and she left by herself. When the pretty girl left, the brother looked around and finally realized his sister left. He didn't seem concerned and left too."
"Was there anyone else here?" Ed asked next.
"A couple of regulars, no new faces." The cashier said.
"What were their names?" Al asked gently as Ed scratched notes in a note pad.
"There was Mrs. Goldstein, Mr. McCloud and Ms. Stanton." The clerk listed automatically. Clearly he had encountered this question before as well. Edward continued scratching in his notebook, not bothering to look at the man behind the counter.
"Which direction did she leave?" Ed asked, rather unnecessarily but it was part of standard procedure.
"That way." The man pointed in the direction of the alley that was also cordoned off.
Ed noted the direction he pointed and nodded, turning to leave.
"Thank you for your time." Al said to the cashier as he hurried after his brother.
The brothers paced a few blocks back towards the alley, noting the brown paper bag fallen on its side, produce spilling out, an orange had rolled onto the sidewalk, just inside the big rectangle of police tape. Ed once more flashed his pocket watch and gained access to the alley. Ed paced slowly, inspecting the spilled groceries, and walking slowly into the alleyway, scanning carefully. A strange scent that was faint seemed to linger in the alleyway. A sickly-sweet scent hung in the air, hard to identify, but Ed was on high alert.
"What is it brother?" Al asked, watching his brother pause and inhale heavily through his nose.
"I think that's…" he inhaled one more time. "Chloroform."
Al gasped. "But that means… that's how he's been taking his victims."
"They can't put up a fight or scream that way, that's how he keeps getting away without any witnesses." Ed paused, mulling something over. "But how does he transport them? You can't just walk around town with an unconscious girl. He must have a vehicle since his victims come from all over town, so it's not likely he's attacking them near his lair for easy transport."
"We should ask around and see if anyone saw anything or remember any vehicles that drove by around that time." Al suggested.
Slowly Ed nodded his head. "It's worth a try." With that, both brothers left to interview those around the area again.
Sarahplainntall here! Thanks for sticking with me so far! I appreciate my readers who have stuck with me this far, favoriters and followers, you're amazing! Leave me a review, tell me what you think, even if it's flames! : )