Zilo: Haha, we're here!
Chizi: Another chapter for another day!
Zilo: OMG, I just realized we only have a couple of chapters left! How sad!
Chizi: I know!
Zilo/Chizi: (hug each other and cry)

6: Winry's Influence

Winry determinedly pulled Edward down the hall, feeling his hesitation grow with each step. She was almost dragging him now, but she refused to let his hand go. They had come this far, and she knew he must be scared, but if she could just get him to Colonel Mustang's office...

"It's okay, Ed. It's just a little further," Winry assured him. When they had been on their way, she had thought about stopping to get Alphonse, but then decided against it. Edward seemed to still be against his brother, and she didn't want to scare him off. He might have changed his mind if she had insisted on bringing Al along, but she resolved to call him as soon as possible.

Edward seemed to be growing even more reluctant, but for now he was still allowing her to cart him down the hall. Winry ignored the stares they were getting from military officers who were out of the loop. She concentrated all her mental energy on Mustang's office.

Finally, the familiar door appeared, and Winry breathed a sigh of relief. She tugged Edward over to the door and knocked on it.

"Come in," Roy Mustang's voice floated out from behind the door. Winry turned the knob and opened the door, but Edward seemed to have reached his limit. He stopped walking.

Winry turned. "It's okay, I promise," she said earnestly.

Edward looked at her, seeming to consider. His grip on her hand tightened, and she took that as an assent and pulled him in.

Roy Mustang had been busily procrastinating over his paperwork, and Riza Hawkeye had been busy threatening him bodily harm with her hand poised above her firearm. Both looked up and froze when they saw who had come in the door.

"Edward!" Roy stood.

"Hold on!" Winry held up her free hand, noting Edward's close proximity to her, and the indecisive glare he was giving to them both. She didn't know if they were going to approach, but she wanted to be safe. "Edward's still unsure about everything. I just barely convinced him to come."

Roy seemed to understand. "I see," he said. He slowly sat back down.

"Come on, Ed." Winry let go of his hands and put them on his shoulders, steering him to the couch in front of Roy's desk. She managed to get him to sit down, then sat next to him.

"Does Alphonse know?" Riza asked.

Winry shook her head. "I was going to call him."

Roy was staring directly at Edward. Edward was glaring at the wall. "Edward," Roy began slowly, "do you still think we hate you?"

Edward didn't answer.

"I think that the Homunculi might come after him again," Winry spoke up. "I was wondering if maybe we should give him some bodyguards or something." Beside her, Edward flinched, and she squeezed his hand encouragingly.

Riza glanced over at Roy. "What do you think, sir?"

"I think it's most likely possible the Homunculi will come back," Roy said, absently studying Edward, "but bodyguards may not be the best plan. However, I do have a suggestion, if Edward is willing to hear me out."

Edward finally looked at him. His gaze shifted over to Winry, and she nodded.

"What?" he asked warily.

"Winry?" Alphonse called, searching through the apartment. He had been holed up in his room until fifteen minutes ago, when he realized there were no signs of life outside. Thinking that Winry had fallen asleep, he had come out to check on her. But she wasn't there. Her shoes were gone, he noticed. "Where could she have gone?"

The phone rang just then. Alphonse walked over and picked it up, putting it where his ear should be. "Hello?"

"Al, it's Winry. I'm at Headquarters with Ed."

"Ed's with you?" Alphonse exclaimed.

"Yeah. He showed up at the apartment about two hours ago, and he wanted to talk."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Alphonse demanded, feeling a little hurt.

There was a pause. "Well, Ed's still kind of messed-up right now, Al, and he said he only trusted me."

Alphonse was silent.

"Alphonse, it's nothing you did," Winry insisted. "Colonel Mustang told me he thinks the Homunculi forgot to make Ed hate me, and that's why."

"Oh," Alphonse said, feeling a little better. "Well, I'm coming down to Headquarters right now. I want to see him."

"Hold on, Al. That might not be a good idea, to see Ed. I just barely got him to come down here. I don't think he wants to talk to you."

Even though he knew his brother wasn't doing it on purpose, Alphonse still felt hurt. "Well...can I come down anyway?"

"Of course, Al. And bring some of his clothes. But, I have to stay with Ed, so I won't be able to meet you."

"That's okay," Al sighed. "I'll see you, um, later."

"Okay. Don't be upset, Al. Ed's safe with the military now, and we're going to help him get out of this mess. He'll be back to normal in no time, you'll see."

"I hope so, Winry."

Winry sighed heavily as she hung up the phone. Alphonse had sounded so hurt. They both knew that it wasn't Edward's fault that he didn't trust anyone but Winry anymore, but she knew it had to be hard for Al to hear that his own brother wanted nothing to do with him at this point.

"Winry..."

She turned to see Edward standing only a couple feet away. His face was pinched with anger. "I don't want them touching me," he said, pointing over his shoulder at the nurse who had come to change his bandages.

"Okay, Ed," Winry said, patting his shoulder. She walked to the nurse. "Here, I'll take those," she said, holding out her hands for the medical kit. The nurse wasted no time in giving her the kit and making a break for it, slamming the door behind her.

Edward was now being temporarily moved back into the military dorms. A post had been set up outside his door, where two soldiers would stay around the clock. The only window in the room had been barred so no one could sneak in through it. Winry now sat down on the bed pushed underneath the window, med kit in hand, and patted the space next to her. Edward sat down, and Winry began unwinding his old bandages.

As more bandages fell away, Winry felt her stomach turning. Edward's arm and neck were still heavily bruised. It looked as though someone had picked up a pen and repeatedly stabbed him with it. Silently, Winry applied antiseptic and carefully wrapped clean bandages around the bruises.

"Ed," she said softly, unable to stay quiet, "you can't possibly believe that anyone who cared about you would do this to you, do you?"

Edward tensed, and kept his face towards the wall. His fists clenched, hard. Winry closed the med kit and placed her hands on his left fist. "I know you might not want to hear it," she went on, "but no friend does this. No friend would beat you up, and put drugs in you so they could tell you what to think. No friend would kidnap you. No friend would--would kick you in the back of the head!"

Winry's voice was rising, and she felt tears stinging. She wanted so badly to break through to Edward, to make him remember who his real friends were. "They wouldn't use you as a shield in battle, or lock you away somewhere, or tell you to hate people! Edward, you've got to believe me! Those Homunculi aren't your friends!"

"Well, no friend would use me," Edward suddenly spoke, his voice low and almost dangerous. "Or manipulate me, or treat me like a weapon, or some tool. Or make fun of me or..." His voice broke. "Or leave me to suffer when he knows where I am!"

"Who did that?" Winry demanded. "Do you mean Colonel Mustang? Then that's another lie, because he was the one who was worried the most about you! He beat himself up about letting a possible chance to see you again get away! He had people looking for you every minute of the day!"

"Did he really, or did he just say that?" Edward yelled at the wall. "I stopped believing what that bastard said a long time ago!"

"You don't mean that!" Winry yelled. "I know that you know what you're saying isn't how you feel!" Her tears had broken long ago, but she didn't bother to wipe them away. She wished she had her wrench so she could knock some sense into Edward. "Think about what you're saying! You've talked about not getting along with the colonel, but that doesn't mean he hates you! He thinks of you as his friend--he said so himself!"

Edward was suddenly silent. Winry worked not to break into sobs. "They all do," she went on quietly. "Even--even the ones you attacked..."

He tensed again, hunching his back.

"When--when we were waiting to hear about you last night," Winry began, "Al and I--we went to visit Lieutenants Ross and Havoc and Sergeant Bloch. They're--they're getting better, and they understand now. They were confused before, but now they know what the Homunculi did. They're not even mad at you."

Now he started to shake.

"And then, after we visited, I got to talk to Lieutenant Hawkeye," Winry went on, holding his fist tightly between her hands.

Flashback...

"Where did Colonel Mustang and Alphonse go?" Winry asked confusedly as she exited Maria Ross's room.

"The colonel went to speak with him privately," Riza replied. She was sitting in one of the chairs pushed against the wall, cleaning the insides of her gun.

Winry nodded uncertainly. "Okay...mind if I sit with you while I wait?"

"Of course not." Riza cleared her gun parts off the seat next to her, and Winry sat down. They stayed there silently for a while, the only sounds those of Riza finishing up the cleaning and putting her gun back together.

"I'm glad everyone's getting better," Winry began.

Riza nodded. "So am I. They're all valuable members of the military."

Winry nodded again. "And...I'm glad they're not holding it against Ed."

Riza sighed. "Fortunately they understand. I know that would be difficult to get."

"Do you think Ed will come back?" Winry asked.

"I don't know." The reassembled gun lay in Riza's lap. "I think Edward is scared. He doesn't know where to turn. And I think that scares Colonel Mustang."

Winry was surprised. "He doesn't seem like the kind of guy to scare easily."

"He hides it well," Riza replied. "Unfortunately for him, I know him well enough to know when he's hiding it. He wants to convince Edward to trust him again, and thought that letting him go might help him believe that we're not trying to control him."

"So...it was a trust issue?" Winry said, confused. "I thought it was a bad idea."

"I did too, to be honest. But forcing Edward to stay might have only pushed him further from us," Riza explained. She was silent for a moment, appearing to be deep in thought. "Roy really does care about the Elrics," she finally said.

Winry considered. "He must hide that well, too," she said.

"He tries to be professional in most cases. But I know that he wants the old Edward back as much as you and Alphonse, if not more. He'd turn Central on its side with his own strength, if he thought it would help."

"But he's always teasing Edward about his height," Winry pointed out.

Riza nodded. "True. I believe that in most instances Roy would consider it unprofessional to show his devotion to the Elric brothers' safety and health, so he hides it behind a barrage of short jokes." She smiled distantly. "However, he can't hide it from me. I think he's unconsciously taken up the role of surrogate father to them. For all his bluster, he wants them to succeed. He really does."

Winry was surprised at this. No, make that shocked. She would never have guessed, from all the complaining Edward did about "Colonel Bastard" and the few times she'd interacted with the man herself.

Suddenly, Riza seemed to come back to the present, and she picked up her gun and shoved a clip into it. "And so do I," she said firmly, standing up. "I'm going to speak to the aide for a few moments. Goodnight, Winry."

"Edward, Colonel Mustang and Lieutenant Hawkeye could never hate you," Winry said softly. "No one could. Alphonse and I have been thinking about your safety this whole time. Major Armstrong starts sobbing anytime someone mentions your name. We all care about you so much, Edward."

Edward's fist slowly relaxed into a trembling hand, and Winry squeezed it. "I know that this might conflict with...the memories you were given," she said, "but please, try to think about it. The real memories and the real you are still there, Ed, I know it."

"B-but..."

Even Edward's voice was unsteady. He slowly turned to face her, and Winry was surprised to see that he was crying as well. "I just...don't know..." he said.

"Then figure it out," Winry told him. She bravely put an arm around his shoulders. "The real Edward Elric will know the truth."

Edward looked down into his lap. Winry started to wipe her tears away, closing her eyes to do so, and then suddenly found herself snatched into a hug. She opened her eyes wide in surprise as Edward held on tightly to her, but quickly snapped out of it and hugged him back. She didn't know how many times over the years she had hugged Edward, sometimes playfully, sometimes seriously. Usually he had pushed her off. Occasionally he had stiffened up and toughed it out.

But she couldn't even begin to remember the last time he had hugged her.

It's going to be okay, Ed. We're all here for you.

"We're all here for you," she repeated aloud.

Alphonse had steeled himself to go to Central, ask about his brother, and not get to see him. As requested, he had brought some of Ed's clothes and toiletries, wondering why he was bringing them. When he got up to Roy Mustang's office, he was briefed on what was going on.

"How long will he stay here?" he asked

"As of right now, indefinitely," Roy replied, looking tired. "We're hoping your friend Miss Rockbell can break through to him at some point."

Al looked down at the pile of stuff in his lap and sighed. This was hard. Usually his brother was the one getting people out of trouble, but this time, he needed help, and he was refusing it.

"So, will I be able to see him anytime soon?" he asked.

"We're not sure," Riza commented. "He doesn't really want to let anyone else near him."

Anyone else. Like his only brother. Alphonse was trying very hard not to feel offense, but it wasn't working too well.

The two soldiers assigned to guard Edward's room looked up at the approaching figure, but relaxed when they saw it was Winry Rockbell, on her way back. She waved at them as she walked past their post and into Edward's dorm room. Envy thought, concealing a sneer as he closed the door behind himself. He was disguised as Winry at the moment, and was more than ready to get his hands on Edward Elric. So he forgot to add the damn girl to the list. It didn't matter now.

When he was through, Edward would hate Winry Rockbell with every fiber of his being.

Winry was excited now. When he heard his brother was coming, Edward had actually asked her to go get Alphonse. He wanted to see him. A breakthrough at last!

I'm so happy, Winry thought as she hurried to Colonel Mustang's office. There's finally hope. Edward's finally getting better.

"Excuse me, perhaps you could help me? I'm looking for Winry."

Winry stopped at the woman's voice and turned. "I'm Winry. What can I--" She froze.

The woman, dressed in a low cut black dress, was smiling at her rather maliciously. Her wavy dark hair was draped over one eye, but the other one glinted at her with evil intent. A strange tattoo adorned her chest.

"Who...are...?"

"Your worst nightmare," the woman replied, lifting her hand. Her fingernails suddenly lengthened into dangerous-looking spears.

In a flash, the woman had rushed forward. Winry gasped, prepared to scream, but she saw something flying towards her and threw herself to the left to avoid it. A sudden pain rose on the side of her neck, and she felt blood as she fell to the ground. Her neck had only been grazed, but the crazy woman was coming at her again, at an unimaginable speed.

Winry scrambled out of the way of the deadly knifelike fingernails, but she wasn't fast enough and felt her ankle receive a glancing cut. She scrambled to her feet and ran down the hall. "Somebody help!" she cried, hoping to run into a military officer.

She ran around a corner, hearing the spears strike the plaster of the wall. This woman must be a Homunculus! she thought fearfully. But why is she after me?

"You can't run from me." The voice sent chills down Winry's spine as she ran down the hall as fast as she could go.

"Where's Alphonse?" Edward asked.

"He said he didn't want to see you," Envy as Winry said.

Edward's face darkened. "That's not all," Envy went on, stepping closer. "He said he never wants to see you again. You've hurt him one too many times. And I think he's right."

There was a tense silence. Envy plowed on, enjoying the satisfaction of watching Edward shrink on the bed. "You're a selfish, spoiled jerk, and you only care about yourself. You should never have come back. I don't know why I agreed to help you."

"But--"

"After everything I've done for you!" Envy yelled. "I'm always there if you need to talk. I always fix your automail. And what do you do? You break it! You scratch it and dent it and rust it and--"

"Please stop!" Edward cried, covering his ears.

Envy snatched Edward's hand away and slapped him. "Why? Am I upsetting you? Are you unhappy? Do you know unhappy the rest of us are putting up with your attitude day after day? You should have stayed with the Homunculi. No one wants you here!"

Alphonse, Roy Mustang, and Riza Hawkeye were heading down the hall, on their way to Edward's room, when they heard strange noises coming from around the corner. Roy and Riza exchanged glances. "That sounds like a fight," Roy stated.

"A fight?" Alphonse stared at them, and then he turned and hurried down the hall, the two military officers on his heels. He turned the corner, and someone ran right into him.

"Oh I'm sorry," Alphonse said politely as he looked down to help the person up. He froze when he saw Winry sitting on the ground, bleeding from several cuts on her neck, arms, and legs, and one on her ankle. She looked up at him in a panicked way, then whipped her head around to glance behind her. Alphonse looked up as well.

He gasped. "Lust!" The Homunculus stood a few feet away, the fingernails on her right hand extended. Roy and Riza immediately flanked Alphonse, weapons at the ready. "What do you want?" Roy demanded, fingers poised to snap.

Lust smiled eerily at them all. "Me? Why, nothing at all."

However, Alphonse knew her well and figured she was talking to distract them. One of her nails moved in a blur, and Alphonse dived into action. He lunged forward, using his forearms to block the spear that had been directed at Winry's heart.

Instantly Lust sliced the glass out of a convenient window and vaulted out. Riza ran to the window, gun poised, and fired at the quickly retreating figure.

"Winry! Are you okay?" Alphonse asked, checking his friend.

Winry nodded shakily, wiping some streaks of blood from her arms. "I'm all right, but..."

"Was that a Homunculus?" Roy asked.

Alphonse nodded. "And if she's here, then..."

Winry looked at him, seeing where he was going. "You think the other one's here?" she exclaimed, standing up.

"Edward's room," Roy said darkly as Riza rejoined them. "We'd better get there, quick."

They ran down the halls quickly. When they reached the room, the soldiers stood and saluted, doing a double take when they saw Winry. But they were ignored as Winry grabbed the knob and threw the door open.

"Edward!" she yelled as she raced in, the others following.

"Get out," Envy said, liking how evil Winry Rockbell could sound.

Edward slowly and shakily stood, hands balled into fists. He glared at her, tears in his eyes. "Then you don't care about me either," he growled, sounding angry and hurt.

"I wanted to, but you've made it impossible. Now get out!" Envy yelled, pointing to the window. "Leave and don't come back! Ever!"

Edward flinched at the harsh tone. He turned and faced the window.

"Out! Now!" Envy yelled, laying it on thick.

Slowly, Edward held his hands up, and clapped them together. He placed his palms against the window, disintegrating the glass and the bars. He still seemed hesitant, so Envy moved in for the final blow. "Get out, Edward Elric, or I'll push you! I never want to see you again!" He put his hands on Edward's back to push him out the window.

Suddenly, the door slammed open. "Edward!" a familiar voice cried. Envy realized it was Winry Rockbell, and that she wasn't dead. Dammit. Lust was going to get a piece of his mind.

"Envy, leave Brother alone!" Alphonse Elric yelled.

Quickly, before anyone could react, Envy hooked his arm and used his elbow to hit Edward hard in the small of his back, toppling him forwards and out the open space three stories up. Mere seconds later, he heard gunfire and felt bullets rip through his skin.

"No!!" Winry cried, lunging forward. The Homunculus impersonating her was going to send Edward to his death if she didn't do something!

She heard gunshots and ignored her clone as she--or he--was riddled with bullets. Her one thought was on Edward. She had to reach him. He was falling. He was going to die. He couldn't fall.

Winry felt like she was in slow-motion as she raced to the window, reaching out. Edward was on his way down. She reached down with both hands and caught the ankle of his pants. She kept her grip for about three seconds before they slipped from her fingers.

"Edward!" Winry screamed, her hand still out as if she could catch him. He hurtled towards the ground. No, no, no!

Without thinking, Winry hurled herself out the window.

Zilo: Winry's on the edge.
Chizi: Or something.
Zilo: Well, it looks like Winry has left us at a cliffhanger!
Chizi: Since we managed to churn this one out on, expect the next chapter around the same time next week!
Zilo: Thanks and bye!