Chapter 5

May 16th – August 21st

May 16th – Military Headquarters, Central

"Brother, you need to sleep sometime," Al admonished, somewhat sadly.

The table was chaotic, every file that so much as mentioned James Mangeli had been pulled apart and studied meticulously. Ed was hunched over the Black Soul Alchemist's own file, reading and re-reading it again and again. Searching for a clue, a hint as to where he was now.

Where Winry was now.

But Ed was having little success. So far, all the records had done was tell him – in great detail – about the exact nature of Mangeli's experiments. Each piece of information only fuelled his imagination and drove his worry and fear to greater heights.

Sometimes ignorance really was bliss. Ed couldn't help thinking he would have been a lot happier without knowing exactly what Mangeli did to his 'subjects'. The thought of Winry being used as a lab rat...

"Brother, you do need to sleep," Al repeated, trying to cajole him into going to bed.

'What's the point?' Ed thought dismally. 'Go to sleep to wake up a few hours later from a nightmare? Spend the rest of the night sitting up in bed and agonising over what might be happening to Winry?'

"Brother?"

"Not now, Al. I promise I'll sleep, just not now."

oooooooo

June 23rd – Military Headquarters, Central

"Lieutenant."

"Sir."

A brief salute, a moment of acknowledgment as Riza passed the Fuhrer in the hallway. He stared levelly at her, and Riza fought the urge to squirm.

Riza liked to think of herself as coolly professional, but the Fuhrer unsettled her, and she couldn't quite figure out why.

It might have been because he was a homunculus, a monster in the most powerful position the military offered. It might have been the inexplicable transfer – she'd been his personal assistant for only three days before she was back under Mustang's command. Or it might have been the strange look in his eye whenever he saw her. She couldn't quite place it, somewhere between speculative and amused.

In layman's terms, he put her proverbial hackles up.

With a sigh, Riza shook the feeling off and stepped into Roy's office. "Any progress with Mangeli, sir?"

Roy sighed heavily. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's almost ridiculous – he has to be somewhere! Yet for all the information we get, he might as well be invisible. It's like he doesn't even exist, except when he attacks these fringe towns. But as soon as he's taken enough people...poof! Back into the ether."

Riza could hear the exasperation in his voice. "How are the Elrics holding up?"

Another sigh, this one more despondent. "Not good. Mangeli attacked several other towns, which generally means he's killed all his previous prisoners. I tried to break it gently, but...it didn't go over well. Hardly a surprise."

"The Elrics have known Winry since they were children," Riza said, her voice surprisingly soft. "Al thinks of her as his sister. And Ed..."

Riza trailed off. The look Roy gave her said he was well aware whatever Winry was to Ed, it was a long way from a sister.

"Anyway, sir," Riza continued, trying to drag herself out of the depressing turn the conversation had taken. "I have these additional reports for you."

She handed the folder to him. Roy took it with a grateful look, and his fingers curled – almost accidentally – around the palm of her hand.

Riza could have sworn she felt the temperature in the room rise a few notches. Roy's ungloved hand was warm against her bare skin. And he wasn't removing it. On the contrary, his thumb was beginning to caress the back of her hand in a rather intimate gesture. Slowly, Riza raised her eyes to his, shocked by how intense his expression had become.

Her mouth suddenly dry, she managed to whisper, "Sir?"

And the spell broke. Roy dropped her hand, and his eyes fell to the papers in front of him. She tried to hide her disappointment.

Roy, for his part, wondered what had possessed him to seize Riza's hand like that. Admittedly, it had been an accident, but why hadn't he just let go? Hadn't he promised himself he would never act on his feelings? Hadn't he vowed he wouldn't ever pressure her for anything more than friendship?

'Besides,' he thought wearily. 'It's not like she's in love with me.'

Meanwhile, Riza was scolding herself. 'What did you expect? It's not like he's in love with you. It was a few seconds of contact – you're reading too much into it!'

Riza sat at her desk,and they studiously avoided looking at each other for the rest of the day.

oooooooo

July 2nd – Garfiel's Automail, Rush Valley

Paninya traced the edges of the locket and tried to bite back tears.

"Happy Brithday," Garfiel smiled, but there were traces of sadness in his face. "I found that in Winry's room, with a note attached. 'For Paninya's birthday'. She would have wanted me to give it to you."

The locket was small, and made of shining steel. Paninya had a sneaking suspicion Winry had made it herself. It was a simple oval shape, with a tiny catch on one side. Paninya flicked it open...and nearly sobbed aloud.

A picture was inside, a photo of her, Tommy, and Winry. The older man wore his trademark scowl, and Paninya's arms were wrapped around his neck. Winry was on the other side, making the 'rabbit ears' behind Paninya's head.

Etched into the opposite side of the locket were the words; 'Happy 17th Birthday, Paninya. Love from Winry.'

Sniffing back tears, Paninya slipped the locket around her neck. The chain was delicate, but strong. Beautiful, but it was sturdy. Winry had known she wouldn't have wanted fragile, gaudy jewellry, and had made her a personal locket strong enough for her to take to work everyday. The knowledge of how much thought Winry must have put into her gift made her chest physically ache. Winry must have worked so hard...and she wasn't here to see her wearing it.

Paninya felt the metal beginning to warm from contact with her skin, and felt cheated. She'd known Winry for such a short time, and the young mechanic had already become one of the best friends she'd ever had.

And now she was gone

oooooooo

July 7th – Rockbell Automail, Risembool

Pinako sighed as she hung up the phone. Ed and Al had no information.

It had been over three months since the attack on Risembool, and there was still no sign of Winry. Not so much as a whisper of where she could be, or what could have happened to her.

After Winry had left for Rush Valley, Pinako could admit the house had seemed empty, but never so empty as it felt now. The photos on the shelves seemed to mock her, records of her granddaughter's life. Records that meant so little if she wasn't there to continue living it.

Looking around her home, Pinako felt very old. And very tired. She'd outlived her husband, she'd outlived her son and the woman he married – who she had regarded as a daughter. Winry had been the only member of her family left, and her spirited vivacity and stubbornness had easily lulled Pinako into believing that Winry would be the one to bury her.

But apparently, that had been a fool's hope. Pinako stared at the photo on the mantelpiece, stared at her granddaughter's sunny smile, and felt her absence like a physical blow.

She had lost the last of her family.

oooooooo

August 21st – Military Headquarters, Central

Five months. To the very day. Five months since Winry had been taken.

The nightmares were leaving, but Ed thought their absence scared him more than the actual dreams ever had. The lack of nightmares meant his mind was beginning to accept the situation, and accepting that Winry was gone was something Ed simply couldn't tolerate. He didn't want to get used to this, to this hollow ache in his chest every time he looked at his automail, every time he traced the battered casing. It wasn't in the best condition, he knew that. He knew that he should go for maintenance, at the very least.

But he couldn't.

Winry was his mechanic. She was the one who repaired his automail, and he didn't want to think of someone else taking her place – even if it was Granny Pinako.

And there was another, deeper reason.

His automail going untended meant that Winry had been the last to touch it. The last to braid the wires, to twist in the screws, to run investigative hands across it's surface. Sometimes, in the dead of night, he'd run his flesh hand over the metal casing, as though he could feel Winry through her creation.

It was his last, his only, connection to her, and didn't want anyone to sully it.

In the deepest recesses of his heart, he really hadn't minded wearing automail that Winry made. It always felt like he was carrying some part of her with him. And if he took it to another mechanic, they'd adjust, they'd tinker, they'd alter...until there was nothing left of Winry's work. It would be automail, but it would have none of Winry in it.

Driven by a need he barely understood, Ed pulled his State Alchemist watch out of his pocket. He flipped it open, transmuting the index finger of his automail into a sharp point. Beneath his scrawl of 'Don't forget 3.Oct.11' he carved another.

'21.Mar.16'

Winry's seventeenth birthday. And the day she was taken.

Nearly half a year ago.

oooooooo

AN: I know this chapter is probably incredibly depressing, but I figured I should show some of the reactions to Winry's absence, though I don't think I did the best job (and I couldn't resist sneaking in a Royai moment). And if anyone's wondering about Riza being transferred back to Mustang, it isn't just a cop-out to get out of writing her as the Fuhrer's personal assistant, it will have plot value in the later chapters.

And as always, thanks to those who reviewed.