Chapter 11

October 27th – November 3rd

October 27th – Medical Research Facility, Central

Angel's mouth went dry. She knew those people were watching them, she knew she should do something...but she couldn't seem to rip her eyes away from those of the blonde boy on the roof.

Suddenly, abruptly, memories slammed into her mind like a freight train.

Didn't I tell you to at least call before you show up?

Are you trying to kill me?

Isn't automail great?

I was wondering if you got hurt because the automail broke down...

You're always going to be a midget if you don't drink milk!

This is indeed the holy ground of automail.

She's gonna give birth soon!

We have no choice but to trust in her memory!

I'm crying for the both of you...

You're going to Central? I want to go too!

What are you talking about?

Men's talk!

Didn't you help deliver a baby and save a mother and child in Rush Valley? Didn't you give me an arm and a leg to stand up with? You're hands are not those that kill people...they're hands that let people live.

I think...I might have fallen for him a long time ago.

The rush was disorientating, disabling, and Angel felt she could have stayed like that, frozen as a mental slideshow sped past at the speed of light, for the rest of the night.

But then he moved. He leapt from the roof, one hand grabbing the drainpipe as he slid down, yelling one word at the top of his lungs.

"WINRY!"

She spun away, trying to clamp down on the steady stream of memories that name evoked. The stream that name and his face evoked.

"Everyone, WATCH OUT!"she bellowed, "We're caught!"

As one, the group's eyes flashed to the four figures descending from the roof.

"Forget the circle, Jason," Angel barked, already concentrating on nullifying all alchemy in the area.

She stepped forward, her flesh shifting to metal, her wings spreading wide to shelter the people behind her. White fire was already beginning to gather around her fists as she rushed forward.

Ed almost stopped in his tracks. Winry's skin had changed, taking on a hard, shining quality. White flames were licking at her hands, apparently summoned from thin air. Her blue eyes were fixed on him, and there was no recognition in their depths.

Her arms flung out to the sides, the white fire blasting away the buildings on either side of her, sending a rain of bricks and mortar to clog the alley, blocking their path.

Ed clapped his hands, prepared to transmute a pathway through the rubble, only to find that nothing happened. He clapped, he clapped again, Al clapped, he heard Mustang snap his fingers...and nothing happened.

Somehow, their alchemy had been disabled.

For an instant, Ed looked wildly around for Father, until he heard a voice from the top of the ruins.

"Just who are you?"

He looked up. Winry was perched on topmost brick of the rubble, one foot behind the other, in a feat of balance that didn't seem humanly possible. Her skin was still shining steel, but her eyes hadn't changed to metal. Her bright blue gaze was fixed on Ed, examining him, challenging him.

"And don't try any alchemy," she shot at Roy, who was still clicking his gloved fingers uselessly. "There'll be no alchemy in this place until I say so."

Ed knew his eyes had widened. She could nullify alchemy – just like Father?

"Where are your...followers?" Roy asked, looking around as though expecting people to spring from the shadows.

The winged girl glared. "I told them to go home - there's obviously not much point in trying to bust into this place tonight. Now, as I have the advantage in this scenario, I'll be asking the questions."

Angel concentrated, deliberately elongating her fingers into sharp claw-like appendages. Her nerves were strung taut from the effort of keeping the slew of memories at bay, at least until she had got the measure of these people. She couldn't afford to be distracted.

Riza's guns flew up, fully loaded and triggers cocked. "Not all of us are alchemists," she said calmly. "But I won't shoot if you don't make a move to threaten us."

Ed blanched at the sight of Riza pointing a gun at Winry. But Winry just shrugged, seeming utterly unaffected by the weapons.

"Go ahead, shoot. Even if the bullets don't ricochet off me, I can still guarantee that none of them will come close to seriously injuring me."

"You," her gaze landed on Ed once more. "What did you call me? And don't even think about lying, I can smell them a mile away."

"Winry..." Al muttered, before Ed could reply.

This time was much worse, hearing it spoken so articulately, with all her attention on those two syllables. Angel nearly screamed as a thunder of incoherent visions streamed into her brain. Memories...memories of her life before the lab.

Ed never knew what happened. One moment, Winry was staring down at them, the next she let out a chilling scream, her metal skin shifting back to flesh and feathers as she launched herself skyward, her pale form rising into the dark clouds.

"Winry!" he yelled. "WINRY!"

oooooooo

October 28th – Military Headquarters, Central

Ed was still having trouble believing it. He'd seen Winry, seen her perched on top of that pile of rubble, chin tilted proudly...and wings spread.

What had probably been the most astonishing was how powerful she was. He'd seen the wings in the photograph, but it didn't compare to seeing her standing there, the feathery appendages spread behind her. And they were clearly not useless pseudo-limbs either, from the way she'd taken off, they obviously granted her full and complete powers of flight.

And the metal skin, that white fire...

Ed shook his head. It hadn't seemed possible, yet the brick dust coating his clothes was living proof.

He felt so empty.

Some part of him had always believed that Winry's memories would magically return the instant she saw him. That the mere sight of him would be enough to restore her. But it hadn't happened. Instead, she'd loomed over them and fired off questions like they were suspects in an interrogation room.

It was all too clear. Winry remembered nothing about him.

oooooooo

October 28th – Hidden Cellar, Central

"And they never came back?" Jade asked.

"No," Angel whispered, fighting her despair.

The memories she'd pushed down, trying to buy time to gather her people and get them back home, had never resurfaced. Her chance to find out who she was had been right in front of her...and she hadn't been taken it.

And Angel couldn't help wondering...what if that had truly been her only chance? What if they never came back again?

oooooooo

November 3rd – 324 Whiterock Lane, Central

Angel couldn't hold in a small grin of satisfaction. Andrea Shackleton had been an investor in Mangeli's experiments, not involved in them, but she funded him and expected to receive a cut of the profits. She was currently hitching an undignified ride, bound and gagged on Phillip's shoulder, ready to be delivered to the military.

Angel turned a corner, and then stopped abruptly. She'd come face to face with those four people from...that night.

"What do you want?" she asked, her voice calm, but her body tense. She instantly disabled any alchemy in the area, in case of an attack.

"We want to offer you a deal," the tall, dark-haired man said.

"What kind of deal?"

"We have information on Mageli – official records, information on family and friends...information that might lead you to him."

Angel tipped her head in acknowledgment. That had been one of her biggest worries – now that she was finished with Mangeli's supporters, how could track down the man himself?

"What do you want in return?"

This time, the blonde boy spoke. "We want you to tell us about you."

Angel turned to him, steeling herself for the buzz of recognition that zapped through her whenever she met his eyes. She could detect no lie in his words. She hesitated for a moment, but then nodded her agreement. Something told her this boy could be trusted.

'How did I know you?' she wondered, 'What were you to me? What was I to you?'

"Yes, I'll come to military headquarters in four days."

Behind her, she heard her group gasp. But she ignored them – she'd explain later.

"You might be a little conspicuous," th dark-haired man pointed out, nodding at her wings.

Angel grinned. "Trust me, you won't even know they're there."