Me: (very scared look on face)

Al: What's wrong with you?

Me: Do you know what 'incest' means?

Al: No.

Me: Then look it up in the dictionary when I'm done talking. But anyway, I have this author on alert (though they never seem to update the story I want) and they keep posting more and more chapters of a collection of ficlets that they have.

Al: What's your point?

Me: I'm getting to it. Anyway--I finally get fed up with the ficlet story and decided to read the first chapter.

Al: Aaaaannnnndddddd?

Me: And... (looks away) Now, it was rated teen so there was nothing horribly descriptive--

Al: Just get on with it!

Me: (turns away so that not facing Al at all) Some think it right, but let me just say...Al, I'm sorry, but Ed belongs to Winry.

Al: Huh?

Disclaimer: It is better to have loved and not owned the rights, than to have never drooled over a hot anime guy at all...
Chapter 8: Paying Attention

Flirty Ed sighed and slumped back against the wall. "What does that smart guy know anyway? If he doesn't already know, then how does he expect to fix this?" he sighed again and plopped down on the floor in the middle of the hallway. "I don't want to go back... If I do, I might never be able to tell her..."

"Tell who what?" asked a voice from above him. Ed looked up and nearly jumped out of his skin.

"L-l-lieutenant Hawkeye, wh-what're you doing here?" he squeaked, quickly rising to his feet.

"It's a hallway, Edward," said the woman, slightly amused by the boy. "It's used for walking, not moping."

Ed blew out his cheeks and crossed his arms. "I wasn't moping!" he huffed. The lieutenant smiled at him.

"Oh," she said suddenly, just as the boy opened his mouth to say one of his lame pick-up lines. "Have you seen Miss Rockbell?"

Ed stopped; he felt the warmth from his body waver for a second at the words. "Isn't she in her room?" he asked quietly.

Hawkeye shook her head. "No. I went to go see her a minute ago but she wasn't there. I figured that she went to your room."

"I'm probably the last person she wants to see right now." muttered Ed. Hawkeye gave him a strange look and he shook his head. "Never mind--I'll go look for her!" he chirped with a smile. He walked passed Riza and once he had rounded the corner, he broke into a run. He dashed back to the room that he had been stuck in for the past six hours, but no one was there, not even the guards. More than likely they had wandered off to find his other selves. Sheesh, Mustang is going to be pretty pissed when he finds out that all the Eds were out running amuck.

Ed quickly left the room and ran over to Winry's, just to make sure she wasn't there. This room was also empty. Fear welled up inside him as he ran off once more, scouring the entire complex for her. After a few minutes, as he was running passed a window, a streak of lightning illuminated the windows, making a long shadow from outside flash across the hall. Ed stopped, turned around, and ran to the door and out under the hammock area close to the building. And there she was. Just standing there, watching the rain. Ed couldn't believe it. After all that searching, she had been out here the whole time? He felt the need to scream. Just yell at her for making him worry so much. But all that came out was "Winry!"

The girl turned to him and forced back a smile. "Hey, umm...which one are you?"

All of Ed's angry melted away just then as he smiled at her. "Just...call me #1."

"Oh," groaned Winry, turning her gaze back to the rain. "You're the really flirty one, aren't you?"

Ed grinned and skipped up to stand in front of her. "And what if I am?" he asked playfully.

"Then I'm going back inside." she stated, pushing herself of the wall and walking towards the door.

"Just 'cuz I'm out here?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

The girl stopped and thought about it for a moment. She sighed and came back to Ed, slumping down into a seated position against the wall. "I'll stay," she murmured. "But you better keep your mouth shout." she ordered.

Ed smiled and sat down next to her. "Not a word," he whispered.

A few minutes passed before either of them spoke. In all honesty, Winry hadn't expected him to stay quiet so quite for so long. So finally, she just said "Ed?"

The boy turned to her and smiled. "What is it?" he asked sweetly.

Winry felt heat fill her cheeks as she whipped around to look the other way. "Nothing," she squeaked quickly. "I was just-uh-um-uh--"

"Saying my name?"

"Yeah!" she took a moment to think about what she had just said. "I mean--no." she corrected herself. "'Cuz y'know...it's not really your name..."

"Right," he said firmly. "Not my name..."

Winry squirmed in her position, suddenly very uncomfortable. "Soo... What am I supposed to call you then? If Ed's not your name, I mean."

"I dunno," he said quietly, glancing over at her. He stared at her for a minute, thankful that she didn't notice his wandering gaze. His shook his head roughly. 'NO!' he told himself harshly. 'If I wanna stay like this, then I have to quite acting so immature!' He sighed and took his eyes off Winry, turning away. His body ached at the lack of naughty thoughts running through his mind and he cursed himself for it. He didn't try to be lecherous; it just sort of...was his nature. At least when he was like this, anyway. 'What's the point in me being separated like this if when I do what I want to, I'll just go back to normal? But, even so...'

"Ed?" asked Winry, pulling him back to reality. "Is something wrong?" He looked back over at her and smiled weakly.

'But even so, I have to at least tell her...' "Winry," he began sadly.

There was a flash of lightning and a long, dark shadow fell over the two. Before they could even look up to see what it was, the figure's large hands came plummeting towards them and wrapped around Winry's arm. She tried to scream, but the crack of thunder that followed the light muffled her cry. Another flash of lightning illuminated the night sky just as Ed began to run after the figure. The light momentarily blinded him and once he regained his sight, the two were gone.

He stared down the dark street, trying to see where they'd gone, but it was useless. The rain fell hard and fast, his heart skipping every other beat. Ed tried to think rationally, but the panic of missing Winry kept his mind fluttering. When he attempted to run, he found that his legs refused to budge, so he did the only thing his stubborn body would allow. He screamed.

"WINRY!-!" he called, but this too, was of no help. The rain prevented his cry from going too far; there wasn't even an echo from the alley. 'Wait--that's it! The alley!' It didn't matter how much rain there was, if the assailant had fled down the street, Ed would have still been able to see them. But the alley is too dark in overcast weather--no wonder he couldn't find where they had gone. 'That must mean that they can't be too far ahead!' Finally, Ed's legs kicked into gear and led him speeding across the street and into the dark alley.

He didn't stop. Not even when the dark passage ended and spit him out into another street, he just kept going. Forward was all he could think, all his legs would do. And that's when he saw it, just a little ways ahead of him--a tall dark figure with the silhouette of a young girl hung over its shoulder. As he passed into another back street, Ed clapped his hands together and then pressed them up against a wall, creating a tall brick barrier at the other end of the alley. The figure he had been pursuing stopped and turned around, another streak of lightning revealing his face.

Scar.

"What the hell do you want with her, you bastard?" screamed Ed, turning his right arm into a blade.

The older man smirked and dropped Winry. "You." he said simply. Scar charged at Ed, marked arm raised over his head, ready to strike. Ed did the same, wanting to rip the man apart.

"Ed!" cried Winry. Ed, momentarily distracted by the girl's call of concern, missed a step in his running and fell forward, just as Scar's hand came swooping down for him. He landed face first painfully on the ground, but Scar hadn't touched him. Ed quickly got back to his feet and turned and charged for the other man again. But this time he wasn't so lucky.

Scar spun around just as Ed began to swing his blade. He caught the chibi boy with his marked arm and slammed him against the wall of the alley, pinning him.

"Your life ends here, Edward Elric." threatened the man in his deep voice. His arm glowed with alchemy and the light flew into Ed, tearing him apart from the inside.

Ed clenched his teeth, trying his best not to scream in agony. But it wasn't enough. There force of Scar's hand closed tightly over his neck, crushing his left arm, and the alchemy coursing through his body, Ed didn't think he could take much more.

"Edward!" screamed Winry. She sat on the ground several feet away, grasping her ankle, unable to move.

Just as Ed's vision began to become blurry, a pure white light filled his eyes and there was a call from an unknown, yet somehow familiar, voice. "Put your hands where I can see them!--I've got you cornered!" 'Oh great...' Thought Ed dismally, still being choked by Scar. 'The military, how much more useless can they get?'

But for some reason, at the order of the state alchemist, Scar dropped his hold on Edward, letting him fall to the ground, to cough up a storm. "You," whispered the Ishbalan, "how did you..."

"It can't be..." muttered the alchemist in a hallow voice, acting as though he had just seen a ghost. He shook his head and raised his gloved hand at Scar threateningly. "I don't know what stupid trick you're trying to play, but you're under arrested on accounts of murder!"

Scar spat on the ground, giving the state officer a rebellious, disgusted look. "Whatever," he mumbled, "I already got what I came for." With that, he dashed away towards the brick wall Ed had created, breaking through it with his marked arm. The state alchemist tried to run after him, but he was too late. Scar had escaped.

Back in the alley, Winry, still holding her ankle, leaned over as far as she could, trying to scoot closer to Ed. "Hey," she whispered quietly, reaching out a trembling hand to the boy. "Are you alright, Ed?"

Ed stayed silent; he sat slumped against the wall of the alley, hand covering his mouth to catch the bits of blood that he has hacking out. When his coughing fit subsided, he stared down at his hand solemnly; his white glove dyed red.

"Ed?" whispered the girl again. He finally glanced over at her, seeing that she had twisted her ankle quite painfully. He frowned. "Are you alright?" she repeated.

"What..." he began slowly, "what a stupid question..." he mumbled. Ed swallowed hard as he tried to stand up, but his legs gave out and he came crashing back to the ground.

"Edward!" cried Winry, practically falling over as she attempted to rush to his side.

"I'm fine, but..." Winry retracted her hand as she watched Ed push back against the wall to act as a crutch to help him stand up. He succeeded in getting to his feet, but he appeared not to be able to walk. He looked down at his left shoulder and grimaced. He took his left arm into his metal hand firmly and jammed his eyes shut. He yanked his arm downward with a sickening crack--it had been dislocated. Winry winced at the sound, wanting to gag. But after a moment, she opened her eyes again to see Ed staring down at her. A few crystalline tears slipped down his cheeks as he wobbled over to the girl. "But I..." he continued slowly, not quite meeting her eyes. He fell to his knees in front Winry, finally raising his gaze enough to look her in the eye. "I--" he choked, biting his bottom lip. "I'm sorry!" he cried, throwing himself upon her. He wrapped his arms around her middle tightly, pulling her into a loving embrace with a force that made her fall flat on her back.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" she asked frantically. Winry's cheeks turned bight red as she tried to pry the boy of off her. 'What's gotten into him?' she asked herself. 'I know this is his flirty version--but this is just ridiculous!' "Hey--come on--! Get off me!" she squeaked, still completely flustered.

Ed hesitantly loosened his grip, letting the girl sit up, making sure that he stayed at least an arm's length away. "I'm sorry," he repeated, laughing a little and swiping away his tears. "I just... I should've been paying more attention... I didn't want Scar to hurt you."

Winry's blush darkened and she turned away. "Y-you didn't have to worry--I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself!"

Ed chuckled, still trying to stop crying. "Can you blame me, though?" he asked softly, turning away slightly.

Winry quickly picked up the sadness that hung on his words, and without even thinking, she pulled him close to her, giving him an unexpected hug. "Thank you..." she whispered. "And I am glad that you care so much to be worried..."

Ed turned bright red, stunned by her actions. After a moment, he too wrapped his arms around her, pressing his cheek snugly against her chest. "Winry," he said quietly, barely audible. The girl gave a small 'hm?' of acknowledgement. Ed tightened his hold on her, his face soaking up the warmth of the bare skin that her tank top failed to cover. "I..." he continued, still below a whisper. "I lo--"

"Hey," came a voice from behind the two. Winry turned around, pushing Ed away a little. She gasped up at the person, the state alchemist that had saved them, and tried to bolt up to her feet. But alas, her ankle still remained twisted, so her attempt at standing was nothing more than a feeble wobble, and then her falling back to the ground painfully.

"Winry!" cried Ed, snapping out of his little daze and quickly rising to his feet to catch her. He looked up at the other alchemist, and he too, gasped. "No way..." he muttered in total shock.

The young boy smiled at Ed and said "hello, Niisan" before punching his lights out.

Al: Yay?

Me: Not Yay.

Al: Not Yay?

Me: No.

Roy: What just happened?

Riza: Are you referring to Scar or Al?

Roy: Both.

Scar: For moi, you'll have to wait a chapter.

Me: Or two.

Al: Or three, or four, or--

Me: They get the idea.

Al: Sorry.

Roy: So what about Al?

Me: Mmm…Let's just say that even before the great schism you thought that having one Elric under your employment was hard--this'll send you into a mental break down.

Roy: Yay?

Me: Not Yay.

Roy: Review?

Me: Please.